@@jdraven0890 An extra roof leaked into your comment. This isn't my favourite leak of all time, but it is my favourite leak of the most recent minute of my life.
I'm not an architect and I don't know any architects to explain the world of architects to me. So I'm just going to assume that this is an incredibly well made shit post because this sounds like insanity.
At my university, we used to mock the architects because their faculty building was a beautiful but old castle with a leaky roof. It never occured to me that this was intentional... I feel very silly now
Over here in Norway, building physics (basically moisture-safe design) is a separate engineering profession and a responsible discipline different from architecture. It's like structural design - the architect usually decides the concept, but a separate professional is tasked to actually design it. I'm finishing a PhD related to building physics, so this video mostly trod through familiar territory. We use to say we have a two-part strategy for avoiding moisture damage: 1) Prevent water from entering the structure 2) Enable the structure to dry out whatever water intrudes despite the efforts of point 1). That means air gaps are your best friends. Shingle roofs are virtually unheard of here. Roofs are built to have an exterior cladding - typically roof tiles, but corrugated sheet metal is also sometimes used - over a waterproof but vapour-open "sub-roof" with a five-centimeter gap in between. The tiles keep out 95% of the water, the air gap lets the remaining 5% dry out. The general mantra is "no cladding is waterproof - design for drying capacity". That goes for below-ground structures as well (a colleague of mine is doing her PhD on that subject. There's a lot of discussion about diffusion and convection in our office). Likewise, ventilation is the key to happiness. Indoor air moisture should ideally not condensate anywhere, but if you saturate the air enough it will do so anyway. The solution is to flush the indoor air with dry outdoor air continuously. Even (heck, *especially*) uninhabited basements. Ventilation must occur through openings designed for it. Either a mechanical ventilation system or dedicated air vents. The rest of the building envelope must be airtight to prevent air leakage and condensation. If your structure contains a waterproof layer on both the interior and exterior sides (like compact roofs, or bathroom walls below grade): for the love of all that's holy, do not put organic materials between them. Water that gets in there will not get out again, so the best you can do is ensure there's nothing in there that can rot apart. Put any load-bearing elements on the interior side of such constructions, so they can be inspected. Oh, and most foremost: awareness is key. Moisture safety seminar are regularly arranged for industry professionals to attend. Building research advisory agencies regularly publish moisture safety guidelines. There's a widely used design guide publication series with detailed illustrations and instructions on moisture safety. That one helps weed out a lot of the bad solutions seen abroad. That being said, we still have a lot of moisture problems, but the Norwegian climate is pretty harsh so I think it's tough to eliminate them all. But I think moisture safety is much higher on the agenda in the Nordic countries than most other places, so some of the obscure practices and design elements used here could be used to great effect elsewhere. At least elsewhere with a cold climate.
TL;DR But that wouldn't be the 'Good Architecture', would it? Too much of a hassle, anyway - just do like mr. Hicks said: "Beware of those litigious clients" like madame Savoye and you'll be fine. Better yet, collaborate with those german guys, like the great Charles-Édouard Jeanneret did: they surely taught that pesky Savoye how to be 'litigious' about leaks! [right_to_jail.gif]
That's some professional-level moisture determination. I must say tho', at a measly TWO-part strategy, the Norwegian's seem to being far ahead of us in NZ at ensuring reliability of consequence of leaks. Unfortunately, here, we are guided and led by a FOUR-part strategy which makes it very hard to achieve a reliable leak-full experience for our clients. The 4 Ds of water... Deflection - stop it getting in. Drainage - let it get out Dehydration - if it can't get out, let it at least evaporate. Durability - If it can't evaporate at least let the materials withstand the onslaught. It's good to know tho' that even when appearing to conform to those standards, the best architects still manage to achieve some serious, litigation-level leaks here in NZ. Quality leak life-goals for the clients.
@@ПолинаКохно-е4ы, стоит начать с "Water in Buildings" William B. Rose - говорящее название; потом "Builder's Guide to..." J. Lstiburek и "Moisture Control Handbook" и у его друга Straube тоже есть книжка: "High Performance Enclosures"; о строительной науке в целом: "Building Science for Cold Climate" Hutcheon и Handegord - канадская классика и европейская "Building Physics" от Hugo Hens. В контексте исторических зданий: "Building Environment" от Historic England и "Old House Eco Handbook" Roger Hunt от SPAB
Nordic weather is going to get even more fun in the future thanks to climate change. Less cold and snowy weather and more rain and wind that creates sideways rain that seeps into the walls. Going to wreak havoc on current houses that are designed mostly for dry cold weather.
@@hillppari Depending on the region.. Bergen in Norway (most rainy town in Europe) architects are learned that 50% of the rain will hit the roof, the other 50% the walls, plan for it. :P Also, of course they also learn nothing about how to plan for it since thats the building engineers job haha..
As an archaeologist this reminds me of a lot of the studies of first and early second century Roman architecture in Britain. Being Powerful, Arrogant, Imperialists (tautological, I know), they simply copy-pasted the sorts of designs they enjoyed in the mediterranean, particularly the fine buildings of central and Southern Italy; with open central courtyards and, naturally, masonry and plaster superstructure with heavy tiled roofing. Naturally the leaks where incredible. The square courtyards filled with snow in winter and flooded the houses, and the rising damp (as seen in reconstructions) was a perennial pest. Meanwhile the natives sat pretty in wood and thatch roundhouses, much as they had for centuries, rather more cosily. The thatch allowing smoke from a modest fire to percolate through, keeping moisture at bay, and pests out, while also keeping the smoke at above head height. The posts rotted out at ground level after a year or two, but that was hardly an issue given the weight of thatch keeping the thing down. And it was far less effort to replace an old thatch round house than it was a disgustingly expensive palatine style villa. Leaks are eternal, but humble technology tailored to the climate and conditions makes a world of difference
Sounds like the beach town where I used to live. Concrete and steel high-rises built in the 1970s and '80s are falling apart due to moisture damage and corrosion from salt air, while most of the single family houses in town are all wooden and have stood for much longer because they circulate air and don't hold in moisture. Everything has a reason, and it's dangerously arrogant to assume that we automatically know better about our environment than the "primitives" of previous generations or less developed societies.
@@christinesarkis4029 native populations live a certain way because that way works for that environment, and I think that outsiders always take that for granted
I am a builder, I love the part about how 78% of leaks are caused by builders mistakes. We talk often on job sites about how everything possible is done to push responsibility and blame onto us lil ole carpenters. If you follow basic old fashioned building practice you can make a house out of sticks, grass, and cow shit. Give water a way to roll down hill away from the house, over the edge and away and you will be ok. What happens more and more, is people trying to funnel water in, move it around, get it to an internal gutter and then. UH OH, its the builders fault that one of many many risky points gave out and had a fault with it. Its a numbers game, if you rely on seals and silicone all over the place, funny flashings (difficult flashing designs are NEVER on the plans) to make strange roof junctions work that we make on site, something will give out, and someone will be able to say that the builder messed up what they did in a laboratory setting, but we did with timber, which moves while you are working with it. I installed a very expensive, very fancy shower the other day with 9 vertical silicone joints, each one blind. leaks are being designed in so much because 78% of the time its some shmucks problem
Dear Fuckoff, Your piece echos what my nephew who has been in the building trade for over 20 years tells me. His conversation with an architect about directing away water revealed her belief that water should be directed INTO THE WALLS where various sealed structures will eventually conduct the water away someplace. When she asked if anyone had any questions, he told the architect that water should be directed AWAY FROM THE WALLS. Sealants eventually fail and when these do, the building will have water in the walls! The idea that water should be directed away from the walls seemed unheard of by her. And she was an architect!
@@haydenbox I was working a summer job at a new 500 million dollar hotel... The outside walls had weird water marks going down the side every x amount of feet... One day I saw a carpenter on a ladder trying to fix it... Me: "did they not put flashing on the entire building?" Carpenter: "yup!".
I'm an architect and I can proudly say that my own house leaked. Right at the top of that 6m ceiling, because - flat roofs. Never felt better about my skills.
One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s clients called to complain that the roof was leaking all over the dining room chair, Wright stated matter of factly: “so move the chair” and hung up
Hicks missed an opportunity to incorporate a partner in great leak design with the landscape architect. Utilizing plants to burrow into building materials is an excellent way to establish leaks that wont appear on day one, but will be a delight 5 to 10 years out.
