Experimental study of the distribution of chemical products against rising damp in substrates with different water saturation degrees

Injection of chemicals in masonry walls is a commonly used technique for tackling rising damp. The presence of a high moisture content in the wall to be injected may sometimes limit the effectiveness of the intervention. This paper reports an experimental study of curing time, spreading and effectiveness of 15 injection products in bricks with different water saturation degrees. Significant differences in curing times and percentages of components left after curing were observed among products. The spreading and the effectiveness of products in (wet) substrates resulted to strongly depend on the solvent and, in a lesser way, on the active components. Liquid water based silane/siloxane products showed to spread homogeneously and reduce water uptake the most.