Home Care/ Decor
What is Efflorescence (Shora) and how to prevent it?
Efflorescence is the flaky, whitish deposits you see on walls and masonry surfaces.
As Homeowners, we spend a fortune to build our dream homes with the best possible means available to us. It is undesirable to have patchy, flaky damp walls within the first few years of construction. This could be due to improper or lack of preventive waterproofing of below-ground structures (Plinth, column, beam, footing, etc). While constructing your dream house, preventive waterproofing of below-ground structures is very important because it can only be done ONCE- at the time of construction.
What is Efflorescence?
Efflorescence is a whitish deposit of salt formed on the surface of concrete and brick masonry walls when water evaporates from its pores. This deposit is usually an unappealing patchy deposition that mars the aesthetic appeal of the walls.Efflorescence, locally is also called Shora, Nona etc.
WHAT CAUSES efflorescence?
1.Presence of water – Absorption from soil or active leakage point in a building like bathroom & kitchen, are the primary sources of water.
2.Presence of salts – Inferior quality clay used to prepare bricks have salt in it. Even the water used for curing during construction has dissolved salt in it.
How does efflorescence appear on the wall?
Rain or Ground water seeps in through the soil and rises through the porous brick and concrete structure through capillary action. In the process of traveling through the brick and concrete structure, the water dissolves the salt present in the structure which appears on the wall when the water evaporates from the surface. Preventive Waterproofing while constructing a new house can prevent efflorescence from appearing on the walls.
How to prevent Efflorescence?
To prevent efflorescence from appearing on the wall, we need to prevent water from getting in contact with the brick and concrete surface. To do so we need to do preventive waterproofing on the DPC and on the brick masonry walls of the building up to 1 meter. This ensures that water which has seeped in to the ground will not come in contact with the building structure. This preventive waterproofing should be done with Dr Fixit Fastflex. It is a 2-component heavy duty waterproof coating for brick and concrete surfaces, which provides excellent preventive protection against efflorescence.This impermeable coating can withstand hydrostatic pressure upto 10M and has excellentadhesion to concrete and masonry surface.
To conclude, efflorescence has a proven connection to the presence of salt and moisture in walls. Complete waterproofing will not only prevent efflorescence, but also other problems like dampness and mold. When you build your own Happy Home, remember to use proper preventive waterproofing to protect your home from efflorescence.
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