ContractorBhai.com Home Renovation Made Easy
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A Renovation Guide
101 Things Most Contractor Won’t Tell You
INSIDER’S GUIDE Avoiding costly mistakes & SAVE 1000s of Rupees.
A Publication of ContractorBhai.com A Publication of ContractorBhai.com
ContractorBhai.com Home Renovation Made Easy
Introduction 101 HOME RENOVATION GUIDE is a book that YOU Home Owners will want to keep it handy before & during Renovation project. It expresses in clear and simple language the things Contractors tend to make murky and abstruse. These 101 concise tips in design, Material selection, budget decisions, and Execution -- provide a much-needed primer in highly overwhelming Renovation project and make concrete what too often is left nebulous and open-ended.
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“Living Room Tiles bigger then Bedroom Tiles” Price of Tiles increases with its size. For same material, finish & Brand - 12” x 12” (12 inches by 12 inches) Tile is less costly compared to 24” x 24”. Living Room is your Front Room. Here you spend time in relaxing and socialising. Room which is furthest away from main door can get smallest tile.
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“Stainless Steel Hinges below Sink” Hinges are hardware fittings that connect your shutters to cabinet. Kitchen area, below Sink get in touch with water all the time. Many Home Owners even wash their Kitchen PlatHinges are not made up of Stainless Steel, they just have chrome coating on top. This is true even for Costly branded Hardware. Specifically, make sure, 2 pairs of hinges for shutters below Sink should be of Stainless Steel. They are costlier than regular Hinges but in long run they will pay off
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“Salty Sand vs River Sand” In many coastal cities like Mumbai, there two kinds of Sand available. Salty & River sand. Salty sand comes out of Creek area. They are not good in long run. Your flooring might develop hollow voids below tile surface in few years. Wall plaster might go bad in few years. Salty sand in plaster catches moisture & creates more damage. Make sure your Contractor is using River Sand. River Sand is costlier then Salty Sand.
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“TV-unit Panel can be of MDF” If budget is a constrain then Wall mounted TV Panel could be made in MDF. MDF and other engineered wood are not good for making Bed Wardrobe, but good enough for making a TV Panel, which is going to hold few lightweight items.
“First break Wall then floor” Let’s say your building has leakage problems and you are renovating complete home. Do not break flooring first. Break wall plaster, get work done and after that break flooring. This way if at all there is leakage in the slab, your floor will be exposed to Water, only for minimum period.
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“Rubble Disposal Truck service” If you are renovating complete home there will be lot masonry rubble and debris that will come out. To dispose this Contractor calls Truck service. They charge on truck basis. Call truck only once full truck load of rubble is collected. For a 2 BHK or bigger home there could be need to call Trucks multiple times. Experienced Contractor knows how to reduce cost by calling truck least number of times. It is also cheaper to call a big truck once compared to calling smaller tempo vehicle multiple times.
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“Marine Ply in Kitchen & Bathroom” Plywood inside any area of your home that gets wet frequently should be Marine. Marine Ply are costlier then commercial Ply. However they will last long compared to all other types of Ply. There are some high grade of Commercial Ply available in market that claim to be good for Kitchen area, however if your budget permits simply go for Marine Ply.
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“Commercial Ply for wardrobe & Bed” Commercial Ply has matured a lot over years. It is good choice of Plywood for making home furniture like Wardrobe, Bed etc. Only If your budget permits use Marine Ply for everything. Otherwise apart from Kitchen & bathroom – rest of wood could be commercial
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“New Building - delay Painting” If you have bought home / flat inside newly constructed building, do not rush to get Painting job done. 2 years is sufficient period for any hidden moisture to come out of walls. It is sufficient period for walls to dry and concrete to form permanent crust. Use new home with interior Painting done by builder
“New Wall – do not Paint” If you built a new wall then don’t worry about spending lot of money in getting costly Painting job done. Concrete of new wall and from old wall is of different condition. Over next 8-9 months they will develop minor cracks. These cracks will appear on your paint. If you get it painted, be prepared to re-paint it in next year or two.
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“Bathroom Water proofing with temporary water catchments” If you have hired Contractor to do bathroom Water proofing by all the way breaking floor and applying new layer of Concrete & chemical, verify if it has been done correctly. A good Contractor will let water accumulate inside bathroom and let it stay for 2-3 days. This is sufficient time to verify if newly treated floor is able to hold water. Don’t let Contractor to speed up and finish flooring. First verify that there are no leakages.
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“Sliding Window Sections - cheaper ones will not last long” Like many other Building Material, Sliding window if made out of cheap material will cost you additional money in maintenance. For example: a small Ball bearing used inside Sliding Window has price range from 50 paise to 5 rupees. Low quality Sliding Window will stop sliding smoothly in year or two. You will need to bring in carpenter again to get it fixed. You got very happy to hire a Contractor who quoted less for Sliding Window but you will see consequences only after year or so.
