lead: Keeping house in your absence

Advertisement

Here are some tips to maintain your house and keep it workable and safe even in your long absence

Jagvir Goyal

There comes a time when the house you so fondly built has to be kept locked for a long period. This usually happens when you are moving abroad for many months to be with your son or daughter. Otherwise you may be posted outside and it becomes difficult to visit your house at regular intervals. During such times, it becomes important to take care of your house and keep it safe from damage. Here are steps that need to be taken to keep the house workable even in long absence:

Take care against termite attack

The most important step to be taken when the house remains locked for long periods is to keep it safe against termite attack. Termite has an uncanny sense of judging uninhibited, abandoned or deserted area and attacks it very quickly. Best method to avoid termite attack on wooden components is to get post-construction anti-termite treatment done from authenticated agency at an interval of two years. These agencies come at short notice, charge on per square-feet basis, sign an agreement with you, provide warranty of two years and complete the job in a day or so. They drill holes in skirting area to inject insecticides, apply injections to wooden items and use anti-termite materials of reputed companies.

Get done a pre-monsoon check

Make arrangement to get the roof of house examined before monsoon. Identify the spots that may allow ingress of water. These should be repaired and sealed well. Flush pointing of tile terracing and grouting of tile joints should be done wherever required. The cracks in the ‘gola’ at parapet and slab joint should be repaired. Roof area should be cleaned of all dust, dead leaves, bird feathers and droppings to ensure that the iron gratings fixed over the rainwater pipes are free of deposits, open to receive rainwater and discharge it effectively to rainwater harvesting system without allowing ponding of water over the terrace which may result in dampness in the ceiling or walls, or even leakage from the roof.

Aerators cleaning

All faucets installed in the bathrooms and kitchen of the house are provided with aerators, commonly known as ‘jalli’. These aerators retain fine solid impurities and convert water flow into a milky bar. Salts present in water often dry up on the aerators and block these or reduce the water flow. These aerators are easily removable and washable if cleaned at regular intervals. The house owner should ensure removal, cleaning and re-fixing of all these aerators whenever a visit to the locked house is planned.

Inverter water

Most houses have battery-backed inverters for power backup. Oil-operated generators are no more in use due to their disadvantages like pollution, noise and oil consumption. Inverters keep charging if the level of solution in the battery cells is maintained at the required level. A house owner should take note that whenever he/she visits a house that has been kept locked for a long period the solution level in the battery cells is made up to required level.

Cleaning of AC filters

The filters of ACs installed in the house keep gathering dust and require cleaning at regular intervals. So during a visit to the house, these should be cleaned regularly in addition to the cleaning of aerators.

Diverters’ stiffness

These days, bathroom showers are operated with high flow diverters that allow optimum mixing of hot and cold water for bathing. Unless these diverters are used regularly, their operation becomes stiff due to deposit of salts inside their mechanism. The house owner should check the diverters, and if found stiff, authorised plumber of the company should be called for cleaning and re-fixing these and to make these operate well.

Water tank cleaning

Ideally, the overhead water tanks installed on the roof of the house should be cleaned after every six months. Maximum cleaning interval can be one year. Sign a contract with a water tank cleaning agency to perform cleaning and refilling of the water tanks of the house as and when one happens to pay a visit to it.

Precautions against short-circuits

· In a house to be kept locked for most of time, take precautions against any short-circuits.

· Switch off AC stabilisers. Check refrigerator stabiliser, and if there is voltage fluctuation, get it checked.

· Ensure no loose wires behind switch plates.

· Try to switch off most electric appliances and fittings, including sockets before locking the house.

More Precautions

Keep the gas cylinder knob to ‘off’ position.

Run the submersible pump installed as an alternative source for water supply, for some time.

Appoint a gardener to take care of house lawn and to trim the grass at regular intervals.

A well-maintained lawn always generates a welcome feeling while wild growth and uncut grass add desolate and neglected look to the house.

—The writer is former HoD and Engineer-in-Chief, Civil Engineering Department in a Punjab PSU