Philippines or Bust » rich

Isabela House (Construction Log 27) Details Details

rich — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:56:04 +0000

Over half the roof of the Hyner house is now metal tiled. Great sheets of the stuff have been pulled up on the roof for the past three days. Inside a variety of work continues. Ceiling panels are going up in most rooms as well as windows. Those in each bathroom are frosted for greater privacy. The steel security grilles for the larger windows are being created quite rapidly, just waiting for their decorative leaf design to be added and then it’s painting time. On the roof cappings are also starting to appear over the joins and a large gutter runs the whole width of the back of the lanai/viewing deck. Finishing touches are being made to the master bedroom ceiling prior to raising the floor with more concrete and applying the floor tiles. We have selected spotlights.

In addition more materials have been delivered for the perimeter wall and we have engaged an electrician to install lighting on the wall pillars and security floodlights. Materials cost has been calculated and we will negotiate shortly on the labour rate. We are also in discussions with our perimeter wall contractor regarding a pool, having already received a bid from Northcon, our main house contractor. Our wall contractor was responsible for the construction of a large public swimming pool, paddling pool and jakuzzi at Waterworld in the barangay of Ramon so we will be interested in obtaining a comparison quote from them. Depending on what offers we get, the remaining backfill and the entrance driveway are projects we may handle independently.

There are due to be rotated power cuts this week because of the impact of the long drought on HEP. So this will disrupt progress on finishing where power tools are required and this includes the roof.

House Construction Progress 17 March 2010

Every time we visit there is some feature being added that we had forgotten about. For instance the doorway between the dirty kitchen and the open laundry area has a molding around it as it is an outside door. All the outer doors apparently have these. I dread to think what these extra embellishments would cost to do in the UK, but then the whole house would be much more expensive, not to mention the land.

The average cost of a house in the UK is now £222,000 (P15.5M). In the south-east of England, even a two bed terrace house (joined at either side in a row of similar properties) will set you back over £160,000. Take an architect-designed house on three quarters of a hectare of land, similar to what we are building here, in the UK and you on another planet pricewise. Way beyond our means. But here you can have that dreamhome for less than the price of a UK terrace house.

The exchange rate of the pound vs peso is tragic at the moment but the compensation is that 1000 pennies (or £10) is the equivalent of a week’s wages for an average worker here. Hence you get a lot more for your money here when you want to build a house or run a farm or do many things. People are desperate for work so it’s a win win situation. You are providing much needed employment and they create an asset for you that you wouldn’t be able to afford in the UK.

As usual I pottered around taking photos of progress. Up on the deck the first floor tiles were being laid. While we were there this afternoon the foreman asked us to select from two pebble samples for the steps of the spiral staircase to the viewing deck.

We watched as the first security grilles were tested for fit to the bedroom 2 window. Inside the living room the welder had already constructed a number of similar grilles.

House & Wall Construction 20 March 2010

The perimeter wall is progressing nicely. More steel was delivered today to further strengthen the cross-beam structure and posts and binding supports will be added shortly. It is costly in terms of 10mm an 12mm steel rods but absolutely essential because of the weight of the backfill at the sides and the back where it will be 1.6 metres above ricefield level. At the front the difference in height is only around 0.4 to 0.6 of a metre.

A molding has started to appear around the entrance to the dirty kitchen from the open laundry area.

Work on the kitchen is expected to take another two weeks.

More security grilles are welded on the floor of the living room. It’s a good job that the living room/dining room area is big as it provides plenty of space for this kind of preparation.

Glass is in place to the side of the lanai doorway. Security grilles and steel door to be added.

This is the view from the viewing deck. While much of the vegetation is green el nenyo has left much of the ricefields brown as the irrigiation could not deliver sufficient water. Some of our rice will be OK, however, as we were able to pump water from nearby fishponds that are supplied by underground water. It’s amazing that even after such a long dry spell there still seems to be plenty of underground water.

Note the mountains in the distance. These are more visible some days than others.

Mangligot house waits patiently for attention while the focus is on the main house. Soon it will receive its own roof and external finishing.

The front wall grows and soon will receive steel railings.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 25) Windows & Contractors

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:55:07 +0000

As the team continued with the wall footings in the background we could see the the first window installed in the front wall of the master bedroom. The first insulation and roofing also appeared on the parking/garage. Inside the Hyner house the welders were constructing the first security grille, bending the steel into curling shapes. The spiral staircase from the lanai to the viewing deck was also receiving further welding.

Overnight we had a little rain so it looks as if the long dry spell we have been experiencing is about to break. All the more reason for our building contractor, Northcon, to push on with the installation of the roofing now that we have refined and strengthened the roof truss structure. We noticed that the steelwork holding the roof to the walls had been further reinforced with concrete.

After the workmen packed up for the day we climbed the spiral staircase to the viewing deck for the first time. The view is amazing. Even when all the roofing is installed we will have virtually 360 degrees view as when you are standing on the deck you are higher than every section of the roof. We are already talking about the sun shade we need to put up there but it will be a great place to finish the day with a beer, looking out over the rice fields. So we probably need to add a table and some chairs.

The first double glazed window was being installed in the master bedroom complete with sliding window section and insect screen. Looks very good. The welders were experimenting with the first security grille as these will be fabricated on site for each window.

House & Wall Construction 12 March 2010

In the kitchen the cabinet construction was continuing an the wall unit in the dirty kitchen has also been installed. Just a little more to do and then they can install cupboard doors and paint everything. We noted that the kitchen worktop, the concrete of which didn’t seem very strong, more like mortar which crumbled very easily, had been completed hacked out. Just beyond the laundry floor was a pile of rubble from the old worktop. They will re pour the concrete using the proper mix this time.

……….I had an interesting exchange with Northcon today regarding the definition of accomplished.

We will pay the 2nd billing request tomorrow as a mark of good faith but we find Northcon’s definition of completion a little out of the ordinary. The legal definition would we believe feature not merely the purchase of the materials but also their use/installation. Maybe it’s a word that doesn’t translate well into Tagalog!

As we enter a house that has no floor tiles, ceiling panels in only a few places, some roofing panels over the garage and the master bedroom, many windows not yet installed, doors not yet finally varnished or hung, no sanitary ware, kitchen units only partly completed etc. etc. we are apparently seeing something 81 per cent complete.

To be fair there is a vast army of men doing stuff all over the place at the moment so it will get to 81 per cent at some point but not today.

I apply a legal definition of completion while Northcon look purely at the cost on the basis that around 80% is the cost of materials and 20% the labor cost.

I think Northcon will actually do an excellent job and they will finish. If I didn’t have that faith in them, there is no way I would be willing to pay 81% of the contract price.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. For me it comes down to whether or not you trust your contractor. Northcon care which for me is everything. They have a certain pride in what they do and generally do it well or fix it if they don’t. What more can you ask. I just wish they would adopt a more sensible definition of completion. In my experience the definition Northcon use is the same one the Chinese use. The Chinese say they have done something when actually they have only just started it.

Fortunately our Filipino lawyer is not Chinese but I see no reason at present to involve him in the discussion as I still have confidence in Northcon.

…….When we visited the site today it had actually starting to look like a proper house. More windows had been installed, there was some roof on the master bedroom and even the ceiling panels for the same room. Certainly not 81% accomplished yet but an army of workers is pushing hard to get there. On the lanai railings had appeared on each side and in the living room a welder was almost finished fabricating the very first window security grille. Outside the perimeter wall at the front was starting to grow an everywhere there were piles of gravel, bags of cement and stacks of hollow blocks.

House & Wall Construction 15 March 2010

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 24) Wall Construction Begins!

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:44:20 +0000

A mechanical digger arrived on Thursday afternoon and by the end of the day had created a trench down most of the side of the Mangligot house. On Friday, however, the digger was working down the side of the back yard of the house when it hit some really hard material, almost like concrete except this was a natural deposit of some kind. Work then stopped while the contractor considered the options. On Saturday he called round at our rented house to suggest he could purchase an electric drill (a type that has been used to break concrete on the Water world project) but would need to travel down to Manila as this equipment is not available here. We would purchase it and afterwards we could either retain it for other digging in the lot or sell it and recover much of our initial investment. This could be a cheaper option than hiring equipment although it would mean a lot more manual work to create the trench. And it would take a great deal longer.

