Specialist surveyors from Peter Cox have today announced the completion of essential waterproofing work at Leigh Town Hall, ensuring the 800-year-old historic records stored in the building are kept safe from water damage.
The town hall, built in 1907, is located in the centre of Leigh near Wigan, and was designed for Leigh Borough Council by J.C. Prestwich. Once all contractors have finished working on the Grade II listed hall it will host a new museum, exhibition spaces and a public search room.
Bespoke design
A CSSW qualified surveyor from Peter Cox surveyed the basement archive rooms, previously used to store historic documents. Despite being previously dry lined there was evidence of rain ingress and salt contaminated plaster indicating that there was a failure of the waterproofing system.
The surveyor was then asked by the architects to design a bespoke waterproofing system that included all three types of waterproofing in order to comply with BS8102, (the code of practice for protection of below ground structures against water from the ground).
The new waterproofing design incorporated a barrier protection system (type A), integral (type B) and a cavity drainage system (type C), which was fully compliant with BS8102. Once fully completed the installed waterproofing system will give the archive full protection for the future, ensuring the archive items and documents safe and dry for years to come.
Once the archive area is waterproofed, the wall membrane is to be re-plastered with plasterboard using a baton or a dot and dab method. A finishing plaster will then applied, hiding the membrane and allowing the room to be decorated.
Gareth Hayward CSRT & CSSW Qualified Surveyor for the Liverpool & Wirral Area at Peter Cox said “The Town Hall needed to be waterproofed with a great deal of care and attention to detail, as if something went wrong in the future then precious historic documents could be damaged and ruined. The system designed and tailored for Leigh Town Hall will provide certainty of this protection for years to come.”
“Newton’s wide range of specialist products enable approved contractors like Peter Cox to design bespoke waterproofing systems like this one with ease, confident in the fact that the quality of the products will support their installation. Our cavity drain membrane system in particular was perfect for the Grade II Listed Leigh Town Hall, as it complies with Listed Building regulations whilst also providing complete waterproofing protection for the precious historic records housed inside.” James Hughes, Newton Waterproofing
