₦airaland Forum

EgunMogaji:
How heavy are this and does it still need pillars?

Thanks for sharing.

I know you are always very detailed on your offerings and I look forward to reading it.

very light weight, no need for column and will come out very well.
see the attached pics of a worker handling 3m long polystyrene fascia

abouzaid:
oga mu, I'm not really upto date on all these newest products entering into the Nigerian market, they just need to advertise their products more aggressively because it seems and her competitors are really rolling out new products. however since it's petrochemical based product i expect it to be a cost saver, can you gist us more about the roof? i also like the compact nature of the building. the veranda/car port combination is always a cost saver.

i really love to build this simple flat for myself in suleja next year
the roof is low cost type, simple flat roof with long span aluminum roofing sheet

polystyrene fascia: a way to save cost and reduce load on a building

abouzaid:
please search"how many blocks can you get from a bag of cement nairaland" on Google and read through the results to know the truth. even you would be miffed by the hypocrisy been displayed on this thread.please read this particular page where the most respected builder once again declared that 43-44 blocks per bag would yield a very strong block yet that particular builder and others who have used a similar ratio are on this thread and refuse to say the truth. a certain builder who claimed to own a block industry claimed that i would need 80 bags of cement for a German floor yet go through the construction threads on nairaland and tell me how many houses used upto 60 bags for a German floor whereas all those houses are far bigger than what i proposed here. i can sense the hypocrisy among the builders here from a mile away but i comment my reserve for now.

i am looking at this simple three bedroom flat, all room en-suit
take a look at this 3D pics

abouzaid:
the number of rooms is often a question of family size given the extended family system in Nigeria but let's start with design, a rectangular shaped house is the cheapest to build and roof and is the norm in low cost housing but the negative is that the centre corridor might in theory be dark if all the doors are closed simultaneously, as for roofing sheets, zinc roofing sheets have a life expectancy of atleast 25years and costs less than 8k per bundle, locally made wooden flush doors costs about #4500 and lasts like for ever when used internally, as for windows, expensive aluminum windows is not appropriate for our weather and is expensive what is more appropriate is glass louvers since all of it can be opened at once unlike sliding windows thereby allowing more breeze in to the house. it's also far more cheaper. now let's go back to the issue of house size, adequate sizing of rooms will yield smaller homes without giving up on the number of rooms. the architecturally recommended minimum size for secondary bedrooms is 10x12 which gives enough room for a double bed, night standards, a wardrobe and a reading desk. a masters bedroom is 12x16 which gives room for a baby crib(bed) in addition but if you go through the designs here on nairaland,you would notice that room sizes are often noticeablely larger. what about living room sizes talkless of dining rooms, I'm not going to talk about en suites, now let's talk about ornamentation, every house deserve some kind of ornamentation like window hoods,wall edges(othions), arches, classical columns etc but the simple truth is that we overdo these things to the extent that some domestic homes now look like churches. i only subscribe to wall edges and window hoods while the rest should be done away with. I'll stop at here for now.

i am impressed with your detailed response.

abouzaid:
oga mu kena, low cost housing is not a popular topic in Nigerian schools coupled with the i pass my neighbors mentality. what i know, i learnt from reading from the Americans who themselves have largely abandoned how to build in size to their pockets.

low cost housing need to be look into from a different perspective
Things like size of the house, method of construction, and the design.

why build a four bedroom flat, when you have a budget of 2.5m naira. The wise thing can be to build a smaller house like two bedroom flat.

cheaper construction materials like stabilized laterite brick, laterite roofing sheet, making doors and cheaper windows.

nigeriancuban:
you are very correct in fact most engineers don't even know when to even use raft and pad foundations anymore coz both are almost used for similar conditions but clearly different occasions..just imagine a raft foundation where a proper soil analysis wasn't conducted and the top soil consolidation rate not determined how then can one achieve success full footing design?

you on point, soil test is very important.
You need to have the soil profile with specific soil properties and depth.

it is important to note that most raft are constructed at a considerable depth below the natural ground level that why basement always accompany most raft foundation.

most of what we actually call raft foundation/mat foundation are actually continuous footings

nigeriancuban:
yrw pictures would really help,but I must say that the problems with majority of these engrs,(that's if they are actually qualified though) is they don't do design calculations,engineering is not a trial and error stuff like you just work up to the site and start asking workers to break up and dig up,every single thing done should be derived in the appropriate way,tat said you should know where I'm am putting my bulls eye on

here are some of the mistakes and common error with most raft foundation constructed in Nigeria.

1. the slab and beam components are cast differently because of most are raced to dpc level ( for slab and beam raft).
2. the beams are founded on a very week vegetable soil
3. the beams are not always founded on a very suitable soil with adequate bearing capacity and settlement rate.
4. most of the slabs are placed on filled earth instead on top of the specify soil strata with the adequate soil properties.
the slabs/beam are always poorly reinforced ( raft slabs and beams requires the main reinforcement to be closer to the top of the section

EgunMogaji:
I have clay soil which retains water.

What ideas do you suggest for people in my situation?

What would you consider to be a safe distance between soakaway and borehole?

