POTENTIAL homebuilders and homeowners should not approach their home-building ventures or acquisition as a casual pleasure ride like going to the market or your favourite store; it is serious business and requires serious planning. It may probably be the largest expenditure in many folks’ lives, whether they have the money to build their home or are borrowing.

Intelligent, detailed planning and smart plans of action are paramount on several issues before you approach any financial institution for a loan. First, try to figure out the following:-

• What monthly instalments you can afford, plus other monthly expenses such as electricity, water, phone bill, rates and taxes continuously until you pay off your loan.
• Are your sources of income secured for 20 to 30 years, if not what are your alternatives?
• If you are depending on your spouse and children for financial contributions to service the loan, for what period will they extend financial help?
• Are your planning long term, (will your adult children be living with you or move out) this is very important, otherwise you may end up with a house too big for you in your old age. In the short or long term, it will definitely affect your budget as you become older. Maintenance cost, utilities, rates & taxes burden without help may derail your earlier budget.
• Are you planning on building a single or two- family home? A two- family home can bring in much- needed income, especially in your old age. (Don’t build a bigger house than you need or can afford to prove a point to your neighbour or relative, it will cost you).
• How many rooms and space do you need in the short term, will you need the same number of rooms or space in the long term (old age) after your family size is reduced.
• If you are building a single- family home, do you need ground and second floors?
• What materials are best suited for the style/type of house you are building? What is the life cycle of the materials and how will it affect your long- term budget.
• What types of roof are best suited for your environment; minimize energy cost with low, long- term maintenance cost.
• What types of window are best suited for your home and how many windows are ideally needed for proper ventilation and natural lights.
• If the elevation of the land is low, you need to take that into consideration and complete your land- filling before you build (I will elaborate later in this essay).
• How will land -filling impact your budget? Can you add the cost of land-filling in your loan application, or are you going to finance it as your contribution to the house budget? Will the financial institution accept land- filling expense as your financial contribution?
• Landscaping after filling is also very important and costs money, will it be done by self or will it be an expense to your home budget?

Let us assume you are constructing a single-family home, you should consider your physical health and strength. Will you be able to climb the flight of steps several times going up and down the second floor? If you foresee health or infirmity issues, you may consider a lower-level building.

However, a lower level does not mean ground level, which has numerous other issues to consider. If you do not have health or infirmity issues and decide on building a single- family home, I recommend a house approximately eight feet off ground without any accommodation except garage or store rooms at what we refer to as bottom house, you will read why later in this essay.

The materials, type of roof and windows you choose for construction will affect your quality of life and comfort, but most importantly your budget more that you can imagine. Since most of the houses being constructed in Guyana are built with concrete blocks, I will point out a few negatives about concrete which are affecting all concrete homeowners and will affect new homebuilders also.

Concrete is a stone- like material, it will keep cool only in the rainy season or rainy days. During the hot season and on hot days the concrete will absorb the heat/energy from sunlight and store it until the weather becomes cool /colder which are usually late lights/early morning.

For your comfort you will be forced to use numerous fans or air conditioning for long periods to cool your concrete home, yes you are cooling your home. We know that heat rises, heat migrates from hot to cold and cold migrates to heat/hot. Thus, as you are cooling your home with fans or A/C heat from the lower level or ground floor rises to the upper level, external heat will also migrate to the walls of your home as it is being cooled. As such, you will be burdened with a huge monthly light bill to cool your concrete home than you budgeted for.

Earlier, I mentioned that you should consider whether you need ground and second floors for single- family houses. Since the choice of materials for most houses is concrete blocks, it is advisable you build single-family houses approximately eight feet off the ground; this choice will greatly aid in reducing your electricity cost. Air passing through your bottom house will speed up cooling your top floor; also, there will be no heat rising to the top floor from lower floor, so your benefit will be a lower electricity bill.

The type of roof you choose is also very important. If you choose a low roof with ceiling, it will trap the hot, rising heat in your home, which you will be forced to cool especially if your home is sealed/closed for A/C. I recommend high gable (V) roof with clapboards instead of low ceilings.

Windows are also essential and careful thought is necessary in choosing windows. If you can afford high electricity costs, then you may choose tinted double of single- hung windows. In hot climates such as Guyana’s awning or louvre windows may be more practical for better ventilation, cooling and more natural light.

Land- filling is the most neglected aspect of home- building in home ownership. It is not advisable to build your house then fill the land around and beyond; your house will eventually be below grade. Water/moisture will migrate via concrete columns and blocks even if you use plastic moisture barrier, that is, because you raised the grade higher than the plastic barrier. Rain and rising groundwater will easily seep into your home causing cold ground floors, delaminating of paint, ceramic/rubber tiles and most importantly corrosion of steel- reinforced bars in columns. Corroded steel bars will expand and crack concrete columns.

Another thorny and expensive problem you will encounter in your house if it is below grade is termite (commonly called wood ants) infestation. Termites live in soil and are often called the “silent destroyer” because they may be secretly hiding and thriving in your home or yard without any immediate signs of damage. All termites consume cellulose-based plant materials, unfortunately, all homes, regardless of their construction type, can provide cellulose food for termite infestation. (I will provide another essay on termites sometime later). Don’t assume spraying will eradicate termites from houses below grade, it will not.

Assuming you filled your yard after building your house, it will be below grade, you will need to address all issues for faster drainage simply by ensuring your yard is sloped to allow water to drain away from foundation, have adequate gutters with proper downspouts and water tanks are not close to foundation. You do not need water running over your tank to your house foundation.

The issues highlighted above are some of the most important aspects that you need to keep in focus. However, choosing a contractor can be a bigger financial risk; you need to remember that home- building is serious business, whether you are expending your money or a bank loan.

Screen your contractor, ask for references and visit houses contractors built. Speak to the contractors’ employees to get first-hand knowledge about his paying history to employees; you should not hire a contractor who does not pay his employees or hide on payday for you will end up with an unfinished or inferior constructed house.

Establish a payment/work schedule with your contractor for fortnightly or monthly payments. Your schedule must stipulate payment to contractor for quantity /volume and quality of work for fixed sum of payment. Never deviate from your established schedule, you should only pay after the quantity /volume and quality of work agreed is completed, even if is outside the established fortnightly or monthly payment schedule. Most importantly, establish time for completion of your house and monitor progress.

It is advisable to request an attorney, law student or legal aid if possible to draft a contract with work schedule and payment plan included. If the contractors of your choice are unwilling to sign a contract, you may wish to reconsider employing him/her. Be that as it may, I can foresee the problem with contractors signing contracts unless there is a statutory law, bye laws, licensing or penalties.

A contractor may ask for advance payments before commencement of work, be very cautious and ask what you will get from the contractor for the advance payments. If you are purchasing all materials and the contractor is providing skills, labour, equipment and tools, consider a retainer fee only and stick to your contract.

It is not a good practice to request the contractor you are hiring to draw your plan and prepare your estimate. While there are ethical contractors, there are also many unscrupulous ones who will morph into salesmen and encourage you to build bigger that you can afford; they will also overestimate bills of quantities and cost. Why? Local contractors use a simple rule of thumb to arrive at the contractor’s fee which is 1/3 the value of materials. If you are tardy in choosing a contractor and get an unscrupulous contractor, your contractor’s fee can be the biggest expenditure for very little.

This essay does not cover all houses building issues; the information herein may enlighten those folk who need pertinent advice. Maybe this will encourage other professionals to offer their expertise for readers’ benefit. I anticipate some negative criticism for this essay which is most welcome for readers’ benefit and housebuilders.

HEMWANT PERSAUD
Licensed Home Inspector & Home Inspector Instructor