Building permits and the usual WTF China

[Coligny]

As for the old dubble gleize and insoolayshun jig that so many around here dance... says more about your socio economic status than it does about Japanese buildings...

Meaning we come from decent socioeconomic backgrounds, are used to well-built housing, and therefore understand just how shitty the substandard standard in Japan is? Sorry you grew up in a favela, dude. Must have been rough.

Game , set, match: hubby

Me soo hoonyyy me luv youz looonnng time...

[wuchan]

This thread was meant for me.....

Had a new house built about five years ago. Used the most prestigious,most expensive house builder in the country. To keep this short, a list....

-"I want blown fiberglass insulation".... "we only do that in hokkaido." compromise: hard foam with the cracks filled with expanding foam.

-"I want tile where there is water" (kitchen and baths)..... "we only use linoleum and wood" I won the battle.

-"I don't want the sink next to the stove top"..... "wat?" I won the battle.

-"WTF?, the window sills are made out of particle board? What happens when we leave the window open?"... "japanese people don't do that" I won the battle. (this one wasn't settled until one week before we were handed the keys)

-them: "you need snow catchers on your roof"... me: "they cost 50 man. It only snows once a year. FUCK YOU!" won.

-"I don't need an antenna"... "don't you watch TV?"... "japanese TV? fuck no".

-"What is that square on the plan in the middle of the kitchen floor?"... "A door to check the pipes!"... "If you don't fuck up I won't have to." won, no trap door.

-"no fluorescent lights, anywhere"... "bu..bu..but most of the lights we have are fluorescent"... "I don't want to live in an office, go to the local home center and find some different fixtures" won.







No lie, having that house built was like babysitting.

[GomiGirl]

No lie, having that house built was like babysitting.

This is true in any country - you have to watch those building contractors. They will try to cut corners at every opportunity. They are interested in what is best for them and not for you.

Did you get decent cupboards in the kitchen at a reasonable height for somebody under 8 feet tall or even *gasp* a pantry?

How about enough electrical outlets?

[wuchan]

Kitchen ended up being 100% custom with stainless countertops. The cupboards are acceptable but the god damed earthquake locks have to be adjusted every four months. It cost a little more but it was worth it.

We have enough outlets but most are the two prong style. There are five "multi ports" spread around the house. These have two US style three prong outlets, phone jack, cable port, and a category 6 LAN drop. Wireless is too slow for me.....

[Coligny]

Liquid threadlock might help if it's adjustment screws. The ble Tamiya brand is excellent for house duty, and can be removed without weird chemicals if needed...

[Russell]

This thread was meant for me.....

Had a new house built about five years ago. Used the most prestigious,most expensive house builder in the country. To keep this short, a list....

-"What is that square on the plan in the middle of the kitchen floor?"... "A door to check the pipes!"... "If you don't fuck up I won't have to." won, no trap door.

I'm not sure that was a good idea. You may not know whether they fucked up until a few more decades later. It is always good to be able to check what is under your floor.

[wuchan]

they had three of those doors. One in the middle of the kitchen, one in the middle of the downstairs bath and one in the fucking living room. Now there are two, both in closets.

they were using them as an excuse to use less tile and wood and to overcharge for shit they had laying around their warehouse.

[Russell]

they had three of those doors. One in the middle of the kitchen, one in the middle of the downstairs bath and one in the fucking living room. Now there are two, both in closets.

they were using them as an excuse to use less tile and wood and to overcharge for shit they had laying around their warehouse.

OK, now I understand. You made the right choice to put those doors in the closets.

But their original plan to put one in the bathroom?!? No leakage problems associated with that?

[Coligny]

Usually "crawlspace" to check pipes is accessed through a midget door and is not accessible throught inside the house...

[Russell]

Usually "crawlspace" to check pipes is accessed through a midget door and is not accessible throught inside the house...

I guess midget doors are not so common in Japan. In fact, I have never seen one in the Netherlands either.

