How to construct on a soggy plot

By Aaron Kurindi

When buying a land to build a house, many factors come into play when choosing the location. Your dream location may not be available or even affordable. But many of the cheap plots of land are not that cheap. One such option is land in low-lying areas. Some Such plots are often cheaper than the plots on hill tops or uphill. But it comes with heavy construction costs.

Therefore, if you have bought a plot in the low-lying area, there are some things you must keep in mind and consider before you begin construction. You should, for example know that the area is likely to receive and retain a lot of water, making your land soggy. You should consider the initial costs of construction, especially those arising with the construction of a foundation among other factors.

When building a house on a flat piece of land that is not waterlogged, the cost of putting up a foundation is low and time spent is minimal compared to a house being constructed in a soggy place. This difference in creating a foundation that is ideal for supporting the building given that the soil in waterlogged areas has a low load-bearing capacity hence cannot support house as a normal dry land would.

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cost of making a soggy plot usable

Much as the land may be cheap, you spend a lot of money on making the house firm, especially at the foundation level. You must consider the foundation type. The focus should be on creating an ideal foundation. This involves digging out the foundation area and the removal of soil using machines such as bulldozers and caterpillars or in some cases intensive manual labour. This involves hiring labourers to do the digging and removing of soil.

The choice of what method to be used depends on how much the owner is willing to spend. The cost of hiring a bulldozer and an excavator is charged per hour, excluding fuel. This excavated land is then drained of water at the bottom of the pit using a pump, which is also hired and run by qualified personnel.

Another cost comes in the purchase of hard core, which has to be transported and delivered on site. Workers then have to be hired to pack the hardcore in the excavated pit. You will also require murrum to be put on top of the hard core and it should be compacted in levels until the foundation pit area is levelled out. This is done using machinery whose cost of hire is calculated per day. This is all done to create a good foundation to start actual construction of the house.

Another cost to be considered is that of installing drain pipes in the foundation so that the natural flow of water in the ground is not interfered with. The cost of preparing the foundation for your house will be more than sh13m before you start real construction of the house.

Most of the people who ignore some of the above precautions are always faced with flooding in their houses or the paint will  constantly be peeling off.

The writer is a Quantity surveyor.