Our green 'Baker' home built by COSTFORD at Kottayam, Kerala

Penning down my experiences of constructing an eco-friendly house at Kottayam, Kerala. I hope it encourages people to go for eco-friendly houses/practices whilst constructing their houses. Before we start, here are a few images of the house.

The front view. The front sitout and porch on the right are visible.

Porch plus the elevated kitchen towards the rear along with the private sitout

One paved wall in the Guest Bedroom. 'Patch' pointing on the other wall.
Athangudi tiles on the floor.

The stairwell in the Nadumuttam. The stairs are made of 'Purpleheart' wood panels on a steel frame.
Athangudi tiles on the floor plus Kota stone floor towards the corridor.

Living, Dining and Kitchen at the far end.

The MBR outer wall with 'line' pointing work and patches of patch
pointing work. The lower  bedroom door is on the lower right
and the upper bedroom door is right above it.

View of the Living Room from the Upper Bedroom deck. The two colours,
terracotta red and light green, in which Athangudi tiles are laid is visible.

Rear view of the house. The three levels are clearly discernible. The kitchen
and the MBR on opposite ends are at the same level.The area abeam the stairs running down from the kitchen houses the Rain water harvesting tank.

Patch pointing work in the MBR with the Kilivathilu (small window) opening
out into the central courtyard (Nadumuttam). 
 The Athangudi Tiles are also visible on the floor.

It had always been our desire that the house we constructed for ourselves should be an eco-friendly one, in the manner which was followed by our ancestors in Kerala, designed to remain cool and cosy irrespective of the season. Off late, we had felt at unease at the manner we saw the houses being built in Kerala, steeped in cement, concrete, steel and paint, requiring air conditioners to inhabit and with no concern whatsoever for the environment. The funny part was that the malayali, off late, had no compunction, whatsoever, for tiling the entire courtyard as he did not want his vehicle or his feet 'soiled', not realising that water was always going to be scarce when we didn't allow the scanty/ erratic rainfall to percolate into the ground resulting in quick runoff, flooding downstream and dry wells at the first sight of summer.

The house construction though in our thoughts was nowhere close to fruition due to our absences away from Kerala, due to the nature of my work. However, realisation dawned on us during our vacations in June 2014 that if we delayed the construction any further, the house in the form we envisioned may remain a dream due to the looming shortage of construction material, burgeoning cost of construction material & trained labour. The construction industry in Kerala has, for a few years now, been totally dependent on labour from the North Eastern parts of India. Whilst not questioning their competence, their knowledge of our time-tested practices in construction were obviously not part of their repertoire. Further, the construction boom and large scale urbanisation of Kerala coupled with tightening environmental norms was leading to a shortage of construction material. We therefore without any thought on how we would manage the construction, went and met Mr. Biju, the Engineer at COSTFORD (Centre of Science & Technlogy for Rural Development- an organisation started by the legendary Laurie Baker), Kottayam seeking  their advice and collaboration in constructing our dream home. 

COSTFORD was the obvious choice due to it having been established and nurtured by Mr. Laurie Baker, who had championed the cause of low-cost and more importantly for us, environment friendly architecture. I had read up on the Baker model of construction and had always envisioned that our house, whenever we constructed one, would be a 'Baker' model one. I would at this stage wish to allay any apprehensions of the houses being built by COSTFORD being unaesthetic or being short on finesse/style. They have changed over time and make efforts to include actionable suggestions of the client. I'll explain later as to changes made by us to what was envisioned by COSTFORD for us. Mr. Biju, after having shown us the albums of their houses/projects directed us to visit two of their projects before registering with them. This was, we were told, to enable the client to know exactly what they were getting into and to have no illusions as to the end-product. Although we were very clear on the end-product we wanted, we went and saw two residences, one of Mr. Joy at Kollad and another of a teacher, Ms. Tess at Njaliyakuzhy. We just loved both the houses and registered with COSTFORD after paying a registration fee of Rs. 1000/-. We returned after having told Mr. Biju as to what we had in mind. 

We were essentially looking for a 4 Bed Room (BR) structure with a Nadumuttam (Central Courtyard) on a plot we had bought in 2003 at Kottayam. The plot was on three levels and sloping downwards & eastward from the road.

