Recent Petrol and Diesel prices hike have not done any good to the construction materials cost.
I was make to understand, most building materials shot up by at least 20 percent.
The bulk were on the steel and cement prices.
Those nesting planks were not spared.
They used to be around Rm 1,900 per metric ton. Now nothing less then Rm 2,400. The cost to deliver to your door step need to be further added.
So what will be the best think for you to cut down these cost down?
I met a few contractors and these were some of the things they resorted to:
1) Make the steel frame at home.
This contractor adopted the "Do At Home" concept. He will order those steel bars and make every feet accountable. Not a foot to be lost. He said that if you sent those steel bars to the work site, you will find some footage goes missing every day. They are either being taken away by those workers or some rags dealers coming over at night to cut those steel away.
So he will cut to size and form those shapes. Ship those that are required to the site. The rest will be in his storage yard.
2) Maximise the use of all Materials.
Another contractor resort to something that I called "Make To Fit". This special person have been in the construction business for more then 22 years. Now he do nothing else but constructing BHs. He employs more then 20 Indonesian workers at any one time.
His idea is to built the birdhouse based on the length of those steel that were sent to him. If they are 38 feet long, make the house to that length or half of it (19 feet) or a multiple of 19 feet. If you follow his style, you will have very little wastage.
3) Use Light Weight Bricks.
One of the latest technologies that will reduce a substantial amount of building materials is to opt for light weight bricks. They are made of low density cement and lightweight. They are also a low heat conductors.
Main reason given was the total weight of your building, BH only.
Using this 8 inches by 24 inches by 4 inches thick, the total weight of your BH will reduced tremendously. When the total weight is down, you need to use lesser steel bars and thinner columns to support the total structure.
The cost of these bricks might be a bit high but in total the cost will be much lower then those conventional bricks type building. How much reduction? At least 20% and perhaps 30%.
He might be right but I just hope the dimension will not cause any severe effect on the swiftlet flying or cornering abilities.
I know one thing, this guy can built a BH below Rm 56 per square feet.
If you have any requirements in your new BH just let us find a way to cut those initial cost down.
Call Harry at 017 755 1318 if you need some advises on how to cut those price down.......
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all my Muslim Blog Readers..........
2 comments:
Dear sir,
Thank you for the useful info. Is there any sense at all if i use a cargo container which is say 8ft by 10 feet by 40 feet as a bird house? This sounds crazy but what do you think. I dont have problem in cooling it down as we can put the container under a shed.
hjramli
Hj,
There is no specific rules that says that U cannot use those unused containers. The only thing is to get them cool to the specified temperature range and humidity plus appropriate darkness.
My only concern is the heat. I was informed by a close friend that some wise guys tried to use the unused containers in Trengganu and after a few weeks the cooling system went down and all the birds inside died of exhaustion.
If you can put them below a proper shade and stack them properly maybe it can work.
Remember you need to follow those Good Animal Husbandry Practices. If you cannot meet those requirements you better built a BH using those low density blocks.
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