The cost of owning a house

[SKI 15]

Sounds like it would have been better if those details were disclosed earlier!

 

If your 30 year guarantee is voided, it sounds like a no brainer.

 

Good luck.

[grungy-gonads 54]

But confused by all this to be honest.

 

[NoFakie 45]

Do any Japanese places get made of bricks?

 

Look no further than .... Tokyo Station big man! It was built in 1911 and survived the big one in 1923 so they're not all doomed when there's a whole lotta shakin going on.

There isn't a lot of Taisho architecture left, but what there is tends to be pretty good.

 

I think the most popular structures people make out of bricks now are barbeques and pizza ovens.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

That has probably been retrofitted with extra steel supports to enable those bricks to stay where they are. The aka-renga in Yokohama is the same, and I7d imagine the Sapporo factory buildings to have similar structural supprt

[NoFakie 45]

I'm not against reinforcing for future protection, just saying that it must have survived the big one in 1923. The wiki says it was originally three storeys and lasted that way until it took a lot of damage in the Fire Raid. It was rebuilt as two storeys after the War.

[NoFakie 45]

No, that wouldn't look very nice.

 

Staggering of joints is normal when fitting wooden shiplap siding and what snowdude has is the same thing in exactly the same form as individual planks, albeit that they are made of cement not wood.

 

http://www.doityours...-3#.UjLeWvCCh9A

 

You don't have to do it in such a regular pattern as suggested in the link above or in the picture snowdude put up, but I don't think you would line up the joins in a single line unless they were to be hidden under a baton in the same way as the joins at corners of the house are presumably hidden. I can fully understand if snowdude wants it done another way and has given instructions, but the layout in the picture in itself does not scream "diy job" to me. From that initial description, I was expecting something much worse.

 

Heading off topic here, but the batons and shiplap-like planks combination you see on Japanese houses is called "sasarago bari". Here's how its done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bom60ccDU3U

[pie-eater 207]

Do any Japanese places get made of bricks?

 

Look no further than .... Tokyo Station big man! It was built in 1911 and survived the big one in 1923 so they're not all doomed when there's a whole lotta shakin going on.

There isn't a lot of Taisho architecture left, but what there is tends to be pretty good.

 

I think the most popular structures people make out of bricks now are barbeques and pizza ovens.

 

I will look no further!

[snowdude 44]

Ok after looking at other houses and ours with the covers removed and all the outside completed it actually looks better as it is. From the road and especially from an angle the lines can't be seen, but the houses I looked at with solid lines could easily be seen even from an angle.

Also as the house will be independently inspected after it is finished, in order for the whole house to get its 30 years insurance against defects everything must be done to regulations, which also means the outside must be done as is now, if it were to be changed it will not get any insurance! I knew about this inspection of course, but hadn't really considered a small change would effect it. And they confirmed that for me yesterday evening.

So after a lot of humming and haring and complaining I have decided to leave it as it is, because I certainly don't want to forfeit the 30 year insurance and now the covers are off it actually looks really nice!

[NoFakie 45]

Do any Japanese places get made of bricks?

 

Look no further than .... Tokyo Station big man! It was built in 1911 and survived the big one in 1923 so they're not all doomed when there's a whole lotta shakin going on.

There isn't a lot of Taisho architecture left, but what there is tends to be pretty good.

 

I think the most popular structures people make out of bricks now are barbeques and pizza ovens.

 

I will look no further!

 

You can if you like, but it may involve a lot of walking.

[pie-eater 207]

了解です!

[snowdude 44]

As it was raining heavy because of the typhoon I couldn't do FA outside so decided to continue clearing through our stuff and pack some obviously not needed at the moment things.

I am glad I have started to do this, because we have so much shit we don't need it makes me wonder why the hell did we by it in the first place.

Oh though we are going to ask the moving company to pack most but not the important stuff if we don't actually go through all our stuff we will end up needing three trucks. As it is two 4 ton trucks our needed and that doesn't include the fact that I have a 4 tonne truck worth of farming/ tools / machines and other stuff outside which I need to move myself.

 

Note to one's self : Don't buy so much shit once you move to new house!

[pie-eater 207]

When is moving then snowdude?

[snowdude 44]

18/19th Oct. It was going to be the week before but the Saturday under the Japanese calender is not a good day to move so we are going with the following week.

 

[DumbStick 13]

How is progress inside? Wallpaper and stuff yet?

 

I think this week our place will be getting that sorted. Or started anyway.

[snowdude 44]

Wallpaper this week upstairs then should be largely all finished upstairs.

While that is being done the kitchen sink units and toilets should be getting installed.

The following week papering and finishing off.

[HoTRoD 2]

18/19th Oct. It was going to be the week before but the Saturday under the Japanese calender is not a good day to move so we are going with the following week.

 

What does that mean, then?

[DumbStick 13]

An 'unlucky' day, perhaps? I can't say I'm well up on that.

[DumbStick 13]

18/19th Oct. It was going to be the week before but the Saturday under the Japanese calender is not a good day to move so we are going with the following week.

 

It will come round very quickly now!

 

[glob 0]

How did the costs end up folks? About what % over your initial thoughts?

[DumbStick 13]

About 50% for us, though it's not as shocking as it sounds. We knew the 'initial starting point' was just that.

 

One of the biggest lessons for us is that once you get the ball rolling, you continually push up your own expectations.

Well, we did anyway.

When you first though 'oh that will do for there', you end up thinking 'no, actually I'd like a nicer one'.

All that adds up!

[DumbStick 13]

About the wallpaper..... The machine they used to put on paste was very interesting. Never seen one of those before, not that I have any wallpapering experience mind!

But they really have done a beautiful job on the wallpapering. I'm having trouble finding join lines even when looking right up close.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

They have a machine?! No guy in paint splattered overalls with a cap at a jaunty angle?

[tokabochi 9]

machine? Would like to see that

[snowdude 44]

Went to see our house today its in its final stages now. If all goes well this time next week it will all be finished.

Upstairs is now all papered (by hand as far ad I could see)as there was no wall papering machine around.

A very good job done cant even see the join lines.

 

Kitchen units, cupboards and sink is in both upstairs and downstairs.

 

All looking good.

We have asked them to add an extra shelf where we have the cutout for my computer but that should not effect the finishing date.

 

Next weekend house should be finished then we do the full inspection on either the 5th or 6th Oct and then we can move in when we like after that.

Which will the bank holiday weekend for us and the following weekend for our stuff.

That will give me time to build a tool shed/gym in our back garden and lay some

tiles and concrete at the front a job I will do.

[NoFakie 45]

We went 25%-30% over for the house. I guess close to double the original contingency. If you add on landscaping work we've done since and didn't think much about beforehand, add another 5-10% I suppose, and that's doing it ourselves.

 

While I did get carried away a bit, the house is in Hakuba so I'm not that worried about our resale value falling through the floor in the usual Japan way. There is demand for high end houses here, and not many of them. Given our financial position, we cannot completely ignore the "what if we have to sell" issue.

 

Living in a nice house is massive for quality of life, so I'm pleased we get to live inside a good chunk of our savings or assets or whatever you want to call them, and they are not just sitting as numbers on pieces of paper.