Free Consultation:Kerala house Construction,13/3/2015

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

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

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

Architecture services

Query-1

has left a new comment on your post "Kerala House Construction-Free Consultation:25,Sep...":
You have any services in Kannur district, please let me know. I want to construct my own house in my property. 

My reply

We can take up Architecture/Structural Engineering design services for anywhere in the world and not necessarily in Kerala itself as these Engineering services need only technical knowledge, creative talent and lots of common sense which we possess in plenty

Query-2

ali has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
I am a Licensed engineer but i am not much experienced in preparing a complete drawing. My doubt is that i would like to know the procedure and details to be submitted for getting a building permit for an extension work of a school, also i want to know the clearance to be provided for the building. 

My reply

There is no place where they teach you to be a licensed Engineer to submit documents/drawings for statutory authority approval. You have to learn by associating with someone working in the field in your area of operation

You have to get books on Building rules and updates on it and study to guide your clients properly

House Construction cost

Query-1

Shijin baby has left a new comment on your post "Kerala Architecture":
I want to build a 750 sft home in Kerala. Have 5 cent land, and my budget is 10.5 lakh. Can u send some plans for me?
My reply

Plinth area of the house to be constructed can be known only after an Architect transforms your needs in to a building plan. House construction is not like buying few kilos of rice from market. You go to a shop and ask for certain Kg of rice. Some people think house construction is like that. You decide sft plinth area of house to be built without assistance from a professional. You make enquiries about construction cost with any one you meet daily during course of your life activities. They give you free advises as they are not going to lose anything even if you land in trouble

Again you think any plan of house will suit your purpose and ask me to send plan. Plan of the house will have to be specifically designed to meet your needs, plot dimensions and your budget

After visiting your site, studying your needs for house, I can tell you whether Rs.10.5 lakhs will be sufficient to get a house which you are looking for

Query-2

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "#Kerala House Construction:Free Consultation,25,No...":
I need to know is Ferocement technology good in home construction. My budget is around 15 lakhs and my requirement is 2bhk in 1000 sft. Please suggest if I can go ahead with Ferro cementing or please give a positive idea. 

My reply

It is continuation of what I replied earlier. Some body talked to him about Ferro cement. Without knowing much about it, he decided that his house should be made of ferocement

Ferocement is just another form of concreting where they use steel mesh instead of steel rods for reimbursement and instead of using usual concrete; mortar specially mixed is plastered on both sides of mesh. Wall of a house if made with this almost one inch thick material cannot withstand load of a roof

Keralites try to be Architect and Engineer for the house and do not want to pay for design and supervision to building professionals as they consider such cost as avoidable cost in construction. By trying to get bits of information on construction from those who really do not know anything about these, they are in fact wasting their own money without realizing it. There is no substitute for getting assistance from qualified experienced building professional. He can save you lakhs in cost and can get you better house at lesser cost. You need more than a plan and elevation from an expert. You need advices at every stage of construction

Query-3

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Nalukettu house-features":
Very informative. Thanks for this article. Much of it makes sense. I wanted a traditional house design, and the first thing to come to mind was the Nalukettu. After reading your article now I think I’ll come up with a customized version of this design which will be more relevant to our times. 

My reply

I have tried to visit many old Kerala architecture style houses in different parts of state. Nalukettu which come with an open court yard in the middle is a house style suited to those days and not for present day living

An open court yard in the middle can bring inside rain, pests and insecurity. Kerala houses of earlier days were made to suit joint families who stayed together mostly relying on agricultural produce for income. Now it does not suit to our needs of increased security due to nuclear family.

In quite a lot of present day big houses in Kerala, elderly parents live with only pictures of their children and grandchildren to look at.

If we look at old Nalukettu houses few features are worth incorporating in present days houses of affluent people. They are

1. Poomukham with a side access to car porch

2. Chuttu verandah which is an extension of Poomukham which come in front of house

3. A family living space in addition to formal living which is mainly used for interaction with guests

You can have a look at pictures of Cherthala house designed and built directly by me which incorporates this traditional goodness of Kerala houses combined with modern technology. Here is the Facebook link to pictures of Cherthala house in my FB profile: Thomas Viruvelil

https://www.facebook.com/ThomasViruvelil/media_set?set=a.10150639031648964.392476.531348963&type=3

DISCLAIMER

Any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of this blog message in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. We 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. Thomas Viruvelil or Viruvelil Group of companies is not responsible or liable for correctness of information provided through this blog. Any technical /legal activity as per advice given in this blog should be carried out only with our involvement and guidance. Thomas Viruvelil or Viruvelil group of companies will not be liable for any damages/losses/consequences/implications or any other effects of any nature by following advices given through this blog without our involvement/guidance and consent in writing

Design and Construction of house in Kerala

After going through several emails I get and phone queries from different parts of world from Keralites who plan to construct their dream home usually in their native land even if it is far away from comforts and infrastructure facilities available at better known places in Kerala, I think it is high time I share with you few basic facts of design and construction of house in Kerala:

1. Square feet cost of construction

Almost everyone think that there is a uniform fixed square feet cost of construction of house in Kerala irrespective of location, site conditions, soil conditions, design of house. They think just like buying few Kg of rice from market, they can decide how much square feet area there house has to be, get square feet cost from a contractor and start construction

Nonprofessional contractors practically do not know anything about Architecture, Structural Engineering and how to construct house by saving cost and getting better utilisation for built up space. They are in business simply to get profit. They simply go on telling you lie about their expertise, smile a lot, and talk in pleasing manner to get money out of you. They are least bothered about engineering, quality standards and Architecture

Most of the people have a feeling that experienced expert Architects and Engineers are for rich people building large houses and other buildings. When you have limited funds and when you need maximum facilities at lesser cost you definitely need services of an expert in building design and construction. Just anyone who has come out of an Architectural or Engineering college cannot give you expertise required. At the most, a less exposed qualified person may be familiar with little vocabulary and may be able to draw using Auto CAD software.

