To d gurus in d house i hail una. Pls an advice is needed on a 4bedroom bungalow built without a DPC(german floor). D house is at d lintel level now nd d owner is jst seeing d house for d first time eva since d project started nd he is nt hapi wit wat he saw, d said land is a solid dry land sha. Your advice is needed pls

elvis07:
To d gurus in d house i hail una. Pls an advice is needed on a 4bedroom bungalow built without a DPC(german floor). D house is at d lintel level now nd d owner is jst seeing d house for d first time eva since d project started nd he is nt hapi wit wat he saw, d said land is a solid dry land sha. Your advice is needed pls

I don't see anything that can be done at this stage... if the old contractor had filled the foundation blocks with concrete mortar it would have been nice... but then if he did not... just german floor the house room by room...

Hajji M.

We tend to overbuild in Nigeria. German floor that we do in Nigeria is an unnecessary task. As long as your land is solid and free of water or swamp, there is absolutely no need for the so called German floor. In the western world, e.g USA and co, you only see the so called German floor in buildings such as malls, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, airports where there is going to be a lot of leg traffic. There are homes here that are still standing strong for over 200 years without German floor or concrete column (pillars), although built with bricks. I have seen brick homes here without lintel.

There is nothing wrong with German floor if you wish to have it. There is nothing wrong with house without German floor either as long as your land is solid and free of water.

Thank u Hajj M i actualy told him dat bt its gud nd beta wen he get to c dis advice

mufutau55:


I don't see anything that can be done at this stage... if the old contractor had filled the foundation blocks with concrete mortar it would have been nice... but then if he did not... just german floor the house room by room...

Hajji M.

am loving dis

elvis07:
am loving dis

Elvis07, you are not the only person with kind of problem... Look at the photo below from some stage on my Duplex project.
Originally the German Floor was not done, although the filled the foundations block holes with mortar concrete before they laid the first block of the ground Floor, and it was left like that for a long time.. so later I decided to German (concrete the floor) all the floors, room by room, because of trees and grass growing inside. I did not have any problem.. this is also on a dry land.. that would not have been advised on a wet land anyway.
So have no fear just tell your friend to concrete the floor as soon as possible; room by room... Be at peace.

Hajji M.

mufutau55:


Elvis07, you are not the only person with kind of problem... Look at the photo below from some stage on my Duplex project.
Originally the German Floor was not done, although the filled the foundations block holes with mortar concrete before they laid the first block of the ground Floor, and it was left like that for a long time.. so later I decided to German (concrete the floor) all the floors, room by room, because of trees and grass growing inside. I did not have any problem.. this is also on a dry land.. that would not have been advised on a wet land anyway.
So have no fear just tell your friend to concrete the floor as soon as possible; room by room... Be at peace.

Hajji M.

You concrete flooring looks very neat. Normally I don't see our people do concrete floor smooth as this.

Did you use granite or regular washed gravel?

FastShipping:

You concrete flooring looks very neat. Normally I don't see our people do concrete floor smooth as this.
Did you use granite or regular washed gravel?

The guys were good, but tends to be expensive sometimes. I know ho to curb them.
I used regular gravels. I will look if I can find the photos.

Hajji M.

mufutau55:


The guys were good, but tends to be expensive sometimes. I know ho to curb them.
I used regular gravels. I will look if I can find the photos.

Hajji M.

Regular gravel and it looks this neat? Wow!

FastShipping:

Regular gravel and it looks this neat? Wow!

See the gravels and sand used below.

Hajji M.

Hajji! You got pictures for everything you do. I throway salute for you o

FastShipping:

Hajji! You got pictures for everything you do. I throway salute for you o

I try to keep photos but sometimes some slip by. Record and reference.

Hajji M.

FastShipping:
We tend to overbuild in Nigeria. German floor that we do in Nigeria is an unnecessary task. As long as your land is solid and free of water or swamp, there is absolutely no need for the so called German floor. In the western world, e.g USA and co, you only see the so called German floor in buildings such as malls, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, airports where there is going to be a lot of leg traffic. There are homes here that are still standing strong for over 200 years without German floor or concrete column (pillars), although built with bricks. I have seen brick homes here without lintel.

There is nothing wrong with German floor if you wish to have it. There is nothing wrong with house without German floor either as long as your land is solid and free of water.

I don't quite agree. There's no land that's totally free of water. Water rises during the rainy season and U will be amazed how high it rises.
The only thing I usually vary on a 'dry land' is thickness but it must be done.

Hajji M thank u once again for dis pix, d pix has jst done d whole talking for me.

KolaShangOne:

I don't quite agree. There's no land that's totally free of water. Water rises during the rainy season and U will be amazed how high it rises.
The only thing I usually vary on a 'dry land' is thickness but it must be done.

You are right, for the rest of mind and peace... it's good to do the DPC. But sometimes when money is not available, you can still cap the foundation block for later concrete of the floor.. But I know I will not build my next house without the full DPC regardless of if it's dry or wet land.
In Elvis07, the building has been raised to lintel level, I will NEVER advise to bring the whole building down for lack of full DPC, but they can still concrete the floor as required. But YES, your statement above is a good advise.

