Not much work over Eid

**This post was due on 16 Oct but due to problem of uploading photos, it has been in the draft folder for the past 3 weeks.... and as usual, overlooked.**

Most of the construction workers building my house are muslim Indonesians, and their boss had kindly given them a 3 days off, from Saturday to Monday (day 1 to 3 of Hari Raya), and they only started working today (4th raya). The non-muslims however continued to work during the raya festivities (except Sunday, the usual day-off), so there is still progress albeit a slow one.

I went there at 6pm with my son to look around and to take some shots. Some of the work done were plastering of my kids rooms' walls as well as installing the wood panels for the external ceiling. Tips? You may want to include ceiling fans as it is a cheaper alternative to switching on aircon all the time.

Latest Photo of House

Our stairs

Our Master Bedroom

Our Family Room

Our House from the other side

Status @ 10 Oct

Looking at my home pics folder, i realised that over the fasting month i've only took pictures of the house ONCE. Feeling guilty about it, i rushed to the site to snap a few pics, and here's one that compares well to the architects rendition.

Payment?
Manage to sort out the payment issue with the bank, and it seems like process problem alright... can't say much about that, except that i am so disappointed with the delays despite us being cooperative and giving them whatever letters, invoices, receipts for them to proceed with the payment, but Alhamdulillah (Praise Allah) the contractor never slowed down the construction and continued on with their work on schedule.

Budgeting?
When the contractor quote their price, you have to know that it does not include government charges (we still have no idea yet how much it is), aircons, aircon piping (average $300 per aircon unit), alarm (depends on numbers of doors/windows), lights & fans. You have to set aside budget for other necessities too like fridge, cooker/stove, microwave, TV(s), curtains... depends on number of windows and material/design... and for those home theater enthusiasts or those IT buffs, let your contractor know your needs (LAN points, speaker points, cable TV outlets etc) before they quote cos it'll cost more if they charge it as an additional job compared to being included in the outset.


Anyway, here are the pics:


morning pic of 13 Sept, still doing the roofs

afternoon pic of 13 Sept


doing the roof over our master suite

latest pic, status as of today (Wednesday, 10 Oct 07)


till the next update... to friends who cared to visit, Thank you .

I wish my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, from us Pg Hj Azmi Rizal, Hajah Rakayah, Ak Muhammad 'Abdurrahman, Dk Iman 'Aaliyah and Dk Izzan 'Aaeeshah...

i've got other photblogs at gembo and gembo-gembo

Latest Status? Roofed!

Hi friends

Status to date? Alhamdulillah our house is 95% roofed. another 5% will be roofed in a month's time, InsyaAllah, awaiitng next shipment.

I've got pictures here of the developments in July & August, and the architects rendition of the completed house.... the architect is chinese, so his rendition is chinese style with red roof tiles, ours are black.... will snap some shots to be updated before raya.... really need to push my arse to do this updates.... i owe this to friends, with the intention to offer tips to ensure hassle free construction..

Talking about hassles.... Alhamdulillah, we have not got a single complain so far about our contractor, he's been patient despite the delays in payments.... I guess there is always a problem of being the first; in our case we were the first HOS customer of this bank - i hope they will be able to relook at their processes, to ensure contractors are paid when due.

I'll give some experience on budgeting in my next blog... lets hope soon Gembo! Enjoy the pics!

Architect's Rendition of our house when completed



how it looked like at week 1 in July. Remember, piling was done early June.


status @ week 3 July... all in order, Alhamdulillah ground floor beams completed


status @ week 2 August... first floor columns completed


status @ week 3 August... preparing the first floor beams