builders

[Rick Snyder]

Concerning the roof.

There are many options to use depending on the final result you wish to achieve and/or the price you want to pay. On my house I used the metal sheets as that seemed to be what everyone used, that or concrete. It wasn't till I was here for a few years that I learned that the DR in fact has the tarpaper and shingles in the finer hardware stores in the larger cities. If I had known that 7 years ago I would have gone that route as that will give you a very modern look, by DR standards, and will give better protection from the rain and sun.

The easiest and strongest roof to construct is of cement. The problem with a cement roof is that there is no soffits to allow ventilation at the highest portion of the building and therefore the hot air must vacate at the window level. Mucho calor!! The typical Dominican house has trusses from a center beam to the walls with 2x4's therefore allowing a 4" opening along the outer walls. This is great for ventilation at the upper level but is also great for allowing mosquitoes and such to enter your home. If these pests don't bother you then this is the cheapest construction to do. If, on the other hand, these pests do bother you then it is best to go with pre-fab trusses with a 4 to 6 inch overhang which allows you to have a soffit on each side of the house which can be enclosed with fine mess screen to allow air to circulate but keep the critters out.

By using pre-fab trusses you are afforded the opportunity to make what every design of roof you desire. You can make these trusses yourself and insure they are all the same size and shape and put them up very easily. I constructed my house with the trusses on 48" centers but I would strongly suggest that you use 24" centers when installing trusses. To determine how many trusses you need just take the length of the house if in meters and divide by ( .6 ). A house 12 meters long would need - 12 / .06 = 20 trusses to have 24" centers.

The type of trusses impact the construction tremendously in that if you were to use the ( M ) truss,as an example, the load bearing walls are the outer walls therefore allowing a less elaborate center wall in the construction. The draw back to a less elaborate wall would be one of wood and I would suggest the use of as little wood as possible in this climate. (CONCRETE) ( BLOCKS ).

The importance of connecting the trusses to the walls!!!!!!!!! In the hurricane of 1998 there were a lot of Dominicans that lost their roofs. This was due to faulty construction in that the Dominicans fail to connect their trusses, or beams, to the walls. I watched in amazement as in the period of reconstruction the majority of the people replaced the missing beams without once again connecting those beams to the walls. The next hurricane will once again remove those same roofs. In the construction of my house I drilled a hole in the center of each beam right above the wall and inserted a re-bar through these beams. I then took an upside down ( J ) section of re-bar and placed these every foot on the horizontal re-bar and cemented them into the holes of the top layer of block on each outer wall. My sheets of metal might disappear in the next storm but my beams are going nowhere unless with the top layer of block. As my house was constructed with a vertical re-bar in every forth block I bent this re-bar over the horizontal re-bar further insuring my beams are never going to vacate.

The cost of materials;

If you were to use concrete for a roof of a house 14 meters by 10 meters. If you allow for a 4" roof you will get 9 1/2 square meters out of one cubic meter of concrete. 140 square meters divided by 9 1/2 = 15 cubic meters of cement RD$ 15, 255.00. I would suggest using re-bar for reinforcement crisscrossed in one foot squares which would require 11 quintals of re-bar = RD$ 9,900.00. Total cost of material = RD$ 25,155.00 divided by 32 = US$ 786.00

If you are going to use concrete for a roof then I suggest that in the last course of block you lay a number of those design cinder blocks that have holes in them. This will allow for the air to circulate at the upper portion of the building and, as I did, you can build a screen to insert where these blocks are so that critters can't enter. These decorative blocks are 3/4 as thick as a normal block and half as wide. If you make these decorative blocks flush with the inner wall you have room on the outside to insert a fitted screen with no trouble.

If working with wood and trusses then you are talking about trusses a little more then 10 meters wide and the upper portions being 6 meters long on each side with the cross supporting sections.

One 2 x 4 x 18' costs = RD$ 480.00
One truss would need 5 pieces of wood 2 x 4 x 18' to construct =
RD$ 2,400.00

20 trusses for 24 " centers =
RD$ 48,000.00 = US$ 1,500.00

On top of these trusses you can put sheets of plywood followed by tarpaper and shingles or you can apply corrugated sheets of metal.

Sheet of plywood 4' x 8' x 1/2" = RD$ 950.00
You would need 54 sheets of plywood to cover your roof = RD$ 51,300.00 = US$ 1,603.00
I have no idea on the price of tarpaper or shingles.

