Home Sweet Home - A House construction story (with a review of the builder - The Habitat Group) - Part 2

This is the story of my house construction with a review of the builder, building materials and the difficulties faced. To read Part 1 of the story Click here

Land preparation and leveling

Land preparation and leveling work has to be done before work can be started for basement excavation. After running around and with the help of father's friend found out some persons for cutting down the coconut trees in the plot. They did the job in a day.

Got a taste of the things to come on the first day of ground preparation work itself. I went to the site where labourers were already present. They asked for some tools, went with them and bought the tools, came back to office which was 8 kms away.

Once I was about to start my office work I got a call from the labourers that they are in need of more tools without which they cannot start the work. Went back to site, bought the tools and stood there only to find out that they did not use it for the entire day. The ordeal had started.

Each day there was a story, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes worse.

Decided to proceed with the carpentry work. If we start now, we could get the completed doors and window frames by the time basement is ready.

The carpenter came along with me to buy wood. I followed his advice and shortlisted a shop.

Months later when I had to buy some extra wood did I realize that I was taken in for a ride by the carpenter and the shop I chose based on his advice was not the best in terms of price or quality. The carpenter took me there since they gave him good commission.

Earth excavation was over in around 20 days, but for me, it seemed that it took ages.

Home Sweet Home - A House construction story (with a review of the builder - The Habitat Group) - Part 1

This is a review embedded in a story, I started to write it as a review, but the experiences and the events which unfolded automatically came out and it began to look like a story, most of which contains the hardship experienced by a middle class man trying to build his house. this might be a two or three part saga

The land purchase

One of the major milestones in the life of every Indian middle class family is house construction. Now a days the ready to occupy villas, apartments, easy availability of loans and the money available with people has made this less cumbersome. In my belief, if one goes through the experience of building a home he or his family will have a greater connect with it and love it to the core.

Coming from a middle class family, I too grew up seeing my parents toil hard to construct a house. In those days, since my father and mother were working, my grandfather used to oversee the house construction and I used to accompany him during my vacations. The greatest thing which I enjoyed is the food which was brought from a local shop comprising of tea and parippu vada. In those days these were the only outside food which I got to eat.

After all the routine milestones in life viz study engineering, get job, be in love, get married, have kids, the next thing in line was building a home. My childhood experiences made me decide to have one constructed according to our needs rather than buying one. This happened in the first half of the previous decade. Cash at hand was extremely low, but thanks to banks offering loans we could buy a land in the location we indended. There were lots of negatives, viz the plot was rectangular with less width and more length, land was sloping, there was no road frontage, it was the last plot of a steeply inclined road, the approach road was enough to test the powers of an SUV. The advantages were, it was the maximum which we could afford and location was the midpoint of my wife's and my office.

Hyundai Verna (Diesel) - A product of the Fluidic Revolution

Yes!! it was indeed a revolution of sorts. A revolution which has changed the company's fortunes. It was purely a shell design innovation aimed at increasing the aesthetic appeal. All the products which came out of Hyundai's stable after this fluidic design has been really standing out and could easily pass of as a premium segment vehicle. I wonder how the company has rewarded the persons behind this fluidic concept.

Thanks to this innovative design, the new Hyundai Verna seems to be ages ahead of the outgoing Verna. If the outgoing Verna looked "plain Jane", the new one is a "HOT Jane" a Ramp material. 

My cobrother booked one (diesel version) on March 2012 and eventhough the promised delivery date was September 2012, he got hands on the vehicle on April 2012 itself. Reason stated was that the color he booked (purple) was not of any demand. He was lucky Joe, forhe got it before the Tax rise proposed by the Government. Infact this is one of the colors, which in my opinion is best suited for Verna. But people of my State think otherwise.

Before I go into a detailed review the pros and cons

The pros 

- The most beautiful sedan inside 20 Lakh segment (She's a sexy lexy!!!!). 

- The softly tuned suspension and low Ground clearance results in a butter smooth drive (she guarantees comfort !!) 

- Seat cladding simply embraces you from the back. (She will hold you closer) 

- Power is more than sufficient, with minimal turbo lag. (Itz fun to take her for a spin !!) 

- Superb noise insulation, and you won't feel that it is a diesel. (She has a husky tone !!) 

- No diesel clatter and no vibration inside the cabin (She's elegance personified !!!) 

- Airbags and ABS in the middle variant itself (She guarantees safety !!) 

