Building a house in Trinidad

[telfer]

Need some advice. I recently acquired a house, more like inherited. It needs a little work and updating but I decided to move in and do it little by little. A couple things I need to know:
1. How do you clean floor tiles and grout? Tiles and grout are just dirty. Tried most off the shelf cleaners and no luck.

2. In one bathroom the drain is vertical and at the bottom of the wall rather than horizontal(flat). Therefore the water settles a bit before running off. Cleared the waste line and that didn't help.

3. Have to block up an existing door as there were two doors in a room. Do I need to rip out the aluminum frame in order to block up or something could be done with the frame being there?

4. There was some 2x4 zinc rhs in the garage which I inherited and since I had a fabricator doing some work for me I opted for him to build a nice steel entrance door. Need to get the hole saw that could drill the lock holes but the ones in the hardware are rated for softer metals like aluminum etc. and not harder metals (so I was told at Bhagwansingh's and Chootoo's hardware). They wanted to sell me a series of drill bits etc to achieve the lock holes which was very exorbitant in pricing. Any suggestions? I first thought about lock boxes but not getting any that's suited for 2x4.

Suggestions welcomed.
Thanks

Get this product for your tiles and grout cleaning

[Chimera]

Wheres a good option for galvanize these days?

I down to choosing between varma and bhagwansingh. Varma is $5 per foot more though.

Where bhagwansingh does get their galvanize from?


Ramlagan was cheapest but i hear their price match the quality...

[Ryan197912]

Buy your galvanize from Lifetime Roofing..you will not regret it.

[Galvatron]

Have a piece of land which l intend to build on in the near future. It has a gentle slope towards a small river. The land will need to backfill and a retaining wall may be necessary. What steps should l take in undertaking construction?

Should l backfill the land first and get a contractor to determine if a wall is required?

Should l survey the land then get advice on whether to level it or fill it, and determine if a wall is required?

Should l get an architect or civil engineer to advise on all of the above before taking any action?

I have been advised to just backfill the land for now. I built a house before but had access to excavator, backhoes etc free of charge so preparation wasn't an issue.

This time though l will need to pay for all equipment etc, so wanna plan and do things in a methodical way.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

[NR8]

Have a piece of land which l intend to build on in the near future. It has a gentle slope towards a small river. The land will need to backfill and a retaining wall may be necessary. What steps should l take in undertaking construction?

Should l backfill the land first and get a contractor to determine if a wall is required?

Should l survey the land then get advice on whether to level it or fill it, and determine if a wall is required?

Should l get an architect or civil engineer to advise on all of the above before taking any action?

I have been advised to just backfill the land for now. I built a house before but had access to excavator, backhoes etc free of charge so preparation wasn't an issue.

This time though l will need to pay for all equipment etc, so wanna plan and do things in a methodical way.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Strongly suggest this. Too many people carrying out unplanned developments without considering the long term consequences of their actions. Even the overlooked small construction or back filling of land could contribute to flooding or worst. Then they on the news 10 years later saying "here never flood like this before."

[adnj]

Have a piece of land which l intend to build on in the near future. It has a gentle slope towards a small river. The land will need to backfill and a retaining wall may be necessary. What steps should l take in undertaking construction?

Should l backfill the land first and get a contractor to determine if a wall is required?

Should l survey the land then get advice on whether to level it or fill it, and determine if a wall is required?

Should l get an architect or civil engineer to advise on all of the above before taking any action?

I have been advised to just backfill the land for now. I built a house before but had access to excavator, backhoes etc free of charge so preparation wasn't an issue.

This time though l will need to pay for all equipment etc, so wanna plan and do things in a methodical way.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

I believe that you should consult with an architect first.

[jl6106]

Good evening all. What's is the maximum toilets to a standard sewer system in Trinidad?

[daring dragoon]

anyone know if those steel and glass doors that places such as RDK sell if they can take direct weather without rusting, flaking etc. i thinking steel is steel so it will rust, an repainting that door aint go be simply pulling a paint brush, so i studying to to spend that $3500 up or go PVC doors.

[rspann]

I went into their manufacturing area and saw the work being done . It's a lot of "bodywork" used to get all the curves and shapes. They use filler and auto primer etc. The roducts are coated with bedliner to get the texture before it's painted with car paint and clear coat . The problem is that this would last for only so long and then deteriorate . Also movement could cause damage and flaking etc. The nice thing is , they come to you and do repairs.

[adnj]

Good evening all. What's is the maximum toilets to a standard sewer system in Trinidad?

The maximum number is determined by the size of the waste line (4 or 6 inch) connecting to the sewer. The number of occupants and toilets determines the size of your septic tank.

In high use cases, you may need a sewerage treatment facility instead of a septic tank. If it's not a sewer connection, soil conditions, available space, ground slope, and proximity to surface water require consideration.

anyone know if those steel and glass doors that places such as RDK sell if they can take direct weather without rusting, flaking etc. i thinking steel is steel so it will rust, an repainting that door aint go be simply pulling a paint brush, so i studying to to spend that $3500 up or go PVC doors.

In my experience, aluminum or fiberglass doors are the best choice for rust prevention. You can use PVC but it embrittles over time.

[jl6106]

Good evening all. What's is the maximum toilets to a standard sewer system in Trinidad?

