When you think of an earth-sheltered building, what image springs to mind? For some, this could be Hobbit homes like those seen in Lord of the Rings movies. In the real world, these buildings can offer a number of advantages and unique challenges for their owners. Benefits include the protection soil can offer from extreme weather and they have very little exterior upkeep. Yet, over time the materials used to originally waterproof the facility can begin to breakdown and can be difficult and costly to repair due to tons of soil overburden installed to protect the very building.
In commercial buildings, waterproofing failure can commonly cause a host of issues. This was the case with an earth-sheltered utility building at a hospital facility in Anderson, S.C. where years of leaks led to rusting reinforcement and spalling concrete from the concrete deck. The South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) contracted with Terracon to provide Design and Contract Administration services for the waterproofing of their earth-sheltered utility building that had been built in the 1980s. The facility provides the utilities, laundry, storage, automotive repair, grounds keeping, and facility management office space to support the nearby hospital.