Finding the right place to build your dream home is one of the most important decisions you will make.
Whether you are planning a new home in Cebu, a retirement house in Mactan, a vacation home in Bohol, or a future property in Negros or Siquijor, choosing the right location can make a huge difference to your lifestyle and your construction project.
That is why we are offering a FREE building site and property tour for serious prospective home builders.
If you are planning to build but don’t have a lot yet, haven’t decided where to build, or simply want to explore different locations, let us take you around and help you discover the possibilities.
Instead of spending your time looking at properties and locations on the internet, why not see them for yourself?
We can arrange a complimentary van tour to help prospective clients explore potential areas for their future construction project.
Depending on your plans, we may be able to take you around:
Cebu Province
Cebu City and surrounding areas
Mactan Island
Bohol Province
Negros Island
Siquijor
During the tour, we can talk about the type of home you want to build, the kind of environment you prefer, accessibility, surrounding communities, and other factors that may be important when selecting a building location.
You don’t necessarily have to buy land before contacting a construction company.
In fact, it can be helpful to discuss your plans with a builder before purchasing a property.
Different properties can present very different construction considerations. The shape and size of the lot, road access, elevation, surrounding buildings, utilities, drainage, views, and other site conditions can all influence the type of house that can be built and the overall project cost.
Our free site tour gives you an opportunity to explore potential locations while discussing your future construction plans with us.
Cebu isn’t the only place where you can build a beautiful home.
For clients who are open to other locations, Bohol, Negros and Siquijor can also offer interesting possibilities depending on your lifestyle and property plans.
Perhaps you are looking for a quiet retirement location.
Maybe you want a vacation home near the beach.
Perhaps you are an overseas Filipino planning to eventually return home.
Or you may simply want to invest in a property where you can build your own custom home.
Our goal is to help you explore your options before you commit to a particular location.
Our relationship with you doesn’t have to begin after you have already purchased your property.
We would much rather understand your plans early.
Once you find a location that you like, we can discuss the next steps toward building your home, including:
✔ House design and planning ✔ Architectural and construction considerations ✔ Preliminary construction budgeting ✔ Building permit processing assistance ✔ Construction planning ✔ Project management ✔ House and building construction
This allows you to gradually move from an idea to a realistic construction plan.
We want to meet future clients before they are ready to build.
Building a house is not an overnight decision. Many people spend months or even years looking for the right property, planning their finances, and deciding what kind of home they want.
We believe that developing a good relationship with a future client should start early.
By taking you around, listening to your plans, and discussing your ideas, we can better understand what you are looking for.
And when the time comes to build, we hope you will remember the company that helped you during those early stages.
There is no obligation to hire us simply because you joined the tour.
This offer may be particularly useful for Filipinos living abroad and foreigners who are considering spending more time in the Philippines.
If you are considering a retirement home, vacation home, or long-term residence in Cebu or the Visayas, choosing the right location is an important first step.
Instead of immediately committing to one property, you can explore different areas and get a better feeling for where you would actually enjoy living.
Once you have found the right location, we can help you explore the possibilities for designing and constructing your new home.
If you are considering building a house or other property in Cebu or elsewhere in the Visayas, contact us and tell us about your plans.
Where are you thinking of building?
Do you already own a lot, or are you still looking?
What kind of house are you planning to build?
Let’s talk about your plans, explore your options, and see where your future home could be.
Your dream home has to start somewhere. Why not start with a free tour? 🚐🏡🌴
Free tours are available by prior arrangement and are intended for genuine prospective construction clients. Destinations and schedules depend on project requirements and availability. This is a complimentary property/building-location consultation and not a general sightseeing or tourist service.
Thinking about building a new home? Start your project with professional design assistance—without paying a separate design fee.
We are bringing back our special FREE House and Building Design offer for homeowners who are ready to turn their ideas into a real home.
Designing a house is one of the most important steps in any construction project. A good design helps you visualize your future home, organize the spaces properly, and establish a clear plan before construction begins. That’s why we want to make this first step easier and more affordable for our clients.
When you choose us for your construction project, we can provide the house or building design FREE of charge.
Whether you have a specific house design in mind or simply know the type of home you want, we can help develop the concept into a practical design suited to your requirements, property, lifestyle, and construction budget.
Getting a building permit can be time-consuming and confusing for homeowners who are unfamiliar with the process.
As part of our offer, we provide FREE building permit processing service. We take care of the processing and help move your application through the necessary steps.
