greenermodels:
I'm 100% aware that you bought your building plan online from an architect and hired a nairaland architect to modify it for you. any knowledgeable and experienced person can be a general contractor but you need specific professionals for specific roles.

greenermodels:
i didn't call them illiterates and non professionals.i only said people shouldn't ask them to design homes for them. they would only sketch it and when its time for laying the foundation, youwould realise that the house is not buildable due to non alignment of the walls.

anonimi:
Great post.
You should add that bathrooms and kitchens should be close to each other and share walls as much as possible to save on plumbing works and materials.
Best wishes for your hustle.

When will your friend Buhari provide cheap / subsidize housing to the masses, you campaigned for him during the electioneering period as a member of his national housing policy and he assured us of cheap and affordable housing, where is it because l am still sleeping on top of Zuma rock, bitten by mosquitoes daily

AngelicBeing:
When will your friend Buhari provide cheap / subsidize housing to the masses, you campaigned for him during the electioneering period as a member of his national housing policy and he assured us of cheap and affordable housing, where is it because l am still sleeping on top of Zuma rock, bitten by mosquitoes daily

Sebastine1994:
My oga, I know you are trying to sell your self with this post. God bless your hustle. But you should not spoil another man's own when building your own. How?
You said brick layers are not professionals. Then what are they? These stereotype you people have of brick layers as Illiterate should change. My brother studied in city and guild as a professional mason. He can do anything a civil engineer can do.

l agree, my first house in Nigeria was handled by a bricklayer, subsequent houses l built were also handled by different bricklayers and they did very, very well with minimal supervision, my brothers who are trained civil / construction engineers where all marveled when they met the bricklayer and the guy told them that he has no degree in engineering and he was retained by them to work with them in their various projects, but this is not to undermine the role of professionals in the house

anonimi:


You haf kee me with laff



www.nairaland.com/attachments/2867505_img20150723071006_jpegb36fd30c93eddd3fd271a71e2ab94ad6

greenermodels:


(6) Less windows and glass: Glass looks good but it’s costly. Carefully place your windows to eliminate waste.aim for standard sized windows and eliminate any fancy glass.

hardywaltz:
Copy and paste

Not applicable in Nigeria

texazzpete:


Careful with this recommendation. One of the biggest sins in building design I see in Naija is the tendency to make houses with small or few windows for ventilation.
Living in a tropical environment, the more paths for cross-ventilation, the better.


Houses looking like prisons in Nigeria (or concrete pillboxes) because people want to save money.

greenermodels:
In this trying economic times, those with the need and desire to own their own homes might have to revert to low cost home building techniques, a low cost home does not necessary mean a low quality home, rather it means a home that is structurally and functionally sound but may lack the fancy bells and whistles needed to compete in the” I pass my neighbors” category. The following ten ideas if dutifully followed would enable the average Nigerian teacher parents own a decent two or three bedroom home.

(1) Reduce the area of the home: there’s always the tendency to overbuild especially when building a home for the first time with the emotional attachment involved, but to keep costs down, there’s need for a clear headed analyses in order for the family to get the home they need and can afford rather than burdening themselves with the home they desire and can’t afford, thus they need to ask themselves basic questions like do we really need a third/guest bedroom, the dining room(experience world over shows that people hardly uses their dining room),ante room, visitors toilet, prayer room, exercise room, home office, en suite toilets etc? It’s ironic that the average size of Nigerian homes have been increasing due to these newly fangled additions while the average size of Nigerian families is falling due to lower birth rates. The simple truth is that a family of four with children of same sex can easily live comfortable in a two bedroom flat consisting of two bathrooms and a kitchen and measuring roughly 30’x30’.

(2) Well designed multi use spaces: a well designed bedroom with a good furniture plan can be a bedroom, study room and home office all rolled together into one, a dining room/area can also serve as a study room, home office and game room if well planned. What makes a home functional is the thought exercised in its design rather than its square footage or cost of construction.


(3)Avoid swampy soils: nothing pushes up the cost of construction more than building on swampy/waterlogged soils that need expensive foundations like raft and bored piles foundations.try as much as possible to buy land with dry and strong soils .

(4)Avoid site preparation costs: avoid lands that would need filling, grading and rock blasting. Such site preparation costs would push up the total costs of your new home.