Thanks.

lateral flow should be avoided by not placing your soakaway along the same line with your bore hole. Anything above 6m in both axis is consider safe enough. soak away should also be placed at lower elevation to bore holes especially on sloppy land

abouzaid:
so 43 blocks per bag is below standard? please tell your standard because i believe most block industries make atleast 70 blocks per bag, the minimum standard i know of is 40-43 blocks per bag and I'm calling all the builders in the house to take a stand now and stop been hypocrites before I'm forced to call up their threads where they made use of the same ratios, as for the German floor, the secret of a low cost home is in the design of the floor plan foremost before anything, i have a four bedroom design i did for a fifty by fifty plot, the masters bedroom is 12 x12, the other rooms are 10x12 all ensuite , in summary the house is 36x43 and shaped in a perfect rectangle, now prove to me why i need 80 bags of cement for the German floor instead of 60 or less, in short redo your cost analysis and tell me how 200k won't be enough for the German floor because the analysis you did above is not even upto #250k when summed together and only wire mesh is not over estimated mind you the thickness is only 4inches. please using my measurements redo your analysis and call the result by your self. thanks. @eggunmogashi, i said 2.5 million not 2 million and i don't like the way you often take an taunting approach to people, we are all friends here.

Low cost housing is the future and solution to Nigeria building problem.
I am of the opinion that 2.5million can build you a good low cost house, but not from the perspective of our current building practices.

gabbytabby:
As Ajah it is 7ft deep. It serves 6 flats (5 occupied) and last time it was evacuated was 2 years ago.

He is an engineer he tells me and he reasons that a properly constructed soakaway/septic should never need to be evacuated since the top water from the septic will go into the soakaway and dry out. My counter argument is that in a dry/normal terrain it will take longer but ultimately all septic will be evacuated.

We seem to have the problem during the raining season such that I am suspecting poor drainage due to rising water levels. I suggested that they evacuate just before the rains.

I have had a situation that we changed plumbers and in the change over they forgot to do the linking. With a very deep 13ft soak away/septic it took less than 3 months for the soakaway to fill up with 4 tenants such that I know its not a linking issue.

I'm of the opinion that you were right and the engineer was wrong.
septic/soakaway system of solid waste treatment system is design based on the number of occupant, height of water table, nature of surrounding soil( sandy soil, clayish soil), rain intensity in the area and intensity of surface run off.

soakaway built on a soil with high water level will need to be constantly evacuated.
soakaway/septic tank built without consideration for number of users will need also need to be evacuated constantly.

Soakway are also very dangerous since they pollute underground ground water when built closer or inline with the bore hole position

gabbytabby:
I had a point of disagreement with someone on an issue which I am throwing to the house. I never run from an opportunity to learn.

Here goes for properties built in the Ajah axis with high water level such that you cannot dig too deep cos of high water table and all. Is it possible to never have to empty the soakaway even when this is linked to the septic tank. How is this done.

Segcymoor brabus aventures spyder880 abdulwastecx et al opinions please.

from theoretical point of view, considering the fact that soakaway connected to a septic tank need water demanding soil around its perimeter, it will be impossible for the soakaway to self drain large quantity of effluent waste coming from the soakaway.

soakaway /septic tank system of solid sewage treatment need to be done a soil with relatively low water level so that the effluent waste through the soakway can easily be taken away by the surrounding soil

nigeriancuban:
well what do you wanna know about raft,the conditions that warrants it,go it is constructed,how to derive the detailing an minimum heights and sizes or how the constructions an procedures works out?

The question is not what i know about raft foundation or how it is design.
The question is why do we have poorly constructed raft foundation.
when i have the time, i will present some well design raft foundation of the following type
1. flat slab raft foundation
2. beam raft foundation
3. upward raft foundation
4. downward raft foundation.

abouzaid:
to be honest, I'm not really heavy into structural design, just basic drawing to get a building approval but i will check out Orion before the end of the year to see what it has to offer. how's your day?

i am good sir l

abouzaid:
i used archicad for the design, it's strictly for architectural design and when i use it for structural design, it's usually for buildings going for approval and the extra work isn't much felt. (structural design have to be done manually for it). the latest version of revit has structural design abilities built into it but what would be most appropriate for you to learn would depend on what type of work you intend to do and what your colleagues are doing. structural design for a bridge and a four bedroom duplex are entirely different things. archicad is the easiest to learn of all those applications.

orion is one of the best reinforced concrete design software around:
fast and precise detailing to suit your need
adequate bending schedules to help you your bill of quantities
it also help you with quantity extraction for concrete work, formwork and reinforcement.

back2sender:
Please anyone in the house knows the cost of the following items now in the market.

1 tonne of 16mm rod
1 tonne of 12 mm rod
1 tonne of 10 mm rod.

How can we know if the iron rods are full length , any checklist.

Thanks

better go to the market with your meters rule. the length of the bar should be 12m.

adanny01:
Which would you recommend for commercial purposes.

Have you tried ETABS?

any of orion or etabs will do

adanny01:
I need a good link to download cracked versions of etabs and Orion that will work.