My favourite was the dome on the Reichstag in Berlin. Yes, they planned for water to come through the hole but were surprised when the rain sometimes didn't come down vertically 🙄 Then they put a glass roof on the glass dome and were amazed when it turned into a massive green house
@@Iyanu234 not really. I live on a windy rainy island and so I know for a fact that rain does not always fall straight down. Anyone who has been whipped in the face by hail knows that. They were kinda short sighted lol. And obviously a glass top would heat up the place significantly, that's literally how greenhouses are made
A friend worked in a new council building by a recent Pritzker Prize-winning duo of architects that had _actual clouds_ forming in the entrance lobby. The place suffered from sick building syndrome, because architects will often assume they fully understand trivial things like thermodynamics (how hard could it be?) and wing it with ideas that might work? no, they'll definitely work. And if they don't we can always blame the engineers or thr contractor 👍 A little education in basic physics would go a long way in architecture school.
Forty years ago some friends and I had a tour of Frank Gehry's new home in Santa Monica right before he moved in. There was so much to see and appreciate, from the nails protruding from parts of the original home that had been preserved, to the macadam floor in the kitchen which looked great - until my wife pointed out there would be no way to keep it clean, (She also noted that the aforementioned nails might be a hazard for young children.) There was also a dramatic corner of the roof where several sheets of glass met at an angle which looked really great. Of course it leaked.
I discovered my favourite leaks in retro-fit architecture. Whoever renovated my Victorian flat discovered that if you omit to put cavity trays above all doors and windows, as well as leaving out all that unnecessary sealant, you can actually get rain water to enter the room with projectile force! Not only does this save money and materials, you get a really good leak size to floor area wetness ratio.
Hmmmm I wonder if the same firm designed the roof on my garage. However the bucket rating can be considerably increased by the inclusion of highly absorbent insulation materials
If you like leaks, just install fibre cement panels on your outside walls. With the expansion/contraction cycles they will end up cracking in less than 2 years and your whole house will be leaking. Costed me 60K$ to remove/replace this marvelous product. But the architect wanted it. 'it's so butifull'.
I cannot thank you architects enough for keeping us commercial contractors employed. The heavy industrial design build side of our work really slowed down with the coof, but thanks to smart architecture and a lack of appreciation from clients your architectural leak features have been keeping the boys busy. I only hope that the appreciation of leaks remains reserved for us more civilized and culturally enriched individuals.
In the Faculty of Architecture of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (most prestigious arch grad program in the country), the front porch collapsed because of leaks. -_- Ironically enough, the renovation went to cost over ten times the average price of a work like this. This is, because the central campus is classified as UNESCO's world heritage site, and had to make personalized roofing materials from scratch, since the 1950's metal roofing has been discontinued. And some, not all, of the same construction errors prevail, because it was a design flaw. Concrete-metal roofing was in it's infancy when the architects who designed the building went to school. So thanks for spreading the information around. Love from Mexico ✌️
My favorite “leak” is one I heard about from fellow building-envelope experts: There was a long, open room which had a monolithic poured, tensioned concrete beam along the length of the room. This massive beam’s height extended above the roofline to the exterior of the building. This was considered a desirable architectural focal point. This acted as a massive heat-sink and, of course, collected condensation since it was subject to the exterior temperatures outside the building. The leak was so slight but constant, that it was baffling to the architect and engineers. It took some blue-collar leakbros to figure it out!
I can see the problem based on your written description. The beam moved in three directions due to expansion, up and down, side to side as well as expanded and contracted depth. These slight movements disconnected it from the roofing material or torn the roofing material.
@@pyhead9916 Well, it was methodically leak-tested from the roof, the terminations, and flashings. No water entry. Only condensation; they forgot to apply knowledge of thermodynamics. Here in the blue-collar world, we have a laugh about those in the architect field who lack basic knowledge of other applicable fields as it applies to their specifications and designs, as in the humor of this video. We call it job-security.
We hired an architect (who we generally enjoyed working with and took on because of their design sensibility) to gut renovate and join two adjacent buildings. When the renovation was complete but before we moved in we had a day of very heavy rain. We pointed out a few leaks and the response was "buildings leak". Not the flippant remark we wanted to hear and especially not after spending $$$$ for the gut rehab. In the end they sent in a crew to take a look and investigate and for the most part repair. The roof that leaked was a flat roof, btw...
I once worked a security job at a large campus where one of my job responsibilities was to look for leaks and report it to the maintenance department. All of the underground tunnels had leaks in them where water would pool up. Engineering eventually got fed up with me telling them about it so I just started ignoring it. The campus was about close to 20 years old at that time so it was interesting seeing how things were slowly starting to fail on a newer construction that complex.
Took me a while to figure out he was joking. I thought he was gonna tell us how to use architecture to capture rainwater as the homeowner's own off grid water supply.
Doesn't have to be for off-grid living. Keeping rainwater from your roof from overloading storm drains is a worthy cause already. But, that's a "leak" rather than a "Leak"
@@weatheranddarkness indeed we do Also, drinking more than a third of a gallon per day and using above certain quantities of water on crops (notably, less than the amount most ideal for the most profitable crop in the area) is illegal in rural california during droughts so that the cities have unlimited water.
Every contractor and subcontractor has representatives in the boat along with the Navy crew when the boat goes under for its first test dive. Keeps it real.
When frustrated by the French (France) requirement to design joints with two redundant weep canals that channel leaks in glass roofs away from the occupants, my boss would remark that this was not a requirement in Great Britain and it’s not like it never rains there. ;-)
My local hospital here in France built about 10 years ago a brand new main entrance hall, with a beautiful glass roof that of course leaked since the first winter. Glad to learn today that our architects too received great education on how buildings works.
I hired an architect to rip a hole in my roof so that I would have one big leak in the middle. We had to sacrifice smaller leaks in favor of that one. No regrets.
I once worked construction at a building that was literally called Waterfront. The leaks throughout the underground parking really helped to sell the dream.
So true, and so avoidable. Current construction materials and methods are sheer insanity, consisting mostly of ridiculously complicated assemblies handmade by untrained laborers from multitudinous materials with hugely varying thermal- and hygroscopic-expansion coefficients, many of which can be destroyed by water in a matter of days (or seconds, in the case of gypsum board). Thirty years ago, MAYBE you could have made the case that doing anything else wasn't economically feasible, but thanks to advances in simulation, automation, and composites, the reverse is now true. I've heard a bunch of explanations for the construction industry's insistence on the overpriced, underperforming, leaky, moldy, vermin-ridden tinderbox (aka, wood-framed construction), but it's pure BS and utterly unconscionable in light of climate change and the housing crisis. Mass-customization coupled with "new" materials like textile-reinforced concrete (ca, 1990), foamed glass (ca, 1970), FRP (ca, 1930), and geopolymer (ca, 1970, though there's some argument whether that's 1970AD or 1970BC) could easily allow construction of buildings that exceed Passivhaus tightness, have half the total lifecycle ecological/economical costs, a quarter of the build time, and require a tenth of the maintenance yet survive total immersion in filthy floodwaters and only need pressure washing and airing out to be returned to full glory.
Wood-framed construction is not necessarily bad or unsafe. It has been used in Scandinavia with great success for centuries, and remains the most popular construction material for single-family houses to this day. It's just a matter of using the right construction principles.
No, wood it self is NOT the problem, not at all. It is the methods and designs used that are the problem. Wooden houses have stood for centuries, a house made from solid wood is rather comfortable to live in an a lot sturdier than all those cardboard-pupet-houses that are built in the US.
I had a great structural design professor, who had a great additional question at the end of his first term exam. It said something along the lines of "Describe water's most important property" the correct answer for him was "Water's a perseverant bitch".
I studied architecture in one of the most rainy regions in Europe, and we are taught that you can't fight water, but you can use good design to conduct water out of your buildings, we have constructions subjects that if your design is not efficient towards water getting in or not leaving you fail
I used to live in a beautifully aged Victoria terraced house in the U.K. The windows allowed plenty of water to seep in whenever it rained and the roof had missing tiles. The rooms on the top floor had mushroom growth. A great exemplar of extraordinary architecture and a true delight to inhabit.
