Home Technology Exterior Wall Waterproof Structure

Galvanized Welded Wire Mesh & Fiberglass Mesh as Waterproof Structure

A welded wire mesh panel is held by a hand to show its detail.

The galvanized welded wire mesh is for exterior wall waterproof structure.

A wall is plastering with fiberglass mesh as the exterior wall waterproof structure.

Fiberglass grid as plastering layer is for the exterior wall waterproof structure.

The exterior wall waterproof system.

The exterior wall.

The exterior wall is the structure that is on the outermost layer of the wall. The exterior wall is usually as the enclosure around the building. The material of the exterior wall is various. The materials of the exterior wall that we use mostly are concrete wall, aerated concrete masonry, hollow clay masonry, hollow concrete masonry and glass curtain wall. The exterior wall would shrink when the temperature changes. And there would be cracks on the wall. When it rains the rain would seep into the cracks. The rain accumulated on the cracks would become ice and expand in the winter. It would cause more cracks. This would cause damage for the building. Thus the waterproof system is necessary.

The exterior waterproof system could prevent the building from the rain and protect the interior space. The exterior waterproof system is related to the material, design, construction and management. To meet the requires of waterproof we choose the high quality waterproof material and we design the scientific and economic production.
The seepage for the exterior wall.
- The seepage kinds on the seepage degree.
  1. Slow seepage: There is different shaped wet trace on the wall. The slow seepage would cause the coating and the wallpaper moldy and cavity.
  2. Fast seepage: The building surface is scoured with the rain and it causes the seepage on the interior wall. When the rain is heavy there maybe the water dropping and flowing. This could cause the cavity and wall peeling. And it even shortens the service life of the exterior wall.
- The seepage kinds on the seepage parts and wall structure.
  1. The seepage of the window: Normally there is seepage on the window and the connecting part between the frame and the exterior wall.
  2. The seepage of the exterior surface: There is seepage on the connecting between the bottom beam and the column.
  3. The seepage of the exterior wall hole: The temporary passageway hole would seep water where the scaffolding, tower crane and construction elevator pass.
  4. Secondary decoration: The wall doesn't seep when the building is done. But when the user decorates the building and installs the anti-theft mesh or air conditioner there would be fixed points. The fixed points would see water.
The reasons for the seepage.
- The unreasonable design.
  1. Many designers don't pay attention to the details, such as the slope degree of the window, the dripping tank, the connecting between the window and the wall. There is not exact design for this parts.
  2. The designers don't pay attention to the different material connecting parts. The decoration lines of the exterior wall design and the top height is the same as the beam height. The decoration line would seep because the expanded coefficient difference between the exterior wall and the concrete beam is big. The wall root has cracks and seeps easily.
  3. We don't pay attention to the exterior wall waterproof of high building. The seepage increases on the high building. The exterior wall function decreases with the height of the building increases. The service life would reduce too. The material of the masonry which don't hold the weight should be the flat mortar.
- The material and the construction.
  1. The material. The quality of the mortar is important. The agent added to the mortar is too mush. There is not conservation according to the temperature. It would influence the density and the strength of the mortar. If the construction is not according to the operating rules there would be cavity. There would be cracks if the connecting between the brick and the mortar is not firm.
  2. The base cleaning. We should clean the base wall before we plaster the bottom layer. We should clean the rust, mortar, oil dirt and cement paste.
  3. The exterior wall plaster and construction. The reasons that influence the plastering quality are the bottom mortar strength, the sand quality, the agent quality and conservation. When the thickness of the bottom layer is more than 20 mm we should construct layer by layer. We should plaster from the top. It would cause seepage because of the irregular joint.
  4. The layer plastering. We should check the bottom layer quality. And we should repair the cavity and the racks. The connecting for the mortar should be firm enough.
The detailed construction handling.

There would be seepage when we don't choose the appropriate material. The detailed handling such as, the scaffolding settlement hole and the outside window resist film, is important. When the handling for these construction is not good there would be cracks.
The twice decoration.

When we decorate for the house, we usually open holes on the wall. And this would damage the wall and cause the seepage.
The waterproof material and the construction.

The waterproof materials for the exterior wall are rigid waterproof material, flexible waterproof material and sealed waterproof material. The waterproof material should meet the needs of the usage.

The great significance to settle the building exterior waterproof system.

It's important for the architecture to set up the waterproof system, especially on the demands of the building energy conservation. The waterproof system could prevent the building from water. The exterior wall waterproof system is related to the basement exterior wall and house exterior wall. The waterproof system could prevent the inner building structure and space from the rain, domestic water and groundwater. The waterproof system could provide a comfortable and safe life environment.

The exterior wall waterproof design.

The based requires of the exterior wall waterproof.

The functions of the exterior wall waterproof system are to keep out of the rain and the rain. It also can anti-freezing, high & low temperature resistance. It can hold the high wind load.
The exterior wall waterproof structure.
1. The waterproof layer without the thermal insulation wall: its waterproof structures have plastering decoration, tile and curtain.
2. The waterproof layer with thermal insulation wall: its waterproof structures have coat decoration, tile and curtain.
3. The joint waterproof structure: its structures have the window & door hole, the exterior wall corner, the rain gap, the air conditioner shelf, balcony, the pipeline opening and the embedded parts.
The exterior wall waterproof structure standard.
1. The exterior wall should be set on the waterside face.
2. The connecting distance of different structure materials should be more than 150 mm. The materials are alkali-resisting fiberglass grid or hot dipped galvanized welded wire mesh which can reinforce the wall.
3. The connecting of the exterior wall structure is firm. The handling of the interface material should be according to the structure layer material.

The whole exterior wall waterproof system design.

