There’s a “miracle” product advertised on TV that is a miracle cure-all for leaks and all sorts of water problems. I’m sure you’ve seen it – the one where the pitch man sprays the product over an open screen door that’s placed in the bottom of a boat. Then we see him paddling around like nothing ever happened. If you haven’t seen it, watch below. It’s pretty entertaining.
That’s a cool demo – but I’d like to see something like the guy in the boat in rough water surrounded by sharks. Then maybe I’d be impressed.
The pitch man goes through all the demos – roof leaks, gutter leaks, potted plant leaks, you name the leak, the product stops it. A real miracle–at least on TV.
This product just might do all those things and more, but the commercial got me to thinking – if this product will stop ALL leaks, then what would happen if someone constructed a building without paying attention to building enclosure details, and just sprayed the cladding with this product?
In other words, can we construct a building while paying no attention to water proofing details, use some miracle spray coating product, and have a building that doesn’t leak?
Could this product correct a multitude of construction defects?
I’m inclined to answer no – I’ve seen a lot of spray applied products that are supposed to save us from poor attention (or complete inattention) to waterproofing details on our buildings. Many of these products are pretty good, manufactured by fine companies, but some products are misused, their capabilities overestimated, or the products are just asked to do too much.
For example, some cladding sealants may work just fine in some regions, but use of those products may not work too well where it rains or where it is exposed to brutal UV. And it may only work a few months. Or maybe the crack, gap, opening we’re asking the product to bridge is way too big.
Whatever the case, waterproofing products from a spray can or bucket probably will only enhance (not replace) a well designed, constructed, and maintained building enclosure. And sometimes you’ve got to tear up the enclosure and build it back correctly
If a spray applied product would fix all leaking building enclosures, we’d see pumper trucks with this product’s name and logo all over the place, and no building owner would ever have to remove or replace their cladding.
In the meantime, I’d love to know if any of you plan to design and construct your next building enclosure based solely on a coating system. If you are, please let me know what you’re using and what type of success you’re having. I’m willing to bet that no one is going to rely solely on one of these space age products – for $19.99 (plus S&H) or any other price.
If you ever run into water intrusion or mold problems that you just can’t solve with a can of spray miracle, comment below to let me know what experience you’ve had with coating systems – I’ll compile the results and share them in a future blog post. I won’t use names or places, but I’d like as much information as you’d like to share.
Visit our mold and moisture page to learn more about solving your mold and moisture problems, and leave your comments and questions below.
Stay miraculous, my friends.
Chris White, P.E., LEED AP has been helping clients solve problems for 20 years. He is the most interesting engineer in the world. You can follow him on Twitter@ChrisWhitePE.