Out of curiosity on Friday afternoon I tried to hit the hard material with a pickax but quickly realized that it was a waste of time. However, on Saturday afternoon the solution had changed to hiring a more powerful, larger digger (excavator) and driver for 2000 pesos an hour (up from 850 an hour for the smaller digger). So we shall see how this works out. Otherwise acquiring a powerful electric drill may be the most sensible way around the problem.

As it turned out this was a very good decision. The larger excavator had much more power and cut through the hard deposits very easily. It also created a wider trench. All in all the best solution. In two days (by Tuesday lunchtime) the new digger had completed the rest of the perimeter trench and the local contractor and his team were able to start concreting the footings for the posts and install the prefabricated steel framework. They have already made the cylindrical formers that will be drop down the steelwork and then concrete will be poured into the molds.

Given the drought we have had for many weeks it was amazing to witness how quickly the trench filled with underground water. As a result it was necessary to create little dams with hollow blocks and gravel around each concreted footing to prevent the water entering.

By this afternoon (Wednesday) they had installed the steelwork for wall section posts down the side of Mangligot house and across the back of the garden, so two sides already have steelwork. I counted 17 sections down the side and 15 across the back. Once we have a section fully constructed we can work out the proportions of steel railing versus hollow block wall. Ideally we want railing sections in front of windows and at the back opposite the lanai with solid wall elsewhere.

The team building our wall led by Apong was still working hard when we visited yesterday. By the end of the day they had completed the footings and inserted the pillar steelwork for three sides of the perimeter wall with only the front section remaining. The front wall will have more steel railing elements than the side walls together with driveway and pedestrian gates, the former being slightly inset to make the front more interesting. The pedestrian entrance will have a little roof over it as well.

The underground water gathering in the trenches was being pumped out with the Honda water pump we purchased to overcome the lack of water for our rice fields from the irrigation company. The 15,000 pesos it cost us has proved to be money well spent and constantly comes to our rescue.

The piles of gravil from the trench and deliveries of material for making the concrete make the whole site look like a moonscape but we know that once each component is completed we can quickly complete the backfill and landscape.

Northcon’s senior engineer was visiting the site yesterday morning (waving at us from the viewing deck above the lanai when we first saw him) and showed us various finishing materials for our approval including floor tiles, door and cupboard handles, locks, door stops, and wire baskets. Guttering was starting to appear around the parking/garage and wiring to hold the roof insulation was also being installed prior to fiting the 0.6mm steel roofing panets supplied by Puyat Steel.

Perimeter Wall Building 11 March 2010

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 23) Fence Permit!!! Finally

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:39:43 +0000

Fencing does of course have another meaning in the English language, but I am pleased to report that the revised structural plan for our perimeter fence is now ready and we hope will receive the necessary approvals from the city engineer’s department this week so our fencing contractor can get on with construction. The amendments include the addition of more concrete to the base of the fence so that it will act as a retaining wall for the back fill, in addition to securing the perimeter. The absence of this feature was apparently the reason for non-approval of our original fencing permit application. Our thanks go to both Gina’s uncle and the City Engineer for helping us resolve the previous misunderstandings and we look forward to a more constructive relationship in the future as we complete our new home.

Life seems to be full of amazing connections. I was not aware that an old friend of mine from the US is now the mayor’s right hand man in Santiago City. It turns out that a classmate of one of the Northcon architects is now the wife of this man and when my name was mentioned it was instantly recognized. To cut a long story short we are arranging to meet up again and we have been assured that every assistance will be given us in establishing our new home here. So in many ways we seem to have turned a corner this week and will hopefully have a less troublesome relationship with the city engineer, our close neighbor in Patul, in the future.

Update Wednesday March 3: We have received the go ahead from city hall to commence construction of our perimeter fence. They said the permit would not be ready until Monday or Tuesday next week but we could proceed with building the fence in the meantime as the application has been accepted. The contractor who will build the wall visited the site tonight to begin planning, accompanied by the man who they will hire to operate the digger. They expect to start by tomorrow afternoon.

Once the wall construction has commenced we will complete the back filling and the concrete driveway.

Yesterday (Thursday) Gina was requested to visit city hall to sign the revised fencing plan, pay the permit fee etc. On the return journey we thought we would call in at the site in Patul and were almost there when we received a text from Gina’s uncle to say that the fencing permit had already been approved and was ready for collection so we went back again to pick up the papers.

Back at the site the mechanical digger had almost finished the trench on one side. The material removed was very good quality gravel which we can use for part of the remaining back fill. Our contractor will build one section fully so we can evaluate the effectiveness of the wall structure as well as the cost and the look of the wall. To manage within our budget, we will use steel railings only along the front and selectively on the sides and back where there are windows as steel is far more expensive than concrete and hollow block.

We are also due to review the roof trusses again now that additional welding has been done. It is definitely looking much stronger now but it’s a shame that it wasn’t done properly in the first place as it has slowed progress on internal finishing due to the absence of roofing panels. Rolls of insulation have already been delivered to the site and the roofing material is expected to arrive by the weekend. Windows we have been told will follow shortly after that. We are now almost at the end of the first week in March so we hope that faster progress can be made once these important components have been delivered.

Isabela House (Construction Log 22) Good Neighbors & Lanai

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:36:19 +0000

Maybe today we finally resolved all the different problems and misunderstandings with the city engineer. He will after all will be our close neighbor when we move to Patul.

Some confusion had arisen because of concerns about the back fill that had been provided by Northcon around the house and the need for additional back fill together with a fence that would not only withstand but also support the back fill. We seem to be a lot clearer now. In fact our fence will resolve problems rather than be a problem in itself.

The young engineer who assisted us had an accident on his motorcycle at the weekend so was not available today, however, he put Gina in touch with another more senior engineer who it transpires is her uncle. He explained the background to the different bits of information we received. Gina in turn explained why we had engaged a lawyer to represent us as the reasons for withholding the permit for our fence did not make sense.

There followed a meeting with the city engineer in which at last things seem to have been sorted out. Gina’s uncle introduced her to the city engineer as his niece. Both sides emphasized that we only wish to be good neighbors. I took care of Justin in the gardens outside, but apparently there was a level of transparency about what has been going on that did much to restore Gina’s (and my) confidence in both the city engineer and city engineering department. It’s a shame it had to come to a head like this but at least we understand each other now and hopefully we will not have so many problems from now on.

For our part we only ever wanted to comply with the building code and will not build unless we have the appropriate permits. As a business professional for me there has never been any other way. And although we have been encouraged by the barangay captain to act on the barangay permit alone and start building our fence, I am relieved that we decided to wait for the city hall permit. That way no one can accuse us of breaking any rules.

So maybe we understand each other better as a result of today’s discussions. We hope so anyway. The fencing permit application will now be revised to insert concrete up to the top of back fill level and resubmitted for approval. We hope this can be done today or at the latest by Friday so that our fencing contractor can start construction.

Watch Video House Construction 26 February 2010

In the last couple of days our contractor has started to construct the spiral staircase, our stairway to heaven, that starts from just outside the lanai and runs up to the viewing terrace above. First a very solid block of concrete was laid. Then a mounting post was added to which an inner steel tube was then bolted. An outer steel tube sleeve was then cut into small sections and a steel step was then welded and attached to each section, dropped into position on the inner tube and rotated to create the required spiral.

Facia stone is now being added to the lower sections of some parts of the exterior wall although, what with the mixture of acrylic coating preparation to seal some walls and test coatings of the final colour to others, the house is a bit of a Christmas tree colourwise at the moment.

