We built our house the DIY way

Hello friends,

We just completed building our own house. A 1800 sqft 4bhk duplex home sweet-home. The Vastupuja was performed just last week, followed by a party. Most importantly, we built it the DIY way. But more about it later.


We had purchased a plot some four years ago, in a 6000 dwelling units township on the outskirts of Pune, nothing in main Pune being beyond our reach. The developer offered apartments, row houses, constructed villas, and plots for build-as-you-like. Only the apartment or the plot was within our budget. We reckoned that by DIY construction we can save a lot of money and thus have an independent bunglow for about the same cost as an apartment. So we opted for a plot.


We were based in Delhi at that time and were unable to take up construction. But by God's grace, my DH was transferred to Pune 3 yrs ago. I had to quit my job in Delhi. But in Pune we got to live in beautiful surroundings in Khadakwasla, away from the humdrum of the main city. Most important, the place of work of my DH and also our present residence were just 3 KM from the plot.

The plots were truly “fully developed”. Not only the fencing and the main gate but also the basic services like sewage, water connection, and electricity connection were also already installed, and all the permissions etc. were already taken care of.

We started the work in early 2009. The first step was to have a design. After some exploration, we entrusted the work to an architect with whom I had some prior acquaintance. For a certain fee he gave us a basic layout and structural details. However, soon it transpired that he and us were not exactly “made for each other” and soon we parted ways. All subsequent changes in design were done by me and my DH, We both decided what should be changed and how, and DH made necessary changes in the drawings.

We started with a bore well. It does cost a significant amount, but now we are free from a major worry – possible water shortage. My DH is a water resources engineer, and he brushed aside all suggestions to have a water diviner to locate the drilling point as unscientific nonsense. A successful bore well in the hard rock areas of Deccan Traps is (so says DH) a dicey matter. No way to predict exact location. But we were lucky and we hit excellent quality and plentiful water at 195 feet depth.

Now, the construction. After some exploration it became apparent that we wouldn’t trust the contractors we could afford, and we couldn’t affords the contractors we could trust. My DH is a well qualified civil engineer but he is into water resources engineering (large dams, canals, hydro-power, etc.) which is quite different from construction of residential building. Still, he accepted the challenge, dusted off his building construction text books, to execute the work on labour rate contract. In this method we purchase and supply all the material, from sand and cement to doors and windows to door fittings and electrical things, and employ only a labour contractor to execute the work under our supervision.

This method not only saves a lot of money, but also enables far better quality. In a turnkey contract the specifications have to be decided at the beginning, based on which a rate is decided. Thereafter it is very difficult to make any change. And one can never be sure whether the contractor is indeed using the material of a quality as agreed to. Often he will use inferior material to increase his profit. In the method we followed, we had the liberty to change the specifications as we wished, and were sure of the quality of every item of material, because we bought it.

The total work was divided in to nine sub-tasks. RCC frame, masonry and plastering, flooring and stone work, wall painting, electrical wiring, plumbing and sanitary, doors and windows, woodwork, and finally - the overall finishing. Some of these can proceed in parallel while there is a certain sequencing for some others. And purchase of all the material is itself a major task.

We employed a separate labour contractor for each sub-task. Barring one who eloped with some of our money, all others did a good job. And we used the best of materials - premixed concrete from a well known brand (no mixing at site) for the RCC; machine made fly ash bricks (not the red ones); vitrified tiles, bathroom fittings, electrical fittings, . . . all reputed brands purchased directly from factory outlets or authorized dealers (no Chinese goods); etc. DH being a civil engineer paid considerable attention to details such as an anti-termite spray at foundation stage, water proofing compound added to concrete for all slabs, machine compacting for all RCC, polymer fiber reinforcement in plaster, etc.

Some labour contractors were paid every Saturday based on daily labour attendance while some others were paid based on measurement of work done. It was a big task for my DH to attend to office, frequent outstation visits, look after ailing parents, and also get all the material in time and supervise construction.

When the masonry work was almost 80% done, it so turned out that the payment to labour contractor was more than the value of work done by him and completing the remaining work was a losing proposition for him. Unfortunately, he realized this before we did, and one day just disappeared. It was impossible to get another contractor for the remaining work. So we appointed a supervisor who knew the work well, and got the masons and others to work on daily wages. i.e. we ourselves became labour contractor !!

