Karda Constructions: Moving ahead with the times

Karda Constructions, Nashik

For the last two decades, Karda Constructions has consistently delivered quality real estate development. With a portfolio of more than 30 residential and commercial projects in and around Nashik, the Karda Group has achieved sustained growth over the years. As it continues to build cost effective and luxurious abodes for all segments, this first generation real estate developer has become a name to reckon with in Maharashtra.

Caring for children’s safety

Till a year ago, Karda Constructions had by and large been using sand pits in the children’s play areas at its residential complexes, a practice it discontinued after receiving unfavourable feedback from residents. The developer then moved to using rubberized safety flooring at the play areas. Rajesh Jagale, Project In-charge, Karda Constructions, pointed out, “The sand pits needed a great deal of maintenance as they gathered moisture and grime easily. Moreover, after playing in the pits children would leave traces of sand on other parts of the property. We also received complaints about some kids being allergic to sand.”

Karda Constructions thus decided to move to rubberised flooring to ensure safety and hygiene of the play areas. By April 2014, play areas at five of its properties, namely, Hari Om, Hari Sparsh, Hari Sankalp, Hari Niketan, and Karda Deolali Plaza, were covered with Playsafe Premium Flooring (Playsafe EPDM) by Ecoflex.

Why Playsafe?

Manohar Karda, Director and Head (Purchase), Karda Constructions cited ‘service’ as the primary reason for choosing Ecoflex Playsafe. He said, “We selected Ecoflex for its prompt and efficient after-sales service. Earlier, we tried another vendor earlier but were dissatisfied with the service. The post-installation support of Ecoflex has been amazing. The timelines were adhered to and the issues that cropped up during installation were immediately resolved.” Recently, at one of the sites, where a portion of the top layer came off, the issue was addressed promptly by Ecoflex.

Quality matters

All five sites of Karda Constructions feature approximately 2,000 to 2,500 square feet of Playsafe Premium Flooring at their play areas. Ecoflex’s flooring surfaces have also been installed at the gymnasiums of 12 real estate projects of Karda—including the aforementioned ones. “We chose Ecoflex for the gyms too to ensure injury-free workouts. Even if some weights or gym equipment were to fall on the floor, the rubberized flooring would prevent the tiles beneath from chipping off,” explained Jagale.

“Quality is a priority for us”    — Manohar Karda, Director and Head (Purchase), Karda Constructions

“Quality is a priority for us as we aim to deliver top-of-the-line real estate. Being a premium product, Playsafe EPDM has added value to our brand. The Playsafe flooring fits the bill when it comes to quality, after-sales service, and pricing. In fact, Playsafe turned out to be more cost effective than other brands when you consider the advantages it offers,” said Karda.

He further remarked that the process of getting the flooring installed was fairly straightforward, and that his team only had to brief Ecoflex on the requirements. Ecoflex executed the entire surface laying process. “The only requirement of the Ecoflex team was that the site should have a hard surface with a drainage system in place,” added Karda. “The installations were completed within 10 to 12 days—at each of the sites.”

Victor D’Mello, President, Sales and Marketing, Ecoflex Surfaces Private Limited, said, “Before signing us up, Karda Constructions had been using another flooring brand. But once the Karda management was convinced of the superior quality of our products and our excellent after-sales service, it gave us the preference for all the projects.”

Adding value with premium flooring

For development projects that have been completed and handed over, the regular maintenance of the flooring is undertaken by the residents. User manuals on maintaining the flooring have been provided at every site and signage and DOs and DON’Ts put up near the play areas at all the sites. “The flooring is so easy to maintain! In fact, after the installation of the flooring at our various sites, we have not had a single complaint from the residents,” said Jagale.

The bright colours and patterns, smooth surfaces, premium finish, and durability of the Playsafe flooring have upped the ambience of the Karda properties. “The top three benefits that we have seen from installing Playsafe flooring are service, quality, and safety,” added Karda. “The play areas look neat, colourful, and aesthetic. Even potential buyers are glad to see that the play areas sport rubberised safety flooring. Residents no longer have to worry about their kids falling and getting injured while playing.”