Building a Home in Davao

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, Jake said:

Well Tommy, I am really proud of you!  Your better half should be commended as well.  I don't think I want to piss her off....he, he.  Your house, soon to be a home will be your future castle where you have limited areas to go walking around naked.  Unlike being on a super yacht where you can go 7/24 butt ass naked.

Have you met your neighbors yet?  Often times, your comfort zone will be only limited within your walls, right? 
 
And last but not least, thank you Danny for showing us your high tech double gate.  I have another gate to properly bless...he, he.  

 

Thanks for your comments Jake! No... I would not want to piss off L....bad idea...

Hmmm... my yacht was only 40 feet long, Jake... no super yacht there. But I did usually walk around bare-ass... I know, I know, too much information!!!

I have met one neighbour very briefly and L is friends with the families of two other neighbours. I guess that's why we have 2 meter walls, hollowblock, (fence). The main reason for the tall fence was for privacy from nosy neighbours - which are very normal here...

My Gosh! You are going to have to drink a lot of beers to bless all you see around you! It's good that the alcohol ban was finally dis-banned today. I bought Tanduay, wine, beer!!!! I will do my best to keep up with you!

2 hours ago, intrepid said:

Jake, you are welcome to give it a try blessing.  May I recommend the wall nearby and not the steel gate.  I have it set with one of the parameters to act as a bowling alley lane sweeper.  When someone stands close to the gate and the area around it gets wet, it automatically sweeps the bystander away toward the street.

I will try to get a system with a similar parameter... thanks Intrepid!!!!

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, Jake said:

Well Tommy, I am really proud of you!  Your better half should be commended as well.  I don't think I want to piss her off....he, he.  Your house, soon to be a home will be your future castle where you have limited areas to go walking around naked.  Unlike being on a super yacht where you can go 7/24 butt ass naked.

 

I forgot to mention that the windows are also very dark tinted, so daytime should be mostly "discreet." For nighttime, we will have blackout curtains and blackout blinds...

[Jake]

4 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

I forgot to mention that the windows are also very dark tinted, so daytime should be mostly "discreet." For nighttime, we will have blackout curtains and blackout blinds...

Proud of you mate.  You're a damn sailor, through and through!  

[Tommy T.]

My update this morning...

We had to go out for an unplanned visit yesterday so that L could instruct the mason and foreman about exactly what she wanted for the tiles in the kitchen above the backsplash. She is very particular about some things... I am smart enough (sometimes) to stay the hell out of her way at these times... After an hour of talk talk talking and fitting on the floor again, they came up with the final design. L asked me and I just said "fine," after only taking a glance. So long as it is not pink, purple, green, orange or anything else outrageous, I am okay with anything. I don't look at the wall, I look at the dishes I am washing, out the window at the greenery or the food I am preparing...

Meanwhile, they have been installing the plumbing fixtures. The foreman took great pleasure to show me the water jet flow from the bidet that hit the wall on the far side of the CR!!! I was almost hysterical laughing at this... The ground floor and master bedroom CRs both have built in bidets in the toilet seats. They seem to have a "female" wash and then the, ahem, "everyone" wash? it didn't matter... either one splashed on the far wall in both CRs! Goodness... I laughed so loud that everyone working heard me and also laughed...

The foreman also took delight to show me that the shower on the second floor had good - not super - but more than adequate water pressure for the shower and taps. He is sometimes like a kid and we appreciate his enthusiasm to show us things he has accomplished. Of course, we let him know that we, in turn, appreciate his work and attention to detail and also to our desires.

We delivered a kitchen sink and two CR mixers for him to install. They all work with hot and cold since we have water heaters in those three locations. Not cheap either - about US$100 each - American Standard (probably made in China?).

The terrace deck off the master bedroom has already been re-tiled and now we don't feel like we are being propelled over the railing.

So, the kitchen cabinets are complete. There are a few small issues with them that we will work with OTR to fix - one of the side panels has three holes - perhaps from the previous installation? - and they were sort-of covered up with some sort of goop. That needs to be replaced. But the range fits and the counter tops fit and it all looks really nice.

The master bedroom shower is installed and looks really nice. We will be able to shower and look out at the yard while showering - is that decadent or what?? As you can see, the tiling is basic and simple. And you can see one of the toilets with the impressive bidet attachments.

 

[Tommy T.]

Today's visit was shorter than usual... Not so much to talk about since things are moving along.

The kitchen tiles are about half done. We had to go out and buy some more today and - shockingly - Wilcon had stock!!! The sink mixer is now installed and looks perfect! The range hood was installed also, but is rather askew front to back and needs adjustment. The range has a swing-up hinged burner cover and it fits up to just below the range hood. This was a potential problem since the counter tops are higher than standard and we had the foreman shim up the range to match them. We were afraid the cover might hit the cabinets or range hood, but it's a miss! Whew... another potential problem avoided.

The new refrigerator was delivered yesterday along with a new, stepladder for our future maintenance and improvement projects. This purchase was totally mine to make. I found a nice Panasonic model at Abensons (who service what they sell!) and the main thing I wanted was a low freezer as compared to the traditional top freezer. My logic was this: I do not like bending over for things and only access the freezer now and then. So why not place that at the bottom and all the regular cold food and drinks can live in an upper compartment that is easy to access? I will post after move-in if this idea turns out to be right. Beers, Tanduay, eggs, cheese...all at or near eye level? Once a day or two to get ice cubes, frozen foods? Will advise...

