The problem
Roofs, terraces, and below-grade structures in Accra's heavy-rain climate leak when waterproofing is patched rather than specified — and water ingress damages the building long before the stain appears.
Our approach
Waterproofing System Installation
Specified waterproofing system installation by City Painting Ghana — substrate-prepared, joint-detailed membrane systems for roofs, terraces, wet areas, and below-grade structures in Accra's heavy-rain climate.
The Challenge
Water is the most persistent threat to a building’s fabric, and Accra’s climate tests waterproofing harder than most. Intense seasonal rainfall loads roofs, terraces, podium decks, and basements with water that finds every unsealed joint, crack, and detail. When waterproofing fails, the damage rarely shows where the water enters — it tracks through the structure and surfaces as staining, spalling, reinforcement corrosion, and damaged finishes far from the breach, by which point the repair is structural, not cosmetic.
Most waterproofing failures are not material failures — they are specification and detailing failures. A coating brushed over a damp or poorly prepared deck will not bond. A membrane that is not detailed at upstands, drains, and movement joints will fail at exactly those points, because that is where water collects and the structure moves. Patching a leak that has already appeared treats the symptom and leaves the system unsound. A building owner needs the whole element waterproofed as an engineered system — substrate prepared, membrane specified for the exposure, and every junction detailed — not a coat of sealer over a problem.
The City Painting Ghana Solution
City Painting Ghana installs waterproofing as a specified system tied to the element and its exposure. Each engagement begins with a survey of the area to be waterproofed — substrate type and condition, falls and drainage, existing-system compatibility, and the critical details at upstands, penetrations, and movement joints — so the system is specified for the real conditions before installation begins.
Substrate preparation is the foundation of the work: surfaces are cleaned, made good, and prepared so the membrane bonds and performs. The system is then specified for the application — liquid-applied or membrane systems appropriate to roofs, terraces, wet areas, and below-grade structures, with materials such as ASTM C836-class liquid-applied membranes selected where a fully bonded, seamless membrane is required. Critical detailing — upstands, drainage outlets, penetrations, and movement joints — is built into the installation, because these junctions are where waterproofing succeeds or fails. The completed system is checked for continuity and, where appropriate, water-tested before it is signed off and covered.
Documentation & Process Specification
Every waterproofing package is delivered with a written record: a survey of the element with substrate condition, falls, and critical details; surface preparation graded to ISO 8501 where coatings to steel or concrete apply; the specified membrane system and data sheets (including ASTM C836-class systems where used); a detailing record at upstands, penetrations, and joints; and continuity and water-test sign-off before cover. The building owner inherits a documented record of the system installed and the protection it provides.
Typical Engagement Profile
These engagements typically cover roofs and terraces, podium and balcony decks, wet areas, and below-grade structures across commercial and mixed-use buildings, delivered as new installation or as remediation of a failed system. They run in coordination with the building owner, facilities management, and other trades working the same element — the kind of system-led, detail-first delivery City Painting Ghana has run across Accra, Kumasi, and Tema since 1983.
Outcomes
- Roofs, terraces, and below-grade structures waterproofed as engineered systems
- Critical details at upstands, drains, and joints built in, not left to fail
- Membrane systems specified for the element and the exposure (ASTM C836 where required)
- A continuity-checked, documented installation the owner can maintain and warrant