House Construction - My Diary

[vijayk76]

Hello All,
I always wished to stay in independent House - "Duplex ". After staying for decade and half it in Apartment, enjoying all the facilities available, I had almost given up the thought of building house. One reason could be the Comfort Zone Apartment provided coupled with Up-hill task of House Construction.

Not sure what was the trigger point, the old dream surfaced again. Yes, decided to make the Wish/Dream a reality. In this Diary, I would continue to pen down my learnings/observations/experience. Here I GO.

About the Site :

30*42 West Facing Site near to Meenakshi Mall.

What I want to Construct:
Ground Floor - Office or Studio room(around 300 sq feet), rest is Parking and external staircase leading to duplex house.
Duplex House - First floor Hall, Bedroom, Kitchen, Second Floor Two Bedroom with Balconies and small family room. All Bedrooms would have attached bathroom.


My Beginning :
Like most, I too was lost, not sure where to Begin, how to Begin. Started going through some of the threads/experience shared by group members helped in getting started. Some of the information of shared by Visualizer, Msn, Sunil18, Rashmi and the list Goes On……… are pretty helpful.

Turnkey or Labor Contract - Yet to be decided
Met couple of builders, the estimate I got was close to 70 lakh for construction approximately 3300 sq feet including Headroom. Around 2k per sq feet was the quote.

Architect -
They are the one who bring the WOW factor. Contacted few of them, couple of them were pretty responsive. Explained them my requirement, and expectations on natural lighting and space utilization.
One of them agreed to provide 2D(5 variations) and 3D drawings (3 variations), decided to avail his services since the price and turn around time both were reasonable. So far experience has been good.

BBMP Plan Approval - Always expect Un-Expected.
My site is B Khata, so I was looking for reliable guy who is knowledgeable and has contacts in BBMP - Objective Pay Betterment charges, followed by Plan Approval.
I was informed from last 3 to 4 month collecting betterment charges were stopped, no files were processed after new JC who took over few months ago, however it was told that processing had started again from last two weeks.

Over all I was told around 60 would be the charges for betterment charges , followed by Plan approval.(two kitchen, studio would also be considered as one kitchen) Apart from this 50 K, I had to pay the Actual government fees. I gave all the required documents and asked to process it.

Current Status - I was told there would be delay in the process since JC has not singed and quite a lot of files are pending. Not sure when this will materialize. Nationalized banks need betterment charges paid receipt . Right now this is hurdle/showstopper. Let me know if there is any way to clear this.

Sorry for LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Post…..

[vijayk76]

Suggestions Needed....
While I am still struck with hurdle/roadblock of new JC not approving files - betterment charges followed by plan approval. I am hopeful soon this would get resolved mean while exploring these options

Tiling- Vitrified vs Granite..
My preference is white based flooring and tile size atleast 2*4 or more

Vitrified -gives lots of options in light/white dominant colour. I have observed they kind of become dull in few years, loose its shine

Granite- i prefer this however, very few options in white colour, they are more of grey . Any inputs for white granite options?


Turnkey vs Labour Contract -
Turnkey the process of construction is easy for us, quantity generally gets compromised.... I visited few ongoing project and did not find the quality to be on-par to money paid.

Labour Contract- takes away lots of our time and effort. But you control quality. There would challenge of tracking if the contractor is inline with Architecture diagram and following the structural drawings

Can their be customised way? I would be availing services of Architect. In addition to this can I go for Civil Engineer who would be responsible for monitoring the construction. Not sure if any Civil Engineer will take up task like this and what would be the charges.

Please share your experiences also contacts of good Civil Engineer who i could contact for above services. Good of he is from south Bangalore - it would be easier for him to make quick visits.

[arunraoh]

Hi Vijay, congrats on your independent house construction journey.

Regarding tiling - if your preference is white based then i would really suggest marble. We had our entire flooring in white marble around 20 years ago and till date there is absolutely no problem. It looks far elegant compared to vitrified tiles and maintenance is minimal.
We had purchased ours near dairy circle - lot of marble showrooms there. However recently i helped my friend purchase marble. We purchased from HMG - Hosur Road. They have a huge factory outlet there and ample of choices. You can also see marble being cut. We even met HMG's owner (some name, Reddy). Very humble guy.
Do let me know i can get you in touch with them.

Regarding turn key or labour contract - my friend's house in JP Nagar is being built by a group of young Architects and Contractors. They are based in RR Nagar and we have seen many of their projects. They have also built a group of luxury houses over 5 60x40 sites in Kengeri. We were impressed by their work and hired them. We gave turn key but they provide labour contract also.

