CBU ASIA DESIGN BUILD CONSULTANTS CEBU – Page 4 – Construction Planning Designing Build Consultants Cebu

Why Still the Local Concrete Hollow Blocks (CHB)

By Admin in Featured, Fine Furnishings

Traditional concrete hollow blocks (CHB) — Traditional hollow blocks (CHB) is still the way to go

So why concrete hollow blocks (CHB) are still in demand despite the creative marketing hype of the new wall materials out there (can’t mention specifics) who process faster builds thus they claim to save on the cost of labor and faster finishing works.
Let’s examine those big claims:

-Do the new wall blocks save on labor? Everybody knows it does not save you on the cost of the labor time since inhouse own workers are not familiar with that new block material yet – which means if you want to benefit on the speed element, you will be forced to get the labor services of the manufacturers since they are the ones who are familiar with it. If you are a contractor, it means you will have to let them sub contract the walling – and subcontracting usually costs high since these companies are usually not affordable. Even if your workers are taught by these new companies offering better blocks, their blocks still cost way higher compared to the locally available hollow blocks at only fifteen pesos per block.

-Does the new wall block material save you on the finishing works – patching and painting? Yes, it does but whatever amount you may save on the finishing will not be able to compensate on the cost per block of those new block materials.
Other things factors that are detrimental to the project when you use those new wall materials:

-It is not easy to order them. Since these new wall materials or blocks are usually manufactured by only one company, there is a very high chance that you will have to wait weeks to get your order delivered to your project site. Weeks or even days of delay in the construction will cost you dearly on the labor cost – workers not being ablet to work on their usual speed due to the waiting time for the materials to arrive. And another thing, when you order, make sure you order enough since it is not easy to order additional quantities – you will have to wait weeks again.

If you stay loyal to the ever cheaper hollow blocks, you will never get a delay on your order of more than 2 days since they are everywhere and you can order anywhere. If your favorite hardware supplier ran out of hollow blocks, then simply go to your second favorite supplier. In other words, simply jump between suppliers and you will never run short of supply of the ever always available and affordable hollow blocks.

Bamboo makes better sense for scaffolds

By Admin in Featured, Fine Furnishings

Bamboo as scaffolds — Using bamboo scaffolds for construction

The recent metal scaffolds collapse in Quezon City Philippines has made headlines, and has made contractors re think whether metal scaffolds is still the best option for scaffolding. Why metal scaffolds collapses can be easily blamed on metal fatigue, and on how they are bound and connected. The metal scaffolds use metal interlocks that you tighten with the built-in screws that come with the metal interlock clamps. The problem with these interlock clamps is sometimes they slide all the way through the metal tube when overloaded and when it gets wet and when it is not so tight. Sometimes workers also over load them and this results in the metal getting cut due to the weight.

What makes bamboo a better option is it does not slide or get cut with the weight, it just bends and even makes a cracking sound as a warning when it is about to give up. First world places like Hongkong still prefers bamboo scaffolds over metal. They use nylon or plastic strings to tie them up together just like how one would tie up the outriggers of the traditional Asian pump boats, they never break over the huge waves of the ocean.

Another advantage of the bamboo over metal scaffolds is that it costs a fraction of the metal tubes, and is also very abundant all over the Philippines. You just must be industrious in looking for a good source of bamboo. Here in Cebu, you simply head out to Pit-os, Talamban, and look for good bamboo harvesters like Manang Bening and she is very popular in sourcing bamboos. They can even deliver it to your project site as she has a truck for delivery.

Another advantage of bamboo over metal tubes is that you do not need a security guard to guard your bamboo stocks as it is not something that the thieves can easily sell unlike the metal tubes. So, you can pile up a good number of long bamboo sticks for scaffold lengths and you can sleep securely thinking nobody really like to steal bamboo sticks. Also, unlike the coconut lumber which is also a cheaper alternative for scaffolds, bamboo do not rot under the rain and the heat of the sun. Notice the bamboo outriggers of the pump boats, they never rot in the sea and under the sun. Another thing, the bamboo still costs way cheaper than the coco lumber. Bamboo is the safer way to go…

Mangubat Residence in Mactan Tropics Lapu lapu City

By Admin in Featured, Fine Furnishings

This minimalist simplistic layout of a residence in Mactan Tropics Lapu lapu City is designed by the owner himself and being an engineer and not an architect, the design is prioritizes layout functionality, and not aesthetics.

One might say, well this house is no eye candy, and we agree, but if you move around it, you can feel the greater emphasis on space – which gives you more freedom to actually run around the house like you do when you’re doing a tour on the country side.

The owner loves it just like that – large open spaces, high ceiling, large kitchen, and really large living room – great for indoor parties.

The large sun deck on top is the best for outdoor parties, and since there is a shed made out of solar panels – the food can be positioned under it while the guest enjoy the warm breeze of Lapu lapu City.

The house has pillars strengthened by metal i-beams with rebar web members – that is to weld rebars on the i-beam’s side to strengthen it.

