This is a photo and video journal of my attendance to this training at Philconstruct 2018. As an advocate of continuous professional education in the construction industry, I personally find this training an eye opener on the magnitude of what else we can contribute to enhance the quality of CONCRETE.
TRAVELLING AS IT IS- is an unedited video footage of my travelling experience.
My concept of travelling is riding public transportation, road trip from home
to a job destination or just a stroll around the neighborhood. You can hear,
feel and see the “REAL” sights & sounds of a
place or destination that are usually not tourist trail. There are lot of street food to
taste, adventures to seek, lots of local people to meet as well as fellow
travelers wanting to share their own personal experiences. ENJOYING LIFE - AS IT IS!
Start: ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY (ADMU)
Destination: REGALIA PARK TOWER, CUBAO, QUEZON CITY,
METRO MANILA
Mode of Transportation: Van
In this road trip, I was with my co-workers from an
ocular inspection of our construction project in Ateneo de Manila University
(ADMU). We navigated the busy streets of Quezon City- a highly urbanized and
largest city of Metro Manila. We also passed by and took our lunch to our
favorite noodle house that serves PANSIT BATIL PATONG, which is a pride
delicacy of CAYAGAN province north of Luzon, Philippines. Pansit Batil Patong
is composed of large round noodles with chopped carabao (water buffalo) meat
& internal organs, carabao chicharon (water buffalo fried skin) mixed with
white onion, red chili pepper and sugar cane vinegar.
Traveling AS IT IS! - is unedited video footage of my traveling experience. My concept of traveling is riding public transportation, a road trip from home to a job destination or just a stroll around the neighborhood. You can hear, feel and see the “REAL” sights & sounds of a place or destination that are usually not tourist trail. There is a lot of street food to taste, adventures to seek, lots of local people to meet as well as fellow travelers wanting to share their own personal experiences. ENJOYING LIFE - AS IT IS!
Start: CUBAO, QUEZON CITY
Destination: MAKATI CITY
Mode of Transportation: Car
In this road trip, I am going to an ocular inspection of our construction project in Makati City. I started early in the morning and navigated the busy streets of EDSA Hi-way passing thru several cities of Metro Manila. The construction of our project in Makati City is in full swing composing of two (2) towers. Then also, I included in the video our dinner with one of my favorite Filipino street food, the PARES – meaning pair. It’s a thick soup of beef meat and other internal organs then paired with rice.
TRAVELLING AS IT IS! - is an unedited
video footage of my travelling experience. My concept of travelling is riding
public transportation, road trip from home to a job destination or just a
stroll around the neighborhood. You can hear, feel and see the “REAL” sights & sounds of a place or destination that
are usually not tourist
trail. There are lot of street food to taste, adventures to
seek, lots of local people to meet as well as fellow travelers wanting to share
their own personal experiences. ENJOYING
LIFE - AS IT IS!
Start: CHANG PUAK CAMP
Destination: ELEPHANT SANCTUARY
Mode of Transportation: ELEPHANT
During our company sponsored outing in Thailand, we trekked upon the narrow foot path -riding at the back of an elephant.
The rough elephant ride at Chang Puak camp in Damnoen
Saduak, Thailand brings back my childhood memory. I remember the days when my
friends took me for a ride at the back of a carabao (water buffalo) to fetch
their herd back home. I remember our bumpy ride through the muddy rice fields
of our hometown Pampanga. This ride is similar but the elephant’s back is
higher. The trail is not as rough as the rice fields maybe because the tour
operator doesn’t want any untoward accident to happen. But since it’s my first
time to ride an elephant, it’s a travel adventure really worth filming.
My friend, Jayson - a promising young contractor, invited me to check out his project at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. It is an ongoing construction of a simple duplex resort villa inside the Clearwater Resort.
Design and build construction is the trend in the industry nowadays. The biggest advantage of it is that the owner does not need to hire a design consultant which is commonly outsourced. Also during the course of construction, the coordination is much easier between the owner and the builder, who at the same time is the designer. This is particularly advantageous with medium rise buildings and special projects such as swimming pools, sewage treatment plant and industrial building.
As a young practicing architect, I get a chance to experience building my own design.