As with so many other components of our house these things are built from the raw materials on site rather than purchased ready-fabricated. The same goes for our kitchen, which is being created by cabinet makers from scratch, not purchased as off-the-shelf flatpacks a la mfi. So in a real sense most of our new home is custom designed and built.

The UK pound is now down to 70 pesos (not lifted by the revision upwards in UK growth statitistics announced today), although, except among the expat community, there seems little awareness here of the strength of the Philippines peso against the traditional reserve currencies or the damage that it is doing or will do to sales. A lot of interest has been expressed in our house, who we are having construct it etc, however, I detect a growing resistance among expats to constructing homes in the Philippines and decisions postponed or cancelled due to the appreciation of the peso. This is not in any way a vote against contractors like Northcon but the natural consequence of the peso’s appreciation.

We too have decisions to make regarding the additional sub-projects (driveway, backfill etc) but the strength of the peso creates a dilema for us. To make matters worse, whereas last year we would have accepted bids from our contractor after a little re-negotiation, now we find they are more reluctant to shift on price, some revised bids are actually higher than initial bids, and some bids absurdly high, suggesting they don’t even want the work unless we are prepared to pay a silly price. As a result we are awarding projects to local contractors rather than Northcon as we can exercise more control over the cost of materials and labour and bring projects through at a price that is affordable given the strength of the peso.

The accumulation of cancellations and postponements is not good news for building contractors here, so while there may be work for some at the moment, there is likely to be far less going forward unless they review their margins.

All businesses, building contractors included, have fixed costs they must cover whatever, so once the variable costs of a build have been covered i.e. the materials and labour, every peso they earn makes a contribution towards those fixed costs. This is what is often referred to as marginal costing. It provides a template for companies when bidding. No work means no contribution to those fixed costs. Trim the margins, reduce the contingencies, and the bids are more likely to be accepted by expats under pressure due to the appreciation of the peso.

A structural analysis is being added to our fencing permit application by Gina’s uncle, who is a senior engineer at City Hall, and we hope it will then receive approval so our fencing contractor can begin construction. We met with the fencing contractor today to discuss ways of limiting the cost of the design above the retaining concrete/backfill level while at the same time maintaining security features. We hope we will not have to wait too much longer for the fencing permit to be released as the original permit application was submitted on 1st February.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 21) The Beauracracy Runs on Filipino Time

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:31:21 +0000

Next week should prove very interesting.

We have been told that a notice will be issued by the city engineers department although the content is at present unknown by any of this staff. When we visited city hall on Monday to ask about the overdue fencing permit the city engineer referred to a problem with the building permit but as he signed it there obviously isn’t. Now it seems the reason for sitting on our fencing permit has changed from a problem with the building permit to a problem with the building. So we don’t know where we are!

Two engineers from city hall visited the site on Tuesday and Wednesday and with the aid of the full house plans measured things and took a bore test outside the dirty kitchen presumably to measure the compaction of what they thought was backfill but is actually a combination of the debris built up when drainage holes are dug after the backfill has been completed as well as the original gravel. To our knowledge there is no requirement for these external areas of backfill to be re-compacted. Provided the building itself is on properly compacted backfill, which we know with certainty it is, there is no further requirement. We know also that the height of the backfill was carefully measured by Northcon many times over so suggestions that the height is not consistent with the approved plan makes no sense. Measuring an area that has gained rubble from sanitation trenchworks is clearly invalid as this will be removed when the trenches are fillled in, and anyway it is beside, not under the building. So we watch events next week with interest.

Our contractor, Northcon, has assured us they will act on whatever the notice contains. The city engineer has a right to inspect and raise notices but the basis of any notice has to be valid. Northcon are meticulous in their measuring and testing and engage an external government agency for the most critical ones. We don’t think the city engineer is aware of these independent government test results so it could prove extremely embarrassing if they are at variance with those recorded by his own engineers.

In the meantime we appointed a lawyer yesterday to deal with the outstanding issue of the fencing permit which is being held back improperly by the city engineer. We felt it was preferable to engage a lawyer to protect our interests as we felt we were being lead on something of a wild goose chase by the city engineer. It has proved impossible to see him lately, despite waiting over an hour outside his office the other day, and subsequently we felt it was better to decline further invitations for meetings as we have no idea of the content or who we should take along to assist the discussions.

The city engineer has already acknowledged that there is no problem with our fencing permit application which was prepared by a young engineer within his own department. We have provided our lawyer with a complete copy of the fencing permit application papers which shows it has been signed off by everyone except the city engineer. Our lawyer will start by calling to discuss the matter with the city engineer. It’s always best to start by discussion rather than filing a complaint. Also in my professional life as a chartered accountant I have learned the importance of leaving a way out. That way nobody loses face and you don’t endanger building a positive relationship in the future.

I sent a friend invitation to the city engineer’s boss, the mayor, who is on Face book and desperate for every vote when she stands for re-election in May. A message accompanied the invite which I hope will prompt at least a conversation with her senior staffer. Of course the site is probably maintained by a secretary, so she may never get to read it. But I thought it was worth a try as we are rapidly losing patience together with respect for the whole permit system here in Santiago City. Enough is enough.

Yesterday afternoon we stopped by one of the local hollow block makers and ordered 400 size 5 hollow blocks for a replacement barangay hall chapel, keeping a promise we made earlier in the week to the captain. City hall only provides an annual budget of 1 million pesos to Patul barangay which has to cover everything. It is only through donations that they are able to provide the range of facilities to support the local community.

Last Thursday the barangay captain came out to our site in his official car (as he’s effectively the mayor of the barangay) with two associates and we discussed the situation with the fencing permit. He told us to go ahead and start construction of the perimeter wall and promised he would deal with any fallout with city hall. However, our lawyer has advised against this and told us to wait until he has spoken with the city engineer, so we will wait. Time is on our side anyway as we have agreed to a 45 day extension with the main building contractor.

The captain introduced us to his associates one of whom runs a respected Cagayan area security agency providing armed security guards for a long list of business and private residences. While we have not seen any problems to justify this measure we will review the situation again once we move in. The barangay itself has its own police force who will respond immediately to any emergency call.

The two houses are looking more complete every day but I will not upload photographs until the changes are more obvious. Both roofs are receiving final welding of trusses and steel rod tie backs have been added to give the structures additional rigidity. Northcon have advised us that roofing materials are due here next week. There has been much welding of trusses to wall steelwork so that the walls and the roof effectively become one. The roof must weigh several tons anyway but this is distributed across the whole wall structure. Outside two sections of wall have received a trial coat of the exterior paint colour, all the moldings are now in place over windows and the front entrance, and drainage catch basins with lids have been created. Both septic tanks have been sealed with added manhole covers and the supports are ready to receive the pressurized tanks. Drainpipes have started to appear at the edge of roof and a very solid block of concrete, the base of the spiral staircase leading to the viewing balcony, is almost ready. Inside decorative wood has been added to the doorways, the kitchen and dirty kitchen cabinets are starting to take shape, and in our walk in closet, the wooden closet itself is almost finished. Interior doors are being carefully rubbed down ready to receive our approved shade of varnish and the security grilles for the windows have been designed, approved by us and ordered.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 20) Work Continues & Fence Permits Revisited

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:26:48 +0000

When we arrived at the site a couple of days ago, from a distance, it looked as if they had already installed insect screens in two windows of the Mangligot house. On closer inspection we realized that it was large dimension steel wire security netting to protect the materials they will store temporarily in the house. The only insect prevention would have been against giant mosquitoes, but it gave us a good laugh

Although no roof tiles have been delivered yet, two internal doors have been hung and preparation for mounting the ceiling panels was evident. Fortunately the weather has continued hot and dry (37 degrees Celsius yesterday afternoon).

In the kitchen the carcass of the worktops has been concreted into place. We have supplied cooker and refrigerator dimensions to Northcon and have asked for a third time for the proposed kitchen design. Each time we have been told it will be later. On the last occasion they said it would be when the kitchen dimensions were known for definite, which they have been for a few weeks now. We hope it will not be necessary to re-do any of the work to date if we are dissatisfied with the proposed layout.

