mufutau55:


Not that close... I am about 6ft 4ins, with arm long span... I am touching my 8ft ceilings..

Hajji M.

Yaaaaaaaaay

spyder880:


Thank you for this, I have also seen designs for buildings with 4 suspended floors where the lower floors does not have columns designed to shoot out. The column design was still rectangular, 450x225 with Y20 x 6 rods as reinforcement but designed to flush on the walls without coming out. I think it was designed that way because the building has no cantilevers.

Civil engineering is like economics: you can have different solutions for the same problem. It may sometimes depends on the design professionals disposition and interpretation of the intervening variables.

KolaShangOne:
For discuss sake, sometimes last week, i was just moving around my site and came across this site..

Pic attached.

Clearly, the Engineer was filling this swamp land with laterite prior to Foundation. The foundation will be built on this filled 'imported' sand.

The problem with this is that:

-Vegetation was not removed

-Under this vegetation we have about 400-600mm depth of black muddy soil which should also have been removed.

I asked the Engineer If he could do remove the top soil (in a friendly way) but he said there's no need as time will be wasted, labour fees will also be increased and this is how they do it in Ajah where he comes from.

Engineers and Enthusiasts, What do you think? Have you adopted this method of filling and building on the sand?

Hmm all those Baba adewumi Engr.

It shouldn't be a case of try your luck ooo.

First thing first when you have a soil like this you must do a soil analysis and esnure the mud is not more that 200mm Surface thickness. and also ensure before the mud is proper load bearing soil. Once that is ascertain before you can say lets fill.

Then one thing I agree is that you can fill on Grass and Leaves, but but tree Stumps.

The other thing I do not agree with Baba engineer is the red Filling for such a land except he wants to leave for like 3 to 4 years. if he is looking at building immediately, then it should be White filling sand

can you both please expatiate on this point you made pls. i'm trying to validate some method i've been told before.
Thanks guys.

Rubbiish:

1st bold Me too
2nd Bold the one i saw was filled before the raft & foundation walls was done.
Guess to construct your walls & foundation is the proper thing to do after excavation & not filling before construction?

EgunMogaji:


I do remember that but I opted not to do it because I had a different plan. I slowly filled the foundation and let it naturally sink/settle for over a year.

Over here it’s normal to do proper groundwork first before foundation and on future build is exactly what I would do. Keyword is proper.

megacontrol:
can you both please expatiate on this point you made pls. i'm trying to validate some method i've been told before.
Thanks guys.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional builder and I defer to the guys who stake their name on what they do. I am building my own individual house, not a commercial enterprise and with my own money so I can take chances and explore non-mainstream ideologies. Non-mainstream doesn't mean unsafe or untested or unproven. Just mean that it's not the typical method locally.

I was and I am in no hurry to complete my main house. More so that I was labeled a "one block a year builder" by my "friends" with bad demeanors

Okay, so when you import soil to a site you need to compact it amongst other things. When you have vegetation they take up space and make the soil appear to be settled already. But alas when the vegetation dies, which they will because you are depriving them of metamorphosis, they lose volume and the soil will sink to fill the gap left upon their death. This is why people recommend that you remove top soil which invariably includes the vegetation.

So instead of me scraping the top soil and knowing that I have time, I simply purchased 40 tons of laterite every month or so (I used over 300 tons - not proud of this and should have amended my plan, this will never repeat itself) and let it naturally sink/settle. The vegetation (really very little) as stated before will die and leave a void, but the laterite is slowly filled back until it reached the slab level.

After we reached slab level, we did the normal wet the foundation over weeks before pouring the slab.

I'm comfortable with my method but others might not be but it's my private house and my money.


Now that being said, the proper method I should have employed and will employ on future build is to do a proper groundwork before even doing the foundation.

There is no need for high foundations and all vegetations would be removed by tractors.

Good luck on your project.

Remember, Nigerian Jollof Rice, Chinese Fried Rice, Mexican Rice in Burrito all na rice. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

mufutau55:


Never seen it done like this o, but then what do I know. Ajah for real.

Hajji M.

Dont mind the engineer. This is not our we do it in ajah, people will not just want to accept when they are wrong but rather will want to gives reason to justify thier wrongs.
For me as a layman, why didnt he just do raft, expert in the house did i make any sense here with my raft angle.