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“Buy Extra box of Tiles” You bought tiles for flooring and then for some reason you need few more of them. I can give Guaranty that same design & colour will NOT be available in the shop. Tiles are manufactured in batch & distributed across market. Once the stock is over, new batch of tiles become available. Always advisable to buy extra tiles to balance out unexpected wastage
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“Carpenters use different thickness Ply for sides of Wardrobe” A carpenter we know uses 19mm thickness Plywood for vertical Sides of the wardrobe because they need to be strongest. Back of the wardrobe can be 12mm. And Shutter can be 12 or 9mm. This is good practice because it can bring down cost of your wardrobe. Now the only questions is “Did your carpenter charge you by saying he will use 19mm for everything but he didn’t?”
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“Grill bars - Square or rectangular”
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If you are getting new Grill for your balcony or window. Check if you can get Square bars. Because of angles they are more physically stronger then round cylindrical bars. Whole purpose of getting Grills is safety, square bars will make it more safer. It is easier to bend cylindrical bar compared to square bar.
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“Wall Hung Toilets take less space” Wall hung Commodes are usually design to stick close to wall. In addition if you have flush system (cistern) hidden inside wall, it makes your bathroom/toilet look more neat & spacious.
“High Rise Tower pays more”
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If your home is in high rise building, rates will go up accordingly. Labour efforts increases to transport Building material. Rates go up for removing masonry rubble out of home. Many societies do not allow use of elevators for renovation project. All this adds up. Time & money both will go up
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“How much does Painting costs ?” Multiply your carpet area by 4. Check the local Painting rates. Home/residence usually opt for Luster paints. In metro cities rates of luster paint range from Rs 23 to Rs 30. Hence if your home carpet area is 500. And rate is Rs 25. Cost of painting will be 500 x 4 x 25 = Rs 50,000 There are 5 sides of Home that needs to be painted - 4 walls & ceiling. However since there are open spaces like Door & windows the multiplier factor used is 4. This figure is always on the higher side, real cost is calculated with actual measurements & is always lesser then this formula.
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“Workmanship matters in making of furniture” Lot of time we get asked why are Contractorbhai rates high while there is some other Carpenter who is 30% cheaper. In one such incident we monitored the external carpenters work, what we found was he doesn’t compromise much on material. All he does is he rushes on labour. If certain task requires 2 carpenters for 5 days, he will push his team to complete same task in 3 days. When Carpenter compromises on workmanship to rush and finish work. All he is doing is cutting cost on labour. One such example is Corner/Edge where two ply meet at 90 degree. Now there different ways you stick two plywood at 90 degree. Better workmanship takes time and is costly.
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“Wall Hung Toilets - clean easily”
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There two main types of designs for English Commode or WC (Water Closet) 1) Wall Hung Toilet and 2) Floor Mounted Toilet Wall Hung allow cleaning of floor below commode which is not very easy with floor mounted. Note: You can have Wall mounted toilet only if there is ‘P trap’ outlet
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“10% Budget Correction” Irrespective of how confidently your Contractor or designer estimates final budget. Chances are that some plans will change. Scope of work or material will change. Few things will get added up, were not thought of in beginning. Always good idea to be prepared with 10% on final budget mentioned by Contractor.
“Last Payment”
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Every Contractor allows holding of last payment for 2-4 weeks. Last payment could be anywhere from 5% to 15% . Last Payment is released once Home is handed over to owner. Home owner starts living inside home & then after 2-4 weeks payment is released.
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“Tile with bad Corners” Believe it or not but sometimes even branded tiles come with bad corners. If you hold single tile you will not see it, but place them in rows & columns next to each other you will realise corners are turning outwards or the edges are not aligned all the time. It is good idea that you ask Contractor to apply 2 rows of tiles & then ask him to stop for checking. Usually at construction site, there is lack of good lightings. Make sure there is extra lights & check from front & from sides to make sure you don’t see any CORNER BENDS.
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“Flower Bed Extensions” Does your home have a semi balcony or Flower Bed ? May be it can be modified in such a way that your room extends. This work item should be given highest priority. IF you have limited budget then delay other items & but extend your room first. The reason - rules change all the time. We have renovated 3 homes in same society. First owner got to extend for no fees. Year later, second one paid big fees to society. 2 years later, society stopped giving permission because of Municipality rules and regulations. Get it done before rules change. If per square feet price in your area is say Rs 10,000 and you get to extend 9’ x 2’ = 18 sq. ft . That’s area worth Rs 1.8 lakhs
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“Not making Last Payment” Unfortunately, many home owners do not give last payment. Home Owners think they will outsmart Contractor by not paying last payment. They forget to realise that many minor and may be few major post renovation maintenance will come up over next 12-18 months.
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Since you didn’t make last payment, don’t expect Contractor to give you good support.
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“Budget will become tight towards End” In middle of project Home Owner keeps adding new work items. Scope of work increases. This increases total cost. Initial budget Estimate & new actual total had different scope of work. If you are not prepared to pay money, things turn sour. Hence, every-time you change scope of work, ask yourself, do you have enough money to pay for rest of the items.
“Wall Tiles for Kitchen”
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It is good idea to have wall tiles in Kitchen, specially near Kitchen Platform. Indian food usually consists of oils & masalas. If you have tiles on wall, it becomes easy to clean the wall. Also painted wall will not stay good.
