Jeez, another large house. Some of you guys don't fuk around EH.
Good luck with it mate.
Jeez, another large house. Some of you guys don't fuk around EH.
Good luck with it mate.
The vegetation along the drive changes every time I look and the BIL has several banana trees that are producing large clumps of sweet bananas. There are also several spice bushes and a few lemon trees.
The banana trees will be trimmed back every year along with some other plants that only last a year or two. He has a green thumb and lots of papaya trees as well.
A shot of the drive entrance and we will see if I have enough money left on this trip to start a block wall and steel rolling gate.
Here is the wife inspecting the rear windows. The carpenter is trimming and fitting and will attach the hinges once the alignment is perfect. He is taking his time, which I like to see.
Here are the granite tiles, all 500 of them waiting for the ceiling to be finished before they are laid. There are three bottles of sealant which it supposed to keep out liquids.
The color is pretty much the common gray, black and white with some brown running through them to give some color. I don't think they showed up to well is this picture, but will take more pictures as they are being installed.
Here are some pictures of the dual windows. The carpenter is off looking at some land he may buy, so no telling when he will return to work. I just want him to be finished once the granite is installed so that I can get some glass in the windows to secure the house.
My son is peaking his head in the bottom of the picture.
Rick,
I like that granite color. Looks good.
I've been warned to be very careful with granite. When wet, I'm told they are are slick as sh&t.
Merry Christmas !
Steve
Wooden windows!! what a mistake they will be crap in under a year, aluminium or pvc only in my opinion.
Very nice, Rick - big rooms, very nice. The wood looks very nice too.
Everytime I look at these pics I keep thinking - roomy, very roomy...
Very impressive finish on the walls Rick it looks stunning.
Not really sure if you are 100% right on this one. I have been living in a house for 8 years now where we put in wood windows and they are still as good as the day we put them in. A lot depends on what wood is used. All the windows in this house are either teak or the hard #1 wood, as the Thais call it. No warping, no termites and very durable.
I have friends that chose the aluminum windows and they are falling apart and having problems with opening and closing. Again, I think it depends on the grade of window you use and your personal preference.
Both a good wood window and a high quality grade metal window are fine in Thailand, and it then just depends on your personal preference.
The electrician was nearing the point where he needed to understand what lighting fixtures I was going to use, so I took a trip to this place in Bang Na. It was just like being at another IKEA anywhere in the world and I wound up buying 23,000 baht's worth of lighting. It was mostly LED, with some halogen lights mixed in. They pretty much have everything you could need to furnish a house, and then some.
I drove down with a British friend and it took us 6 hours from Udon to Bang Na, Bangkok. We were not so lucky when we came back on the 28th. On the way down, we noticed heavy traffic on the other side of the highway, and I started to think about the New Year's traffic. I would have never thought it would be as bad as it was. It took us 15 hours to drive back with 20-25 kph averages all the way to Khon Kean. Never again!!!
Here is today's purchase in Udon. Another 23 grand that included sockets, switches, some lights, wiring and other odds and ends.
This item accounted for 3,200 baht, but well worth it, in my opinion. Some LED emergency lighting with a 5 hour life on the existing battery if you lose power and are using the LED spotlights.
Living in the village, we have many power outages, especially during the rainy season and this will be placed in the great room to give us light without hunting for candles and flashlights. Being LED, it will need less power, last longer and from my understanding, not attract bugs and it's MADE IN THAILAND.
^^^
Good idea Rick.
No probs regarding calling we are all extremely busy people at the moment but not to worry our time will come.
^
You have a great place Steve, even though we both took different routes to get there. Sometimes I think if I had all the cash up front, I would have preferred going your route and have it all done at the same time. Again, different strokes and it has taken me over a year and a half to get to this point and I am still not where you are.
It just goes to show that there are many different ways and styles that you can build in Thailand and sometimes it depends on location, personal taste and your monetary situation before sound decisions can be made. That is one of the reasons we do not all build the same house, I suppose. Everyone's situation is a bit different and I changed my plans many times to make sure the work would be done in a halfway reasonable manner.
You should really enjoy your build Steve, once you have a chance to stay in Thailand awhile and I know I will enjoy mine.
RC and Steve,
I have enjoyed watching your house builds progress along. RC is right in the fact that people build what they want for their own personal wants, needs and expectations.
Both nice places and should prove to be a comfy place to relax.
JP, sorry I haven't been in touch lately and will take a look at my emails soon. I am feeling a bit strained with having so little time left to get the house livable. We will be buying the ceiling materials tomorrow which should take about 3 weeks to finish. Then I only have another 3 weeks or so to finish the granite and make the house inhabitable.
It should not be this way now that I am retired, but we seem to put some tight deadlines on ourselves and never get the Thai factor right when it comes to timing. We will see if I have a couple of days in the house before I head back to the States.
RC,
No worries. Always at your convenience. Hope all is going well.
No need to rush back here. Not like anything changed. Same ol same ol. At least you will return when the Xmas madness is gone and people are home now living like recluses to pay off their credit cards..HAHA
^
Yes, and I don't miss that a bit. Quiet Xmas and New Years here, except for my trip to IKEA that was done at the exact wrong time of the year. Live and learn.
I like your new avatar, by the way.
Purchased the ceiling materials this morning and they are already on their way via delivery truck. I just learned that the price for installing the ceiling does not include painting which will add another 25 baht per sq meter plus paint and supplies. The list just keeps getting larger. I will obviously need to have that done prior to laying the granite.
The ceiling man said he could have his father lay the granite for 250 baht per sq. meter, but I said I would think about it is since it is much higher than the granite shop quoted me for installation. These guys are all linked together and once a job site is discovered, they come flocking.
I was also told that the ceiling would now only take about two weeks instead of the previous three weeks that were quoted. We priced the sheetrock at a couple of different places and found a shop stocking the #1 grade which is what I was looking for at a reasonable price. Spent another 21,000 baht on the materials, which is better than I had projected. We will see what the entire job costs when it is done.
Is that the moisture resistant type of sheetrock Rick ?
Steve
The ceiling guy ordered two different sheetrocks. One was what they call #1 (Elephant or Chang brand) and a water resistant tile for the toilets. I have not seen the tiles yet and can take some pics when they arrive. Still waiting for the truck to pull in.
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