(5)Simple roof design: aim for simple roofing styles with low pitch and less corners. The cheapest home to roof is a rectangular shaped structure without gables. High roofs look more impressive but cost a fortune. Aim for something simple.

(6) Less windows and glass: Glass looks good but it’s costly. Carefully place your windows to eliminate waste.aim for standard sized windows and eliminate any fancy glass.

(7)Fewer bathrooms: one of the latest fads of modern building designs is the advent of en suite bathrooms which means that each bedroom comes with its own bathroom. The most costly rooms to build in your home is the bathroom so reducing their numbers to the absolutely necessary minimum is a vital step to reducing the total cost of constructing a new home.

( Incorporate fewer corners into the design: the easiest house to build is a rectangular home with a rectangular roof. Incorporating corners, curved walls and slanting walls while been visually more pleasing would dramatically push up cost. Avoid these like the plagues if you’re intent on lowering costs.

(9) Go for a minimalist finishing and ornamentation: fancy roofing sheets, concrete fascia (so called parapet), window hoods, arches, tiled walls, decorated pillars, moldings, elaborate pop designs etc are all nice but not necessary features that would quickly push up the cost of constructing a new home.

(10) Hire professionals: it’s often a false economics to design and build your own home because there are always places where you commit costly mistakes that would cost even more to remedy. Likewise, the bricklayer is not an architect neither is he an engineer. Use the right professionals for the job to avoid costly mistakes.
Greenermodels Construction Company is a design and Build Company specializing in low cost and mass housing schemes. We can be contacted by email: greenermodels@gmail.com
Phone/whatsApp 08130953131

joyandfaith:
@10, hire prtofessionals? i hired an architect who wasted my scarce resources. unnecessary spaces.

greenermodels:
In this trying economic times, those with the need and desire to own their own homes might have to revert to low cost home building techniques, a low cost home does not necessary mean a low quality home, rather it means a home that is structurally and functionally sound but may lack the fancy bells and whistles needed to compete in the” I pass my neighbors” category. The following ten ideas if dutifully followed would enable the average Nigerian teacher parents own a decent two or three bedroom home.

(1) Reduce the area of the home: there’s always the tendency to overbuild especially when building a home for the first time with the emotional attachment involved, but to keep costs down, there’s need for a clear headed analyses in order for the family to get the home they need and can afford rather than burdening themselves with the home they desire and can’t afford, thus they need to ask themselves basic questions like do we really need a third/guest bedroom, the dining room(experience world over shows that people hardly uses their dining room),ante room, visitors toilet, prayer room, exercise room, home office, en suite toilets etc? It’s ironic that the average size of Nigerian homes have been increasing due to these newly fangled additions while the average size of Nigerian families is falling due to lower birth rates. The simple truth is that a family of four with children of same sex can easily live comfortable in a two bedroom flat consisting of two bathrooms and a kitchen and measuring roughly 30’x30’.

(2) Well designed multi use spaces: a well designed bedroom with a good furniture plan can be a bedroom, study room and home office all rolled together into one, a dining room/area can also serve as a study room, home office and game room if well planned. What makes a home functional is the thought exercised in its design rather than its square footage or cost of construction.


(3)Avoid swampy soils: nothing pushes up the cost of construction more than building on swampy/waterlogged soils that need expensive foundations like raft and bored piles foundations.try as much as possible to buy land with dry and strong soils .

(4)Avoid site preparation costs: avoid lands that would need filling, grading and rock blasting. Such site preparation costs would push up the total costs of your new home.

(5)Simple roof design: aim for simple roofing styles with low pitch and less corners. The cheapest home to roof is a rectangular shaped structure without gables. High roofs look more impressive but cost a fortune. Aim for something simple.

(6) Less windows and glass: Glass looks good but it’s costly. Carefully place your windows to eliminate waste.aim for standard sized windows and eliminate any fancy glass.

(7)Fewer bathrooms: one of the latest fads of modern building designs is the advent of en suite bathrooms which means that each bedroom comes with its own bathroom. The most costly rooms to build in your home is the bathroom so reducing their numbers to the absolutely necessary minimum is a vital step to reducing the total cost of constructing a new home.