Layout of the plot with the well in the far lower eastern corner

We wanted the bedrooms to be airy and have enough light and air. We also wanted that the main gate, which is on the South-Western corner of the plot, should be visible from the kitchen. 

The ground floor plan which we settled on was as under.

The first floor plan was as under.

The plan was to see some changes at a later stage, but more of that later. 

The plot was well secured with a compound wall & had a well. The compound wall and the digging of the well was done under the aegis of my Father between 2005 to 2008, in broken periods, who had also selected the plot for us.

I believe that there is a time for everything and so is it for the construction of your house. After we had gone to COSTFORD without thinking as to how would we manage the construction and its monitoring, I was compelled to seek a transfer to Trivandrum to tend to my ailing Father, whose health showed a downward trend in Jul/Aug 2014. I finally moved to Trivandrum in Sep 2014. This provided me the opportunity to look after the construction during my weekly weekend visits home, to tend to my father and his treatment. 

The plan for the house was finally settled, after many iterations, sometime in Oct/Nov 2014 and COSTFORD sent me the papers/plans for applying to the Panchayat for the 'Construction Permit'. I applied for the 'Permit' in Nov 2014 and received the permit on 17 Dec 14, after the site had been inspected by the Secretary of the Panchayat. I want to here laud the local authorities in Kerala for not demanding any out of the way favours for the permit, not that I was keen to oblige. 

COSTFORD insisted that I should arrange a room for their masons to stay and work from or alternately consider constructing a 16' X 10' room with a toilet for the men to live on the site. I chose the latter option as it would ensure that the men lived on the site, thus ensuring security for the material and secondly, the structure could be of use to me at a later stage. This task was outsourced by me to a local contractor, who accomplished the job at a cost of around Rs. 80,000/- in two weeks' time. I also had to arrange for an electricity connection at the site. I applied to the KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) after the necessary switches, ELCB etc. were installed on the store at the site. The site and the arrangements were inspected by the Overseer & the Asst Engineer at the Gandhinagar Sub-station. The electricity connection was through on 24 Jan 15, again without any demand/giving of any favours to the people concerned. This of course was after I had bought the service wire for the last mile connectivity from the nearest post, as the service wire was not in stock and would have resulted in delays if I had waited for the same. This is despite the fact that the service wire had already been paid for by me to the KSEB as part of their connection costs.

I had prior to this done the 'stone-laying' function in the presence of our parents and the local priest. It was a small affair with distribution of packed snacks in paper bags. The only indulgence, at the insistence of my Father, was the purchase of  a stone meant for stone-laying, etched with the Holy Cross for the purpose. The solemn and brief function was done on 22 Jan 15 and was one of the important milestones in the journey. The Masonry Contractor, Jyothi (Mr. Vijay Kumar) along with Soman Annan, as the helper were there along with Mr. Biju, the Engineer from COSTFORD. It was agreed that the work would commence on 01 Feb 15, after I had got the site readied. 

The Anjily (Artocarpus Hirsutus) wood for the door frames etc. had been cut in Sep 14 at the behest of my Father. The wood was skinned and left to dry. The issue was of transporting it to the sawmill and getting it cut into the right sizes and numbers for the woodwork. I expected the wood, a tree aged over 70 years to suffice for the door/window frames and the doors & windows per se. However, once the wood was put under the saw at the Mill, I realised that the wood would just be sufficient for the frames, if I was lucky. This was in spite of COSTFORD having lesser dimensions for the frames to save on the quantum of wood used. I realised later that the wood not being sufficient was to do with the large sized windows, for better lighting in the rooms, coupled, I think this is important, with the fact that native woods with a larger circumference at the base and tapering towards the top, resulted in conversion rate of only around 50% of the log to useable wood. It subsequently dawned on me that the conversion rate from log to useable wood in the case of imported logs was close to 75-80% due to the uniform circumference of the logs, when I went in for purchase of wood at a later stage. More of that later. I spent Rs. 9000/- for cutting & transportation of the log to the sawmill. It cost me another Rs. 13,200/- for the sawing expenses. The sawing rate at the Mill is dependent on the volume of the logs cut and has no relation to the useable wood produced as a result of the sawing. 

