Best Posts in Thread: Construction Materials/House Construction Cost

Add one cap full of liquid dishwashing soap (Dove for example) per sack of cement. The water required to make the concrete will be reduced by almost 50%. The result is concrete that is almost twice as strong.
The dishwashing soap reduces the surface tension between the water molecules and allows it to spread more easily with the mix.

 

My wife and I have designed several houses and had them built by employing local workers whilst supervising the build ourselves. The wife does all the canvassing for materials etc to avoid the "foreigner pricing" effect.
It works well as long as it's closely supervised.

 

As he said and I concur, the purpose is not to make money but to give stability and know that loved ones are sheltered and not under someone else's roof...

 

Most definately buying or building is mostly for our family... a roof over their heads lasting long after I am gone is my ultimate goal....

 

Yes - there are BUILDERS and then there are 'builders' and then there are 'builders???'. A relative used one - sounded great and was very knowledgeable, told them not to trust Filipinos, including himself (!), then walked off the job part way through to do another job. Some of the work was very shoddy. If building (apart from using one of the very few competent and responsible ones available) the client needs to know quite a lot about building and needs to be hawk-eyed. A knowledgeable client could employ a cheaper builder, having very carefully drawn up the specs, but someone who does not know enough has to employ one who is highly recommended - and that is where the higher price comes in. The problem is that often the very good builders are busy - the useless ones can start tomorrow!

 

We are expanding our fence now, along with putting some tile down in the dirty kitchen. Not sure how much land we are adding, maybe 700sqm to put in a pool and a few other things ( part of the land is on the other side of a dyke/ creek that runs behind the house and will not be fenced.). so far materials has cost us just over 100,000 peso which includes an estimated 3500 hollow block. For labor we are expecting to pay 500 peso per day per carpenter, we are getting 2 of them, and 3 helpers at 400 peso per day. We are estimating 3 months for work to complete, meaning another 165000 peso. Total should come close to 300000 peso. I am unsure if this includes sealing/painting the wall or not. Hopefully not to much more than this.

 

Friends can become enemies so very quickly, especially where 'business' is concerned. So tread with care.

If you know "experienced" people (and if they are locals) then I would expect them to have been able to answer your original post - "I just would like to ask if anyone here knows where I could buy affordable yet durable construction materials?" If they don't know then I would be concerned.

 

I think reliable Builders are few and far between, about the only way to build here as I see it is; you must do your research and know how things should be done, even if you interview a Builder and he says all the rights things and actually knows his job but he may still cut all the corners anyway? one thing the Pinoy always falls back on is (I no understand you) possible may be better to get a foreigner that speaks English and tell him exactly what you want and the way it has to be done.
I have three workers at my site at this time, early on when my back was turned they mixed a batch of very wet concrete, I then told them to dump it and start again with the warning if ever that happens again the man in charge of the water goes home, it is difficult to get it consistent every batch but I no longer get it really wet like soup.

 

In addition to asking questions I would rather go out and look at some places he has under construction. All at different stages. Also try look at something that was built awhile back to see how its holding up.

The only time you should go on someone's recommendation is if that person recommending actually knows what they are talking about.

 

You vibrate from the outside on the forms, I use a small electric jack hammer for this, with the chisel dug into a piece of coco lumber very effective I have tried and tested on a quite dry mix with low water content, this does work, you can also buy form vibrators that work in a similar way.