Your unfinished structure needs much care in these rains
May 01, 2015
Many of us have walked past abandoned unfinished buildings whose construction seems to have stopped for some time.
By Umar Nsubuga
Many of us have walked past abandoned unfinished buildings whose construction seems to have stopped for some time.
For some buildings, it comes as a planned and intended halt in the construction work, while in other instances it is as a result of unforeseen circumstances.
Once construction a building stops before it is roofed, it will be affected by the effects of weather and this will be mainly rain.
Building a new house begins long before the foundation is poured. They can be many mistakes which may be costly during rainy season if you don’t take much care during the construction of the project.
Whenever the foundation is finished the next step are the walls. When it comes to the walls, it is important what kind of building materials is used in the construction if they are to resist the effects of weather.
There have been instances where walls constructed out of baked clay bricks (the common type often made in swampy areas) have been washed away by the rain after being exposed for a long period.
Wall construction in buildings helps to create a satisfactory internal, environment for people using it.
David Kireli an architect and civil engineer says walls and roofing differ in materials. The walls are constructed out of a number of materials and these include bricks, blocks, mud sometimes timber, concrete, and others.
Kireli says the external walls are exposed to a number of conditions and in their construction, it is required that they are not adversely affected by these conditions, lest they fail to fulfill their functions whenever a wall is constructed, there is usually a finish that is put on its surface.
The bricks which are made out of mortar (mixture of cement, sand and water) these are strong and can take long to get destroyed.
“The name of this wall finish is dependent on which surface of the wall it has been applied to. If the mortar is applied on the inside part of the wall, then it is technically referred to as plastering”, Kireli says.
Again if it is applied to the outside part of the wall of a building, then it is technically referred to as rendering.
Kireli says plastering and rendering are both carried out on walls and have also purposes.
Kireli says this improves the resistance of the wall to any external penetration. “This external penetration is usually water. For the external part of the wall, it is rain’.
It also makes the wall have an attractive appearance.
Providing smooth surface for the walls, this in turn will aid painting of the walls or the application of things like tiles or wall paper onto the walls whose application also improves on the walls durability.
It should be noted that failure to have the wall protected with a finish, especially the external wall, makes the wall very prone to deterioration. Kireli also says the different materials during construction have different durability.
Many people who lay bricks from clay soil sometimes don’t mix it well and the durability won’t be long.
Kireli says these bricks if they are left exposed with any surface finish to cover them up, will get washed away with times, leaving gaps and holes with in the walls.
If proper burnt clay bricks are got, they have a better resistance to the effect of rain.
For blocks these are durable and cannot be easily affected by the effects of rain.
Walls that do not have a finish, not only are they unsightly, but will also cause the owner of the building to incur a further expense in trying to rectify the defects that have resulted from the damaged wall.
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