Factor affecting labour productivity

Labour productivity is simply the output generated by your labour force at a

specific time. Labour is one of the most important factors in building
construction and affects the overall costs a great deal.
Productivity is the outcome of several interrelated factors amongst are
1-Time- During construction the time allocated should be followed, working
overtime causes fatigue, though it initially result in increased output but
continuing overtime will lead to increase costs and reduced productivity. An
employee works effectively for 3.5 hours of his 8 hour shift. Break time should be
observed to refresh and shouldn’t be more than the allocated time, usually 1
hour.
2-Scheduling-Planning the time and compression of tasks will give a better
output, reduce the time of works completion especially when done effectively in
a record time.
3-Project type-When you have a project with different task to achieve. Knowing
how to carry out those tasks and minimizing interference on others.
4-Safety-Safety is very important and safety procedures in a construction site
must be encouraged and adhere to. Accidents can result to death which may
stop project for weeks. and minor accidents from nails and steel wires can stop
work.
Employing a safety officer to lecture and organize labour on safety issues and
follows required safety regulations can reduce the number of accidents, thus
increasing productivity rate.
5-Quality-Inefficient equipments and poor quality materials will affect
productivity. Old equipments will slow down laborers. Poor quality materials
means poor job which will be rejected by supervisors.
6-Managerial competence- Good jobs requires knowledgeable laborers who in
turn works productively under professionally qualified managers. It is only
through sound management that you will have optimum utilization of human
and technical resources
7- Skilled Manpower-If skilled labour is not available , a contractor will not be
able to complete specific tasks or they will be badly done which surely affects
productivity.
8-Motivation-Labour must be motivated to work. No delays in emoluments and
individual should be encouraged.
9-Supervision- Competent supervisors to interpret drawings should be available
on site. Hence productivity will be affected.
10-Materials/tools-Labourer require a minimum numbers of tools and
equipments to work effectively to complete the assigned task. If improper tools
or equipment is provided, productivity will be affected.
11-Project Management-Improper scheduling, shortage of critical construction
equipment’s will result in loss of productivity.
12-Natural factors-Weather conditions, geographic locations etc
13-Political factors
14-The level of management control- Too much of management control may
actually leads to bureaucracy and cause delay.
15-Getting a competent site supervisor-
16-Prompt inspection
17-Coordination of subcontractors-The better the cooperation of subcontractors
and work together, the better the output
18-Quality Control-A good quality control system in place will increase labour
productivity
19-Communication breakdown-When instructions are not communicated well or
not done at all. No synergy or relationship between various groups, then
productivity will be affected.
20-Information-Information on what to do, next steps to take and events on site
when you aren’t around and not informed to prepare for it , this will also affect.
21-Rework-Mistakes will lead to rework which results in low productivity
22-Congestion-When you have too many people handling a particular task, they
will disturb each other and also gives room to cover up for the lazy ones.
23-Sequence of work-Knowing the sequences and following steps will affect
productivity positively
24-Availability of workforce- When there is enough labour force, jobs are bound
to e better because there will be competition and more people to chose from
25-Financial problems-When there is adequateflow of money , productivity will
increase as there is motivation to work and materials are paid for.
26-Availability of materials-Easily available materials, better productivity, no
delay of any kind during construction due to shortage of materials
27-Availability of tools and machinery-Choosing construction styles that are easy
but effective gives better productivity
28-Method and machinery- Choosing construction styles that are easy but
effective gives better productivity
29-Location-If site is easily accessible and located close to labour force, it will
affect productivity positively.
30-Inclement weather-Rain and harsh weather will affect productivity negatively
31-Project Characteristics- Complex projects will affect productivity rate
negatively
32-Specification-The specification and how easy to implement will affect as well
either positively or negatively
33-Design requirement- The more complex and clumsy the design, the lower the
productivity
34-Project Size-Size may also affect productivity if its too small or too big in
relation to labour.
35- Site access-Good acces better productivity.
36-Quality experience and training-Artesans and professionals with good training
and quality experience will give better labour productivity
37-Disturbance- Site nuisances from unscrupulous element in the area and any
other disturbances can down morale and affect labour productivity.
38-Morality-Discipline is required, the more morally upright the workers the
better productivity
39-Frequent changes of labour-It takes time to master a place and task , when
labour force are frequently changed it will take time for new ones to acclamatise
and may also requires additional training which lso affects productivity rate
40-Communication problems among the labourers
41-Turnover-Higher turnover is also a morale booster for any labour force
especially when it trickles down to the lowest on cadre in the labour force
42-Absenteeism- Frequent absence of workers will reduce labour productivity
rate.
43-Overtime-Initially overtime increases productivity but at a longer time it
reduces productivity drastically, the labour will experience fatigue and there will
be drop in output.
44-Order Variations-When orders for the site are attached it will affect labour as
what they prepare their mind for concerning strategies and tactics to carry out
tasks may change.
45-Economic conditions-Better economic condition improves lives which also
boost morale and affects productivity
46-Development and research- Good research and development
culture/institution will give better ways of getting tasks done which will increase
productivity
47-Accidents- Accidents will cause delay or total breakdown/soppage of work
which affects labour productivity negatively
48-Construction method
49-Alternating drawings and specifications during construction- This could be as
a result of clients request or adjustments from the architect/designers which will
slow down pace of work and affects productivity.
50-Government regulations- Can affect both negatively and positively
51-High quality of required work- Without adequate trainings and quality
materials , quality buildings may be difficult to achieve , hence enforcing high
quality may cause serious delay and rework
52-Too many labourers on a task will cause confusion and disturbances which will
affect productivity negatively
53-Bad equipments-Terrible equipments frustrate labourers and reduces
productivity
54-Delay inspection-Because approval is required for next stage when supervisors
delays inspection time is wasted and mistakes which requires rework will be
rampart
55-Transportation-Transporting workers to and out of site will also determine
how willing most labourers will be ready to be in your payroll and the faster they
can get to their destinations te better the productivity
56-Insufficient lighting-Especially at night or dark corridor can reduce
productivity rate
57-Labour absenteeism- When this is rampart, it affects general work,
destabilizing sequence which can affect work rate
58-Labour disloyalty- Of course if you have recalcitrant labourers, job will not be
done when you want it and well
59-Lack of competition- will make labourers complacent and may not force them
to put in their best
60-Lack of financial motivation system-Without labour motivated financially as a
reward for a good job, it will affect subsequent product. Nobody will be ready to
do more if they aren’t getting anything for the extra effort
61-Lack of labour experience-Low experience, low productivity rate
62-Lack of periodic meetings with labour- workers needs where they can air their
views and individual tasks reviewed for better planning which gives better
productivity rate
63-Labour personal problems-Emotional/psychological evaluation is also
necessary. You need to know your workers are in right frame of mind to get a
better work rate
64-No eating and relaxation place-This must be provided
65-Lack of training-You need to constantly train the labour force if they are with
you for long
66-Low quality of raw materials-Is important you have quality raw materials for a
better output
67-Material shortage-Incessant shortage of materials will cause delay and affects
the labour productivity rate
68-Misunderstanding among labourers-Quarrel, infighting will cause drop in
productivity
69-Misunderstanding between labourers and supervisors
70-Misuse or no time schedule will also affect negatively
71-Payment delays-Payments are made but delayed, motivation and morale will
go down, labour also needs personal issues to fix with money
72-Rework
73-Supervisors absenteeism- Quality control will be affected and without proper
guidance , productivity will drop due to rework
74-Tool and equipment shortages
75-Type of activities in project
76-Unsuitable material storage location
77-Violation of safety precautions
78-Change in weather conditions can affect either negatively or positively
79-Working in high altitudes-Phobia for height and how comfortable the
labourers are working in such height will also affect productivity
80-Working overtime
81-Alcoholism-Drinking alcohol at work should be minimized
82-Age-the youthful the labour force, the better the result. Too young
laboourers or too old is a disadvantage
83-Variation in the drawings
84-Incomplete drawings
85-Inspection delays from authorities
86-Supervision delays
87-Complex designs in the drawings will slow down workers
88-Poor site conditions
89-Differing site conditions from plan
90-Material storage location- how easy to access
91-Poor access within site
92-Increase in price of materials being used
93-Problem of labour transportation
94-Shortage of water
95-shortage of power supply
96-Accidents during onstruction.

Effects of bad Workmanship on a Building

Due to ignorance some clients go for a very low fee at the expense of
quality. Unknowingly at long run you will ends up spending more for engaging
an unqualified/ unverified tradesman or builder. using less qualified tradesmen
will cost you much more.
In otherwords this topic highlights the importance of getting a professional to
handle your building project.

(1) Non sustainable workmanship-By this I mean a poor workman is likely to

mess up your job and you will discover as the project progresses which will
results into termination of contract and you have to look for someone else to
continue, this inconsistency in persons handling your job will affect the overall
product as each tradesman has different approach and ideas to achieve their
goals. So allowing anybody nobody can vouch for simply for low cost will mess
up your project because you ill need to keep changing hands.

(2)Unsafe structure- Bad workmanship will give you a structure you cant vouch
for because you have not done your homework well by engaging unqualified
tradesmen which often is due to money and ignorance. Unsafe structure can lead
to imminent collapse of building. Saving money by cutting corners employing
poorly qualified workers will only make you lose your entire investments if not
life.

(3)If you have someone that doesn’t have a good grasp of the job at hand will
cause delays.

Inability to plan and using trial by error will be the order of the day in such site.
Time is money, not finishing your project in a record time will cost you much
more, especially with fluctuations of cost of materials due to inflation.

(4)Cost Overruns-Bad workmanship gives poor products which requires

ammendments that will cost much more than the budgeted expenditures to
repair the errors.

(5)Disputes in Contract- Definitely for a poor tradesman, probability of

underquoting or overquoting is very rife, cost of correcting costly mistakes,
omissions or ignorance of the steps and challenges on the task ahead will cause
constant review in contract sum.

(6)Long term cost of maintenance- For a bad product periodic maintenance will
cost more in long term because of quick to appear defects due to bad
workmanship.

(7)Self focus-A bad workman doesn’t really care about the job since he is aware
is less qualified but needs the money. The overall good of the building is not his
priority unlike a qualified tradesman that wants referral knowing fully well that a
good product is the best way to market himself and get other jobs.
(8)No obsession for quality-As stated above the love for the project is hardly in
the heart of someone giving bad workmanship.

(9)No interest in Continual improvements on project- for a terrible workmanship,

the business of correcting and making atleast good a bad job will overshadow the
task of improving on already good job. Excellence does not arise when you
assemble less qualified or poor tradesman to save money.

(10)No unity of purpose-An assembly of poor tradesman is very chaotic,

everybody does his or her own task without looking at the general outcome of
project. of course someone with less experience and skill will find it hard
synergising his tasks with other for a mutually benefitting result.

(11)Lack of teamwork- For the point above, the site won’t be able to progress
effectively because no motivation and understanding of the project to be able to
have teamwork.

(12)No interest in education and retraining-A bad tradesman has no motivation

other than money. There is absolute no interest in improving themselves.

(13)Low or no interest in scientific approach- Bad workman relies on buildings

around as a case study to make decisions on their projects. meanwhile, no land
building or projects are exactly the same by weather or soil condition.

You can have buildings just 3 meters apart and one may require strip foundation
while the other will need a pile foundation for it to stand structurally.
unfortunately a less qualified tradesman will not request for a soil test but rather
takes decisions based on a standing building close by.
Advantages of quality materials in construction of
buildings

Apart from good workmanship and top grade professionals handling your
building project, the quality of materials you use will be next most important
factor in determining the outcome of your building.

These are some of the advantages enumerated.

1. Duration of construction-Quality materials are painstakingly manufactured,

because of precision it helps construction to be done faster with little snags on
site, thereby saving you money and time.
2. Strength- Obviously quality materials are stronger than inferior ones. For
instance iron rods are in grades, the imported ones from Ukraine and others
from Nigeria that goes through test and passed are usually stronger with
better tensile capacity to the local ones of low standard, hence government
always recommend we go for the test to confirm that they are good for
construction. Also other materials like blocks, tiles etc that are of good quality
are always stronger.
3. Safety- The good quality materials have already been tested for safety, even
when they appear to cost more, they saves you from inherent danger.
4. Durability- Better quality lasts longer.
5. Sound insulation- Materials of good quality are solidly built/produced, so they
have better sound insulation ability. e.g good solid doors, concrete well mixed
and compacted, better roof/ceilling.
6. Aesthetics- The chemical components in quality paints like Dulux bond better
and gives you a nice look. Also other materials that are of high quality falls
same.
7. Cost- Better quality, higher cost at the point of sale, but long run, cheaper
because of less waste and maintenance with greater longevity.
8. Recycling/reusable- Quality materials on site can be used severally during
construction. Marine plywood are always used and reused as form-work
compare to planks made of soft wood which gets bad after one use. So also is
fittings in the house.
9. Health and safety -Quality materials do not quickly cause accidents on site
and may not emit poisonous substances as most would have gone through
proper laboratory testing.
10. Ease of installation-Quality materials are well produced with less error which
also makes their use easier for construction workers.
11. Adaptability- Because of strength and durability, they can go for other non-
conventional uses on site
12. Structural Capability- A good reinforcement with right application will
prevent your building from collapsing. Just as a wall formed with a good
block will have less cracks.
13. Maintenance- Quality materials gives room for ease of maintenance and less
cost of repairing and maintaining.
14. Moisture/weather resistance- Because of quality components, good materials
resist moisture and inclement weather conditions better, to poor quality
materials.
15. Material deterioration- Inferior materials will deteriorates faster to that of a
better quality.
16. Fire resistance-Quality materials will resist fire better during outbreak. Fire is
also a consideration during manufacturing of most of these materials.
17. Consistency in outlook- Materials are graded based on consistency. The best
paints uses better chemicals to bind the pigments together, allowing for better
coverage, resistance to UV rays and durability.
18. Eco-friendliness-A high quality product for the home will be made using
sustainable methods, which also minimize the amount of energy wasted in its
use.
19. Market- Quality material will give a building good lift which will attract higher
price for an owner or an estate agent that wants to sell.
20. Less waste- Quality material gives room for far less waste.

Factors affecting cost of Construction

 Fluctuation in currency exchange rate-The production of basic components
requires importation of some materials, in time of downfall in naira to dollar,
we can see the effect in the immediate 100% rise in price of cement and other
materials.
 Dependency on foreign materials for construction-For materials gotten out of
the country, determination of prices may be difficult, it will either goes up or
down in most cases there is always an arbitrary rise in cost.
 Theft-Adequate security must be provided for materials if not they will be
stolen and you will need to replace them.
 Contract Management-Schedule by timing and milestones with cost should be
maintained, but for every fluctuation it must be clear to the contractor and
the client. Any delay or not keeping with the specifications will affect cost of
production.
 Use of Quacks-Professionals actually saves money, it is advisable you use
them to forestall costly errors in construction which can result in demolition
and rebuilding which ultimately affects the final cost of construction.
 Economic instability-Just as we have in Nigeria, cost of construction have one
high across board.
 Fluctuation of prices of materials-In a volatile economy , it is increasingly
difficult to peg price of materials, this also affects the final cost of
construction.
 Poor planning-If you fail to plan, you already planned to fail. Tasks have
sequence, you need to have a good plan to forestall or reduce wastages
 Experience-Contractor’s experience will also affects how best you save
money. Wastages will be reduced with an experienced contractor
 Size-Size or numbers of project can give you a comparative advantage. The
more the quantities of materials you are to purchase, the better the option of
getting a good discount.
 Quality or type of material- In most cases better quality materials gives better
product but they are also costlier.
 Type or Construction method- These are buildings that requires specialist
input, of course you hire them with a lot of money.
 Types of building-Houses made with mud,brick, blocks or concrete will also
differs in prizes.
 Financial status of owners- The reason architects demand the amount you are
willing to commit on the project will determine the type of building been
proposed for you.
 Taste of owner/client-High class building with lots of luxury will definitely
makes cost to go up.
 Project Site Accessibility-If road leading to your site is not motorable, is either
additional cost of the road will have to be added or the cost of labour of
retransporting materials from a convenient spot to the site by labourers will
be factored into the cost.
 Government taxes, policies etc- There are areas you build that government
will require you pay some money before they can allow you to build.
Government regulations can make your cost to go high.
 Omoonile/ site nuisances-These things can actually influence the cost of
building if they aren’t properly handled.
 Land dispute-If you have commenced construction and there are those laying
claims to the ownership of the land, expect to spend money on legal fees etc
before final settlements
 Professional fees-This varies, it can be high for high networth professional and
low for starters, all still contribute to cost of construction
 Negotiation skill from contractor and owner
 Agreement and clarity of a project- For a project that is not well understood
by owner and contractor avoidable errors will affect cost of construction.
 Competition- When there stiff competition cost of material and engaging
professionals may likely drop.
 Social Problems-Ethnic issues, religious issues and cultural issues also
determines style of building which also affects cost.
 Site preliminaries, overheads when overlook can cost you a lot which can
affect significantly the total cost of construction.
 Using non-professional family members- this has always resulted to fraud for
many building owners, avoid it.
 Labour rates –Labour rates differs for each area, the area site is located will
determine the labour rate you use in your estimation.
 Material cost
 Project schedule
 Contigency
 Mechanized equipment- Will affects either price up or down depending on
the scale of project.
 Designing with even number of two feet increments- From the architect, this
contributes in reducing wastages during construction as materials are in
multiples of the module.
 Number of Storeys- The higher you climb the higher the cost
 Type of roof- complex roof will cost more.
 Finishes-Good finishes will likely go with a higher cost.
 Design features-Swimming pool, garden, carpark etc
 Purpose of building-For building that will accommodate more people,
machineries etc will require targeted structural designs that may cost more.

