General tips about construction, placement etc.
Which room should be constructed in which direction, if this is not kept in mind while planning a house, the whole building may go against the principles Vastu Shastra and
it will create lot of troubles causing irreparable harms and loss to the owner / inmates.
The other things which must be kept in mind are:
Doors of each room should be facing East.
Bedrooms should be in South and West.
Placement of mirrors on South and West wall are inauspicious.
While sleeping head should be in South or West but never in North.
Pooja room should be in North East. All idols and photographs should be facing East or West.
Toilet seat should be in North-South only. It should not be in East-West.
Out houses should not touch the compound wall of North and East side.
Stairs should always be in clock-wise direction.
Anything underground should be in North or East.
Anything above ground should be in South or West.
Porch should not touch the North or East compound wall.
Big trees should not be grown in North or East. They should be in South
or West side of the house.
Face East or North while reading or transacting any business deal.
Face East while cooking, West is allowed if there is no alternative, but never face South while cooking.
Total number of doors and windows should be in even number for each floor, but should not end in zero like 10, 20, 30. The width of the door should be half the height of the door. The door should not be too high, too low, too wide or too narrow. The doors should be rectangular and square doors should always be avoided.
Ventilation should be looked after and good cross ventilation should be present.
Never put the poster of crying girl, war scene, sexy scenes, angry man, owl, eagle etc : they are inauspicious.
Doors should open inside the room and not outside.
In bed rooms, always use bed of four legs only. Never use box type bed because it stops the air circulation under the bed which is bad for health.
Never eat or drink in standing position.
No room should be built under the stairs.
The cupboard in the wall should be in the Southern or Western part direction of the house.
In thse kitchen, grinder, fridge, shelf and other heavy items should be towards South and West wall.
There should be no water body in front of any entrance door of the house.
The ratio between length and breadth of the building should normally be 1:1 or 1:1.5 or maximum 1:2. It should not exceed 1:2 in all circumstances. The building dimension should preferably be longer in North-South, shorter in East-West.
Ground level should be higher in West, SouthWest and South as compaired to East, North and NorthEast. It is better to keep NorthEast the lowest
Floor level should be higher in South, SouthWest, SouthEast and Western portion and lower in North, NorthEast and East. The water should flow towards East or North and not in other directions. Central zone should be even.
It is better to keep roofing sloping towards East and North.
Now a days it has become a fashion to keep roofs sloping deeply :
(1.) Keeping the roofs slopy symmetrically in all sides : or
(2.) If the slope is on East or North sides only, keeping the East or North or both sides down. The idea is to keep South and West heights in level. Slanting towards South or West only should be avoided as that will lead to serious health problems.
There are two options for building height:
(1.) Height can be equal every where in the building.
(2.) Keeping South, South West and West higher as compared to other parts of the building.
Conversely North, North East and East should be lower in heights.
Terrace, portico, porch & balconies should be located only in North, East and North East sides of the building to bring health, wealth and happiness. Balconies should face North and East.
The mezzanine floor should be placed in West or South side of the building.
Normally building cellars and basement rooms etc. below the road level of a house should be avoided. Due to paucity of space now a days building cellars or basement is being widely adopted. Care should be taken to keep the height of the cellar or basement projecting up above the road level to some extent. Cellars or basement covering the entire plot is all right. If it is to be constructed only in a portion of basement it should be located only in North, North East and East sides preferably with entrance from North East. If constructed on South West that should be used for heavy storage. North West and South West portion should be used for servants, car parking etc.
If cellars or basement are built in South, South West and West and used for living that will create mental tension and loss of wealth for inmates.
Placing stair case in North or West zone turning right in the middle and emerging in the first floor facing East or South or South West zone is also auspicious. While climbing one should face West or South up to middle point and after that one can face any direction; emerging at the end at North East portion is considered auspicious.
It will be auspicious to keep doors both at beginning and at the end of the stair case. It is also essential to ensure that the stair case does not touch Eastern or Northern wall.
The steps should be in odd numbers like 11, 17, 23 etc. In other words, if the number is divided by 3, the remainder.
The best place to construct servant quarter is South-East or North-West corners. Care should be taken to ensure (i) not to block the corners at SouthEast or NorthWest. (ii) the quarters should not touch the walls on East or North.
The best place for garage is South-East or North-West and the garage walls should not touch the walls on East or North.
The guard room: A regular concrete shelter or alternatively a wooden chowki is made in South West or other place near main gate. The shelter should be facing East or North. It is important to ensure that the watchman can easily see every movement from a distance itself.
North-West or South-West zones are the right places for overhead tank. Since it is of having weight at a height, South-West is the best. Precaution should be taken to ensure that the overhead tank does not touch the main building.
The right place for underground reservoir or water tank is the NorthEast, the place of Eshwar, the God Supreme. The next choice is East Zone on the Northern side.
The best place to locate a swimming pool is the NorthEast side. It is better to build the swimming pool in a corner ( and not exactly at junction of North and East points ) where privacy is ensured.
For this Southern or Western side should be used. South-West or North-West corners and central place of the house or building should never be used for this purpose. If possible Eastern and Northern side should also be avoided. The person sitting in water closets should face North or South or South-West and never the East Direction.
Vastu concepts regarding the plants and their plantation must be kept in mind so as to make your home not just superficially beautiful, but also Vastu oriented. As a general rule, gardens in homes or factories should always be in the North or West and of the compound. The South-East and South-West are not to be selected for any kind of garden or plantation. Fruit bearing trees or trees with good foliage are always preferred to thorny trees. Care should be taken not to grow trees which have huge penetrating roots as it can prove harmful for the house.
Generally gates in North, North-East and East directions are auspicious and good. Roadfacing South is not generally preferred. In South road plots, SouthWest gate should be avoided. South-East gate is a better choice. In a plot facing West (road on Western side) SouthWest main entrance gate should be avoided; NorthWest gate is a better option. East or North direction is the best for placing main gate.
Height of the building should be uniform to get the most advantageous results. There must be uniformity among projections or elevations.