Building Maintenance - Do's and Don'ts

Building Maintenance

Property Maintenance plays a crucial role in overcoming hassles at homes which otherwise would have an adverse impact on the residents' precious hours. What are the specific areas that need periodical maintenance to ensure a hassle-free lifestyle in an apartment complex? Here are a few tips.

Wall Cracks

Cracks may appear in the wall in initial years of occupation, due to the following reasons as per I.S. Code in the internal and the external plaster, due to moisture changes, Thermal variations, elastic deformation, creep, chemical reaction, foundation movement and settlement of soil, vegetation, and earthquake. Do not panic. The process of cracks may continue for the first couple of years. After that you can simply fill the cracks with primer putty and repaint the walls and watch them stay that way.

Door and Latches

After a period of time, you may find that the doors in your apartment do not shut properly and the latches no longer seem to work perfectly. This happens because of self-weight of the doors combined with temperature fluctuations and also the expansion and contraction of wood causes a shift (usually downward) from the original positions of the doors. Your are advised to wait till the season changes and watch things fall back into place, or if required, you can call a carpenter, who will rectify the problem as a precautionary measure, hinges of doors should be oiled regularly, at least once in three months.

Flooring

The ceramic tile/ vitrified/ granite flooring should be cleaned periodically with detergent diluted liquid. Do not use acids, ever. Corners and skirting should also be cleaned periodically to keep them looking as good as new. To reduce the dust accumulation problem at skirting level, make all skirting flush to the wall.

Damp Patches

In the first monsoon, damp patches and resulting cracks may appear in the walls, due to seepage. This is not a major problem. You are advised to wait for the summer before patching the damp spots, filling the cracks and repainting the walls and the problem will not surface again. It is advisable to repaint the entire building from inside and outside after every three to five years.

Leakage

After a period of time due to regular usage, it is normal that the washers in the taps may get worn out, leading to leaky taps. You can solve this problem by just replacing the washers, even by yourself. If cracks develop in kitchen sink or joints of glazed tiles, leading to seepage, immediately fill the same with materials such as M-Seal White or any other cementing material available in the market. Do not use strong acids to clean bathrooms and toilets, as this will cause leakage and damage to the floor. If the traps below the pipes of the wash basin or bathroom or kitchen sink are choked, get it cleaned immediately by the plumber. Otherwise it will lead to leakages in the joints or dirty water overflowing from the bathroom traps. You can use 'Dranex' or a similar product to clean the blocked area. The leaking water taps should be attended to immediately, to avoid loss of water and damage to the residential unit below. Every apartment owner should clean all spouts and rain water pipes just before the rainy season starts, so that water collection in the balcony and terrace will not take place. Please check all taps are closed before locking your apartment, as water may get flooded in the kitchen and other rooms, spoiling the furniture and the paint finish of the flat below.

Termite Attack

Think of anti-termite treatment as an insurance against termites. No home, however old or new, and no material, whether concrete, wood, brick, or slab is safe from termites. There is no such thing available as termite proof construction. We have taken adequate precautions to avoid termite attacks, by providing the necessary treatment before laying the foundation of each building, but even high quality furniture, fabric, books, documents and plastic insulation, provide a convenient substitute for natural food for termites. Hence, it is advisable to have anti-termite treatment (pest control) done to your furniture, every year.

Elevator

Stuck in an elevator? Don't fret for emergency exit. There is an alarm button inside the lift, which has to be pressed. Once activated, the alarm is heard outside, alerting security personnel.Confirm at what floor level the lift is stuck. If the lift is stuck between two floors because of power failure or any other reason, a trained person has to put off the 3 phase main switch either from the meter room at the ground floor or lift machine room on the 9th floor, and confirm to the others involved in the rescue procedure that the power is switched off. Once the main switch is put off, there is a device called 'brake releaser' which is accessible in the lift machine room on the 9th floor. With this, you can get the lift either up or down to the nearest landing level.Once the lift reaches the nearest landing, the lift door's unlocking device (keys) is available with the security staff to unlock any of the lift doors. For your convenience, all these instructions can be displayed inside the lift machine room. As a precautionary measure, apartment association office bearers should train a responsible person/ security person about the operations.

Choking of Plumbing Lines

*Sewerage / Silage Lines: By throwing non-degradable items (sanitary-napkins, solid waste, etc.) into the plumbing systems, the lines get chocked, due to which the system starts leaking at the joints. Please call the plumber to clear the obstacles in the lines and allow the water to flow smoothly.

*Water Lines: Initially dust in the new C.P. fittings will choke the nozzles in the fittings hence there will not be sufficient pressure in water flowing through these fittings. Please call the plumber, who will open these fittings and clean the washers.

*Overhead Tanks and Sump Tanks: The fine suspended particles present in the water, will settle when the water is stored in tanks, due to which capacity of the tanks will reduce and when the water in the lower portion of tank flows through pipes, your CP fittings will get chocked. Please see that initially the overhead water tanks are cleaned at least once very three months.