Dealing with dampness during monsoon

Being a keralite who has survived rainy season for more than 18 years of my life, I think its high time this post came up on dealing with dampness from monsoon!

Few tips for a happy monsoon home : dealing with dampness

This post is a little late but I am sure it would help you in dealing with dampness and monsoon next year. Last year august, we took one week break and went on holiday but by the time we came back, our home was in a havoc state! Monsoon was on its full swing and by the time we returned our bedroom was totally infested with molds. That was my first bad experience with dampness and ever since then, I have been a little more keen on keeping my home not just beautiful but also safe 🙂 Here are a few bit of information that I found while researching about dampness and on dealing with dampness. I am hoping it could be of some help to you guys as well.

Dealing with dampness during rainy season 

I come from the state of Kerala which one of the wettest part of India and there is hardly any part of the year when it doesn’t rain! For most of my life I believed that dampness and their aftereffects are unavoidable part of home just because its raining the whole time. But its actually not. There are just so many things you can do so that you can have a comfortable life during rainy season.

The first and simple identification of dampness are cracks in the walls. By cracks I mean cracks that might or might not be really visible but allow seepage of water. Such leaks appear as green molds or sometimes leads to flaky paint layer.

The root cause of such problem is cracks or unscientific waterproofing during the construction stage of your home. Even ageing of a building can lead to deterioration of the waterproofing and you might need to give it a treatment. The most cheapest treatment I have seen is covering them with a layer of cement but then that might serve the purpose for a year maybe but definitely not long term. There are lot of waterproofing options available in the market these days and even Pidilite has introduced many variants under their brand Dr.Fixit.

When I was a kid there was this kind of paint peeling happening in our bathroom ceiling wall and it suddenly just broke down one small piece landed straight into my eyes 🙁 It was the horrible experience and we had to go to an eye doctor to get rid of it! Such things might seem light but its too dangerous in different ways too.

Molds occur when your rooms are damp and hold too much moisture. Molds are basically fungal growth and the best way to remove them is to just avoid them. Once it starts developing, clear out the room and use a good mold remover to remove it. Last year when we went on our annual vacation, we came back to see that my bedroom walls were fully covered with mold that too in just 1 week!I have to say that my bedroom is not ventilated and my bathroom is a moisture supplier.

The previous renter altered the window frame to keep his air conditioning unit and now my window is totally sealed because it doesn’t have frames to hold the window! Well cant ask for everything when you are in a rented place!I used to run the fan all day with door open to help with some ventilation how much ever possible, and also heat the room for 1-2 hours everyday with room heater to avoid any dampness.

Moisture and dampness can cause serious hygiene problem in kitchens. The most neglected are in kitchen are the cabin beneath the kitchen dish wash sink where seepage occurs causing molds due to issues with waterproofing or plumbing.

Bathrooms are another area most prone to catch up with dampness and moisture because of all the plumbing going through the walls. Most often, we think about waterproofing as a thing for roof but we need to ensure waterproofing of foundation as well so that rising molds and seepage can be avoided.

Plus in India the toilet plus bath are combined and so the entire room remains wet most of time! If you have any leak/crack in your plumbing, there are chances that you can spot centipedes/ earthworms in your bathrooms because they try to find moist places to thrive in. The best way to keep them away is to clean your bathroom always and try to dry them after your morning shower using bathroom squeegee. Also another reason for water to stick around is the awful lot of oil we use on hair and body which can be prevented from sticking to bathroom tiles by regular cleaning.

Last but not the least, if your area is termite prone, then you have to be on constant vigil to protect your wooden furniture. The place I stay now is so badly infested y termites that if you leave a wooden furniture unattended for 2 weeks, there is only 1% chance that it be not infested by termites! Again the root cause is moisture and dampness thats a conducive atmosphere for the termites to survive. Make sure you don’t keep your solid furniture like cabinets very near to the wall which will allow termites to thrive without being noticed. proper cleaning of your home is the key to removing termites once infested.

So if you are planning to build your home or you already have one but are facing issues dealing with dampness, waterproofing is your ultimate solution. There are lot of waterproofing options available in the market but I think a more scientific approach would be a long term solution. Dr.Fixit as I had mentioned earlier is a line of waterproofing products by Pidilite, which also has service wherein their team of technical experts take a field visit to propose the best and economical waterproofing solution. I hope you guys have a dampness free monsoon this year!

xoxo Angela