Building a Home in Davao

[Snowy79]

Here's some stuff that's been on the market since 2015. 

https://youtu.be/NvlGamh66bE 

[hk blues]

On 3/28/2021 at 7:32 AM, Mike J said:

I am not familiar with wipe out?  Is that a brand name?

Yes, Mike, it's a polish which is excellent for minor blemishes on wood and gives wood a nice shine. It's like a wax. Can be bought in hardware stores as well as in SM supermarket.

[Tommy T.]

It's been a while, so here's a short update on the home build here...

Today we have 7 workers here - two house cleaners (due to all the sanding and painting while getting new custom cabinets and shelves installed), two yard workers (they are cultivating some of the property in preparation for planting caribou grass sod and moving around several small truck loads of soil), two painters and one cabinet maker doing finishing touches on the many cabinets and shelves we decided to have installed.

Some workers we hired finally fixed the last of the pesky roof leaks and improved some of the gates and fence installation. We have worked hard to prevent rat infestation by adding steel and cement to gaps to at least minimize these incursions. So far, so good. We did see some rats a few weeks ago before the improvements and they (or it) were eating the poison I put out. Now the poison is untouched (or they are getting picky?).

We have the new "guard" dog and are working on training him. Goodness, he is very high-strung and active.... But he is also alert and barks at strangers or things that have changed since last time he might have been exploring somewhere.

We have developed the garden quite a bit and are successfully growing wing beans, string beans, cucumbers, spring and red onions, garlic, pechay, bok choy, tomatoes, squash, cacao, papaya, table bananas, lemon grass, basil, garlic chives, lots of the small hot chilies, bell peppers, corn, asparagus (these will take a few years!!), cilantro, dwarf coconut...

I just finished a stint with the Honda weed wacker knocking down all the taller grasses and weeds. My goal is to emulate Graham's nice, green grassy, park-like landscape, along with the plethora of veggies and herbs.

L and I have bought a bunch of various flowers and plants to assist in blocking out neighbours and adding to our personal privacy. We have lots of Chinese bamboo and some others that also don't spread all over, but simply cover some areas as they grow.

So... in short, we have progress. Next post, I will include photos that will illustrate and document the work we have accomplished...

[Mike J]

20 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

We have worked hard to prevent rat infestation by adding steel and cement to gaps to at least minimize these incursions. So far, so good. We did see some rats a few weeks ago before the improvements and they (or it) were eating the poison I put out. Now the poison is untouched (or they are getting picky?).

We have the new "guard" dog and are working on training him. Goodness, he is very high-strung and active.... But he is also alert and barks at strangers or things that have changed since last time he might have been exploring somewhere.

I love dogs so posting this as a "public service notice" .  

<snip>

Rat and mouse poisons, also known as rodenticides, are products formulated to kill rodents. The chemicals used in these products are often highly toxic to dogs and can cause internal bleeding, kidney failure, organ damage and even death if eaten by your dog.

<end snip>

[Tommy T.]

57 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I love dogs so posting this as a "public service notice" .  

<snip>

Rat and mouse poisons, also known as rodenticides, are products formulated to kill rodents. The chemicals used in these products are often highly toxic to dogs and can cause internal bleeding, kidney failure, organ damage and even death if eaten by your dog.

<end snip>

Yes, Mike I am well aware of this, thanks. One of the most common formulas is Warfarin - a blood thinner used medicinally for humans commonly also to help minimize risks from strokes or heart attacks that may be brought on from blood clotting. Taken in quantity by rodents, it causes them to bleed out and die. Of course the same would happen to any animal that might ingest it.

I made sure to place the bait where the dog does not go - upstairs on a terrace - the dog does not go into the house, but there have been past signs of rodent activity there.

[manofthecoldland]

40 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I love dogs so posting this as a "public service notice" .  

<snip>

Rat and mouse poisons, also known as rodenticides, are products formulated to kill rodents. The chemicals used in these products are often highly toxic to dogs and can cause internal bleeding, kidney failure, organ damage and even death if eaten by your dog.

<end snip>

A very good point to keep in mind if you have to revert to using them. They sell 3 or 4 variants at Handiman here, and quite a few years ago when we had a different type structure for the 2nd floor of our house which had an inner plywood shell inside hardwood framing with a bamboo and nipa roof mice were a natural occurence. Since we keep two dogs and often let the one who is an excellent and proven 'ratter' run free in the enclosed property at night, that was always a major concern of mind. 

If mice take up residence and start families, you will  be plagued with continual noises of them scurrying overhead or within hollows, which will drive you nuts. With poison, you risk having them die inside these spaces and start rotting until the ants and cockroaches dispose of the corpses, but it takes much longer than dead geckos or small things for them to consume so there may be an unpleasant odor for a while. 

Nevertheless, I would sometimes use the blue or pink colored pebble poisons which I would introduce into the walls with paper funnels if there were any construction gaps close to the noise areas where they were living. It helped since there were no odors due to the outter design of bamboo and Nipa which was well ventilated... but not a perfect long term solution. 

We now have a new 2nd story structure with steel roof and no ceiling so I can see the trusses overhead. No enclosed hollows. When they do come around, I  can quickly spot them and put out my live-cage traps at night. 