- Gizmos, gizmos and more gizmos. No need of any external add ons as the vehicle comes factory fitted with reverse cam, powerful stereo with USB input, bluetooth pairing, on board information system and a hell lot of others. (She's fully loaded !!!) 

- A veeeery big boot, something which the Indian's like (hmmmmm Now you know why shez a sexy lexyyyy!! )

The cons

- STRICLY a four seater !! Before leaving your company, put your boss in the middle seat of the back row and take him for a ride. There is nothing more you can do to him. 

- Bad underthigh support in the back seat. 

- Low GC and softly tuned suspension means scrapping of bumps in the great Indian roads, especially when the vehicle is fully loaded 

- Service cost seems to be on the higher side (Based on the input received from the service centre regarding the costs, Average cost of normal paid service comes to around Rs.6500/-). Free services with oil changes cost above 3500/-. 

- It is difficult to avoid a jerk during gear shift. (It seems to be a matter of getting used to driving this vehicle and as the vehicle gets older this problem slowly subsides) - It is really hard to find more cons !!

Mahindra XUV 5OO - Is it good to OWN or simply DROOL?

What a launch it was !!!

Bookings happening even before price is announced. Sneek peeks, spy shots, predict the price and all sorts of pre launch contests and discussions on almost all automotive discussion forums. People thronging in great numbers to the Mahindra Showrooms to take a glimpse of its new age avatar. Bookings getting closed since M&M did not support long waiting periods. The early birds who got hand on this vehicle were the most sought after feedback agents in traffic stops and on web forums who duly obliged and were enjoying their new found limelight. Further surprises related to this blockbuster came when Mahindra and Mahindra announced the reopening of the bookings along with a draw of lots. Again another surge of bookings and the lucky 10,000 ones got their hands on the vehicle.

By this time the first batch of owners had a reasonable amount of time with their vehicle and service experience. Niggles thread began to appear in web forums. Welcome to the reality of owning the first Blockbuster Indian SUV (I am calling it as an SUV, eventhough it is not a proper SUV).

Now the million rupee question in owning the million rupee Indian SUV - Should I buy it or not?

Should I answer it now or after the review. Well I will answer it now and then continue with the review on how I arrived at this answer.

My answer -

If you are on a 8 to 10 Lakh budget, but can stretch to 14 lakh by mobilizing all your savings to buy this butch looking SUV, I would recommend NO !! Since this SUV will give you lot of moments to think, oh why I put my money on this?

If you are on a 15 to 20 lakh budget, then this is a good buy, the Value for Money proposition suddenly comes to picture. The niggles, if appeared will then be written off with an attitude, "these ought to come as this is a cheap vehicle".

The above answer is based on the experience I had with this vehicle, thanks to my close relative who was one of the "lucky" ones in the draw of lots in the second booking phase.

The Looks

If curves are the sign of a perfect figure then watch this image.

DVD Player and Navigation System For Cars - The selection process and a review

Apart from the windscreen view of the beautiful roads through the woods ahead, do you notice anything in particular in the dash. 

I am talking about the in dash DVD Navigation system which looks like an OE fit. But it is an after market attachment. Want to know more about it. Continue reading. (In between, if you want to know more about the place through which I am driving just visit here - Duke's Forest Lodge) 

This post describes in detail 

 - The selection process of In car Entertainment system (DVD Player &  Navigation system with bluetooth and reverse cam) for Toyota Innova 

- A review of the selected product - Fly Audio 

This might help buyers of such a product in India as I am based at Kerala in India

Cham Cloth - Keeps your car scratch free

All those who love their cars truly-madly-deeply does the cleaning themselves. Anything if overdone can have negative effects. Cleaning can result in cloth marks all over your shining car which becomes more evident under the sun.

A little investment in the form of Cham Cloth will come handy in these cases.

It costs around Rs.250 and works wonders on the cleaning experience.

The absorption power of this cloth is truly marvellous.

How to clean your car ?

Toyota Innova Service Cost History

Toyota Innova, as every one knows is an excellent Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) selling around 4000 units per month in India. I too laid hands on one in 2008 December and has been using it ever since as a self driven vehicle.

There is no special need to review this vehicle as it can be summed up in just one statement.