Please note that government-mandated fees are not included in the free processing. Any official fees, assessments, or charges required by the relevant government offices will still be paid by the client.
To begin the project, we require a minimal advance deposit.
This deposit is not simply a design fee. The amount you pay will be credited as an advance payment toward the construction cost when you proceed with us for the actual building of your home.
This means you can get started with your house planning while your initial payment ultimately forms part of your construction investment.
Build Your Tropical Dream Home and Enjoy a Cooler, More Comfortable Indoor Life
If you have spent years living through cold winters in Canada, the United States, Europe, or another northern country, there is something very attractive about the idea of waking up to sunshine instead of snow.
Imagine having breakfast outside.
Growing tropical plants in your garden.
Going for a swim in the afternoon.
Driving to the beach whenever you feel like it.
And never having to shovel snow again.
That is one of the reasons the Philippines has become so interesting to people looking for a retirement or long-stay destination.
But there is a question that many people from colder countries eventually ask:
“The Philippines sounds wonderful—but isn’t it too hot?”
That is a very reasonable question.
And this is where Valencia, Negros Oriental becomes particularly interesting.
Valencia gives you something that many tropical destinations cannot easily offer: a mountain setting, higher elevation, greener surroundings and a relatively cooler climate—while still keeping you close to Dumaguete City and the beautiful coastal destinations of Negros Oriental.
And if you decide to build your own house, you can take the idea even further.
You can build an insulated home designed specifically to keep your indoor environment more comfortable in the tropical climate.
Valencia: The Tropical Philippines With a Cooler Feel
Valencia sits in the foothills of Mount Talinis, with much of the municipality at higher elevation. Its geography contributes to a cooler climate than many lowland and coastal areas. The town is also only around 15–20 minutes from Dumaguete City.
This is a major part of Valencia’s appeal.
You still get the tropical Philippines.
You still get the greenery, sunshine, coconut trees, warm weather and beautiful scenery.
But you are not living directly at sea level.
For someone accustomed to a cold climate, that can make a big difference.
One international resident described Valencia as having a peaceful environment, cooler climate and welcoming community, while also noting that it is quiet without being isolated.
That may be exactly what many retirees are looking for.
What If You Want the Tropical Dream—But Not the Tropical Heat?
This is where your choice of house becomes extremely important.
A lot of people moving to the Philippines simply rent or buy a conventional house and then discover that keeping the interior comfortable requires significant air-conditioning.
There is another approach.
Build the house around your comfort from the beginning.
An ICF insulated home can be designed to reduce heat transfer through the walls while also providing a substantial concrete wall system.
ICF stands for Insulated Concrete Forms.
The basic idea is straightforward: insulated forms remain around reinforced concrete, creating a wall assembly that combines insulation with concrete mass.
For somebody coming from Canada or Europe, insulation is probably already a familiar concept.
The difference is that in a cold country, you normally think about insulation as a way of keeping heat inside.
In the Philippines, you want to use insulation to help keep unwanted heat outside.
That makes an insulated home particularly interesting for tropical retirement living.
Imagine Coming Home to a Cooler Interior
Think about your typical retirement day.
You spend the morning outside.
Maybe you visit Dumaguete.
Maybe you have lunch with friends.
Maybe you drive toward the coast.
Maybe you visit a waterfall or explore the countryside.
Eventually, you return home.
And this is where your house should become your refuge.
You don’t want to come home from the tropical heat and feel like you’ve walked into an oven.
A properly designed insulated home can help create a more stable and comfortable indoor environment.
The insulation is only one part of the equation, of course.
The best results come from combining it with good roof insulation, proper window placement, shading, roof overhangs, natural ventilation, appropriate building orientation, energy-efficient air-conditioning and landscaping.
The goal isn’t to fight the Philippine climate.
It’s to design your house intelligently around it.
CBU.asia Has Already Built an ICF Home in Valencia
There is another reason Valencia is particularly interesting for anyone considering an insulated home.
CBU.asia has already built an ICF home in Valencia, Negros Oriental.
That means the concept isn’t merely theoretical.
There is already experience with ICF construction in the local environment.
For someone thinking about building a retirement house, this can make the conversation much easier.
Instead of simply asking, “Can I build an ICF house in the Philippines?”
you can start asking:
“What kind of insulated ICF home would work best for my lifestyle in Valencia?”
That is a much more exciting question.
Why Valencia Instead of a Busy Philippine City?
