Insanely overpriced Japan

[matsuki]

I still can't don't get why complete scaffolding is seen as being needed. These are rather small homes and with only two stories here, a proper ladder can reach the roof in most places. There are also a ton of alternatives but TIJ so I guess the most time consuming, difficult and profitable way is the most popular.

The problem is that homes are built too close to each other, so you cannot put up a ladder in between without the risk of it falling backwards when you are on it.

Ehhh, with a wall to your back, the ladder isn't going to fall but ladders aren't the only option either.

Are there any other sources besides overpriced DIY centre stuff to find scaffolding for purchase?

Where will you store that stuff after using it?

This also suggests that people may sell it off afterwards, so I guess it will be worthwhile to check out some auction sites.

Yep, buy cheap used and resell when you're done with it.

[Russell]

I still can't don't get why complete scaffolding is seen as being needed. These are rather small homes and with only two stories here, a proper ladder can reach the roof in most places. There are also a ton of alternatives but TIJ so I guess the most time consuming, difficult and profitable way is the most popular.

The problem is that homes are built too close to each other, so you cannot put up a ladder in between without the risk of it falling backwards when you are on it.

Ehhh, with a wall to your back, the ladder isn't going to fall but ladders aren't the only option either.

Yeah, but you don't want to repeatedly bang with your back against your neighbor's wall. And how will you hang on with a brush in one hand, not to speak of a can of paint hanging around.

Please, tell me the other option you have in mind.

I have one wall with only a clearance of 1 m, and when I fall backwards, it will be right through the roof of my neighbors. My house's wall is about 7 m high, so the ladder will be too steep.

[matsuki]

You can get some pretty high/specialized ladders. May have to import it but probably worth it if you can resell it. Every situation is going to be different so get creative. Worst case scenario is buying used scaffolding on the cheap and then reselling when done. (or renting if that's too much legwork)

[Russell]

You can get some pretty high/specialized ladders. May have to import it but probably worth it if you can resell it. Every situation is going to be different so get creative. Worst case scenario is buying used scaffolding on the cheap and then reselling when done. (or renting if that's too much legwork)

I assume those ladders have the shape of a capital A, and put sideways at the wall, or something like that? Do they have those in heights of 6m or more?

[Mock Cockpit]

Getting our house done atm too. About 500,000 for a 40 tsubo house, easy access all sides. Scaffolding is very agricultural, not that flash sort in Yanpa's link. They started on Friday, reckon they should be done tomorrow.

[BigInJapan]

Getting our house done atm too. About 500,000 for a 40 tsubo house, easy access all sides. Scaffolding is very agricultural, not that flash sort in Yanpa's link. They started on Friday, reckon they should be done tomorrow.

Are they using acrylic paint on your house?
This chart from the AllAbout site shows some basic house painting prices.

hyou1[1].gif

Prices are for a standard two-storey house with a floor area of 20 - 30 tsubo (60 - 100 m2) per floor.
Acrylic resin 600,000 - 1,100,00 yen
Urethane resin 750,000 - 1,250,000 yen
Silicon resin 850,000 - 1,400,000 yen
Fluorocarbon polymer coating 1,500,000 - 2,500,000 yen

[Mock Cockpit]

Looking at the quote the price is actually 600,000 and the paint is silicon based. Painter is at mate's rates and we're out in the country so prices 20% cheaper than the city so looks about right I'd say.

[gaijinpunch]

Are the paint jobs in this cuntry as shoddy* as the houses in general?

*Earthquake-proofness set aside... there is no reason I should see my breath in the winter in a home even 30 years old. Three cheers for Japanese efficiency.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Are the paint jobs in this cuntry as shoddy* as the houses in general?

*Earthquake-proofness set aside... there is no reason I should see my breath in the winter in a home even 30 years old. Three cheers for Japanese efficiency.

I know fuck-all about high quality construction (or high quality anything else, for that matter), but a mate who did said that the standard of housing construction here was better than it is in Oz. This was about 15 years ago, when running hot water was still only a recent feature of most new houses. I still find Japanese homes to be awfully cold (poor insulation) and have terrible air circulation, but the quality otherwise seems fine.
Just my useless two-bob's worth.

[matsuki]

Are the paint jobs in this cuntry as shoddy* as the houses in general?

*Earthquake-proofness set aside... there is no reason I should see my breath in the winter in a home even 30 years old. Three cheers for Japanese efficiency.

