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  1. ShawnM

    ShawnM DI Forum Patron ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Blood Donor Veteran Air Force

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    When I designed and built our house I wanted to include comforts that I was used to, the openess of the flat roof I found in older Korean homes as well as incorporating a dirty kitchen upstairs.

    Fast forward and I'm not feeling certain things. The views of having an open second floor is great and allows for quite a number of folks to come over for a BBQ or event. The problem is when the rain comes in sideways the dirty kitchen "area" can get quite wet. I was never a fan of having such a high pitched roof over the area but the wife said it was the "style". Even though we went with the thickest gauge of metal roofing we have had leaks from things failing and was to the point we would need to replace it anyway.

    So the final decision was to close in the dirty kitchen area, with lots of windows and a sliding glass door to the rest of the roof as well as another concrete roof slab for that half to give us a third floor.

    Only a few days into things and am pleased with the progress from this contractor. Hopefully the forms and scaffold will be pulled by the time I get home next month.

    Attached are a few pictures and a rendering on what we are planning.

    Shawn

    Ceiling demo.JPEG Coco lumber delivery.JPEG
     

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  2. barryrio

    barryrio DI Member

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    Having read and heard the usual horror stories about house builds in the Philippines, I thought I would try and offset them with an account of what has been an extremely stress-free and enjoyable experience.

    I would add that until the recent birth of my daughter, I had always stood firmly in the rent, don’t build camp. However, her arrival brought about a change in perspective, and this build is my way of ensuring that both mother and daughter have a solid base to call their own long after my demise! After 10 years here, I went into this with eyes wide open and in full knowledge of the possible downsides and outcome.

    We live in Valencia, just up the road from Dumaguete. The land purchased is literally across the road from our present home and consists of two 400+ square meter sections. The intention was to build on one and use the other as a garden /dog run for the present. Possibly further down the line it could be developed or sold, as needs be.

    I initially did a rough sketch of the basic outline of what I wanted – 135 square meter 3 bed house with en-suite cr in master bedroom along with the overall area of the property’s footprint. I then took the advice of a very good Filipino friend who lives close by and contacted one of the municipal architects who drew up the blueprints and helped us expedite both fencing and building permit. Once these were completed, we were faced with the most important decision of all, who to go with as a contractor. Our intention was to do a turn-key operation, as I still work and did not relish trying to manage a building site, something with which I have zero knowledge! We obtained several quotes, including one from a very nice American guy who does some building up this way. Again, after canvassing local opinion and talking to both locals and expats in the area, we settled on a contractor called Isidro (Dhing) Santos, who is based within a km or two of Valencia Plaza. His quote was not the cheapest by any means, but our due diligence and instincts told us to go with him. And that was the luckiest, and best decision I have made in a long time. Suffice to say that, from start to finish, Mr Santos has been the consummate professional. He has been reliable, helpful, ethical and capable of thinking outside the box. Whenever I asked him to make any slight change or do any additional work in addition to that specified in the contract, the end result always far exceeded my expectations.

    The day after we signed the contract, Mr Santos accompanied my wife to the local hardware outlets in Dumaguete and purchased all the tiles, doors, kitchen worktops, windows etc. neede to complete the build and stored them in his warehouse. He also had his brother Toto Santos begin work on fabricating the roofing trusses immediately. From the get go he inspired confidence, more so as he was onsite each and every day throughout construction. His crew, who mostly come from Bindoy, a small place some 80 kms north of here, lived on-site and were the nicest, most hard-working bunch of guys you could hope to meet. They normally worked Monday thru till Saturday midday, but some weekends they worked straight through. The average number on-site each day was 10, though this was often increased to 12 or 13 whenever hitches appeared, such as the need to dig out and remove some huge volcanic boulders, all of which was done by manpower alone!

    The result of this approach was that the roof was on the property by around the 45th working day and the whole build topped out at 3 months 10 days, just three days over the estimated completion date given when the contract was signed.

    Throughout this period, all the work was done to a high standard under Mr Santos’ ever-watchful scrutiny, and the result, as usual, was everything we had hoped for and more. What started out at 135 sq meters panned out at around 180, as we ended up adding on an enclosed carport that runs the full length of the house and will effectively be a combined carport, storeroom and dirty kitchen!

    My wife, not having had many dealing s with officialdom up to that point, was understandably apprehensive as the build neared completion about navigating officialdom to get all the necessary inspections, signatures and clearances from City Hall to get an electricity connection. Having told Mr Santos of her concerns, he kindly did most of the legwork involved, arranged for the fire protection and electrical engineer’s inspection and had all the paperwork prepared for her so all she had to do was submit it to our local energy cooperative.

    I am not sure whether I am allowed to give Mr Santos’ contact details here, but if not, I would be happy to PM them to anyone who might wish to use his services. I am one very satisfied customer and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone contemplating taking the plunge and building their own place!