The readying of the site included use of a JCB machine to level the site on the N-S axis considering that in addition to its prominent downward slope towards the east, the site was also sloping from 'N' to 'S'. Since, I wanted two of the bedrooms, the Living, Dining and the kitchen to be on one level, the N-S slope had to be levelled for facilitating the same. The eastward downward slope was however used for housing the central courtyard and one bedroom at a lower level (as can be discerned from the plan). The upper bedroom was housed over the lower bedroom, resulting in the house being on three levels, the ultimate desire of every Mallu (a three storeyed house)!! I was very clear that the kitchen had to be on the same level as the Master Bedroom and the Living/Dining, as the kitchen at a lower level could have been very taxing on our knees in the sunset of our lives. The best part about the plan was that three of the bedrooms were in the East, ensuring that they received the morning sun and remained cool during the hot afternoons. The central Courtyard (Nadumuttam) and the kilivathilu (small windows) opening out from the bedrooms into the courtyard ensured good ventilation and allowed the hot air to escape through the courtyard which was open to the sky.

The trenches for the foundation were in the first instance excavated using a Hitachi machine. The machine helped quicken the task considering that the ground was hard and was in any case quicker than manual labour. I would like to clarify that the trenches were subsequently 'dressed' manually as the machine had limits to what it can do. Once the trenches were done, I started unloading of stones for the foundation. The stones were procured @ Rs. 3500/load of 150 Cuft. The stone masonry work on the foundation was much higher than  normal due to the different levels and the requirement of raising the kitchen to the level of the Living/Dining. A change in the plan was effected at this stage with an additional door cum window in the dining area opening out into a verandah. The space underneath the raised kitchen floor and the verandah being used as the water harvesting tank. Although water in the well on the site was ample and sufficient to meet our needs, I was clear that a rain water harvesting structure was a must considering the scarcity of water in general and was meant to ensure that we made full use of the bountiful, though (off late) erratic, rainfall in Kerala. 

Revised ground floor plan

The sharp edges of the square steel rods are towards the outside/inside of the room.

The protection on the windows was in the form of 3/4" square steel rods which were to be fitted vertically on the window frames, with the sharp edges on the outside, making them difficult if not impossible to bend.

I also had to arrange for water for the construction as I realised that though the clear sunny weather allowed uninterrupted construction activity, the approaching summer ensured that the water in the well would be insufficient to sustain the construction activities. The water was supplied at site @ Rs. 600/- for 4000 l. Although it seemed like a big expense ab initio, the final figures reveal that I just spent close to Rs. 13,800/- on the water, which was a small price to pay for the uninterrupted construction which the absence of rains allowed us. 

The first concreting job was for the kitchen floor which would serve as the roof of the water harvesting structure. This was done on 10 Mar 15. 

COSTFORD sources their bricks from Marthandam, Tamil Nadu and from near Pathanamthitta, which is closer to Kottayam. However, I could get the bricks only from Marthandam, with each brick costing Rs. 7.75/-, including the transportation cost. I ordered for 28,000 bricks. I finally bought another 500 Alwaye bricks locally towards the end. In addition, I did buy cement bricks for the fully paved walls in the bathroom etc. to save on bricks. The bricks used by COSTFORD are a little different in that they are clean finished only on one face and are 2" in width. The bricks are laid in the 'rat trap' model, which allows a gap within the wall for insulation and results in one side of the wall being clean finished requiring 'line pointing' & the opposite side of the wall requiring 'patch pointing'. 'Pointing', by the way is the process of filling in cement in the gap between the bricks after they have been laid. Since the outer side of the wall is clean finished i.e. the bricks are laid in line, it requires only line pointing whereas the opposite side of the same wall would require pointing in patches as the width of the 9" brick wall would result in gaps in the brick work necessitating 'patch pointing'. The corners and the space over the windows/door frames in the wall would be filled in for strength. The space within the bricks would also allow for running of the electrical conduits. Here's how a rat trap bond would look.

 

Rat trap Bond. The gaps ensure insulation &reduced usage of bricks. The gaps
are also used for routing the pipes for the electrical lines.

The main door frame was installed on 08 Mar 15. This was done without much fanfare with only me being present. I was more concerned with getting the work done rather than the ceremonies 
& went through with it solo...

Laying of the main Anjily door frame.

