Congratulations on moving in to your new home Rick and Jenn! The place looks beautiful and as Rick mentioned in the video, very peaceful. Rick, I'm 100% with you on the items you pointed out that were frustrating you. As we are both former military, attention to detail is of paramount importance to us and it is so frustrating when we don't receive things to our expectations. They just do things so differently here and we can't help but push back when things are not done correctly. I know you were very involved in your build and that probably kept a lot of what would have been issues out of the picture. I'd hold that final 10% until you can get as close to satisfaction as possible. My small scale experience building mall kiosks for me and my wife's business taught me a lot about how construction is approached here, and watching you build your high quality home has helped me even more. I'm certain you have helped many others and will in the future as well as your experience will live on in RUclips. Overall you and Jenn have a beautiful home to share and that is the most important thing (I know I don't have to tell you that). Oh, and I was wondering if the sauna was going to make the move and was happy to see it in the office! Get some rest brother and l'm looking forward to the wrap-up videos in the next few weeks.
Stephen, So nice to have someone that understands me! LOL What I was trying to relay in the video was that we have, I believe, a good home, but don't tell your client it's ready to be turned over, when in fact it isn't. I am hopeful the builder will walk away with that lesson learned. No one should move into a new home and have to spend the next two weeks cleaning it top to bottom. Just takes a bit of the fun out of the experience. Yes, holding on to the final payment until the items are addressed. I am deducting cleaning fees out of the final as well. It would have been cheaper for them to hire a cleaning crew to come in and clean it, versus paying me to do it. Thanks for the kind words. It is difficult to air soil laundry for the world to see, but I keep telling myself that maybe it will help someone else down the road. Yes, Sauna made it undamaged! Rest, yes, will do :-)
There are always thing to go back and work on when doing construction projects. That’s why you put punch lists together. If you don’t you will forget some undone items. Put as much on the contractor as possible early in the project better to fight it out then than at the end. I don’t like how the do hollow block as they call it. Seems the blocks are poorly made and the are laid even worse.sloppy workmanship. Hate to look at it. Unfortunately it’s human nature. If you contractors don’t require their crews to do things correctly you’re in for a long and frustrating build.
Congratulations on completing your house build. It's a beautiful home. I agree with you about finishing strong. The engineer\builder needs to make "finishing details" a priority with any customers domestic or foreign. Look forward to more videos.
Congratulations !! Thanks for giving us an assessment of how well the work was done. Also giving a breakdown on what you found during your inspection. I hope that they come back and finish everything that was not to your standards. I will keep this in mine when we build our house. Great video.
Thanks Keith... I am currently waiting their reply to the punch list I provided. I will do an update on those items if and when they are addressed. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the lessons learned. Hopefully, the engineer has remediated all the issues. I personally would not pay the remaining 10% until all the garbage has been picked up and issues fixed. Good luck. 👍🏻
Yep, couldnt agree more. And that is exactly what we have done. Im going to do an updat Vlog next week, called Turn-Over 2.0, and update everyone on where we are on that.
Hey Neighbors! Thanks for watching.. Was thinking of going to Cabanatuan this week to look at some patio furniture. I heard there is a couple of rattan furniture manufacturers there. Can you recommend any?
Thanks Catherine, appreciate you watching. Feeling blessed everyday God gives me another morning to enjoy that cup of coffee and a view I have only dreamed of till now. Same to you and yours!
Congrats Rick and Jenn... I am sure you guys are super busy and over worked trying to getting all your stuff in place... I feel the same as you on the getting things done right.... no matter the culture, its still fundamentally sound expecting things to get done... is the construction phase still in progress? The building construction waste should have been kept in check during the build... just like aircraft maintenance our areas were always kept in check no matter if aircraft were in for heavy maintenance or not.... yup I feel you brother... it is a shame on the hood vent over the stove top being forged into the cabinets or the microwave issue.... pain and I agree not acceptable, did your builder consider subcontracting items of the build to companies that have vested experience installing such kitchen accessories? wow... you are correct... you are very tolerable.... I can learn lessons from you... anyway your content and discussions are very valuable to a veteran planning to build in the near future... thank you Rick for sharing your experience and totally appreciated... Perhaps you can consider doing a future vlog of "Lesson Learned" similar to what George and Emie did from "Casa TexPina"? In any case, congrats and stay safe.... concentrate on form when you are lifting items.
Hey brother! Nice as always to hear from you.. Yep, busy is a good word. Cleaning like crazy! They did not keep up with the construction waste as I had hoped. I mentioned it at various intervals throughout the build, so it would have been worse. They just didn't finish well. Construction is done with exception of identified items that have to be addressed before I make final payment. I honestly don't know why the kitchen built in's were such a problem for them. Only thing I can think of is it's just not "normal" for a Filipino home and even though I was always super clear about what I expected in the kitchen, the onsite Engineer just didn't take me seriously. Regardless, it will get done, one way or the other. Yes, George's video that he did a year after they moved in was very helpful. I plan to do the same. Be on the look out for the Solar install vlog that will go up soon. I'm ready for you and the family to get your butts over here sir!
Charles, I hear your concerns and most Foreigners like yourself have had similar discussions/frustrations when we are dealing with any Contractor. Hopefully your Engineer did not take offense to your teachable moment. I find that there is a sensitivity to being schooled so to speak, and they are not always willing to accept constructive criticism because it is perceived as us acting in a superior manner. I will not let that perception stop me from getting my Money's worth. As you said if you are paying for a service/product the expectation is that must be done properly and to your liking. Cultural differences and not having a deeper understanding of conversational English presents a challenge for us and that is the shortfall that we as Foreigners always have to keep in mind. Your concerns are legitimate no matter how they choose to take the guidance.
Yes Charles, every point you just touched on is spot on brother! I don't know if he took offense or not, I certainly wasn't offensive when I poured out my wisdom, but regardless, I made it clear that any future repairs will involve a different manager. The last one blew his opportunity with me to leave a positive lasting impression. The communication piece is so incredibly important and when the topic was a priority, Jenn would always follow up with Tagalog, just so there would be no misunderstanding. Unfortunately, that didn't always resolve the issue. Hopefully those watching and planning to build here in the future, will learn from our experience. I am 95% pleased with what we got in this build. The 5% of dissatisfaction came on the day of turnover. It will get resolved and I hope to leave this process with good vibes!
