A house without wood
Ever imagined constructing a house without using wood? And that too without using a single piece of timber for furniture as well?
Well, it is possible. P.K. Pradeep Kumar, a scientist with the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management at Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode district, tells how he made the impossible possible. And he has given a suitable name to his sweet dwell
ing — Woodnil.
Dr. Kumar says the idea came to him when he was a member of a team attached to the Ministry of Environment doing a project on impact of deforestation on hydrological parameters several years ago. “I felt that not using wood for construction of my house was the best way to protect the environment.”
Steel doors
The doors, including the frames, are made of mild steel. After painting, they look similar to ones finished in wood. There are no problems in opening and shutting them during the monsoon season unlike the doors made of wood. If they are properly painted, they will not get corroded.
The cost of material and labour comes to less than half of the woodwork.
The doors of the bathroom are made of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC). Aluminium is the material used for the windows. The window frames are in concrete. These are cost-effective when compared to wood. Aluminium frames are not heavy.
There are no sunshades above the windows. Instead, concrete slabs have been extended on the roofs. These extended roofs protect the house from rain and heat. Such frills need to be constructed under the supervision of an expert, says Dr. Kumar.
Cots of bricks
Woodnil has four unique bedrooms. All the cots are constructed using bricks. Each cot has six chambers. On top of the bricks, aluminium frames have been fixed to lay the mattress. “I thought of using plywood instead of aluminium. But plywood is essentially wood. So I banished that thought and went for aluminium frames,” he says.
Three sets of aluminium frames have been used for each cot. These can be removed easily. The six cavities serve the purpose of storing books, clothes and other articles. A big disadvantage of these cots is that they cannot be shifted. Considering the experience of many people, a cot rarely gets shifted to another position in a bedroom, he justifies.
Cupboards, cabinets
All the cupboards and cabinets are in brick and mortar attached to the walls of the house. Shelves have been constructed using ferro-cement, which is a combination of cement and iron meshes.
The water tank is also modelled out of ferro-cement. More water can be stored in the tank since the thickness of the walls of the tank is less. The sloping of the roofs is only six inches leaving more space on the roofs for cultivating vegetables.
BIJU GOVIND
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