11 Tips To Avoid Mistakes In Kitchen Design
Architecture
Jul 06, 2017
[Link]
The kitchen is the heart of the house where the housewife spends most of her time perhaps
throughout life. To design a kitchen layout, therefore requires more attention as all right from the
little ones to the elders and those who are dealing with physical limitations gather here. A lot of
home activities like cooking, cleaning, drinking, socialising, etc. take place in the kitchen. That’s
why it needs to be both functional and beautiful.
Here are the 10 tips to avoid mistakes to achieve practical & elegant Kitchen design:
01. Users:
First, analyze how many persons are going to work in a kitchen? For example, when planning or
design a kitchen layout, opt 42 inches to an optimal to 48 inches between counters to allow more
than one cook in the kitchen. This will let anyone with a walker or a wheelchair and can quickly
function without banging into the cabinets. If you have U-shape kitchen, give 60 inches of
clearance between two opposing counters. This will allows a wheelchair to turn and move
comfortably.
02. Don’t Obstruct the Kitchen Work Triangle:
Stove, sink and refrigerator are known as the kitchen work triangle. This is the area of greatest
activity that requires careful planning and unobstructed access. Out of three of them, sink is the
most important; it should have easy access to the stove and refrigerator as well countertop.
Must Read: Kitchen Work Triangle: Guidelines for Efficient Kitchen Layouts
Legs of kitchen work triangle should neither be less than 10 feet nor greater than the 25 feet. If it
is too small, then people will trip over each other; and if it is too large then working will be a
tiring task.
03. Counters:
Use right shape and size of a counter. Designs of kitchen countertops depend on the function,
durability, and aesthetic appearance of materials. Choosing the right material for your counter is
important, as it has to last many years. It also adds to the resale value of your home at the time of
selling.
Must Read: All you Need to Know Regarding Kitchen Countertop & Its Types
04. Workstations:
In your house, if someone is physically challenged or is using a wheelchair, plan the
workstations that have the reachable height and also the clear space below the counter to allow
easy reach to fixtures. Knee space should be a minimum of 30 inches wide.
Ensure that any exposed plumbing is insulated, covered or behind door panels to prevent any
burns from hot pipes. You could also have retractable doors closing off space below the
workstation when it’s not in use.
05. Don’t Waste Storage Space:
The kitchen usually contains lots of stuff. Items behind kitchen cabinets can be oddly shaped and
require lots of space, such as mixers or food processors. Almost every kitchen has a wasted
space, but it can be minimised with adequate storage planning.
If your kitchen is small, install tall and upper cabinets for extra storage space. Always try to
install cabinets over the refrigerator. You can also place lighting or greenery like indoor plants to
give the extra charm to the kitchen design.
06. Inadequate Counter Space:
Users always have complaints about the counter space in kitchen design. If your appliances are
going to be located on countertops permanently, then you will need more horizontal surface area
in your kitchen. These can be achieved by adding a Kitchen island or breakfast bar along with
the L-shaped kitchen.
07. Poor Lighting:
Any room requires three basic types of lighting. The general lighting for overall illumination,
task lighting and accent lighting. For a kitchen design, we need to focus on the working areas,
where we can add lights directly above the main work areas. Lighting is not only a matter of
kitchen design but also safety when it comes to handling the sharp knives & other kitchen
equipment. Plus the point is that the more light you have in the room, the better you can show off
your design elements.
You can also install under cabinet lighting to ensure that the counters have sufficient lighting for
everyday tasks in the kitchen. Use pendant lights or series of mini pendants of light to enhance
the beauty of the kitchen. Pendants look great above the sink, while series of mini pendants light
work well over the breakfast bar and kitchen island.
08. Poor Ventilation:
Good ventilation is very important for your kitchen. The best kitchen design will fail if there is a
presence of unbearable odours in the kitchen. If you have ever walked into someone’s home and
smelled last night’s cooked food in the air, you will understand the importance of proper
ventilation!
The good ventilation system will improve the quality of your indoor air, while cheap range hoods
will only circulate dirty-stale air. The good system will also help you to keep your kitchen
cleaner and will also extend the life of your appliances.
The good ventilation system will make life easier and more pleasant, especially if your kitchen
opens to a living area or family lounge.
09. Forgoing a Backsplash:
When budgeting, designing or remodelling a kitchen; sometimes the backsplash goes into the
end of the list. Occasionally, it is left out of the plan altogether. This may save your money in the
beginning but after a long time, it will cost you a lot of time and effort.