Hey Rick, hey the house looks great, yes i know u have a eye for detail, i do too & you want things done right- you payed good money for your place- it was hard to watch you totally bummed out how they left your house on turn over day- That's supposedly a very happy day for both you & Jenn & it didn't turn out that way- Yes there are mistakes, the vent not being centered & losing use of a cabinet because of it- Not !!! an the valve problem on the pool- can't happen- the other things , i guess u bite your lip & go on- hey you got a beautiful wife, beautiful house, just think how lucky you are Rick Just praise the Lord on what u have take care my friend
Dennis, thanks for watching sir! Yes, you are right on every point and I am super grateful to God for all my blessings. Regardless how poorly the turnover day went, I wouldn't trade the overall experience of the build for anything. This to shall pass!!😉
Taga cuyapo po kyo host,ako po nueva ecija din taga cabiao...ganda po tlga sa probinsya simple lng ang pamumuhay at payak...goodluck po sa inyo host,masaya po ako na isa ko sa inyong supporter ng inyong channel...God bless you po sa inyong buong pamilya....TBF❤💙💜💛💚
Congratulation for moving in, I like your house, the clear layout, the simple design, also the colors, especially outside, i love that grey. For the problem with waterpipe valves, i was looking in Austria how much two of elektric pipe valves can cost, dont know which kind you need, but I think is worth it, (about € 100 to 140 for one). Thank you for sharing all information, and sure, after work is done, there has also to be a cleanoff. Much luck for you and your wife for the next steps 🍀🦜
Thanks Kurt! And yes, I had another subscriber mention solenoid valves for the pool. I am looking into it. I will be posting a vlog soon on the Solar Install. It went really well :-)
Congratulations on your newly built house. New subscriber here. I like the way you vlog in the construction of your house. We are based in the US and planning to retire in Palawan in the near future, in which we have a property. I was just wondering what the size of your pool is? It looks like it's an infinity pool. How much were the total costs of building it? We also want a pool when we build our retirement house in Palawan. Hope to hear from you. Thanks, and congratulations!
Bel, so sorry for the late reply, not sure how I missed your comment. Congrats on your future build! Our pool is 27feet long and 19 feet wide. 3.5 feet to 5 feet deep. Yes it is an infinity pool and we paid 1 million pesos to have it built. Hope that helps!
New viewer/subscriber! What was the labor, material and land cost? Beautiful home, 27 and would love to retire in the Philippines, California is too expensive for that
Thanks for watching and subscribing! Take a look at our vlog that has "What did it cost" on the thumbnail. I detail most of what you are asking about. If there is something I left out, let me know. As for Labor, I can't speak to what the builder paid his crews as it was just included in the bid price with the materials.
I like your house,not too big ,not too small,open design,good lighting,the only thing I will get is a couple of dogs that will help you secure your house from predators,you can put up a temporary fence in the front untill the block fence is built,don't forget that you will be targeted for theft number 1 you are a foreigner ( they think all foreigners are wealthy) and number 2 you're right in the open and the lack of security invites the wrong type of people,so I would get cctv and definitely a fierce type of dog to scare unwanted people away ,,Rottweiler is a loyal fierce and territorial dog that will give people second thoughts entering your property,,,good luck
Hey Ken! Thank you sir for your advise, and yes, I have thought about each item you mentioned. I am looking at CCTV options now. The property perimeter will be fenced in the next two weeks. It's the front wall that is the missing link. I simply can't afford it at the moment. The dog will come as soon as I can ensure he will stay on my property, which requires that wall. So, hopefully in the next couple of months, I will be able to achieve those objectives. Good thing is I am a light sleeper and the slightest noise wakes me up. I'm not a nice person when I get woke up :-) hehe!
Congrats on your build Lis! Our ceiling height is 10ft throughout the entire house. The Kitchen Living Dining area looks higher simply because of the large openness.
Hey Tony! My medical is through the VA in Mania and the Foreign Medical Program so no medical insurance for me here. You are one of many that have asked me about medical here and I think it my be a benefit for me to do a vlog on that topic soon. When I do, I hope it is helpful for you. Thanks for watching brother!
Awesome build Rick, my wife and I are thinking of moving there in 2 years after our daughter finishes collage, Where did you get you house plans designed. I may be contacting you with more questions
Hey Donald! Hope that dream will come true for the both of you in the future. I actually started by looking at some bungalow style plans on youtube. Took elements from some of what I saw and then sat down with my builders architect for about 3 hours and made what I had seen, my own. One site i can recommend is Neko Art on youtube. I actually paid a small fee to join his channel so i could access more of his plans. It was several of his designs that i merged and adapted to fit what I was wanting to do. Feel free to contact me anytime and let me know how I can help!
When u live there completely and have encountered storm and typhoons here in the phils that will the time you will know the problem or issues with the house
Hello Rick, My name is Tony, retired USAF, living on Guam. I’m retiring for a second time in a year and we’re moving to your neck of the woods in Nueva Ecija…in fact we were just there and spent a couple nights at the Sirmata Echo and Nature Farm. I’ve been watching your videos and thank you for sharing your experiences and providing helpful information! I was going to ask if you were happy with your builders and would recommend, but I see in the comments and this video some of your comments. Do you have any recommendations of other builders? I’m also interested in information about the well drilling, size of pump, pool builders, and solar company…do you recommend any of these companies? Thank you, Tony
Hey Tony! Congrats on your impending 2nd retirement brother and thank you for your service. You and I will have to get together in the future and see if our paths ever crossed in the past. You are going to love NE, and Sirmata is only about 5km from our home. I love their coffee and cheescake! I can recommend a good well man that lives in our area. I would do a submersible deep well if I had to do it over again. Not all well guys can do submersible, but the one in our area does it. Also the Solar guys out of Urdanetta are awesome. I would not recommend our pool builder, but I do know a good pool builder out of Tarlac. They did our second phase of landscaping and they are super professional. Builder is another challenge all together. Ours did a good job with the main structure, but failed miserably at finishing. If I were doing the build over again, I would have looked for someone in the Tarlac, Angeles, or Urdanetta area. Feel free to look for me on Messenger under Rick Baker. My profile pic is me in my service dress. Thanks for watching!
@@rickbaker0217 Thanks for the reply Rick! I see you’re retired AF yourself, thanks for your service also…it’ll be nice to have someone close in NE with so much in common. I sent you a friend request on Facebook…we’ll be able to connect there and I can ask all my questions 😎. Tony
Understand what you are saying. If you are not completely satisfied with the quality of work, I know I would have way more issues because I have been in the construction industry since I was born. Facilities and Utilities management for half my life. Dwelt with many third-party contractors. They would not like me. But you are right, different culture and way of doing things. I been to the Philippines once and looked at some of the construction; is different. Good luck and God Bless. US Air Force Vet.
Hi how did you guys deal with typhoons recently? We're planning to move to the Philippines very soon this year, I saw some affordable prices of lands in Cuyapo nueva ecija, but have never been there. It's nice to see foreign who lives there.
Hey Ana! Well, the blessing with living in Central Luzon, as we were told and have experienced twice now, it that mountains between us and the Pacific ocean, provide somewhat of a barrier between us and the strongest affects of the Typhoon. The way I understand it, the storms affecting this area, come from the Pacific and weaken somewhat after hitting the mountains. So what we most likely will experience is diminished winds and rain of course. So doesn't mean you want experience nothing, but the affects should be lessened. What seems to be the biggest issue with storms here is the amount of rain and flooding. This area for the most part flat and thus great for farming, but struggles with shedding large quantities of water. We were diligent in finding property that was on a slope that we knew would have little to no chance of flooding. And that is what I would advise as well. There are plenty of elevated and sloped areas that finding suitable property to build on should be possible. If you end up with a flat piece of land, then obviously having sufficient quantities of fill dirt and ensuring they are compacted properly, would be necessary to raise the home lever above any possible flood levels. Yes, there are some foreigners in this area from what I have been told. Mostly in the Tarlac and Cabanatuan areas. Congrats on your future move. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help!