Do let me know if you need my help connecting with the above 2 contacts and any other contacts. My number is 7406262728
Thanks,
Arun Rao

[amit_pearl2]

Hi Vijay, congrats on your independent house construction journey.

Regarding tiling - if your preference is white based then i would really suggest marble. We had our entire flooring in white marble around 20 years ago and till date there is absolutely no problem. It looks far elegant compared to vitrified tiles and maintenance is minimal.
We had purchased ours near dairy circle - lot of marble showrooms there. However recently i helped my friend purchase marble. We purchased from HMG - Hosur Road. They have a huge factory outlet there and ample of choices. You can also see marble being cut. We even met HMG's owner (some name, Reddy). Very humble guy.
Do let me know i can get you in touch with them.

Regarding turn key or labour contract - my friend's house in JP Nagar is being built by a group of young Architects and Contractors. They are based in RR Nagar and we have seen many of their projects. They have also built a group of luxury houses over 5 60x40 sites in Kengeri. We were impressed by their work and hired them. We gave turn key but they provide labour contract also.

Do let me know if you need my help connecting with the above 2 contacts and any other contacts. My number is 7406262728
Thanks,
Arun Rao

Thank you very much Arun for the information. I would surely keep my options Open Granite and Marble, Vitrified is cost effective however within few years they become dull. Cost of Marble and fixing Marble generally turns out to be expensive compared to Granite or Vitrified.

I have seen HMG, they have good collection. What is the price range for white Marbles.

Architect and Contractor- Thank you for sharing your contact sharing information about your friend's house. i will connect with you on your mobile number. I would surely meet those Architects.

Thanks
Vijay

[vijayk76]

The Wait Continues.....

Submitted documents for paying Betterment charges two weeks ago ... As per Agent JC has not singed/processed any files....

Hope i hear some positive news in next couple of weeks. The agent says , just plan approval is possible, however I would like to pay betterment followed by plan approval. I have seen few ppl in my layout getting plan approval after paying betterment charges.

Not sure of the is issues with South Zone or entire Bangalore...

I was told if i could get hold of BBMP guy directly in Bommanhalli BBMP then the amount I need to shell out will be lesser than what I will be paying through agent and also he would know how long it may take.. if any leads will help.

[vijayk76]

Plan Approval Updates....

The Agent who was helping me with Betterment charges and Plan approval called me and told, JC has not been processing any files since there is change in process....it would be now BBMP chief engineer and then comissioner probably South zone. He told he can get me plan approved but betterment charges cannot be paid. Further the bribe was on higher side. I am not sure if all that he said is reality.

One of my friend told me, better catch hold of BBMP guy in Bommanhalli zone and it will work out cheaper.

Any one who has processed their plan through BBMP guy in Bommanhalli zone. Also what is the bribe to be paid to pay betterment charges for 30*40 site followed by plan approval for duplex house . Please share details or send out personal message

Regards
Vijay

[vijayk76]

Updates.....


Visited BBMP office. After enquiry, i was told Betterment charges collection has been stopped. So have hit ROAD BLOCK.

[vijayk76]

I still have ray of hope that i may get approval for my plan, In parallel, working out on following ...

Granite- for some reason i like Granite... Exploring the best option in white based

UPVC- Based on input provided by fellow members, Madhu industries, Veka, and couple of others are on list. I plan to have big french door on 2nd floor bedroom. Worried about safety.....

Grills... Since plan to have French 3 track big doors, wanted to go for grill protection. Invisible grills are one of the option. Any other than this?

Civil engineer and local architect still going on

[manomur]

Hello All,
I always wished to stay in independent House - "Duplex ". After staying for decade and half it in Apartment, enjoying all the facilities available, I had almost given up the thought of building house. One reason could be the Comfort Zone Apartment provided coupled with Up-hill task of House Construction.

Not sure what was the trigger point, the old dream surfaced again. Yes, decided to make the Wish/Dream a reality. In this Diary, I would continue to pen down my learnings/observations/experience. Here I GO.

About the Site :

30*42 West Facing Site near to Meenakshi Mall.

What I want to Construct:
Ground Floor - Office or Studio room(around 300 sq feet), rest is Parking and external staircase leading to duplex house.
Duplex House - First floor Hall, Bedroom, Kitchen, Second Floor Two Bedroom with Balconies and small family room. All Bedrooms would have attached bathroom.


