₦airaland Forum

Rubbiish:
I am not supporting artisans not giving accurate measurements oo....
Just that it is something that i noticed from some tilers, they come with tape & do measurement, but their results are always different from the actual calculation.

There will always be variables. Getting an under quote is the worst to happen. As far as measurements go, as long as you agree on the price/sqm one can always measure finished areas of job done and pay the required sum.

I thought the professionals on this thread are solution providers and not part of the corruption or blame game

true2home:
The topic at hand is not complicated at all for people in the Engineering profession. Every building SHOULD be designed. What does this mean? A good designer; be it formally trained or informally trained; will make sure his or her design take into consideration the three key Engineering Design Ideology: Safety, Functionality and Economics.

Safety: Build to code of the locality you are going to execute the project

Functionality: Build what is going to serve the intended purpose. Don't waste your clients money building a single family home like a Government Monument and say you are building a STANDARD house. And yet, two out of the 6 bathroom/toilet really works.

Economical: Whatever you are designing must be affordable to the local habitat. You can not design marble floor and high ceiling in a country with #18K minimum wage and keep calling it AFFORDABLE HOUSING. It beats the crap out of me when Luxury housing in choice area of Lagos says they are selling affordable houses. OUR MUMU TOO MUCH!!!

Interesting.
I do not think there's really a poor man in Nigeria. It's just an expression.
Who no like packaging?

diordaves:
Yes, you can fabricate and even prefabricate. What I'm saying is that not all abroad solutions are the best. Some time, the Nigeria solution is better than some abroad approach for certain circumstances. So we should look more to local content and application first. Another example is partitioning with dry wall. Why? When proper block is readily available. What I'm I trying to solve when it's not even so very cheaper.

Nigerians like over kill.

diordaves:
I just can't add more. You've said it all.

Yes we are in the diaspora and have been exposed to new and most times better ways to do things. Most times architecture and applied building technology as done abroad is a reflection of their way of life, climate and cheapness as in cutting corners to meet the legal minimum. We in the diaspora must recognise this and build in Nigeria not only to the building code but to the environment and culture. What I see sometimes here is bragging by some diaspora of being abroad and putting down the Nigerian time tested solutions and taunting useless and not practical abroad solutions. Building entirely with wood is one example and there are many more examples.

I give you one very vexatious abroad solution: building of balcony.

From the USA to the UK to Australia; balcony solution is screwing prefabricated balcony to a wall plate on the external wall. The photos attached are from a currently on-going luxury apartments project in South East London. If you look at the photos carefully, you will notice that the building is near completion and some even sold. So what those workmen are doing as seen in the photos is screwing a prefabricated balcony on a metal plate on the external wall and pronto you have a balcony at a fraction of the cost of a properly built balcony. The problem with this is that balcony is very flimsy; it can only take a minimum amount of dead load. There have been many cases of balcony failure (collapse) from the UK to American and far Australia. See attached photos. What happened in that photo is the owner held a party and guest piled on the balcony to take some fresh air and the balcony collapse killing some guests.

But in Nigeria, we don't screw on balcony. We deck it properly with possibly 16mm rods fused into the decking with proper burglary protection. Now imagine a diaspora seeing such flimsy balcony solution and start propagating such rubbish solution because na abroad. Because it is abroad doesn't mean it is always the best solution. Yes there are questions of skills and right tools of the trade with Nigerian artisans but when it comes to the right and proper solution to practical Nigeria building challenges, the Nigerian engineer is doing real fine.

You have a point but I do not think the analogy used here is best suited.That building is a public one and that balcony is just a make shift with a designated load to carry. It will be insane for anyone to copy such without proper understanding. What is likened to that in Nigeria is people fabricating a staircase with steel pipe/iron rods to their rented shop from ground floor to 3rd floor on the external part of the building.

InvertedHammer:
/
Even if not for termites, construction projects should be done with local contents in mind. The Eskimos build igloos. The local Chinese use bamboo. Nigerians use blocks. Californians use wood. Am I going to build a house with wood in Nigeria because I want to be more Californian than the Californians? Hell no!

If we apply the wrong solution to a project because we want to copy from somewhere, it may not serve the intended purpose afterall.
I don't see anything technological about bamboo.

/

Is bamboo not a local product?

Building construction is not all about just technology but aesthetics too. If it were only to be technological then most buildings will have to be like T-800.

Rubbiish:
Adequate space to park two cars??
What is gonna be the length & breadth of d building?
Remember setback, soakaway & water storage.

The house will be L shaped to fit in well.

psychologist:
Hello house, please the building am staying in the village is leaking water from the slab what measures can I take ASAP.

