Your new home can soon look like an old one if you are living in a humid climate or near the sea shore. All the sea breeze or moist air can affect your house. Your new home may look dull soon after monsoon. Water seepage happens when water accumulates around the outside wall and seeps slowly inside the wall through the concrete. so take proper care and stop moisture penetrating to your walls and make your wall alive.
Water pipe leakage, rain can cause seepage due to poor plaster on exterior walls and on your roof top where water gets collected, seepage through bathroom or kitchen floor in your house or above you, can be some of the reasons for water seepage. There are some semi-permanent solutions to bring your home a new look and solve seepage problems. Its advisable to plan accordingly for your house treatment, keeping your budget in mind.
For your walls, you can try good waterproof paints which can wash out the telltale signs of the monsoon ravages. Start your paint before monsoon, as this is the right time to get the work done as it allows enough time for the moisture trapped within the walls to dry off. You could use the de-humidifier to speed up the process, in case there is still some dampness. Ask your painter to use a moisture meter to gauge the wall and detect the moisture content before painting.
It is essential to treat the wall with water resistance products before painting the wall. Fill putty on wall to cover all pores of the wall including gaps and cracks on the ceiling. Poor quality of paint on the exterior wall also can cause seepage problem. As concrete is intrinsically porous it allows moisture to seep in the walls and it deposits in the walls. This forms damp patches in the interior wall and then later fungus and mold. Walls with patches and fungus looks ugly, and also it will ruin your interior, so you have to work for it.
To save your money or work in low budget you can go for stone surface on your exterior walls from inner side. This is inexpensive and avoids the stress of paint job every season. Slate, limestone and natural stones are efficacious ways of beating seepage and damp walls. This idea deals best for the cities that are humid and has good amount of rain during monsoon.
Also wooden furniture and doors and shutters need treatments after monsoon. So experiment with different finishes which are water resistant and which are easily cleaned with a soft cotton cloth. With moisture in the air, glass becomes a great way to treat furniture and wardrobe shutters.