So this is the reason I have a drain hole in the middle of my flat roof that leads to the basement. I used to get angry about the stained ceilings and bubbling paint but now I understand, thank you!
Don't forget the leaks that are designed into new materials. Zip sheathing is OSB with a vapor barrier coating which contractors love as it is quicker to install than standard sheathing plus vapour barrier. However, the thing that actually prevents the infiltration of water is the tape used to cover the joints of the boards. Improper placement of the tape at the top of the boards can create a funnel to accept water into the wall cavity and, PRESTO you have a lovely leak.
In the late 80's, before the Yale Art Gallery (Kahn building) was renovated, moisture would collect on the window wall, especially on cold days outside. The remedy was to use buckets or pans to catch the water dripping from the windows. If that weren't bad enough, Van Gogh's Night Cafe used to hang on a pogo wall with its back to the window wall that was dripping water. Thankfully, all of these issues were resolved in the 2006 renovation.
I prefer the easy, subtle, and annoying to repair technique of leaving the drywall in contact with the slab. This is probably the most common one. It gets you that capillary action thing, which I don’t recall you mentioning much. My mother, who got her architecture degree in 1954, mentioned that there was a trend of simplifying details in things like windows. That also apparently led to leaks.
I studied architecture. I've also worked the practical side of construction and renovation for 35 years. I delight in recalling the time the Dean of the local Architecture school called me to sort out the roof junction flashing details of his own house addition. Neither he nor the builder could solve it and the inspector who said it needed to be sorted before sign-off would not offer any clues as to how. That's some Doctorate-level leakage there.
As the only real functional purpose of a roof is to provided somewhere to fix the ceiling lights, why not use wall lights instead and do away with the roof altogether? It would make modern homes that more affordable. It would also make it easier for fire-fighters to put out blazes without the danger of having to enter the building. Architects seem stuck in the past, insisting on roofs just because the house the grew up in had one.
Agreed, but in some climates with high winds where heavy rain snow and fog travel mostly horizontally it may be more desirable to keep the roof but omit the walls.
I've seen the leak in the Pantheon roof with my naked eyes. Little did I realize how important and timeless was the experience. Maybe it was my ignorance at that time which led to me failing my architecture studies.
Please let me offer advice to improve weather conditions inside a building. The now dismantled club "Die Röhre" at Stuttgart, Germany, was built into a disused road tunnel ("Die Röhre" literally means "tube"). There were a lot of concerts taking place inside accommodating 400 to 600 viewers. It usually took between one or two hours before it started to rain down on the audience because the condensate was dripping from the ceiling.
An architect I knew back in the early 1980s once told me that architects rely on "the power of positive detailing" to prevent leaks. It doesn't work, as the materials inevitably fail at some point. He worked for a well-known architectural firm whose buildings are notorious for their leaks. He recommended doing away with flat roofs and designing drainage systems designed to shed water rather than try to completely seal the building against it. The firm's Principals did not take kindly to his suggestions. They loved their flat or oddly-shaped roofs where water was directed exactly where it wasn't wanted, like the middle of the roof. As an aside, I know that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is trying to raise money to move the Farnsworth House to a more elevated site on the property to reduce the risk of flooding. I don't know where things stand right now, but I know that it's a major priority. I normally think historic buildings should be kept on their original site, but in this case the move strikes me as sensible and necessary. btw, Didn't Edith Farnsworth sue Mies because she said the house was uninhabitable?
Oh my gosh your dry delivery about wet architecture is pure gold. I’ve learned so much. You have yourself a new subscriber. I feel honored to live near your city.
Loving the dry sarcasm. I worked with a drafter who had worked for well known local architects and he would parrot their mantra "all good buildings leak". I thought it was just an excuse for poor design choices to suit artistic but impractical whims. There is a lot to be said for the old pitched roof where the water is shed or collected at the outer perimeter, hung out from the edge of the building. But that's boring.
Give me dry and boring any day over chic and wet. I am an engineer, not an architect. What you want is a building conceived, designed, and built by a team of architect, engineer, and builder that all respect each other and are in constant communication.
My parents are currently completing the third round of major repairs to a back cellarium in their house. This is due to winter ice buildup in or near the roof soffits where the cellarium meets the back wall of the main structure/house. Of course the ice eventually melts, cyclically, and causes water damage inside. Each time roofing, roof flashings, structural work and other adjustments in the attic were done. Insulation replaced and interior drywall and paint work was redone, etc. Finally, in this current third attempt, an old pro who came out of retirement to oversee the job noticed the problem is likely due to or made worse by an error in the original construction of the house; how a main beam meets the structure of the main house. The original builder/contractor didn’t follow the architect’s or engineers drawings. This time they corrected the framing to the correct specifications. We’ll see if that resolved that problem next winter.
My friends stepmom is a City planner with an architectural degree, She design their beautiful modern style simplistic home. The dad is in the process of finding the 7th leak thats popped up in the 3 years they've lived there. It's just a fact.
Frank Lloyd Wright was the first name that came to mind when I saw this. I think at some point he actually included a natural stream running through a house... I mean, a stream that was already there before the house was constructed, not the stream running through all his other houses due to his roof designs. 🤣 He was just way ahead of the available materials of his day.
Saint-Pierre in Firminy by Le Corbusier and Jose Oubrerie is an amazing example of the building as a micro-aquaduct - if you ever do a part-two of this one, it's a great one! Loved this video Stewart, great work!!
I work in a theatre with a leak that is sometimes inside the auditorium and sometimes in the foyer, it follows an expansion joint and depending on conditions it migrates, I know it's winter when the foyer stair handrail becomes a waterslide which is greatly amusing to all!
Loved your video; the Denver Art Museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building by Daniel Libeskind leaked almost immediately after it was built, the design of the roof and skylights did not account for slow melting heavy snow that the city receives every year.
Having been forty years in the window business I've had to deal with leaks.The thing with leaks is that where hte water is coming out is not necessarily the point of the leak. If the parapet leaks (the short wall around the perimeter of a roof) the water travels inside the wall, then on top of the window, then runs down the window. "Your window is leaking!" "We checked and it's actually coming in at the parapet." "No! Your window is wet. It's leaking! Replace it!" "Is the carpet also wet?" "Yes!" "Then that must be the point of your leak. Replace the carpet to stop the leak."
Your deadpan delivery of sarcastic commentary is awesome!! If only I had you as my prof!! Thank you!! I'll be sure to implemented more leaks in my structures in the future as well!!
I recently watched some videos from a company specializing in foundation drainage solutions somewhere in the US. From those I learned, the most common reason for water entering the foundations is any combination of gutters emptying directly at the wall and terrain sloped toward the house. For extra efficiency, combine the two - I was astonished how many clients they found with this combination. (And how often they got to fix that only because the clients wanted to sell.)
love the comparison with the sr71, one knitpick, jetfuel is not typically flammable because it's not volatile, it has to be aerosolized before it burns
A friend of mine worked at the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame in a building perpetrated by I. M. Pei. The whole time he was there, a crew was working its way around the building, from one leaking roof panel to the next. They had job security. Everyone who worked there knew exactly where to put the wastebaskets whenever it rained. At one point, the spokesman for an I. M. Pei fan club called up to say that they'd decided to make their anual pilgrimage to that building. The phone was handed to the building manager, who arranged the details of the visit with them. Then he cautioned them not to bring the architect with them. He said that if he ever had the opportunity to meet the man, he would kill him. It's a telling symptom of our patheticly regressive postwar culture that we have completely accepted that the architectural profession has flatly refused to address the fundemental dysfunction that they themselves have fostered within their ranks. They're spoiled affluent adolescents refusing to face their responsibilities just because they don't wanna. We should do what other countries have done - just ignor them and let engineers make our buildings. Maybe we could let them choose the curtains, and them give them large trophies afterwards.
You know what? I was cheesed when the gutter system and soil level at my apartment worked together so well that I'd have an indoor pool any time it rained! Really quite a great environment for growing all kinds of friends like molds and other pathogens, which we did to our hearts desire in the HVAC system! I love architecture!
Well done. I have a veranda leak that no expert has yet traced to its source and cause. Interested? The architect has done such a great job concealing the source he deserves an award.
