Freshly painted resale flat: what to check before you pay the token

Sellers repaint before listing. That is normal, and it is not a sign of bad faith. But a fresh coat of emulsion also covers the stain that last July left on the ceiling under the bathroom above, and in February the wall will look perfect. The patch comes back with the first heavy rain, usually after registration.

You cannot see through paint, but you can look for the things paint does not hide well. Here is what to check on your second visit, before the token becomes an agreement for sale.

Look where water usually gets in

Damp in an Indian flat follows a small number of routes. Spend your time on these spots, not on the living room wall that faces the corridor.

• The ceiling below the bathroom of the flat above. Stand under it and look for a faint ring, a slightly different sheen, or a patch that looks freshly touched up compared with the rest of the ceiling.
• Bathroom and kitchen walls, especially the side that backs onto a bedroom. Check the bedroom side at skirting height for tide marks on the skirting.
• External walls on the monsoon-facing side, and the corners where two external walls meet.
• Window sills and the plaster around frames. Hairline cracks here let rain in.
• Ground-floor skirting, where rising damp shows as a band of salt or flaking paint.

Use your hands and your nose

Fresh paint dries to an even finish. Damp underneath it does not stay even for long. Run your palm along the lower part of walls next to bathrooms. A wall that feels noticeably colder than the one beside it is worth a second look. Press gently: crumbling plaster under new paint feels soft or hollow.

Open wardrobes and the cupboard under the kitchen sink. Paint rarely reaches the back of a fitted wardrobe, and a musty smell inside one usually means the wall behind it has been wet for a while. Look at the base of wooden door frames for swelling and at the laminate at the bottom of kitchen units.

Ask the questions that paint cannot answer

1. When was the flat last painted, and why? A repaint before sale is common; a repaint of one ceiling only is a different story.
2. Has there been any leakage from the flat above, and was it repaired? By whom, and when?
3. Has the society done terrace or external wall waterproofing in the last few years? Is any planned, and will members be asked to contribute?
4. Are there any open complaints with the society about leakage, from this flat or the one below?

Ask these in writing, on WhatsApp or email, so the answers are on record. A seller who says "no leakage ever" in writing has given you something useful if a patch turns up in July.

Timing matters more than you think

A wall that took on water in the monsoon can dry out on the surface by the winter. If you are viewing in the dry months, a seasonal leak may not show at all, even to an instrument. Visits soon after rain give the clearest picture. The best time to inspect calculator shows how the month and recent weather change what you can expect to find in your city.

Before the token becomes an agreement

If something looks wrong, you have three options: ask the seller to repair before registration, negotiate the price, or walk away. Which one is right depends on the source, because where water comes from decides who fixes it. A leak from the bathroom above is a matter between you, the neighbour and the society. A failed external wall is usually the society's.

A walk-through finds what is visible today. It cannot measure what is behind the paint. Start with the free damp check questionnaire to see which rooms need the closest look.

If you want readings against a dry reference wall and a likely source for each finding, see the pre-purchase damp inspection.