First Few Weeks of Demolition

To be honest, seeing my childhood home demolished slowly was jarring. I cried when I first saw the cabinets from my parents' bedroom removed. I always had in my mind that they were just both home doing what they love doing. Mom would be doing some gardening, while Dad would be busy writing or reading on his desk at the lanai. 

Seeing their bedroom empty of all furniture and the cabinet doors removed felt unreal. I felt it was wrong and the thought of calling off everything ran in my mind. I comforted myself by thinking that I have happy memories of my childhood home and we'll build new ones in the same space eventually. 

The first few weeks of demolition focused on removing "add on pieces". All the cabinets,wall cladding and doors were removed. Space had to be made, so they also started removing window grills, sills and jalousies. It felt really weird to see the house stripped off of its coverings. 

We chose to demolish the house after getting several inputs from different architects and structural engineers. We could have opted to do a heavy renovation, but the cost would be the same and for our safety it would be better to have a structurally sound house with new electrical fittings and plumbing. The foreman explained to us that they will keep the original foundation as a reinforcement for the new foundation. I think it worked out because we requested to follow the property line strictly. 

Next week, I'll share where we sold some of the pre-loved items :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Other Home Building Expenses

There are a gazillion other expenses when it comes to building a house. We had additional expenses too since an old house exists and we're within the airport zone.

Here's a list we had to pay aside from the construction building materials and professional fees:

Requirements for Building permit (our Architect included these in the construction cost)

- Barangay clearance fees

- Homeowners clearance fees

- Survey and CAAP requirements done by a geodetic engineer (we had to spend additional for the CAAP requirements)

Building permit (partly covered under construction fees, but...)

- liability policy 

- fire extinguisher 

- CAAP clearance 

- planning fees

- plumbing, roofing 

- contractor's tax

Homeowners fees (not included in construction cost)

- Demolition bond

- Construction bond

- More homeowners fees (this one is not reimbursable)

Monthly fees

- water utility 

- electricity

- PLDT (we set up CCTV so we could monitor the property)

- weekly food for the team

#BeKind #StaySafe

The Process Before You Build a House

Oh boy, I completely forgot to write about what we went through before demolition started. It took more than a year before we started any work on the house. The first step of finding the right architect took us several years. We were scared of hiring the wrong one since a lot of people have shared horror stories on YouTube about getting scammed. 

Here are the steps we went through after finding the right architect (those I can seriously recall):

Step 1. The first thing we did really was to get to know each other. Our architect interviewed us about how we live, what's important for us and we talked about the planning process. When we decided to proceed, the architect sent us a proposal which included professional fees and a detailed bill of materials.

Step 2. After paying our downpayment, we sent a wishlist to the architect and a copy of the title of the house. We also had on hand the site survey since we had one done for the donation of the property. 

Step 3. The architect then made an initial design. We went back and forth on this until we agreed on the design. We took our time since we were also waiting for the new title of the property which is required to file a building permit.

Step 4. Once the design was done, the architect involved his team of engineers and other experts in putting together the detailed blue print required to file a building permit. 

Step 5. We then reviewed the blue print and once it was signed, architect's assistant did the back and forth in getting the permit. We were stuck here for awhile since the city engineers required a lot of changes. One hold-up was also getting a CAAP permit* which got delayed because of the original site surveyor. We ended up hiring another geodetic engineer to help get the CAAP permit. 

Step 6. Together with filing the building permit you need to also get approval from your barangay and homeowners association. Ahh, this also cost a lot of money to do but this was already included in the costings of our architect (whew!). 

Step 7. The building permit also required trips to the Bureau of Fire and purchasing fire extinguishers. By this time we were really grateful we hired a professional architect who had an expert in getting the requirements completed. 

Step 8. Once you get clearance from your barangay, HOA, CAAP, Bureau of Fire, and make the building official happy about your plan, you'll finally get your building permit (it took us 6 months including delays). 

Step 9. But, there's more. Before we were able to start, we had to file additional requirements of the HOA. They required a list of the workers, their NBI and police clearance, and individual photos for their ID. Aside from that we also had to pay for the required demolition bond and construction bond. 

