Pennywise:

@ajileko, I want to believe you but you have to let everyone know what specific enquiries you made and the feedback you got that made you arrive at this conclusion. Did you find that Larez is not an architect or he has been disowned by the clients mentioned or those designs are not his?

Larez on the other hand has taken great pains beyond what is required even unmasking himself in an anonymous forum to prove his point. The way I see it, you (and your motive) are the one making me nervous. The buck is now on you to substantiate these allegations so people dont say here is another NL prankster. And that cheapens the forum with the potential to discourage other brothers with special acquired skills to share from coming on.

I am optimistic we will hear from you in the next 48hrs.

beknown:

larez

I like your designs. I know you can do more when the opportunity presents itself in whatever locality. Your words and your design speak for themselves.

Please aim to be modest and reasonable in your pricing so that you do not alienate decent clients. BIG money bags in Nigeria can be very foolish and cunning in their approach.

Be professional at all times. Treat people with equal zeal and respect. Aim to meet the needs of your client at a reasonable profit.

larez:

I appreciate your advice and encouragement. As stated in a previous post, I treat all my clients the same with respect regardless of if they are Superstars or Joe Blo next door. So far, my experience in Nigeria makes me question if I will be able to do business with the average Nigerian with wealth. [color=#990000]The culture seems to promote self-aggrandizement and the demeaning of others. You have to understand that after College in Philadelphia and moving to Atlanta in 1984, I have had minimal exposure to Nigerians. The last time I visited home until recently was in 1983, and have had a serious culture shock since returning recently.

After over 20 years of dealing with various clients, it is natural that one develops a 6th sense for various characters. I therefore can sense potential troublesome clientele and know to avoid them, but in Nigeria it seems honestly and integrity is a rare trait which causes me to be very discouraged. An example is this stranger who comes here making various false allegations. In my paradigm, this person will have to be a lunatic. But in Nigeria, it seems to be acceptable for people to openly show what Obasanjo terms as "Bad Belle". How does a person operate in [size=18pt]a society devoid of conscience or morals?[/size] I am sincerely thinking to pack-up and head back to what I know. However, I have found much beauty in the Land itself, and hope to be able to add to it's development.

In summary, yes I am open to clients and collaborations if we share common values such as honesty and integrity. I will be honoured to work with people such as I describe. Thanks [/color]

Pennywise:

If you were putting up this structure in Nigeria what material will you use in order to prevent percolation between the steep complex undulating roof. These complex roofs often fail at places where two sides meet- esp wall and aluminium sheets (now most commonly used)and the unlucky client has to resort to the use of coal tar to prevent seepage long after the architect and builders have cashed their cheque. Remember no gentleman rain and wind for Nigeria.

Na wah oh,  Sista, you want me to give you all this information for free? Anyway, let me tell you how we do it in America first, and then we can think of the best way to approach Naija.

First we put up our roof trusses, which can either be manufactured or rafters built up at the site. Next we deck the complete roof with plywood or OSB boards. Then we wrap the whole roof with 30# or 40# felt. Felt is an Asphalt paper that is water proof. The roof tiles or shingles are then laid on this. We have 25, 30 and 40 year roofs depending on the budget for the project. The ratings 25, 30, and 40 years are a form of warranty on the expected lifetime of the shingles. Roof rafters are typically run anywhere between 16" to 24" on center.

In Nigeria, what I have noticed a lot of people doing is to nail aluminum directly on rafters without any decking or felt. and then they use tar over the nails. I personally do not see how they get away with this. What I will suggest to reduce cost if there were roofing sheets strong enough to hold people working on it is to run purlings perpendicular  to the rafters which will provide support from falling sideways. Then the roofs will have the support necessary. If the budget allows then we should use the same system as I described earlier since we have the raw material available (Granite and tar). Note that we also run gutters on the edge of the cornice. Circulation of air through the roof (Ventilation) must not be forgotten which prevents the wood from rotting. This is usually done with ridge vents, continuous eve vents and the turtle backs.

For my personal home, I will do it correctly!!!!      . Okay now Sista, you owe me naw.

Pennywise:

Sorry Larez if you were misled. Pennywise is a bad ass male. Now that you know, I hope it wont take something from these feedbacks.

Boy, you mean deck the entire roof structure with felt before roof tiles? Sounds awfully wasteful but understandably American.

To wrap this up, if cost was not an issue, what would you recommend for your Nigerian client- Aluminium or roof tiles.I ask this question for the benefit of NL members/guests who have to make a decision now or in the near future.And also for those shy and budding architects who are content with taking from this thread offering nothing.Pennywise is not looking to build a new home.Got a massive one recently that will probably take me a few years to figure out what the architect was thinking.

larez:

Geeze Bro, If I wasn't so dark, you would have seen me blushing after reading your message. Me dey think sey na some fine inquisitive Chick dey question me like Police. lol  I apologize ohh, wetin I dey think.

I can and do relate very well to this bro

larez:

Now, my question to you: Do you own or have access to Land in Lekki that you will be interested in looking at a development J/V in?

Biimz:

@Larez, I salute O!.

I am interested in your Sapphire design. Could you send me more information on Material, cost and possible supervision?

Thanks.

ahmedoo:

any those designs are cool but dont think they will suit nigerian envirinment. chech this out

Rotimi A:

Mr Larez, your designs are very good and I am in no doubt that you have a keen eye for detail. With regards to architectural designs one always has to exercise caution in the Nigerian real estate market. Some of your designs remind me of properties located at Nicon Town Lekki. Here you will find the typical sub-urban American style houses. In my own personal opinion which might be wrong I would suggest that your designs are more suited to private developments i.e. built to order (customized to one's taste). I don't know much about the Abuja market but here in Lagos it will be a challenge to successfully market such houses on a mass scale such as in an estate for various factors number one being pricing. Lagosians require homes that are affordable and correctly priced. If you could make modifications to your design and reduce the the size of the structure by eliminating un-necessary space, you could create a design that is more easily adaptable to the market.