Home Sweetest Home: The making

         It has been a roller coaster ride these past four months, more often, it's because of the disappointments, stress and then more stress that we experienced from our general contractor Marlon T. San Andres of Silang, Cavite. As I've written before, this person keeps promising that he will finished our house at a certain date but have repeatedly failed to do so. Aside from that, when we moved in, we have no sink in our kitchen, the kitchen island needed to be redone, the paint are literally melting away (this made the walls look like it's bleeding) and the gate leading to the carport has not been finished yet. And, the worst part is I've been called "masungit" (snob) and has been dubbed "demanding" just because I am very assertive on what we want to be done in our house and how it should looked like. Helllloooooo! It is hard-earned money people! 

                Just to point out, I don't bad-mouth people and I have been giving this person so many chances already but, I felt he did not learned his lesson and he'll keep doing this to other working middle class people such as myself, motivated by this, I know I have to / need to tell people our story. I've also shared this to my femalenetwork sisters and hopefully someone out there will be spared from the nightmare that we've gone through. Here's the link to the story that I posted in female network.

              I have also attached pictures of our home as the work progressed. In the beginning, (I sound like the bible now) everything was really good, the general contractor was easy to talk to that time and since he was highly recommended by the property manager of Camella homes in our village we were very confident that he will get the job done. It never occurred to us that this 1.5 month project will be dragged on for more than 4 months. Worst, we still have a lot of rework to do and a lot of fixing because of poor workmanship on their part.

             While our general contractor put up the walls for the extended kitchen, we had an independent contractor install narra wood parquet on the second floor of the house to save time. We have them done by Parquetitza, from Marikina City, they have a facebook account where they showcase their work - Kindly click here. They finished it within the agreed deadline (lead time of three days) which made hubby and I very happy.

               Meanwhile, my hubby and I, started going out canvassing and buying granite tiles for the first floor, tiles for the laundry area, kitchen fixtures and sink as well as the cook top that we sat on the first floor bathroom of the house while we wait for them to finish the jobs on the kitchen. We also bought the oven already because Marlon said he needed the measurements so he can finish the kitchen island. We picked up the sink and kitchen fixtures at Home depot alabang, while the cooktop and oven were picked up at good ole Ansons in Makati while our good friends from the Floor Center in Buendia Edsa delivered the tile materials on time - we were happy with the tiles and their service. The tiles below are just some of the pics we took when canvassing.

the actual delivered tiles

delivered by Floor Center

Our oven that sat in our 2nd floor for 4 months

Here are the pictures we took on the first month of the project (during this time, our gen contractor is still in a "good" mood ). 

the kitchen (1st month)

door leading to laundry area

the kitchen island

floor tiling - which we have redone because they installed it incorrectly

making the ceiling - notice the sparkling things on the ceiling, those are actually droplets of water because they did not waterproof the slab but started working on the inside of the house. 

the kitchen island

the kitchen who is flooded with water because of the leaks above

Another reworked done - even though we bought the oven in the earliest time possible, the poor oven did not fit in this island and in turn have to be redone also 

water dripping on the walls because they did not waterproof the slab above

my husband inspecting the uneven floor

laundry area

the mini patio

When June came, no one is doing any work on the house even if it's a good day. We had 2 storms that month but nevertheless, there is still a lot of things to correct and do inside the house that could have been done but was neglected. There are still no paint on the walls, unfinished floor, unfinished laundry area and uninstalled sliding doors, no gate and grills on the side, not to mention there are no kitchen cabinets yet and the built in closet upstairs was not yet done too.

This was also the time that the ceiling was supposed to be done and the lighting fixtures installed too. We already met with him prior to discus the light design we've come up with and even provided him a drawn plan (same goes for the closet). But, as I found out later from his people, he was trying to cutback on the material cost of the electric wires because it was expensive hence, he wanted a different plan from what we agreed on. I am starting to have doubts at this time but pushed it aside and tried to be upfront about the concerns that we have -- about the timeline not being met, the wrong design of the ceiling and lights, explaining to him the tons of works that needed to be done and the effect of the days and days of not having anybody around to work on our home. He just nodded and said that there are only a few more work that will be done in our home and he can do them on time. 

As a precaution, we were visiting the site unannounced  to make sure somebody is working in our home and reminding him of the timeline and what needs to be done in the house via text.We also needed to bug him just to have those sliding glasses installed that month so we can have those big holes on the side of the house closed to avoid thieves. Overall, on the month of June - the only thing that got done was the installation of sliding doors that he had one of his suppliers did and partial work on the kitchen cabinet (1 person did this).

By July, we were hoping that things will turn around and speed up but the reality sets in and we see less and less of Marlon and his team. During this month, my husband and I are so stressed out because the contract in our condominium is about to expire and the house is still unlivable - the only option that was left for us to do was to ask for a one month extension - an unecessary cost on our part. 

