ᐅ Concrete slab and house protected against moisture with dimpled membrane? Any experiences?

Hello dear homeowners,

Who has experience and can help me? I have been living in the house for 2 years, and now it’s time to work on the exterior landscaping. We have now installed dimpled membrane (drainage membrane) for the terraces, but it already seemed wrong to me. I have since read up on it and am still unsure. Did my construction company deliver a house without properly waterproofing the exterior or what?

The house has no basement. A neighbor said the company applied bitumen and then a slurry coat, and that would be sufficient. Additionally, we are installing the dimpled membrane, which should be more than enough.

Now I don’t know if the dimpled membrane was installed correctly, if the company really applied bitumen, and if everything we're doing is enough — or if we should call a specialist? Attached is a photo; I am totally confused. What do I need to do to protect my house from moisture and damage for the next 10 years? I don’t want to forget anything, as everyone says something different: One road construction worker offers to do it for 150 euros, saying he will remove the gravel, apply the slurry coat, and install the dimpled membrane with the dimples facing the wall. Another person says it would cost 5,000 euros and that there needs to be insulation, then a layer – I don’t know what exactly – then styrofoam, and then the dimpled membrane with drainage.

I am confused.

This is a bit too little information. Is it a solid construction (with or without external thermal insulation composite system, ETICS) or timber frame?
In the pictures, you can see the waterproof slurry. Whether there is any bitumen applied cannot be seen. However, you should be able to find this on your invoice if it was done.
For a solid house without ETICS, waterproof slurry in the base area is usually sufficient. Your patio door, from what can be seen in the picture, also has waterproof slurry. Personally, I wouldn’t consider that enough as waterproofing, but maybe there is something else beneath the slurry.

Regarding the dimpled membrane on the picture, it is a dimpled membrane without fleece. Normally, the dimples should face the wall. Whether you should use a dimpled membrane with or without fleece also depends on your wall structure.

Do you have any pictures from the construction phase or documents showing at least the original plans?

Teimo1988 schrieb:

This is a bit too little information. Is the building solid construction (with or without external thermal insulation composite system) or timber frame?
In the pictures, I can see the waterproof slurry. It’s not possible to tell if any bitumen was applied anywhere. But you should be able to see that on your invoice if it was done.
For a solid house without external insulation, waterproof slurry in the base area is usually sufficient. Your patio door also appears to have waterproof slurry applied. Personally, I wouldn’t consider that enough as waterproofing, but maybe there’s something else under the slurry.

Regarding the dimpled membrane in the picture, it looks like a dimpled membrane without fleece. Normally, the dimples face the wall. Whether you should use a dimpled membrane with or without fleece depends on your wall construction.

Do you have any pictures from the construction phase or documentation showing at least what was planned?

So, it looks like bitumen was applied to the green Styrodur, or whatever it’s called, then bitumen again on top. After that, my husband applied the slurry, on top of the slurry...

Teimo1988 schrieb:

This is a bit too little information. Is the building solid construction (with or without external thermal insulation composite system) or timber frame?
In the pictures, I can see the waterproof slurry. It’s not possible to tell if any bitumen was applied anywhere. But you should be able to see that on your invoice if it was done.
For a solid house without external insulation, waterproof slurry in the base area is usually sufficient. Your patio door also appears to have waterproof slurry applied. Personally, I wouldn’t consider that enough as waterproofing, but maybe there’s something else under the slurry.

Regarding the dimpled membrane in the picture, it looks like a dimpled membrane without fleece. Normally, the dimples face the wall. Whether you should use a dimpled membrane with or without fleece depends on your wall construction.

Do you have any pictures from the construction phase or documentation showing at least what was planned?

I believe bitumen was applied directly on the masonry, then plastered. My husband also applied slurry, ...

The house is built stone on stone. You can see the waterproof slurry on the terrace. There must have been bitumen underneath once.

Oh, sorry for the strange sentences above. It got stuck, and I wanted to correct it, but then it went online. So, please see the pictures, and if you need more information, just let me know.

Yes, that looks quite good. However, I would install the dimpled membrane with the dimples facing the wall or use a dimpled membrane with a fleece backing and install it with the fleece side against the wall.

Looks (almost everything) good. Waterproofing seems fine.
The dimples of the membrane facing the wall (the membrane is meant to protect the wall from stones piercing the moisture barrier and damaging it—that’s all it does).
The only question left is how the waterproofing of the patio window was done. Nothing can be seen because your husband applied the waterproof slurry onto whatever surface.