Table 1: Waterproof design without exterior insulation layer
The material	The waterproof layer location	The waterproof material
Coating material	the layer between the flat layer and the coating layer	polymer cement waterproof mortar, normal waterproof mortar
Tile material	the layer between the flat layer and the tile material	polymer cement waterproof mortar, normal waterproof mortar
Curtain	the layer between the flat layer and the curtain decoration	polymer cement waterproof, normal waterproof mortar, polymer cement waterproof coating, polymer emulsion waterproof coating, polyurethane waterproof coating

The whole waterproof design standard with the thermal insulation wall.
1. The coating material. There are two waterproof systems. The first system is between the insulation layer and the wall. The second waterproof system is between the anti-cracks mortar and the coating layer. If you only want to set one waterproof system, you can set it between the insulation layer and wall. And the materials are polymer cement waterproof mortar and normal waterproof mortar.
2. The tile material. There are two waterproof systems. The first system is between the insulation layer and the wall. The second layer is between the anti-cracks mortar and the tile decoration material. The waterproof system is between the insulation layer and the wall when there is only one waterproof system. The waterproof materials polymer cement waterproof mortar and normal waterproof mortar.

The design points of the exterior wall joint structure.

The exterior wall waterproof layer should extend to the window. The groove should be left between the waterproof and the window. The drop water line should be on the window and door.
The extra space should be left to install the window. And the rain could through the window from the space.
There should be a slope which is more than 1% on the joint between the awning and exterior should be continuous.
The slope that is more than 1% should be set on the awning so that the water could flow. And a groove should be left.
The synthetic polymer waterproof coil additional layer should be set to the deformed part. The coil is set on the wall and it's width is more than 150 mm.
There should be a casing on the pipeline. And it's slope is more than 5%.
The top of the parapet should be reinforced concrete or metal. The slope of the top is more than 2%. When we use the concrete to be the top the exterior waterproof layer should extend to the inside of the top. When we use the metal to be the top the exterior wall waterproof layer should extend to the top.
For the frame filler exterior wall, we should use the mechanism mortar and build the wall according to the standard. We should pay attention to the quality of the mortar.
The gap should be left on the beam to adapt the deformed wall. The distance of orientation and portrait should not be more than 6 mm and the width of the gap is 2–3 mm.
The decoration bricks should have cut-off rule and it's site is as same as the flat layer. The gap width is 15 mm and its depth is to the exterior waterproof layer.
There should be concrete waterproof flanging on the line, air-conditioning panel and awning. The height is more than 100 mm.
The window that is protuberant of the wall should have a slope which is more than 5 %. There should be dropping water equipment.
There should be embedded part on the exterior wall.
There should be reinforced concrete waterproof flanging on the root of the parapet. And its height is more than 200 mm.
The joint structure and waterproof material.

Table 2: The joint structure and waterproof material.
The waterproof location	The waterproof material
the gap between the window and the wall	polymer cement waterproof mortar or polyurethane foam
the site between the window and the waterproof layer	sealed material
around the water outlet	sealed material
the isolation joint of the exterior wall	high polymer waterproof rolling material and sealed material
around the pipeline	polymer concrete waterproof mortar and sealed material
around the embedded parts	sealed material
the isolation joint of the decoration layer	sealed material

The waterproof material.

Table 3: The waterproof material and the construction thickness (mm)
The based wall	The species of the decoration	Polymer cement waterproof mortar	Normal waterproof mortar	Polymer cement waterproof coating	Polymer emulsion waterproof coating	Polymer emulsion waterproof slurry	Waterproof air cushion layer
The concrete	coating	1.5	8.0	1.0	1.0	1.2	–
	bulk	1.5	8.0	1.2	1.2	1.5	①
	curtain	1.5	8.0	1.2	1.2	1.5	①
The masonry	coating	1.5	10.0	1.0	1.0	1.2	–
	bulk	1.5	10.0	1.2	1.2	1.5	①
	curtain	1.5	10.0	1.2	1.2	1.5	①
Note：① We choose the waterproof air cushion layer when we use dry-hanging style to construct.

The exterior wall waterproof material should be based on the local climate and environment.
The waterproof material should meet the needs of the exterior wall structure and the environmental protection.
The exterior wall of the architecture structure should use water absorbent material.
We should use the water-borne materials and no other decoration material.
The kinds of the waterproof material.
The exterior wall waterproof material and its performance.
- The specification of the welded wire mesh.
  - Materials: carbon galvanized wire and no galvanized coated steel wire.
  - Mesh size vary from 10 mm × 10 mm to 50 mm × 50 mm.
  - The most popular mesh sizes: 12 × 12, 20 × 20, 25 × 25, 12 × 25 m.
  - Wire diameter: 0.4 mm - 1.5 mm.
  - Roll height: 0.8 m, 1.0 m, 1.25 m, 1.5 m, 2.0 m.
  - Roll length: 15 m, 20 m, 30 m, 50 m.
- The specification of the fiberglass mesh.
  - Plastering mesh facade fiberglass cloth: 90, 140, 145, 160, 165, 180, 185 g/m².
  - Mesh shape: square.
  - Mesh size 5 × 5 mm, 4 × 4 mm, 2 × 2 mm.
  - Color: White, yellow, blue, green, red, orange.
  - Roll size: 1 × 50 m.

The exterior wall waterproof material and its performance.

With the increasing construction technology and the economic development, people are paying more and more attention to the variety of existed structures. The exterior walls are not only made of solid clay brick wall but the concrete wall, aerated concrete block, hollow clay brick, aerated concrete wall or the glass curtain wall. The reasons that affects the anti-cracks performance are temperature, the cement, the amount, the accelerator and the product proportion. The mixing for the cement should be uniform and continuous. We should pay attention to the production detail.