Cupboard and wardrobe dampness treatment
A cupboard built flat against an outside wall hides the one surface you need to see. The wall behind it never gets air and never dries, and the first sign is not a stain on the plaster — it is the smell in your clothes and the swollen bottom edge of the ply.
- 5.0 ★
- 195+ ratings
- Vijayawada
- our base — same-day visits in the city
- All days
- site visits, including Sundays
- AP & Telangana
- we travel for larger jobs
You probably need this if…
- Clothes and linen smelling musty however often they are washed
- The back or the bottom edge of the ply swollen, soft or coming apart
- Black fungus spots on the inside face of the cupboard
- Damp felt on the wall when you empty the shelves and put a hand behind
What causes it
The same wet patch can come from different places, and each one needs a different fix. This is what we look for on site.
- 01
Built flat against the wall
With no gap there is no air, and with no air a wall that gets even slightly damp never dries out again.
- 02
The wall behind is wet already
It may be coming down from the terrace, sideways from the bathroom next door, or up out of the plinth. The cupboard did not cause it — it only hid it.
- 03
A concealed pipe in the wall behind
A slow joint leak in the plumbing inside that wall shows up nowhere else, because the cupboard is covering the only face that would have shown it.
- 04
Ply fixed to untreated masonry
Where the back is screwed straight to plaster with no barrier, the ply takes up whatever moisture the wall carries.
- 05
A closed cupboard on an outside wall
In our summers the wall face inside a shut cupboard stays cooler than the room, so moisture in the air condenses on it. That alone is enough to keep it damp.
Our cupboard dampness process
Step by step, in this order. Nothing is skipped to finish a day early.
- 01
Open it up and look
Shutters come off and the back panel comes out where it needs to, so we are looking at the wall itself and not guessing from the smell.
- 02
Find where the water is from
Outside face, the bathroom on the other side, a concealed pipe or rising damp at the plinth. Each one is a different treatment, and treating the wrong one changes nothing.
- 03
Treat the wall
Blown plaster is hacked off, the source is dealt with, and the wall is re-plastered with a damp-blocking system rather than plain cement mortar.
- 04
Coat the outside face
Where the source is the external wall, that face is coated as well. Treating only the room side leaves the water still moving through the masonry.
- 05
Give it an air gap
The carcass goes back on battens so the ply stands clear of the wall, with vents top and bottom so air actually moves through the space.
- 06
Refix and finish
Damaged ply is replaced, the shutters go back on and the cupboard is handed over usable, with a note on what to watch for.
What is included
- Removal and refixing of shutters and the back panel where access needs it
- A moisture check on the wall behind, and on the other side of it
- Wall treatment, re-plastering and coating of whichever face is the source
- Battens and vents so there is an air gap behind the carcass from now on
- Cleaning of the cupboard interior before it is handed back
Free site visit. You get the measured area and a written scope before any work starts.
+91 73823 58857Frequently asked
Request a site visit
Tell us what you are seeing and where. We will come and check, measure the area and give you a clear scope — the same day wherever we can.
- We work in
- Vijayawada
- Guntur
- Amaravati
- Mangalagiri
- Tenali
- Eluru
- Gannavaram
- Machilipatnam
- Bhimavaram
- Rajahmundry
- Kakinada
- Visakhapatnam
Based in Vijayawada, so we are quickest in and around the city — and we take up work across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Tell us where it leaks.
We will come and check before the next rain, measure the area and give you a clear scope in writing.