₦airaland Forum

It is Yuletide, when you need repainting of your building, you can draw an idea from this article.

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/12/how-to-calculate-amount-of-paint-needed.html

Of course land will come on top for a lot of reasons.
If you buy a land, you are securing your future, if you otherwise buy a car you are eating up your future.
Oh! I remember I wrote an article on that a while ago, have fun

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/03/why-you-should-build-house-before.html

Nice website!

Why the Toyota Camry? Is been auctioned by the banks?

I've been with top realtors and I know the only reason they won't give out pictures is because of personal conviction that they may be shortchanged.
Real estate agents makes their money through comission, with pictures other estate agents could get in touch and make enquiries about the true owner of the building, Developer will only pay anybody that brought the link. So the less realtors on the project the better the chances of the one in charge getting the commission.
However you can find few ones that are interested or if you could get in contact with some developers yourself.

540 units is much, but I believe your company can get facilities from bank for it.

Seun:
But Umana is the reason for this thread. Don't worry I'm dealing with him currently.

Any recommendations for the moderator position?

Yes, the law will be an excellent moderator, we need mature and responsible people that can at least write simple english. one of them in webmasters has practically made me stop checking that category. But I don't support banning Umana he only needs to be more educated about the rules of forum just as u guys have pointed out to him and I believe he must have learnt his lessons. He may be annoying everybody without him knowing, so is good you pointed that out.

A house must have a workable roof on it before it is referred to as a shelter. Roof can get damaged due to these causes.

CAUSES OF ROOF DAMAGE.

(1)Old age or Long Usage-
There is no material that doesn’t have it’s lifespan, so the longer the roof was installed, the probability of its getting damaged quickly.

(2)Low Quality-
When a low or substandard quality is used, the roof will give way at the slightest pressure from man or weather.
Read more click link below-

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/11/how-to-fix-leaking-or-damaged-roof.html

There are several reasons why your building project will not come out beautiful and solid as expected discussed are some of the factors, click link below.



http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/11/causes-of-buildin-project-poor-delivery.html

@mykel09,
Honestly I have not heard of that kind of wood before, may be it has another name which I am more familiar with.
But no carpenter will be soo stupid to inflate the cost of each piece of wood when he knows you can just stroll to any saw mill and inquire about the price.
But this is where they are going to make the money. You are probably going to give them the money to purchase the wood, here, I can bet with my life that they won't buy as much quantity as estimated for you. Is most likely they will use less, so the excess will be the gain of the carpenter.

It will take almost the same amount elsewhere but for cost of land, and little addition to what obtain elsewhere. So leave out Land, 2.5million should go far.

wHAT TYPE OF WOOD ARE THEY GOING TO USE? THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

@asitis, biolabee
Thank you.

This is a serie of projects written in stages to help you have an idea of what to expect or experience when you are executing your next project. This serie is stage one of a 4 bedroom project designed and built by me for a moderate income earner.
Other projects will also be brought to you susequently. Enjoy my diary and
I hope you'll be able to learn from my personal experience and mistakes. The other series will be posted in due time.

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/10/project-1-serie-athe-diary-of-building.html

Flood can result for a lot of reasons on your site, but one of the ways
to prevent it is by constructing or installing drainage.
Neglecting drainage can erode the beauty of your landscape, it could
lead to flooding of basements, destruction of plants ,walls and can
even cause health
threatening damages.

It is important to do your drainage before heavy rain, construct it in
such a that it can be able to take water from wrong places and uses
gravity to drain
it away either to the public drains or along the slope to the outside.

Read all --

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/10/why-and-how-to-install-drainage-on-your.html

Hello guys/gals in tile biz, do you have a website that we can view the ones you have?

The natural role of a flood plain is to channel excess water during periods of heavy rainfall to rivers and other bigger channels.But where you have flood channels been blocked or walled off, then the artificially narrowed or blocked water must rise higher to compensate for the narrow channels, often time it becomes an embarrassment to a community.

CAUSES OF FLOODING
1) Deforestation- As activities of man becomes more intense, the trees around are being fell and these lands are claimed for other purposes. These areas will be exposed to flood as time goes on.

2) Development, Jobs and Affluence- like in every part of the world people loves to leave close to river because of economic and leisure gains, for farming (irrigation) ,water, transportation and even waste disposal.

3) Poverty- When you have too little to pay for a conducive environment, then you are most likely to settle for anywhere you find yourself, also constructing a drain gutter may be too expensive for you.


Read all here---- http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/10/how-to-prevent-flood-in-your-house.html

The Bank of Industry was built for some years but in a twinkle of an eye it was totally brought down, many are ignorant of the fact that it took months of adequate planning for the building to have being successfully brought down without loss to the surrounding properties and also lives were protected.
Read about the methods the engineers used to achieve this feat.


http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/09/bank-of-industry-building-how-to.html

Last week sunday I went to a church in ‘Surulere’ Lagos state with a colleague. The project is an uncompleted church building work, though we were asked to come and give advice on the finishes of the house, but our encounter opened our eyes also to errors the parishioners hitherto took for granted.
Hence what we specified in some parts of the project is more of renovation then.

