Kavyash Home

Moved in

In Sept 2010, we completed the construction of the house. We also did the Grihapravesham function for the house at around the same. See photos of the finished house, interiors in this Picasa album. 

From Sept 2010 to Feb 2011, my parents worked really hard to design and get the interiors of the house done. In the end, it all worked out well.  It was a combined effort by the entire family to create this place we are proud of calling home. We have strived to make it a practical and aesthetic living space. Hope it remains this way for years to come.

Kitchen

Kitchen is where my mom spends 4-5 hours minimum every day (out of interest rather than being forced to). So, it was apparent from beginning that we will get a good functional kitchen done. So, Kavya and mom started going to modular kitchen showrooms in Bangalore in Jan. There are hundreds of them in Bangalore alone. So, they picked a few known brands and visited their branches. Overall, only Olive Kitchen in Koromangala impressed them. Meanwhile , Kavya’s cousin suggested a friend of his who manufactures and supplies modular kitchen doors etc. This guy also does end to end kitchen installations. So, we went to Mindtree Creations office in Girinagar. They were very professional in their approach, had very good understanding of kitchens and seemed reasonable in cost. After visiting a couple of houses where their kitchens were installed , we finalized Mindtree Creations for kitchen execution. They visited our site multiple times to take measurements etc. After multiple revisions to the kitchen design, my mom finalized a design that was estimated at Rs.3 laks. This includes everything – all the fittings, the cabinets, granite counter, chimney, sink, and labour. Now, we just need to wait for flooring to be finished. Once that’s done, these guys will manufacture the doors etc. That takes a week and another week for fitting. We plan to do the fitting much later , along with other wood work. I had initially budgeted 2 laks for kitchen but its fine. Like everything else, this has also overshot budget 🙂

Bathroom, Bedroom Flooring

Today we went to Ram Ceramics on St Marks Road to select flooring tiles for bedrooms and office space. We also selected tiles for bathroom floor and walls. The choice was huge. Every floor or wall is like an art piece. You have to color it with tiles and the tiles comes in every imaginable color, texture, size , and shape. Finally, we ended up selecting one set of imported bathroom tiles for master bedroom bathroom. For other 2 bathrooms we selected a good Orient Tiles design and another was by Kajaria. For flooring, we selected RAK vitrified tiles. RAK was recommended by this sales guy at Ram Ceramics. This sales guy was quite knowledgeable but kept boasting about all his previous projects (Narayana Murthy’s Bangalore house, Nirmala toilets etc etc). Anyways, it took us more than 4 hours to finalize flooring for 4 rooms and 3 bathroom tiles. For the ground floor powder room, we selected low priced tiles.
Cost break up –
RAK vitrified tiles Rs.55 psft
Master bedroom bathroom tiles – total 210 sft wall and 56 sft floor – Rs.33,000
Other bedroom bathroom tiles – Rs.19,800 and Rs.14,000
Powder room tiles – Rs.5,300
Overall, Ram Ceramics gave us a good 20% discount thanks to the fact that my architect is regular customer for them. Balcony, terrace, parking area floor tiles are still pending. We will be going back to Ram Ceramics for these.

Flooring – Granite or Marble or Vitrified Tiles

Just a recap of where we are with the house construction – the moulding upto 2nd floor roof has been completed. Mason and his team are busy constructing the store room on top which we will place water tanks. The terrace walls have also been constructed. In ground, first and second floor the centering has been removed. We are just waiting on door frames to be delivered so that the next steps can be started. Once door frames are fixed and plastering has been completed, the next major work is laying of floor material. There are 3 choices for flooring –
1. Granite – very common these days. Mostly quarried in India. Cheaper than marble of similar quality. Easier to maintain compared to marble. Natural color and pattern. Rs.100-300 per sqft
2. Marble – quarried in India but the best quality stone comes from Italy. Super expensive compared to granite. Good quality material costs Rs.500 and above per sqft.
3. Vitrified Tiles – dont know much about this except it costs Rs.50-100 per sqft.
We wanted something that looks classy but still fits in our budget. So, we chose granite – it looks great, is long lasting, natural finish and though a little above budget, we have booked ‘Sahara Branzita’ granite. We visited a factory ‘Metro Granites’ on Hosur Road. They have limited choice there and the price wasnt too low either. We then visited RPG granites on Bannerghatta Road. We shortlisted a couple of designs. Then we visited Hindustan Marble and Granite near Lalbagh. This guy has a huge range of designs and quality. We like the color and pattern of Sahara Branzita. It will be easier to match furniture and wall color with this granite.
The cost is Rs.167 per sqft, so for 1500 sqft it works out to 2.5L + 12.5% VAT.
In bedrooms, we will use vitrified tiles. More on that later.

