Types of Houses Names And Pictures In Nigeria

This are the top popular residential and to a large extent commercial
houses in Nigeria.

Note the word popular, I'm not talking about all the building types in the
country, because there is no skyscraper here.

They are popular because they are economical to build while maintaining the luxury and its durability.

1. Duplex: you have both Detached Duplex, terraced Duplex and semi Detached
Duplex.

2. Bungalows : You have Detached and semi Detached Bungalow, then terraced
Bungalow.

1. Bungalow

 

This type is further divided into two, either detached or semi-detached.

*A Detached house is a single standing property that does not share any
walls with any other structure. Due to the isolation of the property,
they’re usually more private.








*A Semi-detached  This is a pair of houses joined together by a common
wall. One side of each house shares a common wall, while the other side is
usually detached.








Bungalows are quiet common in Rivers state.

*A Terrace house is a house that is located in a long row of houses. They
are usually same and identical structurally. Both sides of each house in
the row share common walls with a neighboring house, the only exception is
the houses at each end of the terrace. Which looks like a semi detached
house.

This type of houses are common in Lagos and Abuja. But can be found in many
states of the country in one form or another.

2. Duplex

This is usually two separate residences, attached side-by-side, but the
term is sometimes used to mean stacked apartments on two different
floors   (Du-plex)The duplex house often looks like either two houses put
together, or as a large single home, and both legally and structurally.

The duplex home are usually as a single house section with two different
entrances. But usually one staircase, which opens to the rest of the flats.
Except the ground floor.

Like Bungalows, Duplexes in Nigeria are usually two types. Detached and
semi Detached. The only difference is, while Bungalows are grounded,
Duplexes are usually story high.

Semi Detached

This are common in South East Nigeria. In fact they have they style which is
known as the Onitcha  style. This type is designed to take minimal land at
the same time contain many flats.

3. Story building: Readers of this site brought to my notice this type of house that is even the most popular in Nigeria right now. The name might not be universally accepted but trust Nigerian s we name things that suits us.

The story building type of house are way to build lots of flats and offices or market shops without worrying about land. Popular in Eastern part of the country and now spreading like wildfire to other part of Nigeria this house is preferred for commucial purposes.

The modern story building highrise or semi-highrise often consist of two or more floors which are accessed by the use of staircase, the popular ones are 3 story high with some going as much as 5 story high. Most don't have lifters because of the power supply in the country.

This are the top popular residential and to a large extent commercial houses in Nigeria. Note the word popular, I'm not talking ab...

Cost Of Wood For Roofing In Nigeria

When it comes to roofing a house in Nigeria knowing the cost of wood is important. If you have a plan it should be included in, if you don't have one, you should endeavor to get your plan in place.


Your plan should include the plan for the house detailing milestones, for example from January to this February I would have finished the foundation, from February to June I would have reached lintel for a ground house or reached decking for a story building house or duplex.


This helps you track your progress, check your budget and adjust where approximate, most importantly it helps you stay focused and on a lighter note avoid village people.


Let enter the market and see the prices of woods sellers in Timber markets are insisting on.

Sizes of roofing woods in Nigeria

Wood or timber are produced in different sizes for roofing, these sizes are listed below along with their measurement in inches and millimeters.

2” by 2” i.e 50mm by 50mm

2” by 3” i.e 50mm by 75mm

2” by 4” i.e 50mm by 100mm

2” by 6” i.e 50mm by 150mm

3” by 4” i.e 75mm by 100mm

3” by 6” i.e 75mm by 150mm

Cost of Wood For Roofing in Nigeria

There are two main types of wood in Nigeria, hardwood, and softwood.


You get hardwood from a deciduous tree which loses its leaves every year and softwood comes from a conifer, which is often evergreen, Hardwoods are slow growers and are dense.



For the prices it depends on the market, the prices are a combination of key timber markets in Nigeria, from the cities of Lagos, Aba, Port Harcourt, Benue, Kano, Sokoto representing Southwest, Southeast, Northcentral/middle belt, Northeast and Northwest respectively. It might not be exact as the priced are subject to change but we will be updating it.

Prices of Hardwoods for roofing in Nigeria

2×2 – N300 – N400
2×3 – N200 – N230
2×4 – N300 – N500
2×5 – N400 – N600
2×6 – N500 – N650
3×4 – N500 – N700

Prices of Softwood in Nigeria

2x 4 x 12 – N200 – N270
2 x 3 x 12 – N100 – N270
1x2x12 – N400 – N500

All prices are in Nigerian Naira.

When it comes to roofing a house in Nigeria knowing the cost of wood is important. If you have a plan it should be included in, if you do...

Minimum Cost Of Roofing A House In Nigeria

This is a rough estimate of how much in you can spend in roofing a house in Nigeria. Whether it's a bungalow or a duplex, whatever type of house, you'll get the guidelines for the rough estimate. You might spend slightly more or even less depending on some factors.