At the start I was confused, but then I reminded myself of those architecture magazine houses and I used to think if it was even possible to build this so as to avoid water damage, but I never considered they could be on purpose!
Having installed about 60 residential/shingle roofs, my favorite roof leaks were the non-roof roof leaks. A. Once a family had a leak by the chimney and had a new roof installed. But it still leaked. I got called to evaluate the roof work. I told them that I thought the roof work looked good but I would get their chimney tuckpointed before I did any more with the roof. It had cracks that could allow water entry. I ran into them a couple years later and they said that fixed it. But they did not give me any more work. :( B. A friend had a very plain rectangular ranch with the ridge line down the middle and two gable ends. They had two leaks on one end of the house, one in the front and one in the back. The leaks in the bedroom ceilings were PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL front to back and side to side. Wierd! So I asked to get into the attic. They took me to the laundry room (on the end of the house opposite the leaks) because there was no ceiling and it was open to the attic. While there I happened to notice that the dryer did not vent to the outside of the house, but into the laundry room. So crawling to the other end of the house, I noticed that when someone put aluminum siding on the house, they sided over the gable vent. I also noticed water stains running down the very last rafter on both the front and back sides of the house. If it was a roof leak, it was precisely located in the ridge, right above this last rafter. If that was the case, I was going to run out and buy a lottery ticket! I told them that I thought the humidity from the dryer was migrating to the other end of the attic and was trapped because of the sealed gable vent and then condensing on the last rafter and running down and dripping on the ceiling. I told them they should vent the dryer outside, put a ceiling in the laundry room (which might reduce heat loss in Chicago winters) and open up that gable vent. I never heard any more so I assume that fixed it.
I once worked in a small architectural firm that rented an office unit on the 2nd floor of an old 3 storey building. Months later the building owner converted the vacant top floor into lodging rooms and installed lots of bathrooms. A few days later I turned on the light inside the toilet. The light bulb turned on and simultaneously water was also flowing around the bulb down to the floor. I watch it mesmerized. 5 seconds later the water finally seeped into the socket and the bulb exploded with flash and a pop. First time I saw a light fixture with a faucet feature actually worked (well at least for a few seconds). It was surreal and awesome to watch. : )
I have nothing to do with physical Architecture, I stumbled across this looking for IT architecture information and found it so enjoyable, that I had to watch it all the way through. Two thumbs up...
In Brendan Gill's biography of Frank Lloyd Wright, Gill visits a relative of Wright who lives in a Wright house in Wisconsin. At some point during the visit, it starts to rain and, of course, water starts coming into the house. The homeowner turns to Gill and says something to the effect of; that's what happens when you leave a work of art out in the rain.
I stumble upon this video as I'm repairing my wife's store that flooded 2 weeks ago from 10 inches of rain falling in one day. Ahhhhhh synchronicity.....
We had an architect/builder that told us that "All roofs leak." We fired him. Best move we ever made. We now have an AIA award-winning home with a seamed steel roof. It does NOT leak.
Yes, flash and caulk everything carefully. But then wrap the entire structure in 1/8th inch fiberglass. Now when the wind blows debris into the fiberglass it will puncture and leak, so now you need to clad the structure in thick defensive stonework tiles. These minor expenses will let you save money using particle board for flooring.
This was so funny. I clicked on this expecting to see epic architecture plans leaked in advance of announcement. I almost clicked away but this was so quirky and funny I stayed haha
We toured a number of Lloyd Wright’s homes in the Chicago suburbs, decades ago. I clearly remember pans set out in one to catch the many leaks, and learning the embedded heating hot water heating in the floor of another had failed, causing some severe damage. Such is the price of genius…
RM Schindler's Kings Row house. Years ago before it was completely renovated, I walked through the house during a winter rain, it was like walking through a shower, It was such an impression had reoccuring dreams about roof leaks for years after.
It the olden days leaks were not fashionable, so architects and builders designed them out. Nowadays all the greatest architects design leaks in, fabulous. I waited in a departure lounge at Heathrow Airport ten years ago with buckets around me catching leaks from the roof. How trendy was that…
I appreciate this tongue and cheek take on such a huge issue. You've kind of shown a side of the architectural landscape that is self referential and even though I don't think all of those examples were specifically designed to illustrate the varieties of water intrusion to architecture students, you have very effectively made them perform that utilitarian function 😅 I especially liked the examples you showed where the water was well managed, like in the underground house or in the pantheon. With the ironically named Falling Water I think the house is moreso something that calls into question the utility of flat roofing and strays from the theme of mitigation that you had in some of the other examples. I would love to see a video on how skyscrapers or other buildings with flat concrete roofs make water tight and usable outdoor roof space. The air moisture thing is also such a huge deal. In the freezer warehouse where I work we sometimes receive trailers that are much too hot and are full of moist air. The air cools and massive amounts of steam are generated. That water eventually makes its way into the freezer where it frosts over and breaks the entrance doors or turns into snow. That's probably something within the last leak category 🤷🏼 I'm glad that you're bringing more attention to these issues and getting your students on track to potentially build buildings that have more effective water mitigation strategies 🤙🏻
What are some of your favorite leaks?
Green and crunchy.
Philip Johnson's Roofless Church!
@@karlwallick3879 good one!
Wright had some amazing ones. The pyrex tube roof roof at the Johnson Wax Building is easily my favorite.
@@jdraven0890 An extra roof leaked into your comment. This isn't my favourite leak of all time, but it is my favourite leak of the most recent minute of my life.
I put a houseplant under my roof leak to showcase the efficiency of postmodern design and indoor gardening in one humid kitchen!
Resourceful!
I will need to remember that could bring some plants to the university studio next time it gets heavy rain hehe
Plant herbs on the pot! For fresh cilantro, rosemary, etc
I'm not an architect and I don't know any architects to explain the world of architects to me. So I'm just going to assume that this is an incredibly well made shit post because this sounds like insanity.
Right, that good ol' professor delivery could sell a blind man contacts.
I’m right here with you my G. I got got
It is 😂
It is 💯
I feel like I've stumbled upon an architecture meme I'm too normie to understand
It's a secret architect training video that they don't want you to see...
same here
Yeah
The whole time I was like WTF
That's my guess. I got like 30% of it
Pretty good me me
i thought it gonna be something about coding lol
At my university, we used to mock the architects because their faculty building was a beautiful but old castle with a leaky roof. It never occured to me that this was intentional... I feel very silly now
Over here in Norway, building physics (basically moisture-safe design) is a separate engineering profession and a responsible discipline different from architecture. It's like structural design - the architect usually decides the concept, but a separate professional is tasked to actually design it. I'm finishing a PhD related to building physics, so this video mostly trod through familiar territory.
We use to say we have a two-part strategy for avoiding moisture damage:
1) Prevent water from entering the structure
2) Enable the structure to dry out whatever water intrudes despite the efforts of point 1).
That means air gaps are your best friends. Shingle roofs are virtually unheard of here. Roofs are built to have an exterior cladding - typically roof tiles, but corrugated sheet metal is also sometimes used - over a waterproof but vapour-open "sub-roof" with a five-centimeter gap in between. The tiles keep out 95% of the water, the air gap lets the remaining 5% dry out. The general mantra is "no cladding is waterproof - design for drying capacity". That goes for below-ground structures as well (a colleague of mine is doing her PhD on that subject. There's a lot of discussion about diffusion and convection in our office).
Likewise, ventilation is the key to happiness. Indoor air moisture should ideally not condensate anywhere, but if you saturate the air enough it will do so anyway. The solution is to flush the indoor air with dry outdoor air continuously. Even (heck, *especially*) uninhabited basements. Ventilation must occur through openings designed for it. Either a mechanical ventilation system or dedicated air vents. The rest of the building envelope must be airtight to prevent air leakage and condensation.
If your structure contains a waterproof layer on both the interior and exterior sides (like compact roofs, or bathroom walls below grade): for the love of all that's holy, do not put organic materials between them. Water that gets in there will not get out again, so the best you can do is ensure there's nothing in there that can rot apart. Put any load-bearing elements on the interior side of such constructions, so they can be inspected.
