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Hi,

I am planning to construct a house and am in discussion with a contractor. Initially i planned to construct a house with around 1100sqft on the ground floor and a small house around 650 sqft on the first floor. The contractor says that he is using pillar construction and the length and breath he will calculate will be the area which falls within the pillars. Since mine is a 40x45 site - He says the area will be around 1500sq/ft and not the 1100 sq/ft (area which has walls and windows and doors).

Is this how the contractors charge? I was under the impression that the only area that need to be charged will be area on which the house stands & not the entire area which is covered by the pillars.

My Second question is - The contractor says since you are using the pillars, you need to construct on the entire area on the 1st floor. If you construct partially (650 sq.ft) on the first floor - Tommorow, if you plan to extend the house on the first floor - it will result in leakage as there will be a gap between the old and new building - on the first floor is this true?

I am planning to construct partially on the first floor to reduce the cost as it exceeds my budget.


Thanks for your help. Meanwhile if you can review my ground floor plan and give your feedback - it would be helpful

http://mybdasites.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=7357#p36132

Shri , Its not about building a house for you which is of reasonable cost but the contractors make sure that its easy for them to build by telling you to make it pillar based constructions.There is also a big advantage in pillar construction as you dont have to build wall over wall along with building more floors(if needed).if you are going for either labor or material contract then there wont be a significant difference in cost/chadra(in bangalore) so better go for pillar based.

If you put roofs twice in same floor there will be certainly a problem in future where ever the roofs meet.

Hi,
The roof slab is calculated on the basis of slab area covering the roof. So for your house, the ground floor roof area has to be calculated fully. This is the size between all the pillars and extensions given, not the area covered on the ground by walls.

Yes, you can construct partially on the first floor. If you are putting a column structure that is pillars kindly ensure it is done by a Structural Engineer and not the contractors own design. Also, a Structural Engineer will know where to stop the construction.In future, if you want to extend he will know how to start the construction without having leakage problem and what all materials can be used to ensure there is no leakage. If you want to stop leakage there should be good bond between old and new concrete.

A leakage does not result only due to gap between old and new structure. It can also be a Structural defect, improper curing, improper vibration during concreting and not proper waterproofing treatment done to toilet and bathrooms by the contractors, etc.