FEATURE READY FOR THE RAIN?
Dry weather is an ideal time to inspect, repair and protect buildings – before the rain returns, explains Simon Trenerry, Technical Advisor at Safeguard Europe.
The UK is having to adapt to increasingly contrasting weather conditions. Climate projections indicate that summers are likely to become hotter and drier overall, while individual rainfall events can become more intense.
According to the Met Office, warmer air can hold around 7% more moisture for every 1°C increase in temperature, increasing the potential for heavier rainfall. UK climate projections also indicate that the amount of rain falling during a summer rainfall event that currently occurs approximately once every two years could increase by around 25%.
When rain does arrive, buildings need to be capable of dealing with potentially intense downpours and wind-driven rain.
What happens to buildings during
prolonged dry weather? Hot and dry conditions don't just affect lawns and gardens. They can affect the ground supporting buildings and expose weaknesses in the building fabric. This is particularly important in areas with shrinkable clay soils. As clay dries, it contracts; when moisture returns, it expands again. Where this movement is uneven, foundations can move and cracking can occur.
In June 2026, the British Geological Survey (BGS) reported that exceptionally dry conditions during 2025 contributed to £153m of subsidence-related insurance claims during the first six months of that year.
Properties in clay-rich areas, including parts of London and South East England, can be particularly susceptible.
Movement isn't the only concern. Extended periods of heat and dryness can also highlight deterioration in mortar joints, render, sealants and other elements of the external envelope. Once heavy rain returns, these defects can provide routes for water into the building.
Use the dry weather to inspect Rather than waiting for damp patches to reveal a problem during the next prolonged downpour, property owners and building managers can use dry conditions as an opportunity for preventative maintenance.
External walls should be checked for damaged or missing pointing, cracks, deteriorated render and other obvious defects. Particular attention should be paid around windows and doors and at junctions between different materials.
Gutters, downpipes and drainage should also be inspected and cleared so that they can cope with sudden heavy rainfall.
Cracking should not simply be covered up. Significant or developing cracks – particularly diagonal cracks, cracks around openings or those visible both internally and externally – may warrant further investigation to determine whether building movement is involved.
The principle should be simple: inspect, diagnose and repair before protecting.
44 | TOMORROW’S FM Protecting masonry against wind-
driven rain Once defects have been addressed, exposed porous masonry can be given additional protection against rain penetration.
Safeguard Europe's Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream, for example, is designed to penetrate porous materials such as brick, mortar, sandstone and concrete, creating a water-repellent barrier while allowing the masonry to remain vapour permeable or ‘breathable’.
Independent testing by Lucideon found that Stormdry ‘had little effect on the water vapour diffusion of the brick substrate.’ and ‘little effect on the breathability of the brick substrate.’
Independent assessment by the British Board of Agrément (BBA) demonstrated substantial reductions in water absorption on tested substrates. The certificate reports reductions of 99% for the tested brick, 98% for mortar and concrete, and effectiveness for 25 years.
Importantly, this isn't a substitute for structural repairs, good pointing, functioning drainage or investigating subsidence. Instead, it provides an additional line of defence against one of the UK's most persistent causes of building-envelope problems: wind-driven rain. Stormdry should be applied to suitable dry, porous masonry, making a prolonged period of dry weather a useful opportunity to carry out treatment before wetter conditions arrive.
Prepare while the weather is dry We cannot control when prolonged dry weather will end or how intense the rain that follows will be. We can control how well prepared our buildings are.
Inspecting walls, repairing defects, clearing rainwater systems and protecting vulnerable porous masonry while conditions are favourable can reduce the opportunity for water to exploit weaknesses when the weather changes.
After weeks of looking up at clear skies, it might seem strange to start thinking about rain. For the building itself, however, now could be exactly the right time.
https://safeguardeurope.com
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