  

The raising of the walls was quick and Jyothi told me that we could plan for the shuttering work for the roof by middle of April. I had left the site to Jyothi and he would manage the site including ordering of the cement and the water. I would on most weekends come over from Trivandrum for reviewing the progress. Ms. Shantu from COSTFORD was the Site Supervisor and she was the link between COSTFORD and me and was generally responsible for managing the site on behalf of COSTFORD. 

I had to arrange for old tiles which would go into the concrete. The technology called 'filler slab' technology consisted of placing filler material, in this case, used/old Mangalore clay tiles in the concrete which ensured better heat insulation, lesser quantity of concrete, steel and cement, without affecting its structural strength and  reduced the cost by as much as 25% due to the reduced use of cement & steel. The old tiles were procured at prices varying from Rs. 2 to Rs. 4 per piece. The tiles were thereafter pressure cleaned using water @ Rs. 3.25 to 3.5 per tile resulting in the cost of an old refurbished tile, which is as good as new or in fact better than a new tile @ Rs. 6-7.5 per tile as against the cost of Rs. 16-18 for a new tile. Better, because the quality of tiles of yore is difficult to replicate in a new tile due to the poor workmanship and quality of clay. It also makes good economic sense to use old tiles in the filler slab, failing which the cost advantage of a filler slab may be neutralised to a great extent by the use of new tiles. 

The fresh bare filler earth slab roof with all the
 tiles visible from the bottom. The bare wall without 'pointing'
is visible on the far wall.

The finished filler earth slab with only chosen tiles visible to create a pattern. You can also choose to not show any tiles.

The space in between the steel rods is where the tiles are placed.
See the concealed beam for extra strength.

  The concreting truss work was done by Mr. Rameshan. He suffered a tragedy during the construction losing his wife to a rare disease which bled him financially. What was endearing was the support extended by the extended COSTFORD family, both emotionally and financially, to him during the crisis. I feel that the empathy for nature and the environment reflected in the construction methods also rubs of on the people involved and I can say that but for very rare exceptions, most people associated with COSTFORD are well mannered and easy to deal with, which is a lot when you are dealing with a Mallu. COSTFORD works like a family and Mr. Biju, as the head of the team at COSTFORD Kottayam chapter is the lynchpin, running it very efficiently and whilst he is very demanding with the team, also looks after their interests. The only issue, as I see it, is that the entire team is driven by one individual and it all revolves around him. Mr. Biju regularly visited the site to check on the progress and crucial work such as the concreting would be done only after he had checked and ensured that the preparation was as mandated. He was always available for advice, suggestions and ideas.

Just as the scaffolding support for the main roof was nearing completion, I lost my Dad on 24 Apr 15. Dad had been valiantly battling an aggressive form of Cancer for the last ten years. He had lost his limb in the process in addition to the many sessions of Chemo & radiation which he faced with so much of courage infused with the indomitable spirit to live and fight the disease. He is very dearly missed and will always be in our prayers.

As the quantum of wood was insufficient for the doors & windows, I went in for purchase of 'Purpleheart' (Peltogyne) for the same. Its a hard wood and very popular in the Americas. I was surprised to see the size of the logs and the uniform girth which ensured very little wastage. The wood is popularly known as 'Violet' in Kerala, presumably due to its colour and it generally darkens to the colour of redwood when exposed to light. 'Violet' comes in the Rs. 1700-2000 per cuft range, though its fallen out of favour now, possibly because of its relatively low cost. Higher the cost, better it is supposed to be!!!

The main roof concreting was done on 08 May 15. The freshly laid  roof was treated with cement slurry (a method employed by COSTFORD to close the pores in the concrete) on the next day and left to cure with wet jute sacks on the sloped roofs and standing water on the flat sections. The curing was done for seven to ten days and the supports were taken off after 15-20 days. Relied on the PDS Ration shops for the jute bags. Bought 120 bags at Rs. 10/piece. 

The last of the roofing work, i.e., for the Bedroom on the upper level, the roof of the central Courtyard and the roof of the stairwell was accomplished on 25 Jul 15. The concreting work had happened over five phases due to the multiple levels. The greatest worry after the setting in of the monsoons was of the rains when the concreting was on. I had catered for large plastic covers, which are available for rent for covering the wet concrete in case it rained. However, God was kind and all of the concreting went off without the rains. The irony is that you crave for the rains after the laying of the concrete, as it aids curing. Nothing like a slow steady drizzle for a freshly laid concrete roof requiring curing.