Yes, you can actually know the amount of money you need if you want to roof a house even without starting the project. You just need to take into consideration some factors and circumstances that are peculiar to Nigeria.

Factors like

Prices of roofing sheets

When it comes to prices of this roofing sheets, it can change the amount someone bought him 5 months ago may not be the same amount another person will buy his own.


For example, a long span aluminum roofing sheet may go for N1,250 per meter for 0.45mm on January and on Nov to December it might increase due to festivities.


For the current prices of roofing sheet in the market you can check it out, otherwise visit the nearest Timber market to find out prices for yourself, if you are not available we can gladly get you these prices in any state you want (see our services page)

Types of roofing sheet

There are many types of roofing sheet, from ordinary zinc to long span roofing sheet, they all have different prices, for instance, the price for aluminum roofing sheet is different from stone coated stipe tile, if you'll like to see the various types of roofing sheet in Nigeria and their pictures check this article.

Wood

You need to determine what type of wood will be best suitable for your roofing style, hardwood, single wood etc.

Carpenters/ labor cost

The third factor is the carpenters that will roof the house, they don't have a fixed price, a set can charge an amount while another can charge a different amount, so they are not fixed. (If you're in PH, IMO, Abia and Lagos and in need of good carpenters that specializes in roofing contact us to recommend really good ones.)


Those are the four major factors you need to consider, others are Minor.

What are the materials needed for roofing?

This is for roofing alone excluding the ceiling cladding, facial flashing, eave angle, valley gutter, angle ridge caps, wall trimmer or wall tape is which is usually 496 square meters for a large house.

We will take into account the dimensions,
These dimensions are essential to determine the accurate span of Rafter, Wallplate, Tie beam, King Post, Overhang, Purlins, fan struts, and others.

Now for a standard house, we have


Ceiling noggins of 600mm, and 600mm as overhangs on both sides you'll have 7,800mm or 7.8m +1200mm or 1-2m=9meters.


Then divide by 0.6m of 16.975m of 50 by 50 you'll have 15 PCs of wood.


- For the number of 2 by 2 wood to buy in the market for the ceiling noggins-

18.175m x 15pcs=273m of 2” by 2”

9m x 31pcs=279m of 2” by 2”

Total=552m

In the market, the wood comes in 3.6m per piece

So 552/3.6=153 pcs of 2” by 2” you will buy 153 pc of 2 by 2 wood for ceiling noggins.


- For wall plate 28pcs of 3” by 4”

- For facial board 15pcs of 1” by 12”

- For Tie beams 32pcs of 2 by 6 of wood

- For struts, 64 pcs of 3 by 4 or 75mm by 100mm

- For Rafters in our case the height of the roof as 3.5m and the breadth of plan plus overhang is 9m, so 24 pcs of 3” by 4” required for rafters.

- For Purlin which is wood of 2” by 2” or 50mm by 50mm we nail the roofing sheets on, 66 pieces of 2” by 2”

- Others are King post which is a piece of wood that stands at the middle of two rafters at the opposing sides.

For Kingpost 15 pieces of wood of 2″ by 6″ is needed, see the diagram for details

This is where wall plate, strut and rafter is located.

I'm I boring you with the technicalities? Here is a summary of what is needed For a 3 bedroom bungalow


1. 7 and a half bundles of Alo Zinc ( you can roof with other type of roofing sheet)

2. 16 pcs of facing board

3. 200 units of coconut tree plank.

4. One bag of 4 inches nail

5. A quarter of a bag of 3 inches nail.

6. Transporting the planks, roofing and facing board to the site.

7. Labor cost (that is if the prices are not bundled together by the carpenter, most carpenters buy the materials and execute the project)


Let's just come down to the amount of money you should budget if you want to roof your house.


Depending on the current prices of items in the market it shouldn't cost more than N500,000 for a standard house in Nigeria.


The recent project we did was for 420,000 for roofing a 4 bedroom Bungalow house with 0.45mm Longspan North brow roofing sheet in Aba Abia state.

This is a rough estimate of how much in you can spend in roofing a house in Nigeria. Whether it's a bungalow or a duplex, whatever ...

Minimum Cost of Decking A House In Nigeria

Before you get the cost of decking a house in Nigeria you have to consider some factors, then you'll arrive at the amount of money you need. 

I'll also show you a finished decked house with the total money spent in decking the house and materials used.

Factors that determine how you end up spending

This factors can either make you spend more money on your building project or make you spend less on decking your house, this is why you should pay attention to each.

Size/type of the house

 Size of the house in question goes a long way in determining how much you end up spending. 

You can't expect to spend the same amount of money used to deck a duplex on a twin duplex or a mansion. So size and the type of the house matters a lot.

If it is a story building type of house you're building (Onitsha style i.e semi high rise or high rise), you'll have to deck it multiple times depending on the number of floors too. You'll spend more on a two-story building than one story building.