Earthquake proofing small suburban homes If they actually meant securing what's inside and safely installing appliances instead of trying to recreate donki shopping experience in their daily lives, it might actually mean something. Instead it's just BS marketing as even many of the old 1 and 2 story shitboxes here can withstand quakes as is. Then the companies that actually do something new to homes....large buildings are one thing but it's like selling homeowners a missile for rabbit hunting when they already own a rifle.

Finally starting to see at least some insulation and double pane windows in use lately but many people I know who bought homes recently are still bragging about their band aid fixes like heated flooring and lamenting having to buy 3-6 air cons. (I still don't see why they prefer littering the outside of their homes with small AC compressors when a single larger unit can handle all their rooms. (Not only save you a bunch of eyesores but cost waaaaay less)

[Samurai_Jerk]

I know fuck-all about high quality construction (or high quality anything else, for that matter), but a mate who did said that the standard of housing construction here was better than it is in Oz.

That says a lot more about the quality of homes in Oz than it does in Japan. My dad used to be a building contractor and he was amazed at the shoddy work and poor quality of constructions materials when he visited.

[matsuki]

I know fuck-all about high quality construction (or high quality anything else, for that matter), but a mate who did said that the standard of housing construction here was better than it is in Oz.

That says a lot more about the quality of homes in Oz than it does in Japan. My dad used to be a building contractor and he was amazed at the shoddy work and poor quality of constructions materials when he visited.

Local builder says Aussies keep coming over here to learn from the Japanese superior building methods

Then again, one of my Aussie friends thinks American homes are "cardboard reinforced with mud" despite admitting his own home in Sydney lacked insulation

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I know fuck-all about high quality construction (or high quality anything else, for that matter), but a mate who did said that the standard of housing construction here was better than it is in Oz.

That says a lot more about the quality of homes in Oz than it does in Japan. My dad used to be a building contractor and he was amazed at the shoddy work and poor quality of constructions materials when he visited.

It probably does. I do remember the houses in the U.S. were all beautifully made.
Insulation is the norm in Oz (the ads I watched decades ago for insulation batts are still in my head now), though up north they may not use it. Sydney's pretty cold at times, so I'd imagine they would use it.

Rather than houses, I miss having a lawn and yard and man shed and running around under sprinklers in the heat...

[matsuki]

Insulation is the norm in Oz (the ads I watched decades ago for insulation batts are still in my head now), though up north they may not use it. Sydney's pretty cold at times, so I'd imagine they would use it.

That's what he said...but it didn't get put into use until recently haha.

I still don't get what he meant about the cardboard and mud references though I don't know what Aussie homes look like either.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I still don't get what he meant about the cardboard and mud references though I don't know what Aussie homes look like either.

Me either. From what I've seen, apart from Hawaii (and even then only the outskirts of Honolulu), the standard of housing in the U.S. far outweighed Oz.
When I grew up, I guess weatherboards were standard (I only ever lived in weatherboards/western red cedar boarding homes...all fully insulated and central heating/cooling from the early 1970s onward), but perhaps brick housing is the standard nowadays. I'm not sure.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Rather than houses, I miss having a lawn and yard and man shed and running around under sprinklers in the heat...

I understand why those of us in the Tokyo metro area don't have big lawns. However, I've always found it interesting that even out in the boonies of Japan, with the exceptions of farmers, people tend to build their houses in tight clusters with small yards.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

However, I've always found it interesting that even out in the boonies of Japan, with the exceptions of farmers, people tend to build their houses in tight clusters with small yards.

We Japanese are a collectivist society, which stems from banding together to plant rice in our agrarian-based society dependent on the unique four seasons and contrasting starkly with the individualistic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle pursued by hairy barbarians.

[yanpa]

Rather than houses, I miss having a lawn and yard and man shed and running around under sprinklers in the heat...

I understand why those of us in the Tokyo metro area don't have big lawns. However, I've always found it interesting that even out in the boonies of Japan, with the exceptions of farmers, people tend to build their houses in tight clusters with small yards.

I think there's some stupid planning'n'agricultural-land-usage zoning restriction responsible for that... I don't have a link handy right now but will dig it up...

[matsuki]

Rather than houses, I miss having a lawn and yard and man shed and running around under sprinklers in the heat...