    I have included some pics of the build from day 01 to the present day (December23). All that remains to be done is some of the fitting out inside and the last licks of paint. This will be completed next week. I would add that we owe an immense debt of gratitude to several Filipino friends here in Valencia, without whose advice and assistance I would never have contemplated such a project, much less completed it in such a stress-free manner. We could not have done it without them.
     

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  3. ShawnM

    ShawnM DI Forum Patron ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Blood Donor Veteran Air Force

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    A few more pics on how things are starting to come together. Fairly pleased, bit of a challenge to get the guys up on how to do the reinforcing for the stairs but they came out pretty good.

    Ended up extending my time off until the 11th so hopefully I'll be able to handle a few more things while here.

    Shawn
    2nd floor framing (1).JPG 2nd floor framing (2).JPG 2nd floor framing (3).JPG 3rd floor railing.JPG Stairs (1).JPG Stairs (2).JPG
     
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  4. knobhead

    knobhead The Knobster Infamous

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    I can tell you what the HOA did at the last place we rented. Even the home owner we were renting from refused to pay the 300 peso a month fee. So the President made up a large sign and set it next to the Guard house s when you are leaving it can be read. The sign was a list of all the home owners running down the left side and along the top was the months of the year. It listed for all to see who paid and who did not. Then they issued a windshield sticker for the cars and M/C's to the Home owners who paid. The guard would only open the gate for the residents who paid the fees. The others had to open the gate themselves. After 3 months the payments started coming in and people would even pay 3 to 6 months advance. Public shame is a very powerful tool.
     
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  5. gordm

    gordm DI New Member

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    Hi Neal,

    I really had to think long and hard before commenting. As most people know, our company owns this site and we are also in the Construction business, so though we do advertise our own businesses here, we try not to blatantly troll on it for work. I will try to answer to some of your concerns without promoting our own, lol .
    Typically here it is not unreasonable for an architect to charge you 3.5 to 5% of the contract price to oversee the work, however what they usually do for that fee is handle the construction management without the use of another contractor. That he wants to charge you a management fee, then have you enter into a contract with an independent contractor, would concern me a little 9you are paying his fee, plus the markup of the contractor). A secondary red flag is that he would be "managing" or "overseeing" a contractor he regularly deals with, and I would personally wonder how close their relationship is and how truly independent he is. I guess if it were me, I would want some one overseeing , in which there are no ties. Having said that, I do know Jet Construction from a competitor standpoint, and can vouch that they usually do very good quality work and are reputable (never heard of the other contractor personally).

    He is correct that most of us contractors do want to enter into a fixed sum price. Just easier and cleaner that way, however you are right to be concerned about the quality of materials. It is easy for a contractor to save a few bucks by using substandard materials, the main ones being steel or hollow block. Easy to get here, and unless you know what to look for then easy to be taken for a ride. Honestly it has even happened to us, however when we did catch on we did what it took to rectify the problems because we just do not want to be faced with the sh*t if the building fell down, regardless of how much we could have saved. Again, if you go with a guy like Jet, I think you would not have this problem.

    Several other things touched on here that you need to be cautious about. If you do not get the right contractor, you will leave yourself exposed financially. Most contractors,, and sub-contractors, just do not have the capacity to finance their work. Most will have to always be asking for advances and if they underestimated the job, or something goes wrong that they have to fix, in all likelihood they will not be financially able to finish. Either you give them more money or they walk. As a contractor, when we get a price from a sub, we always allow more than what they quote to insulate ourselves from a big hit.

    The other thing is having the work done while you are not here. I do not want to cut Filipinos down, but again typically a Filipino contractor doing work for a foreign client while the client is not here usually does not end up well, and not necessarily because the Filipino is trying to screw the foreigner. The problem is more related to communication, transparency and cultural differences and expectations. The Filipino may have all the best intentions in the world, however they normally just do not understand what a foreigner expects. What you or I may consider as goes without saying, is something they may not have any concept of, and most Filipinos either do not have the language and technical capabilities to communicate with you as you require to nip small problems in the bud, before they become major problems. As an example, we ourselves are foreigners so do have a better idea of what a foreigner expects as western standards but most of our clients are overseas for the better part of the construction process and even we have issues. To minimize this issue, we have web based site cameras that our overseas clients can log into and see what is happening on their site at any time. We also have site pictures taken of everything everyday and upload once a week for our clients to review. On Monday we usually start getting the emails from clients asking questions for clarification. Many times this has saved us all , lol. To make a long story short, regardless of which Filipino company you get, (and there definitely are some reputable ones in the area), they probably will just not be able to communicate properly with you overseas and odds are pretty good that when you get back , you will be in for some unpleasant surprises.

    A few last notes:, Typical design fees are around 250 p/sqm, but that does not include engineering stamps, structural analysis, or fees for the building permits. Design time should be 2-4 weeks and you should get a building permit pretty quick if all the requirements are fulfilled properly. When it comes to finishing items such as tiles, granite, faucets, water heaters, etc, best to just have the builder give you a budget schedule (eg 200 sqm for tile). If someone tries to specify one now, it will probably be out of stock when it comes time to buy it. Then you are at their mercy and could get dinged with extras that may be out of whack. At least if you have the budget schedule included as part of the contract, you will have a clear baseline if you have to choose other items.