We also learned that the project engineer is to be replaced although as yet we do not know whether this was planned and have received no formal notification of the change from Northcon.

We expect these kinds of hiccup. I don’t know anyone who has built a house who hasn’t had similar experiences. The contractor wants to get on with the job, which is good, but sometimes they forget the need to keep their customer informed and consult with them on any periphery design matters. So we hope nothing is forgotten in the changeover to the new engineer.

This morning we will meet again with the men who are constructing our perimeter wall and railings to discuss the design further and agree what materials are to be purchased.

While we wait for city hall to issue the fence permit, the men will prepare the steel railings ready to install. The rest of the construction will use hollow block but there will be additional features because of the back fill situation. Currently the largest hollow block costs 6 pesos so we will compare local prices against those of the city engineer’s hollow block making business just up the road from our site. If his prices are in line with or lower than other local suppliers we may as well buy from him.

We had a meeting at the site today with the outgoing project engineer and the two incoming architects who will support the finishing stage. A constructive meeting with full commitment from Northcon to rectify the faults we identified with the roof trusses. One of the new architects is the daughter of a professional welder so has a keen eye for spotting a bad weld. We discussed the seam welding of the steel (like a line of dimes) and also the necessity of having adequate surface connection between trusses. Thankfully we appear to have turned a difficult corner on the project. We will review the fully welded structure once the necessary rectification work has been completed. We also chose external colors today.

Separately we reviewed the prefabrication of the perimeter posts which will commence construction as soon as the fence permit has been issued. The latter is being done by a different team at the site and is being funded directly by us on a piece rate and materials basis. Rather than waste time while we await the issue of the permit it seemed sensible to do as much prefabrication as possible to reduce the building time later. Sensibly they were ordering additional prefabrication material today so that several teams can construct at the same time. They will also hire a mechanical digger to speed things up. All this was quite refreshing news and we rather like the approach of these young men. What they have produced already looks exceptionally professional, just like the plan they presented at the start for our fence.

In the meantime Northcon have requested an extension to the delivery date for our project which we have willingly granted. We have our rented house until July so it is no problem, and at the end of the day we would rather they didn’t rush as this only seems to lead to problems like those we had with the roof trusses.

Yes, we’re ready to fence our perimeter. All the pre-fabricated molds for the posts are ready together with the internal steel frame. But, as usual, we are waiting for the city engineer to apply the remaining signature to the fence permit. The question has been asked, can we hire a digger to start the trenchwork even though we don’t have the permit yet. We think the answer is no, because it would still constitute some kind of construction activity even though we won’t actually be pouring any concrete. We are not keen on asking the city engineer for permission to dig the trench because we remember what happened with the building permit. It is best not to ask any favour or dispensation with these officials. Even though they must be aware of the penalties they could incur under the republic act 9485, some are still prepared to take a chance.

If the fence permit is not issued next week we will take up the matter with the Patul barangay captain and ask him to put a call into the mayor’s office as it will be two weeks on Monday since a young engineer contact we have in the city engineer’s department prepared the fence plan and submitted the application for us together with our supporting documentation. By last Thursday he told us that he had obtained two of the three signatures required and the last he hoped to get on Friday. There was no text message on Friday so we assume he was unsuccessful.

Update 16 February: It is now over two weeks since our fencing permit application was submitted. We received a text from our contact to say that the city engineer wanted a meeting with us. He implied there was something wrong with the building permits. We called in yesterday afternoon and challenged him as he was leaving the office, however, he asked us to return this morning between 8 and 9am. We sat for over an hour in the reception area and he didn’t appear so we left saying we had an appointment with our lawyer and could they direct us to the mayor’s office. Later around 10.30 we received a text to say that the city engineer was now available but we refused to have any further meetings with him. We hold two signed building permits and we know that there is nothing wrong with our fencing permit application as we were shown the file by our contact while we were in the engineer’s department and everything is ready except the city engineer’s final signature. Even the fee to be paid has been calculated. There is therefore nothing to discuss. If necessary we will arrange for our lawyer to meet with the city engineer to discuss any issues he has with the fencing application but we hope the barangay route will make this unnecessary.

We visited the barangay captain as planned and explained the situation. He we livid. As far as he is concerned we have a perfect right to protect our property and he has already issued the barangay fencing permit. He said he would take it up with the mayor and assured us we should proceed with fence construction and advise him if anyone from the city engineer’s office attempted to stop it. As an expression of our appreciation we asked if there were any projects with which we could help. We will therefore be providing 400 hollow blocks so they can build a chapel in the yard outside the barangay hall. This is for residents of Patul who do not have space to hold a wake in their own house. We also promised to donate our air conditioning unit when we leave our rented house as we are having split wall mounted units in our new home.

Which reminds me, I must do a special blog about Patul barangay hall. It almost brought tears to my eyes when I saw the number of different ways in which they help support their local community. Talk about caring, these guys deserve an award!

On Friday we received the bids from Northcon for the sub-projects such as the remaining back fill and the driveway. Thankfully these days we are far more aware local pricing so we could see immediately that the bids were far to high. It puts Northcon out of contention altogether and we will therefore award these pieces of work to local contractors who we know by reputation are reliable. A swimming pool is the one project which we will continue to discuss with Northcon. We need to have a better understanding of the plan which supports their bid and we lack sufficient detail at present to make a judgment. If this information is not forthcoming or we feel that the price is still excessive, that again will be awarded elsewhere. A pool requires special engineering skills but surprise, surprise, we have actually found a local contractor who has constructed a large public pool and, according to a family contact, done an extremely good job.

Unlike the major currencies, the Philippines peso has appreciated so much that it is beginning to undermine these kinds of decision and many potential customers will defer building their dream home here until the fx rates improve. Manila-based companies tend to charge more but you would still expect them to be somewhere in the same ballpark price wise, especially as they in fact use a lot of local labor and very few Manila-based employees.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 19) Working on Sundays

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:16:41 +0000

Although it’s a Sunday we invariably find some of the construction team working for at least part of the day. The photos and video were taken first in the cloudy morning and then in the sunny, blue sky afternoon. Arches above the lanai supporting the viewing deck are now visible. It makes a bold statement which will be softened when it is painted in line with the rest of the house. The front of the viewing deck will have railings and it will be accessed by a spiral staircase from the side of the lanai below.

It’s interesting overhearing motorcycle and tricycle passengers as they pass the house shouting to the driver about the absence of hollow blocks. Today we heard one say in amazement “look, they’re using poured concrete”.

Check out this video: House Construction 31 January 2010

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 18) Roof Continues / Fence Planning Beginnings

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:12:16 +0000

The Northcon crew were steaming ahead today. Lots of activity in every area of the house and many skills/craftsmanship in evidence. I feel a certain buzz of excitemen as I wander through the rooms of the house and see all these skills coming together to create a lovely home.

I have always been fascinated by the way so many of the tools they use are created on site in DIY fashion. For instance, there are a number of handmade ladders constructed from wood and bamboo. The framework the welders climb to reach the roof trusses has also been welded together onsite. Tools for adjusting the curve of a window consist of a short piece of water tube with a nail through the end. The man making the mouldings for the windows uses a piece of shaped aluminium. Although very simply made, in the hands of craftsmen these handmade tools appear to be just as effective as a product you would buy from a hardware store. Welding equipment and certain power tools like grinders are provided, however.

At the end of the day we met the engineer we have appointed to handle the perimeter fencing permit application. We will manage this sub-project on our own, without assistance from Northcon, as we have declined their revised quotation which we felt was still too high. Unlike Northcon we don’t have overheads or profits to consider so where we can do certain aspects of the project for ourselves we should.

We will use re-inforced hollow block for the wall elements with half moon steel railing covered dips to maintain the view from our windows. The wall will also have rampart elements to prevent any collapse and will be set back from the backfill. The front wall will consist of attractive steel railings above a wall, but the back and sides will be kept very simple to minimise cost while at the same time providing appropriate security around the two houses.

