Precautions during monsoon

Certain precautions should be taken in a house before the onset of monsoons to prevent leakages,rain water coming in through doors and windows and damp patches on walls. Window,doors and their frames should be water tight and sealed.

Correct slopes ought to be maintained for terraces and they should be sloped towards khurras or rain water outlets. The ideal slope for a terrace is between 1:100 to 1:150 towards the rain water outlets. The khurras should be waterproofed to avoid leakage. These pipes must have minimum bends and must be connected to the storm water drain. The skirting around the perimeter also helps to protect the waterproofing. Ideally,at the junction of the parapet wall and the horizontal floor finish a cement concrete gola should be given to avoid seepage at the junction of the two,that is,the parapet wall and the horizontal floor finish. The gola is a very important element in preventing the leakage of rainwater to the surfaces below when rainwater collects on the terrace. All horizontal surfaces such as chajjas or overhangs should be waterproofed,correctly sloped and proper rainwater pipes should be installed.

In addition to water seepages during the rains through terraces,and overhangs,there is capillary action that takes place through walls,shafts and construction joints. Therefore,maintenance of the building is very essential. Ideally one should paint the exterior of the building every five years. Nowadays many waterproof emulsions are available. Check for structural weaknesses every four to six years,incase you discover any problem or there are major cracks on the surface of the building,engage a professional,in particular,an architect or structural engineer to look into the problem. Even if there are small repairs to be done attend to them quickly before they develop into a bigger problem.

To avoid ugly water marks of muddy rain water on the underside of overhangs or chhajjas the following ought to have been done at the stage of plastering of the overhang or chajja. However,if you discover any overhang without a drip or tapak,a mason can always be engaged to add a drip locally known to masons as a tapak to the overhang or chajja. A drip tapak is an extra bit of thicker plastering on the underside of the overhang or chajja just below its periphery. The drip is usually about half an inch wide 12 millimetres and is thicker than the normal plastering of the surface by about a few millimetres. In the absence of a drip,the rain water dripping on the vertical face or thickness of the chajja will tend to travel back along the underside of the plastering of the chajja. This is what leads to water marks. A drip or tapak,being a thicker edge of plastering under the tip of the periphery of the overhang or chajja,breaks the passage of water along the underside of the chajja,ensuring that all the water droplets drip down at the point at which this drip ends on the horizontal plane. Therefore,since no water would travel beyond this point horizontally towards the rest of the underside of the chajja,there will be no water marks on the underside of the chajja. Any mason would be able to do this and solve the problem of the ugly water marks.

In case there are rooms having doors and windows with no chhajja or overhang which prevents rain water from coming into the rooms,it is necessary to add a protective overhang over such openings. Ideally a proper chhajja should be made over such openings,incase major breakage and civil work is not possible,then I will give you a few suggestions of the kind of structures you can build over such doors and windows. In case you are looking for a readymade structure available in the market you could go in for an awning. Several reputed companies are making these and these can be fabricated to the length required by you,also you could go in for either one continuous awning or in parts to suit your requirement. Most awnings are retractable or collapsible and therefore can be opened as and when required.

Secondly you have the option of getting a structure fabricated. The framework can be of metal or wood and it may be continuous or in parts as per your requirement. In metal you have the option of an aluminium framework or a mild-steel pipe or box section. Over this basic framework you can have a covering of a fibre-glass or polycarbonate sheet. These sheets are available in both plain,patterened or corrugated form. This would be screwed over the framework. Polycarboate is however a more expensive option. It is a harder material and over a period of time is less prone to shrinkage or warpage in sunlight. You have the option of putting clay brick tiles as well. These come in various colours ranging from terracotta,green,bluish grey etc. Make sure while installing any such structure,the necessary slope is given to drain of the rain water. Incase you go in for a wooden framework over a period of time it may absorb moisture and this may lead to cracks or some degree of warpage in the wood. Both metal and wooden frameworks can be painted in any colour as per taste.

All these would definitely ensure a less problematic house in the monsoons. l

The author is an architect

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