Free Consultation,1,December,2012

House design and Construction

Query-1

Construction of house in earlier paddy field

Dear Mr. Thomas,

I am having 91 cents of paddy land which was given to me by my father through his VILL under Guruvayoor Municipality.   Since many years there is no any cultivation. Half portion of the paddy land has been filled and big coconut trees, mango trees and bamboo are there.  Half of the portion is not filled and laying un-cultivated.  I am a retired Army person and presently living in Bangalore due to my children education.  

Now I want to come to native and construct a house in the land given to me.  But as per rules people are saying that permission will not be given to construct a house in paddy land.  

Please advise me the action to be taken for construction of a house in the paddy land.  I do not have any other land.

Looking for your valuable advise.

Andrew

My reply

Do not simply go by what people say. You have to enquire with town planning section of Guruvayoor municipality by giving specific details about the plot like copy of your title deed ,survey No's and location sketch. If you need for us to depute some one to Guruvayoor to make enquiries, we will let you know charges applicable. If you can get services of a local Architect/Engineer with license for local administration, they will check up status and let you know how to proceed on the matter.

Query-2

House design and construction by a Civil Engineer

I go through your blog and i felt its quite interesting. I have one query regarding the permission obtaining from panchayat ...am planning to build a 2100 sft house in my 12 cent plot and it is near to 2 meter width panchayat road. My doubt is can i get permission directly without any help of a civil engineer to build a house there from panchayat as my wife she can draw the diagram and do other things by herself (she is a civil engineer).  Is there any new rule if build a house more than 2000 sft?

My reply

You need services of an Architect/Engineer who is well versed with Building rules to proceed on the matter. Just by passing B tech/diploma in civil Engineering from an educational institution do not make any one capable of designing the best house possible.

Even after designing Basic plan, you require detailed Architectural/Structural engineering drawings, information and guidance on latest technology adopted in the field/latest trends etc. Thus from beginning to end of house construction you need services of  a well qualified and experienced professional. Probably engineering education of your wife may help her understand the professional in a better manner than a lay man and it may help in interacting with the experienced professional better.

I am not aware of any new restrictions for house construction above 2000 sft plinth area

2000 sft single floor house

2000 sft plinth area,three bed room  single floor house designed by us with two bed room attached,another bed room with common toilet and wash area close to it and dining space,with all usual facilities like separate living,dining,Kitchen,Work area,car porch,spacious sit out with wooden charupady and traditional Kerala Architecture Poomukham

Have a look at the Elevation and contact us if you would like to have the design or build a similar house by our professional team in your land.

Email me to

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

or Call 9388701702,9388701707 ,9388701700

Free Consultation,28,Nov,13

House Construction

Query-1

My contractor is charging 1475/Sqft only for the cement an metal work without flooring, wood work, toilet work . ..etc Is it too much?

Zachariah

My reply

Square feet cost is a vague term which has no scientific basis. For a manufacturing activity which takes not less than one year to complete with hundreds of materials and quite a  few different type of labour for which cost goes up everyday, contractor is making a wild guess or gambling by giving a square feet rate. If there are hundred contractors each of them follow different standards(If at all they have any standards),different materials of different quantity, with different capability workers .

How can you compare rate of one contractor to another? As you will not give work without quoting a square feet rate, he is giving you such a rate. If he is smart ,lucky and capable of doing compromises in quality of construction without you noticing or understanding it, he may make good profit in spite of rising cost of all inputs. Unless you have a professional design, detailed implementation drawings by qualified experienced professional and mechanism to check construction going on, contractor will work as he pleases to get more profit

Query-2

we are building our home and in the foundation above ground level, my mason told me to fill m sand clay so that no fungal problem later. is it right or better use the red sand for filling?

Joseph

My reply

Red sand or gravel filling is fine if you use powdery form with forced filling of sand with water.To prevent pest in future,you have to get pest control treatment of inside basement and outside.There are professional agencies doing such pest control treatments.You can have a consultation visit by me to your site.

During the visit, I can study your problem in detail, take measurements from site and check on following aspects related to building/plot

1. Vasthu compliance

2. Architectural defects if any and improvements/modifications possible

3. Structural Engineering defects if any and improvements/modifications possible

4. Advice on future works related to building /plot

5. What our company can do to improve your construction work by quality, cost reduction and value addition of space

Write to

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

or call 9388701702,9388701707,9388701700

Query-3

I would like to build a economic house at my plot in Kannur which is 70 cents.

