Houses are commonly vulnerable to water leakages from a number of spots, especially during the rainy season. While some are obvious surfaces which are heavily exposed to rain, others receive indirect leakages. As such, it is highly useful to have a checklist of areas to regularly inspect in your home. Early detection and shoring up of water leakages can help to prevent escalation to major problems such as structural damage or ceiling leakage. In this article, we list down 10 areas which commonly serve as entry points for rain water in your house.
For starters, balconies are correctly thought of as big culprits for water leakages. Be it big or small, protruding or sheltered, balconies are highly susceptible to rainfall. In addition, their naturally flat surfaces area makes it difficult for water to drain. Unfortunately, it is the neighbours who often suffer from balcony water leakages as constant water leaks and collapsed tiles take place when insufficient maintenance is done.
Shower leaks are another obvious candidate as water leaks through all surfaces including that of tiles, shower bases, walls, glass screens and shower fittings. This is a particularly tricky issue in multi-story buildings where it is not apparent which particular apartment is responsible for the leakage. Furthermore, since these areas are expected to be wet, it is often harder to spot signs of water leakages.
Third on our list are doors and windows, particularly those on external weather facing surfaces. Depending on the materials used in their construction, doors and windows may be susceptible to rotting in different parts of their make-up. If not detected early on, their structure may be weaken to a point of breaking, thereby a hard tug may unhinge either furnishing, giving the unfortunate user a terrible shock.
We saved a commonly overlooked part of the house for last. At first glance, not many would suspect that the basement would be a prime area for water leakages. After all, this part of the house is never directly exposed to rain, nor would they expect water to travel that far down. In reality, basements often require complex drainage systems as water reaches it through a variety of indirect means. Moreover, a weakening of the building’s structural integrity from the basement up could lead to a total collapse. As such, we can’t stress enough how important it is for home owners to conduct vigorous routine checks on this part of their home for early water leakages.
