Flat Buyer's Guide - Chapter 4 Material & Specifications

Recent Belleza Blue case in Pune (2^nd Campa Cola like case in Maharashtra) where high court has asked the residents to vacate the illegally constructed 3 floors of the building, is quite a shock to all the flat buyers. 

I am working with one of the very few trust worthy real estate companies in India from past 6 years and thus thought of coming up with this guide for buyers of residential apartments.

I hope to cover all the necessary points / information so that technical or legal terms used in the real estate filed do not sound Greek to a lay flat buyer and he is not lost while speaking with the builder. **While doing so I have tried to furnish as accurate information as possible to best of my knowledge but e & oe (errors & omissions expected).

Index
Chapter	Synopsis
1. Basic concepts & definitions	Carpet, Built-up, Saleable etc areas & more
2. Units & Measurements	Sq. ft., Sq. Mtrs., Guntha, Acres, hectares etc & more
3. Legal Documents	Title & Search Report, NA, 7/12, PR, Blue Print, CC, Index – II, OC, POA etc
4. Material & Specifications	Tiles, Doors, Windows, Painting etc
5. Home Loan	Eligibility, EMI, Tenure, Loan Transfer etc
6. Government Duties & Taxes	Stamp Duty & registration, TDS, ST, VAT etc
7. Miscellaneous	RERA, Flat Inspection, Project Reviews etc

Chapter 4: Material & Specifications

1. Tiles: Bigger the size, costlier is the tile. You might not get the same shade / color of the tile even after few months as manufacturers keep on changing the shades with every few batches.
Cheapest				Costliest
Shahbad, mosaic 1. No new constructions use these tiles 1.	Ceramic 1. Used in affordable housing projects	Vitrified 1. Most common these days of size 2’ X 2’. 2. Hard & tough – thus better for regular use 3. Available in ‘anti-skid’ type (for spaces which are in constant touch of water – bathrooms / terraces etc)	Hard Wood 1. Good for cold climates as it retains heat. 2. In India, high end apartments have them fitted in master bedrooms. 3. Wood floors not suitable with Indian habit of almost daily washing the floor.	Natural Stone / Marble 1. Porous & brittle 2. Rich & elegant

Tiles

2. Doors:

a.      Generally of two types: Solid core doors (doors with skin (thin front panel of a door) pasted on particle board or solid wood or entirely solid wood doors) and hollow core doors (doors with skins pasted on a honeycomb patterned base).

b.      Doors could either be painted (with oil paint / oil bond etc) – generally for hollow doors or polished - generally for solid doors

c.       No marks for guessing that solid doors are costly than the hollow ones.

d.      But it’s better to have a solid wood door at least for the main entrance where as doors inside the house could be of hollow type.

e.      We also get doors made up of – glass, toughened glass, fibre glass, steel or plastic. We generally use glass doors for terraces.

Door & Wood

Types of wood / ply / board
Cheapest & Least Durable                                                            Costliest & Most durable
Honey Comb Comes with the skin on its top	LDF Low Density Fibreboard Particle Board Type	MDF Medium Density Fibreboard Particle Board Type	HDF High Density Fibreboard Particle Board Type	Ply Wood - Marine ply is best if it’s going to get in touch with water (Kitchens)	Solid Wood

To Cover the wood
Cheapest, Least Durable & presentable            Costliest, Most durable & presentable
Painted (oil paint)	Sunmica	Formica	Laminates	Veneer coating

3. Windows:

a.      These days we generally get windows with sliding panes.

b.      Material for the sliding windows could be of two types – Metallic i.e. Aluminium windows (very common) and Plastic like - UPVC windows (Ultra Poly Vinyl Chloride).

c.       UPVC being the durable, presentable, latest and costliest amongst the two.

d.      Aluminium window frames could be painted (oil paint – paint chips off easily), powder coated (chips off but better & durable than painted) or anodized (most durable & presentable but costliest)

e.      Higher the no. of tracks / panes costlier is the window

Windows

4. Painting:

a.      It’s fairly normal to get the cracks in the walls of a newly constructed building for a year or so.

b.      This curing time is the reason why builders paint the walls with comparatively cheaper OBD (Oil Bond Distemper) paint.

c.       If you are living in a city like Pune where there is huge variation in temperature of day and that of night or of summers and winters, there is high possibility of developing cracks in the walls.

d.      Also, if your house is locked for a long period, then more cracks would develop than the house where there is a free air circulation.

Types of interior paints
Cheapest & Least Durable                                                            Costliest & Most durable
Distemper Water Based Non washable	OBD Enamel – oil based paint	Oil Paint Enamel – oil based, generates fumes, washable	Lustre Paint Enamel – oil based generates fumes, washable	Eco friendly paints Emulsion – water based, no fumes, washable

5. Concealed piping and wiring:

a.      Though look good but make repairs & modifications extremely difficult or practically impossible.

b.      i.e. if you want to get a switch point far from the one given by the builder then the only practical option is to get the wires through casing capping in a otherwise concealed wiring interior.

c.       But there is no way that this trend will be replaced any time soon.

d.      It’s a good idea to get the piping / cabling drawings from the builder for the future references. Don’t expect that these drawings will exactly match with the actual cabling. There will be few variations when planning stage drawings are replicated in actual construction stage.

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