I want build a house with Nadumuttam and with 4bedrooms. Approximate cost may fall to 50lakhs.

I need a consultant to site survey design complete drawing vasthu based traditional house.

What is the cost of consultation. How is it calculated? I have local contractor. Design must be introduced to my contractor. Please help me.

Francis

My reply

For building Design and Construction ,all architects are not alike.Each differ from other based on qualifications,talent,and exposure to design and construction of house.Naturally each person charge you in a different manner.

Even contractors differ from each other.I do not understand how can any one compare rates given by different contractors who do work in different manner with different engineering and quality standards

If we have to act as consultants for your house design and construction,we have to first visit site,study site conditions,discuss with you in detail on your needs for house and then start working on appropriate plan of the house for you which is the most important part of designing and building a house.Once the plan is discussed and finalised,we move on to construction either directly or as consultant in case you have a local contractor.

When we take up work directly and even when we act as consultants we give proper professional detailed Architectural and Structural Engineering drawings for each stage of construction to ensure that your house is not built as per convenience of an almost illiterate contractor simply to increase his profit while talking nicely with lots of smiles to you

In our projects each work is monitored properly to ensure the best possible and best engineering/Architectural standards.While we offer to give you good elements of traditional Kerala Architecture,we ensure that latest technology /trends are available to your only house.In short,goodness of tradition with excellence of modern technology

Query-4

Dear Sir, I have gone through your blog and it is very informative. 

Please clarify my doubt on construction of Hostel. I have a 3 cent plot near to techno park and would like to construct one Executive Hostel for bachelors. My doubt is,whether it is possible to construct a 3 storey hostel in 3 cents of land? 

How may rooms can be constructed legally, in a 3 cents of land?

Do we require any special approvals for constructing lodges/ hostels?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Vinod

My reply

Cents do not give any idea on frontage available close to road.Cents of land indicates only area of land.Specific side measurements are required to know how much can be built.Positions of roads nearby is also important.A local Architect/Engineer will be able to guide you on this after a site visit.You can also check with concerned local authority office with specific details of the plot like Survey No and location

Haripad House,nearing completion

Compound wall and gate with different style based on traditional Kerala Architecture and modern architecture elements.See pictures:

Front Main door in teak wood with hand carving using features of traditional Kerala Architecture with excellence in hand carving.See pictures:

Stair case with hand carving in Kerala Plantation teak wood.The best you can get with traditional glory of Kerala Architecture.See pictures:

Front views of the house

This 3000 sft plinth area house with four bed rooms and all usual features of a modern house is also pleasant in external appearance with richness of Kerala Architecture features.Once,hand carved teak wood charupady is added to traditional Poomukham,this house turns out to be another unique work of Architect Thomas Viruvelil.A house you can be proud of being an achievement in your life time and almost a dream house,come real.

If you would like to have a similar dream house,contact

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

9388701702,9388701707,9388701700

See few pictures of front views:

 

Hand carved teak wood Stair case with a difference,Cherthala House

Cherthala house designed and built by us has a special hand carved teak wood stair case.You cannot see a similar stair case any where as each of stair posts are carved by our expert craftsmen in the form of a tree.See the pictures:

If you need a similar or a different type of hand carved stair case for your house even if it is not designed and built by us, write to

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

or call

9388701702,9388701707,9388701700

Hand carved Interior wood work at Cherthala house designed and built by us

1.Front door

See pictures

 

All those years of study,research and hard work do not mean anything?

It is nearly twenty years since I started designing and building houses for my clients in Kerala. During these years I had been studying closely with utmost attention on details about house design and construction. I have done several experiments, attempts, trying out ideas, developing new ways of doing while studying and questioning old established ways of design and construction. In fact it was a long journey of study, research and development. What I am today is mostly due to this hard work over years almost fully dedicated to the profession.

I have also tried communicating with lots of people in different parts of the world through my blogs trying to create awareness of need for professional design, involvement and guidance from beginning to end of constructing a house in Kerala. I knew it is tough to change mindset of Kerala people who still have the feeling and belief that a local mason without any formal education or training is all that required to design and build a house.

