₦airaland Forum

mufutau55:
My brother, especially those father with more than one wife, and a younger wife (iyawo kekere) was the last one...

Hajji M.

These are the houses. First house was started back in 2013. This is the most recent pix with decking costs #7m (including land and everything). Duration: 3yrs

Second house (the last three pictures) costs #3m (including land and everything you see in the pix). Duration: 2months

Both houses are in the same town in the Southwest. Obviously something is wrong with first one.

Good day people.. I read where Madam GabbyTabby was talking about using the kitchen cabinet wood to support the weight of the concrete worktop and I just felt it needed more support to stand the test of time. Sometimes some people even sit on it in the kitchen.

Just yesterday, I was at an apartment in Abraham Adesanya Estate in Ajah and this is what I found (pic). Ignore the dirty plates

The cabinet wood was made with Mdf which makes it even worse.
Now, cost of repair will now be same as initial cost. That is, spending double.

Empiree:
These are the houses. First house was started back in 2013. This is the most recent pix with decking costs #7m (including land and everything). Duration: 3yrs

Second house (the last three pictures) costs #3m (including land and everything you see in the pix). Duration: 2months

Both houses are in the same town in the Southwest. Obviously something is wrong with first one.

This is nice.
His sister is a gooood person.
This is a good example of how 3m can get you a bungalow. And the kind of finishes to expect.
You can share the floor plan for people that want to toe the line.

Pls is the house tiled?

gabbytabby:
[sub][/sub]
Which one be expansion joints.

As-in if you do a long flooring of concrete, say a compound, the difference in temperature over days and nights means when heated, the concrete will expand and when cooled at night, it will contract/shorten.
If you dont put "expansions joints" (just some space occupied with foam or wood or some other material with low coefficient of expansivity), at say 3ft intervals, a long stretch of concrete will produce enough "expansion length to cadse the flooring to wobble/buckle and eventually break apart!

The same principle is seen in Bridges where you have the Bridge broken into small-small chunks instead of one long concrete bridge!

If you noticed when you drive on 3rd Mailand Bridge, those spaces that cause the Vehicle to "sing" jaaga-jaaga, ... are such expansion joints!


Lastpage!

Can l make a suggestion to the house please?

I have read from Maverick, Madam gabby and others, on how to do this Kitchen Top with concrete and tiles, then re-inforced with 12mm iron.

The 12mm iron re-inforcement might be totally unnecessary. (Cost-wise)

My suggestion, which l will use (I have not used it yet but l have a project ongoing now that will get to that stage in about two months time) is this:

1.) As usual, do the casing using 1x12 wood or if you dont intend to use tiles on the side-walls, use MDF to get a smooth finish

2.) Use Cement and Stone dust only (No sand).

3.) If you are like me that likes to do some "other things" on kitchen Top, on the spur of the Moment in other to create added excitement and "variety" being the spice of life, use wire-mesh (the type used for German Floor) to reinforce it.
Otherwise, it is strong enough to carry ordinary household utensils without breaking

4.) let Cement mixture be same Grade as you would for a House decking.

5) Mix thoroughly and let it be a bit watery (to allow proper settling, allow the cement to bind on the Stone Dust properly and to give a smooth finish

6.) Fill the vertical cavities first (Upright Walls). Dont smooth the top so it can bond properly with the Work top in the next step

7.) When dry, use it to act as support for the Horizontal Work top. cast as done on the vertical sides but dont forget to create the space for the Washbasin and Piping outlets for inflow water and waste water outflow (its concrete O! once you miss it, you will sweat to break it and probably deface it as well)

8.) You can put Tiles on top of the Concrete work Top, if you want

Once l do mine, l will post pictures.


Lastpage!

KolaShangOne:
Good day people.. I read where Madam GabbyTabby was talking about using the kitchen cabinet wood to support the weight of the concrete worktop and I just felt it needed more support to stand the test of time. Sometimes some people even sit on it in the kitchen.

Just yesterday, I was at an apartment in Abraham Adesanya Estate in Ajah and this is what I found (pic). Ignore the dirty plates

The cabinet wood was made with Mdf which makes it even worse.
Now, cost of repair will now be same as initial cost. That is, spending double.

