Case study · Water ingress investigation · Nottingham
106 openings, eight systems, four weeks: every leak path found.
McKay Turner Consulting investigated persistent water ingress across a large residential building in Nottingham, opening up and water testing every part of the envelope to trace each leak to its source.
The building
A large, recently redeveloped residential building
The building is a large, multi-storey residential development in Nottingham, with apartments and penthouses above commercial and amenity space, roof terraces, and an undercroft car park.
Its envelope combines curtain walling and cladding, glass balustrades to the upper terraces, flat roofs and podium terraces, render, and a masonry retaining wall: eight systems, and many more interfaces between them.
The brief
Leaks in many places, and no clear cause
Residents had been reporting water ingress in many locations across the building since its redevelopment. The building owner needed to know, with evidence, exactly where the water was getting in and why.
We were appointed to carry out a programme of intrusive investigations across the whole envelope, establishing the mechanism and root cause of water ingress for each system, so that remediation could be designed on facts rather than assumptions.
How we did it
Open up, test, and follow the water
After reviewing the building's drawings, previous consultants' reports and correspondence, we spent four weeks on site. Working from roof and ground level and a large boom lift, we carried out 106 intrusive investigations: removing cladding and spandrel panels, lifting paving and roof coverings, and exposing the interfaces between systems.
Where an opening showed a likely route, we water tested it and watched for the water internally, reproducing the leaks residents had reported. Drainage was camera surveyed with a specialist, and every location was logged, photographed and tracked in a digital field record.
Records review
Drawings, previous reports and project correspondence reviewed.
Opening-up
106 intrusive investigations across all elevations, roofs and terraces.
Water testing
Targeted tests to reproduce reported leaks and confirm each route.
Root cause report
63 locations analysed; mechanism and fix set out system by system.
What we investigated
Eight envelope systems, from roofline to car park
Each system was opened up where it met its neighbours, because that is where water most often finds a way in. The investigation showed that the leaks came from how the systems had been put together and joined, rather than from the quality of the products themselves.
The outcome
Every mechanism found, evidenced and explained.
The report identifies and evidences the water ingress mechanism for every system investigated, with photographs and water test results for each location. For each system it sets out the remediation needed, and it prioritises interim weatherproofing to reduce leaks for residents while the wider works are designed.
It also flagged matters outside the original brief for further specialist review. The owner now has a single, evidence-based account of why the building leaks, and a clear basis for the design team and contractors to plan the works.
From reported leaks to proven causes, system by system.
Work with us
Leaks you can't pin down? We'll find the source.
McKay Turner Consulting carries out water ingress and façade defect investigations, intrusive surveys and remediation design support for residential and commercial buildings across the UK.