Dr Arcaya affordable house expansion

Dr Arcaya thought they needed to move back to their ancestral home in Lapu-lapu City amid the pandemic since they no longer need to be close to the schools in Cebu City as everyone is going online, thus he decided to renovate the home where he grew up and move there for a change of scene. Since the family is getting bigger, they will need an additional toilet and a bigger kitchen thus he needed to use that extra space at the back of the old house for a new kitchen with a bathroom.

Income is a little low due to the pandemic as he was unable to work in his assignment in Bohol due to the absence of transportation to that area, thus he asked us to help out in his budget and find a way to pursue his house expansion with minimal cost.

We thought a good color combination and correct placement in the expanded area will make his expansion look grand with just minimal cost.

Dr Arcaya affordable expansion view from ceiling
Dr Arcaya new bathroom
Dr Arcaya view from bathroom ceiling
Dr arcaya affordable expansion
Dr Arcaya affordable placement of bathroom fixtures
elegant-bathroom-good-color-combination
high-end-looking-kitchen-but-cheaply-done
nice-looking-yet-plywood-only-cabinets
nicely-designed-bathroom

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Building permit processing assistance

If you’re processing your building permit for the big cities like Cebu City, Mandaue City, or Lapu-lapu City and you get really difficult hurdles in the different departments in the city hall, even though you thought you have already attached all the necessary documents and your design is already good as per the building code, then know you might have encountered an unnecessary roadblock…

A specific department may require you very unnecessary documentations and will require you to change this or that aspect in the design even though it might already be what’s called an academic moot or unnecessary technicality then you will need to think outside of the box — remember you are dealing with a government employee. In our experience, dealing with big cities, it is where most of the difficult stages in the processing are found.

The best way to deal with that kind of difficulty is to access channels that can speak their language or to contact friends in that department if you have, if you don’t then that’s going to be extra difficult for you…

You will know you’ve been dealt with a difficult hand when you keep coming back for their corrections in the design and supplying the necessary correction or documents and still they wouldn’t let you through…

You will need someone in that department that can help you — someone who can vouch for you. That someone can be an employee in that department or someone in a different department but with higher powers or even a politician if you know one.

In our years of experience, we’ve already made come contacts with people who can help the permit processing…

Having that kind of connection will not only lessen the time needed to process the permit but will also give you an insider that will keep giving updates on the whereabouts of your permit, and you no longer have to keep coming back to that office and be exposed to the sick air we’re having around nowadays…

Let us know if you’ve encountered unnecessary road blocks in your permit processing and we’d be glad to help you out…

Poly carbonate is beautiful when new but breaks ugly over time

All you poly carbonate lovers out there – it looks beautiful and stunning when new with its sharp and bright color looking great as a roof for parking, prayer shacks, over pass, or canopies, but it gets ugly and breaks and even falls apart over time in just about 3-5 years – depending on weather conditions…

The most popular color is blue or transparent white and it is used mostly for canopies and parking sheds as it is light and makes less sound during rains, but its no match against the extreme power of the sun that breaks and consumes just about most things plastic. Let’s face it, poly carbonate is plastic based that’s why its less noisy when it rains compared to metal roofing, yet its more costly per sheet.

Builders and building owners usually prefer poly carbonate over metal roofing due to its beauty thus it was very popular 5-7 years ago, while not that everyone has seen its nasty side when it breaks and falls apart over time…

Another major attraction of the poly carbonate roofing is that it enables light to come through thus saving you some money on lighting costs…

Its popularity is steadily declining now. We hope its price decline would continue in the coming days so more people could use it and enjoy its beauty but just keep in mind that if ever it gets cheaper, it might still come out as expensive in the long run as you will have to replace it in 3-5 years depending on how hot the sun gets in your area… We’ll sometimes we don’t mind replacing it in 3-5 years as long as we can enjoy its beauty today…

broken-poly-carbonate-not-good-for-roofing
poly-carbonate-cracking-and-breaking-in-5-years
poly-carbonate-opening-up-to-the-sky
poly-carbonate-roof-only-beautiful-when-new-but-breaks-in-time

