Water damage prevention to Bali Homes

Post by Nigel Saywell-Lee.

 

Water damage Prevention to a Bali home and in areas with high annual rainfall

A home in Bali is no different to purchasing a home anywhere in the world.  Often this purchase will be the single biggest purchase in anyone's life time. Therefore it is critical to be buying through knowledge.  In previous blogs I have covered the topic of earthquakes in this blog I will cover the relationship to rainfall and the suitability of your home to withstand water penetration.

Bali is a tropical Island it sits 8 degrees south of the equator (08° 39' S, 115° 13' E) and has a climate to suit its position.  The seasons number two and are obvious in so far as they are a wet season and and a dry season.  The temperature throughout the year rarely changes however, the humidity rises drastically.

Between Oct and April Bali receives approx 1.4M of rainfall which is significant if you are to stop water penetrating your property.

First thing to note is water is lazy if you have a flat surface it wont go anywhere only sit and soak. The other thing to note is water travels down and it does this along its easiest route so if you have a fracture in your build then that is where it will head.

Water will by Osmosis travel up through a building this is known as rising damp and once you have this it is very difficult to eliminate the damp mark that blots your walls.  It is also not at all healthy to live in a room with Fungi spores growing on a damp area.

Once you have damp in your walls you get a build up of salt and even if you have blocked the damp from rising the salt within the wall absorbs the water from the air, still keeping a damp patch visible.

What we do; 

1. We start at the foundation we always assess the area that we are building with in ie. level of water table.  The ground use prior to build etc.
2. If the water table is high then we build higher 
3. We always start with the foundation and incorporate the latest damp proofing technology see rumah-di-bali.com and click the technology tab.    
4. This damp proofing additive continues into the columns and the walls.  Incidentally this additive causes the cement to harden in a way that helps to add rigidity to the home.
5. With minimalist homes and the cost of Land normally homes are built to the limits of the land (tanah) leaving no chance to have the roof extend beyond the building.  Therefore it is important to ensure that the external walls are regularly treated with a waterproof paint this we do as standard.
6. The deck of the roof is again fabricated from concrete poored all at one time to ensure no fractures exist.
7. We add an additive to the deck to ensure no water can soak through.
8. We always put a slope on the deck to ensure that the water can find its way to the nearest drain point.
9. We always add a drian to remove surface water.
10. The roof slope is appropriate to ensure water runs off the roof in a fast and efficient way.  Depending on the tiles we again coat with a waterproof solution.
11. The roof tiles have to be laid in rotation and they must overlap vertically and horizontally

With all of this in mind you are now well equipped and able to ensure that your family home is safe and secure from the rains of Bali.

Alternatively look to a Bali Puri Gelis Home here on the paradise Isle of Bali.