But also Yes, as per FastiShipping we do over-build in Nigeria compare to other Western countries.. just by copying others, known here as "Wanabees".

Hajji Mufutau

@ Mufutau55, i really want to say thank you for your input and the enlightenment of people like us in this forum. I have really learn much from you guys.

Sorry I am posting my question on your post @elvis07

presently I am building my house with the grace of God, due to the issue i had on the land, i rushed to do the foundation using 9 inch hollow block to DPC level.
My initial plan was to use solid block (6 inch) for the project for all the civil work. now i want to complete the building this December, CAN I USE 6 inch SOLID BLOCK ON THE INITIAL 9 INCH HOLLOW BLOCK?

can it take the weight of the solid block? NOTE: ITS A BUNGALOW

Thank you

kenazuu:
@ Mufutau55, i really want to say thank you for your input and the enlightenment of people like us in this forum. I have really learn much from you guys.
Sorry I am posting my question on your post @elvis07

presently I am building my house with the grace of God, due to the issue i had on the land, i rushed to do the foundation using 9 inch hollow block to DPC level.
My initial plan was to use solid block (6 inch) for the project for all the civil work. now i want to complete the building this December, CAN I USE 6 inch SOLID BLOCK ON THE INITIAL 9 INCH HOLLOW BLOCK? Can it take the weight of the solid block? NOTE: ITS A BUNGALOW

Thank you

Actually it's good that you used 9 inches for the foundation, that is very good. Was the foundation full DPC, meaning the top was concrete?
Did you have any column/pillars in the foundation? If you did not do the full DPC, then make sure you cap the top of the 9inch foundation block before you start the 6inches block.

Yes, you can surely use the 6inches solid block on top of the 9inches foundation... because it's a bungalow, that is OK.
But I will not advise it for a Duplex.

Hajji M.

Thank you for the quick response,
Yes i used pillar in all the columns, and am planning on concreting/capping it say like 100mm or 75mm since i cannot afford the german before laying the 6 inch blocks.

Thank you.

kenazuu:
Thank you for the quick response,
Yes i used pillar in all the columns, and am planning on concreting/capping it say like 100mm or 75mm since i cannot afford the german before laying the 6 inch blocks.

Thank you.

That is a very good option... you will not have any problem when you capped the 9inch blocks and do the concrete floor later... and the pillars will serve a good purpose.. As you can read above with the posted pics, that is what I did too, and my is even a Duplex..

Hajji M.

Thank you Sir and God Bless. so glad you made my day

mufutau55:


You are right, for the rest of mind and peace... it's good to do the DPC. But sometimes when money is not available, you can still cap the foundation block for later concrete of the floor.. But I know I will not build my next house without the full DPC regardless of if it's dry or wet land.
In Elvis07, the building has been raised to lintel level, I will NEVER advise to bring the whole building down for lack of full DPC, but they can still concrete the floor as required. But YES, your statement above is a good advise.

But also Yes, as per FastiShipping we do over-build in Nigeria compare to other Western countries.. just by copying others, known here as "Wanabees".

Hajji Mufutau

Well said Hajji, Yea we overbuild sometimes, I understand.

Mr elvis, if the lintel has not been done, i'll advise that maybe U should unlock the blocks till U get to the foundation. (yes it's possible).
It will cost U extra 30-40k in labour charges.

KolaShangOne:


Well said Hajji, Yea we overbuild sometimes, I understand.

Mr elvis, if the lintel has not been done, i'll advise that maybe U should unlock the blocks till U get to the foundation. (yes it's possible).
It will cost U extra 30-40k in labour charges.

You mean remove all the blocks and start over from the foundation?

Hajji M.

Hmmm u mean d whole blocks should b removed nd start over again nd d xtra cost will jst b 39-40k?

KolaShangOne:


Well said Hajji, Yea we overbuild sometimes, I understand.

Mr elvis, if the lintel has not been done, i'll advise that maybe U should unlock the blocks till U get to the foundation. (yes it's possible).
It will cost U extra 30-40k in labour charges.

elvis07:
Hmmm u mean d whole blocks should b removed nd start over again nd d xtra cost will jst b 39-40k?

I think that is just the labor cost of removing all the blocks... but regardless of how careful they remove those blocks most will be broken and un-usable.. that is extra blocks, then add the cost of Bricklayer labor to mount new blocks... That could get expensive real fast...

But then KolaShangOne is a real professional Builder, so he knows better than I do... But I am happy with mine.

Think and weigh your options and act according to your pocket. (Mine (my pockets) got holes in them ).

Hajji M.

Elvis07, you need to also read the thread below:

https://www.nairaland.com/1990992/construction-six-flats-2-bedroom-three#27904375

Hajji M.

mufutau55:


I think that is just the labor cost of removing all the blocks... but regardless of how careful they remove those blocks most will be broken and un-usable.. that is extra blocks, then add the cost of Bricklayer labor to mount new blocks... That could get expensive real fast...

But then KolaShangOne is a real professional Builder, so he knows better than I do... But I am happy with mine.

Think and weigh your options and act according to your pocket. (Mine (my pockets) got holes in them ).

Hajji M.

Lol Hajji, you're also a professional by experience and association.
Mr Elvis I meant labour cost only. Some blocks will break but you should get at least 50%.