To renovate your building you need to do a self assessment of yourself, list out the problems and your expectations also consider your purse too.

Firstly go for a professional to take a closer look at what you are planning to do before going ahead. He will draw out plan according to your budget and give you the best options available. In our case, when we got to the church after going round and listening to the clients, we proffered solutions to some problem areas. Furthermore we discovered that the building is about 7meters from high tension cable.
Hence we have to advise them against erecting more structure on the ground. The town planning regulations requires a minimum of 45meters setback from the church therefore the plan could not be approved though they have finished building the project, so the only thing is to advise them to limit their spending, town planning issue is a big one presently in lagos, the house could be demolished anytime.

Moving on, the architect will be most favourable to come out with the design and plan based on your budget. After you have both agreed on his recommendations, then the next thing is to look for what you can do yourself at least to save time and cost. Packing, cleaning and clearing sites of debris can be done by you. Looking for a good subcontractor that you must have worked with before could be done by you or leave it for your consultant.

Just as I said in our own case government permit for the church is not attainable, we couldn’t just think of drawing the attention of the authorities, but for you, get the government permit to continue if not, what you will be doing will be illegal especially when it involves large scale remodeling of your building.

What you must look out for

Number one thing to consider is the structural implications on the building. Consider the foundation, is it strong enough and okay to sustain the building because of activities that will be going on the building is likely to be subjected to serious vibrating forces- somebody is hammering, another is dropping cement on suspended floor and other activities are taking place. If the foundation is not satisfactory what can be done to reinforce or strengthen it all this you need to know.

Check other structural elements like columns (pillars) and beams are they in good shapes? From the new design are some of them going to be knocked off, the roof frame is it made of steel or wood? Why and how will your renovation/remodeling work affects it.

Read more-
http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/09/how-to-renovate-or-remodel-your-house.html

Most of my articles are written based on questions asked on this forum and some mails I received.
I have 20 reasons why the rates will defer read some and check th rest here--

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/09/how-to-determine-your-consultants-rates.html

A subscriber recently asked me to quote for a project and he made mention to me that he will go for the cheapest so my resolve to write on this topic.
Yes it is good to go for a really cheap job but there are disadvantages of doing that which I may write about another time. In otherwords the cheapest moneywise may not really be the cheapest valuewise.
Most often your projects are the reflections of what you paid for, below are why you may have variations in fees from your consultants-architects,lawyers,QS,Structural Engr e.t.c
These are what will determine the fees

(1) Experience-
The Experienced consultants work hard to stay ahead of the curve learning new trends and skills that benefit customers. Some have spent more years in the job than others, hence you may get a better job from them to the less experienced though not in all cases, expect to pay more to such people.

(2)Location of Consultants-
Running businesses in the area your consultant is presently will affects how he will charge you. If the office is in a high brow area don’t expect less from him, he needs to pay for the rents which usually costs more, and the thinking of the average Nigerian is that if your business is in such area you must be successful and experienced, again which may not be always true.

(3)Location of Project-
Where your project will be sited will determine the fees the consultant will charge. Imagine you want to build a 4-bedroom bungalow, but you bought the land somewhere in Ikoyi close to N100million naira, now for somebody somewhere I can afford to do the design for that person for N20,000-N30,000 , but for someone that bought the land for that price count me out I won’t agree to take anything less than N200,000 for the same work, same energy and same product, so also have this in mind.

(4)Influence or Name of Consultant-
You’ll agree with me that how well known a consultant is can also determine how he will charge you as the client.
For instance Festus Keyamo,Gani Fawehinmi e.t.c may not really be the brightest brains in the legal profession but for the mere fact that they are well knowned, you will be surprised if they ask for a low fee for your job and that also reflects in every profession.

(5)Closeness or Relationship with Clients-
The relationships between you and the consultant will determine what he is likely to take, he may even do the job for you free, if he is your brother or a close friend he won’t charge the same with an outsider.

(6)Level of Education-
If he has recently gained new certifications, or additional professional credentials that help clients, that knowledge has value. There are professionals with high qualifications with all manner of certifications, expect to pay more to such people.

(7)Office Settings-
How plush the office is will determine the fees also, if you are ushered into a reception that worths millions of naira and is very clean and organized then don’t expect anything less from the consultant, your money has got to maintain that plush office, ready to pay more. Other consultants are operating from home so they may charge you less.

(Consultants numbers of Employees-
Have you entered an office and the C.E.O is introducing you to everybody in the establishment? He is only showing you around to let you have a fill of how big the company is. So after showing you around and you discovered that there are a lot of employees working for the man, then expect to pay more to maintain the staff.

(9)Consultants’ Controlling body-
The association of each profession atimes regulate how their members charges customers/clients to help protect themselves from been underpriced. From ordinary barbers in the street to big time consultants, the story is the same.