Oh, and most foremost: awareness is key. Moisture safety seminar are regularly arranged for industry professionals to attend. Building research advisory agencies regularly publish moisture safety guidelines. There's a widely used design guide publication series with detailed illustrations and instructions on moisture safety. That one helps weed out a lot of the bad solutions seen abroad.
That being said, we still have a lot of moisture problems, but the Norwegian climate is pretty harsh so I think it's tough to eliminate them all. But I think moisture safety is much higher on the agenda in the Nordic countries than most other places, so some of the obscure practices and design elements used here could be used to great effect elsewhere. At least elsewhere with a cold climate.
TL;DR But that wouldn't be the 'Good Architecture', would it? Too much of a hassle, anyway - just do like mr. Hicks said: "Beware of those litigious clients" like madame Savoye and you'll be fine. Better yet, collaborate with those german guys, like the great Charles-Édouard Jeanneret did: they surely taught that pesky Savoye how to be 'litigious' about leaks! [right_to_jail.gif]
That's some professional-level moisture determination. I must say tho', at a measly TWO-part strategy, the Norwegian's seem to being far ahead of us in NZ at ensuring reliability of consequence of leaks. Unfortunately, here, we are guided and led by a FOUR-part strategy which makes it very hard to achieve a reliable leak-full experience for our clients. The 4 Ds of water...
Deflection - stop it getting in.
Drainage - let it get out
Dehydration - if it can't get out, let it at least evaporate.
Durability - If it can't evaporate at least let the materials withstand the onslaught.
It's good to know tho' that even when appearing to conform to those standards, the best architects still manage to achieve some serious, litigation-level leaks here in NZ. Quality leak life-goals for the clients.
@@ПолинаКохно-е4ы, стоит начать с "Water in Buildings" William B. Rose - говорящее название; потом "Builder's Guide to..." J. Lstiburek и "Moisture Control Handbook" и у его друга Straube тоже есть книжка: "High Performance Enclosures"; о строительной науке в целом: "Building Science for Cold Climate" Hutcheon и Handegord - канадская классика и европейская "Building Physics" от Hugo Hens. В контексте исторических зданий: "Building Environment" от Historic England и "Old House Eco Handbook" Roger Hunt от SPAB
Nordic weather is going to get even more fun in the future thanks to climate change. Less cold and snowy weather and more rain and wind that creates sideways rain that seeps into the walls. Going to wreak havoc on current houses that are designed mostly for dry cold weather.
@@hillppari Depending on the region.. Bergen in Norway (most rainy town in Europe) architects are learned that 50% of the rain will hit the roof, the other 50% the walls, plan for it. :P Also, of course they also learn nothing about how to plan for it since thats the building engineers job haha..
As an archaeologist this reminds me of a lot of the studies of first and early second century Roman architecture in Britain.
Being Powerful, Arrogant, Imperialists (tautological, I know), they simply copy-pasted the sorts of designs they enjoyed in the mediterranean, particularly the fine buildings of central and Southern Italy; with open central courtyards and, naturally, masonry and plaster superstructure with heavy tiled roofing.
Naturally the leaks where incredible. The square courtyards filled with snow in winter and flooded the houses, and the rising damp (as seen in reconstructions) was a perennial pest.
Meanwhile the natives sat pretty in wood and thatch roundhouses, much as they had for centuries, rather more cosily. The thatch allowing smoke from a modest fire to percolate through, keeping moisture at bay, and pests out, while also keeping the smoke at above head height. The posts rotted out at ground level after a year or two, but that was hardly an issue given the weight of thatch keeping the thing down. And it was far less effort to replace an old thatch round house than it was a disgustingly expensive palatine style villa.
Leaks are eternal, but humble technology tailored to the climate and conditions makes a world of difference
Sounds like the beach town where I used to live. Concrete and steel high-rises built in the 1970s and '80s are falling apart due to moisture damage and corrosion from salt air, while most of the single family houses in town are all wooden and have stood for much longer because they circulate air and don't hold in moisture.
Everything has a reason, and it's dangerously arrogant to assume that we automatically know better about our environment than the "primitives" of previous generations or less developed societies.
@@christinesarkis4029 native populations live a certain way because that way works for that environment, and I think that outsiders always take that for granted
That’s the same with everything in history
I am a builder, I love the part about how 78% of leaks are caused by builders mistakes. We talk often on job sites about how everything possible is done to push responsibility and blame onto us lil ole carpenters. If you follow basic old fashioned building practice you can make a house out of sticks, grass, and cow shit. Give water a way to roll down hill away from the house, over the edge and away and you will be ok. What happens more and more, is people trying to funnel water in, move it around, get it to an internal gutter and then. UH OH, its the builders fault that one of many many risky points gave out and had a fault with it. Its a numbers game, if you rely on seals and silicone all over the place, funny flashings (difficult flashing designs are NEVER on the plans) to make strange roof junctions work that we make on site, something will give out, and someone will be able to say that the builder messed up what they did in a laboratory setting, but we did with timber, which moves while you are working with it. I installed a very expensive, very fancy shower the other day with 9 vertical silicone joints, each one blind. leaks are being designed in so much because 78% of the time its some shmucks problem
This is so relatable. Especially regarding the tricky flashing intersections with details that are conveniently missing from the plans 🤔
Dear Fuckoff, Your piece echos what my nephew who has been in the building trade for over 20 years tells me. His conversation with an architect about directing away water revealed her belief that water should be directed INTO THE WALLS where various sealed structures will eventually conduct the water away someplace. When she asked if anyone had any questions, he told the architect that water should be directed AWAY FROM THE WALLS. Sealants eventually fail and when these do, the building will have water in the walls! The idea that water should be directed away from the walls seemed unheard of by her. And she was an architect!
As a matter of fact half of my house has a roof plate made of hay and mud, it hasnt sprung a leak in 70 years. *knocks on wood*
@@haydenbox I was working a summer job at a new 500 million dollar hotel... The outside walls had weird water marks going down the side every x amount of feet... One day I saw a carpenter on a ladder trying to fix it... Me: "did they not put flashing on the entire building?" Carpenter: "yup!".
mate have you tried buying structural grade poop lately? it's through the roof!
I'm an architect and I can proudly say that my own house leaked. Right at the top of that 6m ceiling, because - flat roofs. Never felt better about my skills.
Keep up the great work!
Flat roofs are a night mare. Often.
Same thing also to my house..LOL
All architects are failson bastards.
@@paxundpeace9970 Like a dark horse contender for running water.
One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s clients called to complain that the roof was leaking all over the dining room chair, Wright stated matter of factly: “so move the chair” and hung up
Wasn‘t it like, that is what you get when you leave a piece of art out in the elements?
Also, FLW was like... Not a great designer? Don't get me wrong, I love the beauty he created, but some of his work was just... Incorrect 🤣
I guess he forgot the one thing buildings are meant to do - provide shelter.
Wright was a genius, but a proper bastard too.
Hicks missed an opportunity to incorporate a partner in great leak design with the landscape architect. Utilizing plants to burrow into building materials is an excellent way to establish leaks that wont appear on day one, but will be a delight 5 to 10 years out.
My favourite was the dome on the Reichstag in Berlin. Yes, they planned for water to come through the hole but were surprised when the rain sometimes didn't come down vertically 🙄
Then they put a glass roof on the glass dome and were amazed when it turned into a massive green house
@ Easy to say when you're not a designer.
@@Iyanu234 not really. I live on a windy rainy island and so I know for a fact that rain does not always fall straight down. Anyone who has been whipped in the face by hail knows that. They were kinda short sighted lol. And obviously a glass top would heat up the place significantly, that's literally how greenhouses are made
A friend worked in a new council building by a recent Pritzker Prize-winning duo of architects that had _actual clouds_ forming in the entrance lobby.
The place suffered from sick building syndrome, because architects will often assume they fully understand trivial things like thermodynamics (how hard could it be?) and wing it with ideas that might work? no, they'll definitely work. And if they don't we can always blame the engineers or thr contractor 👍
A little education in basic physics would go a long way in architecture school.
That’s some good advice!
@@mrkeogh Sadly the sort of people who like physics seem not to go to architecture school.
