Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Kerala House design and Construction:Replies to your queries

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Yovan has left a new comment on your post "Kerala House Construction-Answers to your queries":

Wonderful blog & good post.Its really helpful for me, awaiting for more new post. Keep Blogging!Yovan

My reply

Thanks for your appreciation

House  and land for Rs.10 lakhs

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Sir,

I am Sundaram from KSA want 2 build a new home(2000 sq. ft.,4bhk,gf+1,some free space for children play/garden) at Palakkad,what are the basic to select a plot,how much land require for this specification,I am planning to get a home loan,initially I can invest 10Lakh,also Vasthu must,please give me an idea about this modern architecture mix with Kerala designs.what will be the construction cost per sq. ft. at present condition.

S.Meenakshi sundaram,

Saudi Aramco Total Refinery & Petrochemicals,

My reply

For a 4 bed Villa,2000 sft plinth area will be a bit less.But if you are willing to be satisfied with dimensions of rooms within that plinth area it is fine.I am not aware of land price in Palghat.But present construction cost which is going up fast everyday will demand a minimum of Rs.30 lakhs if you start construction immediately.

There is no such thing as standard square feet cost of construction of a building.You can know about square feet  cost of  construction of your house only after you complete construction and definitely not before you start construction even though non professional contractors may compete with each other to promise you lower sft rate.This is a promise to be broken  after you get in to his clutches after starting construction.Such sft rate contractors do not bother about proper architectural,structural design of the house and reducing material and labour involved is the easiest method they will adopt to reduce their cost in addition to demanding unending extras from you.

Most probably only house you construct in your life time should have proper architectural,structural engineering and Vasthu compliance and hence you should never attempt to build your house without professional design and continuous professional guidance through out construction.

FLOORING MATERIAL AND PLASTIC DOORS

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Hello Thomas Sir,

My house construction is going on and presently the plastering is going on which will be completed in next1-2 weeks. So am looking for good and cheap flooring options. I saw your website 'Kerala House Construction, and found it very useful. First of all thanks a lot for the info provided in the website.

I have taken a home loan and so my budget is minimal. So am not looking for high cost materials like wood/granites for flooring.

I was planning for the entire flooring with vitrified tiles. But then read about clay tiles and their pros and more importantly their cheapness.Can you please suggest if going for complete floor tiling with clay tiles would be a good idea or a combination of clay+vitrified tiles is fine.

Can you please suggest me good and average costly clay tiles and vitrified tiles presently available in market, their price and brand. Also which would be suitable for  a particular area in house like clay tile/vitrified for a particular room. .

Also for bathroom/Toilet, plastic door frame+door or wooden one  is good?

Please provide your valuable inputs for the above queries.

Sreekumar S (Kalesh)

Kollam

My reply

Thanks for your appreciation

Flooring materials like Marble and Granite are now going out of trend and use of these materials for flooring is practically getting out.One reason is availability of more attractive floor tiles with better finish and more comfortable for movement.You can go for different varieties of tiles of Nitco or Johnson.These companies have display show rooms in Cochin  from where you can select flooring material suited to your taste and budget.

If you can afford Granite flooring,you can as well go for teak wood wooden flooring.Cost wise both will work out same.

Clay tile flooring will be cheaper and more environment friendly.It will be healthier for your body also like wooden flooring.But clay tiles for floor are now getting difficult to procure due to shortage of clay.

Plastic doors are good if your toilet size is small.Just like designing a house,you should now get professional advice in planning Toilet size and how each space in toilet is properly planned for better utility.All well planned toilet can have wooden door frame and shutter as water will not get splashed on to it.In cases where water is likely to fall continuously on door ,you can go for plastic shutter.For Frame either use wood or concrete.

RELATIVE ENGINEER LOOKING AFTER CONSTRUCTION

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Hello Sir,

My cousin brother (Civil engineer) is the taking care of the house construction.  Even i would be just browsing and exploring all these different options. Doing that i saw your blog  and so thought of asking your opinion, since getting an expert advice keeps us at peace & confidence. Saw your projects in FB and they are truly very good sir.

Sree

My reply

Just because your relative who is a Civil Engineer is taking care of your house construction do not mean that he should know everything about house construction.

Even after building more than 200 houses directly in different parts of Kerala,designing and acting as consultant for thousands of buildings in Kerala and outside,I still do not know many things about house design and construction.With each new project I face new problems and thus I continue my study.

There is no harm in getting another expert visiting your site just because your Engineer relative is involved.Such an assessment of work done and  work to be planned will help you as well as your relative Engineer.Ultimate objective is to get maximum utility for your hard earned money.

WHEN TO START CONSTRUCTION?

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Dear Sir,

Good day to you,

I have gone through the blog and read some of the replies by you, although i have impressed and likely to ask the following

I need to built a house @ 10cents (land already have in possession) Ground Floor+1st floor

I  expect to make a minimum of 2000sqft all and my budget is minimum RS.20lakhs and Maximum is Rs.22Lakhs.

Kindly advise and awaiting your swift reply,

Ranjith O S

Ettumanoor (Now in IRAQ)

My reply

You have Rs.20 lakhs with you.Start construction related activities with that money in hand..First and foremost,get a good design of the house.There is no point in waiting for entire money you think of to reach you to start construction.Every person who built house has started with whatever money they had.If you are sure of not getting any more funds through loan or otherwise,tell your Architect frankly about the money you can really manage to organise.

But the funny part is that in their anxiety to save money for building,client never tells about actual financial condition to the Architect.At least that is my experience.Client tells a low figure but do not compromise on his needs for house and facility as if the Architect or contractor has a magic wand to stop every day going up input costs.

Start construction fast before price increases kill your house dreams!

M SAND OR RIVER SAND,SOLID CONCRE BLOCK OR RED BRICKS

QUOTE

Sir,
I am  Anish
I have doubts about my house construction.
1) Is Rock sand(parappodi) is better for wall(construction)?
or we use river sand+parappodi?
some of my friends told me that it(parappodi) will leads to crack in future(virichchil).
2)for plastering shall we use MSAND?
or river sand is better?
3)which is better to use river sand or parapodi+M sand mix for concrete in roof?
4)for building walls solid brick is enough or need to use natural brick(ISHTIKA)?

My reply

River sand was used regularly for construction work in Kerala earlier due to abundant availability.Now it is difficult to get and very costly also.

There is no harm in using M sand which is manufactured sand crushed to size of river sand.As it do not have any impurities usually present in river sand,it is better for use for concreting and brick work provided it is not quarry dust but manufactured sand itself.Quarry dust can only be used for filling and not for brick work or concreting.

For plastering it is better to use river sand with lower size or plaster sand available in bags specifically manufactured and sold

Red bricks are now again very costly and hence there is no other option but to go for solid concrete block instead of red bricks.Ensure that you use good quality solid blocks.

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