Jyothi placed a demand for river sand for the pointing work stating that the pointing work will not work out neatly in the absence of river sand. Now, river sand is a prized and strictly regulated commodity in Kerala due to the adverse impact on the rivers, water table et al, due to the rampant irregulated extraction thereof from the rivers. We finally managed to find a legal supply depot of river sand at Changanacherry, with a truck load costing us Rs. 22,500/-. He supplied the same with a mining certificate and with the necessary approval of the Mining Dept. 

It was time now to look for the flooring material and although we were initially ambivalent on the material, we settled on Athangudi tiles for the bedrooms and the hardy Kota stone for the sitouts, Kitchen and the corridors. We settled on Athangudi as it was earthy, was hand made and would go well with the kind of house we were building. It would also be our bit towards encouraging the cottage industry making these tiles at Athangudi. In my opinion, tiling material available in the market other than Terracotta floor tiles are glossy, flashy and boringly uniform. Now, Athangudi tiles are made at a place called Athangudi near Karaikudi in Sivagangai district, Tamilnadu. It is said that the sand at Athangudi is the vital ingredient which is what is unique in the material which goes into the tile. The tiles are essentially cement tiles with a colour oxide finish which over a period of time and with regular use attains a glass kind of finish, just as the oxide floors of yore. They just need to be mopped with water with a dash of coconut oil. Just like a good regular Mallu!! In fact, I'm reminded of the impeccable black oxide finish at the Padmanabhapuram palace near Marthandam, where you can literally see your face in the floor. Marvellous, considering that the floor is close to a century old with heavy footfalls. It is supposedly finished with egg white, lime, burnt coconut shells et al. 

Considering the lead time required for the order for the tiles to get ready, it was decided that we should order at least a month in advance. We had settled on Ganapathy tiles at Athangudi, with its owner, Natarajan (+919791374846; Email- sriganapathytiles@gmail.com, he is tech savvy and is also on Whatsapp) having been recommended by Ms. Savithri Preetha Nair & Mr. Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, who had used his services twice over for the tiles at their residence at Kottayam. In fact, Mr. Ramesh provided me exhaustive guidelines on getting the necessary clearances from the Commercial taxes Dept, Kerala for bringing in these tiles from TamilNadu. More of that later.

We, i.e. self, Biju and an uncle of mine, Mr. Mathew departed by road for Athangudi to place the order for the tiles. It was a nine hour ride from Kottayam, through Theni, Madurai & finally Karaikudi, a distance of 350 km. We halted at Karaikudi, as it has decent accommodation, for the night and departed for Athangudi, which is about 15 Km from there, the next morning. Karaikudi is famous for its ostentatious Chettinadu homes and we visited a couple of them whilst looking for breakfast. In fact, the residence of the owner of the 'Mess' we dined at, belonged to a film production coordinator who had photos of who's who of the Tamil film and political world plastered on his walls, of course with him in them. In any case, in Tamil Nadu very little separates the political from the film world. The only non-filmi personality on his wall was Shri P Chidambaram, who is a local bigwig considering that he belongs to Sivagangai and was the local MP. The Mess Owner also recommended Ganapathy tiles, indicating that we had indeed settled on somebody who could be trusted. 

Chettinadu homes are huge structures, veritable palaces, and reflected the money and influence of the famed Chettiar traders of yore who had travelled far & wide in pursuance of their trade. Some photos of a mansion at Athangudi.

 

See the intricacy of the work of yore.

Rooms around the central courtyard. Notice the tiles &
wooden pillars.

Detail of the tile around the Central Courtyard.

       

The intricate work on the Main door frame.

The Living Room!!

The central Coutyard around which the bedrooms are situated.

The Dining Hall!! Its 200X30 ft...

The front verandah. Single stone pillars!!!

A Typical Mansion. In the foreground, is what is happening to most of these structures!!!