    Anyway hope some of this helps Neal.

    Gord
     
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  6. ShawnM

    ShawnM DI Forum Patron ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Blood Donor Veteran Air Force

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    Last of the pics...
     

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  7. HHHHH

    HHHHH DI New Member

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    I was a carpenter for many years in the US, then became a contractor and then a building of homes. From my 50 years experience in construction I will agree with Gord as well as the others. Even if you get a good building/architect it will be difficult as there are questions that come up along the way and the decisions need to be made quickly or the work will stop.
    JET, or JT as I have heard him called has an excellent reputation in the community although I do not know him personally.
    I have built one house here for myself and it was an eye opener. I actually put my tools on and worked alongside the workers. (at nearly 70 at the time was not something I wanted to do) The materials here, in many cases are not the same as used in the US and some of the methods they use here are and will be a disaster in the future. For example, electrical wiring is twisted and then taped to make a connection here, it is standard. In the US a wire nut is used to connect wires together.
    We bought a house that was already built by a reputable builder. After about a year the floor tile, (ceramic), started to come loose, just one here and there at first, then most of them started coming up. When they lay floor tiles here they soak it in water just before laying. After a few months of this growing problem it occurred to me that used to happen in the US many years ago and was caused by tile setters soaking tile before laying. It was OK at first but usually years later, 6 or 7 in our case they started coming up, just as these tiles were coming up. This something that the tradesmen pass on to their protégées. Soaking of tiles inn the US this is now prohibited and the problem with tiles coming up has stopped.
    We replaced the tile throughout the house and as the tile setter was about to start he was soaking some tiles although he had been told not to prior to the work. I was there and told him again not to soak the tiles which he argued with me about. He was concerned it would not turn out right. I showed him the box the tile came in which stated, "do not ein water prior to laying". He did a great job on the tile.
    My point is that you need to know what you are doing and getting a knowledgeable, experienced contractor is the most important part of what you are about to endeavor.
    There will be paint colors, tile colors, cabinet designs, lighting, plumbing roof color, exterior wall color, trim colors and many more decisions that YOU must make that will be next very difficult to make from a distance.
    Good luck in your decision, I agree with every post made here. I too have lost lots of money investing in ventures here and have never had even a return of capital let alone return on investment.
     
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  8. ShawnM

    ShawnM DI Forum Patron ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Blood Donor Veteran Air Force

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    Attaching some pics on where things are. 3rd floor slab placed and 2 weeks cure time so the forms are mostly removed. Tying into the beam and 2nd floor slab for the stairs landing. I actually had hoped we could drill and epoxy the bars in, but there is just too much rebar so we are going to have to tie into the existing rebar. Just much more time consuming, even with the jackhammer. There are 2 columns that the stairs will pass by so hopefully we will be able to drill and epoxy into; these stairs are "floating" so getting them properly supported is kind of important.

    The new second floor ceiling will be grinded smooth as we can get, then skimcoat, sand and paint.

    The view is going to be nice once done and am really feeling this over that metal roof before. I plan on building a couple smallish houses at our farm and will probably go with concrete roofs coated with elastameric or what similiar product is available here. A much better use of space, maybe not as great for heat dissipation, but will see how that plays out. The wife plans that the second floor is going to be all windows so we aren't losing too much of the views and breeze we enjoy on the second floor.

    Shawn
    Chipping out beam for stairs.JPG Second floor ceiling.JPG Top of stairs.JPG Views (1).JPG Views (2).JPG
     
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  9. DeRail

    DeRail DI Member

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    Honey sent me some update pics thing going on ceiling is getting done
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  10. Sedona

    Sedona DI Forum Adept

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    It seems one of the main concerns of your post was to make sure that you are dealing with honest folks. I will just toss in my 2 cents of opinion here as someone who has had projects done for me by Gord and his company. Gord helped me to find my house and I purchased it through his real estate company. After that his construction company did a very major remodel for me in which we took a large one story house, pulled to roof off it, and added a second story. This was a major project as the first story was not designed from the beginning to support a second story, so additional supports had to be incorporated into the first story and then massive big steal beams had to be constructed on site to create the structure for the second story to be built on. All of this was done while I was still living in the US and it was great to be able to log onto the site cams and watch the work in real time, and just about every week I would receive a big batch of pictures and descriptions of where we were at in the process. When we arrived here everything was completed and ready for our move-in. I am absolutely confident that we could not have got a better quality construction, or a better cost than what Gord was able to deliver for us. My recommendation to anybody who is considering doing anything relative to real estate in the DGT area (buying, selling, building, remodeling) ... your first step really needs to be to talk with Gord, he is so knowledgeable and experienced with all the 'unique issues' of working in this area. If you are overseas I would highly recommend that it is very much worth the expense to come here in person and see your property and meet with Gord to discuss your plans. Whether you ultimately use his services or not, certainly you will come away much better informed.
     
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