ADVANTAGES OF ALUMINUM ROOFING OVER OTHER TYPES OF ROOFING

Though costly, the trend these days is to use aluminum roof to cover your house because of its advantages.

1. It is light.
Aluminum is comparatively very light .Conveying from one point to the other is easy. And it doesn’t add much weight to the building structure. The structural effect of it on a building is virtually nonexistent.

2, It is clean.
The roof is also very clean and easy to handle, you don’t need to wash or do some extra treatment on it.

3, It is not harmful.
Due to shortage of tap water, A lot of Nigerians drink rainwater dropped from the roof. For an asbestos roof, study has shown that drinking water from it may cause cancer, and for common zinc, it easily corrodes and particles from it also go along with the fetched water. But this is not so with aluminum because of its clean nature.

4, It fits perfectly well to your building.
Aluminum in the factories are rolled like toilet rolls it is when you measure the span of your building roof trusses that the aluminum is cut into the size and length of your roof.

5, It doesn’t leak easily.
Except during the process of installation, it is only when the roof is damaged by nails or others that you may experience leakage; but this can also be easily corrected.

6, It is not corrosive
Aluminum doesn’t corrode or rust, hence it is good when you are thinking of long term benefits.

7,It lasts long
Because of its non corrosive nature and ease of dismantling it lasts longer than most of other roofing materials.

8, It is reusable
Due to changes in house plans and taste, some buildings are daily demolished to pave way for modern and new buildings. But the aluminum roofs can always be carted away to be reused somewhere else or sold.

9, Ease of dismantling.
You can easily dismantle the roof and use it elsewhere without damaging it.

10, Ease of installation.
Among the roofing materials, aluminum roof is the easiest to install. Just cut to roof trusses length and fix together with nails at 1200mm centers e.t.c.

11, It is aesthetically more pleasing.
It is most beautiful among the roofing materials we have, especially when you are looking for a colour that will blend easily with paints on walls and the environment.

12, It can be of any colour.
The roof can be coated to any suitable colour you might like to have.

13, It is malleable.
Under certain conditions, it can be bent to form some desired shapes. Eg., arcs, curves e.t.c

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HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A SUPPLIER IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY

The opportunity available to you in the building industry is limitless.
Suppliers are making a lot of money now than ever.
The steps you have to take to become one may actually be the easiest.
Depending on your target, you may not necessarily have the money before you begin to market a product and end up supplying same.
Most of the building materials company will be glad to have you as an individual with no money in your pocket, but with zeal, determination, and agility to market their products. A lot of them give fantastic commissions for every successful purchase made by your client.
To do this, you only need to walk into some of these companies and register as a marketer for them. They will gladly give you guidelines and steps to take in order to make sure you are successful.
A lot of people are already doing this, so it is not a new thing; and if people can be there and still doing it, then, that means they are getting paid for their efforts.
Quite a few people have met me on site to introduce one product or the other to me.
But what you need is consistency, loyalty to the company you are marketing, know their products and be ready to walk, make phone calls, and do some trekking.
In this information age, most of the building construction firms you need are already on the internet, so you can email them, get their addresses, and also call. You have to invest your time and money; and also be consistent.
The easiest method you can get a supply is through referral. When somebody that knows somebody somewhere is referring you, the person is putting trust and reputation on you; and people tend to give contracts to referred persons by someone close to them.
The list is endless amongst suppliers in the building industry. They are
-Wood suppliers
-Iron rods
-Cement
-Sand
-Granite
-Marble and Tiles
-Electrical fittings/cables
-Plumbing fittings
-Doors
-Aluminum products
-Alucobond
-Furniture
-Burglary proof/gates
-Ceiling materials- P.O.P, asbestos slate e.t.c
-Roofing materials- aluminum,
-Paints
-Interlocking stones- laying and supplies
-Wire or Cables e.t.c

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HOW TO START A CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WITHOUT A DIME.

