Mactan House Construction

	Mactan House, Amalie Lot 16, Block 4, Vittoria Construction Notes Last update: May 9, 2006 Previous: April 28, 2006 Previous: April 25, 2006 Previous: April 20, 2006
Links to Contacts Agreements Progress Plans Agenda

Pillars
Before the pillars go in check the orientation of the house with the plan, the pillars are the small rectangles on the plan joining the hollow block walls. The foundation of the pillars should be deep and on solid ground. The pillar foundations are usually wider than the pillar that is constructed on top. A minimum distance of 3 centimeters should be kept between steel bars and outside wall of the pillar. The concrete should be a clean pour with little or better no air bubbles. The concrete must definitely not be brittle and crumble. If a small air pocket has exposed some of the bar (say no more than 1 inch) and the concrete is otherwise without flaw, get the hole filled up with a strong (dark) cement repair. If the flaw is bigger or if the concrete is of bad quality get them to knock it out and pour it again.

Walls
At regular intervals there should be steel reinforcements in the walls (horizontal and vertical). This is called the Reinforced Hollow Concrete Block Masonry (RHCBM) System for and makes for a seismic resistant construction. Make sure there is a horizontal reinforcement close to the top layers of each window as this is the weak point in a wall. Cracks will ofter form above windows if the reinforcements have been forgotten. Ignore cracks in plaster as plaster shrinks when it dries and this can be repaired, instead check the hollow blocks and the cement for the cracks. Cracks between the hollow block construction and the pillars are not good and should be investigated and redone if necessary as they probably mean the wall is not well connected to the pillar. We also requested that all the walls (also between bedrooms) on the second floor be hollow blocks. They will also carry the weight of people and storage on the roof. These requirements may change with the new contractor.

Concrete Floor
The gravel must be well compacted. The steel bars must be well below the floor surface, again more than 3 centimeters if possible. Check the pipes are not damaged and located below the steel bars before the concrete is poured. Check the consistency of the poured concrete. It must be flat, smooth and flawless. The same is true for the second floor. If the concrete is unevenly poured tell the workers it is OK but they have to even it out when the tiles are installed and warn them you will not accept an uneven tiled floor. They can still make even tiles on an uneven floor but it will mean extra work so watch on them!

Steel "rebars" are the most important part of a concrete floor apart from the quality of the concrete mix. They should be well anchored into to walls on all sides and well embedded so that they do not touch the surface of the concrete floor. They must be connected at short and regular intervals with twists of plain steel wire. The same goes for the pillars. Do not accept any pipes above the rebars as there would be no room for the concrete at this place and this could cause cracks in the future.

Drains
Drains for the bathrooms are four. One for the toilet bowl and one for the basin. One close to the corner for the shower cabinet. One in the middle of the room for the drain. Make sure that the floor drain will not be covered by the cabinet when it is installed. The cabinet is an arc and needs over 70 centimeter radius. When Helen brings back the copies I'll draw it on a plan and put a picture here.

Bathroom
Make sure the window is right next to the pillar and not in the middle of the bathroom wall as it will otherwise interfere with the shower cabinet wall. An electrical outlet (3pin) must be present for the boiler on both floors. Check that the hole and pipe for this are there before the tiles are installed, the outlets should be there when the other outlets are also installed.

Electrical Pipes
Make sure at all times the pipes are not squashed, crushed or damaged in any way as in the future wire may have to be redone or added. The pipes should be clearly visible in their wall holes and clear of dirt. Make sure the pipes are below the steel reinforcements before the concrete floors are poured. All pipes leading to electrical outlets in the walls should have 3 wires at the opening of the pipe (For Earth, Live and Neutral). The four extra outlets for TV/Phone/Network should each have two pipes that lead and meet above the bathroom on the second floor, that makes eight pipes. We asked for an extra outlet above the 2nd floor bathroom, check at least the pipe with the three wires is there (maybe there will therefore be nine pipes).

2nd floor celling / roof floor
Helen and I asked for the roof to be a storage area. The celling must be reinforced, the metal frame will have to be a strong construction, if necessary get the workers to walk and jump lightly on the structure before the ceiling boards and the roof floor are installed. Movement in the roof must not create cracks in the 2nd floor ceiling. The opening in the bathroom should be at least 80 centimeters in both directions (1 meter is better), the roof is storage and adequate access will be required. The floor of the roof will be made of non instect attackable material (to be decided in the agreements, see link on top of page). This material may have joins on the edges (Tongue and Grove for example). If not and simple board shapes are used, then make sure the joins happen above a support so that the boards do not give way when stepping on the edges. Tongue and Grove systems should be strong enough to have the joins anywhere. The edges of the entire floor should not touch the house walls. A gap will ensure the floor can expand a bit with temperature variations.

Tongue and Grove joins should be strong enough not to need a support directly below the meeting point. If the joins are straight with no locking between the elements, check there is support below the point at which the two boards meet.

Water
We have asked for an extra outlet (bib) to be installed outside the kitchen. Also on the inside there must be a tap or valve to turn of the water outside.

Roof
I feel strongly that roof should be a solid construction as we will for sure be using it extensively. Make sure not insect prone materials are used as floor boards of the roof and that movement in the roof deos not cause cracks in the plaster of the 2nd floor ceiling. When the boards are in, clim into the roof and check the insulation. Make sure there are not gaps in the insulation. Insulation has no purpose if the air can blow between or around it!

Tiles
Always be fussy about the tiles! Check each one by hitting it with a solid piece of wood, if it cracks or sounds hollow have it replaced. Do not accept wavy or uneven floors. Here in Europe the gaps between the tiles are filled with a cement glue but not in the angles of the walls as we fill these with silicone in case the walls move a bit. I do not know in the Philippines. But if they use the cement glue in the angles of the walls to fill the gaps between the tiles then this would be a good place to look for cracks. This is especially serious in the bathrooms as the water would get into the concrete and cause damage and maybe fungus.

Thank you Norman and Fely for supervising all this, Ang higala sa panahón sa kalisód mao’y higala nga tinood.

Edward