Gaco Asbestos Roof Waterproofing in Waterford — Encapsulation Without Removal

Waterford city stands on the River Suir close to its tidal estuary on Ireland’s south coast. Its trade has always followed the river. Today the Port of Waterford’s main terminal is at Belview, about 8 km downstream, handling bulk, container and project cargo, rail freight and cruise calls, and the port company markets it as the closest Irish bulk port to mainland Europe. Around the city are coastal and riverside communities such as Tramore, Dunmore East, Passage East and Kilmeaden. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for all of it.

A working port and a city with a long industrial history leave a legacy of big, plain roofs. Bulk storage, cargo sheds, workshops, depots and older commercial buildings in and around the city were often built when corrugated asbestos cement was a routine roof sheet. Many are still in service, and on a large shed the roof can be the single most expensive element to replace. Riverside and estuary locations add exposure to wind-driven rain, while the city’s older building stock includes roofs that have been patched and extended piece by piece.

There is no Waterford station with a full published 1991 to 2020 Met Éireann normal, so Cork Airport serves as the nearest reference, with 1,239 mm of rain a year. That is enough to erode the face of old sheets, open cracks at laps and fixings and let water through around rooflights. Encapsulation seals the whole roof without removing it. Gaco urethane coatings, U91 and U92 being the grades used on asbestos cement, are applied over the existing sheets, which means cargo, stock or production underneath can usually keep moving, subject to the installer’s risk assessment. The approved installer surveys, records every penetration, replaces broken sheets and prepares the surface without abrasion. Duratite supplies the coatings; the installer does the job.

In the Republic, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 386 of 2006, as amended) govern any work that could disturb asbestos, with the Health and Safety Authority as the enforcing authority. On a large industrial roof, edge protection and safe routes across fragile sheets are designed before work begins. Waterford City and County Council is the building control authority, and TGD L 2022 applies where insulation is changed. The island-of-Ireland reference project is SAICA Warrenpoint, Co. Down.

For a Waterford city or port building, send the rough roof area, a note of plant, rooflights and gutters on the roof, and any site rules on access, permits or working hours. The approved installer can then plan the survey around the operation.