Church and mosque buildings for instance are always higher than normal
residential bungalow.

 Expectant lifespan will also affect the structural detailing which will also affect
cost
 Procurement method- You can buy in bulk which is cheaper and direct from
wholesalers or manufacturers to buying from retailers
 Environmental factors-
 Climatic Conditions- Cost of construction can go higher during rainy season
due to disturbances
 Fraud from family members, contractors, suppliers etc.

Damp: Causes, Effects, Prevention and Cure

Dampness in a simple term is when excess water molecule is on
building which results to visible growth of mould and destruction or
disturbance of wall surfaces and materials.
CAUSES

1 Rain– If the roof is not well constructed to take out water rain, it may lead to
dampness on walls due to leakages down from roof to wall.

2 Faulty Plumbing System-Leaking pipes will cause water to affect the building,
which also leads to dampness.

3 Waterlogged soil-Moisture in the soil can rise up into the building through
capillary action and cause dampness in building.
4 Area susceptible to extreme flood and bad weather condition.

5 Area close to canal/gully etc which can experience an overflow of water.

6 Using wet or unseasoned building materials.

7 Air conditioning system-When hot humid air comes in contact with materials
cooled by the airconditioning process, it causes condensation on the liquid water
on the surfaces.

8 Indoor activities-Which releases moisture into the air like cooking, dishwashing,
clothes washing, bathing etc.

9 Roof- Leak from bad slate/tile or cracked concrete gutter will increase build up
of moisture in walls, timber and plaster.

10 Poor quality works-Water penetration through walls can occur as a result of

inadequately installed roof covering,improper treatment or covering of oversite
concrete.

11 Use of non porous or breathable coatings on walls-Such as fine cement render

and oil paint. When moisture is absorbed through fine cracks in the coatings but
can’t then evaporate back out through the waterproof surface.

12 Higher external ground level around the property. That is when the building
level is lower to the road and the surrounding environment.

EFFECTS
1. It causes efflorescence which may ultimately result in disintegration of bricks,
stones, tiles etc.
2. Causes rotting of wood.
3. Deteriorate electric installations.
4. It may result in softening and crumbling of plaster.
5. Causes petting off and removal of plaster.
6.
7. It may cause bleaching and flaking of paint with the formation of coloured
patches.
8. It may result in the warping, buckling and rotting of timber.
9. It may lead to the corrosion of metals.
10. It may cause deterioration to electrical fittings.
11. It promotes growth of termites.

It creates unhealthy living conditions for the occupants.

12. Causes corrosion of metallic fixtures.

13. Deteriorate carpet & furniture’s.
14. Causes spots on the floors and walls.
15. Causes petting off and removal of plaster.
16. Causes bleaching and blistering of paints.
17. Causes effloresce.
18. Dangerous for the health of occupants.
19. Reduce the life of structures.

PREVENTION

1 Introducing damp proof course during construction of foundation especially in

waterlogged area.

2 Using raft foundation mostly in waterlogged area.

3 proper concrete mix ratio and fine aggregates which helps to make concrete
impervious.

4 Adequate concrete thickness.

5 Using bitumen on concrete roof surfaces.

6 Mixing waterproof cement with concrete.

7 Using breathable paint.

8 cavity wall construction- This is shielding the main wall of the building by an
outer skin wall leaving a cavity in between the two. The cavity prevents the
moisture from travelling from the outer to the inner walls (Reason why hollow
blocks are popular in Lagos, while solid blocks are used more on higher level
grounds like Benin city etc)

CURE

1 Block every leaks from internal plumbing systems i.e replace damaged pipes
and make sure the joints are properly sealed.

2 Repair leaking water and damaged overflow downpipes.

3 Repair damaged below ground drainages.

4 Pipe away rainwater from roof out of building either to main drain or
soakaway.

5 Check and repair blockages to downpipes.

6 Avoid trees of strong roots too close to the building to stop cracks on walls
and damage to pipes.

7 lower the groundfloor outside the building if possible.

8 Opening up a building to allow air to flow in and out is important-The

problem with long inhabited buildings.

9 Use of vents in buildings

10 Breathable or permeable internal paints to allow the dispersal of moisture

from a plastered wall.

Why Estimates goes wrong

Having the right estimate helps the contractor and clients in their planning and
helps to reduce tension alot during construction. Variations eats deep into
budgets and can really destabilises entire projects when is on the negative side.
(1)Unusual/ bad benchmarking-This is when you’ve done similar projects before
and you use exact rates to cost the proposed ones not minding no two projects
can be exactly the same. Topography, nature of soil etc can mess up your
benchmarking.

(2)Unclear/Incomplete designs- The drawings when not adequately detailed may

leads to assumptions of materials require. Often these assumptions are bloated
and in other cases grossly inadequate.

(3)Untested Innovations/Techniques- Various techniques are used in construction

with additional innovations, the estimator may be ignorant of some processes in
construction methods which can cause serious oversite in estimating.
(4)Contractors desperation- Quest for job may make a contractor to quote a
very low cost for a project just o escape financial lack/loosing the job to other
competitors. This will surely bounce back and affect the entire project. An
estimator and contractor that must cut costs by reducing only rates without
change in materials may run into such problems.

(5)Pressure of over reduction by client-In the bid to save money yet still
maintaining good quality and standard, many clients puts pressure on their
contractors to reduce the cost of construction beyond reasonable/acceptable
level. Out of ignorance on anybody’s part the client request may be acceeded to
by an unscrupulous contractor/estimator which will cause bitterness and
dissapointments afterwards as project progresses.

(6)Not employing a Qualified Quantity Surveyor before and after project

construction- Qs’es are not only needed before construction, as work progresses
they are useful for guiding our expenses, deployment of materials, payments of
workers, proper records on financial activities and variations etc. Overall they
help guide and keep you focus on your project, as they help to notify you of
financial implications of every decision taken concerning the project before it is
executed.

(7)Unexpected Environmental situations-Environmental factors can slow the

wheel of progress on site and ultimately affect cost. Consider flooding which can
slow the work, destroy some materials and jerk up the cost of construction.

(8)Human Incursions/Nuisance-Construction time can be affected when social

miscreants disturbs construction. Settling them may take unexpected delays,
material could be lost which will affect the cost.

(9)Market fluctuations-Of course prices of materials especially cement fluctuates

alot in this part of the world. There are more construction activities in the dry
season, hence higher demands on construction materials which also raises the
cost of these materials. If you already have a lower markup, the estimate will no
longer be adequate, variations must be added which will overshoot the initial
budget.

(10)Change in specifications-As project progresses, design changes and clients

new requirements will affect the estimate no matter how small the changes.

(11)Redesigning or Remodelling-Again when you adjust initial designs like internal

walls been shifted to make some rooms more spacious or redesigning the
elevations can cause a big difference in cost of construction.

(12)Procurement Timing-You must procure some materials intime to avoid higher

cost.

(13) Not buying in bulk or purchasing ore than required can also affect your
estimate greatly.

(14)Inadequate or wrong measurement of plan-If there are errors in reading the

plan or attention not being paid to details during construction, the estimate will
run into problems.

(15)Wastages-Though there should be room in the estimate to cater for wastages

, however without proper management on site you may record wastages that will
affect the estimate.

(16)Accidents-Insurance will have to cover for accidents onsite if there is any but
for anyone without insurance and there is an unexpected occurences the project
will have to suffer the bills.
(17)Improper or absence of statutory legal documentations- If right approvals
aren’t gotten or there are issues this may cause stoppage of work, paying
penalties etc which will also affects the estimate.

(18)Dispute on Property-For a project that will be disturbed by legal problems

this will ultimately affect total cost of construction due to delays etc

(19)Theft of materials on site

(20)Logistics and Preliminaries,process hurdles

Advantages of Steel in Building Construction

As industrialization and search for better ways of construction, the need to also
look at the possibilities in using steel more can’t be overemphasized.
(1)Speed of Construction- Construction with steel is fastest among the different
materials of construction, most time you fabricates from your factory or shops
and only installs on site.

(2)Low cost- In comparative high volume buildings constructing with steel

becomes cheaper because you cover greater spans with steel.

(3) Longer spans- This is good especially when you are thinking of avoiding too
many columns especially in auditorium that requires good view from the
audience.

(4)Malleability- Under certain condition steel becomes malleable and can be

shapen to any form which helps to achieve the designer’s vision.
(5)High Strength-Steel has good strength, thats one of the reasons is used for lots
of multistorey structures. it can withstand pressure and can be very stable
compare to others.

(6)Slenderness-Steel doesn’t take so much space compare to others. The design

networks of steel structure can also be aesthetically pleasing.

(7)Good design flexibility and versatility.

(8)Lower weight- You obviously can’t compare the weight of a building built with
concrete to that of steel.

(9)Recyclability and sustainability-Street is reusable as you can dismantle and

reassemble elsewhere with little or no defects, very sustainable as it can’t be
damaged by pests nor does it requires preservatives or glues. Is inorganic so it
can’t rot.

(10)Modifiable-You can also adjust steel construction with a degree of ease.

(11)Reliability and Predictability- Due to high strength steel is quite useful in

construction and very reliable, its stable and predictable.

(12)Mass production and availability-The steel can be mass produced during

fabrication which gives room for efficiency and speed.

(13)Durability-Because is not organic, better resistance to fire etc it lasts longer

than most construction materials substitutes.

(14)Minimal waste-Steel has minimal raw material wastes.

(15)Maintenance-You do less maintenance with steel as it doesn’t really

degenerate in any form for a very long time.
(16)Fire Protection-Better resistance against fire outbreaks.

(17)Less weight-The weight is far less to most structural materials hence requires
simpler foundation construction.

(18)Lower floor construction depths- Concrete floor averagely is 6″ or 150mm

but steel won’t require such thickness to be used as a floor.

(19)Because of its slender nature, more space are available for other integrated
services like electrical, CCTV etc.

(20)It is safe to handle with hands by workers using it on site.

Benefits of Storey Buildings

Despite some disadvantages of storey buildings, the advantages far outweighs the
disadvantages. Some are enumerated below.
(1) Extra height gives good view, distinct and clear view from surrounding
structures unlike one floor bungalow that may have been covered with perimeter
fence.

(2)The buildings are more visible from a distance to one floor bungalow

(3)Distinct separation of private area from public area. For a two storey duplex,
the bedrooms are taken up while the living rooms that are accessible to visitors
are left downstairs, this is good for privacy and less noise around the bedrooms.

(4)Security-You can isolate the upper floor from the ground floor with a security
door by the staircase in case of any attack. Burglars can’t easily access the upper
floor through the windows. It also gives you a clear view of in case of any
intruder lurking around the fence.
(5)Interesting features-Storey buildings can be interesting, climbing through a
well-designed staircase looking at the structure in whole can be quite pleasing to
the eyes.

(6)Better aeration- More space is created for effective air circulation as the upper
floor create rooms for additional rooms and windows and are most unlikely to
be blocked by adjacent walls/fence.

(7)Increase of space-Of course there is far effective use of land space per square
meter.

(8)Storey buildings adapts well to sloped site, a creative architect can design a
very aesthetically pleasing building with such soil.

(9)Social Issues- In some clime, it is taken that those on storey buildings usually
look down on those downstairs.

Advantages of a one floor bungalow to storey buildings

Apart from the space required, a one floor bungalow has lots of advantages over
a storey building some of them are (1) Lighter foundation: The weight of a floor
bungalow is far less to a storey building hence you’ll require far less materials to
that of a storey building.
(2) Few or no columns/pillars in the house: Depends on design and nature of soil
you may not need concrete columns in a floor bungallow. For most storey
building you will need it to help transmit load from upper floor to the soil.

(3) Lower fire risk: It is easier to escape fire incidence and the electrical works on
a storey building is more complex which can also leads to fire incidence if there
are defects.
(4)Easier Maintenance:Plumbing pipes, electrical installations and the building
generally are easier to maintain when is only a floor bungallow. You can easily
remove plumbing pipes and replace , unlike a multistorey building that may have
pipes embedded in concrete.

(5)One floor bungallow can be easily expanded as long as there is adequate land
for for the expansion. Storey building ca be quite complex, you need a lot of
engineering input and cost for expansion.

(6)Easier evacuation: In emergency, you are already on the groundfloor, you can
jump through the window and you also have closer access to the external door
which will help you to move out of the building quickly.

(7)Cost of Construction: From the professional fee,labour costs which will be far
higher in case of a storey building to the materials that will be used like scaffold,
iron rods, wood ,cement etc in higher quantities to a floor bungallow.

(8)Climbing stairs: For the aged,climbing stairs could be a daunting task.

(9)Possibilities of falling and injuring yourself in a stairway

(10)Just like ‘6’ ease of moving in and out is harder for a storey building

(11)Banging/stamping/pounding on floor upstairs may cause discomfort to

occupants downstairs but this can’t be possible for a floor bungallow.

(12)Carrying materials, furniture etc in and out a storey building is harder.

(13)Storey buildings also have psychological effects on lower surrounding

buildings, it gives feeling of someone looking down on people at lower level.
(14)Higher building will also block a proportion of air and sun from getting into
closer lower buildings.

(15)And for town planning authority, they will charge you more to get approval
for a storey building

(16)Storey buildings can also block clear views of people enjoying the landscape
of an area.

(17)Storey building can be a threat when they are close to the airport.

How to calculate timber works in concrete lintel

A lintel in architectural terms is defined as a structural horizontal
element/block/material that spans the space or opening between two vertical
supports.
Is a loadbearing member of part of a building that is usually placed over
entrances, windows, arcs and other openings in the building.
Lintel can be of wood, concrete, bamboo, steel etc depends on the materials for
construction, for our study we are working on concrete lintel which is commonly
used in the tropical region like nigeria.
The lintel must bear loads that rests on it as well as its own load without
deforming or breaking. Brick stone or ordinary concrete are weak in tensile
strength, so they can only be used for a limited span 6meters maximum ideally,
but iron/steel can be used for longer lintels. Reason you need to introduce
adequate iron rods in the concrete lintel to be able to resist the compressive
stress of concrete and span longer openings.
To cast the concrete lintel in a building you’ll need to consider the doors,
windows, beam by the entrances, beam by the entrance porch between two or
more columns, ars in the interior and exterior.
Now knowing the numbers of planks you are going to use, you must first have at
the back of your mind the length and breadth of each plank which is 3.6m or
12ft by 0.3m or 1 foot.

For the plan above, we have two options, for a building with a lot of openings
you can simply run the lintel as a beam round the entire perimeter blocks, but
for others with less openings the concrete lintel should be placed ontop of
openings giving allowances on right and left for the beam to rest on the supports
thereby transmitting load through the blocks or whatever the vertical supports to
the ground.

OPTION-A
Calculating for windows and doors openings only, check opening in sides A, B, C
and D dimensions.
A -1200mm or 1.2m, 2400mm or 2.4m
B-2.4m
C-1.2m, 1.2m and 2.4m
D-1.2m, 0.6m and 1.2m
For each openings remember there must be an extension to allow the concrete
lintel to overlap both ways. The longer the openings the longer the space you
should provide for the concrete to overlap. From experience 30% of the opening
should be be used for the two sides overlap.
For our calculation 2(30% of window)+window
For side A
– 1.2m will be taken as 2(30% of 1.2)+1.2=1.92
– 2.4m will be taken as 2(30% of 2.4)+2.4=3.84
For side B
– 2.4m will be taken as 2(30% of 2.4)+2.4=3.84
For side C
– 1.2m will be taken as 2(30% of 1.2)+1.2=1.92
– 1.2m will be taken as 2(30% of 1.2)+1.2=1.92
– 2.4m will be taken as 2(30% of 2.4)+2.4=3.84
For side D
– 1.2m will be taken as 2(30% of 1.2)+1.2=1.92
– 0.6m will be taken as 2(30% of 0.6)+0.6=0.96
– 1.2m will be taken as 2(30% of 1.2)+1.2=1.92
Now planks will be used to support the concrete both sides and under the
concrete which is the top of the opening.
For ease of calculation. Add all lengths i.e
1.92+3.84+3.84+1.92+1.92+3.84+1.92+0.96+1.92=22.08
Divide the sum by a length of plank which is 3.6m
22.08/3.6=6 planks
Now multiply by 3 because you need the planks for two sides and under
=18 planks for the windows.

