Most unnoticed and ignored aspects while constructing your home
In India, the construction industry contributes 13% to our National GDP and is pegged to reach $544 Billion by 2025. In 2020, there was a demand for 75 lakh homes out of which 63 lakh homes were in the unorganized sector (i.e., homes not built by any developers).
So, more than 4 out of 5 homes built in India are in the unorganized sector i.e., without the help of any standards, or set processes. No wonder that this industry is so chaotic and mismanaged!
The construction of a home is a complex process that involves careful planning, close coordination, and attention to detail. While many homeowners focus on aesthetics and immediate needs, certain crucial aspects often go unnoticed or ignored during the pre-construction & construction phase.
In this article, we’ll explore some of these overlooked elements that can significantly impact the functionality, longevity, and overall comfort of your home. For the sake of convenience let’s break down the blog into 2 parts- (A) Pre-construction, (B) During-construction
(A) Pre-Construction
Drawings- It is extremely important to get your requirements straight and engage a qualified professional to start with your floor plans. A good architect/ engineer will not only give you an optimized floor plan but also help you foresee things you might have not thought about.
The amount of quality time that you spend on this will determine the outcome of the project. Any information not captured during this stage will be the cause of rework which is both costly as well as the end product is always a compromise.
And, not just architectural plans, getting your structural, electrical, and plumbing drawings at the beginning gives you a good head start.
Municipality Approved drawings- Begin the construction works only when the building drawings are approved by the Nigam/ Municipality.
Contractors/Vendors- During construction it is imperative to work along with multiple agencies- suppliers, vendors, consultants, contractors, etc. over a long time. Reliable agencies are hard to find. So, identifying the agencies before the start of construction is important. References go a long way in this process.
Pro-tip- Have a documented contract with every single contractor, consultant, and agency where the rates along with the deliverables are called out. Even a 2 liner document with both parties' consent goes a long way in avoiding a possible conflict in the future.
Temporary electrical connection- A 3-phase temporary electrical connection is recommended before the start of construction. An application to the local authorities along with payment of fees is required for the connection.
Pro-tip- Single phase connection also works in case you don’t foresee the installation of heavy equipment such as a lift, etc. on moving in.
Water- It is hard to quantify the amount of water required during the construction of the project. So, going ahead with a borewell is advised.
But you may ask that my colony/society's water supply is reliable and quite adequate so can we make do without a borewell? Well yes, but in such a case a temporary water tank is required to store and use water on our project.
Watchman- The safety and security of materials on site as well as the logistics in terms of where what material needs to be unloaded, verifying the quantity of material that has come to the site is taken care of by the watchman on site. The watchman also does the curing work and the cleaning of the site. So, having a watchman on site is a must, even if you live close to the project site.
References go a long way in identifying & engaging the watchman on site.
Budget- Having a budget on paper is key to project success. We provide our clients with a comprehensive budget, one which covers 30–40 line items. This helps to track expenditures against every item and whether we or not we are exceeding the same.
Changes in design- The nature of construction is permanent, so any change to the work that has been executed on-site as per the original design leads to a loss of time and resources (money, machinery, and manpower). So, make sure that your design is very well thought out and discussed multiple times so that there are no design changes after work has been implemented on-site.
(B) During-Construction- Pre-construction checks make this part considerably easier. Nevertheless, here are a few things that often go unnoticed during construction
Termite treatment works- This is a low-cost technique where termite treatment chemical- such as Bayer Premise is sprayed after footing construction and backfilling of soil.
Pro Tip- You can additionally put a network of perforated pipes for future treatment in your home without damaging the flooring. Some extra investment in this can prevent unnecessary damage to the flooring in the future.
Height of the ground slab- The parking inside the house should be at least 1 ft above the road level and the ground floor is at least 1.5 ft above the road level. This will ensure that water does not enter the premises in case of excessive rains.
Mixing ratios of RCC, brick & plaster mortar, etc.- Remember all mixing of building materials should be done by volume and not by weight.
So, in case our building is designed for M20 grade of concrete, the mixing ratio- by volume, should be 1 part cement, 1.5 part sand, and 3 part coarse aggregate along with 0.45 water-cement ratio (so, for a 50 kg cement bag, 22.5 litres of water should be used).
For brickwork mortar- we should use 1 part cement and 5 part sand.
For plaster material- we should use 1 part cement and 4 part sand.
In no case should these mixing ratios be altered in the name of workability, etc.
Construction of UG water tank and rainwater recharging pit- A UG tank of at least 6000 liters should be constructed while footing work is being done. Additionally, a rainwater recharging pit around the borewell can be constructed where rainwater can be collected through pipes from the terrace and allowed to gather in this recharging pit.
Damp Proof Course- Construction of DPC (with plain cement concrete) below the first brickwork is recommended to stop the rising of water through capillary action. This is an extremely effective way to prevent water seepage in walls
Curing- Slabs, beams, and columns should be cured for at least 7 days. During higher temperatures the curing frequency should be increased so that the structural elements are not dry for the first 7 days at least.
For brickwork and plastering works, the surfaces should be cured for 7–10 days depending on the external temperature.
Use of gunny bags/ hessian cloths- While curing columns, use of hessian cloths is a must as they help retain water around the RCC structures for a longer period.
Hacking on column and beam sides- One needs to ensure hacking or roughing the surface of the beam sides and columns as soon as de-shuttering is done so that while plastering such surfaces the bond is stronger
Use of PVC/ GI mesh- The use of mesh over electrical & plumbing conduits and between brick and beam & column joints must be done to avoid the formation of cracks due to differential expansion-contraction of various materials.
Protecting the tiles- One must use tile protector sheets to prevent any damage to the tiles after the tile laying works have been done.
Temporary sealing of nahni traps- After plumbing piping work has been done, it is important to temporarily seal these pipes with empty cement bags to prevent the accumulation of debris that might eventually choke up the pipes and obstruct the flow of water. It is also important to remove these bags as they will obstruct the flow of water and cause foul smell in the bathrooms.
Stay tuned for more information on this topic.
