BuildingContractorSecrets.com

A building does not become a shelter until there is roof on it. Before you can move in to you house the roof must be in place to protect against rain, sunshine and other weather elements that will make you uncomfortable. To get a workable roof you must prepare it from the design stage, this is why is important you get an architect to design your house for you. Ask the architect to explain the falls or pitch of the roof to you and the workability. If you can get a model or 3d design of your building showing view from top will be good, but this may cost you more in cost of design.

(1)Too much of parapet walls. Too many walls jutting out to stand alone on the sky without the roof covering may be difficult to achieve and the cost of treating is high, unorganized parapet walls in a building is a sign of less dexterity on the part of your designer/architect, and this brings a lot of trouble during and after construction of your building. Managing parapet walls can be hard and atimes awkward. The parapet cap must be covered by aluminium or concrete coping/cap. The joints where the roof elements meets the walls must be properly treated with aluminium flashing or bitumen, which makes the roof to look ugly especially if not properly handled. Leakages are prominent with parapet walls.

(2)Non application of bituminous felt or aluminium flashing where necessary. Just as it was said above these materials helps to prevent leakages especially at the joints where roofing sheets and walls meet.

(3)Very low pitch roof . When the gradient or slope is too low it will affect the speed of the movement of water on your roofing sheets, therefore for a not well properly knitted roof, the roof will be susceptible to leakages because of slow speed of water dropping off the roof. In otherwords, let your roof be as high as you can afford and possible.

(4)Overtrust in your carpenter. One of the greatest mistakes you will make is to trust your carpenter capabilities when it comes to roofing. Few carpenters can read designs and when it comes to roof it becomes more complex so you need a professional to explain or supervise your roof.

(5)Also trusting your carpenter with money because he had been truthful from the start of your project can be your greatest undoing. The carpenter knows he stands a chance of making more money if he can be able to secure the roof contract, so he may decide to play holy from the start of your project, so giving him money to buy wood for you without proper monitoring or when he brings the wood to site you decided not to count because you now trust him may turn out to be a grave mistake. He knows the numbers of the wood are much now and you may probably be reluctant to count them considering the volume especially when you now trust him. The carpenter knows he may never have to work again for you after the completion of the project, so he sees himself as having nothing to loose, the only reason he won’t do that is when you are a building professional yourself, he knows if he does that he has blocked opportunities of more jobs from you. Artesans rarely believes in your refferal power as a layman.

(6)Designing your roof to direct water on walls in your building. By this I mean pointing the rainwater to drop water directly on your walls will mess up the walls under one year of building, it will make the wall to turn greenish or blackish and you may have to be repainting every year. Make sure you point this out to your architect.

(7)When your walls are too close to the adjacent house. It is required you leave a considerable space between your building and the adjacent one, if not when you finally put your roof and is having an overhang of 600mm/0.6m/2ft, the water may drop into the walls or windows of the next door neighbour which will bring so much discomfort during rainy season.

(8)Don’t buy woods and install on your building when you are not ready to cover it up with roofing sheets the wood will expand and then shrink because of continous rain and sun beating it which will make it difficult for the roofing sheets to be properly placed when you are finally ready to install.

(9)Make sure the gutters are well placed and treated .

(10)Overdesign and complex roof will also be difficult to execute properly, hence if you know you aren’t ready to pay workers the extra cost for their patience don’t go for complex roof, it will also cost you more of materials.

(11)Make sure all loose nails on top of roofing sheets are removed.

(12)Check every nail holes and cover them, if not there will be leakages.

(13)Finally recheck during rainy season for any leakages before installing your ceilling.

Culled from
Yahoo

Understand first of all that there IS a difference between price and value. Price is the amount you are asking for the property. Value is buyer perceived, and this perception of value is influenced by many factors such as location, features, condition, comparison to other purchase option, etc. By attending to details that can have a positive impact on the value, sellers can significantly increase their chance of attracting qualified buyers willing to pay the asking price.

