Stripping out

Contrary to the approach used for drying historic buildings, modern construction methods utilise materials which are comparatively cheap to replace and readily available from most reputable builders’ merchants. For this reason, stripping out is often regarded as the quickest and easiest method to promote structural drying. Obviously, this does cause inconvenience and disruption to residents, a fact often ignored by insurers and building professionals.

Most wood will expand and deform or warp when wet. Timber with a moisture content above 20% is susceptible to fungal attack; the longer it remains wet, the higher the risk of rot. Plasterwork is particularly susceptible to water damage. Soft lime-based plasters (often found in traditional buildings) generally remain intact and will normally dry out whereas Gypsum plasterboard tends to crumble and disintegrate.

 Just as we have described the necessity for stripping out building materials to allow evaporation of moisture, the concept of removing impermeable floor coverings and residues very often gets overlooked. The floor is often the last area of a building to dry out following incidental damage from either groundwater flooding or a burst pipe from above.

We use the latest industrial surface grinders, incorporating Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) segments to remove old glue residues, levelling compounds and bitumen coatings from concrete floors quickly and efficiently. Larger industrial areas can be prepared using captive shot blasting technology.