Ceiling Designs

I am in love with Modern Asian Interiors! I'm now searching for the best ceiling design for our home, then I found this very pretty website.

Intricate Modern Asian Interior

Next batch of construction

I am contemplating on going to the next stage of the construction. I think I'm ready, I better be. Otherwise, if the building stays this way for long, we wouldn't be able to appreciate it.


So, here's the next round of things to finish


1. Finishing of Ground floor toilet
2. Flooring of 3 ground floor bedrooms
3. Masonry work for back exterior wall
4. Flooring - balcony
5. Stairs wooden tread
6. A little fix here and there


I am doing a calculation if ceiling finishing fits the budget at this point and I'm also checking if I am talking the right person. Ceiling design is such as crucial part because it is the most visible part of the house. It is that thing that gives the wow factor when you enter your home. So, ceiling design is important.


I spoke to a contractor last weekend, after he's seen the house. He's the electrician that services our shop in Manila. He gave me a pricey quote, so I'm not sure if I will go with that. I would definitely negotiate because I know that this batch of work doesn't require much skills.

Windows Grills are now in place

As I have shared in my previous post, after the long process of design and planning, the window grills have now been installed. I just want to share some photos of our new Japanese inspired windows.

Week 13 : Plumbing rough in and more plastering

2 more days, and it's officially the third month of the building process. We started with site preparation on July 21.

The plumber is supposed to be on site today, but I haven't spoken to my sister yet, so I don't know what happened. Last night, I finished all the drafts and designs of the plumbing lines, talk about cramming.

After months and months of going to Borders every weekend, and browsing through every home magazine, we've come to this point. Every bathroom design I see is as pretty as the other, and I just want them all. It's just hard to decide on bathroom layouts if you're designing for three different bathroom profiles - 1 large family bath, 1 small bath, and 1 masters bath. We still have time to come up with the final decision - I think.

2 months and 8 days - Trusses and Ondoy

After 10 weeks and a super duper typhoon, we're still going strong in building the house. In fact, I heard that all the walls are now closed, and ready for electrical rough ins this week. We've been searching for an electrician, but it's just hard to find the 'skillful one'. Our regular electrician is now based in the middle east (what's new?) and we cannot find a candidate with equal skill and right attitude. I'm just so particular with these electrical stuffs because a lot of fire incidents are caused by poor wirings and other causes that has something to do with electrical. It's just scary. One of the girl that we used to play badminton with had fire in their house last year, and unfortunately, her kids got trapped and burned. It's just so tragic to hear these stories and I don't want to take the risk.

The trusses are also halfway. It's supposed to be finished this weekend, but super duper typhoon Ondoy (I hate Ondoy!) affected the work schedule. So, the timeline can be extended until the end of next week. I don't want to keep my hopes up too much because I heard that another monsoon will come this Thursday and Friday. It's already OctoBER! Give the Philippines a break, pretty please?

I've been also busy for the past month because mom and sister Karen came to visit as well as cousins, Achie Jac and Ahia Glenn. Never been around Australia that much until they came here, which is good because I appreciated this place more (at least I think). Now, I'm Sydney-overdosed, and I don't plan to go out even if there's an upcoming long weekend (Labor day! woohoo!). Hmmm, what will I do? zzzzzzzzzzz.....yey.

I feel that there are a lot of things to blog about and they're all stuck in my head. For one, there's Ondoy that struck Manila that killed a hundred people and still counting. I was online last Saturday because we came home early from our Blue Mountains tour. I overheard from Achie Jac that their kids were stranded in Market Market mall which is quite strange because that is a posh place and it's not supposed to flood. Anyway, I talked to mom when I got home and I thought that it's just a normal rain. We are very used to this kind of weather in the Philippines. I was online, checking out Facebook updates and got worried when Jun, my friend from Marikina created a shoutout asking for help. It's got to be serious, otherwise, he wouldn't be bothered to broadcast that he needs help. Until later that Saturday, I talked to mom again (thankfully, landlines didn't get cutoff) and she said that this is the first time she saw this level of flood working in our shop for 30 years. Whoa! I also talked to Jeff and he sounded very upset because his laptop and all of his hard drives are now being flooded as we spoke as well as the 2 Civics, and he cannot do anything but watch it soak in flood. I cannot believe this happened to Banawe, properties here are worth I don't know how much and all the commercial shops around and luxury cars and the famous restaurants - what happened to our street?? What happened is really sad. I just hope that our countrymen will be more prepared next time this happens.