The proposed 3-story Apartment with Attic
Part of the facade of the completed project. The concept of this residential building is the combination of different shapes but predominantly govern by circular form.
The adobe stone I use as decorative cladding in the balcony railing, window sill and window header came from the foundation of the old house formerly built here.
The most common quality issue or punch list in construction during architectural finishing works is PAINT PEEL-OFF in a concrete masonry wall. This quality issue manifest in many forms:
Application of masonry putty first to the concrete substrate without primer paint.
Application of powder-based skim coat or gypsum board putty to correct the wavy surfaces of concrete. Most acrylic based paints and all solvent based paints are not compatible with powder base skim coat. Make sure to use acrylic-based skim coat recommended by the paint manufacturer
Insufficient curing time of concrete surface
The ideal curing period for concrete is 14 -28 days. Since the Philippines is a tropical country, concrete cure fast due to the intense heat of the sun. I also recommend doing the moisture test for concrete at 14 days. Cut a 1ft x 1ft polyethylene sheet and tape it with duct tape or masking tape on the concrete surface. Observe if there still a manifestation of water droplets, then the concrete is not yet fully cured.
The concrete surface if not yet cured has high alkalinity expressed in pH reading. Alkaline reacts on paint film causing discoloration and overall deterioration. A fresh concrete surface has 13 to 14 pH reading while 14 days concrete has 7 to 8 pH reading which is very ideal for painting works.
Water seepage
Water seepage is caused by temperature cracks on concrete surfaces which enable the rainwater or moisture from the exterior side to penetrate on paint coated surfaces causing it to bulge or blister.
Wrong Paint
Painting the wrong kind of paint will eventually result in paint peel off. Paint for metal or wood is not compatible with concrete surfaces.
PAINT PEEL-OFF ADHESION TEST
This destructive test is being conducted to check whether the paint or the base coat adhere to the concrete surface. If the paint coat detached in the base coat, repainting is only recommended. If the base coat detached on the concrete surface, stripping of paint up to bare concrete is recommended.
PAINTING RECTIFICATION METHOD Surface Preparation
Spot scrapping down to bare concrete to remove all paint cracks, paint bubbles. loose and damage paint.
For concrete surfaces with cracks, widen the crack by making a 2 to 3mm V-groove. Patch the groove with a mixture of cement and concrete epoxy. For cracks with water leaks, patch the groove with a mixture of cement and water plug.
For surfaces with a powder, base skim coat, strip to bare the affected area using a grinder.
Primer
Apply 1 (one) full coat of primer paint as a base coat.
Putty/Skimcoat
For correction of uneven and wavy surfaces, spot apply the paint manufacturer's recommended masonry putty or acrylic-based skim coat.
Undercoat
Apply 1 (one) full coat of primer paint as an undercoat.
Today, we are celebrating Christmas day in the Philippines. I remember last year doing a very nice project. When we move into this house in 2013, I had a small empty space of 2.5meters X 6meters on the right side. Since the exit door is located there, I convinced my wife that this space will be a nice dirty kitchen to do her cooking and laundry as well. And so when I had saved enough money, I started the construction of the flooring and the concrete countertop and lavatory.
For 2 years, I was not able to work on this project. And when I saved enough money, I bought and install 600mm X 600mm Homogenous tiles for the countertop and splashboard.
The completed tile work with tile grout and PVC tile trim
I didn't revise the existing wood division anymore for the base cabinet wherein I put 6-panel doors and 6 drawers using 19mm thick X 4ft X 8 ft plyboard. For the hanging cabinets, I put 6-panel doors with 1 open shelf at the side and small open shelf at the bottom. I also used the same specification of plyboard. For the hardware, I used the concealed hinges and 20mm diameter stainless steel circular handle- satin finish.
Assembly of overhead cabinet
Installation of doors & hardware
CLICK the LINK to READ the related article: Work Inter Phase: Why Proper Coordination is Very Critical in Construction THE PAINTING WORKS
For the paint, I used the flat wall enamel for the base coat, Quick Dry Enamel for the top coat. For the colors, I played the alternating effect of 3 primary colors, the royal blue, the lemon yellow, and the international red.
The newly painted overhead cabinet with circular handles
The newly painted base cabinet with drawers and handles
