Reputable Home builders

["P2"]

The Mrs. and I are still evaluating our options on owning a home in the Philippines. We favor living on Bohol Island as it puts us centrally located to where we want to be and close enough to family members that we can visit them with just a short trip to the surrounding islands.

For you guys that are living on Bohol and had your house built, What builder did you use? How did you conduct your search for a builder? Average cost to build as opposed to buying an existing house? Average length of time to build?

When I "Google" builders in Bohol I come up with all sorts of hits. Most builders don't have a website. Some have a Facebook page that hasn't been updated in a while. I'm not sure I trust what I find on the internet. So, how do you find one that is reputable, uses quality materials and does a quality, professional job?  Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

[scott h]

This is not what you are gonna want to hear  there are not any "home builders" here, at least not in the sense you are thinking off.

1 hour ago, "P2" said:

How did you conduct your search for a builder?

Friends and family. In our case we had a 2nd (or 3rd) cousin who is an architect draw up the blueprints to our house. He then recommended a construction crew that he used all the time for his other projects. Which consisted of a foreman and the workers (mostly his relatives) who built the house. He did such a great job, that our neighbors hired him also. He then took an advance payment for the work on their project and disappeared. So never give money up front!

1 hour ago, "P2" said:

Average cost to build

Here they will give you an estimate per square meter. In our case, if memory serves ours was 63,000 pesos per square meter (13 years ago so dont beat me up to much if I am off) This is for 4 walls, a floor and a roof. This is using basic off the shelf materials, any additional things like skylights or high-end construction material or other things will add to the price. 

1 hour ago, "P2" said:

Average length of time to build

Depends on how many workers you hire. Again, in our case, we paid the workers weekly. (handed each laborer his pay envelope personally.) We wanted the house done as fast as possible, so we doubled up the normal crew. Took about 3 months total.

1 hour ago, "P2" said:

uses quality materials

I personally took a list of materials that the foreman would need the following day, walked down to the local construction material outlet, hand them the list and paid them. Then personally supervised the unloading and storage of the materials as they were delivered. That way I knew I was getting what I paid for. (I found out that there are 3 levels of cinder block quality and rebar thickness, and would be very easy to switch out)

Now this is my experience, others might be different. Good luck

[Mike J]

The best way would be to locate houses being newly built and/or in process in/near the area  you are going to live.  I see by your profile that you are still in the US.  Having a house built while you are not present will likely not turn out well.  The opportunity to cut costs and pocket the difference,  hire friends instead of workers, sell the materials, not build to spec, etc. are just a few of the potential risks.  Has it been done = yes, was is done successfully = sometimes.

[BrettGC]

There are some retired western building project managers that still do it has a sideline here; there's two in the Dumaguete/Valencia area that I know of through "friends of friends". 

You'd have to ask around the Bohol expat community to see if there's anyone similar and would be a great way to go. 

Even with the wife and I present for the current iteration of the renovation we still had some of the issues @scott h and @Mike J mentioned until we "fine tuned" the workforce and now have a reliable crew.  Basically, some will "try it on" regardless.  AM (wife) had a bit of a reluctance to be exacting in monitoring what was being done and how (being a local herself understandably to some extent) and correcting the issues so that's when I stepped in.  

Another issue we ran into was that the local campus of NORSU (university) is doing some major construction, the city is building a new edifice of a city hall and of all things, a major amphitheatre being constructed for cock fighting, so many of the reliable local workers ended up on those longer term projects.  Just something to consider when sourcing workers in any area. 

Be exacting, even down to which light switches turn on which lights for example - I'm not joking.  I lost count of the times that I've been in an apartment or home even in newer builds when we were looking for rentals a few years ago where the light won't turn on unless another switch somewhere else is off or on etc or the switch not even being in the same room as the light (again, not joking).  Kitchen bench heights - here the standard height is a little too low for even me being only 173cm tall (5'7 for those that still measure things that way),  definitely something to discuss with your wife though .  Sewer pipe diameter - the standard here is less than in other countries so the propensity for the obvious is higher.  Tiled floors in wet areas - make sure they're angled towards the drain and the surface is even underneath the tiles so they don't crack as soon as someone steps on them.  For some reason some of our guys baulked at installing ceiling insulation, no reason given.  Brand stamping going through the galvanising on roofing opening up the possibility for rust. Sorry for being so specific on these things, but they're all issues we encountered. 

Also, educate yourself.  That is, if there's any aspect of the build you don't have at least a working knowledge of go to Youtube or other sources and learn the basics. 