Anyway, here are some photos of last week. The progress had slowed down because of the weather, hopefully it'll become better this week. We're still in the rough phase and funds are running out. *Panic mode*

High ceiling / stairs area on the left side

Bedroom 4 window

Master Bath window

Second Floor front view

2nd floor balcony front view

Ground Floor bath

Picture window high ceiling / living room area

Bedroom 1 ground floor

Bedroom 4 2nd floor

Masters bedroom door

Laundry room ground floor

Dining area 1st floor

High ceiling / stairs area

Perspective Rough

Week 7 – Slab,check! Now, the walls

Woohoo! The slab is now done. The good news is so far it’s still intact and standing. Up until last week, I still made some revisions with the floor plan. My mom and sister are in town for a visit and while we were discussing the house construction, my sister suggested that the office space in the 2nd floor is too big just to be used as an office space. My mom is the most workaholic in the family, and she will probably be the only one using that big space on an average of 3 hours per day. So, I thought it might not be worth to have a huge space that will only be used 30% of the time. So, Bedroom 3 and Home Office were swapped. I bet Bedroom 3 will be the best room because of the bay window. It will have the best view among all of the rooms and a balcony.

At this point, provision for electrical and plumbing are also done too. As you can see the orange PVCs in the photos.

Now, here are some photos of Week 7

Week 6 – Pouring of concrete slab

August 26 was the date that we set to pour the concrete slab, this makes up the concrete floor for the 2nd floor. For 2 weeks, the workers ‘stitched’ steels that will form the slab. They also used coco lumber to support the steel work and eventually the concrete slab.

We requested for several quotations from different ready mix concrete suppliers and ended up with Concrete Masters with a price of Php 3,370 per cubic. The cement has a specification of 3,000 psi and 14 days curing time. We also had to rent a Pumpcrete for Php 10,000, this equipment will pump the concrete all the way up to the 2nd floor. The whole pouring process took just an hour. I’m glad that we chose to do it this way rather than the manual way, because who knows how long that will take!

They say that this is one of the most critical parts of the job and I’m happy that it’s over. Here are some photos of the site

Week 4 to 5 – Steel Scaffoldings, Coco Lumber, Plywood, etc

For 2 weeks, the steel scaffoldings were formed to prepare for concreting of the slab. It is at this time where the bulk of materials were ordered and the budget was hugely deducted by all the material costs. We ordered steel from Chichay Hardware which is known for selling steel at a cheaper price.

Here are photos of the workers weaving steel

Week 3 - roof off

Last week, the roof was taken off from the original structure. The demolition went on from Monday and Tuesday, and then the forms for the beam structure were setup. We had to buy additional steel bars and coco lumber for the support. Gosh, the cost of steel is ridiculously expensive!

After removing the roof, typhoon Kiko arrived with strong winds and rains! Inspite of the bad weather, the work still continued, of course. Here are some photos of the structure on Week 3.

Week 1-2 - the Columns

There are 14 columns in our house. That's what's the team is due to finish for the next 3 weeks, hopefully these will be done in 2.

One tip that I can share is do your research. Search for the best supplier with the best price. It's worth it. Weeks before the actual start date and when we were just drafting the plans, my sister drove around the area to scout the neighborhood for a good hardware. We printed an excel sheet of all the materials and then they drove around Munoz, Congressional, even as far as Mindanao Avenue to ask for quotations for the materials. We eyed a relatively big hardware store along Mindanao Avenue, but they didn't have the cheapest price. We chose to have them because they are a one stop shop, they are in a convenient location and my sister knows the owner. To get the best price, we also did a price match. Apart from that, we negotiated a payment scheme and agreed to pay the materials on Saturdays. This way, we don't have to make any cash outs when we get materials - safer and more convenient.

