Nice job

NL1960: @spyder. Please what is the entire cost estimate for the window hood (called POP by some) you did for for all the windows in your six-bedroom duplex project?. I initially did not want to do any window hood but when i showed yours to Madam, she has started telling me to do it. Iam beginning to think that i will no longer show pics of your building to her. That was how i showed her bush green step tiles from your roofing of a 4-bedroom bungalow project and it became bush green step tiles all the way. Now, it is window hood all the way. So, please give me estimate quick quick before i chop watery soup with excess pepper. .

Lol at the watery soup with enough pepper part, abeg give madam what she wants o, na them get house!
As for the window hoods, the guy is arranging each hood with N2500. I just love the way it looks after painting, it brings out the beauty in the walls by throwing in another rich look, especially when you use different colour for the hood from that of the wall. Its always neat in the places I have seen it.

There are just too many designs in window hoods, there is the POP (just nickname) and other artistic creations. If I see anything new I will snap and upload here later, let me finish this meeting first.

So, here are some window hoods starting from the one in my house, work still ongoing. I asked them to manually make mine as the mixture will be hard enough, we shall still retouch this one before painting. This is not the POP cast as some call it.

And......... who is that black guy holding a camera? Spyder

Now, this is another design from a building still under construction. simple design and cast on the ground like designed pillars before being lifted and fixed on the walls.

Look at this other smooth design, these were fixed with N3,500 each window, big or small.

Although you may not see this one clearly, it was designed like the last one.

Did you see how this designer used the same shape of window hood to run round the house, connecting the whole window hoods? Hoods are serious aesthetic additions to houses, and with a little creative effort, you can start a hood fashion sef I will still show painted ones if I have the chance to get the images tomorrow.

See how this painting made the hood stand out, simply magnetic to the eye!

spyder880:

Yes, I believe N7.5m can deliver this size of duplex in Enugu, Imo and Anambra states,especially with superior know how. This budget should cover for only the foundation till roofing stages, all materials and labour costs, granite chippings and internal toilet plumbing works, not for finishing the whole house.

The smallest bedroom size is 13x14ft wide.

Spyder, abeg overlook my ignoramus

What do you mean by 'finishing the whole house'? Are you referring to internal aesthetics like POP ceiling, tiles, bathroom and kitchen fittings etc?

Also, when you say 'the foundation till roofing stages' do you include the aluminium roofing sheets within the 7.5 million?

Thanks!

Hello,

Can any one please advise on the cost of sandfilling a standard plot of land [60 x 120]at Lekki (Idiagbon village]? Thanks!

blacklion:

Spyder, abeg overlook my ignoramus

What do you mean by 'finishing the whole house'? Are you referring to internal aesthetics like POP ceiling, tiles, bathroom and kitchen fittings etc?

Also, when you say 'the foundation till roofing stages' do you include the aluminium roofing sheets within the 7.5 million?

Thanks!

Yes to both questions.

kkonsults: Nice job

Thank you bros, we shall see later, when our guy is ready.

I plan to visit Imo state again tomorrow (wednesday) for the inspection of yet another site for another project. This site is different from the one I have agreed terms with the owner to start off this week. It will be good if these two works will take off at once, then I will live in Imo state for some time. This new project is for bungalow (big house)


Also, I have received positive confirmation that the 4 bedroom bungalow project in Enugu which we left for some time will resume as from the end of this week. We are facing the roofing of the house and will be going to the market to puchase roofing materials on Thursday. (Next tomorrow) Find out more about this project on the thread "Reality building of 4 bedroom bungalow".

Meanwhile I have been partially inactive because we have been attending one training session for two days. The training has as its focus, Work place safety and environmental protection.
I will be in motion once again from tomorrow.

I suggest to call on the Action Governor of Enugu State to empower Spyder Team with MODERN Equipment
and more training and exposure!

Why
Simple: If you train and empower the current Spyder Team then:
They can creat employment for Thousands of Enugu Youths.
They will build affordable houses for Nigerian (Enugu) Citizens!
They will reduce the rate of crime!
There are many more reasons why the Governor of Enugu State should quickly provide:
- CONCRETE MIXERS
- VIBRATORS
- RAMMING MACHINES
- Scaffolds
- theodolites
- Spyder team can continue the list!

gtrust: I suggest to call on the Action Governor of Enugu State to empower Spyder Team with MODERN Equipment
and more training and exposure!

Why
Simple: If you train and empower the current Spyder Team then:
They can creat employment for Thousands of Enugu Youths.
They will build affordable houses for Nigerian (Enugu) Citizens!
They will reduce the rate of crime!
There are many more reasons why the Governor of Enugu State should quickly provide:
- CONCRETE MIXERS
- VIBRATORS
- RAMMING MACHINES
- Scaffolds
- theodolites
- Spyder team can continue the list!

Thank you my brother, but who will speak for the poor man, here in this country, except your surname is popular, or you can muscle your way into the PDP inner core, nobody will give attention to your efforts. But I am very sure it will not be the case forever as God is still supporting us. If we continue on this pace, those equipments are not going to take time to land, provided by us.

But who knows who is watching, what am sure is that I will not disappoint in any position of authority. I have never failed in any endeavour before and will never fail. But am not ready to play partisan politics to climb up, I dont think I will have such time, besides I have never said anything I dont mean, and politicians here lie soooooo much!

Just came into the house and my family is out, so just to while away some minutes as I await their return, let me just write something, emmmmmm, let me blog about emmmmm, an oft forgotten section in building.
Site workers, the labour force and the artisans that serve as foot soldiers in the building industry.

This house is too quiet without these kids and the next 30 mins or so should be used to fight boredom. Keep in touch later this evening for the result of the write-up.