Step 10. And just before we started, we paid for the next 10% of the contract for the mobilization fee. So, that's what happened before we started on day one of the demolition.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Useful Home Budols

I'm not exactly sure where the term "budol" came from. As far as I remember it was a term used for a crime, mainly scamming. The first time I heard this term was in the 80s when the budol budol criminals were striking. When online purchasing became a norm during the pandemic, it became a term used for impulse buying. It progressed more because of the double digit date promos made by Lazada and Shopee. 

Since we're taking a lot of precaution by not going out, the things I need to purchase have been done online. It's not only SM that's "got it all for you", but you can practically buy anything online, even a house! To be honest, I was really wary about buying stuff online. I was forced into it when we had to purchase groceries during the circuit breaker in SG. 

Anyway, I've babbled long enough. Here are some of the budols from the past few weeks:

Walis tingting with bamboo holder

Magic hose and a hose organizer

Fabric to make a window curtain

Mail box, my neighbor said they'll stick it to the gate anyway.

Cordless vacuum, best buy ever.

Proper doorknobs, really hate those that nip you.

Birthday decor for Mom's birthday.

The air fryer (Sweetie's budol)

A nice faucet for the washing machine

Air freshener auto spray

Faucet extender

The cheese door stopper which was an indulgence

Sweetie was so surprised I only bought fabric to make a curtain. Told him I have a lot of fabric. Just need to unbox them. It's surprisingly hard to buy some home items like tabo and dustpan. I don't know why the shipping fees for basic home items are so expensive! I'm still hunting for a shop that doesn't charge so much to ship those. Or maybe it might be better for me to order through SM when I do my groceries. 

I'm still learning a lot about buying home & living items online. Any tips/recos will be welcome. 

#Home43 #NewG203 #Xmas9 #StayHome #BeKind  

Bliss + New Nimbus 2000

Moving to a new home is hard. We're lucky we didn't have to go through 99% of the construction process and we're just working on finishing touches and some tweaks. I honestly haven't moved as much in the past few months because I have to contend with SOB* and other medical issues. I feel though I could push myself a bit more and I try to do what I can. 

To help us manage a bigger home, we've been investing in a few tools. Miggy unboxed the cordless vacuum cleaner yesterday. It was a joy to watch him be so happy about it. He tried out all the accessories and imagined them to be space weapons, haha. I felt so contented watching him play around with the vacuum. I guess that's what being blissful means. Your heart is so full, it feels like it might burst. 

I realized I should have gotten the cordless vacuum earlier. It would have helped us keep our home cleaner and dust free. I have very bad allergies, so it would really have helped. And good thing I let my budol friend, Anne, talk me into getting a better brand. I was really hesitant at first since I feel other options would be okay. Well, thanks to the huge 12.12 discounts, I got it for the same price as the other brand I was planning to get. 

Of course, there are things you need to do using traditional tools. I got a shiny new walis tingting (broomstick). I got one with a stick which I aptly named my Nimbus 2000. I brought it out for a spin today and tidied up the garage. I'm properly well-exercised now and would make my physiotherapist proud. The stick made a huge difference since the regular walis tingting gives me backaches, plus I can't really bend that much. I'll probably use the Nimbus 2000 twice a week as part of my exercise regime, haha! 

Sweetie brought me out for a joyride since I haven't been outside for over a week now. We also had to leave the premises for awhile because manong is varnishing the floors. I now feel what kids experience when their parents bring them out for a joyride. We're still really taking a lot of precautions even though our barangay listed zero cases yesterday. 

Typhoon Odette is now in the Visayas region. It's been gloomy all day. Please take care wherever you are.

And thank you Nina (of Therapy ni Tita) for the amazing mint chocolate cookies! It was a good reward after zipping around the garage in my Nimbus 2000! You can order these yummy cookies via her IG page.

#Home42 #NewG204 #Xmas10 #StayHome #BeKind  

*SOB - shortness of breath