Yeah, today is our 15th anniversary of living in this house that we had purchased in 2001 via a bank loan. The mortgage is to be fully paid next month. What a relief. We used to rent a house for 8,000 per month but when we got this house, the monthly installment for the mortgage is 11,000. Not bad eh? But this is a 20-year old house and we had to spend a lot for the repairs and renovation like re-wiring of electrical connections, laying out new piping for the water and repairs of the broken concrete plus installation of new bedroom doors and screen doors as well. And there are more but too many to mention. For now, there are needed repairs again and we are still trying to make plans and checking the budget too. But we are quite satisfied with this house and it's in a good neighborhood in this suburban town. The only main issue is the heavy traffic on the main road.
@Corie Henson What is the general material used for home construction there, Corie? Frame, or concrete block, is there any brick used? Frank
I think our house is mainly made of hollow blocks although the concrete casing of the blocks are so hard that we have difficulty in drilling a hole. For concrete houses, the hollow blocks is the cheapest and most common but there are houses of the wealthy which use mixed concrete which is stronger for a wall. Our flooring is marble in the living room and tiles in the dining and kitchen. A neighbor has a brick wall but the bricks are only for aesthetic purposes since the interior is also concrete mix. I don't think there is a house here made of genuine bricks. In the olden days, some houses in the rural area are made of adobe bricks, that is the cheapest material although it is not safe since there is no steel framing inside.
@Corie Henson Adobe can be effectively used, by including steel reinforcing rod within the built-up wall. A type of pseudo-adobe is used very extensively here in the Southwest, commonly called "slump block", which has a notch cast into one end of the vertical surfaces allowing introduction of steel rod. Adobe is basically dirt, soil, from the surrounding area, containing clay, mixed with water to form a pourable consistency, poured into block forms, allowed to harden in the sun. Most builders here using the technique, add a bit of Portland cement, which greatly strengthens the finished block. Personally, I like BRICK: The house I built myself, no bricklayer, but an avid risk-taker. The best-spent 3 years of my entire life, building that house!
That's so exciting! Congratulations on paying off the mortgage. You must be so proud. I have never owned a house. It just didn't work out that way. Maybe if I had made different career and investment choices, I could have, but I have always spent my life living with family or renting an apartment or house. Who knows, maybe some day? I'm still a spring chicken, right?!
Here is a list of the long overdue repairs of our house which is around 35 years or more already. 1. Broken cabinet door of the sink - this was made only in 2010 2. Bedroom door knob (maid's quarters) 3. Garden balusters needed replacement, they are more than 30 years old 4. Cracked concrete beside the septic tank 5. Grotto - this is a religious display that has cracked concrete and broken down. There are other minor repairs not included in the list. Our problem now is to search for a good handyman who knows carpentry and masonry.