People are looking for ways to cut down the cost of construction, given the harsh economic times. Farrowson Gichovi, the Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Reality Investment, shared some tips on what to do to construct your dream while keeping the construction cost low.
Be Specific on the materials you want: When you want to source for materials, be very specific on the type you want because there are so many brokers who deal with construction materials.
For example, if you go to Darugo, which is a famous place where people get stones, there are categories of stones from grade one to grade five. Be specific on the grade you want for the construction of your house.
Pay after delivery: Wait for the delivery at your site, confirm the quality, and then pay. This is because when you pay from the source, they can change the quality of the stones and even the quantity.
Also, the person who is selling the material to you can give you quality stones, but the person who is delivering can mess with the quality and quantity of the stones.
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Involve a professional team for interior designing: Â If you involve a quantity surveyor, they will be able to give you quantities of the materials you want for the interior and exterior. There are very many shops where you can be able to source those interior materials.
For materials like tiles, we have low-quality tiles and high-quality tiles. So if you are going for the low-end tiles, you need to get an interior designer at least to advise on where you need to put the non-slippery tiles and the wall tiles. This is to avoid putting wall tiles on the floor or floor tiles on the wall, as many people do.
Avoid Bulk Purchases: When you go to purchase materials like tiles, paint, or cement, don’t purchase the whole quantity advised by your craftsman.  You can get three-quarters of the quantity then once they are finished, you can now be able to top up.
This is because what happens many times is that they always overquote, thinking they can be able to sell some and get extra coins from the quantities you bought.
