Building a home is everyone’s dream. It is important that it is well planned and designed before the actual construction begins. But, don’t you know that there are common problems you will encounter in when building your home. Many people may not afford to hire a professional engineer before the planning stage to talk or give them advises.
Most people hire a professional engineer on and during the construction to overlook their construction stages.
This guide would help any person who would like to build their homes by themselves be aware of the probable problems to consider when building their first homes.
1. Property Lines
This is one of the most outlooked things that most homeowners fail to check. Before the construction, it is important that the benchmarks are all established. Once all the points are established with respect to the land title, land surveyors from the owner side should countercheck the points for verification and properly label it. Ask your land surveyor to use durable stakes that could withstand external inconvenience for up to 6 months.
I have known of residential projects wherein the construction of the perimeter fences has been taken for granted. The construction phase is too fast that the project engineer failed to recheck the property line points. The project engineer just assumed the points and did an educated assumption of points for the perimeter fence construction. Later on, a problem arose as the neighboring lot owner found out that project engineer had taken a portion of their land. The engineer had no other choice but to demolish the perimeter fence and construct it again. You wouldn’t want this to happen to you.
2. Type of Soil for Foundation
Most residential houses wouldn’t need soil analysis on their building permits because the depth of footings for residential houses normally ranges from 1.5m – 0.8m. But it is also important that homeowners to check the type of soil their houses would be built into.
Check whether the soil is clayey, sandy, or hard rock. Most problems arise on clayey and sandy soil because the settlement of foundation is huge. This may be checked right away by the Civil Engineer or Architect of the contractor company you hired, but it is best that you as unit owners know the type of soil your homes will be built into.
Also, the unit owners should be well versed of the water table elevation of the location. These are relevant especially for septic tank or tanks underneath the natural ground line. If the location of your choice has a water table near the natural ground line, that would mean you need a premium waterproofing methodology to water seal your underground tanks. Thus, that is an additional cost for you.
3. Water, Electrical, and Sewer Tapping Connection
Basically, all plans from the structural, architectural, plumbing and electrical will be planned before the actual construction. But homeowners should be well aware of how far from the house the tapping connections are. Some mid class people would want their houses built uphill or someplace where there is an overlooking view.
High elevation places like these normally are far from the tapping lines, especially for electrical companies. If this is the case, homeowners may consider investing in renewable energy such as solar panels. Otherwise, the for the tapping connection from your homes to the nearest point would be relatively high.
For water connections, it would be more economical if your houses will be built where tapping connection is near your area. If the elevation of your house is high enough, you may need elevated water tanks with pumps and accessories for your home to have water. And those water tanks need structural beams and columns to carry them. Thus, this would mean additional cost. So be aware of these staff. You may ask your civil engineers or architects for advice.
Read Also: 5 Top Civil Engineer Interview Questions That You Should Know
4. Geographical Location
Geographical location is also one of the overlooked points homeowners take for granted. Be aware of the nearest trenches to your house. Normally, designing engineers will incorporate these factors before designing your homes. But be aware of the consequences these may bring you. Because this would mean you will be living with the probability of high seismic activity of earthquakes.
Some developers buy lots near airports and sell their developed units at considerably low prices. But that would mean homeowners should be fine with the noise pollution the area brings because of aircrafts landing and takeoffs. If this is the case, you may want to invest in acoustics and noise insulations for your homes. This is also true for homes built near the sea. The probability of tsunamis and other force majeures should be considered.
Homeowners should be smart enough to be aware of these probable sources of the problem. Homes are some of the most important investment a person does in their lifetime, this should be taken for granted to prevent costly rectification.
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