Try out alternative construction materials

Instead of using conventional material such as cement, iron sheets and tiles, you can use other alternative construction materials such as wood and stones as it was done with slates on this house. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa.

What you need to know:

Your house can look different from your neighbours’. If you use alternative construction materials on the market.

A few years ago, Anna Kirabo approached an engineer with a plan of a storeyed house she wanted. But after looking at the plan, the engineer told her about the new construction material called lades that were used as a slab. He said they would help her save more as compared to what was initially allocated. The engineer’s explanation about the new technology was accompanied by several visits to different people’s houses that had used a similar technology.

“I gave it a full day to clearly observe what was on ground. I was asked to buy material so that he would make the lades and start off with the work. It was after seeing the complete house that I realised I had saved a lot of money that I wouldn’t have saved if I had gone through the usual procedures.” Anna Kirabo explains.

Therefore, as was the case with Kirabo, when talking of building a house, many people think of buying bricks, sand and cement, iron sheets, wire mesh and for some, tiles which they use to beautify the interior and the exterior floors or walls. However, instead of the conventional materials, some people are turning to using alternatives like stones, manhole covers (lades and T-beams) and wood for construction plus beautifying the floor, roof or ceilings of their houses.

STONES

Stones come in different types which include the slates, river stones, pebbles, and concrete stones. The different types are meant for different uses in the construction process. Eng Simon Onyut of Pegasus International Company Limited says although people are used to bricks, stones can also do the same job provided one has the adequate knowledge and skills.

Slates
These come in different types and sometimes colours such as brown, black and purple. Still, some types are meant for different kinds of work. The brown and skirting slaates can be used on the exterior of the house below the window, veranda and at the foundation level. Purple slates can substitute the usual clay or soil bricks. Onyut says this type can do a good job provided they are well placed.

Cut stones
These are cut into different shapes and are usually scattered on walls, both on the interior and exterior of the house. They can be used as an alternative to bricks for the wall and tiles for the floor. According to different dealers, this specific type fades easily if put on the exterior. So, you are better off using them for the interior. A truck costs Shs730,000.

River stones
These come in different shapes, colours and texture. Onyut says, they can either be used for structural or decorative works, meaning, they can be used as bricks. A 10-tonne truck (magulu kumi) of the river stones costs about Shs500,000 with taxes inclusive. The transport costs depend on the destination.

Brown pebbles
These can be used for exterior decoration instead of plain paint, according to Sula Mubangizi a stone dealer in Bunga -Kavule along Ggaba road. “Normally, these stones are fixed on to the wall using a mixture of sand and cement, depending on the home owner’s desired design,” he says. A bucket costs between Shs15,000 and Shs30,000 depending on the size.

LADES

Lades are another alternative material. These look more like manhole covers but differ according to the make and style. According to Fred Mande Bukusubwe, a builder who came up with the technology, lades help to save a lot of money that would have been spent when casting the slab of a storeyed building.
Mande notes that at the time of laying a foundation for another floor, lades are assembled along with the T-beams to support them.
“In this case, you don’t need to use timber, nails, iron bars, tonnes of cement and sand, wire mesh plus maxpans which take a lot of money. He explains, “Lades and T-beams are just placed with a little concrete to fill the space in between before lifting another floor,” he notes.
He further explains that both T- beams and lades are made from concrete, plaster sand, pine and strong iron bars to ensure that they are strong enough. Although many people beleive that only structures built from scratch which are stronger, Mande stresses that lades and T-beams are as equally strong. “Houses built with this technology last for years.” With lades, one is assured of a ready ceiling with no extra charges apart from painting it to add beauty.

How to make lades- Steps
1. Mix one bag of cement, a wheel barrow of small stones (tarmac road stones), and a wheel barrow of lake sand with water.
2. Get a squared mold that is made of pine wood; fix in a metal ring beam and a sack to prevent the mixture from pouring.
3. After, apply oil on the wood to prevent the already made lade from being broken. A lade cost Shs5,000.

T-beam
Mix one bag of cement, a wheel barrow of small stones (tarmac road stones), and one wheel barrows of lake sand with water. Get four strong iron bars, join them with binding wire and place it in the mold with oil applied on the wood and fill in the mixture. The oil prevents the beam from getting damaged when being removed for sun drying. The mixture can produce five T-beams that are used on one room. A T-beam cost Shs10,000.

WOOD

According Tesfa Samuel, the marketing manager, GEO Lodges, hard wood can be used for room construction or partitioning on the floor as tiles and the roof or for a ceiling. He explains, “wood not only makes the house beautiful but it also gives it a natural look that is different from structures constructed normally,” he says. Wood can also be alternated with river stones as a design aspect depending on one’s desire. He further notes that wood is protected with water proof vanish to prevent it from being damaged by water.

It is also treated with a wood preservative chemical (spunk) to protect it from termites. The hard wood timber is normally got from trees like eucalyptus, mahogany and pine trees. Tesfa stresses that wood should be treated and vanished twice a year to keep it in its natural form. A three- bed-roomed wood house costs between Shs12m and Shs23m. Therefore, for those of you who dream of constructing but want your house to have a unique look, you can think of using alternative materials in place of the conventional ones.