Interresting Building Information

[Phileas Fogg]

Hi John,Sorry, I've been away for a few weeks.Thanks for the info, I'm definitely one to do my research and planning so as when I do it then, I hope, I do it properly, as an example I've been reading about these plants that repel mosquitos, plants that mosquitos don't like, so before I leave UK I'll be buying up whatevever seeds I can buy on eBay such as Citronella Grass, Rosemary, Eucalyptus Gunnii, Mosquito Plant etc, guess what's going to be planted in my Phils garden, around the patio(s) and indeed indoors as houseplants? :)I'm also looking as less energy consuming alternative(s) to air con, if the buildings are concrete thus better insulated against the heat than timber constructions I'm looking at these air coolers, I believe the Americans call them swamp coolers, whilst they might only reduce the temperature by a degree or two they seem to reduce humidity making it more comfortable but I'll keep investigating these, I read some interesting reviews of them on amazon.comBut back to construction materials, and I already had it in mind to paint the finished buildings in white, I read what you say about varying qualities of hollow blocks, my ultimate destination is Siargao Island whereas whatever isn't made locally needs to be brought in by ship thus, I imagine, makes the availibility of choice somewhat limited. Once I get there, and I'll have my Phils girlfriend with me, I'll initially be buying up some land so I guess I'll have plenty of time to establish what materials may be available and to talk to architects and builders etc.These prefab panels (above) interested me but I dread to imagine what the shipping costs may be from Manila to Siargao, several road journeys, several ships, and several days later just to get them to Siargao, that alone I think would rule them out on price.

[tropicalwaste]

You might find this link interesting if your wondering how to make hollow blocks :-

I have seen the machines for sale online and can easily be found on Sulit :-http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/classifieds+directory/q/hollow+block+machine cost around P23,000+Im also one for using HCB and although pretty much anyone selling another product will rip into it nobody ever asks if HCB is so bad why is everyone still using it? If its done right you won't have any problems as John said the problems occur in the mixture and you will find with cheaper blocks they will literally crumble in your hands. But even these when backfilled then faced with a cement mix become a solid structure. If weight is also an issue its worth researching blocks which are made with a mix of lime,ash or paper. The other thing to remember regardless of what your using it all comes back to how its done in the first place with the mix.. Im looking at the concrete poured method for other projects in the future because of speed of finish but looking to buy the equipment rather than hire in labour.

[Phileas Fogg]

Thanks Tropical,Life on this forum is a worthwhile education, I hadn't realised that such industrial HCB makers were so readily available.I'm definitely one for doing things properly and having mixed concrete myself in the past I appreciate it's not just the amount of cement one uses, one should use building or coarse sand, a sand that has substance to it, rather than some local nipping off to tthe local beach of a night pinching beach (silver) sand that filters through ones fingers, also the size of the stone chippings needs to be appropriate for the job in hand.I have no idea how much 'quality' HCB's cost in Phils nor indeed the costs of cement, sand and stone chippings. OK, once purchased the HCB maker would have a resale value, or indeed a secondary business investment of making HCB's for others, but would you be able to guess a ballpark figure of how many blocks, or how many, and sizes of, buildings one would need to build to break even on the purchase of the HCB maker?ThanksPF

[johnb]

Thanks Tropical,Life on this forum is a worthwhile education, I hadn't realised that such industrial HCB makers were so readily available.I'm definitely one for doing things properly and having mixed concrete myself in the past I appreciate it's not just the amount of cement one uses, one should use building or coarse sand, a sand that has substance to it, rather than some local nipping off to tthe local beach of a night pinching beach (silver) sand that filters through ones fingers, also the size of the stone chippings needs to be appropriate for the job in hand.I have no idea how much 'quality' HCB's cost in Phils nor indeed the costs of cement, sand and stone chippings. OK, once purchased the HCB maker would have a resale value, or indeed a secondary business investment of making HCB's for others, but would you be able to guess a ballpark figure of how many blocks, or how many, and sizes of, buildings one would need to build to break even on the purchase of the HCB maker?ThanksPF

Hi PF, You'll find some prices for materials here: http://philippines-expats.com/index.php?showtopic=2659 Its now a little out of date but will still give some ball park figures, I do know that the 4" [100mm] HCB is now 8 php and a bag of cement 210php .The standard HCB block is 200mm in height, 400mm in length and generally 100mm or 150mm in thickness, just calculate how many blocks make 1 M2, multiply that by the wall area internal and external for your proposed building, then you can compare the costs of buying blocks against making your own. [price of the mold, materials and labour]. of course the blocks are important But Iwould worry more about the mixing ratios and steel work in your columns and beams.John

[jonkel49]

Hi Phileas I hope i've caught you before you bought a swamp cooler. They work well in the desert of the south west but would not work in the tropics. They use water to cool the air and raise the humidy of it. I've used them for years in Elko Neveda.