Since its built as a suspended slab same principle as cantilever it can stand on its own. The essence of the full 3by2 is additional support to cater for the people you mentioned who do all sorts including sit and sleep on it. We started off with using blocks cause like you we wanted to be sure sure so we over built. This created a lot of dead space.

We are now more comfortable with the structural advice snd 3 years on touch wood no issues.

Just as an observation the picture you showed does not reflect the discussion cos its not concrete neither does it have any hardwood frame.

KolaShangOne:
Pls is the house tiled?

yea, she bought titles

lastpage:
Can l make a suggestion to the house please?

I have read from Maverick, Madam gabby and others, on how to do this Kitchen Top with concrete and tiles, then re-inforced with 12mm iron.

The 12mm iron re-inforcement might be totally unnecessary. (Cost-wise)

My suggestion, which l will use (I have not used it yet but l have a project ongoing now that will get to that stage in about two months time) is this:

1.) As usual, do the casing using 1x12 wood or if you dont intend to use tiles on the side-walls, use MDF to get a smooth finish

2.) Use Cement and Stone dust only (No sand).

3.) If you are like me that likes to do some "other things" on kitchen Top, on the spur of the Moment in other to create added excitement and "variety" being the spice of life, use wire-mesh (the type used for German Floor) to reinforce it.
Otherwise, it is strong enough to carry ordinary household utensils without breaking

4.) let Cement mixture be same Grade as you would for a House decking.

5) Mix thoroughly and let it be a bit watery (to allow proper settling, allow the cement to bind on the Stone Dust properly and to give a smooth finish

6.) Fill the vertical cavities first (Upright Walls). Dont smooth the top so it can bond properly with the Work top in the next step

7.) When dry, use it to act as support for the Horizontal Work top. cast as done on the vertical sides but dont forget to create the space for the Washbasin and Piping outlets for inflow water and waste water outflow (its concrete O! once you miss it, you will sweat to break it and probably deface it as well)

8.) You can put Tiles on top of the Concrete work Top, if you want

Once l do mine, l will post pictures.


Lastpage!

Oga last page

Thanks for the explanation, me I no be engineer oo. That's why I was asking for our in house engineers to give us opinions. I like the idea of the mesh I didn't even think of that. I know a friend who used a mesh for foundation in lekki and I think using it for a kitchen work top support is even better and more cost effective.

In your explanation you didn't say what will support it vertically, 2 ×3 hard wood, drawf pillar or blocks. Secondly if one intends to put marble or granite on top of it does the surface still need to be rough?

What can one also do to the edges to hide where the 2 surfaces meet ?

does one also really need to make any holes etc from the surface ? If well planned I don't think there is any need, remember one can have sockets under worktop so things like washing machine can tap current from there.

3strike:
Madam abeg more info about the free IKEDC meter o. I can use some help now since February o

I do not know if it is free for new applicants. IKEDC just recently change the meters in my area to prepaid and we did not pay anything. We only paid a token to those installing it and bought wires because they said that they could not use the existing one. Ours was a replacement. It will be better you find out from IKEDC.

Emp.iree:
These are the houses. First house was started back in 2013. This is the most recent pix with decking costs #7m (including land and everything). Duration: 3yrs

Second house (the last three pictures) costs #3m (including land and everything you see in the pix). Duration: 2months

Both houses are in the same town in the Southwest. Obviously something is wrong with first one.

@yinkaoke, stroll for pictures of what 3m could do for you

gabbytabby:
Since its built as a suspended slab same principle as cantilever it can stand on its own. The essence of the full 3by2 is additional support to cater for the people you mentioned who do all sorts including sit and sleep on it. We started off with using blocks cause like you we wanted to be sure sure so we over built. This created a lot of dead space.

We are now more comfortable with the structural advice snd 3 years on touch wood no issues.

Just as an observation the picture you showed does not reflect the discussion cos its not concrete neither does it have any hardwood frame.

If actually its çonstructed as a cantilever, then it should be more expensive. It means that the walls are column-like, and rods starting from the base of the vertical wall. It also means that if the span of the worktop is up to 3-4mrtres, then you should have a beam through the middle.