"A no nonsense vehicle free of niggling issues and high uptime, which can transport 6 people in good comfort without fatigue for very very long distances"

More than 95% owners whom I have come across with are satisfied with their Innovas

Here I am sharing my service and repair history which will give prospective buyers an insight into what to expect. I bought my vehicle and is regularly servicing the vehicle at Nippon Toyota, Kazhakkoottam in Thiruvananthapuram (Capital of Kerala state).

Car Seat Covers - A selection Guide

In the last ten years, I did seat cover shopping 5 times. Based on my experience I will share some lessons learned which might help in you in taking an informed decision. 

I will start with the lessons learned first. Each of the lessons has a story behind it which I have shared below in detail. 

Lessons learned on Car Seat Cover Purchase 

1.  If the original fabric seats without seat covers is looking good, put off seat cover purchase. After 2 - 3 years you can put new ones and give a fresh look and a new smell to the car 
2. The fabric in the seats under the seat cover also get worn out along with the seat cover. So never think of using the bare seat after using the seat with covers for some years. 
3. Buying ready made seat covers from Delhi works out to be a lot cheaper than in other cities. 
4. Try to get quote for similar seat covers from different accessory shops. You are sure to get the best price because of this 
5. Ready made seat covers tend to get loose after some usage. 
6. Leather seat covers are the best, but cost above 15k even for small cars 
7. Fabric seat covers decreases the roominess in the car 
8. Artificial leather (art leather) seat covers are preferred, but just ensure the thickness of the material by comparing the type of the material in different shops. Very thinner ones gets torned off easily, even by finger nails. 
9. Stitched seat covers fits perfectly with the seat and the shape of the seat can be retained.Eventhough it is stitched to the seat, removing the stitch is easy and does not damage the seat.  
10. Most accessory shops outsource the stitching job to small upholstery shops. So if one is willing to look around for an accessory shop an artificial leather seat can be stitched at a very lower price (atleast 50% saving is guaranteed than getting it done through a standard accessory shop) 
11. I can vouch for Car Shoppe in Thiruvananthapuram for seat covers based on my experience (cost wise and quality wise) 

Now a detailed history of the lessons learned!! 

Applying for Indian Passport - Some helpful hints are here !!

My views on applying for a passport based on my experience at Trivandrum passport office. The system at passport office is not big enough to cater the enormous crowd coming to office daily. The officers are doing a stupendous work, but the applicants are guaranteed a horrid time.

The tips given here are aimed at reducing the amount of time one has to spend at the passport office.


ONLINE APPLICATION TIPS 

1. Apply online at http://passport.gov.in/ 

2. Three different services are available -

    - Apply for fresh passport,
    - Renew passport after expiry,
    - Apply for reissue in lieu of lost / damaged passport

3. The rules for filling the application is given in the site itself.

4. After application filling is completed click "Save".
 IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't click "Reprint Application" after filling the online form. This button is present right next to the "Save" button. If clicked this will direct to another page and whatever entered in this page will be lost.

Apollo Acelere - Alloys and Tyres

Product: Apollo Acelere Tyres
Fitted on: Santro Xing Xp 2005 model
Purchased from: Apollo brand shop, Thakarapparambu Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Purchase Experience: Excellent
Product Satisfaction: Very Good.
Tyre Size: 175/60/R13** (To understand this specification, scroll down to the end of this post)
Pros: Excellent riding comfort, improved cornering capabilities, no impact of small pothholes
Cons: Pickup reduced by a small margin, mud splashes on car (bigger mudflaps needed), ride quality suffers on big potholes.

Product: Apollo Acelere Alloys
Fitted on : Santro Xing XP 2005 model
Purchased from: Apollo brand shop,Near KTC office, Thakarapparambu Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Purchase Experience: Excellent
Product Satisfaction: Very Good.
Alloy size: 13inch
Alloy type: Deep dish, 8 V spokes (16 spokes in total), with a red lining around the rim.
Pros: Looks, looks and looks, less weight, does not heat up like steel rims
Cons: Difficult to find out quality alloy wheels as Chinese wheels have flood the market, replacing a single damaged unit is difficult since model will get outdated.

Detailed Purchase Experience and Product Review

Alloy wheels is sure a cosmetic add on to any car and no wonder it did the same to my good old Santro Xing. (My review of Santro Xing can be read here)

It was time to replace tyre after 45000km in Santro, and I decided to try Michelins. The response of the Michelin dealer - "New Bharath Tyres" was quite arrogant that I instantly decided not to go to that shop.

Land Purchase in Kerala- Sharing my experience.

