FEGEITOK's Posts

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Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 7:33pm On Apr 05, 2023

erico2k2:
Im seriously struggling to understand your post

I am summarizing my post, the post that you quoted.

I am telling you that the bolded which was copied from the original post you quoted says the very same thing you are saying.

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 6:10pm On Apr 05, 2023

GloriousGbola:
Some people will be complaining when favor is knocking on their door because if the noise.

I was taught never to beg a rich person for money, but to instead show them how useful I could be to them.

You will get the money you wanted form such a person and much more.

4 Likes

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 5:57pm On Apr 05, 2023

erico2k2:
Bross I think you are missing the point here, Help is deferent but when one demands it's a claim of self entitlement. ofcos you can cook from home and give to your workers on site, I done that on my build, but note they never demanded for it.

This line above makes the point you are making.

Fourthly, no one owes you anything.

I included the rest of the story to show that one can refuse to agree to a claim of entitlement and yet kind enough to assist someone in the position of some who carry on with a sense of entitlement.

In short by being entitled, they may be missing out on more.

I am also making the point that someone can be favored who did not show signs of being entitled, but they can go ahead and scuttle the opportunity given to them and the opportunities that might have been given to others but for their mistakes.

1 Like

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 8:54am On Apr 05, 2023

dangoteinlaw:
That is what they call wisdom in their book, wasting people’s time in the name of “getting a quote”. That’s how one fool made me mobilize a POP guy to his site at the end he didn’t get the job. What pained me was the pop guy left his tape rule at home and i had mine but i urge the pop guy to be a professional by getting his own tape and he spent 3k at that spot to buy a tape all because he relied on my word that the guy in question will surely award him the job. Honestly I wasn’t worried about myself becoz I knew the pop guy has been home for months because job traffic was slow. Inside my car his wife was even calling and praying for him that he will get the job and it all turned out he was just a pawn to one fool who thought he needed to “get a quote”. That is why illiteracy scares the shit out of me because for this life if you happen to be at the bottom of the food chain u go too suffer oh, your life will be used as a game of chess and you might be sacrificed as a pawn to save a knight.

First, business is not a charity.

Secondly, running business on sympathy is not the best way to go about business.

Thirdly, no one will win 100 percent of all the jobs he bids for. This is why we spread out tents very wide so that they will have a greater tendency to catch something.

Fourthly, no one owes you anything.

Now about your sob story.

I have been there. I understand the feeling. I treat my artisans well.

I even gave the last but one transport to come and work for me. I gave him several modus of rice (enough to feed his family twice a day for at least a week) when he was going in addition to paying him for his services. I also gave him one of my dress shirts I no longer felt like using. He had complained that he had no food to eat (and I happen to know that he is married) and did not have transportation. But to my chagrin this guy stole money from me. I kept some cash in a drawer and he touched that drawer and the money was gone. Can you imagine how I felt to have discovered that someone I did the above for did that to me? I know because I confronted him and he confessed after he had returned home. One more thing, this guy I allowed him to sleep over a couple of times in order to save some of the money he would have spent on transport back home and back to the site the next day.

My motto in life is that one must treat those he can gain nothing from as well as those he can gain something from. That to me is the true test of character.

The last one that came gave a quote I considered was too high. So I gave him 3 times the amount he spent on transportation to come and dismissed him.

I lent my plumber money when he was served court papers to pack out of his existing accommodation. He came back just last week to ask for more money to the tune of half a million to roof the house he is building, that one I am not willing to give though.

Some of us treat artisans this way because of the bad experiences we have had. But everyone is different and should be judged for who he or she is and not based on what others have done.

But you cannot blame us for refusing to act on sympathy all the time, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. And people are out to take advantage especially if they feel you are better situated than them.

They think, let me chop from him small, he get plenty. He no go feel am.
Opportunity will never be distributed equally, some people will do better in life than others.

Even Jesus said we will always have the poor with you at Matthew 26:11.

So if I can help someone, I will help someone. Like I have said above, several individuals liked me at some point in time and stepped in to help me make the money I have made, and the position I have attained, so if I can, I will be helpful because I know that everyone is fighting one challenge or the other.

7 Likes 1 Share

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 8:48am On Apr 05, 2023

GloriousGbola:
Google tender processing fee for starters.

Some govt organisations charge you to submit tender bids.

