₦airaland Forum

Very true.
I wonder how camel go cross the channel ?

erico2k2:
Thank God say we No longer dey Europe

From a theory perspective, a key starter can be anywhere. I think the principle is for 2 cables to touch, so if u extend the cables to wherever you want it, then the principle should hold. Just theory.

You know those films where they jack cars and join 2 cables together to start it, so if those cables were extended 5 metres away, i would still expect the car to start if they jump it with the cable.

I think the next level would be gens where u can start it from your room, and maybe you can see the petrol/diesel levels from your phone etc.
Do Nigerials really care about that ? absolutely not !
Make food dey for table is key thing and meat onto rice, ask Bosun no wonder why he cannot afford 10k installment this week !

gabbytabby:
I go Google cos I am so interested and my gen is a key start. Thanks Oga Egun. That is the reason person keeps coming to Nairaland.

I am glad to be of help, at least i like to think i helped to expose a fraud, shared some ideas and learnt a lot here. Met some really cool people, you all know yourself, not only meeting on a faceless forum, some here I have met face to face (you know yourself). Thanks to all the regular positive contributors on this forum, been of immense help.

As for LastPage, well Erico said it all, lol. Only for LastPage to say that whenever he enters the country, some people in the airport will tell him/her, now what was LastPage thinking for coming here to type such a thing, does that even make sense ? Is that a threat or what ? When Qc1 hinted that he might be on the lookout for a weapon, he was heavily criticized, however when LastPage said that he will get someone in South south or whatever to let them know when someone is in Nigeria, we knew LP was referring to Erico, nobody here said anything to criticise LastPage for such a cowardly comment and what I find to be childish. I smell hypocrisy, well as for me I am not scared of anyone but GOD, and independently minded I guess anyone can go and find out the meaning of the word "maverick"

itswell1:
I no vex for you. I have learnt from your builds and innovative ideas shared and i am using this knowledge and ideas from others here on my building projects.
No mind the hermaphrodite called last page, The madam need subsidy/fraud to survive and we don block the subsidy here so belle dey worri am and her family most especially the desert rat. Hope your 5k is still on the table for family support because hunger wan finish some body for sahara desert ooo

What did you like/enjoy the most about Lagos, and what did you least enjoy about Lagos in those 3 months ?
I would consider moving to a different city first before trying out Nija without a very solid plan.

However, if uncle Bubu can make me head of Nepa / NCC or one plum Govt Parastatal, then I would reconsider . At least I will have direct access to some people who will surely make Bosun pay my money in full and hopefully show Nigerians what true leadership really means, not coming onto a faceless forum and having a lot of laughable endorsements or what I may term k**sing A*s.

Qc1:
You' re right.

For a very long time I was thinking about moving to Toronto or Chicago. Lagos just outweigh then in my opinion. I once stayed in Lagos for 3 months. It was the best 3 months in a long time for me. I figured, how bad can it be? If it doesn't work, I can always dust my blue "pali" and move to Toronto or Chicago. Home is where your heart is. The stress is too much here.

Oga itswell1

No vex na !!
I guess na useless asshats like LastPage dey put mouth inside matter wey no concern dem !
Instead make dey go hawk coloured crayon oranges or ask Mrs May for British passport, useless She_Male !!!

Brabus, still waiting for the 10K this week, its only friday today !

itswell1:
Oga mave, no make me change hand for you ooo. Brabus not paying the money is not because Nigeria economy is challenging at the moment. He has been here bragging on different jobs he is working on so he cannot say he is not been paid for this jobs. Even Okada man dey pay his own debt talkless of a heavenly know it all engineer,
You will create an avenue for excuses

Yes I know its bad right now especially with the collapsed oil prices. Is it not possible to relocate to a different city ?

Bros, trust me Nija is not much better if you dont have a solid plan, you think its cheap to live in Nija (Lagos) in particular, you will be surprised how the bills creep up there as well.