OPTION 2
Is to run the lintel round the perimeter, so calculate the perimeter from plan.
A=9.4m+1.35m(wall that leads to front entrance door)
B=9.0m
C=9.4m+1.2m+1.2m (walls that leads to door behind- both sides)
D=9.0m
Add all the dimensions 9.4+1.35+9.0+9.4+1.2+1.2+9.0=40.55m
Divide by 3.6m as a length of plank=11 planks
multiply by 2 for both sides of lintel=22 planks
Now you need to add the base of the windows which the sum is 22.08m from
previous calculations, we use this because planks will also be used to brace the
planks at the base of concrete.
22.08 divide by 3.6m =6 planks
Total planks=22+6=28 planks

For the door follow same process,

All doors are taken to be 0.9 (900mm)
2(30% of 0.9)+0.9=1.44
Doors are 8 in numbers
1.44 x 8=11.52m
Divide by 3.6m (remember 3.6m or 12 feet is the length of a plank=3.2 planks
Then multiply by 3 =10 planks for the doors.
TOTAL ALL add 28 plus 10=38 planks if the concrete must run round.
OR 18 plus 10=28 planks if the lintel will only be restricted to window areas.
Causes and How to avoid cracks when laying blocks.
Laying blocks without cracking requires some basic steps to watch out for. If you
are careless the probability of having cracked walls will be high.
These amongst others are the causes and how to avoid them-
(1)Wrong block moulding mixture-Cement and sand mixture for sand needs to
be properly checked which is usually between 1:6 to 1:8 depends on types of
constituents.
Very good mixture for a 9” block will produce 30 pieces worst it should not
exceed 50 on any account.
Stone dust are also added in a proportion to give a stronger block, trying to save
cost by using inadequate cement, sand ratio will weaken your walls and can lead
to cracks.
(2)Wrong cement mortar mixture-Mortar is what you use as the bond between
one block and the other, the blocks are expected to be adequately bonded by
the mortar, if this is weak it can also affect the block and can lead to cracking.
(3)Wrong laying pattern-Blocks should be set on each other in herringbone
manner see diagram——

Laying the edge of one block on another causes cracking along the mortar line
when is not broken by locking it up with other blocks, The vertical mortar line is
the weakest point and should be broken by walls, straight line from top to
bottom will cause cracking.
(4)Weak Foundation- Weak foundation causes unusual settlements and
movements on foundation that will ultimately affects the blockwalls ontop, this
surely will cause cracks from foundation through the walls . Cracks could be
horizontal or vertical, the horizontal requires serious structural remedy because
that may be due to uneven settlements.
(5)Plumbness or straightness when laying your blocks can also adversely affect the
blockwork especially when is terribly done.
(6)Boring holes indiscriminately-Electricians and plumbers are major culprits on
site when it involves creating holes on blockwalls. Caution needs to be taking
when creating these holes which are used as scaffolding else you will have crack
walls or you can go for total free standing scaffolds.
(7)Long, successive horizontal and vertical blockworks without concrete breaks-
laying blocks on each other with any height beyond 3.6m without a
corresponding concrete break will create pressure on blockwalls which can also
cause cracking especially when the blocks are not strong and loadbearing.
(8)Wet blocks-Blocks are supposed to be left to dry and strong before usage,
usually it takes minimum of 48 hours to cure, using blocks under 24 hours is not
advisable and it leads to cracking.
(9)Mishandling of blocks-Proper care should be taken when blocks are in use.
(10)Impurities in mixture-When there are dirts in constituents ,expect a weak
block which will surely leads to cracking.
(11)Improper or wrong materials will not help save money but will create
problems, for instance using sand gathered from drainage gutter.
(12)Loosely compacted blocks during moulding will also affect the block which
will lead to cracking of blockwalls.
(13)Inadequate concrete support incase of load.
(14)Shrinkage-When you build on a clayey soil which contract and expand. Clay
causes movement in foundation and when the foundation is shallow it will affect
the blockwall.
(15)Using fresh blocks
(16)Using unclean sand with clay just as stated in ‘14’,clay contracts when is dried
and expand when it is wet, these movements causes cracking.
(17)Flooding-Areas susceptible to longterm flooding will also experience walls
cracking, water can go underneath foundation, weaken the foundation and cause
movements which will affect the blockwalls and leads to cracking.
(18)Differential settlements in foundation-Please check to make sure where you
are building, the problems of differential settlements does not arise.
(19)unevenly compacted fill. When you fill the foundation with laterite but you
didn’t ‘rammer’ or compact very well the areas with loose soil will affect the
blockwall on top of it and cause cracks.
(20)When one side settles on rock which can’t have any further settlement with a
corresponding soil area that is required to settle, expect cracking of walls
especially when the block spans across.
(21)Poorly designed structure without adequate planning of walls joining each
other.
(22)When you have extremely rich mortar mix, this will also affect block and
make it to crack, especially when you want to remove and place elsewhere. It
causes wall stiffness, there should be room for the wall to breathe.
(23)Rapid loading of blockworks-When you have a deadline and you put too
many blocks on each other you are most likely to have cracks.
(24)Removing props or construction supports too early will create tension on the
blockwall which can lead to cracks
(25)When you have deciduous trees with roots growing underneath the
foundation.
(26)Natural disasters like earthquakes, winds, tremor, volcanoes etc
(27)Free standing walls-This is caused by bad designs when you have too many
walls not locking with other walls. The isolated walls are likely to crack
(28)Rising damp around building.
(29)Poor drainage will make water gather around building which will ultimately
affect the walls.
(30)Mining activities around building will cause vibration and affects the wall
which can cause cracking especially when it involves blasting of rocks etc with
explosives.
(31)Very short lintel (concrete) ontop of windows, doors and other openings will
affect the surrounding blocks and cause cracks.
(32) No oversite concrete or german floor.

How to cool your Home or Building naturally

For a tropical region, a cool interior with continuous flow of air is desirable
because of high humidity and intense sunrays that generates a lot of heat which
makes the occupant uncomfortable.
Generating cooler air through mechanical /electrical means can be expensive as
well, but you can do a lot to reduce the heat in your home. The general concept
is to keep the air moving.

1. Providing a shade porch-A porch will help break the sunrays and reduce its
penetration into the interior.
2. Choose sites and orient your house to take advantage of the naturally
occurring wind flow. That is more openings should be along the inward and
leeward side of the wind.
3. You can make your windows tall on opposite sides of the room to give good
cross ventilation.
4. You can also create a smaller opening directly up on top of the normal bigger
ones in the room-This is called “stack effect” whereby hot air generated from
the ground naturally moves up to be replaced by cooler air from the top this
will make the air circulate better and will also reduce the temperature as new
and fresh air enters from the smaller top windows into the room and replaces
the hot ones closer to the ground.
5. High walls also help to reduce temperature, that’s why most buildings with
high volume of traffic are always very high-mosque ,church , halls etc. The
same principle of hot air navigating and finding ways of escape from the
building through several vents and other channels.
6. Minimize the numbers of windows facing East and West or totally avoid it if
possible to avoid sunrays of rising Eastern sun in the morning and intense
western setting sun in the evenings
7. Provide properly sized overhangs for your windows and doors will also help in
reducing heat in the home.
8. You can also plant trees around home especially leafy or deciduous trees
which will help to break the sunrays, gives cooling effect, and from your
biology class emits oxygen which is useful for man and take in carbon
monoxide.
9. Use of very thick solid walls to slowly absorb heat during the day and slowly
releases the heat out at night. Imagine the cooling effect you experience when
you enter a cave and mud houses.
10. Also thick blocks with wide hollow space can help reduce heat-When the
sunrays heat the first portion of the block during transmission of the heat the
hollow space help to break direct transmission to the exterior, meanwhile
remember the hotter air will always find its way up to give room to the cooler
air to come down (note: when you boil your water)
11. Use of natural materials helps a lot in cooling the building. Materials like
thatch roof, mud etc
12. Since sun rises from the east and sets in the west, you can easily minimize the
wall space facing these sides and increase the wall space facing North and
South especially when you are not limited by space.
13. Use light coloured roof-Light colour reflects, and makes the roof reflective .
14. You can take advantage of natural resources and build close to water bodies
or artificial lakes- The water helps to cool the environment becauses the
 cooler water will rise/evaporate which will also be blown to your interior and
makes it cool.
15. In the design of the building you can have exterior walls as part of the
building but jutting out to effectively block some sunrays. This could be fins
along the windows.
16. Louvered interior doors will make air flow without inhibitions in the interior
17. In design if block walls in the interior can be reduced to create room
for open space for air to pass.
18. Use of dwarf walls in the interior where necessary is also an advantage
19. You can also have openings at the top of doors for air to easily flow even
through the rooms in the interior
20. Usage of awning for the exterior will make the interior cool check
– http://tinyurl.com/awningmann11
21. You can also apply shutters in windows and
doors check- http://tinyurl.com/shuttersmann
22. Draperies ,curtains ,venetian blinds that are tightly fit also helps to reduce
heat
23. Usage of reflective windows-You can ask specifically for reflective windows
from your builder. Reflective windows reflects some percentage of the sunray
thereby reducing heat in the home.
24. You can also help yourself by minimizing heat generated indoors through
your appliances- Select energy efficient appliances , for example energy saving
bulbs will reduce heat in your home to the conventional type.
25. Strenuous exercise and work that can be done outside is better to take them
out.
26. By your actions too you can reduce the level of heat generated indoors by
simply scheduling the use of your kitchen and laundry appliances in the
cooler mornings and night.
27. Of course plant gardens in your home.
28. The paint colour of your wall will reflect some percentage of sunray when is
light. Make your wall colour a light one
29. When you have roof vents, gable vents etc in your building, the heat
generated inwards will have a wider means of escaping and the cooler air too
can be drawn inside.
30. You can also have pergolas check- http://tinyurl.com/pergolasmann
31. Make your plastering smooth, it will reflect better to rough plaster.

How to construct Concrete Facial for roof

This article is to open your eyes to multiple options you have in concrete facial.
Concrete facial is used in modern day buildings to substitute facial boards which
is common in older buildings.

Determine the type of design you wish to use, what we see mostly is concrete
facial with one or two steps at the base and top with curve at the center
connecting the two ends.

But concrete can be molded to any shape desirable, so the need for the designers
of building to come up with other interesting designs apart from what everybody
is used to. Apart from having curved sides, you can also have beveled/triangular
shape and other kinds of shapes.

Determine the numbers of planks and other materials needed. Planks are in
length of 3.6m or 12ft, since the facial is placed round the perimeter of the
building, calculate the perimeter, multiply by 3, then divide by 3.6m or 12 feet to
get the total numbers of planks of 1by12 you will need to order for in the
market. (You need planks as base for the extended portion of the concrete facial,
some planks will be cut to sizes as shown in pictures to form the external surface
portion which is mostly in curves.
Plywood will have to be laid along the external surface as shown in pictures to
give a smooth finish to the concrete externally. The shape of the external surface
is determined by your design so your design will show how you will cut the plan
that will form and support the external surface, just as earlier said the curved
edge can be replaced with any design you wish to have which will also makes it
unique.

The best approach in constructing concrete facial is as explained further down

page.

Leave one coach of blockwork to accommodate a beam which also serves as the
roof beam, this traditional roof beam is now added an extension of 8mm rods
jotting out from each ring of the reinforcements/iron rods. The extensions are
bent to follow shapes of the design of the external surface of the concrete facial
as shown. Get the planks that will support the concrete on both sides, also
extends a quarter rod from the beams to the top of the beam beyond the
surface, this will be used to hold the timber coming ontop later for the roof.

Note that the extended rod comes out from the center of the beam, the iron
rods are needed to help hold the concrete and also stabilizes the building as is
connected to the roof also.

Plank is cut at intervals to help give the perfect shape needed, the cutting is
mostly done at the sawmill when you have given out your specifications.

Also make sure there are columns at the edge of the wall carrying and
transferring the weight from roof to the ground even if it’s just a bungalow of
only ground floor.

Examples of shapes you can think and adopt

The concrete can also replace the external ceiling just as shown in last pic above

To form steps at the top and base of the external surface curve, the conventional
method is to place 2’by2’ wood at the edges to form the steps , but you can also
cut the wood to shape, cover the surface with plywood and achieve a better
result.
How to Construct an Elliptical/helical Staircase
Elliptical staircase is a staircase that is formed or shaped like an egg or ellipse.
Elliptical is used to describe an orbit or round shape that is not perfectly circular
but notwithstanding originated from circles with one or more focal points, in
otherwords it can be oval or ellipse in shape.
This type of stair could be an offshoot of perfect circle in that is having just one
focal point, this type is called helical stair and is the type we are discussing on
this article. Though same principle can be used to form other shapes you want
only that focal points will be more than one.

An helical staircase is a staircase formed from a curve formed by a straight line

drawn on a plane when that plane is wrapped around a cylindrical surface of any
kind, especially a perfect cylinder with a central focal point as shown in diagram
below.
 2d sketch of staircase

Check these samples— http://tinyurl.com/nkvk2vl

Elliptical stairs are the most difficult to construct especially when it is concrete,
as you know stairs can be made of wood,steel,concrete etc

The difference between elliptical stair and the spiral stair is that spiral are perfect
circular stairs and are always anchored on a column/pillarat the center to help in
carrying the weight, while elliptical/helical are mostly left to stand with points on
the ground floor and the connecting upper floor.

Materials needed-

1) Plywood 2)1”by12”by12” boards/planks (just your normal planks you buy in

sawmill) 3) cement 4)granite stones of very small thickness/granules-(half inch)
5)Sand 6)Water 7)And of course a good carpenter..lol

To do the helical stair as shown on plan you must first have a proper
understanding of the span the stair will cover, the starting point and the final
connecting point on the upper floor.

To calculate the expanse of stairs remember your secondary school mathematics,

calculate the circumference of circle for the parent circle which is 2? r
i.e 2 x 22/7 xradius

Assuming our radius of the circle is 4m, then the circumference/length of the
circle is 2 x 4 x22/7=25.

But remember our stairs covers only the semi circle, therefore the circumfence
or length of the semicircle is 25/2=12.5m

Taking the height of room as 3m, we are expected to share the risers and threads
evenly to fall at the end of 12.5m

The normal thread is usually 0.3m, but dividing 12.5m by 0.3m will give us 42
threads , this is much ,to make the stair enjoyable we can decide to widen the
thread to 0.6m which will give us 21 numbers of threadsthat is desirable.

Risers are usually one number higher than threads which makes ours 22 risers.
But we have 3.15m height to span. Divide 3.15 by 22 =0.143m or 143mm for each
riser.

But if the stair doesn’t have a blockwall laid in curve to support it, you will have
to create a temporal wall at the external line to give it a temporal support, and is
also useful for your markings.

Nail your planks standing upright along the line “a” being supported at the floor
under by 2 by 3 wood, join the planks together side by side, then you can begin
to do your markings on the plank which serves as temporal wall, measure and
draw the riser, follow by thread and vice versa until you get to the top using our
established values of 143mm or 0.143m and 0.6m or 600mm respectively.

After the line measure the waist which could be 120mm to 150mm (waist is the
conctrete between the end of thread and the bottom platform of the
concrete). Mark the spot on the first riser and the last riser, draw a line to join
them, this line is where the plywood will be place just as shown in pics above.

Support or brace the formwork with 2by3 wood and use bamboo as studs, then
cover the edge “b” with another plywood of the riser’s height which is properly
supported to give the concrete a smooth edge, then nail the same planks along
the markings of the risers between “a” and “b” to form the stair risers from
bottom to top after the iron bender must have placed the required iron rods to
be able to support the weight of the concrete. However to get this perfectly,
trace your parent circle focal point and nail to the spot on ground an iron rod or
thin wood as tall as the height of the room then tie a rope which you can easily
adjust round it and use it to trace the line of the plank that will form the riser
which lies from “a” to “b”. Note that the thread is bigger in “b” because of a
wider circumference/length.

Then mix a concrete that has granite of small thickness of half inch type with
sharpsand and cement, the mixture must be pure and strong. Pour and leave for
27 days minimum before dismantling the formwork.

Decking or suspended Concrete floor Estimate

Planning for your decking is one area people spend too much of time because of
the finances involved but we can as well prepare our minds for the probable
costs by doing a rough estimate ourselves from the plan. This will help you to
plan ahead and also save cost.

