House construction - my personal inputs & outputs

[kanaka]

Hello,
A newbie here and this is my first post. After following this site as a guest for more than 6 months and understanding how this forum works, I finally registered with this forum. The moderators have been kind enough to approve my membership. Thank you to the moderators.

This forum was of immense help to me in understanding the various steps, terminologies, intricacies involved in constructing a house (I term these as inputs) since this is my first time. And hence it also becomes my duty to contribute my little bit (outputs) which could help the future would be house-builders. In simple words => give and take policy.

About me:
Mech engineer working in an engg industry (and hence a little familiar with most of the terminologies used in construction and materials)
First time house building experience (thanks to this forum, construction is not as complex as rocket science)

About the construction:
G+1, Duplex house on a 30X40 west facing site
All approvals are obtained from relevant authorities and construction will start shortly
Full contract rate with contractor who is known to me. He has his own contacts for floor plan and layout and he will take care of the same
Except borewell, interiors and statutory related payments, the cost covers all the stages of construction
Price escalation protection in place (not sure if this will help me. Few people I have spoken to say that construction cost is expected to further reduce)

Pre-construction activites:
1. Visit as many homes of your relatives/friends and notice the various finer points of home needs. Discuss with people who have just completed building thier new home for their experience. And finally but not the least, visit mybdasites forum for valuable informations from professionals and fellow members
2. If you already have neighbour(s), take them into confidence, build a rapport and assure them of least possible disturbance during construction and repairs to any damages to their house during the construction. This will help in the long run. After all as the famous saying goes - “Love thy neighbour as thyself”
3. If the adjacent site is empty, its a god send for the contractor where he can store the construction materials rather than store them on the road. If not the adjacent site locate the nearest site possible. Do not forget to take permsision from the site owner before-hand
4. Soil testing – Not sure how important this is since the contractor has not discussed about this. Still a grey area for me. (Inputs welcome from fellow members)

to be continued...

[swamy_blr]

Hi Kanaka,

Congratulations for Starting your Construction shortly...

Regarding Floor plan, please discuss thoroughly with Architect before going for Construction as you should not later regret for small mistakes also.

Since you are going for Full Contract, please do check the Material Quality & Brands and keep asking your contractors about the details frequently.
So that he will be aware that you are monitoring the Project. Get the agreed Material List (Cement, Steel, Sand, Wood, Flooring, Plumbing, Electricals), and make the proper agreement (Material list & Payment schedule) between you & Contractor (Even though you knows him very well).

If you go with Labour contract, you can save lot + you can purchase a quality materials with your satisfaction, But one needs to be invest lot of time for timely purchase and storing.

Regarding the Points you raised

1) Visiting the other homes and browsing the Internet will provide lot of inputs before starting the construction, you can able to consider the drawbacks & plus points from other Homes. Once the Floor plans & other Drawings are done, ensure you also take Elevation dwgs, so that you can have view of your house, plus this help to modify your plan accordingly.

We are facing major issue in mybdasites.com regarding the not opening attachments, images of Old threads which has very vital information(Don't know the admins, Code Developers are working to restore the older versions) , Due to this some of the members are not even providing any inputs for the points raised by members which was different when we have the Older version. Till now there is no success in fixing the issues.

2) Rapport with Neighbour is also very important, as you are staying later there only and having friendly relationship will help you a lot. But if you are going as per bylaws nothing to worry.

3) If adjacent site is empty, it is very useful to you for putting the materials.

4) Soil testing - I suggest you dig the Sump first which is usually more deeper than the Footings, So you will get better idea on Soil condition whether it is loose soil or Hard soil.

Regarding the Borewell - It might cost you 2.5 Lakhs approximately, please take a judicious decision about the availability of water in your area.
Sometimes even digging 1300 feet is not yielding any water.If you have Cauvery water supply or BBMP water supply then think twice on Borewell.

Give more importance on inside the house rather Exterior, a very good spacing/Ventilation/Interiors with proper Vasthu gives more satisfaction than investing more on Exteriors (But that is also important but priority should be inside the house).

rgds
Swamy

[ssharma]

Thanks for this post kanaka, very helpful pointers for newbies like me. May I ask what all approvals are needed before you start your construction?