Think about all the steam, grease and water in the kitchen design, and you will understand why
installing a backsplash above cooktop & counter is a good idea. It is much easier to clean grease
off a backsplash made of metal, tile than plastic or wallpaper.
10. Choosing the Wrong Kitchen Island:
To design a kitchen layout or remodelling a kitchen in any house, we generally think of storage,
preparation & serving space. Kitchen Island is a great addition to some kitchens but not
necessarily for all the kitchen design. They can potentially offer a plenty of room in the kitchen
for storage & work as an additional work area.
However, to design a kitchen layout, you should also evaluate where you intend to place the
kitchen island to ensure that it doesn’t get in the way of the traffic in the space. It’s essential that
the Kitchen Island is positioned in a manner, which allows plenty of room around it and doesn’t
obstruct the foot traffic. Choosing the wrong type of Kitchen island or wrong location can be a
disaster, especially in a work area that can get overly cluttered.
Therefore, the kitchen island should be at least 4 feet long and 2 feet deep, and it also must have
space for people to move and work around it. It is advisable that unless your kitchen is minimum
8 feet deep and 12 feet long, you should not consider the idea of the kitchen island.
11. Not Using Professionals:
To design a kitchen layout, it happens that the people do not hire a professional designer. They
believe that it is a waste of money, time and energy. A professional designer has creative ideas,
experience and information so that they can help you to identify your needs and translate them
into an efficient kitchen design that fits into your budget. They will always help you in a way so
that you never forgot important expects of design and working.
14 Tips for Buying Building Materials for
Your Dream Home!
Materials
Jun 03, 2020
Mahadev Desai
You might have heard about Maslow’s theory which says there are three basic needs of human
beings Food, Cloths and Shelter. Where food and clothes are something which we need to attain
every day, Shelter or House is something way beyond just a basic need. For Most of us our house
is a Dream which we see with open eyes. And when it comes to the construction of our dream,
we definitely want only the best as it will stay for years to come. We know you will do a lot
research on designing, layout and style etc. While all these things are important to build a house
but there is something without which you can’t even think of starting the construction, that is
Construction Material.
The construction of the house involves more than 100 different types of materials. This is not to
scare you but you will be spending a lot of time towards buying all materials. And to make this a
little easy knowing more than just a name or what your builder is telling you about the different
materials is always a great idea. Buying building materials also involves various stages like
selection of the right product, search for the right supplier, right quality or specifications and
finally negotiating a fair deal. But that’s not it. The second phase starts from the delivery of the
materials at the site, verifying the quantity and quality delivered at the site, checking the bills of
material delivered and ultimately payments and settling accounts. We know all this is
overwhelmingly time-consuming and demanding. For sure it is not as easy as one may think if
one is buying all the materials for the house. Sometime you will be even tempted to leave all
these decisions to the builder but that could be little tricky depends how much you want to trust
some stranger for your dream house. Here we have tried to provide a basic buying guide which
will help you while buying building materials.
Buying Guide for Building Materials
This article will give you a general overview whereas you can check out some amazing specific
tips for all different types of materials in our other blogs.
Click Here – Material Buying Guide for Various building material. Reading this article will be
helpful to understand the different tips for some specific material as the following tips shall
always be basic and useful to make a decision.
01. Need or Desire of Material
One often tends to get over indulged when it comes to dreaming big about the house. Where
mostly the line between the need and desire becomes a little hazy. We have to clearly understand
whether anything which we want to buy is a genuine need, or it is a mere desire. Now of course
we have to fulfill our needs but when it comes to desires, they have no end, and infinite desires
will keep you chasing some unrealistic and fancy ideas. It is quite simple a child can be feed with
Dal Roti which is his need, but demands for a candy or chocolate which is a desire. The key is
balance between need and how much luxury or desire you want to get hooked to.
● Why You Need to Buy Material?
Once you are convinced that particular material is your need, it is important to know the use of
the material and find out the objective of buying materials. A simple Why? Why do we need this
or when will we use this?
Remember the famous saying, “When you buy useless materials, a day will come in your life,
when you will be compelled to sell useful materials.”
02. What Actually You Want to Buy?
Once you have established the need of the material you must carefully pick-up the best possible
option available. You must also clearly know what you really want to buy.
Now is another time for deciding want vs need. For instance when buying a house or a vehicle,
you have to make certain choices, like for house, i.e., its area, cost, locality etc. similarly for car,
which model and cost. Even raw material of a house like artificial wood, you have a choice of a
ply, or MDF.