Backfill, driveway and maybe a pool remain to be discussed with Northcon but no bid has yet been received.

The height and length of the wall was agreed with our engineer and he will prepare the plans over the next week before submitting them with supporting documents for the fence permit. We have to go to the barangay hall in Patul tomorrow to obtain the barangay fence construction permission. This has to be submitted to city hall along with the other documents. Once we have the necessary permit we will order materials and Gina’s brother will direct the construction.

Check out this video: Hyner/Mangli got House Construction 26 January 2010

This morning we visited the barangay hall in Patul to obtain the fence construction permission. This was our second visit, the first being last October when we obtained the building permission. The barangay captain was there this time and was very welcoming saying how impressed he was by the construction work which of course is also providing a lot of work for local men.

In several places there were posters and other messages of support for the re-election of the mayor for what will be her second and final term in office.

The barangay officials are always so friendly and helpful, a contrast to the feeling we had when visiting city hall. The latter tend to be very officious although individual employees we know as friends are always helpful.

Anyway, the barangay officials made us very welcome again and discussed other things we might need. They were keen to recommend an agency that could provide a security guard for us (which is also a job for someone from the barangay), although we pointed out that at present this is the responsibility of the contractor. If they have something stolen they have to replace it and have insurance for this purpose built into the accepted contract price. Security after we occupy the house is another matter and we may employ a night security guard to watch over the property.

The barangay captain said once we move in we must make sure we have his phone number so that if there are any problems he will respond immediately.

As we left we noticed that occupying half of one wall on the ground floor, painted in very large letters, was the full text of Republic Act 9485, the act governing red tape and corruption of public servants. This is very encouraging, although from our own experience it would seem that there are still people who for whatever reason feel they can ignore both the law and the associated penalties with impunity. We hope the new act is fully enforced as it would be enormously beneficial to the Philippines and do much to expunge its reputation as one of the most corrupt nations.

Becoming involved in the community would seem quite a good idea since we want to be accepted as friendly neighbors. There is an organization equivalent to Round Table that we might join once we move into our new home.

Much of the what we saw at the site in the last couple of days has continued. Still a frenzy of activity. On the viewing deck they were preparing the floor and railing pillars.

We sat in the shade of some trees in the next field and chatted to a man from Patul who it transpires lives next to a small lot that Gina purchased together with her sister several years ago, but could not locate when we searched for it recently. We gave the man a lift back to his home in Patul and he led us to the lot in question. We drove to the end of one of the narrow barangay roads but the small track leading to Gina’s lot past some small houses was too narrow to drive up so I reversed and parked. The lot is around 200sm, big enough for a couple of houses to rent out or for growing vegetables or fruit trees. First Gina has to complete the legal transfer of the title as all she has at present is the deed of sale. The owner is elderly and not in good health so this is probably something we should get on with when our house is sorted.

The Patul man spoke quite good English but seemed to have a fixation about finding gold and knowing millionaires. We moved around topics in the conversation but each time he would associate it somehow with millionaires. This was becoming rather annoying. In the end I said I would never want to be one as, having worked for several in my life, they never seem happy and often spend their time worrying about losing their fortunes.

At the end of the day we celebrated the birthday of Gina’s niece and the men including myself consumed Red Horse beer. This also seemed to help those who are normally shy by nature find new confidence to speak English to me. It also seemed to help their singing of videoke songs, the majority of which are in English anyway. Most had good voices, certainly a great deal more in tune than the shop assistant who followed us all round the SCC store earlier this week.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 27 January 2010

This morning, at the contractors suggestion, we drove out to the site to meet the window suppliers. Apparently it’s a Manila-based business, owned by a Brit. They discussed the tinting and pointed at that two layers of green tinted glass will be dark green. Given that we will have curtains and nets we decided to revert to clear glass for both houses and called the boss man of our contractor in Manila to advise him. The cost will be less so we suggested a trade off against the additional cost of having separate pressurized tanks and pumps for each house, another decision we made recently.

The window supplier measured 9 windows today and will revisit the site to measure the remaining windows when they have been adjusted by the masons.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 17) Beginnings of a Roof

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:53:31 +0000

Good progress has been made on the Mangligot house and effectively the walls of both houses will have been completed in under 30 days which is pretty good going. The roof trussed were going into place and the pitch checked. Walls were receiving their first of many coats of primer. Masons were at work on the windows adjusting the shape to a plywood template pinned inside and in the the master t&b they were preparing the connections for the sanitary ware. To optimize space we have decided to give up the separate shower and simply run it into the bath. In fact this works better as well as giving us more space. There is a separate walk-in closet which will also be tiled to match the t&b.

For those interested, the mixture used for the concrete is as follows: 1:2:4 or 1 bag of ordinary Portland cement type 1; 2 bags washed sand; and 4 bags screened gravel, for a 3,000 lb/sq in strength.

Check out this video: Hyner/Mangligot House Construction 21-22 January 2010

We collected the curtainmaker at 9.30 yesterday morning and headed off to the site to measure the windows. The new foreman, Engr Edgar, helped us to identify the height of the future ceiling and tiled floor position. Gina, the curtainmaker and sister-in-law Jane then went to the market in Santiago City to choose the material.

Masons and primer painters were much in evidence as were men preparing the formers for the viewing deck walls. They will apply as many as four coats of the primer so that by the time the top coat colour is applied the walls will be extremely smooth. A tiler had started work in the master t&b and modifications were being made to the floor piping as we have decided to remove the separate shower and use the bath instead. It makes far better use of the space.

Later in the day we made our regular site visit and then sat in the next field eating pandesal, spanish bread and small ring doughnuts. There is something very relaxing about watching the men at work. Engr Edgar has that certain expression that tells you to keep out of the way even if you are the owner, and we know that by reputation he’s a bit of a perfectionist.

Something you find a lot here is people tend not to paint their interior and exterior walls. As you drive around you see that most houses still have the grey plastered hollow block walls and when we attended the wake of Gina’s aunt the unpainted interior and bare concrete staircase made it look more like a garage or warehouse than a home. I don’t believe paint is that expensive but you only see a few houses, mostly newly built properties, that have been painted. Perhaps it’s a generation thing as most young people seem keen to make their house look as attractive as possible. Sometimes their parents spend their time feuding with their syblings over land titles, while their roofs leak, the plaster of their walls cracks and the bars of their window grills rust.

Suddenly there are mechanical diggers clearing ditches and men filling longstanding potholes in the road. It’s election time and the mayor and rivals have embarked on lots of projects in the community to attract voters.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 16) Internal Walls

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:44:55 +0000

The external walls are now complete and our contractor is finishing the internal walls. Several were drying out in their formers while others were being poured with concrete. Scaffolding was being erected over the lanai to construct the viewing balcony/terrace.

While the men were taking their merienda break (afternoon tea break) we took a look around inside.

The word mansion has been used by several friends to describe what they have seen of the construction so far. I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. We have simply replicated the space we had in our old house in the UK. Although there was only the three of us, we used one of the bedrooms as an office, one as a visitor’s room and another as a music room. One reception room was used to view TV and watch films. So effectively every room had a purpose. In our new home all that space has been translated into a single story building with large arched windows to let in plenty of light and a through flow from the front door to the lanai at the back.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 16 January 2010

We have been asked by our contractor whether they can lower the height of the viewing balcony by 1 metre from 4.5 metres above the ground to 3.5 metres. Looking at the detailed plans this would seem to place it below two sections of the roof and therefore our view may be blocked in two directions and limit us to seeing to the rear of our lot over the ricefields towards the mountains and to our left across neighbouring lots. We have asked Northcon to explain why this modification is necessary.

The construction crew were working to a rhythm today when we made our site visit.

