Vandex waterproofing at Barrow Dock Museum

Vandex has been used to waterproof a Victorian dry dock at Barrow Dock Museum, Lake District. The dock has an exposed sandstone block construction that was suffering water ingress, primarily through the mortar joints.

The sandstone block had been left exposed as an architectural feature, however water seepage through the mortar joints was permitting unsightly vegetative growth and mould to develop on the stone. The Museum wished to preserve the sandstone façade and not cover it with a render or membrane. Waterproofing specialists JJ Metcalfe proposed raking out the joints and repointing with Vandex waterproofing cementitious mortars.

A water jet wash was used to clean the stone and flush out raked joints. Areas allowing a lot of water ingress through were then repaired with Vandex Plug, which stops running water in just 5 seconds and fully sets in 30 seconds. The remaining 1200m of mortar joints were repaired with Vandex Uni Mortar 1 and Vandex Rapid M.

One month after works were carried out the repair work has proven to stop the water ingress through the mortar joints. The client is very pleased with the end result, and the visual appearance of the dock has been improved and preserved for future visitors to the Barrow Dock Museum.

More details about the case study and Vandex waterproofing specifications are available on Safeguard''s website at www.safeguardeurope.com.