For the plan above,

Estimation will start from the bamboo studs, other materials can also be used but
bamboo is cheaper and commonly used.

BAMBOO- Bamboo are spaced at 0.6m or 600mm or 2ft apart in most

construction of normal decking height, so for the plan, we are taken the plan to
be a perfect rectangle of 29m by 13m. 29m being the longer side, divide by 0.6m

=48pcs of bamboo studs to span one row of 29m

For 13m, divide also by 0.6m=22 pcs of bamboo studs to span one row in 13m
side.

To know the total number, simply multiply (48 by 22)pcs=1056 pcs

But each length of bamboo from the market can cut 2 pieces, so divide 1056 by
2=528pcs of bamboo.
PLANKS-Wood planks of 1” by 12” are most commonly used in decking,
plywood can also be used but for this article we are working on 1” by 12” planks.

We need the planks for the table on which the concrete decking will seat, and to
calculate that , consider the size of a plank first, which is 3.6m by 0.3m or 12” by
1” . So surface area of a plank is 3.6m by 0.3m=1.08m2

Now calculate the surface area of our decking from plan which is 29m by
13m=377m2

Now divide 377m2 by 1.08m2 to know the numbers of planks needed=350 planks.

You also needs the planks that will go round the wall and serve as a support for
these planks. To do this, calculate the total length of walls, for this sample is
taken as 275m, but you need the planks to board at both sides of each wall i.e
275m multiply by 2=550m.

Also divide this length by the length of a plank of 3.6m=153 planks

(The one needed for staircase not included),

Total plank is 350+153=503 planks

2”by3” wood also has to run across the lines of the bamboo studs to support the
decking table too.

Assuming the 2 by 3 wood goes cross-sectionally under the table along the same
path with the bamboo, multiply 13m by 48=624m, divide that by 3.6 =173pcs of
2” by 3”.

For other bracing works on site, is advisable you add half of the sum to the sum
above i.e (173/2) +173=260 pcs of 2by3
Also consider paying for nails, binding wire and labour.

IRON RODS-Iron rods can’t be calculated without the structural plan, so this is
based on experience and assumptions to give us a close idea of what the
reinforcements will be.

The iron rods are laid from one end to the other and crossing each other to
form a netlike look which depends on the structural designs. But for our sample,
we want to assume the spacing for each rod is at 200mm or 0.2m intervals,
calculating for the 13m side,

13 divide by 0.2m =65pcs. Now multiply 65pcs by the length the iron rods are
expected to span which is 29m =1885m

Divide 1885m by 12m (which is length of iron rod in the market)

So you’ll need to buy 157 pcs of either 10mm or 12mm iron rods from the
market as the design specified.

For the 29m side, divide 29m by 0.2m =145 pcs, then multiply 145pcs by the
length the iron rods are expected to span which is 13m=1885m

Divide 1885m by 12m (which is length of iron rod in the market). You’ll need to
buy 157 pcs of either 10mm or 12mm iron rods from the market as the design
specified. Note that we arrived at same result for both sides because we are using
perfect rectangle and also adopting spacings of 0.2m for both, in a design
spacings varies most time. Allowance must also be left for 0.6m return of these
iron rods from the edges when laying them, hence the length ought to be taken
as (29m+1.2m) and (13m+1.2m) to accommodate the extra irons needed for the
returns.
Consider paying for binding wire and labour also.

CONCRETE– To form the concrete paste we need to buy granite, sharpsand,

cement, of course water (lol)

Please check this article and its comments for the calculations on
concrete http://buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2011/07/how-to-calculate-the-
numbers-of-bags-of-cement-in-the-foundation-of-a-simple-bungallow-from-a-
building-plan/ , some factors won’t be considered here , so for a concrete of
29m by 13m with concrete thickness of 6” or 150mm or 0.15m, multiply 29 by 13
by 0.15 to get the volume =56.55m3

For the ratio of concrete mix 1:2:4 aggregate, multiply 56.55 by 6.18=353 bags

For sand multiply 56.55 by 0.434=25m3

A cubic meter of sand weighs 2.08 tonnes , therefore for 25m3 you’ll need 2.08 x
25=52 tonnes of sand.

For granite, multiply 56.55 by 0.868=50m3

A cubic meter of granite weighs 2.4 tonnes

So 50 x 2.4 =120 tonnes of granite.

Advantages of Engine Moulded blocks to Hand moulded Blocks

Many do mould blocks onsite using masons and labour to do the job and claims
is cheaper but I don’t think so when you consider the advantages the engine
moulded has over hand-moulded.
 (1)Engine moulded blocks compacts better because greater pressure is applied
through the engine, the sand are better compacted and gives better products to
the hand-moulded.

(2)The engine- moulded blocks are faster to produce, therefore a deal of time is
saved which helps in reducing the general project construction time.

(3)The engine- moulded is also finished with a smoother surface which helps the
bricklayer during laying and gives the building a nice look.

(4)The engine moulded blocks process helps to reduce theft, imagine you having
a limited time to monitor the forming of the blocks with engine, what would
have taken one month to do will be done in three days or less depending on the
capacity of the engine. You can take less time to monitor the materials used like
cement, quantities of sand bought, and you can monitor the mix ratio/quality
unlike the hand- moulded that will delay and create room for the labourers to
steal the materials.

(5)Is easier to monitor the forming process as well

(6)The engine- moulded types with same mixture ratio will be stronger due to
better compacting and the difference in material used will still be negligible.

(7)The engine moulded blocks has better look which is attractive and will
enhance the aesthetic of the building even during construction.

(8)The engine moulded blocks due to its smooth and straight surface errors are
reduced to a minimum which also helps the bricklayer to get a better job done.

How to construct or build a staircase

 Dear Emma,
I have gained a lot on most of write up on measurement, pls I want u to write
on staircase measurement. Thank you.
chagi.

Staircase showing handrails

Staircase showing risers

Staircases are series of steps with their framework that leads human and materials
to higher floor of a building. That is the building with stairs that links to the next
floor from whatever floor you are in a storey building.

There are different building components that can take you from one floor of a
storey building to the other like elevator/lift, escalator etc but we are concerned
on staircases for this article.

There are different types of staircases by materials and designs.

(i)By materials-Staircases can be steel / iron, wood, concrete etc these are the
three major ones but you can also design with other materials even bamboo and
special glasses.

(ii)By design-This is about the style of your staircase which could be determined
based on the purpose you want to use it for, we have L shaped, U shaped or
doglegged, straight flight, spiral, elliptical etc

For the simple concrete type of straight flight which we are discussing all we
need is to first establish the height of the room that is the length from the lower
floor to the base of the upper floor, this will help to determine the type of
staircase that can also be suitable.
The major components of staircases are risers, thread, stringer, landing, handrails,
nosing etc

Risers are the vertical parts of the stairs that takes you up as you are climbing,
this is usually in the range of 120mm-175mm, however 150mm is taken as the
ideal height for each riser which must be equal allround to avoid accident or
tripping when climbing by the users.

Thread is the horizontal member of the stair, this is usually between 250mm to
300mm, is the short platform you step on as you climb the stairs hence the
reason for 300mm or 1 foot length to be able to accommodate substantial part
of your foot (leg).

Stringer which may not be applicable in some staircases is the side support that
the thread and riser are hinged or connected to which clip the staircase together
from the ground to the upper floor.

Landing is a bigger portion of the staircase which you can rest for a while after
climbing some numbers of stairs, usually they are in between U and L shaped
staircases.

Nosing is that extra tip of thread that shoots out beyond each riser, though this
is no longer common because of tripping/accident.

Handrails are used as support to help protect you from falling off the staircase,
this also can be any material from wood, steel/iron, concrete etc
 2d sketch of staircase

To determine the thread and riser of a simple staircase such as showed in image
above, first consider the height from the ground, choose the thread width to
know if the space available can take the staircase, if need be consider a landing
too of a minimum width of 900mm especially for a U or L shaped staircase.

Remember the riser is between 120mm to 175mm but we can use 150mm which
is most commonly used.

Also note that staircases that are steep can cause accident and not acceptable.
But working within the acceptable dimensions for risers and threads will help to
achieve a good slope.

For a floor of headroom height of 3m or 10ft, divide by 150mm, it gives 20 risers

from the present floor to the base of the upper floor, now consider the thread
which is one less to total numbers of risers to be 250mm, multiply 250mm by 20
risers, and you’ll have a length of 5meters as the space required for the staircase
to run. For space constraints and design when you want to do your calculation
you may opt for U or L shaped staircase. Remember additional minimum of
0.9m or 900mm for landing width.

To do the construction proper for concrete staircase of straight flight as shown

above, Lay a straight board consisting of planks nailed together and extend from
the base of starting of staircase to the base of the upper floor where staircase will
land. Using builder’s square and pencil, mark out the threads and risers on
stringers or on supporting walls as the case may be then begin to place the planks
cut to riser heights to each riser markings on the wall until you get to the top,
though this is done when the iron rods that will support the concrete has been
placed on top off the bed of plank.

After this you can do the concrete casting, allow to cure for 21 days just as it is
with concrete decking before you remove the supporting board underneath
which are also supported by bamboo sticks or 2 by 4 timber which serves as
props.

How to Calculate or Estimate Longspan aluminium roofing sheets.

Refer to old articles of aluminium roofing sheets, they come in rolls of average of
600mm to 1300mm depends on the manufacture and specifications. As stated in
previous articles, the aluminium sheets comes in rolls at the factory just like toilet
rolls but with different widths and thickness based on specifications.
Calculating the roof required could be done by calculating the surface area in
square meters of the area covered by the aluminium and for some companies it
could be calculated in meter lengths, knowing the width which is 600mm above
as constant.

For a simple gable roof as shown in pic 1 with length of 25.2m. First you must
know the height of roof from the section.

For this sample we are taken the eight to be 3meters (10 feet) to know the length
of leaf “x” or “y”
 Gable Roof

Remember the pythagoras theorem

x2=32 +6.12

x=6.8m

Hence the area of roof is (6.8 i.e x)+6.8 i.e y)

multiply by length 25.2m=342.72m2

If the width of the roof comes in 600mm or 0.6m, the length of the
roof require will be 342.72/0.6m

=571.2 meters length

So for some companies they could give their quotations in meter length so just
ask for the width of the rols and follow steps above.

For a complex roof like pic 3 above, then you can opt to do a fast
estimate based on the linear area covered as shown by roof plan as it may be a
bit complex and difficult, so you can divide the roof plan to sections of
rectangles or squares as it may applies –(four right angles). Then add the areas
together and add 10% of the same area, because the higher the roof, the more
the plates , and the more complex the roof the higher the numbers of offcuts
which will also increase the numbers of aluminium /plates required . So for pic 3
,add areas of rectangles A,B,C and D which is the big center.

i.e (8.2m x 1.2m)+(1.2mx8.2m)+(1.2mx8.2m)+(22.8mx12.2m)=311.28m2

Add 10%=311.28+31.128=342m2

Now for a more accurate and scientific calculation, you must know the height of
the roof , have the basic knowledge of calculating area of a triangle which is ½
base x height . And Pythagoras theorem to know the side of any triangle . Also
remember the area for a rectangle is simply length multiplied by breadth.
Assuming the height of roof is 3meters as as previous in fig. 2, and taken
the major part D as a simple gable roof (check the different sections on plan
fig 3) and ignoring the hipped or bevelled section.

x2=32 +6.12

x=6.8m

So area of roof as previous is (6.8m+6.8m) multiply by length 22.8m=310m2

Add areas A, B, C

+310m2 +9.84m2 +13.44m2 + 9.84m2

=343.12m2

With your estimate is also the RIDGE and GUTTERS.

Ridge is the roof material you use that will cover and seal up the points where
two leaves of your aluminium sheets meet to protect the interior from rain, it
usually overlaps the two adjacent leaves of roofing sheets .
And gutter is usually underneath, it gathers rainfall and help to channel it to
wherever deem fits according to design. Is at the taper ends of two adjacent
leaves of aluminium sheets to collect water.

The difference between gutter and ridge. While the ridge is up protecting rain
water the gutter is down collecting rain water and channeling to some drains.

How to plan your building

For most people what they consider as building plan is actually not. The most
important part of a home is the interior because the ease and comfort you enjoy
depends on adequate planning. For a simple bungalow, you represent a plan on
paper when you place yourself, looking at a floor plan as if you’re directly up
looking down the edges of walls of the building you tends to create.
After deciding on the type of building you want, the first thing to come to mind
is the adequate land space you need to accommodate the plan in reality. You
have to consider the setbacks from fence, going by town planning regulations is
mostly 6m or 20ft from the property line infront to the start of building and 3m
or 10ft each by both sides. Also 3m or 10ft is required at the rear as setback
before the building line behind. Knowing the minimum setbacks you can now
check the area and compare with you really need and if you still find more space
that will be left unfilled, then is good for you to have a nice landscaping plan to
complement the building this will make your building actually look nicer.
How to determine room sizes
Room sizes actually depends on people that will occupy the rooms and the
nature of traffic expected, the furniture is very important and knowing the
nature of man and how he behaves will help in giving him the space adequate for
him. The average sizes of man contributes to the sizes of furniture and in turn
the room spaces. 600mm or 0.6m or 2 feet width is usually seen as a space an
average man can fit in that’s why most modules in building are in 600mm or 2
feet, check the sizes of ceiling modules and the division of 600mm is of course
300mm which also serve as minimum circulation allowance after the normal
600mm. Therefore the standard door is put at 900mm to accommodate man and
his furniture width. So for a common bedroom what you consider first are the
furniture you planned to have inside based on the number of people to use
them, then the doors and windows. Consider the bed, the size of wardrobe and
other shelves this will help in determining sizes of the room.
You must have heard 6feet bed as very common statement, the wardrobe width
space is around 600mm or 2 feet to 900mm as it may applies. For a minimum size
of a room add door space 900mm or 3ft plus bedspace 1.8m or 6ft plus
circulation space 300mm or 1ft which equals 10ft or 3m now to add the human
space of 600mm or 2ft which makes it 3.6m or 12 ft which is the
standard/acceptable minimum room size. Living room will require more furniture
and expect convergence of more people compare to bedroom so function it
should be the biggest space in the house (television, settees e.t.c) There is no set
minimum but from experience I will say minimum should be from 4.2m or 14ft
by 3.9m or 13ft. Dining requires less space because it requires less furniture and
traffic , for this I will put the minimum as 2.4m derived from two seats in
opposites of 0.6m each which adds up to 1.2m and table width of 0.9m plus 0.3m
as circulation which makes 2.4m . For the longer side of the dining with five seats
arrangements which is 5 by 0.6=3m. Staircase width minimum acceptable is 0.9m
or 3ft which is the size of a door, and kitchen designs has changed a lot lately ,
modern designs now require bigger space with breakfast table, worktops etc
Considering the arrangements in building plan you are expected to step into the
waiting room from entrance porch which can sit two people before moving to
the living room or for some cases a corridor that leads to other parts of the
house, this type is good if you expect exceptional visitors in your living room any
other persons familiar with the house can simply take the corridor and walls
straight to the other rooms as shown in pictures below.
From the living room you can connect the dining directly, and from the dining
next should be kitchen that has a door leading to the dining and one door
leading outside of the building, this door will serve as an inlet for foodstuffs that
are to be brought inside and going side by side the store and the laundry.

These facilities should have access through the kitchen door to a bay outside
where foodstuffs etc can be brought in without passing through the living room.
For a residential project, is important you have three compartments calle Public,
Semi Private and Private areas. Someone should be able to move from the
private areas which consist mainly of bedrooms to the kitchen without you first
showing up at the dining or living room to the full glare of your guests at the
living room so the coordination should be this way-
LIVING ROOM,WAITING ROOM-Public GUEST ROOM,DINING-Semi
Private BEDROOMS,STUDY-Private KITCHEN-(In between private and semi-
private)
Windows also follows various sizes from 600mm for windows to
900mm,1200mm,1800mm windows as the case may apply for a tropical region
like ours with erratic power supply is advisable to have two windows at different
walls in a room to aid proper aeration, this will also affects arrangement of
furniture and size of your rooms.

How to Calculate Timber roof members

Hi, pls, I need detailed explanations on how to calculate roofing materials based
on roof plan starting from the roof carcasses to the roofing sheets/coverings. Pls
use a typical roofing plan to explain it in details, the no of struts, purlin, tie
beam, wall plate, noggings, rafters, kingpost etc, pls prepare the precise
calculations of the roofing sheets using longspan aluminium, i want to know it.
Thanks, expecting your reply soonest.
O.James

A home is gotten when you look for comfort based on your fantasy, but a
shelter is a necessity, and a building becomes a shelter when it can prevent rain,
water, sun, strong wind and other climatic elements from affecting the
occupants- human, animal, live and dead loads with personal effects.

