Water Dripping from the Ceiling of Your Parking Structure — Try This.

Rainy season is here, and with that comes an excess of water that you need to protect your property against. Parking structures are susceptible to a lot of water damage, and prolonged exposure can destroy its structure and foundation; especially when a leaky ceiling is the cause. You do not want people walking to their cars while getting their shoes soaked, or damage to a degree where a rebuild is the only solution. A water leak is something that everyone will have to deal with at one time or another, but as an owner of a parking structure, you have to be extra careful. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what to do if you discover a leak in your parking structure. 

Identifying the Problem

The first thing you want to do is identify the problem. If you have water dripping on the inside of your parking structure, chances are there is water leaking from the ceiling. In order to combat this you have to make sure that the top level of your parking structure is waterproofed to the best degree. When water gets into the cement it can freeze and expand causing a lot of damage that needs to be repaired. This can be extremely costly and you would need to close the parking structure while you fix it. 

Cracked Cement

You’ll need to do a walk around to see this, but make sure to look out for cracked or spalled concrete. This happens when too much water is soaked into the concrete and it splits from the structure. This can cause the reinforced steel to become exposed and if the water gets there, then rust will begin, which is essentially the end of the steel. Once the steel is damaged, then there is no going back, and you’ll have to do a full rebuild since the strength of the parking structure is now compromised. 

Exposed Rebar 

If walking around your parking structure you see areas where the rebar is exposed then you have a problem that needs to be attended to immediately. If exposed to water, rebar can expand up to 8 times its normal size. This can create huge structural problems and will cause more harm since more water will be leaking through. In turn, it will expand and begin to damage the concrete which will then allow even more water to corrode the cement. This will in turn force you to close down and rebuild from the ground up since this problem does not get fixed easily. Be vigilant when it comes to checking out your structure to make sure you always know where the leak is coming from.

Fixing the Problem

The best thing you can do to protect your parking structure from water damage, by waterproofing it in its entirety. At WICR, we specialize in waterproofing for homes and businesses, including parking structures of any size. We’ll make sure that your structure is safe from a water leak so that you’ll never have to worry about a leaky ceiling. We ensure that your customers and tenants will be safe when parking in your structure, and that you won’t have to worry about doing any refurbishment for years to come.