Building a Home in Davao

[JDDavao II]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Here's one of the crew doing that rebar bending...

The guys who did our wall used the nails-in-wood method to make bending jigs for the Rebar. The crew that did the house actually welded up a jig for it. They let me keep it after the house was built. 

[JDDavao II]

1 hour ago, RBM said:

Another item to put on the list Tom is out side faucets, my engineer never thought about it. Looks good progress to me how ever expect a few bumps along the road.

Oh yes! We have three. One at the end of the driveway, one at the back of the house and one on the far side of the house. Truthfully, we've been using rainwater for most things, including watering plants when its dry. But we needed that spigot in the back to water the piggies.

[Tommy T.]

21 minutes ago, jimeve said:

Another thing is the rainwater pipes, ours are embedded inside the walls. One of the pipes got blocked and have tried to unblock it without success, only thing to do is find where it's blocked and smash the wall.

 

Jim... before you do that... try pouring a bunch of Joy dishwashing detergent down that pipe. Follow that up with fairly hot water - like too hot to touch, but not enough to boil... It may dislodge whatever rubbish is blocking. You may need to repeat both...

 

[Gary D]

Another tip specify the wc's to be siphon types rather than the cheaper flapper ball types which often leak down the pan.

[Tommy T.]

30 minutes ago, JDDavao said:

Oh yes! We have three. One at the end of the driveway, one at the back of the house and one on the far side of the house. Truthfully, we've been using rainwater for most things, including watering plants when its dry. But we needed that spigot in the back to water the piggies.

I may need to get three water taps - your setup sounds just right for us... thanks! We hope, also, to use rainwater for irrigation... I mean what is better and more natural? I will add this to my lengthening list of options and concerns... Thanks JD!

But no piggies here!

Edited September 27, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Tommy T.]

18 minutes ago, Gary D said:

Another tip specify the wc's to be siphon types rather than the cheaper flapper ball types which often leak down the pan.

Another great idea - thanks, Gary!

[intrepid]

Tommy, I wanted to send you a PM but your account will not receive.  Do you have email or another contact method?

[JDDavao II]

32 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

 We hope, also, to use rainwater for irrigation... I mean what is better and more natural?

You may be able to find "first flush" kits at Trust Home Depot on Ecoland Drive near John Paul II college. They are spendy (we sent ours ahead of us after ordering in the US) and can be a pain to keep clean but they will help keep your rainwater containers cleaner.

We have two 1,000-liter blue Best Tank tanks, one on each side of the house. Basically a 3" downspout comes out of the gutter and branches off from the T included with the kit into the tank. A portion of the downspout continues from that T down the side of the house. At its end is a plastic ball and a weeping nipple.

The first bit of rain washes dirt off the roof. That water comes off the roof, into the gutter and down the pipe. Since it can't rush out of the end of the pipe, the water makes the ball rise in the pipe until it seals the end of the T which then forces the rainwater to go into the tank.

Essentially, the "first flush" of dirty water fills the end of the pipe and cleaner water goes into the tank. The dirtiest water drips slowly out of the nipple.

Our problem is that the roof is so large, and the area so damned dirty, the end of the pipe gets filled with dirt quickly and I have to clean it after every rain.

But it you're going to have large tanks, it will keep you from filling them with a ton of dirt.

[Tommy T.]

29 minutes ago, intrepid said:

Tommy, I wanted to send you a PM but your account will not receive.  Do you have email or another contact method?

I know... I have not had PM since before... I am not sure what is appropriate here in the forum now and am also not too willing to make any e-mail public... 

I don't know what to suggest... Maybe one of the moderators can offer a solution?

Edited September 27, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Tommy T.]

56 minutes ago, JDDavao said:

You may be able to find "first flush" kits at Trust Home Depot on Ecoland Drive near John Paul II college. They are spendy (we sent ours ahead of us after ordering in the US) and can be a pain to keep clean but they will help keep your rainwater containers cleaner.

I will check that out... I live less than 100 meters from that store. ... thanks for the tip!

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Tommy T.