We sit on and around wonderful opportunities that can turn our lives around and make us the millionaires we eagerly wish for. Quoting Samson Makinwa, chairman of Techo Quip Ltd, on the Wealth Platform of Vol no 3/09 the headline reads “it is easy to make money in Nigeria. There is money all over the streets, yet most people cannot see it”, I can’t but agree with these sayings.
The first thing you need to have before dabbling into the construction industry is the will, you need the determination to do it, and you must be patient; because it is unlike the other industries where you may have jobs to do throughout the whole year. Though your company could grow up to actually achieve that, but for a beginner, business may not come even for some months before the breakthrough.
The second step is to learn the trade. You can make friends with a contractor or a professional in the field with vast experience that you can understudy and learn from. He may actually be your friend, or a pure professional that you may have to contact and arrange a time to work for him in order to have an idea about how things are run.
The next step after some few months of training or understudying your mentor should be for you to start thinking of registering a company.  However, since you are starting with no money down, I will advise you liaise with an established and registered company to work with and write proposals, with this you will make an agreement with the business owner on profit sharing before you can finally stand on your own with your name, and organise your office.
What you should naturally do is to get an office, but your home address could be your office address, or you use a friend’s office temporarily.
Without the job, all the facilities you are running after would be a waste of time and resources, so I will advise you start writing proposals to different companies that may need your services; look for a brother, a church member and other people that could be of help in making sure your proposals pass through the right offices.
Then begin to strongly think of given yourself a proper packaging. I mean people loves to look at things at face value in this part of the world, so you can also meet their expectations by looking very good, and in the right frame of mind when you would be going for a presentation. Wear a suit or a corporate dress well ironed, if possible rent a car with a driver for that day. A man was able to secure a contract of hundreds of millions of naira because he was wearing a Rolex wristwatch he borrowed for a business meeting; same as for car, e.t.c.

Before the big jobs start coming, be a subcontractor to some major contractors, our dailies are filled with the advertisement for subcontractors from big time contractors. Check Tuesday Guardian newspaper and others. The money you make will help you to stand as a contractor ultimately later on, and you can be quoting for jobs directly.
Be articulate and bold, you need this if you are going to win any contract.
Find out where to source for equipments before bidding for any project; all projects have their own peculiarities. Do not bid for a project because you are desperate to get a job, else you might bite your fingers at the long run.
Pretend and present yourself exactly the way the client would like to see you and feel about you. The client won’t be happy to know you are a hungry man that needs their money to get out of poverty. He will also not be happy that he is given out a job of a big magnitude to somebody that has not handled a job of that size before. Avoid what will make the client to doubt your competencies.
Use professionals as business partners, and leverage on their expertise; just agree with them on a percentage sharing formula and you are on.
Source for loans from families and friends, especially when there are no interests, or that it is very low; but make sure you are working for an organisation that will pay you in time and that they have a record of prompt payments to their contractors.
Lastly, pray for the success of your projects.

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TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS AND THEIR USES

Foundation of building, as the name implies, is the starting of a building construction on site. Types of building, nature of soil, and environmental conditions are the major determinant of the type of foundation you will use for your building.

1) Strip foundation- This is the most common type, it is mainly used where you have strong soil base and non-waterlogged areas. Most small buildings of just a floor are constructed with this type of foundation.
Depending on the structural engineer’s recommendation, the depth of your foundation could be from 600mm to 1200mm (mostly for small scale buildings). When the soil is excavated, a level at which the concrete will settle evenly is established, then concrete is poured. This may be from 150mm (6”) thick to 450mm (18”) thick, depending also on the type of building. After that, blocks are set round the trenches at the center of foundation; the foundation usually follows the block lines. The blocks are then laid to d.p.c level before another concrete is poured on top, this is the german-floor or oversite concrete. This type seems to be the cheapest.

2) Pad foundation- This is where isolated columns (pillars) are casted from the foundation to carry a slab at the top of the ground. This is mostly used when you want to make use of the under of building as parking space, or when the other space is not conducive to have foundation. Imagine you are planning to build a house across a flowing stream and you want a situation where you can use your boat to pass under the building because the stream is underneath. Then you may not need to dig foundation that would cut across the river; but just by applying columns (pillars) at the edge of the river like a bridge. These columns are thus isolated, and their foundations are referred to as pad.