Talking about crawl space, I can reach it in my house through a hatch in a cupboard floor, but the space is ridiculously low. Think 30 cm. That's a hell of a job to crawl through, especially given that the foot print of my house is 120 square meter. No way I can crawl on hands and knees, it's all snake-style.
Crawling from one room compartment to another is even worse with holes of only 24 cm height (I just can get through).

I have made a kind of skate boards with ball bearings to roll through crawl space. Height of skate board of 3 cm gives me 27 cm clearance.

Ah, the joys of owning a house...

[Coligny]

If only there was some kind of remotely controlable devices with and optically sensitive appendice that could be send to look at places where humans can't go. Like in crawlspaces or disabled nukaplants...

[Russell]

If only there was some kind of remotely controlable devices with and optically sensitive appendice that could be send to look at places where humans can't go. Like in crawlspaces or disabled nukaplants...

Funny, I had a similar idea. But then I realized that designing a device that can actually do useful work is not so easy.

The reason I had to go under the floor was to resolve the cracking sounds when walking on some spots. The supports under the floor had to be adjusted every time season changed. Since I put my piano on that spot, though, it is not necessary anymore. Thing weights more than 300 kg...

[Coligny]

Tou missed a funny (300kg/your mom)

[Russell]

Tou missed a funny (300kg/your mom)

Skeletons don't weight 300 kg...

[IparryU]

BTW, aren't the houses in Hokkaido better insulated?

Because the building companies are in cahoots with the electric companies... if you do proper insulation around windows, insulation INSTEAD of heated flooring, etc., then the electric companies loose money.

When I was in Cali last month, Sacramento got up to 112F (44C), but we only kept the ac on in the morning (my dad turns it on at 8 and turns it off at 10) to pre-cool the place and we didn't have to turn it back on until 4ish. Insulation doing its job... saving us on the electricy bill...

I even asked my ex father inlaw why he didnt get his place insulated when he got new windows and redid the electric flooring. apperently it doesn't work at all and is just a way to get money out of you...

[Coligny]

Tou missed a funny (300kg/your mom)

Skeletons don't weight 300 kg...

Except that if you write "your mom" then that would refer to mine, to which i could have answereded back "crackwhores don't weight 300 kg"

[matsuki]

This thread was meant for me.....

Had a new house built about five years ago. Used the most prestigious,most expensive house builder in the country. To keep this short, a list....

-"I want blown fiberglass insulation".... "we only do that in hokkaido." compromise: hard foam with the cracks filled with expanding foam.

-"I want tile where there is water" (kitchen and baths)..... "we only use linoleum and wood" I won the battle.

-"I don't want the sink next to the stove top"..... "wat?" I won the battle.

-"WTF?, the window sills are made out of particle board? What happens when we leave the window open?"... "japanese people don't do that" I won the battle. (this one wasn't settled until one week before we were handed the keys)

-them: "you need snow catchers on your roof"... me: "they cost 50 man. It only snows once a year. FUCK YOU!" won.

-"I don't need an antenna"... "don't you watch TV?"... "japanese TV? fuck no".

-"What is that square on the plan in the middle of the kitchen floor?"... "A door to check the pipes!"... "If you don't fuck up I won't have to." won, no trap door.

-"no fluorescent lights, anywhere"... "bu..bu..but most of the lights we have are fluorescent"... "I don't want to live in an office, go to the local home center and find some different fixtures" won.

Hahahahahaha

I think the expanding foam (at least what I've seen) is actually pretty damn good but crazy expensive.

Did you bring the sinks up to human height? The hobbit sized ones here are horrible but even in the US they are raising the heights on most sink installations.

[matsuki]

"What is that square on the plan in the middle of the kitchen floor?"... "A door to check the pipes!"... "If you don't fuck up I won't have to." won, no trap door.

Today I was helping the boss with some shit he had stored in one of the tubs they put under the trap doors....there is no fucking insulation under there at all!! It's bad enough the floor actually shifts when you walk on it but WTF???