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“Work Hour Restrictions” Every good Housing society has rules & regulations. They will have some work hour restrictions. Work should not happen between 1 pm and 4 pm. Sundays & Bank holidays no work. In evening work should stop by 7 pm. Such work hour restrictions will increase time required to renovate home and cost will also go up. Contractor has to pay daily wages to labour. A regular 10 day work with work hour restrictions will take 15 days. Contractor has to pay wages for 15 days to team members. Hence total cost will go up
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“Buying Big tile - 1meter x 1 meter” If you are planning to buy big tiles like 1 meter by 1 meter. Ask shopkeeper to place few tiles on the floor. Check if corners are ok. Check if the edges are meeting correctly. Do this right inside store. Yes! do not wait till tiles reach home. These are really costly tile, if one tile is bad, you might have to end up buying complete box of 3 or 4 tiles.
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““Hiring Carpenter on Percentage basis” Let me scare you a bit. if you have hired a Carpenter who wants to cheat then he will cheat anyways. Home owner cannot over-smart him. Many home owners hire Carpenter on percentage basis. Say 30% of total raw material. Material will be bought by home owner. A carpenter who wants to cheat, will use extra Fevicol. He will waste some Ply. He will cut new Ply to get a small piece of wood. He will do everything to increase your total raw material cost .
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“Hiring Carpenter with Material” Hire a Carpenter with material. He will give you quote for certain quality of material. If he wants to cheat then he will compromise on quality of material. Can you differentiate between piece of Marine Ply and Commercial Plywood ? Can you identify If Ply is branded or local low quality material with fake brand name printed ? Do you know if Wardrobe was made with 19mm ply or 12 mm ply ?
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“Good Professional & Good treatment” Many home owners delay payment. If Contractor asks for part payment of Rs 25000, owner pays only Rs 15000 & gives some reason. When you do such things, Contractor makes sure that he factors all possible losses in his quote. If Contractor or Carpenter gets feeling that you will not make complete payment, he will compromise on material used or slow down work speed. It is very unfortunate situation. You have to find good guy and then give him confidence that you will make all payment on time. Do all negotiations before work starts, but once work begins don’t try to out-smart Contractor on payments
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“Plywood Thickness” You were promised certain thickness of Ply for your furniture. Say 19mm. Carpenter used 12mm ply to cut cost without informing you. Once Carpenter applies laminate on both sides ( Decorative laminate on outer side and white laminate on inner side) it becomes difficult to know what thickness of Plywood was used. A very un-ethical carpenter will also promise you certain type of Ply & use low quality ply. Once laminate is applied, you will never know what went inside.
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“Home Automation is waste of Money” Please don’t get me wrong. In long run all that geeky ipad/iphone controlled lights and music and entertain systems, do not get used. you spend money in buying all home automation system full of features, but eventually you will not use it. Infact if something goes bad, you will spend extra in maintenance.
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“Ground Fault Circuit Breakers” Talk to Electrician about Ground Fault Circuit Breakers. If there is any Ground fault these breakers control it. These are used on circuits in area like bathroom where chances of fatal shock is high. If current is flowing due to fault, these breakers will stop it in few milliseconds.
“Get Air Condition Vent in place”
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If you are renovating home, always plan for making vent arrangement for Air Condition. Even if your budget doesn’t allow AC at this point in time, you might think of buying one in future. Making Vent in future will cost more & also will not be concealed.
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“Low cost Tiles behind your furniture” Wall area which is hidden should be tiled. This way you will not need to Paint it & repaint it in future. There are low cost white tiles available in market which cost as low as Rs 15 per sq. ft. If you are putting tiles on Wall, use costly tiles on visible area. However on hidden area use these low cost tiles. Many people also tile the loft area with these tiles. Other advantage of Tiling is, it kind of takes care of any leakage problems.
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“Parallel Kitchen Platform are Nice” Kitchen platforms can be single, parallel, L shaped or U shaped. Parallel Kitchen platforms are the best. In any L shape platform the Corner piece never gets utilised properly. If your Kitchen allows, have Parallel Kitchen platform with center space facing Window / balcony where you can plan to keep wet area. Parallel kitchen offers best functionality for using your kitchen efficiently. Utilisation of space & ease of usage is high.
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“Magic Corner is Waste of Money” If you are planning to get Modular Kitchen with a L shaped Platform, kitchen designer will recommend Magic Corner. Magic Corners are kind of Trolleys which fit in corner and when you pull them out, they expand. They look very impressive. Magic corners never get used in long run. They are waste of money. Instead use that space to keep your Gas cylinder or some heavy big object, which you don’t have to handle frequently
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“Mind Traffic lines in Your Home” Traffic Line is common path through which people walk inside home. You walk from Front door to Bathroom, from kitchen to living room, from living room to bedroom, from bedroom to kitchen. All such common path which are used to move from one area to other inside home are Traffic Line. You will probably keep TV set in Living Room & in front of it you will have Sofa set or chairs. If possible, make sure there is minimum Traffic Line between Your Seating arrangement & television set.
