If the terrace were not airtight and the water ran into the cellar or other rooms below, the resulting damage could not be assessed sufficiently large. Correct sealing of a terrace is therefore of crucial importance, even before the terrace is laid and not only in the event of damage. But how can a terrace be properly sealed? Which materials are used? And how is the correct drainage level ensured? We’ll show you that and much more in this article!
THE PROJECT: SEALING THE TERRACE
Seal a terrace? That might sound a bit excessive at first. However, the fact that terraces are often above basement rooms, but in any case, are adjacent to the house. An incorrectly laid terrace can very quickly mutate into a rainwater funnel, which directs the water not away from the house, but towards the house. Wet walls and broken facades are inevitable. If you want to build a new terrace, everything has to be right at the beginning of the project. These would essentially be the points:
- gradient
- seal
- drainage
If everything is done correctly, the foundation of the new terrace is optimally laid, and the terrace will serve as a feel-good zone for years.
MATERIAL AND TOOLS
So that we can properly seal the terrace right away, we decide to work with a sealing clamp. This allows a flat seal without major weak points. In order to be able to carry out the work successfully, adhesive tape, joint sealing tape, and of course, water are needed for mixing. Drainage mats and self-adhesive net strips are also required for the drainage level.
The need for tools in this project is pleasingly limited. For the preparations, only a mortar mixer and a cutter are required. Later on, we will mainly use a small and large painting roller with a telescopic rod. More is not necessary to be able to seal a terrace.
MASK THE FACADE AND MIX THE SEALANT
In order to be able to work optimally with the sealing clamp, the terrace should be prepared accordingly. First of all, facades that border the new terrace are masked at the level of the future floor covering. The base area below the adhesive strip remains free, as it has to be sealed just like the substrate. Doors and other adjacent fixtures must, of course, also be masked off.
Then it is time to touch the sealant. First, water is placed in a construction bucket in accordance with the product instructions. The powder of the slurry is then carefully sprinkled in, and the whole thing is then slowly mixed with the mortar mixer. It shouldn’t be more than 650 revolutions per minute. As soon as uniform consistency results, the sealing clamp is ready.
CONNECT SEALING TAPE TO THE FACADE, PAINT THE EDGES
With a small paint roller, the sealing slip is first applied in the area of the egos, on the floor to the width of the roller, on the wall up to the adhesive strip. The material should not be saved. Then, as is common in the bathroom and shower, a joint sealing tape must be inserted into the egos.
Difficulties can be avoided if the joint sealing tape is cut to length before it is applied and provided with recesses for possible obstacles. Where the tape is to be laid around corners, it is cut from below approximately to the middle. Then the tape can be laid out without difficulty: Simply place it in the middle of the Isen and press it into the damp sealing clamp. Then smooth out the tape.
As soon as all the egos have been fitted with the joint sealing tape, the small paint roller is used again. The egos are now being completely painted over again, and the sealing tape is completely painted over. The work should now go well and, therefore, not take too long.
In order to prepare the surface for sealing the terrace, all other edge areas are now also prepainted with the small paint roller. This applies to the areas along the façade as well as to the outer edges of the foundation. After one or two ink rollers have been sealed here, the large ink roller is reached.
SEAL THE TERRACE
The edge areas are all prepainted so that we can now turn to the surface. In order to move faster here, the large inking roller is mounted on a telescopic rod. The sealant is applied lane by lane with the aid of the roller. Always work wet on wet. In this way, the entire terrace can be sealed in a very short time. The coating is then allowed to dry out overnight.
Note: If you have to take breaks during work, the already applied sealant will dry quickly. When continuing the sealing, proceed in such a way that the fresh coat of paint and parts that have already dried on overlap by at least 20 cm.
CARRY OUT A SECOND COAT
The next morning we continue with the second coat. This is not difficult because the sealed surfaces can be painted one more time with the sealing compound. Again we start with the egos. With the small paint roller, the edge areas can be quickly removed, and today we are spared the need to put in the joint sealing tape.
Then we turn to the area again. Here, too, the procedure is identical to the work steps from the previous day. The fresh sealant forms a clear color contrast to the old paint. It is not difficult to track the progress of the work. And so the second coat is successfully completed after a short time.
LAY ON THE DRAINAGE LEVEL
The sealing of the terrace is not yet finished with the sealing coat. After the second coat has also dried, a drainage level is created. That sounds more complicated than it is. All that is required is to roll out and fasten so-called pavement drainage mats. In our case, three lanes are sufficient.
The drainage mats are rolled out line by line, parallel to the house facade. A connection must then be established between the tracks. To do this, these are attached along their entire length with self-adhesive mesh strips. Although this requires a little patience and sensitivity, it is not particularly demanding. As soon as the strips are connected, the terrace has been successfully sealed.
RESULT
With this project, the following applies: once it becomes clear what to do, the actual work is no longer particularly tricky. Because the individual work steps are completely uncomplicated and easy to manage, so basically, everyone can properly seal a terrace by themselves.
But of course, the dream of the new terrace in the garden has not yet come true. There is still a lot to do! And so we don’t even take a long rest, but continue our work. You can see the result in our instructions for correctly laying terrace slabs.