I have downloaded several etabs 13 with cracks but non has worked. The only one that worked is etabs 9 but misplaced the file and cant remember where i download it.

You can just by the software online

abouzaid:
i used archicad for the design, it's strictly for architectural design and when i use it for structural design, it's usually for buildings going for approval and the extra work isn't much felt. (structural design have to be done manually for it). the latest version of revit has structural design abilities built into it but what would be most appropriate for you to learn would depend on what type of work you intend to do and what your colleagues are doing. structural design for a bridge and a four bedroom duplex are entirely different things. archicad is the easiest to learn of all those applications.

revit architecture should be the easiest among all architectural software

Miscellaneous:
please which software did u use for that design? And please can anyone help me with the name of software used in structural design? I have been seeing guys in older threads talk about Revit and Orion.... are both for str. design & which is better to learn?

Orion is a good structural software...
good detailing for slab, beam, column and footings.

RCD ( reinforced concrete design software ) is a good made in Nigeria software for accurate structural design. it was developed by oyenuga.

RCC is a good excel spreadsheet for reinforced concrete design and bending schedules

EgunMogaji:
I have a question.

When you use water to pack laterite in foundation, where does the water go? Do I have to make weep holes for it's egress on the bottom or it will evaporate.

Thanks.

it is called compaction:
the soil/ laterite is made up of soil, void and water.
when you add water to the laterite and rammer you actually making the soil particle come closed together when it happens, the void space is now occupied by closely packed soil/laterite particles.

The soil dries up loosing the moisture and leaving behind a closely packed soil

danny34:
Abdulwastecx.... Beautiful work I most say. Solid structure too. Would you love a professional paint to give this house the quality touch it needs? We will be glad to work for you. We are Dannypainters!

surely would love to work with you....when we get to the finishing stage

sleekdre:
Please what is the height of this roof?

10ft

abouzaid:
i haven't seen it done before, i believe it can be done but i won't advice it because i don't see anything to be gained from it.

It is better if one can build it from foundation to the ring beam only for bungalows.

reinforcement detailing is big problem for most building contractors because of their limited knowledge of structural engineering.

The column from the foundation footing to the dpc ( over site concrete), act as a single unit with that from the dpc to the roof ( of a bungalow. You safe money from excess reinforcement that have to be lapped if done separately (lapping of not less than 750mm).
You hals safe extra cost from workmanship since it will be cheaper to do the columns at once.

the major problem is with straightness of the column, when not properly done the column may end up bent.

brabus:
You mean if you can actually build like this. Very possible!

Saving cost of Sandfilling. The ground floor is replaced with precast slabs which are placed on connected beams.

Seen it before.

I think this is more expensive.
precast slab will be expensive
the formwork to the beam
the cost of beam reinforcement
workmanship etc.

Its cheaper to sand filled a bungalow on a relatively gentle ground

abouzaid:
what's your take on using 6" hollow blocks for foundation? what's your take on using 6"by 6" pillars for a bungalow?what's your take on foundation depth especially for Abuja and neighbouring states given the high clay content in their soils? I'll explain later. thanks in advance.

i don't have any problem with using 6'' block for bungalow foundation or 150x150mm for column.

sections of members like column are governed by slenderness ratio of the column which is a function of height. sections of members are also governed by the intended load that the column will carry, It also depend on the brazed condition of columns.

For bungalows with closely spaced wall with longest distance not more than 4.5m c/c, 6" block can be used.
I normally use 6" block for building when my site/land is very small because the difference in cost between 6" & 9'' is not that great.

Porthos:
Do u also do str. elect. & plumb design?

yes...we do

domcarez:
Good morning everyone...please I need the professionals in the house to please give me a detailed analysis for the cost of this building...

1. From foundation to Deck level only, I want to do it slow and steady... thanks to u all for enlightening a lot of us through this thread

your drawings are incomplete.

the architectural designs, structural, electrical and plumbing designs and no professional will do it for free..... lol

euromilion:
Thanks bros,
No there won't be heavy vehicles on a daily basis,max vehicle will be 4x4 jeep.

It will be wiser to do a structural design considering the drainage side as a retaining wall with vehicle movement around it and open channels flow ( during wet season)
It will be better and safe more cost since accurate concrete sections and reinforcement will be provided

abouzaid:
about what quantity would do for a building measuring 41 feet by 43 as anti crack reinforcement for the oversite concrete bed.

that should be 12.3m ( 41ft) x 12.9 ( 43ft)
with a with of 1.8 m along 12.3m you will get aprx. 7nr
with length of 25m along 12.9m you will get 2nr

you will need about 7/2 = 31/2
At the cost of 13k/nr = N45,500.

other alternative is using Y8mm bar, spacing it 350mm c/c


along 12.3m ( 12.3/0.35 = 35nr @ N600/nr = N21,000)
along 12.9m ( 12.9/0.35 = 37br @ N600/nr = N22,200)

Binding wire ( N2,000)
TOTAL = N45,200

OPTION B IS STRONGER AND BETTER

abouzaid:
@kolashange, how much is 3.5mm wire mesh now? @ attached pic, men at work.

about 10 - 13k for a mesh of 1.8m x 25m