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“Kitchen Triangle” When you prepare meal you mainly do 3 important things. - Use Sink ( to wash vegetables, vessels) - Use Cooking range ( for cooking ) Use Fridge ( to store food items ) Hence every Kitchen has these 3 main corners and when you use Kitchen you are moving between these corners. For Efficient Kitchen, make sure: - triangle is not too big (else you will walk a lot) - triangle is not too small (else it will be crumpled) - there are no obstructing objects in middle of triangle
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“False Ceiling in Bedroom” False ceiling makes your room look beautiful. Due to budget constrains Home owners do false ceiling in living room and not in bedroom. Contractors will suggest that no one is going to see your bedroom so don’t worry about doing false ceiling there. In addition to look and feel, False ceiling improves performance of Air conditioning. It reduces volume of the room, hence your AC will have to burn less power to cool the room. False Ceiling also acts as an insulation layer, this is important if your home directly faces sun. If your budget allows do consider false ceiling in bedroom. The money you spend in false ceiling will get paid off by saving in air conditioning in year or two.
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“Kitchen Trolley 304 grade steel” Every Kitchen hardware stores have started selling Kitchen Trolleys. Many will claim lifetime warranty. Well, in a way, they are right. If they have used steel grade of 304 trolleys, it will not catch rust atleast for next 25 years. You probably have some steel vessel which is 30-40 years old in your house, it is not rusted, very likely it was 304 grade steel. Trolleys made up of 204 grade steel will be less costly but will get rust in 2-5 years, depending upon other environmental factors in your local area.
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“Dedicated Circuit Breaker for each High Power Equipment” Circuit breaker increases safety in your home. Whenever there is too much current these cut the power. This is alternative to old style fuse. Without circuit breakers chances of fires and other risks increases. It can also causes equipment to fail. It is good idea to have dedicated Circuit breaker for each high power equipment like Fridge, geyser, A.C evision set.
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“Dedicated 4 mm2 Wire from Main Circuit Board to each room” A dedicated wire should run from Main circuit board to each room. Many Electrician, to cut cost, do looping, they merge connection to more than one room on same wire. A wire that is cut and patched in middle will someday cause faults. If possible a piece of Wire should be uncut anywhere in middle. A single piece of wire from end to end is perfect.
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“Wires within Room are of 2.5 mm2” Wires within room that run between Switch board & end point are of 2.5 mm2. For Example a wire that runs between Fan and switch board. For a high quality job, these wires are uncut. A electrician to save money, might use two leftover piece of wire, join them, to make a electrical point. Avoid such practice. A single piece wire is always better and will reduce chances of fire and faults. Unfortunately, electrical wiring is concealed these days. Hence it becomes important to hire trustworthy electrician & not just hire one because he gave low quote.
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“Concealed Wires below Floor” Yes! It is OK to have concealed wiring below Floor. Advantage is wires that run through walls sometimes have to cross columns. It is not good idea to cut & make path on surface of columns, instead running main wires below floor is OK. ISI certified Conduct Pipes are used to keep wires safe.
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“Bathroom Flooring Mat finish” Choose Mat finish Tiles for your bathroom floor. Glossy tiles are prone to skidding once wet. There are anti-skid tiles available in market and they come costly. However if budget doesn’t permit, even Mat finish tiles are good enough for the purpose. Olden days, Kadappa were used. They are still best option, but are out of fashion.
“Wall Tiling in Bathroom, right way”
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A skilled contractor will instruct his team on how to apply bathroom wall tiles. bathroom fittings like tap or mixer are kept at the center spot where two end of tiles meet. This way minimum edges are displayed on the wall. A good contractor draws the lines with chalk/limestone. makes marking for his Mason worker to start fixing wall Tiles.
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““Flooring Tiles should be covered by paper or plastic or thin tarpaulin sheet” New Flooring once done, needs to be protected. Even after flooring is done there are many other work items left in home. You don’t want some sharp object to make scratches on the floor. Ask your carpenter to cover floor with paper or plastic sheet or tarpaulin sheet. This will protect your new floor from scratch. area.
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“Verify Building Material on Delivery” We did one renovation project in Mumbai. At shop we selected a Sink, when it was delivered at home. We kept it aside. On day of installation which was 2 days later, we found that the one of the edge was slightly bent. We had good business relation with Shop keeper and he was able to exchange the material. However every-time we may not turn lucky. So every-time some material is delivered it is important that Contractor checks it & takes delivery of it. Home Owner may or may not be available but, it’s for Contractor to take the charge of it and manage it.
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“Overhead storage is Value for Money” Once you build Wardrobe, the space above is empty. This space can be converted in to overhead storage. Best part is, all you need to do is make shutters for this space. Wall itself will become back portion. Bottom part is already covered by wardrobe. Top surface is ceiling. If you don’t want to worry about paint or water leakage problem, put low cost wall tiles on the back surface ( wall surface). Shutters could be marine Ply. If budget doesn’t permit, do not apply laminate to these shutters. just paint it. Choose a paint colour that matches with the wardrobe and room colour. Just Paint it. Use it for luggage and items that you don’t require frequently. Many home owners also buy a small folding ladder, which allows safe access to this over head storage.
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“White low cost Laminate for inside surface of Furniture” You have 3 options to cover inner surface of your Furniture like Wardrobe and Bed: - Laminate (low cost white laminate) - Paint it (wood paint, will require repainting in couple of years) - Wood Polish it (Wood polish, requires redoing every other year) If your Budget allows, get white laminate on inner side. This makes your furniture look neat & spacious from inside. White Laminates are cheap and in long run they will be cost effective compared to painting & wood polishing.