If your beams are made with hardwood, except it's water resistant, they will eventually weaken, only a matter of time.

KolaShangOne:
If actually its çonstructed as a cantilever, then it should be more expensive. It means that the walls are column-like, and rods starting from the base of the vertical wall. It also means that if the span of the worktop is up to 3-4mrtres, then you should have a beam through the middle.

If your beams are made with hardwood, except it's water resistant, they will eventually weaken, only a matter of time.

My design calls for a kitchen island.

I intend to use steel legs that are braced and bolted to the floor and then topped with concrete.

Even if Mighty Igor (80s trivia anyone?) sits on it there will be no breakage.

We don't consider steel enough at home.

EgunMogaji:
My design calls for a kitchen island.

I intend to use steel legs that are braced and bolted to the floor and then topped with concrete.

Even if Mighty Igor (80s trivia anyone?) sits on it there will be no breakage.

We don't consider steel enough at home.

Ala Ali Baba of Lebanon or Power Mike in their prime.

Hajji M.

EgunMogaji:
My design calls for a kitchen island.

I intend to use steel legs that are braced and bolted to the floor and then topped with concrete.

Even if Mighty Igor (80s trivia anyone?) sits on it there will be no breakage.

We don't consider steel enough at home.

Steel is dangerous in the kitchen oo.. You have a combination of 240-260volts, steel and water. Perfect electrocution combo..

Except you insulate the steel with rubber

Madam Gabby

I have a question for you, the kitchen that you showed us the pictures. Were you the one who provided the gas cooker/hob ?

House, Please what is the rough estimate for fencing 2 plots of land (120 X 120). I will include gate
Kindly highlight required resources please.
Land is level and solid. Not in Lagos!!!

Thanks

spyder880:
I completely agree with you , I always deck my kitchens because of bad kerosene and need to contain any fire inside the kitchen for some time before fighting the fire. The kitchen is one of the places most prone to fire outbreaks and decking it with concrete will reduce some of the risk.

Am in support of this but the extra cost though

befto:
Well Said,

I lost my sister in-law to fire caused by cooking while trying to pour petrol in generator.

I can't understand why the generator or even petrol was in the kitchen in the first place but it happened and she is gone for good (RIP).

We really need to educate households here on this issue because we depend alot on Petrol for so many things and its storage in houses poses a very big safety concern.

sorry for your loss. Thats quite painful.

mavverick:
Oga last page

Thanks for the explanation, me I no be engineer oo. That's why I was asking for our in house engineers to give us opinions. I like the idea of the mesh I didn't even think of that. I know a friend who used a mesh for foundation in lekki and I think using it for a kitchen work top support is even better and more cost effective.

In your explanation you didn't say what will support it vertically, 2 ×3 hard wood, drawf pillar or blocks. Secondly if one intends to put marble or granite on top of it does the surface still need to be rough?

What can one also do to the edges to hide where the 2 surfaces meet ?

does one also really need to make any holes etc from the surface ? If well planned I don't think there is any need, remember one can have sockets under worktop so things like washing machine can tap current from there.

My Chairman Sir,

Sorry for addressing your question late, l jumped that page...my apologies.

Let me take it one by one:

Support: Since it is going to be made with strong concrete through out, the tensile strength of the concrete itself will serve as the main support but vertical "concrete" supports (which also serve as demarcation points for the under-cupboards/drawers) will be placed at intervals of say 2 to 3ft apart. The concrete itself should be about 3 - 4 inches thick all across (vertical and horizontal slabs).
With the proper spacing mentioned above and the thickness, it would carry a human weight, talk-less of kitchen appliances.

Marble Top: Normal marble base preparation the way it is done in building is adequate

Tiles: I will rather Top it with Tiles than use Marble. There are Tiles that have the Marble-look and these are the types l will use for the surface/top
The sides will also be Tiled and l will normally use matching-colour tile Cement to seal them together wherever the surfaces meet, for aesthetic purposes.

Holes: You might not need to make Holes really.... except if you have say an appliance that needs its cable or some Pipes to pass directly through the concrete. This can easily be achieved by putting a small cut of pipe into the concrete during casting, as done when a decking is being casted.

