A hillbilly shack in the jungle...

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by qwerty

What is the roof made from? It looks like wood shingles but I've never seen a wood shingle roof in Thailand before!

The roof is made up of Teak shingles. Actually, it is rather common in some provinces of Thailand. How long will it last? I don't know...

[hillbilly]

Now we are back to pouring concrete.


Filling up the wheelbarrow.

[hillbilly]

The workers struggle to take the load away. Notice the idiot brother.


Concrete being poured into the hole.

[hillbilly]

Now we are making some progress.


Be careful when you order 'blocks'. The rough ones aint worth shit. You see all the white colored blocks? These are the rough ones. Yes, it is true that the workers can lay them but to finish them is a pain in the butt.

[hillbilly]

Nothing like a bite of fish and a shot of whiskey after a hard day's work. This bottle of whiskey that you can see in the foreground costs B75. Sounds cheap don't it? Buy to many of them and you ain't gonna have any workers the next day. Trust me on this one...


The bamboo problem persists. The big root on the left of the photo is a coconut tree root. The Thais wanted to toss it into the Nan River but I said no. Just wait I told them, I have an idea...

[Thetyim]

Originally Posted by hillbilly

How long will it last? I don't know...

They last just as long as the asbestos type ones.
The nails usually rust away before the tiles are gone.

When they start to look a bit grubby you can turn them over and use the 'new' side

[man with no head]

Are there any people using asphalt shingles?

Well, I guess you'd need a plywood roof for those.

[Thetyim]

Originally Posted by surasak

Are there any people using asphalt shingles?

Never heard of it, unless you mean those tiles made out of roofing felt type of stuff

[friscofrankie]

Off topic question but are there actually any building permits required for building? Does anyone actually inspect the wiring prior to connection to the grid?

Some of the questions (although quite germain) are hilarious They do point out that those folks wanting to come here and "build their own" home should spend a coule/thrre years in country before diving in. Even after that it will be a hair pullin expereience.
I've even had Thais come to me asking my help in getting a decent contractor to finish their home they've been tyin' to get finished for over a year...
Fantastic thread HB!!! One of the best! how's your blood pressure, BTW???

[man with no head]

Fortunately my father-in-law is a contractor and many of the hotels in Nong Khai were built under his supervision. The wall I had built looks fantastic (shown a few pages back). I found no apparent flaws in it when I checked it out in March.

I am planning on doing much of the building myself to make sure everything goes the way I want (plus to incorporate some non-Thai ideas into it).

[friscofrankie]

Originally Posted by surasak

I am planning on doing much of the building myself to make sure everything goes the way I want (plus to incorporate some non-Thai ideas into it).

We've got a small plot (I'll post some before and after pics later) we're gonna get cleared this coming week and get started. I got some plans in my head that are gonna cause alot of "falang baa maak loei' comments when I get 'em started.
Thankfully I've got a huge pool of Burmese workers to draw from here.

I started working for my uncle the gen contractor when I was thirteen. after a few years on the 'lamm' went back into Construction for about 10 years before goin into IT. Studied Architecture (off and on ) in college. Planning a steel framed bottom with pan deck and a wodden structure built on top. Gonna make the fuckers use a vibrator on the concrete footings even!!! Man is that gonna be fun! Figger i'm gonna go through few arguments, maybe a death threat or two....
you got relatives in the business is a definite plus.

[hillbilly]

Here is K. Jaew cleaning one of the many piles of sawdust. She would pile the sawdust on the bamboo root in order to burn the stump away.


We had all sorts in visitors...

[hillbilly]

The lower beam is coming along slowly.


This shows how they made certain everything was straight for the fence. Notice my compost pile in the background. More on that later.

[hillbilly]

The framework is going up nicely.


My idea for the fence was confusing at first, but eventually they were able to understand where I was headed.

[hillbilly]

Here you can see the iron supports for the fence being sprayed initially with red to prevent rust.


Pouring concrete by the bucketfuls into the framework for the fence posts.

[hillbilly]

I thought it was ironic that one of the carpenters was wearing a t-shirt from my state about BBQ!

[hillbilly]

A look at the fence with the framework taken off. The welding of the bars will need to be done next.


This elderly gentleman was the original owner of some of our teak wood. He rode his rickety bicycle to our land everyday. Look for the knife handle. He was like Davy Crockett carrying this knife with him everywhere. I was just glad we had paid him in advance for our posts.

[buadhai]

Great series of photos. I can't green you again, but you deserve it. Good to see what you'd been up to those months!

[hillbilly]

This bit of news just in from P-Lok! With all of the heavy rain lately, the Nan River has risen more than in the past 40-50 years the family is saying.

This shot shows the workers toilet next to the river. The water has now risen to about the second step from the road. Luckily, my house is up high but my landscaping...And the corn that was planted on the riverbank was almost ready to pick and eat.

[man with no head]

Why is one section of block staggared and the others not?