 |
|
Disaster Advice Glossary
|
|
|
Disaster recovery and restoration can be veiled in mystery to the many who have not undertaken specific training. This glossary explains technical terms to assist both report writing and the understanding of those technical terms so often misunderstood.
Definition
| Adhesion: |
The ability of a material to adhere and bond to another surface or material usually with a chemical binder or adhesive. Education Note: In painting, for example, the adhesion increases as the surfaces are able to molecularly bond with each other. |
| Adhesive: |
A chemical substance used to bond materials together. In most carpets which have backings, adhesives are applied between the primary and secondary backing. In plywood, adhesives are used to bond layers of wood together. Often, adhesives are stronger than the materials they hold or bond together, while in other instances, the loss of adhesion strength by the adhesive, results in delamination or loss of structural integrety of the material. |
| Backcoat: |
A screeded adhesive applied to the back (rear) side of woven fabric goods, such as found on carpets and some upholstery. The backcoat adhesive adds strength and durability while increasing the woven goods structural integrity. |
| Blown Acoustic Ceilings: |
The adhesive and acoustic material sprayed on to a ceiling, giving the ceiling an even appearance and better sound absorption. Prior to 1980 and as late as 1994, some of the blown acoustic ceilings contained asbestos. |
| Blue Glue: |
A colour and type of permanently sticky glue made for thick commercial-grade rubber-back carpet tiles. Mitigation Note: During a water damage, and the disengagement removal of wet floor tiles, the concrete slab will permanently remain sticky with standing water on top. During the water damage flood, extract all water off of the floor tiles, and try not to allow flood water to entrain under the tiles. The tiles usually have thick rubber backing, and it is almost impossible to get spilt water trapped under them. If the slab is definitely wet from the flood, you will need to remove the tiles off of the wet concrete. When disengaging the floor tiles, you will need to take special care of the tiles so they continue to remain salvageable. Place the back of two tiles together, keeping the sticky side towards each other. Just stacking the floor tiles, will result in some adhesive transfer to the face fibres of the next fabric floor tile. |
| Carpet Cushion (Bonded Polyurethane): |
Carpet cushion produced by grinding flexible polyurethane foam into small particles and binding them together with a chemical adhesive. |
| Carpet Cushion (Synthetic Fibres): |
Non-woven needle-punched felt made principally of post-industrial scrap synthetic carpet material with no outside adhesives. |
| Carpet Roller: |
A rolling tool weighing from 35 to 50 pounds and up to 100 pounds, that aids the adhesion of carpet and mastic adhesives to bond with a subfloor. Water Damage Note: Carpet rollers are also used on water damaged carpets, where especially gluedown carpets are squeezed-out of the excess moisture. See Compression Rolling |
| Caulking: |
The process and procedure by which an adhesive material (as a sealer) is applied to the corners of a surface. The caulking may be applied on all adjoining areas of two or more materials or as a surface bead. |
| Delamination: |
The separating or detaching of a primary material from its composite matrix or its secondary materials. Education Note: Delamination is usually is a result of wear and tear, but delamination can be a result of increased exposures to environmental conditions, including sun light and UV, heat, too little or too much humidity, air movement causing drying, and water damages causing release of glue and adhesive binders. |
| Dewpoint Related to New Building Materials: |
The acclimation of new building materials in a new environment before installation. Education Note: Problems related with dew point and a new atmosphere having moisture and vapor condensation problems: - Concrete slabs and new flooring: Concrete slabs are measured for moisture levels using the calcium chloride test method and pH tests have been conducted. Installation Note: The floor covering installer has taken great pains in ensuring the project will go as error-free as possible. Several days later, the flooring is installed and in less than a month, blisters begin to appear and/or adhesive begins oozing from the floor covering seams. Inspectors Note: The floor is opened up and inspected and it has been determined, the adhesive did not cure! Next, a series of events begin to take place establishing the guilt or failure of the flooring installer and/or manufacturer. Liability/Litigation Note: The manufacturer is brought in to establish whether their products are defective and the litigation cycle (i.e. expense, time, damage to customer goodwill and reputation, etc.) begins yet again. This all-too-familiar scenario will continue to play itself out, with the current "facts" creating more questions and confusion than answers. The likelihood is that this problem will continue to increase in frequency, with the confusion increasing - unless the influences of dewpoint in the building are considered. Installers Note: Dew point does a nearly indistinguishable imitation of classic moisture "problems" that can result in real floor covering installation concerns. Yet, dewpoint is in reality, a transitory effect, which once detected, can be controlled at the time prior to installation, if the installer is made aware of its existence and how to control the potential detrimental effects. |
| Dextrin (Anylin, Starch Gum): |
A starch-based compound used for wall sizing and wallpaper adhesive. As a paste, the starch is mould-loving when wet, or the walls are damp for periods of time. |
| Duct Liner Coating: |
A permanent adhesive painted-on coating in ventilation systems for unfaced fibreglass duct liner insulation, metal vents, drip and drain pans, and sound board. |
| Flush-Out: |
