Our House Construction

[intrepid]

Well we finally started construction of our new house back in early November.    I have wanted to share many details but have just been too lazy and I don't really think there would be a lot of interest in another step by step process of house construction.  So you will get the readers digest condensed version.

  We had bought two lots side by side of 435 sq. meters in a secure subdivision located Sta Rosa Laguna.  We feel we got really lucky with our architect who was recommended by my brother in law.   He speaks english very well and we have become good friends.  My wife and I have full trust and confidence in him.  We started with a list of rooms we wanted and the minimum sizes.  Then the general layout which is an open floor design on the first floor along with the master bedroom on the first floor.(Like many others, I'm not getting any younger)  We supplied several pictures of what the exterior should resemble.  He drew it up several times before getting what we wanted.  He gave us a contract price which was of course more than what we wanted to spend.  But it included everything and more than what we expected.  Plus, I do not have to do anything with the building and buying of supplies.  The project is about 20 minutes from where we are renting and we just visit about every other day.  I take a lot of pictures and enjoy watching the building process here.  I have built four houses and one of them completely by myself.  This is the first where I have graduated to a position of leisure where I can just watch.  By the end of the first week, we had our water meter installed and the work crew was ready to mix concrete without bringing water to the site.  Our architect has a connection at Meralco and the meter was installed by the third week!  Just one of the benefits of using someone local who knows how to get things done.
I’ll post a few pictures now and again later as construction proceeds.  As I said above, I don’t plan on regular, daily or weekly photos and updates.  However, if someone may be interested in seeing a specific part of the construction, I’ll do my best to get photos and information.   The last picture is the water pipe.  That's some pretty heavy duty pipe for hot or cold water.

 

[stevewool]

Looks great what is your budget for the project if you don't mind me asking, and what size is the property too.

[intrepid]

24 minutes ago, stevewool said:

Looks great what is your budget for the project if you don't mind me asking, and what size is the property too.

Steve, The property size is 435 sq meters.  Contract for project is 6.62 million not including an estimated 650k for the wall.  About 292 meters.  11' ceiling first floor, 9' ceiling second.  Living room open through second floor to roof ceiling.  There is a masters bedroom on the first and second floor with two additional bedrooms upstairs also along with a family room and small balcony.  Master bedrooms are 25 sq meters.

[Happyhorn52]

Please continue posting periodic updates. I'm keeping notes for future reference.

[Old55]

I always enjoy reading this type post. Thanks for sharing.

[stevewool]

Just showed Emma this and out she comes with why cant we have a car port against our house , i think its some sort of car port on the right hand side of your plans aint it,

Anyway i said we can and i have said before but you wanted rooms built on top of it, ( i am worried that this may be used for the extended family ).

Anyway on our next trip or when i have given in to her suggestion, i may look into the cost of this,

[Queenie O.]

Best wishes on your new house construction Intrepid! If the dollar stays strong, that will be a big boost for you too!

Queenie

 

[intrepid]

4 hours ago, stevewool said:

i think its some sort of car port on the right hand side of your plans aint it,

 

Actually it's a two car garage, 7m x 7m closed on three sides.  Has windows on sides and doors you see are on the back wall.  One on left leads into dirty kitchen and the other to the back yard and walk around the house.

[intrepid]

1 minute ago, Queenie O. said:

Best wishes on your new house construction Intrepid! If the dollar stays strong, that will be a big boost for you too!

Queenie

 

Yes, we planned this when the dollar was just over 46.  The down payment was exchanged at 48+ The rest we will exchange after the first of the year as we need it, or as we see the rate starting to lower.  Although the predictions say it should remain up through 2018.  Oh yes we are happy about the higher.  I usually never have this kind of luck.  That's why when we planned our construction budget I used 45 for my rate.

[intrepid]

Well, it has been almost two months since construction has started.  They are making steady progress and seem to be on schedule.  Tomorrow they will be pouring the second floor concrete.  I am just amazed at the amount of rebar used in construction here.  Seems like there is as much weight in steel as concrete,...well almost.  The rebar mat for the second floor is actually two mats made of 1/2" bars.  The mats are built on a 12" grid and the two mats are offset so the largest open space is 6" square.  Also the ends are bent down several inches and tied to the lentils.  I just can't believe this structure would ever move in a bad storm.  Bad earthquake, maybe.  So we made a little change to the interior which required moving the maids room to the back side which is an addition to our original plans.  I hope we will still get our construction bond returned after completion.

In the photos below the first is the front porch which will have an arch over the front.  Photo shows the massive amount of rebar, and this is a porch!  Second photo shows the workers finishing the electrical for the first floor ceiling and rebar work for the second floor.  The final photo shows the open area of the living room below and the opening in the foreground is the stairway which is eight feet wide.  I wanted to upload an overview video but seems I cannot.