KolaShangOne:


ALL soil tests that I have seen even on dry land requires you to remove top soil. It is like a constant. I'm sure @EgunMogaji can remember when me and him discussed it during his build.

Also, the land shouldn't be filled before foundation walls are done. A Raft shouldn't sit on imported sand.

Sir, I disagree with your last statement. Raft can sit comfortably on imported soil. There are some cases where the soil test report can recommend soil improvement and then shallow foundation instead of pile. Now, soil improvement is a process whereby you remove the natural top soil, vegetations, peat to a recommended level then fill and make the site up with a recommended imported filling material, you will either wait for natural compaction or make use of a vibratory axial roller with a recommended tonnage to compact and the do your compaction test. Thereafter your raft can be built. (I refer u to my thread on Osapa London project) Also this is the process required for cellular raft and reinforced concrete road. At the least I have dine this for a 2 storey building and 2 reinforced concrete roads.

spyder880:


Thank you for this, I have also seen designs for buildings with 4 suspended floors where the lower floors does not have columns designed to shoot out. The column design was still rectangular, 450x225 with Y20 x 6 rods as reinforcement but designed to flush on the walls without coming out. I think it was designed that way because the building has no cantilevers.

I think the problem we have here is we don't do proper analysis and most of the designers don't understand the theories behind most of our design softwares.

It is possiblle to have such scenario but in most cases a rectangular section pf 400x225 with any number of reinforcement can only be sufficient for cases where the load and bending is predominant along one axix, In this case the axis where the load/moment is more will have the bigger section. But in most cases it as be shown that for such high rise building, the bending will come from the both axis, the solution will either to use a column that will fit into the walls or to use a pylogon column . A sketch below will through more light on my point.

Below we have a simple floor system for a proposed four storey open floor office complex, along axix x-x the grids are spaced at 20' (6000mm) at regular intervals while along the y-y axis the spacing is 10'(3000mm). The columns are polygons and their dimensions is as follows, edge and side column is a polygon 450 x 450 x 225 x 225 and center column is 600 x 600 x 225 x225

KolaShangOne:
For discuss sake, sometimes last week, i was just moving around my site and came across this site..

Pic attached.

Clearly, the Engineer was filling this swamp land with laterite prior to Foundation. The foundation will be built on this filled 'imported' sand.

The problem with this is that:

-Vegetation was not removed

-Under this vegetation we have about 400-600mm depth of black muddy soil which should also have been removed.

I asked the Engineer If he could do remove the top soil (in a friendly way) but he said there's no need as time will be wasted, labour fees will also be increased and this is how they do it in Ajah where he comes from.

Engineers and Enthusiasts, What do you think? Have you adopted this method of filling and building on the sand?

I think it is wrong to fill or build on vegetable top soil of pit.

For every construction, the vegetable top soil need to be removed before any work can be done.

After the soil test has been carried out and well known that a shollow foundation in the form of surface raft can sit confortably on either the existing ground level or fill, the best thing to do is to clear the grasses, removed the vegetation and possible pit and other weak top soil before anything can be done. It is either the foundation is found on the existing soil, if it will be economical tp do that ( when depth of natural ground level is not much lower than the height of the road level or the site is filled with improved soil (preferably non cohessive soil) and properly compacted either mechanically or by natural process ( consolidation over a long period of time), even when compacted with a roller is still good to allow the soil conslidate for a minimum of 6 months before the surface raft can be done.

skimanski:



Hmm all those Baba adewumi Engr.

It shouldn't be a case of try your luck ooo.

First thing first when you have a soil like this you must do a soil analysis and esnure the mud is not more that 200mm Surface thickness. and also ensure before the mud is proper load bearing soil. Once that is ascertain before you can say lets fill.

Then one thing I agree is that you can fill on Grass and Leaves, but but tree Stumps.

The other thing I do not agree with Baba engineer is the red Filling for such a land except he wants to leave for like 3 to 4 years. if he is looking at building immediately, then it should be White filling sand

Yes. Sharpsand or any silty sand is the best sand to fill. No expansion during rainy season and no contraction during dry season. But costly.

