Everyone loves the rainy season for its offerings of piping hot food and the earthy fragrance in the air. But home dwellers need to have some safety measures in place to ensure that their dream house is not infected by dampness, pests or water during this romantic season!
Monsoons, for most of us, symbolize the pit-pat of raindrops on the glass window; steaming hot beverages and fried snacks; the fragrance of rain, wet, fresh earth soaked in green colour all bring to us a sense of peace and serenity.
However, for many, the season stands for damp interiors and leakages leading to malaises and afflictions; weakened foundations with fungi; seasonal pests; et al.
Well, Gharpedia brings to you some monsoon tips for home so that your house is rain-proof, thereby allowing you to soak up the beauty of the season.
Monsoon Tips for Home
- Pre-Monsoon Safety Checklist for Your Home
- Replace Heavy Carpets with Easy-to-Maintain Versions
- Clean is the BasicTip for Monsoon Ready Home
- Purge the Drains before the Rainy Season Starts
- Wiring Check for Electrical Safety Precautions during The Rainy Season
- Properly Ventilate Your House to Get Rid of Moisture and Dampness
- Protect Wooden Furniture
- Reposition Your Indoor Plants
- Water Leakage from Roof? Tackle with Waterproofing
- Additional Tips for Monsoon Ready Home
Let’s have a detailed look,
Pre-Monsoon Safety Checklist for Your Home
Here is the pre-monsoon safety checklist so, just before monsoon sets in, go around your house with a hawk-eye and –
01. Inspect and repair doors and windows with gaps and loose hinges. Also, check for wooden doors and windows which may swell during the rainy season and have trouble shutting down properly. And if you face the problem of a swollen door then go through our blog How to fix Swollen Doors? Know the Causes and Remedies! To know how to fix it.
02. Re-paint metal framed doors and windows to save them from rust and water leakages.
03. Repair cracks or water leakages from the roof, walls, terrace, tiles or from other parts of the house. Moisture due to rainy the season can cause more damage to cracks. You can know in detail from here.
04. Ensure that all water pipes and canals are flotsam and jetsam free.
Replace Heavy Carpets with Easy-to-Maintain Versions
Monsoons are not the time to showcase your exquisite designer furnishing and tapestry, for the simple reason that this season’s trademark dampness may wreak havoc with your exclusive carpets and rugs. Moreover dirt on your feet, mould and mildew in the damp air can mess with designer carpets and rugs. So the best solution is to roll them up and place them in a plastic sheet to protect them from the adverse effects of this season.
The next step is replacing them with thinner, cheaper and easy-to-dry rugs that suit the season more. Options galore include – bamboo mats or dampness safe acrylic rugs for the floors. Likewise, get foot floor coverings at your doorstep to ensure that mud or slush are relegated to their rightful place viz. outside your dream house. This is a must-do monsoon preparation for home.
Do remember to clean and dry your rugs and carpets regularly.
Cleaning is the Basic Tip for Monsoon Ready Home
Simple mantra or tip for monsoon ready home is ‘maintaining cleanliness’. Your house becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and germs during monsoons so –
- Mop your floors daily with anti-bacterial solution.
- Get pest control done, prior to the monsoons.
Purge the Drains before the Rainy Season Starts
Choked drains and stagnant water are breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other germs. So remember to book the local plumber to check and disgorge all your drains before the onset of the monsoon. This must find a place in your pre-monsoon safety checklist. Leaves along with plastics and dirt choke up the inlet of your house rainwater drainage lines leading to flooding the terrace or sometimes even overflowing into your house. To avoid such untoward mishaps, do remember to have all inlets thoroughly cleaned not only before the onset of monsoon but also during the monsoon.
Wiring Check for Electrical Safety Precautions during Rainy Season
Mitigate electrical malfunctions like short circuits by having all the electrical wirings checked; installing a voltage regulator; and plugging electrical sockets. In case of water leakage from roof, the water easily travels along the concealed electrical conduits; so, if there is a history of leakage nears any switchboard, ensure to repair the same thereby arresting chances of any such leakages. Whether you acknowledge it or not, electrical safety precautions during rainy season must be given priority in your pre-monsoon safety checklist.
Properly Ventilate Your House to Get Rid of Moisture and Dampness
Fresh air is an absolute must if one wishes to avoid infections. So do remember to keep your house completely ventilated during monsoons is one the best monsoon tips for home –
- Allowing fresh air to enter your home and help in diminishing the moistness.
- Making the most of the sun when it shines by leaving your doors and windows open.
- Switching on the fan in case you dry wet or moist clothes inside the house.
