Building a Home in Davao

[Tommy T.]

22 hours ago, RBM said:

Without going through all the posts, what did you decide on the joinery? Lamination, ply or what? curious.  Love the view just what the Doc ordered Tommy

Thanks for your comments, RBM.

We decided on OTR (On The Rock), a Korean outfit that has a few branches in the country. Their normal construction uses regular plywood. We specified "marine ply," which generally seems to be decent quality here. It is laminated inside and out and pre-treated with Solignum. Countertops will be granite composite.

We wanted to use the premium Santa Clara, but it was a bit too expensive and they said they would not work with that. I think they are afraid of making mistakes and losing money correcting them.

They offered term payments that gave lower totals with speedier and bigger payments. We said...fine...what'll you do for cash up front. They had to check with the owner and came back with a cost almost 50% of the original quote. So we took the chance and went with that. Yesterday they started installing.

The bad thing about their work is that we spoke with a sales girl at the beginning. Then with their designer. Then someone came out to the house, took measurements, asked many questions and said he would confirm the final specs with the fabricators and installers. So the installers showed up yesterday and they are a contracted 3rd party. Nice guys and very capable. However, with each step, we had to describe which way the refrigerator door opened (that makes a big difference for cabinet design), the size of the stove (which we don't yet have), the range exhaust fan, etc. This...even though there is a set of plans for the kitchen. The guy who came out for the "final" measurements was not part of the installation crew.

So we ended up going over everything at least three or four times with various people to get the design right. It was tiring. They are so compartmentalized that there was little to no continuity with the process. So much talk talk talk...repeat repeat repeat... Their product quality is very high and we think it looks great.

We have been finding a similar situation with EMCOR. They have an in-house sales staff and service staff, then an independent third party installation and service sub-contractor. Oh...and three different people counted the money when I brought it in for the pre-payment. They are certainly careful about money.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Tommy T.

[RBM]

We decided on OTR (On The Rock), a Korean outfit that has a few branches in the country. Their normal construction uses regular plywood. We specified "marine ply," which generally seems to be decent quality here. We wanted to use the premium Santa Clara, but it was a bit too expensive and they said they would not work with that. I think they are afraid of making mistakes and losing money correcting them.

When we built this was our most difficult choice. Finally we bit the bullet and went for lamination which looks excellent but sadly does not last. Within about 3 years it started warping and the lamination lifting, we did use one of the most popular and well known  companies in Cebu.

I once built a small pump boat with santa clara marine and was not impressed, still testing in salt water compared to a kitchen is unfair.

Personally would ensure the ply is well treated against termites before painting, appear paint does not deter these critters.

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

We have been finding a similar situation with EMCOR. They have an in-house sales staff and service staff, then an independent third party installation and service sub-contractor. Oh...and three different people counted the money when I brought it in for the pre-payment. They are certainly careful about money.

Again this must be a local situation as where I am the everything is in-house with EMCOR - the installers and service guys are theirs - or at least were wearing EMCOR logo blue T-shirts.  This was in January so things may have changed but  I hope not.

[Tommy T.]

Well... I am not distressed by EMCOR using the third party installer. He told me he was an employee there for many years and he has proven that he knows his stuff. He will definitely be our service tech for the periodic cleanings.

Meanwhile, we paid another visit to the home-site on Thursday.

There is progress. The fence steel parts are finally complete. They will need to clean off (wire wheel and steel brush) the steel parts and they have agreed to my demand that they treat it all with rust converter - likely tannic acid - to get into the crevices that they cannot reach mechanically to clean. Then they will paint with an epoxy primer. They will do one section at a time so they can pay attention to their work and keep it simple.

Here are photos and brief descriptions of the ongoing work:

Ah... the front steps... There were some leftover tiles from the interior flooring so we used them for the front steps.

Smiley (so-called because he is always smiling), the mason was installing wall tiles in the CR's. He does really quality work.

The foreman found some really nice wood threshold strips that blend with the doors and flooring.

 

 

This is the "headboard" in the master bedroom. It is plywood set off from the wall to mask the support post on one side and make the space look even. We are pleased with the painter - he does good work, asks questions and is eager to please. If there are errors - and there are - he is quick to address them and make them right.

The installers brought in the kitchen cabinet modules and quickly assembled them into the final configurations. They seemed experienced and professional.

It's difficult to see in the photo, but they used a serious tripod mounted laser level to precisely align the tops of the counters. I was impressed!