If you cover your roof with corrugated metal you would need 57 sheets of metal.
The best sheets of metal cost RD$ 290.00
57 sheets would cost RD$ 16,530.00 = US$ 517.00

So there you have a rough cost of the material for a roof;

Concrete = RD$ 25,155.00 = US$ 786.00
Trusses with plywood without tarpaper and shingles = RD$ 99,300.00 = US$ 3,103.00
Trusses with metal = RD$ 64,530.00 = US$ 2,026.00

With the other material you are talking a total cost of material of RD$ 54,274.00 to RD$ 128,419.00 = US$ 1,696.00 to US$ 4,013.00.

Remember these are rough estimates only !!!!!!!!!

Rick

[SKUNS]

Attention! I am a founder of system of fast earnings of money, I want to inform you good news. Our business begins a new coil in system. Now the system is protected from schemers on 100 % so - as we have entered into the agreement on the control of purses of our participants with bank. Namely, before reception of translation with a control mark » has earned - receive », each purse of the participant is checked for performance of the main condition (to put 6 $ on the purse and to dispatch по1 $ on each of six purses) In disgusting case a purse - the infringer will receive one translation with a mark » has earned - receive », and translations will be automatically returned to the sender. Thus, we have reached(achieved) 100 % of work of system. Reading it, you can change the life! The invitation to participation in work. We shall make three steps and we shall help to earn good money each other! Those 3 steps to success: 1. You need to be registered in system Web Money which is to the address http://www.webmoney.ru Хорошенько familiarize with the given system as she(it) works, choose optimum for itself a variant of updating of a purse from a page http://www.webmoney.ru, and bring 6 $ on the purse. If you do not have those 6 WMZ you need to buy card Web Money (cards a minimum 10 WMZ are sold in usual stalls) and bring 6 $ on yours WMZ in a purse (it(he) begins with letter Z). 2. Take first number of a purse from the below-mentioned list, send on him(it) 1 $. Important: to a field the Note write [Please, enter into me the list of purses] ". That you have made all are have created service, and the most important is legally.] You ask lawful service for which pay. Remember! All translations do(make) with a mark » has earned - receive »!!! Send 6 $ on the following purses (in everyone on 1 $): 1) Z818906725428 2) Z999774989414 3) Z238094141625 4) Z238094141625 5) Z191738072015 6) Z383227602759 Now delete from this list the first purse, having moved thus the list for one line is higher (6-th becomes 5-th, 5-th becomes 4-th...) Also enter in a 6-thuja a line your purse. 2. As soon as on your account there came the first money delete from the list 1й number. 4й, 5й, 6й leave on a place, and 2й and 3й displace on 1у a position upwards. Also enter on 3ю which was released(exempted), a position number of a purse with which to you has come translation with the note “ Please, enter into me the list of purses ”! And so on a circle … Do(Make) it while money act with разумнойскоростью …! 3. Do(make) any changes, but keep the main idea. Place this clause(article) at not less than 200 forums and news lines (News Groups). Remember! Than more you place, - that your income will be higher, and this income will depend directly on you. So, when you will reach(achieve) the first position, you will have тысячидолларов simply as the founder of the list! It costs(stands) 6 $ and absolutely trifling work!!!!!!!! Engage in it now, not putting off! Since today YOU " money can already get to another .Время money! And now I to you shall tell, why you in any case lose nothing, but only win! We Shall important tell, from 200 accommodations I shall receive only 5 answers (very low figure). Means, I shall make 5 $, being on 6-th position in the list. Now these 5 people do(make) besides the MINIMUM of 200 accommodations with my purse on 5-th position, and only 5 people answer those to the first 5 is already 25 $. Further 25 people do(make) these on 200 accommodations with my purse on 4-th line and only 5 answer - my income 125 $. Now these 125 people having placed and having received only on 5 answers, give me 625 $ the profit (I on 3 positions). Is more ridiculous further: these 625 do(make) on a minimum of 200 accommodations with me on 2-nd line and only 5 people answer are 3125 $. Most interesting it that 3125 people will make these even on 200 accommodations, well and if they(he,it) will be answered only with 5 people I already receive 15625 $. Whether not so, impressive figure? And all this for the initial contribution in 6 $. And not considering the profit which you receive it when you will be added in the list with people which you have sent money! When you in the list already are not present, you simply send 6 $ to same people from the list and put the purse on 6 position and again place. You can present yourselves, that thousand people from all world join the Internet and read these clauses(articles) every day. As well as you now read this!!! So? Whether whether you will spend 6 $ what to learn(find out) it works??? It is a line for pessimists: And if this business will fail also anybody to me of money will not send??? Well also that!!! Every day in the Internet appear from 20000 up to 50000 new users. Under forecasts of experts only in Russia by 2006 the quantity(amount) of Internet users will increase with present 9 million users up to 21 million!!! What chances, that all of them-таки will want to try themselves in something new...??? Well and the last: It is really great axiom to receive something it is necessary to give something and what to receive it would be necessary to give even more Be convinced of it even more... Success all!!! The information about WebMoney: How to distribute the information in forums: 1. It is opened rambler.ru, yandex.ru, google.com, aport.ru, yahoo.com (or any another). 2. We write in a line of search a phrase: a forum to begin a new theme (without inverted commas). 3. Yoy will find thousand forums on which you can place the announcement.