I understand why those of us in the Tokyo metro area don't have big lawns. However, I've always found it interesting that even out in the boonies of Japan, with the exceptions of farmers, people tend to build their houses in tight clusters with small yards.

I think there's some stupid planning'n'agricultural-land-usage zoning restriction responsible for that... I don't have a link handy right now but will dig it up...

Does it explain the super narrow roads too?

While we're on the "collectivist" line of thought, every time "We Japanese" bring that up to me I enjoy pointed out that even us individualistic American barbarians have the concept of "imminent domain" that avoids unnecessary bypasses, tunnels, streetlights and power poles in the streets, etc. etc.

[wagyl]

Well, in the same way, villages and hamlets in Europe are sometimes bunched together unreasonably. The New World pioneers built with a bit of space around them, but it did not use to be the norm in the Old World.

[Coligny]

Rather than houses, I miss having a lawn and yard and man shed and running around under sprinklers in the heat...

I understand why those of us in the Tokyo metro area don't have big lawns. However, I've always found it interesting that even out in the boonies of Japan, with the exceptions of farmers, people tend to build their houses in tight clusters with small yards.

I think there's some stupid planning'n'agricultural-land-usage zoning restriction responsible for that... I don't have a link handy right now but will dig it up...

Does it explain the super narrow roads too?

While we're on the "collectivist" line of thought, every time "We Japanese" bring that up to me I enjoy pointed out that even us individualistic American barbarians have the concept of "imminent domain" that avoids unnecessary bypasses, tunnels, streetlights and power poles in the streets, etc. etc.

Ehm... That wuld be 'eminent domain'....

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

That wuld be 'eminent domain'....

Unless he meant it was "soon to be..."

[matsuki]

Hehehe, thanks for corrrrrrrrrrrecting me

[Mike Oxlong]

Next you'll be telling us it's moneyfest destiny...

[yanpa]

Does it explain the super narrow roads too?

While we're on the "collectivist" line of thought, every time "We Japanese" bring that up to me I enjoy pointed out that even us individualistic American barbarians have the concept of "imminent domain" that avoids unnecessary bypasses, tunnels, streetlights and power poles in the streets, etc. etc.

My personal theory is that it's due to a complete and utter lack of foresight in planning, which has only been partially rectified.

(For example, the brand new stretch of "6 metre" road I live on, which is lined with brand new utility poles )

[yanpa]

Rather than houses, I miss having a lawn and yard and man shed and running around under sprinklers in the heat...

I understand why those of us in the Tokyo metro area don't have big lawns. However, I've always found it interesting that even out in the boonies of Japan, with the exceptions of farmers, people tend to build their houses in tight clusters with small yards.

I think there's some stupid planning'n'agricultural-land-usage zoning restriction responsible for that... I don't have a link handy right now but will dig it up...

This is the one:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2 ... neighbors/

Sorry it's from JT...

[wagyl]

Ahh, yes, the same author who referred to "talent" Rola as a mongrel recently, and even went as far as to try to justify his decision in the comments section. JT is continuing its classy streak. Plus it is putting tracking data on the URLs I try to link. Altogether too creepy.

[Coligny]

Dear god, so that's the name of the cunt from the DMM commercial... She enough of a reason to wish for mankind demise at the hand of whatever plague is ready enough to bring the feline takeover forward.
If not, at least bring back eugenism and phrenology...

[matsuki]

Ahh, yes, the same author who referred to "talent" Rola as a mongrel recently, and even went as far as to try to justify his decision in the comments section. JT is continuing its classy streak. Plus it is putting tracking data on the URLs I try to link. Altogether too creepy.

I dunno, that guy seems alright to me and with a Japanese wife, I don't think he meant anything derogatory by the mongrol comment. If anything, he was probably trying to present the Japanese view on her, not his own....

[wagyl]

There are other words. And I have never heard a Japanese use the term 雑種 to refer to a person (except maybe ironic, self-referential use), which is the best cognate to mongrel. 混血 would be mixed-blood.


More and more I am coming to the opinion that the Japan Times is making decisions based on page hits alone, quality of content be damned. If they want to go down the road of competing with hobby blogs, well that is their own decision but I can't see that it is a way to sustain a business. I am starting for feel sorry for journalists. There will be a few who are not satisfied being demoted to mere content providers.

(I bet the Mainichi Daily News regrets bowing to pressure to drop a notorious but heavily trafficked column a few years ago, what with the promotion it was getting in 2chan and everything.)