From Waterproofing to Wiring: 10 Hidden Works That Make or Break Your Home Renovation
Discover 10 invisible works that decide your home renovation success – from waterproofing, wiring and plumbing to drainage and AC planning. Avoid costly mistakes with Mistry Bhejo.
When you think of home renovation, you picture beautiful tiles, modular kitchens and fancy lights.
But the truth is – the success or failure of your renovation is decided by the things you don’t see:
What’s inside the walls
What’s under the tiles
How water and electricity move through your home
These “invisible works” are exactly where most Indian homeowners cut corners… and then spend years fighting damp walls, leaking bathrooms and tripping circuits.
Here are 10 critical, behind-the-scenes jobs you must get right – and why they matter.
1. Slab & Wall Waterproofing – Your First Defence Against Damp
In many Indian homes, damp patches and peeling paint start showing within 1–2 monsoons after renovation. The root cause?
Improper or no waterproofing on slabs and external walls.
Bathroom and kitchen floors need waterproof chemicals before tiling.
External walls facing rain need proper waterproof coats, not just regular paint.
If you skip this: you get seepage, fungus, musty smell, and in severe cases, damage to plaster and electrical points.
2. Proper Terrace Slope – So Water Flows Away, Not In
On many older buildings, water stands on the terrace instead of flowing to the drain. Over time, it finds its way into the slab and eventually into bedrooms and living rooms below.
During renovation:
The terrace floor must be given a correct slope towards the drain.
Drains should not be choked, undersized or badly positioned.
Common Indian failure: A newly done false ceiling starts getting brown stains in one monsoon because the slab above holds water like a tank.
3. Drainage & Bathroom Planning – The Silent Leak Traps
Bathrooms are the most sensitive areas in a home:
Floor slope must be towards the drain – even a slight mistake leads to water stagnation.
Separate lines for grey water (basins, showers) and black water (toilets) must be clearly planned.
Trap and pipe joints must be sealed correctly before tiles go in.
Typical scenario: The neighbour’s ceiling leaks every time you use your bathroom. Breaking fresh tiles, redoing pipes, and dealing with society complaints becomes a nightmare – all because invisible drainage planning was ignored.
4. Concealed Electrical Layout – Not Just Points, But Load
In many Indian renovations, electricians simply “add a few more points” on existing wiring. That’s dangerous.
A proper electrical layout should include:
Load calculation: ACs, geysers, microwave, oven, washing machine, induction, etc.
Separate circuits for high-load items.
Proper earthing and correct MCB/RCB selection in the distribution board.
If this is not done well, you’ll face:
Frequently tripping circuits
Burnt switches
Risk of shocks and fire
Once walls are closed and painted, changing electrical routes becomes expensive and messy.
5. Plumbing Routes – Short, Logical and Accessible
Water supply and waste pipes are usually concealed behind tiles and walls. That’s why they must be:
Designed with minimum unnecessary bends
Separated between hot and cold lines
Fitted with quality fittings and tested for leaks before finishing
A careless plumber might take long, winding routes, causing:
Pressure drops
Future leakage points
Difficulty in repairs (you may have to break half a wall to reach one joint)
6. Load-Bearing Walls & Structural Safety – No ‘Creative’ Breaking
That “open kitchen” Pinterest idea can turn into a structural disaster if you break the wrong wall.
Before removing any wall:
A structural engineer or qualified professional must confirm whether it’s load-bearing.
Beams, columns and main structural walls must never be tampered with casually.
Invisible mistake, visible consequence: cracks in ceilings, doors not closing properly, and in the worst case, structural instability.
7. AC Planning – Indoor, Outdoor & Drain Lines
ACs are often treated as an afterthought – but AC planning is a pure “invisible” job:
Drain pipes must be thoughtfully routed so water doesn’t drip on balconies or neighbour’s windows.
Outdoor unit locations must be decided early to avoid exposed wires and ugly pipes.
Power supply and voltage stabilisation need to be in the main electrical plan.
If this is not done, you end up with:
Exposed pipes taped to walls
Water dripping constantly in wrong places
Need to break walls later just to hide lines
8. Exhaust & Fresh Air Planning – Especially for Indian Kitchens
Indian cooking generates smoke, oil vapour and strong smells. This makes exhaust planning critical:
Proper chimney ducting to the outside (not just “recirculation mode”).
Exhaust fans in bathrooms and sometimes utility areas.
Ensuring ducts don’t blow directly into neighbour’s windows or common areas.
Bad planning leads to greasy ceilings, persistent cooking smells and poor indoor air quality.
9. Junction Boxes, Access Panels & Future Maintenance
Even with perfect work, future repairs might be needed. Smart renovation means:
Providing accessible junction boxes
Access panels in false ceilings where there are valves, major joints or ducting
Clear labelling of circuits in the distribution board
These small invisible planning decisions can save you days of chaos in future repairs.
10. Sequence & Supervision – The Invisible Management Layer
Finally, even the best plan fails without proper execution sequence and supervision:
Structural & demolition checks
Plumbing and electrical rough-ins
Waterproofing
Plastering and floor slopes
False ceiling
Tiling, carpentry, then painting
When an unorganised team does things randomly, you see classic Indian renovation problems:
Freshly painted walls broken to fix a pipe
Tiles removed to add a drain
False ceilings opened for a missed wire
How Mistry Bhejo Helps You Get the Invisible Right
At Mistry Bhejo, we connect you with verified contractors and specialists who understand that good renovation is not just about what you see – it’s about what you don’t see.
Proper waterproofing and slope planning
Logical plumbing and drainage routes
Safe, future-ready electrical layouts
Smart AC, exhaust and access planning
If you’re planning a renovation and don’t want damp walls, leaking bathrooms or tripping circuits to haunt you later,
talk to a verified Mistry Bhejo expert before you finalize your contractor.