Teak Wood Doors and Windows

Like I mentioned in my earlier blog post, we have decided to use teak wood for doors and windows. Now, as with everything else related to house construction – there are a million combinations, equally high number of vendors, no standards, no fixed prices, no quality seals nothing. So, we started our hunt for finding a reliable supplier for seasoned teak wood. After a couple of days of research and visiting a few mills on Mysore Road, we booked an order with Karnataka State Forest Industries Corp in Timber Yard Layout. They have a huge mill and seasoning section in their Mysore Road unit. The consultant engg. Mr. Hegde was very helpful. He explained the entire process of how wood is brought there, cut, seasoned and then used by the in-house carpenters.
KSFIC is run by the Govt of Karnataka. So, we are sure they will not rip us off in terms of teak wood quality. We placed an order for all doors, windows to be made using ‘Burma’ teak which is supposed to be the best quality teak for residential use. For some of the windows (in bathrooms and in garage), we ordered ‘Honne’ wood. Honne wood costs half of Burma teak.

Home Security Solutions

When we started drawing up the plans for our house, the major things we stressed our architect was on –
1. Space utilization
2. Ventilation
3. Vaastu
Now that the plans are frozen, it’s time to focus on other important aspects of our home –
1. Security
2. Placement of various things
Security is most important for an independent house (especially for us, for reasons you probably know). So, here are the different things I am planning from a security point of view –
1. No exposed glasses anywhere – all glass windows, doors etc to be backed by a steel grill
2. Balconies and entrance area to be covered by steel grill
3. Video phone – camera next to the bell, screen somewhere in the dining area
4. CCTV with 12 hour recording, camera placed in the proposed office area, connected to desktop computer on 1st floor
5. Alarmed locks for wardrobes, windows, doors (see details below)
6. Locks for doors, wardrobes
7. Pet dog- yeah this is an option , but I am not a big fan of dogs, so I am not sure if we will get one
8. Locker for precious items

Since electrical piping work has already started, I researched CCTV, video phone and alarm locks. It turns out that Indian companies (like Zicom) are charging a bomb for security devices. The same stuff is available on amazon for 1/10th the cost. So, I am planning to somehow get CCTV camera, alarm door locks and video phone from US. For eg, Zicom charges Rs.9990 for this – http://zicomretail.com/zicom/home/HomeAction.do?doProductList=yes&catId=1 , a similar product from GE retails on amazon for USD 25 – http://www.amazon.com/51107-Smart-Wireless-Alarm-System/dp/B00032AVN6/ . Yeah the GE does not have fancy features like connecting to the 24×7 monitoring center etc but I think, the price is way too much. Basically both products have magnetic sensors that you place on a door or window, the sensors connect wirelessly to the central device that also has a hooter. When a breach occurs (I think this happens when the magnets in the sensors separate) , they send a signal that triggers the loud hooter. I think I will buy the GE one for $25.
Video phones – godrej phones seem to be a good option,though I dont know the price. Also, godrej lockers are best for storing precious items.
CCTV – again, havent done indepth research on these. Will update in a future post.