* There is public transport but I guess it may not suit you, when conductor starts to swear at you that you have taken 2 spaces in the bus.
* If you have a car, you need to service it and fuel it etc.
* If you have a house, at least you save on rent.
* Pay bills like phone credit, tenement rate, estate fees etc, i know its small compared to Canada etc.
* You might need a house help/security/maiguard
* You are your own Nepa, you need to generate your own electricity when NEPA strikes. Petrol & Diesel cost.
* Think you are smart and buy inverter? dont use it well and let the battery degrade. you will need to shell out N100k just to replace the battery.
* You are your own water cooperation, you need to generate your own water whether you like it or not.
* Forget drinking tap water, unless you want to be wearing pampers after pooing all day, you need to buy decent water.
* The roads will spoil your car unless you get jeep, even jeep self wait till you hear the cost of replacing one single tyre.
* Nobody gives you money, they expect from you after-all you just came from abroad.
* Nothing is free, you have to grease palms most places u go, even though you know how to park, the security telling you where to park in V.I self wants something.


So to fit into the Nija system, I feel that one needs to earn money there. Unless one is taking a gigantic sum of money, you will just find that you are spending everyday and if nothing is coming in, it can be hard o.

Qc1:
Thank you dear friend.

I had a business plan but with the exchange rate, I wont be able to execute the plans.

Please google "Calgary / Alberta economy" things are not really much better right now. I lost 45% of my income 12 months ago. By the time I paid all my bills I hardly have $300 left every month. Whatever I do in naija, I will still have $300/month. I really want to reunite with my wife as I promised next month.in naija, to tell you the truth, nothing makes me happier in this world. The stress of losing money here is just killing me. I don't have pay rent on naija, and the bills is reasonable compare to North America. I just wanna chill!


As for Bosun, I guess maga no dey pay anymore!

QC1

Nigeria is hot and smoking right now, this is not the kind of decision you just make in a haste, its so bad now that Bosun Davies Shoyoye cannot even afford to pay the 10K due this week the refund for the fake building plan, before he was paying in weekly installments.

I am guessing you got a family, have you thought about that ?
Also, Nija is not a place one goes without a solid plan, even that plan self you have to put it into prayers because sometimes what you see or hear is not the reality on the ground.

Personally, I would recommend you stay put unless you have a serious solid business plan that can work in the current economic climate or you have a highly placed chairman that can give u a decent government posting.

Qc1:
Urgent advise needed!


I'm posting this question here because I know there are a lot of you in the same situation with me, please pardon me if I've offended anyone with this....


I'm about to submit my quit letter to my manager on Monday to relocate to Nigeria next month. I noticed a thread on the front page that says $1 = N400. I lived in Calgary, AB. Y'all know oil & gas have turned this city into something else these days, it's like its no better than naija here, the only difference is stable electricity and rule of laws.

What should I do? I'm totally confused!


Thanks.

@Madam Gabby

Any reason for the gens on the balcony, in my experience I find that the smoke more of less messes up the paint work, and in this day and age of tiling everywhere, will it not mess up the tiles also engine oil leaks etc ?

@Engineers, Structurally also, is there evidence to suggest generators can affect the superstructure/substructure ?

gabbytabby:
Generally I do the wires for the generator as I want to reduce the incidence of trailing wires and associated safety issues. Generators are usually located in balcony and away from cooking gas point.

Ceiling price is all inclusive but I end up paying for transportation and 1 meal a day which adds up.

Looks like what I would expect, pls confirm that this is outside of Nigeria ?

In all the electrical re-wire installations that I have overseen (not in nija), I typically use MK/Wylex 10/12 way dual RCB consumer unit (This is the new regulation for Part 17 certification). Every major circuit has its own breaker (cooker, upstairs light, downstairs light, sockets, electric shower if applicable etc), and you can isolate various part of the house etc. I bought DB in Nija ABB or so, but TBH I dont remember what they look like and if they have exactly same functionality, I know it has MCB breakers (we had to hide that during rough in works) but how many I do not remember.

