Diving Into Fountain and Pool Waterproofing

Fountains and pools over occupied space present a high risk of water penetration, in part because they place a constant and severe performance demand on the waterproofing components. Roofs typically only leak when it rains. Pools and fountains, which are permanently filled with several feet of water, can leak constantly. In many cases, fountains and pools must contain a large volume of water above occupied areas for the lifespan of a building. Despite significant performance demands, we have often seen that the waterproofing design and construction of fountains and pools are given less consideration than other building envelope components. With some extra attention, many problems associated with fountains and pools can be averted by using basic building envelope wisdom, such as redundant waterproofing, use of appropriate materials, proper detailing, logical construction sequencing and simple performance testing.

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