Fu Lai Posted December 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 (edited) 200,000 RMB to fix up the inside after they are finished? WOW!!!!!! I didn't know that Wuhan was this expensive!! What you get is a front door + windows and a 3-4 bedroom/2 bathroom house of cement walls and floor with some pipes and wires sticking out. You have to buy and install everything. 200,000 (less than $30,000) is not that extravagant is it? Edited December 3, 2012 by Fu Lai (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilton747 Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 200,000 RMB to fix up the inside after they are finished? WOW!!!!!! I didn't know that Wuhan was this expensive!! What you get is a front door + windows and a 3-4 bedroom/2 bathroom house of cement walls and floor with some pipes and wires sticking out. You have to buy and install everything. 200,000 (less than $30,000) is not that extravagant is it? I can only speak for what is cost us which was about $4,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 200,000 RMB to fix up the inside after they are finished? WOW!!!!!! I didn't know that Wuhan was this expensive!! What you get is a front door + windows and a 3-4 bedroom/2 bathroom house of cement walls and floor with some pipes and wires sticking out. You have to buy and install everything. 200,000 (less than $30,000) is not that extravagant is it? I can only speak for what is cost us which was about $4,000. We were more in line with the $30,000USD - it simply depends on what you buy (AND most of all - what you include in the total). I don't think costs of specific items varies very much from region to region, nor do I think inflation has been a factor recently. We bought top of the line, but still reasonable, stuff for the most part. What I found is that comparing from expat-to-expat is like comparing apples to oranges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 (edited) We ran well over the $4,000 just with our appliances - dishwasher ~$1000, refrigerator ~$1000, stove top and range hood ($??), washer/dryer $1000, water heater ~$1000, and A/C units at $500-1000 x4. Edited December 3, 2012 by Randy W (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilton747 Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 We ran well over the $4,000 just with our appliances - dishwasher ~$1000, refrigerator ~$1000, stove top and range hood ($??), washer/dryer $1000, water heater ~$1000, and A/C units at $500-1000 x4. If I remember correctly, I think your flooring was almost that much. We only did the inside without the appliances. Just the walls, flooring, ceiling, ceiling lights, electrical, plumbing, bathrooms with western toilets, intenet wiring, kitchen with sink and misc other things such as patio door and buglar bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fu Lai Posted December 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 (edited) If I remember correctly, I think your flooring was almost that much. We only did the inside without the appliances. Just the walls, flooring, ceiling, ceiling lights, electrical, plumbing, bathrooms with western toilets, intenet wiring, kitchen with sink and misc other things such as patio door and buglar bars. I think we'll opt to have a refrigerator, stove top and range hood, washer/dryer, water heater and A/C units. Maybe even an *gasp* oven! Edited December 3, 2012 by Fu Lai (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2mike&jin Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 An oven.....WHo's going to use an oven? They will think it's a clothes dryer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsap seui Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 We are buying a brand new 3 bedroom condo/apartment in Wuhan. We are not rich and we are borrowing from the bank. But we will get a concrete apartment, nothing in it. As a kid I helped my father build our family house but "China is different." I have read here before about things I can do to a concrete apartment before we start putting flooring, wall covering, cupboards, sinks etc. in it that would be beneficial for the next 70 years. Can anyone help with some advice? Well, judging from the posts you got here, it can either cost a lot, or not very much to buy a concrete box in a concrete canyon in China complete with dazzling views of hundreds of thousands of folks living like sardines in other hgh rise concrete boxes siting on their concrete pedestals outside your windows. To answer your original question, I can't think of anything you can do to the concrete before you cover it with flooring, etc, that would be beneficial for or to you over the next 70 years. I've been a contractor/investor for years, and my girlfriend, at the time, bought a new concrete box in her hometown in China in early 2008 and finished, and furnished it to her tastes and dreams. Although while it was being built, and finished off I couldn't take off from two large renovation projects I was working on back to back, there was nothing I really needed to tell her other than like Mike explained, "make sure they put S or P-traps on everything that has a drain", I still can't think of anything you could do that would help out the concrete for you. If I had been in China I would have had to rented a truck, all the handtools I'd need, find supply houses for materials and go through a whole lot of hassle to do the work myself, even though I am a plumber, electrician, general concractor, and a carpenter....even though I once took, on my first trip to meet Wenyan, a cordless 18volt hammer drill in my suitcase along with some tapcons and percussion drill bits so I could hang a spinning toilet seat in the concrete ceiling over the center of our Beijing hotel room bed....ya know, first impression and all....there is no reasonable way I could work my trades in China without my tools. So, we let Zhang, Zing, and Zang do their thing, with my girlfriend being her own general contractor. She hired, and fired, a few subcontractors before she found the guy who had the same vision of right, and beautiful that she has. I gotta say, this guy did some damn beautiful work in our home. The marble walls and floors in our bathrooms and kitchen is simply superbly done by a true craftsman. As well, as our composite floors over the in-floor hot water heating system....and the guy did a fantastic job with our kitchen appliances, cabinets and stainless steel countertops. Hell, he even knew about trapping out everything with a drain, and he also knew his shit on venting the plumbing properly...where you have water movement you must has air movement in equal unrestricted volume. I finished my projects in the states and went over to China about 6 months after the home was finished. Good Lord, was I shocked at how well Wenyan and her contractor had finished, and furnished the home. In that sitting I couldn't have made it any more beautiful than they did, without going through a lot of hassle just to round up tools and materials. Quite honestly, had I been there I would have been a "third testicle" to the craftsman, would have most likely gotten the lao wei "discount" (girlfriend never told anyone that an American was involved) and I'd have driven myself nuts trying ot second guess the fellas every move....No needa The man did a great job. The home is very comfortable to me, and is the dream my woman had for herself. She picked a place on the outskirts of the inner city with nothing above 7 floors around us, lots of quite, not so many people, and lots of open space around us. You can get that