NIGERIA'S NEEDS TO KNOW THIS.

Why do we have moisture stains and weeds on the body of buildings? What was supposed to have been done that

was not done? We do not give attention to construction details in this part of the world. There is what we call rising damp, especially when building in a water-prone environment, where the level of water to the surface of the ground is very close. We call it high water table level. It is easier for the water to rise through a process we call capillary action into the fabric of the wall. The wall will now absorb the water and it will keep rising up to the space where the people are living and because when the water is in the wall reef, the process of drying up and taking up water simultaneously will give rise to what we call algae growth, either externally or internally, causing green coloration on the wall because of dampness. That will give room to what we call sick building syndrome. A situation where when you are in a house you feel like the heat is so much that you cannot remain in the house. That is one symptom of sick building syndrome. Another symptom of sick building syndrome is when the darkness pervading the rooms makes you feel uncomfortable. We are supposed to give attention to details of construction. There is a process that is supposed to eliminate the rising damp. It is to put what we call damp-proof membrane before doing the oversight concrete which laymen in the industry call German floor. Damp proof membrane could be polythene spread across the space area or cement base waterproof admixtures so that it will prevent ingress of water. But you will find out that we don’t do it in Nigeria. You hardly see them spreading polythene or cement base waterproof admixtures on the foundation before casting the concrete. When you do that, water will not go beyond the oversight concrete to the space above. But because we miss that aspect of our construction work, we find rising .