Quality and specification you are looking for with respect to your need, and ascertain
whether you really need all these features
There are always various options available out there what works best for you depend upon your
need. Now the choice of material can be simple, economical and durable or something flashy,
stylish and delicate. We can look at some of the options here let’s suppose you want to buy
cement, then you must know whether you want to buy OPC or PPC. Similarly, if you want to
buy reinforcement steel, decide you want to buy mild steel or Tor steel and again its grades like
Fe415 or Fe500 or Fe500D. We are often tempted to buy things on impulse where mostly we end
up with a product with lots of features e.g., your mobile or TV might be having 100 features but
you may be hardly using 10 and perhaps you even might not possess knowledge to operate rest
90.
Finally, when you identify the product and you are sure it is the right product for you with not
many unnecessary features than you ever need. Also, not compromising on basic minimum
needs. Hence, there should be a balance between features and cost. Too many unrequited
features can take a toll on your pocket.
03. Warranty/ Guarantee and Study of Product Literature
Most effective and reliable source of information on any product is either described on the
packaging or available on the website of the manufacturers about its technical specifications. It is
a common occurrence that the sales person misled you about the product specification or might
give you incomplete information. Ultimately what is written on the product literature will be
final and prevail. Thus understanding of all the properties, chemical composition, cautions of
use, and advice for use as written by the manufacturer will help you take your pick. Also, study
the terms and conditions of warranty and guarantee.
04. Quantity, Cost and Budget of Material
Budget is a very important deciding factor. Fixing of budget is crucial for not only the entire
project as master budget but for each item separately also. If the budget of each item
independently is not established it can misbalance the overall estimated expenses. Of course
there are options available in the quality of raw material in various costs but when you have a
fixed budget it saves a lot time and effort also. In fact, have a habit of not even looking at
things which are beyond your budget, unless you can control yourself, buying it.
● Estimate the Quantity of Buying Materials
After the quality it is time to estimate quantity. If you have the right quantity required you are in
a position to bargain. For instance, when buying bags of cement if you order lesser quantity, you
won’t get the desired discount. It will also end going for cement shopping a couple of times. On
the other hand, buying more than you actually require can lead to lot wastage and impacts the
budget. You may inquire from the builder or architect as well as can cross check with the
material vendor.
To know about more how to find the quantity of material, we have written article on it, refer
Purpose of Estimate & Costing
● Cost of Transportation/Taxes
While budgeting, oftentimes we forget to include other overhead expenses. If these expenses are
ignored, the total budget will shoot up. Hence while buying building material, consider the
expenses of the cost of transportation, taxes, transit insurance and duties including the cost of
loading and unloading at a site which is mostly unforgotten.
05. From Where to Buy Building Materials?
Google is a big boon for almost finding anything on the planet. When it comes to the search for
the right seller and their location look for reviews, feedbacks etc. or take suggestions from your
friends and family. To buy the raw material, you can directly purchase it from the manufacturers
or manufacturer’s sales depot if that option is available, if not you may contact the distributors,
whole-sellers or retailers, etc. The price, at which you buy material, will definitely depend on
whom you are buying it from. You may consider getting a proper quotation from 2 or 3 suppliers
before finalizing.
06. Brand, Quality, Testing and Certification
You might have heard about all that glitters is not gold. There may be a lot marketing done for
the popular brand but quality is not that great. It’s good to be brand conscious but assess the
experience of other users also. Merely going by some marketing gimmick to buy a brand, may
lead you to a decision which you will regret later.
● Who is the Manufacturer?
There are avenues available to reference check the reputation of the manufacturers you are going
with. It may be a popular established brand or a new player you can for sure figure out their
reputation in the market including, for after sales, service and support.
● Testing of Building Materials
Learning to test the quality of the material either on site or in a laboratory will always be helpful
especially when buying in bulk. Testing the material before buying can save lot of time, money
and harassment.
Is there a test that can be done at the site itself? If yes, what are those? At [Link]
you can learn about various field tests and do it at a site to know whether you are buying
the right material or not.
Following are the Field test of some of the Building Materials:
Best Practices to Check the Quality of Marble at Site!
How to Check the Quality of Cement at Site?
Brick Test: How to Check the Quality of Bricks?
Ways to Check the Quality of Sand at Site!
Are there the laboratory tests also done for the material? Why should one get it done?
Well we advise you to go for the field test as well as laboratory tests depending upon the
quantity that you are buying and the importance of the material and works.
