West Coast Waterproofing was called to a central Vancouver Island Location to repair, seal, and waterproof an important and needed cistern. When the property owner originally had the cistern built, the local builder had used an admixture in the concrete when they poured the walls and the slab. The problem with admixtures is that they generally only work for cracks up to .4 of a millimeter.
Unfortunately, the CRACKS that occur in concrete on a regular basis are often much wider.
The property owner had the cistern built as a means to harvest rainwater as the family lives in a somewhat remote location and grows all of their own food. The rainwater collected in the cistern was intended to help feed his crops every year during the dry summer months.
His challenge was that the cistern as built had been leaking for five years and water sadly drained away before he was able to use it to feed his crops. A real challenge for this family.
West Coast Waterproofing planned, prepared the surface and applied a new and sustainable waterproofing solution. In this case we used a spray applied Polyurea coating which would fully bond to the concrete and create an impermeable liner for the tank. Surface preparation was everything and we focused several days just on grinding and cleaning before applying the primer and the long term Polyurea solution.
It’s important to note that when designing and applying waterproofing solutions, as in this case, choice of product and surface preparation are crucial to the long-term success and something West Coast Waterproofing always focuses on in their work.
The end result is a cistern or tank that will now collect and store the life-giving water so that this property owner can now cultivate the crops he needs to feed his family.
