“Count Bricks” (Know a bit about Construction, part 2)

No, this is not about some obscure British royalty or the big dogs among developing countries. It is about the importance to be able to equate quantity to time and cost on your building project. That sounded really impressive even if I have to admit that myself and I actually understand what it means.

If you know how many bricks goes into a m2  of wall and how many bricks must an average bricklayer lay in a single day, it becomes very difficult for the builder to b-shit you. BTW the answer is 120 for a double course wall and 1000 per day. You can then check how long the bricklaying should take and how many bricklayers and labour is required on site to achieve the time frame you want. OK, you should do a little bit of math, but it is an easier math solution than most  Sudocu puzzles, especially if you know to put on formula's on EXCEL. You would also be very surprised to find out how few builders know this and can put it in practise. That is why building houses in South Africa takes forever.

Another little secret. This will help you to know how many bricks, cement, etc should go into you house and not end up in the three other houses and his own lapa, your  builder is busy with. An added bonus is when you know how to determine whether your walls are square, It is called "Pythagoras' Theorem" and can be written in one short equation:
                                                            a2 + b2 = c2

Note:
    •c is the longest side of the triangle
    •a and b are the other two sides

For simple people like me:
Example: A "3,4,5" triangle has a right angle in it.

You will also scare the hell out of your builder and impress the living daylight out the “brickies“  working on your site. I guarantee the quality of work will skyrocket, the time wasting nosedive, I can go on...
“I've been a bricklayer for 15 years now.
Surely there must be mortar life. “

(To be continued...)

* Note - If you find the Blog interesting, it makes more sense to read the Blog entries chronologically from the start.

“Have A Solid Foundation” (Know a bit about construction, part 1)

It really helps you as homeowner if you understand some of the basics of construction.

Even in Bible times the importance of a good foundation was recognized, you remember the story about building "on rocks and sand". Well it still applies today as the structure has to stand on something solid.So it is not a bad idea that before you start building you know what is under the ground of your stand and hopefully for you and your wallet, it is not “air blown drift sand from West Africa” (Yep happened to me), old sand dune, underground river (also happened to me) or solid rocks the size of caravans.

It is good to know this before you get a costing from your builder. They normally don’t find out before they quote and it is an exclusion in the contract and costing. Also if there is something funny under there, most builders don’t know how to deal with it and they start compromising and get innovative. That is when you have to start getting VERY scared, unless you know the basics and this is the time to consult your engineer and get the real Professionals involved.

By this time you should have formally appointed a formally qualified and registered engineer for your project, one that actually does the site visits you pay him for.  It is not good to brag that your engineer does not give you hassles on site and never visits and do the required inspections before signing off on stuff.  It is going to bite you on the backside later.

One thing you have, that was not available in the Bible time is GOOGLE, use it, it is quick and cheap. All the basics is there, that is if you can read. But then if you cannot read you should not be building  your own house or anyone else for that matter. A good rule of thumb for foundations is that the bottom is solid, the sides square and the excavated area deep enough and clean. A real professional should by law sign off on it.

This is a good foundation but there are other issues!

It will help you if you know what to look for on your site visit and ask informed clever questions, not many questions. If you ask really uninformed, dumb, lets just  call it “stupid” questions to try and look clever, (things which you heard about around the dinner table or from your DAD or colleagues), you will just annoy the builder.

To be continued...

* Note - If you find the Blog interesting, it makes more sense to read the Blog entries chronologically from the start.

Home building, construction plans in the Western Cape, Hermanus, Stellenbosch and Somerset West

I just learned that if you want to build houses and find people on the net, I think they call it internet based marketing, you have to post nonsensical blog entries like this. So please excuse me, I am doing this in the interest of technological advance and blatant self promotion. I have no idea if the search engine will pick it up. Don’t you think search engine is the dumbest term? All the engines I knew, especially on the farm made a noise and used some sort of fuel?

Red Tape and your Home Building

"Red Tape", not to be confused with the yellow and sometimes white tape used to measure

things, is one if not the major frustrations and delays in building the house.

You have everything figured out,  put in an offer to purchase the land, applied for a building bond (unless you have cash  from a solid BEE contract or a trust fund from good old grandpa that had a contract to manufacture steel for the Nats). You have found a designer or architect or a lowly draughtsman, plans are done, even spoke to what you think is reliable contractors, which are ready to go, and just waiting for the deposit (They need that for a new bakkie). You are ready to go, “turn the soil”, then OOPS, you hear off such things as NHBRC enrolment, departure applications, HOA esthetic approval and there are quite a few others.  You think “OK this is no biggie, happens to everyone”.  WRONG, it is a time eating, “no end in sight” delay nightmare.

