In the village where Toan lived, there were no houses built of stone. When he discussed the plan with his parents, he received shakes of his head in disapproval.

The dream of building a stone house after the journey through Vietnam

At the end of 2016, Le Huu Toan (born 1993, in Dak Lak) had a two-month cycling trip across Vietnam from Ca Mau to Ha Giang to experience. The journey brought Toan many experiences, especially when going through the northern mountains, Toan was very impressed with the beautiful, unique and close stone houses of the ethnic minorities.

“At that moment, I thought, if I had money, I would definitely build a house out of stone. After the trip through Vietnam, I have studied and consulted a lot of architecture, castles and houses made of stone, sketching the outline of the future house “, Toan said.

Huu Toan used to travel through Vietnam in 2016-2017

The young man cherished the dream of building a stone house after his trip through Vietnam.

And so, the dream of a strange stone house was rekindled by the young man. But it wasn’t until 2021 that Toan started implementing it. The old 3-room house of Toan’s family was built nearly 30 years ago, built in a traditional style, and is now more or less degraded.

In 2021, the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City social distancing. Toan’s work was affected. Although he could not work, in return, the boy’s income was not affected. Having accumulated some capital, Toan returned to his hometown to discuss with his family to build a house. But in return, he received only shakes of the head in protest.

“The family has never seen anyone build a house like that before. People worry about whether stone can be built. I also consulted my neighbor’s uncle for more advice. They all said that they had never seen a house like this before, and they would not be able to build it.

But I still persisted with the idea, persuaded my family, said that this was a dream that I had cherished since 4 years ago, so I really wanted to do it, and at the same time showed my family photos of houses. with the stone I referred to. And in the end, my family also agreed and supported” , Toan confided.

Use 100 tons of stone, 30 tons of cement

The young man assured his relatives that if he could not find the type of stone to make a house, he would build it with ordinary bricks. The next day, Toan and his uncle traveled 50km to another district to find split stones. Observing along the way, he found some places with the right type of stone and asked people to go to the stonecutter’s house.

After visiting the rock field, negotiating the price, Toan completed the deposit. The next step, he started looking for builders: “Fortunately, my uncle’s house next door has just been repaired. I talked to ask questions to build. When it comes to building stone houses, workers are surprised because they have never seen anyone build like this before, they only see embankments and dams. But in the end they still agreed to accept it.”

The construction process faced many difficulties

Started construction, Toan had difficulty because there were too many problems arising. The cost of transporting split stone is very high, each time it can only carry 500 tablets because of its very heavy weight, long distance, 50km. Each stone costs 4,800 VND, while the average shipping fee for 1 stone is 2,000 VND.

“Because the rock is heavy and afraid of sinking, I poured 12 foundation bases. The foundation can bear the load of a house of 3-4 floors. The team of workers worked very hard to transport and build. Each time you carry a tortoise cart, you can only get 4 pieces, and the higher you go, the harder it is to put the stones up. It took a whole day with 40 people to complete the foundation” , Toan expressed.

Because the stone is uneven, most have to be hammered and hewn again to build and can only build on one side. The whole building is straight on the outside, while the inside is quite concave. This also results in the plastering of bedrooms and toilets costing more pools, a longer delay.

The stone house poured 12 foundations.

Construction process uses 100 tons of stone, 30 tons of cement

At the time of construction at the time of the outbreak, Toan’s house construction had to stop according to directive 16, twice. By October 2021, Toan returned to Ho Chi Minh City to work again. At that time, the house was 90% complete. Total area is 80m2, including 1 living room, 2 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 1 WC, 1 mezzanine 24m2. Total construction cost is about 500 million.

Toan was happy when he entered the house built with so much enthusiasm: “I’m really happy. The house is very cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. Because I’m not at home often, I can’t decorate. But in the future, I will cover the outside wall with climbing plants and climbing roses.”

Huu Toan’s dream house has been completed

Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)