[condor]

Originally Posted by dezpo

We are planning to add a floor to our house in Bengaluru.

Any engineer/architect recommendations would be welcome.

Tele-transportation hasnt arrived yet. People will be able to help you only if you give required details about which part of the city you are in.

[locusjag]

Has anyone built shear walls for their homes? Need to know the cost involved.

Also, if anyone has built their home with floating columns - what measures have you taken to strengthen the structure, for seismic resistance? Having Shear walls on 2 sides of the structure is my idea for the same, actually. But - no idea if it is prohibitively expensive.

A few Floating columns are needed in my design, but they are not good for seismic resistance. It is a stilt parking plus 2 floor design.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Has anyone built shear walls for their homes? Need to know the cost involved.
...
Also, if anyone has built their home with floating columns - what measures have you taken to strengthen the structure, for seismic resistance?

Well, with all my talk of shear walls, my builder has agreed to do away with the floating columns totally. I won't need shear walls now!

Not sure if anyone finds this useful - but, avoid floating columns in buildings as such buildings will crumble at the stilt level during earthquakes easily.

Apartments are usually built with floating columns, so that parking space can be provided at the ground level. So even if you're purchasing a built apartment unit, do enquire if the structure has shear walls to provide seismic resistance.

[AdhikR]

Hi fellow BHPians,

I am looking to paint a metal car parking pergola at home. The vendor has given me the options of a PU paint or an enamel paint. PU is about 50% more expensive.

I live about 500 meters from the sea, so corrosion of the metal is a concern . Would PU protect the structure better? Is the premium worth it?

Thanks in advance.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by AdhikR

Would PU protect the structure better? Is the premium worth it?

I think that the key with any paint is the preparation and skill of application, especially with iron work. We have extensive grill work. We spent a lot of money on PU paint, and rust was showing through in less than a year.

I'm sure it is possible to get years of protection out of such a paint. But unless you have skilled, OCD painters, save the money.

[AdhikR]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm sure it is possible to get years of protection out of such a paint. But unless you have skilled, OCD painters, save the money.

Thanks Ginathom. I think supervision will be key here.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by AdhikR

Thanks Ginathom. I think supervision will be key here.

Call me Thad

You are right. I tried, but somehow, even then, I knew I was failing.

[amitk26]

Fiber cement boards in India now are almost replaced by wood fiber boards.
Straw /sawdust pulp + cement. is used to make these.
The fiber refers to cellulose fiber. Popular brands are Shera and Bison board
only downside is it gets little soft when kept soaked in water and loose es strength. If you soak in water for 24 hours and aplit you can find the food fibers in it.
So don't use it for wet load bearing areas like roofing however it can be used as waterproof substitute of ply under counters and dividing partition.

Originally Posted by RadixLecti

Asbestos mining has been banned in India,
but its import and use continues. So far only about 70 countries have completely banned asbestos. In India, asbestos cement has been rebranded as fibre cement, but make no mistake, it is asbestos.

Here is a screenshot from https://fcpma.in/, the Fibre Cement Products Manufacturers Association:
Attachment 2355770

The EU banned chrysotile asbestos in 1999: link

The US EPA is on the verge of banning chrysotile, which is the only form of asbestos still used in the USA. link

[rohan_iitr]

Hi,

Anyone using curtain rods and fittings from Ikea ? How would you rate them compared to the stuff we get in the local market ?

Also, how are the curtains from Ikea ?

Looking to buy these for home use.

Thanks in advance.

Rohan

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Also, how are the curtains from Ikea ?

Looking to buy these for home use.

The expensive ones are good especially the full blind versions and the cheapest ones are just plain cloth. So the quality cant be generalised. Depends on what variant you pick. Same applies to any textile products brought from Ikea. There are pillow covers for 250 as well as 1250, and there is a lot of difference in material as well as other quality aspects.

[whencut86]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Hi,

Anyone using curtain rods and fittings from Ikea ? How would you rate them compared to the stuff we get in the local market ?

Also, how are the curtains from Ikea ?

Looking to buy these for home use.

Thanks in advance.

