If your house is under construction, a very valuable tip for saving costs.    Interlocking tiles are better than Eurocon/Ultra kind of concrete designer tiles for the following reasons,

1. Interlocking tiles can be laid on bare earth (no need for preparation using PCC foundation or masonry, which are required for concrete designer tiles)

2. Interlocking tiles can be relaid

If your house is just finished, and not your pathways, you can occupy the house the very next day using interlocking tiles.   Later on when the fresh ground settles, you may notice some interlocking tiles caving-in.   You can remove the individual tile and lay sand underneath or fill sand across the pathway and relay the interlocking tiles.    Also if you want water to drain off the interlocking tiles, you can simply fill some cement plaster at the joints.   Of course I have used both for my home, as Concrete designer tiles has  a great aesthetics, especially near the entrance.   

Cost of Economics:

Interlocking tiles:

Tile: Rs.15 - Rs.25 /sq foot

Ground preparation: Sand at Rs.30 cu/feet, approx. Rs.5-10/sq foot of tile.

Labor: < Rs.3 / sq foot

Concrete tiles:

Tile: Rs.35 - Rs.45 /sq foot

Ground preparation: Sand Rs 5-1o /sq foot, PCC Rs.25-30/sq foot, Plaster Rs15-20/ sq foot

Labor: Rs.12/sq foot

So we are looking at 3-4x savings using interlocking tiles, which have the added convenience that it can be relaid.
 

Probably Related Post(s)

• No Related Post

I would like to introduce another topic for the benefit of our readers - Lighting.

Visual appeal is perhaps the strongest of all. One could spend a huge amount of money to buy the house, decorate it and flood it with gadgets, but unless there is a proportional lighting system used at home, most of the details go unnoticed.

There are two aspects to lighting at home , Natural and Artificial. Natural lighting is introduced by windows predominantly with doors and balconies adding their share to it. But as most of us know, this light fades away soon and in the evening we are bound to use artificial lighting at home.

Choice of lights is a very personal decision. While some love the bright, white light from fluorescent tube lights, some prefer the dim and moody electrical lamp finish.

In upcoming posts we would touch upon the lighting schemes in detail, but for the moment we just graze the surface.

Make sure that the lights chosen can meet tasks carried out in the room. For example in a living room, having a reading lamp in addition to usual light bulbs or chandiliers may be of great help as it reduces strain on eyes.

Similarly reading lamps by study tables for children ( I personally think tubelight like cold illuminating device is better) are of great importance.

Kitchens are another place where lights are of paramount importance. Bad lighting can lead to accidents and also mishaps in the dish itself.

Recently energy saving lamps are very popular among people. But what we dont realize is that , one of these lamps is just not enough for the whole room.

They go by the name of “CFL”. More on this can be found at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

For special occasions, candles also are used [ romantic or in the event of a power faiure ]

 more on these lines coming at htoh…..

happy reading

Vivek

Probably Related Post(s)

• No Related Post

House to Home turns a week old today. The site has been receiving steady viewership from people around the world. People who have visited us so far are coming from various countries such as USA, Germany, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, UK and ofcourse - INDIA!

We would like to thank viewers for visiting our site. We invite you to join our blog as a contributor to write/comment.

If you think this blog’s content is good, we request you to add it to your “blogroll”.

Over the next few weeks, we would make our articles more informative.

To stay updated, we request you to click on the “Orange  Button” which you see on the top right corner and enter your email address in the following page.

Probably Related Post(s)

• No Related Post