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Chris Fuentes modern house with large glass walls and windows in Mactan Tropics Lapulapu City

By Admin in Featured, Fine Furnishings

This modern house with large glass windows and walls, has direct access to a medium sized backyard pool. The lot is 160sqm and the house has a total of 230sqm area and the second floor is exactly 100sqm. The concrete walls has a rustic single stroke brushed finish that makes it appear like rough but is actually its actual design. The bathrooms have full tiled floors and walls but half of the wall area bears that signature rustic finish. The large glass walls on the front and parking sides on the ground floor and and large glass windows on the second floor make the house appear very modern and elegant – indeed glass makes a house look beautiful…

All the floors have glossy sharp edged tiles that make the floor appear like one continuous white pearl. The kitchen is medium sized with wooden laminated cabinets that have direct access to a dirty kitchen on the side – which also then goes to the pool at the rear side. The pool has cascading water at the center that appear to come out of a cave like rocky design made of real rocks. The stairs have wooden steps with wooden and metallic railings to add to that rustic interior finish.

Since the owner is in the build and sell business, this house is now on sale for only p18.5million. Contact us if you’d like to take a visit…

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Sarmiento Residence in Vista Grande Talisay City Cebu

By Admin in Featured, Fine Furnishings

This project has great city and sea views – everyone’s dream home.

The owners would like to be able to walk around the house.

On the left side as you are looking at the house – there is an approximate 1 meter walkway across the length of the house, the right side as you are looking at the house is 3 meters from exterior of house to wall or fence with 1 meter concrete walkway.

In the rear of the house is a 2 meter distance from exterior of house to concrete wall or fence.

There is a standard Filipino style concrete wall type fence that is approximately 2 meters in height.

The roof deck is a preferred option, thus the parapet design which can hide a metal roof to look like a roof deck if in case the customer will decide for a metal roof instead of a roof deck which will increase the cost.

There is a balcony deck that is 2 meters wide.

The rear balcony is of utmost importance since the city and sea views are at the rear.

The downstairs bedroom is not too big – just enough to fit a twin bed and a cabinet.

Kitchen size is also important in this design – as a house is even better if you always look forward to coming home for Mom’s great cooking…

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Makilang Apartment in Alegria Cordova Lapu-lapu Mactan Cebu

By Admin in Fine Furnishings

The Makilang Family has decided to finally add the remaining few units in the blueprints and their budget is kind of tight.

As we are always ready for the call of service, we fully accepted the challenge and we finished the two new units in just three months. Thanks to the dedication of the workers Rolly, Ronald, Rowel, Richard led by Jacob, Kostavu, and Joel. All their hard work have paid off, but since the budget is a bit limited your bonus will be carried over the next project as we literally did not make any profit on this one – we just accepted it so you guys can still have work for three months since projects are hard to come by in this pandemic times. Let’s all pray that the Lord God Jesus, Mother Mary, and Saint Joseph will give us another project so we can continue to eat while serving others. Lord Jesus, Mother Mary, Saint Joseph – please bless and help us always…

This apartment is very low cost, yet we managed to build these two new units even better than the first one who finished the same number of units in 8 months as what the owner told us.

We built these ones even better than standard as we always look forward to new projects that will result in a good finished output. You satisfy your customer and that same customer can refer you to another customer. Let’s all hope it will happen before Christmas so we can all eat nice food for Christmas dinner and the New Year too.

The sink drain on these two units even come with stainless grease trap right under so that the occupants can easily maintain or clean it if they always throw food waste right down the drain. We suggest you don’t throw food waste right down the drain since this is always the cause of clogging. But if you can’t discipline yourselves then just clean the grease trap every now and then.

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Amazing Simple House with Industrial Scale Water Softener and Reverse Osmosis Filtration System in Balabag Pavia Iloilo

By Admin in Featured, Fine Furnishings

This simple house is truly simple with just 1 large bathroom and large bedroom, yet it comes with an industrial size water softening and reverse osmosis water purification system.

Owned by a very kind couple in Baranggay Balabag in Pavia Iloilo City – this is a modern cubist design house – thus the simple square design – as it is meant to be minimalist and modern cubist.

The industrial capacity water filtration system is designed not just for this house but for the other three houses that will soon follow in a few months. The 1,400 square meter fenced complex is meant to be a cat shelter where cats are taken cared and fed. It won’t be difficult to attract cats here as they are usually everywhere just looking for food. The large eyed interlink metal fence is meant to let the cats in, but keep the bigger animals out such as dogs, goats, and what have you…

The owner preferred the square cubist very minimalist design as this kind of design is meant to maximize available space – as they will need all the space they can have for the mission that this complex was envisioned to be.

