Building a Home in Davao

[Gary D]

7 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Can anyone offer suggestion for preference in ppr plumbing between Unidex and Neltex? Or are they any others that would be "best?" The contractor is asking us what we want them to use. L suggests Neltex and the contractor normally uses Unidex, but will use whatever we specify...

Thanks guys.

Personally I'd look at the wall thickness. Heavier the better.

[Tommy T.]

12 hours ago, Gary D said:

Personally I'd look at the wall thickness. Heavier the better.

Good thought, Gary. I will research that with Kuya G this morning. L tells me that there are some brands that tend to be a bit brittle so I am hoping to find some online reviews to check.

[graham59]

On 11/16/2019 at 7:18 AM, Tommy T. said:

I agree with you partially Gary, that the main strength is with the pillar and beam. However, the walls do add support and must also be self supporting. So my feeling is more is better. Additionally, better construction will tend to be a bit better insulation for sound and temperature, I am sure. We believe also that the improved wall construction should (emphasize "should") minimize future cracking issues. I will let you know in a few years if that turns out to be true...

We carefully inspected the beams and pillars already in place and found no defects or cracks from either construction or earthquake. So we are pleased with it all so far.

By the way, the ground, itself, is very solid so that certainly won't hurt...

Having decent quality walls is also desirable for when you're later wanting to fix stuff to them !    Try doing that with the 'traditional' rubbish ones.  

[Tommy T.]

On 11/18/2019 at 5:26 PM, Tommy T. said:

Can anyone offer suggestion for preference in ppr plumbing between Unidex and Neltex? Or are they any others that would be "best?" The contractor is asking us what we want them to use. L suggests Neltex and the contractor normally uses Unidex, but will use whatever we specify...

Thanks guys.

 

On 11/18/2019 at 5:35 PM, Gary D said:

Personally I'd look at the wall thickness. Heavier the better.

I researched and found that both brands test alike (as reported by the companies) but did not find wall thickness dimensions. There seems to be a standard that everyone uses. Naltex was the first company to produce ppr - at least here in Philippines. I asked the foreman about it yesterday and he said he knows both of them but uses the Naltex all the time. It seems to work in this building and L's, so I think it must be okay. I did not check to see if there were other brands available.

So, Naltex was the first, it tests the same as Unidex, the foreman says they use it, L had good experience with it in her home - those seem like good reasons to me to use it, so we made the decision.

Tomorrow we go to the window and glass supplier to review the window plan and his suggested products. They make very nice windows and sliding doors, but I know their prices will be high because of that. They also make the usual average things and also a grade in between. So I am leaning toward the middle grade. The difference is in the frames, latches and weather seals.

Today they were pouring the  roof deck slab and Monday they will pour the ground floor slab. We will visit the site and inspect the electrical, plumbing and rebar installations on Saturday so they will have time to make any changes before the pour. Oh, and the foreman assured me that they always do slab pours in one go - precisely to prevent or at least minimize cracking as someone here suggested a few days back.

[RobH]

I was told by our roofing and metalwork man not to have plastic windows as they won't last too long in the Philippines . He said go for aluminium frames.

Edited November 20, 2019 by RobH
Spelling mistake

[Gary D]

3 hours ago, RobH said:

I was told by our roofing and metalwork man not to have plastic windows as they won't last too long in the Philippines . He said go for aluminium frames.

Yes apart from being 3x the price of aluminium frames I do wonder how they would take the UV long-term. Even with modern stabilizers I suspect they would go brittle.

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, RobH said:

I was told by our roofing and metalwork man not to have plastic windows as they won't last too long in the Philippines . He said go for aluminium frames.

Yeah... That's the only way we will go. The vendor has three grades (and three price ranges) and don't even offer plastic frames. There is the regular, rather cheap and cheaply made version that is most common and most easily breached by thieves. A middle grade that is much more robust and rather difficult to get through. And the highest quality which look to be professional grade as good as some of the best I have seen in USA or Australia or Europe.

Of course, the glass could always be broken within any frame...

Edited November 20, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Gary D]

37 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Yeah... That's the only way we will go. The vendor has three grades (and three price ranges) and don't even offer plastic frames. There is the regular, rather cheap and cheaply made version that is most common and most easily breached by thieves. A middle grade that is much more robust and rather difficult to get through. And the highest quality which look to be professional grade as good as some of the best I have seen in USA or Australia or Europe.

Of course, the glass could always be broken within any frame...

We were offered two glasses, a tint with a mirror finish and a cheaper plain tint. To me the mirror tint looks more like an office block and made about 5k more on a set of 40k windows. I've gone for the plain tint because we have nets and curtains up anyway that stops you seeing in. Should be ordering the windows in about two weeks. The standard window around here which is 120cm x 120cm is about 5k.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Gary D

[Tommy T.]

7 minutes ago, Gary D said:

We were offered two glasses, a tint with a mirror finish and a cheaper plain tint. To me the mirror tint looks more like an office block and made about 5k more on a set of 40k windows. I've gone for the plain tint because we have nets and curtains up anyway that stops you seeing in. Should be ordering the windows in about two weeks. The standard window around here which is 120cm x 120cm is about 5k.

I first asked for mirror finish when inquiring about the glass. The vendor said they would do it if I wished but recommended against it. He said we would not like it on a residence (make it look like the office block, as you said) and that, at night, people could easily see inside when lights were on. Well, like you, we will have curtains or blinds on all windows, but the appearance and cost made the difference. We will be ordering windows in the next few days - sliding doors too.

[Tommy T.]

We visited the home site yesterday morning and stayed a couple of hours while L grilled the foreman about a number of things - not criticisms, but questions and comments. We find that there are a few things forgotten in the original plan and that some of the plans also need to be adjusted to fit reality now that we can see things in reality and walk around inside.

When planning the home, nobody really noticed that the land has a slope to it - including us. Maybe it was due to all the weeds and brush growing on the property? Anyway, now we find that the living room side of the home is about one meter above the ground rather than on grade as we expected. That's not a big deal really. We planned on having a wooden deck off the sliding glass door there anyway, so now it will just need to be a bit larger and then have a few steps fitted to permit access to the future grassy and garden area. I think it will also need a bit of a barrier along the edge so I don't fall off of it if I go out after having a few shots of Tanduay or beers. However, since the deck will be well above grade, it will require stronger support and so some steel will be embedded in the floor when it is poured next week. Then we will have attachment points.

Next week the window company will consult with the contractor and foreman  to make sure everyone is on the same page for exact locations and sizes of windows. In some cases we have changed from awning to casement style windows and we have also altered the configuration of several of them to make them a bit simpler. Some of the originally designed windows were too busy - maybe four separate windows in a column rather than just one, two or even three. The window guy also advised us about which windows should open for best ventilation. And, in the planning stages, nobody thought about putting windows (especially opening windows) in the stairway. It would be dark and gloomy there without some windows.

The electrical conduit is all in place and seems correctly located. There is very little plumbing rough-in required in the floor since - as suggested by one of the members here - the water supply comes in from outside at the points where needed and is not just led under the slab and become virtually inaccessible forever.

We did not venture onto the roof deck because there is no easy access - only the scaffolding - no ladder or steps there yet. But I asked the workers about water pressure and they say there is about "average" pressure there - not super strong, but not weak either. That was good to hear because I was concerned about water pressure that high up.

 

The rebar still needs to be raised up off the crushed rock bed so it will be centered in the slab.

The supervisor, L, checking the plumbing at the CR.

Here we are measuring for the sliding door size and location. The living room will be right here.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Tommy T.