Home Waterproofing Guide for Beginners (Waterproofing – Do’s and Don’ts)

There’s a common saying, “home is where the heart is.”

Home is the only place of bountiful happiness and effortless joy, a place where you would want to come back to and spend some quality time with your loved ones. As much as a home is essential for you, your home also needs you. This is what I have learned throughout my journey as a Waterproofing Expert with Berger Paints. And today, I am going to share my experience and expertise to help you, as a homeowner, to keep your home protected from exterior or interior damps, gaps, cracks, tile fixing problems, and much more.

Painting Is Not Enough

For every homeowner, it is important to use washable paint for the walls on interior as well as exterior walls. But painting is not enough to take care of the walls. Dampness is the major cause of concern, which most people fail to realise.

Most of the cases of dampness occur due to plumbing leaks, weak gutter, downpipe issue, poor roof health and lack of maintenance. These cases do not require waterproofing. So, the objective is to identify the cause of leakage before calling for help.

However, if you are only considering waterproof paints to build efficient homes, expert suggestion may be a valuable choice.

Getting to the Roots

Cracks No More

Cracks on the walls are unsightly and warning signs too. Cracks indicate that there are serious structural issues in your house. They affect the foundation of a home and its beauty.

While some cracks are normal, occur due to the age of building, horizontal cracks indicate trouble. Such cracks are the signs of poor plastering and structural problems.

If cracks are not treated immediately, they may lead to the dampness of the walls. Water seeping from the exterior walls may damage the overall structure of the house. Hence, it is critical to treat structural cracks to prevent unnecessary complications.

Crack Fill Paste is an advanced solution to prevent wall cracks on the internal as well as external walls. It is a ready to use flexible putty that blends super-fine ingredients for undulation free and smooth surface.

It is very important to seal the cracks and gaps in the interiors and exteriors to maintain the beauty and efficiency of your home.

Using Dampstop and Waterproof Putty during the construction phase itself can help to reduce such issues due to their waterproof coating feature. Dampstop comes with flexible re-dispersible polymers with special additives for complete wall protection.

Seal Leaks and Cracks

The terrace and walls are important parts of the infrastructure. It is not only essential to construct the terrace and walls efficiently but also to maintain well. However, leaks work as silent killers and cause massive damage to the roof, which weakens the overall integrity of the structure.

Improper slope on terrace and cracks on walls are some of the causes of terrace and wall leaks.

It is crucial to treat this kind of damage immediately because dampness can eventually destroy the structure at the root. The most effective way of safeguarding the roof from leaks and dampness is to check the terrace regularly. For adequate protection use waterproof coatings like WeatherCoat Long Life paint.

Waterproofing tiles on terrace is even more difficult. It requires extra glazed and smooth finish to ensure a brilliant result. To get optimum results, a primer coat is needed for adhesion. You can also get damp-proof coating for the tiled surface by applying a singlecoat primer to the tiled terrace.

In case of wall cracks, using Waterproof Putty and powder is highly recommended.

No Interior Dampness

Ageless walls are the epitome of beauty of your home. However, dampness could make the walls lifeless. Despite using the most expensive paint, you may not get a satisfactory result.

The main cause of dampness is leakage from improper slope, washrooms, and exterior walls, gaps between tiles and from water collection on the floor.

As dampness affects the beauty and structure of your walls, you must take care at the very first sight. Using Homeshield Dampstop on the interior and exterior walls is the best way to control dampness as it is a cement-based solution that forms strong flexible waterproof coating over the wall surface. Washable paint for walls are also recommended as they are made with the latest technology to give you fantastic and long-lasting results.

Home Waterproofing Do’s and Don’ts

Homeowners do not want a leaky and damped home. If the house dampens, it may be difficult to get rid of it.

• Do Your Research: There are three ways to prevent basement leaks – drainage, interior sealants and exterior waterproofing. You have to determine the best treatment for your home specific to the situation.
• Don’t Allow Stagnant Water: It is crucial to keep your home and surroundings free from stagnant water. This is the only way to prevent moulds in your homes, which not only affects the walls but is hazardous to health too.
• Do Find Out the Source of Leakage: Identify the source of leakage and fix it. Is it a pipe leakage or is water coming from the window? Find out the source and cut it off.
• Don’t Use DIY Sealants: You may be a DIY expert, but don’t use sealants without consulting a specialist. Most of those quick fixes are temporary and may lead to expensive repairs of the foundation in the future.
• Do Keep the Gutter Clean: If the gutter were bogged down with debris and leaves, it would divert water to the drains. That’s the foundation of cracks. So, make sure gutters are clean.
• Don’t Plant Anything Close to the Foundation: Plant seeds or plants away from the building’s foundation. Slope the plants six inches for 10 horizontal feet.
• Do Use Specialised Waterproofing Products for Different Parts of the Home: Using specific waterproofing products for the home is recommended. Say for example, if you are looking for a product to waterproof internal wet areas like swimming pools or water tanks exclusively, Latex Shield is a great choice.