The water softener and reverse osmosis system on top of the simple house is composed of multi filter membranes starting with sand filter for the removal of suspended solid, particles, rust, sand, soil, sediments, silt, and molds, etc. Next is the carbon Filter for the removal of chlorine, foul taste, odors, colors, and other contaminants in the water. It improves taste and refreshes water while retaining minerals which are essential to our body needs. The final softening filter is the resin filter with cation resin beads to attract excess calcium and magnesium which causes hardness in the water. It converts hard water into soft water which will make it ideal for preventing scaling in household appliances such as water heaters, sinks, and pipelines which reduces the electrical consumption of shower heaters, kettles and coffee makers, etc. It also Softens clothes and fabrics – making it Ideal for bathing since it softens skin and hair.

The 4 stags reverse osmosis system starts with the second carbon filter in the overall system which prevents odors, absorbs chemicals such as chlorine and other contaminants – it mainly acts as a protection for the other 3 stages of the reverse osmosis system. The other stages are 2 stages of 1 micron filter and another pre filter of 5 micron. The revers osmosis filters has microscopic pores that only allows water molecules making your water super clean.

The final stage in the whole water purification system is the industrial size ultraviolet filter cylinder. It instantly kills bacteria and other germs that have passed thru all the filters. Some germs are just too small even for the reverse osmosis thus this final stage which kills everything in an instant using the power of ultraviolet light – the same light coming from the sun that purifies the surfaces of the earth.

If you want to have this kind of system in your house or compound – do let us know…

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Denis and Isabel Cañedo three storey Modern Mediterranean Residence in Aldea del Sol Bankal Lapulapu City

By Admin in Fine Furnishings, Uncategorized

This modest home of Denis and Isabel in Aldea del Sol Bankal Lapulapu City is so cleverly laid out that it is actually two homes in one. If you notice that door by the garage – it is actually the entrance to the second unit, and the first unit has its door at the left side of the house. The reason for this is that the subdivision do not allow duplex designs, thus it was decided that there will be a separation somewhere in the middle – yet the two units have shared access to the second floor terrace and to the third floor of the house. They will just have separate entry points at the ground floor and separate staircases to the second floor. Since the subdivision requires a mediterranean design, yet the owners prefer a modern Filipino design, the designer Jacob Roque decided to have the cube modern design but by adding the canopies – it will appear mediterranean.

The house has a lot of rooms and a total of 4 bathrooms, that when you access the house you will feel like you are in a beehive yet an elegant beehive designed for humans.

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Fuentes residence – a Modest finished Two story modern tropical House in Pacific Grand Villa in Lapu-lapu Mactan Cebu

By Admin in Uncategorized

This modern tropical home of Cris Fuentes is situated in Pacific Villa 1 Subdivision, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. The lot area is 120.00 square meters, with a total floor area of 187.00 square meters. Construction began in June 2020 and was move-in ready by December 2020.

This design by Edwin Jacob Roque makes efficient use of available property area. On the ground floor there is one bedroom, one full bathroom, maid’s quarter, service area, two-car parking space and open plan living, dining, and kitchen area. The second floor has three spacious bedrooms – each with an en-suite bathroom.

The whole home features clean and modern finishes with 60 x 60 cm glossy tiles. Windows are large to maximize airflow through the rooms to let in a lot of natural lighting. The whole home is semi-furnished with air conditioning in all bedrooms and living areas.

The efficient and functional designing makes for a modestly priced house within reach of anyone who can break through the cycle of renting forever.

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Earth filling: When you’re lot is so low it becomes the village drain…

By Admin in Featured

This lot in Pavia Iloilo is so low that all of the drainage water from the nearby homes all go to this lot and since it has been vacant and unused for so long, all new home owners connect to this lot thus making it the village drainage.

If the soil underneath muddy soil is clayish, then limestone soil is the best earth fill material since the combination of clay and limestone makes it impermeable by water. If it is not clayish, then a mix of clayey loam soil and limestone soil is recommended. Both types of soils are very abundant in this – country in the hilly and mountain areas.

After mixing, the calcium ions from the hydrated lime migrate to the surface of the clay particles to displace the water and other ions. The mixture becomes crumbly and granulated making working and compacting easier. When this happens, the soil becomes more solid and will no longer swell or shrink. This process is called flocculation and agglomeration and can usually occur in just a matter of hours.

When the right quantities of lime soil and water is added, the acidity of the soil decreases and this will cause the clay particles to break down. At this stage, silica and alumina come out and will react with the calcium from the lime soil and will become calcium silicate hydrates and calcium aluminate hydrates which are both cementitious products similar to that of portland cement. This reaction is what stabilizes the soil mixture and adds to its strength increasing its load bearing capacity. The soil is transformed from sandy granular to hard and relatively impermeable. This new permanent structural layer is stronger, durable, significantly impermeable, yet flexible.

This mixture of clayey soil and limestone soil creates a strong and dry structural layer in just a matter of hours, so the work and compaction can be done faster, and you don’t have to wait for days or weeks for the soil to dry up by natural evaporation. See below before and after pictures…

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anapog, earth fill, iloilo, limestone soil, low lot, pavia, tambak
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