Aventures:
Sir, I disagree with your last statement. Raft can sit comfortably on imported soil. There are some cases where the soil test report can recommend soil improvement and then shallow foundation instead of pile. Now, soil improvement is a process whereby you remove the natural top soil, vegetations, peat to a recommended level then fill and make the site up with a recommended imported filling material, you will either wait for natural compaction or make use of a vibratory axial roller with a recommended tonnage to compact and the do your compaction test. Thereafter your raft can be built. (I refer u to my thread on Osapa London project) Also this is the process required for cellular raft and reinforced concrete road. At the least I have dine this for a 2 storey building and 2 reinforced concrete roads.

You're right. When i said it shouldn't be done on imported soil, I was viewing it in the context of the foundation picture I posted.

By the time "imported soil" is left for 6months to infinity years, it's no longer imported soil. It would have naturalised so it's no longer building on imported soil.

Also, filling and compacting at every 300-1000mm intervals (depending on the compacting depth of the machine used) as with roads and other high scale projects is tenable. But even this sometimes still gives way to settlement.

Anyone here familiar with that Challenge road inwards Yinka Ayefele music house will notice that after the Mobil filling station, there's a depression cutting across the entire length of the road. When the road was being constructed, they dug almost 30ft because of the huge refuse to get a stable soil and they began filling and compacting. @EgunMogaji might have seen this.

And there have been other places where this was done too and there has not been any depression.

But then, just to be safe, it's better to err on the side of safety.

abdulwastecx:


I think it is wrong to fill or build on vegetable top soil of pit.

For every construction, the vegetable top soil need to be removed before any work can be done.

After the soil test has been carried out and well known that a shollow foundation in the form of surface raft can sit confortably on either the existing ground level or fill, the best thing to do is to clear the grasses, removed the vegetation and possible pit and other weak top soil before anything can be done. It is either the foundation is found on the existing soil, if it will be economical tp do that ( when depth of natural ground level is not much lower than the height of the road level or the site is filled with improved soil (preferably non cohessive soil) and properly compacted either mechanically or by natural process ( consolidation over a long period of time), even when compacted with a roller is still good to allow the soil conslidate for a minimum of 6 months before the surface raft can be done .

Exactly.

mufutau55:


Oh no grass? And no problem in future with the foundation.

Hajji M.

If they do it well, with the right materials, they won't have problems in the future.

KolaShangOne:


You're right. When i said it shouldn't be done on imported soil, I was viewing it in the context of the foundation picture I posted.

By the time "imported soil" is left for 6months to infinity years, it's no longer imported soil. It would have naturalised so it's no longer building on imported soil.

Also, filling and compacting at every 300-1000mm intervals (depending on the compacting depth of the machine used) as with roads and other high scale projects is tenable. But even this sometimes still gives way to settlement.

Anyone here familiar with that Challenge road inwards Yinka Ayefele music house will notice that after the Mobil filling station, there's a depression cutting across the entire length of the road. When the road was being constructed, they dug almost 30ft because of the huge refuse to get a stable soil and they began filling and compacting. @EgunMogaji might have seen this.

And there have been other places where this was done too and there has not been any depression.

But then, just to be safe, it's better to err on the side of safety.

Yep, I have to veer to the right at that spot to avoid it

Gentle men in the house,
Ive been troubled deciding what type of door to use in my building. I planned on using the normal flush door up until a friend told me he used american panel door throughout his projects. As i surveyed the market price of both, they come at relatively same price.
What I’d love to understand is the difference between the two and why use one in place of the other.

....
thanks in advance
mufutau55
abdulwastecx
skimanski

.

MODALSOUL1:
you can have extra rooms in the roof .space

@First pic, the cantilever no be here ooo
Can our Nigerian engineers pull such off...I seriously doubt...

.

Rubbiish:

@First pic, the cantilever no be here ooo
Can our Nigerian engineers pull such off...I seriously doubt...

I'm certain that Skimanski can do this.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/6698908_santanderhouse01_jpegaf0fd7c894e2aaf85ab6164296124860

MODALSOUL1:
I see pics of Nigerians homes with big roofs and i wonder what a waste. You could create extra 4 bedrooms or even a game room or library at the roof

Well, every homeowner with his own taste.

My two car garage has been called wasteful because it can be a studio apartment.

Oga Spyder880 just wants his roof to be seen from the next village

.

MODALSOUL1:
great idea to have a garage but whats the point having a fence and gate and a garage?