[billyidol]

hit the road D@#k head..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!! god i hate people like you, your a parasite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i wonder if ive seen this scheme before! why dont you 'found' a system where you can actually learn to communicate in the written form so others may understand you.........have a nice day you stupid crim!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by SKUNS

Attention! I am a founder of system of fast earnings of money, I want to inform you good news. Our business begins a new coil in system. Now the system is protected from schemers on 100 % so - as we have entered into the agreement on the control of purses of our participants with bank. Namely, before reception of translation with a control mark » has earned - receive », each purse of the participant is checked for performance of the main condition (to put 6 $ on the purse and to dispatch по1 $ on each of six purses) In disgusting case a purse - the infringer will receive one translation with a mark » has earned - receive », and translations will be automatically returned to the sender. Thus, we have reached(achieved) 100 % of work of system. Reading it, you can change the life! The invitation to participation in work. We shall make three steps and we shall help to earn good money each other! Those 3 steps to success: 1. You need to be registered in system Web Money which is to the address http://www.webmoney.ru Хорошенько familiarize with the given system as she(it) works, choose optimum for itself a variant of updating of a purse from a page http://www.webmoney.ru, and bring 6 $ on the purse. If you do not have those 6 WMZ you need to buy card Web Money (cards a minimum 10 WMZ are sold in usual stalls) and bring 6 $ on yours WMZ in a purse (it(he) begins with letter Z). 2. Take first number of a purse from the below-mentioned list, send on him(it) 1 $. Important: to a field the Note write [Please, enter into me the list of purses] ". That you have made all are have created service, and the most important is legally.] You ask lawful service for which pay. Remember! All translations do(make) with a mark » has earned - receive »!!! Send 6 $ on the following purses (in everyone on 1 $): 1) Z818906725428 2) Z999774989414 3) Z238094141625 4) Z238094141625 5) Z191738072015 6) Z383227602759 Now delete from this list the first purse, having moved thus the list for one line is higher (6-th becomes 5-th, 5-th becomes 4-th...) Also enter in a 6-thuja a line your purse. 2. As soon as on your account there came the first money delete from the list 1й number. 4й, 5й, 6й leave on a place, and 2й and 3й displace on 1у a position upwards. Also enter on 3ю which was released(exempted), a position number of a purse with which to you has come translation with the note “ Please, enter into me the list of purses ”! And so on a circle … Do(Make) it while money act with разумнойскоростью …! 3. Do(make) any changes, but keep the main idea. Place this clause(article) at not less than 200 forums and news lines (News Groups). Remember! Than more you place, - that your income will be higher, and this income will depend directly on you. So, when you will reach(achieve) the first position, you will have тысячидолларов simply as the founder of the list! It costs(stands) 6 $ and absolutely trifling work!!!!!!!! Engage in it now, not putting off! Since today YOU " money can already get to another .Время money! And now I to you shall tell, why you in any case lose nothing, but only win! We Shall important tell, from 200 accommodations I shall receive only 5 answers (very low figure). Means, I shall make 5 $, being on 6-th position in the list. Now these 5 people do(make) besides the MINIMUM of 200 accommodations with my purse on 5-th position, and only 5 people answer those to the first 5 is already 25 $. Further 25 people do(make) these on 200 accommodations with my purse on 4-th line and only 5 answer - my income 125 $. Now these 125 people having placed and having received only on 5 answers, give me 625 $ the profit (I on 3 positions). Is more ridiculous further: these 625 do(make) on a minimum of 200 accommodations with me on 2-nd line and only 5 people answer are 3125 $. Most interesting it that 3125 people will make these even on 200 accommodations, well and if they(he,it) will be answered only with 5 people I already receive 15625 $. Whether not so, impressive figure? And all this for the initial contribution in 6 $. And not considering the profit which you receive it when you will be added in the list with people which you have sent money! When you in the list already are not present, you simply send 6 $ to same people from the list and put the purse on 6 position and again place. You can present yourselves, that thousand people from all world join the Internet and read these clauses(articles) every day. As well as you now read this!!! So? Whether whether you will spend 6 $ what to learn(find out) it works??? It is a line for pessimists: And if this business will fail also anybody to me of money will not send??? Well also that!!! Every day in the Internet appear from 20000 up to 50000 new users. Under forecasts of experts only in Russia by 2006 the quantity(amount) of Internet users will increase with present 9 million users up to 21 million!!! What chances, that all of them-таки will want to try themselves in something new...??? Well and the last: It is really great axiom to receive something it is necessary to give something and what to receive it would be necessary to give even more Be convinced of it even more... Success all!!! The information about WebMoney: How to distribute the information in forums: 1. It is opened rambler.ru, yandex.ru, google.com, aport.ru, yahoo.com (or any another). 2. We write in a line of search a phrase: a forum to begin a new theme (without inverted commas). 3. Yoy will find thousand forums on which you can place the announcement.