As far as I am concerned the moment you have your roof placed on a building,
other things are important but they are basically needs. You can’t move into a
house without a roof, but we have seen people living in a house with no window
or makeshifts windows covered with ordinary bags and cardboards.
Wood/ timber are sawn into various sizes amongst are

2” by 2” i.e 50mm by 50mm

2” by 3” i.e 50mm by 75mm

2” by 4” i.e 50mm by 100mm

2” by 6” i.e 50mm by 150mm

3” by 4” i.e 75mm by 100mm

3” by 6” i.e 75mm by 150mm

What determines the quantity of wood needed depends basically on the height
of the roof, how complex the roof is? Which may leads to lots of offcuts etc.
To determine the roof members you need to have the floor plan, the section and
the roof plan.

From the section a-a above you can see the height of the roof of building and
the length and breadth of building is already showned in the floor plan, so left to
be knowned is the rafter or the fall ‘x’ as shown in diagram above.

Remember the Pythagoras theorem in secondary school days used in calculating

the longest part of a right angle triangle.

The numbers of wood to be calculated also depends on spacing for the purpose
of this exercise, we are using the format in diagram above as our specifications
for our calculatons.
For ceiling noggins of 600mm centers it simply means the wood are nailed
600mm apart, so add the breadth of plan and 600mm as overhangs both sides i.e
7,800mm or 7.8m +1200mm or 1-2m=9meters

Then divide by 0.6m=15pcs of 16.975m of 50 by 50.

For the longitudinal portion, 16.975+1.2m(the overhangs of 0.6m both

sides)=18.175m then divide by 0.6=31 pcs of 9m of 2” by 2” ( Note how the
length on one side is used to calculate the pieces/numbers of wood required for
the length of the other side)

So to know the number of 2 by 2 to buy in the market for the ceiling noggins-

18.175m x 15pcs=273m of 2” by 2”

9m x 31pcs=279m of 2” by 2”

Total=552m

In the market, the wood comes in 3.6m per piece

So 552/3.6=153 pcs of 2” by 2” timber to buy in the market for ceiling noggins.

WALL PLATE is the timber/wood that are placed on top of blocks or roof
beams as the case may apply, so for the fastest way to calculate this, is to add
the entire walls length and divide by 3.6m to know the numbers of pieces you
need. I am using approximately 100m.

So for 100m, divide by 3.6=28pcs of 3” by 4” or 75mm by 100mm to purchase in

the market for timber named wall plate.
For FACIAL BOARD, remember the length and breadth of the plan of the
building with its overhangs of 0.6m each, so add the perimeter

9m+9m+18.175m+18.175m=54m

Divide 54m by 3.6m=15pcs of 1” by 12”

For TIE BEAM, going by the section, it was recommended that we lay the
timber named tie beam which is 2” by 6” or 100mm by 150mm at 1.2m centers
apart. So what we need to do is to follow the same format used in calculating
the ceiling noggins but it is going to span only the breadth of 7.8m only.

So divide 18.175m by 1.2m centers (spacings)

=15pcs of 7.8m =117m, then divide by 3.6m to know the numbers to

buy/purchase in market.

117/3.6=32pcs of 2 by 6 of wood termed as tie beam to buy in the market.

STRUTS are a bit complex to calculate, they are the members placed diagonally
as shown in diagram to connect the rafter with tie beams. We can use the
numbers of tie beams and multiply by 2-

i.e 32 pcs multiply by 2=64 pcs of 3 by 4 or 75mm by 100mm termed as struts to

be bought in the market.

For RAFTER, check the height of roof and the breadth of plan to determine the
rafter which is the falling portion of the roof (except is already given from the
section) Lets take the height of the roof as 3.5m and the breadth of plan plus
overhang is 9m.
With the diagram above applying Pythagoras theorem

X2 (rafter length) =4.52+3.52

X=5.7m

Rafters are nailed side by side tie beam and struts. So we use the numbers of
pieces of tie beams because they are also spaced at 1.2m center to center and
multiply by 5.7m

15 pcs of rafter (same as tie beam) multiply by 5.7 =85.5m

Now divide by 3.6m to know the numbers of 3” by 4” to purchase in market=24

pcs of 3” by 4” required for rafters.
PURLINS are the wood of 2” by 2” or 50mm by 50mm we nail the roofing
sheets on.

Purlins are spaced based on designs or type of roofing sheets. But for our
calculations, we are using 900mm spacings.

Going by diagram above add 5.7m +5.7m for both sides=11.4m

Divide 11.4m by 0.9m to know the numbers required =13 pcs of purlins of length
18.175m (The purlins has to span the length of the building which is 16.975 plus
1.2m for the overhangs by sides)

So 13 by 18.175m=236m

Now divide by 3.6m to know the numbers requires to purchase in market

=236/3.6

=66 pieces of 2” by 2” to purchase in market for the purlins.

KINGPOST is that piece of wood that stands at the middle of two rafters falling
at the opposing sides. Is the one that spans vertically from the tie beam/rafter
line, so just the same way we calculated for rafter, remember 15 pieces and
multiply by the height of the roof 3.5m=52.5m

Then divide by 3.6m to know the numbers to buy in the market.

Therefore 15 pieces of wood of 2″ by 6″ termed kingpost is needed to be bought

in the market.

Calculating materials for your lintel

After foundation and oversite/German concrete, the next area of focus is lintel,
when you have raised the block to the right level. Lintel is simply reffered to as a
structural element that is used in course of construction usually at the top of
windows and doors or other openings but below the roof which is also used to
carry the load/ blocks that are placed on top thereafter. Lintel can be of
different elements, but in our case we are taken the common concrete lintel for
the purpose of discussion. The lintel concrete can be precast (cast with a model
formed before placing or hoisting in right position) or cast insitu (cast on site as
construction continues directly on top of blocks) The materials needed are
granite, cement, sharpsand, wood and iron rods. To determine how a lintel will
be placed, you have to consider the distance it has to cover by the door,
windows or arcs, also you have to consider that the concrete will rest on some
portion of blocks. For a concrete lintel space, half or one- third of the length can
be used as the allowance where the lintel will spread to be able to easily rest on
support and also carry the extra blocks coming on top . For a 900mm door for
instance, is better for the total concrete lintel to be 1800mm, that is, 450mm

allowances both sides. For most lintels, the

iron rods will run as four in numbers usually 12mm rods are okay for this and the
ones that forms rings around each lintel will be made of 10mm. The spacing of
the rings can be from 150mm to 300mm but lets use 200mm as the average. To
board this concrete lintel planks and 2 by 3 wood will also be needed so that it
can carry the wet concrete mix that will be poured on it to form the lintel.
 -Using the plan above as a sample to
calculate the quantity of material needed for our concrete lintel. Due to lots of
openings at the perimeter, we are going to run the lintel round the entire
building as OPTION A, so to calculate the IRON RODS-
Add the entire perimeter -12.925m+12.925m+21.0m+21.0m=67.85m

For the doors let make each door of 0.9m as 1.8m i.e 0.45m overhangs for both
sides that will rest on walls by the sides. 16 doors =16 x 1.8m=28.8m.

So total length for the lintel of the building is 67.85m+28.8m (doors)=96.65m

Remember the 12mm iron rods which are the runners are four in numbers.

Therefore Multiply 96.65 by 4=386.6m Divide that by 12m which is the length of
iron rods per piece in the market.

Total length for 12mm rod runner=386.6m/12=44 lengths/pieces of 12mm rods

to buy in the market.

For OPTION B- For the window lets take an average of 1.2 to be 2m for 13
windows =26 meters (m for meters) For 0.6m window let make each 1m (plus
the two sides overhang) For 8 windows=8m
So total length for the lintel of the building is 26m+8m+28.8m(doors)=62.8m
Remember the 12mm iron rods which are the runners are four in numbers.

Therefore Multiply 62.8 by 4=251.2m Divide that by 12m which is the length of
iron rods per piece in the market.

Total length for 12mm rod runner=251.2m/12=21 lengths/pieces of 12mm rods

to buy in the market.

For the rings, do not forget we are using spacing of 200mm interval (check image
‘a’) to know the numbers of rings required in OPTION A of 96.65m,

96.65m divide by 0.2m=483.25 rings.

For each ring the width and height of lintel is taken as size of block which is
225mm or 0.225m. So 0.225m x 4=0.9 ( Don’t forget there should be allowance
for iron rods to cross over each other but is seen as negligible and ignored also
the concrete poured should be able to cover the iron rods, hence the rings won’t
necessarily be at 225mm length). 0.9 x 483.25 rings=435, Then divide by 12 =36
lengths of 10mm iron rods.

FOR OPTION B

For the rings, do not forget we are using spacing of 200mm interval (check image
‘a’) to know the numbers of rings required in OPTION B of 62.8m length,

62.8m divide by 0.2m=314 rings.

For each ring the width and height of lintel is taken as size of block which is
225mm or 0.225m. So 0.225m x 4=0.9 ( Don’t forget there should be allowance
for iron rods to cross over each other but is seen as negligible and ignored also
the concrete poured should be able to cover the iron rods, hence the rings won’t
necessarily be at 225mm length). 0.9 x 314 rings=283m, Then divide by 12 =24
lengths of 10mm iron rods to buy in the market.

To calculate bags of cement, gravel/granite and sand- use volume 522.6 x 0.225 x
0.225. Check these articles and also read the comments they are very
useful. http://buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2011/07/how-to-calculate-the-
numbers-of-bags-of-cement-in-the-foundation-of-a-simple-bungallow-from-a-
building-plan/http://buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2009/08/how-to-calculate-
materials-in-concrete/

Stone-coated (Alu-Zinc) Roofing Tiles: How To Determine Quantity of Roof

Tiles Required
Stone-coated or stone chip roofing tiles are made from an alloy of aluminum
and zinc also as known as “galvalume” or “Alu-zinc” metal sheets as the base
metal for this roof covering.

In this article, we will not be focusing our attention over the advantages or
disadvantages of this roof covering over long span aluminum, but will drive right
into how we will determine the number of roofing tiles required for covering a
roof. You can do this in preparation for a roof quote to be submitted by your
roofing contractor, since many will submit a wide range of quantities for any one
roof. I have seen many clients been short changed in quantity estimation and
pricing on several roofing projects.
Stone-coated roofing tiles come in varying lengths of between 1100mm and
1650mm, but the most popular been the 1350mm – 1400mm range depending on
the manufacturer. The standard width should be a 420mm. During roof
construction the purlins or battens are spaced at 365mm (c/c) center to center
and rafter at 1200mm (c/c) center to center. We will be using factors derived
from these numbers in determining the number of roofing tiles required for
covering our roof.

For easy understanding, we will work on two popular roof types as examples;

1. The simple gable roof, and

2. The hip roof types.

Accurate stone–coated roof tile estimation is based on a combination of roof

measurements at the fascia, rafter, hip, rake and valley (gutter). The two roof
examples below will demonstrate how to use the formulas to arrive at the total
number of sheets required for any roof style. The example roof dimensions are
strictly hypothetical and not lifted from any real world construction scenario.

Formula:

How to determine quantity of stone-coated (Alu-Zinc) roofing sheets

Rafter length divided by 0.365 = number of roof titles from fascia to ridge.
Roof length divided by 1.26 = number of ridge roof tile sheets from gable (rake)
end to gable (rake) end.

Example 1. The simple gable roof

Gable roof
Roof length, 15: 1.26 = 12 roof tile sheets across
Rafter length, 7:0.365 = 19 roof tile sheets rows up Roof length, 15 : 1.26 = 12
roof tile sheets across

(Remember to round up to the nearest digit)

Formula

For this example, multiply 12×19 to determine the total number of roof tile
sheets needed for one side of this gable roof. Multiply this by 2 to obtain the
opposite and the total roof tiles required.

Therefore,

Total roof tile or sheets required will be; 12×19 = 228 tiles

For the opposite side, 228x 2 = 456 tiles

Example 2: The Hip Roof Type

In other to arrive at an accurate quantity of roof tiles for any simple hip roof
style, we will use the formula and method in the example above (as a gable roof)
and then we will calculate the additional tiles needed for the hip and or valleys
by measuring the total length of all 4 hips, then multiply by 1.32. This equals the
number of additional roof tile sheets to compensate for the cuts and bends at
hips. Add together the total tile sheets including additional tile sheets for the hips
to obtain total roof tiles sheets required for any hip roof.

1. Roof length 15 divided by 1.26 = 12 roof tiles sheets across

2. Rafter length 7: 0.365 = 19 roof tiles sheets rows up

3. 12 x 19 = 228×2 = 456 total roof tiles

4. Hip length = 10m x 4= 40m

= 40m length of hip x 1.32

= 52.81 (round up)

= 53 additional roof tiles for cuts

Therefore total roofing tile sheets,

=456 tile sheets +53 (additional roof tiles at the hips)

=509 tile sheets

These are the basics in calculating the quantity required for using stone coated
roofing tile for your roof covering. For more complex roof designs, you can
section it out into these basics types above or if you don’t like calculations you
can contact us or the webmaster.

How to install POP (plaster of paris) ceilling

Plaster of Paris is regarded as any type of plaster containing calcined gypsum
(calcium sulfate dihydrate), sand and water. When these ingredients are
combined, they result in the formation of a tough, dry product; however, plaster
of Paris can be sanded to achieve a variety of looks. By following some basic
guidelines, you can use plaster of Paris to mend cracks, fix dents, for ceiling, in
walls and even to create artworks. However in this case our focus is on ceiling.
POP popularly called plaster of paris is used for a lot of purposes because it can
easily be formed to any shape and it hardens quickly and is easy to operate.
To do a pop ceiling in your home, getting it done is in two ways, you can buy
the materials yourself which include pop cement , yarn (spongelike material) etc
then pay the installer based on per square meter of area of coverage, or you can
give it out totally as a contract. But these are the basic steps in getting pop
ceiling cast-on-site done. Get cement, bucket,water, a very plane and smooth
surface could be a table, a rectangular glass of a big size to give smooth surface
for the modules that will be produced. POP’s are casted on plane surface by
placing the glass of a considerable size on an even table, support the edges by
wood of the thickness you wish to cast. Make sure you clean the table from dirts.
Then mix POP cement with a concentration of approximately 7 parts water to 10
parts pop and place some portion of yarn in the mould. Place the water in the
bucket and and slowly pour the pop cement into it and continuously stir with a
stick or whatever handy just the way you put “amala-yam flour on hot boiling
water and stir until curing. The longer is mixed the better it will become. The
yarn helps to strengthen the pop board formed, just same way iron rods helps to
carry concrete. Pour the pop into the mold of glass base and wooden stuffs by
the edge, this is required to form plane straight board of pop, as you pour gently
tap the molds to allow escape of bubbles in the mixture, and you have to pour
enough mixture for it to be slightly overfilled, then level off the mold using a
straight edged tool like a trowel, called putty knife to smoothen the top surface.
You can remove the support by the side which may be wood, iron range or
anything straight by the side that can hold the mix before hardening. Gently use
same putty knife to separate the glass from the hardened mix of pop cement and
water after two hours so you can use same mold to form another one until you
have enough boards that can cover the area you need. Place them in open air to
dry the next day.
To install the boards after hardening, for a ceiling of concrete decking, the yarn
is also mixed with a concentration of pop cement to form a strong adhesive
(gum) between the concrete ceiling and the boards, just make sure you have a
good paste of the pop and enough yarn to sustain the weight, the plasterboards
are usually light after drying anyway. And for wooden ceiling same process can
be used as above also binding wire can also be applied to tie the boards to the
woods above ceiling.
When you want to place the boards, establish the edges the pop will be placed,
make sure any point you mark use range and plumb to transfer round the room
to achieve very straight line round the room. Get some iron range (straight iron
of about 3.6m) use them to support the boards from one side to the other, you
do this by tieing the range to the wood on the roof by binding wire, then in
between the range you place the boards and start joining them together on the
roof with the mixture of yarn and cement and you also join the boards at the
edges together by thick mix of same pop cement. Try to achieve a smooth and
even surface by patching with pop paste and gradually untie the range by
removing the binding wire under the boards. Fill holes left with pop pastes using
putty knife to blend the surface.
For the cornice at the edges follow same process of forming the molds. However
the molds container are already forms in plastics which can be bought from the
market, depends on the type of design you want out of the ones available in
market, get the same cement, water mixture with yarn for strength and pour into
mould. When is dry you will still need the range and plumb to establish the line
of the cornice, and also place just like the boards, but this time it will be along
the walls.
Medallions are pop designs usually in flowery patterns that are mostly placed at
the center of the room, they are also of the pop mix and you can also buy them
in the market. Adding ornamental ceilling plaster around your pendant light
fixtures can bring beauty and value to your home.