My old place was formerly a govt organisation, which may have been why every tender bid came with a non refundable fee of 100k. They eventually stopped this, but you get the idea.

More importantly being invited to tender for a project requires you expend energy and time in conducting review of the documents provided, getting rates for items, calculating your profit margins. You may have to print and bind documents. And send them by dispatch to the client. This is also a cost. And you may not win the bid. So if you receive an invitation to tender for a project will you ask the client to pay you for filling the boq or preparing the estimate?

It is an inevitable cost of doing business.

One time I called an electrician to come to our site. The guy was referred to me. He immediately told me he would need 5k for transport to the site . I thanked him, hung up and never bothered calling him back. That demand was (for me) a sign of a difficult contractor. A nickel and dimer. The person who referred the guy to me was also suprised at the demands.

But if you scale through those hurdles, you are going to make 10x, 100x, 1000x, 10000x, 100000x, 1000000x times if not more any expenditure.

And those processes can take a lot of time, and the company is paying employees for the time they spend perfecting those documents even when they aren't sure of winning the bid.

Like they say nothing risked, nothing gained.

Also the greater the risk, the greater the return.

Bet big, win big.

1 Like

Car Talk › Re: Break Failure Experience ( Pix ) by FEGEITOK: 12:21pm On Apr 04, 2023*

lilkech:
It has nothing to do with the brake fluid. Your brake discs were simply overheating.

Race cars come standard with properly ventilated brake discs for this exact reason.

Thanks. I thought it was the brake fluid.

That is why one has to be careful racing a street car without modifications.

Found a nice video on the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKNmCqENIyE

1 Like

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 7:42pm On Apr 03, 2023

erico2k2:
I think he is right however the 9ja mentality always come into play for fear of losing a Job and going home empty. Even FG of Nigeria only pay mobilisation once contract has been awarded. There are times where clients has paid Transport and workman went AWOLSo the question is, what's best practice?

If I told you how much I had to spend to get contracts, travels, several times, running 30 day proof of concept, calls, bringing my team to the site without even being sure of a deal.

So like I said before Sonnie is right. But for certain people, he is wrong because they operate outside the enterprise deal circle (B2B). They deal in the B2C market in which different rules may apply.

FG, state governments and even companies do not as a rule pay in advance of signing the contract.

Until the dotted line is signed, you are spending your own money!

As a matter of fact, some have started sending a letter with the words: " Non-Obligatory Proof of Concept/Demonstration" when they invite you to come for the discussion.

These stories remind me of a guy who flew in state of the art Ricoh machines to NNPC to demonstrate and then NNPC did not end up buying.

This guy was literally in tears and reached out to me to help him sell them.

If you do enterprise deals, you will understand that even the decision to buy can take months or years, but then at the end, the deal is usually a very big one, so his ask was an impossible to fulfil one.

5 Likes

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 8:12am On Apr 03, 2023

While I don't agree with everything that son.nie says.

After several state governments made me pay cash to travel to their capitals to solicit business and none of it came, I can understand how some artisans feel about paying to travel out of state from their pockets.

That notwithstanding, I have to make the point that even foreigners have paid flight money to come to Nigeria, hotel bills and more in pursuit of business that was not sure, sometimes it clicked, sometimes it didn't click, so I totally understand son.nie's point of view. That is why I spoke of the cost of doing business. Later I adjusted my strategy and concentrated on spending on travel only in Abuja. But I have been guests of state governments (obviously outside Abuja) since then with returning flight fully paid, and accomodation fully paid and meals fully paid. I even got sick onsite once and they covered my medicals.

That said, given that there are more people pursuing deals than people who can get the deal, I will agree with sonnie that everytime someone chooses to spend his or her money on you, he is doing you a favor.

My biggest deal was given to me after months of chasing it, but I got to be aware of a guy who had been pursuing the same deal for years, one administration after the other, they would discuss and they would be close to signing the dotted lines but they never did. I met this guy several times and could see the frustration on his face from not getting the deal and learning that someone else got it.

Someone literally stepped in and insisted that they had to give me that contract. How can you say that is not a favor? And when the deal came did I not accomplish what I did not accomplish before that? We should be grateful whenever we get a deal because it might have gone to someone else.