Here, I have every part of the house with its own breaker, including the garage, last week a friend who got excited with my hedge cutter mistakenly slit the cable . Luckily the garage has its own small DB and set of breakers, i had tripped off an intermediary one, so it was just a case of lifting it back up, and I shouted UP NEPA !.

I was thinking of buying ABB boards from England and shipping to Nija, this was when I was hearing about the various fakes and I didnt want to take chances, I however found it difficult to find our typical Nija DB over here, and I dont want to buy the type that is used here just in case it doesn't work, so I just bit the bullet and bought it from nija like that, but ensured it was the real thing and had electrician verify it.

Our Electrical pros, pls confirm if the below can work in nija. I am just curious

danowena:
Talking of DB.This is in my apartment. What do u think?
Cc: allCopacetic, mavverick , topsy23,EgunMogaji,

Have you seen my messages ?
If you say you do not have 10k this week, when will you have it ?

n3xt:
@ allCopacetic, nice one there. I knew you won't ever disappoint.

I'm watching an interesting movie right now. I'll respond to your post later.

Thanks bro.

Yes, I can confirm that is what I have here . Makes me feel better, I don't expect that 100% of everything on paper is what is on ground, I expect some small changes, for example sometimes during construction layout changes can occur etc, and I remember the electrician showing me some of the mistake brabus made and some of the things that were meant to be done but did not happen.

After construction etc, what purpose does that document serve and how will it be useful apart from things like fault finding/understanding for someone new, for example I know exactly where the cables are buried and what route they took etc. The reason I ask is that my electrician does not reside in Lagos, and I know that sooner than later, I will need a local guy that can fix small stuff urgently, I just want to know what instructions to give him.

Thanks Topsy.

topsy23:
Boss the design am talking about is the electrical design drawing that include the following;
Lengend(symbols)
Lighting Layout
Power layout(Socket, TV point, AC power position, distribution board position)
External Light
Cable route layout.
Electrical room Layout

Electrician don't know how to design, Engineers normally does the design with the use of autocad but a good electrician should be able to read and understand electrical design drawing in order to work with it. Being an electrical engineer gave me the priviledge to know both electrical design, plumbing design and HVAC design. I have done it for many Nairalanders. Am presently doing a course on ducted AC design for a multi-story/high rise building. No knowledge is lost

Just give some time, I literally just got connected, and there is something I am still waiting for, so like 90% done, let me reach 100% first and have it all in the bag.

If I talk now, thier Oga might be reading this page, you want make the guy go blacklist me ? Abi u want make my former engineer go do AMEBO ?

Its just mainly tips and my experience sha with EKDC.

EgunMogaji:
I'm looking forward to reading your experiences as I'm at that stage now.

Egun

Which one be "Agbala Itura", is that the name of your chateau in Cali ?
Sounds white garment institution to me oo

I was expecting something like Egun Rock or Egun Mansions..

EgunMogaji:
Thanks Chief, I'll go check your thread.

Home Automation? Now you're talking my language. I use a combination of Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings app to control my home right now. Same will happen in Ibadan naturally.

Hello Topsy,

Just looking at my electrical documents, there are about 11 pages of them. The design you talked about, is it the one that specifies how the load should come into the building, so when I open one page I see something about a gear switch first, change over meter,change over etc.

One of them also states the lighting points, size of cables to be buried underground etc, smoke alarm location, 1G or 2G switch . I think its the electrical design diagram but want to be 100% sure. The first page contains signs and symbols etc. Its hard for me to read as I have to keep referring to the first page to see what each symbol means.

