The Yucatán peninsula is a region surrounded north and west by the Gulf of Mexico, and by the Caribbean Sea in the east. It contains a narrow stripe of sandy soil, in front of the sea, more than a thousand kilometres long. In this region, a large number of small buildings are located whose main structural system employed concrete or masonry walls with reinforced concrete slabs for roofing. The environment in the peninsula has such a high chloride concentration that it places this region as the second in importance for the production of common table salt in Mexico. This resource, which is important for the economy, is the origin of an extremely aggressive environment for the buildings, either by corroding the reinforcing steel or by reaction of the sulphate ions with the hydrated cement paste. The aim of this study was the exploration of the pathologies present in beach houses in order to diagnose the damage and the proper rehabilitation procedure. Concrete properties, as well as chloride concentrations and carbonation depths, were measured from concrete cores obtained from the houses. Results show that the housing infrastructure in this region is continually affected, with heavy losses due to corrosion.
