Decorative Pond
Seamless Waterproof Polyurea Lining for 4000 sq ft Villa Pond
- Date: June 2019
- Client: Private Client Villa
- Project Type: Polyurea
About this Project
This fabulous private villa in Barbados has a huge ornamental pond which was an ideal project for our new Polyurea product.
Polyurea is similar in properties to epoxy and polyurethane but has greater durability and more flexibility. Plus, with reduced curing time within a greater temperature bandwidth, it is easier and quicker to apply; so much so that reinstatement is possible within 24 hours, depending on the size of the project.
Firstly, the pond had to be drained of water and over 100 wheelbarrows of decorative pebbles removed.
Once the concrete base of the pool was exposed, we found that it had deteriorated and was badly cracked.
Our experience shows that to properly prepare concrete and improve adhesion for any sealant, the surface needs to be ground to remove contaminates such as oil, grease, asphalt, curing compounds and adhesive residues. Loose surface material may also include old or cracked cement-based toppings and laitance.
We used our various concrete grinders on the base, but because of the shallow depth of the pool and the overlapping stone edges, the sides had to be hand ground forcing the team into some quite interesting contortions to get to the nooks and crannies.
All the individual cracks and damaged areas had to be sealed – Sika 1A is one of the best caulks to use in this kind of scenario.
Because the pool base was only 1” thick (not a full concrete slab as you might expect) we had to treat it with 2 different primers. The first applied was an Epoxy primer, designed to stop moisture from coming up from under the 1” concrete. The second was a Polyurethane primer designed to improve adhesion for the Polyurea.
With such powerful adhesion properties, Polyurea is very hard to remove once it has cured, so in preparation, the entire pond had to be surrounded by taped up plastic sheeting to protect the rest of the property from any spray that might be blown astray.
Our trained technicians completed this huge and detailed spraying exercise of approximately 4000 sq feet within 2 days.
After snagging and replacement of the decorative pebbles, it then took 1 full day to simply fill the pond back up.
Polyurea is implemented exclusively by AquaLoc in Barbados.
Please call us on 420-8079 if you wish to discuss this or any other specialist waterproofing solution.