The added value of an inspection or baseline measurement.
Inspection or baseline measurement?
An inspection or baseline measurement establishes the condition of a property and whether there are issues that pose a risk. The trigger may be the start of a tenancy, change of tenant or the start of construction activities.
This establishes what the initial situation is so that it can be determined after the use or renovation if certain things are the result of that activity. But risks to operations may also emerge.
Systematically inspecting a property and recording the existing situation can prevent a discussion later.
Water damage?
As in this case: water damage is visible here at the penetration of the water pipe in a basement of a monument. The new tenant wants to use this space to store clothing and fine lingerie. Something that doesn’t fit with that is the smell of a damp basement or gift wrapping made of soft and damp cardboard.
So it is important to determine whether a new problem may arise here in the future.
During the inspection, we can observe that the water stain is around the water pipe penetration. But the water damage appears to be from a higher conduit than the existing water line. That may indicate that it is from another out-of-use conduit: there are several.
The water line is laid below the frost line, i.e., often deeper than 70-80 cm. The other conduits may be from an older KPN cable or electrical cable.
Depending on the situation in the street and subsoil, it may be above the groundwater level. If a penetration is then not properly sealed, leakage can occur. Even if there appears to be no real water trail, moisture can still seep into the wall through the penetration, which can cause structural or moisture problems.
Moisture percentage
To determine if this is the case, we can measure the moisture percentage in the wall. An acceptable moisture percentage of masonry walls is between 5 and 15%, with anything above 10% being cause for further investigation. Anything above 15% is cause for immediate further investigation and action.
Here we measure an acceptable moisture percentage in the wall that is no higher than surrounding. That seems to indicate an older water damage.
Finally, there are visual cues to back that up as well: some of the water damage has already crumbled.
This allows us to substantiate that this is an old water damage and not one that is expected to cause problems now.
Recovery?
If the wall did show too high a moisture percentage then with further investigation we would determine where the actual cause is: is it the penetration, is it the bilge seam (floor-wall junction), is there seepage or cracking?
Depending on this, it can be determined whether limited surgery should be done or major surgery.
A limited intervention might include re-sealing the conduit or local injection. A major intervention is the complete sealing of the bilge seam or cupping of the basement: applying a new waterproofing around the basement basin.
To ensure a good climate and also prevent dank air due to moisture, it is necessary to always provide good ventilation in basements like this one.
Zero measurement
The baseline measurement in this case allowed us to determine that this is an old damage where there is hardly any risk for new damage. The penetration is of sufficient quality and it is not likely that another leakage will occur here. For the user, there is no risk in this.
Ventilation in the basement is recent and consists of central extraction and blow-in in the corners of sufficient flow. Again, there is no concern for the intended use.
