Dipolog House and Lot For Sale

Original Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Still the work is not complete

One month after moving into our Dipolog house and lot work has still not been completed.

So what is the good news, well we now have hot water after insisting that the hot water tank be placed in the roof area, not only is the water hot but water pressure has been improved. The Glass in the Bar cabinets has been installed

Electrical work outstanding is dimmer switch in master bedroom and relocation of bathroom switches to outside rooms as a safety issue.

One major issue has been a foul smell in the upstairs bathroom and the plumber has has been unable to find the source which also affects the downstairs powder room, the n answer from Mediatrix was to install extractor fans. So I ended up opening up one of the floor drains to prove to the plumber that the smell was coming from the septic tank. He said that was impossible as there was a water trap in the line, so I got him to put his ear to the drain and asked if he could hear dripping water, he replied yes, so therefor the water trap was not working, and I suspect that the trap on the upstairs drain has the same fault.

Glass panels on stairway are still to be installed and many of the windows gaps still need sealing.

Garden landscaping is taking shape and in fact will be completed before house. Garden walls are taking shape, and gates are on order

Landscaping and walls are being carried out by Alex who has a team working daily and seems to be a reliable contractor with some good contacts, we have atonally requested a quotation and design and builds a built in oven housing.

This coming weekend marks my birthday and we are holding a combined House blessing and house warming party so we are keeping our fingers crossed that issues will have been resolved.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House

Dipolog house and Lot For Sale

Original Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
The final Leg

It has been some time since my last post and it seems we are now in the home straight but missed the target of hand over ant end of January, surprise surprise.

downpipes have been fitted to guttering and plumped into drains. This has greatly reduced the noise during heavy rains, in fact often we do not know its raining apart from the fact that a nearby business premises has a tin roof. Kitchen cabinets have handles and wardrobes have doors.

So that is the good news, water pressure still dogs the issues taking a power shower and, but shower screens have been fitted. Still no hot water after nearly a month. Glass yet to be installed on kitchen cupboards, bar and in Family room. Electrical work outstanding is dimmer switch in master bedroom and relocation of bathroom switches to outside rooms as a safety issue.

Garden landscaping is taking shape and in fact will be completed before house. Still awaiting quotations for garden walls and gates which means dogs have to be tied up all day.

Great Internet connection speed but power outages might be an issues, it seems in Philippines municipal water and power cannot be relied upon.

I had an Australian contact me via Skype for assistance and advise about building a new house near the beach. He is also concerned about electrical issues

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House

Dipolog house and Lot For Sale

Original Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Moving In

Jasmin was determined to move in on the full moon, so we arrived at 0300 with a lorry following us. First problem was no keys to the house, but then I remembered that the door from the dirty Kitchen in to the living area did not have a lock. The electrics was working. Jasmin and her mother and friends did their religious bit. Our Bed had been delivered the day before so the next task was to move our possessions into the house. Putting the packing cases in the car port and suitcases and cardboard boxes in the Maids Room.

As dawn began to break the goat was slaughtered and we discovered the mains water supply valve so switched on the water in order to start cooking. We could see there was a lot of work to complete so when the workmen arrived at 0730 we had to start redirecting them to our priority jobs.

One task was to redesign the flimsy bar to make it more substantial in fact over the course of the first week we had to change out and fit dimmer switches on the lights, fit windows in master bedroom,stairway and toilets, together with fly screens. We also had to replace three wooden floor tiles which were not correctly laid. air con was also installed.

During the second week we engaged a Garden designer to start work on the garden and also to supply curtains and blinds. Finally the plastic guttering arrived and was installed, apart from the down pipes which the developer will supply. Overall we were frustrated in the way that no one job was ever completed, for example the cook top arrived and a hole was was made in the worktop, which took all day using a six inch nail as a chisel to chip concrete. I was then left to enlarge hole using my own chisel to in order to install retaining clips and connect everything up.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House

Dipolog house and Lot For Sale

Original Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Final Visit

We made our final visit to our Dipolog house and ;ot for sale on 5th January and it looks like completion will overrun our timeframe. We spotted one problem in the kitchen area, where a joiner was installing a cabinet where we will have a fridge/freezer placed, There are still some wiring and painting to be completed. The guttering was due to arrive that afternoon.

