KINGSPAN INVESTIGATION IN WOLVERHAMPTON
Coverclad Services were instructed to investigate reported water ingress through an isolated area of Kingspan wall cladding in Wolverhampton at an engineering manufacturing centre. The water ingress was suspected to be coming through the gasket seals into the office building.
Our approved Kingspan installers were dispatched to site for one day following heavy rainfall. We removed the top cappings and four of the Kingspan composite panels to expose the steel and parapet for investigation.
Although we found several faults / areas of concern with the existing Kingspan installation (which may have contributed to the volume of water ingress being experienced on-site) we did not believe the wall cladding faults could have led to / been the main contributing factor to the volume of water ingress being experienced into the office. It was our opinion that the flat roof above the wall cladding concerned should be investigated further under torrential rain conditions.
We reinstated the Kingspan wall cladding and top cappings, with new gaskets as per recommended installation specifications plus mastic seals as an extra precaution and presented our report to the client. Photos are below. If you are in need of approved Kingspan installers then please contact us on 01384 573088. Alternatively you can send us a message or contact us on 07976 726770 if you are in need of an emergency callout.
Top cappings and underlying insulation to the area in question removed. We expected to see signs of water / damp due to heavy prolonged showers the day before, however there was no evidence of this.
First Kingspan composite panel removed.
Second Kingspan composite panel removed.
Third Kingspan composite panel removed.
Fourth Kingspan composite panel removed to fully expose the underlying steel and parapet. There were some water stain marks on the galvanised steel, plus we found the previous cladding contractor had not installed the panels to Kingspan recommended installation specifications. The bonded butt straps to the top cappings appeared to have degraded the mastic seals and one bonded butt strap had failed / de-bonded from the top capping area above the reported water ingress.
Close-up of one of the removed Kingspan panels, exposing incorrect mastic seal used by the previous contractor (not as per Kingspan recommended installation specifications).
In order to gain access to the area in question we utilised a large mobile elevating working platform, extending 20 metres (at a substantial angle) over the top of the outdoor canteen and across a pathway. View high up at the area in question from the MEWP, with top capping and loose insulation removed.
View of the flat roof with plant and equipment and loose aggregate above the wall cladding area of concern.
Reinstating the Kingspan composite panels, with two of the four already in place overlapped by the top capping.
Our approved Kingspan wall cladding installers reinstating the composite panels together with new gaskets plus mastic seals as an extra precaution.
Top capping re-instated and joint sealed with mastic.
Investigation complete with the Kingspan wall cladding and top cappings all back together.