Dengkil Trip Report !!!

I felt a bit unhappy over what I saw in Dengkil but the job was about to be completed.

The shophouse belongs to the land owner who actually wanted to turn the unit into a Makan Stall (MacDonald or something like that). But due to some reasons it was stranded until being approached by my Enterprising friend.

My friend managed to convince the owner to transform the upper floors to a BH.

The floors were made up of three shoplot units. Each about 20 feet by 70 feet. Total is about 3 X 20 X 70 =4,200 square feet. Hmm ..... pretty sizable.

What I was not happy about was why he did not discussed with me prior to the renovation works? I was on the phone with him twice a week.

He should at least let me have a look at the sketch on how he wanted to allocate those open roof windows, the roving room, the nesting rooms and the data room.

He did it by just reading some books and without having a third party to advise on how he can transform the house to a five stars BH.

The following were things that I saw and concerned about:

1) The open roof seem to allow too much light into the roving room.

2) The open room entrance is big and good to have those birds swooping into the house.

3) The opening between the open roof vent room into the roving area is not in the right position. It should be nearer to the side wall and not in the middle.

4) The opening is a bit too big allowing too much light into the roving room.

5) The roving room was way to big. It was about 19 feet wide by 30 feet length. He need only 12 feet by 12 feet. As such he wasted lots of valuable nesting areas.

6) There was no tunnel concept. This is something I prefer to have. Once the birds swoop into the house they need to pass the tunnel and come into the roving area.

7) The nesting rooms are still not fully completed thus the lighting is very bright.

8) The walls facing the sunrise and sunset is a single layer. I am not very confortable on this matter. There will be a very high risk of high temperature in the future.

9) There were no air holes provided. I am feeling a bit giddy on this. I told him to provide at least 6 ventilation holes. Or else he will have a tought time to regulate the internal temperature and humidity. Plus the fact that we need to supply enought oxygen to these birds.

10) The wooden panel looks mostly okay but could have been better. The gaps between the wood and the ceiling, were a bit serious in some areas. The straightness of the wood is a bit worrysome. There were a number of planks that have cracks but still been installed. When the ceiling were painted with the black emulsion paint some planks were affected.

11) The data room location was a big issue. He wanted to do them on the staircase and I told him no. The best is to have it just after he enter the BH i.e. the main door. He shud make it confortable and equipt with proper table tables, chairs, rack and fan. This is because that will be where he will spend most of his time when he visited the house.

12) There were a few gaps on the floor that he needed to shut them off and must be air tight.


Well I guess I talk to much and I am in no position to turn it around.

I just hope he will be successful.

No mater what he shall remain my friend .....