₦airaland Forum

rotecch77:
Sir, We gave our own specification of materials to the fabricator guy and each one cost
3ft -30,000
4ft-35,000

Quite competitive. I am sure you must have given good quality specifications. Just that I have serious issues with Nigerian fabricated doors. Before you know it, it will start rusting from under and the key area would become difficult to even open again.

I am a tenant in a my current place and the man used local doors. The doors looks strong but we have changed the locks like 3 times now.

BrabusNG:
In 2008, we spent 15m just to change 99 doors in one of my boss’ house. Today, his kids are not interested in the superfluous build and it’s not easy not cheap to convert. There’s a bridge and even a small stream inside the house

My build is currently gravitating towards becoming a professional training center with some hostels. I know a self-made billionaire in Nigeria that made his monies from this.

I know in another decade I won’t need more than a 2 bedroom house and I’ve found a perfect one to build. It’s an underground house in Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan.

I got my experience while living in the estate of the super-rich Nigerians. More than half of the house in the estate are abandoned or having only Musa living there.

Ahhh. As if I was the only one that observed this. Most times, I work from my clients' office in Lekki phase 1and after lunch, I take 1 hour to stroll around the estate and allow my food digest I see a lot of abandoned finished buildings that were once occupied but now with Musa and his friends occupying them.

Either that the owner is tired of the house, the kids have all gone or the Canada migration fever has caught the entire household and they abandoned their building and relocated, waiting for Jide Taiwo or Fatimileyin & Co to sell the house

I factored in all these in my build so that no matter what, it could be converted to a guest house, training centre, office or school.

At least, you could see where my passion for flat grassland, plants and trees are coming from. I want to make easier for the place to be turned into a school or guest house in the future if circumstances changes.

BrabusNG:
I was just trying to convert my 2 bed apartment into a crèche and add some contemporary feel to the traditional build.

The anti-burglar bar in the kids play area can open fully so they can have a full glare of the outdoor without the bars. This connects the indoor activity area with the outdoor.

I intend to introduce artificial carpet grass on the concrete floor outdoor

Quite innovative. Good thinking.

BrabusNG:
My 2 bed was converted to a crèche. I told my agent “I’d rather use the flat for a school than have someone occupy my flats for 365 days and pay me meagre 300k (less than N1,000 per day.”

That’s just me by the way and the decision was based on the value attracted at the location where the project was done.

On the flip side, I did a multi-dwell mini flats project for a client in 2014. He has recouped all his investment as at today.
It’s 2 unit of 2 bed and 2 unit of 1 bed. 1 bed goes for 500k and 2 bed was 750k. It has all the features and conveniences.

Real guy man the mini 2bedroom duplex at the back of my main build will go for nothing less than 900k. I am going to do it to top standard as I have a particular clientele group I want just like Egun said.

If that doesn't happen, my brother, na creche level get me. I have already told my wife to start preparing for that since work no dey for her now

My neighbour that have completed his own rented his well finished 2 bedroom for 800k to a single lady working in a bank.

EgunMogaji2:
One needs to continuously adjust in life.

In the USA, most young couples start off with starter homes. Basic 2 or 3 bedroom houses. Most likely in town.

As they start having kids they’ll move up to a 3 or 4 bedroom home in a good school district, most likely in the suburbs.

As the kids go off to college they’ll downsize to smaller homes or even senior condos.

I retired back to Nigeria solo. My expansive 8 bedroom, 5 bath bungalow is now rendered nonsensical. Was it a bad decision no to build it? No, it was a decision made under different existing parameters. The bad decision will be to hold on to it as my private residence.

It’s okay to downsize, upsize.

Well captured Egun. My uncle built a massive 8 bedroom duplex and with attached 2 bedroom BQ at the peak of his career. Now retired and approaching 80, most of the kids are abroad. He, the wife and a Nanny are the only people living there. Anything I visited, I just shook my head. If you talk in the living room downstairs, it echoes.