Ah... but s***!!!! I was looking at the island and noticed the counter top was significantly crooked on the cabinets... WTF???!!! How could the installers not see this?

We did not notice this before since the counter tops were all covered with newspaper for protection from dirt and dust. Fortunately, OTR went out there today to resolve the other issues we discovered on Wednesday. We were already gone, but the foreman was there and we briefed him on the problem.

So....next visit will tell the story about this latest problem. We are a bit unhappy about OTR's work and cannot recommend them at this time. Sure, they are working to make things right, but their staff and sub-contractors don't seem to think or observe their work?

The master bedroom shower now has the "sissy bar," shampoo and soap holders installed. We also bought a towel rack but it is not yet in place.

You may notice that some photos seem a bit dark?

There's a good (bad) reason for that. We have been connected to a neighbour's electricity for the past year!!! It took forever for the contractor to obtain the electricity permit. But it was finally issued this week and we have our own electric connection and meter. The sparky was there this morning and told us that, after securing loose wires and completing some outlet and light connections, he would power up the house! I am looking forward to turning on all the lights. I also want to test the air/con units and see if they will really cool the rooms as well as I planned. I need to test the water heaters and see if they work as planned.

We had our 480 liter water tank delivered yesterday and it is already on the roof deck to be installed soon. We will first try the regular service water supply and see how that works. Second possible step will be to see how the water tank gravity feed will work/augment flow on ground and second floor. Last step will be to buy and plumb in a whole house pump, if necessary.

[Gas]

We have the same fridge and so far so good. I thought you being American would mean a big ass double doored fridge with all the bells and whistles.

I built my own kitchen in 2001 with plywood and some black granite. Did everything myself and the total cost was 15,000php. Still looks ok, but could  do with a lick of paint,

[Viking]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

The new refrigerator was delivered yesterday along with a new, stepladder for our future maintenance and improvement projects. This purchase was totally mine to make. I found a nice Panasonic model at Abensons (who service what they sell!) and the main thing I wanted was a low freezer as compared to the traditional top freezer. My logic was this: I do not like bending over for things and only access the freezer now and then. So why not place that at the bottom and all the regular cold food and drinks can live in an upper compartment that is easy to access? I will post after move-in if this idea turns out to be right. Beers, Tanduay, eggs, cheese...all at or near eye level? Once a day or two to get ice cubes, frozen foods? Will advise...

I will also get  a bottom freezer model next time, for the same reasons you just said. I never understood why having it at the top and why the selections of bottom freezers are so limited compared to top freezers. In Sweden it´s the opposite, bottom freezers are much more popular, you can almost not find top freezers in the stores.

 

29 minutes ago, Gas said:

We have the same fridge and so far so good. I thought you being American would mean a big ass double doored fridge with all the bells and whistles.

I built my own kitchen in 2001 with plywood and some black granite. Did everything myself and the total cost was 15,000php. Still looks ok, but could  do with a lick of paint,

I have been looking at a Panasonic as well, the only thing that makes me hesitate about it is that some people complain of a feature that make it impossible to open the door again right after you closed it. You have to wait like a minute or something similar before it can be opened again and I guess that can get pretty annoying  when forgetting stuff as often as I do 

Have you experienced this or maybe that feature is only on some models?

[Jake]

Thank you for your progress report Tommy.  Regarding the refrigerator.....is there any way to padlock the door?  You know, when visitors come over.....he, he.  

[Tommy T.]

9 hours ago, Jake said:

Thank you for your progress report Tommy.  Regarding the refrigerator.....is there any way to padlock the door?  You know, when visitors come over.....he, he.  

I guess we can just lock the doors to the home when we know Navy guys will stop by to visit - and drink? But we will also have a "bar" refrigerator. That will be on the second floor and will be a secret... That's where I will store the beer and Tanduay!

Edited September 26, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Tommy T.]

16 hours ago, Viking said:

I have been looking at a Panasonic as well, the only thing that makes me hesitate about it is that some people complain of a feature that make it impossible to open the door again right after you closed it. You have to wait like a minute or something similar before it can be opened again and I guess that can get pretty annoying  when forgetting stuff as often as I do 

Have you experienced this or maybe that feature is only on some models?

Never heard of or experienced this feature. I did not see any lock mechanism on the unit.

Responding to @Gas comments... Hmmm... I resent his thoughts a bit about being American and buying the "big ass" double door refer...  I would never buy one of those because just opening the freezer door lets out all the cold - what a waste. I try not to be so wasteful. However I do like the convenience of being able to access freezer items as easily as refer items.

Gas... he is doing a bit of profiling there. So should I mention anything about his being a cheap-ass Scotsman? (And, actually, I was born and raised in Canada, eh?). That would open up some comments. But to tone it all down, I don't believe or think that way... Just making a joke here... Sorry for my nasty comment, but I am feeling a bit testy lately...

However, I admire the photo of his kitchen build. That looks like beautiful work - way beyond my capability and ability. Very nice work, and it does look like the identical refrigerator that I bought.

Edited September 27, 2020 by Tommy T.