[billyidol]

rick you are a champion, the amount of work you put into your answer so that i may understand what im up against (in terms of costs and equip') is greatly appreciated. ive been angered in the past with peoples responses but yours and the other dudes funkysomthinorother was extremely informative and has put me on track to cutting costs. thanks again
bi

Originally Posted by Rick Snyder

Concerning the roof.

There are many options to use depending on the final result you wish to achieve and/or the price you want to pay. On my house I used the metal sheets as that seemed to be what everyone used, that or concrete. It wasn't till I was here for a few years that I learned that the DR in fact has the tarpaper and shingles in the finer hardware stores in the larger cities. If I had known that 7 years ago I would have gone that route as that will give you a very modern look, by DR standards, and will give better protection from the rain and sun.

The easiest and strongest roof to construct is of cement. The problem with a cement roof is that there is no soffits to allow ventilation at the highest portion of the building and therefore the hot air must vacate at the window level. Mucho calor!! The typical Dominican house has trusses from a center beam to the walls with 2x4's therefore allowing a 4" opening along the outer walls. This is great for ventilation at the upper level but is also great for allowing mosquitoes and such to enter your home. If these pests don't bother you then this is the cheapest construction to do. If, on the other hand, these pests do bother you then it is best to go with pre-fab trusses with a 4 to 6 inch overhang which allows you to have a soffit on each side of the house which can be enclosed with fine mess screen to allow air to circulate but keep the critters out.

By using pre-fab trusses you are afforded the opportunity to make what every design of roof you desire. You can make these trusses yourself and insure they are all the same size and shape and put them up very easily. I constructed my house with the trusses on 48" centers but I would strongly suggest that you use 24" centers when installing trusses. To determine how many trusses you need just take the length of the house if in meters and divide by ( .6 ). A house 12 meters long would need - 12 / .06 = 20 trusses to have 24" centers.

The type of trusses impact the construction tremendously in that if you were to use the ( M ) truss,as an example, the load bearing walls are the outer walls therefore allowing a less elaborate center wall in the construction. The draw back to a less elaborate wall would be one of wood and I would suggest the use of as little wood as possible in this climate. (CONCRETE) ( BLOCKS ).