There was an exchange of texts and emails with our contractor over the weekend regarding the height of the viewing deck. The contractor asked if it could be lowered by 1 metre to 3.5 metres above the ground. The basis of the suggestion was the assumption that it was merely a balcony and would therefore normally line up with the second floor. But as we don’t have a second floor there is nowhere to walk out. Also if it is lowered it would restrict the 360 degree view because parts of the roof would be higher and would obscure the view in two directions. In the end it was agreed to stick to the orginal plan at 4.5 metres.

Harvey, Gina’s nephew, climbed up the scaffolding and said that the view was incredible all round. Before the safety railings are added it looks rather like a helicopter landing pad.

A stone mason was busily chipping away at the window openings to correct any inperfections in the curve at the top. This is the first finishing we have seen but others will be doing similar work to ensure that the surface of the walls is ready for painting, grinding any ridges away and filling any holes. There is apparently a surface wash of concrete to fill any cracks and small holes. This is then treated with a chemical to prevent any moisture seeping through. Finally the wall is painted inside and out.

Check out this video: Ballet Concrete

Resty and Jane test the floor of their new house. We tell them that to reduce costs there will be no walls.

The Hyner house internal walls are almost complete now. Only a small section of the master bedroom wall remains to be constructed. The formers will then be released to the Mangligot house site where the wall fabrication was being prepared today. Some formers will be retained to create the raised viewing deck and others to complete the apex of the garage/parking wall. The team also has to level the tops of the external walls ready for the roof trusses.

Northcon’s attention to detail and drive for perfection is very evident as there was a stone mason in bedroom 1 where the wall on one side was not quite square to the corner. The concrete wall was slightly thicker than it should have been so the mason was chipping it back to make it flush with the rest of the wall.

Building a house is very much a partnership between the customer and the contractor. The removal of the side windows to the front door was a joint decision as there was concern about the security of having such narrow strips of concrete framing them. Conversely the contractor felt that addiing an arch on either side of the front porch would make it more attractive. Again we agreed. It’s good to have this kind of relationship and we make a point of visiting the site regularly to take an interest in what is happening.

Including the foreman and project engineer, there are now 34 men working on the construction of the two houses. Most are local men who at other times will be planting or harvesting in the ricefields, including our own. At present we are between planting and harvesting so, unless they have other work, there is not normally anything for them to do and hence no income. The opportunity to have a regular income is a godsend therefore.

Check out this video: Hyner house construction 18 January 2010

Rapid progress was being made yesterday on Mangligot house. Already the front and one side wall was either completed and drying or having concrete poured. After the showers of the past couple of days the weather for a change was dry, warm and even a little humid. Inside the shell an electrician was preparing the connections for the main breaker board. The remaining walls were being pre-frabricated with their network of steel rods prior to encasing in the formers and concrete pouring.

Check out this video: Mangligot House Construction 20 January 2010

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 15) Progess Continues

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:36:52 +0000

We visited the construction site mid-morning today to capture some photos using my SLR digital camera and a range of lenses. The pictures do not really need captions. They simply show a team working very hard to complete our project. This blog is therefore more of a photo journal.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 14 January 2010

There was a slight hiccup yesterday when I noticed that the styrofoam insulation was missing from the preparation of the walls of the small t&b, the dirty kitchen and the kitchen. A few hasty texts and emails and the problem was addressed by our contractor. Fortunately no concrete had been poured as it would have been costly to rectify otherwise.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 12 January 2010

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 14) Walls Pt. 3 & Graft Revisited

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:23:11 +0000

The dimensions of our house are now much clearer. It has grown both new external and internal walls so that the first rooms are starting to appearing. The pillars supporting the porch are also now in place. The entrance steps are quite wide and make for an impressive centerpiece for the front of the house.

Check out this video: Hyner Mangligot Houses 10 January 2010

It’s getting quite exciting now being able to touch the things we’ve only seen previously in diagrams. Roof trusses are in place on the garage/parking section of our house and the exterior walls are past the halfway mark now.

Nelson reported that despite his best efforts he could not get water into the lot we have rented as the irrigation company has released insufficient water. We therefore became the proud owners of a Honda petrol engine water pump and 50 metres of large diameter hose which Nelson will use to transfer water from some covenient ponds into the area he is trying to plough ready for planting the rice seedlings. Total cost about 15,500 pesos or £170. Nevertheless it’s a handy piece of of equipment to have and will assist us in establishing our fish farm as well as irrigating the higher terraces of both the lot we own and the lot we are renting next door. Crucially we need to help Nelson get into sync with the other farmers for the next crop. Then when the irrigation water is flowing to them he will get his fair share. At the moment the others don’t need more water because they’re are about three weeks ahead, hence the problem.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 11 January 2010

The project engineer reported that there had been a further attempt by the city engineer to extract a “favour” payment from Northcon. This is clearly illegal under the Republic Act 9485 which came fully into force in September 2009. Public servants who violate this act are liable to suspension without pay and even dismissal. On the pretext of a problem with the structure of our house he invited the project engineer to his house on Sunday and made this new request. It is all the more astonishing considering he is the most senior head of department at city hall and reports directly to the mayor, who herself is standing for re-election in May. Yet again it is best left with Northcon to deal with the matter as they will no doubt handle it far more delicately than I would.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 13) Walls Pt.2 and Water Tank

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:18:29 +0000

Several new walls had appeared on the Hyner house when we visited today so they seem to have something of a production line running now they have gained expertise with the first insulated concrete walls. The concrete mixer was also back in action again. I tried to take pictures of the building but it is actually so wide that without climbing one of the trees on the road it is quite difficult getting it all in the photograph.

A query has arisen concerning the 1000 gallon overhead tank that supplies water into both properties. Talking to the project engineer this afternoon, we were astonished to learn that in spite of the fact that the plans we approved include this tank, for some reason he is not sure that the contractor will provide it and referred us to their office in Manila.

If this is the case it seems amazing that the matter has not been drawn to our attention long ago. Funnily enough a couple of weeks ago I did query why the tank in the materials yard was only 82 gallons but was advised by the project engineer that it was a different tank. That one is apparently the pressurized water tank used to take water up to the overhead tank. But no other explanation was given so we assumed that all was well.

Now, to be fair, in the past Northcon have been very professional in addressing our concerns regarding the sanitation, so we hope this is just another misunderstanding and we can resolve it in a similar way. The key is always whether the completed project is fit for purpose. No water to either property except what we can hand pump it is clearly not, so this issue must be resolved or we have a serious problem.

I am pleased to report that Northcon have again retrieved the situation. There was apparently some confusion and the wrong tank was provided. There will be an overhead tank after all and I have asked for details of the water pressure that the gravity feed system will generate. For every foot the tank is raised, water pressure from a gravity feed system increases by approximately 0.43 psi. So depending on the tank you use, in theory, you need a pretty tall tower to get up to the same pressure as a 20 to 40 psi rated pressure tank. We hope we can get reasonable pressure for this gravity system.

I have received a number of emails from visitors to my blog asking for more information about our house construction. You are always welcome to add comments here but for those who don’t already have it my direct email address is andyhyner@hotmail.co.uk.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 12) Going Up! (Walls That Is)

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:08:58 +0000

The first walls are constructed for the parking/garage/storeroom using the box system of construction. The window openings in the front wall are prepared using prefabricated curved shapes. Despite its intended use, we wanted it to look like just another part of the house, hence it will have windows to match those for the house.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 30 December 2009

Construction work started up again yesterday although the foreman and project engineer are not due back until Monday or Tuesday. The Mangligot site is now raised to construction level so once they have done the compaction tests they can begin to lay out the internal pipiing and the steel framework prior to pouring concrete for the floor. The curved shape of the top of the windows in the garage wall is now clearly visible although the concrete has to gain more strength until they can safey remove the formers.

This is just the garage/storehouse. The idea for the windows came from the design of a house in Florida we found on the Internet. In so many designs you see the garage seems to dominate the front of the house but it’s such a plain piece of architecture. Add some windows to the front and move the entrance round to the side and you have something quite attractive.

Today the formers had been removed and the full shape of the window openings could be seen clearly. Welders were busy fabricating the steel trusses for the garage roof.