We settled on plain terracotta red tiles for the Living/Dining & light green tiles for all the bedrooms. The rate was Rs. 35/Sqft just for the tiles and an additional Rs. 10/sqft if you wanted the tiles to be laid by trained Masons & helpers from Athangudi. The Mason would also have to be paid bata @Rs. 450/- and Rs. 600/- was the rate per helper plus their food expenses for the onward and return journeys and the cost of the transportation. It is best that the Athangudi tiles are laid by the Masons trained in the work. They generally come in along with the tiles and stay on for the laying work. The only issue was the readiness of the structure to undertake the flooring work. One important issue with these tiles is that they are not meant for rough usage post-laying and are easily prone to scratches. So, ideally they should be laid after all the civil works and worker traffic has thinned. We also had to ensure that the toilet tiling, kitchen tiling and the Kota stone laying work minus the polishing was finished before we undertook the Athangudi tile work. The tiles finally came in in the beginning of Oct. 

The paperwork required me to get the approval of the Commercial Tax Officer at Kottayam, that the tiles were for my residential purpose and thus exempted from paying tax on entry into the state. It initially required me to get a certificate from the Village Officer that the tiles were for a house being built by me. It required the Village Officer paying a visit to the site. I thereafter had to submit the copy of the plan, permit etc. to the Commercial tax Office after having submitted the application online. The Commercial Tax officer visited the site and verified that I actually needed the tiles on ground. Wonder what was the purpose of the certificate from the Village Officer!!! The Commercial Tax Officer cleared the proposal online, after his visit to the site. The interaction was positive and helpful, notwithstanding the multiple visits I had to make, in the absence of proper guidelines for the process. However, wish to place on record his help in easing the process. In fact, I had been guided, not by him, to mark the tiles as ceramic tiles in the online application. However, the bill sent by the vendor indicated that they were cement tiles, which led to some trouble when the tiles were at the state border checkpost. However, they made it across and the work finally commenced on 04 Oct. It took about a week and was supervised by my brother in my absence. One issue which I forgot to mention is that all the approvals, copy of the Plan, Permit etc in original, had to be forwarded to Natarajan so as to be produced at the Check post for the clearance.  

Athangudi tiles in the bedroom.

The electrical wiring & the laying of the pipes etc. was started after the roof supports came off. In the Baker model, the wiring conduits are generally laid through the roof to avoid cutting of the brick walls. The wire to the switchboards is routed through the gaps in the 'Rat trap' bond brick wall which has gaps within. To get the best possible deals for the wire, switches, accessories etc., I had sought quotes from prospective suppliers and thereafter gone for the lowest. However, this was without compromising on the quality. So, therefore if we had settled on Havells or Finolex for the cables, I sought the quotes for both from the prospective shops and went for the lowest one of the brand settled by me, which was Finolex. I was very sure that we should have the best or nearly the best for the fixtures. So, settled on Jaguar for the taps et al and Cera for the basins, commodes etc. 

We settled for NITCO tiles for the porch & bathrooms. Had some problems on delivery due to the items coming from Ernakulam. It is important to settle on the brand, design etc. well in advance to obviate delays, as the dealers may be unable to deliver as promised upsetting schedules. 

The floor is Kota stone. The cupboards are made of 'Violet'.

The kitchen is L shaped. Rain water harvesting tank is below the kitchen.

The Kitchen tiles were CERA on a black granite counter top. Went for a traditional wood base (Violet again) for the kitchen counters with a black granite top, so as to preclude termite and borer issues which arise from use of alternate materials such as plywood.

The door fittings including locks, handles etc were all from Godrej. 

Kota bordered with 'antique' granite in the porch. Teak doors/Windows.

The porch floor as mentioned earlier was in Kota with  a border of 'antique finish' granite.The granite was finished to appear weathered, as is the case with granite floors in old temples etc. which takes away that gloss associated  with granite floors otherwise.  

I had also bought some teak for the front doors and windows. I had in the first instance explored the Govt wood depots but lost interest due to the procedures involved. I then settled on Wild teak called 'Kuppu theku', bought by the mills through Govt auctions. Such teak comes from the Govt controlled forests and is better than the teak which generally grows in private plots essentially due to its size, uniform girth and that it has been cut after it has aged sufficiently. The advantage of buying from private Mills was that you could buy as much as you wanted and in the proportion required. Teak doors are preferred in Kerala due to its sheen, grains and high oil content in the wood which makes it amenable to carving, not that I was interested in carving. Even COSTFORD abhors excessive work on the doors/windows and keeps it simple. The rates for the woodwork are fixed item wise by COSTFORD and payments are made to the Carpenter after the bill has been cleared by them. 

