Friday, February 12, 2016


Queries for free consultation on Kerala House construction, Kerala Architecture may be sent to


and not by posting in blogs as your reply will be delayed quite long

Building design and Construction

Query-1



I am George. I found you mail id for support while I was browsing for getting a rough idea about construction of house in Kerala (link obtained fromhttp://www.keralaarchitecture.com/Architectural_guidance.aspx).



Actually I was born & brought up in New Delhi & my ancestral home is at Pathanamthitta. As of now I am planning to build a home in my ancestral property. Can you please guide me till what extent of area for construction I can go for, if my budget can vary from 30 to 35 lacks.



My basic idea is like :-

In ground floor - 2 bedrooms (both attached), hall, dinning room, kitchen, work area, sit-out, & car porch.

In second floor 1 bedroom (bath attached), 1 hall & veranda.

Can you please guide that with the budget mentioned what modifications I can make.



George

My reply

Basic problem with most of those who venture in to house construction is that they lack even basic information on house design and construction

I have designed and built directly more than 200 houses in Kerala and acted as consultant for many more buildings. Not even one of these clients had complete fund required for construction on commencement of construction

A new house is built on two needs of a person. First one is his dreams for the house and second, his needs for house

Before searching for so called square feet cost for building a house, you need to sit down with an experienced building professional preferably after a visit to proposed plot with him to discuss on various options and possibilities on your needs and dreams for house

First finalise on your needs for house taking guidance from professional

Tell him about how much money you can raise including loan from banks(It is always cheaper and netter to get bank loan if you do not have sufficient funds as banks offer long term repayments with lower interest for housing. As you pay instalments after years, real money value will come down and your investment in property might have appreciated lot in money terms

After the designer prepare basic plan of the house which shows dimensions of each living space, their positioning, positions and sizes of doors and windows try to understand implications of plan with assistance from professional as you may not be able to visualise your future house from plan drawings

If discussions with designer result in need for changes in plan, get it changed. We do not charge anything extra for such mutually accepted changes in plan

For assistance in design and budget planning of your future house, write to me to




Query-2



I have 9 cents land, would like to make a two story home for only rent purpose including 2 bed room one dining and kitchen, let
Me know the budget and contractor and other details.

Rajesh

Query-3

 I am Prasanth from Palakkad. And am planning to build a bungalow type of house in Kerala style . am looking for labour contract , as I want to supply the construction materials, bcoz am not satisfied with the materials the turnkey ( complete) contractors give . so I want to know the approx that I can give for structure alone . For other things .. Like plumbing painting and carpenters I like to give contract separately. So could u please advise me about this .



My reply

Look, how casually people look at building construction as if someone can predict cost of building without any data. Cost of building depend upon several factors

1.       Plan of the building: A Professionally designed plan bring in expertise and experience of the professional to utilize built up space most economically with maximum utility. So you save money in lakhs by paying an expert in thousands

2.       Soil conditions: Soil condition can change cost as non-stable soil conditions may need costly foundation

3.       Professional monitoring of work with detailed design drawings. Nonprofessional contractors do not bother about detailed Architectural/Structural design drawings for construction. They build as they feel like keeping only their operational profit as objective. By allowing contractor to build as he like, you are damaging structural stability and Architectural quality of construction thereby wasting your own money

4.       Proper selection of building materials. People only think of brand of cement used and not about hundreds of building materials used and are unaware of technology upgradations in the field.A professional can guide you on better materials and definitely not those whom you meet in your daily life who may offer free advices

5.       Proper planning of building work: Here again a professional can guide you well to save your money and to get you better quality construction

6.       Quality of workers: Not all workers do any type of construction work with same quality. Only a professional can assess work properly and to ensure that you get better quality construction. Square feet cost contractor will naturally engage poor quality construction workers to increase his profit margin

7.       Nonprofessional contractors who offer “square feet of cost of construction” do not follow common specifications or engineering standards and hence cost of one contractor cannot be compared with that of another. For building construction activity which involves hundreds of materials, different type of labour, and exact cost after a year or more for construction cannot be predicted by any one. “Square feet cost” is a term used by nonprofessional contractor to attract customer without proper knowledge on construction cost and he knows how to save on both material and labour to save his profit in spite of increase in input costs.In addition he will go on demanding extra charges at each stage of construction



Buying old house

Query-1

I have plans to buy a pre-owned house. Please let me know what are the necessary things i have to take care and how to calculate the rate of the house . 

Sahasranamam

My reply

When you think of buying property go to our website, www.keralaarchitecture.com and check link Architectural guidance. You will be guided on documents you should check about existing property

As a layman, you cannot simply invest your money on a building based on your personal assessment of the property. Even when it is a land property you need professional guidance to purchase plot/house/building/apartment.

A professional will arrange to check legal documents through legal associates and also check on Architectural, Structural Engineering and Vasthu aspects of the building. He can also guide you on reasonable cost of the building you intend to purchase. Unless you get such professional advice, do not attempt to buy the property/building. After purchase, you cannot do anything other than suffering for avoiding professional guidance

Our company offers legal assistance, documentation assistance and technical, Vasthu evaluation of plot and building. Write to




Remodeling of existing house

Query-1

I have come to understand from your website that you are in the business of re-modelling and construction.

We have a two bedroom 25 year old house We would like to re-model it, with the construction two additional bedrooms on the terrace.

Kindly advice as to how we can go about doing it.

Thomas

My reply

Most of the houses in Kerala Which I visited for checking possibility of remodeling and few houses which I remodeled and extended had one thing in common. All of these were built by no professional so called “square feet cost contractors” who never bothered about quality of construction or engineering. Due to lack of engineering there was no proper Architectural plan of the building and there were lots of wastage of built up space

In one case, the contractor reduced roof height by one feet (usual roof height is 10 feet) and the house owner noticed it only after 20 years of stay in the house when I told him about it. By reducing roof height square feet cost contractor saved money without even owner of house noticing it. Beams were concreted without even bothering about size, quality and no of steel rods used in it making contractor happy with profit

When remodeling/extension is done by a professional agencies these defects in original building construction will be the major problem. New building contractor cannot take responsibility of lack of quality and engineering in the original building and defects/deterioration in structural stability it may cause.

In any case, remodeling can be attempted only after a proper evaluation of existing building by a qualified, experienced building professional. Additions/modifications not recommended by an expert should not be attempted

Lack of construction quality ad engineering will naturally cause breakages/leaks in concrete roof, plaster breaking and breaking of building parts. A building constructed by a non-professional square feet cost contractor may not last well beyond 30 years. A properly designed and built building can normally go on well for hundreds of years with proper maintenance/house keeping

If remodeling/extension of building is recommended by our experts we can take up work with expert workers, quality construction and proper engineering. Write to me to check feasibility of extension/remodeling and for remodeling work which includes all forms of construction and interior wood work

vhthomas@viruvelil.com





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