Markit
I was recently told by a well-meaning and honest friend that the reason they didn’t put any information about their own Balinese house building experiences here on the forum was because they felt, in the first instance, intimidated by my exposure because it was “my thing” and secondly because my experiences and writing proved that I, in their words “had made no mistakes and done everything right” and they couldn’t hope to compare well with this or add anything of interest.
To say the least I was shocked by this on a number of levels:
1) My purposes were always twofold in joining this forum and then writing about my life here. The first and main reason was to learn as much as I possibly could about my chosen course of action (building a house on the island) before I did it, in the hopes of avoiding all those terrible mistakes we have all read and heard so much about. And secondly to give back in an interesting and hopefully informative way some of the things I’ve run into in attempting to achieve my first point.
2) I never dreamed that this would turn into “my thing” or that other people would be held back from contributing their experiences out of fear of a poor comparison to mine – this is totally and completely against what I wanted here – on a purely selfish level how can I, me – personally, hope to learn anything more from you out there that have done this too if you won't share it here!!!???
I truly hope that my friend was only speaking for himself and that when he reads this will burst into a contributory frenzy (a forum facial?) and put all his information here too.
And as to me doing “everything right” well the Germans have a wonderful saying (many actually) “you shouldn’t compliment the day until night time” basically, meaning I aint done yet and anything can still happen. And I for sure have not done everything right - I don't share absolutely everything that happens here - hat off to Bert but, his balls I aint got (but then again, neither does he :? )
So if you feel there is something you would like to add to whatever I’m doing and don’t want to appear here in public, PM me or comment on my blog – please!
If you don’t want to contribute because your bamboo hut under the Bypass doesn’t compare well with somebody else’s 10 room villa with helipad then fuckem do it anyway – I want to read it and they can join a NGO or charity in the mean time – please!
We here are almost all “strangers in a strange land” and have very few reliable sources to fall back on in times of need – I firmly believe that the members of this forum are one of those sources.
Apologies if my Sunday Rant is becoming a “thing” but it’s my one day off.
spicyayam
I am enjoying to see your pictures and reading your blog. I think everyone can learn something from it.
A friend of mine is building a villa near my house and I take the dog for a walk there every few days. I like checking up on the progress of the build and hearing about the different problems they face every day. Whether it's ceremonies, no power, people not turning up, people working slow, bad quality of materials etc.
I took a few pictures for my blog, but haven't done much of late. Whether people choose to write about their experiences here or not is totally a personal decision. I am hoping the new software will make it easier for people to blog, share pictures etc.
ronb
golden showerheads but if the pipes in the wall are not up to par, goodluck taking a shower...etcetc.
,
You say golden showerhead - and golden showers come to mind.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=golden+shower
toucan
I enjoy reading and seeing the pics of building homes, am following yours with interest Markit and also very much appreciated the posts and pics from DCC when he was building a villa.
I put my two bob's worth in now and again as we have some experience on building our own place in Java. Our house is in Java but the builder is Balinese and the house is being built Balinese style so I guess that has some relevance on here.
Very happy to read all posts on here re building, the successes and the mistakes, they are all interesting and can be of great help to others so please everyone keep them coming.
gilbert de jong
just from a friends perspective, you have prepared everything well , and as far as I can tell you're doing a good job building your house. I never been on your site but I can tell from your blog,pics and posts here on the forum. You know 'what' and 'how' you want it and best of all, you have 'new' ways of getting it. be it materials or contractors you go about it in a different way, but it works :D. In my opinion I could find any 'faults',
just your red pump :wink:.
True your in the rough stages of the build, but this stage has to be done well...one can put marble on the floor, but if the foundation can't supprt the weight, kiss your expensive floor goodbye or have golden showerheads but if the pipes in the wall are not up to par, goodluck taking a shower...etcetc.
Me, I have build my house here on Bali so I know what one can encounter during a build. btw, my house, I already live in it for close to 2 years. It was build in a traditional way i.e....made drawings/sketches (including pool and garden) myself, brought those to a arhitect who refined them and made buildingplans, estimate of costs. The architect took care of everything, workers/rough materials/finishing materials etcetc... I just went to the site every other day to check if it was going the way it should, if materials I paid for actually were being used, and to make last minute changes to the design ofcourse :lol: .
I will put some pics up as soon as I have found them and resized them..uploading is a b*tch with my internetconnection and too many memorysticks :lol:
But be warned my house is called 'NGO', :lol: . don't worry it has a different meaning :D .
Friendly greetings..gilbert,
lumumba
Now I know and if someone asks me if I want to take a golden shower I will run like hell……… :P
Live and learn
DCC
A phrase my contractor mates and I used to repeat back home was.."the next perfect house I build will be my 1st." :) No matter how hard your try there's always something going south when it was planned to go north!
Markit
Thanks folks, just so long as it don't turn into a one man show :?
I like posting almost as much as I like reading other people's posts - almost!