At the side of the house the window for Justin’s bedroom (bedroom 2) was being prepared for concreting.

Today also the site of the Mangligot House was moving towards formal start of construction, channels having been dug for the different services and stones laid. The latter is apparently to address rising moisture which would damage the concrete floor. The stones together with the overlaying plastic sheeting prevent such damage occuring.

More windows and roof trusses for Hyner are being welded for the garage. Mangligot is prepared for formal start of construction. When the whole team reforms this week after the Christmas/New Year break there will be at least 25 local people employed in the construction which must be very welcome in this barangay, especially as work in the ricefields is not continuous. We put our contractor in touch with the local barangay hall who we knew were keen recommend certain people for our project.

Check out this video: Hyner & Mangligot House Construction 3 January 2010

As the front walls of the main house begin to appear, passers by stop and puzzle what it is. Distracted drivers turn their heads towards the construction site for several seconds as they pass. Could it be a church, an abbey or a theme park maybe? It’s like one of those mysterious murals Rolf Harris used to create on live TV. You didn’t know precisely what it was a picture of until almost his final brush stroke.

Yesterday morning when we went out to the site, a young couple was standing in our future living room chatting to the chief engineer. Apparently they want to build a house in the city, noticed the construction going on and decided to make enquiries.

The video and photos here were taken around 3.00pm in the afternoon at a second visit.

The first concreted, styrofoam-insulated walls are now visible. The concrete mixture needs to be just right so that it pours easily from the top into the mould made by the steel formers and, of course, has the correct strength when dry.

It is vital to ensure that no air gaps are left either side of the insulation. Metal spacers are employed to keep the styrofoam panels in position within the permanent wire frames, and our contractor has invested in a special power tool which vibrates the steel former panels to ensure the proper distribution of the concrete mixture. We noted that some surface repair was necessary in one area of the wall due to the steel formers pulling away slightly, but this was being remedied very competently with a fresh concrete mix.

Beside the Hyner house, the Mangligot house was nearly ready for concrete pouring of the floor that night.

Check out this video: Hyner & Mangligot House Construction 7 January 2010

The final measurements are made to check the positioning of pipes for the different services and vulnerable exposed ends sealed to prevent blockage when the concrete is poured.

Concrete samples dry out ready to be tested by the Highways Department, the same organisation that tested the compaction. A pass is 90% and our site achieved 97%.

View across the septic tank to the side window of bedroom 2.

We took the opportunity later in the day to discuss further development of the project although this will depend on the performance of the UK pound. It was down to 73 pesos yesterday, a victim of the mud slinging between the different UK political parties as they prepare for the coming May general election.

There had been no change in the underlying economic fundamentals but the UK has an uncanny ability to pull itself down. For one of the great nations of the world it should really show a lot more confidence. Though I didn’t agree with everything she did, I have to admit that I miss having Mrs Thatcher as a PM. She was decisive and would knock heads together to get things done. The UK needs an action-oriented leader like that again. Someone who will talk in terms of the glass being half full rather than half empty. The UK needs realistic optimism rather than unrealistic pessimism.

Yesterday concrete was being poured for the floor of the Mangligot house and the front wall of the Hyner house was nearing completion. Unfortunately the concrete mixer had broken down and was awaiting some replacement parts, so in the meantime concrete mixing was an entirely manual process with a chain of workers being formed to pass tubs of concrete up to the pourer.

We did not see the new vibrating machine in use on the formers, only a rubber mallet to shake the concrete into place, so we are not sure whether the new power tool has proved effective or not. However, we are confident our contractor knows what they are doing as they have many years experience of this kind of construction and have their own specialists for each component of the build, many of whom have worked with them for several years. In the end it is best that we assess the quality of work at the very end, not as the build progresses since any faults should be fixed before we accept the project as complete. After Construction is what is referred to as the Finishing stage when any imperfections will be addressed.

Check out this video: Hyner & Mangligot House Construction 8 January 2010

The floor of the Mangligot house is poured with concrete and walls should start to be built this weekend so that, given the difference in the size between the two, both houses will soon be at the same stage of construction

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 11) Foundation and Floors

rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:46:29 +0000

The first concrete floors of our house are made. So far the floors of the garage, lanai, laundry and dirty kitchen have been completed. Waving around are all the colored pipes carrying the different services to each room.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 23 December 2009

Well it’s now Day Two of concrete pouring and the 20 workers are full tilt laying the floor for the Hyner House. By the end of the day they had only the master bedroom, bedroom 1 and the living room area to complete.

Check out this video: Hyner House Construction 24 December 2009

On Christmas Day we took some food out to the men at the construction site. They were relaxing and enjoying the sunshine before starting work again yesterday when the photos below were taken. The floor of the Hyner house is now virtually complete and a board has been erected displaying the building permit numbers for both houses.

Isabela House (Construction Log 10) Permits Pt.2 and Graft in the Philippines

rich — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:43:41 +0000

After lunch we drove out with Gina’s sister to visit the construction site. The project engineer had just arrived back from a another wasted day at City Hall waiting for the City Engineer to approve the payment for and release of the building permits we applied for on 25th November. This time the excuse was the engineering department Christmas party, but basically the City Engineer appears to be avoiding the project engineer. This tactic has lasted almost a week now and patience is wearing thin.

Because of the continued delay in the issue of the building permits, our contractors, Northcon, are now moving towards filing an official complaint with the interior ministry (and we think at provincial level also) for a breach of the Republic Act No 9485 (June 2, 2007). This lays down standards for the handling by the public servants of applications for such things as building permits.

If a complaint is proven against a public servant they can face a minimum of one month suspension without pay. Since Northcon were not advised of any defect within 5 days of filing the application, the permits must be issued within a reasonable time and currently we are at the 27 day mark which is totally unreasonable. The project engineer is keeping a log which is signed every time he visits City Hall to attempt to see the City Engineer and secure the release of the permits. If necessary this will be produced as evidence to support any complaint filing.

We can only guess at the objective of those involved, but IF (we must emphasize the word IF as nothing is proven at this stage) the intention is to extract an illegal payment, Northcon have made it perfectly clear that they do not pay under the table and we will not countenance such payments either.

The Republic Act No 9485 also addresses corruption and if any official is found to have taken money under the table the penalty is far greater than that for simple obstruction. Of course, proving corruption is very difficult unless officials receive the payment directly, but the fact that someone in the engineers department appears to have requested a payment from the Northcon project engineer naturally arouses our suspicions. No further messages requesting money have been received since.

The project engineer told us he had yesterday delivered a bottle of vodka to the City Engineer’s house as a Christmas goodwill gesture.

Gina and I do hope that further action proves unnecessary, particularly at Christmas but we will post further updates as the situation develops.

The project engineer will be following up the matter at City Hall tomorrow and every working day between now and Christmas and thereafter through to and beyond New Years Day until the permits are issued.

After an exchange of texts between the City Engineer and our contractor, Northcon, this morning it appears that the City Engineer has given the green light for concrete pouring and Northcon have authorised payment of the building permit charges.

The content of the text messages is not at present clear but Northcon have instructed that they not be deleted so we assume they may be incriminating in some way. We will visit the site this morning to find out more. We don’t know whether the intention to file a complaint was mentioned although we do know that the project engineer had a copy of the Philippines Act in his hand when he visited City Hall.

I have just returned from visiting the site with Justin and all systems are go. At the end there was apparently a rather ironic text from the City Engineer to the project engineer to the effect that the project engineer had the stronger hand and that construction could now proceed even though “he didn’t get what he wanted”. I leave you to draw your own conclusions as to what he meant.

My professional contacts at PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG have indicated that since 2004, and particularly since the 2007 legislation passed into law, there have been far more prosecutions, and even a substantial number of “big fish” have been caught in the net. So while it has to be said that corruption is still endemic here, as the song goes, “times they are a changing” and public servants now have to be far more careful.

Anyway, I am relieved it was not necessary to file a charge against anyone on this occasion and let us hope that it proves unnecessary in the future now that our policy on under the table payments is clear.

