Building a house in Bataan

[Gary D]

On 2/10/2020 at 6:02 PM, Tommy T. said:

That's looking very nice, Gary. Very professional, neat and clean... Good on ya!

Well Panasonic Premium Inverters it is. We got two 1 Hp and one 2Hp for 110k from the local SM, it was like pulling teath and by the end I was losing the will to live, we bought a 50" TCL 4k tv and Samsung Washer dryer. Why do they have to write thing down so many times, it must have taken over an hour to write out the receipts. First they couldn't contact Samsung to see if the washing machine was available so suggested we had the shop display, but the soap tray was misaligned, right swap it from another model I thought but turned out to be the machine at fault so that was a no go, how about the next model down, which was what we were going to originally but anyway, could upgrade once they had contacted Samsung, how about we pay tbe more expensive price then down grade if necessary, no sir can only upgrade not downgrade  So with that settled of we go to pay. Good news sir you can have three rice cookers and two kettles for free, great I say. So lets pay and get out of here. Oh sir we need two receipt for the two lots of freebies.  ok I said, can we pay now. Of course we had been kicking our heels around the store now for the best part of an hour, so another rice cooker and a counter top cooker for SIL later we go to pay. We'd transferred 200k in the account with the atm card as we entered the store so should be no problems, yer, we found out the the daily limit on the PNB debit card is 50k, that's total not per transaction  So out came my HSBC debit which luckily could cover it.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Gary D

[Gary D]

What a difference a day makes.

The gates are being hung and the outside painted. Just the base coat so far but what a difference.

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, Gary D said:

What a difference a day makes.

The gates are being hung and the outside painted. Just the base coat so far but what a difference.

Just so you are well hung, Gary...

It all looks really good and professional...

[Mike J]

Very nice.  Curious what you plan on charging for rent if you are willing to share that info.

[Gary D]

1 minute ago, Mike J said:

Very nice.  Curious what you plan on charging for rent if you are willing to share that info.

The sister in law is renting the front apartment and we are using the larger rear apartment whilst renovating the old house, which will take some time due to budget constraints.

[Gary D]

Another week fly's bye. Yesterday we had three crews working, the decorators, the welders and the carpenters fitting the kitchen. I think it should look the business once finished. The doors and end panels are 3/4" mahogany. I suspect we will be visiting the stone masons in the next couple of days to measure up for the granite work surfaces.

[Tommy T.]

Again, Gary... This looks very professional and nicely done.

[Gary D]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Again, Gary... This looks very professional and nicely done.

From a distance it does but close up lacks the normal attention to detail we come to expect. The carpenter makes great furniture but doesn't really understand western style kitchens, Glaringly obvious things like the oven is slightly offset to the cooker hood. He had originally put a kickboard and floor not understanding that front loader washing machines stand on the floor.

[Tommy T.]

23 minutes ago, Gary D said:

From a distance it does but close up lacks the normal attention to detail we come to expect. The carpenter makes great furniture but doesn't really understand western style kitchens, Glaringly obvious things like the oven is slightly offset to the cooker hood. He had originally put a kickboard and floor not understanding that front loader washing machines stand on the floor.

Gary... You might try doing what L and I do here? She knows a carpenter who really is a carpenter. He is more expensive for his work than others, but then he does better work. He will fabricate some of  the cabinets and wardrobes for our new home - but not the kitchen cabinets, those will be done by a professional outfit called OTR.

I have been learning that there really are some good craftsmen here, but you have to seek and learn and maybe experience to find the ones that will work to your and my expectations as foreigners... But there are some here!

But still, your build/renovation looks really good and professional and at least semi-western in design and layout.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Gary D]

2 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Gary... You might try doing what L and I do here? She knows a carpenter who really is a carpenter. He is more expensive for his work than others, but then he does better work. He will fabricate some of  the cabinets and wardrobes for our new home - but not the kitchen cabinets, those will be done by a professional outfit called OTR.

I have been learning that there really are some good craftsmen here, but you have to seek and learn and maybe experience to find the ones that will work to your and my expectations as foreigners... But there are some here!

The Manila kitchen companies were quoting 200-300k just for our small kitchen and baring in mind this is only the guests quarters I'm trying not to get carried away. Saying that we will live there for while, can see a year or two, I set my budget to 100k excluding appliances. The kitchen is 49k plus about another 30-40k for the granite worktop.