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House Design
Query-1
Mr.Jos has copied an Elevation shown in our website and wanted a similar house but with different needs
My reply to him is that it will not be wise taking elevations and plans from websites to save cost of design .You may save a few thousands. House construction involves lakhs of your hard earned money and unless you are wise enough to get experienced professional to design and construct your house you may land up in a defective designed house which cannot be corrected at all and you may loose lots of your money simply due to your eagerness to avoid professional design
Query-2
We have 1 acre paddy field 90% already filled, we need to built some houses for sale, what all the things i have to do in the time of foundation, will u please advice me. i am planning to built 800 sft home.
Jayanmon
My reply
Quite a lot of people think of constructing house as a simple affair which can be done by them if they can find a contractor who can give lowest “square feet cost”
It is not a simple affair. For most of the people it involves almost their entire life savings and practically no house building person is an expert on house design and construction. Acquiring expertise need not only careful technical study but also experiences in designing and building houses especially in Kerala environment where both labour and material are costly with each day adding up cost
It is not within the control of a contractor to reduce cost. Most important cost reduction possible only by appropriate design of house by an expert. He can avoid wastages, cost increases and get you better facilities at lower cost. Contractor reduces cost not for you but for his profit putting quality of construction at risk
Without even getting design of building done, here he is asking about foundation. Foundation design will vary from place to place depending upon soil conditions and also depending upon design of building. Nobody can blindly advise you on foundation without site study and finalisation of house design
Query-3
Came across your highly useful informative write up on Kerala house construction.
Planning for a house please find attached model plan. Few doubts on modifying room sizes.
1, Could we use bed room sizes as 11 x 12 (Master), 11 x 10, 9 x 12 and 10 x 12 with Vaasthu compliance?
Master bed on South West corner in model plan.
Thanks in advance. Hope you are an expert to help us.
Britto
My reply
On quick perusal following defects noticed in your plan
Plan not a professional design
Lots of wastage of space. Adequate ventilation and lighting not available for most of living spaces
Toilets are too narrow with 120 cm width.
Plan is the most important critical part of house design. Do not try to save money on it to loose lakhs of your money and a house which will not give what it can with professional design
As per Vasthu bed room at South east is harmful
Bed room at North east not good for regular use
If you are interested in me designing your house, please let me know
Query-4
I would like to send you my house plan for your comments as soon as possible.
Rajesh
My reply
On quick perusal of plan, following are defects noticed
As per Vasthu, toilets at North east, South west corners are harmful
Kitchen at South east(Agni Konam) is better .North east is Easana Konam ideal for Pooja.As the house is facing East it is better to provide Kitchen at North West
Dining room is completely dark with no light or ventilation
In modern kitchens with modular Kitchen Store is a waste of space. Second kitchen is also dark with no light or ventilation
I have checked only ground floor plan which itself have several serious defects
Plan of the house is the most important critical part of house design .Do not try to get it done by some one who simply know Auto Cad drawing only
If you want me to design house, please let me know
Query-5
I am one of your website follower. My name is Arun Mathew, I have just started construction of my house (foundation & basement completed), it is 2900 Sqft and my budget was 60 lakhs, however my builder has given an approximate estimate which is coming around 88 Lakhs, which is of course based on the specifications I demanded (materials, brands etc).
I believe I can cut the cost considerably if I get a professional advice and review of the material quantity quoted by the contractor. Therefore I request your service to review the Estimate and advise me of cost savings wherever possible. Would you please review the BOQ if I send and I will be more than happy to pay your fees
My reply
There is no generally accepted material, quality and engineering specifications when a nonprofessional contractor builds a house. His objective is simply to make maximum profit and all his talk of quality will be only to please your ears and nothing more than that
No two contractors build a house in similar manner and hence rates of one contractor cannot be compared with that of another contractor
Only method of ensuring quality of work and saving money without compromising quality is to have an experienced building professional who will not take money from contractor and will ensure professionally acceptable design, engineering standards and quality of work
You do not seem to have taken professional assistance from design stage and simply believed false promises of the contractor
All that I can do now is to visit the site and assess work done and give suggestions on future work to obtain better utility and to save your money on future work.
DISCLAIMER:
The information contained in this blog/website is purely advises by Thomas Viruvelil/Viruvelil Group on building design and construction in Kerala. Those who follow these advices without active involvement, guidance and close monitoring by Thomas Viruvelil or those assigned by him do so at their own risk and responsibility. Thomas Viruvelil will not be held responsible in any manner for losses/damages arising out of such use of information from this blog/website.
Any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of this message in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Viruvelil Group of Companies or Thomas Viruvelil do not accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from the use of the information which may be creative work/technical data (which are solely owned by us and protected by copy right acts) without our consent/involvement and guidance..