Also Read: How to Check the Quality of Plywood on Field & Laboratory?
Field vs Laboratory Testing of Cement
● Certification like IS/ANSI/ASTM
Checking the accreditations and national certification can also assure you about quality, like ISI
mark, ANSI or ASTM mark, etc. The certifications assure you about material quality as well as
the reputation of the manufacturer.
07. After Sales Support & Repairs
● Type of After Sales Support / Services Needed
It is important to have after sales support/service for certain materials. Depending on the material
you should check with the seller about the type of after sales support or service they provide and
who will provide i.e. will it be provided by the seller or the manufacturer or a 3rd party agency.
● Need of Spares
There may be a requirement of spare in the periodically or more frequently over the period of
time, you should check the availability and cost.
● Repairs that may be Needed Every Year
When buying a big-budget product, you should inquire about the running cost of operations, cost
of regular maintenance and the cost of periodical repairs that may be needed.
08. Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC)
Whether the seller or manufacture provides an Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) and
if so, what is its price? Also, check, if you don’t want to buy the AMC, will the
maintenance still be available?
Sometimes, the cost of AMC to be paid annually is much higher as compared to the cost
of one-time purchase. Further, if you don’t buy AMC, you lose all the rights of updating
the product as well as benefits available under the guarantee or warranty.
AMC of some of the items can ease of the cost of replacement of major parts, after some
years like the case of the membrane of RO Water treatment plants.
09. Life of Material
There are a few questions you should consider when buying any product:
Whether the material required is for lifetime or temporary?
Whether it is one-time purchase or regular / periodical?
What is life of material? How long it would last.
All these answers can give you the choice to invest in the right product. There would be many
similar or similar looking products in the market, it is a common occurrence that can lead to utter
confusion we recommend you to visit common confusion topic.
10. Right Selection of Material and Supplier
Select the right material according to your need and budget. It will save a lot of you time and
effort. He can also guide you about the best vendor also. Once you estimate the right quantity,
you should find right supplier of material. Check whether the supplier is locally available or not.
11. Placing an Order
If you are buying a huge quantity, try to place a written order otherwise, oral order will do. The
written order should include:
01) Specifications of material
02) Rates including Taxes, Transportation, Loading-unloading charges, etc.
03) Quantity
04) Time of delivery
05) Warranty, Guarantee
06) Terms of payment, including advance, if any.
Having all this written will help you keep the record of all purchases at one place and it will be
easy to claim for the warranty, Guarantee etc. Also, you can keep a tab on your budget.
12. Receiving Material
When you receive material at the site, you should check the quantity that you ordered. Also,
check quality of materials, markings on the product and check whether they are aligned with
your order. Also check ISI marks, weight, brand and whether there are any damages to the
material. Someone should check all the delivery boxes at arrival for instance one box of tiles
broken can pinch your budget if not checked on time as the dealer may refuse to change it later.
13. Honouring Payment
Once you are satisfied with the quality as well as the quantity both, honour the payment as per
the contract and obtain receipt of payment. Also making the payments on time can be good for
keeping the check on your budget as well, as we may miss some payment to be made in the total
add up if not accounted properly.
14. Preserving Warranty/Guarantee Cards/Bills
Preserve all the bills of material, product literature and the warranty/guarantee cards etc. Keep
them in a safe file. You may need them in future.
Summing up, these are some simple tricks to make the troublesome task of buying and selecting
raw material a little less troublesome. Buying building materials for your house can be a fun task
if taken seriously. Thus, do not make unnecessary fuss about purchasing. Just go with what you
think is best.
10+ Reasons Why Tiles Get Buckled, Popped-
up or Tent Often!
Materials
Jul 20, 2019
Kinjal Mistry
This post is also available in: हिन्दी (Hindi)
When choosing flooring for their house, people always search for how can the chosen tiles affect
the aesthetic look of their house or living premises. Nowadays, tile flooring is one of the most
popular flooring options due to its sleek appearance and aesthetic appeal. Apart from the all the
good things, tile needs proper installation and care during and after its installation. If you do not
give proper attention during and after tile installation, various defects might appear on the tile
surface with passage of time and exposure to environment, some of these are – i.e. bucking or
popping up of tiles, cracking of tiles, fading of tiles, etc. Among these, pop up or tenting or
buckled tiles is one of the most common tile’s defect that has been observed in the floor tiles
installed in various areas exposed to versatile environmental factors.
What is Buckled or Popped Up or Tented Tiles?
