How to maintain good health of your newly bought home apartment

Owning your first home is a matter of great pride and satisfaction. Like your body, your new home needs due care and handling to ensure that it is always in the pink of health with increased longevity. How does one maintain the health of a home? Can something made of non-living things like concrete, steel and wood be taken care of just like our bodies?

Yes, with due care, your newly bought home can be kept healthy, and it can have a long life span.

Illegal alternations and amalgamations: Please remember, your apartment or flat is part of a larger construction of flats, buildings, play areas, and so on. Often without thinking, we start doing alterations to the apartment such as breaking a wall or creating an extra window by making a hole in the walls, and so on. Firstly, such acts are illegal and you can be fined for the same and be asked to restore the original construction. In case your builder or society objects, you may land up in legal complications that may incur severe financial and criminal penalty.

Try to avoid major alterations, especially, things like removing walls or including flower beds, air conditioners and window ducts. First, this may severely affect the strength of the construction as the reinforced cement concrete (RCC) pillars can get weakened with removal of walls or pillars inside the flat. Second, making ducts will weaken construction and including the flower bed within the flat may add unnecessary weight. We make such alterations assuming that one will not make a difference, but imagine what would happen if all the flat owners in a building assumed the same way.

For economic weaker section (EWS), annual income has to be less than INR 3 lacs (Rs. 25,000/- per month) and for lower income group (LIG) annual income has to be between INR 3–6 lacs. Today, most of our customers from the informal sector have earnings that fall within these two brackets. The loan application should be a first time home owner.

Pest control and water proofing within the flat: Today, most buildings are constructed after soil treatment for pests and external and internal water proofing is done while construction. However, it is best to do a thorough pest control treatment to the internal walls and apply water proofing paint before beginning interior decoration work. Water proofing in prone areas such as bathroom roofs and kitchen washing areas are recommended.

In India, often buildings get infected with pests due to various reasons such as the neighbourhood soil being infected or pests re-generating in the ground soil or the building from other sources like rotten food. Similarly often water seepage is caused by incessant rains or water logging on the roofs or window ledges. A good pest control, initially, and a strong coat of water proofing cement and paint layer will ensure that your house is better protected and healthy even in case of any external issues.

Unnecessary electrical and other additions: A flat is planned in an architecturally optimal manner for a family of four to six people. You should ensure that once you start living in your apartment, you do not add unnecessary extensions of electrical wirings and water pipe connections. Often in the excitement of a new purchase, we fill up our homes with numerous gadgets and often with higher power consumption configurations. This affects the electricity load factor in the house and may lead to tripping initially and over a period of time unfortunate incidents for unabated use.

Always, try to limit your use to the configurations and numbers to that advised by the builder. Installing more AC units than allowed for or of higher power than required often increases the load the house. Kitchen appliances should be kept to the basic and as per design instructions in the flat manual. Multiple extension points or adding more electrical sockets are best avoided as it adds to the pressure of the electric wires. All of us need to save energy and hence making our needs less and spending less energy and as per rules is a great way for your apartment’s good health.

Keep a lookout for your other flat members construction activities: Your apartment is your abode for peaceful living away from the hustle bustle of the life. Please don’t take this literally and keep an eye on your neighbours activities. As important as it is that these mentioned steps be taken by you, they should be taken by every flat owner.

In case you notice unnecessary construction sounds or something amiss while travelling in the elevator, don’t hesitate to enquire about the work. If you don’t want to get involved personally, inform the society manager immediately of any worrisome activities. This will bring a sense of awareness and discipline amongst all flat owners to ensure that your flat, building and apartment complex stays healthy and has a long life of uninterrupted good living.

Ensure good health of your home with the above measures. In the long run, it will not only increase the life of your flat but result in reduced maintenance. For livelong savings, practice the age old saying that prevention is better than cure. Happy Living.