 

[Possum]

Here's a little VERY basic book for building in typhoon and earthquake prone Philippines. Notice the bending of stirrups for column and beam reinforcement. This is really important in adding strength and doesn't cost a peso more. The spacing of stirrups does cost a bit more though. The guys that I showed this little book to when building our addition are still using this method on other jobs. Sometimes showing them a book or video from the Philippines with Filipino engineers helps get across the fact that these methods are not just some nutty ideas from some alien.

https://www.unisdr.org/files/10329_GoodBuildingHandbookPhilippines.pdf

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, BrettGC said:

There are some retired western building project managers that still do it has a sideline here; there's two in the Dumaguete/Valencia area that I know of through "friends of friends". 

You'd have to ask around the Bohol expat community to see if there's anyone similar and would be a great way to go. 

Even with the wife and I present for the current iteration of the renovation we still had some of the issues @scott h and @Mike J mentioned until we "fine tuned" the workforce and now have a reliable crew.  Basically, some will "try it on" regardless.  AM (wife) had a bit of a reluctance to be exacting in monitoring what was being done and how (being a local herself understandably to some extent) and correcting the issues so that's when I stepped in.  

Another issue we ran into was that the local campus of NORSU (university) is doing some major construction, the city is building a new edifice of a city hall and of all things, a major amphitheatre being constructed for cock fighting, so many of the reliable local workers ended up on those longer term projects.  Just something to consider when sourcing workers in any area. 

Be exacting, even down to which light switches turn on which lights for example - I'm not joking.  I lost count of the times that I've been in an apartment or home even in newer builds when we were looking for rentals a few years ago where the light won't turn on unless another switch somewhere else is off or on etc or the switch not even being in the same room as the light (again, not joking).  Kitchen bench heights - here the standard height is a little too low for even me being only 173cm tall (5'7 for those that still measure things that way),  definitely something to discuss with your wife though .  Sewer pipe diameter - the standard here is less than in other countries so the propensity for the obvious is higher.  Tiled floors in wet areas - make sure they're angled towards the drain and the surface is even underneath the tiles so they don't crack as soon as someone steps on them.  For some reason some of our guys baulked at installing ceiling insulation, no reason given.  Brand stamping going through the galvanising on roofing opening up the possibility for rust. Sorry for being so specific on these things, but they're all issues we encountered. 

Also, educate yourself.  That is, if there's any aspect of the build you don't have at least a working knowledge of go to Youtube or other sources and learn the basics. 

 

I've experienced some of the above mentioned points.

One of the most frustrating is, as mentioned, when my wife seems to be siding with "them" rather than "us" in terms of sticking points.  Whether this is down to my standards being too high (they're really not, can't afford to be here) or a bit of solidarity against the nasty foreigner or what I don't know, but it often happens.  

We definitely have the issue of getting workers as Iloilo is experiencing a lot of development- I said this in another post in another topic.  It's all very well saying you should be doing this, getting this and paying this but at the end of the day you have to make the best of what is actually available.  Alternatively, don't get anything done.

We have just one example of eccentric wiring where the sparky has spliced the kitchen and dirty kitchen lights so there is a combination that needs to be followed to switch on/off either (after 9 years I've still not mastered that combination ) - the switches are together though so it's not a major issue.

So, yes, plenty similar experiences but with a measure of acceptance and good nature, we get there.

[graham59]

If I could re-live the past few years here, (regardless of province) I would not have a house built for me....and the pain in the arse that that involves from beginning to end.... but would buy an existing building (with correct documentation), after having rented for sufficient time to have given me/us a proper 'feel' for the preferred locality . 

There's no rush, is there ? 

 

[Guy F.]

We have started building a house on Dauis-Panglao Island, using an architect recommended by another expat. This architect is a one-stop shop, and is handling all of the construction, the permits and so on. We are letting him get started on the excavation, foundation and walls before we arrive to oversee the project. He seems to be conforming to western standards. We are getting reports accompanied by photos. One nice detail is painting the rebar with primer to prevent rust.

It's costing us just under P5M for a 130 sqm house with good quality finishing details. It should take 6 or 7 months to complete.

PM me if you want architect's contact info.

[fillipino_wannabe]

Better to just buy one if you can find one that you like, probably cheaper and certainly a lot less stressful. My house still isn't completely finished after 2 years and 4 months, was supposed to be 8 months. The contractors sub contractors just disappear for months.

[Possum]

4 hours ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

Better to just buy one if you can find one that you like, probably cheaper and certainly a lot less stressful. My house still isn't completely finished after 2 years and 4 months, was supposed to be 8 months. The contractors sub contractors just disappear for months.

If the house was supposed to be finished in 8 months but after 2 years is not the contract is null and void. Find someone else to finish the house. If the contractor has a PCAB license as required by law for persons building houses in the Philippines he will just bow out. 8 months is long past. However, if he is not PCAB licensed [most are not]  just tell him to pack sand and get someone else to finish the house as he has no recourse. Personally I would not want someone such your current contractor building a dog house much less somewhere I was going to live as he seems to be a scam contractor.