Construction error hits Swedish homes
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 29 May, 2007 CET.
Updated: Tue 29 May 2007 08:42 CET
Many houses built during the last ten years are at risk of incurring mould damage. Experts reckon that around 95 percent of buildings with plaster house fronts are in the risk zone.
"The problem is much, much bigger than we thought. All types of houses with plaster fronts are affected," Ingemar Samuelsson from the Technical Research Institute of Sweden told Dagens Nyheter.
The problem is the result of a new construction technique that has been in use for the last ten years. The method as applied in Sweden has not included an air passage, meaning that any dampness gets trapped inside the walls.
"The building technique came from Germany and was used for insulating brick houses. It works for light concrete houses. But the houses that are now being built in Sweden are well-insulated houses with wooden beams," said Samuelsson, who estimates the cost of repairing these houses to run into billions of kronor.
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"The problem is much, much bigger than we thought. All types of houses with plaster fronts are affected," Ingemar Samuelsson from the Technical Research Institute of Sweden told Dagens Nyheter.
The problem is the result of a new construction technique that has been in use for the last ten years. The method as applied in Sweden has not included an air passage, meaning that any dampness gets trapped inside the walls.
"The building technique came from Germany and was used for insulating brick houses. It works for light concrete houses. But the houses that are now being built in Sweden are well-insulated houses with wooden beams," said Samuelsson, who estimates the cost of repairing these houses to run into billions of kronor.
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