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Beautiful but high maintenance parapet due to dead leaves and other debris stuck in the parapet walls and gutters

Parapet is beautiful as it hides your roof edge but debris and dead leaves get stuck in the parapet walls and gutters so fast…

With a parapet roof design people would even wonder where your roof go or how you keep the rainwater flowing as it hides your roof edge and gutter. Parapet and gutters really make your building beautiful but all sorts of debris and dead leaves if there are trees around can easily gather in the parapet walls acting as leaf and debris catcher then immediately clogging up your gutters and blocking water passage towards your downspouts and causing serious harm to ceiling and building occupants.

To keep your beautiful building design you will have to have someone regularly cleaning up your gutters removing debris and dead leaves to prevent clogging, or if you can, better yet trim the trees or cut them, but if you don’t own the trees, more work is needed. If the trees belong to your neighbors, then you will have to place a net around your roof to easily prevent leaves and debris from clogging your gutters, but then eventually the net could rot without you knowing then your back to water seepage on your ceilings again.

When you get tired of regularly cleaning your gutters and debris and or dead leaves, you might want to opt for a free flowing roof with no gutters, but you could also destroy your concrete pavement over time as rain water can cause holes on your concrete pavement, and a free flowing roof with no gutter is sometimes even illegal in come localities – best to check your local ordinances for acceptable roof designs. Sometimes you will want to decide which is easier for you – regularly cleaning up your gutter or fixing a holed concrete pavement?

Rain water does not easily break your concrete pavement. It will take about 3 years for rain water to cause holes in your concrete pavement, and cleaning your gutter takes a weekly routine. Thus you might want to decide that having a free flowing roof design is cheaper to maintain than having to pay someone to regularly clear your gutters. Besides, having someone regularly climb up your roof could also cause damage on your roofing.

Back to the clogged gutters, hopefully the leaves have not gone down to your downspouts. If your downspouts are connected directly to an embedded or buried drainage, more work might be required. To avoid having to dig your drainage, you can simply cut the wall downspout and condemn your buried drainage way to remove the clogged debris and then you will have to content with an open downspout spilling directly on your driveway…

all-sorts-of-debris-gathering-on-your-gutter-and-parapet-wall
beautiful-but-high-maintenance-parapet-as-debris-and-dead-leaves-could-gather
best-to-trim-or-cut-trees-or-better-yet-change-the-roofing-design-to-free-flow-all-the-way-down
dead-leaves-clogging-your-gutter
dead-leaves-getting-stuck-on-the-gutters
dead-leaves-if-not-removed-will-clog-your-gutter
gutter-gathering-dead-leaves
leaves-and-debris-gathering-in-the-parapet-and-gutters
leaves-gathering-on-the-gutter
leaves-gathering-on-the-parapet-wall
leaves-stuck-on-the-parapet-wall
lots-and-lots-of-leaves-on-the-gutters-clogging-your-downspout

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Pascua Bungalow Residence in Ilocos Sur

This 120 square meter bungalow sits on a very large lot of about 2000 square meter. Because of its generous space allocation, it has 4 standard sized bedrooms, a relatively large living room, and a medium sized kitchen with back entrance to possible dirty kitchen or barbecue area on the rear.

The house shape is the usual rectangle following the cubist design of most modern home designs. The porch area is so designed to give it an imperial look so that you can come in like a king. The ceiling height at 2.75 meters or 9 feet makes the house even more spacious with more headroom for taller people to move around is not the usual minimum height of 2.5 meters.

The porch side / front side is not facing east like others’ practice of letting the golden rays of the sun come in directly but instead it faces the opposite direction to the west which is the west Philippine sea as the lot is actually near the beach, so instead of the sun greeting the house every morning, the magnificent view of the sea and its delicious breeze greet you every morning if you’re a guest of this house. Imagine the sunset you will be enjoying every afternoon in this house.

