Moisture movements in render on brick wall

A three-layer render on brick wall used for building facades is studied in the laboratory. The vertical render surface is held in contact with water for 24 hours simulating driving rain while it is measured with non-destructive X-ray equipment every hour in order to follow the moisture front through the render and into the brick. The test specimen is placed between the source and the detector. The test specimens are all scanned before they are exposed to water. In that way the loss of counts from the dry scan to the wet scan qualitatively shows the presence of water. The results show nearly no penetration of water through the render and into the brick, and the results are independent of the start condition of the test specimens. Also drying experiments are performed. The results show a small difference in the rate of drying, in favour of the bricks without render.