The house has been built for a while and just left decking level, but over time it started dripping water from the slab, I know it's a building deffect from onset, but I need advise on What to do about it

You can post a pix of the affected area of the slab so it'll be easy to know the best way to give advice.

adanny01:
In my humble opinion, your definition is not complete without the word professional or expert or someone with training and certification.

DIY is taking your time to do that which ordinarily you ought to pay (a professional) to get the job done.

Remove the professional and put yourself in his position qualifies the job DIY. You can pay yourself, it doesnt matter. If i hire a professional builder he hires masons. If i want DIY, i remove the builder, do his job by hiring a mason. This will be a DIY building. If i want a DIY plaster, i simple dont hire a mason and do it myself.

Are you saying every equipment must belong to the DIYer before it qualifies to be DIY? Where in the definitions did we get that insinuation?

There is this saying "hire a professional or Do it yourself".

If am not a professional and i am doing it, its DIY. I can borrow, hire, pay for equipment or labour to get jobs done which may be beyond my physical or financial ability.

Collins definition
DIY is the activity of making or repairing things yourself, especially in your home. DIY is an abbreviation for 'do-it-yourself'.

Wikipedia
Do it yourself (DIY) is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things without the direct aid of experts or professionals. [what about indirectly]

Wikipedia adds; Academic research describes DIY as behaviors where "individuals engage raw and semi-raw materials and component parts to produce, transform, or reconstruct material possessions, including those drawn from the natural environment (e.g. landscaping)".

I lay particular emphasis on the bolded.

Installing a Mikano generator is a professional job involving Electrical expertise. Delivering the generator set to a particular position does not take away the fact that the installation is a DIY project.

Lets not begin to redefine DIY.

It has already been redefined by all and we have all learned.

Thanks.

adanny01:
I didnt see where it said you must do everything yourself or without external help.

I only saw where it said without a professional or expert help.

I think if for example, i want to install kitchen cabinets in my new build and embark on it myself who is not a professional in capentry with extra hands who are not experts. The project is still DIY. The extra hand i hired is not an expert or professional too.

Once there is an expert or professional in the project, it ceases to be DIY.

Installing a Solar backup power system in my house using a local electrician to enter the ceiling is still DIY. The electrician may have no idea on the system i am installing.

A home owner building his house directing masons, carpenters etc is still DIY. He should have hired a professional builder to manage them but he did it himself with no professional help.

DIY is simply doing a job that would have been done by a professional without have the professional experience yourself.

An architect designing his own home is not DIY. A bricklayer building his house is not DIY. A mechanic repairing his own car is not DIY but a non mechanic like me doin my own repair is DIY.

I weigh a 100kg, do you expect me to climb the roof or enter the ceiling. Its not physically impossible but its not safe to do that part not that i dont know how.

Say you are installing a Mikano generator yourself if you hire a crane and its operator to lift it and drop, does that mean its not a DIY?

If you are installing a big panel of glass and you cant lift it alone, does that mean its not DIY?

DIY is taking your time to do that which ordinarily you ought to pay to get the job done.

You can't be serious trying to put the bolded in this context.. Or perhaps the crane belongs to the DIY'er.

Question for all Electrical Engineers, Electricians, Practising Professionals

1)Please what's the parameter(s) using a 1.5mm wire as against 1mm for lighting purposes?
2)What Amperage is tied to both wires to be used for the above given our stipulated voltage supply?

Thanks

GoodFaith:
Before DIY is over 200 year old before DIY clips or google
and there was community, community use to help people build their house
I have friend at work that their family help they build their houses, my friend was part of the builders
I full understand
What DIY "do it yourself "
I have used my hand and brain
I had two roofing jobs about two weeks ago
One of the job i had the material, the guys came out did the job I was not present
second job the guys used air compression, nail gun. I provided all the tools for the job and the material
on Friday i have a guy coming out to put up a door, some dry wall
I will be helping with the dry wall

River Niger was in existence before Mungo Park came exploring.
Community assisting one to build house is not DIY and it still exists till today.

If the dry wall you intend helping out is your build then it can be considered DIY.

