R2I Living – Solar Water Heater Installation Experience

An upgrade our builder offered was installing hot-water piping along with solar water heater hookup facility. Solar water heaters are extremely useful in Kerala for if installed the heat and humidity ensures year-round hot water supply free of energy costs. This holds true even during the monsoons unless the clouds hide the sun for more than three straight days.

Solar water heaters are relatively new to Kerala - till recently, electric geysers ruled the showers. Always ON water heaters (electric or gas) are not a viable option in Kerala for most people because of high marginal rates for electricity. Depending on the distance, it can take upwards of 30 seconds before hot water debuts at the faucet as the water in the piping from the water heater cools down with time. Solar water heaters are normally not suitable for high-rise flats unless a separate facility for the whole project is setup by the builder.

Although builders make it sound hooking up the solar water heater is a breeze once the upgrade option is in place, the reality is that is only a step. Placement is pivotal for solar water heater to work its magic – the heating coils have to be located roughly 4-feet below the inlet water supply. In many villas including ours, water tanks are located both at ground-level and atop the roof. KWA water supply has pressure to fill only the ground-level tank – water is pumped up to the roof-top tank. While installing the solar water heater, this roof-top tank needed to be raised 4-feet. Alternatively, a raised supplementary tank can be used which was what we went with. That arrangement has worked well in spite of the extra piping.

Standard solar water heaters have an incompatibility with pressure pumps installed with shower panels. This is rarely mentioned by distributors and homeowners are surprised when attempting to install shower panels with pressure pumps later on. The glass tubing used in the solar water heaters cannot withstand the additional pressure and so they break. The solution is to use solar water heaters with copper tubing which generally cost around 50% more than the standard version. Standard solar water heaters start at around Rs 20K for a 100-liter version and goes up based on the increase it capacity opted.

2015 Update: Having used the equipment for more than five years, we can vouch for the quality of the equipment. It has been maintenance-free for the most part. There was just one service call and that was attended to in a timely manner: at around the three-year mark, there was a leakage issue (the middle heater pipe on the outlet valve side of the main drum which is sealed using a plastic nut broke/melted and water leaked) and Hykon's service-rep replaced the part under warranty.


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R2I Housing – Cabinet Work Experience

Cabinets were not part of our house when we moved in. The kitchen was deemed finished with a black granite counter-top with open spaces to incorporate cabinets. As converting the yawning spaces in the kitchen, work area (scullery), store room (pantry), space under stairs, and the bedroom closets obviously involves a significant outlay of time and money; we weighed our options before deciding on a contractor.

Deciding on the cabinet material was the first step. The wood available can be hierarchically classified as:

• Teak, mahogany, and rosewood are the ultimate choices in wood,
• Rubwood (processed rubber wood), Karuvelakam and the likes are the second tier picks,
• HDF (High Density Fiberboard) in various colors, and
• MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) bring up the rear.

Teak is 30% more expensive than rubwood which in turn is 15% pricier than HDF. There is a huge difference in quality between HDF and MDF – from the cutouts, it was obvious that any premium for HDF is well worth it. Our preference was to have the exterior in a second tier wood type and the skeleton in HDF.

The market is teeming with contractors offering different service levels and they can be categorized according to the work performed within the perimeter of one’s home: 

1. Roughly 90% of the work is done at their ‘factory’ with the remainder 10% at your home site: The cabinets come ready for assembling and installed. This is the most expensive option. But, if executed well, it is the best option for getting cabinetry work done while living in the house.
2. Around 50% of the work is done on-site: Usually such contractors have a workshop but still a bulk of the assembling/polishing is done onsite. Similar to the first option, a couple of carpenters at the minimum will be around for quite some time. Pricing wise, they tend to be expensive but often well worth the premium. This is the preferred alternative for those who are not in a hurry to move into the house.
3. The entire carpentry work involved is done on-site: These contractors invariably provide the biggest bang for the buck since they don’t have to maintain a carpentry workshop. As small-time dealers, their organizational skills leave a lot to be desired. The real damper is the carpenters being regulars at one’s abode until the work is over.
   

We solicited quotes from all three types of contractors. We decided against the entirely on-site carpentry work option (Option 3 above) as those contractors were not keen on furnishing us with a full-fledged written quote. The quote for the first option was about 16% higher than the second option for a similar product with comparable wood types. Option 2 was for karuvelakom with MDF insides (Mendez Cabinets) and Option 1 was for rubwood with HDF insides (Dream Kitchens). The comparative quote details follow:

We decided to go with rubwood. The estimated 6-7 days of work inside the house with that option (Option 1 in spreadsheet above) compared to 6-7 weeks bowled us over despite its higher pricing. In reality we were pulled in hook, line, and sinker by the perfect sales pitch of the contractor - two of his workers were regulars at our house for 6-7 weeks. The shell upon which to install the cabinet doors were framed inside our house, although the pieces came measured to spec. Once the shell was in place, it was quick work to install the cabinet doors which came fully done.

Words fail to capture the frustrating work ethic of the carpenters – on a good day, they would show up around 10AM, take a half-an-hour tea break almost immediately, work for almost two hours, take an extended lunch break that lasted till around 2PM, followed with another two hours of work – some days, they came just for two hours. The project dragged on for more than three months although the two carpenters gave attendance for only 6-7 weeks – many days were ‘no show’ days for reasons best known only to them.