The plan had catered a flat roof for the MBR, Dining Hall, Kitchen and the passage leading from the Living/Dining to the MBR. The entire roof over the MBR was covered with a metal truss laid over with new Mangalore tiles. This would ensure a covered space for drying clothes in the interminably long (at least till now!!) monsoon season of Kerala. A provision was also made for doing the laundry over here, so that the clothes went straight on to the wire after the wash. The truss work was done @ Rs. 135/sqft including the cost of the tiles. The metal truss work was also done for the roof of the porch adjoining the  sit-out. The work for the truss work was outsourced to a local contractor who did a reasonably good job in good time. The rest of the flat roof which is exposed to the Sun is intended to be used for the Solar water heater installation and for the installation of the solar panels for the 'On Grid' solar project, in the future, which will eliminate the need for batteries and also allow you to push excess generation on to the Grid. The water tank  which was placed over the bathroom of the upper level bedroom was raised by over 4 ft using a metal scaffolding base so as to cater for the installation of the water heater in the future, failing which it would be difficult for the water from the main water tank to reach the solar heater tank.

The flat roof is also planned to be used for terrace gardening. The desire to grow vegetables on our own has been heightened by the indiscriminate use of pesticides in commercially available veggies. Please see the videos of Mohanan Vaidyar on Youtube to see the kind of contaminants and adulterants in the food that we buy today. Really scary. He explains so beautifully that just as in computers, 'garbage in garbage out' is what works with our bodies too. Adulterated food can only result in diseases and cancer, not in good health. Soiling your hands and growing your own food, wherever possible or buying from reliable sources who grow truly organic produce seems to be the only way forward.    

04 Jun 17. Went vacationing to Kerala as usual in the summers this time. What struck me most was the shortage of water, in a place which used to get bountiful monsoons. Most wells had run dry and tankers transporting water were a ubiquitous feature on the roads. Thats when it struck me that I should immediately operationalise the rain water harvesting structure which I had built into the kitchen basement. I decided to tap the water from the tiled surfaces on the roof and finally decided to tap roughly 1200 sqft of tiled roof. This would ensure that the water was generally free of contaminants which are on flat roof surfaces exposed to human intervention. 

The problem was that the tiled roof surface on the upper bedroom was at a height of over 20 ft from the ground and was not easily accessible. The job of fixing the receptacles for collecting water (paati) along with supports at the edge of the tiles was outsourced to the contractor who had done the truss work on the roof. The work took one day and the total cost for this worked out to Rs. 7000/- for the materials and Rs. 3500/- for the labour. Mind you that this material and cost was for only two-thirds of the work as the remaining paati etc. had been done initially during the truss work on the roof. This cost also included the cost of the material and fabrication for a stand for the rain water filter, which I finally did not use!! 

Filter along with the motor for pumping up the water to the overhead tank

The traditional filter attached for filtering rainwater consists of a plastic drum filled with charcoal, sand & gravel. This is high on maintenance as the filter gets choked with waste, which would result in overflow from the filter and wastage of water. It was then that my brother, Joe who is into all kinds of environment friendly initiatives and Organic Farming, informed me of a filter manufactured by Rainy Filters, Chikmaglur, Karnataka which was very low on maintenance and comparatively small in size facilitating easy installation. I learnt of this only after I had got made the stand for the traditional filter and thus the unused stand!! I bought the FL-100 (http://www.rainyfilters.com/fl-100.html), the smallest filter from Farmland and have installed the same. The filter costs Rs. 8700/- in Kerala & Rs. 5850/- in Bengaluru. 

Rainwater harvesting

The plumber took two days to do the installation and the connections. The material cost was approx Rs. 10,000/- and the labour cost was Rs. 4800/-. I also made sure that the overflow from the tank went into a soak pit, three feet deep, filled with gravel and old broken Mangalore tile pieces which was dug near the open well so as to allow excess water to percolate into the ground near the well, aiding recharge of the shallow aquifers. The water collected in the tank could be used through a tap which has been fitted below the tank level. Otherwise, if required, the water can also be raised to the overhead tank through a 0.5 hp motor (Kalpa Motor for Rs. 2,700/-). Hope the arrangement will ensure uniterrupted supply of water in the days ahead.

  Dec 22. We went on vacation and stayed there for a good four weeks after a long gap. Some snaps from the stay. Have acquired some period furniture and also laid natural stones in the driveway. Here it goes….