Most of what goes wrong in a finished luxury home is maintenance, not construction. Stone that was never resealed, shower glass that was never protected from hard water, a terrace drain nobody cleared before the monsoon. The work was done correctly; nobody was told what it needed afterwards.
Here is what a luxury home actually needs to stay looking new — by material, by season, and by what you should be handed at handover.
What you should receive at handover
Before anything else: a good practice hands over a file. If you did not get one, ask for it, because without it every future repair becomes guesswork.
- Final as-built drawings, including electrical and plumbing layouts — so you know where pipes and cables are before drilling a wall
- Material specification schedule, naming every stone, tile, laminate and fabric
- Paint codes for every room, including ceiling and trim
- Hardware brands and model numbers
- Warranties and their expiry dates
- Supplier and fabricator contacts
- Appliance manuals and service contacts
- Defect liability period and what it covers
Keep a copy off site. It is worth a great deal three years later when you need to match a paint or replace a single handle.
Stone and tile
Seal natural stone on installation and reseal it. Marble, granite, limestone and sandstone are porous. Unsealed stone absorbs oil, turmeric and water, and those marks are permanent. Resealing is a straightforward job — roughly annually in wet areas and on kitchen counters, less often on dry floors.
Use pH-neutral cleaner. Acidic cleaners etch calcium-based stone, which is damage to the surface rather than a stain. Vinegar and lemon-based cleaners do not belong anywhere near marble.
Blot spills, do not rub. Particularly on marble, and particularly anything acidic.
Check grout annually. Cracked or missing grout lets water behind the surface, which is how waterproofing failures begin.
Bathrooms and hard water
This is where Delhi homes deteriorate fastest, and the fix is upstream.
A water softener is the actual solution. Everything else is mitigation. It protects taps, shower glass, sanitaryware, stone and the kitchen simultaneously. If you have one, service it and top up the salt on schedule — an unserviced softener is doing nothing.
Squeegee shower glass after use. Unglamorous and the single most effective habit. Coated glass resists etching; it is not immune to it.
Descale aerators and shower heads every few months. Most “low pressure” complaints in NCR are a blocked aerator, not a plumbing problem.
Check silicone seals at the shower tray, bath and basin annually. Replacing perished silicone is a small job; not replacing it is how water gets behind tile.
Joinery
Adjust hinges and runners once a year. Shutters drop slightly over time, and a doors-not-aligned complaint is usually a five-minute adjustment rather than a defect.
Keep moisture off the edges. Edge banding is the most common joinery failure point, particularly near sinks and in bathrooms. Wipe standing water promptly.
Ventilate closed storage. Wardrobes and shoe cupboards in Delhi humidity need airflow. If something smells, the answer is ventilation, not fragrance.
Polish and lacquer can be refreshed. Veneer with PU polish can be refinished rather than replaced — worth knowing before you assume a tired unit needs rebuilding.
The seasonal jobs, by Delhi’s calendar
Before the monsoon (May–June)
The most important window of the year.
- Clear every terrace and balcony drain, and check they run freely with a hose. A blocked outlet turns a terrace into a tank, and the water finds the weakest point in the waterproofing
- Check terrace and parapet junctions for cracks or lifted membrane
- Service the air conditioning before you need it, not in the first heatwave
- Check external paint and sealant around windows
After the monsoon (September–October)
- Look for damp patches on ceilings and at skirting level, particularly below bathrooms and terraces. Catching a leak now is far cheaper than catching it next year
- Check for mould in closed storage and behind furniture on external walls
- Clear gutters and drains again
Winter (November–February)
- Replace air purifier filters — they load up fast in this season
- Service the geysers
- Expect timber to move — small gaps opening in solid wood floors and doors in dry cold is normal, not a defect
Annually, whenever suits
- Reseal stone in wet areas and on counters
- Adjust joinery hinges and runners
- Service the water softener and RO
- Test the inverter or generator under load
- Check silicone seals
- Professional clean for good wool rugs, every year or two
The habits that matter most
Felt pads under every chair and table leg, replaced when they wear. The cheapest protection for stone and timber there is.
Doormats, including a recessed mat well at the entrance. Grit is what actually scratches floors, and it arrives on shoes.
Sweep or vacuum rather than wet-mopping timber, and use a barely damp cloth where you do.
Rotate rugs every six months where sun reaches them. Indian sun fades textiles faster than people expect.
Keep direct sun off timber and upholstery where you can, with blinds or lined curtains on hot elevations.
Deal with small problems immediately. A dripping tap, a lifted edge, a hairline crack in grout. All are minor now and none stay minor.
Frequently asked questions
How often should marble be sealed?
Roughly annually in bathrooms and on kitchen counters, and less frequently on dry floors in low-traffic rooms. A simple test: drop a little water on the surface and leave it a few minutes. If it darkens the stone, the seal has worn and it is due.
Why does my shower glass look permanently cloudy?
Hard water. Minerals dry on the glass and, over time, etch the surface rather than sitting on it — at which point cleaning will not recover it. A water softener prevents it, a factory-applied protective coating slows it, and squeegeeing after each use is the habit that matters.
What maintenance does a terrace need in Delhi?
Clear every drain before the monsoon and check it runs freely with a hose, inspect the junction between the floor and parapet walls for cracks or lifted membrane, and look at the ceiling below for damp after the rains. Blocked drainage is the cause of most terrace leaks.
What should I be given when a project is handed over?
A handover file containing as-built drawings, the full material specification, paint codes, hardware brands and models, warranties with expiry dates, supplier contacts, appliance manuals, and the defect liability period in writing. Keep a copy off site.
Is a water softener necessary in Delhi NCR?
For a home with stone, glass shower screens and good fittings, effectively yes. Groundwater across most of NCR is hard, and a softener protects every water-touching surface at once. It needs servicing and salt top-ups to keep working.
Getting it right
We issue a handover file on every project and set out what each material needs, because a house is only as good as its fifth year — and most of what separates a home that still looks new from one that does not is a short list of jobs nobody was told about.
If you have a home that needs attention, tell us about it. See also materials that survive the Delhi climate, waterproofing, and how a commission runs with us.
About Pochē Aesthetics
Pochē Aesthetics — also written Poche Aesthetics — is a luxury residential architecture and interior design practice based in Greater Kailash, New Delhi, founded and led by architect Niyati Satsangi. Over more than twelve years the practice has designed private homes — farmhouses, villas, builder floors and apartments — across Delhi NCR and India, handling architecture, interiors, materials, lighting and styling as one connected commission, alongside select restaurant and commercial work. More about the practice.