One Building’s Construction

Okay – its been awhile since I’ve written about the new house, but the folks have been working.  My bum ankle prevented me from walking across the street, but now that it has healed, its time to check out the construction.

Looking nice on the outside.  All the window frames are in, and the base coat of paint has been applied.  The faux brick tiles look nice, as does the wall and fence.

But most of the recent work has been on the inside.  All the interior walls have now been finished – and rather nicely too.  Of course, the stairs need a little work . . .  For reasons I don’t understand, most interior walls of nicer homes in the Huê area are painted the same shade of buttery yellow.

The majority of the work being done is installing flooring.  One almost always walks on either cement or tile in a Vietnamese home.  This makes for very “live” rooms.  I have never seen carpeting in any home, except for the occasional throw rug.  By the way, I have noticed that the same crew has been working on the house since the beginning – the workers seem to be “jack of all trades” kind of people. Of course, some specialty areas, such as plumbing or electrical work, require skilled workers, but most of the rest is done by the same people.  I see the same guys doing tile work who did the wall finishing who did the foundation pouring who did the window installation.

Have you noticed how long this house has taken to build?  We started following this on September 17th   – and it has a long way to go before anybody lives in it.  There are no quick construction methods here – labor is cheap.

Comments

[layered]

Doug,
There are several new houses under construction in my neighborhood in HCMC, and they are have moved along very rapidly -- much faster than I would have thought possible. (They pour concrete columns and remove the forms 12 hours later). Tear-down to completion is scheduled for only one month. I am taking a daily series of photos to chronicle the steps and speed of construction of one of the houses, and will post this as a photo album as soon as it is done in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, I would think that the contractor or owner of the house you have been writing about will invite you to their completion party or opening party or whatever they will have to celebrate completion.
-- Mel

[Thuy]

I am curious - how much would a house like this cost in Hue? It is my understanding that most people in Vietnam does not have a mortgage, how can they afford such a house?

[Trisha]

Nice photographs & blog. I liked the way you explained the construction of building. Infact I liked the shed of the house most.