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“Granite Counter Tops are the best” Corian surface is new trend in making Kitchen Platform counter Top. Don’t do that. We Indians use lot of spices & juices which will do damage to this surface. Also you cannot keep hot vessel directly on this surface. Granite tops are the best. Buy Granite top that matches your Home interior & simply use it for your Kitchen platform top.
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“Gas Pipeline Provision” People renovate Home not very often. May be once you renovate, you will not wish to redo things for next 10-15 years. if your city or town already has some are connected with Gas piepeline, chances are your building will also get gas pipeline connection in future.
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Talk to your Contractor and find out if he can make provision for Gas Pipeline, even though you are using gas Cylinder today.
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“New Cooking Range might need Electrical point” If you are planning to buy Cooking Range with electrical igniter you will need electrical point. This point is provided inside platform, connected wire gets concealed inside platform. Talk to your contractor if such a provision is needed.
“3% on Bathroom Fitting”
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Yes! Spend about 3% of your budget in buying Bathroom fittings for one bathroom. This is applicable if you are doing complete renovation. For example if you were spending Rs. 6 Lakhs in renovating 1 BHK, 3% is Rs 18,000. This is approximate figure, if you spend more then be prepared to cut cost somewhere else.
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“No hot vessel on top of Glass surface of Cooking Range” If you buying beautiful Cooking range which gets concealed inside Platform and it has surface made up of Glass, here’s one important tip. Do not keep hot vessel on the glass surface. There are cooking range which have 4 stoves and in center there is space, if you keep hot vessel there, you might damage the surface permanently. Alternatively, avoid buying such glass surfaced cooking range. compared to painting & wood polishing.
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“Anti Rust Epoxy Chemical on Grills” Before you Paint your Grill, ask Contractor to apply “Anti Rust Epoxy”. Once this is applied, you can paint the grill. This will avoid rusting of grill made of MS ( Mild Steel). Anti-Rust treatment needs to be done once in 4-5 years. however you can paint & repaint grill every year. There is no need to do Anti-Rust epoxy every-time. If you only apply Paint, chances are that at some spot paint will get scratched off, it will start rusting. However if you have applied “AntiRust Epoxy”, it will take care of such damage.
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“Buying Marble from
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Rajasthan” If you need to purchase marble more than 3500 square feet of marble then plan to buy it from Rajasthan. After all transport and duties you will still save one Lakh rupees or more.
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“Readymade Furniture will not last” If your budget is low, set priority. Low cost readymade furniture will not last long. Hire carpenter for important furniture. Limit yourself to buy Shoe Rack, TV Panel, may be study table readymade. However Bed, Sofa, Wardrobe should be custom made with good quality PLY. Readymade furniture will not last ( period )
“Tiles Spend 5 - 8 %”
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Don’t ask me why. But here is Golden rule. If you were renovating complete home, your Tiles spending should not be more then 5-8% of total budget. 1 BHK for 5%, 2BHK for 6% and so on. But in no case more than 8%.
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“Re-use of Sand from old floor” After Contractor breaks flooring, many times there is Sand below the floor. Yes, you heard me right! May be builder didn’t use enough cement or something happened, and there is good amount of Sand right below your flooring. All Contractors re-use this Sand. They will quickly pack this sand in to bags & club it will new Sand they have bought. Sand is good and there is no problem in using it. Whether Contractor should inform you about it, is for you to ponder. We are just letting you know that it happens all the time.
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“How much does Renovation Cost ?” This is most common question we hear from Home Owners. Answer is not easy. You have to balance so many things. Your Budget, “look and feel” and finally functionality. On average be prepared to pay Rs 750 per square feet on lower side. A mid range economic renovation will cost Rs 1500 per sq. ft. And of course on higher side there are people who spend Rs 3000 and more. So if your Home is 500 sq. ft. in carpet area, and you plan to spend Rs 1500, we are talking about budget of Rs 7.5 lakhs. If that doesnt fit your budget then try Rs 1000/sq. ft. and then budget is Rs 5 Lakhs.
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“Re-using Aluminum Sliding Windows” Calculate price difference between completely new window and reused windows. Re-Anodising Old window, changing inner rubber, locks, cutting glass will add up cost. In most cases price difference will be 30-40% at maximum. If your budget allows plan to get new windows. Aluminum Sections & anodising process have matured a lot over last few years. Good to have new quality material.
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“Powder coated vs Anodised Windows” Old Powder coated Windows can be Anodised, the other way is not true. Do not opt for Powder coated windows, they are not long lasting. Anodising process is way more robust and gives long lasting results. Home Owner who doesn’t have much knowledge will not be able to differentiate between Powder coated & Anodised windows. Here you will need to visit some random store touch the material & get an idea.
