Home on Mondays: Waterproofing your Home

Both our childhood homes were located in flood prone areas. We almost postponed our wedding because we were both badly hit by Typhoon Ondoy. Ended up suspending wedding preps and just crammed a month before the wedding. Because of that we made a promise to live in areas that don't get flooded. We've been successful in not getting flooded, but didn't realize there are other water issues that we'd experience. 

Typhoon Ondoy, 2009.

We've lived in at least 8 different homes since we married and have had quite a lot of water-related adventures. Here's a list:

1. The Waterfall

It was late night when a pipe in the ceiling of the bathroom in our rental burst and created a waterfall. Sweetie was alone because I was in Sydney and Miggy was in Manila. It was horrifying since the water started leaking out of the bathroom. The condo security turned off both water and electricity so Sweetie missed going to work the next day. Landlord just got someone to patch it up and not really fix the issue. Truly traumatic since we were forced to finish our contract even with the danger of the pipe bursting again. 

2. Don't trust old pipes and faucets

We should have known there were issues with the unit. A week into our stay the kitchen sink started leaking and we had to pay to get it fixed since it was below the threshhold. We also had to have the water fixtures in the bathrooms fixed during our stay and the toilet bowl kept leaking water! Ugh! We learned a valuable lesson not to rush in signing up for a lease and be wary of sweet-talking agents. Last we heard before we moved out, the new landlord was battling with the property because of the huge government construction beside it. We left almost five weeks before our lease ended and just paid the rent to keep our sanity intact.

Well new pipes can also leak if it's not properly installed. Make sure to check all faucets and pipes before you move in. If not immediately fixed, pipe leaks can turn into expensive repair contracts.

3. Always ask when the poso negro was last cleared

Ugh, in the first home we rented there was a weird phenomenon happening in the ground floor bathroom. The shower area drain would spew out poop on its own. Ugh, the experience is still giving me goosebumps and I don't want to write about it again. The full story is here. Just trust me, if you're renting a home always ask when the septic tank was last cleared. Since we know our new home used to be an old home we jumped on the chance to have Maynilad seep the septic tank last summer.

4. Address ceiling leaks ASAP!

My friend Peter explained that ceilings leaks take a long time before you see it. He said that it starts with a few drops, but by the time you do actually see a leak the issue may have been going on for months. This happened in our new home and luckily the solar installers immediately identified the issue and we were able to tell the contractor what to fix. When I got home I was shocked to witness a waterfall situation in my childhood home when it suddenly rained hard while I was there. The ceiling was in pretty bad shape. Good thing I found a good contractor to fix my Mom's roof. They also advised where the leak started. Don't wait for leaks to turn into waterfalls!

For those living in condos, be wary if you're on the top floor. We've experienced leaks coming from the roof deck. The roof deck of the condo also serves as the laundry area. Get your admin to immediately address bad waterproofing if there are leaks in your unit. The addressed the leak issue, but the ceiling light in Miggy's room never got fixed despite follow-ups. We just had it fixed when the unit was renovated. 

5. Sealant will be your best friend

One other place water can come in is through windows and sliding doors. This we learned in our new home. The windows for the most part have been okay, but water has seeped in (and continue to seep in) from the bottom of sliding doors. Sweetie was able to fix it with sealant, but we need to have it addressed professionally since I noticed some damage already in the wall. 

6. Downspouts shouldn't make you pout

Well, the downspout beside my kitchen has been making me pout since early this year. There is certainly an issue because it's been making my kitchen cabinets stinky! Make sure your downspouts properly drain out.

7. Drains should work properly

I've been watching architect vlogs because you can learn a lot from them. Architect Oliver Austria posted a video a few months ago about building your shower area. He mentioned that the floor in your shower should be at a certain angle so that the water would naturally flow down the drain. He also went into detail about how the drain pipe should be built. Well, our new home was already built when we bought it and we've been having some issue with our shower drain. Not really sure if it's the type of drain cover or an issue with the drain pipe. We're still figuring that out. 

If there's something you need fixed, make sure you get a trustworthy contractor. I've seen several horror stories from neighbors who had their roof and ceiling fixed, but experience a waterfall at the first sign of rain. I honestly prefer asking friends and neighbors for referrals than hiring help via an app. The experience here has not been the same as in Singapore where you can hold those you hire accountable. I'm glad I got a reputable roof repair company to fix my childhood home. I tried hiring someone through the app and his quotation swung from one amount to another. And even though I already said no they kept hounding me. 

Hope ya all stay dry! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Next Level Adulting

 I was going to blog about this yesterday, but got distracted and the thought slipped my mind. Remembered it a few hours after when I was, well... adulting. If I new there was a next level to "adulting" in your 20s, I could have saved myself from the pain I've been going through the past few weeks. 

If you're in your 20s or even younger, I have one important advise for you -- keep your affairs all in order. The only thing I have in order are... my photos. Majority (I can't claim all) of my digital photos are in proper folders and kept in Google Photos. I used to store them in countless CDs, but after Typhoon Ondoy I have been putting them on the cloud. Well, managing photos is the easiest of the lot. Managing countless documents and papers requires skill and a lot of patience. 