Dealing with the contractor was another nightmare. He rattled us proper by attempting to pass HDF doors in place of rubwood doors citing aesthetic appeal. We were promised verbally that all exposed pieces will be done in hardwood (rubwood) as opposed to HDF and that only the inside shell will be done in HDF. We did relent a bit on this and agreed for some exposed sides also to be made of HDF but not the doors. The contractor offered different upgrades verbally at various times but unfortunately his expertise lay only in managing cabinetry work: e.g., we took him up on his offer to put up a chimney hob and gas burner but he did a lousy job at a high rate. Also, he passed on several MDF panels as HDF panels - it was too late by the time we detected it.

Overall, the finished product that we have at home looks respectable. But, working with the contractor and the carpenters was indeed testing. Should we have to do this again, we would seriously consider taking a hands-off approach and have the builder do it for us, even if it involves a premium.


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R2I Housing - Handing over to key transfrer - a never-ending story.

The shell of a house that the builders handed over (2009) was fraught with problems. From the following list of problems that we referred to the builder some were rectified by them and the rest we handled.

1. Bubbling of plastering in the ground floor – Turns out that this is a widespread problem with new houses built on landfill in Kerala. A majority  of the houses in our community sits atop leveled out paddy fields. By capillary action during the monsoon season moisture seeps up the wall. The builder’s (Heera Constructions) solution was to scrap off the bulging layers, inject water-proofing compound through random incisions, and reapply the plastering. The problems with this approach are: a) these incision spots are not scientifically chosen – we have several spots where the bubbling has reappeared, and b) it is a very messy process as it generates a lot of dust.
2. Termite problem – Per the builders’ specification, termite treatment was to have been performed during construction. However, we noticed severe termite infested areas when we moved in - the termites were even starting to appear on the first floor! It was indeed double whammy to notice pest proofing was not done either. We got these completed by a branded service company. This process is also messy – for termite treatment, holes are drilled throughout the ground floor for injecting the chemicals – the holes are then corked with chalk before replastering. Pest proofing too involves a lot of chemicals and it is best to be not around during this time.
3. First-floor bathrooms had no water connection – The builder flat-out missed connecting the water pipes and so there was no water in the first-floor bathrooms. Also, they failed to incorporate hot water pipes to facilitate a solar heater. These were fixed by the builder, but it took a number of calls to convince them that there really was a problem.
4. Water Leakage near the sunshades and certain other spots – Correct sloping was not done for some of the parapets resulting in water retaining and leaking through. Water-proofing of these areas were not done either. We got this done as part of our complete paint-job.
5. Unfinished outside bathroom – During the construction phase the builders had problems with people lifting fixtures and similar items. To counter this, they locked the outside bathroom doors  and the side-effect was forgetting to finish those bathrooms. The builder did eventually get around to doing this, although it was quite a hassle.
6. Cracks on the compound wall – the compound walls were a hoot with visible cracks and gaps. Apparently, the compound wall was built on minimal foundation and given the soil condition, the walls sank unevenly. Our builder patched up the walls, although it would have been fairer to rebuild it, given the condition – ultimately, we got them to agree to rebuild, should the wall collapse on its own in the next few years.
   

The following issues were fixed on our own without contacting the builder.

1. Most of the tiles in the restrooms sported a number of paint and rust-spots.
2. Inside and outside walls were painted with low-quality distemper that by the time we moved in, it was ready for a repaint. Also, no weather-coating was done for the red roof tiles and so they were fast turning black (with mold).
3. Fuses on the outside panels used low quality material that had rusted through.
4. The fuse panel inside needed rework as 6, 8, 15, and 20A fuses were used in random to connect different switches. Also, several of the fittings needed rework as they were not properly wired. The most bizarre item was the builder choosing to install an exhaust in the store room instead of the work area.
5. Several of the faucets leaked.

It was unacceptable to us that a new house handed-over in good faith had these many problems. Actually, this is greatly the norm unless you are dealing with the very best builders. While our problems were many and the process of fixing them challenging, the surprising reality is that there were more than a few houses with far more serious problems than ours:

1. Problems with piling giving away (resulting in the house sinking).
2. Parts of the ground floor caving in.
3. Issues with the title involving unauthorized land made part of the community.
4. Location of undesirable things in the common area placed in close proximity to houses.
   

Then there is the on-going saga in resolving issues with what the builder promised for the common-areas and what was actually transferred over to the HOA. In summary, if we ever have to repeat this process, we will definitely stick with one of the best builders. Also, we would prefer a "ready-to-occupy" option, even if that involves a premium. The time and effort needed to get our house livable condition was way more than what we anticipated. We did know about the lax service practices in Kerala, but the reality was worse that what we had imagined.


Related Posts:

• R2I Housing – Landscaping, Balconies, Shower Doors, and Painting
• R2I Housing - Cabinet Work Experience
• R2I Housing - Shopping to Reacquire Appliances etc in India
• R2I Housing - Handing over to key transfer - a never-ending story
• R2I Housing - New Home Purchase Experience in Kochi