POP can be painted with any kind of colour surprisingly 90% prefers white paint
or they thought POP must come in white since thats what they’ve been seeing
around.
Before you give a final paint leave the finished pop for two weeks minimum to
properly dry.
POP is also used on walls to smoothen the walls and give a perfect interior when
painted or when wallpapers are applied. Just use the putty knife to smoothen it.
To apply light fittings, check the size of the bulb cover and you can easily cut the
POP boards to fit the lights into it.
Also consider these benefits gotten online-
Benefits of POP Ceiling
# Plaster of Paris lends a smooth, matte finish to the interior ceiling.
# POP can be painted; and it can be also given a textured look.
# POP can be cast into any shape and thus can be used to create ornamented
designs for ceiling.
# POP medallions are a popular way to give the interiors a classic look.
# POP designs can be successfully used to highlight ceiling light fixtures.
# POP false ceiling is a common element of contemporary interiors.
# Plaster of Paris can be used to create varied shapes of false ceiling.
# POP false ceiling can be easily adorned with recessed lighting.
# POP false ceiling can be made interesting by providing different levels in the
ceiling.
# POP ceiling with cove lighting is a popular element of contemporary interiors.
# POP false ceiling is commonly used to conceal air conditioning ducts.
# POP false ceiling is also used to cover ugly beams running across the ceiling.
# Plaster of Paris can gel with other materials like glass and wood to provide you
a composite ceiling.
-For small and large chunk of POP materials-(cement, medallions etc) this
company imports them so you are going to get it at a lower price to what is
obtainable in the market, and they are very reliable.

How to lay Tiles

Laying of tiles is one of the most important part of finishing work, as simple as it
seems there are basic steps to follow.
In Nigeria, we imports tiles and most are coming from China and Spain, others
from Italy, Turkey etc
For a fairly good tile it is preferable to use Spanish tile. Most tiles imported from
China seems to be of lower quality to the Spanish and some of them are not of
equal sizes which will affect the outcome when finally installed on walls and
floors.

Tiles for walls are different from the ones for floors and one shouldn’t be used
for the other except in rare occasions for decorative purposes on walls.

Level surface is required for both though they shouldn’t be smooth to allow easy
bonding of cement and tiles.

TO LAY WALL TILES

You have to get your plumb handy, place the cement/sand on the surface of the
walls and make sure the wall is not painted with oily paint for an old building
going through some some renovations.

If the wall have very smooth surface or oily paint you’ll need to peel the paint
off, ask your tiler to get you the chemical to use for it.

After you’ve done the wall screeding and checked with plumb, soak all the tiles
you need in water for sometimes minimum of 30 minutes, if not when you apply
cement all the tiles will break because of the reaction between cement and the
dry tiles.

Nail a tie rod or slim wood measured from the ground for about 100ml or 150ml
round the room, make sure the wood is properly placed horizontally, you need
the plumb to establish that.

You have to measure some distance from ground to accommodate the screed
and floor tile after. Then rub each tile with cement, cement must cover the
entire face of tile to avoid holes that may ultimately leads to tiles piulling off
from walls later. Cement slurry is prepared with ordinary cement and water.

You also needs to buy spacers, they are tiny cross like plastics to help in spacing
tiles evenly After plaing the first row of tiles, when you are placing the next row
separate them with these spacers, continuer this in other rows until you get to
the ceiling or as the design demands.

After you may have done the floor then you can remove the wood that was the
base for wall and now complete the wall tile.

To do the floor, use mix of cement and sharpsand as screed to get an even level
. Is good to do this when the door has been placed to achieve a level that will
flush perfectly with the base of the door i.e the base of the door is now taking as
the tile floor level.

Getting floor done also requires establishing straight lines with tiles, for a room
you can establish the center and take a point convenient before you start laying
directly on the screed. Tiles are most often in perfect square so it may expose
any error in walls of building so is better the effects of error are rather shared
equally along the edges of walls.

CHOOSING AND BUYING TILES

As was mentioned earlier floor tiles are different from wall tiles. Most wall tiles
are ceramic and are mostly used in kitchen and toilet, they are easily cleaned and
helps to reduce stains because of their make.

They also comes in different sizes in millimeters like 100mm x 100mm, 200mm x
200mm, 150mm x 150mm, 400mm x 300mm etc. The number of tiles you require
depends on the size of the area being tilled and you must allow for 10% extra for
breakages/wastages and spares for future replacements.

For floors is good you use the ones that are antislippery with a considerable
gripping property.

The stairs must have better gripping value so thread tiles are often used.

To calculate the area to be tiled, for a wall multiply the width by the height of
the wall, and for a floor area , multiply the length by breadth to know the total
square area, fortunately tiles are also sold in per square meters in markets so is
easy to know the quantity you need. Have in mind the pieces of tiles are the
lower the numbers that will make a square meter.

After laying tiles you can apply coloured cement along the spaces between, allow
the work to dry and then clean and wash the entire surface. You can also polish
some tiles if need be.

For a broken tile remove the grout or cement around the tile, shatter the broken
tile into pieces safely, scrape the cement under before replacing with a fresh one,
use flat wood to beat into place.

Wastages in Building Construction, Causes and

Remedies

Wastages broadly caused by inefficient planning can cause you to spend double
the amount of money you ought to spend on a project if not more ,yet the
building may not still be in perfect shape in comparison to the ones that was
properly handled. These are causes with the remedies.
(1)Improper planning-Before you open up a site it is important you decides on
what to do and at what stages tasks will be done so that you don’t end up
prolonging some tasks and not doing some until when it will affect other tasks on
site. This will cause wastages to arise on a site for example you decide to paint
the building before you realised there are some spots that needs to be patched ,
obviously wherever the repair is done you will still need to paint back which is a
loss/wastage to the project.
(2)Unskilled labour- one of the fastest ways to lose money on site is using quacks
or unskilled labour to do some important tasks, you may have been charged less
but at the end you’ll spend more money repairing the work the unskilled
labourers did.
(3)Money not released ontime by clients-Delay in payments affects planning and
will also affect the cost of labour because more days will be spent completing a
project that could have been done in a specified time frame.
(4)Unscheduled disbursement of funds-Despite that there shouldn’t be delay in
payments, releasing money carelessly or without proper account can give your
builder/contractor a false impression there is plenty of money to be made which
may cause excesses on his part.
(5)No schedule of work-There must be a document containing how a project will
be carried out, the time allocated to each task and showing how the task will
overlap each other and help to achieve a wholesome project.
(6)Untested Artesans-There is no harm in using different artesans for your
projects but tested and trusted hands help in no small measure to reduce waste
and saves time since they are already used to the contractor/builder.
(7)Inexperience workforce-This will affect the general outlook of your building
yet you’ll spend more repairing badly done jobs.
(8)Not buying materials in bulk-Buying materials only as at when needed from
retailers around will cause you to spend double the amount you ought to use for
a project, avoid it if necessary.
(9)Improper storage-Store should be provided either onsite or buildings nearby,
and the store must be secured with locks and keys and if possible a security man
to monitor activities. Materials should also be protected from rain and other
negative environmental conditions.
(10)Theft-When there is no adequate monitoring/security theft is bound to occur.
(11)No or improper account-How money is spent, materials coming to site, how
is being used and for what purposes need to be put into considerations if not,
when is difficult to trace materials abuse by workers is inevitable.
(12)Overzealousness or too know on part of the client-I can’t count how many
clients have told me they are builders themselves just because they have built
some houses before. These people put themselves at a risk because the
professional on site won’t like to teach you what you don’t know since you now
claim to know soo much.
(13)Ignorance of basic steps/stages in construction-Not knowing anything at all
even if it has to be through reading from the internet may put you at a greater
risk from a contractor that wants to outsmart you, if left alone taking over the
site may be difficult and chaos in management of materials is inevitable.
(14)Check and balances every week is important from material bought, materials
supplied, to work done.
(15)Using substandard materials-Substandard materials will make you loose
money rather than gain through repairs that will be caused from those materials.
(16)Unstable working force-It will take time for new workers to get used to you
and what you really want in a building. So avoidable mistakes will occur which
will cause corrections and wastages.
(17)Buying materials without specifications or your workers help accompanying
you to the market may not be too good, you may end up buying materials not
suitable for your project which will invariably leads to waste.
(18)Improper siting during Design and construction-You must decide where the
gatehouse, septic/soakaway tank, gen houseand other ancilliary buildings must be
before construction , if not this will lead to major redesign/reconstruction which
will eventually ends up in wastages, for instance it is better to locate your
septic/soakaway tank to fall in line with slope of site and placed at the lowest
part of site this makes placements of pipes less strenous to achieve because your
plumber won’t be digging much soil.
(19)Lack of foresight during demolition-There are sites you have to do some
demolitions of old buildings onsite before new construction, for a well planned
site, the rubbles from the demolitions will still be useful.
(20)Contractual matters should be clear and stated in black and white between
the client and contractor to avoid arguments at the tail ends of the project.
(21)Delay due to human factors like deliberate absence by workers or strike
action can cause loss of time and money, which will eventually adds up when
prolonged.
(22)Delay due to environmental factors like rainstorm can affect a construction
site which can lead to waste. Imagine if you had mixed cement down for some
work only for the rain to affect you during execution of task.
(23)Improper handling of government part-This can lead to a major waste or
entire loss of project , for example if you were building in a government
acquired land the government of the day can wake up one day and demolish the
entire building. There are areas where town planning approval is very important,
so if your plan is not approved, government agencies from local to state can
disturb your project which may also lead to lost and wastages especially when
building is tampered with.
(24)When no room for overlapping of task . Artesans should be encouraged to
work side by side except for some cases to avoid material and time wastages.
(25)Weak or bad designs in buildings-Using quacks to design a building for you
will definitely make you to pay more and may even leads to total collapse of
building.
(26)No site investigation of site before moving to site-This is one of the major
and most important steps to take before embarking on any project. If the place is
waterlogged or you question the soil integrity , do a soil test, check how safe the
place is for your materials to be brought to site? where will your workers stay?
where will they sleep? where is food coming from? and how about toilet? If all
these are not planned for, you’ll be surprised at man hours to be wasted by your
workers because of these.
(27)Divertion of money meant for a task for another is lack of proper planning
and can lead to wastages too.
(28)Also give the professional onsite to exhibit his trade, otherwise out of
annoyance he may leave you with your antics to waste your resources.
(29)Employ security guards if necessary to avoid thefts.
(30)Site must be fenced to avoid encroachment, things falling out of site to
gutters infront and unwelcomed intruders to site.
(31)Prolonged Land dispute can also affect a construction project from incurring
loss and wastages.
(32)Effects of vandals/area boys especially when your site is close to where they
are fighting, they can also be a serious nuisance on site and disrupt activities if
not properly handled.
(33)Overstepping building boundaries- When you build beyond acceptable line
infront, the government or other authorities may compel you to break part of
your building. This is common with houses close to major roads.
(34)Improper handling of Omoonile.
(35)Building on waterways, under high tension wires etc especially in a densly
populated area is illegal and a big risk. The environmental problems can remove
your building either by flood, poles falling and breaking your house or worst
government have unimpeded access to demolish your building.

Steptiles/longspan aluminium roofing sheets versus

stonechips roofing.
I would like to know which of the roofing sheets is better – steptile aluminium
roofing sheet or G. (Stonechip) roofing tiles.
I will be grateful if you can perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats) analysis on the two so that I will be in a better position
to select the most appropriate for my buildings.
From experience few knows what they are about to get into when types of roof,
there are basic questions you should ask to determine the choice of roof. Is it
durable/longlasting? is it easy to install? How well can it resist rainfall and other
weather conditions? Is the finished product pleasing? Etc

From a personal opinion and from experience steptiles/longspan aluminum has

more advantages over stone chips for the following reasons-

(1)Steptiles/longspan aluminium are cheaper to stone chips

(2)Obviously stone chps looks more pleasing aesthetically but steptiles/longspan

also comes in varying shades which adds to its beauty

(3)The weight of steptiles/longspan is lighter to stone chips

(4)Steptiles/longspan as the name suggests comes in longspan and is easily cover

large area of roof, therefore it reduces numbers of wooden /carpentary materials
needed to support the roof unlike the stone chips.

(5) They are easier to maintain, repairing stone chips can be complicating

(6)Leakages are rare and easily curtailed with steptiles longspan aluminium , you
may run into problems with stone chips if not well handled
(7)Steptiles longspan aluminium can be done by most roofers in town , stone
chips requires special care, most often the company you bought the stone chips
from will always advise they install

(8)For steptiles longspan aluminium time of assembling and dismantling is very

short compares to stone chips

(9)They are both durable, but probability of leakages is higher with stone chips.

Concrete roof decking, processes, advantages and

disadvantages

Decked roof may not give you too many options in terms of design, but it also
has its own advantages and quite a few uses decked roof.

Before you decide on using decked roof or concrete slab to cover your structure
you must have factor the weight during design process.

In this case we are looking at flat concrete roof.

CONSIDERATIONS

i-You must factor in the load on the foundation with your structural
design/drawing due to extra weight.

ii-The granite chippings should be very small like half inch or less ,the finer the
granules/aggregates , the more impermeable to water the concrete becomes,
larger aggregates creates too many air pores that can allow water to drip into the
inner part of the building.

Iii-There should be high cement aggregate minimum should be 1:2:4 but ideally
1:1 ½:3 or less

iv-The mixing process of cement ,sand, and granite should be thorough, using
hand mixing is not advisable, the machine should be given time to mix properly
and water should also be adequate to have a thorough mix

V-Application of water resisting materials on the surface of the roof deckis

important like bituminous felt etc

VI-The bamboo studs and the carpentary formwork must be done near perfect
to forestall defects in the concrete decking.

Hence, these are the basic steps-

-Do your formwork

-Apply the iron rods

-Cast the concrete mix with water resisting cement

-Screed the top of the decking with cement and sand and make it slope
downwards to the side of building where it can easily be channeled through
drainage pipe to gutter or make it have direct fall to the ground.

Advantages

1-It last longer than any kind of roof

2-It also doubles as a sit out on roof if access is created with staircase to the roof

3-It can be designed to accommodate another floor thereby the roof becomes a
higher floor and blocks are raised up, but the additional weight must have been
factored in the design.

4-If it is well done leakages are very unlikely for many years to come

Disadvantages

1-Conduct heat to the interior especially at night after long hours of absorbing
the scorching sun during the day.

2-Maintenance can be problematic if it was not properly done

3-You can’t change the roof style easily without serious structural work which
you enjoy with other types of roof

4-No room for multiple design patterns like other styles of roof, therefore you
may not achieve much aesthetically

IMPORTANCE AND APPLICATION OF

HARDCORE TO A BUILDING.
Question:
Oga, I have done casting and filling with laterite, do I need to use hardcore again
or bricks before german floor. Is thought is just ramming the laterite.
Hardcore application in the building process is also as important as any of the
key stages. Hardcore is reffered to as some measures of large aggregates of
stones used as part of the foundation in a construction project. To simple put is
bigger aggregates of what you call granites on site. Though some uses broken
blocks /bricks, these are however not recommended because of their strength,
people only use them to save cement during casting of oversite/german concrete
which is not advisable.

Hardcore is applied after you have filled the internal part of your foundation
with laterite or sharpsand as the case may be, rammed and ready to apply iron
rods/wire mesh and concrete. In the usage of hardcore, the textbook application
is as shown in the image 1 below, there is a space entirely left for the hardcore as
specified by the professional before the space for the concrete, this is standard or
you call it textbook application, but getting the accurate thickness during
construction for portion of concrete is not always common because of crude
method of construction, level of skill of the builder and the settlement pattern
due to nature of soil. So what most people do onsite is as shown in image 2-the
hardcore takes a portion of the concrete space so you only needs to fill the
remaining parts with concrete. (Is not what is recommended but is what most do)

IMPORTANCE

(1)Hardcore strengthens or solidifies the base which the german concrete will sit
on, thereby helps in resisting pressure of dead and live loads on the ground floor.

(2}It gives good base for building

(3)Is also part of foundation

(4)In the image 2 type of application, it helps to save cost of construction, the
volume occupied by the hardcore if it were to be concrete it would have cost
more.

(5)Is a gap between the german floor /oversite concrete and the earth so it helps
to reduce movement of water up to the ground floor

(6)The air in between the hardcore if there is any will also help to reduce
movement of water.

(7)In case of image 2, it reduces the time of casting because you are using lesser
volume of concrete to when you are casting the entire mass.

