Best Posts in Thread: Designing a cheap house

You should be able to take what you've drawn up to an architectural firm to get blue prints done that you would need for your building permits for a couple hundred dollars. I think you would find expats would be interested in renting a place the size you are looking at. Depends a lot on location as well.

I'm not sure about contractor prices or how much of that is for materials. We hired folks and oversaw the work as well as sourcing and purchasing all materials ourselves. If you have the time, patience, basic construction know how and able to read drawings (especially rebar plans) you could save money this way. One thing though is tools and equipment as most folks show up with little more than a hammer. I'm willing to bet you can rent concrete mixers, vibrator and compactors. I bought my own as I figure I will use them again.

I noticed you have a retaining wall going around the lot. That will add a good bit of cost to the overall build. Poured concrete would be the best way but if you decided to go with 6" block you will need to get a better quality block made than what is normally available and definitely fill the cells with concrete with vertical and horizontal rebar to tie things together. I used concrete filled block with grade and tie beams for the perimeter fence but when I bought the lot behind the original one I poured concrete, should have done that for the fence as well as I brought our lot up over 4' with fill.

I would recommend using EVG panels instead of 4" block (assuming the standard concrete beam and column build). The initial cost of the panels is more than block but you can throw them all up in a day once a crew understands how its done (youtube has a few videos on how it all comes together or I can go into more detail). Plus it is much easier/faster for roughing in your plumbing and electric. You will end up saving quite a bit on labor as well as cement/sand for the render.

Windows is another thing to consider...the common windows with the little glass panes that open and close with an aluminum lever are really cheap, but the quality is not great. There are a number of places I've seen in Dumaguete that custom make aluminum windows...not sure the cost as I used a shop in Tanjay but cheaper than what you would expect from back home.

Are you looking at metal or wood roof trusses? Wood is obviously cheaper and no welding, but eventually may have to be replaced/repaired. Hiring one of the local roofing companies would probably run around $1500 for a decent roof with metal trusses. Could be less as it does not look like you have much pitch and depends on the roofing material you use. We went and bought all the metal and did the trusses ourselves and then had the roofing supplier have their folks do the roofing.

For electric I would make sure that it is a properly grounded system (which you rarely see); it does not cost that much more to run a grounding wire. Make sure the service coming in is properly sized...undersized conductors will cause you many issues. I would recommend installing enough receptacles, the design firm will think Filipino style and next thing you know you will only have one in each room...every wall at a minimum, but go off of your furniture layout for exact locations. If you are looking at expats I would install the universal style receptacles. They cost about 5X more but folks will appreciate being able to plug their stuff in from home.

I would not recommend using the marine grade plywood for the ceilings...plywood is cheaper but I would use hardiflex or a similar product. It is tough to work with but easy to mud and tape and stands up better to moisture/humidity.

Those are a few things off the top of my head. Best of luck if you push forward with your project.

Shawn

 

The older you get, the less likely you are to rent any home that has stairs. Guarantee you would be limiting your potential 4ner renters by 75%. Also I have built (overseen) construction on 3 homes here and can tell you it costs more to build "up" than stay on 1 level... Better ask a lot of questions and think very hard on your marketing plan before building anything like your drawings IMHO. PM me if you have any questions I can answer. Good luck on the project....