“Tomato, tomahto “—Carpark, Parkade, Parking Deck, Parking Garage—No Matter What you call them, the expansion joints shouldn’t leak…

Thermaflex installed at Condo on the Bay in Sarasota, FL.

Expansion joints for parking decks are often the leak point for water into lower level parking areas or even occupied space below.  Watertightness is therefore critical.  When design or structural factors cause joints to change plane or direction is where most joints leak–often after the first rain storm.  EMSEAL uses a thermoplastic rubber in the manufacture of our Thermaflex parking deck expansion joint system.  This allows the joint to be factory-welded to follow changes in plane and direction while preserving continuity of seal. While others have adopted the raw material to be able to offer this feature, few make it the cornerstone of their practice.  In addition, EMSEAL is the only manufacturer that routinely reinforces all factory welds with an additional layer of thermoplastic rubber sheet.  By doing so the full uncut strength of the rubber is restored at all welds.

Anyone can make joints watertight in cross-section.  But expansion joints exist in 3-D. Where they jog around columns; go up a curb and over a sidewalk; or terminate into a vertical plane surface like a wall or parapet, is where expansion joints leak.  Water tests should be a standard to ensure that installation of transitions is watertight as well.