The journey to reduce building maintenance expenses starts from the time you are constructing the building. Hiring the right building engineers and passing the necessary regulatory tests while you are constructing, would have prevented you from spending so much on maintenance of your house or office complex, especially, dampness that is now rampant and requires much to correct in this clime.

Dampness is a major problem for homeowners, as it not only causes discomfort and health issues but also devalues the property. This occurs as a result of the ingress of moisture into the structural elements of a building.

A facility manager Engr. Afolabi Adedeji believes that, unless one engages an experienced builder or experienced engineer to supervise construction work, one is likely to experience this dampness because the water table is shallow in Lagos, and with a little scratch of the ground, water comes out. This ensure you continue to spend much to correct it from time to time, adding that, this is an issue that wouldn’t have arisen if the right engineers were consulted while building.

According to other experts, there are three areas in a building where dampness could occur. It can take place on the floor, wall, or roof of a building.

If it affects the floor, your carpet, rug, or other things in close contact with the floor will start getting mouldy and have stains like fungus on them.

When it affects the wall, your wardrobe adjacent to the wall will be affected, including clothing items stained with fungi materials. And if the effect is from the roof, a visible stain will be on the ceiling made with plaster of Paris (POP), asbestos, or cardboard.

A tenant who had experienced this issue said dampness had made him leave a cool area he once stayed in Aboru, Lagos. “I decided not to renew my rent. I had to look for a house elsewhere. I cannot be paying about N300,000 and still be nursing dampness in the house,” he said.

Adedeji said, dampness in a building is an eyesore and is something that is not welcomed by the inhabitants of any building. According to him, it is like sleeping on a wet blanket; you will not have a pleasant rest on the bed when the bedsheet is damp, so it is in any damp building.

Causes

Adedeji listed other causes of dampness to include; leaking pipes, especially, when embedded in the roof, wall, or floor of a building. Another possible cause of dampness is plumbing; drainage (for sewage or sullage) and air conditioning pipes are the usual culprits. But the most common cause is through the foundation, he said.

How To Correct Dampness

There are two types of remedial action. One is temporary and takes up to three years, while the second is permanent, however, until you know the course of the dampness before you can prescribe the solution. So, until an engineer or a builder makes a prescription, you cannot tell how much it will cost.

Cost Implication

Dampness can take a lot to correct anywhere in a building. It can reduce the value of property by 10 to 50 percent. It will require cement and sand to fix it. So until you know the course of the dampness, you cannot prescribe the solution.

For instance, a bag of cement costs between N3,600 and N4,500. Sometimes, half a tipper load of sand may be used to correct the problem. Transporting a truck of sharp and soft sand from the market to the destination costs between N30,000 and N95,000.

If the effect is on the floor, it may require you to remove the tiles or even the terrazzo and replace them again after the correction. When it’s the wall, you may need to scrape it off, fix it, and repaint or redecorate. And if it is from the foundation, the occupant of the building may vacate the building temporarily and look elsewhere to stay.

All these cost much to maintain, however, the best option is to secure the service of engineer right from the time of carving the foundation of the building.

Advice

Prevention is better than cure. Hire a professional to do your job for you or an experienced and reputable contractor who has a name to protect and, at the same time, is registered with a professional body.

Also, when erecting a building, add a polythene sheet, then blinding, which is a mixture of sand and cement, before starting the isolated footings or strict footings, that is, if you are doing rap at the foundation before getting to the Damp-Proof Course (DPC), which is a great extent to keep out moisture from the ground floor of such a building, and this will enable the occupant to have a clean and dry ground floor all through the season of the year, either rainy, dry, or harmattan season.

Sivowaku Abiodun