Some tips to achieve a positive impact on value are:

• Perceived size impacts value, even more so than actual square footage. Open floor plans make a room feel bigger than larger spaces with smaller rooms. Showing property that is furniture free, or at reduced clutter, helps to make the space feel bigger.
• Vacancy increases sale-ability. Property is easier to show and easier to sell, and quicker to take possession of when it is vacant at the time it is offered for sale. Evidence of problems to take possession of the property — such as encroachments, or tenants who wont allow buyer tours — negatively impact value. Vacancy also helps the buyer walk through the property imagining ownership. Sellers should remove personal trinkets and family pictures as well as being conveniently absent during a buyer tour.
• Cosmetics are important.
  • Fresh paint will always add more value than it costs.
  • Clean or new carpet/flooring adds more value than it costs.
  • Landscaping adds more value than it costs. At the very minimum, make the entrance area neat.
  • If you can, add some colorful flowers and new sod.
• Take care of the obvious! The spot on the ceiling from the roof leak takes thousands of dollars from the perceived value and the offer price.
• Condition affects value. Do a seller’s home inspection to identify and fix the problem BEFORE closing. No point holding up your check a few extra days; plus a failed buyer’s inspection could cost you the sale. Buyers will often bargain down your asking price to accomodate for property condition and repairs.
• If you can, remodel/update the kitchen and master bathroom. These two areas have a big impact on home buying decisions.
• Strategic renovations impact value and your bottom line. Don’t spend more money to renovate the place than you can recapture in value on the sales price.

Why that Tree in your house is Dangerous!

Although trees are generally a desirable feature of home landscaping, however they can pose a threat to buildings and homeowners in a number of ways.
Although trees are generally a desirable feature of home landscaping, however they can pose a threat to buildings and homeowners in a number of ways. In this special piece we explain to you possible dangers a tree can cause to your building and household members…

One of the major parts of the house that trees have been found to be a dreadful threat to is the foundation. Though has now been generally accepted by building experts that tree roots cannot normally pierce through a building’s foundation, they can, however, damage a foundation in several other ways. Firstly, tree roots can sometimes penetrate a building’s foundation through pre-existing cracks, while large root systems that extend beneath a house can cause foundation uplift. They can also leech water from the soil beneath foundations, causing the structures to settle and sink unevenly.

Also, leaves and broken branches of trees can block gutters, potentially causing flooding within the house area which can in the end all water to penetrate the building. Apart from that old, damaged or otherwise weak trees may fall and endanger lives and property. Large, weak branches, too, are a hazard, especially if weighed wind storms.

Another potential destructive effect of trees is that roots can potentially penetrate underground drainage pipes, especially when they leak. Water that leaks from a drainage or sanitary pipe can encourage root growth in the direction of the leak, where the roots may eventually enter the pipe and obstruct its flow. A number of house plumbing defects have been traced to tree roots by experts.

It is important that home owners know that trees may be used by insects and other dangerous animals to gain access to the building. In terms of insects and flies, soldier ants and mosquitoes are the ones that easily find tree tops and leaves habitable. To home owners both constitute a health hazard. In the case of rodents and other dangerous animals, Snakes and Bats are known to find tree tops handy to live on. They may in the end gain access to the house and constitute a potential danger to the entire household.

Apart from that, falling trees and branches can topple power and communication lines in the house in which case you may then have to spend huge amounts of money repairing the damage as a house owner. For falling power lines, they can lead to electrocution of unsuspecting home owner especially if it has to do with windstorm from over-night rainfall.

Trees with structural defects likely to cause failure to all or part of a tree can damage your building and nearby buildings. It is important to be able to identify defects in trees around your house to prevent such disasters. The following are indications that a tree has a structural defect: dead twigs, dead branches, or small, off-colour leaves; species-specific defects.

Also, cankers, which are localized areas on branches or stems of a tree where the back is sunken or missing is an indication of a defect. Cankers are caused by wounding or disease common with trees. The presence of a canker increases the chance that the stem will break near the canker. A tree with a canker that encompasses more than half of the tree’s circumference may be hazardous even if the exposed wood appears healthy.

Another kind of defect with trees that can pose grave danger to home owners is what is known as advanced decay (wood that is soft, punchy or crumbly, or a cavity where the wood is missing) can create a serious hazard. Evidence of fungal activity, such as mushrooms, conks and brackets growing on root flares, stems or branches are indications of advanced decay. A tree usually decays from the inside out, eventually forming a cavity, but sound wood is also added to the outside of the tree as it grows. Trees with sound outer wood shells may be relatively safe, but this depends on the ratio of sound-to-decayed wood, and other defects that might present.

When a tree leans at more than 15 degrees from vertical it is potential dangerous. Generally, trees bent to this degree should be removed before they cause a major disaster. Trees that have grown in a leaning orientation are not as hazardous as trees that were originally straight but subsequently developed a lean due to wind or root damage. Large trees that have tipped in intense winds seldom recover. The general growth-form of the tree and any uplifted soil on the side of the tree opposite the lean provide clues as to when the lean developed.

