Jagvir Goyal
April is about to end. Monsoons are a couple of months away. Though always welcomed by us, these may also be a cause of worry if dampness or leakages appear in the walls or ceiling of the house. It is therefore always better to prepare oneself to welcome monsoons without fear. Here are a few steps, one must take well in time to avoid ill-effect of downpours:
Examine the roof area: Examine the roof area minutely and spot the spots which may allow ingress of water. Get them repaired and sealed well. The flush pointing done over the tile terraces may have come off or the joints of the stone or tiles fixed on the terrace may have lost their grout. Examine the joints of the parapet with the ceiling. These often demand repair of the ‘gola’ laid along. Any portion of the terrace shouldn’t have settled a bit due to consolidation of sub-base to build a pool of water in it. Wherever required, the repair work should be got done well in time and more important is to apply water to it for few days for gaining strength if cement has been used in repairs.
Get the rain water pipes cleaned: See that none of the rain water pipes are choked. Often it happens that wind sweeps the dust, bird feathers and droppings gathered on the roof to the mouth of rain water pipes and chokes them. While getting the gratings fixed over rain water pipes cleaned of all the dirt, be sure that the dirt is not pushed into the rain water pipes themselves but is gathered and thrown out. These days, the rain water pipes don’t discharge the rain water in the courtyard but are led underground to the rain water harvesting tank by fixing an elbow at the bottom of the pipes. Dust and rubbish if pushed inside the pipes may block the elbow fixed at their bottom.
Examine the walls: Damp patches often appear inside some walls and the house owners are often at a loss to understand from where the moisture came. It may be due to capillary action from the foundations if damp proof course is not proper or cracked somewhere or due to some crack in a rain water pipe or water supply pipe or drain pipe or due to use of porous material in the construction of the walls. It is important to locate the source of moisture to get rid of it permanently. Repairs of damp proof course can be got done through grouting and cracks in pipes can be got repaired by calling a plumber.
Most of the walls are built in bricks which are porous material and absorb moisture if not plastered well with cement mortar. Sometimes, we leave some brickwork without plaster to provide face work or for some other reason. Such brickwork is more prone to ingress of moisture. Buy a few litres of ready to use Repellin WR and apply it with a paint brush on the outer surface of the brick faced wall. Not only brick walls but any other walls susceptible to entry of moisture can be painted with water repellent material. It is a clear transparent material that doesn’t spoil the beauty of the face work but prevents entry of moisture to the inner faces of walls.
Get anti-termite treatment done: As the winter season recedes, termite raises its head and gets ready to attack wooden items. If you have used wood in door and window frames and wooden products like ply boards in cupboards, bathroom vanities, kitchen cabinets etc, it’s time to call the anti-termite treatment people and get the treatment done. These agencies come at a short notice and generally charge on basis of per square feet built up area of the house. Normally, the rate varies from Rs. 4.00 to Rs. 5.00 per square foot area. So for a 2000 square feet area, they’ll charge Rs. 8000 to Rs. 10000.00. They sign an agreement with you, provide a warranty of 2 to 3 years and come to inspect the houses every six months or so. The job is completed within a day or so depending upon the area to be treated. Drilling of holes in the skirting area and applying injections to wooden items is part of their treatment system. Watch for use of good anti-termite material by them despite their providing warranty for the work done by them.
Examine fixed glass window panels: These days, windows in the houses are large sized with more of their area having fixed glass and less area having openable window shutters. Examine the bottom joint of fixed glass window portion. The silicon filling done there at the time of fixing fixed window panes shouldn’t have come off. If it has happened, you’ll often note water entering the rooms from window joints during monsoons. Wooden floorings in the bedrooms may get damaged. Bring a silicone sealant cartridge along with its nozzle and a metal gun for the use of silicon cartridge, fit the cartridge in it and fill all the joints well. Otherwise visit a glass panels selling shop and ask them to send their person to do the job and charge whatever as charges are not much but you’ll be relieved of any worries about entry of water.
Welcome the monsoons now!
