WATREX works on homes and apartments in Adyar, Besant Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Kotturpuram and Indira Nagar. Many buildings here are thirty, forty or fifty years old, and they sit close to the sea and the Adyar estuary. Leaks in this part of the city usually come from age and salt working together.
Older houses, older problems
Roofs that hold water. Older houses here mostly have a thick brick-jelly weathering course with pressed clay tiles on top. It keeps the rooms cool, but after decades it soaks up rain like a sponge and holds it against the slab. The leak keeps coming back however many times the tiles are painted.
Steel that rusts from within. Sea air carries salt inland further than people expect. Over the years it reaches the steel in sunshades, balcony edges and columns. The steel swells as it rusts and pushes the concrete off in flakes and chunks.
Trees over the terrace. The big trees that make these streets pleasant also drop leaves into terrace drains, and their roots can crack compound walls and sumps. A blocked outlet in the first heavy rain is one of the most common causes of a sudden leak here.
How we approach an older building
We start by finding out whether water is coming through the top surface or sitting trapped under the weathering course. A small test opening and moisture readings tell us. If it is trapped, the honest fix is to lift the top layers and treat the slab itself (mother roof waterproofing), then relay the finish so the house stays cool. Where steel is rusting, we treat it and rebuild the concrete before sealing the cracks with epoxy injection.
What we fix most in Adyar and Besant Nagar
- Terrace waterproofing and slab-level treatment for old roofs
- Epoxy injection grouting and steel treatment for rust cracks
- Sidewall waterproofing for salt-stained, damp walls
Neighbourhoods we cover
Adyar, Besant Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Kotturpuram, Indira Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Shastri Nagar, plus ECR to the south and Velachery to the west.
Common questions
Do the trees over our terrace cause leaks?
They can. Falling leaves block the drain outlets so water ponds against the parapet, and roots can crack sumps and compound walls. Clearing the outlets before each monsoon prevents most of it.
Concrete keeps falling from the sunshades. Is that a waterproofing problem?
It is rusting steel, usually caused by years of salt and moisture. The steel is treated, the concrete rebuilt, and the surface sealed so water cannot reach the steel again.
Do you cover Thiruvanmiyur and Kotturpuram?
Yes, along with the rest of Adyar and Besant Nagar.
