Building a Home in Davao

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

The apartment which they built where I am living has outlets mostly only 2 meters apart with a few exceptions, so that tells me they did this right in the past. There are some we still need to plan. We definitely don't want to have any of those stupid, ugly plastic covered wires running around as afterthoughts! Mostly the kitchen and master's bedroom have been figured out but still have to finalize for living room, library, dining and laundry, aircons, ceiling fans and where on the outside walls for the weatherproof outlets too.

 

Not trying to teach my granny (or grandpa)  to suck eggs, but as well as the number of sockets, make sure that the type are also considered - this is especially important for A/C, stove, refrigerator etc etc.  We experienced some problems in that the high amp sockets were not where we wanted them to be.  Also, we experienced "dead" sockets i.e. the outlet was there but no cabling!  With block walls, concrete (tiled) floors and ceilings it's not an easy matter to fix.  As mentioned by others, best to get this right at the outset when everything is open.

Good luck and fingers crossed that the contractor remains as on the ball as they seem to be thus far.

[intrepid]

3 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I am not sure what PPR pipe is, but if it is what I know in USA as Sched 40 PVC, then that's what I would prefer. This I haven't checked on yet so I really appreciate the thought and just now added it to my "Construction Notes" list... Thanks! From re-reading your post, it seems PPR is something different, so I will talk to my old friend (young friend since I am much older than him) Google and see what wisdom he will offer. It may end up being a chargeable upgrade, but it's worth it to me if it prevents hassles and headaches down the road.

PPR is not used in the US.  I believe it has to do with unions.  I never heard of it either until we built our home here.  It does cost a little more but worth it.  I think your builder or at least your plumber will know what it is.  You will not regret the extra cost.

Oh... and a side note you might be interested in - I am making sure that all ground floor feed lines will be external - i.e. not embedded in the cement floor. And there will be sectional shut-off valves to isolate different areas so I don't have to shut off the entire house supply to service or repair something in one place.

That is how our builder did ours.  However, about the only wat for the upstairs baths was to embed the pipes in the concrete filled block walls.

 

[Tommy T.]

2 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Not trying to teach my granny (or grandpa)  to suck eggs, but as well as the number of sockets, make sure that the type are also considered - this is especially important for A/C, stove, refrigerator etc etc.  We experienced some problems in that the high amp sockets were not where we wanted them to be.  Also, we experienced "dead" sockets i.e. the outlet was there but no cabling!  With block walls, concrete (tiled) floors and ceilings it's not an easy matter to fix.  As mentioned by others, best to get this right at the outset when everything is open.

Good luck and fingers crossed that the contractor remains as on the ball as they seem to be thus far.

Thanks HK! Grandpa???!!!

That's definitely more good advice! We are making sure that the contractor knows what appliances will go where. So we can only plan and a bit of hope that they will be done appropriately. One of the main concerns, actually was brought up by maybe you or someone else on the forum - I am going to ensure, and the contractors already agreed to do this - that there is a good, solid grounding with all sockets and outlets grounded. I really hate getting the tingles when it is not related to....well, you know....

Yeah... once the concrete is in and the hollowblocks... everything is set, literally, in stone. We are trying to be soooo careful...

[hk blues]

32 minutes ago, RBM said:

Absolutely best advice so far. Currently experiencing serious leakage which so far they are unable to locate and appears we must re do whole house. This was done with the blue pvc and glue.

Recently our water pressure increased due to a new well complementing the original one. This is now a problem for many of us, the house was a quality build with crappy pipes so consider Tom the latters advice.

We have had a minor leak since we moved in 4 years ago - it is really tiny and has no impact on our bills.  We did fault finding without any success, mainly due to there being no valves on the main system to narrow down the faulty section.  Finally, we have learned to live with it as the cost of fixing would be prohibitive.  I guess one day it may blow and then we'll be able to identify where it is, or we will be hit with a sudden high water bill which will force us to do something.  My own suspicion is that it is a faulty WC cistern as any other leak would surely have become visible in some way by now.  

[Tommy T.]

5 minutes ago, intrepid said:

PPR is not used in the US.  I believe it has to do with unions.  I never heard of it either until we built our home here.  It does cost a little more but worth it.  I think your builder or at least your plumber will know what it is.  You will not regret the extra cost.

 

Got it, Intrepid! Thank you so much again! I am certain these guys will be familiar with this product. I know I will appreciate the peace of mind when I flush the toilet and the plumbing doesn't explode in the middle of the night!

Yeah... and there will definitely be some pipes - and so much wiring - imbedded in the walls.The construction here requires so much forethought and planning - much more than in USA. 

[hk blues]

1 minute ago, Tommy T. said:

I know I will appreciate the peace of mind when I flush the toilet and the plumbing doesn't explode in the middle of the night!

 

That will depend as much on what you've been eating as the quality of plumbing, Tom!

[Tommy T.]

19 minutes ago, hk blues said:

We did fault finding without any success, mainly due to there being no valves on the main system to narrow down the faulty section. 

I did this on the yacht with some success...

Perhaps you can turn off your water supply. Then disconnect the hose or pipe before where you suspect it is leaking. Put a few drops of food colouring in the pipe or hose. The re-connect it and turn on the supply. Observe carefully right after you power it all up and you might be able to find the leak... Good luck, HK!

[Tommy T.]

23 minutes ago, hk blues said:

That will depend as much on what you've been eating as the quality of plumbing, Tom!

And maybe how much I've been eating?

Edited September 27, 2019 by Tommy T.

[JDDavao II]

On 9/13/2019 at 10:59 AM, RBM said:

We have to remember plumb the entire house to ensure its sorted.

Isolate your areas with shut-offs if it's not too late. I used to maintain a 100-year old building in Seattle and that experience sold me completely on having a way to isolate the plumbing in various bathrooms and etc.

We have a shutoff that isolates the kitchen and guest bath, another that isolates the patio bath and the bar, and another that isolates the master bath. The architect thought I was crazy but I've had to use them all at one time or another. If you have a leak or other problem that you either can't fix on your own or can't fix right away, you'll be thankful that you can shut off the water in just that problem zone.

I suggest ball valves (with the levers) over gate valves (with the round wheels on top) as the gate valves we have all leak!

[jimeve]

Another thing is the rainwater pipes, ours are embedded inside the walls. One of the pipes got blocked and have tried to unblock it without success, only thing to do is find where it's blocked and smash the wall.

If I have another house built I would consider having  the pipes outside, they would look a bit ugly but better than having to smash the walls.