IT’S a familiar scene: after months of scorching summer weather, a strong wind lashes treetops and dark clouds fill the sky. A few drops fall lightly and then, with a sharp crack of thunder, the heavens open and drench the city.

Puddles turn into small lakes, narrow streets into rivers, and ground-floor homeowners slosh through their living rooms to salvage possessions from the rising water. Shop owners, if they’re prepared, quickly pile sandbags across their entrances.

But monsoon flooding isn’t the only water homeowners should be worried about, according to a host of civil engineers in Yangon, who say leaky buildings are at risk of serious water damage regardless of the height of their foundations.

Many developers continue to ignore the risk of leakage from above, they say.
“Apartment buildings in Yangon that were constructed about seven years ago are particularly likely to have inadequate waterproofing,” says U Kyaw Min Naing, an engineer with Myanmar V-Pile Group of Companies, which specialises in foundations.

U Aung Soe Myint, an engineer with Spirits Construction & Home Decoration Group, says buildings can become dangerous if water damage is extensive.

“Many developers still don’t know how dangerous it is and don’t pay any attention to it (water damage). When they mix concrete, sometimes the ratio is wrong and when the building is finished it leaks and people have to put up with dripping water,” he says.

“In the rainy season, concrete becomes bloated and in the hot season it shrinks, creating holes through which water can pass. And if it happens constantly the roof can fall in… residents could be badly hurt.”

Catching drips in saucepans and cups is a familiar problem for Daw Hmi, whose leaky apartment in Sanchaung township she recently traded for a home in Pabedan.

“Water used to drip from upstairs and we had to cover our heads before going into the bathroom. Our bathrooms were all in the same position (in the building)… so when people upstairs were using their bathroom we couldn’t go into ours without covering our heads,” she says.

It was only after Daw Hmi and her neighbours tried, and failed, to fix the problem using ordinary cement that they realised there was more to waterproofing than simply covering open holes.

Experts say there are three methods of waterproofing currently in use in Myanmar: applying a sealant to the exterior of a wall or roof; filling a cavity with polyurethane foam; or using a mixture of polyurethane foam and sealant which can either be painted onto a surface or injected into a wall.

But, as specialist waterproofing companies readily admit, the process is an additional cost for developers. Using polyurethane foam to fill a hole in the roof is particularly costly, they say.

Ko Zaw Zaw, director of waterproofing firm Zaw & Hnin Co., Ltd, says it is not uncommon for buildings to start leaking after only three years.

“But most developers still don’t feel they need to put in waterproofing measures for the sake of residents,” he says.

As such, residents should take nothing for granted when buying a home – especially one viewed only in the dry seasons.

U Aung Kyaw, who sells waterproofing materials, says builders are often ignorant of the need to act in the initial stages of construction before repairs are required.

“Waterproofing services cost about two percent of the total budget of a project but often developers don’t realise they need it.

“But some developers do address the issue and are asking us to carry out services for them,” he adds.

U Kyaw Naing Oo, chairman of Naing Group Construction Co., Ltd, says until only a few years ago the need to waterproof buildings fell under most developers’ radars.

“At first we didn’t know we needed to take steps to waterproof our projects. It was in 2003 that our technicians told us we needed to put a waterproofing plan into our buildings and from then on we’ve done so for each of our condominiums.

“We also want to put waterproofing materials in our other buildings but that will force the price of units up,” he says. “That stops us from putting the system in.”
Efforts to keep costs at rock bottom have led to selective use of waterproofing materials, with a focus on those areas most likely to be in contact with water for prolonged periods.

U Zin Min Swe, owner of Mandalay-based company C.A.D. (Construction and Decoration), says that, at a cost of K45,000 every 10 square feet, it is too expensive to apply waterproofing materials throughout a building, or even in each block.

“We only use it on buildings in good locations,” he says. “We waterproof the ground floor before we put the tiles down.”

This approach does little to stop trickles running through the upper levels from the roof, but U Zin Min Swe still considers the greatest threat to be from the dark, diesel-stained pools that lap at doorsteps after a downpour.

The solution? CAD now starts its ground floors 18 inches higher.