Like I was saying, I will like to write about an aspect of building which is often neglected by builders and intending home owners, but which if not well planned can make or mar a building project. I will like to write about the workforce in building, the human input, the labor, the factor that harmonizes all other factors and turn raw materials into a home.
Like I said before, if this very important branch of building is mismanaged, it could become catastrophic for the entire project. So, what are those factors that should be considered to get the best out of the human resources in the building industry? What are those things to avoid, those things that the builder, site manager will need to avoid, ensuring things work out fine? Let us consider these factors in the next few sub headings.

SKILL
The skill set available to your workers will go a long way to determine how well they deliver on set objectives in your site. Some workers are well skilled while some others are just there for the fun of being there. These later group of workers are those that find their way into the building industry by circumstances, not like they planned to be builders. For the skilled workers, you will need to patiently search for them, entice and attract them to your project before you can retain them to work for you. You have to be patient with them or you lose them, most well skilled workers are always in high demand because of their good service, meaning that you have to use good management skills to retain them, else you will lose their services to other contractors.

TRAINING
Some people might think am crazy to suggest training your workers? Remember, these guys are mostly outsiders and sometimes work for you on part-time basis, so why train them?
Well, you will need to add to the skills of these guys by exposing them to the latest practices in their fields, this will help in your project and still make them more dependent on you since they will identify you as forward looking and will love to work for you again. I know that big companies train and retrain their human resources, I am a product of such training and retraining programs and I know how well these trainings have helped me in my development.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES
Some workers are very difficult to manage, despite their good skills. Many of them have many issues bothering on things that have nothing to do with the project in question. Many have family issues, troublesome spouses, alcoholism, and drugs and sometimes temper issues to deal with. It is your duty as a good boss to turn these negatives to positives and get the best of these guys while making sure your project does not suffer as a result of the inefficiencies of these guys.

PAYMENTS
The way you relate with your workers will go a long way to relieve tension and smoothen the boss-servant relationship. But most importantly is the way you pay them. Yes, their money is the most important consideration in all these, and can turn a loyal worker to a rebellious monster in a matter of hours. You should arrange their payments after arranging with your clients and adjusting to their preferred method of payment. Some workers love to be paid ahead of time, some will ask to be paid in bits while some other will love to use their cash while working but will love you to pay them in full immediately after the work is done. Find out what your worker loves and try to align with him. Plan along with them and make sure you ask for their views in every project, sometimes, these well skilled workers have wide experiences, but they will certainly charge you more for their services.

If you have any questions, comments or observations, either for or against this write-up, please holla! either you reply me right here on this page or you can fire me a mail to my inbox just below this piece.

spyder880: Just came into the house and my family is out, so just to while away some minutes as I await their return, let me just write something, emmmmmm, let me blog about emmmmm, an oft forgotten section in building.
Site workers, the labour force and the artisans that serve as foot soldiers in the building industry.

This house is too quiet without these kids and the next 30 mins or so should be used to fight boredom. Keep in touch later this evening for the result of the write-up.

The kids I was waiting for were out shopping, can you imagine these people

Bravo Spyder, you have cute looking kids! They might have discovered a good ice-cream spot in Shoprite and their big sister decided to spoil them a little . Next time you know where to find them

^^^ Thank you Jussi, those kids make my day, anyday.

I am currently on transit, almost in Owerri, will be back to Enugu later today.

I loved some of the materials I saw in Owerri. These rods are top quality universal steel products, this is where I will be buying materials from in my works over there. I was in the new building materials village at Naze, near Owerri town.

And these plastic pipes are the best quality I can find in this whole market, though very costly.

these are sold for just half the price of the ones above, although I cannot entirely swear on their durability, make the thing no go burst inside wall
But everything will still boil down to what the owner of the house wants.

we are planning to take away a couple of these tanks and mount them on the site as overhead tanks, this will be pumped full with water from a borehole already provided on site for our water supply. We may start of this project in the next few days, starting from building a work house (a wooden structure to house our materials and sometimes our workers)
We are getting ready to move. But we will first kick start the roofing of the 4 bedroom bungalow in Enugu, purchase of the woods for the roofing is planned for early tomorrow morning (this morning, lol)

Chai! man suppose close eyes for a few minutes of sleep.

Updates, wooden materials for the roofing of the 4 bedroom bungalow purchased and work started today.

Procurement of initial materials for the kick starting of the Owerri duplex will be done tomorrow morning. We also plan to erect the work house where my men will be based starting from tomorrow. My men will storm Owerri as early as Saturday.

your works are breath taking. nice job

mirabell:

your works are breath taking. nice job

Thank you Mirabell.

Am now in Owerri, bought materials for the start of the project, pegging, work house construction and 3 plastic tanks for water. We are still removing felled trees from the build space, more pictures when I find a good place to upload from.

@spyder
How much did you pay for the water tank?

Spyder880, nice to have you in the heartland. I enjoyed the city where I studied for 5 years. If you need direction to the delicious watering holes, just say so. Enjoy your time in Owerri and give us updates as "connection" allow

@ egin, the tanks I bought are the 750 gallons GP tank for N33,000 each. I bought 3 of them and work has started with the plumber hoisting them on overhead stands, thereafter it will be pumped full from the borehole and our water needs fo this project will be met from here.

@ chidexy, thanks bros, the town still feels strange to me but that is expected, by the time I will stay 3 days here, am sure I must have made enough friends to take me around. Enuough updates are assured as soon as this evening.

Off to site we go.

@Prof Spyder, I am trying to use stainless steel balustrade in my uncompleted house in the villa. Can you help me look around for prices and quality ones in owerri please. I need to have an idea. Thanks in advance for your assistance. By the way you have lovely kids!!!