Living a low-carbon life

Here’re the people who helped us in getting our house built – the architect, builder, vendors for the reused material.

Architect. We got Maya Praxis, an award-winning architect firm, to design our house. Vijay Narnapatti and Dimple Mittal translated our wacky ideas into designs, and added a whole lot of wacky ideas of their own. We totally love what they’ve done for us !
http://www.mayapraxis.com/
Phone : 26576552.

Bamboo corrugated sheet roof: Timpack Pvt. Ltd., Byrnihat, Meghalaya.
Contact : Mr. Arjan Singh Bhusri, Sr. Executive. Phone : 9810321839

Keep away from these firms / people

Builder : Vismaya Interiors. They goofed up on a lot of things, and there’s zero warranty on their work.
Contact: Mr. Prakash. Phone : 98452 16065

Rain water harvesting system: Great Bear Promotions, Bangalore. The rain water system started coming apart after some months, and the sump leaked. Got no remedy from them.
Contact : Mr. John Daniel. Phone : 2543 1414, 6559 3006

Sources of used stuff

Bangalore has a large demolition industry. Specialist demolition firms break down old buildings and sell the wood and other reusable material in the building through their shops. You will find these shops all over the city, but the heaviest concentrations are in Shivajinagar and City Market – both places coincidentally called Bamboo Bazaar.

Pine wood from packing cases : A whole lot of shops in Bamboo Bazaar, Shivajinagar.

Glass : Munaaf can source used glass for you from demolished buildings, and also does lovely glass painting and glass frosting. The dining table in the hall was painted by him. He has a factory in Shivajinagar.
Phone : 90194 93549

Kitchen sinks : Ahmed has a whole range of used stainless steel sinks, from demolished homes and restaurants. He has a shop in Sunday Market (only open on Sundays) at the end of BVK Iyengar Rd., near the City Market flyover.
Phone : 98867 33132

Toilet fittings – commodes etc. : We got our used commodes, wash basins and plumbing (taps and showers) from Akram in Bamboo Bazaar, City Market.
Phone : 93432 06841

Door and window frames : Lots of shops in the two Bamboo bazaars, and others dotted around the city.

Floor tiles : You can sometimes get unbelievable deals on these. Ceramic tiles are used for the flooring in booths in exhibitions, and are useless after the exhibition is over. I once saw a whole bunch of them from the Air show, selling at the absurd price of Re. 2 each (new ones would have cost Rs. 30 each). Tiles are useless if they are pasted to cement at the bottom, but this lot were just laid on sand. Tiles from old buildings too are sometimes usable because they are laid on lime mortar which comes off easily.

Granite slabs : Granite slabs on a lot of footpaths around the city are being replaced with tiles. You can strike a deal with the contractor right where the work is being done, and get them very cheap. He does not have to spend money carting them to some other place, so you save this money too.

The general method
Basically just scrounge around – you never know what you’ll find.

What you should do (in fact what we did) is this:
1. After the design of the house is ready, make a list of what you need and what type. E.g., the quantity, type and size of kitchen sinks, wash basins, etc.
2. Keep going periodically to the demolition material markets, pick up whatever you can get and store them away in your place. Remember that they may actually be used only after many months.
3. Give a list of the stuff you need to any vendors you think are suitable, with your phone number. Ask them to call you when they get anything on your list.
4. If you see a building being broken down anywhere and see some useful stuff, strike a deal with the demolition contractor right there and cart the stuff away. He saves on transport to his shop, so he’ll pass on this benefit to you.
4. The price you pay for anything should be approx. 20 % of the same thing new.

The markets

Metal stuff in Bamboo Bazaar, City Market

What things looked like when we bought them

Commodes, wash basins	Taps and shower
Kitchen sinks