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Make your Dream Home with no hassle

Before hiring a contracter analyze your contracter carefully.GharExpert.com explored the factors one should consider before choosing a contractor and the other factors that will help the relationship stays smooth.

STEP 1:

If you want to get the construction work on through-rate-basis done by the contractor who has own labor and materials, the following steps provide necessary support in achieving the best quality in the construction.
Obtain required sanctions of all competent authorities before starting the construction work to avoid any obstacle during construction.
Complete all drawings and details before allotting the work otherwise there may be a dispute later on. Many contractors demand more money later on if every thing is not settled in advance.
Check the availability of good water for construction work through water supply or by doing bore well.
Make sure that the bore well water is equal to the drinking water standard or get the water tested in the laboratory.
Do not use hard or salty water as it is harmful to construction work.
Check the availability of electricity connection to look after the construction work properly.
Fix the floor level of the building according to the level of adjoining building, flood level, and road level before making the agreement. The floor level should be 2 or 3 feet high from the road level. In case the height of floor level is not mentioned, the contractor tries to maintain the lower floor level to save the time and material cost and earth-filling hassles.

STEP 2:

After completing the preliminary steps for construction work, try to contract a good contractor of the area keeping in mind the following requirements.

Read More

Related articles Construction

Further info at

http://www.gharexpert.com

Cozy Winters

rahiThis is the season when people refrain from the chill outside and tend to spend their maximum time indoors. It would be so good if you could make your home warm, cozy and inviting to face the breeze with ease. Here is what you can do.

Use objects of warm colors

To give a warm feeling to a place, the easiest way is to fill the place with the objects of warm colors, be it furniture or accessories. But this doesn’t mean to just start filling in, it would lead to clutter. The filling up must be thoughtful and systematic.

Make informal seating arrangements

Seating arrangements affect the ambience of the place a lot. Refrain from formal designs and switch to informal seating arrangements. Drape the sofas with similar shaded fabric. Put up cushions and pillows on your sofas and chairs. Clad them with silk and velvet. Try different patterns. Avoid prints and try to go with Jari, embroidery and emboss. Same goes for bed sheets. Use dark hues and matching pillows.

Read More

More info at:

http://www.gharexpert.com

Termite Control

“How to control Termite” is one of the main concerns in old as well as in new constructions. Termite damages the structure in several ways; eat up the articles of furniture such as chairs, sofas, doors, windows, cupboards and stationeries. It destroys the foundation of a building. Also it affects the health of the people adversely. Sub-Terranean termites are responsible for most of the destruction in the building. Termites exist near ground level in a dome shaped mount. It finds access to the super structure through the timber fixed in the ground.


Various termite control methods are following:

INITIAL INSPECTION AND REPORT requires a complete thorough inspection of the buildings and surrounds, and a detailed written report on areas inspected, evidence found of termite activity, high risk termite entry areas inaccessible to inspection and termite control options and limitations thereto.

CHEMICAL SOIL TREATMENT around the perimeter and sub-floor of a building to eradicate termites attempting to gain entry into the building through a treated soil area. On the grounds of safety and effectiveness. Termidor or Premise termiticide, are recommended for this purpose.

TERMITE BAITING and potential TERMITE COLONY ELIMINATION involves the installation and monitoring of termite bait stations.

BUILDING MODIFICATIONS and MAINTENANCE including some termite risk reduction measures the home owner carry out, such as, improving sub-floor ventilation, removal of timber in contact with the soil, opening and clearing important inspection access areas, etc.

Regular FOLLOW-UP INSPECTIONS are essential and should be carried out at least every 3 to 6 months where signs of termite activity has been located in the vicinity of susceptible buildings or timber structures.

Click here to read more about the termites and its affects.

More info at:
www.GharExpert.com

Do you believe in Vastu?

I know a lot of people who belive in Vastu and I also have a lot of friends who do not trust the principals of Vastu but at http://www.gharexpert.com/ our aim is present each side of the story with details and let our esteem readers make their decision on their own.

One of the article describing Vastu principals is linked below

http://gharexpert.com/articles/Vastu-Shastra-1194/WHAT-VASTU-SHASTRA--0.aspx?PL=2&ArticleID=1194&Catid=1338&count=1

Like always, here are my two cents. We all know that our body is made up of chemicals and stuff our behavior and the general well being is closely controlled by how these chemicals stay in shape and Vastu principals provide very good advice as to how we can use the power of nature in an over all well being of our life. But like all other old theories the Vastu sciene is one thing and its interpretations are quite another so if you like, read the theory and develop your own interpretation. Right :)


Vastu
Ghar
GharExpert

Fixing the cracked heart of a building :)

It's amazing how a tiny little precaution measure at the time of constructing a building can save tonnes of moolah later on. It is so true "A stitch in time saves nine"

GharExpert.com has been working on a series of articles where lay-man home makers could watch out for simple precautions at the time of constructing a home and avoid potentially expensive repairs later on.