3) Raft foundation- This is where you have concrete spread around your building from the base of foundation all through to the german-floor/oversite concrete/ground floor slab. It is mainly used in areas where the soils are sandy and loose. Most of the time, you spend more on this than the other previous two. It is also recommended in waterlogged areas, but with buildings of fewer storeys.
It has ground beams which shoots out from the foundation base, and is also attached to the ground floor slab to form a network of concrete embedded round the building space. The ground beams are usually from 600mm to 1200mm for low buildings.

4) Pile foundation- This is the most expensive and the strongest type of foundation. This requires specialist engineering to construct. The soil is bored deep down the earth, and filled with concrete to be able to support loads of multi-storey building on top. Most skyscrapers are constructed with this type of foundation. A high building in a waterlogged area may also require this type of foundation.

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HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN HOUSE FROM A N10,000 SALARY

Anybody, no matter the stipends he receives as the take home pay, can actually build his own house. It takes just determination, knowledge and persistence. A lot of people today have increasingly come to find out that you don’t need your entire life savings just to get a home. Rather what you need is adequate planning and ability to know the difference between wishful thinking, reality and actually taking action. There are always a category of houses for every class of persons in the society.
First of all, you need to calculate the amount of your salary for 2 years and find 30% of the sum. Whatever you get, just meet your building professional and ask him what kind of building the 30% can cover for its foundation only. If you get that, then know it that you can easily build your house with that terribly miserably low salary you take home every month.
Assuming your salary is N10,000; for 2 years your total salary will be N240,000; and 30% of this will give N72,000. This can conveniently cover a 2 bedroom flat strip foundation.
But you think you can’t possibly save 30% of your income, because your salary is already too low. Let me tell you, from studies carried out, it had been known that no matter how extremely small a person received or how poor he is, 30% or even more of his money goes into what he can’t account for monthly. He just needed to sit down and take stock for a month, and he will see that he had been spending 30% and above on very unimportant things in his life.
Yes, I know cost of land is high, but that is because you don’t want to live the crowded and so called urban area for the outskirt.
You can also save for land if you put your mind on it. But if you already have one, then your dream of getting your own house will be faster than expected.
Within 10 years of determination, you will complete your project.

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20 OF THE WORLDS' MOST AMAZING COINCIDENCES. NO. 1. JAMES DEAN'S CAR CURSE

In September 1955, James Dean was killed in a horrific car accident whilst he was driving his Porsche sports car. After the crash the car was seen as very unlucky.

a) When the car was towed away from accident scene and taken to a garage, the engine slipped out and fell onto a mechanic, shattering both of his legs.

b) Eventually the engine was bought by a doctor, who put it into his racing car and was killed shortly afterwards, during a race. Another racing driver, in the same race, was killed in his car, which had James Dean's driveshaft fitted to it.

c) When James Dean's Porsche was later repaired, the garage it was in was destroyed by fire.

d) Later the car was displayed in Sacramento, but it fell off its mount and broke a teenager's hip.

e) In Oregon, the trailer that the car was mounted on slipped from its tow-bar and smashed through the front of a shop.

f) Finally, in 1959, the car mysteriously broke into 11 pieces while it was sitting on steel supports.

20 OF THE WORLDS' MOST AMAZING COINCIDENCES. NO. 2. A FALLING BABY, SAVED TWICE BY THE SAME MAN

In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young (if incredibly careless) mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed. A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event.

(Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)

20 OF THE WORLDS' MOST AMAZING COINCIDENCES. NO. 3. A BULLET THAT REACHED ITS DESTINY SOME YEARS LATER

Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate. In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man.

Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him.

(Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!)

20 OF THE WORLDS' MOST AMAZING COINCIDENCES. NO. 4. TWIN BOYS, TWIN LIVES

The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of identical twins born in Ohio.

The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys James. And here the coincidences just begin. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy.

Forty years after their childhood separation, the two men were reunited to share their amazingly similar lives.

(Source: Reader's Digest, January 1980)

20 OF THE WORLDS' MOST AMAZING COINCIDENCES. NO. 5. JUST LIKE EDGAR ALLAN POE'S BOOK

In the 19th century, the famous horror writer, Egdar Allan Poe, wrote a book called 'The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym'. It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew, killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.