# leaking terrace



## harvey69

hello can anyone suggest a sealent to cover my ceramic terrrace tiles which are leaking?


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## maidentales

We had a similar problem at our property in Crete and these were terraced roofs with rooms below.

Your difficulty maybe the base layer beneath the tiles rather than the tiles themselves as it depends what's been put onto the roof before the tiles were added to the roof terrace.

Again talking of black bitumastic paint, we painted this onto the concrete roof of our Crete property before putting on the final laywer of concrete on top which stopped the leaking into the room below.

This roof was then painted with an elastic, waterproof paint onto the concrete to stop further leaking as a precaution.

What is under the tiles and how has the underlay material been treated to allow for water penetration is more the question I would consider for myself rather than the tiles themselves leaking.

I wouldn't know if you have to take the tiles off, treat the underlying problem and then re-tile or if you would have to put a waterproof layer above the tiles to solve the problem but I don't think the problem is in the tiles itself:

tiling external patios, terraces and verandas

This article basically confirms that the underlying base has to be sealed BEFORE tiling.

I don't think therefore that the tiles are leaking but the underlying material that the tiles are stuck to is leaking and that needs the treatment.

There is likely to be other, more expert views but, having worked in a similar project on my property in Crete, it's the underlying material had to be sealed first and the frills (i.e., the tiles), may not the "leaking" problem.

It could be possible to seal the tiles with black bitumastic and then do something on top of them, I don't know the answer to this.

This is similar to what we used on the roof terrace in Crete to provide a damp proofing barrier and it has different names in different countries:

johnson black bitumen paint | eBay

This solution is of course going to ruin the "look" of your tiles unless you remove the tiles, paint this on and re-tile, but painting it over the tiles may stop the leaks you've mentioned.

There's also some on-line information available that you may be able to input searches for yourself:

http://www.doctor-fixit.com/homeowners/pdf/resources/Dr_Fixit_Waterproofing_Reckoner.pdf

Invites from other members who have more experience welcomed.


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## maidentales

I have to add as my 15 minutes are up:

I checked with my partner who said that he wouldn't bother with taking up the existing tiles but paint on top the black bitumastic paint, then re-tile on top of that.

Depends on the depth you want in other areas of your patio as this would increase the height of your terrace by the depth of the tile.

Needs some strong stuff: but you may be able to go into your local Armazen (such as in our area it's Armazans Reis), explain what you're trying to do and they can give you the answer there and then, examples of these warehouses are:

http://www.armazensreis.pt/

Related reading perhaps?

http://www.arcane-industries.co.uk/p504-waterproof-terrace-under-tiling.html


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## maidentales

Harvey

Welcome to the forum


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## canoeman

There are sealants but how effective depends on why terrace is leaking, you need to find the cause.

Would have to disagree with Maidentales advice, black bitumen is not the correct product in this situation

You might be able to treat and re tile, but really for a long term effective solution the tiles need removing, and a good 3-4 inches of any wall perimeter walls,any defects, drains etc in terrace are repaired, then a 2 stage application of a specific terrace sealer is used, the operation is carried out in one day with first coat being am in one direction and 2nd coat applied pm in a 90 deg direction, both are taken up perimeter walls, then terrace retiled and grouted.


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## siobhanwf

This is whAt we hAve done canoeman and it was very successful. Black bitumen is not the way to go.


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## siobhanwf

maidentales said:


> Harvey
> 
> Welcome to the forum


Maidentales Harvey has been member since 2012


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## baldilocks

Black bitumen used to be one of the coatings, British farmers applied to the sides and roofs of barns. It was fine while it was fairly new since, as well as being water resistant, it was flexible, however as the solvents evaporated it became hard and brittle so would crack and let water through. This is what happens to roads, they get hairline cracks which let water in; the water then freezes in winter and forces the crack to open wider and then it starts to break away.


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## siobhanwf

Baldilocks a quick cheap fix...buy cheap pay twice. As you say it gets brittle cracks and the water seeps in behind and you have a worse situation than before


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## baldilocks

siobhanwf said:


> Baldilocks a quick cheap fix...buy cheap pay twice. As you say it gets brittle cracks and the water seeps in behind and you have a worse situation than before


The thing with bitumen, I remember from when I first walked to school, nearly 70 years ago since I had to walk past a black barn that had been painted with bitumen and it had blistered, cracked and looked like a streams of volcanic lava which one could almost pick off in lumps where it had hardened.


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## BodgieMcBodge

Bitumen is used for its waterproofing properties in construction either as a binder mixed with aggregate for roads or onto a solid construction for surface waterproofing. If it has been distilled correctly there are no light fractions (can't recall the temperature) so it will not "dry out" and has to applied hot to make it workable. There are tar seeps where it forms pools on the ground (Kyrgyzstan) and it was mined (Cuba) but these unprocessed products contain lighter hydrocarbons which may evaporate. There are other mixes with solvents for other applications. If you use the product formulated for road use as a shed waterproofer (dissolve a solid block in paraffin?) it will inevitably not be perfect. You should not use it as an underlay for tiles as it is not formulated for this.


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