Protect Wooden Furniture
Protect your trendy and vintage wooden furniture, floor and furnishings from wet artefacts or fabric. Clean them either using a dry cloth or a vacuum cleaner (if allowed); in case they are very old then give them a polished look by varnishing them. That is one of the most neglected monsoon preparations for home.
Reposition Your Indoor Plants
Green-fingered souls need to move out their indoor plants to cut down on moisture content and insect breeding inside the house. This is one important tip for monsoon-ready home.
Water Leakage from Roof? Tackle with Waterproofing
Waterproofing your house is crucial, therefore the smart pre-monsoon safety checklist should have a mention of waterproofing for your house walls, both from the inside as well as outside. Check vulnerable points like the window overhangs; window sills etc. In case the life of the waterproofing is overdue, say it’s been done 10-15 years ago, then it would be advisable to opt for the second round of waterproofing. All in all, if waterproofing is skipped in your pre-monsoon safety checklist, then you will be left handling water leakage from roof for the entire season.
Want to know more about waterproofing, click on the below link….. Gharpedia has given more detail for home waterproofing.
Additional Tips for Monsoon Ready Home
Some more practical tips for monsoon ready home, to keep your home warm, clean and safe during monsoons are –
01. Ensure that entrants to your house wipe their footwear on the coir mat at the entrance thereby keeping your indoors clean.
02. The major collateral damage of monsoons is a laundry with practically every second house drying it on chairs and window sills! Mitigate this by fixing extra clotheslines in regular places like – passages, foyer, lesser-used rooms et al.
03. Offer a plastic chair or stool to guests who come home drenched in rain.
04. Decide a spot near the entrance to fix hooks for family members and guests to keep their wet raincoats and umbrellas.
05. Vanquish the musty smell of monsoon with incense sticks, scented candles and room fresheners.
06. Replace those heavy dark window drapes with pastel organza ones in order to allow some light in. Not only will it add a dash of brightness to your dull space but it’ll dry faster as the material is sheer (as when windows are open the rain lash may wet the fabric).
07. Cover all your documents – be it books, loose papers or magazines with plastic and store them in a place where they are least expected to get wet.
08. Store door locks and other iron essentials in areas where they are not exposed to water.
09. Keep your clothes safe during monsoons by – placing camphor balls and neem leaves between the folds of your clothes to protect them from silver fish and other intruders. Sprinkle a couple of cloves between the clothes to keep bugs under control and keep expensive clothes in a metal storeroom.
10. Increase the number of light appliances to replace the vacuum caused by missing sunlight. Opt for white rather than coloured lights.
11. Dry wipe your furniture every day to keep it dampness-free.
12. Clean and service your AC regularly to restrain electrical mishaps and steep billing.
13. Prune trees in your vicinity to reduce the risk of them crashing during the storm and damaging your house. Many tree branches fall off and cut the power lines too. Hence, branch cutting is also important electrical safety precautions during rainy season.
14. Clear out the debris and make your yard squeaky clean.
15. Add extra colorful cushions in bright hues like red, green, yellow and pastels to give a bright and cosy tinge to your interiors. We have also written a blog on Monsoon Home Décor Ideas, Many mind-blowing home décor ideas are waiting for you, so please once go through them.
16. Put up wind chimes near the window and enjoy their light tingling and chiming.
17. Replace your sombre crockery with vibrant coloured Chinaware to add a dash of colour to your dreary dining table.
18. Ascertain adequate storage of water in the overhead tank as in situations of long power cut or power failure pumps will not be able to operate resulting in water scarcity.
19. Ensure that the sump pump in your basement is working properly.
20. Be prepared for power cuts. In the absence of a backup inverter or generator, always keep candles, lantern and torch handy…and ensure that the lantern and torch are in working condition too!
21. Stock up on basic necessities. A continuous wet spell of more than 3 days may disrupt the supply chain of essentials like milk, vegetables, grocery etc. thereby creating a havoc in your daily life.
22. If you are located in a low lying or flood-prone area, always park your vehicle in a safe place to ascertain that you are not running around hunting for a dry place to park your two-wheeler while it’s raining cats and dogs!
23. Those blessed with a basement need to double-check it for leakage. In case of the slightest possibility of leakage, remove all those items which are likely to get damaged.
Here’s a video to sum up all the points mentioned above:
So go ahead and bid adieu to the scorching summer and welcome the green and fresh tint that appears when the monsoons ring in. Just follow the above-given monsoon tips for home and ensure that your home stays safe, sterile, and serene during the season of the rains. In case we’ve missed out on anything that you think must make it to the pre-monsoon safety checklist, do write into us.
With these monsoon tips for home, you must read our below blog on home remedies for pest control that will help you to prevent pests during the rainy season.
25 Home Remedies for Pest Control in Monsoon
Image Courtesy: Image 8, Image 15, Image 19
Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.