The importance of connecting the trusses to the walls!!!!!!!!! In the hurricane of 1998 there were a lot of Dominicans that lost their roofs. This was due to faulty construction in that the Dominicans fail to connect their trusses, or beams, to the walls. I watched in amazement as in the period of reconstruction the majority of the people replaced the missing beams without once again connecting those beams to the walls. The next hurricane will once again remove those same roofs. In the construction of my house I drilled a hole in the center of each beam right above the wall and inserted a re-bar through these beams. I then took an upside down ( J ) section of re-bar and placed these every foot on the horizontal re-bar and cemented them into the holes of the top layer of block on each outer wall. My sheets of metal might disappear in the next storm but my beams are going nowhere unless with the top layer of block. As my house was constructed with a vertical re-bar in every forth block I bent this re-bar over the horizontal re-bar further insuring my beams are never going to vacate.

The cost of materials;

If you were to use concrete for a roof of a house 14 meters by 10 meters. If you allow for a 4" roof you will get 9 1/2 square meters out of one cubic meter of concrete. 140 square meters divided by 9 1/2 = 15 cubic meters of cement RD$ 15, 255.00. I would suggest using re-bar for reinforcement crisscrossed in one foot squares which would require 11 quintals of re-bar = RD$ 9,900.00. Total cost of material = RD$ 25,155.00 divided by 32 = US$ 786.00

If you are going to use concrete for a roof then I suggest that in the last course of block you lay a number of those design cinder blocks that have holes in them. This will allow for the air to circulate at the upper portion of the building and, as I did, you can build a screen to insert where these blocks are so that critters can't enter. These decorative blocks are 3/4 as thick as a normal block and half as wide. If you make these decorative blocks flush with the inner wall you have room on the outside to insert a fitted screen with no trouble.

If working with wood and trusses then you are talking about trusses a little more then 10 meters wide and the upper portions being 6 meters long on each side with the cross supporting sections.

One 2 x 4 x 18' costs = RD$ 480.00
One truss would need 5 pieces of wood 2 x 4 x 18' to construct =
RD$ 2,400.00

20 trusses for 24 " centers =
RD$ 48,000.00 = US$ 1,500.00

On top of these trusses you can put sheets of plywood followed by tarpaper and shingles or you can apply corrugated sheets of metal.

Sheet of plywood 4' x 8' x 1/2" = RD$ 950.00
You would need 54 sheets of plywood to cover your roof = RD$ 51,300.00 = US$ 1,603.00
I have no idea on the price of tarpaper or shingles.

If you cover your roof with corrugated metal you would need 57 sheets of metal.
The best sheets of metal cost RD$ 290.00
57 sheets would cost RD$ 16,530.00 = US$ 517.00

So there you have a rough cost of the material for a roof;

Concrete = RD$ 25,155.00 = US$ 786.00
Trusses with plywood without tarpaper and shingles = RD$ 99,300.00 = US$ 3,103.00
Trusses with metal = RD$ 64,530.00 = US$ 2,026.00

With the other material you are talking a total cost of material of RD$ 54,274.00 to RD$ 128,419.00 = US$ 1,696.00 to US$ 4,013.00.

Remember these are rough estimates only !!!!!!!!!

Rick

[funckytown]

Originally Posted by billyidol

rick you are a champion, the amount of work you put into your answer so that i may understand what im up against (in terms of costs and equip') is greatly appreciated. ive been angered in the past with peoples responses but yours and the other dudes funkysomthinorother was extremely informative and has put me on track to cutting costs. thanks again
bi

I can confirm what RICK said, by asking some people,
they are STILL asking 2 pesos a block,
I will try to put the tons of info in excell sheet i am not that much of a litterate , but I tell U2 all the information from RICK are great

But I believe, maybe these prices are when you hire people on the work,
what about rules with/without building comapny? taxes? security?
................... rick....?
never come to juan dolio? to talk about the drinks prices ?

Thanx,

[Rick Snyder]

Funckytown,
Sorry but thanks for the offer. I own no car so therefore must use public transportation when I travel out of my little bubble here in El Seybo.As I don't like to be packed like a sardine for a 1 1/2 hour bus trip so I only exit my bubble when absolutely necessary.

What's the saying here? No rules mon jes good beer and walabees!!!!

Rick

[Rick Snyder]

Jean luc,
The OP of the thread was only asking about a second floor and that was what my postings were geared toward. In reality though those figures can be used in a complete house with a few adjustments.