One thing which surprises me a lot is, people still ask me about Engineering college which I studied as if those four years is the only period in my life when I got all knowledge for being a professional in building construction. I quite often smile or laugh hearing a question like that. In fact those four years I hardly studied anything. May be a few vocabulary in technical jargon. Nothing more. May be building up few friendships which in later life do not mean much. Those four years were an attempt to get through those exams somehow or the other, rather than a determined quest for learning and developing knowledge in Architecture, Structural Engineering, and Art related to design and construction and Vasthu.

I do not know why people still think that those years in college are the most important part of learning. On this aspect there was a funny incident in high court of Kerala recently when a Judge asked a lawyer how much VS Achuthanandan studied in school. Lawyer replied: “Possibly up to seventh standard” Judge then offered to teach legal procedure to “ignorant “VS. His reply when this matter was brought to his attention is similar to my ideas given earlier:

”I have studied for 70 long years in the school of world interacting with people. No one can give a better education to me”

A successful professional is not produced by any engineering or other professional training schools/colleges. It is the result of determined efforts of the person to become a successful professional. In this process, no chapter is left out of study. No copying of assignments is done. No cheating in exam hall is there. No favour from any teacher is required.

A good professional try hard to win full marks for his study. He does not want to miss even one mark. Because, he is not trying to convince some one about his capability and efforts. He is doing it to satisfy his own mind trying hard to reach perfection and no compromises are acceptable in that process.

#Spiral stair case in Mahagony wood:Cochin house project

We, at Viruvelil Group of companies specialises in designing and building houses in Kerala with glory and fine nature of traditional Kerala Architecture.

We simply do not build houses to compete with those contractors fighting with each other quoting square feet rates of construction. We design and build your dream house with all goodness of traditional Kerala Architecture using latest technology in Architecture and Structural Engineering

Houses designed and built by us are designed to comply with Vasthu requirements fully to ensure that you get a peaceful life in the house with prosperity caused by Vasthu compliance

Every bit of your house is designed and built with expertise gained by designing thousands of houses in Kerala and building directly more than 200 houses in Kerala with each client treasuring the unique house designed and built by us for them.

We do not treat stair case of a house as something to be hidden in a corner of house with U shape which gives a dark area underneath which cannot be used in any manner. Instead we keep stair case as a central attraction and display portion of your house as each of our teak wood stair case  are made for you  specially  hand carved by our expert craftsmen with all the glory and traditional excellence of Kerala Architecture. Look at some of the stair cases done by us.

Look at spiral stair case done for a Cochin house project in Mahagony wood without hand carving. This stair has a sort of balcony in between while you climb stair up

You can also have such stair cases designed and installed at your house even if house is not designed and built by us

Contact us at

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

or call us at

9388701702 or 9388701707 or 9388701700

See pictures

#Kerala Architecture:Hand carved teak wood stair cases with traditional look

We,at Viruvelil Group of companies specialises in designing and building houses in Kerala with glory and fine nature of traditional Kerala Architecture.

We simply do not build houses to compete with those contractors fighting with each other quoting square feet rates of construction.We design and build your dream house with all goodness of traditional Kerala Architecture using latest technology in Architecture and Structural Engineering

Houses designed and built by us are designed to comply with Vasthu requirements fully to ensure that you get a peaceful life in the house with prosperity caused by Vasthu compliance

Every bit of your house is designed and built with expertise gained by designing thousands of houses in Kerala and building directly more than 200 houses in Kerala with each client treasuring the unique house designed and built by us for them.

We do not treat stair case of a house as something to be hidden in a corner of house with U shape which gives a dark area underneath which cannot be used in any manner.Instead we keep stair case as a central attraction and display portion of your house as each of our teak wood stair case  are made for you  specially  hand carved by our expert craftsmen with all the glory and traditional excellence of Kerala Architecture.Look at some of the stair cases done by us.I will start with Irinjalakuda house stair case which is centrally placed in a 4000 sft plinth area house.Stair case acts as major attraction of the house

You can also have such stair cases designed and installed at your house even if house is not designed and built by us

Contact us at

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

or call us at

9388701702 or 9388701707 or 9388701700

Irinjalakuda house stair case pictures