Building a Home in Davao

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hk blues
Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, jimeve said:

Well, my foil backed insulation is double walled ie foil backed on both sides.  It stops the heat from the sun penetrating through much better.

Worth paying a bit more. :thumbsup:

Yes, I've seen that type and it's obviously better as it keeps heat out and cool air in.  

 

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hk blues
Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, GeoffH said:

I read somewhere that foil based insulation installed in wall cavities (and the foil backed insulation batts) should have the shiny side to the inside to reflect the infrared back into the house.

NB this was in a colder location than the Philippines

Yes, that was the debate.  In hotter countries the idea may be that keeping heat out is critical but in colder countries keeping heat in is the priority. 

As per Jim's post, the ideal is foil on both sides.

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Tommy T.
Posted
Posted (edited)

Another visit to the home site yesterday...

The boys are moving along with digging and setting pipe for sewage and rain water...

The roofing is installed but not finished - they still need to complete the installation along the sides and gutters. Even though the insulation is only one-sided, I am confident that, with the large air space between roof and room ceilings, air /con cooling verses sunlight heat will not be a problem. It was very nice to feel the natural breezes wafting through the upstairs rooms from the window spaces...

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The view from the 2nd floor CR shower window. Shower window??? you might ask... Well, I find that showering with an open window is sort of classy as well as providing lots of ventilation. The windows are set at my shoulder height which also allows L to see outside...

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The view from the bedroom where the sliding door to the terrace will go.

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My wet bar roughed in (very rough right now) and the open door to the small terrace in back of the house.

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A view from the "library" or extra bedroom on the second floor. This will be my view (sans the rubbish pile) when sitting at my desk and laptop... 

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This is the view from the roof deck  facing south... I just love all the green!

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Another view from the roof deck... Hard to tell, but there is some distant hill showing.

We are not so concerned about the lack of panoramic views. And we really like the natural, cooling breezes, fairly clean air and mostly quiet area... Of course, this will change over time - as we have already admitted... But it should be super fine for a while...

I don't show it in any photos yet, but there are high-tension power lines running through our view to the south, but at least 1 km away from the house. I don't like that but, at least I know where they are and just won't look south so often...

Edited by Tommy T.
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GeoffH
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I love your green surrounds Tommy,  we've got houses next to us, big powerlines closer and the green hills are a few blocks away with houses between us and the trees. 

 

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hk blues
Posted
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Looks like a great environment. Tom.

I wouldn't worry too much about the power lines 1km away - living in a subdivision where I am there is no shortage of different cables for me to peruse!  (Not high voltage power lines, admittedly). 

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Tommy T.
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I actually made it part of the contract that our power and cable and internet lines will be underground to the home. The water lines will also be underground - the other homes in the area all have their water lines just laying on the surface next to the road... I guess I am just picky about that...

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hk blues
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40 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I actually made it part of the contract that our power and cable and internet lines will be underground to the home. The water lines will also be underground - the other homes in the area all have their water lines just laying on the surface next to the road... I guess I am just picky about that...

Good Plan.

As we are in a sub-division we cannot do much - the roads are already laid so no chance to run cables under them. That said, I did insist that cable TV and internet cables were run underground once inside my property - I hate to see wires going through window frames etc.  Our water pipes are below ground but only just in some places - at least it means we get free hot water at times!  

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jimeve
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9 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

We are not so concerned about the lack of panoramic views. And we really like the natural, cooling breezes, fairly clean air and mostly quiet area... Of course, this will change over time - as we have already admitted... But it should be super fine for a while...

We have the same view with the mango's down one side of the house.

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Jollygoodfellow
Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, jimeve said:

We have the same view with the mango's down one side of the house.

No such view for me  :mellow:

cell 1.PNG

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Tommy T.
Posted
Posted (edited)

Poor JGF with his view....:sad:

However... we took a ride and made a visit to the homesite again yesterday...

I was amazed at how long L needed to talk with the foreman about a few things - maybe an hour or more? Then she would ask me... so, what do you want... this? or that? I answered in a few words and then things were decided... that's just the way things go here...

Progress seems a bit slow, so we commented on that. The contractor is busy with several projects, and we pressed our desire for completion... We will see how it goes. The main thing is that we feel confident that the quality of our build is probably very high compared to others here in Philippines... and maybe even in USA.

More lights have been installed, more steel welded, more pipes  bedded, more things painted. The stairs continue to be a bit of an issue and the foreman is really taking time and care to make them just right for us... My God! He and L must have talked over 1/2 hour just about the stairs... We all just want to make them balanced (in appearance) and had reasonable looking and functional railings. We're getting there. And we really do appreciate the time and care of the foreman to ensure that it will all be what we want.

So not so much to show in photos...

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The usual view... but now you can see the new stainless railing on the second floor terrace with a few supports.

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This is the "back" door light - or the kitchen door light. 10 watt LED should be enough?

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Here's the "Sparky" (for you Aussies  to understand...:smile:) Installing the wiring for wiring for the small terrace from the "library" over the kitchen area.

Otherwise, the build is not so visible or worthy of photos... Maybe next visit???

Edited by Tommy T.
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