@@rickeybaker9066 I'm from the Philippines but I was from Las Pinas city before I moved here in US. I have never been in that area, but your lot prices are way better than tagaytay etc. places I know. I don't know much about the province and John my husband wants to move to PI we decide to have a short stay in some places in PI. Do u know Airbnb(affordable) just for a week to see and try to live there. Tia
@@anadequiroz3851 you are right, land is way overpriced in a lot of areas in the PI. Anywhere that has a high concentration of foreigners or is tourist related, they just feel comfortable asking for the moon. Thus our choice to stay away from those areas. We looked in places like Tagatay, Baguio, Angeles, Subic, Bataan, and found all of them to be ridiculously priced. Our goal was to pay as little as possible on the land, and still have plenty left over to build a home that we actually wanted. Other stipulation was that it have an incredible view and privacy. We managed to find all that we wanted. It wasn't a quick process. It took us about 10 months of searching to find what ticked all of our boxes. I always advise folks that move here to rent something and use it as your base for searching for that dream property. There is no MLS here so we found that you really need to find someone living in the area you are interested in, that really knows what is available out there. We were lucky to find such a person and she did a lot of the leg work for us. She knew what we wanted and she went out and talked to the people to find who was interested in selling. There was never a for sale sign on this land, she just had to talk to the owners to see if they might be interested in selling, and they were. The owner we bought our land from, has two more pieces of property across the road from us, that he also wants to sell, but he has never put a sign on either of them. It's all done word of mouth. Crazy! As for accommodations around here, they are few and far between. When we were building here, Jenn and I would drive up once a week and stay in local accommodations. Cost about P1500 a night, but for a foreigner, pretty rough. We stayed in Cuyapo, or Rosales, as both are close to our land. There are a couple of Resorts here that have accommodations. They are nice and as a result, I would imagine the price is higher. I can tell you however, they accommodations are acceptable to a foreigners expectations. The three I can recommend are Armando's Garden Resort and Villas, Sirmata Eco farm and Nature Park, and Argamosa Farms. I have been to all three. Quality rooms, quality food and great atmosphere, all in the heart of Central Luzon.
Planning to build a house in the Philippines in 2024. My question is regarding security. You use glass windows and the wall facing your swimming pool is glass. I don’t see any bar grills on your windows- typical of bungalow homes for security in the PI. What kind of glass do you recommend that is secured. I don’t like the looks of bars on the windows.
Hi Sola, and thanks for watching. I have multiple layers of security at my home, but iron bars on doors and windows is simply something I can 't do. I have no desire to live in a cage. I really will just leave it at that. Hope you understand!
Did you have a warranty period and withholding put into your contract? Typical here is that final payment is the same as final time you see the builders. 😔
Hello CasaTex! The final 10% is due upon home completion. I don't consider the fact that they say it is ready for turnover, to be completion. To me it clearly wasn't ready for turnover, so I have informed the builder that until it is "Complete", meaning everything addressed satisfactorily, that final payment will stay with me. I am ready to be done with the build, so it's not my wish that it drag on any longer than is necessary. He is waiting for me to provide a final list of items that I want addressed and he has acknowledged final payment will not come till it is done. I really want this relationship to close on a positive note for the both of us. I want to be able to give my endorsement to anyone that is considering using them in the future. That is my wish.
Congratulations on the turnover of your house. The issues that are troubling you can be corrected, but the bottom line is, you have a beautiful house. But I pray you don't lose sight of the fact that in a few days or a few weeks, you are going to be sitting out next to your pool with a cold San Miguel in hand, and watching the clouds roll bye in the distance...Enjoy!
I haven't lost sight of that fact Karl, and am forcing myself to disconnect from any stress and enjoy my morning coffee poolside! I am so glad that we moved here and I am loving every second of peace and quiet. Yes, the builder has reached out and we are making a plan to correct issues of items needing correcting. We are making progress on getting everything cleaned up and items needing repair will be addressed. Appreciate you watching brother!
Congratulations on a really beautiful home. Agree with your comments. I'd hold that 10% until the job is done to your satisfaction. You pay then you loose any leverage and it also lets them know its okay to treat customers like that. But decision is up to you of course. Sorry you got robbed already.
I released 5 of the 10% remaining when they came out and addressed some of the issues. But, there are still back jobs not finished and when they get finished, I will gladly pay the remaining 5%. Thanks for watching Robert!
Yes Roussel, that vlog is coming. Still trying to get the punch list completed. Only then will the build be complete and I can do my wrap up vlogs. Thanks for watchin!
In most cases I believe you would be correct Dante, but we have been told in Cuyapo, there is only trash pick up in the municipality proper and not out in the outlying barangays. So a couple of times a week we haul it into the market where they have a drop off location. Kind of a pain in the butt, but better than burning trash on a regular basis. Thank you sir for the kind words about the home!!
I understand your frustrations, but hey this is the Philippines! Don't go there with the same expectations as you would have in the western world. I made that mistake too! But all that set aside, when all is said and done you will have a beautiful house. Congratulations!
You are absolutely correct, and I remind myself of that almost daily. I have to or I would loose my mind :-) My biggest issue was with turning over a home that just wasn't ready to be turned over and expecting me to clean it top to bottom, inside and out. I don't think that would be acceptable to anyone from any culture. But, this to shall pass. And looking at the big picture, you are absolutely correct, we have a beautiful home and I intend to cherish it till the day I depart this earth!
just subscribed... i am a filipino and i totally agree with you about how dirty people leave construction projects... i have been through that many many times hahaha... even my own relatives don't clean up and just leave garbage and broken blocks, sand, pastic, etc etc, lying around, even if they are living in them for a long time already. It does not only happen in the provinces, but in the cities like Metro Manila... that is why the air and roads in the Philippines is very dusty and when it rains it gets very muddy... and there is just a lack of professionalism... and this happens even in the most high end homes and condos in cities like Makati and BGC.., that;s third world for you hehehe... i am amazed in other countries where even in the countyside, it is so clean and orderly... how i wish the Philippines will be like that... well, not in our generation... maybe never..
Good to have you aboard sir! Yes, it was super frustrating how little respect the builders had for our property and could careless that myself and my son had to spend weeks trying to get it back to the condition it was before they came here. I even stated almost weekly to the Engineer that I expected them to keep the site clean and ensure basura was not left everywhere. Turns out they were just hiding the trash in the overgrown rice terraces behind our home. I didn't even know till we moved in and I went out to brush cut it. That is when I found it all. Crazy stuff!
I bought a hi end condo in Philippines. The guy that installed the tankless water heater, left a big hole in the wall and a leaking pipe. I did not call the installation company to fix it thinking they might even do more damage. Called the plumber from condo maintenance. The leak became a 2 month project. Fixing, leaking, fixing again and again. 3 plumbers later and plumbers being in my condo a total of 20 hours, did not fix the leak. Finally, called a master plumber. After 6 hours and fixing it several different ways, the leak stopped. If a leak gave me so much aggravation, I can imagine what you have gone thru building a house. But that is nothing to what you will go thru trying to fix things from this day forward. Sorry to give you the bad news. But, be prepared!
You may very well be right, but so far, actual build repairs have been minimal and nothing we couldn't get fixed using local contractors. Your leak sounds like the leak from Hell . Glad to know you were finally able to get it fixed!
Unfortunately we foreigner are not use to the rough enough is good enough attitude and I'm nervous as hell cos I'm about to start my build and I just know I will lose my shit somewhere during the process
I had plenty of opportunities to loose mine, but I put a lot of effort in trying not to. Always found that remaining calm worked best for me. Doesn't appear so here in the PI though. Best of luck to you on your build sir!
