Monsoon-Proofing an Interior

Ventilate wardrobes

Cane or perforated inserts in at least one shutter, and a 25mm gap behind the back panel. Sealed wardrobes are where the musty smell and the mildew start.

Keep joinery off the floor

A 100mm plinth in a sealed material, or wall-hung units. Carcasses sitting directly on a floor that gets mopped will wick water into the ply.

Seal every cut edge

Any panel cut on site — for a socket, a pipe, a hinge — exposes raw core. It must be sealed, and this is the step most commonly skipped.

Watch the external wall joinery

Wardrobes on an external wall in a high-rainfall city need an air gap behind them. Fixing joinery flat to a wall that gets damp transfers the problem into the furniture.

Run the extractor and open windows

Cross-ventilation for even twenty minutes a day does more for interior humidity than any dehumidifier, and it costs nothing.