Fence: To protect my neighbors from me and my nonsense activities.

Gate: It's a required item for me. Even here in my houses in the USA. If someone should breach both my fence and gate then there's probable cause to defend myself and I'll feel good if I had to use lethal force to defend myself because I have clearly identified/established a no-trespass zone.

Garage: I'm an Autoist and I intend to be restoring classic cars in my retirement. Some restorations could take months. So I need a space to isolate my tools and equipment. I can close the door and walk away when I'm waiting for parts or when I am frustrated with a rusted bolt.

Every single square inch of my property has been clearly apportioned.

Should we discuss my need for a 500 square feet internal courtyard or my safe room? The point being that people have different ideas for where they want to hang their coat and hat.

.

.

.

I thought to share this beautiful wall decoration i undertook today.

I was given a pack free so i took time today to install.

A pack fits 4-5sqm and is soaked with 10litres of water. I found out that this quantity of water was a little short, next time, i will use 12litres.

My installation was a little more (7sqm) which lead to a short. However the short will be behind the TV console. Also, the short caused us to lean the screed.

Wall is prepared by screeding and sanding.

See some pictures below, even though my camera didnt do well.

MODALSOUL1:
I prefer trees as property barrier, but in any case you could cover the concrete fence with trees.

whats the square foot of the entire house? and how many bedrooms?

The property will be forested and flowered in the near future, still hardscaping right now. I actually like concrete and don't wish to hide them and need to make the area easily patrolable by Maximus and Josephine (future Dobbies).

Security House: Studio: 120 square feet
Apartment Garage: 2 bedrooms: 1,500 square feet
Courtyard Bungalow: 7 bedrooms: 4,000 square feet

EgunMogaji:


Fence: To protect my neighbors from me and my nonsense activities.

Gate: It's a required item for me. Even here in my houses in the USA. If someone should breach both my fence and gate then there's probable cause to defend myself and I'll feel good if I had to use lethal force to defend myself because I have clearly identified/established a no-trespass zone.

Garage: I'm an Autoist and I intend to be restoring classic cars in my retirement. Some restorations could take months. So I need a space to isolate my tools and equipment. I can close the door and walk away when I'm waiting for parts or when I am frustrated with a rusted bolt.

Every single square inch of my property has been clearly apportioned.

Should we discuss my need for a 500 square feet internal courtyard or my safe room? The point being that people have different ideas for where they want to hang their coat and hat.

Looking like quake 1

spyder880:


Thank you for this, I have also seen designs for buildings with 4 suspended floors where the lower floors does not have columns designed to shoot out. The column design was still rectangular, 450x225 with Y20 x 6 rods as reinforcement but designed to flush on the walls without coming out. I think it was designed that way because the building has no cantilevers.

Let me come here so let's say a building has a cantilever . now that cantilever has a beam .
Now the column on d which d cantilever is on, is may be 525 x 225 mm .

Even if the cantilever is long . must d column project out ?? As in, part it in d wall part of it kicking out?? For d longer side

D reason for this is places like Aba and Onitsha they always do that no matter what d architect design dey keep pushing columns out and tell u, its for it to carry the cantilever . even if its 6 floors,
can't a structural ENGR design a building without those columns shouting of the wall .?

Pls am just a beginner and I hate it when engrs change my elevations .


Look at pix below u will see d columns projecting even d beams . does it mean its cheaper that way or dey are afraid to power a cantilever without those columns kicking out..

Or will it more expensive to do so??


Even in Two storey they still do it . as far as its blocks of flats u will it at Aba and Onitsha .

Pls no mind my repetition of sentences. I just want to learn

Like it when everything if flushing smoothly

EgunMogaji:

Well, every homeowner with his own taste.

My two car garage has been called wasteful because it can be a studio apartment.
Oga Spyder880 just wants his roof to be seen from the next village

Exactly. We don't make use of Attic in Nigeria because that is not why we have high roof. In Naija the high roof makes the house look bigger, it's for fancy.
Also Attic may be too hot for our weather especially with the materials (aluminium & stone tiles) we use for roofing.

Hajji M.

MODALSOUL1:
I prefer trees as property barrier, but in any case you could cover the concrete fence with trees.

You sure you are really building in Nigeria? Use trees as a form of fence for your building? I think not o.

Hajji M.