I have been involved in the structural corrections of more than 1,250 buildings that were wrongly built in the past 10 years.
In all, I have discovered the major reasons why buildings fail structurally are
1. Lack of professionals on the project. The some sub reasons that owners give are that they don't have money to pay them since their charges are avoidable. And also that they themselves have ideas about buildings etc. When there are no professionals on the project, such project will not have the necessary CORRECT designs/drawings. Such projects won't have the right professionals Supervising the Construction Process.
2. Another major reason for Structural failure and foundation issues is the use of substandard materials. These include reinforcements, Sharp sands, Granites, Cement even Water etc. So many Rebars being used can easily cut or rust. Water that contains impurities is not safe for concrete a since those impurities attack the concrete. (Chemistry 101). A Man wanted quote one day and I gave him. But he went for one desperate Contractor who used filling sand to cast concrete! After 6 months, the suspended slab (decking) started vibrating like water bed. I was also called upon and i corrected it at a cost 3 times the cost to build a solid slab. In addition, using the same size of granite (coarse aggregate ) can weaken the concrete.
3. Another reason for failure in buildings is the use of wrong methodology in construction. For instance there is a method whereby wet concrete is vibrated in order to expel voids and holes inside. If you are using pole vibrator, it has to be poked into it left in there for brief interval and removed and poked somewhere else. Some quack roadside casters just use stick to shook here and there or hit here and there. Even if the vibrating machine is used wrongly, it will trap voids. Every construction work has best practice that if not followed, the result will be bad. Another example is that when a carpenter lays the 1x12 for first floor slab, every hole between the planks must be covered with well sliced cement bags nailed with tiny nails. This should be done before laying of reinforcement. Reason being that when casting is done, the wet concrete usually slip through those holes thereby weakening the lower part of the slab which is subjected to tensile stress. But due to the leakage of the concrete at that bottom, what plasterers usually do is to fill it with mortar before plastering suffix of slab. But don't forget that the reinforcement were exposed before. So structurally, the bottom reinforcement is nonexistent. So when there are tensile forces, the slab cannot withstand them and what do you get? CRACKS!!! Then your fine POP starts cracking, blocks starts detaching at first floor and even crack etc.

Let me stop and await your questions.

There is a vital aspect of using inadequate foundation. The determination of the type of foundation a building requires is done by the Structural designs matched with the Soil Investigation/tests. The Structural Engineer through his Analysis estimates the entire loads that is coming on the foundation at various points. Where the foundation required is raft, he determines the depth that will be both SAFE and COST EFFECTIVE. But in a conflict between safety and Cost, the safety takes precedence or else the architect is called in to redesign the building to make it smaller/lighter.
Last year, I did an entire structural designs for an estate at Elegushi in lekki. And the Owner insisted I reduce the raft to 750mm depth. But based on my designs, 750 depth will fail. So I didn't. By the time they the foundations were done to my standard, as soon as the ground floor slabs were completed, heavy rain fell and the ground floor of many estates around the site were submerged, all the ground floor of all his own estate were not flooded.
That was when he knew I did a good job for him.
Apart from flooding, the ability of the foundation to carry the dead and imposed loads for at least 100 years is what is critical.

Op, why are you like this ehn ? This is wicked now. haba, how can you open thread and still be the first to comment ? is this how you do ? u want to chop d food, chop d meat, drink the soup and still lick d plate alone ?. Baba must here this.

Meanwhile, back to the topic. This is a great move to help Intending builders gain more knowledge on how to spend during building foundation laying. I once fell a victim of excess spending while laying one on a good ground that is not prone to flood or waterlogging. Till today I am still beating myself about it. But when I look d house, I will smile again.

I approve of this thread.

