Common problems of low cost row house units

We get a lot of calls from row house owners for various troubles such as leaking roofs and ventilation problems.

The roof leak problems usually stem from the original design of most low cost row house units. Their original design is the open kitchen in the back area. Their purpose of having an open kitchen (roofless kitchen) is for good ventilation – so that air or wind can freely come in and out through the open back area, then through the front door or windows, or vice versa. The open kitchen is usually connected to the other unit’s open kitchen. You see, most row houses are built for the low cost market, thus the units are not only connected sideways, but also connected back to back. 

Low cost row house buyers usually want to close this back area by adding a roof as they don’t want to get wet when cooking during the rainy days. Now this usually causes the leaking roof problems since they cannot touch the other unit’s roof, thus they will have to build an additional wall at the center and connect the new roof to that wall. Over time, the leak becomes not just a leak, but a serious water fall inside the kitchen. Adding to their agony is the elimination of the ventilation system since their unit is now close from the back. The roof leak problems occur right where they connect the new roof the new separating wall. They usually just use rubber sealants or thin metal strips to connect to the wall, and over time – both will rot – the thin metal strip will corrode, and the rubber sealant cracks due to the sun.

Here is our suggestion: When closing your back kitchen, do not connect your roof tip at the wall with a thin miniature metal gutter, instead put a standard gutter that collects the rainwater. If you use a standard gutter. it will be easier to find replacement later on when it starts to rot, or better yet, use PVC gutters. PVC gutters cost a little more, but they certainly last longer…

 

To paint or to buy pre-painted

Sometimes this little dilemma comes up – to paint the corrugated sheets or to buy pre-painted?

Usually we find painting ordinary corrugates cheaper than buying pre-painted ones.

And yes – certainly, most pre-painted corrugates are priced higher because they are also thicker and more sturdy than ordinary unpainted corrugates.

There’s just one problem: The applied paint on unpainted corrugates usually peel faster than factory pre-painted corrugates. 

Well sometimes, we will just have to settle for the cheaper alternative, and gladly don’t expect much from it…

drying the paint
manually painting corrugated roof sheets
paint peel off faster

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Straightforward recommendation

We received a straight-to-the-point recommendation from one of our renovations customer and this note is worth posting as it always delights us…

This is from Egon of Crimson Resort in Mactan: “Hi Diedier
My house already rented again for one year so no further inquiries needed
I did some renovations this time and last view years with a small company from Lapu 2 . I am 35 years here in the Philippines and I can tell you the quality people and job he does I can not find any better here
So I highly recommend that company if you have some works here in crimson
Hope we meet still one of this days while I am here ( I was last night for dinner at the new Spanish restaurant)
All the best , Egon
Attached the information about my contractor and his contacts
Cheers”

Egon’s house need paint retouches and minor repairs such as leaking toilet and broken screen door lock. Most of his base board also needs to be replaced due to termite infestation. Some of the walls also has superficial cracks and we’ve fixed them well.

A tap on the back or a good job note always inspires us…

Charity works thru Save the Children Foundation

Helping charity is a way of giving back to the community. One afternoon, two years ago, as I was strolling at Ayala Mall, a volunteer for Save the Children introduced  me to their cause. Save the Children helps impoverished children all over the world thru various medical and relief programs aimed at alleviating the plight of the impoverished children and their families. 

As the volunteer continued explaining, I started to fear that I might not be able to afford helping them. To my amazement, anyone can help Save the Children as their regular monthly pledges go as low as 500.00. They will need to get your bank account details though as they prefer to automatically deduct your pledge from your account monthly.

Anyone can afford 500.00 to help alleviate the poor. All that’s needed is a little sensitivity to answer the call of the needy.

To learn more about Save the Children, you can visit https://www.savethechildren.net/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Children 

 

Experience with Bitumen based cellulosic roofing: Onduline roofing material from France

Got a call for help from one of the users of this relatively new bitumen based cellulose roofing material called Onduline Roofing Systems from France. This roofing material is one of the recommended roofing systems by Paramount Realty in one of their communities – Fonte Di Versailles in Minglanilla town. Since the community is very close to the beach, this onduline roofing system, since it is bitumen based, is meant to withstand the corrosive properties of the nearby beach.

Unlike the Philippine popular and cheaper metallic roofing systems, the onduline material, as it is bitumen based and made of cellulose materials, is meant to withstand corrosion, is quiet-especially during rains, lightweight, and is a good thermal shield from the heat of the sun. Upon checking at the hardware, onduline is also relatively affordable-about only 30% more expensive than the ever popular metallic color roofing systems. This material now seems better than the metallic roof.

