Building a Home in Davao

[hk blues]

20 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Well, their estimators and installers seem very professional. The front office and service office are confusing and confused.

L called the service desk woman to ask why they are charging something for the installation. She was told it was for the chipping of hollowblock. I can understand that, but it was not in the original quote which flatly said "free," except for excess tubing. I knew we would have to pay extra for the compressor racks.

The woman then pressed L that they were going to be installing the actual units right away? This is the second or third time she has pushed this and L was getting annoyed.

But today I think I may have figured it out. The site is about 19 kms from the EMCOR office downtown. And they are using third party. They might be getting charged per trip out and it's a long ride especially when traffic is (normally) thick. So maybe they are getting dinged on the installation charges and are pressured to finish the job in one go? Well... that's my theory.

Anyway, L held her ground and told the woman to stop asking - we will inform them when it's time and not the other way around.

I think it's understandable they would want to do everything at the same time, Tom.  It seems to be logical to do all at the same time for many reasons - and, of course, time is money, so it's understandable they want to avoid 2 trips.  I don't think they are being unreasonable but I understand you want it done the way you want it done so they must respect this.  To be fair, the installation is free (in theory) so to some extent they can call the shots.  

[Tommy T.]

Today was our first visit for about two weeks. We have been busy doing other things.

A lot of the exterior has been plastered now and they are finishing the upstairs interior plastering now too. They are painting some of the walls with primer and they are looking very nice. It is not looking so industrial as much - more like a home.

Much of the inside of the fence has also been plastered.

The big news is that they started constructing the staircase which, rather than being the standard heavy cement steps with tiles, are built with steel I-beams that will support wooden steps (narra). We made it very clear to the foreman that the steps must be even, level in all directions and always with the same riser - throughout the house and outside. It's maybe a small point, but I really like consistency - especially if it is rainy, dark or I had some Tanduay and am a bit unsteady.

The air/con guys finished their preparations and they look neat and professional.

Another big step is the drop ceilings that are also being framed in now. It is really enjoyable to see all the prep work suddenly reach fruition and the finish line is almost visible. We had some discussion and showed photos off the internet of ceiling design and layout that we liked. We also decided which type of lighting would go where, what type of switches (i.e. 3-way or singles) and where they should be located.

Lastly, we were thrilled to see the many boxes of future bamboo wood floor tiles already stacked safely in the guest bedroom, ready for future installation when the time is right (as in, after windows and doors are installed and painting is done.

Always the same view initial view, this time showing now more finish plastering.

The stair supporting steel with step and landing supports tacked into place pending final attachments.

Plumbing under the second floor is installed and done.

More electrical cables and conduit has been led as they prepare to install the ceiling for the ground floor.

Air/con preparations are done and waiting for paint and then installation.

This is a close up of the copper tube preparation with the insulation. It is a type of foam wrapped in a white plastic tape. It looks highly unlikely that there will be any leaks or condensation. Even if someday that occurs, very little of the pipe is actually embedded in the walls so it will be accessible.(although, of course, some ceiling would need to be removed but that seems better to me than the chipping away of lots of hard cement.

As before, we are pleased with the workmanship and the boys are pleased with our praise (but we didn't bring Tanduay today...next time).

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Tommy T.

[JDDavao II]

Looks good, Tommy. 

[GeoffH]

Coming along really nice Tommy 

 

[Mike J]

I am no expert but the plumbing and electric look very professional in my opinion.  Some of the stuff I have run into here is scary bad.  

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

I am no expert but the plumbing and electric look very professional in my opinion.  Some of the stuff I have run into here is scary bad.  

Yeah, Mike, that's how I see it too. I am no expert either, but I have some experience and I at least know some things to look for. When I studied engineering, one of the first things I was taught was that if something looks bad it probably is bad.

At least the wiring doesn't look like a rat's nest.... like this in Saigon:

Edited February 25, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Mike J]

3 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Yeah, Mike, that's how I see it too. I am no expert either, but I have some experience and I at least know some things to look for. When I studied engineering, one of the first things I was taught was that is something looks bad it probably is bad.

At least the wiring doesn't look like a rat's nest.... like this in Saigon:

You see the same in Cebu City. 

[RBM]

Must admire the way your handling some of these frustrating situations Tommy which inevitably occur during construction.

After going through it once there would be no way I could ever do it again, have friends that have done several times though.

Kinda strange though as now have a small condo in Bacolod its now my preference to stay, no chores or hassles....Food panda also plays a role Ha!!

 

[Tommy T.]

45 minutes ago, RBM said:

After going through it once there would be no way I could ever do it again, have friends that have done several times though.

 

I got into it by default. We looked around at homes and some condos for the better part of a year:

The nicer ones were way too expensive.

We wanted to own rather than rent since rents are rising and so are property values. But then you don't know the quality (or lack of) the build. And you know, for sure, that any spec homes here are built on the very cheap, bordering on shoddy.

The few that seemed about reasonable were in noisy neighbourhoods. One in a nice subdivision was right on the other side of a fence from a public swimming pool - the karaoke on the day of our visit was literally deafening. Another that we really liked was quiet - except for the printing shop on the other side of the wall which ran presses and a very loud compressor. Nice and large place and actually low rent, but the walls shook from the vibrations next door. Oh... and the old lady that was renting it out (we did consider renting for a while) wanted a three year signed lease. No way I would do that - the place needs a test drive before move-in and long lease signing. It also had the added luxury of a swampy area next door that, at dusk, let fly hoards of mozzies....oy veh!

Then there was the place in a nice location, relatively quiet. It had a ground floor home. Attached was an apartment on the second floor that was part of the package. It was very strangely laid out (the owner's brilliant plan) with a family living there including at least five people or more. It was a bit pricey, but in order to remodel the apartment to rent at a higher rate, it would have required almost totally demolishing it and starting over - that made it way too expensive.

One spec home was a bit pricey but could have worked. However it was in a "development" and was the only home there and not finished - after 9 months of construction. The developer had a sleazy on-site little office that just reeked of "cheap and underfinanced." No thank you. And no fence, no security and a teeny tiny lot.

The dumpy little house with green tinted windows (green glass, not stick-on tint) in a flood prone area?

In short, there really wasn't anything suitable to fit our budget or needs. Okay, okay... you might say we are too picky, but we just couldn't bear the thought of paying a lot for a place we didn't like or that strained the budget too much.

So we are paying a little more than we wanted, but are getting very close to exactly what we want that's in a relatively quiet area (except for fiesta and birthdays and some holidays) and a bigger than city lot size land space. And it's located 200 meters from the main barangay cement road and another 1km from the highway. We reckon we should get at least five years of relative peace and quiet before things may deteriorate...

And this is definitely the last build project for me... Two in my lifetime are plenty!

[jimeve]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

You see the same in Cebu City. 

And Dumaguete.