Concrete Slabbing

@Zoom,

Hi zoom as you are the only person I know that seems knowledgeable in the construction industry I wanted to get an idea of the following:

Say you have a single story house +-300sqm and now you want to convert this into a double story house!

How easy\difficult would this be?

- Would it be better\easier to just break down the whole place and rebuild(im sure the cost will be higher thou)
- Would everything need to be moved from the house\emptied out (maybe could be done in 2 sections?)
- What would happen to all the electrical etc... in currently in the ceiling? (cables, alarm cables, water pipes?)

Would really appreciate some info!

Thanks,

 

why don't you pm Zoom?

 

@mattie,

thanks good idea, i will do that

 

hi

maybe you should look up pre cast concreate slabs on the net

as longs as your walls are the right withe and load bearing the slab company will make precast slabs for you and

then come on site and place them on your walls with a crane

takes five days from order to installation no mess

it is cheaper and takes a month less than the normal setup of a deck and then pouring concreate and waiting for in to dry

immediately after the slabs are place you can build nect storey on it

 

Absolutely NO WAY in South Africa is echo slab cheaper that the conventional type. I regularily compare the prices between the two, and I can guarantee you that at the moment it's about 4-5 timez MORE expensive. You still need to move out. It still needs to be propped in a few places depending on whether the slabs are supplied cured or not, and you need to cast a thcicker screed on top.
You are also forced to install a syspended ceiling underneath to finish of neatly. This cost in it's own is about R160 - 190 per square, supply only!!

The time you save on going with echo slab you loose in finishes. You spend more on finishes. You spend more on the slab.

@faisal i would love to know where you got the impression that this type of system would be quicker and cheaper on a renovation? They have their place in repetative developments where the houses are all the same, and the developer has ordered the slabs at least 6 weeks prior to delivery, thus ensuring the slabs are cured.

I will post a detailed answer tomorrow on my recommendations

Sent from my Tablet using Tapatalk

 

Hi @jwalker

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm no engineer, but I can share some pointers to assist.

It's as easy as you want it to be... seriously, renovations can be kak simple, on condition you hire a reputable contractor, (who is not the cheapest by the way). If you go for the cheapest, you will regret it.. land up with a contractor running away, and having to pay another cheap contractor to finish off. Final cost would be the same as hiring the proper contractor. My company is by far NOT the cheapest, and we will not stoop our prices down to that low degree just to get the work. We do not see it possible to actually provide a reputable service, let alone a decent quality product at some of the prices we've seen.

Depends on engineer's findings. You will be surprized to hear that a renovation price per square meter is higher than a new house per square meter!! I will divulge more info now...

Yes. Move out. Put furniture into storage, and move into your in-laws. I'm serious... living in a house whilst renovating on that large a scale is not worth it. And will cost a HUGE amount to do it in stages... let me divulge...

You can only go 2 story if:
Council permit it
Neighbours permit it (they would need to sign a letter when you submit plans to council)
budget approved it...

But more importantly, if an engineer approves it. Fortunately, today's constructions HAVE to be overseen by an engineer (who are as few as hens teeth might I add). Before you even start with an architect, get an engineer to come look at the foundations of your house. Meaning you may need to dig open a serious hole. Certain engineers may also require a "test pit". THis is a hole 1.8m deep, and big enough to climb into with a ladder. Basically it's no good if your foundations are good enough to hold 2 story's, but the soil conditions are kak.

The external walls to your house are more than likely double brick. The internal walls (being a single story) will more than likely be single brick. These would need to be "beefed" up to double brick to carry the load. Hence, brickwork downstairs. This requires plastering, painting, and probably new carpets, wooden flooring and possibly tiling.

We've done this type of renovation before... and it actually ended up being pretty much a complete makeover for all the finishes in the house (Kitchen, windows, doors, paint, tiling etc) Roof is removed. Slab is structure is erected. This needs to be propped. So every 1m you will have a prop. (A pole going from the slab to the floor.) The law will not allow you to live in a structure like this... hence I say move out. The props will take ENORMOUS weight on them the day you pour the concrete to the slab. This prop WILL damage the tile it is sitting on. (I've actually seen a tile completely disintegrate under the weight.. this dislodged the prop, the prop fell over and where that prop was suppose to be, the ceiling bows about 10mm)

All services (electrical, alarm, water, sewerage) will be designed into the slab. Pipes and conduits will be places on top of the block-and-beam slab, and will be encased into the concrete when cast.

A standard construction house
Double story, with no major concrete beams.
Standard plastered brickwork
ALuminium windows
Pitched roof with standard roof tiles
Average quality finishes (tiles, sanitaryware, BIC)
as a NEW build (i.e from foundation) we are doing for around R6,000.00 per square. (Excl pools, landscaping, boudnary walls etc)

The same on a renovation will more than likely be a bit more...

You would need to weigh out the costs of having a company come in and completely demolish (last I checked, it's about R300k) and start from scratch.

Basically... you in for a big one... it may be cheaper to sell up and move to something bigger. Unless you REALLY want that house.

 

@Zoom



hehe, now I definitely have alot to think about. From the outside it seems simple enough as just going ahead and building but there sure is alot of planning\things to consider.

R300K just to demolish! @ R6K\sqm thats already 50sqm of building cost :amazed:
p and if I had to try and demolish it myself would probably take me just over a decade!)

Your advice and insight into my question is greatly appreciated. I will pm you my reason for the question.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.