I surfed the net extensively to find the best quality material at best rates. Then we would search for the suppliers in wholesale market. Every Saturday we would be out surveying the market and making purchases. My biggest triumph was the doors. We were all set to purchase a particular type of doors when on the net I found a brand that turned out to be far superior in quality, yet competitive prices.

Our house has many “green building” features. Some of the highlights are :

· Fly ash bricks. Means we did not contribute to burning of coal in a brick kiln, and also we contributed to disposal of fly ash.

·
Rainwater harvesting. (of course)
· Dual circuit plumbing. The water supply lines for toilets are isolated from the lines for basins and showers. This will enable us to implement recycle and reuse of gray water whenever the need arises. (i.e. process the water from kitchen, bath, washing machine and use it for toilet flushing). These days every one talks of recycle and reuse, but no one spends for dual circuit plumbing, and thus it remains only a talk.

· Plumbing installed for solar water heater (to be added soon). We already use solar cooker.

· Exhaust fans in bed rooms that point inwards. This is an innovation by DH which he is very proud of. In Pune, the outside air gets quite cool by nightfall, almost throughout the year. Thus, we do not need to consume electricity to cool the air (AC). The air is cooled by the nature. We only need to blow it in.

· All wall light fittings with two bulbs and an additional switch for one. We put an 11W CFL in one, and a 18 W CFL in other. Thus, we consume only 11W when gentle ambient lighting is required, which is most of the time, and optionally switch on additional 18 W only when necessary.

· Low level window sills, with a granite piece for casual sit down by window side.

A jhula (swing) in the first floor living area. Basic physics tells us that the swinging pace of a jhula is determined solely by its suspension height. Jhulas suspended from a steel stand have a very low suspension, hence swing too rapidly. They occupy a lot of floor space and therefore are always kept outsde, and rarely used. Only a show piece. Ours is slung from the ceiling, and has a very gentle pace. Can be unslung in a jiffy if there is a party and we need more floor space. The jhula was assembled from left over wood !!

Slowly, the “structure” became a “house”. When I look back, I find it difficult to believe that on a piece of land that was so rough only an year ago that walking over it one risked spraining an ankle, now stands a house of our dreams. Building your house DIY is a lot like raising your children. While you are doing it, it is fun but often there is also some anxiety, tiredness, etc. But when you look back on it in retrospect, it is pure nostalgia. Now, buying a ready apartment seems like adopting a grown up daughter/ son !! You miss out on all the fun.

 

Hi Incharge,
First of all Hearty congartulations!!! :thumbsupHappy to know that its built on DIY way. Your post is packed with Very useful information in every way. :bowdown It will help all those of ur who are planning to construct one in future.
Could you pls post some pics of your dear home. Awaiting to have a glimpse of the same.
Btw, would like to know the final cost per sq feet of your dear home pls.
Dear Priyadarsinik,
Thank you very much for your encouraging reply.I will post the pictures in 3-4 days.We are still caculating the total cost per square foot, but it is below 1000/Rs per sq. foot surely.If any one is building a house or need information on certain aspect, I can surely guide them.

 

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Nice post...May I ask you what materials you used for the kitchen cabinets and wardrobes? What do you and your husband think about using PVC instead of wood? If you bought wood, what wood and what was the rate? How did you design your kitchen? We are in the process of building our house and need to make decisions on these the coming weeks. Any suggestions will be appreciated
dear Radhee,
Thank you vary much for your appreciation.We used 18 mm blockboard for the overhead kitchen cabinets.and laminet over it . boh from Durian.blockboard we purchased from a wholesaler at 51/sq ft and 750/ for the full sheet 8x4 of laminet.For the lower under platform cabinets we have taken waterproof blockboard which is a little more.
As for PVC and also MDF the rate starts from 300/sq ft onwards which even the shopkeepers agreed were too high and unnecessary.
As for the kitchen trolleys,there are at lest 3 options.PVC coated,stainless steel grade 203 and stainless steel grade 304.
304 is the best and long lasting cost starts from 2200/sq ft. But for this you have to really search.If you find manufacturers,you can get good deals.We are getting trolleys made from wholesalers and then the cabinet doors and panels from the carpenter.This way at least 10 to 15k saving can be made.
I hope this helps you. for anymore information, feel free to interact.
Thanks.

 

Dear Ubellah,
Thank you very much for your feedback. It doubles our joy.

 

Hi Incharge,

happy to learn about your new house construction..
HiKudos to you and your family members for well planning
Hi Prettina,
Thank you very much for your feedback.