Building a Home in Davao

[Tommy T.]

9 hours ago, jimeve said:

Depends if the wood has had time to dry-out properly. Good or bad carpenter. Time will tell.

All I can say is the guy used marine plywood from Citi Hardware. The material looked clean, dry and no gaps in the plies. Yep... could just all go to hell in a while, but the cabinet maker's workmanship looks very good to me. Pardon me for being mostly an optimist...

[Tommy T.]

13 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

 It is a positive Post Dan, I have been here long enough to know that wood warps especially outside, I think you have missed the point about all Toms work/workers were the best Until.. and this started with his great Contractor ! Bad Materials makes a Bad job, in the end and Tom is always talking Budget restraints,

 Sorry Tom. I am not having a Bash at you on this but the end,  time end result, End of 

I will agree with you, Jack, that my eyes have been opened more in the past couple of years regarding work here.

However, I still think our contractor did decent work, but not to the quality levels I had hoped for, compared to USA standards. Their lacking was mostly in the detail work. And, as several on this forum have said, they needed virtually constant supervision or over-viewing. My mistake for not spending more time out here during construction.

Lastly, we did - and do - have budget constraints here. But we also are aware of the "you get what you pay for" (sometimes) logic too. Over time, we have found some good craftsmen who charge reasonable rates. On starting out, we were ignorant about a lot of things - even L, who had a large construction project of her own several years ago. Finding quality materials has been a continuing hassle... so much rubbish hardware for sale...

One of the things we have noticed, so far, is that there are very few - and they are very small - cracks in the walls. There have been some fairly strong earthquakes since construction began and our home seems to have withstood them quite well.

All in all, we think we have created a fine and comfortable home for ourselves and that it should outlast us by a long time. But, then, we won't care either...

Anyone wants to inspect and stay a while is welcome to visit... I'll buy the beer - if available!

[Mike J]

34 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

All I can say is the guy used marine plywood from Citi Hardware. The material looked clean, dry and no gaps in the plies. Yep... could just all go to hell in a while, but the cabinet maker's workmanship looks very good to me. Pardon me for being mostly an optimist...

I have made quite a few cabinets and furniture using the marine grade plywood here.  So far (several years), no issues.  I do use clear solignum prior to the final finish.

[Tommy T.]

37 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I have made quite a few cabinets and furniture using the marine grade plywood here.  So far (several years), no issues.  I do use clear solignum prior to the final finish.

I have the workers always apply clear solignum too. I followed your advice from the beginning regarding that. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[jimeve]

13 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

All I can say is the guy used marine plywood from Citi Hardware. The material looked clean, dry and no gaps in the plies. Yep... could just all go to hell in a while, but the cabinet maker's workmanship looks very good to me. Pardon me for being mostly an optimist...

Ah right, thought he was using real wood. My so called carpenter used real wood and said he dried it out for 2 months prier.  18 months later splits appeared. So now I have to fill with car body filler and re-paint.

So much fun in the P...........

 

[Tommy T.]

11 hours ago, jimeve said:

Ah right, thought he was using real wood. My so called carpenter used real wood and said he dried it out for 2 months prier.  18 months later splits appeared. So now I have to fill with car body filler and re-paint.

So much fun in the P...........

 

Our doors are all "hardwood" yakul, nara and another... They are not actually solid wood, but laminated. Two of them have developed splits and cracks and two have warped seriously - we're talking 1/2" or more from top to bottom. So Jack is definitely right about the warping issue. Oh well... live and learn...

[Tommy T.]

Here are some of the new cabinets:

The tool and cleaning product cabinets over the washing machine.

The other tool cabinet for heavy tools next to the washing machine.

We opted to just use beveled wood edges rather than handles for the doors - simpler, cheaper and convenient.

As any readers can readily see, this has been an incredible learning project. We have always had high expectations, but some of those were dashed due to poor quality workmanship or poor material quality. But we have persevered - we think. Now we are on the path of fixing issues we have discovered and also making some improvements.

 

Our home continues to become more of "our" home...!

Edited March 26, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Snowy79]

You can buy sheets of laminate to change the look of the cupboards and also protect them from moisture.  Beach, oak, maple etc. It's just like wallpaper. Peel off the backing. Lay it on the doors and cut around the edges. 

[Tommy T.]

10 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Our doors are all "hardwood" yakul, nara and another... They are not actually solid wood, but laminated. Two of them have developed splits and cracks and two have warped seriously - we're talking 1/2" or more from top to bottom. So Jack is definitely right about the warping issue. Oh well... live and learn...

Just sort of a side comment...

There was a time aboard the yacht when I needed to replace a large piece of teak with new. I mean 6 feet long and six inches girth....

I found a lumber guy in 'Stralia who sold me some teak that had been drying naturally for 4 years. It worked brilliantly - was anything but cheap, but did the job. I am sure it is still doing that since I sold it a few years ago.

I imagine that the hardwood doors we bought might have been dried for a couple of months?

[Mike J]

13 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

I imagine that the hardwood doors we bought might have been dried for a couple of months?

Cut lumber should dry for 1 year per inch of thickness.  It is also common to coat the end grain with wax to slow the drying and prevent splits at the end grain as it dries faster at the end grain than surface grain.  We had this large tree cut down in June 2020 as I felt it was danger to the house in event of high winds.  When down I had it cut into two inch thick lumber that is now stacked (and stickered) under cover.  No splits or warpage and the weight has diminished a lot so it has definitely lost a lot of moisture.  I am really tempted to set up the table saw and see if one year is enough here in the Philippines where the temperature is usually 25c plus.

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Mike J
Because I can't spell for sh&*