The once house, full of visiting relatives and full of activities in the mid 90s is now desolate. Maintenance is even an issue as finances dwindles. The very room I stayed during my job hunting days in Lagos has dilapidated so much. The two big lister generators mounted by his former company have all packed up as he couldn't keep up with maintenance and fuelling. The large court yard is barely maintained unlike when I was there, company would send people for periodic maintenance of his house.

I always believe in evolving based on current circumstances. Also build what you have capacity to maintain in the long run.

BrabusNG:
There are good Nigerians doing great stuffs.

I spent my weekend working on openable burglar proofs and bi-folding nets. It was a great explore as we try to bring the outdoor inside without security compromise.

Bro, I would like to see this openable burglar of a thing. Our window areas in Nigeria lacks good aesthetics because of burglary and nets which we cannot do without because of insecurity and mosquitoes. It is always a good sight to behold a large transparent glass window without burglary and nets that usually makes them clumsy and loose that appeal

rotecch77:
The door sample pics

Bro, how much does this your sample white door goes for?

mufutau55:
EBM is great but very expensive o.
With the color I painted my last project, the gray color would have been the perfect match. But my next project will surely be grey frames but not EBM, I be kobo-kobo man o..

Hajji M.

Not just EBM, even grey tower and imported seems more expensive than white windows. Grey is more matured than all these whites we use. And I like to always have something different. Rotechh, I hope it is true because that's what I was told that grey is more expensive

mutahmakinta:
How does being barren relate to this issue? I think that's dumb coming from you. You might do more harm than good with your poor take.

You dey mind de guy. Typical Nigerian mentality that have been brainwashed by church and stupid pastors. Most of them think that bareness is as a result of wickedness or wayward life lived by the woman and the husband. See how everybody is invoking God's wrath on the perpetrators. God doesn't think and behave the way we do. If he should look at all our iniquities, who would even stand.

What they will do to themselves under a free Biafra is better imagined than experienced. The Idi Amin ruthless leadership or the Khamer rhuge leadership in Cambodia or the oppressive North Korea would be a child's play.
But why are all these states task force so ruthless? Go to Rivers state and see the havoc they are doing to people.

mufutau55:
I have always love gray or black aluminium window frame. Good choice.

Hajji M.

I actually wanted that grey color but it was more expensive than the normal white. EBM grey is even the most expensive grey and I don't know why the grey is more expensive than white - it made me to pick white even though grey was my preferred color as it looks different and more matured.

I pity the owner. LASG officials and police go use am chop well well

Nawaao - so na true say Lara don leave this man run?

This country ehh!

Government officials always looks funny with this face mask.

Hello People

Proficient in more foreign languages is becoming common now when it comes to highly competitive job market especially for jobs across the border. If you are interested in jobs with international agencies, it is likely that you may have come across the requirement: Applicants must be proficient in both English and French.

As a Consultant, I do come across some fantastic positions across Africa and around the world. Most times, a higher weighting is assigned to knowledge of foreign languages in the job advert. I lost a consultancy job I was interviewed because of my lack of knowledge of French with a development bank.

I now ask peeps: Do you pass by a job you are fully qualified but lacks proficiency in the second language requirement? Our understanding before was that proficiency in English language was enough for international jobs but the recent happening has proved to me that knowledge and proficiency in second language may be the advantage to secure that international job or consultancy. What do you think?

qdlvy:
One of the big differences between Nigeria and first world nations is people think their way out of a problem. They don't run away from it.
I won't pay 1.5m for a grass lawn even if I could afford it. There are tons of YouTube videos on how to start one. And you'd be surprised it's cheap. Seeds and soil and water is all you need. You can easily buy seeds on Amazon, eBay etc and ship for peanuts. Setting up an automated sprinkler system is cheap too, not that we need it in Nigeria but just in case. 1.5m is the price we pay for being lazy.

