Maganda umaga,
kaliwa, kanaan, right left, up down.... First off, i am basically a dick, i have little patience and quick to anger over being taken advantage of. This stems from having to drive commonwealth avenue four times a day to bring wifey to work and pick her up. I tire of people telling me kaliwa, and then gesture with their hand to go to the right.... and vice versa for kanaan. I have whole conversations with locals and think an agreement has been reached reiterating numerous times the potential contentious issues that could come up, only to find the next day the agreement made the night before was misunderstood. Not only by me but by my partner...
Anyway, I know not all people here annoy me, its maybe 10 percent at the most, if you exlude bus, fx, motorcycle, and jeepney drivers... I am hoping to do some major renovations as well as new construction on lots we purchased in lipa, I hope to share any lessons learned as well as learn anything i can from others here. I am not posting this to start a bitch session and hope that the message sent is received with the intent i was hoping for... have a great day and happy renovations....
Re: kano in qc...
:welcome: to PHM dick i mean kano :thumbup:
We share the same sentiments and we value your opinions. Hope we could know more about your handyman-ness aspect as well. Hope you enjoy your stay here. Positive criticism are most welcome as well.
Re: kano in qc...
@nomas
commonwealth used to be much much worse.
also folks will always try to take advantage of you, especially if you don't know the language:
when they say 'plaincoat' they mean 'flintkote'. if you ask for maple wood stain, you won't get any - ask for mahpol.
and always watch out for theft.
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Re: kano in qc...
thanks for that advice, as for thefts, and yet another thing that sort of raises my suspicions about the contractor is, he has a shop four doors away from my house that he stores the materials in. I have done the math for our current renovation and its understandable to add 10 to 20 percent on materials for losses or things of that nature, but his initial was at least 50 percent higher. An example is the tiling quotation, the calculation they use is for half a 25 kg bag per sq meter. When the tile adhesives cover at a minimum of 4 square meters for large tiles 60x60. I hate nickel and diming like that but it adds up. As for commonwealth, i have been driving it four times a day five days a week at least for the last 4 years. It has gotten much better, but its still a nightmare...:)
Re: kano in qc...
nomastequila,
Why don't you just buy all the materials yourself? That way you can control what is used. It will be more of a hassle but if you always nickel and dime then that willl suit you better.
Re: kano in qc...
Anything special about Commonwealth? ... compared say with EDSA or any other Manila or Philippine roads for that matter? Is the driving behavior any different? More lanes than anywhere else in the country it seems, so what's the problem? 🙂 But what do I know, I only drive that infrequently and not at peak times.
Coming out of UP (via University Ave.), one does have to quickly cross, what, 10 lanes? within a short distance to get to the U-turn, but I usually have to do that only late at night. Hard to imagine what it would be like to do that during rush hours.
Re: kano in qc...
regarding commonwealth... imagine ten lanes of jeeps, fx, taxi, busses and motorcycles... half of whom have no regard for other traffic. It used to be much much worse, you used to have to deal with people crossing twenty lanes of traffic on foot to avoid walking 100 meters to the nearest overpass. This forced me to slam on my brakes a year ago and a taxi drove up under my rear bumper enough to lift my back tires off the ground, thankfully i drive a pickup truck that is high enough in back he slid in under me with hardly a paint streak visible, his hood was jacked up though. regarding buying own materials it is a thought, he just gave us the estimate for tile and is saying the adhesive he will use will be a 25 kg bag that covers only 2 square meters, when on the bag itself it says it covers a minimum of 5 square meters. Its annoying because it would be great to just leave it in their hands and trust that they arent going to charge me double for such petty things. but for 100 square meters thats a difference of 30 bags of adhesive.
Re: kano in qc...
regarding commonwealth... imagine ten lanes of jeeps, fx, taxi, busses and motorcycles... half of whom have no regard for other traffic. It used to be much much worse, you used to have to deal with people crossing twenty lanes of traffic on foot to avoid walking 100 meters to the nearest overpass. This forced me to slam on my brakes a year ago and a taxi drove up under my rear bumper enough to lift my back tires off the ground, thankfully i drive a pickup truck that is high enough in back he slid in under me with hardly a paint streak visible, his hood was jacked up though. regarding buying own materials it is a thought, he just gave us the estimate for tile and is saying the adhesive he will use will be a 25 kg bag that covers only 2 square meters, when on the bag itself it says it covers a minimum of 5 square meters. Its annoying because it would be great to just leave it in their hands and trust that they arent going to charge me double for such petty things. but for 100 square meters thats a difference of 30 bags of adhesive.
Hi Nomastequila,
[COLOR="Red"]Slam the brakes on your contractor if you sense that the numbers don't add up. The proof is in the packaging. Show him that a certain tolerance is set to control expenses. He has to work within your budget. Make your estimates on some of the important or critical aspects of your renovation so he doesn't take advantage of you. Make it known that you're aware of current prices so he will be careful w/ purchases. Filipinos are no different than other contractors in other countries. Same animal different breed. If you speak your mind about the way he presents his figures of the build he will be more careful and thorough w/ his presentation. If you don't say anything and just grumble, he will think you are politely taking it all in. That's when your troubles begin. He is , after all, under contract w/ you so you can enforce these measures from the beginning of the build to set a system that is both beneficial and economically sound for you. As a whole, we are currently using 20k/per square meter level costing for a class B type of renovation. If your figures are +/- 30% from this figure then you are either buying more that what you budgeted for or your contractor's estimate is as bad as his math.:freddy::eek:
Re: kano in qc...
@guad
commonwealth was particularly bad prior to the radar guns. and particularly dangerous, the fatality rate prompted the radar guns iirc.
Re: kano in qc...
I appreciate the input regarding costing. Its true regarding contractors, i don't mean to say it is only here. my current renovation I did have to sit down with him and go through every detail because he was ordering 600 backs of 40 kg portland cement as well as sand and aggregate for a 24 square meter second meter slab with 3 walls, footings, tie beams, and support columns. I went through each individual calculation including finishing the chb. and showed him he wasnt just off by 20-30 percent he was off by more than 50 percent. Anyway, i like the guy and it is within budget and the work is getting done quickly. thanks again.
