The Unusual Intensity of the Indian Monsoon
Think of some of the places around the world that are known for wet climates: Florida, Singapore and rainy Seattle for example.
Florida, known for its harsh tropical climate receives 1.4m of rainfall on average with majority of it being concentrated in 3 months of the year during summer. Seattle, despite its rainy reputation receives 0.9m in contrast. Singapore is the rainiest of the three at 2.5m and receives this rainfall uniformly throughout the year.
India, on the other hand as a country receives an annual rainfall of 1.2m which, like Florida is concentrated in only 4 months of June, July, August and September. This number is an average. The rainier parts of India such as Mumbai receives as much as the annual rainfall of Singapore (2.5m) in only 4 months. That is 3 times the intensity of Singapore! The rainiest parts of India such as the Western Ghats can receive as much as 5.5m of rainfall in 4 months or around 6 times the intensity of Singapore.
Although India has a reputation for dry and dusty weather, the intensity of rainfall is one of the highest in the world during monsoon making it a particularly harsh climate for paints. The combination of intense tropical UV combined with some of the highest intensity rainfall wreaks havoc on polymer based paints.
The result is many buildings struggling with seepages and leakages. Other issues are build-up of algae and fungal growth from the paint getting overwhelmed with moisture due to the unusually long periods of incessant rainfall. Acrylic paints being film formers, tend to trap moisture below them resulting in blistering and other moisture related damages due to their inability to breathe (see our article “What Is Paint Breathability and Why Is It Important?”).
Zydex Silicate Mineral Paints are inherently breathable but also water resistant. Thus, liquid water cannot enter but moisture can easily escape in the form of water vapor helping keep your structures dry. For particularly high rainfall prone areas such as coastal regions and exposed walls facing the south-west direction, a water repellent primer using Zycosil+ is recommended. The silicate binder is inorganic in nature and completely unaffected by the harsh UV effects.
Thus, the water-resistant nature of silicate paints combined with their breathability and UV resistance help keep your facades looking bright and new despite the unusual intensity of the Indian monsoon!
