I had lined up some steel reinforcing rod and brought 40 – 12mm (175 pesos ea), 20 – 10mm (125 pesos), and 20 9mm (95 pesos ea), 40 bags of Portland cement (210 pesos ea), 10 kilos of tie wire (65 pesos ang kilo), and 4 sheets of 3/16 plywood (280 pesos) up to the site. I am a realist however and realize that this building site is quite a ways off the paved road so a 1 peso delivery fee per block really was reasonable.Ī truckload of “screen sand” for the concrete cost 5,500 pesos for a 5 cubic meter load. I was helping these guys a little and was wondering if this was an additional “foreigner tax”. The agreed upon price was 12 pesos each but after delivery they jacked the price up to 13 pesos. We had ordered 1000 4 inch concrete block and 500 had already been delivered.

I was helping push over some block when i noticed a scorpion scurrying by and decided that these guys had everything under control. There was an abandoned project on this lot that had to be cleared and some nice banana trees that are “owned” by the neighbors were spared and are to be harvested by them when the bananas are ripe.Ī thick stand of bamboo gives the place great shade and there is a constant breeze blowing in from the cane fields making this a surprisingly comfortable location. In the mountains they are a tight knit community and if they all agree that a certain family owns that land and all his relatives and friends are willing to back him up – that guy owns the land – end of story. Basically what we have here is a “squatter” house – this is not a solid investment, but it works for the locals.īuying land is always very tricky in the Philippines as there are often heirs and family disputes about who actually owns the land. The sale must be recorded with the Barangay office for tax declaration purposes. Obviously this is not the way to go if you plan to invest heavily in the project. I am not sure how it works but in this village people seem to have lots staked out that have been in their families for generations in some cases.Īpparently the “owner” can sell this land to others in the community in an agreement witnessed by the barangay captain. There was an existing outline of the old foundation of a house that was never completed, which we tore down.

This lot cost 4,000 pesos and is actually government land. The advice of the “dutchpickle” has always been for foreigners to not invest in land in the Philippines because they will never be the legal owner and all sorts of problems will arise. This house is being built Filipino style so the laws and customs will be dramatically different for a foreigner planning to build a dream home in the Philippines. I plan to follow the construction of this concrete block house from beginning to completion and will outline the basic process. Here are the steps for building a modest block house in the mountains in the Philippines. Be sure to check out our entire collection of house plans, all of which were designed with luxury, comfort, and aesthetic appeal in mind.How to build a concrete block house in the Philippines – part 1 of living space that features 4 beds and 5 baths. Spanish Colonial house plan that works great as a concrete home design and our Ferretti house plan is a charming Tuscan style courtyard home plan with 3031 sq. Check out some of these popular Concrete house plans which can now be found in almost any style.

Any of these methods offer distinct and varied benefits to the user.

“Poured in place” concrete walls systems can be found in cinder block house plans. Lightweight “autoclaved concrete blocks” are used in concrete block house plans, and they are another method of construction. Methods such as ICFs, or “insulated concrete forms” are used in ICF home plans and yield greater insulative values, lowering heating and cooling costs. Concrete house plans of today incorporate many other techniques besides traditional masonry block construction. Concrete floor plans have numerous structural and sustainable benefits including greater wind resistance and long lasting, low-maintenance living. Our concrete house plans feature concrete construction, which has long been a staple in our southwest Florida home plan designs.

Concrete block home plans