Lastly, what is the importance of gear switch if have everywhere metered, and each meter has an isolating switch/fuse anyway. I contracted the drawing out to my architect to do at the time, I am guessing he has his electrical people that he uses as I remember then that one of the guys he uses was delaying the drawings, are you saying that in future, the electrician who is going to do the job should be the one doing the electrical design drawing ?

topsy23:
Well said, the location of the distribution board should be hidden in such a way that it will not be visible by the visitors. Location of switches is one of key point to be noted when doing electrical installation. Switches must not be located at the of the door. That is why electrical design drawing is very important during installation. But in a situation whereby there is no electrical design drawing, Architectural drawings should to be studied strictly and understand the doors openings.

Would you say in the kitchen, slight above the door leading to it, not directly above the door but somewhere around that area ?

I think if one is looking into the kitchen, its not the first thing you see, you would need to enter the kitchen and then look back towards the door.

twinskenny:
yes oo in case of any incident...in most cases the kitchen or under the stair case is ideal

Madam Gabby/Engineers in the house/Electricians.

Trust you are good.
What is your stance on generators and where it should be located ?
Do you do the wiring for tenant generators ?

@Madam Gabby, With regards to your ceiling for the labour prices below, are these for just wiring or for laying the pipes, wiring, fitting the switches/light points, commissioning & testing ?

I just finished my wiring, lighting and meters just got installed. I intend to do a small write up on the last bit which is the meters, hopefully should be able to help a few folks as its one area where the reality can be sometimes different to what they tell you on paper.

On the issue of wiring/meters in a setup where you have a busbar and multiple meters, is it better to use a 10mm copper cable for the cut out for each meter or use recline (16mm), I will reveal my experience shortly.

gabbytabby:
I would use a formula to arrive at the number per flat and then buy half for the lower flats then adjust as necessary for the upper flats.

Per flat would be
7 of 1.5mm
5 of 2.5mm
1 of 4mm
1 of 6mm

For the green I would have about 2 of 1.5mm per flat and then about 1 of 4mm per flat.
Generally for all flats we will have 2 of 10mm and then 3 of 16mm aluminium. Note all the others are copper wires.

The 25mm the longest I have ever had to buy is 33meters.


Alternatively if you want to avoid going up and down then buy about half of his quote and issue as needed.

They have always used more 1.5mm than 2.5mm.

You have to supervise.

Labour charges my ceiling is 30 for 1bed, 40k for 2beds and 50k for 3bed. Note the use of the word ceiling and more applicable to high end installation with AC, TV points in all rooms and parlor, maybe water heater, generator points and significant double sockets 3 in rooms and kitchen 4 in living room.

Engineer Agba (Senior Engineer) !

Well done.
The concept looks nice, so this is the L shape that I always hear about. Whats the total area of the plot and how many sqm will the building take ?

segcymoor:
New month.....new goal!


------
We set to fly to d centre of unity to embark on the construction of this terrace building
Guy, its going to be an interesting development.
Trust me!

Just the guy you need.
abdulwastecx, with this kind of pressure on the ground, what does it mean in terms of constructing what will carry the tanks.

abdulwastecx:
From a structural point of view I will like to have more information like the location of the soil strata with that bearing capacity you quoted above.

From experience, I know that the soil with such bearing capacity may be located at some depth below the natural ground level.

From a simple can calculation, I estimate that the tank will exact about 60.02KN/square meters, which is quite high.

New week and a new month.
May we all achieve all our aims and objective for the month of August. AMEN.

Bosun Shoyoye, 10k due this week current balance is 90K.

Omo Kabo, Baba Ku Ile !!!

would be nice to know if Omo is actually male or female !!!
I am not sold.