The maximum number is determined by the size of the waste line (4 or 6 inch) connecting to the sewer. The number of occupants and toilets determines the size of your septic tank.

In high use cases, you may need a sewerage treatment facility instead of a septic tank. If it's not a sewer connection, soil conditions, available space, ground slope, and proximity to surface water require consideration.

anyone know if those steel and glass doors that places such as RDK sell if they can take direct weather without rusting, flaking etc. i thinking steel is steel so it will rust, an repainting that door aint go be simply pulling a paint brush, so i studying to to spend that $3500 up or go PVC doors.

In my experience, aluminum or fiberglass doors are the best choice for rust prevention. You can use PVC but it embrittles over time.

Thank you.

[pugboy]

I aint go lie RDK have very unique painting styles for their doors.
Could spot them from a mile away.

[cornfused]

Good day, about 10 years ago a small builder constructed a storage room connected to the house. Present day on the door hinge there it a crack and the door is a few mm lower. There is a crack in the blocks along the mortor line. Also where the wall of room has reached the wall of the house has a 3-4 mm seperation, through crabs were used.

One option is to add two small posts to the room near or on this door frame and at the long but small separation between the wall of the room and the house. Thoughts ?

[pugboy]

was a new floor cast for this extension ?

[cornfused]

Pug it was a combination , the room footprint is 6' x9' . On the the short side , 3' are on the original house skirting and 3' was constructed over a drain. A 4" pvc pipe carries water underneath the room. There are no visible cracks in the floor. There is a crack in the exterior skirting on the long side.

[pugboy]

well movement requires space or shifting of something unless it happened during earthquake
so you need to look for signs of that either below or above where the cracks are

[adnj]

Settling has likely occurred. Ten years later and 4 mm of movement along a 1.8 m (6 ft) span is not too bad unless the separation occurred in a structural element of the building. If the separation is on the 2.7m side, it's even less of a concern.

[cornfused]

Both areas of movement are on the short sides .From the short wall to the house that small post is proposed maybe a 4" x4" or 6"x6" with about three 3 to 5 8 steel bars and and similar post for in the door frame. Too much or ?

[Emmar01]

Civil Engineer here. You definitely need one of us if a retaining wall is necessary. PM me if you want some guidance.

[quote="Galvatron"]Have a piece of land which l intend to build on in the near future. It has a gentle slope towards a small river. The land will need to backfill and a retaining wall may be necessary. What steps should l take in undertaking construction?

Should l backfill the land first and get a contractor to determine if a wall is required?

Should l survey the land then get advice on whether to level it or fill it, and determine if a wall is required?

Should l get an architect or civil engineer to advise on all of the above before taking any action?

I have been advised to just backfill the land for now. I built a house before but had access to excavator, backhoes etc free of charge so preparation wasn't an issue.

This time though l will need to pay for all equipment etc, so wanna plan and do things in a methodical way.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]

[adnj]

Both areas of movement are on the short sides .From the short wall to the house that small post is proposed maybe a 4" x4" or 6"x6" with about three 3 to 5 8 steel bars and and similar post for in the door frame. Too much or ?

I can't picture what you are proposing. You don't have much separation. It is a small room. If the door is moving then the room is moving.

Your foundation could have settled. The doorway may not have been built with a lintel. Your ringbeam could have moved. You may want to find out what happened before you start adding columns to a room that is out of square.

[cornfused]

The door frame indeed does not have a lentil, retrofitting needed.

[adnj]

The door frame indeed does not have a lentil, retrofitting needed.

It is not uncommon. I have seen many block wall penetrations without a lintel. One mason as about to install a door argued that a steel frame doesn't need a lintel - but the frame was 15 gauge (?) aluminum.

[Chimera]

right now the hercules block from abel is cheaper than regular clay blocks

is there any disadvantages to using this for the same thing as clay blocks? building walls etc?

[axe]

Good for wall stiffening... And cesspits

[h1tach1]

Can anyone advise how to repair/replace the door hinges on an aluminum door frame. The hinges are riveted into the frame and on the bottom hinge, the rivets are now slack. The door now needs to be raised to properly close. Thanks.

[*KRONIK*]

Drill out the rivets and use a bigger size when replacing

Can anyone advise how to repair/replace the door hinges on an aluminum door frame. The hinges are riveted into the frame and on the bottom hinge, the rivets are now slack. The door now needs to be raised to properly close. Thanks.

[adnj]

You need:
Electric drill
Masonry drill bits
Metal drill bits
Pop rivets
Rivet gun

You may be able to repair without removing the door.

Use a drill that is smaller than rivet diameter and drill out the rivet center. Using pliers, remove the rivet.

Repeat for all rivets. If there is mortar behind the frame, use a masonry bit of the same diameter as the replacement poprivet to clear a space about 1/4" more than the rivet insert depth.

Install the pop rivet with a rivet gun.

[rspann]

If it’s the type with screw and nuts , and they run slack , you can just cut away the plaster in the area of the hinge and re-tighten them . Add a lock washer to prevent it happening again . Refill the hole and you good to go .

[h1tach1]

Thanks guys. (see hinge below)

[eitech]

Hey fellas. Is there a screen or mesh i can use for my guttering to prevent bird nests debris from going down and clogging the pipe?