I can understand in the grand scheme of things, they seem small. But the reality is, there have been 10 people here for three days fixing everything that was not ready. Uncomfortable for everyone. Everything that is being addressed, could have and should have been taken care of before I ever got that call telling me it was ready. This is where a good Quality Control program comes in. Everything is getting taken care of Eric, but as I told the builder, none of this had to happen had someone performed a QC check before turning it over. Thanks for watching brother!
Your spending a fortune and this is the big pay day the engineer has ever had so yeah I agree with you that all these things need to be ratified before you turn over. Totally unexceptable
Unless this is the first house they have build, this is not acceptable or 'professional', no matter what country you are in, especially if you have paid good money for it. If people can get away with doing this over and over gain, they will only get worsted, next time around. I hope they are 'professional' enough to take care of all the issues that should have been taken care of the first time around. And for those that say, oh these are not such a big thing, they would have not said that, if it was their money or home.
Thank you Tony! Someone that understands me!! In fact, my next house vlog will be titled "Turnover 2.0". We will see how they did fixing everything that was not done in Turnover 1.0
@@rickeybaker9066 Hi Ricky, I understand you because I try not to be a hypocrite and tell the 'truth'' without being a fake person. I also understand that many are afraid of the 'backlash' that will come if they say something negative there. It's not 'healthy', no matter what country one is in, to hide the bad, because it will never gt fixed and it will get worse, affecting all people, especially those who need the most help.
@@tonyste12 My wife says I am honest to a fault 🤣. It's the only way to do business and have a business that will grow and thrive. Every criticism I have had, has only been to help people do better. If they improve, everyone wins!
@@rickeybaker9066 Your wife is right, but you have to be careful, many do not like honesty, especially when it is 'pointed' towards them. Some times you may have to just say 'nothing', than being honest, people can use your honesty against you.
@@tonyste12 It wouldn't be the first battle I have had to fight. Have tried to be an honest person for the last almost 59 years, don't see that changing anytime soon. Thank you for your advise though. 🙏 A wise man listens to others, evaluates their words and incorporates them if they do not compromise their ethics.
❤🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤ I'm happy for you and your wife about your home, however, it pains me to hear all about the work that's been done on your home should've been done in a more professional manner till the end of presentation in handing it over to you, you've put in your hard earned money 💰 🤑 💸, your retirement savings and all, l'm sad and feel you've been ripped off, off your honest money 💰 🤑 💸 Don't get me wrong you have a very beautiful home and am truly happy for you two, I wish you both true happiness 💖 😊 💕 💗 💓 ❤ in all the day's that you live in your beautiful home, GOD BLESS 🙌 💖 💕 ♥ ❤ THE BAKER FAMILY 👪 💖 ♥ ❤ 💕 💗 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤
Hey Rose! You pretty much nailed it. We didn't get things exactly as we had hoped, but we are making the best of what we have. So appreciate you watching and commenting!
❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤YOU ARE WELCOME, I SPOKE ALL THAT FROM THE HEART, ❤ GOD BLESS 🙌 🙏 ❤ 💖 😊 YOU YOUR DARLING WIFE AND THE BUNDLE OF JOY WHOM WILL BE JOINING YOU TWO SOON OR IS ALREADY THERE 😊❤❤❤❤❤
Hey Troy, I can appreciate what you are wanting and I did an earlier vlog where I featured the building company. I do want to say that they apparently have many satisfied customers, I was just not one of them.
You get what you paid for in the Philippines, come on play fair they get paid peanuts for their building work , how do I know, I have properties built for us in Manila , a little bit of garbage, how ungrateful Ps now I know why you have all those patio doors lol 🤣🙌
Well Dave, it's a good thing that you and I are entitled to our own expectations and opinions. Has nothing to do with "playing fair" and everything to do with expressed expectations that were not met. If you have no issues with those folks that you paid your money to build you a home, leaving it completely trashed, then they are lucky to have you for a client I suppose. I however, expect if you tell me verbally and put it in writing that you will remove all construction debris and garbage that your teams decided to throw everywhere, then I expect you to live up to your word. Even to this day, we are removing garbage and debris that was deposited all over the property. And last, maybe I am a person guilty of having high expectations, but ungrateful when those expectations are met, absolutely not. Have a good day sir!
You got that right Dave. these poor workers make 10 bucks a day or less. bust ass in major heat all day, carry tons of shit, trip all over stuff, dig hard dirt, go home with a day's worth of rice and eat dry fish, dirt floor home. And age out at a very early age, never buy a car, and never save money. look at the house owner, and know they will never be him. Just hire someone to clean up. 20 bucks a day...poor little me
I could make an argument either way, but bottomline, it was not perfect and most likely wouldn't have been perfect with anyone I would have hired. It's ok, life moves on 😁
Congratulations on moving in to your new home Rick and Jenn! The place looks beautiful and as Rick mentioned in the video, very peaceful. Rick, I'm 100% with you on the items you pointed out that were frustrating you. As we are both former military, attention to detail is of paramount importance to us and it is so frustrating when we don't receive things to our expectations. They just do things so differently here and we can't help but push back when things are not done correctly. I know you were very involved in your build and that probably kept a lot of what would have been issues out of the picture. I'd hold that final 10% until you can get as close to satisfaction as possible. My small scale experience building mall kiosks for me and my wife's business taught me a lot about how construction is approached here, and watching you build your high quality home has helped me even more. I'm certain you have helped many others and will in the future as well as your experience will live on in RUclips. Overall you and Jenn have a beautiful home to share and that is the most important thing (I know I don't have to tell you that). Oh, and I was wondering if the sauna was going to make the move and was happy to see it in the office! Get some rest brother and l'm looking forward to the wrap-up videos in the next few weeks.
Stephen, So nice to have someone that understands me! LOL What I was trying to relay in the video was that we have, I believe, a good home, but don't tell your client it's ready to be turned over, when in fact it isn't. I am hopeful the builder will walk away with that lesson learned. No one should move into a new home and have to spend the next two weeks cleaning it top to bottom. Just takes a bit of the fun out of the experience. Yes, holding on to the final payment until the items are addressed. I am deducting cleaning fees out of the final as well. It would have been cheaper for them to hire a cleaning crew to come in and clean it, versus paying me to do it. Thanks for the kind words. It is difficult to air soil laundry for the world to see, but I keep telling myself that maybe it will help someone else down the road. Yes, Sauna made it undamaged! Rest, yes, will do :-)
There are always thing to go back and work on when doing construction projects. That’s why you put punch lists together. If you don’t you will forget some undone items. Put as much on the contractor as possible early in the project better to fight it out then than at the end. I don’t like how the do hollow block as they call it. Seems the blocks are poorly made and the are laid even worse.sloppy workmanship. Hate to look at it. Unfortunately it’s human nature. If you contractors don’t require their crews to do things correctly you’re in for a long and frustrating build.
Gathering great ideas from your vlog. We are 3-5 years before we start building our retirement home in Tagaytay. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations po mam Jenn and Sir Rick..
Fantastic looking build! Blessings for all to include the house.
Muchos Gracias!!!
