Prevention of Premature Staining of New Buildings

Citation

(1998), "Prevention of Premature Staining of New Buildings", Structural Survey, Vol. 16 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.1998.11016bae.006

Prevention of Premature Staining of New Buildings

Prevention of Premature Staining of New Buildings

Phil ParnhamE & F N SponLondon1997A4 soft bound59 pp£25.00

Keywords: Buildings, Case studies, History

Staining of buildings is something everyone notices and many remark on, but it is seldom studied and few architects of today understand it or seem to have any idea how it will affect the elevations of their buildings. If only they could be persuaded to study this new book by Phil Parnham, a Principal Lecturer in Building Surveying at Sheffield Hallam University, they could at least predict where moss and lichen will grow on their elevations and where streaks will form.

Staining is caused by uneven water flow down a vertical or sloping external face and can show where erosion may occur or where harmful salts can be deposited or can test the effectiveness of the flashings and dpcs. It should be an integral consideration in any elevational design and this authoritative comprehensible guide to premature staining is therefore particularly welcome. Staining can also provide guidance as to where and how a building may degrade and decay. As the preface points out "hindsight is an exact science" but fails to add that no one is endowed with it; the alternative is to enhance your foresight, which this book does.

The first chapter defines premature staining and discusses the effects. An important look at history follows, and then a description of how and why buildings stain. Thirty pages of pictures of case studies serve to illustrate the matters discussed earlier and the book concludes with guidance for designers (see Figure 1 for examples of the illustrations).

Alert readers of this book will be prompted to look at buildings from a new viewpoint, those they pass, as well as those they are briefed to inspect, and will be encouraged to consider how the detailing could be adjusted to avoid the premature staining they are now aware of.

Altogether a worthwhile publication and a worthy purchase for office libraries.