You need expertise in designing and building houses obtained through experience. For example, I have designed and directly built more than 200 houses in different parts of Kerala in addition to designing many more and constructing directly even outside Kerala state. Each new construction is a new challenge to me and my expertise is tuned and polished with direct experience at sites and I learn more with each new project. When you get my services you get advantages of my attained wisdom by doing work directly learning and enriching that

In my opinion, there is no point in engineering colleges giving out students with certificates who can do nothing on their own. As part of their study they should be spending at least a year with industry experts from whom they can learn to do work. Present central Government has already understood this defect in our education system and GOI is already planning to impart skill development as part of education

2. Square feet area of a house

Most of the people do not consider it important to pay for design of a house. They will be happy if they can get design of house free. They search websites and come to me with elevations and plan they see on websites and ask me simply how much that house will cost. Your site measurements, other site conditions, your needs for house, budget may not suit at all with that house picture you get from internet sites

As you think square feet is cost you tend to fix up square feet plinth area of the house using square feet cost you may hear from any one. An experienced designer can get you maximum facilities at lesser cost. For example, my office building at Cochin is built on a 3.5 cents land and built like a four bed room attached house with all usual common facilities in a house. Square feet plinth area of this two storied house is only 1400 sft .Don’t try to get a plan of this house and give it to your square feet contractor. He will not be able to build this house with his usual square feet charges

To tell you the truth, no square feet contractor has completed a house till today with originally promised square feet rate. He will do all sorts of compromises in quality and strength of construction to increase his profit and still demand extras one after another. By the time the house reaches finishing stage both you and your contractor might have forgotten the originally agreed square feet rate. It was only a lie to get work from you and you are cheated from day one to end of construction

You tell your requirements and budget constraints to an expert in building design and construction. He will guide you on what design you can have, how much square feet plinth area your house can have and how to go about reducing cost and improving facilities. Payment you make to an expert is not at all a loss .You will save lakhs in construction and will get a better house at lesser cost

3. What you need is a better house at lesser cost

More than those who have lots of money for construction, if you have limited budget you need services of an experienced expert who can guide from beginning to end of construction .You need continuous guidance, your workers need continuous instructions, drawings and engineering, architectural designs so that you get a better house at a lesser cost

You may say that your contractor does not need any design, drawings. Yes. It is exactly what he do not need to put your hard earned money in the drains. If the workers have to do construction work with detailed design drawings, it will increase their job/cost as they will not be able to work comfortably without any engineering. Contractor and worker will leave your house after work. Better quality construction, better facilities and lesser cost is going to benefit you only, not the workers

4. Can cost come down by using certain materials?

Trouble with most of house construction in Kerala is that the owner of the house tries to act as Architect for the house collecting bits of information on house construction from any one he may come across. People give free advises, free cost indications, free material suggestions and by using these, you land up in trouble. Some people may have ego so high that they will say: “I am spending my money. So I will decide on everything on my house” If so, do you need experts? If not, you end up spending more and getting a house with lots of defects which you cannot rectify later

Cost of construction can come down only by appropriate design by an expert in house construction. He will guide you on materials to be used considering all aspects. Do not simply listen to any one whom you may meet to get building design and construction ideas. There is nobody else who can give you correct and better advises and suggestions other than your Architect

5. Changes after construction

I have visited several houses after construction where I was called to advice on what can be done to correct defects. In most of the cases I have found that problems cropped up due to defects in plan of house which in most cases, obtained free from nonprofessional contractor. By saving few thousands as fee for plan of house, they landed up losing lakhs and ending up with a structure with several defects on all aspects. In most of these cases during visit, I could only say, nothing can be done at this stage

6. Professional design, professional supervision

Professional design of the house, continuous close monitoring of construction by an expert are very important and it cannot be taken lightly to save those few thousands fee to an experienced expert. Your nonprofessional contractor will advise you not to get any Architect/Engineer in to design and construction of house. Such people will destroy his profit margin and put him in to trouble

So while designing and building your house act intelligently and don’t be foolish by saving thousands to loose lakhs. Not even a super Architect cannot do much on defects in design and construction after completion of house

 

DISCLAIMER

Any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of this blog message in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. We 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. Thomas Viruvelil or Viruvelil Group of companies is not responsible or liable for correctness of information provided through this blog. Any technical /legal activity as per advice given in this blog should be carried out only with our involvement and guidance. Thomas Viruvelil or Viruvelil group of companies will not be liable for any damages/losses/consequences/implications or any other effects of any nature by following advices given through this blog without our involvement/guidance and consent in writing