Here is the condition of the house on July for 3 weeks.

the water stains on the walls

water stain on the ceiling

Partially primed wall

water on the floor seeping from the ground

Flooding under the sink

Water dripping down the semi painted wall

the laundry area still has no tiles

the uneven kitchen island

We had the upstairs double wall removed to make room for the built in closet.

Problems we encountered on June and July - water flooding the floor, walls and ceiling

          I knew I needed to be firm so that we will be taken seriously and if we needed this to be done, tough love is a must. So I confronted him about the same old problems about the leaks, the unfinished jobs and the delays. We both know for sure that he will not (again meet the deadline by end of July).

On the last week of July, I started to be the "OC" that I am and started telling him the problems and asked him to prioritize waterproofing the walls and the slab to get the ceiling done and the lights installed. He sent 2 people to the site to work on the slab plus the electrician, Kim. The carpenter comes and goes because he only has one that works on all projects.

waterproof finally put in

another view of the waterproofed slab

Good thing, the electrician was able to re-wire the ceiling and install the kitchen lights in our home in a giffy. He also helped finished the slab and seal the leaks on the walls around the extension. Kim actually did more than what is expected but I later found out that he got fired by Marlon. Marlon said that he got feedback that he was asking for money from other homeowners from his other projects. Well, I can't really say if that's true because I wasn't able to talk to Kim after that (although he did not ask me money) but I felt bad not having him around because he was really efficient and skilled :(

Our electrician Kim installing the under cabinet lights in our kitchen

rewiring the ceiling

me coordinating with Kim, the electrician, about the design

final rewiring of the ceiling 

Let there be Light!

Aside from the electrician - the two other people worked on tiling the laundry area and plastering the corner posts (which they were supposed to seal right after they've put up the walls)

Corner posts

Laundry tiles

Finally, we were able to install the lighting fixtures that we bought weeks ago and the carpenter was able to put up the rangehood wood cover.

Lighting fixtures installation

THREE DAYS BEFORE THE DEADLINE, JULY 30, after flooding marlon text messages, updating him of what has been done and what needs to be done, many sleepless nights and anxiety attacks, here he comes, as expected, with a whole pack of people with him, showing up to do the carport, built in cabinets and some were tiling the patio and doing some painting on the ceiling (which could have been done months ago!). And  as expected (again), he made a pass on me about getting some more cash but, knowing better this time, I denied him of it and told him that he only have three days to finish it off after that he can have his final payment which really pissed him off (it's written all over his face! - Lol!).

Below are the pictures of the work they did during that 3 days.

installing drainage and carport

tiling the patio

Mark, his carpenter, doing the frame for the built in closet

During this time, to be productive ourselves, my husband and I canvassed for a screen door supplier, picked a design and have it installed the next day. 

main screen door

Since I denied him a cash advance, this is the time he texted my husband that he really needed the money to finish the project off. Little did he know that (unlike him) me and my husband are honest and open about everything to each other so we discussed the pros and cons of what to do and agreed to ask him how much time does he need more because we know he will not finish on July 30 (original deadline). He said he needed another two weeks. We also asked how much will he need so he can finish the house and he said 35K. At this time, we were really hesitant. But we wanted to give the guy another chance so we did.

To our dismay, just as he did in the past, right after he got the money, only 1 person was left to do work on the house. The kitchen was still unfinished, the floor ungrouted, walls are not yet fixed, the ceiling unpainted and the exhaust fans for the bathroom and rangehood has not been done yet and there was another leak discovered that flooded the kitchen again.

By August, Marlon keeps singing the same old song and me and my husband are really tired and burnt out at this time. Two weeks have gone by (the time extension that we gave him) and we did not hear anything from him, no text telling us he will not be able to finish the house in two weeks. How could he? he only sent 1 person to our home to do some painting. And, whenever we text him, he doesn't respond to us nor meet us. And, the same modus operandi goes again, a day or two before August 30, he came rushing with people and started rushing the work which worsen the situation, I know he was eager to finish to get the final payment off of us.

When August 30 came, he wasn't able to finish the house. We moved in with an unfinished kitchen, no kitchen sink and fixtures, no gate and grills (unsafe for us), worst paint job on kitchen walls, cabinets and closets, chipped walls and mistakenly measured kitchen island because apparently, the 4-month oven that was sitting in the 2nd floor of our home will not fit in. 

All in all, we have spend another two weeks with people coming in and out of our home to do rework and "fix-ups" (which they can't fix) before I gave up and had enough and decided to just sent them away. I mean,  we want to move forward, and there are just things that can't be undone and can't be fixed with lacquer paint or sandpaper.

 I know, even if we have gone through what we've gone through, it was still a good experience for me and my husband because we stuck through it and learned to adjust and adapt. Our house is far from being nearly done. It's at least livable now but the damage that some of the work done to our home are really irreversible and its something that we just need to learn how to live with. The lessons I got on how it is to make a house is priceless. Hopefully, next time, we'll know better and not be so trusting of people.