My Beginning :
Like most, I too was lost, not sure where to Begin, how to Begin. Started going through some of the threads/experience shared by group members helped in getting started. Some of the information of shared by Visualizer, Msn, Sunil18, Rashmi and the list Goes On……… are pretty helpful.

Turnkey or Labor Contract - Yet to be decided
Met couple of builders, the estimate I got was close to 70 lakh for construction approximately 3300 sq feet including Headroom. Around 2k per sq feet was the quote.

Architect -
They are the one who bring the WOW factor. Contacted few of them, couple of them were pretty responsive. Explained them my requirement, and expectations on natural lighting and space utilization.
One of them agreed to provide 2D(5 variations) and 3D drawings (3 variations), decided to avail his services since the price and turn around time both were reasonable. So far experience has been good.

BBMP Plan Approval - Always expect Un-Expected.
My site is B Khata, so I was looking for reliable guy who is knowledgeable and has contacts in BBMP - Objective Pay Betterment charges, followed by Plan Approval.
I was informed from last 3 to 4 month collecting betterment charges were stopped, no files were processed after new JC who took over few months ago, however it was told that processing had started again from last two weeks.

Over all I was told around 60 would be the charges for betterment charges , followed by Plan approval.(two kitchen, studio would also be considered as one kitchen) Apart from this 50 K, I had to pay the Actual government fees. I gave all the required documents and asked to process it.

Current Status - I was told there would be delay in the process since JC has not singed and quite a lot of files are pending. Not sure when this will materialize. Nationalized banks need betterment charges paid receipt . Right now this is hurdle/showstopper. Let me know if there is any way to clear this.

Sorry for LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Post…..

Congratulations vijayk76 on commencement of construction of your dream house and wish you all the best.

[vijayk76]

Hello All,
I always wished to stay in independent House - "Duplex ". After staying for decade and half it in Apartment, enjoying all the facilities available, I had almost given up the thought of building house. One reason could be the Comfort Zone Apartment provided coupled with Up-hill task of House Construction.

Not sure what was the trigger point, the old dream surfaced again. Yes, decided to make the Wish/Dream a reality. In this Diary, I would continue to pen down my learnings/observations/experience. Here I GO.

About the Site :

30*42 West Facing Site near to Meenakshi Mall.

What I want to Construct:
Ground Floor - Office or Studio room(around 300 sq feet), rest is Parking and external staircase leading to duplex house.
Duplex House - First floor Hall, Bedroom, Kitchen, Second Floor Two Bedroom with Balconies and small family room. All Bedrooms would have attached bathroom.


My Beginning :
Like most, I too was lost, not sure where to Begin, how to Begin. Started going through some of the threads/experience shared by group members helped in getting started. Some of the information of shared by Visualizer, Msn, Sunil18, Rashmi and the list Goes On……… are pretty helpful.

Turnkey or Labor Contract - Yet to be decided
Met couple of builders, the estimate I got was close to 70 lakh for construction approximately 3300 sq feet including Headroom. Around 2k per sq feet was the quote.

Architect -
They are the one who bring the WOW factor. Contacted few of them, couple of them were pretty responsive. Explained them my requirement, and expectations on natural lighting and space utilization.
One of them agreed to provide 2D(5 variations) and 3D drawings (3 variations), decided to avail his services since the price and turn around time both were reasonable. So far experience has been good.

BBMP Plan Approval - Always expect Un-Expected.
My site is B Khata, so I was looking for reliable guy who is knowledgeable and has contacts in BBMP - Objective Pay Betterment charges, followed by Plan Approval.
I was informed from last 3 to 4 month collecting betterment charges were stopped, no files were processed after new JC who took over few months ago, however it was told that processing had started again from last two weeks.

Over all I was told around 60 would be the charges for betterment charges , followed by Plan approval.(two kitchen, studio would also be considered as one kitchen) Apart from this 50 K, I had to pay the Actual government fees. I gave all the required documents and asked to process it.

Current Status - I was told there would be delay in the process since JC has not singed and quite a lot of files are pending. Not sure when this will materialize. Nationalized banks need betterment charges paid receipt . Right now this is hurdle/showstopper. Let me know if there is any way to clear this.

Sorry for LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Post…..

Congratulations vijayk76 on commencement of construction of your dream house and wish you all the best.

Thank You Manohar. Assuming my BBMP plan would get approved, we both would be in same Boat.