Congratulations on completing your house build. It's a beautiful home. I agree with you about finishing strong. The engineer\builder needs to make "finishing details" a priority with any customers domestic or foreign. Look forward to more videos.
Thanks LC, appreciate you taking the time to watch! Solar install video going up soon.
Great honesty and a lesson for the builders.. You pay good money expect A+ service
Thank you sir! Appreciate you watching. I’m doing a Turn-Over 2.0 vlog shortly!
Congratulations !! Thanks for giving us an assessment of how well the work was done. Also giving a breakdown on what you found during your inspection. I hope that they come back and finish everything that was not to your standards. I will keep this in mine when we build our house. Great video.
Thanks Keith... I am currently waiting their reply to the punch list I provided. I will do an update on those items if and when they are addressed. Thanks for watching!
Beautiful Home with a Fantastic view! Good job guys.
Thanks for watching Darren! Love the view. Don't expect I will ever get tired of looking at it. It is my Happy Place!
Congrats Rick and Jenn on your move to your new home. Beautiful place!
Thanks Mark! Appreciate it very much.
Thanks for the lessons learned. Hopefully, the engineer has remediated all the issues. I personally would not pay the remaining 10% until all the garbage has been picked up and issues fixed. Good luck. 👍🏻
Yep, couldnt agree more. And that is exactly what we have done. Im going to do an updat Vlog next week, called Turn-Over 2.0, and update everyone on where we are on that.
Such a beautiful house. Congratulations!!! Greetings from Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. Have a great week guys. God bless you.
Hey Neighbors! Thanks for watching.. Was thinking of going to Cabanatuan this week to look at some patio furniture. I heard there is a couple of rattan furniture manufacturers there. Can you recommend any?
You have a beautiful house. And I admire your honesty. Bless your family.
Thanks Catherine, appreciate you watching. Feeling blessed everyday God gives me another morning to enjoy that cup of coffee and a view I have only dreamed of till now. Same to you and yours!
Congrats Rick and Jenn... I am sure you guys are super busy and over worked trying to getting all your stuff in place... I feel the same as you on the getting things done right.... no matter the culture, its still fundamentally sound expecting things to get done... is the construction phase still in progress? The building construction waste should have been kept in check during the build... just like aircraft maintenance our areas were always kept in check no matter if aircraft were in for heavy maintenance or not.... yup I feel you brother... it is a shame on the hood vent over the stove top being forged into the cabinets or the microwave issue.... pain and I agree not acceptable, did your builder consider subcontracting items of the build to companies that have vested experience installing such kitchen accessories? wow... you are correct... you are very tolerable.... I can learn lessons from you... anyway your content and discussions are very valuable to a veteran planning to build in the near future... thank you Rick for sharing your experience and totally appreciated... Perhaps you can consider doing a future vlog of "Lesson Learned" similar to what George and Emie did from "Casa TexPina"? In any case, congrats and stay safe.... concentrate on form when you are lifting items.
Hey brother! Nice as always to hear from you.. Yep, busy is a good word. Cleaning like crazy! They did not keep up with the construction waste as I had hoped. I mentioned it at various intervals throughout the build, so it would have been worse. They just didn't finish well. Construction is done with exception of identified items that have to be addressed before I make final payment. I honestly don't know why the kitchen built in's were such a problem for them. Only thing I can think of is it's just not "normal" for a Filipino home and even though I was always super clear about what I expected in the kitchen, the onsite Engineer just didn't take me seriously. Regardless, it will get done, one way or the other. Yes, George's video that he did a year after they moved in was very helpful. I plan to do the same. Be on the look out for the Solar install vlog that will go up soon. I'm ready for you and the family to get your butts over here sir!
great video thank you for all the tips I love your house ! it looks like paradise
You are so welcome. Thanks for watching!
Charles, I hear your concerns and most Foreigners like yourself have had similar discussions/frustrations when we are dealing with any Contractor. Hopefully your Engineer did not take offense to your teachable moment. I find that there is a sensitivity to being schooled so to speak, and they are not always willing to accept constructive criticism because it is perceived as us acting in a superior manner. I will not let that perception stop me from getting my Money's worth. As you said if you are paying for a service/product the expectation is that must be done properly and to your liking. Cultural differences and not having a deeper understanding of conversational English presents a challenge for us and that is the shortfall that we as Foreigners always have to keep in mind. Your concerns are legitimate no matter how they choose to take the guidance.
Yes Charles, every point you just touched on is spot on brother! I don't know if he took offense or not, I certainly wasn't offensive when I poured out my wisdom, but regardless, I made it clear that any future repairs will involve a different manager. The last one blew his opportunity with me to leave a positive lasting impression. The communication piece is so incredibly important and when the topic was a priority, Jenn would always follow up with Tagalog, just so there would be no misunderstanding. Unfortunately, that didn't always resolve the issue. Hopefully those watching and planning to build here in the future, will learn from our experience. I am 95% pleased with what we got in this build. The 5% of dissatisfaction came on the day of turnover. It will get resolved and I hope to leave this process with good vibes!
Hey Rick,
hey the house looks great, yes i know u have a eye for detail, i do too & you want things done right- you payed good money for your place- it was hard to watch you totally bummed out how they left your house on turn over day- That's supposedly a very happy day for both you & Jenn & it didn't turn out that way- Yes there are mistakes, the vent not being centered & losing use of a cabinet because of it- Not !!! an the valve problem on the pool- can't happen- the other things , i guess u bite your lip & go on- hey you got a beautiful wife, beautiful house, just think how lucky you are Rick Just praise the Lord on what u have
take care my friend
Dennis, thanks for watching sir! Yes, you are right on every point and I am super grateful to God for all my blessings. Regardless how poorly the turnover day went, I wouldn't trade the overall experience of the build for anything. This to shall pass!!😉
Taga cuyapo po kyo host,ako po nueva ecija din taga cabiao...ganda po tlga sa probinsya simple lng ang pamumuhay at payak...goodluck po sa inyo host,masaya po ako na isa ko sa inyong supporter ng inyong channel...God bless you po sa inyong buong pamilya....TBF❤💙💜💛💚
I totally agree Hazel, it is super beautiful in the province if Nueva Ecija! Thank you for your support 🙏
Congratulations! Very nice house!
Thanks Jenny! Appreciate you watching.
Wish to grow your channel and your family very nice
Thanks Emily, and thanks for watching!
Very blessed new family my friend Jen baker god bless you .both a lot vlogs nice😍
Thank you be.. hope to see you soon. I miss you!
Congratulation for moving in, I like your house, the clear layout, the simple design, also the colors, especially outside, i love that grey. For the problem with waterpipe valves, i was looking in Austria how much two of elektric pipe valves can cost, dont know which kind you need, but I think is worth it, (about € 100 to 140 for one). Thank you for sharing all information, and sure, after work is done, there has also to be a cleanoff. Much luck for you and your wife for the next steps 🍀🦜
Thanks Kurt! And yes, I had another subscriber mention solenoid valves for the pool. I am looking into it. I will be posting a vlog soon on the Solar Install. It went really well :-)
Oh my. What was foundation pour like?
Beautiful house with an open layout
Thanks Rosemarie! Yes, have to have the open feel. I love bringing the outside in as well.