Here are some photos

Applying for a Building Permit

This week, we aim to submit all the requirements to apply for a building permit in the Quezon City Engineering office. Since it'll be a major renovation, we are required to submit plans and other documents before we can start the construction work.

Luckily, the Quezon City government has their own decent website which contains the forms and we just downloaded them. It made life easier because we didn't have to go to the cityhall in person which is quite a hassle.

We started preparing for this building permit around three weeks ago. I've downloaded all the forms from http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/ and asked Engineer to draft and prepare the plans. There are basically 4 sets of plans that needed to be prepared -- Architectural, Structural, Electrial and Plumbing. Each plan will be prepared by a specific professional person in my team.

Architectural Plans

1. Vicinity map/Location Plan
2. Site Development Plan
3. Perspective
4. Floor Plans
5. Elevations (at least 4)
6. Sections (at least two)
7. Reflected Ceiling plan
8. Architectural details: e.g. stair, fire escape, cabinets, partions, etc.
9. Schedule of doors & windows
10. Schedule of finishes
11. Details of major architectural elements

Civil/Structural Plans

1. Foundation Plan and details
2. Floor/Roof framing plan and details
3. details and schedules of structural work
   

Electrical Plans

1. Location & site plans
2. legend & symbols
3. Gen. notes
4. Electrical Layout
5. Schedule of loads
6. single line diagram
   

Plumbing/Sanitary Plans

1. Location & site plan
2. Plumbing plans, layouts and details
3. legend & general notes
4. Isometric of the system
5. technical specs

We're now just finishing up the Architectural plans and if that's done, we can probably print it and then submit it hopefully by Wednesday.

Wishful Thinking : My Kitchen

I've spent the whole weekend in the magazine section of Borders again. I've started contemplating on a kitchen layout and design.

I'm not a good cook nor a food enthusiast, but I really want to have my own family-oriented, functional and clean cut kitchen. I think the kitchen is a place in the house that should be shared by the whole family. This is where everyone goes to first when they wake up in the morning (to eat breakfast or to drink water)and the last place they go to before they sleep at night (dinner or midnight snack).

So, I downloaded the IKEA kitchen designer software, and used it to draft my dream kitchen layout. I came up with a black & white theme classic kitchen. I've chosen a neutral color, nothing extraordinary, just to blend in with the contemporary theme of the other parts of the house. I'm posting it here.

I've also been reading the Home and Garden forum in Pinoyexchange and I am getting good tips and insights on the materials, costs, labor details, etc on kitchen renovation. Quite an impressive tool.

Now, I have to find a good carpenter to help me achieve this dream kitchen. I'll post updates here.

Welcome...Rotonda! My place in the Philippines

The place is located in the most populous city of the Philippines, Quezon City. If I'm not mistaken, it's also the largest city. In fact, it was the former capital of the country, that’s why a lot of government offices are located here. It’s also fast becoming the city of the stars because almost all of the broadcasting networks can be found here as well. Apparently, I heard a rumour that it will become the ‘Hollywood’ of the Philippines. Goodluck!

I’ve lived in Quezon City all my life, so it’s really hard to move out of this place. Almost all our relatives live nearby as well, so I really didn’t look that far to find this.

Aside from that, I know it’s got potential, a huuuge potential!! The Ayala Trinoma mall has just opened (last year?), apart from the already existing 3rd biggest mall in Asia, SM North Edsa. These two combine makes the place so prominent and alive. I’m sure that the development won’t stop there. When I went home last year, the traffic along EDSA was intolerable. It takes 20 minutes just to pass along the intersection of EDSA and Munoz. It’s because the MRT extension project was finally being constructed. This project took I don’t know how long to get approved, so thankfully, it’s now on it’s way for the Quezon City people. Once it’s finished, travel from Monumento to Makati will hopefully be better. Of course, our place is in the middle of this MRT route and we will definitely take advantage of it.

The UP Ayala technohub, the first of its kind, has also been recently launched. I also heard that Congressional Avenue will soon have a dining strip, similar to the Eastwood City of Libis or the Greenbelt of Makati. I’m sure that there are a lot more to watch out for in this city.