1. The footings here for a foundation are nothing like we have in the USA. The footings here are usually 4 inches of concrete poured over a template made of re-bar. This template is made up with at least 3 horizontal, parallel; pieces lengthwise tied evenly about every foot with 6 inch pieces of re-bar. A 6 foot horizontal piece with a 4 inch 90% bend is also tied at about every 4 foot length to allow the blocks an anchor in the footing and walls. These footing are usually placed in a trench that is usually 2 or 3 feet deep. When the initial footings are partially set the first 3 courses of block are laid and the flood will later be poured even with this 2nd or 3rd course. When the walls have been constructed a person will usually come in and pour the floor and even things out and finish said floor. (Here is one of the things that I find so difficult to understand about the Dominican mind and therefore differ in their construction habits).

This is not what I did but it is what I would do if I were to build another house;

a. I would built a solid 12 inch concrete footing with the re-bar template and lay my courses on that footing.

b. Upon the completion of the third course I would pour my flooring. The reason for this is it allows me to insure that the floor is in fact level as there are no walls to hinder your leveling. (It is my opinion that the reason Dominicans wait for the completion of the walls to pour the floors is because they don't want to dirty the floors with the splattered cement used in the construction of the walls. Guess they never heard of dropcloths). 99% of the Dominican floors are not level and it is due to this late pouring of the floor.

c. In the construction of a house you have four corners that we will call, in clockwise order, A, B, C and D. The Dominicans might measure between A and B, B and C, C and D, and D and A but they will never measure between A and C or B and D. It is these measurements that insures a 90% angle at all angles. As an example, if the measurement between A and C is 38 feet exactly and the measurement between B and D is 37 feet 10 inches then your house doesn't have 90% angles and your construction will be off all throughout its construction. These are measurements that must be made at each course of blocks. It has been my experience that Dominicans think they have calibrated eyeballs.

d. Before laying the first course you need to built a squared frame for your doorways and windows. These frames can be built out of 1 x 3's. The reason for these frames is that it gives a reference and guide as to where each block in each course must start or end to insure a squared opening for the finished door or window. On your 5th course of block you place your window frames and the mason then knows where each block must start or end for that window. This means he doesn't need to use his calibrated eye or his level to determine that the opening is in fact square. If in the construction of this frame you were to use a piece of wood the same whith as a block for the upper portion of the window frames then you already have the lower mold in place for when you pour your vige de amarre.

2. The bathroom.....If you live in an area where you can hook up to a sewage line then the majority of your problems are over. If that is the case then you must dig and place your tubing needed for this hookup going into your house prior to your footings. If you don't have the availability of such a hookup, like me, then you must decide if you want to go outside to a building to bathe or if you want a bathroom connected to your house. Being an American I wanted a building connected to my house. As I have no yard to speak of I was not able to have a septic tank so I had a 6 foot by 8 foot hole dug 12 feet deep to built my bathroom on. The walls of this tank are blocked so that the liquids must vacate at the 12 foot below ground level. I also have a 4 inch tube at ground level, 2 1/2 feet below floor level, that goes to another hole 4 feet by 4 feet 8 feet deep for possible overflow. How long will this last? Have no idea. I was not here in country when the idiot did my bathroom but I can tell you that he hooked a floor drain and the bathtub drain into the system with no elbows. It didn't take long for the trapped gases to enter the bathroom through the ventilators this idiot installed. I closed these off with cement and installed a drain for the bathtub to the outside of the house that enters a gravel filled hole 4' x 4' x 4' as this is water containing soap, dirt and or shampoo. Your toilet has a builtin elbow that stops gases from entering the bathroom.

Labor......If you use a construction company you will pay top dollar for labor. If you look for a boss to construct your house you will maybe have to pay him a very steep price but his laborers should not cost more then 200 pesos per day per man. Any more then that look elsewhere. There is enough unemployment in this country to insure that you get labor at a decent price. As you are not working with any unions and there are no enforced laws regulating this construction then your hands are not tied in your dealings with the construction or labor.

If you know nothing about construction or what is is you want in the construction then you are at their mercy. If you want something different and it requires nothing more then maybe a few additional blocks and the boss tries to tell you about how that will cost an additional figure when in reality it only requires an additional 30 minutes of labor then offer to pay that 30 minutes more of labor and not some made up charge that he pulled out of his arse.

Bottom line is you can built here in the DR at a price much, much, much cheaper then in the USA without the codes and required inspectors for each phase.

Rick

[funckytown]

Hi Rick, hi everybody,

Thanks to A Big Rick
or is it a Big Thanx to Rick...
U decide..