One of the biggest advantages of Valencia is that you don’t have to choose between peace and convenience.
Valencia gives you the peaceful side.
Dumaguete gives you the convenience.
The two are close enough that you can enjoy both.
Dumaguete provides hospitals, banks, restaurants, shopping, universities, government services and other urban conveniences.
You can live among trees and mountains and still have the city within easy reach.
That is a very attractive arrangement for retirement.
There Is Already a Growing Expat Community
You also don’t have to be the first person from abroad to discover the area.
There is already a growing international community in Valencia and the wider Dumaguete area.
People from different countries are choosing Negros Oriental as a place to live, including couples where one spouse is Filipino.
And the trend appears to be continuing.
That doesn’t mean Valencia is becoming another crowded tourist city.
In fact, its appeal is almost the opposite.
People are discovering that they can have a quieter life here.
You Can Live Like a Local Without Giving Up Comfort
Another appealing aspect of the Philippines is the ability to combine two lifestyles.
You can enjoy local Filipino food, markets, fresh produce and everyday community life.
But you can also build a modern home with the comforts you are accustomed to.
You don’t have to choose between traditional Philippine lifestyle and modern Western-style comfort.
You can have both.
Your house can have a modern kitchen, large bedrooms, comfortable bathrooms, a swimming pool, a home office, a garden and a spacious outdoor living area.
And behind those attractive finishes, you can have an insulated wall system designed for the tropical environment.
Your Foreign Currency Can Go Further
Money is another important reason people from high-income countries look at the Philippines.
If your retirement income comes in Canadian dollars, U.S. dollars, euros, pounds or another relatively strong currency, you may find that many everyday Philippine expenses are lower than what you are accustomed to paying at home.
That doesn’t mean every product is cheap.
Imported goods can be expensive.
Luxury lifestyles can also become expensive anywhere.
But local food, transportation, services and many everyday expenses can be considerably more affordable than in many Western countries.
This can potentially give a retiree more purchasing power.
Instead of spending most of your pension on housing and basic expenses, you may have more room for the things that make retirement enjoyable.
Travel.
Restaurants.
Hobbies.
Your home.
Family.
Island trips.
And simply enjoying life.
The important point is not that your money is literally “60 times more valuable.”
Exchange rates and purchasing power vary.
The more accurate—and more credible—message is that a strong foreign currency can often stretch significantly further in the Philippines than in many high-cost Western countries.
Valencia Is a Great Base for Exploring the Visayas
One of the things I particularly like about this part of the Philippines is that retirement doesn’t have to mean staying at home.
You can use Valencia as your base.
Then start exploring.
Negros Oriental itself has plenty to see.
You have mountains.
Waterfalls.
Hot springs.
Beaches.
Diving.
Small coastal towns.
And beautiful countryside.
Valencia is surrounded by natural destinations, including waterfalls, forests, hot springs and the mountain environment around Mount Talinis.
And then you can go beyond Negros Oriental.
Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Other Islands Are Within Reach
This is one of the great advantages of living in the Visayas.
You are surrounded by islands.
From Negros Oriental, you can plan trips to places such as Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, Apo Island and many other destinations throughout the Visayas.
Dumaguete’s airport and seaport make the area a practical base for exploring the region.
For an active retiree, this can make life feel more like an extended adventure than a traditional retirement.
Your retirement home becomes your home base for exploring the Philippines.
You Can Have Mountains and Beaches
This is perhaps one of the best things about Valencia.
You don’t have to live directly beside the ocean to enjoy the Philippine beach lifestyle.
Instead, you can live higher up where the environment is greener and relatively cooler.
Then drive toward the coast when you want the sea.
Spend the morning in the mountains.
Have lunch beside the ocean.
Return home in the afternoon.
Mountain home. Tropical garden. Beach nearby.
That’s a pretty good retirement combination.
English Makes the Transition Easier
For someone moving to another country, language can be one of the biggest concerns.
The Philippines has a major advantage here.
English is widely used in education, business, government and everyday communication.
You will still encounter Cebuano, Filipino and other local languages, and learning a few local expressions is a wonderful way to connect with people.
But you don’t necessarily have to arrive speaking a new language fluently.
You can communicate while gradually becoming part of the local culture.
A Place Where You Can Actually Slow Down
There is something else that is difficult to put into a spreadsheet.
The pace of life.
If you’ve spent decades working in a large city, commuting, paying high housing costs and dealing with long winters, retirement may be your opportunity to slow down.