Here's a general list of what you need to keep in order:

1. Medical records

2. Utility Bills

3. Car/vehicle documents (OR/CR, maintenance records)

4. Property records (mortgage, title, real property tax records)

5. Bank accounts 

6. Employment records (or business papers)

7. Travel documents (passport, visa etc.)

8. NSO Certificates (birth, marriage etc.)

9. School documents (diploma, transcript of records)

10. Legal documents (contracts, affidavits, SPAs etc.)

11. IDs (license, TIN, voter's etc.)

My idea of organizing documents was to put them in folders/envelops. Sweetie leveled it up and put them in clear folders so it's easier to find. Good thing we'd spend time organizing papers whenever we went home. It made it easier to manage things remotely. Miggy just had to find the right documents for car registration and paying real property tax. 

My Mom was really good at managing. Her long banking career was interrupted only because of me (I was fragile since birth hehe). She had a proper filing cabinet and an enviable filing system. I remember she started purging documents after Daddy passed away. I've had to rebuild her system the past two weeks. It was hard especially since the papers were not properly kept. I did discover though that most utility companies have online customer portals now. That helped a lot especially for bills that were missing. 

I feel so accomplished after rebuilding my Mom's documents. I still need to find a couple of things and I hope I don't uncover more unpaid stuff. The boys are taking care of the docs for our homes. We're trying to find the best way to file everything properly. It really gets gnarly when you don't organize often. I digitized all of my Mom's bills and now I'm asking her if she had a pool installed because there were two months last year when her water bill was 5x than usual. 

And having everything organized is a good way to understand how you could live better. My cardiologist forced me to organize all my medical records so it would be easier for other doctors to review me. I just share an online folder for my newer doctors. I also have a calendar of when I have to do annual car registration and pay real property tax. Keeping scanned copies of all your docs also helps. 

Oh, now I understand when elders used to tell me that high school is the best part of your life. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Adulting 101

To be honest, I only learned how to manage a home when Sweetie and I got married and moved to our own home. I remember I was shocked when Sweetie said he preferred not to have househelp. We always had helpers at home which meant I focused more on my studies/work, other activities than learning how to cook and home management. 

We had a lot of misadventures when we moved to our first home. We shared this on our "Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal". Our brand new washing machine almost blew up. Our sink billowed white smoke. The worst was the septic tank incident. My Mom eventually took pity on us and got someone to help clean the house and do ironing once a week. I think she got worried we might eventually end up hurting ourselves trying to learn the ropes of home management. 

Here's what I learned through the years:

1. Pay your bills on time. Aside from utilities, always pay your credit card bills in full. That also means do not spend beyond your capacity. Save if there's someone you need to buy. 

2. Invest in good appliances. I learned this from my Mom. Her appliances really last a long time (her Whirlpool fridge is as old as Miggy!). The Union fan I brought to Singapore ten years ago, came back home with me. 

We used our first washing machine for 9 years.
It was still working when we gave it away because we decided to get a bigger one.

3. Your first home may not necessarily be your last. This was advise given to me by my Ate. We've lived in 8 different homes in the last 11 years. We moved based on need and our lifestyle. Now that we're permanently home and we won't be traveling we'll be settling in a permanent home now.

4. Budget to save, work to be financially free. I set aside money for savings before I spent it and eventually adjusted it based on the goal to be eventually financially free. I'm not financially free yet and still working on my strategy. 

5. Enjoy the chores. Yes, you need to embrace the fact that chores will always be waiting for you to do. I enjoy doing the laundry and have a science on how I do it. I feel so satisfied when I'm able to complete it. Sweetie took over it the past year, but I started doing it again yesterday. I ended up feeling unwell though, haha, but I was happy I was able to do it again. 

6. Get help where you can. You can't possibly do everything. We continued to have someone come in once a week to do cleaning and ironing for us. Before we went home last week we had our place deep-cleaned. It would have been dreadful if I ended up inflamming my sinuses with dust, hehe. 

7. Ask for help if you need it. It's been very useful for me to check the posts of our neighbors when they need help for something. I normally check previous posts first on our group before I ask questions or I ping a friend or neighbor to ask directly. I needed to have our sliding door fixed and easily found recommendations on who to contact. It's fixed now, yay!

8. Think twice before buying home items. It takes me years before I finally decide to buy something, i.e. my KitchenAid stand mixer. I always ask myself if I'm really committed to it and I set goals I need to meet before buying something. I'm also changing my grocery buying strategy since we ended up throwing away a lot of stuff before we went home. I will strictly adhere to my meal plans to make sure I only buy what's needed. I'll also probably put in an inventory system so we don't duplicate stuff. 

9. Do tasks by parts. What worked for me was setting tiny home goals per day since I have to manage my energy. I would set one reachable home goal a day. This way I don't end up procrastinating, haha. Give yourself a treat when you complete the task. 

10. Stay healthy, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Too much of anything is bad for you. Don't forget to love yourself. 

Remember, there's no formula to be a perfect adult. Just do what you think is right for you. Our parents had to help us in the beginning to show us the way. Eventually my Mom said we were already doing well and she believed we could do anything now. I still ask my Mom things when I'm in a bind hehe. 

#Home14 #NewG230 #Xmas38 #StayHome #BeKind