Waterproofing Consultation & Detailing Support for Architects
Most waterproofing failures are detailing failures, decided on a drawing long before anyone opens a bucket. We work with architects at detail stage on junctions, upturns, thresholds, penetrations and movement joints, so the system specified is one that can actually be built.
An architect or design team member specifying waterproofing for a project.
What actually makes this difficult
The technical work overlaps with every other kind of building. The constraints are what differ, and they are what a contractor either understands or does not.
- Buildability
- A detail that cannot be executed on site becomes an improvisation, which becomes a leak.
- Finish integration
- The barrier has to sit under the intended finish without dictating the architecture.
- Design liability
- A specified system that fails is a professional exposure.
- Cost realism
- The specification has to survive value engineering with its performance intact.
How we work on these projects
- Review details at design stage and flag junctions that will not perform as drawn.
- Advise on system selection against exposure, traffic, movement and finish.
- Provide sections for the tricky junctions — thresholds, planters, movement joints, penetrations.
- Identify what can safely be value-engineered and what must not be, in writing.
Systems this kind of project usually needs
- Podium Waterproofing
Podium waterproofing protects a landscaped or trafficked deck sitting above occupied space — typically parking, a clubhouse or retail. It is demanding because the barrier must survive planter soil, vehicle loads and heavy detailing around drains and columns, while any failure shows up as a leak into the space below, where it is expensive to trace..
- Basement Waterproofing
Basement waterproofing protects a below-grade structure against groundwater under hydrostatic pressure. Because the water pushes inward continuously, the reliable approach is a box-type system — a continuous barrier wrapping raft and retaining walls — applied pre-construction where possible.
- Terrace Waterproofing
Terrace waterproofing is the application of a continuous water barrier across a roof slab, laid to a fall so rainwater drains rather than ponds. In Mumbai the usual choices are brick bat coba with china mosaic, an APP or SBS torch-on membrane, or a liquid-applied polyurethane or polyurea coating.
- Expansion Joint Treatment
Expansion joint treatment seals the deliberate gaps that let a structure move, using systems that accommodate that movement rather than resist it. Because the joint is designed to open and close, only a flexible sealing system with the right movement capability will survive — rigid filling of an expansion joint always fails..
- Polyurea Waterproofing
Polyurea is a spray-applied, fast-setting elastomeric coating that gels within seconds and forms a seamless, high-elongation, highly abrasion-resistant membrane. Because it has no joints and builds thickness in a single pass, it suits complex geometry and structures that must return to service quickly — tanks, podiums, parking decks and pools..
- Silane-Siloxane Water Repellent Treatment
Silane-siloxane treatment is a penetrating water repellent that lines the pores of masonry and concrete without filling them, so the surface sheds liquid water while still letting vapour escape. It is invisible when cured, which makes it the standard protective treatment for exposed brick, stone and fair-faced concrete where appearance must not change..
- Box Type Waterproofing
Box type waterproofing wraps a below-grade structure in a fully continuous barrier — under the raft, up every retaining wall, and sealed at the top — so the structure sits inside an unbroken tank. It is the correct answer where groundwater exerts permanent hydrostatic pressure, because there is no joint or edge for water to find..
Architects — questions we get asked
Will you review details before tender?
Yes. Reviewing at detail stage is when a junction problem costs a conversation. The same problem found during construction costs demolition.
Which junctions cause the most failures?
Thresholds where a terrace meets an internal floor level, planter and drainage details on podiums, movement joints carried through a build-up, and service penetrations. Those four account for the large majority of what we are called back to fix.
The client wants to value-engineer the waterproofing. What is safe to cut?
Finishes and non-structural build-up sometimes have room. What must not be cut is substrate preparation, membrane thickness, protection layers before backfill, and flood testing. Removing those saves a visible amount now and costs a great deal later.
We also work with
Talk to us about your architect project
An engineer visits, identifies the actual source, and gives you a written scope you can act on. 40+ years of Mumbai buildings.
Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 · Sat 09:00–16:00 · Jogeshwari West