Your most asked questions about home waterproofing: answered!

For homeowners, planning the foundation of the home is one of the most important aspects. Be it a bungalow, high rise apartment or small flat, the beauty of your home interiors will depend majorly on the layout and foundation of the house. However, wall leakages and peeling are common problems faced by homeowners. This usually happens due to poor construction and lack of proper waterproofing. When water infiltrates the walls of your home, it can cause mould, leakages, cracking, peeling of paint and even damage the main structure of the house. These problems need to be tackled at the earliest, if they are ignored, they can create some major structural issues in your house. The sooner you identify these problems, the easier and less expensive it is to fix them.

Your home is a place where you seek comfort, a place you go to for shelter. And if the four walls and roof of the home are in poor shape and weak — it is ought to affect your wellbeing and health. If you are planning your home layout or if your home walls have been particularly leaky lately then it is important to waterproof.

Fortunately, there are several strategies you can use to waterproof your home. We have received several questions about waterproofing and to help you out, we sought the answers from our waterproofing experts to give your home a long life. We consulted Berger Home Shield Waterproofing experts who gave us a detailed explanation of waterproofing concerns, wall waterproofing troubleshooting and waterproofing solutions. Read on.

How does waterproofing work?                                                                                                

Waterproofing provides protection to the walls, keeping them from leakages and dampness issues caused by moisture or water. This protection can be in the form of sealers, coatings or membranes. Only paint is not enough to help the walls from water damage. Cracks need special treatment or they are likely to get more severe. Waterproofing products come with a special polymer that keeps the surface clean and dry. They are effective in not just combating damage to the walls but preventing any further damage in the future. It requires the right technique to ensure the result is not only to waterproof the surface, but the finishing to also look good. It is recommended to consult Home Shield Waterproofing experts to help you plug wall leakage problems in your home.

How can I tell where the water in my bedroom is coming from?

These problems are likely to occur if there is no proper waterproofing. Rain and water coming down from the roof can penetrate through the pores inside the walls, swelling the wall inside and finding its way to your interior walls. Finding the point of entry may not be easy, water can travel a long way through a structure or even saturate in one spot making it extremely difficult to find the source. Berger Home Shield Moisture Meter is a device designed to accurately detect moisture levels in the walls. By proper diagnosis, you can fix the leakage in your bedroom with waterproofing solutions.

What areas need to be waterproofed?

• Interior and exterior walls
• Home foundation
• Roofs
• Basements
• Tile cracks and bridges

During rainy season water seeps into my living room walls and creates a big mess. What can I do to stop this?

Due to heavy rainfall, water seepage through external walls is common. High wind speeds and humidity in the air increases the likelihood of water seepage. It is likely that your home is not designed to deal with heavy rains, and hence you are facing problems of water seepage in your living room walls. It is important to identify the right source from where the water is leaking in and combat the leakages before the next rainy season. Consult Berger Home Shield Waterproofing Experts to help diagnose wall leakages in your living room and fix them with customised solutions.

I have cracks on the interior walls. How do I deal with it?

If cracks on the home walls are not treated immediately, they can destroy the main structural foundation of the house. In fact, cracks on the walls are a warning sign that can indicate major damage in the walls of your home. For the cracks, I recommend Berger Crack Fill Paste. It is an advanced solution that effectively fills and fixes wall cracks on the interior walls. It is ready to use crack filler flexible putty that blends fine ingredients for a smooth and crack free surface.

How to treat dampness on ceiling due to terrace leakage?

Improper or lack of waterproofing of the terrace can lead to water seepage on the roof that can be seen on the ceiling of the top floor, especially around the corners. To treat dampness on the ceiling due to terrace leakage, you can use Berger PU RoofKoat on the roof. It is exclusive for waterproofing roofs and even exterior walls. It forms a highly elastic and UV resistant membrane on cement surfaces and helps your roof withstand moisture and water damage.

What is Efflorescence?

As water vapour passes through your wall it brings materials from the earth with it. As the water penetrates the walls, it leaves these minerals behind on the surface. As the minerals crystallize when it comes in contact with air, it results in a chalky, white powder on your walls. This powder is known as Efflorescence.

How much does waterproofing cost?

The cost of waterproofing will depend on the amount of water damage, size and type of surface and types of materials used. It is recommended to speak to a waterproofing expert and examine the area that requires waterproofing to provide you with an accurate quotation.

Plan your waterproofing

In a country like India where the monsoons are long and summers hot and humid, it is important to ensure that your home walls are fortified to stand up to the extreme weather conditions. If you think a coat of fresh paint on the walls is enough to cover up the water damage, you are mistaken. The purpose of most paints is merely to enhance the aesthetic beauty of the home walls and does not do much towards the protection. Since it is tricky to detect the real source of moisture, you can solve it with customised solutions provided by Berger Home Shield waterproofing experts.

Our waterproofing experts have helped treat wall cracks and wall dampness of several homes. Read on to know the experience of our waterproofing expert at one of our customer’s home.

I have been working with Berger Paints India since 3 years. I have treated waterproofing issues at more than 20 homes so far. Let me take you through the entire process of waterproofing a wall. To start off, we make sure that the wall is completely dry and clean.  Next, we scrape off any debris, dirt and peeling paint from the wall. After that, we patch any holes and cracks using Berger Waterproof Putty and/or Seal-O-Prime and let it dry completely. And finally, we apply a finishing coat of Berger Wall Shield 2K. If the walls of the home show severe damage, we also recommend additional treatment to combat leakages. We provide customised solutions with specific products to our customers depending on the reading of the smart and efficient Home Shield Moisture Meter that we use. Home Shield Moisture Meter is an IoT –enabled device that Home Shield experts at Berger Paints India use. In fact, customers cannot purchase it as it is not available to all. This device helps make the entire process of waterproofing easier, thanks to its accurate reading. For every reading, we have a prescribed product and we treat the walls accordingly.

Speak to a Berger Home Shield Waterproofing expert to make sure your home is free of any wall leakages, peeling and seepage issues. This will also save your expenses on unnecessary future repairs.