( Incorporate fewer corners into the design: the easiest house to build is a rectangular home with a rectangular roof. Incorporating corners, curved walls and slanting walls while been visually more pleasing would dramatically push up cost. Avoid these like the plagues if you’re intent on lowering costs.

(9) Go for a minimalist finishing and ornamentation: fancy roofing sheets, concrete fascia (so called parapet), window hoods, arches, tiled walls, decorated pillars, moldings, elaborate pop designs etc are all nice but not necessary features that would quickly push up the cost of constructing a new home.

(10) Hire professionals: it’s often a false economics to design and build your own home because there are always places where you commit costly mistakes that would cost even more to remedy. Likewise, the bricklayer is not an architect neither is he an engineer. Use the right professionals for the job to avoid costly mistakes.
Greenermodels Construction Company is a design and Build Company specializing in low cost and mass housing schemes. We can be contacted by email: greenermodels@gmail.com
Phone/whatsApp 08130953131

greenermodels:
In this trying economic times, those with the need and desire to own their own homes might have to revert to low cost home building techniques, a low cost home does not necessary mean a low quality home, rather it means a home that is structurally and functionally sound but may lack the fancy bells and whistles needed to compete in the” I pass my neighbors” category. The following ten ideas if dutifully followed would enable the average Nigerian teacher parents own a decent two or three bedroom home.

(1) Reduce the area of the home: there’s always the tendency to overbuild especially when building a home for the first time with the emotional attachment involved, but to keep costs down, there’s need for a clear headed analyses in order for the family to get the home they need and can afford rather than burdening themselves with the home they desire and can’t afford, thus they need to ask themselves basic questions like do we really need a third/guest bedroom, the dining room(experience world over shows that people hardly uses their dining room),ante room, visitors toilet, prayer room, exercise room, home office, en suite toilets etc? It’s ironic that the average size of Nigerian homes have been increasing due to these newly fangled additions while the average size of Nigerian families is falling due to lower birth rates. The simple truth is that a family of four with children of same sex can easily live comfortable in a two bedroom flat consisting of two bathrooms and a kitchen and measuring roughly 30’x30’.

(2) Well designed multi use spaces: a well designed bedroom with a good furniture plan can be a bedroom, study room and home office all rolled together into one, a dining room/area can also serve as a study room, home office and game room if well planned. What makes a home functional is the thought exercised in its design rather than its square footage or cost of construction.


(3)Avoid swampy soils: nothing pushes up the cost of construction more than building on swampy/waterlogged soils that need expensive foundations like raft and bored piles foundations.try as much as possible to buy land with dry and strong soils .

(4)Avoid site preparation costs: avoid lands that would need filling, grading and rock blasting. Such site preparation costs would push up the total costs of your new home.

(5)Simple roof design: aim for simple roofing styles with low pitch and less corners. The cheapest home to roof is a rectangular shaped structure without gables. High roofs look more impressive but cost a fortune. Aim for something simple.

(6) Less windows and glass: Glass looks good but it’s costly. Carefully place your windows to eliminate waste.aim for standard sized windows and eliminate any fancy glass.

(7)Fewer bathrooms: one of the latest fads of modern building designs is the advent of en suite bathrooms which means that each bedroom comes with its own bathroom. The most costly rooms to build in your home is the bathroom so reducing their numbers to the absolutely necessary minimum is a vital step to reducing the total cost of constructing a new home.

( Incorporate fewer corners into the design: the easiest house to build is a rectangular home with a rectangular roof. Incorporating corners, curved walls and slanting walls while been visually more pleasing would dramatically push up cost. Avoid these like the plagues if you’re intent on lowering costs.

(9) Go for a minimalist finishing and ornamentation: fancy roofing sheets, concrete fascia (so called parapet), window hoods, arches, tiled walls, decorated pillars, moldings, elaborate pop designs etc are all nice but not necessary features that would quickly push up the cost of constructing a new home.

(10) Hire professionals: it’s often a false economics to design and build your own home because there are always places where you commit costly mistakes that would cost even more to remedy. Likewise, the bricklayer is not an architect neither is he an engineer. Use the right professionals for the job to avoid costly mistakes.
Greenermodels Construction Company is a design and Build Company specializing in low cost and mass housing schemes. We can be contacted by email: greenermodels@gmail.com
Phone/whatsApp 08130953131

samhay:
Samhay is typing
Godiloveu, do you copy?