Congratulations on your newly built house. New subscriber here. I like the way you vlog in the construction of your house. We are based in the US and planning to retire in Palawan in the near future, in which we have a property. I was just wondering what the size of your pool is? It looks like it's an infinity pool. How much were the total costs of building it? We also want a pool when we build our retirement house in Palawan. Hope to hear from you. Thanks, and congratulations!
Bel, so sorry for the late reply, not sure how I missed your comment. Congrats on your future build! Our pool is 27feet long and 19 feet wide. 3.5 feet to 5 feet deep. Yes it is an infinity pool and we paid 1 million pesos to have it built. Hope that helps!
New viewer/subscriber!
What was the labor, material and land cost? Beautiful home, 27 and would love to retire in the Philippines, California is too expensive for that
Thanks for watching and subscribing! Take a look at our vlog that has "What did it cost" on the thumbnail. I detail most of what you are asking about. If there is something I left out, let me know. As for Labor, I can't speak to what the builder paid his crews as it was just included in the bid price with the materials.
You have been filipinized! 😆 The “CRs” and the “aircon.” Beautiful home. Love that it is a bungalow.
Yes, I am afraid I have been . Thanks for watching!
I like your house,not too big ,not too small,open design,good lighting,the only thing I will get is a couple of dogs that will help you secure your house from predators,you can put up a temporary fence in the front untill the block fence is built,don't forget that you will be targeted for theft number 1 you are a foreigner ( they think all foreigners are wealthy) and number 2 you're right in the open and the lack of security invites the wrong type of people,so I would get cctv and definitely a fierce type of dog to scare unwanted people away ,,Rottweiler is a loyal fierce and territorial dog that will give people second thoughts entering your property,,,good luck
Hey Ken! Thank you sir for your advise, and yes, I have thought about each item you mentioned. I am looking at CCTV options now. The property perimeter will be fenced in the next two weeks. It's the front wall that is the missing link. I simply can't afford it at the moment. The dog will come as soon as I can ensure he will stay on my property, which requires that wall. So, hopefully in the next couple of months, I will be able to achieve those objectives. Good thing is I am a light sleeper and the slightest noise wakes me up. I'm not a nice person when I get woke up :-) hehe!
Congrats hou have a beautiful house
Thank you for the kind words Emily!
What a beautiful house 🥰🥰
Thank you so much for watching and for the kind words!
Hello.congrats to your new home.i have question ,what is the size of that lot? House area size? Total cost?
Emy, I am working on that vlog as I type to you. I hope to have it out soon. I will divulge all 😃
Looks amazing you guys!
Thanks Barry! Appreciate you watching all these months. You have been right there with us.
Congratulations ate! 🥰
Thank you Kristine! Appreciate you watching.
Love the Kitchen.
Thanks JC. Definitely not a traditional Filipino kitchen.
Beautiful house you have there, so open and spacious. What’s the ceiling height, may I ask? We’re in the process of building ours is Cebu.
Congrats on your build Lis! Our ceiling height is 10ft throughout the entire house. The Kitchen Living Dining area looks higher simply because of the large openness.
Nice home. How is medical services there? Do you have medical insurance as in the states?
Hey Tony! My medical is through the VA in Mania and the Foreign Medical Program so no medical insurance for me here. You are one of many that have asked me about medical here and I think it my be a benefit for me to do a vlog on that topic soon. When I do, I hope it is helpful for you. Thanks for watching brother!
Awesome build Rick, my wife and I are thinking of moving there in 2 years after our daughter finishes collage, Where did you get you house plans designed. I may be contacting you with more questions
Hey Donald! Hope that dream will come true for the both of you in the future. I actually started by looking at some bungalow style plans on youtube. Took elements from some of what I saw and then sat down with my builders architect for about 3 hours and made what I had seen, my own. One site i can recommend is Neko Art on youtube. I actually paid a small fee to join his channel so i could access more of his plans. It was several of his designs that i merged and adapted to fit what I was wanting to do. Feel free to contact me anytime and let me know how I can help!
@@rickeybaker9066 Thanks Rick still have a while before we will be ready, Thank you for your time
Concreate work is much different then in the state did they mix it by hand?
Yes, bucket by bucket!
When u live there completely and have encountered storm and typhoons here in the phils that will the time you will know the problem or issues with the house
Yes Josefina, you are absolutely correct. No major Typhoons yet, but some pretty darn good rains and wind. So far, all is well in that area!
Hello Rick,
My name is Tony, retired USAF, living on Guam. I’m retiring for a second time in a year and we’re moving to your neck of the woods in Nueva Ecija…in fact we were just there and spent a couple nights at the Sirmata Echo and Nature Farm.
I’ve been watching your videos and thank you for sharing your experiences and providing helpful information!
I was going to ask if you were happy with your builders and would recommend, but I see in the comments and this video some of your comments. Do you have any recommendations of other builders?
I’m also interested in information about the well drilling, size of pump, pool builders, and solar company…do you recommend any of these companies?
Thank you,
Tony
Hey Tony! Congrats on your impending 2nd retirement brother and thank you for your service. You and I will have to get together in the future and see if our paths ever crossed in the past. You are going to love NE, and Sirmata is only about 5km from our home. I love their coffee and cheescake! I can recommend a good well man that lives in our area. I would do a submersible deep well if I had to do it over again. Not all well guys can do submersible, but the one in our area does it. Also the Solar guys out of Urdanetta are awesome. I would not recommend our pool builder, but I do know a good pool builder out of Tarlac. They did our second phase of landscaping and they are super professional. Builder is another challenge all together. Ours did a good job with the main structure, but failed miserably at finishing. If I were doing the build over again, I would have looked for someone in the Tarlac, Angeles, or Urdanetta area. Feel free to look for me on Messenger under Rick Baker. My profile pic is me in my service dress. Thanks for watching!
@@rickbaker0217 Thanks for the reply Rick! I see you’re retired AF yourself, thanks for your service also…it’ll be nice to have someone close in NE with so much in common. I sent you a friend request on Facebook…we’ll be able to connect there and I can ask all my questions 😎. Tony
Understand what you are saying. If you are not completely satisfied with the quality of work, I know I would have way more issues because I have been in the construction industry since I was born. Facilities and Utilities management for half my life. Dwelt with many third-party contractors. They would not like me. But you are right, different culture and way of doing things. I been to the Philippines once and looked at some of the construction; is different. Good luck and God Bless.
US Air Force Vet.
Thanks for watching brother! And thanks for your service!
Hi how did you guys deal with typhoons recently? We're planning to move to the Philippines very soon this year, I saw some affordable prices of lands in Cuyapo nueva ecija, but have never been there. It's nice to see foreign who lives there.
Hey Ana! Well, the blessing with living in Central Luzon, as we were told and have experienced twice now, it that mountains between us and the Pacific ocean, provide somewhat of a barrier between us and the strongest affects of the Typhoon. The way I understand it, the storms affecting this area, come from the Pacific and weaken somewhat after hitting the mountains. So what we most likely will experience is diminished winds and rain of course. So doesn't mean you want experience nothing, but the affects should be lessened. What seems to be the biggest issue with storms here is the amount of rain and flooding. This area for the most part flat and thus great for farming, but struggles with shedding large quantities of water. We were diligent in finding property that was on a slope that we knew would have little to no chance of flooding. And that is what I would advise as well. There are plenty of elevated and sloped areas that finding suitable property to build on should be possible. If you end up with a flat piece of land, then obviously having sufficient quantities of fill dirt and ensuring they are compacted properly, would be necessary to raise the home lever above any possible flood levels. Yes, there are some foreigners in this area from what I have been told. Mostly in the Tarlac and Cabanatuan areas. Congrats on your future move. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help!