Windows, Doors – Wood or PVC

It’s time to take a decision that will affect more than 1/6th the total cost of construction – what material to use for doors and windows. The contractor has given us estimates for doors and windows as Rs.950 per sqft if we use teak wood. I inquired with Fenesta ( the most visible UPVC material window makers) , they are quoting between Rs.500-Rs.1000 per sqft depending on the type of finish etc. Here are the pros and cons per me –
1. Teak wood
Pros –
a. Good finish, gives a more classy look
b. Long lasting
Cons –
a. Maintainability
b. Water leakage during rain
c. No guarantee or warranty
d. Repaintaing , repolishing reqd

Fenesta –
Pros –
a. Decent looking finish
b. 10 years material, paint and installation warranty
c. Maintainence free
d. Good designs and material choices
e. Lower cost
Cons –
a. Not as classy as teak wood

Anyway, we are coming around to the decision that we will use Fenesta for windows and teak wood for doors. We might use Fenesta full length glass doors for a balcony. This will save us about Rs.1.5-2Lakhs in the overall cost.
I am yet to get a full quote from Fenesta. Their procedure is – you go see a demo of the choices, sit with architect and decide what combinations to use (casement type, sliding type, what glass to use, handles, locks etc). Then they will take your plans and draw up a rough quote. If you are ok with it, they will visit the site, take actual measurements and deliver material in 45 days from day of full payment. It takes 10-15 days for installation. It’s better to do the installation post first coat of paint to ensure no damage to the windows material. So, that gives us a good 6 months till we actually have to pay Fenesta.
[Update] After much debate, we finally decided to install teak wood windows and doors. Only recently I got to know that teak has long term investment value. Basically, old used teak is in demand and has a high market value. Architects and interior designers buy teak from old buildings etc at a premium. This sealed the deal for me. I dont think there’s any other material in house construction that can be reused. Teak can be reused and has an investment value. That’s great. So, we are going with teak windows and doors.

Check out photos of our house construction here – http://picasaweb.google.com/yashwanthcp/Construction
Torfenster PVC Windows Quote
Fenesta Windows Quote

First Floor , Elevation

So, now starts the interesting part of the house construction. First floor walls. This is interesting part as we will be mostly spending our time in the house on this floor. There’s the kitchen,dining, hall, parents bedroom, one balcony, common bathroom, service area on this floor. That’s quite a lot for one floor. So careful planning is required. We need to make sure not a single inch is wasted. So, the contractor first kept one row of bricks for all the walls.  Mom, Kavya, dad and myself went and measured the room sizes. We made some changes and now the walls are being build. The living and dining areas are not separated by a wall so the area looks quite big. I was particular about the ventilation. So, I verified windows are in the right places and are big enough.

Some photos of the first floor and elevation –

Elevation - 2

Living and dining area

Mould , RMC

RMC stands for Ready Mix Concrete. Once the ground floor walls reached their required height , the steel guys got to work again. Using supporting wooden logs, they raised the pillar levels and also laid the plinth beams. Once the steel wire structure was completed, we called in RMC truck. This had to be done in low traffic hour because we had to block the road for a few hours. So, we called these guys at around 11PM. The RMC is a semi solid material that they poured all over the steel structure. We also used the RMC to cover some road patches that were created when we dug for water and drainage connections.

Once mould was laid, it was time for some good curing. We got lucky with the rains. Basically for 24 hours after RMC is done, its better if there’s no rain. There was no rain for a day and after that it rained next 3-4 four days which is good for the curing of the mould. When the mould was curing, there was no major work happening. Labourers ‘d just pour water whenever required.

So, now the ground floor walls are ready, steps to first floor are done. They have kept wooden logs under the entire mould. This is for ‘centering’. I am not sure what exactly that means, but I know that these logs will be removed only in a month or two.

Ground Floor Walls

After the plinth, the mason started on the ground floor walls. Just 2 people are working on the walls. They lay the bricks, plaster some cement mix on it and go on till each wall is complete. The cement mix is basically cement + jelly + sand mixed in the right proportions. Once a wall is done, they splash water at regular intervals and let the wall ‘cure’. Good quality potable water is so critical at this stage of construction. We got lucky with the society water connection and cauvery connction coming in time. Otherwise, lot of money for water tanks. It took about  3 weeks for ground floor walls to be completed. Next was the RMC or mould for ground floor ceiling.