Useful Tips in Keeping safe Trees

When planting trees, they should be kept far from the house. It is impossible for the homeowner to reliably predict how far the roots will spread, and trees that are too close to a building may be a fire hazard.
Do not damage roots. In addition to providing nutrition for the tree roots anchor the tree to the ground. Trees with damaged roots are more likely to lean and topple than trees with healthy roots. Vehicles are capable of damaging a tree’s root system.
Dead trees within the range of a house should be removed. If they are not removed, the small twigs will fall first, followed by the larger branches, and eventually the trunk. This process can take several years.
Inspect your trees periodically for hazards, especially in large, old trees. Every tree likely to have a problem should be inspected from bottom to top. Look for signs of decay and continue up the trunk toward the crown, noting anything that might indicate a potential hazard.
Binoculars are helpful for examining the higher portions of tall trees for damage.

Choosing your contractor is one of the most difficult decisions to make, choosing rightly

will help the overall success of the project, from experience, clients choose from these people.

(i)Building professionals

(ii)Family members that are laymen

(iii)Family members that are building professionals and

(iv)Businessmen contractors

Of the four groups listed above (i) and (ii) happens to tower above (ii) and (iv) and they all

have advantages and disadvantages over one another.

For a client that doesn’t know anything about building, no.(i) is your best bet a professional

may charge high fees but he will not compromise on standard when building your house because he

knows quite well that his reputation is at stake and if he does your job well then you may refer

him to your friends and this may lead to big things for him. So for a professional, quality is

always paramount though you may spend more.

(ii)Family members that are laymen may not be the right people to use however if the integrity

of the person involved has been tested overtime, he may serve as your eye on the site. All money

needed for materials will pass through him and he goes along with workers on site to purchase

these materials, whatever is recommended he has to monitor the purchase of materials together

in otherwords he monitors how money is been spent and progress on site.

This may save you some money, but if you have a bad relative unfortunately this method will

backfire because he will want to lord it on the workers to use substandard materials so that he

can make profit for himself.

Another disadvantage is that they can’t easily see a bad job in progress, so anything

constructed is always acceptable to them untill is too late.

(iii)Family members that are building professionals are most favoured after all is your money if

your are been ripped off by your family then the charges will be small compare to an outsider

except if the person in question is fraudulent you can easily call on him even years after the

house has been built to help you do one thing or the other without extra charges.

Well you are also helping your family member to grow professionally.

The disadvantage is that if the job is poorly done you may not be able to make him pay for the

poor job done. Your financial strenght and weaknesses is also exposed.

(iv) The last which is businessmen contractors are the worst of the lot to give your project to

. They parade themselves about as building contractors without any formal or informal training

but they have some money from other businesses so they use that to set up an office and seek

for contracts.

The primary motive of this group is profit every other things are secondary including the

stability or success of the building. This group is worst off when it comes to using substandard

materials.

So in all the four above no (i) still seems to be the safest because the contractor can be

called to question anytime, he can be reported to the controlling body of his profession and

professionally he won’t do anything unethical so that he can be recommended for other jobs.

There are basic steps you ought to take when you’ve finally

decided to buy a land in Lagos, to reduce stress you must

ask basic questions and take these steps.

(1)Consult your agent and tell him exactly what you want

and how you’ll like to have it, if you have a good agent he

will most likely get a property close to what you want

faster than you might think is possible, this will save you

stress, but give him the instruction that you won’t want a

land under government acquisition, this will make him to

work harder and search for the right one.

(2) You can also do your research too from family members,

friends and online especially through an online forum like

www.nairaland.com property section, there are lots of

professionals on that forum that that are ready to treat

your questions for free at the speed of light.

(3)After you must have been introduced to a land, the first

step is to go for site inspection. Considering many reasons

at the back of your mind to make you decide if to buy the

land or not. Issues like-

‘i’ Nearness to your office or business.

‘ii’ Will you be able to match the financial task required

if the soil is waterlogged and needs filling, and if you

are going for a storey building can you afford the type of

foundation that will be recommended.

‘iii’ The commercial value of the land in nearest future

‘iv’ Nearness to high tension cable (wires).You know it is

required you leave out at least 60m from the high tension

cables.

‘v’ how close is the site to Fuel or petroleum pipeline.

