Mikvah Baths – Moy Materials
Mikvah Baths
300
Enkopur by Moy Materials Ltd and Tapered Insulation by Kingspan
Webber Flat Roofing Systems
Background:
The roof refurbishment of this interesting religious building with complex design briefs. An interesting design objective and requirement of the Jewish faith was for the completed product to be built on site.
The Mikvah baths’ water supply is sourced purely from rainwater collected from the roof space, which is then stored in silos. The water must remain pure and cannot come into contact with any products or membranes which are the finished article when delivered to site. As a liquid and the reinforcing membrane is cured on Holy grounds, this was an acceptable form of waterproofing to keep the water “pure”.
The Jewish people then use the water collected in the silos to wash themselves of sins.
Moy were asked to survey the roof of this building and to produce a specification for a waterproofing solution which included a warm roof upgrade. An interesting design objective and requirement of the Jewish faith was for the completed product to be built on site.
Solution:
Since rain water can only come into contact with membranes which have been put together on site, GRP or metal trims could not be used at perimeters or internal flashings. Instead, all details had to be formed with liquid, including perimeter drip edges, water check details and brick work chases.The roof itself cannot have any ponding water which may collect dust or become stagnant. Therefore, the roof decks had to be raised with enough insulation thickness to give enough height in the gutter to allow for a tapered fall. This resulted in the insulation thickness being as high as 550mm in some areas.
Due to the insulation thicknesses and having to bond several layers of insulation boards together, Webber Flat Roofing Systems had to keep the roof construction components watertight as works progressed, making it difficult to achieve a uniform finish as drying conditions differed from day to day.
Our Contractor agreed to give the roof an extra coat of Enkopur resin in order to achieve product uniformity across the surface.
Given the client’s very particular and complex design brief, only a liquid waterproofing membrane could have fulfilled their requirements. On top of this the removal of an old roof membrane, rotten timbers and failing brick work made the project an exciting but difficult one to bring to a successful completion.
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