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THE A TO Z TO DREAM HOUSE
A public service Website from Arkitek Punca Cipta
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F G H I J K

In 1995 when I returned to start APC, an abandoned housing project caught my attention. It was one project I had worked on when I first started work in 1984. Four years later, together with some friends, I took over the projects, bring back life into it and a small cozy community grew. Helped by the success, I went on to manage a few more house for others. This time around my luck is mixed. I now fully realise the lesson a friend once taught me. Do a house for them, you will either end the best of friend or the worst of enemy.  The involvement in these houses mark  my re-education in construction. I learnt first hand the pain of the tradesmen, the agony of the owner and the frustration of the architect. I lost some money too but shrugged it off  in the name of education. It was the kind of education no university can teach. That is what I want to share with all of you, the young architects especially, for eventually you will be a house owner too.

F IS FOR FORMWORKS AND SUPPORTS
Formworks are the plywood boxes made to form the concrete. It need to be made strong to withstand the weight of the wet concrete pour, straight and shaped to the final form and must be supported well. Badly constructed formwork may break when the wet concrete is vibrated and results in your beam and columns to be out of shape. Formwork materials cost a lot of money and can only be used twice or three times. Using them more times may give you badly shaped concrete works. Support for the formworks normally use 2" x 3" timber tees. Because these support need to be kept longer than formworks, extra sets may be needed in fast construction when upper floor works is carried out before the ground floor columns is properly cured. Alternatively use steel scaffoldings which can be rented but that's not  cheap either.
 
F IS FOR FINANCING
Financing simply means how you pay for the house. Cash if you have a lot of it; Loans if you need to borrow and normally from banks. Don't go to Along the loan sharks or Chettiah the white garbed money lender. Of course you can always go to your father or mother.  

Financing (read smooth flow of money) is important to the smooth flow of construction. Some contractors only work with owners who takes bank loan no matter how rich they may seem. The idea is for security because the richer a person the more difficult they normally are with money. That's how they got to be rich in the first place. Too smooth a flow however may cause overpayment and contractor absconding. Banks on the other hand pay almost immediately upon architect's certificate, so cash flow is better.

For advise on financing, go see you banker.

F IS FOR FLOOR
It is important to decide on the finishes for floors before brickworks and door/window frames are installed. Different floor finishes differ in thickness and height and may affect the final size of doors, run havoc with your steps and staircases. Be extra cautious if you play with different material in a space, Installation isn't easy and the charge is normally very high.
 
F IS FOR FINISHES
Finishes is to your house what make-up is for the ladies. It's one item that will certainly burn holes in your wallet. The painful thing about finishes is that the attractive one on display is often the most expensive and the contractor's spec is for the cheapest. To avoid costly changes, decide on your finishes early. Know its cost and how much to install them. Expensive material are normally more difficult to handle and  thus cost more in installation charges.

G IS FOR GLAZING
Glazing is the putting of glass on your walls, doors or windows. Two things matter in glazing; one is the frame and two, the glass itself. For frames, decide on the materials (aluminum, wood, steel, upvc); for the glass decide on the type (tempered, float), appearance (color, texture, visibility). Once the rage is on the reflective glass. My favorite is the clear glass but its more expensive. Frame type must be decided early due to construction reasons. Wood frames are normally installed together with brick wall, while other frames may be installed later. Because of the nature of wood, its drying and shrinkage factor, wood frames must be ordered early. 

G IS FOR GARDENS
Call it garden or call it landscaping but its about the art of putting softscapes (plants, trees, shrubs, grass) inside or outside of your house. Together with hardscape (pavers, fountains, waterfalls, pots, benches and what not) it gives shapes, color, fragrant and lives to the house (and the oxygen as well). But before you start digging and planting check your lifestyle. If you travel for weeks and can't afford the Balinese gardener, tone it down a bit.

G IS FOR GATE
The first thing that greets you home. Know that other than looks, it must have a. post box, b. water meter compartment, c. electrical meter compartment, d. garbage compartment, e. light points, f. intercom, g. house bell, h. automatic gate point, etc. Some gates even have a guard post on them. 

H IS FOR 

I IS FOR INSURANCE
During construction insure your house. Proper construction contract should come with the contractor's all risk (CAR) and workmen's compensation (WC) insurance. Even if taken by contractor, the cost is reimbursable or actually paid by owner. In small labor contract it is advisable to obtain it yourself. CAR is normally taken for full reinstatement value; meaning that if it falls to ground under normal circumstances, insurance company foot the bill for rebuilding. CAR don't normally include theft, fire and flood. Check the policy and pay additional premium if necessary. WC on the other hand covers accidents and death of workmen and valued at normally 20% of the contract cost. Contractor's policy normally expire as soon as the Certificate of Practical Completion is issued by the architect, so take up the fire insurance immediately. For houses under finance, the banks normally ensure the insurance to always be current.

I IS FOR IRONMONGERIES
Ironmongeries cover all metal and non metal items that functions to hold, secure, operate and maintain a building element. It consist of keys and locksets, hinges, bolts and latches, stays, hooks and chains, tracks and rollers. 

Because of the variation in price and preference it is advisable that owners buy the ironmongeries and hand them over to contractor to install except  when selection is made firmly by the architect and agreed by owner. But the lapse of more than a year between selection and actual use may make some items unavailable or out-dated. New design may be more attractive and better. Talk to your architect about this.

I IS FOR INTERIOR DESIGN
Most people think of interior design as wall paper, paint and furniture arrangement. It's more than that. It's an art of creating the space. Your taste in interior furnishing should be in harmony with the architecture of the house though not necessarily be uniform. Your architect and your interior designer should you engage one should be able to advise you. Make your need, your like and dislike known. If you are planning to bring in the old furniture, let your architect know and ready the space for them. Likewise your preference for color, paintings, sculptures, antiques, decorations, furnishing should be made known. There's the whole technical issues they need to resolve in accommodating them, like the halogen spot lights, the glass display, the cabinets... the list goes on. So write them down, show them to your architect, make him note them and check as your design grow.

J IS FOR JOURNALS
Keep a diary of your discussion, notes and progress of works. Make comments or complaints in writing. Keep track of your finance. In construction, money flows and you may run out of it.

K IS FOR KITCHEN
The command center for the lady of the house though its being increasingly invaded by the sensitive male yuppies and the decreasing kitchen-friendly female. Next to the bathroom this is a cost center. Understanding the function of the kitchen, the way it is used (differ from a person to another), multi functionality, what they normally cook and of course the 'show' factor is important. Many a TEKA or LUX APPLIANCES kitchen were never used for cooking but only to impress friends.

Factors in kitchen design. See the checklist (Click)

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