Upon checking at the owner’s house, there is one weakness I found in this material which I believe still makes the metallic roofing better that this onduline at least in one aspect – which could mean the metal roof will still be preferred just due to this one aspect. That one aspect is that it cannot withstand human weight. It easily gets deformed when being stepped upon. This is the reason why from just one leak, it is now 3 major leaks for the owner. The leak problem started right from the beginning with just very little water coming in. The owner stated that it was just due to the installers not following the prescribed overlaps. As you may know, some contractors do not follow the prescribed over laps or ridge gaps to try to save just a little. But this will be a big problem for the house owner. Going back, the little water intrusion over time has increased, as strong winds does deform the onduline material and over time the gaps within the overlaps increase. The leaks increased from just one, now 3 when they asked carpenters to fix the original leak. The workers had to step on the material while fixing the original leak. Their weight had caused the ridges to get deformed and the strong winds had further aggravated the deformity and increased the gaps thus allowing water to come in.

When using the onduline, I highly recommend you don’t step on it. When trying to fix a leak, put a 3/4 inch plywood on top for you to step on to distribute your weight over the onduline sheets. When leaks occur due to gaps due to strong winds, you will need to replace that sheet if it cannot be fixed with just tightening the ‘speedy screws’ holding the sheets – my ten cents.

brand new onduline roofing and ridge
close up onduline ridge
dark onduline ridge
dirty onduline
exposed side of the onduline material
finding the source of the leak for the onduline roofing
installation of onduline roofing
installing the onduline roofing
metal truss for onduline roofing
onduline material close up
onduline material inner side close up
onduline roofing and ridge close up
onduline roofing as required by paramount realty for fonde di versailles
onduline roofing at fonte de versailles
onduline roofing with man
onduline roofing

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Rise of the GT (General Technician)

If you live in a condo setup or subdivision, sometimes you will encounter technical problems in your unit or abode and you can’t get quick help.

Enter the GT…

A GT is an all-around, on-demand technician who is so well roundedly endowed with vast technical knowledge and experience that he can diagnose and fix any appliance or home -related technical problems.

A GT doesn’t have to be a one man show. He can be just a representative of a group of technicians with all-around capabilities. When one particular GT is a master of just one trade or technical area, then he can simply tap out and request deployment of another GT who specializes on the particular technical problem at hand. But for a technical person to be worthy of the GT title, he should at least have all-around technical background experience so he can at least effectively make preliminary diagnosis of the problem before calling the specialist technician.

The GTs we currently have in our office ready for deployment have expertise in the following fields: Civil, structural, architecture, electrical, electronics, air conditioning (residential and automotive), plumbing, masonry, carpentry, painting and polishing, refrigeration, welding, CCTV, data cabling, glass works, satellite TV, computer hardware and software, and automotive works.

The GT service industry is the new wave of service technicians ready to answer your needs.

Contact us when you need one.

Dahlberg low cost commercial building – Banilad Cebu City

Commercial buildings with rental spaces are lucrative business set ups if you’re looking to cash in on those starting entrepreneurs who are looking to start up a business in the city. If you have a great strategic location with lots of people and businesses around – building a commercial building may just be for you, but when you’re short on cash, your commercial building will have to start small…

To start a commercial building with rental spaces with the least cost possible to fit your limited budget needs a contractor that is still relatively small and willing to accept low budget projects. Low budgeted projects are not very attractive to most contractors because of the little profit it gives them. Small time contractors who accept low budget projects are those contractors who focus on helping others. These contractors believe that great rewards just flow naturally if you keep on helping others.

Accepting low budget projects require great experience and budgeting skill as the contractor should be able to find alternate materials and construction methodologies that costs less, yet meets industry standards.

Typical phases of construction

It is important to know the phases of construction to guide everyone involved in the project – be it residential, commercial, or industrial. The construction industry is certainly a very interesting field not just for architects, civil engineers, or other engineers because it is not only lucrative, but is also a very interesting industry to learn from – professionally and academically.

Phase 1 is acquiring the lot. Solicit ideas for the design and start the planning. Study and develop concept designs for the plans and perspectives. Submit your plans for the building permits at the office of the building official so they can check your structural, architectural, plumbing, and electrical designs.

