Hey everyone! It’s been awhile since the last kitchen remodel update, and well, there’s been a lot going on, so now’s as good a time as any to share.
As you may be aware, since I’ve been back in Manila, a key focus has been to finish home renovations, which first began this past April (when I closed a deal and secured my very first personal residence).
Starting Point
Originally, I started out with this.
And although I’ve had a good amount of fun (gradually) transforming the kitchen into this.
Clearly, more work was needed…
New Materials
Most recently, I (finally) took delivery of the new materials needed to move forward with the kitchen remodel update.
Yup, as you can imagine, it’s made for some really cramped living, during this interim period, trying to house all this stuff inside a tiny studio unit.
Nevertheless, I’m doing my best to enjoy the process!
Here’s a pic of the new countertop.
Oh, and after further contemplation, I decided to go with a “smaller” (length = 550 mm) SINGLE sink option.
Ultimately, I ruled out going with a much larger SINGLE sink (or DUAL sinks) to try and better maximize my very limited countertop space.
The sink below was previously under consideration for purchase.
A large sink would have been nice, but I’m still getting a significant upgrade from the old sink (length = 480 mm).
No worries!
New Materials
Also, I’m very happy to report back that the electrical work (adding and re-wiring of outlets) has been completed.
Worth sharing with everyone, is that it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing throughout my own journey of home renovations out here in Manila…
For example, electrical wiring/re-wiring is a really “weird” thing in the Philippines…
There doesn’t seem to be a hard standard that people follow (most houses don’t even have earth ground, which kind of tells you a lot just right there)…
Where’s the 3-prong outlets, yo!?!
Further, I can’t find wire nuts (nobody here uses them!) at any brick and mortar shops (thankfully there’s Lazada to the rescue!)…
Also, screw terminals (the preferred and safer way to attach wires) are nowhere to be found on power outlets (back-stabbing seems to be the technique used here in the Philippines to attach wires)…
Even locating proper wiring for delivering power (e.g., AWG 12 SOLID wire) will send you running around town to many different hardware stores trying to match wires (i.e., LINE, NEUTRAL, GND)…
Oh, and speaking of color coding the wires (i.e., LINE = Black/Red, NEUTRAL = White, GND = Green/bare copper), yeah, that’s hit or miss too (I’ve heard it’s common for some houses to just use BLACK for EVERYTHING!!)…
Shocking, yah?
You just never know what you’re gonna get once you start peering behind the curtains…
But I digress…
Installation Progress
It’s “out with the old” today…
I’ll likely salvage the old materials, though, and give them away to someone.
Here’s the new base cabinet.
The team drilling holes to align for the piping.
We’re getting there, folks!
Yup, I made sure not to forget to supply the staff with some snacks and beverages, of course!
Just keep swimming…
Until next time…
Keep up the fight!
It doesn’t look like I’ll be attending FinCon this year
why’s that?
I assume the electricians are not licensed either? Is it common for the high end condos not to have all the basic kitchen and wiring already installed before handing over the unit to the buyer?
In terms of being licensed, I doubt it… The condos come with wiring already installed, but that doesn’t mean it’s up to “code” (not Philippines code, but say the standards in the USA, etc.).
For example, in the states, some stuff is well defined:
20 A breaker requires AWG 12 wires
30 A breaker requires AWG 10 wires
Wires are usually solid and secured around screw terminals. For tapping into a circuit, we use wire nuts.
Contrast to the Philippines, and you might see an outlet that has a mix of solid and stranded wires, of different gauges, almost always secured via back-stabbing, and daisy chaining by tapping other outlets is very common (as opposed to using wire nuts).
Someone in the states might be shocked to discover what goes on around here, but like I always say, it’s important to keep an open mind and accept that things are gonna be different once you leave the comfort of your familiar “home”, wherever that may be.
Cheers!