Its almost impossible to keep all rats and mice out all the  time if you live near rice fields or empty lots with natural  growth on them. After harvest or in times of long rains and flooding they are forced to higher ground, like houses. Rats can climb vertical walls and mice have no problem traveling along beams and rafters even though it looks impassable and impossible to do so. I've seen it happen  more times than I like, and almost believe they have super powers that defy gravity. They are super gymnasts.

They will burrow under your concrete perimeter walls, so keep an eye out for new holes appearing in the enclosed yard. That might be where you would dump a little poison if you can partially cover or block it to prevent your dogs from digging down to it. With a long paper or cardboard funnel, you can put the bait deep. I think the next rains would dissolve it, so you will be injecting god-knows-what in terms of chemicals into the soil, however. Might not be a  great idea, since its just a short term solution.... but whatever you chose to do will be so, IMO. 

I backfill any burrow openings I find, Usually though, they are connected underground and have alternate exits, but it makes me feel better to know that they will have to work harder for entry that way, and maybe move on to easier pickings. If more of the neighbors engage in pest control, it will keep the numbers down, but I doubt many do. Most people just live with them, like they do with other pests here, only taking the trouble to protect their food supply and tolerating the occasional rat, mouse, larger lizards and the like. Snakes are another story though, and people will actively seek them out and kill them.

I trapped out the last invasion two months ago, but whenever I spot one scurrying about on our property, I put out my cage traps and bait them with the garbage leg bones from my chicken dinner, since it is very easy to hang them in the bait crook inside the trapping cage. The bait is only good for the night, since the insects always will manage to get to it and devour it after several hours. Peanut butter works well on snap traps and you can mix in some borax that works well on killing some of the pesky ants and cockroaches that are around.

Two months ago we had an influx of rats, and over 3 nights we trapped 8 of them, and the dog killed 3 more. I'm always happy when we catch the larger, smarter ones since they are the breeders and are usually pretty savy about traps. The younger, smaller ones aren't so clever.  I had two consecutive mornings where there were 2 young rats in the same cage.

Very easy to give them a bath, dropping the cage into a bucket or basin of water, and then casting them into the adjoining fields to return them to the perpetual cycle of nature.

Pest control is a normal part of household maintenance chores for us. It takes a while to perfect your methods, but you do learn what works best for your situation. I used to use spring traps of various designs that I would order on-line from China and Korea (very cheap in cost and delivery, but now rely on the local public market for very inexpensive metal live traps when they rust out.

[Tommy T.]

A very quick note:

We have a guy here making some simple cabinets for us. He does not do the best work, but does decent work and is very mindfull and careful of our ideas and plans.

Well, today he was working on fitting some parts of a cabinet together and it needed some refinements. He started to work with sandpaper. I introduced my grandfather's old wood rasp and then my own Dremel tool with sanding wheels. He immediately grasped the value and use of each tool (and I NEVER loan tools) and was careful with them.

He has many of his own tools - Skilsaw, drill, etc... But he also values buying new tools for his work. I showed him how to care for his hand tools using WD40 to clean and coat them. He really appreciated the advice. I was impressed to have a real craftsman, with his own tools, to work for us here. He can also do quality welding... 

We have finally found some craftsmen to do some of our finish work on the home, gates and grounds...

They really do exist, but one must be patient to find them and also must supervise always - even the good guys need to be guided along the way...

[Tommy T.]

As promised... some photos of the latest "finishing touches," and life in the new home.

Some of our simple shelving and cabinetry:

This is really a table that we will move out from the wall in the event we have a guest staying in the room who uses the air/con.

The wet bar essentials.

Office/library shelving.

Tool and storage cabinet for outdoor stuff, electric and plumbing bits. There is open shelving next to it for rakes, shovels and other things. There is asparagus trying to grow in the rectangular pot in the center...

Growing things in the backyard:

General view.

Close up of part of garden with new trellises made of bamboo and plastic twine.

Corn and beans and talisay.

Our main yard worker who shows up most Saturdays to assist with landscaping and garden maintenance. He has proved to be a very hard worker and wonderful helper!

Our first tomatoes!

We have already enjoyed the first pechay and bok choi.

The first daikon radish!

Special low growing grass "sod" plugs that will spread out into a low maintenance sort-of lawn. Some of L's flowers around her artfully arranged huge rocks.

Some landscaping plants already in place. Also our custom made cement stepping "stones."

The guard on vigilant duty:

Actually, this is one of the rare moments when he is relaxed. I am training him not to bite our clothes or jump up on us when we walk by. He is a very energetic puppy. But I am making good progress. We still have all our fingers and toes and he has only ruined one of my shirts - so far.

Another few days and the painters will be finally done, as will the cabinet maker/welder.

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Queenie O.]

Tommy--if your yard is completely enclosed, eventually you could let your dog run free.

Our two pets/watchdogs have free rein around, and because they are very territorial, they love to vigilantly police and alert us of anything that they don't like. Great "doorbells" too!

Everything looks great Tommy!

[Mike J]

21 hours ago, Queenie O. said:

Tommy--if your yard is completely enclosed, eventually you could let your dog run free.

Our two pets/watchdogs have free rein around, and because they are very territorial, they love to vigilantly police and alert us of anything that they don't like. Great "doorbells" too!

Everything looks great Tommy!

Same with us, plus we keep the doors open to the sea breeze all day so the two dogs can come and go as they please.  Same with the three cats.  At night all the critters sleep out side.   Side note - all animals are spay/neutered so they tend to stay home and we don't have other dogs/cats trying to sneak in paw at the gates.