Query on house with wood

QUOTE

Happy New year to you. What is your opinion about wooden log houses in Kerala. Can it withstand our torrential rainfall . I have some land in Vagamon where i want to build a custom made wooden log house but my friends are discouraging me saying its not an ideal construction material for Kerala climatic conditions but my argument is log houses are more prevalent in extreme snowy countries where snow accumulates on the roof top. What is your opinion about this.

DR.Thomas Thomas

My Reply

Traditionally our old houses in Kerala were mostly made of wood.
Just click on link below where I have written on a Pathinaru Kettu house of erstwhile Maharaja of Travancore in Kayamkulam where he used to say during his vacation
 
http://kerala-architects.blogspot.com/2010/08/krishnapuram-palace-at-kayamkulam.html
 
If you look at the pictures you will notice that majority of building parts are made of wood
So there is nothing wrong in using or building a house with tree logs.Good seasoned wood will easily withstand our rains
But wood has become extremely costly in our place now.That is why use of wood has gone down.
Basically I would suggest you to plan a trip with your chosen Architect to the site and discuss in detail with him about your dreams for the house.
A qualified and experienced Architect can convert your dreams into reality and advise you properly
Of course,we can  also act as your Architect if you are interested

Precast building parts-Query and reply

QUOTE

IN A RECENT EXHIBITION AT CHENNAI.......I LEARNED ABOUT READY MADE WALLS ...IS THIS  A FESIABLE OPTION IN MODERN HOUSE CONSTRUCTION.
 
IS IT COST EFFECTIVE AND WORTH THE EFFORT CONSIDERING THE SCARCITY OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND LABOR IN KERALA.
 
DO YOU THINK THISMODERN READY WALLS CAN WITHSTAND OUR KERALA CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.
 
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND A READY MADE WALL HONSTRUCTION.
 
THESE READY MADE WALLS CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIERS BOAST OF ENERGY EFFICIENT, MORE LOAD BARING CAPACITY ETC....
 
WHAT DO YOU THIK WOULD BE THE NEGATIVES OF THIS READY MADE WALL.
 
I PLAN TO CONSTRUCT A BEACH VILLA USING THIS READY MADE WALLS?? IS IT SAFE, COST EFFECTIVE AND WORTH THE EEFORT AS CONSTRUCTIONG A HOUSE IS MY DREAM
 
REGARDS/CHACKO

My reply

Gypsum board  ready made walls were in use for a long time.These are normally used as partition walls in commercial building construction especially for interior work

Precast building parts are being used in many parts of world to speed up construction and also to reduce cost.In our conditions,Ferro cement precast parts can be used for partition walls and for interior work.

Basically house construction is an Engineering work which require an expert from beginning to end.Only after studying site conditions,requirements of client and other factors,the Architect concerned decide on materials to be used for construction.

It will be better to leave the choice of materials to be used for your house construction to your Architect rather than you own your own decide on materials to be used using half baked ideas you may gather from different sources.Any work which require professional expertise not only for perfection of work but also for proper management of costs involved should be managed  by you in consultation with the expert concerned.

Vasthu compliance for house in USA-query and reply

QUOTE

I am planning to get my first house in US and it quite frustrating to find anything that complies with Vasthu. I am looking only at the entrance (to be east facing) and kitchen area (to be North east facing). My question is would this be enough. Also, if there is some aspect of the house that is not according to Vasthu is there anything that could be done without redesigning the entire house?

Attached is the map of the house with the picture of Vasthu purush (got from Wikipedia). I don't have the complete design of the house.

Thank you very much for your time and effort.

With warm regards,
Sajiv

My reply

Vasthu is applicable anywhere in the world as it is based on polarity which does not change from one part of earth to another.
For the house to face best options as per Vasthu are the following in that order
1.East
2.North
3.West
4.South
But house can be designed in a manner to suit direction of facing of the house.For more details read my following blog entry
http://kerala-architects.blogspot.com/2010/06/vasthu-compliance.html
If you can send me plan of the house along with directions indicated,I can tell you how far the house is in compliance with Vasthu

Again on square feet cost-Query and reply

QUOTE

Let me be frank in saying that I am planning to construct only a single floored house with about 1000 to 1500 sq ft area.  It would be grateful if you could tell me the estimation also.  I know it cannot be fixed, but at least I will have an idea of the amount.  As I have no experience in these rates and especially the rates in Kerala, as I was born and brought up in Hyderabad.
 
Hope you would do the needful.

Smitha

My reply

Without any data,without using Engineering Estimate methods,a professional like me is not supposed to give any guess estimate.It is against professional ethics to misguide a client using a non professional baseless term called square feet cost
Even the plinth area of house indicated by you is just a guess.Only after preparing a plan of the house by a professional,you will know even that figure
House construction is not that simple as going and buying rice from market.It involves hundreds of materials and lot of skilled labour.

With professional guidance you can get best value for your money with maximum utility for the house and a professional if engaged through out construction will guide you on how to  reduce cost ,if that is your concern.
 
I have directly built more than 200 houses in Kerala.When completed all these houses had different square feet cost and hence I do not know on what basis such a term is used.
If you tell me how many rooms and other facilities you need in the house,location of place where house has to come I can possibly give a guess
But the golden rule in house construction is simply this:
Do not wait for entire money expected for house construction to reach you.Cost of construction increases at least by 20% every three months.If you do not start construction immediately,you may not even be able to reach your dream house tomorrow.Tomorrow will be too late.