So what are these things and where do they come from? There are many organisations that have their fingers in the building pie. Some exist by law, others because they make money off you, and the rest to annoy you. They all have one thing in common, they don’t give a sh..t about your time and your money lost because of their “red tape”.

So who are they? I am not going to go in detail on them, because that will require and earn me a PHD thesis, but it is CRITICAL that you understand them and their rolls and impact.

You have the Banks (they just want your money). Understanding a building and home loan application and the cash flow implication of that is difficult. I can guarantee the bank clerk that deals with it has no idea and you cannot get hold of a Manager or backroom staff member in the know. You just have to submit the forms and they make no sense. So try to speak to someone that GETS this process and the cash flow implications. Two things you want to pay attention to is, “start up capital“and “bridging finance”.  If you build with me I can help and explain these and believe me you need to understand these.

Then you have the Local authority for the Plan approval. Or that is what you think. When the guy, with his Fake grade 10 certificate, at the counter studies your plan, (that is after you have been back three times to get the forms) indicates with an expression of triumph, you are going to have to revisit the zoning, or the departure, or get SG’s office or go back to get the HOA approval. The latter sometimes does not even exist and there might be some more problems (actually there are more). Now you project is set back, not by weeks but months if you are lucky and it happens the majority of the times.

Somewhere you have heard of the NHBRC, never paid much attention, but you should have. They can be nasty if you don’t enroll your house on time, pay your fees, use a registered builder, but at least they are quick. I can only enroll the property when all the above (banks, local authority) is correctly done and completed and their fees paid. Once again, lots or forms to be completed, time wasted and frustration.

So hopefully you will get some idea where you time is running to. You are pulling your hair and the building has not even started. At least with your contractor you have someone to shout and scream abuse at.  With the “red tape people”, well they just don’t care and move your forms to the back of the line or lose it, if you annoy or scream at them.

Now you are asking yourself, “what the f .., how am I going to get out of this mess with my sanity intact?”  Not to scare you, but there are more.  So to help you with this, you need a “FIXER”. In other words someone that understands the processes and knows people that knows people. If you build with me I can help and explain these and believe me you need to understand these.

ASK ME

* Note - if you find the blog interesting, it makes more sense to read the blog entries chronologically from the start.

Costing your dream...

You never thought that a dream can cost you money, lots of money, well wake up. If you are going to build your dream house, that is the reality. If you don’t get this, that dream will turn into a nightmare quickly and that happens, often.

First thing when you do a building project is to determine the actual cost of the project, that means list and cost everything that is going to make up the cost, not only the nice things you can see and that makes sense, but also the funny things that eats the budget. Things like  site cleaning, site hut rental, crappy things like site toilet hire and  (did you get the “crappy” part) site rubbish removal and for those lucky few wealthy ones living in estates, labour, security and admin fees. In other words do a detailed QS.

What is a QS? It is a quantity survey which determine the quantities and costs for a project. (normally done by a professional, AKA  Quantity surveyor) but they are expensive and their costs are normally hugely inflated  BUT there  are alternatives and you really don’t need a professional for a standard house. Lucky you came across me. Unlucky for you  have to contact me to get the secrets. It might not even cost you anything.

When you know what you need you can actually determine what that is really going to cost you. AT ACTUAL COST PRICE. If you don’t know this, well it is a free for all for the contractor and other “professionals”  and sub contractors, because you will never find out what you really paid for labour , materials, fees etc. The material you pay for might even be used to build someone Else's house and you won’ t even get a thank you.

See how the contractors make money of you with that dark secret thing called “COST PER SQUARE METER” .

There goes your bricks to another site!

If you have a good accurate indication of what the actual cost of your project is, you can make informed decisions regarding if you can really afford it, if you can afford better finishes, where you want your money to go and a myriad of other things. The costing provides you with a benchmark where you can manage your financial commitment in the project and manage and understand the Cash flow (Cash flow on a building project is a serious mood killer and the source of real angst  for everyone.  I will write something about cash flow later).  In a building project knowledge is power.  I do get it that you don’t have the knowledge and are not a expert in building houses, but create a knowledge network or get someone that you can trust to ask.

 Remember the bottom line is,  it is your dream, your house and your money and it should be fun to build your dream.

* Note - If you find the Blog interesting, it makes more sense to read the Blog entries chronologically from the start.