Mauro Pascua Ilocos Sur Bungalow left side view
Mauro Pascua Ilocos Sur Bungalow front view
Mauro Pascua Ilocos Sur Bungalow right side view
Mauro Pascua Ilocos Sur Bungalow layout

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Cheapest way to transport materials from large suppliers

Getting the materials for your project can be a daunting task especially if you’re not hiring your own driver to try to save operation cost or don’t even have a truck to avoid hiring a driver. Since you don’t really need a big truck everyday – how about you just use your supplier’s truck to deliver the materials on site for an additional fee – but the suppliers’ truck is not really always available as in the case when your supplier is a really large hardware like Vic Enterprises. Recently Vic Enterprises are focusing on the hardware retailers so they can supply the materials to them in “bulk” – we mean 16-wheeler articulated trailer truck type of “bulk”.

Vic is trying to focus on the retailer hardware for ease in logistics as small deliveries will just add to their already massive fleet of deliveries, so if your materials volume is not the 16-wheeler articulated trailer type of volume, Vic Enterprises wants you to bring your own truck to their warehouse and haul the materials yourself. Now if your trying to save on your cost by not hiring your own driver or maintaining your own truck, some entrepreneurial minded truck owners have come up with a solution for you. They are now on stand by at the new Vic Enterprises outlet in Tipolo Mandaue waiting for you to charter their truck and driver. Now this is a really smart solution if you don’t have your own truck or fleet. They charge minimal and you only pay as you go – or as you need them.

Now you can get your materials cheap and affordable like Vic Enterprises pricing without having to maintain your own truck or driver.

truckers-waiting-to-be-hired-at-vic-enterprises
vic-enterprises-mabolo-warehouse
vic-enterprises-main
vic-enterprises-tipolo-mandaue
vic-enterprises-truck
vic-enterprises-warehouse

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Usual requirements for the building permit

You need a building permit for your structure because without it you cannot apply for electrical connection and water connection as they usually require it, and the Office of the Building Official (OBO) – the agency tasked to enforce the building permit – can also issue a violation against you, and they can even order a cease construction order, or worse a demolition.

building blueprints

Here are the usual requirements for the building permit application:

I. BARANGGAY CONSTRUCTION PERMIT. The baranggay level of government also has their own baranggay level ordinances and they need to check if your building and location is a suitable location for construction. They also need to check if you comply with the baranggay level ordinance on drainage and they also need to inform you of their garbage disposal procedures. They usually want to see a copy of your architectural blueprint, lot title, lot sketch plan, and the detailed bill of materials. Most baranggays have a flat permit fee which ranges from 800 pesos to as high as 5,000 like Baranggay Bankal in Lapu-lapu City – most expensive baranggay we know for securing a baranggay construction permit.

II. TAX CLEARANCE. You need to secure a tax clearance at the city or municipal assessor for that current year that you are filing application for building permit – which means you will need to pay the estate tax for that current year in advance. The tax clearance fee is only around 150 pesos to 350 pesos. The assessor will usually want to see a copy of your lot title, lot sketch plan, and an updated certified true copy of your tax declaration which you can secure from the same office.

III. CERTIFIED TRUE COPY OF YOUR LOT TITLE. You can obtain a copy of your lot title from your local registry of deeds from your local bureau of lands. The fee for obtaining a certified true copy of your title ranges from 278 pesos to 298 pesos per copy. They will usually want to see a copy of your tax declaration. Note that if your lot title is still under the previous owner’s name, the OBO (Office of the Building Official) will also need to see a copy of your Deed of Sale for that lot, and you will need to have the previous owner sign the consent section in the building permit application form.