Factors that influences the cost of borehole

construction
Everybody desires a cost effective and affordable Borehole in his house, office,
community, etc. However, have you ever wondered why the cost of borehole
varies. In some areas, it costs as high as N500, 000, N1,000, 000 and even more,
while some pay as low as N250, 000, N180, 000 and even N120, 000. I am here to
give you a breakdown account for this. However, this does not rule out the fact
that nonprofessionals can issue a low quite to attract clients and deliver
substandard work.
The cost of borehole is influenced by so many factors such as:
1. The Geology of the Environment:
The specific parameter to look out for here is the nature of formation in the sub
surface and depth of water table. In the Niger Delta terrain where the depth of
water table is as low as 150feet to 250feet, and even 80 feet, the cost of borehole
varies between N120, 000 to N250, 000, but to get an accurate quote a proper
geological survey is necessary or preliminary investigation is paramount to
identifying the exact position of the water table.

2. Number of Casing: A casing is a lining given to a borehole to avoid collapse of

the hole, interference of formation on the transmitted water, and more so, to
prevent contamination with the aquifer. In an area where the water table is
between 80ft to 250ft, you may require 8 to 25 number of casing, which unit cost
is about N6, 000. So the more the casing, the more the cost of casing, which
overall influence the overall cost of the borehole. For abore hole with water
table depth of ove 1000feet, you can expect to pay more for the casing and more
so bore hole construction.

3. Type of Drilling Equipment: There are 2 major equipment used for drilling
equipment are the manual rig and the motorized rig depending on the
parameters of interest. The tripod is used for the manual drilling and does not go
beyond 250ft, and as such when you are drilling and does not go beyond this
depth, you need the motorized rig. The cost of using a Tripod is N30, 000 for
daily use, while for a motorized rig, you need N500, 000 for a daily use. This will
overall impact on the cost of Borehole Construction. More so drilling a borehole
in a basement terrain, clay or more difficult environment, we recommend a
motorized rig. This rig is also required in terrain where water table is as high as
1000ft and more.
4. Type of Submersible Pump: There are types of submersible pumps used for
borehole construction, depending on the expected pump rate for the borehole.
This pump rate of this system is determined by the horsepower of each
submersible pump. A submersible pump with a horsepower of 1.5 cost between
N16, 000 and N20, 000 and will not add much to the cost of the borehole
construction, but a pump of 9.0 and above horsepower, which cost N85, 000 and
above, it will considerably add to the cost of borehole construction. We
recommend a pump of 1.5 to horsepower for domestic use, and 9.0 horsepower
submersible pump for a commercial pump.

5. Other factors include Water Analysis and Treatment, etc.

ADVANTAGES OF OVERSITE CONCRETE.

I am obliged to write on oversite concrete based on comments and numbers of

questions on it. For the question above the subscriber should be able to connect
to the importance of oversite/german concrete after going through this article.

(1)It helps in preventing water from the soil from percolating to the surface
thereby avoiding grow of algae around the building walls and on the floor. These
buildings that suffers this most are in the waterlogged area however it doesn’t
exempt buildings also in more stable areas.

(2)Oversite concrete helps to sustain the weight of live and dead loads (human,
materials and the weight of the building itself) in the building in otherwords it
contributes immensely to the structural elements of the building.

(3)It also helps in case of vibration. When there are engines in the house or
outside that causes a lot of vibration it helps to spread the effects equally around
the building to the bearest minimum.
(4)Oversite concrete also helps the foundation in sustaining the weight of the
house, prevents cracks on blockwalls because of transmission of forces applied on
it spreading round the entire span of building equally.

(5)It also gives good base for floor finishes like tiles, terrazzo, wood etc

(6)It prevents growth of plants inside the house from the soil.

(7)Also prevents termites, worm and other insects from the ground from gaining
easy access from the earth.

The Differences between the Qs estimate and

others

Advantages of QS estimate over others

1) A qs estimate gives you close to exact quantity though in area or volume of

materials to be used, though the cost attached to the units may be high.

2) It helps to control and monitor the progress of work on your project.

3) No estimate can be as comprehensive as a qs estimate

4) Additional costs if there are any can be minimal

5) The estimate accommodates intangible costs/unexpected costs which can be as

high as 10% of total cost of project.

6) It helps in control and gives room for you to question your contractor based
on what is stated on black and white when you suspect any foul play.
7) Specifications, quality and type of materials to use is clearly stated out unlike
others.

The problem we have in this part of the world is lack of patience to find the
substance in any information if it didn’t conform with our expectations before
throwing the entire information out.

A Qs estimates saves you money to any estimates you get from other building
professionals like builder, architect, structural engr etc

These are the differences-

When a builder/architect/engr/contractor wants to give you an estimate, he will

state the material to use quite alright and apportion the respective
prices, however none of these professionals will state anything about the quality
of the material, but a qs will state the type, the maker, the country of
production, the quality etc of the material you as the contractor is supposed to
use, so there is no mistaking regarding the quality of the material to use and as
you know a qs will always quote for the standard quality to use. For example as
an architect I can quote for an estimate where I will state that I need to use
twenty doors for a particular building at the rate of N45,000 per piece, now the
issue is that I can have a door of N15,000 from China installed for you yet I can
take you to a shop where you have doors sold for N45,000 and in same Lagos I
can also take you to a place where a door is sold for N200,000, now imagine you
knows nothing about the price of a door or you have no idea about building
construction and you are far away abroad with a lot of cash to throw around. If I
quote for a N200,000 door and you paid for it and you requested I take you to
where they get such doors I will gladly do but the fact remains that since it
wasn’t stated on my estimates where and the quality to buy, I may simply go for
a N45,000 door. Now imagine what you’ve lost because there was no qs estimate
to guide you.

Running away from qs estimate is foolishness, yes I agree it may discourage a

prospective landlord but it can also help you to plan and sort for cheaper
materials to substitute whatever is written on the estimate. For the above sample
, if the qs had quoted for a N200,000 door and I quote for N45,000 door you
won’t expect my estimate to be higher to the qs, now I can make money and
work on your weakness because you are just after the lowest quote, I can raise
the numbers or quantity of the material higher (for other unquantifiable
materials) but of lower quality and simply pocket the money for the difference,
since you are looking for the cheap estimate but I can easily shortchanged you
far worst than the guy that wants to buy a N200,000 door, of course you’ll always
get what you paid for, you won’t expect the two doors to have same lifespan,
would you?

Another one, if I am quoting for iron rod, I will only state the iron rods with the
cost obviously the cost will be of the imported one which can be up to N30,000
difference per tonne to the local. However if the local can do the job and I am
interested in making money I will simply buy the local despite that I quoted for
the imported especially when you know nothing about this. But with a qs
estimate it is hard because the yield strength of the iron rods will be stated which
will affect the type and the price.

A qs estimate actually saves you cost because the quantity of materials difference
can easily be questioned by you if the actual on site is becoming outrageously
higher to what is on paper.

Omoonile, preliminaries and other estimates that will affect greatly the cost of
your project will most likely be overlooked by any other professional.
The estimates generated by other professionals has a lot of ways usually related
to their calling, for instance an architect estimate will contain more of finishes in
the house, the frame of the building and others may be based on experience, a
structural engineer will most likely get only the iron rods or reinforcements
accurate others will be more on experience. The builder will also concentrate on
the frame of the building and costs of labour while others will also be based on
experience.

For God’s sake a qs studied for 4-5 years the business of estimation in higher
institution, he must have an edge over others.

Use the qs estimate get advice from him to help reduce the cost and he will
know the best way to go about it.

When to use Iron rods in the oversite/German

floor concrete of a bungalow.
Mr. Emma
Please find attached a quotation for foundation sent to me by a contractor. i have excavated
the land and some part you will see that its water logged. a lake is behind my land at igbogbo
ikorodu.
Another contactor said i do not need iron rod for foundation since its a bungalow?
Please advise.
Regards,
Chris

The recent flooding around has brought new challenges and raised questions on
wether to use iron rods to support the german floor of a bungalow, especially in
a seemingly solid soil or not. Going by what I saw inspecting a 4
bedroom bungalow close to the Ipaja canal in Lagos state has reinforced my
belief for a careful analysis of any buildings prone to flood in future. In this case
on a particular Sunday when there was much rain, the water overflew it’s banks
and entered people’s houses. For the house in question it was originally raised
high which was constructed by me for over 5 years now and there has never
been any issue of concern until this prolonged rain and blocked drains that led to
unusual flood. The soil itself is sandy and fairly okay stability wise, other buildings
are also standing around but to save money as most will do which is very wrong,
we raise d the blocks straight from foundation up to the roof without breaking it
with german/oversite concrete at the foundation/dpc level, we only pour some
volume of concrete after the building have been roofed without any iron rods or
wire mesh to really sustain the compressive force of the concrete.
Now a problem was discovered after the flood incidence, there were visible
cracks along the walls both laterally and vertically, suggesting that the walls might
cave in anytime, there was also serious movements of the ground floor concrete
depressing further down and leaving a thin line between the walls and the
concrete at the edges of each room round. These happened because the
concrete were poured separately on each room just to sustain the weight of the
occupiers and we didn’t put into cognizance the pressure a flood in the near
future may cause. Ordinarily a German floor with wire mesh/reinforcements or
iron rods casted together at the dpc (foundation) level will have given us a well
formed monolithic mass of concrete that will have served as a protection against
water penetrating directly from the ground to the house.
The water that surrounded the building went to its foundation ,soften the sands
underground, and when the water dried the next day the soil under the building
was further compressed by the wetness, hence there was movement of the
concrete in the rooms which made them to go down and thereby separating
blocks from the concrete. This problem could have been avoided if
the German floor was done and the concrete was made to pass on top and
round the entire stretch of the building block, however without reinforcements
on the concrete with the situation at hand despite that is a bungalow, we would
still have had the same experience.
So I recommend for a waterlogged area, or for a site very close to the water or
prone to future flooding, it is better to go the extra mile and reinforce the
oversite or german concrete with iron rods so that if there is a movement under
the building the foundation and the German concrete will be able to sustain the
building.
However if you have encountered this problem already, don’t fret yourself, get a
professional to suggest the best way the building can be reinforced and also
protected against flooding.

How to calculate the numbers of bags of cement in

the foundation of a simple bungalow from a
building plan.
A prospective client first question is an estimate to know the numbers of blocks
and number of bags of cement required to complete his building project.
But for this article I will write on calculating the numbers of bags of cement for a
simple project of 2 bedroom bungalow. Using the plan shown below.
For this plan the total wall both internal and external is 72.5m all (check for the
calculations http://buildingcontractorsecrets.com/2010/09/how-to-calculate-
numbers-of-blocks-from-a-building-plan/ )

Taking the thickness of block as 150mm or 6” the foundation base is taken as

150mm(or 0.15m x 3)=450mm or 0.45m or 18”.

Now for any concrete you want to calculate, first find out the volume.

For the foundation of the plan above

450mm (breadth) x 72.5m (entire length) x 150mm(foundation base

thickness)=4.894m3

Now the volume of a bag of cement is given as 0.035m3 but lets use 0.03m3 to
cater for shortages.

There are two major mixture ratio for concrete 1:2:4 or 1:3:6, there are others,
but we are going to base our calculations on these two. 1:2:4 means one portion
of cement is mixed with an equivalent volume or ratio of two of same portion of
volume of cement in sharpsand and four of same portion of volume of cement in
granite. That is, if I have a cement of 1m3, then I will need to mix it with 2m3 of
sharpsand and 4m3 of granite stones. However one bag of cement is calculated
to be approximately two headpans of sand or granite, therefore for one bag of
cement in ratio 1:2:4, you will add four headpans of sharpsand, and eight
headpans of granite, this is the standard , though experience has shown that
materials properties varies, hence there is always little variations in quantities
used on site.

Now, for the plan above, the numbers of bags of cement needed in the concrete
is simply calculated by dividing the total volume of cement in concrete by a
volume of one bag which is taken as 0.03.

For total volume of cement in ratio 1:2:4, add the numbers together, 1+2+4=7

Divide the volume of concrete by 7 to get the volume of cement in concrete.

i.e 4.894/7=0.7m3 for volume of cement.

Remember volume of one bag of cement is 0.03, then divide 0.7m3 by 0.03

=23 bags of cement

Also if the ratio is in 1:3:6, simply add 1+3+6=10

Divide volume of concrete by 10 to get the required volume of cement in

concrete

i.e 4.894/10=0.4894 for volume of cement

Don’t forget we are taking the volume of one bag of cement as 0.03,
Then divide 0.4894m3 by 0.03m3

=16 bags of cement (this is most applicable on good and fairly stable soil.

Decorating and Installing wallpapers

I have been involved lately in projects that requires decorating with wallpaper.
As simple as the job may look, installing it perfectly requires great care and
professional handling.

Many corporate organizations in Nigeria now uses wallpapers to improve the

ambience and promote their products. Recently Mrbiggs restaurant and some
banks are using wallpapers for their interior decorations.

Advantages of Wallpapers

(1)You don’t need to paint your wall with expensive paints, just apply a primer
under before pasting your paper.

(2)You can easily remove it and place another.

(3)It is dry and easy to handle especially when you understand the techniques.

(4)For a public building is a source of advertisement to your customers, you can

write things, and send messages with your graphics on the paper.

(5)Drawings on plain wall seems not acceptable but with paperwall people have
grown to like it.

To install, get your paper either printed or bought somewhere.

Clean your wall, this is important if you must get a good finish.

Remove every hanging nails, fill every holes with putty or cement and fix any
other damage on your walls.

Now sandpaper to remove any rough patches before applying a coat of paint
which is termed primer. It will help the wallpaper glue to the wall. The type of
paint you use will depends on the type of glue to buy for the work, you can ask
a professional for an idea on this based on the paint you used or ask the
wallpaper vendor for a clue.

Applying the wallpaper is where most people get it wrong, just like any
other projects it requires adequate planning on and off the wall before
execution.

You must have measured the room horizontally round with a stretch of
measuring tape with the height it will cover to get the surface area of paper you
need.

Get a plywood to spread the wallpaper on it before pasting on wall.

Notice the areas you have to join the wallpapers on the wall, this is where you
have to use technical knowhow, make the papers overlap slightly right on the
floor when you are mapping them out. At the intersection, cut the overlap
portions at the middle so that the blade will follow same line of paper ontop and
the one under, when you remove the pieces slide the two papers and let them
join at the points the blade passed, you’ll discover a perfect fix at that junction
and if its carefully laid an outsider will not detect where the papers are joined
together. Infact a well finished wallpaper job may confused an outsider to be a
painting or drawings on the wall.

Wear a latex glove or rubber to keep the glue off your hands, also get a roller,
clean up the surface of the plywood, apply glue on the wallpaper which has been
properly cut, then paste on wall, you can adjust before the glue dries up. Place
the next one after (remember to overlap adjoining paper on the ground and cut
at the middle, remove the pieces to be left with perfect fitting edges)

Cut any extra sheets carefully with blade and do not cut the papers at any
junctions of the wall but at centers of plane surface, just allow the paper to
continuously wrap round at the 90 degrees edges.

Use a smoothing tool or a clean roller and roll from the middle of your paper
out to the edges to push out any air that would make bubbles.

After installations, clean up the wallpaper with a wet sponge to get rid of any
glue that remains behind and also to press down any lumps, bumps and bubbles
out of the wallpaper.

How and what to do when preparing for your

decking/suspended floorslab
For a building that must have more than one floor, you need to factor in the
technicalities involved when putting in place the concrete slab. For most of the
poorly done projects, decking or suspended slab contributes majorly to the
cause. Knowing what to do is more important than been present 24 hours on site
to achieve nothing.
These are the basic steps to follow…Get your architect or engineers to calculate
the number of planks and other wooden materials you need for the decking, the
number of reinforcements or iron rods, the volume of sharpsand, granite and
numbers of bags of cement required. After getting these calculations right, call
your electrician and plumber to site for the estimates so that they can place their
pipes before the concrete is formed. They may need to break some blockwalls
even cut iron rods in extreme cases for the pipes to fit in. After getting the
materials to site, invite the carpenter to start placing planks for beams that will
transfer loads from the concrete decking to the foundation through the
columns/pillars in the building. But before you give the carpenter go ahead,
make sure you call a builder to site to give the right level for the decking if not,
you will have very uneven decking especially when the soil is weak and buildings
settles very fast on it.

HOW TO TAKE LEVEL

The builder is expected to carry his levelling instrument to site with an assistance
along with him to do the job. A reference point is taken in the building and is
marked out, then measure the height you wish to achieve from that point up.
Now transfer the level or point to the four corners of the building, when this is
established, the carpenter will only need to throw one line from one place to the
other and he can begin to place the planks along the line. Some artesans will tell
you that they can use plumb to get this level, this is not true, the best method is
to use the levelling instrument. Measuring same distance directly from
the ground floor to the top and doing same all over the building especially when
its not a precast
structure, shows technical deficiency on the part of your builder, because most
floor slabs are
not on same plane out of errors due to settling,lack of technical knowhow and
carelessness from
the casters of the ground floor slab.