Building a home, for sure, is one of the dreams every other person is having. Once he/she gets a job, and is married, the next priority is to build a home. Lot of pain and effort goes into realising this dream and everyone has to settle for lot of compromises at the end coz all our requirement cannot be met.

But before entering into a deal for the land try to check atleast the following things, otherwise which we might land up in trouble. (I will keep updating the check list based on reader's suggestions. Please add your suggestions as comments below).

Categorised the checklist into two. A property worthiness checklist which is aimed at ensuring that the land is good for house construction and is indeed suitable to you and a document checklist which contains list of major documents to be checked before entering into a deal.

Property worthiness checklist

1. Distance from work (ideally it should not be more than 5 to 6 kilometers)
2. Distance from nearest National Highway (A 10 to 20 minute walkable distance is most optimum considering the fact that buses are available 24 x 7 through the National Highway)
3. Height of the land from the adjacent property. (Ideally it should be an elevated land)
4. Water flow condition. (whether all the rain water will end up in this property or not)
5. Check the neighbourhood. (if there are tall walls please look over it and see what is around)
6. Lorry access to the plot (Lack of lorry access will result heavy expense for construction material transportation)
7. Width of the plot should be atleast 90meters (30 feet).
8. Type of soil. If it is filled land, cost of construction will increase.
9. Check whether any big trees in the neighbourhood has a major portion in this land. If yes insist of the current land owner to cut it before the deal.
10. Check whether the wall for the property is available atleast for the side facing the road. If no, insist on the owner to build it before the deal. After the deal if we go and construct this lot of objections may come from the local people who will raise hue and cry about the boundary.

We may have to compromise some of the above conditions based on the constraints of our budget and/or the availability of land. But in such a condition we can bargain hard pointing to the compromises we are making.


Document Checklist (for purchasing land)

1. Current title deed
2. Ask for title deeds of earlier ownership (atleast 2 or 3 can be checked)
3. Get a non encumbrance certificate. Apply for this in the village office under whose jurisdiction this property comesDrawing of the property showing the boundary markings. Use our own person to cross measure the actual dimensions.
4. Original of latest land tax receipt.

Enjoy the search for the suitable land affordable to you and not the ideal one in your minds. 

Keep your eyes and mind wide open and think properly before entering into the deal.

All the best for your land purchase and for constructing your dream !!!

 

To see more of Kerala make an eTour, Click here

Bathroom Construction - Some Useful Tips

Bathrooms - they eat up a lot of money during construction, if one decides it to make a style quotient. But rather than spending a lot to make it look beautiful or exquisite what is important in the long run is its usefulness and ease of maintanence.

(Click here to view Interlocking brick based construction)

Here comes some useful tips on bathrooms. Detailed Description given after these brief tips

1. Rough piece of stone inside the bathroom for cleaning feet and as a washing aid!!

2. Height of wall tiles.

3. Level of bathroom floor should be below the room floor.

4. Wall tiles at ground level

5. Bathroom doors - No wood - Go for PVC

6. Openable and fully closable windows rather than windows with permanent small openings.

7. An exhaust fan works wonders

8. Closet first, followed by bathing area.

9. Shower curtains, Go for it

10. Keep it dry !!

(Click here to view tips on Door hinges)

A little more detailed description on these tips

PLUS TWO - Music Review !!!

Of late Malayalam movies has shown a drastic fall in quality, a sure reason which keeps people away from theatres. Most of the people are waiting for a good movie to come to flock the theatres. Even if the film is very very mediocre, people come to theatres especially on weekends only to go back disappointed as is the trend with some super star movies.

But are we going to see a new trend??

Can the newcomers rise to the occasion and fill the void created by the ageing super stars of Malayalam filmdom.?

Two movies have raised lot of hopes. One is “Plus 2” and the other is “Malarvadi Arts Club”. Let us watch these movies and then decide on the future of Malayalam cinema.

Aranmula Kannadi - A Visual Tour.

Aranmula kannadi or the Aranmula mirror is not just another mirror. It is part of history.

Aranmula is place in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. This town is famous for two more reasons.

The Aranmula boat race, when the traditional Kerala snake boats race for the crown during the Onam season and the Aranmula Parthasarathi temple

Aranmula Kannadi is not glass, it is metal !!! The creation formula of this metal mirror is known to a single family in Aranmula and is passed on to their next generation. It is made to order. I too got one made for me and I will just take you through a visual tour of the same.