Building prices

[stevewool]

Its been nearly 3 years since i last saw the house and it was still in a state of building, but Emma has been since and everything we wanted "I wanted " has been done.

So this next coming year we are planning the next venture of the build and that is to complete the 1st floor into our home, there is electric and water up there so it will be just to run cables and maybe the water to different places, there will have to be a false ceiling and maybe the odd wall to build plus a bathroom and bedroom. i would like a wooden floor as well as tiles , i am hoping to do some of the work myself.

So has prices gone up over the last three years for material and labour, i have a budget in my head and Emma has her skies the limit budget.

My budget i am thinking is around 350,000 peso this is for 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom and then open plan living all in a area of 10 meters by 6.8 meters, am i being realistic with my budget do you think.

[Dave Hounddriver]

15 minutes ago, stevewool said:

My budget i am thinking is around 350,000 peso this is for 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom and then open plan living all in a area of 10 meters by 6.8 meters, am i being realistic with my budget do you think.

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but it sure looks like you are asking if you can build 68 sq meters of living space for 350,00.  I'd say yes if you were building a bamboo house, but if you are building a concrete structure, at 15K pesos a sq m then you are about  2/3 of a million light. 

But if you self-contract and get good workers you might bet it somewhere in the middle.  So double your budget and cross your fingers and you might be OK.

[stevewool]

Sorry Dave.

Its to complete the house we have there in Marikina, its a blank canvas one big room with windows and a balcony , but needing a false ceiling and inside walls and all that goes into making a nice place

[Mike J]

We have built one house and do extensive remodel on two others.  Based on your posts I think you are saying the basic structure of hollow block walls, concrete floor, windows and doors are already in place.  No ceiling in place, that is "open to the roof".  Some things to consider while making your estimate.

Plumbing - will you use existing septic/drain system or need a new one?   What fixtures will be included in the new CR and of what quality?

Electric - will they run wires up the walls, or trench the walls to bury the wire in flex conduit and then fill the trench.  Is there an existing breaker panel, is it sufficient for the new circuits.

Ceiling - Are you going to use 1/4 ply (very common) for the drop ceiling or hardiflex to prevent termite damage?  

Floors - Tile has a wide price range.  What size and quality are looking for?  Wood can look nice but it can become a termite buffet.

The house we had built for the wife's parents was completed while we lived in the USA.  We were very detailed in how we wanted it built and finished.  When I looked at the finished house it did not come up to the standard that we were expecting.  The most worrying of the deficiencies were the plumbing and wiring.  The two remodels (one complete, one in process) on the other hand were done while we were on site and could observe the work on a daily basis.  Being on site allowed us to prevent bad workmanship or require the work to be redone.

My advice is to wait until you get here to have the finish work done.  You will almost certainly be more likely to meet your expectations for workmanship, quality of materials, appearance, and budget expense. 

 

[sonjack2847]

49 minutes ago, Mike J said:

My advice is to wait until you get here to have the finish work done.  You will almost certainly be more likely to meet your expectations for workmanship, quality of materials, appearance, and budget expense. 

That would be my advice also.I had them sanding down the ceilings and they were using their hands,so I made them sanding blocks out of plywood and it was a better finish and took a fraction of the time. The problem here is the attitude of "that will do" and they on the whole don`t have much training.

You must remember they live in sub standard(to us) houses and don`t really understand how we want it done.

350k is hit or miss wether you will get what you want done to the standard you want.Yes prices have risen here even since we started our building work.

 

[intrepid]

9 minutes ago, sonjack2847 said:

That would be my advice also.I had them sanding down the ceilings and they were using their hands,so I made them sanding blocks out of plywood and it was a better finish and took a fraction of the time. The problem here is the attitude of "that will do" and they on the whole don`t have much training.

Agreed!

[Mick]

For a sort of refurb I'm not sure of pricing, but here in Manila, 4 years ago the rate was 18,000 sqm for a new build, all in, just got 3 quotes last week for a new build, all between 20,000 and 22,000 a sqm, but this is from nothing to a complete house, as I'm building a small 18sqm maids house and the rest of the land will just have a perimeter wall, as I will knock my wall down and open it as a garden, for the wall which goes around the 278sqm plot, with pillars every 4m, and 6ft high and rendered the cost is 380,000 peso including deep footings. 

[stevewool]

I am looking at having no false ceiling put into the top floor at our place , so its going to look industrial and if it could be done have the ceiling smoothed and then either painted or left as it is.

Now are there any reasons why you should have a false ceiling fitted , if i have to run cables i would try to have them on show running through metal trunking to switches and sockets and light fittings, having the extra height may make it feel cooler and higher, here are some pictures taken from the downstairs that has the false ceiling fitted and yes it looks good , and here are pictures of the upstairs with no false ceiling fitted yet which i am wanting to be cleaned and left alone.

Yes its down to our own choices but what are the pros and cons please.

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by stevewool
spelling

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, stevewool said:

Yes its down to our own choices but what are the pros and cons please.

Pros usually charge money for sex. Cons usually try to rip you off. Hope that helps 

[Rooster]

7 hours ago, stevewool said:

 

Yes its down to our own choices but what are the pros and cons please.

 

The photo looks like they used HardiFlex.

Excellent choice for a ceiling, many benefits over plywood. We had it installed in our house. If I had it to do over again I would not have not let the installers use the paper joint tape. Humidity causes it to separate from the HardiFlex board. There are some rooms where they had remove the falling paper tape and change to mesh tape which is available at Wilcon. I highly suggest using the mesh tape, then covered by HardiFlex Putty.  

Another option is beveling the HardiFlex board at the joints, then no need for joint tape or putty except at the screw locations.

True that material prices are rapidly rising but so is the price of everything else here.