Forty years ago some friends and I had a tour of Frank Gehry's new home in Santa Monica right before he moved in. There was so much to see and appreciate, from the nails protruding from parts of the original home that had been preserved, to the macadam floor in the kitchen which looked great - until my wife pointed out there would be no way to keep it clean, (She also noted that the aforementioned nails might be a hazard for young children.) There was also a dramatic corner of the roof where several sheets of glass met at an angle which looked really great. Of course it leaked.
When my neighbour upstairs takes a shower, I can shower too.
Sublime.
Even better if she is a gamer girl, free money, or you can also indulge in it yourself
Sublime indeed.
I discovered my favourite leaks in retro-fit architecture. Whoever renovated my Victorian flat discovered that if you omit to put cavity trays above all doors and windows, as well as leaving out all that unnecessary sealant, you can actually get rain water to enter the room with projectile force! Not only does this save money and materials, you get a really good leak size to floor area wetness ratio.
Hmmmm I wonder if the same firm designed the roof on my garage. However the bucket rating can be considerably increased by the inclusion of highly absorbent insulation materials
If you like leaks, just install fibre cement panels on your outside walls. With the expansion/contraction cycles they will end up cracking in less than 2 years and your whole house will be leaking. Costed me 60K$ to remove/replace this marvelous product. But the architect wanted it. 'it's so butifull'.
I cannot thank you architects enough for keeping us commercial contractors employed. The heavy industrial design build side of our work really slowed down with the coof, but thanks to smart architecture and a lack of appreciation from clients your architectural leak features have been keeping the boys busy. I only hope that the appreciation of leaks remains reserved for us more civilized and culturally enriched individuals.
In the Faculty of Architecture of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (most prestigious arch grad program in the country), the front porch collapsed because of leaks. -_-
Ironically enough, the renovation went to cost over ten times the average price of a work like this. This is, because the central campus is classified as UNESCO's world heritage site, and had to make personalized roofing materials from scratch, since the 1950's metal roofing has been discontinued. And some, not all, of the same construction errors prevail, because it was a design flaw.
Concrete-metal roofing was in it's infancy when the architects who designed the building went to school.
So thanks for spreading the information around.
Love from Mexico ✌️
My favorite “leak” is one I heard about from fellow building-envelope experts: There was a long, open room which had a monolithic poured, tensioned concrete beam along the length of the room. This massive beam’s height extended above the roofline to the exterior of the building. This was considered a desirable architectural focal point. This acted as a massive heat-sink and, of course, collected condensation since it was subject to the exterior temperatures outside the building. The leak was so slight but constant, that it was baffling to the architect and engineers. It took some blue-collar leakbros to figure it out!
I can see the problem based on your written description. The beam moved in three directions due to expansion, up and down, side to side as well as expanded and contracted depth. These slight movements disconnected it from the roofing material or torn the roofing material.
@@pyhead9916 Well, it was methodically leak-tested from the roof, the terminations, and flashings. No water entry. Only condensation; they forgot to apply knowledge of thermodynamics. Here in the blue-collar world, we have a laugh about those in the architect field who lack basic knowledge of other applicable fields as it applies to their specifications and designs, as in the humor of this video. We call it job-security.
We hired an architect (who we generally enjoyed working with and took on because of their design sensibility) to gut renovate and join two adjacent buildings. When the renovation was complete but before we moved in we had a day of very heavy rain. We pointed out a few leaks and the response was "buildings leak". Not the flippant remark we wanted to hear and especially not after spending $$$$ for the gut rehab. In the end they sent in a crew to take a look and investigate and for the most part repair. The roof that leaked was a flat roof, btw...
Poor construction!
I once worked a security job at a large campus where one of my job responsibilities was to look for leaks and report it to the maintenance department. All of the underground tunnels had leaks in them where water would pool up. Engineering eventually got fed up with me telling them about it so I just started ignoring it. The campus was about close to 20 years old at that time so it was interesting seeing how things were slowly starting to fail on a newer construction that complex.
Took me a while to figure out he was joking. I thought he was gonna tell us how to use architecture to capture rainwater as the homeowner's own off grid water supply.
Doesn't have to be for off-grid living. Keeping rainwater from your roof from overloading storm drains is a worthy cause already. But, that's a "leak" rather than a "Leak"
@@weatheranddarkness as opposed to a "leek", though you could probably grow a "leek" with the water from a "leak" or a "Leak".
@@weatheranddarkness it's illegal in most cities tho (that's for the US, only illegal in ~35% of EU cities)
@@angrydragonslayer we live in a strange timeline
@@weatheranddarkness indeed we do
Also, drinking more than a third of a gallon per day and using above certain quantities of water on crops (notably, less than the amount most ideal for the most profitable crop in the area) is illegal in rural california during droughts so that the cities have unlimited water.
wow, didn't realize i was living in an architectural masterpiece!
Its a good thing architect's don't design submarines.
Just add a pump and the problem is sorted 👌
Every contractor and subcontractor has representatives in the boat along with the Navy crew when the boat goes under for its first test dive. Keeps it real.
Nautical Architects do design submarines!
My school offered that degree!
@@pyhead9916 I wonder if I can convince some of these Naval Architects to build me a house.
Actually, submarine and ship designers are called Naval Architects.
When frustrated by the French (France) requirement to design joints with two redundant weep canals that channel leaks in glass roofs away from the occupants, my boss would remark that this was not a requirement in Great Britain and it’s not like it never rains there. ;-)
As an engineer i can confirm this is how architects work. Loved the dry humor.
My local hospital here in France built about 10 years ago a brand new main entrance hall, with a beautiful glass roof that of course leaked since the first winter.
Glad to learn today that our architects too received great education on how buildings works.
I hired an architect to rip a hole in my roof so that I would have one big leak in the middle. We had to sacrifice smaller leaks in favor of that one. No regrets.
I once worked construction at a building that was literally called Waterfront. The leaks throughout the underground parking really helped to sell the dream.
For a video about leaks, the humor is so dry, I love it
This is simply THE best architecture video i have ever seen. Now im certain of something i always suspected: im a great architect.
If only the plumbers were as talented as the architects.
The harmony between soundscape and face-scaping is near to perfection in this one.
So true, and so avoidable. Current construction materials and methods are sheer insanity, consisting mostly of ridiculously complicated assemblies handmade by untrained laborers from multitudinous materials with hugely varying thermal- and hygroscopic-expansion coefficients, many of which can be destroyed by water in a matter of days (or seconds, in the case of gypsum board).
Thirty years ago, MAYBE you could have made the case that doing anything else wasn't economically feasible, but thanks to advances in simulation, automation, and composites, the reverse is now true. I've heard a bunch of explanations for the construction industry's insistence on the overpriced, underperforming, leaky, moldy, vermin-ridden tinderbox (aka, wood-framed construction), but it's pure BS and utterly unconscionable in light of climate change and the housing crisis. Mass-customization coupled with "new" materials like textile-reinforced concrete (ca, 1990), foamed glass (ca, 1970), FRP (ca, 1930), and geopolymer (ca, 1970, though there's some argument whether that's 1970AD or 1970BC) could easily allow construction of buildings that exceed Passivhaus tightness, have half the total lifecycle ecological/economical costs, a quarter of the build time, and require a tenth of the maintenance yet survive total immersion in filthy floodwaters and only need pressure washing and airing out to be returned to full glory.
You know a lot about materials and leaks. Thanks for the info!
Wood-framed construction is not necessarily bad or unsafe. It has been used in Scandinavia with great success for centuries, and remains the most popular construction material for single-family houses to this day. It's just a matter of using the right construction principles.
Are you serious with your LUMBER BAD nonsense?
No, wood it self is NOT the problem, not at all. It is the methods and designs used that are the problem.
Wooden houses have stood for centuries, a house made from solid wood is rather comfortable to live in an a lot sturdier than all those cardboard-pupet-houses that are built in the US.
Regarding gypsum it depends of the type of gypsum.
I had a great structural design professor, who had a great additional question at the end of his first term exam.
It said something along the lines of "Describe water's most important property" the correct answer for him was "Water's a perseverant bitch".
Hahahhahahhah
I studied architecture in one of the most rainy regions in Europe, and we are taught that you can't fight water, but you can use good design to conduct water out of your buildings, we have constructions subjects that if your design is not efficient towards water getting in or not leaving you fail
I used to live in a beautifully aged Victoria terraced house in the U.K. The windows allowed plenty of water to seep in whenever it rained and the roof had missing tiles. The rooms on the top floor had mushroom growth. A great exemplar of extraordinary architecture and a true delight to inhabit.