too, Fu Lai. Without gettin' into the lil' peeing match on costs, from the looks of the photos I've seen on this site and another site I reckon our home must be in the million yuan range if it were moved south ...and we didn't pay anywhere near that. It IS all about location and economic timing, I'm rather surprised someone would offer that it wasn't. You have a very nice floor plan, man. Plan smart and you will do well. Study what is going on around you. Many folks live in homes that sell for less now than when they bought. First thing I'd do before jumping in to finish it off is figure out who is going to live in the finished product, you or renters? That fact alone can become thousands in savings in itself. Above all, have fun in your adventure. My now wife had a ball building her dream, and I get warm fuzzies everytime I think about how happy that home has made her and how comfortable and livable it is.....we actually never thought the Americans would give her the visa back when that home was built.....it was the home we were gonna live in. Your thread brings back some great memories. tsap seui Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsap seui Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 An oven.....WHo's going to use an oven? They will think it's a clothes dryer! My thought too MIke....Wenyan had no clue what an oven was. I tried to explain it on the phone one time when she was finishing the home, and just stopped mid sentence. Too much loss of oxygen on something not needed (in her case). Now in America.....lets see,....Fengqi makes himself some cookies in the oven sometimes, and when they first got here they liked an occassional pizza made in the oven. Your right, it would get more use if I told them it was a clothes dryer of sorts. Looks like you guys did really well with your home in China....I did laugh at your hilarious description of finishing it off. I couldn't be there when ours was finished, and how glad I am that I wasn't. You sure gave Fu Lai much good info for his project. tsap seui Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 . . . In that sitting I couldn't have made it any more beautiful than they did, without going through a lot of hassle just to round up tools and materials. Quite honestly, had I been there I would have been a "third testicle" to the craftsman, would have most likely gotten the lao wei "discount" (girlfriend never told anyone that an American was involved) and I'd have driven myself nuts trying ot second guess the fellas every move....No needa The man did a great job. . . . tsap seui Well put, here - probably the most important thing to remember. I'll guarantee that they know what they're doing - but also that you DON'T know what they're doing (or how to tell them if you do), and they darn sure don't know what you're doing. Just stay out of the way for the most part. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 It would seem to make sense that the cost is exactly what you spend - people have reported anywhere from $4000 to $30000 and up. I've also seen homes that were "decorated" for the cost of a sheet to hang over the windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilton747 Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 I think the only input I was allowed was the type of wire used for the internet cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fu Lai Posted December 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 . . . In that sitting I couldn't have made it any more beautiful than they did, without going through a lot of hassle just to round up tools and materials. Quite honestly, had I been there I would have been a "third testicle" to the craftsman, would have most likely gotten the lao wei "discount" (girlfriend never told anyone that an American was involved) and I'd have driven myself nuts trying ot second guess the fellas every move....No needa The man did a great job. . . . tsap seui Well put, here - probably the most important thing to remember. I'll guarantee that they know what they're doing - but also that you DON'T know what they're doing (or how to tell them if you do), and they darn sure don't know what you're doing. Just stay out of the way for the most part.This is exactly what I was thinking. My girl said she had the contractor bit all figured out since she has done this before AND this is her home town. We are talking forced heat and A/C or separate machines now. We figure we will need master furnace and A/C units for that, Also, is there a need for a master water heater - 2 bathrooms and kitchen considered? Any input? I think I will just give my advice and then hide during the finishing. Of course I will have to do all the grunt work of painting etc. hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2mike&jin Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 I"m not sure this is germane but for the OVEN, even after my tilt at the Chinese, I did sort of solve this.....We installed a Microwave that was also a Convection Oven! It was on the small side....I could bake a chicken but not a turkey, as I remember. This gave me the ability to burn things outside the WOK. (A different take on "wok the dog") I think I used it mostly for "Garlic Cheese Bread" when I made spaghetti - and for a few bake recipes "that weren't well received" by the family. I used to really like to cook but since going "Chinese" I have sort of been banned from the kitchen! I think they don't like my cooking as I don't cook things in 1000 degree Oil that splatters all over the kitchen. I'm sort of holding my breath on the new house we're in the process of building here in Hawaii - as it has a 6 burner (with additional grill) Thermador range and at "WOLF" Profession Hood with a Suck the Oil and Air out of the Ktchen - and a 1200 CFM sucker! If this doesn't evacuate the oily air - I'm not sure how I will solve the issue. Currently - no house I have will move the oily air and residual oil out of the kitchen --- it's just a 1 hour clean job every week! (I'm thinking off taping newpaper up on the walls - and changing the newspaper every week - just like a Greasy Chinese Restaurant- but it's only a fleeting thought) Again, good luck on the oven thingy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 This is exactly what I was thinking. My girl said she had the contractor bit all figured out since she has done this before AND this is her home town. We are talking forced heat and A/C or separate machines now. We figure we will need master furnace and A/C units for that, Also, is there a need for a master water heater - 2 bathrooms and kitchen considered? Any input? I think I will just give my advice and then hide during the finishing. Of course I will have to do all the grunt work of painting etc. hahaha I don't see that (forced air w/ductwork) anywhere here, except in a VERY few commercial systems. I'm not even sure about those, since I haven't looked closely enough to see. Even those that LOOK like they use ducts, don't - they pretty much have one heat exchanger per outlet. Jiaying looked into buying those, but the ones we saw were inefficient and expensive. The plain old wall mount and floor mount things were the best deals all-around for us. She chose the single water heater over the instant-on things. I'm not sure why - she doesn't like the fact that they're always on. But I like it for the safety factor and it provides plenty of hot water for us, even at around 40 gallons and a max of 55 degrees C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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