10 Likes

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 10:22pm On Apr 02, 2023

sonnie10:
Somebody else came from Warri at no cost and got the job. That was almost #8M. Another sent someone from Nnewi and said he gave the person #5k for transportation, but he did not get the job because he didn’t have Tilcor which was my choice as compared to other roofing sheets.
It is the cost of doing business.

However my issue with this particular member here was the arrogance from demanding this transportation fee payment up front like it was an entitlement.

There is a cost of doing business, agreed!

As to your last paragraph, it goes to show something I have said before, people do business with people they like, so everyone cannot and will not be a client/customer, because everyone cannot like you.

Thanks for clarifying.

2 Likes

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 5:14pm On Apr 02, 2023

sonnie10:
One here told my people that they should pay him #25k to come down to East to measure my roof before he can give quotations. I Kuku respected myself and told them to look for people that are around.

I lost my engine in Edo State. After several days of trial and error, I had to waybill the top of the engine and pay for my technician to travel to Edo State and fix the car.

Sometimes, there is no way around bringing an artisan that you trust and know can deliver to wherever you need him to work for you.

After it was fixed, we traveled together back to Abuja.

3 Likes

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 3:56pm On Apr 02, 2023*

sonnie10:
She is talking about a wall. If the wall was layered on the floor it would be L x B . But wall area always erect
So it’s natural for it to be L X H in square meter

No contest.

This sentence taking it literally is the issue:

they multiply the total sqm of the building with the height of the building

it is either L x B or L x H.

The bolded sounds like L x B x H

Unless Madam erred in her presentation.

Which is unlikely because her complaint was:

why is it more than the total sqm of the building

This implies that she has the square meters and the her calculations do not rhyme with the calculations of the screeding artisan

Car Talk › Re: Break Failure Experience ( Pix ) by FEGEITOK: 3:48pm On Apr 02, 2023

If you drive very fast and have done a series of very hard braking you may experience the brake going soft and flat and you and taking longer than usual to engage.

Does that also count as brake failure?

Happened to me a couple of times along the Benin-Abuja route.

I think the brake fluid boils and can no longer do its job, the remedy is usually to drive slowly and avoid heavy braking for a while. Once the brake fluid cools down, I think the brake behaves normally.

The recommended remedy is to import high performance brake fluid, then flush the one purchased from our markets to and replace with the imported one.

11 Likes 1 Share

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 3:32pm On Apr 02, 2023

redgem:
Please I want to start making budget for screeding... Initially didn't want to screed the exterior walls but changed my mind (for more painting options)..

Exterior walls 39ft by 49ft long (there's balcony at the front and back of the building).
Parlour = 42sqm (didn't subtract the doors and windows, same with the rooms)
Room 1= 15sqm
Room 2= 12.26sqm
Room 3= 13.27sqm
Lobby 1= 3.93sqm
Lobby 2= 2.92sqm

I plan on buying materials myself cos it's hard to find a trustworthy artisan here who won't want to rip one off...

I want to use black cement screeding just like one bolu1986 did (don't know if he can please assist me with the mix ratio), without him saying he used black cement, you won't know it was actually Portland cement he used...

The guy that did my pop said black cement screeding isn't good for interior cos it causes heat...please how true is this? So many confusion with black cement and normal cement screeding 🤧🤧🤧

Please skimmer guys here can you assist me with the list and amount of materials I should buy that would be enough to screed the entire build 🙏🙏🙏

Quote from my pop guy
25 buckets of Screeding paint
2 20kg top bond
15 water seal
3 bags of black cement

Do you really want to ask someone to give up his secret sauce?

In this job, there are fathers, husbands, young men, students, etc. There is no standard charge for screeding. Some charge based on the name and reputation they have built over the years. Others charge because of the enormity of responsiblity they carry. Others charge because they would rather do something legit than beg or steal. Others want to make it big before tomorrow.

Because the motivations are so different, the pricing you get will vary considerably.

If you need someone that travels anywhere and everywhere and does not charge exhorbitantly. I can recommend someone. He is an undergraduate with a drive to better his lot in life. I like his work ethic. He finds time between his classes to travel all over Nigeria to do screeding so he can self-sponsor his education.

This is assuming that you found it difficult to arrive at a compromise with Bolu.1986 whose work I love and highly recommend.

Maybe I will start with your approval by passing on these parameters so we can get his costing for the above.

