By Nidhi Agarwal
The rising input costs and the tough economic situations have led to an essential increase in the prices of commodities and the building construction sector is not spared either. When you wish to build a house on your own or through a contractor, the major portion of the cost is covered by the building construction material and essential supplies. Here are a few tips to reduce the construction outlay when you are planning to make your own home.
Go for Soil Testing
Different geographies have different soils and different characteristics. Before you embark on the journey of building a home, you must go for a thorough soil testing procedure. Several types of soils such as red soil, agricultural soil, black soil, coarse soil, loamy soil and peaty soil behave differently with water and other materials. If comprehensive soil testing is done beforehand, you can easily estimate the quantity of water, material to be used in the foundation and precautions to make the house earthquake resistant. It will save a great deal of money and prevent expenses at a later stage.
Choice of Construction Material
When you are in the planning stage, it is always advisable to get the rates of different construction materials beforehand. You must procure the construction material such as brick, steel bars, sand, cement and other allied materials in bulk so that you get the best discounts from the whole seller. If you purchase in bulk, the dealer will certainly give you handsome rebates, which would not have been possible in retail procurement.
You can also make use of different online platforms to procure building materials. This would save your transportation cost and quality material will be delivered to the site directly.
Consult a Structural Engineer and Architect
Many a time, people are hesitant to take the services of a structural engineer or architect as they consider it an added expense. However, a structural engineer provides you with solid and scientific advice which might be of paramount importance in the longer run. Technicalities such as farming plan detail, beam and column plan detail, and other structural drawings will help build a technically right and solid home.
Detailed structural drawing would estimate the usage of sand, cement and steel beforehand so that you do not end up buying extra building material. It will save a significant construction cost.
Usage of Prefabricated Material
With innovations in the building construction sector, pre-fabricated walls, panels, beams and other key components have made inroads into the construction sector. The prefabricated structures are easy to procure, install and use and have a durable life. Made of green material or PVC/cement, these walls are fitted in accordance with the map. Although people remain hesitant about using the prefabricated components, they are being increasingly popular and bigger structures are going for prefab components. It saves more than one-third of the cost, in comparison to traditional material usage.
Usage of Fly Ash Bricks
If you wish to reduce the cost of construction significantly, you can go for fly ash bricks rather than going for traditional red bricks. These bricks are made up of fly ash, which is a residue of power plants or thermal electric plants. These bricks also help in the recycling of fly ash and they reduce the cost significantly. However, good quality fly ash bricks must be chosen for construction.
Usage of AAC Blocks– The rampant use of Red bricks is coming heavily on the environment and red bricks industry has become one of the biggest emitters of carbon. A very environmental and pocket friendly alternative to red bricks is Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks (AAC) blocks. These blocks are sustainable and affordable alternative to the traditional bricks. These blocks are over 50 percent lighter than the bricks and are more fire resistant. These blocks can be procured at only one third of the cost of the conventional bricks. So if you are planning to build a home, consider using durable AAC blocks.
Conclusively, if building a home is on your mind, a little planning, some extra effort and usage of smart alternatives might go a long way in saving the construction cost of the home. However, it must be highlighted that on the path to saving some extra bucks, the durability and quality of the input materials must not be compromised.
Nidhi Agarwal, Founder, SpaceMantra, views expressed in the article solely belong to the author and do not represent that of SquareFeatIndia
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