Bros

Slow and steady wins the race, was only a year and 3 months ago that i started, and I can only thank God. You will be surprised with how far and fast you can go when you have the right team and put things into prayers. Even when some said "YOU CANNOT DO IT AND SHOULD NOT TRY IT, AND THREATS OF I WILL START LETTING YOU DEAL WITH WORKERS". I stand here from the rafters shouting, In Obama's voice YES I CAN.

erico2k2:
ahah You are Ill from the xtimate of your roof,
me and carpenter plus iron bender wear one trouser like this cos Im trying to do the lintel at mine hmm Decking eta December cos that's wen the Queen permit me to fly and Ambode permit me to land

Yes oo.
Its only Malla's hand that can handle it, i had a double casted retaining wall, malla drilled hole inside it within a few hours, plumber/bricklayer didnt not go near it when asked.

Just ask around for Mallam, you mobilise them small to buy new tools etc. At least thats what i did sha.
The dynamite idea should work logically, but I personally will not want dynamites on my site, what if they leave un-exploded ones. To do something like that, it has to be really well controlled.

msogunro:
You mean a laborer will use hammer and chisel to break these boulders?

Nah wow!

No try am !
As many people have told you here, get professionals (real builders or the best bricklayer around if you cannot afford a civil engineer)
if you dont do the DPC well, you can start to have water ingress from the ground and that's bad. Also not filling the foundation could cause your building to have serious structural issues and potentially collapse.

Maryam:
Good day All,

my question will be to the expert in the house. A raft foundation was made for the my building project, while the next phase is to do the filling of the foundation . But my Builder recommend we can do without the filling by just doing the DPC suspended which will leave space between the DPC and the earth below. He actually suggested this idea considering my budget, trying to save me cost for the filling and also confirmed he has done same for a construction he did in the same estate.

Despite my lean budget, am skeptical about the idea hence why a seeking advice from the professionals here too

Note that the structure is a 4 bedroom duplex

Oga allCopacetic

This broadband, is it not like a wifi broadband router or how does it work in nija ?
The day broadband becomes relatively low priced like GSM calls, then the likes of NTA will be going down. Does anyone still watch NTA these days ?

allCopacetic:
Unlimited for where ? after 60GB, your connection speed is throttled down to snail speeds. na that one be unlimited?

actually there's quite some perceptible difference in the 1080p and 1080i resolutions, but this is visible on TVs larger than 50'' , when the objects on the screen are fast moving, and also dependent on viewer's proximity to the screen.

I dont understand a word of what you're saying from the third paragraph down .lol

The sand in question gets applied and then from time to time, you can apply new one and sweep it in. I would only apply if for example i used a jet/pressure spray to wash off the drive and it has swept off some of the sand.

But this is like once in years. Mind, this is an area/country that is least susceptible to flooding or standing water.

That zinc salt you talked about, which market will i find that one or do I have to go back to my chemistry secondary school . How can it be applied and whats the mix ratio, and lastly I hope its not prohibitively expensive. Will using stone dust as a base also help since vegetation shouldn't grow on pure stone dust/stone dust swept in between the spaces ?

gbadexy:
Stamping and painting works well like you did mention.
I don't know how practical this sand in the picture is on the long term. Won't rain water wash them off with the settlement of new sand.
It may need to be added periodically for efficiency.
If the sand works, something similar could be fashioned locally. Some zinc salts are great anti growth. And they have very low solubility in water, so they would last effectively if not washed totally off by rain water.
You can even buy them around lagos and used to fill the interlocking space or mixed with laterite clay at a certain ratio to give higher yield.

As usual, thank you for the comprehensive reply.
Would i be right in saying, a customer can request for more chemical to be added in certain areas with distinctive characteristics, i.e high salt water moisture areas, not sure it has an effect on paint or areas prone to water splashing. Almost like painting a wall eggshell, that material feels like its not going to absorb water but just run off (could be wrong here).