@@rickeybaker9066 I'm from the Philippines but I was from Las Pinas city before I moved here in US. I have never been in that area, but your lot prices are way better than tagaytay etc. places I know. I don't know much about the province and John my husband wants to move to PI we decide to have a short stay in some places in PI. Do u know Airbnb(affordable) just for a week to see and try to live there. Tia
@@anadequiroz3851 you are right, land is way overpriced in a lot of areas in the PI. Anywhere that has a high concentration of foreigners or is tourist related, they just feel comfortable asking for the moon. Thus our choice to stay away from those areas. We looked in places like Tagatay, Baguio, Angeles, Subic, Bataan, and found all of them to be ridiculously priced. Our goal was to pay as little as possible on the land, and still have plenty left over to build a home that we actually wanted. Other stipulation was that it have an incredible view and privacy. We managed to find all that we wanted. It wasn't a quick process. It took us about 10 months of searching to find what ticked all of our boxes. I always advise folks that move here to rent something and use it as your base for searching for that dream property. There is no MLS here so we found that you really need to find someone living in the area you are interested in, that really knows what is available out there. We were lucky to find such a person and she did a lot of the leg work for us. She knew what we wanted and she went out and talked to the people to find who was interested in selling. There was never a for sale sign on this land, she just had to talk to the owners to see if they might be interested in selling, and they were. The owner we bought our land from, has two more pieces of property across the road from us, that he also wants to sell, but he has never put a sign on either of them. It's all done word of mouth. Crazy! As for accommodations around here, they are few and far between. When we were building here, Jenn and I would drive up once a week and stay in local accommodations. Cost about P1500 a night, but for a foreigner, pretty rough. We stayed in Cuyapo, or Rosales, as both are close to our land. There are a couple of Resorts here that have accommodations. They are nice and as a result, I would imagine the price is higher. I can tell you however, they accommodations are acceptable to a foreigners expectations. The three I can recommend are Armando's Garden Resort and Villas, Sirmata Eco farm and Nature Park, and Argamosa Farms. I have been to all three. Quality rooms, quality food and great atmosphere, all in the heart of Central Luzon.
Planning to build a house in the Philippines in 2024. My question is regarding security. You use glass windows and the wall facing your swimming pool is glass. I don’t see any bar grills on your windows- typical of bungalow homes for security in the PI. What kind of glass do you recommend that is secured. I don’t like the looks of bars on the windows.
Hi Sola, and thanks for watching. I have multiple layers of security at my home, but iron bars on doors and windows is simply something I can 't do. I have no desire to live in a cage. I really will just leave it at that. Hope you understand!
very nice pars and mars let us know when we can visit there haha
You have a standing invitation, as always!
@@rickeybaker9066 thanks pars
Nice house..👍👍
Muchos Gracias Sir! Thamks for watching.
❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for watching and for the hearts!
CONGRATZ.👏👏👏👏
Thank you Anita! Thanks for watching.
Congrats sa new house
Thank you Eliza! You know if you are ever in this area, you better stop by!
What was cost of house build? Minus pool? How many SQM? I am trying to guess what it will cost to build my home in Antipolo.
Hi Jc! We have a separate vlog that tackles the cost of each. Here’s the link: ruclips.net/video/C78YVYjItUw/видео.html
Yea I jumped ahead of my brain.... Ijust keep watching all of them thank Brother.
Did you have a warranty period and withholding put into your contract? Typical here is that final payment is the same as final time you see the builders. 😔
Hello CasaTex! The final 10% is due upon home completion. I don't consider the fact that they say it is ready for turnover, to be completion. To me it clearly wasn't ready for turnover, so I have informed the builder that until it is "Complete", meaning everything addressed satisfactorily, that final payment will stay with me. I am ready to be done with the build, so it's not my wish that it drag on any longer than is necessary. He is waiting for me to provide a final list of items that I want addressed and he has acknowledged final payment will not come till it is done. I really want this relationship to close on a positive note for the both of us. I want to be able to give my endorsement to anyone that is considering using them in the future. That is my wish.
Congratulations on the turnover of your house. The issues that are troubling you can be corrected, but the bottom line is, you have a beautiful house.
But I pray you don't lose sight of the fact that in a few days or a few weeks, you are going to be sitting out next to your pool with a cold San Miguel in hand, and watching the clouds roll bye in the distance...Enjoy!
I haven't lost sight of that fact Karl, and am forcing myself to disconnect from any stress and enjoy my morning coffee poolside! I am so glad that we moved here and I am loving every second of peace and quiet. Yes, the builder has reached out and we are making a plan to correct issues of items needing correcting. We are making progress on getting everything cleaned up and items needing repair will be addressed. Appreciate you watching brother!
Congratulations on a really beautiful home. Agree with your comments. I'd hold that 10% until the job is done to your satisfaction. You pay then you loose any leverage and it also lets them know its okay to treat customers like that. But decision is up to you of course. Sorry you got robbed already.
I released 5 of the 10% remaining when they came out and addressed some of the issues. But, there are still back jobs not finished and when they get finished, I will gladly pay the remaining 5%. Thanks for watching Robert!
Is there already a video on house and land cost ? I'm new subscriber so I dunno
Hello sir! It is coming next. Jenn is working on the edit right now. Click the bell icon and when it uploads, you will have it!
Cool brother 😊
Missing you Big C!
Would love to know the total cost of everything including land after finish. Thank you
Yes Roussel, that vlog is coming. Still trying to get the punch list completed. Only then will the build be complete and I can do my wrap up vlogs. Thanks for watchin!
The town is supposed to pick up the garbage your house is look beautiful w/ pool
In most cases I believe you would be correct Dante, but we have been told in Cuyapo, there is only trash pick up in the municipality proper and not out in the outlying barangays. So a couple of times a week we haul it into the market where they have a drop off location. Kind of a pain in the butt, but better than burning trash on a regular basis. Thank you sir for the kind words about the home!!
I understand your frustrations, but hey this is the Philippines! Don't go there with the same expectations as you would have in the western world. I made that mistake too! But all that set aside, when all is said and done you will have a beautiful house. Congratulations!
You are absolutely correct, and I remind myself of that almost daily. I have to or I would loose my mind :-) My biggest issue was with turning over a home that just wasn't ready to be turned over and expecting me to clean it top to bottom, inside and out. I don't think that would be acceptable to anyone from any culture. But, this to shall pass. And looking at the big picture, you are absolutely correct, we have a beautiful home and I intend to cherish it till the day I depart this earth!
just subscribed... i am a filipino and i totally agree with you about how dirty people leave construction projects... i have been through that many many times hahaha... even my own relatives don't clean up and just leave garbage and broken blocks, sand, pastic, etc etc, lying around, even if they are living in them for a long time already. It does not only happen in the provinces, but in the cities like Metro Manila... that is why the air and roads in the Philippines is very dusty and when it rains it gets very muddy... and there is just a lack of professionalism... and this happens even in the most high end homes and condos in cities like Makati and BGC.., that;s third world for you hehehe... i am amazed in other countries where even in the countyside, it is so clean and orderly... how i wish the Philippines will be like that... well, not in our generation... maybe never..
