@atasteve. That is one inquiry i cannot be definite above as this breakdown was only provided to me by a very senior official in the ministry when i equally made inquiries on the process of securing a C of O.

@vitodorado, maybe you should do a ficibilty study on wat u will pay to get it in from outside ,and compare it with the 180k ur guy is asking! No doubt the Manson guys will dig the Sand from somebody else's land that is not yet ready! It's common practice in Benin. Your job is turning out good, as fore o ve decided to go ahead with the main building with my limited cash, instead of the proposed bungalow, I m still strategizing and evaluating! By God grace foundation digging will start in a couple of weeks! Congrats!

It was initial estimated that the filling will require about 30-35 trips of laterite to fill up the foundation because of the size of the house. Also the labour was to collect 1500 per truck for filling;

35 trips x N8000 =280K
35 trips x N1500 =52,500

Total = 332,500

So comparing both, i might be forced to accept the builders suggestion. But still asking questions sha!

My brother if the texture of wat the Manson guys will bring will serve ur purpose without futuristic effect on ur building my bros. Why should u send more on getting it outside? Not wise spending if u ask me, u need the cash for some thing else!

Filling work has commenced fully on my project and with the approach my site engineer is adopting, it is expected to end by the end of the week. Some pics for advice, if need be

More pics

pics

@vitodorado, great job, i can see u are using from the soak-away, how did you resolve the filling sand with ur contractor?

Thanks bro! Yes decide to use the soak away for the filling too to save cost. However, the digger will dig only one first for now as i just realized that my builder will make more off me if i dig the 3 soak aways and use for filling because the 180k is exclusive of the efforts and output of the soak away digging. In any case the job is moving on well and the digger is expected to start moulding the blocks for the block setting by the end of the week. He is actually a jack of all trades and very hardworking fellow.

@vitodorado, that's okay, but for a jack of all trade, I m a bit skeptical about the output! Hope u have seen his previous job before. My bro, no matter how small watermelon is, rat own must dey inside! Just factor ur builder own, he must eat from you! All the best bros!

vitodorado:

Thanks bro! Yes decide to use the soak away for the filling too to save cost. However, the digger will dig only one first for now as i just realized that my builder will make more off me if i dig the 3 soak aways and use for filling because the 180k is exclusive of the efforts and output of the soak away digging. In any case the job is moving on well and the digger is expected to start moulding the blocks for the block setting by the end of the week. He is actually a jack of all trades and very hardworking fellow.

Yeah good decision. I have seen people that saved over half of the cost for filling sand by using sand from soak away for foundation filling.

Lord Vitodorado, well done.

@Vitodorado, how is the project going, update us na, abi u wan surprise us?

@Vitodorado, well done!

I'll be here soon to give my little contribution. Remember on my thread, I said Builders cheat owners and Owners cheat Builders.

The success of your project is a solid structure which can stand any weather. So, do it right.

@vitodorado,

Good job and am from Edo but based in Lagos.
I have plans of doing something like this in benin too.

@ogbueffi . My broda work is going on steady on site as what we are engaged in presently is moulding blocks(6'' hollow) about 3500 to be used for the block setting work. I will post some pics soon and also my sub expenses on the foundation and filling stage.

@Nexthome. Oloye brabus thanks for chipping in those words and i cannot agree with you less on that.

@osarodon. i actually work in Lagos and always in Benin every other weekend to monitor the project. The good thing going for me here is just the near honesty of my builder even though its not foolproof but so far so good. So with you, its possible bro!

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They say silence is golden, this one is not golden at all, what is happening DON VITO, any update?

@Ogbuefi . Admittedly, my silence was not Golden as you well pointed out. All apologies as i did not find it courteous to inform the house that i was taking a break and going on a month holiday with my family to the UK, US and Canada to visit family and friends. We got back into the country some days ago and have contacted my engineer to mobilize guys to site by this weekend and hopefully work will commence and as usual i will keep all posted with developments via visuals and commentaries.

Watching this with interest to learn more, more concrete to ya waist bro.

Waooh, you must have been on a spending spree going round and round, i hope this will not affect our project oh, i am really kin in seeing it through, as for me, i have molded up to 3089 blocks, all 6'' (inches) they would have gone far but from what i gather the rain in Benin is as unpredictable like the British weather, so care is been take not to watch off the job of the day. They are currently on site and my target is to get up to 4000+ blocks before i kick off with the foundation proper, but one thing baffled me today when i call my Architect, i asked him how long it will take him to get the approval for the building and he told me that, it will take a minimum of 3 weeks, this didnt not go down well with me cause it will encroach into my planned time.

Tell me if i make the necessary approval payment , and with the letter and receipt i will get from the GOVT, can i proceed with the digging of the foundation? or i must wait till they come and inspect the site, I am trying to make good use of that 3weeks of waiting which i dont really have. ?

Please ooooooo make una helep me resolve this, I seek advice from all my senior and junior colleagues


Don Vito, did u wait for 3weeks before u started our foundation? is there a go-between this approach? can i kick off while the approval is in process??

My broda the trip burn pocket small. However, its always in my character to plan my next holiday immediately after ending one and that has helped me a great deal in buying tickets ahead etc. As for the approval, this should not disrupt the flow of your work as your men can move to site and start digging while waiting for the approval. Mine took just a week and a half though to process, but trust me you can start work as long as the approval is facilitated on time. But on a second thought the 3 weeks is a bit long for an approval in Benin.

Guys good work I am following and would like to get more imput as you progress wishing you the best in all your efforts

Don Vito, they guy was so sure that he even told me that its even because of his contact that it will come out in 3 weeks, come to think of it what will they( Town planning) be checking for?, i am very sure GOVT has no plans in building an AIRPORT in that area ( EYAEN axis) cos there is no land in that place any more. Even at worst my own property is just a story building, and it will not disturb airline authority if at all they finally build an airport there.

This is my concern, but if you got yours within 1 week and some days, mine should not be any different, i will try and do more forensic investigation to know how best i cam make good use of my time, i can loose money, but not time, , I DONT WANT TO LOOSE MY TIME at all.

I am planning of starting a building project in Asaba. I intend building 4 flats, 3-bedroom each (2 flats down and 2 flats up). I am scared of starting because of the cost especially the foundation and decking.

The land is dry and flat. Please, can someone help with the estimated cost of foundation, ground floor up to lintel and then decking. I will appreciate your help. I just want to know estimate as I don't want to get stucked in the project

Thank you.

Vito my brother once again i greet you, please can you tell me what's the cost to lay foundation 0f a 5 bedroom bungalow @ Amagba Community Benin City, i will be patiently waiting,

^^^ did you mean you used as much as 2000 pcs of blocks to do 5 bedroom foundation only, sounds high to me sha.

Not at all bro! i bought 2000pcs but ended up using about 1700pcs and still have about 300 or there about left which will be added to the ones to be moulded from this weekend for the blockwork to lintel and roofing. Besides oga spyder from my floor plan you can see that the house is quite big and my builder initially estimated 2500 but i insisted on 2000. All the same materials no dey spoil my broda!!!

Okay, how many coaches were in the ground before the German floor? Your house is quite big I see.

The foundation is 4 coaches high. The builder is advicing we ignore the greman flooring for now and just move on to setting blocks straight ahead. But bros, what do you think?

I advice you do the German floor, better for the building in the end.