Why the Best Time to See a Plot Is Right After Heavy Rain

The best time to see a plot is the moment you would least like to go out: straight after a heavy downpour.

On a dry, sunny morning, every plot looks buildable and every approach road looks fine. Rain is the one inspector nobody can charm. Right after a proper storm, a layout shows you where water collects, which drains work and whether the road to the gate is still a road. A house shows you where it leaks. None of that is in the brochure, and much of it has gone a few days later.

Timing the visit

Go during steady rain if it is safe, or within a few hours of a heavy shower ending. That is when standing water, run-off and overflowing drains are easiest to see. If you can, go back the next day as well: water that has cleared overnight tells a very different story from water still standing two days later.

In the rainy months, keep an evening free and go when a big shower comes through. For a plot, you don't need the seller to meet you, since most of what matters can be seen from the road; for a house, ask the owner if you can come round when it next rains. Either way, be sensible: don't wade through water when you can't see the bottom, keep clear of open drains and fallen wires, and take someone with you if it is getting dark.

What rain shows you on a plot

The dry-day clues, such as silt on the surface, water marks on walls and reeds on empty plots, are covered in our site visit checklist. After rain, you see the water itself. Look for:

• standing water on the plot, and where it sits; a puddle in one corner is very different from a sheet across the whole site;
• which way the water runs; if the road and the neighbouring plots drain towards yours, your plot is the low point, and raising it will add to your building cost;
• water pouring off the road onto the plot, a clear sign the plot sits below the road;
• the drains along the road: are they carrying water away, overflowing, or standing still and choked? Follow them a little way to see where they lead;
• the whole way in from the main road, since a dip near a tank, a low underpass or a stretch without drains can turn into a pond on your daily route;
• a smell of sewage around manholes, which can mean storm water and sewage lines are mixing.

Our guide to water, drainage and power in new layouts explains how storm-water drains and underground drainage are meant to work, and whom to ask about each.

What rain shows you in a house

For a built house, a heavy shower is a leak test you could never arrange yourself. Walk through during the rain or soon after, and look for:

• fresh damp patches on ceilings, especially on the top floor under the terrace;
• water around window frames, door frames and under the main door;
• water standing on the terrace, and rainwater outlets blocked with leaves;
• water finding its way from the road into the parking area, the ground floor or the sump.

Fresh paint just before a sale can hide old stains, which is one more reason to see a house on a wet day. Our resale house inspection checklist covers the rest of what to check in a built home, from cracks to wiring.

What to photograph

Photos taken in the rain are evidence: something to look at again later, show an engineer, and bring up when you negotiate. Take:

• wide shots from the road, showing the level of the plot against the road;
• close shots of standing water with something recognisable in the frame, such as a boundary stone, the kerb or your own shoe, so its depth makes sense later;
• a short video of water moving across the road, into the plot or along the drain;
• the drains, the nearest manholes and the lowest point of the approach road;
• neighbours' gates and plinths, because houses built well above the road, with raised steps, are telling you something;
• in a house, every damp patch, plus a wider shot showing which room and wall it is on.

Keep your phone's date and location stamps switched on. If you photographed the plot on an earlier dry visit, stand in the same spots: a before-and-after pair is hard to argue with.

Questions to ask the neighbours

People who already live there have seen far more storms than any site visit will show you, and a wet day is a natural time to ask, because the answer is in front of you both.

• Is today normal, or was this unusual?
• How long does the water usually take to clear?
• Has water ever come into your compound or your house?
• Did you raise your plot or your plinth when you built, and why?
• Who clears the drains, and how often does that actually happen?
• Does the approach road flood, and is there another way out when it does?
• Does the power go off in storms, and for how long?

Shopkeepers and watchmen who work nearby often know as well.

Reading what you found

Not every puddle is a reason to walk away. A plot that drains within hours, with working drains and a road that stays passable, is usually fine, and filling a slightly low plot is a cost you can price in and negotiate over. But some findings are hard to fix: a plot at the lowest point of the layout, an approach road that goes under water, drains that lead nowhere, or a house with seepage in several rooms. Take those seriously, however good the price, and for damp in a house, ask a civil engineer to find the cause before you decide.

When you are ready to look, you can browse plots in Mysuru, and our JP Nagar office is happy to arrange a second visit after the next heavy shower.