Thai Dhupp and Princess Joy's Thai House Build

[Thai Dhupp]

Again, your taste matches mine. That looks really good, especially matt.

Thanks, Maanaam.... I think the Matte effect will look more old as well.. glossy is not right , looks too 'new'...

[Thai Dhupp]

Yep. A good choice by you and Princess.

When you compare the cost of this to buying panels to clad the exterior....

This is included in the quote, the panels would have been extra, we would have had to measure them all up to fit round the window openings....

...thousands and thousands of extra THB to get a similar effect.

[David48atTD]

Outsde walls - fixing the wood pattern



It takes time, but its worth it. the effect is pretty good, I think...


The method is really quite simple as you can see....


... but the effect is pretty good. Imagine when it has been made to look like wood and then painted.

That is so

I hope they screwed and glued the 'wood' on?

I'm really looking forward to observing just how your builder creates the wooden appearance.

I built an investment house (in the west) and used a woodgrain wall cladding.



When I built that house, about 15 years ago after you primed the board as shown above, you then applied a stain.
After a short time you wiped across the cladding. Not pressing down, just across.
The stain is removed either fully or lightened on the peaks of the cladding and stayed darker in it's valleys.

Looked great.

After 10 years, still looking good.


So, I'm really looking forward to observing just how your builder creates the wooden appearance.

The techniques, materials, stains, paints and varnishes he employs.

[mikenot]

That is going to look really ​good ! So is that just fiber cement planks or something else ? At first I thought it might be Conwood or similar but the closeups look to be a fairly rough material ?

[Thai Dhupp]

That is so

I hope they screwed and glued the 'wood' on?

I'm really looking forward to observing just how your builder creates the wooden appearance.

I built an investment house (in the west) and used a woodgrain wall cladding.



When I built that house, about 15 years ago after you primed the board as shown above, you then applied a stain.
After a short time you wiped across the cladding. Not pressing down, just across.
The stain is removed either fully or lightened on the peaks of the cladding and stayed darker in it's valleys.

Looked great.

After 10 years, still looking good.


So, I'm really looking forward to observing just how your builder creates the wooden appearance.

The techniques, materials, stains, paints and varnishes he employs.

Morning David, another happy day in the sand-pit for me!

(Museum is looking really good though, I might try n post a couple of pictures soon)

Yeah, me too... I did not see 'how' he did it yet, only the finished article so to speak. that picture I posted was just one sample, he has of the work. I saw a lot of others so I am confident.

Yes it is screwed properly, and 'glued' also. Again, hes been doing this technique for a long time so hopefully hes got the procedure off to a T.

[Thai Dhupp]

So now, K.Pot has started on the Sala..

Photo's to follow on that, but meantime, here's a few ongoing shots of progress inside:


starting on the woodstain job for the frames







....and you remember he got the ceiling wrong too?

yep - its being changed.


This is upstairs where I wanted cathedral roofing but now, we are having a deeper recess to help 'lift' and room heat up away from the bed below.

[Thai Dhupp]

Sala work part 1

As I mentioned earlier, K.Pot has made a start on completing the Sala.

This was one of the first things he started, way back when but once those steps were cast, it's been on the 'back-burner' ever since.

Now though there is a push to get things finished, so its 'Sala-time'!

I think he's trying to complete it ready for when I go back there mid September...


Rather you than me, mate...


Just standing around...


fixing some purlins at last


Ok.. a few roof battens in place now.


It looks a bit tall and narrow but of course there will be the overhang roof as well.


Looks tall but of course there needs to be headroom clearance when one carries on up the stairs to the top level of the house.


Can someone cut that rampant bamboo back? It's getting in the way of the fer-tog -raff-ee

Oh boy I'm heading for a big bill... he's going to compete 2 sections at the same time, and another one not long after!

It's got to be built though so... carry on team!

[Dead Metal]

Given the right leadership and motivation i think the Thai worker is very industrious and most excellent workers.
In the UK all you get is, aww can't do that, aww can't do this, but in Thailand they always come up with "a way" that leads to an excellent finish.
It's easy to knock but hats off to them.
Looking most excellent TD.

[Norton]

Coming along nicely. Excellent job on the door frames. Indication of quality finish work to follow. You found a winner in your builder.

[Thai Dhupp]

Given the right leadership and motivation i think the Thai worker is very industrious and most excellent workers.
In the UK all you get is, aww can't do that, aww can't do this, but in Thailand they always come up with "a way" that leads to an excellent finish.
It's easy to knock but hats off to them.
Looking most excellent TD.

morning DM!

Yeah I agree... they always seem to find a way and they are actually good workers (well, my experience is only limited to this build team, and a group of Thai workforce I had on the Airport job in Abu DHabi).

No hassles, got on with it, no dissent, etc.

They are sure getting on with it in Chonburi too, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that K.Pot is a good 'boss'.

He actually does look after them in between jobs too, and they appreciate it

Thanks for the kind comment.

[Thai Dhupp]

Coming along nicely. Excellent job on the door frames. Indication of quality finish work to follow. You found a winner in your builder.

i cant wait to get there now, Norton.

Lucky my rotation has come round mid September!

A lot to do, including paying for the mango land, paying K.Pot (of course) and starting the snagging list, or at least checking for those snags.

A pretty crucial time - I already told PJ that we will not be doing much other than 'house stuff'...

Also, need to finalise the pool shape and features - that will probably be project 4 in the grand scheme of things regarding this build

[runker]

Looking forward to seeing how your faux siding comes out.

[Thai Dhupp]

Looking forward to seeing how your faux siding comes out.

