Interior Waterproofing

The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast was built at its present site on Grosvenor Road in the early 1900s. The main hospital building was designed in 1899 by the architects Henman & Cooper, with construction taking place from about 1900 to 1903, and the hospital was officially opened on 27 July 1903 by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

The hospital site includes numerous Victorian-era buildings that remain operational. In many cases, the lowest floors are below ground level and beneath the water table. Due to the absence of an adequate damp-proof membrane (DPM), groundwater has been rising through the floors, leading to the closure of valuable spaces that are urgently needed by the hospital.

The Remmers Kiesol system is a milestone in the story of subsequent interior waterproofing for basements. Developed more than 40 years ago and used hundreds of thousands of times, this refurbishment system stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to protection against moisture and salts.

Used as a primer, Kiesol stabilises, compacts and hydrophobises the wall surface, reducing the stresses in the contact zone between the wall and the waterproofing slurry. WP Sulfatex is a slurry with a high resistance against salts, which is applied to the primed surface ‘wet-on-wet’. The white renovation plaster used afterwards is an effective condensate buffer that provides sufficient storage capacity for all moisture levels.