Sebastine1994:
My oga, I know you are trying to sell your self with this post. God bless your hustle. But you should not spoil another man's own when building your own. How?
You said brick layers are not professionals. Then what are they? These stereotype you people have of brick layers as Illiterate should change. My brother studied in city and guild as a professional mason. He can do anything a civil engineer can do.

Erect:
Hi @greenermodels. Please is it possible to take a new building plan to state authorities for a fresh approval due to design issues even after getting a previous approval for a different building plan? What is the cost implication?

greenermodels:
In this trying economic times, those with the need and desire to own their own homes might have to revert to low cost home building techniques, a low cost home does not necessary mean a low quality home, rather it means a home that is structurally and functionally sound but may lack the fancy bells and whistles needed to compete in the” I pass my neighbors” category. The following ten ideas if dutifully followed would enable the average Nigerian teacher parents own a decent two or three bedroom home.

(1) Reduce the area of the home: there’s always the tendency to overbuild especially when building a home for the first time with the emotional attachment involved, but to keep costs down, there’s need for a clear headed analyses in order for the family to get the home they need and can afford rather than burdening themselves with the home they desire and can’t afford, thus they need to ask themselves basic questions like do we really need a third/guest bedroom, the dining room(experience world over shows that people hardly uses their dining room),ante room, visitors toilet, prayer room, exercise room, home office, en suite toilets etc? It’s ironic that the average size of Nigerian homes have been increasing due to these newly fangled additions while the average size of Nigerian families is falling due to lower birth rates. The simple truth is that a family of four with children of same sex can easily live comfortable in a two bedroom flat consisting of two bathrooms and a kitchen and measuring roughly 30’x30’.

(2) Well designed multi use spaces: a well designed bedroom with a good furniture plan can be a bedroom, study room and home office all rolled together into one, a dining room/area can also serve as a study room, home office and game room if well planned. What makes a home functional is the thought exercised in its design rather than its square footage or cost of construction.


(3)Avoid swampy soils: nothing pushes up the cost of construction more than building on swampy/waterlogged soils that need expensive foundations like raft and bored piles foundations.try as much as possible to buy land with dry and strong soils .

(4)Avoid site preparation costs: avoid lands that would need filling, grading and rock blasting. Such site preparation costs would push up the total costs of your new home.

(5)Simple roof design: aim for simple roofing styles with low pitch and less corners. The cheapest home to roof is a rectangular shaped structure without gables. High roofs look more impressive but cost a fortune. Aim for something simple.

(6) Less windows and glass: Glass looks good but it’s costly. Carefully place your windows to eliminate waste.aim for standard sized windows and eliminate any fancy glass.

(7)Fewer bathrooms: one of the latest fads of modern building designs is the advent of en suite bathrooms which means that each bedroom comes with its own bathroom. The most costly rooms to build in your home is the bathroom so reducing their numbers to the absolutely necessary minimum is a vital step to reducing the total cost of constructing a new home.

( Incorporate fewer corners into the design: the easiest house to build is a rectangular home with a rectangular roof. Incorporating corners, curved walls and slanting walls while been visually more pleasing would dramatically push up cost. Avoid these like the plagues if you’re intent on lowering costs.

(9) Go for a minimalist finishing and ornamentation: fancy roofing sheets, concrete fascia (so called parapet), window hoods, arches, tiled walls, decorated pillars, moldings, elaborate pop designs etc are all nice but not necessary features that would quickly push up the cost of constructing a new home.

(10) Hire professionals: it’s often a false economics to design and build your own home because there are always places where you commit costly mistakes that would cost even more to remedy. Likewise, the bricklayer is not an architect neither is he an engineer. Use the right professionals for the job to avoid costly mistakes.
Greenermodels Construction Company is a design and Build Company specializing in low cost and mass housing schemes. We can be contacted by email: greenermodels@gmail.com
Phone/whatsApp 08130953131

Eyewonda:


The way a nurse can do everything a medical doctor can do!

greenermodels:
yes,but i wouldn't advise it if it's outside Abuja and it's just a modification. those urban planning people are just out to extort and wouldn't even care or notice the changes. that is what people do in real life.

einsteino:


Your analogy is flawed, a bricklayer can't compare to a nurse. It should be the way a herbalist can do everything a medical doctor can.