How did I end up here?

I’ve lived in Sydney for the past 3 years, and I’m amazed at how this country preserve their historic buildings. When you look at their iconic structures, you won’t see any trace of weariness on them, but just glamour and elegance. Take the Queen Victoria Building in the city, for example. The structure was built in 1898, making it 111 years old this year. From my research, there had been a plan to demolish the structure on 1959, but instead, it was restored to its beauty between the years of 1984 and 1986. Who would imagine that the site where the coffee shops and the expensive boutiques have been there even before World War II? Amazing!



Why am I saying this?

I’ve always dreamt of a big house with a garden, as every Filipino would’ve dreamed of. It’s different when you have the space and the air and all the good things in life. But I find it hard to find ‘the’ place in Manila, where I grew up. I started searching for a house 2 years ago, and all I can find are townhouses, usually 3 or 5 in a row, and cramped in very narrow lots. Well, I think the budget that I’ve set is decent to buy ‘the’ house, but I was wrong. Nowadays, space is a luxury in Manila. With over 12 million people living in the city, it’s common for a family to live in a 50sqm condo or a townhouse. After inspecting over 20 townhouses, I got tired. I know for myself that space is my priority and this is my dream house. So, having the Sydney property investor mindset à location, location, location, I expanded my options and looked for not-so-new houses with potential. Yes, potential is indeed the key.

So, how did I end up with this house?

It was my sister who contacted the agents and inspected the houses while I’m in Sydney. I just assisted in searching properties over the internet, which there weren’t so many, and there was no single effective real estate portal in the Philippines, this is of course a different topic. The profile of those houses range from a confused owner with no final decision whether o sell their house to a very dodgy place where there was a previous shooting incident because the houses is tenanted by a police. Creepy eh? I don’t want to live in a house where me or my family could be mistaken for being a criminal and just start shooting at us! Noooo!

With the budget that I have, I’m limited to buy the old 80s houses or crampy townhouses. Being a third world country having more to worry about having food to eat than a place to live, the Philippines, is not very inclined in renovating old houses. So, houses built in the 80s stay the way it is. At this point, I was stucked. Old spacious house? Modern crampy townhouse? Gosh.

Location, location, location. It’s the most important factor in searching for a house, the designs and the paints can be changed, but the house will stay on the same spot forever. I went back home on December 2008, because my husband misses the Pinoy Paskuhan way. I took advantage of the time to search for ‘the’ house, this time with more courage and knowledge of what house I’m looking for. My sister is already in contact with an agent who had some prospects for us.

When I went in, I suddenly felt the airbreeze, the space, the brightness and calmness that I have in mind. The feeling that you’ve want to have after a hard day’s work, of course, without the LazyBoy chair and that dream bath yet, but I know that all these will come eventually.

I found the one.

Tada!

I know, I haven't blogged for weeks, as I was trying to source a prestigious photo of my first new old house. So, without further ado....welcome to the story of my first new old house!

My first new old house

I’ve been contemplating on starting a blog for years, but I haven’t had enough inspiration to focus on a specific topic. Today, I have decided to finally blog…at least start on an interesting topic…

I’ve recently bought a new house, yes a house! Isn’t it exciting?! It’s actually a new old house, because the house is 25 years old already. Since the year started, it’s been normal for me to spend my weekends in Borders scanning through tons and tons of photos in the magazine section, borrowing books in the library for articles and tips, and of course, surfing some awesome home improvement websites.

I’ve lived in Sydney for the past 3 years and their love of property development here is amazing. Year 1900 houses are being converted to look like brand new, bungalows converted to have more levels up, extensions here and there, and a lot lot more.

Aside from home improvements, I’m also stunned in green living. I’m currently living in a country where everything is living for the future – healthy living and fresh produce, building sustainable homes, solar power …awesome. All these ideas are going through my mind as I start renovating my own house.

This is an important stage in my life, and hopefully through this blog, I will be able to keep track of the whole renovation experience, and at the same time share some information and tips from my research to the people who are currently renovating or are planning to renovate soon.

So, don't move, improve!