gbadexy:
With all pleasure sir. I think I'm allowed to blow my trumpet.
Dulux is indeed a very great brand, it goes without saying.
Regal paint is also a very good brand in its own right.
We have various range of paint products and I would assume you are referring to the matte emulsion finish since you paired it with weathershield.
The regal matte finish will give you equal coverage yield if not more than matte finishes of other brands available.
There are simply major materials responsible for how opaque a paint is and how long it stays glued to surfaces.
If the opacifying material is high, it covers the wall quickly and you don't need many coats to paint an area. Same thing with the binder. The more it is, the better the adhesion and later it is.
So our matte has high quantity of these in addition to specially selected fillers that helps it to absorb u.v radiation, hence limiting it's damaging effect and ensure durability.
The matte is like giving your building a protective clothing. It has high water resistant feature and generally protect the building from weathering effects. So your building doesn't age fast.
The regal matte has the advantage of giving you a very quality matte finish of international standard but a lower cost due to much lower overhead and advert cost.
In all honesty now, I've supplied an interior decor with satin to cover up missing American imported product and the clients didn't notice the difference.
I've even supplied a client that brought some from America and needed to get extra from me and they attested to the quality of mine.
The country of production may differ, but we mostly use the same material and technology.
The raw materials are mostly imported and similar in any case .

Gbadexy

Oya, educate class so we can start filling our notebooks ?
Let me rephrase it a little, as a customer what benefit does Regal paint have over Dulux Weathershield that will convince me to go for it ?

battleaxe:
Does anyone here have any personal experience with using Dulux Weathershield? Are they worth the additional spend?

Also, is there a significant difference between the Dulux Trade Weathershield and the regular Dulux Smooth/Ultra Textured Weathershield (apart from the texturing that is).

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Is there a solution for this ?

Whilst I know this is Nigeria, and I do not think that its cool to just accept the norm, I like to believe there is a solution.
One part of me also thinks if the area is being stepped on regularly, that should discourage the growth of weeds. I like the idea of a solution to prevent it in the first place. I am not advocating importing sand to Nigeria, but below is a solution some in the Western world use. I also know that concrete stamping may help, but that's out of the question for me.

gbadexy:
I don't think any nylon membrane can prevent growth of weeds between interlocking bricks.
There would still be settlement of sand through dust and traffic over time and those are sufficient to support growth of weeds.

Def looks like a Cat 5, I remember wiring that within my own home as I dont like cabling dangling about.
Quite tricky to put the snippers (clips) on the mouth of the cables and get the colour coding right.

allCopacetic:
That's a network/ethernet cable looks like a Cat 5 , image is not to clear.
The below is what i was referring to

Unless I'm missing something here. Ability to get full HD I.e 1080p mainly depends on the source, and your tv and quality of things like hdmi cables etc.


Is there full HD in Nigeria ? True 1080p and not 1080i or 720p?
There's not too much of it in the western world, mainly 1080i which is just as good. The cost of AV equipment to broadcast in 1080p is a lot but has been coming down in recent years.

Even sky full HD is 1080i and not 1080p for those who do not know. Those that do 1080p I.e Netflix do so because it's cheaper to stream 1080p over the Internet.

allCopacetic:
Sure,
As far as delivering the radio signals from your dish to the receiver/decoder goes, a good copper-cored coax cable should give you a perfectly clear signal.

Getting HDMI quality picture and sound now depends on the setup/connection from your receiver to the TV.

Receiver to TV (via HDMI cable) and TV to Home theater (via HDMI) should set you up for quality HD viewing.

The TV obviously has to be a HD TV for the HDMI connection to matter

Checkitout

You too funny sha
can it be mixed ? Just thinking as I may have some sharp left overs and you know I will not throw it away.

You still didn't say what advantage stone dust offers apart from saying if it's the correct thing to do. If dpc membrane or nylon is laid underneath before stones, will it stop the growth of vegetation on interlocks ?

Chekitaut:
Stone dust is mostly use as top soil for laying interlocking pave stone but due to the cost people tend to use sharp sand. Bros If you are part of the DASUKIGATE while ask this question? Lets get crush Diamond as top soil, how about that? its $500/ton. looking forward to hearing from you.