Valencia can offer that slower rhythm.
Morning coffee.
A walk around the property.
Gardening.
Lunch with friends.
A drive into Dumaguete.
An afternoon swim.
A quiet evening on the terrace.
And perhaps a good night’s sleep in a cool, comfortable bedroom.
That last part is where the insulated home becomes especially important.
Your Bedroom Should Be Your Cool Refuge
You may love tropical weather.
You may love sunshine.
You may love the fact that you can wear shorts almost every day.
But when you go to bed, you want comfort.
An insulated home can help reduce heat transfer through the walls, while good windows, roof insulation, shading and properly designed cooling can help create a more comfortable sleeping environment.
And there is another benefit worth considering:
Noise reduction.
Motorcycles and other vehicles are part of everyday Philippine life.
A substantial insulated concrete wall assembly can help reduce sound transmission through the walls.
For a retirement home, that can be surprisingly valuable.
You want to hear the birds in the morning.
You don’t necessarily want to hear every motorcycle passing at night.
Build the Home You Actually Want
Perhaps you have spent your entire working life imagining your retirement home.
Why settle for something that doesn’t fit your lifestyle?
You can build a home with a swimming pool, a tropical garden, a large covered terrace, a modern kitchen, spacious bedrooms, a home office, guest rooms for visiting family, large shaded windows, solar power, a garage and an insulated ICF wall system.
The house can look completely at home in the Philippines while still incorporating the comfort and design standards you are accustomed to.
It can be your tropical dream home—but designed intelligently for the tropics.
Valencia Is Not a Resort—and That May Be the Point
Some people want to retire in a resort.
Others eventually discover that they would rather live in a real community.
Valencia is a real Philippine municipality.
People work here.
Families live here.
Children go to school.
People attend church.
Markets operate.
Neighbors know one another.
And there is a growing international community alongside the local population.
For someone planning to stay for many years, that can be more meaningful than living permanently inside a tourist bubble.
Why Valencia Stands Out
When you put everything together, Valencia has an interesting list of advantages:
Higher elevation — A relatively cooler setting compared with many lowland tropical locations.
Nature — Mountains, forests, waterfalls and hot springs are part of the surrounding environment.
Close to Dumaguete — Access to hospitals, shopping, universities, restaurants and other services.
Convenient transportation — Airport, seaport and road connections make exploring the region practical.
Growing expat community — People from different parts of the world are already choosing Valencia and surrounding Negros Oriental as their home.
Strong purchasing-power potential — A pension or income in a strong foreign currency can stretch further for many local expenses.
Easy access to the Visayas — Negros Oriental can serve as a base for exploring nearby islands and destinations.
Opportunity to build — Instead of adapting to someone else’s house, you can create a home designed around your lifestyle.
Escape from winter — You can exchange snow and freezing temperatures for tropical greenery and sunshine.
Insulated ICF construction — You can design your home to help reduce heat transfer and improve indoor comfort.
Before You Move, Come and Experience Valencia
Of course, no article can tell you whether a place is right for you.
Come and see Valencia.
Stay for a few weeks or even a few months if you can.
Drive around.
Visit Dumaguete.
Go to the coast.
Explore the mountains.
Talk to other expats.
Meet local residents.
Look at the available properties.
And experience the weather for yourself.
Then imagine living here—not as a tourist, but as a resident.
If you can picture yourself doing that, perhaps you’ve found something worth pursuing.
Your Tropical Dream Home Doesn’t Have to Feel Too Tropical
This is ultimately what makes the idea of building an insulated home in Valencia so interesting.
You don’t have to choose between a tropical lifestyle and a comfortable indoor environment.
You can have the sunshine.
You can have the garden.
You can have the pool.
You can have the mountains.
You can have the beaches.
You can have the relaxed Philippine lifestyle.
And when you come home, you can retreat into a house designed to help keep the indoor environment comfortable.
Outside: tropical paradise.
Inside: your cool, quiet sanctuary.
That is the kind of retirement home worth building.
Ready to Discover Valencia?
If you’re from a colder country and have been dreaming about spending your retirement—or even several months a year—in the Philippines, take a closer look at Valencia, Negros Oriental.
It may not be as famous as some of the Philippines’ major tourist destinations.
And perhaps that’s part of its charm.
It offers mountains without being isolated, a cooler setting without leaving the tropics, and peaceful living without being far from a city.
