Good day all..I'm really not much of a writer, but I'll make the post as concise as possible.
Here we go...

So mid-july I was contacted to design/build a 6-bedroom country home for a client in Ikwuano, Umuahia, project was expected to kick start in early 2020 and would serve as a replacement for their father's aged 4-bedroom bungalow.
So in view of the expected commencement, sample designs were prepared and one exceptionally stood out..he loved it!

3-4 weeks later, my client lost his Dad.. oh, that was a tragedy! Bad news for us right?
Anyway, the family met, the old man is to be buried this December...so what's to be done regarding the old house? where will people stay when they come for this burial? These and many more were questions my client battled with.

But in the end, for every option on the table, funds seemed to be an issue but finally, we decided to remodel the old house, add new structures to it and provide sanitary facilities inside.. yea!

Modified:
Now I got the photos of the old house..

photos:
The old building after the roof were pulled off.
I'll look for the photos when the roofs were still on.
It had;
1. 3-rooms (the larger one served as the lounge, barely 3.3m by 3m, the other 2 were mostly 3m by 3m).
2. 2 smaller rooms at the extreme left.
3. an off site pit toilet (yea, na village house)

Continuing...
So, looking at house, my client opted for a new and larger lounge 5.5m by 5.25m, a new room 3.6m by 3.45m and a spacious entrance porch 3.6m by 2.5m.

Also the small
er rooms were knocked off and 2 toilets/bath provided in their stead

So, the estimates were prepared and materials provided, and we set to work.
N/B: Materials purchases were done by him, but in line with the provided estimates.

Oh, well..we had a little twist after the initial arrangements and excavations. One more room was to be added, bringing the total to 2 new bedrooms, a lounge, entrance porch and 2 toilets.

The work continued.
So for the existing building, we found out it was built using 4" blocks (4inch blocks)..yea, its that old.
Now, how do you add extra 3-courses of block work using 5" blocks on an older wall built with 4" blocks??
..and then also expect it to handle the roof load?

Pillars and beams! yes, pillars and beams are the answer.
So, basically we cracked the old walls at a spacing of about 3m intervals for pillars to be installed and also areas with progressive cracks from the foundation up to the old roof were cracked up and reinforced.
The pillars were 0.125m by 0.225m reinforced by 3-12mm rods.

So, back to the foundation works.
New foundation depth for our addition was 2feet or 0.6m.
Blinding concrete was 5inches or 0.125m.

Block works...

You can drop questions if you're following.. more updates later. Got to go to work.

More updates:
Iron works, Carpentry and block works going on simultaneously.

Leveling:

Roofing:
Roof area = 288.1Sqm
Expected roof height = 4.2m
Ceiling type= PVC ceiling.
Roofing sheet type: longspan aluminum (0.4mm)

Ongoing today: Septic tank/soakaway pit .block works continue. plastering continues. PVC ceiling installation commences.

Ongoing today:
Septic tank/soakaway pit .block works continue.
plastering continues.
PVC ceiling installation commences.
95% of aluminum frames for windows installed already.

Good day all..today we continue with the plastering while fixing door frames and work also continue on the PVC ceiling.

@josnac you are doing wonderful job there but I may ask how much is total cost of this building work and how is the cost of Labour's down in the east thanks

Hum2020:
@josnac you are doing wonderful job there but I may ask how much is total cost of this building work and how is the cost of Labour's down in the east thanks

Thank you Sir.
To your question, we are yet to recalculate how much that has been spent so far..being a structure in the village, some materials like wood and sand were sourced locally at a far cheaper rate than what was in the initial estimates.
Now for labour in the East, I would say its relatively low based on how I work with my team. But I'm certain it differs from contractor to contractor.

We continue with the plastering, doors and window dressing.
Window hoods being moulded also while PVC ceiling is 90% complete.

Josnac:
We continue with the plastering, doors and window dressing.
Window hoods being moulded also while PVC ceiling is 90% complete.

Well done �

tonididdy:
Well done �

Thanks you Sir.

Updates:
All internal doors are fixed and being dressed.
Floors are primed in readiness for tiling...and we also commenced installation of the window hoods.
Everything about plastering is to be rounded up today hopefully, the burial fast approaches.

I must commend the doggedness and commitment of the guys working with me here..they deserve some real accolades.
Would be going off site today or tomorrow for some other engagements, so it means next updates would most probably be at the finished stage.
Thanks for staying tuned
Josnac

Hello, welcome back.
I initially planned to travel few days ago but it was put off...so here's a few more photo updates.

Final photos... hope the hazy weather due to harmattan doesn't make it too blurry.

Josnac:
I must commend the doggedness and commitment of the guys working with me here..they deserve some real accolades.
Would be going off site today or tomorrow for some other engagements, so it means next updates would most probably be at the finished stage.
Thanks for staying tuned
Josnac

Good job

debbydee:

Good job

Thank you @debbydee

That was fast, well it should be when money is available
You said you are yet to get the cost, that means you just mention the figure and it is provided

Pity the man had to die before the building was renovated

ITbomb:
That was fast, well it should be when money is available
You said you are yet to get the cost, that means you just mention the figure and it is provided

Pity the man had to die before the building was renovated

Sorry for the delayed response ITbomb..yea, funds were available as at when I needed it.
we spent just a bit over #3m on it.

I didn't see any electrical wiring (neither conduit nor surface). Why was it left out?
Nice job bro.

Good job. Fantastic final budget. So sad the old man did not live to see the amazing and commendable transformation. Well done.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

SammyJac:
I didn't see any electrical wiring (neither conduit nor surface). Why was it left out?
Nice job bro.

Wanted to say the same thing

But good job all the same

Wonderful... I love the transformation

Sorry for the delay in responding.

With respect to the electrical works..the wiring was surface as it could be done faster and my client was operating on a budget.
Secondly, I did point out in one of my posts that I might travel, it was during my trip that the electrical work was done, at least you could see some lights were on in a few of the final photos.

SammyJac:
I didn't see any electrical wiring (neither conduit nor surface). Why was it left out?
Nice job bro.

twinskenny:


Wanted to say the same thing

But good job all the same

Yea..it was sad, but thanks anyway.

diordaves:
Good job. Fantastic final budget. So sad the old man did not live to see the amazing and commendable transformation. Well done.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you.

Walted0n:
Wonderful... I love the transformation