Architectural Guidance
Query-1
Dear Thomas Sir
I am Shaji, from Kannur working abroad. I am always going thru your blog and getting bunch of knowledge. Many thanks for sharing these information and ideas.
Planning to construct a home at my village in Kannur
I would like to do this with expert consultant like you , do you have any office in Kannur or any good recommendation from your friends circle ?
Or can you provide me online / telephone consultation. Please let me know your suggestions and consulting fees
Shaji
My reply
I can design the house anywhere in the world
Most important part of building a house is to get the most appropriate professional design.Let us start with it
I will require dimensions of all four sides of plot,directions of each side,position of roads nearby and detailed write up on what exactly you require in the house to be built
Query-2
Sir,
I am an architecture student from Bangalore (Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Architecture) and i am working on a case study related to architecture in warm and humid climate. I found this site very interesting and would like to study a traditional house and its design details in terms of climate, plans , sections and mainly the passive/ natural cooling in the traditional house. Its impossible for me to study the house myself due to time constraint and was hoping to get a little direction and help about particularly one house ( traditional) .
Pallavi
My reply
Without visiting the house to be studied you may not be able to do anything
You can visit our Cherthala House pictures of which are given in my Face Book profile if you can plan a visit to Cochin for as many days as you can afford.I can help you to the extent possible.
Query-3
Hello,
We have a requirement to build a stone farmhouse near Bangalore. But we do want the home to have a Kerala look.
We are looking at about 5000 sq. feet.
Wanted to inquire if you do such projects so that we can take this further
If not would you please be able to suggest some contacts who can help us out with this
Tushita
My reply
We can design house or any other type of building for any place.Direct construction by our team is something that has to be decided after finalisation of initial drawings and after considering many other aspects also
Even though a site visit before starting design will be preferable,we can start working on the initial plan of building on getting following details:
1.Outer dimensions of all four sides of plot clearly marking directions like East or West
2.Positions of roads nearby
3.Detailed write up on your needs and dreams for the house
4.Budget limitations if any
Query-4
Dear Sir
Was reading your blog and thought of asking you, the Burma Teak wood is it bad or good, and what is the expected price for the same, what would be the expected price for local teak special teak wood from Nilambur.
appreciate your reply,
Query-5
Dennis has left a new comment on your post "Teak wood-use in Kerala house construction":
I need 85 Cubic Feet of Wood, can I know the price of one Cubic Feet of Teak wood Nilambur costing.
regards
Dennis Antony.
Query-6
Dear Sir
I have read your article on teak wood and it is giving information to the public.
Only thing is , you have commented that Pingoda is not suitable to Kerala climate and condition, but now days it is very common and all contractors are recommending the same.
Since Teak is not available like in the past, Burmese teak has come in picture. What do you think about the same
Baju
My reply
Burma Teak is imported teak.It do not have good grains and finish like Kerala Plantation teak.It is available at comparatively lesser cost in Kerala.Also as the logs are quite thick and of uniform diameter,wastages will be less.Naturally all commercial manufacturers using teak wood prefer to use Burma Teak
Pingoda is commonly used by contractors due to economic considerations as it is available in large uniform diameter shaped logs and hence wastage will be less
I am not a trader of any building material and hence I cannot give any price for any material used for construction
Construction /remodeling of house
Query-1
Ann has left a new comment on your post "Kerala House design and Construction:
Sir, I have recently bought a twenty year old house (1BHK) which covers almost 10 cents and has a surrounding area of another 10 cents for further construction. I am planning on a budget of maximum 10 lakhs and would like to increase the number of bedrooms by 3. would like to know if that's possible with the mentioned budget if I am not looking for a very luxuries. The flooring of the house is red oxide and is built with hollow bricks. Also suggest me cheaper options for better flooring.
My reply
Even though this message has reached me nearly twenty days back,I could not reply due to non availability of email.So instead of typing out your query on blog or trying to talk to me over phone(I may be in the midst of work at office or site and may not be in a position to listen and reply to you properly),please always write to my email id given below.You will definitely get a better faster response
Just by hearing that you purchased an old building and you intend to add three bed rooms to the existing house,no body can tell you how much it will cost
In my case, I have to visit existing house,study conditions of the building and surroundings,take measurements from site and then I can give a plan for the proposed modified house.After this plan is finalised,we can work out expected cost using Engineering Estimate methods
Query-2
Sir,
I have a plan to build a two story house with interlock bricks.
Kindly provide me the advantages and draw backs, if any, of interlock bricks.
Mathew
My reply
Like any other building material,interlock bricks also have advantages and disadvantages.Trouble with most people going for house construction is that
1.They think they have all the wisdom required to decide on how the plan of the house should be(Of course you can clearly spell out what you need in the house.But definitely not on how to design)
2.They think collecting bits of information on many aspects of house construction from different sources and deciding /selecting by self is good enough(Architect/Engineer is not some one who will push up your cost of construction.They will reduce your cost of construction and will give you better utilisation of space at lesser cost)
3.They think all house designers and all contractors do the same work in the same manner(No two contractor or even professional is similar or equal in capabilities)
I would suggest you leave choices of materials of construction to your Architect who will select most appropriate material to suit you considering all aspects
Query-3
Sir,
Deeply appreciate your support on the architectural front. I attach the plan of my house in Kollam. The diagonal lines show the current structure and it is almost 13 years old house with an outside the structure bath/toilet. Now we have decided to extend the house with an attached toilet/bath on the northern side of dining room . Seek your invaluable suggestions on this in a strict budget of Rs 9 lakhs.