Most importantly, you don’t have to simply accept whatever house you find.
You can build your own.
And if you’re going to build your Philippine retirement home, consider building it for the climate.
Fine Finish Cebu and CBU.asia can help you explore an insulated ICF home designed for tropical living in Valencia and throughout the Visayas.
Come for the sunshine.
Stay for the lifestyle.
Build your home.
And make the Philippines your new place to relax, explore and enjoy life.
Valencia, Negros Oriental Your tropical dream can be beautiful outside—and comfortably cool inside.
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Suggested Meta Description: Discover why Valencia, Negros Oriental is attractive to expats from colder countries and how an insulated ICF home can make tropical retirement more comfortable.
Secondary Keyphrases: retire in Valencia Negros Oriental; expats in Valencia Negros Oriental; retirement in the Philippines; insulated home Philippines; ICF home Philippines; ICF house Valencia; tropical retirement home; retirement home in the Philippines
Have you ever dreamed of leaving behind freezing winters, icy roads and months of cold weather?
Imagine waking up every morning to tropical sunshine, green surroundings, fresh air and beautiful beaches instead.
Imagine having breakfast on your terrace, opening your windows to enjoy the tropical breeze, and spending your retirement years outdoors instead of being trapped inside because of snow and freezing temperatures.
For many people from Canada, the United States, Europe and other colder countries, the Philippines offers an exciting alternative.
And among all the places you could choose, Cebu and the Visayas offer an especially attractive combination of tropical beauty, modern conveniences, beaches and a comfortable lifestyle.
But there is one question that often comes to mind:
“Can I really live comfortably in a tropical country?”
At CBU.asia, we believe you shouldn’t have to choose between the tropical lifestyle you dream about and the indoor comfort you’ve become accustomed to.
That’s why we can build ICF insulated homes designed to provide greater thermal comfort, energy efficiency, durability and quieter living in the Philippine climate.
For people from Canada, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and other colder regions, moving to the Philippines can seem like stepping into another world.
No more scraping ice from your windshield.
No more shoveling snow.
No more freezing mornings.
No more spending months indoors because it is simply too cold to enjoy the outdoors.
If you receive a pension, retirement income, investment income or savings in a strong foreign currency, your money can go considerably further in the Philippines than it does in many high-cost countries.
For example, as of August 20, 2026, US$1 is approximately ₱61.58. That means a US$2,000 monthly pension is roughly ₱123,000 before considering exchange fees and fluctuations.
The same principle applies to Canadians, Europeans, Australians and others whose income is earned in currencies that can provide substantial purchasing power when converted to Philippine pesos.
Of course, exchange rates change, and the actual purchasing power of your income depends on your lifestyle and where you live.
But for someone accustomed to the high cost of living in cities in North America or Europe, the difference can be significant.
This is what makes the Philippines particularly interesting for people with savings or pensions from high-income countries.
You don’t necessarily need to be extremely wealthy.
A person with a reasonable retirement income in US dollars, Canadian dollars or euros may find that their money provides considerably more purchasing power here than it would in many expensive Western cities.
Imagine taking the money you would normally spend on a modest lifestyle back home and using it to create something much more comfortable in the Philippines.
If you are considering the Philippines, don’t overlook the Visayas.
The Visayas offer an extraordinary combination of islands, beaches, mountains, diving destinations, resorts and communities.
And Cebu is an ideal base for exploring them.
From Cebu, you can easily reach spectacular destinations throughout the Visayas, including some of the country’s most famous beaches and island destinations.
You can live in or around Cebu while enjoying access to:
🌊 Mactan’s beaches and resorts 🏝️ Bohol 🐋 Oslob 🤿 Moalboal 🌴 Camotes 🏖️ Bantayan ⛰️ Southern Cebu 🌊 Negros and other Visayan destinations
For someone dreaming about a tropical retirement, this isn’t simply a place to live.
ICF combines reinforced concrete and insulating foam forms to create a thick, insulated wall system.
Rather than simply building a conventional concrete wall and allowing the tropical heat to transfer through it, an ICF wall incorporates insulation directly into the wall assembly.
The result is a home designed to reduce heat transfer and provide a more stable indoor environment.
Combined with proper architectural design, roof insulation, shading, ventilation and appropriately sized air-conditioning, an ICF home can become a highly comfortable tropical residence.
The Philippines is a beautiful country, but it also experiences tropical storms, heavy rainfall and earthquakes.
Your home should therefore be designed for the environment in which it will actually live.