My brother, sometimes when I hear how people make things look difficult or impossible, I shudder in disbelief. I bought the carpet grasses I planted on my fence wall for N70 each nylon pack as they were still in nursery. I bought 100 pieces for a total of N7000. I bought one bag of manure for N500 , bought like four small bags of topsoil. I personally dug the holes where I planted those nursery plants and all are doing well, circulating in the manner I like.

You don't need to buy expensive John Deere or motorized mower for your lawns. My friend bought a very small tokunbo mower at Lawanson, which he happily uses on weekend to mow his lawns without any issue. Personally, I don't need maigida or any assistance to do all those jobs. They are one - hour Saturday exercise and you are done. Usually, the spaces where you have these lawns are not up to 30% of your total land area and I don't consider it a big deal for myself to see it as tasking or demanding. Anyway, it is about choice.

DIY is a concept that is not common in this part of the world. I visit Nairaland, YouTube regularly to learn how to do certain things my self and I equally encouraged my kids to follow the same path than waiting for one nanny to do it all the time.

It is not a Bible as my Oga here usually say or carved on stone - it is all about choices.

My concern is that the restaurant won't be same again after this incident. Most customers will quietly walks away. The best bet may be for her to relocate from that vicinity as the goodwill garnered over the year will be rubbished by that incident that was not fault of hers. Trust the competitors to use it to de market her business big time. I feel for her.

mufutau55:
That is exactly what I wanted as in your pic posted above. Since a friend in Ondo State did the same for about 200k about two years ago and the grass look very nice, but everything always get K-leg in Lagos/Ogun. Instead of paying N1.5m for grass, I will rather put a concrete foundation there awaiting to be built in some years to come. I want green but not that bad. Thank you.

Hajji M.

Agreed. It is all about interest and choices.

EgunMogaji2:
I just don’t like arguing about personal choices.

Some come on here and assume we don’t like or want grass.

See now, you pay N1.5M for grass, then have to water it, then get on your knees with scissors to cut it

I exaggerate Sir, I know you’ll be sitting atop a fancy John Deere ride on mower

People does that and mount John Deere to mow their lawns. It is no big deal. It all boils down to choices. Whatever interests you, turn it to a hobby and you won't feel the stress of it

mufutau55:
Yes o. Oyinbo can do all that, not good for Naija houses o. Much so in Europe and not much in America here.

On the matter of lawn.. I have an empty plot of 40x120ft beside my last project.. so intended to use this area for my green area. I contacted a person to help me plant grass there, I was billed N1.5m for the job. I changed my mind quickly and planted some hybrid coconut trees and sour-sop trees in the area... I will complete the area by growing vegetables or corns there instead of paying N1.5m for grass.

Hajji M.

Hahaha. 1.5m is too much. However, those cash crops you want to plant there is very good. A fiends place I visited in PH has a well maintained lawn like the attached and that's what I want to do in my build in Lagos. They just filled the place with top soil, bought water grasses and hired a labourer to just slot in the grasses. See the result after 1 year at less than 100k. The major expenses was the truck load of topsoil. Labour wasn't up to 20k

mufutau55:
I think he is talking about those plants growing on the side wall of the building... see the earlier posted pic, not the lawn.

Hajji M.

Ohhh! Now I understood. Ok ok.
I thought it was the lawn itself. Definitely, most people won't like the issue of grasses on the walls of their main houses as you wouldn't know when something dangerous is hiding there. However, I saw a lot of houses in villages in scotland that had the whole house covered with grasses except the window and door areas.

I won't do that on the main build but my fence is already being covered by the "creeping grass"

See Cyber bullying of the highest order

But where is the Chinedu? You don run baa? Nigerians no get joy - see attacks front and back. My guy quietly recoiled to his shell

Kai, the guy resemble orangutan or any member of the primate family walaahi

Badgers14:
Well, some folks do like it , bless their heart.

But for me, nah nah... I will pass. I just can't find a place in my heart to accept it. It hides the beauty of the house, makes it look creepy..it is just...nah nah, I still can't find a place in my heart to accept it.