Prices of materials

Prices of materials used in decking a house are one of the major factors that determine the overall expenditure. Materials like rods and cement are major ones. 

In Nigeria, it is cheaper to deck a building during February - March period than November December time. This is because of the general increase in prices of goods and services which affect all areas of life especially in the southern part of Nigeria. In this part of the world, Christmas and New period is a signal for prices to increase, it affects the transportation, hospitality, and other sectors the construction sector is often the most affected.

Labor/workmanship

This is an area you'll want to look into. You have two option here, hire a company/individual to take care of the whole decking or hire workers one by one, that is stage hire.

This is necessary because decking a house in Nigeria involves 3 major steps or stages.

Stages of house decking in Nigeria

1. Carpenter is needed for constructing the platform that will house the rods and concrete mixture.

2. Iron benders are needed for bending irons to the required specification, then deploying to the platform and binding it.

3. An Electrician is needed for pipe laying and conduit wiring.

4. Mason and labors also knew mason servers are needed for mixing the concrete with cement and sand, which is then used to deck the building.

Company/Individual contract vs stage hire

Both have advantages and disadvantages. If you give Someone the contract of decking your house, you'll avoid the stress of constant supervision and uncompleted work not completed on time.

But for stage hiring, you'll have to constantly supervise them at each stage.

Which is cheaper?

Stage hiring is often cheaper but the difference in price is not much, you'll have hired and supervise different workers for different stages of the decking process. 

Contract option is better, you get peace of mind knowing that one of the most important aspects of your house is done with quality materials. Sometimes the contract option is even cheaper.

Materials needed for decking a house in Nigeria

- Rods include binding wire

- Cement 

- Sand

- Granite/gravel/stone/concrete etc

- Nail

- Bamboo

- Workers include Carpenter, Electrician, Iron Bender, Mason, and laborers.

- Water

Prices of decking materials in Nigeria

16mm rod at N1750 each 

12mm rod at N900 each

8mm rod at N700 each 

Cement  N200 for one

Granite  around 40000 per trip/ton

Sand N16000 per trip

Binding wire N300 for one

Wood 

Others are the cost of

Bamboo not fixed

Electrician not fixed 

Carpenter not fixed 

Iron bender.

All prices are in Naira.

Also, take note of some expenses like water and transportation.

How much can I budget for decking a house?

The minimum you should budget for decking a house of not more than 100sqm floor should be in the region of  800,000 to 1.3 million Naira depending on location and the period of the year, as ending of the year increases expenses and prices of commodities in the country.

Before you get the cost of decking a house in Nigeria you have to consider some factors, then you'll arrive at the amount of money you...

Cost of Septic Tank And Soakway Construction In Nigeria

Building septic tank also called soak way by some Nigerians, is not hard nor does it take much time. All you need is the materials experienced workers and you are done.

We are going to look at how much exactly one can see building this type of building for waste.

First, let's consider the difference between a septic tank and soak away, it somehow causes confusion.

What is soak Away this context?

In brief, a Soak way is where water from the kitchen, bathroom and other wastewater goes into. Depending on the plumber he can do a cross connection between the septic tank and soak way to capture the excess from the septic tank, or he can leave it with its own compartment.

The Soakaway is not actually very deep as it is usually less in depth compared to a septic tank.

A standard soak way in Nigeria is usually 4 by 4. 

What is a Septic tank?

This still an underground building that is responsible for the waste this time the waste that comes from toilets, also known as shit.

Septic Tank is deeper than Soakaway, unlike Soakaway, the body plastered and the floor, floored.

A standard septic tank in Nigeria is 8 by 10.

So basically the difference between Septic Tank and Soak Away is that a Septic Tank is deeper and plastered then floored, while Soakaway is not given such treatment as the floor is left like that, it is also not that deep.

In some counties like Nigeria and Kenya, they are built together and separated by six inches blocks. Then the plumber will then do the rest of the separation.

The Minimum money you'll need

I'll try to cover everything except plumbing as that is another very different area.

For a small family building a 4 room bungalow, you'll need a standard Septic tank which is  8 by 10 and soak away 4 by 4. 

This will cost about 50 6 inches block (depending on the land topography, it may be slightly more or less)

- Half trip of sand (for plastering and coaching )

- Half trip of gravel (for concrete cover)

- About 11 standard rods 

- 5 bags of cement (Unicem and Dangote recommended)

- 11 12 ft boards for concrete cover

- 10 pieces of po line wood the standard type

- 3inches nails 10 pounds weight 

Other things you'll need

You'll need the services of 

- Diggers

- Carpenter

- Mason and servant

- Plumber 

Then other expenses.

Budget: Currently 300k Naira about 800 US dollars.

The maximum cost 

The above is the standard way to build, for a very large house like the ones at Onitsha designed for commercial purposes you may have to build one for each floor.

So there is no fixed amount, it can cost millions.

Building septic tank also called soak way by some Nigerians, is not hard nor does it take much time. All you need is the materials experien...