‘vi’ Nearness to major roads, if your site

is too close, and the road is expanded

in the future, it may affect your

property.

‘vii’ Check the level of the ground to the surrounding

environment, I mean the topography, is your site at the

lowest level to the neighbouring sites, its

likely that runoff water will converge in your site

when is raining and no adequate planning for

drainage system like Lagos.

(4)If you are okay with the land after having met most of

these requirements above. Get your land surveyor to

accompany you to the site with his instruments (compass)

and don’t worry he is not going to charge you for going to

the site with him,just promise to give him the survey job

and that will settle it.

So why the Land surveyor?

He has the instruments/compass that he will use to know the

coordinates (direction located in map)of where the land

falls into and he has his colleagues at the surveyor

general’s office in Alausa Ikeja who he can easily call

right on your site to furnish him with the condition of

your proposed site. with this you can know if the land

falls under government acquisitions or not.

If there is a survey for the plot before, then do the

photocopy and check by yourself at the surveyor general’s

office Alausa, those guys there may eventually do it free for

you at most you only need to pay N2,000.

(5) Note that you’ve not paid money to accomplish the steps

above. If the site meets the right conditions, then get

your Lawyer, he is to help you ensure the paperworks are

properly done. Omo Onile fears lawyers so having one is

very important apart from other benefits you’ll get from

him. He will make sure genuine papers are gotten for your

property and he is there to defend you, Omo

Onile won’t prey on you if you have a bold lawyer.

Certificate of Occupancy, Deed of assignment,Governor’s

consent, e.t.c whatever you are required to have it is

better to have someone taking off the stress from you.

(6)Make sure you collect the genuine receipt from Omo Onile

after paying for your property fully.

Oversite concrete is often reffered to as german floor by the laymen, others mistook it for dpc,however oversite concrete is the mass concrete that you pour to cover the entire lenght and breadth of a building on the ground floor to serve as a source of additional support to the structural stability of a building especially storey buildings.

Is the mass concrete which is cast after the dpc or damp proof course level has been established.
Going by the definitions above it is clear that this portion as part of a building foundation is one of the most important parts of the building.
Not long ago one of my subscribers asked me on how to salvage an oversite concrete that was sinking/collapsing, before then I had also experienced a poorly done job too that resulted in parts of the concrete collapsing, so with the first hand experience and for the benefits of those that haven’t gotten to that stage of your building project is good you read on.

To have a good oversite concrete these are the steps you must take-

(1) Make sure the soil underneath/ or the soil used to fill the dpc is a laterite and not any other kinds of soil especially loose and peat soil. The filling requires sand that can be compacted to have a good sustainability and the ability to carry the compressive load of concrete coming on top of it. A loose soil in this case will not allow the soil to be easily rammed or beat to compaction hence won’t be good for the task.

(2)If it is recommended to use wire mesh or brc by your Engineer then save yourself of future unending agonies with a few thousands of naira and apply it. The wire mesh forms a ring that helps the concrete to be able to carry its weight and even when the soil underneath is getting more compacted, because of the tensile strength of this wire mesh the concrete is most unlikely to cave in, so make sure you spread it round the building as specified.

(3)Also if it was specified in the drawing that you must use a membrane- just call it a polythenelike material that can be able to block water from rising from the soil to the ground floor or slab, then it is important you also do it. this is usually specified where the ground is waterlogged.

(4)Ensure you follow the right mixture ratio of the concrete, hence you may be faced with a not so strong concrete.

(5) Before the day you will cast, make sure you get all the materials you need in place human,materials and otherwise. If the numbers of people you have is not adequate then you may run into problem , some portion will be left till the next day and you may not have a cohesive single bonded foundation.

(6) Take a day get two bricklayers, let them take the proper level of the dpc round and make sure they apply plumb ( an instrument used in determining the level) round the building with the level established and traced with ropes round, when this is done you are most unlikely to have a badly built house. Foundation is the root of the beauty of any house just as it applies to every facet of life.

(7)When you have casted don’t be in a hurry to remove the sideboard or wooden/iron materials that were used to support the concrete from running off the edge, it is good you give it a day to dry before removal else you will notice cracks around the edges when the boards are removed especially when the concrete mixture ratio is weak.
Make sure the iron rods of the columns/pillars coming from the base of the foundation is aligned and shoots out or longer than the top of the concrete by atleast 450mm or 0.45m or 9 inches.