GoodFaith:
I have got people to do lot of work for me
Lot of time I am tell this people how to do it or the best way to do it
DIY is if you are not giving it to contractor and playing a role in getting the job done

That is not the definition of DIY. Google is still existing.
The DIY clips tells one how to do the job himself/herself and not rather teaching the individual how to tell another to get the job done.
DIY means getting physically involved with the hands and not only with the brain.

earthrealm:
its the mind set in nigeria,,, very appalling, i change my engine oil, power steering fluid, transmission fluid myself, and all my pals look at me in awe, as if am some astronaut, while others feel am stingy..and dont want to let a mechanic chop my money

but overseas, you have more people willing to do such and even more on their cars, and these are people who are ar richer than the avg nigerian..their minimum wage when converted to naira..is what an avg worker would be envious of etc.

the so called mechanic, who they call professional has no clue about what he is doing..even elizade/kojo motors isnt left out..i can thump my vchest that i hv saved several hundreds of thousands of naira from diy on my car/home..
truth be told..we have very few professionals worth their salt in this country...many are charlatans masquerading as professionals

Now we have a proper DIY advocate and individual who actually gets involved in the act regarding his automobile.


Nonetheless these are not actually considered DIY acts except you are speaking on a broad term. And I would want to include that you probably changed your oil filter as well meaning you have a tool box.
Nice one.

AngelicBeing:
l disagree with you, l am a DIY advocate, I will construct a 25 story building with bamboo, do conduit wiring myself, I will do the tiles, plumbing, screeding, landscaping myself, I will do the roofing myself, we have YouTube video online to guide me, l will not pay any artisan on my site to do any work, I want to save money and I don't want any artisan to eat my money, after completing the house, l will invite Daboomb, spyder880, Abdulwastecx and every member of property section on Nairaland to come and celebrate with me for been the first man on earth to construct a 25 story floor via bamboo technology and without inviting any artisan to my site

Bravo Sir.

Before we go far off , I don't think the acronym DIY as used on this thread is right except probably its a Nigerian context.
DIY clearly means doing everything yourself and no external help and you ain't paying no other person for physically carrying out a job/work.
Anything other than that its either you term yourself as a project manager or any befitting title .


Let's educate ourselves accordingly and rightly.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/diy

gbadexy:
I really like the designs possible with the use of bamboo. The use of bamboo only for building houses isn't entirely new in Nigeria. My grandfather's house was built with it before my father and the rest of the family brought it down and built brick/block house.
My mum used to tell me they could see the stars outside when sleeping and the mosquitoes were terrible. I think I faintly recollect staying there but it could the stories my mum told me creating impression on my mind.
I couldn't say if they do any special preservation against rot and termite or if they simply frequently replaced affected bamboos in the building though.
One of the disadvantages of the bamboo in the previous article you posted the link says it shrinks considerably when dry, so it would have to be sufficiently processed with preservatives and allowed to dry totally before it could be tested as an alternate building material and only a company with specialized machineries and standard laboratory could do that.
Most of the structures in the link posted are not storey building and many people here won't mind doing it if we don't have bad mouth generally in Africa. such owner would be called a poor person or a miser living in a bamboo house no matter how innovative and aesthetically pleasing it's made to look. We would sha coin one derogatory name that would discourage the look except some celebrities use them.
The picture you posted of it used as a possible reinforcement for concrete floor looks very promising but I think this is where an entrepreneur should come in by having samples shaped to desired sizes, treated and tested in a government approved or owned material laboratory to give backing to claims of its high tensile strength and other properties and also using it as reinforcement for floor and other low structures and have it tested.
If confirmed, the entrepreneur would then have to create awareness for it and even hold seminars for registered engineers showcasing it's effectiveness. it's even possible to get invited for the builders associations annual meeting and demonstrate it.
No builder would want to stake his or her reputation on unproven technology. The onus lies on an entrepreneur to come take the risk and reap the benefits.

It is not just any bamboo to be used. There are specific species of bamboo for such purposes, the age, treatment against infestation and rot..
While its still an on going research and still debatable. Clearly it can't be used entirely for high rise buildings except there will be a combination of steel and bamboo. But for bungalows it can used and if any government intends using such for buildings it will fall into the low cost housing scheme.

It will take a crazy thinking minister/commissioner for housing in this country to get a suitable construction firm to actualize it and then I wonder which class of citizens will live in it even if it's given out free. Even mad people in this country will laugh.

But if the wealthy and influential in the society builds such and invite we all to come spend some holidays there, we will all gladly accept the offer and even want to extend the stay.

gbadexy:
Thank you for the link sir. it's a very enlightening article.
Our In house engineers and proponents of bamboo use should check out the link also.
It obviously has advantages to steel according to the article, especially tensile strength, flexibility, higher temperature stability, etc.
left to make a choice though, I would not want to use my build as a research material .