I almost forgot that apparently there was also been a suggestion of a “Christmas present”. hence Northcon’s approval of a gift of some vodka, something we fully supported as it is standard business practice at Christmas in the UK. And it was Black Label vodka too! None of your cheap stuff!

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 9) Box Construction

rich — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:13:42 +0000

Things are beginning to take shape and in the absence of the release of the building permits the site is being prepared in every other way short of pouring concrete. So in a sense concreteless progress is being made!

This is probably the first time the box construction system has been used in Santiago City. Projects in Ilocos and further north in Tegeugarao have certainly seen its use, but not here before. At first glance the method seems closer to what one would expect for the construction of offices or shopping malls.

The yellow metal formers are in place at footings level right around and a network of steel rods is also in place. To ensure bonding of the concrete floor stones have now been spread over the compacted gravel. Channels for sanitation and water supply to the T&Bs have also appeared and are now occupied by plastic pipes in orange and terracotta. The smaller blue pipes are for the termite eradication system which has to be topped up every couple of years. In the distance a young boy watches while lying across the back of a large caribou (water oxen).

The photographs and video in this blog were taken over a period of 12 days.

Check out this video: House construction 7th to 19th December 2009

The team have been told by our contractor that only Christmas Day and New Years Day are non-work-days. Otherwise every day will officially be a working day. Northcon have advised us that they are targeting this Tuesday for the start of pouring the foundations.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 8) Construction 24 Hours A Day & Graft

rich — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:50:52 +0000

The switch to 24-hour operation has made a big difference and we wonder why this wasn’t done from the start. However, given that the building permit application process has been so protracted, the delay in the back fill hasn’t actually held up construction. Yesterday they redistributed and compacted around seven truck loads of fresh gravel and one part of the site had risen to within about a half a meter of the red target mark on a steel rod. In fact they only need to bring it within 6 inches as the remaining distance will be taken up by a stone layer and finally the thickness of the concrete floor itself.

We normally visit the site at the end of a day to sit in the cool shade of nearby trees as the sun begins to set over the mountains to the west. The sky was so clear yesterday afternoon that the sun was quite dazzling and as sunset approached around 5pm it was positively artistic watching the men working in the fading light against the silhouette of banana and paper tree leaves. We wandered through the neighboring lot to visit the area that Nelson has recently started to plow in preparation for rice sowing. More water is entering from the nearby irrigation but as the land is terraced it’s still well below the level of the construction site.

At present Nelson is creating a nursery area to grow the young rice plant seedlings. At the next stage, with the assistance of local workers, he will divide and replant them in the newly plowed and irrigated fields. The same pattern is being repeated in other fields we pass on our way to the construction site. Mostly we can see the irrigated fields but here and there we see the intense patches of light green, the small rice seedling nursery areas.

For our roughly one hectare of cultivatable land we have paid Nelson an initial 9,000 pesos which covers the cost of seed and fertilizer plus paying for assistance at the splitting out stage. Later more money will be required for insecticide. Harvesting and threshing is generally paid for in rice rather than cash. It will be interesting to see at the end if we get our investment back (in cash or in rice) but maybe it will not be possible to measure the economic return until all our land is in use. At present we are deliberately leaving fallow any area which if irrigated might pose a threat of flooding to the construction site.

The back fill is almost at construction height now and the men were extending to the two meter distance the surrounding back fill where it had fallen short and lowering the height of the garage. There are steps up to our front door so it made sense that the garage floor should be lower than the house floor.

The project engineer has been told that the man assessing the payments due for the building permits at city hall should know the amounts by Monday. Apparently it depends on the percentages of the different components in the application e.g. sanitation, electrical etc and on the location.

He also told me he had ignored a recent text request for money from one official. In principle these permits will be issued as the buildings do comply with the building code. Any request for money beyond what is legally required will be dealt with by our contractor who have their own lawyers and Northcon take a strong line against any corrupt practices where they encounter them, which sadly they frequently do.

It is three weeks since the project engineer applied for the building permits. He now has a breakdown of the amount he has to pay but as, surprise surprise, the city engineer has been sent away from his office on an assignment for the mayor, he is not available to sign the permit. We are told he is back in his office tomorrow. So we live in hope that he will find the time to sign so that the project engineer can pay and collect the permits.

Apparently the amount due also includes contractor tax which is officially not due until April next year and in any case is levied once and in Manila where Northcon is based. This effectively means that our contractor is being double taxed. I suggested that they might want to discuss this with the BIR who administer taxes in the Philippines to ensure it is a legitimate charge. What this has to do with issuing our building permits we have no idea but it illustrates the stranglehold of red tape in this country. The contractor says they will pay but not until next April when it is normally due. There is also no reason why they should pay tax in advance but again they will confirm their rights with the BIR.

The site in contrast is actually ready to go, at least for the Hyner house. The adjoining site for the Mangligot house is still being back filled and it is early days. But they will operate two shifts a day now to catch up and they expect to complete both houses at the same time as the Mangligot house is smaller.

We met Jerry, the MD of Northcon, on site today for a demonstration of the wall construction. No concrete was poured but they assembled the wire mesh around the Styrofoam panel together with the spacers and the steel rod columns which will bind together the outer and inner concrete walls that sandwich the insulation. We then discussed the further development of the project: a perimeter wall, back fill for the driveway and access road, and a pool. The latter has the advantage that as we have raised the site by so much there is little or no need to dig down and it is more a question of back filling to create the ground around the pool. Of course in the end it will come down to what we can afford, but it’s nice to daydream.

It was a beautiful late afternoon and we again stayed until the sun set over the mountains to the west of us. It should make the view from our lanai quite spectacular. All around us are the newly planted rice fields. Only the back of our lot and the adjoining land we have rented is still waiting for rice which will happen in stages once the construction area is safely above the irrigation water level.

Yet again we noticed how few insects were bothering us. Quite a contrast from the yard of the house we are renting where I am constantly attacked by midges, mosquitoes and ants unless I apply some OFF cream. I think they wait in the shade of large mango trees that occupy one side of the yard above the kubo.

There was no project engineer out at the construction site and no text message from him either so we have no idea whether he has succeeded in extracting the building permits from city hall. Yesterday Northcon were saying they expected to start construction on December 22nd which is next Tuesday. Philippines law requires the issue of building permits no later than 15 (working days we assume) days after the application is made.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Isabela House (Construction Log 7) Back Fill & Box Construction

rich — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:39:36 +0000

Progress is being made at last. Lorries are now delivering gravel directly onto the back fill area saving considerable shoveling and wheelbarrowing. The men worked yesterday (Sunday) and even today which is a public holiday in order to reduce the slippage in the construction schedule caused by the wet weather.

For the first time we were able to see the box construction technique in use creating our concrete septic tank.

Check out this video: Backfilling and Box Construction

The construction site moved to 24-hour operation last night using three 8 hour shifts. At night in the main they will compact the layers of gravel distributed during the daylight hours. At 4.00pm yesterday there were only 4 workers spreading a newly delivered pile of gravel so we are not sure how the new working arrangements will benefit the speed of back filling. However, the septic tank, which is the lowest point on the site, is gradually disappearing so clearly there has been progress.

We discussed the positioning of the wall-mounted split type air conditioning units with the project engineer and gave him minimum height details so he can install the PVC drainage pipes when fabricating the walls. Hopefully the decision we made to go for the Styrofoam-insulated concrete walls will reduce to a minimum the need to run the ACUs.

The project engineer has now received the fire certificates and zoning clearance for both houses and the city engineer’s office has asked him to call in next Wednesday by which time they anticipate that the building permit (which confirms compliance with the Philippines building code) will have the required signatures. As the back fill still has some way to go we hope the permit and achievement of construction height will come together. Obtaining the building permit will also enable our contractor to apply for the supply of electricity to the site.

You can view Andy’s MySpace Blog here: http://www.myspace.com/495233545/blog

Philippines or Bust » rich

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