I tried to put in formula's what he fully explained here with corrazon, to put them in an XLS sheet (still under construction...)
With Rick's counsels you find here, this XLS automatically gives you a price of construction of the masonry.

They are three types of info you MAY change :

The project QUANTITIES THAT HAVE to be changed [Orange]
The Unit prices and quantity to be CHANGED are in GREEN [Green]
The other quantities you COULD change… [Blue]

So you could download it, from here http://www.immodevis.com/
make a copy
WORK on the copy
[There is a Back-up copy in the XLS sheet ]

So have FUN.kYtown and thanx to Rick

So why not have Fun Rick Town... well that sounds good...

[billyidol]

hey rick i may as well ask you this you dont have to go in to depth like you have b4 but to rig up the electrics for a top floor what would you expect. rough guesstimates are okay assuming i have 2 bedrooms kitchen (say 6 outputs around the 2nd floor)?????
cheers mate

Originally Posted by Rick Snyder

Concerning the roof.

There are many options to use depending on the final result you wish to achieve and/or the price you want to pay. On my house I used the metal sheets as that seemed to be what everyone used, that or concrete. It wasn't till I was here for a few years that I learned that the DR in fact has the tarpaper and shingles in the finer hardware stores in the larger cities. If I had known that 7 years ago I would have gone that route as that will give you a very modern look, by DR standards, and will give better protection from the rain and sun.

The easiest and strongest roof to construct is of cement. The problem with a cement roof is that there is no soffits to allow ventilation at the highest portion of the building and therefore the hot air must vacate at the window level. Mucho calor!! The typical Dominican house has trusses from a center beam to the walls with 2x4's therefore allowing a 4" opening along the outer walls. This is great for ventilation at the upper level but is also great for allowing mosquitoes and such to enter your home. If these pests don't bother you then this is the cheapest construction to do. If, on the other hand, these pests do bother you then it is best to go with pre-fab trusses with a 4 to 6 inch overhang which allows you to have a soffit on each side of the house which can be enclosed with fine mess screen to allow air to circulate but keep the critters out.

By using pre-fab trusses you are afforded the opportunity to make what every design of roof you desire. You can make these trusses yourself and insure they are all the same size and shape and put them up very easily. I constructed my house with the trusses on 48" centers but I would strongly suggest that you use 24" centers when installing trusses. To determine how many trusses you need just take the length of the house if in meters and divide by ( .6 ). A house 12 meters long would need - 12 / .06 = 20 trusses to have 24" centers.

The type of trusses impact the construction tremendously in that if you were to use the ( M ) truss,as an example, the load bearing walls are the outer walls therefore allowing a less elaborate center wall in the construction. The draw back to a less elaborate wall would be one of wood and I would suggest the use of as little wood as possible in this climate. (CONCRETE) ( BLOCKS ).

The importance of connecting the trusses to the walls!!!!!!!!! In the hurricane of 1998 there were a lot of Dominicans that lost their roofs. This was due to faulty construction in that the Dominicans fail to connect their trusses, or beams, to the walls. I watched in amazement as in the period of reconstruction the majority of the people replaced the missing beams without once again connecting those beams to the walls. The next hurricane will once again remove those same roofs. In the construction of my house I drilled a hole in the center of each beam right above the wall and inserted a re-bar through these beams. I then took an upside down ( J ) section of re-bar and placed these every foot on the horizontal re-bar and cemented them into the holes of the top layer of block on each outer wall. My sheets of metal might disappear in the next storm but my beams are going nowhere unless with the top layer of block. As my house was constructed with a vertical re-bar in every forth block I bent this re-bar over the horizontal re-bar further insuring my beams are never going to vacate.

The cost of materials;

If you were to use concrete for a roof of a house 14 meters by 10 meters. If you allow for a 4" roof you will get 9 1/2 square meters out of one cubic meter of concrete. 140 square meters divided by 9 1/2 = 15 cubic meters of cement RD$ 15, 255.00. I would suggest using re-bar for reinforcement crisscrossed in one foot squares which would require 11 quintals of re-bar = RD$ 9,900.00. Total cost of material = RD$ 25,155.00 divided by 32 = US$ 786.00

If you are going to use concrete for a roof then I suggest that in the last course of block you lay a number of those design cinder blocks that have holes in them. This will allow for the air to circulate at the upper portion of the building and, as I did, you can build a screen to insert where these blocks are so that critters can't enter. These decorative blocks are 3/4 as thick as a normal block and half as wide. If you make these decorative blocks flush with the inner wall you have room on the outside to insert a fitted screen with no trouble.

