Chapter 3
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3
General construction technology:
First, one needs to understand the most common building technology used here:
Most new quality homes, especially those marketed to foreign buyers, are built using hollow concrete cement blocks similar to those used in the SE US (code in SE Florida by now), Spain and much of central Europe. These blocks come in two main grades; ?structural? (for supporting walls) and ?non-structural? for non-supporting walls only. The two grades are identified by size only (thickness). But, while both sizes are pretty much standardized they all differ enormously in quality by brand or origin. Many builders like to try using the thinner ones for supporting walls, a wise guy practice future home owners want to watch out for even thou, the weight of the structure is NOT supported only by the blocks directly, but by a framework of columns and beams which are poured and rebar (steel) belted together much like footers because of the threat of earthquakes.
Roofs are poured in concrete too, which provides for a good and lasting protection from hurricane force winds. However, as a sharp contrast to US-style building, this requires some inner walls to become supporting walls too. So, some inner walls are made of wide blocks and some can be build of the more narrow blocks.
Not all builder do that, but as a general rule, it would be advisable do demand that beams are being poured above every door and window opening, so to prevent fissures and other problems from seismic activity.
Typical issues:
3.1-Humidity, again.
The above described principles, when build using quality materials and respecting the laws of physics should allow for a home which could last generations with little maintenance.
However, local architects, engineers and builders sometimes seem hell bound to seek to dedicate their lives trying to prove physics as a whole wrong or not applicable to this country or their work. Sadly, they are being proven wrong, again and again.
Humidity and it's handling is again one main issue which comes to mind.
Humidity is being sucked up by capillarity into all dry and/or porous materials. Everywhere, even in the DR! This is why, builders around the globe have come to use HUMIDITY BARRIERS between the ground and the living spaces -in other words, the foundations and the home's ground floor. Too often not so here. Foundations (footers) are typically dug deep into the ground, but NOT poured high enough to come reach out of the ground. Then, cinder blocks are laid on top of the foundations and become the walls (coming out of the humid ground!!). The floors (slab) are then typically poured in between these walls onto the dirt ground. Most ANY Dominican built home, 300'000.oo Peso
barrio casita to multi-million (USD) luxury villa sold here ALIKE will INEVITABELY experience lifetime long humidity problems ever visible along the walls from the floor and up to a foot above... paint chipping, mold growing, rotting eventually! There is NO cure afterward!
Local architects, engineers and builders will go to great extents to refute this, but that is NOT the way a house is supposed to be build using CBS technology.
You want YOUR home to be built with footers either coming out of the ground and the base plate (slab) be separated from them by a tar, metal or synthetic humidity barrier (NO compromise!) or a double row of cinder blocks be laid on top of the buried footers and a second concrete bracing footer poured on them ABOVE ground with a humidity barrier separating this from your ground floor and walls! Do NOT accept any compromise on that, physics can't be fooled and thousands of homes around here with incurable humidity issues are a sad prove of that.
3.2-Structural issues:
Dominican builders just seem to love to route water and sewer pipes in your concrete columns. The engineers do not take this practice into account. Pipes should never be in columns whichs are supposed to guarantee the structural strength of the building. Being filled with pipes, channels and wires will obviously adversely affect their strength.
3.3-?Funny? roof designs:
We don't know where and exactly when that tendency developed, but locals seem to have developed a deep love for strangely intricate roofs. It would also seem, that a home above a certain standing is expected tho not only boast an often wild array of gable roofs but also a hand full of flat roofs. What seems to have been lost in the process, is the common concept suggesting that a roof shall lead the waters AWAY from the home's center to the OUTSIDE. We find roofs, which will lead waters against each other, or INWARD towards the center of the house onto a flat roof with no adequately sized way of exit for the accumulated waters.
We have been pleased to find that most foreign future home owners do clearly NOT insist on the above described roof ?designs?, but sometimes surprised on how much resistance from architects to oblige to these wishes they will often be met with.
Again, this is something a prospecting buyer/builder should NOT compromise on with an architect or builder!
Also, try to incorporate roofs with a generous overhang portion, so to protect windows and walls from rain and also generate shade.
We will discuss this later on in more detail, but you will also want to plan a camouflaged or from the street less visible high spot on your roof to hide a 1 to 2 cubic meter
Tinaco ( plastic water reservoir).
Likewise, proper locations which will not negatively affect the home' street views for the accommodation of solar water heaters may be considered.
3.4-Swimming Pools:
The subject of pool building could generate enough materials to discuss it in an entire BOOK.
Most pools build here are not much more than a hole dug into the ground lined with dry laid (no cement in between) cement blocks stuccoed and filled with concrete and some rebar (steel) and painted.
In most developed countries, a block wall in a pool building process, is only used to serve to give shape to the ?spray-crete? steel mesh reinforced wall pressure sprayed against it.
One has only to come to learn about the forces generated by a swimmer simply jumping into a water filled pool to realize that the above described ?technology? will unlikely produce a swimming pool which will last and give years of worry free pleasure to it's owners.
I am unsure, what I would recommend HERE.
- ?Spray-crete? pools are virtually unavailable for the consumer market in this country.
- Vinyl liner pools would be a smart choice for a region which has a history of seismic activity for their greater flexibility. Liner kits for a variety of standard sized pool shapes are available in Europe and the US and can be installed by most and ?handymen?.
- So called ?fiber glass? pools have received somewhat of a redneck reputation and are quite bulky to ship. However, they do get shipped around the globe constantly and especially one company in Australia has developed a new resin which allows for a ?fiber glass? pool which can virtually not be recognized as such anymore, does not fade in colors nor grow allergies. I wished we would see their product offered around here. But that is not the case yet.
Also, pool builders never give particular care to where to the pool water shall be flushed (back rinse) or dumped to all together, in case the pool has to be emptied. Chlorinated water should NOT be channeled into a septic tank as it kills beneficial bacteria and also not be dumped into your garden, as well as your neighbors may not tolerate it in theirs.