Thread: Building Advise

Hi All,

Firstly I have been watching this forum for sometime and have actually gained some pretty useful information and also had some great laughs, at your expense
We have purchased some land at Canggu and are currently negotiating with a couple of builders! Has anyone had any dealings or could provide any info on Umah Bali or Tunas Jaya Sanur..

Many Thanks, Boo

OOOps :oops:

That should say Building Advice... Its been a long tiring week dealing with builders. I think I need a good drink :!:

Hi Boo,

Firstly welcome to the Forum! I can't advice about any builders on Bali as I don't know any, but you are going to supervise this building I hope?

Hi Boo
I am currently involved with the OCEN project in Legian,,
If you want a good Ozzie project manager/builder, designer ?
drop me a line
kgrimes@ozemail.com.au

Hi Irma

After being involved within the Building Industry here in Adelaide and employing over 50 staff and experiencing the problems we have encountered over the years just thru managing staff and trying to get things right.. We have no alternative but to supervise things ourselves.
:roll:
I can just imagine, my hubby will have us pitch a tent on our land so he doesnt miss a thing, Oh what Joy :!:

Cheers

Boo, let me first echo Irma’s warm welcome to the forum!

It seems the topic of building on Bali is one of the top topics that can render the most suggestions and ideas. If you search on this site, you will find quite a lot of posts on this topic.

Having lived here on Bali for a while, I have built two houses, one gallery, and several temples...just for my family, not as a developer. That is provided just for background. It doesn’t make me any more, or any less knowledgeable on this topic than the next poster.

In the states, I never built a bloody thing, but I did restore two 18th century houses in Connecticut, one of them being on the National Register of Historic Places. That was the Hayward House in Colchester, Connecticut. It is also on the Historical American Building Survey, or HABS, which was a “new deal” benefactor during the “Great Depression.” Why they call it “great” is beyond me!

So...my point? My point is that in Bali, one has to put aside some of the building ideas we all learned in our own niche of the West...or OZ. Being in Bali is kinda of like being in Rome, to the extent that the phrase, “when in Rome, do as the Romans” is highly appropriate. In other words, and with all due respect to Australian, or any western builders in Bali...I personally wouldn’t use one at “gun point.”

There are many Balinese and other Indonesian architects and builders who are capable of virtually ANY building project. Many are graduates of prestigious universities, either in Yogya or Bandung.

They are masters at building and have been so for countless centuries. Building in Bali has many unique considerations that should, if not must, be taken into account. Not the least of these things to consider is the fact that when developing a property in Bali for western use, and by a westerner, will in itself create a whole “Pandora’s box” of problems.

Top on my list of “problems” is that you can count on building materials costing at least 20% more in a “bule” project...and that is tough, if not impossible to avoid. The bottom line here is simple, if you’re a bule, and your builder is a bule...the price is higher and that’s it. Second on my list would be your architect and Western builder/contractor’s fee. You can certainly expect that to be way higher than a local’s fee, and by an equally, if not more qualified/talented builder/contractor/architect.

The funny thing is, some of my good expat friends felt “more comfortable” with a Western builder and they built their properties with these builders. Within a few years, all their wood decking was rotted, the roof was leaking, and the only things working well were the plumbing and electric system.

Consider also all the expat, (Western) developed properties and villa neighborhoods recently built in Seminyak (the Yak), and in particular, the way over the top prices they demand for these villas.

If you can afford to over-pay and don’t care....nothing wrong with that. If you want value for your rupiah, I suggest alternate thinking.

I can walk into a villa or house and in a second I know if it was locally or Western designed and built. There is no soul, no life, and no energy in those Western dwellings, and frankly, in my opinion, they don’t belong here. It’s no sweat off of my back that many will disagree with my assessment, as when you come down to it...I don’t live in such a dwelling, so I really don’t care.

Hi Roy

Thanks for your comments, the builders I actually asked about in my Post are actually Balinese Companies ran by Balinese and all their designers have come up with some wonderful ideas. :D

I certainly agree with you in the aspect of "when in Rome do as the Romans do"

We have inspected many villas around Bali over the past few months with various builders to inspect their quality of workmanship. It’s certainly been an exercise and an experience to remember. Some of the places we have inspected which had just been completed already had leaking roofs:!: :!:

Even with us being associated within the building industry here in Adelaide for so long, we wouldn’t even dream of undertaking the exercise of putting our methods into practise in Bali. It would just be a disaster waiting to happen. Even climatic conditions make dramatic differences as to the way a home should be built..

Also please note my comment a "home", this is what we are after, not a Villa for rental :!: We have been talking about this since 1998, so we have certainly taken our time about it. We are actually hoping to have a good mix of both Western & Balinese ideas mixed together. Like good Western Bathrooms, as "Starting Blocks" just wont do, when we have lived with western loos, my body isn't as nibble as it was years ago :(

We are due back in Bali in just under two weeks, to start the hard negotiations with our preferred Builders. One of our preferred builders that I listed is Pt Tunas Jaya Sanur, their portfolio is very interesting and they have their own Joinery Company, which we inspected and the quality of workmanship was exceptional (for Bali).

It is a bit hard to swallow the quality of workmanship in Bali, compared to here in Australia. We just have to set our quality ideals a little lower.

I hope I don't annoy the hell out of all you guys, with some of my dumb questions I will be asking.. As I am a Blonde Female!!! (My hubby is trying to keep a low profile, because I embarrass him) :oops: :!: :!:

Cheers Boo :D

A blond eh? How about you post your picture as your avatar? :oops:

You mentioned wood joinery in your post. It’s been my experience that wood joinery methods used here are superior to what is used in most other areas of the world. Specifically, the Balinese most often use the time honored techniques of hand dovetailing and mortice and tenon joints. This was taught by the Dutch during their colonial period.

For example, all the door frames and window frames in our new house are constructed of high quality mahogany genus wood, and the joints are mortice and tenon with the tenon going completely through the mortice cut into the adjoining piece and then held by a large wood peg. There is no better way of constructing window and door frames than that. It is the same technique one would find used in the ancient houses of Europe and the US.

Today, in the states anyway, this method is way too time consuming, thus way too costly. There the use of nails prevails, and sheetrock is common for walls, and plastic for exterior siding. Many new homes there are partially pre-fabricated in factories as modules and then assembled on site. One can be pretty certain that none of them will ever show up on any historical registers!

Hi Roy,

Most of the woodwork we have seen is quite good quality. It is the finishing quality that is a bit substandard. The other thing I have seen
is the use of nails where screws should be used. Hence, the nails work loose after a while.

When I say quality, not so much about structual quality, but rather the finishing quality, which is a let down.

In 1993, we (hubby) & I inspected some of the pre-fabricated companies, producing the "throw together houses", very interesting, but not to our liking. We just couldnt beleive our eyes. Specially how they employ the Hamish People, that was an eye opener, the Hamish using power tools and modern technology then they go home at night to their homes, where they have no modern facilities :!: :!:

About the photo, I was thinking about that. However, I wouldn't like to be walking around Bali and someone come up to us and make comment about my overly dumb questions I will be posting. :oops: My poor hubby will have to crawl under the nearest rock :!: I will wait a while before posting the photo, for his sake.

By Hamish do you mean the Amish, as in Pennsylvania and Ohio? No worries about asking stupid questions. There are no such things as stupid questions.

I agree that wood finishing here leaves much to be desired. Then again, I am not so sure if Western wood finishing techniques would hold up very well here in Bali. This climate is BRUTAL to wood, not to mention the ferocious termites.