1 Like

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 3:25pm On Apr 02, 2023*

redgem:
I was arguing with the pop guy cos of the measurements he gave me.... I told him why is it more than the total sqm of the building and he said cos they multiply the total sqm of the building with the height of the building... Please how true is this?

Let me get this straight.

Formula for calculating square meters: length x width = m2

Your artisan said: m2 x height = m3?

where m = meters

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 11:53am On Apr 01, 2023

redgem:
Exactly....any defect they point it to cheap services...which is wrong. Someone I know spent millions on roofing but guess what? The roof collapsed, millions spent all gone... Who is to be blamed?

There is absolutely nothing wrong in buying cheap.

If there are 2 of the same, why spend more to get the exact same thing?

Anyone saying you should is preaching a gospel that he or she does not practice.

Then again there is a place for differentiation. If you can differentiate yourself, you can charge anything and someone will pay. However, it also means you are targeting a different set of clients.

In my days of selling enterprise software, I would reach out to distributors outside Nigeria because those ones just wanted turnover versus Nigerian distributors who wanted to make a big kill on each and every single deal, and it was good for my profits.

There is nothing like financial prudence and discipline.

The problem is being ordinary and charging an arm and a leg, potential clients are going to have issue with that.

3 Likes 1 Share

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 11:57am On Mar 30, 2023

isangjohnson:
Bros, thanks once again. We're just considering different options in this project as we've already determined to deliver quality job by installing products that will deliver the needed result while also lasting longer.

Because of your project, I took a second look at those solar-powered traffic lights on my way to work.

The control box for each of them is high up there. You need a ladder or a crane to work on each of them.

Implementing it this way makes life more difficult for criminals.

Hope this helps.

The only issue is that the area is a controlled environment and taking pictures can land one in trouble, but I will try to get you a picture or pictures and will update this post

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 10:18am On Mar 30, 2023

KolaShangOne:
Thank you.

About no 5., I saw an idea on Pinterest and I'm itching to try it out.

Love this.

Matches points 4 and 5 and no visitor will ever forget the sight/implementation

1 Like

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 4:39am On Mar 30, 2023

Nigerian carpenters, up your game.

Get this, please.

They call it pocket hole jig.

In professional wood working, we don't want to see nail or screw holes

Picture credits except Amazon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-VEsdM1rdw&ab_channel=SharaWoodshopDiaries

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 4:20am On Mar 30, 2023

isangjohnson:
We will think about this.
Thanks Boss

You could take things a notch higher by integrating an alarm system and also getting a vehicle or vehicles for armed response to attacks or attempts to steal captured on video.

Even here in Abuja nearly all the solar panels and associated systems that were installed to power CCTV installed a while ago have been vandalized

But there is something I noticed about the street light systems installed by China recently.

1. solar powered.
2. properly earthed.
3. Some of them have alarm systems as well as cameras.

Not exactly what you are offering but I am sure that you can copy and transpose the lessons to your own project.

Something tells me that you are my brother from another mother.

All the best.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 12:49pm On Mar 29, 2023

isangjohnson:
Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate.

What about adding video cameras with internet access that send footage to a control room?

Would that terribly add to the cost of the setup?

If you want a system that has been pre-engineered, think MTN.

But you might be able to couple the system together if you have a team of IT engineers or video engineers

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 9:49am On Mar 28, 2023

Namzy:
I'm even skeptical it can handle 60 amps looks like 6mm2 wires

What if the wires are replaced?

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 6:23am On Mar 28, 2023

GloriousGbola:
erm

you have contrasting colors of lights here

warm white and cool white

it should ideally be warm white in your bedroom as cool white or daylight can interfere with your ability to fall asleep

unless the ceiling light is one of those smart lights where the color can change -

but ideally, you only want lights with cool white or daylight color temperature in work type areas in the house - your study, your kitchen, maybe your laundry.

though i understand we really dont look at colour temperature in nigeria - for years we simply installed cold white flourescent tubes in our homes

the discerning client takes things like this into consideration.

Good advice.

I guess your advice would have been different if the cool white was not above the bed but was task lighting

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 11:34pm On Mar 27, 2023

KolaShangOne:
How I use wall lights these days…

A well respected member of this thread said that wall lights are out of fashion.

I doubt that that is the case.

If indeed that is the case, it is either a Nigerian thing or he may be referring to those wall lights very close to the ceiling.

