Durability of building envelope materials

This thesis is part of a series of documents that presents some research on different topics that are being conducted at The Durability Lab of The University of Texas consisting of groundbreaking research focused on the durability of building envelope materials used in construction. Behavior of stucco was analyzed when different construction joint configurations were used, Strict and Compromise cases (accepted by the ASTM standard) and Usual case (often used in construction). These cases were used, in a wall constructed at the exposure site at The University of Texas Pickle Research Campus to compare the joint opening widths due to temperature and weather conditions by installing gage points on both sides of the construction joints. Water-resistive barrier testing is ongoing as well as nail sealability testing, observations on the performance of products exposed on mockups are being made and the new implementation of the ASTM D7349, Standard Test Method for Determining the Capability of Roofing and Waterproofing Materials to Seal around Fasteners, regarding nail sealability is presented. Building sealants are crucial when avoiding water to get inside buildings through the perimeters of doors and windows principally. Long-term testing is being done based on ASTM C1589, Standard Practice for Outdoor Weathering of Construction Seals and Sealants Procedure C, and important trends are presented after observation and data analysis of the gathered information. Important takeaways from water-repellent testing are listed considering the behavior and performance of water-repellents based on the effects of UV radiation and weather conditions, as well as the active component and the type of water-repellent. Construction tapes and flashings are vital in many water-resistive barrier systems, since they seal around all penetrations to provide a complete waterproofing system. Test of construction tapes and flashings has been performed mainly based on ASTM D3654, Standard Test Methods for Shear Adhesion of Pressure-Sensitive Tapes, considering different types of tapes and different substrates. Lastly, the effect of surfactants on the performance of building paper were observed, two different conditions were evaluated: the presence of surfactants on stucco mixes and admixtures, and the presence of surfactants on detergents and soaps used to clean the outer part of buildings. Some other, but no less important research topics, are ongoing, including properties of plaster mixtures, pedestrian membranes, and elastomeric wall coatings.