IV. LATEST CERTIFIED TRUE COPY OF YOUR TAX DECLARATION. Aside from the title, the OBO will require a certified true copy of your tax declaration. They usually just want to check if your tax declaration data jives with your lot title and tax clearance. The fee for a certified true copy of your tax declaration is around 80 pesos to 120 pesos depending on your location as different cities of municipalities have different tariffs for processing of documents. To secure a certified true copy of your tax declaration, the assessor will require a copy of your old tax declaration of a copy of your title.

V. LOT SKETCH PLAN. The OBO will want to see your lot sketch plan signed by a registered geodetic engineer so they can check if you are building within your lot observing the required setbacks set forth by the Philippine Building Code. The geodetic engineer will want to see a copy of your lot title. The fee for a sketch plan ranges from 5,000 to 8,000 pesos depending on your location.

VI. BUILDING METHODOLOGY and SPECIFICATIONS. The OBO will want to see if you comply with the accepted methodologies and materials set forth by the Philippine building code. Be sure to follow what you write in your building specs as this document could be used against you in a court of law if you later they find out that you did not follow what you submitted. The building specs document has to be signed and prepared by a civil engineer. This usually comes free with the designing fee.

VII. BILL OF MATERIALS. The detailed bill of materials is primarily used by the OBO as reference in determining your building permit fee. Each municipality or city has a pre-determined tariff percentage for computing the building permit fee. You can expect a higher fee for bigger cities and lower fee for rural areas.

VIII. BLUEPRINTS. You will need to submit complete sets of architectural, electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, and electronics blueprints. You don’t need to prepare mechanical blueprints if you do not include air conditioner and elevator in your plans. You also don’t need to submit electronics plan if you did not include data, TV, telephone, and CCTV in your plans.

VIX. COMPLETELY FILLED OUT BUILDING, ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING, MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS, and ENDORSEMENT forms. You can get these forms at the Office of the Building Official (OBO). Be sure to completely fill out all required fields in the forms. Your engineers – civil, structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical (if applicable), and electronics (if applicable) will also need to sign and seal these forms.

Different cities and municipalities – depending on your construction location might have additional requirements such as in Medellin of Cebu which requires an HLURB (Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board) clearance for lots located within subdivision lots. The HLURB fee ranges from 9,000 to 10,000 pesos. It is surprising to note though that other municipalities such as Consolacion did not require the HLURB clearance for a subdivision location. Additionally, some places like Medellin also require a DPWH clearance to make sure your structure is outside their no build zone which is usually 10-15 meters away from the middle of the highway.

Pre-cast pre fabricated walls

If you’re looking to save on the cost of your structure – you can reduce the cost of labor by using pre-fabricated (pre-fab) walls that is still concrete based but light weight, thermally efficient, fire resistant, and acoustically effective.

Pre-fab / pre-cast walls have recently gained popularity due to its ease of use (installation), and labor cost efficiency.

The city of Cebu’s COVID shelter – a fast response make shift hospital is using this pre-fab type of wall thru pre-fab walls. 

So instead of piling, hollow blocks, filling it with cement, then plastering it with concrete paste, you simply have to install these wide cut prefab walls – thus cutting your labor cost and speeding up your construction time up to 5-10 times faster.

Despite it being relatively more costly compared to hollow blocks you will be able to save a lot on your labor cost since you no longer need to apply plaster on the walls – rather just paint right away. You only need to patch the corners then apply the finishing paint directly.

These pre-cast walls are made of concrete, fibers, ash and / or coal powder, and expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam granules – sandwiched by waterproof and flexible smoothened fiber cement board on both surfaces.

