A
- Acrylic coating
- A water-based reflective roof coating that cures by evaporation. Inexpensive and highly reflective, but not suited to roofs that hold ponding water.
- Air barrier
- A material or assembly that stops uncontrolled air movement through the building envelope, which also limits the moisture that air carries.
B
- Backfill
- The soil placed back against a foundation wall after excavation. Poor backfill material or compaction is a common cause of settlement and water intrusion.
- Bentonite
- A clay that swells when wet, used in some waterproofing membranes to self-seal small openings.
C
- Capillary action
- The movement of water through tiny pores in concrete or masonry, even upward against gravity. It is why a wall can be damp with no visible leak.
- Catch basin
- A grated inlet set at a low point that collects surface water and pipes it away. Often paired with a sediment sump to keep the line clear.
- Cold joint
- The seam where fresh concrete meets concrete that has already set, typically at the footing and wall connection. A frequent leak point.
- Crawl space encapsulation
- Sealing a crawl space with a heavy vapor barrier over the ground and up the walls, usually combined with drainage and humidity control.
- Curtain drain
- A gravel-filled trench with perforated pipe installed uphill of a structure to intercept groundwater before it reaches the building.
D
- Dampproofing
- A thin asphalt-based coating that slows moisture vapor. It is a code minimum and does not resist hydrostatic pressure.
- Drainage board
- A dimpled sheet installed against foundation walls that creates a gap for water to run down to the footing drain instead of pressing on the wall.
- Dry well
- A buried chamber surrounded by stone that stores collected water and lets it infiltrate the soil over time.
E
- Efflorescence
- White, chalky mineral deposits left on masonry when water passes through it and evaporates. A visible sign of ongoing moisture movement.
- Elongation
- How far a cured coating can stretch before it tears, expressed as a percentage. High elongation lets a coating bridge cracks and move with the roof.
- EPDM
- A single-ply synthetic rubber roof membrane, usually black. A common substrate for restoration coatings.
F
- Footing drain
- Perforated pipe in stone at the base of the foundation footing that carries groundwater to a sump or daylight discharge.
- French drain
- A gravel-filled trench with perforated pipe that collects and redirects water. Used in yards to fix soggy lawns and ponding, and inside basements at the footing.
H
- Hydrostatic pressure
- The force water in saturated soil exerts against a foundation. It is what pushes water through cracks and cold joints.
M
- Membrane
- A continuous waterproof layer, either sheet-applied or fluid-applied, that keeps water from reaching the structure.
- Mil
- One thousandth of an inch. Coating thickness is specified in dry mils, and hitting the specified thickness is what makes a warranty valid.
- Modified bitumen
- An asphalt-based roofing membrane reinforced with polymers, installed in rolls. A common candidate for coating restoration.
N
- Negative grade
- Ground that slopes toward a building instead of away from it, sending surface water straight at the foundation.
P
- Perm rating
- A measure of how readily a material lets water vapor pass through it. Lower numbers mean a tighter vapor barrier.
- Ponding water
- Water that remains on a roof more than 48 hours after rain. It shortens the life of most coatings, which is why silicone is specified for ponding roofs.
- Polyurethane coating
- A tough, abrasion-resistant fluid-applied coating. Aromatic grades build the base layer, aliphatic grades handle UV exposure on top.
R
- Regrading
- Reshaping the soil around a building so surface water runs away from it, often paired with a swale.
S
- Silicone coating
- A moisture-cure coating with excellent UV and ponding water resistance. It attracts dirt, is slippery when wet, and does not tolerate heavy foot traffic well.
- Sump pump
- A pump set in a basin that removes collected groundwater and discharges it away from the foundation. Battery backups matter in storm-related outages.
- Swale
- A shallow, shaped channel in the landscape that carries surface water along a planned path instead of letting it pool.
T
- Tensile strength
- How much pulling force a cured coating can take before it breaks. Higher tensile strength resists wind uplift and mechanical damage.
- TPO
- Thermoplastic polyolefin, a white single-ply roof membrane. Older TPO with failing seams is a strong candidate for restoration.
V
- Vapor barrier
- A low-permeability sheet used to stop moisture vapor from passing through floors, walls, or crawl space soil.
W
- Weeping tile
- An older term for perforated drain pipe installed around a foundation footing.
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