Material guides
What each material is for, how it goes on, what it needs alongside it, and — the question everyone actually asks — how much to buy. Written for site work in Kanpur.
Cement
Cement is the binder in plaster, brickwork and blockwork mortar, RCC slabs, beams, columns and footings, and the base course under flooring. The same 50 kg bag does all of it in a Kanpur house — only the mix ratio and the grade change. It is not a finish and not a waterproofer: cement plaster still needs putty or paint over it, and a leaking roof or damp wall needs a proper waterproofing system, not a richer cement mix.
Work out your wall area to plaster →
Tiles & Flooring
Vitrified and ceramic tile goes on floors and walls inside the house, on balconies and terraces, and on shop and office floors. Vitrified tile is the floor tile: IS 15622:2017 puts it in Group B Ia, water absorption 0.08 percent or less. Glazed ceramic wall tile is Group B III, water absorption above 10 percent — it is made for walls only and will crack under foot traffic. Polished vitrified is not for bathroom floors, ramps or open terraces; it is slippery wet, so use a matt or anti-skid tile there.
Work out your area to be tiled →
Emulsion
Interior walls and ceilings — plastered masonry and putty-finished surfaces inside the house. Not for exterior walls, which take weather-grade paint.
Work out your area →
Exterior Emulsion
Exterior masonry, plaster and concrete — boundary walls, facades and parapets. Not for interior wood or metal, which need their own systems.
Work out your wall area →
Anti-Seepage Chemicals
Waterproofing coatings go on bare concrete or masonry before the tiles, screed or plaster go on top — terrace slabs, bathroom and toilet sunken portions, balconies, chajjas, sumps and overhead water tanks. A two-component polymer-modified cementitious coating is the standard choice for any surface that will be covered afterwards or that holds water, because it bonds to damp concrete and takes hydrostatic pressure from both sides. It is not a finish and not a paint: do not use it over existing tiles, over loose or hollow plaster, or as a way to avoid fixing the slope and the drainage. If water stands on a terrace, no coating will save it.
Work out your surface area to waterproof →