The pre-fab wall passes all required engineering and building code standards please see table as follows:

  PROPERTIES / DESCRIPTION
NATIONAL STANDARD TESTING INDEX
Anti-Impact Rating (Times)75mm

≥5		90mm

≥5		120mm

≥5		75mm

≥8		90mm

≥10		120mm

≥15
Anti-bending Load Rating Load (Times Over)≥1.5≥1.5≥1.5≥3≥4≥5
Compressive Strength (MPa)≥3.5≥3.5≥3.5≥5≥5≥5
Softening Coefficient≥0.80≥0.80≥0.80≥1≥1≥1
Surface Density≤70≤90≤110≤55≤70≤85
Moisture Rate (%)≤12≤10≤8≤10≤9≤7
Drying Shrinkage Value (mm/m)≤0.6≤0.6≤0.6≤0.45≤0.5≤0.5
Drying Shrinkage Value (N/mm/m)≥1000≥1000≥1000≥1200≥1300≥1500
Sound Insulation Rating in the air (dB)≥30≥35≥40≥35≥40≥45
Fireproof rating (h)≥1≥1≥1≥2.5≥3≥4
Heat transfer coefficient (b/w/m2)  ≤1.0  ≤1.0
Radioactivity Limit (solid boards)≤1≤1≤1≤1≤1≤1
Inner radiation indexes≤1≤1≤1≤1≤1≤1
Outer radiation indexes≤1≤1≤1≤1≤1≤1

Also, because the thickest wall is only 12 centimeters, and since you no longer need to apply finishing plaster, compared to hollow blocks that could go as thick as 6 inches including the finishing plaster, this pre-fab composite wall can give you up to 4.2% living space compared to traditional hollow blocks.

Composite pre-fab wall is now our preferred walling system:

  1. EASY TO INSTALL – The tongue and groove design reduces installation time and decreases labor costs. The Electrical, plumbing installations, and other finishing touches can be done 5 – 10 times faster than when done on the traditional hollow blocks wall.
  1. FIRE RETARDANT – Tested to withstand up to 1,000˚C for 120 minutes and is compliant to the standard for Grade A Fireproof Material.
  1. REDUCES NOISE: – The Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam granules is widely known in the construction industry as good noise reducer.
  1. SEISMIC RESILIENT. EPS – the foam granules is highly flexible. Combined with fiber cement makes for a highly flexible yet sturdy wall that resists bending due to seismic activity.
  • STRUCTURALLY AND ECONOMICAL EFFICIENT. The composite wall is made up of light materials and are 1/6th the weight of normal 120mm thick brick walls yet 60% lighter than traditional hollow blocks. This makes for a light weight wall that reduces beam and slab load which means significant cost reduction on the structural frame. The pre-cast panels are also moisture proof, water resistant, yet ready for painting right after installation (Must use recommended sealants and adhesives).
  • THERMALLY EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY. As per tests, the composite pre-cast wall is thermally efficient in heat absorption and dissipation due to the high density of EPS and the rest of the high-density composite materials used. The EPS foam granules is the same material used in cooler chests / portable ice chests. This results in a cooler room which means you don’t need to use air conditioning as much as you do – thus saving the environment and your pocket.

Our precast walls come in 8 x 2 feet sizes in 7.5, 9.0, and 12 centimeter thickness.

Great for high rise structures
Schools
Great for residential structure
Easy to install
You can paint right away
Great for any structures
Smooth finish easily
Building done
Great for all types of walling
Very smooth finish
Painter boys happy with the easy work
So fast to finish this warehouse
Wall will done so fast
Wall done so fast
Windows easily done
Even girls can do this
This building is using fast wall
pre-cast-composite-wall-fahstwall

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Sample online correspondence from prospect customer

LOCATION: Bayan ng Surigao del Sur

Hello, I introduce myself, I am John Doe. We have a plot of 300 SQM on the island of Siargao. We would like to build a BUILDING on this site. In order to confirm our budget and to start the construction, we would need to establish a construction quote.

You will find in attached the details in PDF of the contruction and volumes.

The project consist in 4 shops (6m x 8.5m) and one roof top (24m x 10).