That's just the beauty of architectural engineering.
For readers only
http://eyecatching-eyecandy..com.ng/2011/12/bamboo-buildings.html

https://gineersnow.com/industries/construction/thailand-sports-hall-made-entirely-bamboo

gbadexy:
True sir, I reckon termite wouldn't be able to have access to it since it would be encased within the concrete. Besides, concrete would still be slightly alkaline.
I've often wondered about reinforced concrete, if the iron provides structural support or merely provides more stable frame for the concrete to be formed.
The iron used for pillars couldn't support the structures alone the way I see them without the concrete.
Whatever the final research is, your submission about it being used in old mud house is a time tested fact, albeit not in a storey building.
The structure would still need to be painted good quality weather protective paint to protect from rot as wood treatment chemicals are water soluble and susceptible to rot same way the iron on concrete rust due to long term weathering.

c


The treatment of the bamboo is within this link
https://theconstructor.org/building/bamboo-as-a-building-material-uses-advantages/14838/

progress69:
Exactly what I told one of the clowns. I asked if we should suspend buying the jets because its going to be delivered in 2020 so when we have other security challengies, we wil start the process all over again. This clowns thinks there is a warehouse war planes are kept to be shipped on demand

I feel the problem is because many persons don't like PMB.
A lot of us place too much sentiments in politics and politicians and soon it will affect our own meals in our plates.

SalamRushdie:
National security in 2020 abeg dont make me laugh ..there are reason why those laws are there and why we should take them serious

You are free to laugh. Nigerians may not like PMB.
Security issues are not meant to be for reactive purposes but as well proactive.

SalamRushdie:
National security in 2020 abeg dont make me laugh ..there are reason why those laws are there and why we should take them serious

You are free to laugh.
Security issues are not meant to be for reactive purposes but as well proactive.

SalamRushdie:
This doesn't absolve the fact that financial laws of our country as regard such deduction were broken by the Buhari govt and this is tantamount to theft . No amount of bickering and spinning by evil zombies can change the facts that Buhari committed an impeachable offence

As long as it's a matter of national security and can be proven to be it, then it's hardly any form of impeachable offence.

It will not hold water.

Are we in a different time zone.
This Sunday is going to be really broad

Just for readers

http://www.deckerhomeservices.com/common_house_myths.htm

https://walbrent.com/2012/01/21/persistent-construction-myth/

For those who like to read.......

http://www.concretefibersolutions.com/2015/12/09/steel-fibers-and-rebar/

https://engineered.thyssenkrupp.com/en/die-zukunft-des-bauens/


https://gineersnow.com/engineering/bamboo-poised-replace-steel-reinforced-concret

https://blog.allplan.com/en/carbon-concrete

lorhema:
I'll appreciate your responses. I want to understand what is required.
We use a submersible pump for our well and it pumps the water into the overhead tank. Do we expect the same for the borehole? It's not close to the overhead tank. It's about 12-15 metres away.
Will the borehole submersible pump do or is another surface pump required?
The borehole is 70m deep and the overhead tank is about 4m high.

Thank you.

Every drilled borehole will be accompanied by a submersible pump which is installed within the bored hole.
As long as your piping works runs from the borehole to the overhead tank that will do.

Surface pumps serves different purposes.
If there is a need for that your plumber will inform you.

If you have not been using a surface pump while you pump water from your well to the overhead tank, I see no reason to use it now given that you have a borehole.

fabulous85:
good day house,
pls is 0.45 guage suitable for stone coat roofing sheet. trying to roof my house but all the sellers i called in kaduna have only 0.45.

When it comes to using stone coated roofing tiles, the gauge should not be a concern because that is not where the quality lies.


The quality is in the name of the manufacturer.
Not every warranty is a guarantee.
Just be careful.

I have seen a 3 storey building that collapsed because the client who happened to a Professor in one of the pure sciences turned out to be the Engineer and Supervisor and Project Manager.


It is because of this our so called Professionalism that makes certain clients turn to other alternatives which end up good and bad in some instances.

Nothing stops one from speeching without trying to talk down another just because you need a job.

A Professional does not tell people that he is but his work(s) speaks for it self.

diordaves:
It's good to engage for educational and constructive reasons. Rotecch77 said and I quote 'only professional plumber can handle this" .

Maybe I got the term "professional plumber" wrong. My thinking is all plumbers are professionals, so by qualifying "plumber" with "professional" it's seems to me there are some plumbers who are not professional, so can't handle the job. Is your interpretation different from mine? A non professional plumber is a fake or am I wrong?

And then you asked how a professional plumber would handle it and this just got me thinking: how would a non professional plumber handle it as home owners are prone to cutting corners by all too often engaging the DIY route or as someone once said baba Lati.

I asked a simple question and I got a reply .
I stopped there.


I am not bored now, so i'll not comment about it.