Water transport in materials of historical buildings

The historic buildings renovation is one of the unwritten obligations of every nation. In the territory of the Slovak Republic there is quantity of the historical buildings which are from different architectural periods, which we can find not only in the squares of the bigger cities, but also in a wide areas. The technical conditions of these buildings describe our relationship with which we look at them. At the present, many historic buildings are restored, but more are left untouched and without maintenance. Incorrect construction details, but also inappropriate additional building adaptation, cause degradation of the masonry and surface layers. Absence of the water-insulating waterproofing against capillarity allows the water to be transported into vertical structures and with it transport water-soluble salts from the subsoil. Increasing mass of the humidity by capillary transport and crystallization of water-soluble salts in porous materials causes visible defects on the surface of the structures. Laboratory measurement of the humidity and capacity of the water-soluble salts in a historic building point to the impact of the segmentation and using of the building. Different values of the taken samples define critical places that necessitate additional remediation. Suggestion of the remediation influences diversity of the materials which are used and their material characteristics. For the water transport analysis, it is necessary to know the transmission parameters of the water of the historical structures. Determination of the humidity coefficient is possible by the water absorption coefficient and the value of the capillary humidity. The measurement is carried out by an experiment of the unidirectional capillarity by the laboratory instrument.