Ok nice section

But I know of some ancient building that were built with out structural Engineers that are still standing till date



Any way,






#MySignature#Mybusiness#

na only 4 nairaland u go see person type 2 pages of higher education within 2 seconds, na wa 4 una oooo, say dis FTC tins cum wit money

NICE THREAD

#following.

opalu:
There is a vital aspect of using inadequate foundation. The determination of the type of foundation a building requires is done by the Structural designs matched with the Soil Investigation/tests. The Structural Engineer through his Analysis estimates the entire loads that is coming on the foundation at various points. Where the foundation required is raft, he determines the depth that will be both SAFE and COST EFFECTIVE. But in a conflict between safety and Cost, the safety takes precedence or else the architect is called in to redesign the building to make it smaller/lighter.
Last year, I did an entire structural designs for an estate at Elegushi in lekki. And the Owner insisted I reduce the raft to 750mm depth. But based on my designs, 750 depth will fail. So I didn't. By the time they the foundations were done to my standard, as soon as the ground floor slabs were completed, heavy rain fell and the ground floor of many estates around the site were submerged, all the ground floor of all his own estate were not flooded.
That was when he knew I did a good job for him.
Apart from flooding, the ability of the foundation to carry the dead and imposed loads for at least 100 years is what is critical.

2 na me supose be FTC oo bt poor netwrk no gree me...kai ogun strike glo

www.nairaland.com/attachments/2558856_img20150623wa002_jpeg2ed73791a9ef32d4ba99b5aa2b3b2e26

Who built aso rock?

ziego:
Who built aso rock?

What a question

BTW, Aso Rock was built by Mr WHO.

Op wen yu finish with d aso rock question yu come take panadol calm yur headache

I intend putting up a 4 bedroom bungalow on a plot that measures 100x100. It's on a rocky but flat land. The design includes a laundry room, a pantry attached ti the kitchen and all rooms ensuite. Also, there's provision for a walk-in closet in the master bedroom. What sort of foundation should I go for and the likely cost implication?

What's your opinion about a 1.5m depth raft foundation in Lekki area of lagos?

Lacomus:
J

J for Jesus is Lord

I just prepared a BOQ for a client and i noticed they used 1500mm for the dept of grd beam (raft foundation). The structural eng in my office said its too much that 900-1000 would hold the one storey building. The building is located along ajah expressway.

What is your take on this as have been trying to convince the client to actually save cost.

opalu:
There is a vital aspect of using inadequate foundation. The determination of the type of foundation a building requires is done by the Structural designs matched with the Soil Investigation/tests. The Structural Engineer through his Analysis estimates the entire loads that is coming on the foundation at various points. Where the foundation required is raft, he determines the depth that will be both SAFE and COST EFFECTIVE. But in a conflict between safety and Cost, the safety takes precedence or else the architect is called in to redesign the building to make it smaller/lighter.
Last year, I did an entire structural designs for an estate at Elegushi in lekki. And the Owner insisted I reduce the raft to 750mm depth. But based on my designs, 750 depth will fail. So I didn't. By the time they the foundations were done to my standard, as soon as the ground floor slabs were completed, heavy rain fell and the ground floor of many estates around the site were submerged, all the ground floor of all his own estate were not flooded.
That was when he knew I did a good job for him.
Apart from flooding, the ability of the foundation to carry the dead and imposed loads for at least 100 years is what is critical.

pure2012soul:
T

T for Thread

no question

I really do not know why uzo200 rated http://www.touchpapyrus.com as the worse blog ever, is it all because of the traffic?

Patdedon:
b

B for BAN

Thanks for the post

What could cause caving of the floor even when there is a proper German floor and the DPC was properly compressed.

op tell them

How much is a bag of cement sef?

WORD... GOOD JOB MAN... HOW ABOUT FOUNDATION FOR UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES


... 1st floor (underground)...then second and maybe third will be normal
.. cost of such projects will also delight me..


Thanks

builder in progress in the house. following

Please should one be worried if the compound i.e the play area and car park of a building gradually sinks and detaches from the main building but the building itself isnt sinking at all,note-the foundation of the building is piling

i've observed that "builders" suggest that Bungalow structures dont require Pillars, and also that the lintel can be over just the Windows and door sections (not round the expanse of the building)

Sir, what are the risks? And in your years of experience what % of this risk have come to past?

Thank you

Thanks for the post, will be following keenly. Some mod should ban space bookers. This is a serious thread, let's not derail

Impressive thread. OP I want to build a bungalow on a rock, how do I go about it?

Following..

Building is sweet..