OK, why concrete all the way up?

[hyaku 2,796]

Insulation was an afterthought. Our biggest mistake was hardiflex ceilings. No good in a mountain jungle. I replaced with beveled 2 by 1 half inch ply tiles. What remains is an extractor fan I had in the roof to suck out the heat. Put it on now and cool air comes out. As we put up the insulation we could feel an immediate difference. So quiet if we close the windows. When we do get a big storm I may have clearing up with fallen banana etc. But the house is a fortress. Seismic activity? The Philippines is a group of volcanoes sticking out of the sea. I expect it. After living most of my life in Japan, Losing my roof twice to "real" typhoons and quakes, here pales in comparison.

[fred42 2,468]

sounds interesting . Would you be willing to scan and post a copy of the basic design here ?  [ just your first rough copies would be fine ]

 

 

I would of been happy too,

Unfortunately I don't have a scanner.. Sorry.

Ive looked on Google images and cant find anything else like it to show you..

[fred42 2,468]

 

This is the best example I can find.. 

The vent gap on ours will be only about 4 inches and closer to the top.. Hope you get the general idea from this pic though..

 I would have thought this roof space to be super cool with such a large vent and open eves...

Edited July 26, 2013 by fred42

[easy44 5,564]

Concrete is almost the ideal material for the tropics.  Strong, bug proof and pretty much unaffected by severe weather if designed and built properly.  I have found that painting the exterior walls and roof with a white or off-white paint seriously reduces the amount of heat build-up.  In the heat of an afternoon, exposed walls on my house are barely warm compared to unpainted walls that are quite warm to the touch.  Roof vents have been around for ages and work very well.

 

I remember looking at houses built on Guam that look like pill boxes.  Poured concrete walls with small windows and concrete roofs .  Ugly, but Guam is one place where you need it.  Typhoons with 200 mph winds are not uncommon.  A local resident told me about a chain link fence that was blown flat by one!

[Knowdafish 1,772]

 

The vent gap on ours will be only about 4 inches and closer to the top

 

I've thought along the same lines. One concern though is water intrusion when it is raining very hard and blowing sideways. Yours does not leak in a situation like this. How much over hang (approximately) do you have of the upper roof over hanging the lower one? 

[State Trooper 346]

sorry dbl post

Edited July 26, 2013 by State Trooper

[State Trooper 346]

If I did it over I would be a bank run house. Cement floor, walls and roof..All underground except for the front and that would have a rool up commercial style door. My house is wood built on cement piers. I like wood but bugs, mice and even snakes have been an issue. Partly because of my double walls that gives the mice a place to hide.

 

A bank run house would be quiet, cool, defensible and would weather anything Mother Nature could throw.

Did I mention it would be QUIET....? Im tired of listening to the loud habal habals....

[A_Simple_Man 6,198]

Just a thought for those who may be considering building a house with a basement, rent one first.  Bi level houses with windows in the lower level are often just fine because they have windows that open, but the one house I know of (in Liloan, Cebu), with a basement that was 90% below ground was baking hot.  No air flow, stifling, the ground here is often as hot as the air because there are no cold nights to lower the temperature.  Still, they are ok for some as you can air condition the basements and then the lack of airflow is not such a problem.

[Headshot 29,349]

Typhoons don't really pose too much hazard to steel roofs provided they are properly supported by steel framing which is, in turn, well-secured to rebar in the concrete walls. As far as CHB is concerned, most CHB in the Philippines is sub-standard and has very little structural integrity. If you don't think that is important, then look at earthquakes in Haiti. Many of the deaths were due to CHB wall collapses. Like the Philippines, most CHB in Haiti is sub-standard. My walls are steel-reinforced concrete (high PSI). Steel roofs supported by wood framing are much more likely to be blown off in a typhoon, since it is more difficult to adequately secure the roof framing to the walls. Very few roofs supported by wood framing in the Philippines are adequately tied to the walls. My wife still remembers looking up into a dark stormy night sky when their roof was torn off by the winds of the 1990 typhoon (direct hit on Cebu City).

 

Anyone building here should think very carefully about proper roof ventilation. Without it, the area under the roof will get very hot...regardless of what kind of roofing you use.

 

http://www.aussieroofing.com/ventilation.htm

 

http://www.cor-a-vent.com/metal-ridge-vents.cfm

 

[philuk 3,146]

Hi headshot. hows the second floor comming along. about tim we had some pics

[hchoate 446]

Many of the deaths were due to CHB wall collapses.

 

This is the reason for the OP- cement 'above my head' makes me nervous.

 

 

proper roof ventilation. Without it, the area under the roof will get very hot

 

This is true even in New England!

 

My wife grew up 1k from the sea in NW of Cebu island. Her house was made mostly of wood, tow stories. It was never destroyed by typhoon- she remembers only once when her father thought it necessary to tie it down to the coconut trees.  50 years on termites have destroyed it. BTW Current construction guidlines suggest in 'middle' area of RP to build for 225k/hr winds.

 

Also, once saw some neat looking pneumatic cylinder type devices that would open vents when the temperature reached a certain point because the fluid in them would expand at that point. Might be useful in certain applications.

Edited July 26, 2013 by hchoate

[CebuKano 1,751]

Definitely almost like in an oven. One solution to minimize the heat is to put foam insulators underneath the roofing, I might have even read it here and it does help keeping the heat away during daytime and it's relatively cheap.

If constructed properly a concrete house will actually be cooler than many "native" type houses. High celiengs and strategic window placement is a must. Walls facing the sun during the heat of the day need to be insulated. A rooftop slab (it's our urban garden area) will shade everything below it. It costs more than just building a "regular" concrete house but if you think it out and invest a bit more now you can have a house that will endure just about anything here in the RP. -- by the way, we never have to turn on our aircons other than to exercise them just to make sure that they still work

[CebuKano 1,751]

Concrete is almost the ideal material for the tropics.  Strong, bug proof and pretty much unaffected by severe weather if designed and built properly.  I have found that painting the exterior walls and roof with a white or off-white paint seriously reduces the amount of heat build-up.  In the heat of an afternoon, exposed walls on my house are barely warm compared to unpainted walls that are quite warm to the touch.  Roof vents have been around for ages and work very well.

 

I remember looking at houses built on Guam that look like pill boxes.  Poured concrete walls with small windows and concrete roofs .  Ugly, but Guam is one place where you need it.  Typhoons with 200 mph winds are not uncommon.  A local resident told me about a chain link fence that was blown flat by one!

I will testify to Guam! I spent a great deal of my childhood there and went through four or five typhoons. The last house my family rented was one of the "pill box" type you mention.... Ugly as hell but built so that even bombs would have a hard time damaging them I remember one typhoon blew out the little window in one of the bathrooms (the only window not shuttered) and the rain just poured and poured all night and we had a devil of a time trying to keep up with the water coming under the door into the hallway -- using mops and towels. Ahhh, fond memories....

[hchoate 446]

 

we never have to turn on our aircons

 

Impressive. More details?

[CebuKano 1,751]

 

Impressive. More details?

What more details do you want? I just gave you them. Shade (man-made or otherwise), insulation and air movement. Height is good too in a city environment. More airflow. Our main living areas are on the second and third floors (out of four).

Edited July 26, 2013 by Motörhead