Causes of Caving in /Collapsing oversite/german concrete
(i) When your contractor wants to make profit and save cost, the mixture ratio of the concrete may likely be weak

(ii)When your project has no capable professional directing the affairs on site

(iii)If you are careless or take no cognisance of little details when executing the project

(iv)Soil underneath not well rammed and when it is not a compacting soil that has ability to bond.

(v)During ramming water must be poured again and again until the soil can no longer compact before you stop.

(vi)When the sides of your structure are not well supported by wood or iron and brace properly.

(vii)Damages on site by workers

(viii)When inadequate or substandard materials are used

(ix)The hollow blocks under the concrete if thats what was recommended must be filled with concrete to give the concrete additional support and help to easily transfer the weight to the ground.

Above all, caution! caution! CAUTION!
hope this have helped.

Download images here if not visible

image 1

image 2

Using images 1 and 2 above and in a bid to also demystify the raft foundation cost, this article will deal extensively on how to calculate your concrete materials like cement, sand and granite that you will use for the foundation.
Often time concrete are mostly mixed in 1:2:4 ratio, when you see such specificationit simply means one bag of cement to four headpans of sand and eight headpans of granite.
Notice that first number represent a bag of cement which is equivalent to two headpans, hence the sand is taken as four headpanss and the granite represented by 4 in the ratio is taken as eight headpans.
Going by this knowledge it is easy for us to do a very fast calculation at least to be close to what we might need on site.
To do this calculation, add the sum of ratio 1+2+4=7
Calculate the cubic volume of concrete for foundation.
Going by the previous article the total lenght of trench was taken as 65.6m
Height of concrete beam is 1.1m or 1100m from image 2
And width is 0.225m or 225mm
therefore total volume of concrete beams =65.6m x 1.1 x 0.225 =16.236
Now divide 16.236 by the sum of the ratio which is 7
16.236/7=2.31943m3
Taking a constant, the volume of a bag of cement is 0.035m3
Divide 2.31943 by 0.035
=66 bags of cement to do all the concrete beams , however don’t forget that cement and sand will also be used for the blinding before the concrete beams are placed .
For the sand reqd.,multiply 2.31943m3 by 2 to know the volume since it is in ratio of 1:2:4
Therefore volume of sand requires =4.63886m3
If we take volume of a tipper as 3.8m3 then
4.63886/3.8=1 1/2 trip of 5 tons tipper for the concrete beam.
For the granite use the same ratio of 1 bag of cement to 4 headpans of sand to 8 headpans of granite
So for granite reqd, multiply 2.31943m3 by 4 to know the volume since it is in the ratio of 1:2:4
therefore volume of granite requires=9.27772
If we take volume of a tipper as 3.8m3 then,
9.27772/3.8=2 1/2 trips of granite (Disregarding water and and other attending expenses
If one bag cost N1,800, then 66 bags =N118,800
And if one trip of sand is N15,000
then 1 1/2 trips =N22,500
And if one trip of 5 tons of granite=N30,000
then granite cost needed =2 1/2 x N30,000
=N75,000
Total=N118,800 + N22,500 + N75,000
=N216,300
For the german floor or oversite concrete-
Multiply the lenght by breadth by the thickness or width of the plan from image.
Add 3.825 +3.95 +1.375 +1.25+4.975+1.25=16.625
Add 3.825+2.910+3.825=10.560
So multiply the sum for the volume=16.625 x 10.560 x 0.2
=35.112m3
To know the number of cement required divide 35.112 by the sum of the ratio which is 7
=35.112 / 7
=5.016m3
Taking a constant, the volume of a bag of cement which is 0.035m3,
divide 5.016m3 by 0.035
=143 bags of cement for the german floor or oversite concrete.
Apply the steps above for the sand and granite,
For sand,
Multiply 5.016 by 2=10.032, now divide by 3.8m3
=3 trips of 5tons sharp sand
For granite,
multiply 5.016 by 4=20.064, now divide by 3.8m3
=5 1/2 trips of 5 tons granite
So if one bag of cement cost N1800
then 143 bags of cement will cost N1800 x 143 =N257,400
And if one trip of sand cost N15,000
then 3 trips of 5 tons sharp sand =N45,000
And if one trip of 5 tons granite cost =N30,000
then 5 1/2 trips of 5 tons granite =N165,000
So total for concrete excluding other attending materials
=N216,000+257,000+45,000+165,000
TOTAL=N683,400
This is hard to understand I believe but you can still study it by bits.