So this is the reason I have a drain hole in the middle of my flat roof that leads to the basement. I used to get angry about the stained ceilings and bubbling paint but now I understand, thank you!
I had no idea my RV was such a masterpiece of engineering 😮
Don't forget the leaks that are designed into new materials. Zip sheathing is OSB with a vapor barrier coating which contractors love as it is quicker to install than standard sheathing plus vapour barrier. However, the thing that actually prevents the infiltration of water is the tape used to cover the joints of the boards. Improper placement of the tape at the top of the boards can create a funnel to accept water into the wall cavity and, PRESTO you have a lovely leak.
In the late 80's, before the Yale Art Gallery (Kahn building) was renovated, moisture would collect on the window wall, especially on cold days outside. The remedy was to use buckets or pans to catch the water dripping from the windows. If that weren't bad enough, Van Gogh's Night Cafe used to hang on a pogo wall with its back to the window wall that was dripping water. Thankfully, all of these issues were resolved in the 2006 renovation.
Sounds like there's a follow up video to be had.
Lol in 2021 it would be considered an interactive gallery exhibit
My favorite are the most fragrant and gritty of leaks… primary effluent leaks! (I work in wastewater processing plant design, so I’m biased).
Eww eww eww.
I prefer the easy, subtle, and annoying to repair technique of leaving the drywall in contact with the slab. This is probably the most common one. It gets you that capillary action thing, which I don’t recall you mentioning much. My mother, who got her architecture degree in 1954, mentioned that there was a trend of simplifying details in things like windows. That also apparently led to leaks.
One of the first things you learn in engineering is that without a doubt, absolutely, for certain, EVERYTHING leaks!
I studied architecture. I've also worked the practical side of construction and renovation for 35 years. I delight in recalling the time the Dean of the local Architecture school called me to sort out the roof junction flashing details of his own house addition. Neither he nor the builder could solve it and the inspector who said it needed to be sorted before sign-off would not offer any clues as to how. That's some Doctorate-level leakage there.
As sustainable architect/energy analyst, leaks have become my worst nightmare...
As the only real functional purpose of a roof is to provided somewhere to fix the ceiling lights, why not use wall lights instead and do away with the roof altogether? It would make modern homes that more affordable. It would also make it easier for fire-fighters to put out blazes without the danger of having to enter the building. Architects seem stuck in the past, insisting on roofs just because the house the grew up in had one.
Agreed, but in some climates with high winds where heavy rain snow and fog travel mostly horizontally it may be more desirable to keep the roof but omit the walls.
I've seen the leak in the Pantheon roof with my naked eyes. Little did I realize how important and timeless was the experience. Maybe it was my ignorance at that time which led to me failing my architecture studies.
Love the positive take on leaks, feels like being in an alternative universe lol
Please let me offer advice to improve weather conditions inside a building. The now dismantled club "Die Röhre" at Stuttgart, Germany, was built into a disused road tunnel ("Die Röhre" literally means "tube"). There were a lot of concerts taking place inside accommodating 400 to 600 viewers. It usually took between one or two hours before it started to rain down on the audience because the condensate was dripping from the ceiling.
I don't watch architecture videos. I watched this one. I do not regret this.
An architect I knew back in the early 1980s once told me that architects rely on "the power of positive detailing" to prevent leaks. It doesn't work, as the materials inevitably fail at some point. He worked for a well-known architectural firm whose buildings are notorious for their leaks. He recommended doing away with flat roofs and designing drainage systems designed to shed water rather than try to completely seal the building against it. The firm's Principals did not take kindly to his suggestions. They loved their flat or oddly-shaped roofs where water was directed exactly where it wasn't wanted, like the middle of the roof.
As an aside, I know that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is trying to raise money to move the Farnsworth House to a more elevated site on the property to reduce the risk of flooding. I don't know where things stand right now, but I know that it's a major priority. I normally think historic buildings should be kept on their original site, but in this case the move strikes me as sensible and necessary.
btw, Didn't Edith Farnsworth sue Mies because she said the house was uninhabitable?
Oh my gosh your dry delivery about wet architecture is pure gold. I’ve learned so much. You have yourself a new subscriber. I feel honored to live near your city.
Loving the dry sarcasm.
I worked with a drafter who had worked for well known local architects and he would parrot their mantra "all good buildings leak".
I thought it was just an excuse for poor design choices to suit artistic but impractical whims.
There is a lot to be said for the old pitched roof where the water is shed or collected at the outer perimeter, hung out from the edge of the building. But that's boring.
Give me dry and boring any day over chic and wet. I am an engineer, not an architect. What you want is a building conceived, designed, and built by a team of architect, engineer, and builder that all respect each other and are in constant communication.
@@walterbordett2023 woah there, such fantasy is way too spicy for TH-cam!
My parents are currently completing the third round of major repairs to a back cellarium in their house. This is due to winter ice buildup in or near the roof soffits where the cellarium meets the back wall of the main structure/house. Of course the ice eventually melts, cyclically, and causes water damage inside. Each time roofing, roof flashings, structural work and other adjustments in the attic were done. Insulation replaced and interior drywall and paint work was redone, etc. Finally, in this current third attempt, an old pro who came out of retirement to oversee the job noticed the problem is likely due to or made worse by an error in the original construction of the house; how a main beam meets the structure of the main house. The original builder/contractor didn’t follow the architect’s or engineers drawings. This time they corrected the framing to the correct specifications. We’ll see if that resolved that problem next winter.
My friends stepmom is a City planner with an architectural degree, She design their beautiful modern style simplistic home. The dad is in the process of finding the 7th leak thats popped up in the 3 years they've lived there. It's just a fact.
Frank Lloyd Wright was the first name that came to mind when I saw this.
I think at some point he actually included a natural stream running through a house...
I mean, a stream that was already there before the house was constructed, not the stream running through all his other houses due to his roof designs. 🤣
He was just way ahead of the available materials of his day.
Irish architecture geek here, this is hilarious man.
Saint-Pierre in Firminy by Le Corbusier and Jose Oubrerie is an amazing example of the building as a micro-aquaduct - if you ever do a part-two of this one, it's a great one! Loved this video Stewart, great work!!
Oh good one!
I work in a theatre with a leak that is sometimes inside the auditorium and sometimes in the foyer, it follows an expansion joint and depending on conditions it migrates, I know it's winter when the foyer stair handrail becomes a waterslide which is greatly amusing to all!
Sounds like a fascinating leak!
Loved your video; the Denver Art Museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building by Daniel Libeskind leaked almost immediately after it was built, the design of the roof and skylights did not account for slow melting heavy snow that the city receives every year.
Having been forty years in the window business I've had to deal with leaks.The thing with leaks is that where hte water is coming out is not necessarily the point of the leak. If the parapet leaks (the short wall around the perimeter of a roof) the water travels inside the wall, then on top of the window, then runs down the window.
"Your window is leaking!"
"We checked and it's actually coming in at the parapet."
"No! Your window is wet. It's leaking! Replace it!"
"Is the carpet also wet?"
"Yes!"
"Then that must be the point of your leak. Replace the carpet to stop the leak."
Your deadpan delivery of sarcastic commentary is awesome!! If only I had you as my prof!!
Thank you!! I'll be sure to implemented more leaks in my structures in the future as well!!
I recently watched some videos from a company specializing in foundation drainage solutions somewhere in the US. From those I learned, the most common reason for water entering the foundations is any combination of gutters emptying directly at the wall and terrain sloped toward the house. For extra efficiency, combine the two - I was astonished how many clients they found with this combination. (And how often they got to fix that only because the clients wanted to sell.)
love the comparison with the sr71, one knitpick, jetfuel is not typically flammable because it's not volatile, it has to be aerosolized before it burns
A friend of mine worked at the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame in a building perpetrated by I. M. Pei. The whole time he was there, a crew was working its way around the building, from one leaking roof panel to the next. They had job security. Everyone who worked there knew exactly where to put the wastebaskets whenever it rained.