Rohan

The curtain rods are good. They are cheaper than local market but they come only in white or black colors. I got the below in both white and black for different rooms and they are sturdy and hold up very well. Make sure you order them as a complete set so that you will get the finials along with the rods. IKEA also has the options for blinds and if you have windows appropriate for usage of blinds then you can go with them as well.

https://www.ikea.com/in/en/p/bekraef...lack-50489696/

The curtains are good and better than the ones you get from any other online retailer or local market. Local market generally has shiny polyester ones and I am not a fan of these. Infact you get a pair of cotton curtains from IKEA for the price of one in local market. The cheaper cotton curtains from IKEA are thick and do the job well. The pricier ones give you the flowing look in living rooms and pelmet type curtains.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Hi all.

Renovating the bathrooms and want to use wall hung closets, but avoid the concealed flush tanks. And stumbled upon this.

How is this thing installed on the wall? it is a wall hung extended water closet, compared to free standing or wall hung ones. Not talking about the plumbing, etc. The wall hung closet + concealed cistern uses a kind of stand which bears all the v weight, and the stand gets concealed by a false wall. The stand also bears the weight of the closet and the concealed cistern. Can't see such a stand for this EWC. Some youtubers I have come across start describing the installation process from two bolts and the plumbing on a finished and tiled wall. How is the wall prepared to bear the weight of the bowl and the cistern?

TIA.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Renovating the bathrooms and want to use wall hung closets, but avoid the concealed flush tanks. And stumbled upon this.

How is this thing installed on the wall?

installation process from two bolts and the plumbing on a finished and tiled wall. How is the wall prepared to bear the weight of the bowl and the cistern?

Hi, Is this by hindware? We have installed three of this in our ancestral house and been almost 3 years now without any issues. And installation is as you have described i think.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Renovating the bathrooms and want to use wall hung closets, but avoid the concealed flush tanks. And stumbled upon this.

How is this thing installed on the wall? it is a wall hung extended water closet, compared to free standing or wall hung ones.

You have asked this question because probably you have not seen the Cistern and Flushing Mechanism of Concealed Cistern. It is no more than 100 mm deep.
Just install the complete set as per norms except that you make a Wooden Frame around Concealed Cistern. Fix a Plywood sheet on it and affix/Paste the Tiles. Ensure that the Frame and Plywood is sized to your Wall Tiles in such a way that no Tile is Cut. Fix this Panel on the Frame with Screws with decorative Caps. Thus, though the Cistern is concealed, it is conveniently accessible.

[am1m]

Some pointers on tree maintenance, gained by painful experience:

Everyone loves trees and truly a tree in a densely populated space like Bangalore is a luxury. But when a tree grows without enough space, it becomes a maintenance overhead and not everyone is thrilled.

We have 3 trees around our house, small plot, densely populated neighborhood. When we constructed a couple of decades ago, there were empty plots all around, so it didn't seem like a bad idea to plant them. But now they have grown and cause all sorts of issues. The shade is great, it feels nice to have something green overhead, some nice birds as well. But leaves fall all over and block drainage. Neighbors complain about light being blocked and tree debris falling in to their houses. It's especially bad when the terrace drainage gets blocked and water logging happens. That can over time cause water damage to the ceiling, which is what started happening at our place. The base of the tree is a target for rodent burrows. The amount of soil these bandicoots can move is amazing. They have started burrowing under the cemented portions of the backyard and I'll have to repair that before it caves in.

Getting someone to trim the tree and branches is the easy part. There are lots of people who can rent a small electric saw and with that trimming happens really fast. Each neighborhood will have a handyman who can do this.

The difficult part is getting rid of the branches. BBMP will not do it, even if you bribe them. Small quantities of leaves and branches are fine and can be handed over with dry-waste collection. But good luck getting BBMP to remove a large quantity.

Even a private tractor will find it difficult to dispose of these branches. Apparently there are only one or two dry-waste dumping grounds on the outskirts for this sort of leafy debris and the tractor needs to apply for a permit before being allowed to dump there. From personal experience, even if you are willing to pay, it can take a few months for that to happen.

What helped in our case was a caterer in the neighborhood who used a wood fire to boil water. He took a lot of the wood, once we had cut the branches to manageable sizes. Still had to wait for a couple of months before we could arrange a tractor with a permit to cart away all the leaves though.

So best bet is to trim the tree regularly, getting rid of the waste is more manageable that way.

And while I do enjoy the trees, I would advise anyone considering planting one to consider how big the plot is, how close to the house the tree will be when it grows before deciding. I still don't know what the effect of the roots are on the foundations, or what issues that will cause in another decade or so.