Assessment of pre-fabricated bathrooms from the 1990s

Martin Morelli, Erik Brandt

    Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapport/konference proceedingKonferenceabstrakt i proceedingForskningpeer review

    Abstract

    In Denmark many older dwellings have or had no proper bathroom. Therefore, a lot of dwellings have been refurbished with bathrooms over the past 40+ years. There is great focus on establishment of bathrooms for several reasons. One is that bathrooms are expensive; one of the most cost-intensive tasks when building or renovating dwellings. Moreover, bathrooms are vulnerable because of high moisture load combined with complex solutions. Many problems with bathrooms have been registered and unfortunately not only the bathroom itself is damaged but also often adjoining building elements.
    In the 1990s a Danish project called Project Renovation focused on the development of cheap and durable prefabricated bathrooms. These bathrooms included light and heavy-weight structures as well as assembly kit and whole cabins.
    The aim of the current investigations of bathrooms from the Project Renovation was to evaluate the performance and durability of the developed prefabricated bathrooms after 15-20 years of use. A systematic condition assessment was developed for the bathrooms inspections. Three bathrooms were investigated for each bathrooms solution:
    - Heavy-weight whole concrete cabins
    - Heavy-weight assembly kit with fibre reinforced concrete bottoms
    - Light-weight assembly kit of fibre reinforced concrete elements

    The use of an inspection scheme implied that a consistent visual assessment of the bathrooms included constructions, installations and measurable conditions, e.g. moisture content and crack sizes, was obtained. Each parameter in the inspection scheme was judged on a 5 step ranking scale of conditions and interrelated degree of consequences.
    The investigation of the 9 bathrooms indicated a generally high quality of the bathrooms. Many of the registered failures may be eliminated with increased maintenance. Specifically, mould growth on resilient silicone sealant was a problem in wet zones. More critically was the registered mould growth in the ceiling, where the mechanical ventilation was low. Both issues could to some degree be prevented by more focus on user habits and maintenance in the bathroom. Cracked tiles were also detected. For the heavy-weight assembly kit of fibre reinforced concrete bottoms this might have been caused by the underlying construction of the bottom with a plinth on top of which the walls were placed.
    The non-destructive investigations revealed no causes for failures e.g. the above mentioned cracks. Therefore definitive conclusions are difficult to make based on the visual inspection, hence the methodology might be questioned if adequate for a durability assessment.
    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    Titel1st International Symposium on Building Pathology (ISBP 2015) : Book of Abstracts
    RedaktørerVasco Peixoto de Freitas, Enrico de Angelis, Helena Corvacho, João Delgado, Ana Sofia Guimarães
    Antal sider1
    UdgivelsesstedPorto, Portugal
    ForlagFEUP Edicões
    Publikationsdato2015
    Sider55
    Artikelnummer3.13
    KapitelTheme 3 — Diagnosis Techniques
    ISBN (Trykt)978-972-752-174-6
    StatusUdgivet - 2015
    Begivenhed1st International Symposium on Building Pathology - Porto, Portugal
    Varighed: 24 mar. 201527 mar. 2015
    http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~isbp2015/

    Konference

    Konference1st International Symposium on Building Pathology
    Land/OmrådePortugal
    ByPorto
    Periode24/03/201527/03/2015
    Internetadresse

    Emneord

    • Pre-fabricate
    • Batoroom
    • Wet room
    • Inspection Methodology

    Fingeraftryk

    Dyk ned i forskningsemnerne om 'Assessment of pre-fabricated bathrooms from the 1990s'. Sammen danner de et unikt fingeraftryk.

    Citationsformater