If working with wood and trusses then you are talking about trusses a little more then 10 meters wide and the upper portions being 6 meters long on each side with the cross supporting sections.

One 2 x 4 x 18' costs = RD$ 480.00
One truss would need 5 pieces of wood 2 x 4 x 18' to construct =
RD$ 2,400.00

20 trusses for 24 " centers =
RD$ 48,000.00 = US$ 1,500.00

On top of these trusses you can put sheets of plywood followed by tarpaper and shingles or you can apply corrugated sheets of metal.

Sheet of plywood 4' x 8' x 1/2" = RD$ 950.00
You would need 54 sheets of plywood to cover your roof = RD$ 51,300.00 = US$ 1,603.00
I have no idea on the price of tarpaper or shingles.

If you cover your roof with corrugated metal you would need 57 sheets of metal.
The best sheets of metal cost RD$ 290.00
57 sheets would cost RD$ 16,530.00 = US$ 517.00

So there you have a rough cost of the material for a roof;

Concrete = RD$ 25,155.00 = US$ 786.00
Trusses with plywood without tarpaper and shingles = RD$ 99,300.00 = US$ 3,103.00
Trusses with metal = RD$ 64,530.00 = US$ 2,026.00

With the other material you are talking a total cost of material of RD$ 54,274.00 to RD$ 128,419.00 = US$ 1,696.00 to US$ 4,013.00.

Remember these are rough estimates only !!!!!!!!!

Rick

[Rick Snyder]

More on building a house in the DR.

After thinking about it a couple of things came to mind that I thought I should mention.

1. It is my firm belief and opinion that you should construct a roof of cement. The reasons for this is in the final analysis it is cheaper, stronger and allows you to add a very important item that I failed to mention earlier. Because of the lack of running water and the availability of water I highly recommend that you build a 500 or 600 gallon water tank on the roof or purchase a plastic tank to put there. With a small pump from the water source you can fill your water tank and insure that you always have running water in the house. The cement roof allows the support needed to bear the weight of this storage of water tank

2. In the construction of a cement roof it must be noted that you should vibrate the concrete and cure it. These are two subjects that the average Dominican has no knowledge on and which can be proven by almost all concrete construction in this country. The reason for vibrating concrete is very important in that it removes the entrained air and water which allows the concrete to consolidate. Without vibration the concrete forms rock pockets which means a poor pour which can relate to water seeping through on those rainy days or the collapse of sections of your roof. You can NEVER vibrate the concrete too much but you can always vibrate it too little. As there are no tool rental shops here in the DR, to my knowledge, then I don't know where you can acquire a vibrator. (Little 6 volt vibrators won't work) Some sort of flat surface on a stick and hand pounded would be better than nothing. A section of re-bar inserted numerous times in the concrete is better then nothing. If you can vibrate the concrete till such a time as the trapped water and air stop being spit out of the area where the concrete touches the form then you have vibrated enough. The second important step is the curing of the concrete. The best way to accomplish this here in the conditions in the DR is to pour the concrete in the afternoon or early evening and after vibrating and leveling apply a black plastic sheet over the concrete and leave it there for a week. This will stop a quick evaporation of the water from the surface and lower the possibility of concrete acne from forming.

3. Electrical layout in the house. What I did was take an electrical wall socket box and traced its outline on a number of blocks. I then used my skill saw with a carbon disc and cut these holes in the block with the help of a fine chisel. With these blocks with a square hole in them I gave them to the mason when he was laying the second course above floor level at those points that I wanted a wall plug. I then inserted a 1/2 inch cheap, there are 2 grades sold here, pvc pipe in the block and into the electrical box. Each block above this must be fitted on this pipe and lowered onto the next course.Upon completion you have the means to run your electrical wires through this pvc pipe to your boxes and the construction is neat. You use this same procedure for your wall switches. Many times I have seen Dominicans assemble their walls then come with a chisel and hammer to break out an area to insert the wires then patch it up with cement.

Can't think of anything else at present.

Rick