An ICF wall incorporates a reinforced concrete core and can form part of a robust structural system when properly engineered.
ICF does not automatically make a building typhoon-proof or earthquake-proof. The foundation, reinforcement, roof, connections and entire structural system must be properly designed according to applicable Philippine engineering and building requirements.
But ICF provides an opportunity to create a substantial and durable wall system as part of that properly engineered home.
At CBU.asia, we don’t believe your Philippine home should be a generic house.
Your home should be designed around you.
Perhaps you want:
🏡 A spacious two- or three-bedroom retirement home
🌴 A tropical garden
🌊 A sea-view property
☀️ Large shaded windows
🍃 Natural ventilation
🔇 Quiet bedrooms
❄️ Efficient air-conditioning
☀️ Solar-ready electrical systems
💧 Rainwater collection
🍳 A modern kitchen
🚿 Comfortable bathrooms
🌅 A large covered terrace
🛋️ A spacious living area for entertaining family and friends
We can combine modern ICF insulated construction with tropical architectural design to create a home that is designed specifically for the Philippine environment and your lifestyle.
Instead of spending your retirement years watching your savings disappear into expensive housing, heating, taxes and everyday living costs, you can explore whether the Philippines could give you a more comfortable lifestyle for your budget.
If you are from a cold country and have ever dreamed of living somewhere warm, beautiful and affordable, perhaps it is time to look beyond the traditional retirement destinations.
Some people think there’s more earthquakes happening these days and they are getting stronger. Whether that is true or not, we need to make our structures stronger, and maybe avoid living in tall buildings because even a weak earthquake will already give you a very scary experience if you live up there and your structure sways because of even just a weak earthquake. While some people are not easily scared by a swaying floor, some do.
According to a quick google search, it is not true that there’s more earthquakes today. We are simply able to detect them more easily these days because our earthquake monitoring devices have gone more advanced and our communication systems have become more efficient, thus we are able to get the news fast.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake in General Santos city recently have made people rethink their ways of living and have actually thought of abandoning living in tall condominiums. Even standard 2 or 3 level residential structures have collapsed in the recent General Santos city earthquake. Well it was a really strong earthquake and most structures we see fail are those that have the over hang design where the second floor up to the higher floors overhang beyond the ground floor columns. This is to save space since the local building code dictates that you need to give a set back or easement space on the ground floor for pedestrians.
For those planning to build a standard 2 to 3 level home, it is now highly recommended that you reinforce your new structure with solid poured load bearing walls, not just rely on bricks. The traditional design is to have bricks on the walls and rely heavily on the columns and beams for structural integrity. These days where we see structures collapsing due to the recent earthquake, it’s about time to raise our budget for our homes and make our walls a shear wall that contributes in the load bearing – thus your upper floor are now supported not just by your columns but also by your load bearing solid walls and your upper floors’ weight is now evenly distributed thus your home will be stronger and able to resist the swaying during earthquakes. A solid poured wall will not be practical for tall buildings since it will make it more heavy and more costly, but you can easily increase the budget for your 2-3 level house to make it rock solid and earthquake-proof that you can hand down to your children all the way down to your grand children and great great grand children.
The ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) design is one of those home designs that utilizes a rock solid wall and is also heavily insulated on both sides making your new home not just rock solid but also thermally insulated from the high aircon bill due to the hot temperature outside.
You can also lower your budget by just having rock solid load bearing walls – not the thermally insulated walls. The ICF design or even the non insulated solid wall may cost more than the traditional column home design, but having absolute peaceful sleep at night is just priceless.
Solid reinforced concrete load-bearing walled home is your best protection from earthquakes since lateral displacement / lateral movement or swaying during earthquake will be minimized. The solid wall will be able to help absorb the destructive shear forces, and shield vulnerable beam-column joints from snapping during earthquakes.
You have seen it in television where the buildings easily collapse during earthquake when the column-beam joints break due to the repeated swaying of the structure.
When beams and columns flex in opposing directions, the beam-column joints experience extreme diagonal stress and compression – this is called shear stress. If the joints lack dense transverse reinforcement or closely spaced steel stirrups, the concrete cracks diagonally, causing the columns to break and fail entirely.