Phase 2 is when the owners decide to proceed with project implementation based on the approved design blueprint. It is important to calculate the project cost for the purpose of benchmarking the deliverables for the project. The cost analysis is based on the quantity surveys for the structural, architectural, plumbing and electrical plans based on the technical specifications set by the architects and / or engineers involved. Further on the project implementation, you will also need to hire project inspectors, managers, and supervisors to control, check, balance, and monitor the progress as per project timetable.

Phase 3, the final phase, is when the contractor secures permanent power to energize the electrical systems. At this point, the occupancy permit will also need to be processed. This phase is where you need to do punch listing, balancing of design items, and correction of defects if there are any. At this stage, you will also need to rectify works that are not in conformity with the standards.

The technical term project close outs and turn-over is when everything is completed and turned over to the customer / owner. After all is well, the building project enjoys a one year of warranty by the contractor. (by Engr. Josifer Bejer – project manager and consultant)

Pollution Control and Safety at the Construction Site

One key point that contribute to environmental change is pollution. Day by day construction debris is the major problem that add more woes to managers and even the least of worker. There are protocols set, but these are usually not implemented religiously.

There are many sources of pollution as the building rises. It is important to designate an area where you can put your secondary contentment as part of segregation process. You can use coding for containers such as empty bottles and plastics, cartons and papers, woods, metals, broken bulbs and bottles, and rags. This segregation system may not be new and may just be a repetition, but nevertheless – it will prove useful and worthy.

Pollution control in the field of construction will not come easy as you need to set daily goals since you are dealing with it on a daily basis. In our country, it is a mandate to continually standardize pollution control systems to the point that it becomes almost like a way of life. There are existing laws that govern environmental management and the chief implementing agency / enforcer of such laws is the Department of Natural Resources (DENR). One of its tasks is to train representatives from various construction companies to develop, enhance, and apply protocol module.

Safety in construction is also important to promote a holistic approach at work. All aspects must be considered – safety of workers, equipment maintenance, and building sanitation. The occupational safety on health and standards was adopted internationally for the common good of every employee. It is usually practiced by big corporations who are ISO accredited. The common standards that are useful to site is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Mechanical and Electrical Safety and Sanitation. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is the government agency tasked to review and check if certain provisions in Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) are properly implemented.

Finally, each worker must strive for further learning and education to maximize his potential, and perform well in his task through a full knowledge of his capabilities and limitations. Every construction company must also strive to develop each of its workers to achieve his full human potential as mandated in the labor code. (By Engr. Josifer Bejer) (Engr. Bejer has over 10 years of construction management experience in his belt through some of the foremost construction companies around Cebu)

Usual building permit processing procedure in the Philippines

The following steps in securing your building permit could take days or even weeks or months depending on the city or municipality you are in. The fees also vary.

Step 1 – Secure and Fill out building forms, sanitary permit forms, electrical permit forms, endorsement forms available at your local municipal or city engineer’s office. Have all forms signed and sealed by your architect, engineer, master plumber, and electrical engineer. Prepare the usual attachments – detailed costing analysis; blueprints 7-8 sets; building design in text form; photocopy of PRC ID’s; PTR (professional tax receipt) of your engineer / architect, master plumber, and electrical engineer; structural analysis; lot sketch plan (can be easily obtained from the city or municipal assessor); original and photocopies of your lot’s latest tax receipts, title / deed of sale, tax declaration.

Step 2 – Obtain a Barangay Resolution by submitting one copy of your blueprint and lot documents at the Barangay Captain’s office where your lot belongs. The barangay captain will schedule a site survey on your lot to make sure there are no problems.

Step 3 – Fill out zoning clearance form and pay corresponding fees at the municipal or city zoning office. The zoning office will further verify that your lot has no outstanding problems and is classified correctly as far as construction is concerned.

Step 4 – Secure and pay fees for fire clearance at your local fire department.

Step 5 – Submit all above-mentioned documents and clearances at the city or municipal engineer’s office / office of the building official. They will schedule another survey to further check on your lot and to see if you have not started construction yet. They will check if your planned structure abides by the national building code and other relevant environmental laws especially if your lot is near a body of water. Fines will be charged accordingly if you’ve started construction prior to the release of your building permit. After the site inspection, the municipal engineer will compute the fees for your building permit. The fee will be based on the size of your structure.

Final step – Secure computation of fees slip from the municipal engineer and pay your fees at the city or municipal cashier / treasury.

Please note that you will be required a building permit when you secure your water or electrical installation application. It is illegal to construct without a building permit.