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“My Contractor is un-professional” Well, you have no Idea. Its a tough world out there Good people in Renovation industry are getting lesser and lesser. Home Owners usually lose patience after spending lot of money and then relation with Contractor turns sour. There are lot of complains and back answering. Your home is full of dust and you have paid so much money and still work is not completed. Well, let me tell you most of the Contractors out there also don’t want to delay project. They want to finish work, get their money and move to next project. Contractor is handling people from 10 different sub-departments. Have empathy for your contractor, he wants you to get result on time and as per expectations.
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“Overhead cabinets in Kitchen” If you are planning to have Overhead Cabinets inside Kitchen then Plan to have it on both the sides of wall (Opposite wall) . Don’t do it just on one side in name of saving money. It will spoil interior look and feel. Do it on both side, or don’t do it at all.
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“Advance Payment” Contractors do ask anywhere from 20% to 30% advance payment. Within first week of work start, contractor has to start placing order for building material. He will start breaking work without you making payment on day 1. However he will not start buying material until you make payment.
“May I start breaking tomorrow ”
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This is highly important question. Contractors when are close to winning your project will ask if they can start breaking. My Gujarati Contractors say “Hatodo mari dyo”. “Lets put hammer at work”. Once hammer starts breaking work, it is confirmed that project is started, until that point, it’s all talks.
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“24” x 24” tiles are 600mm x 600mm” In market there are some tiles available in size of 604mm x 604mm. Most of tiles are however 600mm x 600m. If Tiles you like is available in 604mm x 604mm, go for it. believe it or not but when you calculate flooring for entire area, there will be significant saving. Renovation is all about saving in small at various places. When you start spending extra here and there, final budget goes way North.
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“Its Recession so it should Cost Less” Not really true! Building Material cost has been rising every year, irrespective of whether markets are up or down. Renovation is costly affair. It is tough and overwhelming. There will be dust. You will spend lot of money, time and energy. Do lot of planning & paper work before work starts, do not micro manage after work starts
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“Cement Sheet. Put it ! Forget it !” Many Home Owners call us after getting frustrated by Water Seepage problem. They have tried everything or may be building exterior needs repair which is not in their control. They simply want to get wall fixed. We started suggesting Cement sheet in such situation. Cement sheets are like thin Plywood sheet, except they are made up of cement. Please don’t get me wrong. understand the situation. You have this wall leakage problem. Painting doesn’t last more than one rainy season. You just want to fix it without repairing actual seepage issue. Buy a big sheet of cement sheet, screw it on wall. That’s it! Paint it, put wallpaper on it, do anything you want on the surface. It is cement sheet. You can keep this cement sheet dipped inside water for months and nothing will happen to it. Cement sheets are cheap, you can screw them on wall. Paint it. Forget it! This point is so crucial, I am using whole page to write it!
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“Changing Contractor in middle of the Project” Don’t even think about it! Many home Owners think that they hired wrong contractor so in middle of project they think of changing contractor. Next Contractor will have to charge you more, because he has to make sure that anything done wrong by earlier guy, doesn’t cause further mess. If you are thinking that you will find someone who is cheaper & will finish work faster, then you are wrong. Sorry ! It will cost more and it will take more time!
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“Wall Tiling without re-plastering” If you are breaking old wall tiles in bathroom or Kitchen and plan is to fix new, heres important tip. Plan to do new Plaster. That is break old plaster and apply new plaster. This will increase life of your wall Tiles. Also you are not at risk of surface going bad. This will add significant cost to your Budget, but it is worth it. new Plaster will once for all remove any chances of Wall Tiled surface going bad.
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“Let the water flow” Alright, I agree it is common sense! But sometimes its bad day at work & your Contractor’s mason just forgot to give right slope to your kitchen platform. Now every-time your pour water, it doesn’t flow towards sink or outlet. Same mistake can happen inside bathroom. You pour water on floor, water goes no where. It stays inside. It should rather flow towards outlet. Ohhh! Slope was not given correctly! Once Kitchen Platform is made, bathroom flooring done, there is technically no possibility of changing the slope. Sorry, Water will not flow out on its own
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“What is right Size of the Wall Tiles” Apart from price, size of the tiles is big decision factor in choosing correct Wall Tiles. Contractor with lot of experience will tell you correct tiles after looking at size of your wall. He will make sure there are minimum Joints and minimum tiles to be fixed in pieces. Size of tile and right starting point of joints will make your wall look cool. Talk to contractor and find out what does he think.
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“False Ceiling inside Bathroom” I am going to Contradict myself. Few points back, I suggested Wall Tiling to be best solution for covering wall inside bathroom & Kitchen. Please understand, here we are tackling different requirement. If you have very high Ceiling and there is no problem of water seepage problem in the wall, then false ceiling is one option for you. Aluminum composite Sheet (ACP) can be used to create a False ceiling. This will lower your ceiling and you will have tile your bathroom tile this point. Imagine if you were to buy Tiles for Rs 90 per sq. ft. for bathroom. For every 1 feet depth of false ceiling inside 7ft x 4 ft bathroom, you buy 28 sq. ft of tiles less. Also save money in labour part of Wall Tiling. Compare difference in Cost for Wall Tiling all the way inside bathroom and using False ceiling inside bathroom.