Solid load-bearing walls are reinforced concrete shear walls that effectively resist the lateral movements during earthquake. Solid walls are a lot stiffer than open beam-column design. They resist lateral swaying, keeping your structure within limits and protecting your building joints from breaking. Solid walls efficiently resist horizontal seismic shear forces and transfer them directly down into the foundation, bypassing the traditional framing of the columns and beams. A properly designed shear wall cracks and yields in predetermined zones called plastic hinges to safely dissipate earthquake energy and thus prevent your structure from collapsing.
This residential farm house in Antequera Bohol is flood ready – which means the entire ground floor is empty and open in case a flood comes in – there’s just an open space in the ground. There are two rooms on the right side – the first room is used as storage for farm tools and the other room is a laundry room where the washing appliance is located. The rest of the ground floor is just elevated open space which can be used to place maybe seedlings and other farming implements. The living area, bedrooms, and kitchen are all located at the second floor through a covered side stairway.
The area is a forest type low level swampy area where water frequently pass through to the other lower areas especially during heavy rains so a one meter elevation for the ground floor slab is in order as the water could rise to half a meter during heavy rains but it also dries up during sunny days. Because it is naturally well irrigated, the couple owners are seriously planning to plant in the surrounding vacant areas as the house only sits on a quarter of their total lot area.
Since most of the neighboring lots are also mostly unused except for a few houses of the neighbors, this is a very idyllic place where you can plant and enjoy a forest type of living where you can be in a constant tranquility with nature always enjoying the chirping of the birds and occasionally the croaking of the frogs during rainy nights.
The walls at the second floor are made of insulated composite walls which is a mixture of cement and EPS pellets which makes light walls yet concrete solid. This makes its walls heat proof and sound proof. This is a more affordable version of a full ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) house.
This house uses composite heat resistant walls to make the rooms cooler and thus save on the cost of air conditioning power consumption. This is the best next option if the full ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) house is outside your budget. With the rooms being heat resistant and thus cooler, you no longer need to always turn the air con ON all the time. With cooler rooms, most of the time, you just need to open your windows and let the natural breeze cool your rooms further and bring in the fresh mountain air.
Composite insulated heat resistant walls are made of a mixture of cement and EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) foam pellets with silica dry wall as its protective outer layer on both sides. The heat from direct sunlight outside and the hot air will have a hard time penetrating the silica drywall sheet and whatever heat that is left will be trapped in the EPS. The heat will be unable to penetrate your walls. This type of wall will make heat resistant and sound proof walls mostly due to the EPS. This type of wall is also lighter compared to traditional concrete walls and thus your house is lighter yet very strong due to the cement mix.
The composite walls are pre fabricated panels 2 by 8 feet wide, 4 to 6 inches in thickness depending on your budget. The panels are connected by rebars and the seams are sealed by non sagging epoxy. There is no need of plastering since the silica drywall is already very flat and smooth, thus you simply need to level and buff the joints and you can already proceed with the painting. Since silica dry wall or fiber cement has the attributes of a concrete surface, then be sure to use the appropriate paint type – epoxy type for the exteriors and elastomeric latex or acrylic for the interiors.
The wide 2 by 8 feet panel sizes of the composite walls also makes it faster to build since it is a lot wider than the common cinder blocks. The only drawback for the workers is that the panels are very heavy – will need 4 persons to pick up or mount each panel.
Want a stunning rustic looking but eternally shiny floor? Try pure clay tiles but coat it with industrial epoxy.
Here you can see the epoxy coating gives it a stunning wet look that firmly holds your feet and your rubber slippers or shoes.
Pure clay tiles are not easy to find in most areas in the country, but just simply look to the places where clay is still widely used like in Vigan in Luzon – and this is exactly where you will find authentic clay tiles for floors or walls. The epoxy coating will give it its modern gloss finish.
When applying epoxy be sure to use a primer epoxy base then top it with another protective top epoxy coating as protective finishing touch – for this one – we use the island brand epoxy coating combination – other brands may have a different application procedure and ratios. Always read the fine print behind the can. The primer epoxy base will need at least 24 hours to cure before you can apply the top protective coat. Once the final protective coat is applied, be sure to give the whole thing 7 days before allowing walking feet on it, else the whole thing could go to waste.
Just a caution – epoxy chemicals are highly corrosive and destructive to the human respiration so be sure to protect your workers with the appropriate protective masks – do not compromise.
When applied correctly and cured appropriately, epoxy coating will give it a wet glass finish that is super sturdy and will require very sharp and very hard objects to give it a scratch. When scratched, simply apply another layer of top epoxy coating, preferably of the same brand, on the damaged area to restore it back to its stunning glory.
