Recap of my trip

Let me see. Before I went home, I listed the targets to finish. I feel like reviewing the list and check if my trip was worth it.


Here's the list from November 3's post and their status.


1. Finish Plastering of windows and its respective wall - done on my first week. All windows have been plastered, but not completely finished in one week. With 4 masons working on it, I think the job finished in 1.5 weeks overall.


2. Install door jambs and Plaster Door on 1st Floor - this was the first thing I did when I arrived. I arrived on Friday evening, and we were off to the door shop by Saturday lunch time. By Sunday, the door jambs have been installed already. I'm proud of this accomplishment!


3. Install Roof and insulation - oh roofing! headaches and hassle with the roof supplier. Salesman is a big factor in the transaction and we weren't very lucky in getting a good one. I'm sorry to say that the sales person we dealt with doesn't know what she's doing. Ok, I'll drop the name for lessons learned purposes, it's Puyat Steel. My mom had a lot of encounters with her, either because she gave us the wrong quote, she doesn't respond to our calls or she's just totally lost. Well, we still end up installing the roof and the insulation, so I guess it's all ok now.


One problem is that there was a leak in the roof when it rained last week, so we now have to get in touch with this salesman once again. Great.


4. Install Window - I spent time to look for a good and affordable supplier. Searching the yellow pages and the internet for a list of suppliers, touring along Roosevelt Avenue (in foot or jeepney) scouting for aluminum fabricators. Normally, the fabricators work outside their shop, so you would know who among them is the busiest and you would also get to check out their workmanship. This is the most effective way to scout for suppliers, but not very efficient. I suggest that prior to doing an ocular inspection, you already have the windows schedule with the rough measurement. Because the shop owners can give you a quote right there and then, and you can negotiate right away. This extra step will save you time to choose the best supplier.


Anyway, we ended up with a supplier from a far place. We initially talked on the phone and I find her voice nice and someone that will not fool me (Yes, I am paranoid to scammers). I found them in a Filipino supplier forum, and they reply to my emails on time. They were ok - they met the timeline and the cost is the lowest among what I found.


They are Briones Glass and Aluminum located in Fairview, QC.


5. Plaster all walls - we made a pretty good job here. When I arrived in the site, they have just started the plastering. So basically, it was at 0-5% done at that time. When I left, we were left with the back part and ground floor part of the side. Not bad huh. We plan to start plastering soon so the scaffoldings can be removed. It could take 5-7 days with 2 masons and 1 laborer for this job.


6. Install doors - we opted to stick to one door supplier because it's more convenient and it's easier to ask for discounts if you buy in bulk. Our supplier is door.com.ph. Their advantage is they have a very efficient sales system. They are also online, meaning they can give you a quote via email, so the ordering process is easy. Well, we also check out Wilcon Home Depot, but the negotiating power if you buy in these places is very limited. They have a price tag for all their items and it's the final price most of the time. Not to add that their delivery charge costs more.
What we actually did was to window shop at Wilcon (because their shops are bigger so they have more displays), and then choose the design, check if door.com.ph has that design and order it. That's the tip.


7. Finish Bathroom - We were only able to finish 2 bathrooms because of budget constraints. They're not even totally finished yet. I plan to make the main bathroom a grandeur one, so I have yet to save more funds for this project...hopefully soon!


8. Install Lights - I went to Chinatown (Ongpin) to look for lights. Although there's home depot and Wilcon near our place, I opted to go to the other side of Manila to buy the lights. Well, it's way cheaper, almost 30-50% difference. I strolled along Soler to T. Alonzo to Benavidez streets to look for pinlights and motion sensor lights. There's so much business competition in that area, and it's so much fun to shop queueing in the bumper to bumper traffic, smelling horse poop, eating fried pork (or cat?) bun...it's all about the experience!


9. Kitchen - ooohh. This one I wasn't able to finish. Though the rough layout of the countertop has been started already. Now, there's no flooring yet ...there's still so much work to do here. I plan to hire a kitchen maker to take care of everything because the design details is very crucial and I cannot afford to go home again anytime soon.