Why Are They Chipping Holes in My Concrete? Philippines Construction

I thought they were damaging my concrete wall — but it turns out there was a reason. Living in the Philippines continues to teach me that construction here can look very different from what we're accustomed to seeing in the United States and other Western countries. While checking the latest work being done at our home in Bohol, I walked outside and found one of the workers taking a hammer and deliberately chipping into our finished concrete columns. My immediate reaction was pretty simple: Why are they doing this? But once I watched the entire process, I began to understand what they were doing and why. In this video, I'll take you through another Philippine construction technique that was completely unfamiliar to me — from roughing up the concrete columns with a surprisingly simple homemade tool, to applying the cement-based finishing or “plaster,” using string lines to control the finished surface, and finally transforming a rough hollow-block wall into a smooth finished structure. It's also another reminder of something I've learned during our construction projects here: Different doesn't necessarily mean wrong. Building methods, materials, tools and the amount of manual labor used in the Philippines can be very different from what many of us grew up seeing in the West. Sometimes there's a perfectly good reason for doing something differently. But as we've also discovered during this project, sometimes there really is a problem. That's why my approach as a foreign homeowner has become pretty simple: Ask questions. Understand the process. And trust — but verify. For anyone considering buying, building, renovating or retiring in the Philippines, I hope showing the real-world construction happening at our home gives you a better idea of what you may encounter here. And we're not finished with this wall yet. The next stage includes installing the decorative breezeway blocks in the openings, which should completely change the look of the finished project while allowing air to flow through the wall. Thanks for following along with us here in Bohol and being part of the Island Expats community. If you've built or renovated a home in the Philippines, I'd especially like to hear from you: Have you seen this technique before? And what construction methods surprised you when you first moved here? Subscribe to Island Expats for more about expat life, home ownership, construction, travel and what it's really like living in the Philippines. #Philippines #PhilippinesConstruction #ExpatLife #LivingInThePhilippines #Bohol #IslandExpats #PhilippinesExpat #BuildingInThePhilippines Philippine Privacy Notice Under Philippine law, individuals appearing in this video have the right to privacy. If you appear in this footage and do not wish to be shown, please contact me and your image will be promptly removed or blurred. 📌 Let’s Connect Have questions about condo living, renting vs buying, or choosing the right lifestyle in the Philippines? Drop them in the comments—I read every one and genuinely enjoy the conversation. 📍 Subscribe to Island Expats For aspirational island living, home tours, real-world cost insights, and expat lifestyle content: 👉    / islandexpats   🔔 Turn on notifications so you don’t miss what’s next. expats in the philippines cost of living in the philippines steps for retiring in the philippines buying a house in the Philippines, expat life Philippines, Philippines home update, living in the Philippines as an expat