The job
Planter box waterproofing removal on the podium of a beachfront apartment building in Coolangatta, on the southern Gold Coast. The podium pool deck is lined with long, narrow concrete planters beside the pool, the pool fence and the terrace walls, planted with hedges or topped with white pebbles.
Remcon Australia, a remedial builder, was re-waterproofing the planters. Everything in them had to come out, and the old membrane had to come off, before the new system could go in. Remcon brought in Perfect Concrete Care for both stages. Our Queensland crew dug the planters out in May 2026 and came back in June to grind the old membrane off.
What the planter box waterproofing removal involved
- Floor protection laid on the tiled pool deck before any digging started
- Salvaging the white pebble topping into tubs so it could go back in later
- Pulling out hedges and roots and digging the soil, sand and geofabric out by hand, down to the existing membrane
- Carting the soil in tubs and trolleys down to the skip bins in the basement
- Hand grinding the old membrane off the planter walls and floors with 5 and 6 inch grinders on vacuums, back to bare concrete
- Surface preparation of the planter walls, floors and drains for the new waterproofing
What made it hard
The planters are long, narrow and deep, right beside the pool and the fence. There is no room for a machine, so every bucket of soil was dug and lifted out by hand, and every metre of membrane was ground off by a crew member standing inside the planter.
It is a lived in building with a pool deck people use. The deck was protected, the work area was kept tidy, and the soil went down through the building to the basement skips in tubs.
Power on the podium was limited, so the grinding stage ran off a generator. It is an exposed deck by the beach, and rain stops digging and grinding alike.
How it was done
In May the crew laid floor protection, salvaged the pebbles into tubs, then pulled the hedges and dug the planters out by hand until the old membrane was showing on the walls and floor. The soil went down to the skips and the planters were left empty for the next stage.
In June the crew came back with hand grinders and vacuums, climbed into each planter and ground the old black membrane off the walls, floors and around the drains, back to bare concrete for Remcon's waterproofer.
Outcome
The planters we worked on were stripped out and ground back to bare concrete over May and June 2026, ready for Remcon to put the new waterproofing in and refill them.
Lessons learned on this job
Every job teaches the crew something. These are the ones we took from Coolangatta.
What worked
- Salvaging the pebbles first, so the client could reuse them
- Protecting the pool deck before any digging and keeping the tubs on the protection
- Splitting the job into a dig out stage and a grinding stage, so each crew had the right gear
What was difficult
- Narrow, deep planters where everything was done by hand
- A pool deck in a lived in building, with soil carted down to the basement
- Limited power on the podium, so the grinders ran off a generator
If you have something similar
Remedial builders and waterproofers re-doing planter boxes on a podium or rooftop need them emptied and the old membrane off cleanly. Have a look at our waterproofing membrane removal Gold Coast, concrete grinding Gold Coast and coating and membrane removal pages, see another Remcon job at Magnoli Apartments, Palm Beach or another Coolangatta job at an apartment tower in Coolangatta, or get in touch.
Need this done on your building?
Perfect Concrete Care acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.