My reply
Extension/remodeling of a house can be done only after careful inspection of existing building by an expert.Lots of people look upon remodeling/extension as a cheaper alternative to have better facilities in the house.In most cases original house construction might not have been done with proper architectural plan and by design itself there can be serious flaws.While attempting to remodel,old structure will pose serious problems .Cost of remodeling cannot be assessed well as even an expert cannot understand defects of older construction fully
Query-4
I am having a doubt about constructing slope roof
one method making slope concrete roof slab and pasting tiles on the slab
second method is casting horizontal slab ,making slop by fabricating channels and iron structures and laying tiles
among above which is good,can you please tell advantage of one over the other
My reply
In my opinion,it will be better to do slope roof concrete and lay roof clay tiles over it.But you may not get expert concrete workers to do slope roof well.That is the reason most concrete workers suggest you to do flat roof concrete and then do slope roof using steel fabrication.This can only cost more.
Building rules/Boundary dispute
Query-1
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
Our house is 30 meters inside from road and this 30mtr x 2mtr passage or way was bought by us and this passage is leading to our house only. on both side of this passage our 2 neighbors. The neighbour on left side already has boundary wall for the entire length of this passage build long before. Now the right side neighbour decided to built boundary wall for the entire length of this passage. They have marked the area such that the width of our passage remains 200 cm. But the left side neighbour has told us that while they were building their boundary wall they have left approx. 30cm and built the wall. That means we will get a total width of 230cm. But right side neighbour are going to build the boundary wall by leaving only 200cm width for our passage.
I would like to know what we can do in this situation. I don't want to spoil the relation with our neighbour. I just would like to know whether we are entitled to have that 30cm which was left by left side neighbour and is there law supporting this. And how can we prove this to our right side neighbour and solve this issue. Please help.
Your favourable support will be appreciated
My reply.
If your left side neighbour has really left 30cm extra for your passage,it can be ascertained by measuring land in possession of left side neighbour.You can get any qualified Engineer to measure land and check the status or to be more convincing to your neighbour you can get people from concerned village office who will have authentic sketch of plots with them to measure and mark exact boundaries of plots concerned.That way you can resolve the issue without straining the relationships
But if the right side neighbour is trying to take undue advantage of the situation,nothing can be done to avoid unpleasantness.
Query-2
Respected Sir,
extent of land 1.96 cents in municipal area
Measurement north - south : 9.10 meter; East - West 8.75 Meter
moved plan leaving front open space 180 Cm, North 100 Cm, south 90 Cm East abutting with NOC. plan sanctioned permit issued. (Permit for construction North - South 756 Cm East West 696 Cm.) due to reduction in land, for the construction as per sanctioned plan reduced the area of construction from 756CM to 720 Cm and from 696 Cm to 680 Cm providing southern side open space at 60 Cm. revised plan submitted. southern neighbour moved petition stating statutory distance of 90 Cm not kept hence violation. (the attempt of Compromise with neighbour failed due to his adamant attitude and unbearable conditions) Authority issued stop memo under Sec.62. this being the position please let me know is there any violation of building rules? rejection of plan and permit is sustainable or not? Your valuable suggestions to get over from the situations is highly appreciated. Hope you sir will do the help and needful in this regard
My reply
As I do not have relevant documents to verify or I cannot visit site and check up on the matter,I can only suggest you to discuss the matter in detail with concerned official of local authority concerned.There is no reason to suspect that local authority will proceed against you against rules.I think they will explain to you whether your construction is as per rules or not and will suggest a way out
Query-3
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
u said that the person having plot less than 3 cent is having concessions what al r they?
My reply
Please contact concerned person in your local authority office
Vasthu aspects
Query-1
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Free Consultation,3/12/12":
Hello, i have a 7 cent almost rectangle plot which has 2 side road ( north and east ) which is 4 feet in width. I have third entrance which is 10 ft. width in the south west corner of the plot that is only can be used as a car/vehicle entrance. Could you please tell me which direction of phasing of house will be better in my plot according to vasthu.
My reply
Facing East will be the best option as per Vasthu.Second Choice can be North.In your case as the vehicle can enter only at South west corner,facing east will be better as distance from vehicle entry to front side of house will be less
Query-2
I am planning to buy a flat in Hyderabad. It is 3 bedroom flat and the builder has confirmed it is VASTU complaint. I sent the plan to one VASTU consultant in Kerala. As per him the room measurement and Kitchen measurement are not as per VASTU. I would like to know if there are any such measurement that we need to follow.
My reply
Flat builders normally do not follow specific measurement pattern for rooms followed by old Asaris in Kerala.Hence if you want to buy only such flats,it may be impossible to buy a flat in Hyderabad
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