But people do like it though and I admire their courage.!!

I am surprised! Beautiful carpet grasses hides the beauty of house? Is it concrete that shows the beauty? Nothing beats a well maintained lawn and flower plants in any build environment. Over "concretization" of build surroundings in Nigeria is making it seems normal. Anyway, every mallam to his own kettle. Green scenery anytime, any day for me.

Nigerian billionaires and charity are like parallel lines. They can never meet. They hardly commits their fortune to charity cause. Forget these foundation you hear, giving peanuts sometimes. American billionaires are known for charity and that's why we have a lot of charities and donors in US.

mufutau55:
Skimanski told me he is on Instagram now.
I dont do Instagram, so I never visited him.

Hajji M.

Oh really. Neither am I an instagramer too

My top three social media in no particular order remains Linkedln, whatsapp and Nairaland. Occasionally visits FB to check out on families.

Badgers14:
I really admire folks that have carpet grass around their house...bravo!!
.but my gosh that carpet grass around the house gives me goose bumps, I can't stand them..

How? Snakes or what? Just maintain it. You will be fine.

BrabusNG:
That is Georgian Architecture

The beauty of those house are the symmetrical windows, grand entrances, the arches, columns, high ceilings, and the architectural ornaments.

Not something I really like but it’s something that can be achieved if the motivation is right.



_______
By the way, Skimanski na baba

The guy seems to have disappeared. I don't see his thread again. You would love that type of architecture when modified to the present like the Windsor Castle in England. There is a hotel being built in PH with that type of architecture. Gothic cathedral design with gigantic corinthian pillars. May be only royals and men of Noble birth will be visiting the hotel. It looks so magnificent and imposing.

I knew I would see a pot-belly Lebanese man as a contractor before opening this thread- these guys are cashing out on Nigeria big time. But must all these politicians build an airport? what is the economic benefit to the state? I see all these as white elephant projects. How many planes will be landing in Abakiliki?

Xavie:
Hello... why not enroll your kids for some sporting activities... sports can toughen them up, even if it's martial arts

Surprising, they participate actively in sporting event in their school. The last inter house sports held in the school showed their running skills, especially my daughter with her lanky legs. My son is showing a very good promise in Bale dancing but I wouldn't want that. I will prefer to enroll them in martials arts/judo or taekwondo. Thanks for your advice. COVID-19 has put everything on hold

Coder2Client:
But why do you celebrate this? Israel does not care about Christians as they don't share the same belief as Christ being the messiah as Christians do.

The stupid and ignorant Christians would come now to "praise" God for his mercies on Israel. My brother, Israel is a racist nation. They don't care if you are a Christian. I don't understand Nigerian Christians and their obsession with any thing Israel. The Israel you see now is not the same as the Israel of the old. That's why I hate part of my church doctrine during the Lenten period, when a time is dedicated to pray for Israel for being the first to hear and receive the word of God. Is that the reason to pray for them? Why not pray for Nigeria?

Another thread to bash Nigeria. I agreed with you Op. People see some of us that have decided to stay as very insane. I had my kids in US and the person my wife stayed with in US havE been asking us the same question: What are you people still doing in Nigeria? Me and my wife are not the abroad-living type. I told her since I have worked hard to give double citizenship to my kids, there is no need for me to move and start life afresh.

Let me shock you. Do you know that 23 of my former colleagues have all relocated to Canada. I am sure COVID-19 is delaying some from making this move. These people that are moving are well to do people, earning well. It shows the hopelessness of the country. People move, leaving their high paying job mostly because of their kids. They want their kids to have better opportunity in future. The working class that are moving are not sure if there kids would be lucky as them. Secondly, people move because of insecurity and other social upheavals in Nigeria.

It is not that l like the status quo here. I still like my freedom, the prospect of growth, my extended family and the possibility of being "king" in my own jungle . Probably, if I didn't have my kids abroad, I would have considered the migration route just because of them. But for now, I dey kampe here