(10)Government Policies and Regulations-
If the government of the day gives zero tolerance to quacks then expect the fee of the few professionals available to be very high.
If government gives regulations that makes the job difficult for your consultants they will also pass the stress to you in terms of money you will have to pay.
Continue -- http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/09/how-to-determine-your-consultants-rates.html

School/Education is the fastest growing in Nigeria, it is cheaper to set up at any level compare to others, competition rarely affects it.

It was really a funny one for me, I didn't know the thing was blocked so I went in there did my thing only to flush and phew the more I tried flushing the more people around knew I was battling with the wc bowl, so they've gathered b4 I know it (something that ought to be private/exclusive became free for all), so my friend told one woman around about our difficulties and she sent her boy a 9-10 year old boy to see if something can be done, the boy just came in look for a nylon and dip his hands deep into the thin and remove the thing This was something I have been contemplating doing before he came, but at the end I felt more humiliated, if I had just done that myself alone it would have been better afterall na mi shit am,   

When you have a blocked wc, don’t try to flush it out by thinking more pressure will cause whatever block it to leave, it won’t and you may get more frustrated knowing that you are practically wasting your time.
Solutions
1) You can use a very crude method, at least it worked for me, get a glove that can extend to your elbow because you will need the length under the water, insert your hands into it and remove it.
2) What if you can’t get a glove? Use a cellophane neatly wrap around your arms and insert into the toilet bowl, you can easily remove whatever is inside.
Usually, whatever is blocking the toilet drain is not very far away. If this doesn’t dislodge the clog, you can try to hook the blockage and pull it free. A wire can sometimes do the job. Read more

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/09/how-to-clear-clogged-toilet.html#links

Beautiful job,
Can you educate us more on painting? I wrote an article on it a while ago it will be nice if you teach us as an expert here.
my article----  http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/06/painting-choosing-colour-and-choosing.html

This is a follow up or update on
how to choose a competent building contractor----
(http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2007/11/how-to-hire-competent-building.html#links) written by me  a while ago.
For general repairs in your home the most common mistake is to look for a
contractor /artisan when you have a repair to do. This time you are
already under pressure to get it fixed, so you are most likely going to
accept the first tradesman you see.
The disadvantages of this is that you won't want to price the work for
long. You have not had time to know more about that person and how good he is .
So when you get to a new place , please look for general services and
emergency contractors like plumber, electrician e.t.c
Yes, one of the easiest ways as also written by me in the older post is
to get references from friends and family members.
Another one is to get the reference from a building professional like
architect, structural engineer,builder e.t.c
He (the pro.) must have worked with the person he's refering as they are
in the same industry, the possibilities of testing and knowing the
competence of the contractor is there.
Take time to get some names, meet with them and have a rapport with
them, then you can access their level of professionalism. You can as well
arrange an appointment with them and notice their punctuality, some will
respond faster than others though this is not a sign that one is better
than the other, because the other person may be very good and busy hence
he may need more time, just access the individual and find how you can
place them on your schedule.

Read all
http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/08/how-to-select-good-emergency-contractor.html

ajileko:
About 2 million. Basic house with one bath. Normal foundation, no raft.

Good reply,
Also read Factors that can affect the cost of your building.

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2007/10/factors-that-contributes-to-cost-of.html

The most common roof style is the pitch roof and the building is usually
divided at the center which is the apex.
The pitch roof is the easiest to calculate though I won't bore you with
details, but you can ask your contractor for the size of each roofing
sheet except you are using longspan aluminium roofin sheet which can be
cut to exact lenght of the roof.
 
To make fast calculation, measure the length of the side of building let
say 'x', measure the breadth 'y'. To get an approximate surface area we
will add an arbitrary value for the difference in length due to the pitch
or depth of roof. And read all----

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/08/how-to-calculate-numbers-of-roofing.html

The little cracks on your wall can get so big if not quickly fixed, and it

may totally deface your building.
Plaster cracks are caused by the following reasons--
(i) Inadequate use of cement
(ii)Handling of the job by incompetent and impatient masons
(iii) When water is not enough in the mix
(iv)portion of plaster surface is continually exposed to water

To fix, there are different methods you can apply.

First, scrape out the scale or the exposed surface, wash and clean the

surface with water and remove other dirts and growths like algae which 

may affect the bonding strenght

After that depending on how large the surface area, put wire mesh (small

tiny iron) in the surface and apply the mortar to cover the portion, the

wire mesh is to make sure the plaster does not fall off from a large

surface area with thick plastering.

Read more  http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/08/how-to-fix-plaster-cracks-and-causes.html

Always as incisive as ever.
I've linked to this post
http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2007/11/certificate-of-occupancy-c-of-o-in.html

A fraudster has no future.
A fraudster has no happy ending
A fraudster is a shame to his/her generation
A fraudster is going to end up in jail
A fraudster is a thief
So are the accomplices--girlfriends,wives and dumb --- they will all end up in shame.

These instruments are also important if you are to achieve a well executed building project.
The straightness of the wall depends on these two instruments.

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/08/plumb-and-range-use-and-differences.html

To get a good building you need to be able to decide how straight your building is from foundation. and one of the chief ways to do that is to use your builder's square. Get more details here.


http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2008/08/test-correctness-of-your-foundation.html