We want an estimate containing:

  • Construction (concrete, iron, etc.) raw ready to receive ceramic or paint. (fittings, ceramic, doors, etc. not included)
  • 5 electric meters (1 per shop and 1 for the roof top)
  • Location for electrical cables (electrical outlets, lights, aircon, fan etc.)
  • one clean water supply per pitch (total 5)
  • provide a system for wastewater (common or individual)
  • building permit (by law)

All installations, clean water, waste water and electricity must meet the standards and laws in force of the Filipino government on the island of SIARGAO.

The PDF gives an idea of the project once finished but we want an estimate for the gross building + electricity + clean water + waste water.
This estimate should not take into account:

  • furnishing materials (wood, ceramic, paint)
  • toilet / sink / plumbing
  • closing (door / window / etc)

Cordially,

John

Sample response:

Hi John,

Here are the costing estimates:

  • Raw Structure/Architectural (including front pavers and side stair area) (tile ready floors, paint ready walls, with electrical and plumbing rough ins) (glass works, glass and wooden windows, and wooden facade excluded) (fittings, ceramic, doors, and other finishing items excluded)= p7.43m
  • Smooth finish painting = p160k; /(Rough finish painting option= 80k)
  • Electrical works with 5 electric meters (labor and materials) (local ordinance compliant) = rough estimate p450k; Detailed costing estimates requires FULLY REFUNDABLE p2.5k estimation fee (to be refunded during start of blueprinting)
  • Plumbing works water and sanitary lines and septic tank (labor and materials) (local ordinance compliant)= rough estimate p250k; Detailed costing estimates requires FULLY REFUNDABLE p2.5k estimation fee (to be refunded during start of blueprinting)
  • Building Permit processing = FREE processing upon 5% commitment on the structure. (govt. fees excluded – to be billed later)
  • Blueprinting = p35k (Fully Refundable upon awarding of construction)
  • Site visit = p10k (Fully Refundable upon awarding of construction)

Here’s a similar project we built recently – https://finefinish.cbu.asia/seguerra-commercial-spaces-in-poblacion-talisay-city/
We accept bank to bank payments thru BDO, Unionbank, Metrobank, or moneygram.

Formal proposal can be sent upon request…

Admin

Supervision Only Services

Supervising the project - in action.
Supervision Only

Contractors provide project management service to save customers (project owners) from the headaches and stresses of managing a project, however some customers do look for “supervision only” services – as they’re trying to save their money and want to assume most of the project management headaches instead of giving it to a contractor. They usually try to contact a contractor and ask if they provide this kind of service – in exchange of allowing them to add that project to the contractor’s portfolio – a bigger portfolio means more future customers for contractors.

Supervision only services is indeed really very cheap and the contractor who offers such service will not earn anything from it – except for the added new project feature in the portfolio – however it is the customer who could end up spending more since the contractor/supervisor will now switch to “high quality mode” where high quality materials and sometimes even signature finishing fixtures are encouraged since the contractor’s focus now is making this specific project the ideal example project that will shine in his portfolio. The contractor will also ease on the workers and tell them to take the cruising pace to give the customer the best quality workmanship to make this project further shine in his portfolio. Longer work duration means more cost for the labor.

If the contractor is not in the supervision mode, he will naturally convince the customer to accept average quality materials and finishes to give the impression that he wants the customer to save money through good quality but averagely priced materials. If left on his own, the contractor, in the all-in packaged service, will also try to maximize profits by encouraging these good quality – but averagely priced materials. In the all-in packaged service – as opposed to – the supervision mode, the contractor will always try to pressure the workers to finish faster but still strictly observing good quality to avoid back jobs later – thus further saving him on the cost of labor – if the workers can shorten the work duration.

It is important to strike a balance between quality and affordability – and it is the customer who makes the final decision to go for supervision only, or the all-in packaged service.

At the end of the day, it is always best to use high quality finishes and encourage the workers to achieve high quality workmanship by taking the cruising pace, but this always means higher cost, and the more money you invest on your project, the higher will be its value.