Building a Home in Davao

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

Well, I am a total fan of cool air, HK... and also love the feeling of getting into bed with the cold, crisp, freshly laundered sheets and my nice, warm, freshly showered honey...

Whilst I love my wife dearly, of course, Tom - the happiest sleeping times of my life were the periods where I was living alone and had the bed all to myself.  The idea that I could spread out as much as I liked without risking injury from an angry partner and the ability to find the coolest part of the bed when snoozing.  

[graham59]

I have my own (soundproofed !) room. No aircon.  

Point the fan at the bed (which I literally made myself)...and sleep like a log. 

No condensation either. All concrete construction. 

The human body wants to be cooler at night...with a slowed metabolism, for a good night's sleep...so I've read somewhere.  

[stevewool]

8 hours ago, graham59 said:

 

The human body wants to be cooler at night...with a slowed metabolism, for a good night's sleep...so I've read somewhere.  

Playboy magazine 

[Mike J]

18 hours ago, hk blues said:

Bloody hell, Tom 16c is Baltic!

When we lived in Yakima, Washington we had a programable thermostat.   In the winter the temperature was set to 16 at night and when we were at work.  Just prior to arriving home from work the furnace (natural gas) would raise the temperature to 21, then automatically lower at 9:00 pm.  Like Tommy we slept under a nice comforter, light weight but thick and warm.  We also had an electric heating pad under the mattress cover.  Each side of the bed had it's own heat control.  Wife kept her side warm, I kept my side cool.  In the summer we would reprogram the thermostat to (aircon) to 21 at night and 27 during the day.   In Yakima winter temperatures could drop to minus 30, and summer heat cold get over 40 on a daily basis.  It was EXPENSIVE to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer.   I even had an electric engine block heater installed on our car to keep it warm on really cold sub zero nights.

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

 I even had an electric engine block heater installed on our car to keep it warm on really cold sub zero nights.

Yes... I understand. Those are standard for virtually all cars and trucks in Alaska. My dad stuck a heating wand in the oil fill of his small tractor that he used to plow the snow off the driveway in the winter (near Chicago) and cut the grass in the summer. Extreme climate there too, but not on a daily basis like Eastern Washington.

[RBM]

14 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

She has a real problem with fan blown air or air con fan blown air... But she puts up with it and my extra benefit is that she snuggles closer to me always... I will keep the air cool now forever!!!

Interesting Tommy, never ever heard of that, every Filipina I have and do know just loves the full force of a fan. This has always been an issue for me, I hate it,  seems they only know one speed, flat out which I hate and why i installed ceiling fan.

Even my local over the road, open air no air con, locals sit together and fan is on full power every time I go there. These fans are less than 2 meters from them, seems they love it.

[Tommy T.]

53 minutes ago, RBM said:

Interesting Tommy, never ever heard of that, every Filipina I have and do know just loves the full force of a fan. This has always been an issue for me, I hate it,  seems they only know one speed, flat out which I hate and why i installed ceiling fan.

Even my local over the road, open air no air con, locals sit together and fan is on full power every time I go there. These fans are less than 2 meters from them, seems they love it.

I never heard of that before either. She enjoys natural breezes outside, but any mechanical fan air makes her feel physically ill. I don't know how or why her body feels the difference - to me, air is air...

It is, indeed a bit strange. But she likes air/con in a room at about 25-27 C, just not the air flow. If I am sitting at the table or on a couch with a ceiling fan turning, she turns it off soon after joining me. On board the yacht, I always had a strong 12 volt fan blowing on me whenever I was below decks. I even rigged one to use when doing work in the cockpit or out on deck using spring loaded clamps.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Tommy T.]

Another positive story about our home build...with a couple negatives too...

We complained to the contractor about the wood tiles in the bedrooms lifting. I mean REALLY lifting - up to two inches high in one place! L visited Trust Hardware where we bought the wood tiles and they gave her the name and phone number of the professional installer they recommend. We told our contractor that they should have hired him at the beginning in order to do a good job with the flooring.

Anyway, a team of four boys showed up today and started fixing the problem. The foreman had assured us he had allowed lots of extra space between the tiles and the walls. Well... after removing the wood trim between wall and floor, it was readily apparent that there was very little space allowed between tiles and walls. So the pros are fixing that now. I was just glad that there was no moisture causing wood swelling.

The boys have to chisel along the edges to make more space.

The negative is that, after fixing (maybe) two roof leaks a few days ago, there seem to be two new ones... They must be related somewhere. So the roofer will need to return again. As common, two steps forward and one step back as we finish our home...

Edited January 26, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Jake]

Any consideration of the final floor covering?  Perhaps a polyurethane non slip glossy finish?

 

[Tommy T.]

22 minutes ago, Jake said:

Any consideration of the final floor covering?  Perhaps a polyurethane non slip glossy finish?

 

Actually, no. The wood tiles are already finished with some sort of coating. They aren't really slippery either, even when wet. They are tongue and groove so trying to add a finish might not work so well. We will just wait a while and see how they wear. I guess we can always apply another covering if necessary in the future?

I am impressed with the look and feel of the compressed bamboo tiles, just not with the initial installation.