Our Dream Home in Bulacan, Philippines

[RUFUS]

Very nice floor plans, can\'t let Mrs.RUFUS see any of the members plans or I can never afford to retire.

[tennesseevolunteer]

Thirty plus years working industrail construction. Hands and arms hurt so bad hard to hold a cold one. Legs and knees almost gone but my Salve make all that go away. We really hardly cannot wait to start our home. Just hope I can get in pool with all your family in it

[Gray Wolf]

Very nice design, my friend!  I think I may have to run some ideas past Maricel about what Glo and I want.   
Please do keep us all informed on the progress as well as any setbacks you experience.  We can all learn from our collective shared experiences.

[dylanaz]

We can all learn from our collective shared experiences.

I totally agree! Thats what were here for ... to share and learn so each new venture is that much more successful !

[tennesseevolunteer]

Maricel is doing a lot of work obtaining prices and will soon start on the blue prints for approval. We hope to start construction Jan. 2011. I still have not made my mind up concerning using a contractor(I want at least 3 bids) or supervising the job myself,  if we were building in USA it would be less of a situation. We are going to use solid concrete with insulation embedded in between the concrete. That will be far better than the traditional hollow block construction and should take less time building. I do know that I will be there from start to finish to watch for quality and the way our money is being used. It is only one tricycle and one jeepney ride from our sister\'s home to our subdivision.

 I bought Rosetta Stone\'s Tagalog learning software and hope I can be able to communicate enough.(Still in second grade ) I will keep everyone informed as we move on. I will keep a daily log book of everything trying to account for materials, equipment, time and money as we move forward. I have been trying to read and learn from the experiences of other that gone before me.

[dylanaz]

I bought Rosetta Stone\'s Tagalog learning software and hope I can be able to communicate enough

That, my friend... is the BEST $350 you will EVER spend.... no other brand even comes close. fugeddabout it.

Best $350 spent ... EVAH !!!!!

[tennesseevolunteer]

UPDATE ON OUR HOME: MARICEL JUST emailed me partial blue prints of our future home. The structurial. plumbing and electrial will take the longest. Salve and I are planning on a trip home hopefully in May. She wants to go home for festival in Catanduanes.
We will try to stay one month. 1 week for festival, the rest window shopping for building materials and I want to meet up with at least 3 contractors.

[coutts00]

One a side note, where in Catanduanes is your wife from?

My wife is from there also.

Wayne   

[tennesseevolunteer]

She is from Cabungahan, San Andres. Her father still resides there.

[tennesseevolunteer]

This is the view from our front door from the 3-D Maricel sent me.

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[Braddo]

Looks Very nice i hope to see more photo\'s as they come available you should be very happy living in that house and area

Braddo

[tom.inbigdtexas]

This is the view from our front door from the 3-D Maricel sent me.

From a prior post of CaptainRon, this link is to the front elevation of the house.  Photo #9 is a large view of the thumbnail you posted.

http://confluxpartners.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=54566445

Is this an architectural rendering or from a model home already constructed somewhere?

Are you still on schedule to start construction in January of 2011?

Best of luck to you and Salve.

Tom in Big D

[tennesseevolunteer]

This is not a model home. I first sent Maricel a couple designs of what we wanted in our home. Plus a list of do\'s and don\'ts. After a few designs she sent us this one which was the combination of all our ideas. She has sent us basic floor plans and we are trying to make changes now instead affter final approval of all the blueprints. The 3-D renderings really help in visualizing each room. At that point we either make a Changes or approve and go to different area.


Maricel is doing an excellent job.

Our time table of January 2011 is our target date but since I am my aging mothers only care taker we may have to be somewhat flexible. She has been very confussed the last month and at the present we are trying to find dependable caregivers to help me out.  

[tom.inbigdtexas]

This is not a model home... The 3-D renderings really help in visualizing each room. At that point we either make a Changes or approve and go to different area.

...since I am my aging mothers only care taker we may have to be somewhat flexible.

The 3-D system seems like a great idea.  I built our present home 3 years ago... certainly wish my architech would have used a 3-D system... visualizing the resulting sight-lines and aesthetic effect of wall removals, floor elevation changes, etc., using blueprints is challenging to say the least.

From what is posted so far, I really like your proposed design.

I have a similar problem with my Mom... she 86 years of age... and miraculously still lives independently... actually an understatement - she teaches line dancing at a coummunity center 3 days a week. But, I know that is just a matter of time... and that requires me to keep some flexibility in my plans also.

Good luck with your home building, your moving plans and your Mom\'s situation.

Tom in Big D

This is not a model home... The 3-D renderings really help in visualizing each room. At that point we either make a Changes or approve and go to different area.

...since I am my aging mothers only care taker we may have to be somewhat flexible.

The 3-D system seems like a great idea.  I built our present home 3 years ago... certainly wish my architech would have used a 3-D system... visualizing the resulting sight-lines and aesthetic effect of wall removals, floor elevation changes, etc., using blueprints is challenging to say the least.

From what is posted so far, I really like your proposed design.

I have a similar problem with my Mom... she 86 years of age... and miraculously still lives independently... actually an understatement - she teaches line dancing at a coummunity center 3 days a week. But, I know that is just a matter of time... and that requires me to keep some flexibility in my plans also.

Good luck with your home building, your moving plans and your Mom\'s situation.

Tom in Big D

I would recommend using Google Sketchup (free download) to produce a 3D model that can be rotated and walked through. It is possible to input basic floor plans and build a model from that. This can then be given to an architect/engineer and will express your ideas better than a pencil sketch on the back of an envelope  . Most architects and engineers use Autocad and it is possible to input those drawings into Sketchup as well. It does take a bit of learning, but there is a lot of help on the Sketchup website as well as a forum. I used Chief Architect for my design, but there are a number of other simpler software packages that can be used to design a house, and they all can be converted into a 3D model.

Colin