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“Door & Window Frames in Granite” We always had Wooden frames for Doors and windows. However over period of time good quality wood has become rear and costly. Granite Frames are best and very popular alternatives. They are firm and stay longer then wooden frames. Specially with Windows that have Aluminum Sliding, it becomes necessary that your fames stay rigid and in correct position. Granite & marble frames do this job very well.
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“Which Aluminum Section is your Contractor using ?” Don’t just compare Price factor from two different Vendors for Aluminum Sliding windows. Ask what Section size is getting used. There could be chances that the Contractor with lower quote is using lighter, low quality section. Some common Section sizes for residence project are 15mm, 18mm and 20mm. Good idea to stop by a Shop and hold few samples in your hand to understand how size difference looks like. As size of your window gets bigger, it becomes important to have bigger section for the frame and shutter.
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“Crush Sand better then River Sand” Crush Sand is prepared by crushing stones collected in Quarrying hills. This Building material is not highly matured because it is still new. However it has promising results. Since material is new, pricing is not certain, however it is definitely cheaper than River Sand. This is interesting material for people who consider themselves Environmental friendly. Regular Sand requires mining of Rivers and all over India there is some form Mafia associated with the business. For someone who really cares about Being Good towards environment, should get more details and opt for it.
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“Partition of Kadappa” Let’s say you are shifting small Wall between two bathrooms. or you are closing a Door permanently Or you need some extra depth in your kitchen wall to place your Fridge. Kadappa or Marble Wall is your answer. Kadappa or low cost marble is used to create wall partition. This surface can be painted like regular wall. If wall has Tiles then you can also fix Tiles on this surface, to make it look uniform. So from appearance aspect you have no difference between regular wall and thin kadappa wall. Benefits are, it is cheaper. Brick wall takes up 6 to 9 inches of thickness. Kadappa wall take hardly 2-3 inches.
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“Aluminum Backlite Doors” What is purpose of Bathoom and Toilet doors ? It is Privacy. You don’t need safety here. Your front door has to be strong and thick. bathroom doors are not. Gone are the days when people made doors out of Wood for bathroom. First of all it is not easy to get good quality wood. Secondly marine ply is costly. Aluminum backlite Door is your answer. Many shops keep sample doors, where the upper section of door has non-transparent glass with designs. You can pick and choose material colour and thickness.
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“Carpenter made Kitchen vs Modular” Carpenter does all work manually. Takes couple of weeks to finish Kitchen. Whereas in Modular style, all shutters, are made in factory using machine Pressed process. All components come to your home in next 3-5 days everything is assembled. Modular Style Kitchens look more trendy and are highly functional. There are many factors to consider however as a ballpark - Carpenter made kitchens are 15-20 cheaper then factory made modular style kitchen. Can your Carpenter get shutters ready in Factory ? Absolutely! but they won’t do it, cause it cuts their margins.
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“Texture Painting” You want texture Paint on at least one wall, but you don’t want it to cost too much. Well, I have a suggestion for you. Do textured Painting on Wall behind TV unit. A big part of wall which is covered by TV Panel doesn’t need texture, rest of the Wall can have textured painting surface. Textured painting a wall can cost anywhere from Rs 80 to Rs 150 per sq. ft.
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“Wallpapers for Wall with Leakage” Wallpapers are absolute NO NO on the walls where there’s a leakage problem. Wallpaper will start peeling and it may turn pale. First get Leakage repaired. Before Wall paper is applied a coat of primer needs to be applied on the wall, this kind of protects wall paper from any minor moisture coming out of Wall. But ofcourse this doesn’t solve water seepage problem.
“C4X or Fly Ash bricks” This is costly alternative to regular clay bricks. However they are light, more robust, does not accumulate moisture to later spoil your Paint. They are environmentally friendly compared to other options. Specially if you are making a new wall inside your flat, lighter wall is always preferable.
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“Breaking Process is team work” Breaking process goes on for 8-10 days for typical flat. During this process old plaster, flooring, wires, old plumbing is removed. So it’s not just Civil team that is required but you also need Electrician and plumbing expert to be present. Electrician has to remove all old wiring and make sure few points are still left, for work to continue. Plumber has to make sure there are no unexpected leakages due to breaking or Pipes. Inlet Pipe connection can be closed and open when required. This way you will not break pipeline and waste tank full of water. You don’t want other members of society screaming at you. Talk to Contractor about how does he plan to carry out these aspects while breaking. 8 out of 10 societies where Home get renovated there is always issue of water getting wasted and whole society screaming at you.
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“Does your Home Need new Plaster ?” If your home was renovated or built 20 or more years back, it is no brainer, you need to get new plaster. Let Contractor inspect home and make a decision. Kitchen and bathroom are two places where lot of breaking will happen hence it becomes necessary to do new plaster. Other then Flooring should also have good plaster, else your new flooring will get little unevenness in few years.
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“LED lights to focus lights in corners as required” A living room can have false ceiling with LED lights fixed. It could have Led Light in 4 different corner or it could have 6 LED lights for more light. The good part about LED light arrangement is, they consume less power and you can switch lights only where it is required. For example a corner of Room where you are enjoying Coffee at night, you can switch on light for just that corner. This way these lights allow you to control amount of light inside room and create different atmosphere.
