Those planning to build their own housing often worry about significant expenses, as constructing a house is one of the most costly operations. Usually, a large sum of money is required to create a dwelling, and then even more funds are needed for the construction itself. Because of this, many expect a decrease in the prices of building materials. However, instead of waiting, you can significantly reduce costs by using certain methods to prepare a single-story house for only 500 thousand rubles.
With the traditional construction method, significant funds are spent on materials such as cement, reinforcement bars (rebar), and brick-sand. A simple calculation shows that for building a frame house on an area of 500 square feet, including two 10x10 rooms and one platform, the average cost is about 1500 rubles per square foot. Thus, building a single story will cost approximately 7.50 lakh rupees. These costs can vary depending on fluctuations in the prices of Rebar, Cement, Bricks, and Sand used in construction.
If it is possible to reduce the total House Construction Cost to 500 thousand rubles while maintaining strength, it is necessary to abandon the traditional structure in favor of alternative methods. It is possible to build a house without using columns and beams, which will allow significant savings on cement and rebar. However, this type of structure is suitable only for single-story houses.
To avoid large expenses and build more affordable housing, you should switch from traditional frame construction to a load-bearing structure. This approach will save millions of rupees. With this method, significantly less rebar is used compared to a frame structure, which plays a major role in the construction cost. Furthermore, fly ash bricks are used instead of ordinary bricks, and concrete frames are used instead of wood, and instead of teak and sagavan, similarly strong but cheaper types of wood are used. A load-bearing structure does not require columns and beams; rebar will only be used for the roof and cornices. Using fly ash bricks instead of ordinary ones will result in savings of 4-5 rupees per unit.
One of the advantages of a Load Bearing Structure is that, unlike ordinary brick, plastering is not required; it can be covered with plain paint. This brings substantial savings as it eliminates the consumption of plastering materials, as well as labor costs. For a single-story house with an area of 500 square feet, an average of 50 bags less cement will be needed. At a price of 400 rupees per bag, this amounts to a direct saving of 20,000 rupees. Since there are no beams and columns, rebar consumption is also reduced; whereas normally rebar accounts for 20% of the total construction cost, here it may account for 10%. If a frame structure required 1.50 lakh rupees for rebar, thanks to this change, only 75 thousand rupees will be needed. To build such a house, about 5000 bricks will be required, and its cost will be approximately 50 thousand rupees. When using fly ash bricks, this amount will be halved, meaning a saving of about 25 thousand rupees. Significant savings can also be achieved on sand, which may amount to about 50,000 rupees, as the need for plastering, beams, and columns is eliminated.
Switching from a frame structure to an inexpensive load-bearing structure allows savings on other expenses as well, including stone laying and painting. Cost reduction is also possible for windows, doors, electrical installations, and plumbing by using cheaper but durable wooden products instead of concrete frames, teak, or sagavan. For example, replacing marble with ceramic tiles allows savings on labor and other expenses. Overall, with these techniques, it is possible to save over 2 lakh rupees, and the total cost of a single-story house can be reduced from approximately 7.5 lakh rupees to around 5 lakh rupees.