At one point, the spokesman for an I. M. Pei fan club called up to say that they'd decided to make their anual pilgrimage to that building. The phone was handed to the building manager, who arranged the details of the visit with them. Then he cautioned them not to bring the architect with them. He said that if he ever had the opportunity to meet the man, he would kill him.
It's a telling symptom of our patheticly regressive postwar culture that we have completely accepted that the architectural profession has flatly refused to address the fundemental dysfunction that they themselves have fostered within their ranks. They're spoiled affluent adolescents refusing to face their responsibilities just because they don't wanna.
We should do what other countries have done - just ignor them and let engineers make our buildings. Maybe we could let them choose the curtains, and them give them large trophies afterwards.
I can assure you that if the engineers made the buildings, we would not only have problems with leaks, but also with illumination and ventilation.
Such great advice! I usually like building my home with wax and twigs to successfully gain as many leaks as possible.
Great tip!
You know what? I was cheesed when the gutter system and soil level at my apartment worked together so well that I'd have an indoor pool any time it rained! Really quite a great environment for growing all kinds of friends like molds and other pathogens, which we did to our hearts desire in the HVAC system! I love architecture!
Well done. I have a veranda leak that no expert has yet traced to its source and cause. Interested? The architect has done such a great job concealing the source he deserves an award.
the sarcasm is high in this population
At the start I was confused, but then I reminded myself of those architecture magazine houses and I used to think if it was even possible to build this so as to avoid water damage, but I never considered they could be on purpose!
Having installed about 60 residential/shingle roofs, my favorite roof leaks were the non-roof roof leaks.
A. Once a family had a leak by the chimney and had a new roof installed. But it still leaked. I got called to evaluate the roof work. I told them that I thought the roof work looked good but I would get their chimney tuckpointed before I did any more with the roof. It had cracks that could allow water entry. I ran into them a couple years later and they said that fixed it. But they did not give me any more work. :(
B. A friend had a very plain rectangular ranch with the ridge line down the middle and two gable ends. They had two leaks on one end of the house, one in the front and one in the back. The leaks in the bedroom ceilings were PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL front to back and side to side. Wierd! So I asked to get into the attic. They took me to the laundry room (on the end of the house opposite the leaks) because there was no ceiling and it was open to the attic. While there I happened to notice that the dryer did not vent to the outside of the house, but into the laundry room. So crawling to the other end of the house, I noticed that when someone put aluminum siding on the house, they sided over the gable vent. I also noticed water stains running down the very last rafter on both the front and back sides of the house. If it was a roof leak, it was precisely located in the ridge, right above this last rafter. If that was the case, I was going to run out and buy a lottery ticket! I told them that I thought the humidity from the dryer was migrating to the other end of the attic and was trapped because of the sealed gable vent and then condensing on the last rafter and running down and dripping on the ceiling. I told them they should vent the dryer outside, put a ceiling in the laundry room (which might reduce heat loss in Chicago winters) and open up that gable vent. I never heard any more so I assume that fixed it.
I'm not sure what brought me here, but browsing through these comments, I feel like the caterer at an architecture convention.
I once worked in a small architectural firm that rented an office unit on the 2nd floor of an old 3 storey building. Months later the building owner converted the vacant top floor into lodging rooms and installed lots of bathrooms. A few days later I turned on the light inside the toilet. The light bulb turned on and simultaneously water was also flowing around the bulb down to the floor. I watch it mesmerized. 5 seconds later the water finally seeped into the socket and the bulb exploded with flash and a pop. First time I saw a light fixture with a faucet feature actually worked (well at least for a few seconds). It was surreal and awesome to watch. : )
It can get much more interesting when the water is flowing through the service entrance cable, the meter socket and the electrical panel.
Definitely the multiple leaks coming from my jeeps removable top. Always knew those jeep guys were on to something
I have nothing to do with physical Architecture, I stumbled across this looking for IT architecture information and found it so enjoyable, that I had to watch it all the way through. Two thumbs up...
In Brendan Gill's biography of Frank Lloyd Wright, Gill visits a relative of Wright who lives in a Wright house in Wisconsin. At some point during the visit, it starts to rain and, of course, water starts coming into the house. The homeowner turns to Gill and says something to the effect of; that's what happens when you leave a work of art out in the rain.
One could argue that the building is actually dripping, which sound a lot cooler and makes u feel good for not doing that detail bout that joint
I stumble upon this video as I'm repairing my wife's store that flooded 2 weeks ago from 10 inches of rain falling in one day. Ahhhhhh synchronicity.....
We had an architect/builder that told us that "All roofs leak."
We fired him. Best move we ever made.
We now have an AIA award-winning home with a seamed steel roof. It does NOT leak.
As a carpenter, you can flash and caulk,you can cover it in peel and seal but water wants in.
Yes, flash and caulk everything carefully. But then wrap the entire structure in 1/8th inch fiberglass. Now when the wind blows debris into the fiberglass it will puncture and leak, so now you need to clad the structure in thick defensive stonework tiles. These minor expenses will let you save money using particle board for flooring.
This was so funny. I clicked on this expecting to see epic architecture plans leaked in advance of announcement. I almost clicked away but this was so quirky and funny I stayed haha
Your videos are slowly confirming my dream of studying Architecture. This is great content!
Wow! I'm so happy they've had that impact. Thanks for sharing.
The best choice! Go for it!
We toured a number of Lloyd Wright’s homes in the Chicago suburbs, decades ago. I clearly remember pans set out in one to catch the many leaks, and learning the embedded heating hot water heating in the floor of another had failed, causing some severe damage.
Such is the price of genius…
This is the most well spoken shit post I’ve ever misunderstood.
Here I was thinking this was about structure "leaking" into space plan, etc.
Instead, it's about my recurring nightmare of home ownership.
If you don’t want leaks, just build your house in the desert.
It'll leak sand.... Literally. Imagine a nice thick layer of flour fine sand in and on everything
@@abelincoln7473 like an hour glass. Genius
I was thinking "this had better be tongue in cheek" -- and I was not disappointed! 🤣
Archimarathon sent me, these leak tips are very helpful. I shall employ them in my thesis this year. thank you and stay wet.
I love archimarathon and they have been a great support. Glad these tips got to you in time to incorporate into your thesis!
As an constructing architect this is the best meme ever
We wrote a leak into our contract but didn't get one. At the moment we're in mediation with both the builder and architect.
With these points and 5 minutes of intense spinning I became a leak king!
As a Builder, I appreciate your content very very much, thank you.
That first video you used is from an abandoned house in Oslo, Norway.
RM Schindler's Kings Row house. Years ago before it was completely renovated, I walked through the house during a winter rain, it was like walking through a shower, It was such an impression had reoccuring dreams about roof leaks for years after.
Just wanted to say I found this by chance and this is a great video essay. Was surprised to see it wasn’t a bigger channel! Nice job
I'm working to build it!
now one day if I ever build my own home I am building it with a leak, so when it rains I will have a water feature in my living room
It the olden days leaks were not fashionable, so architects and builders designed them out. Nowadays all the greatest architects design leaks in, fabulous. I waited in a departure lounge at Heathrow Airport ten years ago with buckets around me catching leaks from the roof. How trendy was that…
After watching this I am now devolving plans too cause many leaks in my dwelling. Very soon I will be an intellectual also.
I appreciate this tongue and cheek take on such a huge issue. You've kind of shown a side of the architectural landscape that is self referential and even though I don't think all of those examples were specifically designed to illustrate the varieties of water intrusion to architecture students, you have very effectively made them perform that utilitarian function 😅 I especially liked the examples you showed where the water was well managed, like in the underground house or in the pantheon. With the ironically named Falling Water I think the house is moreso something that calls into question the utility of flat roofing and strays from the theme of mitigation that you had in some of the other examples. I would love to see a video on how skyscrapers or other buildings with flat concrete roofs make water tight and usable outdoor roof space.
The air moisture thing is also such a huge deal. In the freezer warehouse where I work we sometimes receive trailers that are much too hot and are full of moist air. The air cools and massive amounts of steam are generated. That water eventually makes its way into the freezer where it frosts over and breaks the entrance doors or turns into snow. That's probably something within the last leak category 🤷🏼
I'm glad that you're bringing more attention to these issues and getting your students on track to potentially build buildings that have more effective water mitigation strategies 🤙🏻