The Gas/electric hob had not been ordered, so we went to Better living Mediatrix Homes normal Supplier, but they did not have any so we got Mediatrix homes to order one from Emcor, but it will not arrive for a further 8 days.

We went to the District Water board to arrange connection, but it seems they have some kind of dispute with Mediatrix Homes at the moment, so will connect our house. Mediatrix will provide us with a temporary solution.

The most time consuming part was arranging electricity connection at Zanaco . we went armed with blueprint and completion certificates. Now we discovered they calculate the deposit based on estimated consumption. now we have a lot of lights and sockets put in by architect, many of which will not be used, which results in a high estimate, if we had known this in the beginning we would have modified the lighting and socket plan. We had to go to 3 different departments, and then pay the deposit, so that they would carry out a final inspection. This means we will rely on Mediatrix to supply a temporary connection when we first move in.

We also Visited smart to arrange move of our Internet connection, now it seems at last minute there could be a problem as they now are not sure if our canopy device will work. Its strange for months they say no problem and then at 11th hour they are not so sure. They have yet to confirm, so am preparing to use a USB modem as a temporary solution

There is some local superstition and ceremony involved in moving which involves killing a goat at sunrise of the full moon, so we will be travelling at night with a truck carrying our possessions arriving in earlier hours of morning, hoping we have electricity and water.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House

Dipolog house and Lot For Sale

Original Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Looking Good

Our latest visit showed that our Dipolog house and lot are proceeding fine with an estimated completion date at end of first week of January. All the doors and windows are now in place and the upstairs is virtually complete apart from cupboard fronts,bath screen.hot water supply and a couple of electrical fitting.

We met with the owners of Mediatrix homes, to finalise the final details which includes the fitting of the guttering which is in transit. We also requested an estimate for two walls and gate. we would like to build up the garden to the original height so need to have the top soil that was originally removed returned so we can organise landscaping of the garden after we have moved in.

We have also ordered a built in oven which will need a cabinet building in the dirty kitchen as we want to have the oven at eye level. This will be delivered along with other items that we have ordered from Emcom, one of the best sources of equipment in the southern Philippines

We are now starting to plan our move and will make a further visit on 5th January with the idea of moving on the Moon of the New year, Monday the 9th.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House

Dipolog house and Lot For Sale

Orignal Article @ Dipolog house and Lot for Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Still Slow Progress

As the year draws to a close it is evident that the workers are eyeing the holiday season as very little progress is being made. One of the holdups is with the Guttering which was promised for last week but now is expected to arrive next week. This has delayed the outside painting.

Door frames are being painted, so the inside is slowly taking shape. Master bedroom bathroom and communal bathroom tiling is completed. Powder room is virtually finished apart from shower, not sure on where hot water supply comes from and notice that light switches are inside bathrooms, which can be a cause of electrocution and is banned in UK, but of course we are in the Philippines where health and safety have little bearing on the matters.

Whilst we were in Dipolog we choose the various light fitting, it was a bit chaotic not knowing exactly where the fitting would be placed as we did not have the lighting plan with us, so we will be in for a surprise on our next visit to our Dipolog house and Lot for Sale.

We have now been promised a date in January for completion, so can now start sourcing furniture in the year end sales, so long as the shops are prepared to store it until our house is complete.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House

Dipolog house and Lot For Sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale

Slow Progress

The optimism from out last visit to out Dipolog House and lot for sale has disappeared, with very little progress from out last visit. Room painting is underway, however the Rain gutters have not been delivered and are not due for another week, this will result in missing our December deadline.

Jasmin and I had some discussion on the window tinting, I would have preferred a light blue colour to enhance the the colour of the skies but Jasmin wanted a darker grey to provide more privacy. we also need to contact the architect to design and provide a costing for fence/walls on the two open sides of our property.

So many items unfinished means it is difficult to see real progress so we will do not plan to visit again for a couple of weeks. We still have some issues on fittings which were ordered as part of the contract and regret that Mediatrix homes did not accept our proposal to have a detailed specification attached to the contract, rather than their standard wishy washy contract which is vague.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House