In indoor environmental quality, flush-out is the process by which indoor air is exchanged repeatedly and over time with fresh outdoor air. Education Note: Depending on the purpose and design, flush-out may include purging the HVAC system and providing maximum outdoor air intake continuously for several days. Flush-out sometimes is necessary when new furniture, carpet, paint and other adhesive related products are brought into a building having a tight indoor air configuration. See Bake-Out |
| Joints: |
Connection areas where similar building materials and components are pieced or matched together. Education Note: Joints are the separation between matching materials such as drywall or paneling. Some joints are filled such as drywall tape joints and sealed carpet seams, while other joints are butted next to each other and they are purposely left exposed but are not easily picked up by the eye, such as at wood paneling, vinyl flooring and wall paper joints. Mitigation Note: Water damages results in saturation and swelling of materials at their joints and the release of mastics and adhesives. |
| Laminated Material: |
A material such as wood, that is bonded together in composite layers. Education Note: Plywood is a laminate, whereas each layer is cross-laid over itself, with adhesives and glues, increasing the structural stability and strength of the composite plywood laminated material. |
| Linoleum Roller: |
A heavy installation tool used to roll-out adhesive under the linoleum. A linoleum roller can be used in water damage mitigation to remove large amounts of saturated water in glue-down carpet or carpet with pad. |
| MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard): |
A pre-cast or molded finishing material made of composite fiberboard, glues and adhesives. Adjuster Note: Most MDF are painted cove and cornice materials. MDF materials take the place of more expensive solid wood coving and cornices. If the base and cornice materials are to be painted, MDF may be a substitute for solid wood. Restorative Drying Note: In water damage restoration, once MDF materials become saturated, they tend to swell anddelaminate easy, and in general, when MDF has had continuous contact with water, where water or moisture remains behind the MDF, the MDF backside readily supports mould growth. |
| Pergo Flooring: |
A manufactured floating floor system that has the appearance of hardwood flooring. Pergo is a product trade name owned by Perstop Flooring, Inc. Pergo flooring consists of a wood-base core, and it is made of wood chips, sawdust and adhesive binders, compressed under high heat and pressure. The wood material is then applied with a photo-generated picture and it has a wear layer consisting of a melamine plastic finish. Restorative Drying Note: The Pergo flooring system has either a five year or seven year product warrantee. Any water damage to the floor may void manufacturer warrantee. If water gets under a Pergo floor system product, dehumidification drying may be of little use or benefit, but in general, the wood chip, saw dust, binder and floor adhesive on the product, including the underlayment, are known to weaken and break down, often resulting in permanent damage to the effected floor area. For manufacturer information call: 800/337-3746. Installation Note: All Pergo floor products must have a 6-mil or greater plastic vapor barrier when Pergo products are installed over concrete having less than 5 pounds of vapor pressure per thousand square foot; or less than 10% moisture content of wood subfloors, installed with a Pergo SoundblockTM or WhisperwalkTM underlayment. |
| Subsidence: |
a) The sinking of soil or a land mass. b) The sinking of ground from around, behind or under a building. c) Contractor Note: In flooded buildings, subsidence is the sinking of subfloors from over saturation. c1) Subsidence of a floor is seen in flooded mobile homes, where chipboard is used and the glues and adhesives are releasing, and the wood chips are swelling. Usually crowning from swelling of the subfloor, it occurs when furniture weight is removed, and when weight is added, the chipboard subfloor subsides. c2) Subsidence is also seen in water saturated plywood subfloors, where there is wide placement of the floor joists. c3) Subsidence can also be due to a weak subfloor from a structural defect, and it may not be from over saturation with water. |
| Vapour Pressure Osmosis: |
a) The diffusion or spreading of water through a membrane until they are mixed. b) Osmotic pressure is the pressure produced by the tendency of a relatively pure fluid to pass (through a semipermeable membrane) into a relatively impure solution. Education Note: In the case of floors, the "fluid" is water, the "semipermeable membrane" is concrete; and the "relatively impure solution" is moisture plus dissolved salts in the concrete. Although osmotic conditions are capable of creating problems that will become quickly apparent (usually within a couple of weeks), there is no evidence to support osmotic pressure as a primary cause of a floor failure. Water condensing under a flooring material from vapor emission is "pure," and creates osmotic pressure as it is inclined to move toward "impure" moisture in the concrete containing dissolved salts. The most extreme pressure to be expected in concrete is probably on the order of 8 to 10 p.s.i. The pressure created by osmotic pressure is relatively low, and it will not normally disturb cured adhesives or damage concrete. See Moisture Related Flooring Failures |
| Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): |
A category of organic compounds with a relatively high vapour pressure, which a majority are air contaminates. VOCs are carbon-hydrogen bonded compounds (hydrocarbons), but they also may be aldehydes, chlorinated hydrocarbons, ketones, and other hydrocarbon-based compounds. VOCs are in paint, carpet, adhesives, binders, household cleaners, film, and materials that make up most of today's manufactured furniture. Excessive VOC exposure to some sensitized individuals produces an immediate health response and reaction to the VOC, resulting in skin irritation, nausea, depression, reactions to the central nervous system, and/or an increased risk of cancer. |
The Disaster Advice Glossary and its contents are the protected copyright of Disaster Advice
The Disaster Advice Glossary operates on TechMerit Technoloy.
|
|
 |
|