Construction journey
How a Karachi house gets built, stage by stage.
Six stages, photographed on our own sites between 2017 and 2022. One house is followed from grey structure to finished elevation; the other stages come from our other sites. Every photo is dated.
The same house
December 2018 to April 2019, from the same spot on the lane.
Look at the brick-tile house on the right and the young tree on the pavement: they are the same in all three photos. In between, the upper slab was cast, the shuttering came down and the elevation was finished.
Dec 2018
Grey structure, shuttering still up
Mar 2019
Elevation finished
Apr 2019
Last elevation work
Full set: Two-storey house, plot to finish.
01
Plot and layout
Papers, survey, lines on the ground.
Before anything is dug, the plot is checked against its file and boundaries and the layout is marked out in lime. The Maymarian board goes up so the neighbours know who is building.
What to check at this stage
Ask to see the marked layout against the approved drawing before digging starts.
Photos from Jun 2017 – Feb 2019.
02
Excavation and footings
Digging to depth, then steel and concrete in the pits.
The excavator opens the foundation, the pits are levelled and the footing steel goes in. Column starters are fixed here, so every column above starts where the drawing says.
What to check at this stage
Column positions and footing depth are cheap to check now and expensive to fix later.
Photos from Jun 2017 – Mar 2019.
03
Plinth
Plinth beams, fill, stone soling and the plinth slab.
Plinth beams tie the footings together. The inside is filled and compacted, stone soling is laid and the plinth slab is cast and cured. This is the floor the whole house sits on.
What to check at this stage
Fill should be compacted in layers. Pipes that run under the floor go in before the slab, not after.
Photos from Oct 2017 – Mar 2019.
04
Grey structure
Columns, block walls, shuttering, roof steel, slab.
Walls go up in block, then the shuttering for the slab. Roof steel is tied, electrical conduits are laid in, and the lanter (roof slab) is poured. Floor by floor, the house takes its real shape.
What to check at this stage
Look at the steel before the pour. Once concrete is in, nobody can count the bars.
Photos from Nov 2017 – Dec 2018.
05
Finishing
Plaster, elevation, tiles, ceilings, woodwork, paint.
Plaster, the front elevation, flooring, false ceilings, doors, kitchens and paint. Choices here change the budget the most, so we agree them in writing before materials are bought.
What to check at this stage
Ask for samples on site, in daylight, before a whole floor of tiles is ordered.
Photos from Nov 2017 – Dec 2018.
06
Completed house
Snag list, handover, keys.
We walk the house with you, list anything that is not right and fix it before handover. The first two photos below are the same house you saw as a grey structure in stage 04, photographed three months later.
What to check at this stage
Do the snag walk in daylight and again after dark with every light switched on.
Photos from Dec 2017 – Nov 2022.
Planning a house on your plot?
Tell us the plot size, the sector and how far you want us to take it: grey structure only, or through to finishing. We will give you a figure for your plot rather than a rate off a website.