🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau · Concrete · Updated 2026
How much concrete do you need to build a house in Guinea-Bissau?
A 150 m² single-storey house in Guinea-Bissau needs roughly 27 m³ of concrete — about 0.18 m³ per m² of floor area. That is computed from Guinea-Bissau construction conventions, including the local wastage allowance.
Concrete quantities for a house in Guinea-Bissau, computed from how buildings are actually put up here rather than from a global average. The tables below run from a small 50 m² dwelling to a 400 m² family home, and the method section shows how to reproduce every figure by hand so you can adapt it to your own plan.
Concrete by house size in Guinea-Bissau
| Floor area | Concrete required | Per m² of floor |
|---|---|---|
| 50 m² | 10 m³ | 0.20 |
| 75 m² | 15 m³ | 0.20 |
| 100 m² | 19 m³ | 0.19 |
| 150 m² | 27 m³ | 0.18 |
| 200 m² | 35 m³ | 0.17 |
| 250 m² | 43 m³ | 0.17 |
| 300 m² | 51 m³ | 0.17 |
| 400 m² | 67 m³ | 0.17 |
Single-storey. The per-m² rate falls as the house grows — a small house has more wall and roof per square metre of floor than a large one, which is why these are computed size by size rather than scaled from a single rate.
Where it goes — 150 m² house
Mass concrete footings 225 mm thick strip footing, mix 1:2:4 | 4.5 m³ |
Blinding concrete 50 mm blinding over hardcore | 7.5 m³ |
Ground floor slab concrete 100 mm slab over 150 m² | 15 m³ |
What drives the quantity in Guinea-Bissau
| Factor | Local value | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Footing width | 400 mm | Width × depth × perimeter is the entire footing volume. |
| Footing depth | 0.6 m | The conventional depth here, before any frost or soil requirement raises it. |
| Slab thickness | 100 mm | Over the whole footprint — usually the largest single pour on a house. |
| Blinding thickness | 50 mm | Thin, lean layer that gives a clean surface to work off. Easy to forget when ordering. |
| General mix | 1:2:4 | Footings and blinding. |
| Structural mix | 1:1.5:3 | Slabs and any framed elements. |
How to calculate it yourself
- 01
Footings: perimeter × 0.4 m width × the thickness of the concrete (not the trench depth — the trench is deeper than the concrete in it).
- 02
Slab: floor area × 0.1 m.
- 03
Blinding: floor area × 0.05 m.
- 04
Add 5% for over-excavation and spillage — trenches are never as neat as the drawing.
- 05
Order ready-mix in whole loads if available; site-mixing beyond about 10 m³ per pour rarely saves money once labour and inconsistency are counted.
Buying and site notes
- —A cold joint costs more than the concrete. Plan each pour so it can be completed continuously.
- —Never add water on site to make placing easier — it is the single most common cause of concrete failing its strength test.
- —Cure for at least seven days. Concrete that dries instead of curing reaches a fraction of its design strength, and nothing later fixes it.
Get every material measured off your own plan
This page works from a representative footprint. Upload your dimensioned drawings and get the full schedule — every material, measured from your real geometry and priced in XOF (CFA).
Take off my drawingsConcrete in Guinea-Bissau — frequently asked
How much concrete does a house need in Guinea-Bissau?
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A 150 m² single-storey house in Guinea-Bissau needs roughly 27 m³ of concrete — about 0.18 m³ per m² of floor area. That is computed from Guinea-Bissau construction conventions, including the local wastage allowance.
How much concrete per square metre in Guinea-Bissau?
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About 0.18 m³ per m² of floor area for a single-storey house. The figure is not linear across sizes — a small house has proportionally more wall and roof per m² of floor than a large one, which is why the table above is computed size by size rather than scaled from one rate.
What changes the quantity of concrete needed?
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Footing width (400 mm) — Width × depth × perimeter is the entire footing volume. Footing depth (0.6 m) — The conventional depth here, before any frost or soil requirement raises it. Slab thickness (100 mm) — Over the whole footprint — usually the largest single pour on a house.
Is wastage included?
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Where it applies, yes — a 5% allowance is carried on the perishable materials (walling units, tiles, paint). Bulk materials like sand and stone carry handling loss instead. Ordering the theoretical quantity with no allowance reliably means a second delivery at a worse price.
How accurate is this for my own house?
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It is a planning quantity derived from a representative rectangular footprint, so it is the right order of magnitude and internally consistent — good for budgeting and for checking a supplier's list. It is not a measured takeoff of your plan. Upload your dimensioned drawings to get quantities measured off your real geometry and priced in XOF.
Are concrete prices included?
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No, deliberately. Material prices in Guinea-Bissau move week to week and vary by region, so a price printed on a static page would be wrong within a month. This page gives you the quantity — take that to two or three local suppliers and the price will be current and competitive.