If you are looking for a well insulated home – the ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) home is your primary choice though it costs higher than standard concrete homes, it does come with some unique benefits highly sought by those who know what an ICF home can do.
Bullet Proof. Because the ICF wall is at least 10 inches thick due to the concrete core being at least 5 inches thick and the two layers of 2 inch thick EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) makes a total of 9 inches then the double outer layers of drywall silica which gives a total of at least 0.5 inch then the final patching and painting works on both sides another 0.5 inch; which then overall totals 10 inches of a wall – this makes a bullet proof wall to protect your home from accidental stray bullets which is sadly still a reality during New Year Celebrations when those with guns are tempted to fire at the sky and some of those can reach innocent homes.
Sound Proofed Walls. One of the benefits of EPS is good sound proofing. Due to its structure – micro air bubbles in dense construction grade tough EPS effectively breaks sound waves. This gives the ICF home total privacy. EPS layers are the usual material used to sound proof a wall.
Thermal signature blocking. Another great benefit of EPS is the cancellation of the thermal signature of the people inside the ICF home for another added privacy. If you are wary of those criminal minded people who have access to a thermal signature scanner on concrete walls such as the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) device which can view the profiles of the people behind concrete walls. These devices trace the thermal signatures of the people behind concrete walls as they project on the concrete surface. The EPS effectively cancels the thermal signatures of the people inside the home in an ICF wall as they get projected on the painted silica outer surface of an ICF wall and will not be able to get through the concrete core due to the thick EPS that separates the silica drywall and the concrete core – remember there are two layers of 2 inch EPS wrapping around the 5 inch concrete core wall.
Heat insulation. Because heat from outside cannot penetrate the wall in an ICF wall, then your rooms stay cool and if you need to cool it further with an air conditioner then your electric bill will be lower since your aircon will not be overworked due to lowered room temperature since only the heat of the people inside the room will be present and none of those heat coming from outside.
Stronger home. The ICF home is way way stronger compared to the standard concrete home since the ICF walls have solid concrete core walls then your home do not rely only on the concrete columns for strength but also on the walls since solid concrete walls are load bearing walls thus the weight of the second floor and the walls itself will now be evenly distributed along the surrounding walls and not just on the corner columns.
ICF or insulated concrete form is a method of construction where the walls are fortified with EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) insulation on both sides to isolate the inside temperature of the home from the outside temperature.
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is that same material used to insulate the walls of a freezer or refrigerator – the same material used in ice buckets.
In a tropical setting like the Philippines, this is type of home design is ideal if you want to save on your air conditioning electrical consumption to cool the rooms.
By preventing the external heat from penetrating your rooms, your air conditioner will be on a relaxed state of operation as you will be able to maintain the cold climate inside your rooms.
To achieve a perfect union of the concrete core and the EPS insulation, you need to pour solid concrete mix between two EPS layers of usually two inch thick EPS. You cannot use concrete hollow blocks for your concrete middle core since the gap between the EPS and the concrete will become breeding grounds for mold. The two EPS layers have to sandwich the concrete middle core through tight bonding that can only be achieved by pouring fresh liquid concrete in between the two layers of EPS and allowing it to cure fully so that there will be a solid bond between the EPS and the concrete core. What you will have is a solid concrete wall usually 5-6 inches thick that is cured unto two layers of sandwiching EPS layers. This ICF wall which now total nine inches (5 inches solid concrete plus two layers of two inch EPS on both sides) will be topped by a half inch dry wall on both sides bringing your wall total thickness to 10 inches – now that’s a really thick wall and very strong one at that since it is made of solid poured concrete, is now your barrier between the hot tropical air outside and the cooled air inside your room which is cooled by your air conditioner. The drywall surface topping will adhere to the EPS using special solvents to prevent mold and make sure also to use brands that do not allow mold such as the hardiflex brand – a bit pricey but very beneficial in the long run. And since your the ICF wall will perfectly seal in your cold air inside then your air conditioner will be in a relaxed state of operation – cooling only the air when it gets warm again by the warm bodies of the people living inside and not from the hot air outside – this is the success principle behind the ICF home – saving the environment by lessening the air conditioner electrical bills by making your rooms cooler than the regular rooms. This ICF type of home is what you need if you decide to live in a tropical climate but want to have a cool environment when relaxing inside the home.
Please see our recently finished ICF home in Negros Oriental. Please do contact us if you plan to build an ICF home.