Commencement of construction of house-Query and reply

QUOTE

I am searching for an Engineering firm to help me with plan preparation for home in Vaikom. I need flexibility from the firm in incorporating our ideas. We have some pictures that we have picked up from design magazines that we want to use to guide the design. I am non resident (US) so I need the process of plan iterations and discussions done through email/phone. Also I have my parents living next to the plot to oversee construction so I may not need your help with supervision/ construction itself. Please let me know if that is OK. 

My reply

A house is designed by any qualified and experienced Architect after studying the following
1.Plot and surroundings
2.Vasthu aspects of the plot if the Architect is conversant with Vasthu
3.Modern architectural and structural engineering concepts.
4.Relevant building rules of the location
5.Your budget limitations if any
Elevation of any other house may not exactly suit your house as elevation depends to a great extent on the plan of the house.Only after finalising the plan,Elevation can be considered.It may be possible for the Architect to understand your elevational hopes if you show him some of the elevation you liked.But you have to understand that elevation is dependent on plan of the house which will have to be discussed and finalised at first.

Having your relatives at site may help you in  coordinating with the work.But your relative cannot substitute an experienced building professional as building construction require design details and instructions from a professional at every stage of construction.Plan and Elevation are only starting drawings for construction.More detailed drawings,engineering details are required for proper implementation of work at every stage and steps of construction.

You also need skilled workers who follow best construction practices and drawings of a professional correctly to get work done well.In interior locations,one worker and his co workers do entire works related to construction.But a professional agency use workers with expertise for each type of works and it will give you better quality of work.

Cost of construction-query and reply

QUERY

How much did it cost to build that home in Irinjalakuda?
Anuj

My Reply

There is no point in asking how much it cost for some one to build a house.
In house construction we use hundreds of materials and hundreds of skilled labour for various type of works
Cost of all these keep raising day by day
Once you decide to construct a house do it fast.Do not wait till it become impossible  for you to manage funds
Of course qualified and experienced professional guidance can ensure better value for money spent and lesser cost due to proper guidance

Cost of house-Query and reply

QUOTE

I just came across your site.
 
Could you  please give me the  approximate cost for a 2800 S.feet house with reasonably good finishing including all charges.
to build the same for my cousin in Trichur.
 
Sree Jayan

My reply

Look. It  looks like very easy to find out cost of constructing a house.On your own you assume square feet plinth area of the house without even preparing a plan and then like going and finding cost of a Kg of onion from the shop, an Architect is expected to tell you square feet plinth area of constructing a house which cannot be done in a day or week or month.

Construction of house require at least an year.During this period of construction cost of hundreds of different material used for construction normally goes up in Kerala conditions.Some times it is not even available

For example take the case of few materials.
Rubble used for foundation work cannot be taken that easily.There are so many restrictions,too many licenses,too many government officials to be bribed to take rubble and transport it to site.

River sand simply cannot be taken or transported.But still transporters try to supply it with the hope of extracting money as they demand from the builder.So they bribe as required to ever willing bribe takers who consider government job as a license to take bribes

Almost all materials are to be transported to site.Even after taxing more than 100%,government  has no hesitation in increasing price of petroleum products and never bothering to reduce cost even if international price of crude oil reduces.Cost of diesel is now more than when international prices were double.Both state and central government consider petroleum products as cash cows.

With each increase in petroleum products, price of every material goes up.During one year period of construction of house,nobody knows how many times price of diesel will go up.

Transporting  river sand is like smuggling activity.So many have to be bribed.Transporter naturally would like higher profit for transporting such a risky material.

Getting good workers regularly for construction work is a big challenge.So if you need workers you have to pay them what they demand even if they are not very good quality workers.Here demand is more and supply is less.

Even with all these you want the contractor (trying to make money by building your house) to commit a firm square feet cost of construction ,that too lesser than what others may quote if he want  your work.

He is not educated or articulate  enough like me to explain the meaningless nature of your so called “square feet rate”.So to get work from you he  will quote lower square feet rate and you  will be only happy to learn or even dream about his possible loss by taking up your construction work!

I have seen several times happiness on the face of my clients whenever material and other input cost goes up just by imagining  his saving of money by obtaining a “square feet rate” from contractor.Like most of Malayalees you will also be happy to think about losses your contractor will make by doing your work.

But if you think that you are smart and your contractor is a fool,you are mistaken.

With varying cost of all inputs of construction like material and labour,he will have to compromise on quality of construction to make profit.He will make you believe that all improper construction practices followed by him are the right way of doing the construction and you do not know what is right and wrong in construction .So you believe him.
Even after doing all quality compromises if he is still not able to make profit,he will ask for rate revision or extra charges when he is sure that no other contractor will come and take up half work done by him
So he will get profit  some how or other by doing your work as he has seen many like you trying to be smarter than him.
Finally when the work near completion with all quality problems which may not be noticeable immediately,contractor will find ways of extracting extras from you and you desperately trying to complete house construction some how.At that point of time “square feet cost” is forgotten by you and by the contractor also.

Square feet cost of construction is simply a lie house builder will have to tell you to get work from you

You should not expect a qualified and experienced house building professional to go to such lower levels of an illiterate contractor (with only one interest-make profit  by hook or crook) to give you such baseless “square feet cost”