Good to have you aboard sir! Yes, it was super frustrating how little respect the builders had for our property and could careless that myself and my son had to spend weeks trying to get it back to the condition it was before they came here. I even stated almost weekly to the Engineer that I expected them to keep the site clean and ensure basura was not left everywhere. Turns out they were just hiding the trash in the overgrown rice terraces behind our home. I didn't even know till we moved in and I went out to brush cut it. That is when I found it all. Crazy stuff!
I bought a hi end condo in Philippines. The guy that installed the tankless water heater, left a big hole in the wall and a leaking pipe. I did not call the installation company to fix it thinking they might even do more damage. Called the plumber from condo maintenance. The leak became a 2 month project. Fixing, leaking, fixing again and again. 3 plumbers later and plumbers being in my condo a total of 20 hours, did not fix the leak. Finally, called a master plumber. After 6 hours and fixing it several different ways, the leak stopped.
If a leak gave me so much aggravation, I can imagine what you have gone thru building a house. But that is nothing to what you will go thru trying to fix things from this day forward. Sorry to give you the bad news. But, be prepared!
You may very well be right, but so far, actual build repairs have been minimal and nothing we couldn't get fixed using local contractors. Your leak sounds like the leak from Hell . Glad to know you were finally able to get it fixed!
#DashofDayen
When is the house warming?
Excellent question and I have no idea .
What is the size of your lot?
Hi Cristina! Our lot is 3420sqm.
Unfortunately we foreigner are not use to the rough enough is good enough attitude and I'm nervous as hell cos I'm about to start my build and I just know I will lose my shit somewhere during the process
I had plenty of opportunities to loose mine, but I put a lot of effort in trying not to. Always found that remaining calm worked best for me. Doesn't appear so here in the PI though. Best of luck to you on your build sir!
Congratulations 👏..your Always going to have a few problems on handover. They seem minor ones.
I can understand in the grand scheme of things, they seem small. But the reality is, there have been 10 people here for three days fixing everything that was not ready. Uncomfortable for everyone. Everything that is being addressed, could have and should have been taken care of before I ever got that call telling me it was ready. This is where a good Quality Control program comes in. Everything is getting taken care of Eric, but as I told the builder, none of this had to happen had someone performed a QC check before turning it over. Thanks for watching brother!
You need a project manager always
Had one, just needed one with more experience and a desire to do things right. Appreciate you watching!
How much you cost?
Hang in there Alex. It's in my next vlog. Should be uploaded in the next couple of days.
@@rickeybaker9066 thank u sir god bless
ganda nang bahay nyu maam....new subscriber here maam ,i have vlog too Jo Well La vlogs
Thank you be.. visit aq sau maya😘
@@rickbaker0217 thank you maam❤️
Your spending a fortune and this is the big pay day the engineer has ever had so yeah I agree with you that all these things need to be ratified before you turn over. Totally unexceptable
Unless this is the first house they have build, this is not acceptable or 'professional', no matter what country you are in, especially if you have paid good money for it. If people can get away with doing this over and over gain, they will only get worsted, next time around. I hope they are 'professional' enough to take care of all the issues that should have been taken care of the first time around. And for those that say, oh these are not such a big thing, they would have not said that, if it was their money or home.
Thank you Tony! Someone that understands me!! In fact, my next house vlog will be titled "Turnover 2.0". We will see how they did fixing everything that was not done in Turnover 1.0
@@rickeybaker9066 Hi Ricky, I understand you because I try not to be a hypocrite and tell the 'truth'' without being a fake person. I also understand that many are afraid of the 'backlash' that will come if they say something negative there. It's not 'healthy', no matter what country one is in, to hide the bad, because it will never gt fixed and it will get worse, affecting all people, especially those who need the most help.
@@tonyste12 My wife says I am honest to a fault 🤣. It's the only way to do business and have a business that will grow and thrive. Every criticism I have had, has only been to help people do better. If they improve, everyone wins!
@@rickeybaker9066 Your wife is right, but you have to be careful, many do not like honesty, especially when it is 'pointed' towards them. Some times you may have to just say 'nothing', than being honest, people can use your honesty against you.
@@tonyste12 It wouldn't be the first battle I have had to fight. Have tried to be an honest person for the last almost 59 years, don't see that changing anytime soon. Thank you for your advise though. 🙏 A wise man listens to others, evaluates their words and incorporates them if they do not compromise their ethics.
❤🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤ I'm happy for you and your wife about your home, however, it pains me to hear all about the work that's been done on your home should've been done in a more professional manner till the end of presentation in handing it over to you, you've put in your hard earned money 💰 🤑 💸, your retirement savings and all, l'm sad and feel you've been ripped off, off your honest money 💰 🤑 💸
Don't get me wrong you have a very beautiful home and am truly happy for you two, I wish you both true happiness 💖 😊 💕 💗 💓 ❤ in all the day's that you live in your beautiful home, GOD BLESS 🙌 💖 💕 ♥ ❤ THE BAKER FAMILY 👪 💖 ♥ ❤ 💕 💗 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤
Hey Rose! You pretty much nailed it. We didn't get things exactly as we had hoped, but we are making the best of what we have. So appreciate you watching and commenting!
❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤YOU ARE WELCOME, I SPOKE ALL THAT FROM THE HEART, ❤ GOD BLESS 🙌 🙏 ❤ 💖 😊 YOU YOUR DARLING WIFE AND THE BUNDLE OF JOY WHOM WILL BE JOINING YOU TWO SOON OR IS ALREADY THERE 😊❤❤❤❤❤
Please tell us the name of the company who built your house, so we can be sure to never go to them!
Hey Troy, I can appreciate what you are wanting and I did an earlier vlog where I featured the building company. I do want to say that they apparently have many satisfied customers, I was just not one of them.
You get what you paid for in the Philippines, come on play fair they get paid peanuts for their building work , how do I know, I have properties built for us in Manila , a little bit of garbage, how ungrateful
Ps now I know why you have all those patio doors lol 🤣🙌
Well Dave, it's a good thing that you and I are entitled to our own expectations and opinions. Has nothing to do with "playing fair" and everything to do with expressed expectations that were not met. If you have no issues with those folks that you paid your money to build you a home, leaving it completely trashed, then they are lucky to have you for a client I suppose. I however, expect if you tell me verbally and put it in writing that you will remove all construction debris and garbage that your teams decided to throw everywhere, then I expect you to live up to your word. Even to this day, we are removing garbage and debris that was deposited all over the property. And last, maybe I am a person guilty of having high expectations, but ungrateful when those expectations are met, absolutely not. Have a good day sir!
You got that right Dave. these poor workers make 10 bucks a day or less. bust ass in major heat all day, carry tons of shit, trip all over stuff, dig hard dirt, go home with a day's worth of rice and eat dry fish, dirt floor home. And age out at a very early age, never buy a car, and never save money. look at the house owner, and know they will never be him. Just hire someone to clean up. 20 bucks a day...poor little me
U hire the wrong people.
I could make an argument either way, but bottomline, it was not perfect and most likely wouldn't have been perfect with anyone I would have hired. It's ok, life moves on 😁