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“Tube light is Important” Although you have planned to use LED lights in 4 corners of your room, it is nice to have a tube Light. Idea is when you want complete room to be brighten, you just switch on tube light. One tube light is sufficient to brighten up whole room.
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Believe me over period of time, you will use tube-light more often then LEDs
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“Wall mounted folding bench inside Bathroom” These are small Plastic seats that are mounted on bathroom Wall using metal brackets. Folding mechanism allows you to open it only when required. These folding bench are value for money for Homes that have small kids or old parents. It is usually fixed in front to shower, so that one can sit on it while taking shower and then while using towel etc.
“Bathroom Fittings”
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Always pick up the product in hand and feel its weight. If one is heavy and other is light (of same style), opt for heavy faucet. A good quality faucet will weigh more than low quality faucet. Do not forget to ask for warranty card. While buying bathroom fittings, try buying set of fittings or similar style fittings to enhance your bathroom interiors.
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“Marble and Granite frame combined” Aluminum Sliding windows require strong Granite/marble frame. The way window frame is designed, part of frame has space for Sliding window section to be fixed & there is other part of the frame that is visible. Hidden part (below sliding) of frame can be made in low cost white Marble. It will hidden anyways below Sliding frame. Visible part can be made using Granite. This way you will save money.
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“Jali (Net) on Kitchen Shutter for Onion Potato basket” Yes punch me in face if you think this is such a silly point. But I have seen so many Kitchens where this is not done. And then after few months Home Owner realises, calls up carpenter to cut a small piece in shutter and fix a Jali inside. This happens all the time, so discuss the point with your Contractor in beginning
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“Aluminum Composite Panel - Good or Bad ?” Aluminum composite Panel are sheet with aluminum base. You can bend it and still avoid sharp edges. This is excellent material, long lasting, not very costly and high aesthetic value. Biggest problem with ACP is, it quickly catches scratches. Hence do not plan to use it for object that will be frequently touched. Use it for TV Panel or ceiling, these places will not get touched a lot, hence will avoid new scratches. Other than that this is excellent decorative material to use inside your home.
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“Selection of granite” Southern granites are hard and most durable. Granite cannot be repolished like marble, while buying you have to buy granite that is polished nicely. Entire slab should be uniformly thick. Believe it or not, since there is demand for Black Granite, there are vendors in market who would Dye Black Colour on granite stone to give it a rich look. Little application of Nail Polish will remove this nail polish. Don’t believe me ? Go ask nearest Granite shop.
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“Mosquito nets inside Aluminum Sliding Windows” Plan how many glass panels and mosquito net panel you would want. If you giving dedicate track ( extra track) for rolling Mosquito net panel then all panels fall/club together. The other option is to have same number of Tracks as number of panels, then you have mosquito panel sharing one of the track with glass Panel. Net panel in this case, is going to permanently take up Space on your frame. This usually happens when you are making provision of net panel on existing window and have no chance to redo things. Excellent alternative is using detachable Mosquito Net Panel. These bend a bit and easily can be fixed or removed from the frame. Good if you are sure that you will need net panel only for certain part of the year.
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“Shower Booster Pump” 1/2 HP Pressure pumps are excellent for bathrooms that are using Rain water shower or shower panel. For a normal shower you don’t need this, however for shower which need to throw water with some pressure, you need this pump. If you live in a building with water tank atleast 4 or 5 floors above you then you don’t need this Booster Pump. However if your building is small or you live on top floor or water source is overhead Tank inside your home - then it becomes necessary to have this Pump. These pumps make minimum sound and they start automatically when you start the shower. Their power consumption is also low. not very expensive and are value for money. Placed in loft or above False Ceiling.
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“Cement” Branded Cements are best. Cement come in different grades- 53 grade, 43 grade & 33 grade. Lower the grade, more is the setting period. And more the setting, stronger the structure/ wall becomes. Therefore lower the grade better the wall strength. 43 grade cement is generally used for RCC work and slab casting, while 53 grade cement is used for plastering of flooring, tiles, etc. Once the cement bag has arrived, check that the bag is not open or torn from any of the sides. xThere should be no lumps inside the cement bag. Do this by putting your hands inside the bag. Also, you shall experience a cool feeling.
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“The Other Contractor is cheaper” There are so many things to compare not just price/quote. Home Renovation is once in a lifetime and costly affair. It is always better to hire successful contractor. If someone is way cheaper than others in market, chances are that he is either: - out of work for long time - going to compromise on workmanship or material - raise his hands in middle of the project and ask for more money
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Dear Home Owners, We spoke to more then 22 Contractors & 6 Interior Designers across 3 different cities to collect these points. Home Renovation industry, specially for Economic Home Owners is going through overwhelming changes. Home Owners have very high aspiration and are full of ideas. Contractor has to manage your expectations, budget & Execution. Since all decisions & discussions are made verbally. During Renovation things go sour. At ContractorBhai.com we are striving to pin-point such pain points & eliminate them using various checklists. We are not perfect in our process, but we are getting better with every single project. Thank you for buying this Ebook, your money allows us to work on our mission. Please feel free to call me or Email me for any suggestions or questions you have. Thank you, Nitin Mekhiya, founder - ContractorBhai.com Cell# +91-9920620009
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