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Royal North Shore Hospital Receives Wolfin Waterproofing Treatment

1Most people take waterproofing in their home and in public buildings for granted, yet waterproofing is one of the most important factors in building maintenance and comfort. The waterproofing work at the Royal North Shore Hospital has set a new standard of excellence. Wolfin GWSK Membranes was installed into cavity flashings, garden beds, and other critical areas in and around the grounds of the hospital.

Wolfin Membrane

Wolfin is one of the quality waterproofing brands Projex fully endorses. Wolfin membranes has been installed in numerous hospitals around Australia, including Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Royal Hospital for Women, Liverpool Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and St George Private Hospital.

The Wolfin membrane is made of Polyester PVC, and has been in service in Australia for over 25 years. All Wolfin Membranes are UV stable, and they exhibit exceptional properties including flexibility, elongation, excellent chemical resistance andcan be installed over most substrates including steel and timber structures.

Critical areas of the Royal North Shore Hospital

Projex specified and helped design the Wolfin GWSK Waterproofing Membrane System at Royal North Shore Hospital on the ambulance driveway and Emergency Entrance which sit directly over the electrical and plant rooms The Wolfin GWSK self-adhesive membrane was installed prior to the application of 3 layers of asphalt applied directly onto the Wolfin Membrane.

Quality assurance was carried out at all stages. Each completed section was checked and signed off by a Wolfin Membranes Inspector, and the builder/client were sent the Wolfin Membranes Quality Assurance forms at each step of the project. Every Wolfin installation is inspected prior to being covered or having finishes applied over it.

The importance of waterproofing

These areas are accessed by hundreds of people and vehicles every day Waterproofing preserves the quality and integrity of the buildings and roadways from damage through weather and the elements.  The Wolfin GWSK protects the most important areas of the hospital (Electrical andPlant Rooms) to ensure the hospital continues to run and function without any disruptions.  The waterproofing works carried out by the Licensed Wolfin applicator in conjunction with Projex Group will ensure these critical areas will support the Royal North Shore Hospital’s efforts to maintain a safer place for patients, visitors, and staff.

Hospital building

The membrane was terminated into the concrete shell of the building as a cavity flashing during construction.. This involved installing the membrane onto the internal brickwall using Wolfinsteel & then welding a Wolfin connection strip approx.. 400mm wide. This strip was then protected with F.C sheeting prior to building the outer skin of the Hospital walls. Once the external walls were completed the tailpiece of membrane from under the brickwork was welded directly to the main deck membrane to provide complete water tightness to the entire area.

Typical in a construction like this is the detailing of any penetrations including bolts, columns, etc that penetrate the membrane. The Wolfin Membrane system has standard detailing procedures for all these situations to ensure the integrity of the entire waterproofing system.

Other critical areas

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Over 3,500 square metres of Wolfin membrane was installed to the hospital’s critical areas. Wolfin IB is used for all detailing & was welded directly  to the hospital’s PVC rainwater and wastewater service pipes and outlets.

Before and after construction

Once  the walls were constructed the Wolfin Installer removed the fibrous cement sheet protection ,& continued with the  installation of the  Wolfin GWSK membrane to the main deck areas including the detailing of “H” frames, planter boxes, poles, and perimeters. This area was then protected with Projex 5mm Shockmat Protection Matting prior to the installation of concrete over this section.

Waterproofing the Garden Beds of the Hospital

Wolfin Membranes was also specified for the waterproofing of the Planter Boxes & Garden Beds associated with the project due to the Wolfin Membrane system being FLL Test Certified for use in these garden areas.

The horizontal membrane was pre-installed and protected to where the block work planter boxes were to be installed. This allowed the bricklayers to carry out their works and build their walls directly over the membrane, including detailing each individual starter bar. Again, the membrane is protected and extended 100mm past the walls to be connected onto at a later date.

Other garden beds were constructed using curved steel as the walls & fixings of the membrane were not to be visible. Projex used Wolfinator Adhesive – a construction-grade adhesive – that adheres the Wolfinsteel to non-porous substrates such as steel, glass etc & replaces the need for mechanical fixing in these instances.

The Wolfinator was also used to adhere the Wolfinsteel profiles to the steel “H” frame support columns for the covered glass walkway. The membrane was continued up the base of the H frames & terminated onto the customised flat 100mm Wolfinsteel Profiles.   As with all waterproofing the detailing of any protrusions, penetrations is critical to the overall integrity of the waterproofing system & Projex Group make job/site specific Steel profile terminations to overcome non-typical applications.

The unusual shapes & substrates in this project illustrates how versatile the Wolfin Waterproofing System is in accommodating & overcoming these potential problem scenarios that are becoming more common on projects these days.