The first article is "How to avoid cracks in the building"

http://gharexpert.com/home/HOW_TO_PREVENT_CRACKS_IN_BUILDING.aspx

And the second article in this series is
"How to repair cracks in the building"

http://gharexpert.com/articles/Cracks-1468/How-To-Repair-Cracks_0.aspx?PL=2&ArticleID=1468&Catid=1371&count=1

So if you are going to say "yeah... so much about creativity in writing the article titles" then check out the www.GharExpert.com home page, may be the cute little broken heart picture as a thumb nail for this article impress you :)

Enjoy

Official Ghar Expert blog is here :)

Finally the Ghar Expert team launched the official blog for www.GharExpert.com

It is available at http://www.Blog.GharExpert.com

I know the moment I make this announcement, users will be like, hmm.. why another blog, when you have a blog at Blogspot. So here are the reasons why we added a separate blog.

www.GharExpert.Blogspot.com is the team blog exclusively for the Ghar Expert team members who would share the background story about the GharExpert development. This will be more technical blog to satisfy the blogging appetite of our geeky resources including me :)

The official blog of GharExpert available at http://www.Blog.GharExpert.com is for the official announcements about the site and would have content that would interest our primary readers that is people doing construction and interior decoration projects. Would they have overlaps, may be; would it be fun, I hope so; would it help, you let us know :)

Keep reading http://www.GharExpert.com :)

2008 Wallpapers are here

GharExpert.com yesterday launched 2008 wallpapers. Like I said in my earlier post that we were planning to put calendar on each wallpaper image so the team agreed to the idea; I won't say my idea :) but here we are with the 2008 wallpapers from GharExpert.com Check them out and let us know how they look.


Click on the link below to download 2008 wallpapers from GharExpert.com
http://gharexpert.com/Home/Articledetail.aspx?PL=2&ArticleID=1478&Catid=1490&count=1

GharExpert.com; What does Ghar mean anyway?

Ghar is a Hindi word that means "Home" so the website www.GharExpert.com relates to every thing related to home.

I thought I would use this channel to describe the meaning of "Ghar" to our international audience who do not have exposure to the Hindi language.

Even though the articles at GharExpert.com are referred to an Indian audience still the discussion about the spaces, their arrangements, and interior decoration techniques have global touch to them.

So the site not only provides useful contents to a "Global" Indian but also presents the Indian perspective of things to the world. Keep reading http://www.GharExpert.com :)

An Interior Exterior picture is worth 10,000 words, right!

That is what the team at GharExpert.com thinks, In every article that we publish online we focus on getting the pictures with right details so that the message gets conveyed properly. It is not just the Interior Decoration that we are talking about; it also applies to the construction articles too published at www.GharExpert.com

Now checkout the detailed pictures seen at the Kids room decoration article

http://gharexpert.com/Home/Articledetail.aspx?PL=2&ArticleID=1472&Catid=1486&count=1

And then check out the details available in the article How to prevent cracks in the building.

http://gharexpert.com/home/HOW_TO_PREVENT_CRACKS_IN_BUILDING.aspx

The idea remains the same.

Now I want to ask you some thing; should Videos be added to this? With India's broad band usage still at a very nacent stage it may or may not be a good idea. Time will tell :)

Keep reading http://www.GharExpert.com :)

Welcome back to GharExpert.com:)

Welcome; I don't know the box office fate of the movie "Welcome" but it has a very interesting name and theme song. A lot of channels have been playing the song since morning, giving the movie some free publicity, a dream every business venture has :) I know it's not relevant for this post but hey this is a blog :)

This being my first post of 2008, I thought I would start by highlighting one of the most important feature on our website, that is the Question and Answer section of GharExpert.com available at

http://gharexpert.com/ques_ans/ques_list.aspx?SID=&CatID=-1


I know when you start working on a construction project you need answers immediately. Though we don't promise the same day answers but we do try hard to answer the same day with a maximum of 2 business days. We work hard to ensure that the answers are relevant and have the details required to fix the problem. So next time when you get stuck with a construction query. Shoot it to us :) and keep reading http://www.GharExpert.com

Ready for an exciting & promising 2008, GharExpert.com :)

2007 has been a great year for the GharExpert team. Apart from the fact that http://www.GharExpert.com was launched, we were able to get great usability feedback from the engineering students. We have been implementing the feedback in bits and pieces and you guys will see more changes to the website.

We also got a great response to the first phase of 'Design a dream home' competition. Recently the results of the competition were announced and they are available at

http://www.gharexpert.com/Home/Articledetail.aspx?PL=2&ArticleID=1469&Catid=1490&count=1

We closed 2007 on a high note with a team party last night that I will be posting soon. So keep reading http://www.GharExpert.com

Cheers
Gunjan

Love!

During the festival season, I can think of nothing else but love. We love our family, our friends and of course the spaces we live in. A couple of months ago, when I was working on redecorating my office; I chose Golden yellow color on one wall and painted the other 3 walls with cream. Since that day every time I enter my office and see the color combination, I get a very sweet feeling and it helps me start my day on a high.

We at GharExpert.com sincerely hope that you guys would use the ideas presented in the articles posted at Ghar Expert website and use them to design your dream spaces. One such article for your reading pleasure is posted below.

http://www.gharexpert.com/Home/Articledetail.aspx?PL=2&ArticleID=1452&Catid=1434&count=1

Keep reading http://GharExpert.com :)

Holiday spirit all along!

Its been raining fun at GharExpert.com's headquarters since the Christmas weekend started. The team is in the holiday mode and partying hard, we have been celebrating not just the festival and the new year but more importantly the user feedback which is pouring in from all corners of the country. Most of it has been positive and that is very encouraging.

One thing I keep telling my team is that our readers are the most important part of our life and we need to make sure every minute they spend on GharExpert.com is pure fun.

Also in the background we have been working on a new version of GharExpert.com that aims to brings the GharExpert community to the forefront. Keep reading http://www.GharExpert.com :)