When your floor tiles lift from their originally installed position and start pushing other tiles
against one another, it creates a ‘tent-like’ bump in your floor. This tile defect is known as
buckled tiles. This defect is also known as pop up tiles or tile tenting. Buckled tiles defect might
appear in all types of tiles, i.e. ceramic tiles, vitrified tiles and porcelain tiles, etc. if proper care
is not taken while laying the same. The perfectly flat tiled floor may buckle up in the different
seasons due to temperature variations, improper installation of tiles and various other factors.
Also Read: Various Defects that usually Occur in House
Reasons for Buckled Tiles or Pop Up Tiles Defect
Buckled tiles or pop up tiles defect may occur due to the following reasons:
01. Improper Cleaning
Due to the improper cleaning of the floor before tile installation, the uniform bonding
layer does not form. It might result in the form of popped up tiles.
02. Floor Expansion
Tile is a permeable material, hence after some time, it may swell with high moisture
absorption. Due to expansion, the pressure may cause the tiles to pop up and therefore the
tiles may develop tent, i.e. say buckle.
03. Uneven Subfloor
Uneven subfloor is also one of the reasons for buckled tiles or popped up tiles. The
uneven subfloor will not have uniform bonding with adhesive or mortar with tiles and the
subfloor. This will lead to tile tenting making the tiles appear uneven and unpresentable.
04. Improper Set Tiles
Large or over sized tiles require a certain troweling technique to ensure that they achieve
a strong bond with the adhesive. All tiles need a gentle whack with a wooden object
when being installed to set them in the adhesive.
05. Not Using Adhesive
The tiles which have been installed without adhesives may also cause buckling of tiles.
06. No or Incorrect Movement Joints
According to the Beaumont Tiles, “Incorrect installation of movement joints also leads to
the buckled tiles.” The tiles will also buckle in absence of joints between tiles. We have
already written article on movement joints, which you can refer over here, Expansion
Joints in Tiles: Reasons & Consequences!
07. Using Poor Quality Bonding Agent
When the tiles those are fixed with the bonding agent to the floor, the underlying
substance may not form a secure bond. Due to slight changes in the environmental
conditions like a change in temperature or humidity, the bond will lose its grip and the
defect of buckled tiles may appear.
08. Using Poor Quality Tile Adhesive
If the area of the floor is directly exposed to sunlight and if poor quality adhesives are
used, then there are chances of tile tenting or popping up of tiles. The direct sunlight will
lead to expansion of the tiles. Hence, if adhesives are not strong, the tile might pop up
and buckle.
Also Read: Tile Grout: Know Its Functions & Types
09. Improper Bonding Material
Use a strong and high quality bonding material. If a dry powder bonding agent is used,
you should check whether it is properly mixed or not?
10. Using Old Tiles
Using old tiles may also cause the tile floor buckling. Old tiles may get brittle. As with
passage of time, they lose flexibility and are not able to with stand changes due to
temperature variation.
11. Bent Tiles
Sometime, the manufactured tiles are already bent. So, if you are using such tiles, there
are chances of tiles to pop up more often.
12. Why Tile Tenting Occurs After a Number of Years?
According to the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), tile tenting is a function of three
variables:
The rate of concrete shrinkage
The shear strength of the thinset, and
Any extensive forces applied to the tile layer like heat and moisture absorption, etc.
If the tile is poorly bonded, the tile can tent very quickly. If there is a strong bond, often
the grout will compress before the tile will lose its bond.
When tile fails with a loud sound, it indicates that a good bond was present. Frequently,
either the tile or the concrete will be without thinset residue as if the thinset (mortar with
adhesive) was not applied correctly.
During an interview with Shri Shekhar Parikh, the Director of M/s. Sthapati Designers &
Consultants Pvt. Ltd., he said that buckling of tiles is very common and it can be avoided, if
proper joints are provided between the tiles. Most of the time, this process is not followed which
in turn leads to buckling of the tiles.
In short, every tile installation should allow for movement. Properly designed installations,
where expansion and contraction do not create shear forces, should have no problem for the tile
to stay well adhered and remain perfect even after periodic time exposure.
Summing it up, the above is a list of a few contributing factors which leads to a defect named
“buckled tiles or pop up tiles or tented tiles.” You therefore have to consider the workmanship
during the installation, the type of materials you are using, the surface on which you are going to
install the tiles, use of skilled labour, etc. If all considerations are taken into account, there is no
reason the tiles should buckle or pop up. Ultimately, properly laid tiles give elegant look to your
home and also offer safety to the occupants of the house.
