Assesing the causes of external paint wall defects on buildings in Kampala.

Abstract

The appearance of paint on buildings is of great value as it gives the first impression of the structure. The appearances further create value for the building. External wall paint defects affect the quality and value of the building on top of increasing the maintenance costs. Preventing these defects requires proper planning. It also requires effort by both the facility manager and the person applying paint. The majority of the buildings in Kampala are characterized by many paint defects just at first glance. These are brought by a number of factors thus calling for a study. The study was undertaken to assess the causes of external wall paint defects on buildings in Kampala. The analysis was done based on the sample size of 168 half of whom were facility managers and half building owners. However, due to the time factors,82.6% were reached and used for the study. The respondents for this study included facility managers and painters in Kampala. The data was analyzed to obtain mean values which were presented in tabular format and ranked (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) accordingly for easy reading and interpretation. It was also represented in a bar graph and pie charts. It was found from the study that Blistering, Efflorescence, cracking and flaking were the highest defects on the buildings in the area. The lowest defects were sagging and chalking. The findings on the main causes of external wall paint defects were poor water control, poor surface preparation, damp walls, poor quality of paint among others. It was also noted that most facility managers have repainted at least 3 times in 5 years. Solutions and recommendations were suggested such as the use of waterproof, damp proof membrane, the use of good quality paint, and training of painters and clients.