Pakistan has welcomed the monsoon season with overcast skies and rumbling overhead. Pakistan has experienced from ample to heavy rainfall during this season, making it a norm of adjusting around constant dampness and stagnant water. As much as the rain seems to be calming and peaceful, it can be disastrous as well. Similarly, as much as it is life-saver for farmers and crops it can be damaging for city life as well.
The recent Karachi’s rain has been an alarming situation for everyone. Where the heavy rain along with flood drowned the city especially the poshest and elite areas. While the water dribbled inside the homes for many, it just damped the outer structure for some. In either cases, the situation left its after effects especially on the walls such as peeling of paint, leakage, dampness, fungus, etc.
Here are some ways which can be adopted to prevent your interior or exterior walls from damage;
1. Avoid any renovation or construction:
Firstly, it is advised to construct, renovate or paint your house according to the season. Although, it is very important to get your walls painted every 3 or 4 years but it is also essential that the painting is done at the right time. The moisture remains on the wall and outer structure of the house remains disheveled, even after quite days. The paint requires a dry surface to adhere but if there is a moisture on the walls, it will push and peel off the paints from the walls. The peeled off and damped walls are still vulnerable to damage even after repainting.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the monsoon season can also and create long creeks in your wall and deteriorates the quality of your wall on whole another level. Therefore, it is advised to delay the painting process for post monsoon so you can have smoot finish on your walls.
2. Better quality of paints:
When monsoon season and moisture in the environment is already deteriorating the health and condition of your walls, low-grade or low quality paints can only land it to its worst phase. Good quality paints have better concealing capacity than any ordinary paint. Although, any low quality paint would cost lesser but the amount of coats and re-painting, flecks, fadedness and creeks in wall would be much costlier than premium paints in the long run.
The better quality or high quality paint will save your time and cost in the longer run. Only one coat will provide a smooth, dirt, sticking and mildew resistance. These paints are also considered to hold it off comparatively in monsoon season. The types of paint that you should consider include;
Silicon based: This is one of the best possible available options for the monsoon season. The silicon based paints act as water resistor and keep the walls damp-proof.
Polymer based: Another problem with the monsoon season is the dirt that comes along with wind-flow. The Polymer based paints protects the exterior of your walls from any kind of dirt and stickiness, keeping the coat intact.
3. Protection from cracks and creeks:
As discussed earlier, acrylic paints do not provide the adequacy or protection from dirt, mildew and moisture and the walls can be water-proofed by using silicon or polymer based paints. But cracks and cervices in the walls are the best hiding places for moisture, even paints with a certain higher level of thickness can’t even control the cracks. The cracks extend and further damages the wall. The best possible solution is to use plaster of Paris and put a seal on these crack before the coat of paints to avoid unevenness or unfinished look.
4. Adding a coat of white cement:
As of a precautionary measure, a coat of white cement before painting can prevent any sort of cracks and damages that could possibly happen in your wall during monsoon season. While increasing the defense of the walls, they also provide a smooth surface for the application of paint and help to avoid the effect of chipping. Besides shielding the walls, they also create a smooth surface for the application of paint. This will help avoid the paint from chipping.
5. Roof protection against water leakage:
Roof is a prime part of the construction since It is supposed to protect you from any storm, thunder, snow, heat strokes, and rains. Majority of the times, the stagnant or standing water on the roof creates cracks in the ceiling and thus weakens the outer and inner structure of your roof. It is important that these water spots are attended at the due time. We need to need make sure that after or during the rain, clogged drains and busted pipes are checked and the water collected on roof dents is wiped out.
Other than that, the roof tiles are often inadequate and provide an outlet to water to the walls. Hence, it is important that we layout a layer of water repellant on roof tiles to prevent water leakage.
6. Installation of DPC:
Damp Proof Course (DPC) is a horizontal layer designed to restrict the moisture through the walls and floor. To avoid water from reaching to the walls DPC is laid at plinth level (the joint level of the walls and the foundations).
Although, the entire process is again expressive and hasn’t been much adopted in Pakistan except for a few high-end infrastructures but the prevention of damp in your walls and floor is much cheaper than the damage control. If you find out your home has damp problems due to inadequate proofing, you could end up having to pay thousands and thousands of rupees to repair it.
7. Proper drainage and ventilation:
As discussed earlier, a proper drainage system is very essential which should include proper water drainage system for the terrace and circulation pits for terrace as well. The surplus water can be directed to these drainage pits if the terrace has been provided with proper projecting slabs.
Another thing which is ignored by majority is proper ventilation. Even after rain, the walls still seem pretty damp and that is because lack of air and ventilation that could soak up the moisture. For the exterior walls, sunshade placements can prevent water from seeping during heavy rainfall.
Pleasant weather, good atmosphere, beautiful view and of course food; there are many of the reasons to love the monsoon season. As much as we love rain, they tend to damage the both exterior and interior of your homes. The after effects of rain at your home are going to be an indicator that your house needs to be rain-proofed. LandTrack has always been looking out for best solutions for its customers to digitally advocate and impact them. It has always strives as one-stop-platform for all your housing and real-estate needs. We hope the above mentioned methods are going to help you in the best possible way. However, If you know any other, let us know in the comment section.