Hi John,Sorry, I've been away for a few weeks.Thanks for the info, I'm definitely one to do my research and planning so as when I do it then, I hope, I do it properly, as an example I've been reading about these plants that repel mosquitos, plants that mosquitos don't like, so before I leave UK I'll be buying up whatevever seeds I can buy on eBay such as Citronella Grass, Rosemary, Eucalyptus Gunnii, Mosquito Plant etc, guess what's going to be planted in my Phils garden, around the patio(s) and indeed indoors as houseplants? :)I'm also looking as less energy consuming alternative(s) to air con, if the buildings are concrete thus better insulated against the heat than timber constructions I'm looking at these air coolers, I believe the Americans call them swamp coolers, whilst they might only reduce the temperature by a degree or two they seem to reduce humidity making it more comfortable but I'll keep investigating these, I read some interesting reviews of them on amazon.comBut back to construction materials, and I already had it in mind to paint the finished buildings in white, I read what you say about varying qualities of hollow blocks, my ultimate destination is Siargao Island whereas whatever isn't made locally needs to be brought in by ship thus, I imagine, makes the availibility of choice somewhat limited. Once I get there, and I'll have my Phils girlfriend with me, I'll initially be buying up some land so I guess I'll have plenty of time to establish what materials may be available and to talk to architects and builders etc.These prefab panels (above) interested me but I dread to imagine what the shipping costs may be from Manila to Siargao, several road journeys, several ships, and several days later just to get them to Siargao, that alone I think would rule them out on price.

[Art2ro]

If we have the chance, time and money to build another home, it would look like this (below), our dream home! It's a single level home with no stairs and with high vaulted ceilings and we would like to have a swimming pool in the back yard with a cabana! We would not use (HCB) hollow concrete blocks for the exterior walls, but of prefabricated cement panels with Polystyrine mixed in for better insulation exactly the type in Old55's post at the top of this page, which is available in the Philippine market today and makes for an overall fast construction, but the overall cost of our dream home may be 1/3 more the cost of our present home.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Art2ro

[chelseajohn]

I made a lot of mistakes when I first came to the PH one of which was building a mansion in the jungle The structure 2 storey and is quack proof ( all this means looking at the plans is the foundations are joined all round )hollow block was used to infill between concret columns ,, these were made on site and as the maker was payed by the bag of cement used I am sure he used as much as possible hahaas stated before after rebar installed hollow block is filled with cement so are solidonly trouble after 5 years now is stain coming through the paint inside was told this is salt in the gravel sand used ( funny I thought gravel sand was from the river what salt ?? )leave the guys building it to do what they know best if you try new things they will get confused dont give them a laser level like i did A bubble tube they are comfortable with all went well and some are still friends good luck John n

[gapotwo]

hey, chelsea john, i remember back in 1965 when my parents built our first house in olongapo,everything you said is true. dont distract the builders with modern gadgets. our house that is still standing today,and will be my permanent home next month, the only thing different is no hollow blocks at all. the walls and flors were all rebar and concrete,called BUHOS. the inside woodwork is all fil.hardwood. yakal and tangili, the cabinets are asian mahogany, the roof is riveted down insted of traditional screws. she has survived many earthquaks and the mt. pinatubo eruption. the walls are 24'' thick, dad built it like a fortress, well after 35 years in alaska and hawaii, its time to go home to my bullet proof fortress house. tanks ej.

[Jake]

hey, chelsea john, i remember back in 1965 when my parents built our first house in olongapo,everything you said is true. dont distract the builders with modern gadgets. our house that is still standing today,and will be my permanent home next month, the only thing different is no hollow blocks at all. the walls and flors were all rebar and concrete,called BUHOS. the inside woodwork is all fil.hardwood. yakal and tangili, the cabinets are asian mahogany, the roof is riveted down insted of traditional screws. she has survived many earthquaks and the mt. pinatubo eruption. the walls are 24'' thick, dad built it like a fortress, well after 35 years in alaska and hawaii, its time to go home to my bullet proof fortress house. tanks ej.

Dang EJ, nice fortress! During those 35 years since your home was built, did you guys have any termite problems?Respectfully -- Jake

[gapotwo]

hey jake, im sure that teramites have been there , but thats the reason it was built with poured concrete and hardwoods like yakal and tangili , but ithink the mohogany was a feast to them. the home has been upgraded 4 times over the years from what i am told, but i expect to have to do some repairs here and there. its a 5br. 3bath .2 car garage, the caretakers live on site, but the wholle house is mine. so lots to do ,and lots of time to do it in. just kick back in my chair with a cold beer and direct operations. and of course the after lunch siestas, and the never ending boom boom girls.:SugarwareZ-034: im in the land of the big PX now and willbe leaving soon after a family reunion in long beach.:23_11_62[1]: ill let you know when i get home. tanks ej.