After the level is determined by the builder, next is for the carpenter to get
‘water level’ he will use this to transfer the level round the building. Water
levelling instrument is an ordinary hollow transparent cylindrical rubber pipe that
is filled with water and is easy to turn around the walls of the building.
Remember water finds its level, the level of water at the end of the pipe in one
place will be the same level at the other end of the pipe, so is easy for you
to transfer and determine the level round the building. After placing the planks
supported by bamboo or iron rods under with other wooden materials like 2″ x
3″ wood, the iron bender is called to start fixing the iron rods on top. He must
have prepared ‘concrete biscuit’ which is used to raise the iron rods to avoid
contact with the wood, if not, by the time the plank is removed some parts of
the iron rods will be exposed to air or moisture which will cause rusting and
ultimately decay. The iron rods for the floor slab is run along, and the electrician
is also expected to fix his pipes and sockets, likewise the plumber will also do
some work if need be before you call the casters in to cast the concrete for you.

WHEN AND HOW TO CAST CONCRETE

Be prepared to rent a concrete mixer and labour for the casting especially when
the area of concrete is much. Mostly the concrete is in ratio 1:2:3 or 1:2:4 i.e
one bag of cement to four headpans of sand,
and eight headpans of granite. Except for peculiar sites this ratio is ideal.
Inform the caster to bring a vibrating machine along, this is used when casting so
that the concrete will settle properly and there will be less holes in the concrete.
If you can get granites of smaller sizes like half inch to do the beams, it will be
good for compactibility. The concrete will form well with finer smaller stones
aggregates. As the concrete is been poured, follow the casters behind closely
with vibrating machine and work on the concrete. make sure the beams are well
vibrated at the joints especially because of the clusters of iron rods if not the
concrete will not cover the beam properly.

Get a good mason that will spread the concrete round evenly with range and
plumb for best result. Next day pour water on the concrete and blockwork can
start on top that same day. By 21 days or three weeks the bamboo or cylindrical
iron pipes support under can be removed, it must have fully set. Remove any
cantilevered side after 4 weeks or a month.

How to technically reduce the cost of buying a House

Getting places to build especially in urban area is increasingly difficult, hence most opt for the outskirt. But if you must
build in an area that is completely built up, you will have to buy a house which you must demolish to build your own or
renovate. There are basic tactics you can use on the seller to price down the cost, but you have to make sure you don’t
get him or her offended.
(1)Find out about the most recent previous sale of the house information-
Knowing the year the building was sold and if it had been passed from one buyer
to the other and the cost will go a long way to determine how much you will
pay considering the number of years, when it is overpriced you can use the
previous cost to beat down the price.

(2) Purchasing abilities of people at the time-Due to global economic meltdown,

few people are actually buying houses, hence there are lots of buildings in the
market without buyers, when you have such situations just as it is at the time of
writing this article, then the cost must go down and you can use the lull in the
real estate market to your advantage by also pricing lower.
(3)Check if the right taxes are paid on the house where applicable, if you notice
default then you can also put this forward during negotiations.

(4)Relative costs-Check the cost of other buildings in same neighborhood, this

will give you an idea when the property you are about to price is overpriced.

(5)How accessible is the building to other parts of town

(6)Can you enjoy good basic infrastructures.

(7) Get a valuation report or an appraisal from the real estate agent

(8)Check when last the building was renovated, you can also use this to negotiate.

(9)The rate of population growth is also important in negotiation. It can affect

the pricing negatively or positively, so take advantage of it.

(10) Is the area prone to flood, may be the house is at the lowest part in that area

(11)How good is the road leading to the building?

(12)Factor in other basic infrastructures not in place

(13)Check if the building is in an unplanned or unorganized neighbourhood.

(14)Take a contractor to the site let him give you an estimate of the cost of
repairs on the house, use that to negotiate the price of the house by removing
the cost of repairs

(15)Check for NEPA/PHCN, water and other outstanding bills that were owed by
previous occupier. Though small and almost insignificant but it helps in the
psychological war of reducing the price.
(16)What economic value does having a building in such area have? Is the place
going to develop very fast from your assessment, does it have the potential for
revenue generation in the nearest future. The economic value of a house will
either reduce or increase its price too.

(17)Is the area an exclusive neighbourhood? or is a rowdy place with area boys or
social miscreants everywhere.

(18)Finally call a building professional to the building for assessment and to give
you the best advice on the house.

Preparing for plastering and how to avoid plaster

cracks

Plastering is the most important part of the finishing job in a building project,
whatever error made during plastering may be difficult to correct, because after
it, is just to paint and fix other accessories.
Plastering takes a lot of cement and is important the mix ratio quality is not
reduced because of the consequences.
Care should be taken right from the type of sand you ordered, bricklayers prefer
the sticky ones because they bond easily without applying too much power to
splash the mortar on walls (though this does not automatically means is the best
to use.)
The sand must be clean, should not have dirts, and any sand with dirts should be
sieved.
As said adequate numbers of cement with standard cement and sand ratio
should be maintained.
Is also important you get good hands to do the jobs for you.
Plaster cracks leading to an opening a door.
To get a good plastering job, tell the masons to apply guage. Guage is just a term
used by masons/bricklayers which is using a thin material especially wood with
rope to mark out how the plastering will spread round the surface of wall of the
building to achieve perfectly vertical walls. Blockworks are usually not done to
perfection especially when the bricklayers are not very good, often time, the
blocks will not stand perfectly vertical, therefore some areas will require more
mortar filling to others to compensate for the bad areas, so guaging is what you
do to achieve a perfect plain. In doing this some areas will require more mortars
than the others.

Plastering is usually applied between 15mm to 25mm, but some areas may
require more mortar, in such cases, apply cement and sand, leave to dry till the
next day before you apply the finished coating for a smooth surface. Leave the
area you filled till the next day and allow to dry before you apply the final coat
on it.
I prefer a mixture ratio of 1:5-1:6 for cement, sand mix.
Causes of plaster cracks
Plaster cracks as a result of electrical works

(1) Deep filling not allowed to dry properly-Don’t give plastering project to your
masons/bricklayers on per day payment because when you pay for the job done
per day, a mason must finish up the portion giving to him before the day runs
out, so he will fill and won’t wait for it to get dried before applying the final
coat. The plaster filling requires minimum of 6 hours to get dried, but a mason
that is expected to be paid on daily basis will not have the luxury to leave such
portion till the next day so that he can take home his pay, hence the plaster will
be applied before the filling get dried, this will inevitably cause cracks. The
plaster filling will shrink and contract in the process of drying, this will cause it to
leave strips of cracks inside which will allow air to fill the space and inevitably will
also affect the plaster finish on top.
(2)Bad plaster sand-The sand is supposed to be fine with no impurities and should
be able to bond well with the cement.
(3)Shortage of cement-When the cement is not adequate, the plaster will not
bond well and will results in cracks.
(4)Pipe holes left by plumbers and electrician-The pipe holes where pipes are
placed in should not be covered immediately with plaster, because of the space,
the holes are better not left to the plumbers and electrician but there should be
a mason/bricklayer on site that will be responsible for filling back the holes. First
fill the gaping holes with broken blocks, then apply plaster, leave to dry till next
day or more before final coating to finish.
(5)Poor workmanship-Get a good bricklayer/mason for this project.
(6)Dirt’s and impurities in plaster sand will also affect the outcome of your
plastering.
When you notice a minor crack, apply cement slurry by that I mean mix pure
cement with water, then use brush to run the cement along the lines of the
plaster.

How to calculate numbers of blocks from a

building plan.
(click on image for a bigger view or save image)

Most asked question from a would be house owner is always how many blocks
do I need to get my building completed. Hence this topic is written with
illustrations to make it easy for you to do the calculations yourself from the plan
your architect gave you.

The plan above is for a 2 bedroom bungalow, so we are going to start from the
basics having in mind these factors-
i) The length of a block is 0.45m or 450mm or 18″
ii) The width of thickness varies -150mm or 6″ and 225mm or 9″ which are most
common.
ii) Taking for a general or average purpose, the blocks laid from foundation to
dpc (german or oversite concrete) is 4 coaches/levels. From dpc to the base of
window another 4 coaches, from base of window to top of window another 5
coaches, then from top of window to base of roof another 3 coaches, neglecting
the lintel or concrete on top of window.
Now with these parameters let calculate the plan above which has a wall of
150mm or 6″ all through.
Add the length and breadth of the blockwall for external and internal
Therefore (A) 9,400mm +9,600mm (B)+9400(C)+9600(D)=38,000mm or 38m
Now add the internal walls too
(Follow the grid lines and check the corresponding dimensions on plan
remember 150mm is the block width)
(Grid 7)150+3600+150+150+3600+150=7,800mm or 7.8m
(Grid 6)1350+150+2250+150+825+675+150=5,550mm or 5.55m
(Grid 1b) 800+2400+1300+900+100=5,500mm or 5.5m
(Grid 2)2600+900+100+150+100+900+500+150=5,400mm or 5.4m
(Grid 3)1800+150+650+900+250+900+1450=6,100mm or 6.1m
(Grid 3b-Kitchen) 900+50+1200+50+150=2,350 or 2.35m
(Grid 7b toilet) 1800 or 1.8m
Total internal walls=34,500mm or 34.5m
Therefore Total walls=38,000mm +34,500mm=72,500mm or 72.5m
Now for the first 4 coaches to dpc level the wall will run right through, i.e the
spaces for doors or windows are not left out (n/b- blocks are used in relatively
strong and stable soil not waterlogged area that requires concrete instead).
Divide the sum by 450mm to know the numbers needed for one
level/layer/coach of blocks 72,500/450=161 blocks
From dpc level to roof lets take the numbers of coaches to be 4+5+3=12
coaches
then multiply the numbers of blocks for each coach above by 12
161 x 12=1932 blocks
Don’t forget we have windows and doors spaces which we need to remove, for
each window of 1200mm ,take numbers of the block to be 14 (i.e 1200/230=5.2
and 1200/450=2.6 ,5.3 x2.6=14 approx
Now count the numbers of 1200mm windows and multiply by 14
Total numbers of 1200mm windows as counted on plan is 12 (note 2400mm
window was taken as two of 1200mm window)
i.e 11 x 14 =154 blocks + 7 blocks for 600mm window for toilet. Total=161 blocks
Now calculate for doors,Numbers of blocks for a door of 900mm is 18. height of
a door(2100/225=9)+width of a door (900mm/450mm=2). so 9 x2 =18 blocks for
each door.
Multiply 18 by numbers of doors=18 x8=144 blocks
Add 144+161=305 blocks, then remove from total blocks of 644 (for dpc) + 1932
Total numbers of blocks reqd=2,271 blocks
For a quick calculation, having the entire length to be 72,500mm. Take for a
bungalow total length from foundation to roof to be 1,200mm
+3000mm=4200mm

Then calculate the surface area which is 72,500 x 4200 and convert to meters
72.5m x 4.2m=304.5m2
Remove surface areas of windows and doors
For window, height is 1.2m and total is 11
i.e 1.2m x 1.2m x 11=15.84m2 +0.6 x 0.6(toilet window)=16.2m2
For doors, height is 2.1m while width is 0.9m
i.e 0.9 x 2.1 x 8(nos of doors)=15.12
Total area for doors and windows=16.2m2 +15.12m2=31.32m2
Remove 31.32m2 from 304.5m2=273.18m2
Now divide this by surface area of a block which is 0.225 x 0.45=0.10125
The blocks reqd caculated by this method is 273.18m2/0.10125=2,698 blocks
Note a difference of about 400 blocks from the two calculations. Of course you
can’t get exactly the numbers you need but the first method is close to it. And
calculations are not 100% true because of these factors
1-The mortar space was not considered
2-Blocks that will be wasted due to breakages e.t.c

Pitfalls to avoid when preparing for your roof

A building does not become a shelter until there is roof on it. Before you can
move in to you house the roof must be in place to protect against rain, sunshine
and other weather elements that will make you uncomfortable. To get a
workable roof you must prepare it from the design stage, this is why is important
you get an architect to design your house for you. Ask the architect to explain
the falls or pitch of the roof to you and the workability. If you can get a model
or 3d design of your building showing view from top will be good, but this may
cost you more in cost of design.

(1)Too much of parapet walls. Too many walls jutting out to stand alone on the
sky without the roof covering may be difficult to achieve and the cost of treating
is high, unorganized parapet walls in a building is a sign of less dexterity on the
part of your designer/architect, and this brings a lot of trouble during and after
construction of your building. Managing parapet walls can be hard and times
awkward. The parapet cap must be covered by aluminium or concrete
coping/cap. The joints where the roof elements meets the walls must be properly
treated with aluminium flashing or bitumen, which makes the roof to look ugly
especially if not properly handled. Leakages are prominent with parapet walls.
(2)Non application of bituminous felt or aluminium flashing where necessary. Just
as it was said above these materials helps to prevent leakages especially at the
joints where roofing sheets and walls meet.

(3)Very low pitch roof . When the gradient or slope is too low it will affect the
speed of the movement of water on your roofing sheets, therefore for a not well
properly knitted roof, the roof will be susceptible to leakages because of slow
speed of water dropping off the roof. In other words, let your roof be as high as
you can afford and possible.

(4)Over trust in your carpenter. One of the greatest mistakes you will make is to
trust your carpenter capabilities when it comes to roofing. Few carpenters can
read designs and when it comes to roof it becomes more complex so you need a
professional to explain or supervise your roof.

(5)Also trusting your carpenter with money because he had been truthful from
the start of your project can be your greatest undoing. The carpenter knows he
stands a chance of making more money if he can be able to secure the roof
contract, so he may decide to play holy from the start of your project, so giving
him money to buy wood for you without proper monitoring or when he brings
the wood to site you decided not to count because you now trust him may turn
out to be a grave mistake. He knows the numbers of the wood are much now
and you may probably be reluctant to count them considering the volume
especially when you now trust him. The carpenter knows he may never have to
work again for you after the completion of the project, so he sees himself as
having nothing to loose, the only reason he won’t do that is when you are a
building professional yourself, he knows if he does that he has blocked
opportunities of more jobs from you. Artesans rarely believes in your refferal
power as a layman.
(6)Designing your roof to direct water on walls in your building. By this I mean
pointing the rainwater to drop water directly on your walls will mess up the walls
under one year of building, it will make the wall to turn greenish or blackish and
you may have to be repainting every year. Make sure you point this out to your
architect.

(7)When your walls are too close to the adjacent house. It is required you leave a
considerable space between your building and the adjacent one, if not when you
finally put your roof and is having an overhang of 600mm/0.6m/2ft, the water
may drop into the walls or windows of the next door neighbour which will bring
so much discomfort during rainy season.

(8)Don’t buy woods and install on your building when you are not ready to
cover it up with roofing sheets the wood will expand and then shrink because of
continous rain and sun beating it which will make it difficult for the roofing
sheets to be properly placed when you are finally ready to install.

(9)Make sure the gutters are well placed and treated.

(10)Overdesign and complex roof will also be difficult to execute properly, hence
if you know you aren’t ready to pay workers the extra cost for their patience
don’t go for complex roof, it will also cost you more of materials.

(11)Make sure all loose nails on top of roofing sheets are removed.

(12)Check every nail holes and cover them, if not there will be leakages.

(13)Finally recheck during rainy season for any leakages before installing your
ceilling.
Paint Colour considerations for Hospitals

An hospital being an institutional environment also requires it to be a home for

the patients. Is important psychologically for these patients to be at home during
their treatments period hence a warmer and cool colour is advisable.

Colours ca be used to evoke emotions or moods.

-For patient rooms, Use soft natural tones and calm colours. Wood laminate,
blue and generally any colour that reduces the stress of being away from home
and remove the feeling of not being in the bedroom.

-For the office spaces for doctors, nurses and other employees, ambience of an
office setting must be created, colour such as off-white that reflects a serious and
institutional environment is not out of place.

Strong colour with brightly lit room is recommended except for the resting
rooms if available due to long hours of shift.

-For the operating rooms, the patient and the doctors will have to be considered.
The patient needs to feel relaxed, so red and and bright white is avoided while
the doctors concentrate on red blood during operation. So any other red in the
theater is a distraction, hence blue and green colour is mostly used.

-For children’s rooms, Children are always at home with bright colours, they
elicit excitements for children, this can raise the mood and also helps in healing
process. Juxtaposing of different hues can make such place very interesting for
children except for a jaundice patient where yellow should be avoided.

In a nutshell the use of colour psychology can help enhance the function of a
space or room.

So natural colours like blue, green, or brown are seen as calming and will signal
the designation of a room. While loud and flashy colours with lots of lights goes
more for institutional buildings which can affect patients with mental conditions.