i have a plot of land at igbo-odo, outskirt of igbesa in ogun state, i intend to start a 3 bedroom bungalow on it soonest and the builder, even those that sold the land are telling me that i dont need pillars for the building cos its a red sand and a very dry land. pls, advise me cos i dont want to regret later and i also dont want to spend unnecessary money on iron rods if it will not be necessary, pls your honest and proffessional opinion will be appreciated. 

Can someone answer his query?

Consult professional builders bro - you spoke to those who sold the land to you and then you come to NairaLand. dont you have builders who you want to use?

I can 100% tell you that you need pillars even if it is just along the sides and maybe a few within.

They will bind the house together and when you get to the lintel, you can do perimeter casting that will bind the house together with the pillars before the roofing.

No matter the solidness of the land i will also advise German floor for the house. It might cost more but you will be glad you did

You can use builders but make sure yo personally oversea every stage.

werepeLeri:

Consult professional builders bro - you spoke to those who sold the land to you and then you come to NairaLand. dont you have builders who you want to use?

Bros don't try this forum o , it is a an encyclopedia of knowledge.

What guys are discussing here are practicals.

I have learnt a lot from here and transferred the knowledge to my project.

Guess what even the professionals marvel at where i got such deep knowledge from, NL of course.

Search for threads by spyder880, Barbus, Fhemmy, Am Alone e.t.c. and you will understand what i mean. Peace.

Still waiting for your honest opinion

I am a structural engineer but as I have not seen the land and I have no idea what your building plans look like , I will advise you to contact a competent engineer near you.

But really if you have an elaborate and heavy roof you should consider having a framed building with pillars/beams construction. Similarly if you intend to add another floor in future do the same and have the foundation designed by a competent engineer. Otherwise , with a well built foundation and well manufactured "vibrated" blocks  a bungalow doesn't need pillars though the quality of cheap blocks these days and incidents of "flash flooding" even on dry land  would advise you to be safe than sorry.

Muyesky:

Still waiting for your honest opinion

you need pilliars, they are like skeleton of a building, though they are defined as you build more advance structure, so dont make the mistake of not using it, to reduce the pressures on each square end of your building,

Even if you are building the house on rock,you need columns(pillar).This will help you put the house together in strength.At least the edges of the building needs columns.For this case you might need lower grade of reinforcements like Y10 for main reinforcement and R6 for stirrup but YOU MUST NEED COLUMNS(PILLARS).

Pillars may not be exactly necessary for your bungalow, since your building on a dry surface.

Now you have heard from great minds so i will conclude that you need pillars in the building at least at the main corners of the building.

Depending on the type of dry land but for a bungalow, you don't need a column (pillar) except if you want to slab a section of the building to carry the overhead tank etc. What is the function of a column in a building? The column provide structural support by carrying axial loads in compression that is the pillar carry and transfer any load such as slab, roof etc to the foundation. Where u need to be more concern about is the foundation. The type of soil will determine the kind of foundation you will use for your building be it bungalow or raised bungalow. So, don't waste your money by introducing pillar into your building when you have a solid soil except if the soil is sandy

My candid advice is dat U should ignore d egdes atleast let there b colunm with reinforcing rods at sensitive corners, if u dont wanna spend much d eods may vary in diameters lets say no. 12 for d 4 edges n No. 10 or 8 at selective positive. will b available if called upon. cheers

Bungalow = building with pillars, it is a defining feature. He is talking about the pillars at the bottom of the building that support it as seen in many asian countries because of wet land and swamps that is why he mentioned that it will be on dry land so will the pillars be required. I think they are because when i think bungalow i think building on pillars.

with the conditions u laid out:1)the load bearing capacity of d soil is high 2)and you intend raising a bungalow then you don't need pillars(columns),unless you have the intention of imputing an arc design you would then need to put pillars, those guys where right

Still waiting

Muyesky:

Still waiting

Muyesky, I guess you have enough pieces of advise to make up your mind on.

@op

u NEED pillars for a building which will not fall under any unusual event such as flash flooding, earth tremors (have been known to happen in naija), or when some other 'freak' act of nature happens

in fact, this question, which suggests u want to cut corners should not even be asked, especially bearing in mind buildings which have been falling all over the place

remember the saying; KOBOwise, NAIRAfoolish sha, i rest ma case,

There is an advantage to having pillar you should consider- if ever you need to do some internal adjustments of the partitioning it is much easier and safer when you already have pillars to support the frame. A german floor (-concrete floor) would be quite essential if there is sign of termite colony in neighbourhood even if it is a kilometer away.

u guys seem 2 b over-estimating d use of columns(pillars), and underestimating d strength of a well vibrated block,with the conditions he stated(and all things being equal he doesn't need pillars)

Having heard from great minds - I think its fair to chip in my own piece of advice.

We've seen why its necessary and why it isn't. @Poster, the choice is yours now.

All I can ask you to think of is the cost of adding a pillar in event you'll need one in the future. You can be too sure.

I'll advise you to do it while you still can.

bros, u need Pillar in all houses even if u will be building it on the rock, the fact remains that, the land u are building it will determine the numbers of Pillars required thats why that engineer said he cant really say anything unless he sees the land, but the truth os the matter is that, u will build now even on rock but later something may happen and ur children or grand children may want to take it to 2 storey building and they wont know how strong the foundations are so act now on their behalf. plan for tomorrow and dont allow earthquake to happen when u leave.
If u are so sure the land is a good one, apply pillars on all the edges then few within, then make sure u use 9 inches block.
Elulade ololade tosin