Tuesday 17 February 2015

Plan Well For a Perfect Home

 Plan Well
To own a shelter is everyone’s ambition. Some may own a home when they are very young, many when they are young and a few when they are not so young. There are numerous people, who do not have their own shelter. They pass their lives in rented premises. Through proper planning, anyone can achieve the ambition of owing a comfortable house.
The concept of construction is a little complicated one. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the basics of house construction before embarking on your dream project.

Locating the Land:

When one decides that they need a house, they, then need to find a good plot of land. They should always remember two important points, while selecting the Location; it should be good and best location. Before deciding on the plot, one has to make a survey of various plots and then select a suitable plot of their choice. If they do not like the position or shape of a land, let them not buy it. If they exert a little more, then they will definitely find a suitable piece of land at a convenient location.

Engage Professionals:

It is always advisable to engage Professionals, to get quality work and its timely completion. Architects, Civil Engineers, Structural Engineers, Real Estate Agents, Banks, Plumbers, Electricians and Building Contractors, contribute a lot in shaping one’s dream house. They have to select the right people to carry out the work. Engaging Professionals, will be a little bit expensive, but it will ensure that they do not have to face problems in the long run. If they do not wish to spend money on the Professionals, they may save a portion of the project cost but in the long run, they might face problems.

Purchase of Land:

Once, they have selected a piece of land and decided to purchase it, their Advocate will take care of all the legal aspects of the land as to its title and genuineness and prepare a document called Agreement to Sell to be entered between the Purchaser and the Seller. Agreement to Sell is a very important document particularly for buying a property. The period between the Agreement to Sell and the Sale Deed is a crucial period for the Purchaser. An eminent Advocate, who has long experience in property matters, must deal with such important matters. Most importantly, they should not follow a ready made model Agreement or Sale Deed, or engage a Real Estate Agent or a job typist, as some people do. They may save some money, but in the long run particularly when they plan to sell the property; chances of facing acute problems cannot be ruled out.

Vaastu Shastra:

The concept of building a house on Vaastu principles has become very popular. Vaastu Shastra is the science of construction. In the present times, it has assumed a distorted meaning. People attribute Vaastu to good luck and bad luck.
Whether one believes in Vaastu or not, it is advisable to construct the house based on the Vaastu principles, since an adverse remark on the location of the rooms might psychologically affect the Owner, if something untoward happens in the future. The main door, pooja room, kitchen, bathroom, toilet, storage space, bed rooms, overhead and underground water tanks and septic tanks must be according to Vaastu Shastra, particularly so when you put up the house for sale at a future date.


Making a plan is very important. It is the first step, in the entire process before the construction work starts. Once, when they settle on a budget and spell out exactly what they want, the Professionals can take over. The Architects, will assist them in designing their homes, right from the hall, kitchen and bathrooms of the house. The rooms are so designed that they are proportionate to the area available for construction. From the design, one can see how each room will look. They may change the plan as many times as they like before making the final drawing. Once the final drawing is prepared, it should not be changed. The Architect makes the plan with the future in mind.
They may do the construction work in stages depending on their budget. If they have money to construct only the ground floor they may do so. They may or may not construct additional floors, but it is a must to have a total plan for two or three floors as per the Floor Area Ratio (FAR).
Constructing a house without a plan will cause many problems in various stages of construction. Do not take the advice of illiterate ‘maistries’ who do not know the problems that might arise in the future.

Elevation:

While planning the house, one will have to make certain provisions for exterior elevation and interior decoration and furnishing work. These add value to their house forever.

Sanction Plan:

Before taking up the construction work, the final drawing must be submitted well in advance to the Competent Authority for the approval. The building construction work must be based on the plan sanctioned by the Authority. A minor deviation from the sanctioned plan may be done if required. A copy of the sanctioned plan must be handy at the job site for inspection by the Competent Authority while the job is under execution.

Housing Finance:

Before starting the construction work, one has to mobilise adequate funds for smooth and uninterrupted execution. One has to decide on the budget and raise it from his/her own sources or from a Housing Finance Institution. Whatever be the estimate, they have to provide for an extra ten percent to take care of cost of escalation of building materials and unexpected additional work. If they intend to avail home loan, then they will have to approach a Finance Company well in advance with the sanctioned plan etc., and get the loan sanctioned.

Foundation:

The Structural Engineer does the foundation drawing. Though foundation work is a little expensive, one must not compromise with it. A building rests safely on a strong foundation. It is the base on which you construct additional floors at a future date.

Area:

From the Floor Area Ratio, the plot coverage area must be worked out. Plinth Area is the total area of construction. This includes all the floors as well as the wall thickness. Carpet area is the area inside the constructed building between the walls and the area actually used. Super built area is generally applicable to apartments. This includes the wall thickness, projected area and the common area.

Solar Heater:

Whether one is providing a solar heater or not, there must be a provision for it and they must atleast give pipeline connections to the bathrooms, kitchen and other places from the heater location so that you need not have to spend extra money when you install a solar water heater.

Bath Room:

For bathroom the bolting arrangement must be such that when it is bolted from the inside, the door can be opened from the outside by applying a little force in case of an emergency. The bathroom must be laid with anti-skid tiles. The fixtures in the bathrooms must be such that they do not interfere with free movement. Also there shall be no projections from the walls.

Woodwork:

Though teak wood is preferred, by using other woods and wood substitutes they can save up to 50% on the wood cost. If adequate funds are not available for making built-in cupboards, they may make the provisions for putting up at a future date.

Periodic Inspection:

Civil, structural, plumbing, sanitary electrical, carpentry and tiles lying are inter-related works which call for proper co-ordination, with periodic inspection and repair. When the construction work is in progress a representative of yours must be on the job site. The Architect, Civil Engineer and the Structural Engineer must do periodic inspection. This is a must.

Electrical Wiring and Plumbing:

The Architect prepares the drawing for electrical, plumbing, sanitary and pipe laying works and it must be carried out as per the drawing. In case of any deviation, it must be incorporated in the drawing. The drawing must be kept safely so that if any leakage or short circuit occurs after some years, the drawing will come in handy to locate the faulty areas.

Painting:

This is the last stage. Painting work is done in five phases. After primer coating is given it is allowed to dry. Thereafter, the full putty and then the first coating of painting are given.
This work must never be rushed. After the first coat one may perform pooja. Thereafter, touch up putty work is done and then the final coating. Adequate time must be given for the final coating, which makes the interior visually appealing.

Material:


Do not compromise on the material quality in apartments. Always use BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certified materials. Electrical wiring materials must be of a well-known and reliable brand. Without proper co-ordination, timely execution of work is not possible. For each work phase, a timetable must be drawn up and strictly adhered to. When one phase is over, Workers for the next stage of work must step in. There shall be no financial constraints at any stage. If all these are attended to promptly, one can have their dream house without hassles, and peacefully.

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