Yep Runker - builder is under strict instructions to show the actual technique - hes not so keen 'cos its like his 'trade secret' but I have told him, we all wanna see!

He's taking some photos today.

He sent me a picture from one gable end which looks pretty good, so far... will try to post that today.

It's the upper house walls I'm really interested in though because they are the one that will be 'up close 'n' personal' with me, she and any visitors dropping by!

[Thai Dhupp]

....You found a winner in your builder.

A combination of research, due diligence and luck.

Taking time to get it right is always time well spent

All that being said, he has surprised me positively by the 'extra mile ' he has gone to, when I have forgotten something.

He's a pro.

[Thai Dhupp]

Yes... now he's talking about some of the finishing items!

So this week, we (PJ 'n' me) were considering how the master bedroom balcony might look. A few different options were discussed.

LOL PJ needs to get up to speed on this one - she still thinks the build is 'going on' and we are way off the finish. I had to enlighten her!

We settled on this appearance and K.Pot has been notified.




but with these posts, not flat ones in the photo:



Hopefully he can re-create it...

[Thai Dhupp]

Oh... and he's started the wood effect activity...

Here's the base coat on the gable end and barge boards...












it's all starting to come together, finally.

[jonnyenglish]

Looking great! I like the fake wood panel idea, adds much needed detail to what would otherwise be large expanses of painted render. Additionally, it really helps with the traditional look of your build. I had considered using a large salvaged teak wood panel as an interior feature wall, but the missus was against using anything old... something about "goats"... I think she meant ghosts.

[Thai Dhupp]

Looking great! I like the fake wood panel idea, adds much needed detail to what would otherwise be large expanses of painted render. Additionally, it really helps with the traditional look of your build. I had considered using a large salvaged teak wood panel as an interior feature wall, but the missus was against using anything old... something about "goats"... I think she meant ghosts.

Morning Jonny! (well...its still just morning here, 11am and i am just rising after a 'few' light shandies' at the local hostelry courtesy of work. a rocking night was had by all but of course there is a price to pay the next day. I think i got into bed at about 5am)

I hope my build thread is still keeping you entertained over your morning coffee, and thanks for the positive comment!

Those 'goats'n get in the way of everything

...especially if, like PJ shes confusing goat with lamb! haha we sorted that one and now we can roast the lamb and it turns out she likes it.

yeah... my idea for this Lanna-like relief is taking shape. As told before, I always wanted the appearance of old time Lanna / Ayutthya but with modern materials for better heat and noise insulation.

The idea I had, but the turning of my concept into reality - thats down to the builder - the thing I was not sure about was if any builder we engaged could do their bit, and make my idea 'look' like the wood I wanted.

Seems like, again K.Pot has lived up to expectations.

[Thai Dhupp]

I had considered using a large salvaged teak wood panel ....

I looked at this too, when i was weighing up all the options. old is not so available in Chon Buri, maybe more so 'up North'.

K.Pot has someone who will do some internal paneling for us later, so we will not be having all rendered painted walls inside.

[jonnyenglish]

'old is not so available in Chon Buri, maybe more so 'up North'' indeed, not far from my gaff is Ban Thi, an area full of salvage yards, teak panelling and other architectural stuff, spent half a day in the heat looking around with the missus who was getting darker and darker by the minute, until after a few hours she gruffly told me that she 'don't like old thing, it has goats living in it', so that was the end of that.

Seems (so far at least) that K.Pot has turned out to be the man, he seems used to accepting and adapting the ideas and needs of the client. This is a bit different to the acceptance and then ignoring that I faced with my build. Overall I was happy with Noarng, but the level of finish was far below what I had envisaged, especially considering the money I spent on quality items. I'd say overall my build was 90% there, but finish (tiling, installation, painting, wood and floor treatments etc) were 65%. I can always revisit these at a later date, but I am reminded of the sloppy, haphazard, careless approach to things on a daily basis. Still, I managed to prepare the land and build the house for an OK sum (without totally losing my sanity), despite the fact that the UK to THB exchange rate dive-bombed and cost me an extra 20%!

[Thai Dhupp]

'

....despite the fact that the UK to THB exchange rate dive-bombed and cost me an extra 20%!

jeez you are so right about this, Jonny!

I had funds saved in Thailand to cover the build, or most of it but then, buying all the sanitaryware (approx. 150K), and the wood flooring (approx 100k), and a few other mods and additions have dwindled that money.

Now I just had to transfer from Dubai to BKK and that's when it hit in... as you say, 20% increase in the cost of exchange, meaning I had to take out a fair bit more than I originally planned.

Ok we are not stopping the build but got to keep a close control on costs now.

[Thai Dhupp]

Barge board wood effect detailing

So, we are all waiting to see K.Pot at work on the house wall wood effect - lol especially me.

Meanwhile though he's been concentrating on those gable ends - which includes painting that wood effect onto the barge boards.

Here's a few snaps from that - they are not a sharp as I want but its because I am lifting them off the video.

I will get some stills too, and he's not totally finished yet, but...you get the idea.

Remember, we are 'up close n personal' here but in reality one would be viewing the roof from distance.


















It actually looks better on the video of course as there is no blurring....

[Thai Dhupp]

Here are some more.....




















will try to get some stills when his no.2 is next up on the roof.

It gives you an idea though, and not too bad i think.

[Thai Dhupp]

Oh... he's been working on the sala too.

Here he is putting the roof tiles onto the roof frame

Barge boards are already in place.

[Norton]

Barge board wood effect detailing

Very nice workmanship and looks. Coming along nicely TD.

Soothsayer Norton sees a high wood maintenace future for you.