Published on Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:00
Malaya
Business News Online - Philippine Business News | Online News Philippines
Mass housing
developer 8990 Housing Development Corp. (8990 HDC) has been refining its
precast concrete construction method for
the past two decades. It has been using the technology in the Philippines
primarily under the brand name Deca Homes.
Construction
using precast concrete involves casting and curing reinforced concrete in a controlled
environment, before transporting them to construction sites for lifting,
assembly, and finishing. The whole process allows the construction of housing
units in just 8 to 10 days, compared to the traditional method of piling hollow
blocks on top of each other, which requires around 45-60 days.
“One of the
reasons behind the adoption of precast technology is to ensure quality of the
houses,” said Jesus Atencio, president of Deca Homes.
In keeping up
with Deca Homes’ strict quality assurance protocols, the concrete walls are
cast in onsite factories. Quality control and quality assurance protocols are
applied and followed in every activity, to ensure quality in both aesthetics
and structural integrity.
The
streamlined process allows different processes to be done simultaneously—while
the concrete walls are curing, work already starts for the installation of
foundation and ground slabs, where provisions for water and sanitary lines are
already in place. After 24 hours, the load-bearing precast walls are placed in
position via hydraulic cranes. Welding, roof framing, and roof installation are
also done on the same day.
Work on
plumbing and electrical fixtures, counters, and wall finish takes a bulk of the
construction time. Bathroom fixtures, electrical finishes, windows, and door
knobs are usually installed before the sixth day ends. The last day is used for
interior and exterior cleaning, as well as for any finishing touches that might
be required.
Aside from
being considerably faster than conventional building methods, one of the
advantages of Deca Homes’ precast building system is concrete strength.
Compared to conventional hollow block walls that can withstand around 800
pounds of force per square inch (psi), precast walls are designed to withstand
about 4,800 psi.
“This degree
of strength lends numerous structural benefits to the finished house” says
Engr. Ace Sotto, Deca Homes GM for Construction. “But the real reason why it
has to be that strong, is for it to survive being lifted in one piece.”
The amount of
labor necessary to build a house is also greatly reduced—precast technology
eliminates the need to manually construct beams and columns, since they are
already embedded in the precast walls. Manual work on masonry and plastering is
also lessened, further trimming labor costs.
By
significantly saving on time, material, and labor, Deca Homes is able to reduce
the price of its housing units.
With the
systemic building and pricing strategies, the company has turned over more than
41,000 housing units to date. In 2013, the company aims to build an additional
7,800 units nationwide.
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