The kitchen cabinets are now complete except for the installation of the granite counter tops - that is expected on Monday. We chose a very light grey, semi-gloss finish for the cabinets. We did not want more white, but also did want dark - this to contrast slightly with the wall paint but also to keep the area feeling as open and spacious as possible. It really is a rather small area - at least for me. But there is a lot of cabinet space and that makes both of us happy. I may need to buy a step stool for L, however, since some of the storage is fairly high off the floor!

Maybe today, we need to select and purchase the range top and range hood for them to install too.

Yesterday, the contractors invited us to one of their personal properties for a barbecue - and they had Tanduay!!!! Also native chicken (lean and a bit tought), rice and kinilaw. L and they had long discussions - I contributed a few times and otherwise just enjoyed the nice breeze and let them chatter away for an hour or so...

Edit: I forgot this photo...

Upstairs is the master bedroom window, downstairs is the living room window and now you can see the two air/con compressors already installed between the floors.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Tommy T.

[jimeve]

2 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Then they will paint with an epoxy primer.

If they use that make sure it's 2 part epoxy primer or they could use Red Oxide primer. Make sure the give it 2 coats and get a decent brand, Boysen or Davies. Then topcoat with a suitable metal paint.

[Viking]

On 8/22/2020 at 2:26 AM, Tommy T. said:

 

Here are photos and brief descriptions of the ongoing work:

Ah... the front steps... There were some leftover tiles from the interior flooring so we used them for the front steps.

 

Hello Tommy! It´s always with great joy I look at your pictures and read about the progress of your build.

Just my thought about the pic above, be careful with regular tiles on the front steps, they can be very slippery when wet or when stepped on with wet shoes. I would make sure they have some kind of anti-slippery surface before I would use them in a place that is exposed to water. Maybe you already thought of this, but it is hard to tell, from looking at the pictures.

[Gas]

On 8/22/2020 at 4:25 AM, jimeve said:

If they use that make sure it's 2 part epoxy primer or they could use Red Oxide primer. Make sure the give it 2 coats and get a decent brand, Boysen or Davies. Then topcoat with a suitable metal paint.

Also watch how much thinner they add , as it will deteriorate and affect the quality of the paint. Took me awhile to workout how they could paint three times quicker than me! 

[Tommy T.]

14 hours ago, Viking said:

Hello Tommy! It´s always with great joy I look at your pictures and read about the progress of your build.

Just my thought about the pic above, be careful with regular tiles on the front steps, they can be very slippery when wet or when stepped on with wet shoes. I would make sure they have some kind of anti-slippery surface before I would use them in a place that is exposed to water. Maybe you already thought of this, but it is hard to tell, from looking at the pictures.

Thanks for your comments, Viking.

We carefully considered the floor tiles to use in the kitchen and common areas. We chose a flat finish granite that has some texture to it. It feels a bit like old 60 or 80 grit sandpaper - not as rough as the sandpaper, but definitely a bit of texture. I don't like the shiny flooring because I do find it very slippery when wet and I also wanted to reduce glare from sunlight. L wanted more of a glossy finish because easier to clean. But I explained about wanting a bit of grip and, here in the apartment, slightly texture, mat finish tiles don't seem difficult to clean.

I guess my photo does not show it, but the front porch is under the pronounced overhang from the 2nd floor terrace. That should keep it dry in non-windy rains. But you make a good point and we will see what happens. I guess we can always find a way to texturize it more if it does not feel secure when wet...

[hk blues]

6 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Thanks for your comments, Viking.

We carefully considered the floor tiles to use in the kitchen and common areas. We chose a flat finish granite that has some texture to it. It feels a bit like old 60 or 80 grit sandpaper - not as rough as the sandpaper, but definitely a bit of texture. I don't like the shiny flooring because I do find it very slippery when wet and I also wanted to reduce glare from sunlight. L wanted more of a glossy finish because easier to clean. But I explained about wanting a bit of grip and, here in the apartment, slightly texture, mat finish tiles don't seem difficult to clean.

I guess my photo does not show it, but the front porch is under the pronounced overhang from the 2nd floor terrace. That should keep it dry in non-windy rains. But you make a good point and we will see what happens. I guess we can always find a way to texturize it more if it does not feel secure when wet...

As it's a small area, if worst comes to worst you can simply replace with a fully non-slip tile or alternatively there are adhesive strips that can be added to existing tiles - i'm dubious as to how well they'd stand up to outdoor use though.

[graham59]

You could also just put sections of rubber mat down on the tiled steps, during rainy season.