5 Tips for Making Your Home Monsoon Ready

Jul 5,2015 / By Team Commonfloor Groups / No Comment

Monsoons are here and our surroundings are full of lush greenery and our once-in-a-while indulgence of walking in the rains is much loved. But amidst these small wonders it’s also gloomy all around with the sun playing spoilsport most of the time. There’s a rise in water borne diseases not to mention the growth of algae and fungus, all adding to the cause of various illnesses. Our homes also suffer considerably due to the monsoons as there are leaking roofs, damp cupboards, damp smelling rooms and clothes, wet patches on the walls and wooden furniture and doors expanding resulting in a lot of damage.

Senior Citizens in Mumbai Robbed at Gunpoint in their own Home

Jun 24,2015 / By Team Commonfloor Groups / No Comment

In a recent incident reported by the Times of India (http://goo.gl/qoVYAR) that took place in the first week of June 2015, where a senior citizen who was alone at his home was exploited by a person who posed as a gas agency executive has left many shaken.

The incident occurred between 2.15pm and 3.30pm when the accused charged on Sridhar Bhate (the victim) and overpowered him. He tied Bhate’s hands and legs with a nylon string which he was carrying and at knifepoint robbed him of valuables worth rupees 40,000. Fortunately the accused left without hurting Bhate. But not always are victims so lucky and many a time they are grievously injured and even murdered. Like it happened to a senior couple at the end of 2014 when Nauseer Irani (76) and his wife Nargis (74) were murdered in their flat in Palghar – Mumbai. The New Indian Express (http://goo.gl/dpivPV) reported that four unidentified persons had forcibly entered their house murdered them and debunked with a total of rupees 4.9 lakhs from the house, mostly in the form of jewelry. The incident happened during the afternoon and it was discovered only the next morning.

Domestic Help Drugs and Robs Resident in Mumbai

Jun 24,2015 / By Team Commonfloor Groups / No Comment

Domestic helps, while being a boon to working professionals to give them some respite in their hectic lives, are often known to be accomplice in robbery/ murder of their employers for money and valuables.

Recently in Khar, Mumbai as reported by the DNA (http://goo.gl/Xz3Nh0), a domestic help had attacked and robbed his employer, an elderly couple, of valuables and fled. Police are finding it difficult to trace the person as the couple only knew his first name and no other details to trace their address/ origins. This is not the first time that such daunting incidents have come to light. Many times these house-hold helps or drivers/ babysitters allow their acquintances to enter the house with the intention of robbing the residents. Police are typically clueless as victims are unable to provide any details of their domestic help, apart from just first names and a few basic details. It’s also a myth that this doesn’t happen in gated communities.

Writing-off Irrecoverable Due with the Help of Society By-Laws

Jun 22,2015 / By Team Commonfloor Groups / No Comment

Housing societies big or small needs a set of rules and regulations to run smoothly. However, to get it registered they need the by-laws in place. By-laws are nothing but guidelines which are to be followed by the members of the society so as to ensure proper working of the community is ensured. Also, with the help of the by-laws, issues can be addressed in a timely and effective fashion. These are local/private laws and are put in place just after the housing complex is registered. These laws are mandatory and extremely useful as the day-to-day functioning of the complex is monitored and issues sorted in no time with its help.

Right Step Tips uncategorized

Tips for Making Your Home Earthquake Resistant

May 28,2015 / By Team Commonfloor Groups / No Comment

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Earthquakes can occur at any place and at anytime and if one is not prepared the loss to property and life would be unimaginable. In the wake of the recent earthquakes that hit Nepal and flattened many of its towns and historical structures we at CommonFloor felt it our responsibility to inform each one of you about earthquake proof houses and how to ensure that your abode is earthquake resistant to a large extent, if not entirely. We say ‘not entirely’ as building entirely earthquake proof houses is extremely expensive and may in fact be impossible.

Firstly, if you are getting your house/apartment built then you have to know which part of India you live in. India is divided into mainly two zones- one being the high seismic zone and the other one being the low seismic zone or may be nil. The northern part of India falls around the high seismic zone and hence buildings there must be built in a way to be able to sustain jolts of a minimum of 4.5 in the Richter scale. If you are buying a house then make sure to get the structural design from your builder so as to get it checked by experts. It might be a lengthy process but it’s always important to be safe.

If you are in the process of getting your house built then here are some of the ways through which you can ensure an earthquake resistant house. To begin with, include shear walls, shear core and cross bracing when the foundation is laid. Support walls are known as shear walls and are mainly laid around staircases or elevator shafts for providing a better grip to that hollow space. Don’t forget to get the walls strengthened and supported by diagonal steel beams known as cross bracing.

Moving on, add the base isolator methods which acts as shock absorbers between a building and its foundation. These shock absorbers are made of alternate layers of steel and a type of synthetic rubber acting as a spring during earthquakes. These absorb the to and fro motion.

Other ways of keeping your house earthquake resistant is by building it on a column which is placed as deep as 2 ½ meters under the ground. Beams must be placed to provide extra support and the roofs must me made extra sturdy. The bars in the column should be minimum 12 mm thick with about 900/900 foundation.

Apart from the above if you have a plot it’s advisable not to directly go into building a house there as the soil might not be fit enough to take weights. Even if it is, it’s important to know how much weight it can take. In such situations do get the soil tested which can be done by a number of private and even semi-government agencies. These agencies would tell you how much weight the soil can take, whether construction is at all possible and so on.

So, find the right builder, carry out the necessary, though lengthy research work and get on with your dream home.