Hope these sheds more light?

Cheers



Lastpage!

Nice one.
Very educative. Will try this approach now on my current project.

lastpage:
My Chairman Sir,

Sorry for addressing your question late, l jumped that page...my apologies.

Let me take it one by one:

Support: Since it is going to be made with strong concrete through out, the tensile strength of the concrete itself will serve as the main support but vertical "concrete" supports (which also serve as demarcation points for the under-cupboards/drawers) will be placed at intervals of say 2 to 3ft apart. The concrete itself should be about 3 - 4 inches thick all across (vertical and horizontal slabs).
With the proper spacing mentioned above and the thickness, it would carry a human weight, talk-less of kitchen appliances.

Marble Top: Normal marble base preparation the way it is done in building is adequate

Tiles: I will rather Top it with Tiles than use Marble. There are Tiles that have the Marble-look and these are the types l will use for the surface/top
The sides will also be Tiled and l will normally use matching-colour tile Cement to seal them together wherever the surfaces meet, for aesthetic purposes.

Holes: You might not need to make Holes really.... except if you have say an appliance that needs its cable or some Pipes to pass directly through the concrete. This can easily be achieved by putting a small cut of pipe into the concrete during casting, as done when a decking is being casted.

Hope these sheds more light?

Cheers



Lastpage!

KolaShangOne:
Steel is dangerous in the kitchen oo.. You have a combination of 240-260volts, steel and water. Perfect electrocution combo..

Except you insulate the steel with rubber

Steel is definitely not dangerous in the kitchen and rubber feets not necessary. Are you not going to ground the appliances?

My Oga please read up on GFCI circuits and outlets in kitchen, bathrooms and other area where water might be near electricity.

Did my friends miss me?

I was invited by Nairalands EFCC for a discussion and was in Seuns custody for 3 days

EgunMogaji:
Did my friends miss me?
I was invited by Nairalands EFCC for a discussion and was in Seuns custody for 3 days

I was wondering o. You would have got a call from me soon.
No wonder you have that Armoured Jeep in your yard... You got paid in Dollar or Naira?

Hajji M.

Please who has had an experience with the Lagos Building Control Agency or anyone that knows how best to handle them?

cc: Madam gabbytabby
Oga Lastpage

mufutau55:
I was wondering o. You would have got a call from me soon.
No wonder you have that Armoured Jeep in your yard... You got paid in Dollar or Naira?

Hajji M.

If only we were paid on Nairaland

Bros

You will.need to settle

Lasbca
Local government
environment people
material testing

They all come and it's a case of negotiating and collect the number of their Boss. Once first one comes and u settle, once others a come, call the Boss of the people who called before to help you put mouth. This way you can get the figures down. They all work together and know each other.

Also if you can get a permit it gives you some leverage. Also make sure you have correct setback. I had like 3/4 groups come to my site with all sorts of things.

One said big structure (even though na my house small pass for street)
Complained about setback when we had the correct setback.
So many crap like that.

The other option my friend used is to bring Mopol. He said if anybody show face na shoot on site and trust me they didn't show up. It just depends on how you want to play it. If you settle them as per option 1, you build up your connects and they can be useful later also.

EgunMogaji:
If only we were paid on Nairaland

No sir. I no want Seun money.... the better one nah Dasuki one...
Bullet-proof Jeep and some Dollars in Cash, no record of it.

Hajji M.

mufutau55:
No sir. I no want Seun money.... the better one nah Dasuki one...
Bullet-proof Jeep and some Dollars in Cash, no record of it.

Hajji M.

Dollars in 6 figure

twinskenny:
Dollars in 6 figure

Abi o. Thank you jare, my brother Ejire Eyilaki.
And you know say when that click, I go get Oil and Beans for you too..

Hajji M.

Pls what kind of structure can be developed on a 25 by 55 piece of Land? I will really appreciate ur contributions.

Dipo2020:
Pls what kind of structure can be developed on a 25 by 55 piece of Land?
I will really appreciate ur contributlions.

Do you mean 25ft x 55ft?

abdulwastecx:
Do you mean 25ft x 55ft?

Yes sir. 25ft x 55ft