Construction of House Part-IV
After such a big event, the pace of the work suddenly slacks to crawling. For a few days there is no work. Roof requires frequent watering. Any wok pending in the exterior can be undertaken. Manufacturing of gate pillars or staircase. Gate pillars can be erected only if the gate has been decided upon as to the size. Masons usually prefer to have the gate with them. After 2-3 days, the roof can be visited and construction of parapet can be started. After Lintel this is the first task undertaken. If staircase has not been constructed, mason might do that. Then shuttering is opened. First the wooden pillars are removed and then one room by one, iron plates are brought down. Suddenly the walls are transformed into a house.
Another point to be kept in mind here is that the door and window sills should be ready. As soon as the shuttering is removed, door and window sills are fixed. The mason fixes the window and door sills. The Wooden sills are treated with anti termite ( use anti termite chemical and brush these over.) The side of the sill which is to be fixed towards the wall is painted black to prevent moisture seepage. At the foot of the sills, plastic cups, which are available in the market, can be fixed to further prevent termites. Pour little anti termite in the cups after they are fixed on the sills. Fixing of sills requires clamps which are of different sizes and carpenter can tell the exact size and number required. Usually each door sill requires six and window sill requires four clamps.
That will be stage, when electrician will take over as his team fixes PVC pipes and boxes all over the house. One has to be very cautious that all the boxes are fixed as per the electricity map, which should have been drawn by the architect with your approval. Ceiling lights and fans require ceiling boxes. In case of any decorative lighting, provision for the same and power points for heaters etc. need to be taken care of. Air conditioners placing also must be decided to create provision for electric connection.
Outside in the courtyard, any skirting/ footlights required or any automatic lights required should be though about and provisions created accordingly.
Decide as to where the main switch and MCBs of the house will be placed. A wooden box will be required for this place as all the wires have to terminate here. Bathrooms require attention as to lighting, fan, exhaust fan, water heater and at least one five ampere socket.
Kitchen is a different story altogether. Apart from lighting and fan, choose between chimney and exhaust fan (usually chimney and make sure that the chimney switch is at the lower level and reachable) Apart from the switches, consider personal needs like refrigerator, water heater, RO system, Microwave, OTG, blender, toaster, juicer or any other electric gadget in use or might be used in future.
These days gas cylinders are not kept in the kitchen and hence in the kitchen gas pipe is also required. So another specialist comes into picture. It is neither a time consuming nor expensive work. Use copper pipe, have it painted black and cover with duct tape. For this decision as to whether ordinary gas stove is to be placed or cooking hob will be installed, is required. Two knobs are placed at the two terminating ends of the pipe, one linking to the gas cylinder and the other to the gas stove.
At the same time it is the time for plumber also to join in. Water pipes and storage tanks along with other listed things will be required. Apart from the water pipes, drain pipes will also be laid at this stage and drain chambers will be constructed. Here the plumbing map is essential. In each bathroom the water taps for fresh water, storage water and hot water are to be decided. If you are planning fancy fittings, decide at this stage as shower panels and cubicles require different wall pipe system. Similarly cistern and pot designs need to be decided as wall fitted cisterns require different pipe fittings. Galvanized iron pipes ( GI pipes) to be placed are painted balck and covered in duct tape, before installing.
Kitchen needs special attention as to the position of sinks, fresh water, hot water, storage water, water heater, RO system, etc.
If you are going for rain water harvesting, separate chambers for rain water will be constructed with totally separate pipelines. These pipelines will be finally linked to the rainwater harvesting chamber. At this point, find an expert to do the bore and fix the pipe for rain water harvesting. After that plumber will attach the last pipe to the chamber and then you will be required to get the chamber brickwork done.
The decision as to place for water storage tank should have been made at the beginning. Usually it makes sense to have a concrete and brick underground water storage tank. As this is required through out the construction, have it constructed from the day one at the appropriate place, chosen carefully. (Usually one corner of backyard). If construction of water tank, from the initial stage is not feasible, then construct it after the foundations are laid but before land filling is done. It saves lot of labour. Get its lintel work done and place an iron lid over it when the land filling is done. The pipes are connected from this storage tank to the upstairs storage tanks which lead to the bathrooms and kitchen.
At many places there two different types of water, provided by the authorities. One normal and other specifically for lawns and cisterns. In that case double arrangements are required as to two storage tanks at the ground level and at least two upstairs. We had a separate one for kitchen, so three on the roof. So double set of pipes leads upstairs to the upper tanks and double set of pipes come down to the bathrooms.
This is crucial as one has to ensure that pipes are correctly linked as to hot and cold water and also as to the correct storage tank. Each storage tank on the roof is getting correct water supply both from the normal supply or through motorized water pump.
Another person to be hired at this stage is Air Conditioner fitter. For split ACs indoor and outdoor units are to be decided. As per your need and requirements, decide as to the ACs in the house and find an efficient person for this work. Make sure that the ACs is not above the electric installation like TV or over the bed. Whatever any one may say, there is always chance of leakage of water from AC. ACs fittings include, AC electric pipes, electric wires and drain pipes. That requires cutting of wall. Rates for these are segregated into different works i.e. to the length of wall cutting, copper pipe and wire and PVC pipe. Check on the quality of different pipes and also whether the wiring supports five star rated ACs. Depending upon the length of each work, the approximate cost these days is Rs.5000/- per AC fitting.
Creating provision for CCTV camera is also desirable. Another contractor is hired, who will fit the PVC pipes with wires for CCTV cameras.
While this work is going on, mason will fix the iron grill on the roof parapets and the grills on the front and back boundary wall. For this purpose 200-300 tiles ( brick tiles) are required.
This stage after lintel takes about one month.
End of part IV
Fixing the door sill, electric box fixed on the wall, along with the pipe is also visible.
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