Cumbria flood resilience project – case study
RTC were involved with a flood resilience project in Cumbria which won the Environment Agency’s Project Excellence award for climate resilience.
The projects aim was to make three properties showcases for flood resilience, in order to demonstrate to homes and business owners what can be done to reduce the devastation that flooding can cause; an issue to many in the region.
The project, which is supported by North West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) and the Environment Agency, is the first of its kind in the country.
Background
RTC teamed up with Mary Dhonau OBE, flood resilience campaigner and chair of the PCA’s Flood Protection Group, who is spearheading the project, to take part in the transformation of Botcherby Community Centre.
Botcherby Community Centre, based in Carlisle, was the first project to be showcased. the community centre was severely flooded on the 5th December 2015 when Storm Desmond hit and has never fully re-opened since the devastating floods.
The project
The aim was to make the kitchen of the community centre, flood resilient. RTC carried out specialist flood resilience measures using the various products from Safeguard Europe Limited to provide long term benefits for the centre and the community as a whole. Our aim was to provide a system suitable for purpose, which could enable the centre to get back to normal as quickly as possible, should future flooding occur.
The first step was to apply Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream to the external walls up to a height of 1.2m to waterproof the brickwork and help prevent the ingress of water in the future.
We then applied Uni-Mortar 1 Joint Fill Compound around the perimeter of the floor to wall juncture. This helped waterproof one of the structures’ weakest points.
Internally, we used two replastering systems. The first was the Dryzone Damp Resistant Plaster Flood System, which is a waterproof and salt retardant plaster. Owing to its porous structure, this will dry down very quickly, should future flooding occur.
The second system was the Dryzone Drygrip Waterproof Adhesive Express Flood System, which is a plasterboard system using a waterproof and salt retardant adhesive. The advantage of this system is that it can be replaced very quickly with minimal disturbance, should future flooding occur.
The walls were then skimmed using Dryzone Hi-Lime Finishing Plaster.
Finally, we applied 2 coats of Drybase Liquid-Applied DPM to the floor. Once applied, this product cures to form a waterproof membrane that is flexible and elastic.
The project received a lot of media coverage, including visits from government ministers and politicians. RTC were also featured on BBC News.
RTC, who are experts in flood remediation, were delighted to support and be involved in this pioneering project, to show just hat can be done to reduce the impact of flooding.
Always choose members of the Property Care Association (PCA) to carry our these specialist works.
For any queries on flood resilience solutions, or to book a survey, please contact us.
Our staff will work closely with you from survey stage, right through to the successful completion of the contract.