I believe that wall lights globally have not run out of fashion.

That said, I would do wall lights a little differently from those in my grandparents and parents' houses or the houses I grew up in.

1. I would mount wall lights to the left and right of mirrors

2. I would mount wall lights to the left and right of the bed

3. I would mount wall lights at eye level and not close to the ceiling

4. I would mount wall lights that match with the room decor (and that make a statement, this is not just lighting, this is a fashion accessory that has made a difference to the look and feel of the room that it is installed in - in other words, the choice of the wall lighting is intentional, not just a piece of lighting)

5. I would mount multiple wall lights and make their control different from the rest of the lighting for the room they are situated in

I think that eye-level wall lights are not yet out of vogue.

Your implementation is beautiful

2 Likes 2 Shares

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 7:49pm On Mar 27, 2023

Jefferyzz:
It's still $9 with shipping n it takes 3weeks to get to Nigeria n u will need a dollar card . If u don't know how to order or av a dollar card. WhatsApp me with delivery details. I'll epp u order @725/$

Thanks for the additional information and the offer. Will revert.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 6:36pm On Mar 27, 2023

Jefferyzz:
I got it from AliExpress. It's 9$

First of all, I want to thank you.

The next issue on my mind, including shipping approximately how much did this cost you?

That is just the product price, I assume.

Finally, if I were to buy this, this will be a first for me from this website. So how long did it take to arrive in Nigeria? Did you have issues with customs or the price including shipping incorporated customs duty?

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 4:09pm On Mar 27, 2023

Jefferyzz:
Yh. D CC shows daily n and overall harvest on the small screen n d figures displayed are close to the actual tin. Though I av a watt meter in-between my CC n battery. The watt meter wattage reading is same as the figure in my BMS.

Please brand/model and/or pictures.

I believe I need this.

Thanks in advance.

Properties › Re: General Topic Thread-To Discuss Anything And Everything in Building Construction by FEGEITOK: 3:52pm On Mar 27, 2023

GuestJoe:
Please can I get his contact? Will he be able to do plaster work in Anambra?

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 7:21pm On Mar 22, 2023

GloriousGbola:
A partner wants to go all in on PV installations so I did some research.

1. Felicity solar are the only lower tier solar who have a proper website and proper documentation of all their products.

2.They also have very wide coverage. Across Africa.

Most of these solar products Google searches takes you to jumia and ends there. Or the company ends in Ikeja.

We also went to felicitys main office in okota.

3. They have a workshop filled to overflowing.

Whether that is a good sign or not depends on you.

Some of the signs I would look for before purchasing a product.

It is not always a bad sign that a product is a mass market as opposed to being a premium product.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 6:43pm On Mar 22, 2023

GloriousGbola:
You know security guard is another hustle - as in you (oga in the company) give the contract for security to one of your friends who sets up a security company. The guards can literally be picked off the street. So the security vendor took the hit on the cost and the fallout.

Normally they will just cycle the guard to some other place, but the cost and fallout here na sack matter or worse. I learnt the hard way that 90% of security companies are just some very frustrated guys in uniforms

True.

Very true.

Job for the boys.

Alternative cashout means for some or all of management.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 6:27pm On Mar 22, 2023

GloriousGbola:
But that is the problem in itself. An industrial stabiliser is SUPPOSED to have a high voltage cut off. Especially one sold in this environment

And the person selling is supposed to give professional advice. The customer is unlikely to be an engineer or techie

Since the seller(s) is/are more interested in selling, the user(s) has/have to be more interested in learning the ins and out before purchase

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 6:26pm On Mar 22, 2023

GloriousGbola:
The ups cost like 250k to fix if I recall, and the enterprise oracle server went down. Because one poorly trained security guard saw power in an isolated server room.

In hindsight, who knows all the stunts those guys had been pulling on the ups powered circuits.

When mtn came to Nigeria, they enacted a policy of changing all ups outlets to German schuko because office workers were connecting boiling rings to the UK flatpin ups outlets

Abuse of ups/inverter by end users is a real problem

Did he stay on as a guard?

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by FEGEITOK: 6:07pm On Mar 22, 2023

GloriousGbola:
In my old place, one weekend a security guard connected an iron to the ups carrying the office oracle server.

Your story is not complete.... grin

1 Like

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