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BUILD YOUR OWN HOME OR BUY READY BUILT

Discussion in 'Hobbies and special interests' started by DAVE1952, Aug 11, 2021.

  1. DAVE1952

    DAVE1952 DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer

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    I don't know.
    Both are fraught with hidden dangers, lets start with a ready built house, so you go and view this house for sale claimed to be built to western standards? you see it has a nice finish to the walls it is all newly painted ready for selling, the tiling inside is tastefully done, the kitchen doors/drawers open as they should the toilet flushes your ASWA really likes it. now everything about this house is just Dandy, is there any possible reason not to buy this? YES,
    now you have to ask yourself are you qualified to make a judgement on the structural integrity of this building? you would think if all the finishing is done well the building should also be sound? this is so far from reality, it is so easy for a builder to cut costs on the bare bones of building a house, use the cheapest Sand the cheapest Gravel, cheapest CHB, big savings can also be made on steel which is a very expensive item in house building especially in recent times, sub standard very thin Rebar can be used, thin roof sheets all these can bring down the material cost immensely, maybe there is a chance to have this professionally surveyed, yes there is but still very unlikely that a building surveyor can tell if these hidden faults exist or not, such as low grade steel being used or another great example does the Windows and Doors have proper Concrete caste Lintels, is the sanitary system properly vented, (causes blockages if not done correctly and not what you want here as just about everything is encased in concrete) there is a tendency to hide all of this under nicely rendered painted walls.

    Now if you have taken the time to read this you may be thinking, is this person ( A Wee Fat Scotsman) qualified to write this? the answer to that is NO not really, I am not a qualified tradesman, but the most likely people that build houses here also have no formal training to enable them to build to even a good standard, as for the Foreign builders many are just taking the easy money and can high tail it home any time there is likely to be any repercussions on their failed house builds, I should add not all fall into this category.
    I will attach a few pictures showing a few faults that are not uncommon here.

     
  2. Best Answer:
    Post #53 by ONEARM, Nov 26, 2021 (4 points)
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    DAVE1952

    DAVE1952 DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer

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    This is a picture of a pillar in a wall section that collapsed in December of last year it shows segregation of the concrete, there is no sand or cement holding the Aggregate together, this is because, it is a skinny pillar with little room for the concrete to get all around the steel, to combat this they make the concrete runny like soup and this gives the steel good coverage the Pinoys say, the sand and cement have run down to the bottom of the Pillar.
    IMG_1297.JPG
     
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    DAVE1952

    DAVE1952 DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer

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    The next Picture is of a house Built by a Foreigner for a Foreigner, it would appear this house is above 150M2 perhaps as much as 200 and yet they are using only 4inch CHB? these walls will have to support big span roof trusses over large rooms, of course there should be Pillars and Beams well there is after a fashion but they are hidden in the walls 4x8inch pillars worse than useless. also you can see they have been done in parts and have cold joints, obviously there are poured in parts as the wall is built a big failing, hard to see but in this same picture the roof steel is a combination of 2inch for the main truss and 1inch for the bracing, they should be the same larger size throughout, but the one inch bracing is half the price. IMG_1331 (1).JPG IMG_1332.JPG
     
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    DAVE1952

    DAVE1952 DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer

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    The last picture is of a window opening which spans 1.6mtr there is no caste Lintel in this, they jam a piece of wood in the opening at the top, they lay a piece of Rebar on this and build on it as normal, this is bad practise all to save money. This house is sure to have problems even in a moderate Earthquake. IMG_1334.JPG
     
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  6. cabb

    cabb DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster ✤Forum Sponsor✤

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    Where the skill is in hiding all those issues and making it look good. : )
     
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  7. NowandThen

    NowandThen DI Forum Adept Restricted Account

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    Thank you for these valuable tips and warnings. However, these facts do not necessarily make me happy. My wife would like to buy a smaller house in Bacong / Dauin. But neither she, her family nor I have the expertise you have. So hopefully we will find a construction expert (western?) when we see a suitable property. But who knows, maybe even for an expert it might be difficult to detect all these hidden construction defects.

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  8. Dutchie

    Dutchie DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    Next to impossible I would say. Once the walls/pillars have been covered over with plaster it's anyone's guess what's underneath. Only aspects that can still be found is stuff like undersized pillars (if they should be thicker than a wall but aren't), and maybe some defects with the roof trusses (if there's access to the attic).
    We got lucky with our house, bought it from a knowledgeable German guy whom I know was at the building site each and every day when the house was first built, keeping an eye on the builders and having them fix /redo mistakes. (thank you Günther).
     
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  9. SkipJack

    SkipJack DI Senior Member

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    Thank you @DAVE1952 for this information. It will help many in the future who are building homes.

    Wow the cold joints in the pillars are pathetic. The concrete there is not well consolidated.

    Even worse are the skinny 4 inch x 8 inch beams. The truly sad fact about this is that the beam is the skinniest in the direction it is needed the most. The 8 inch wider part is along the direction of the wall. Walls do not fall down along their length. They fall over perpendicular to their length. In this direction the beam is the skinniest. Only 4 inches and with poor cold joints to boot.

    Meanwhile I assume this foreign builder is going around bragging about his abilities and getting more business.
     
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    DAVE1952

    DAVE1952 DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer

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    Well Sir I am not really an expert, I think that term can only be used with someone who has had formal training, in the Building Trade? what I have done is research via the internet which is available to most if they care to take the time to do this. but even with this knowledge I now have, I could not tell if a house is well built or not apart from a very few obvious things? and here is an example, is the Grey water from the house discharged into a separate tank from the Black water in the digestive Septic Tank System, the reason for this is; Grey water destroys the Digestive system in a septic tank, if the house has two toilets have them both flushed at the same time, do they both flush in one clean motion if not there may be a problem with the venting system?
    You are looking to buy a house in areas close to the sea, in these locations it is better that the steel inside the Columns and Beams has 6cm of cover to be safe from the sea air, this you will never know?
     
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    DAVE1952

    DAVE1952 DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer

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    I do agree with what you say, but even a house with stout Pillars and Beams, only vaguely suggests some thought went into the Build quality? I have yet to see any Pillar done here in the correct way? All Pillars and Beams should be done in one continuous pour, now that is difficult as concrete should not be dropped from a distance any more than 5ft=1.5mtrs a distance greater than this causes segregation of the Aggregates from the Sand/Cement, so windows have to be cut into the form work at intervals of 5ft or less, you will never ever see this here, stirrups to the Rebar cage should be sett closer at the top and bottom of the Pillars, the ends bent to 135 degrees and wrapped around the steel uprights, the Rebar cage should not touch the formwork at any point, the Concrete should be of a good consistent mix and not contain too much water and then a form vibrator should be used to consolidate it, banging forms with a hammer is useless for this, it is highly unlikely that all these steps have been taken to provide good strong Pillars and Beams, even though they may look good?
     
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