A hillbilly shack in the jungle...

[hillbilly]

This thread will show the good, bad and the ugly of building a Teak vacation home in Thailand with a hillbilly at the wheel. This home is my design with a long-term theme in mind.

You will be able to see my mistakes, the Thai builder/worker mistakes along with living with the Thai village surrounding my shack in the jungle.

Even though I have been away from http://teakdoor.com for 2 months does not mean this project only took 2 months. We bought this parcel of land bordering the Nan River about 3 years ago. We have had tractors dig, dirt shoved around,trees planted and snakes killed in anticipation of our guest home.

Please feel free to comment, critique, bitch, slam, make-fun-of or bow at my feet. What you will see and read actually happened.

First, because of work constraints I was not able to attend the initial setting of the posts.

Keep in mind the monks had already visited.

This is what I first saw...

[Thetyim]

Is that all we are getting

[Rigger]

Looks like what we built to keep our rice in

[RandomChances]

It looks like it will get a nice breeze through, much better than traditional houses with walls and roof's and things, might be a bit of a pain in rainy season though.

[hillbilly]

Before we even really begin to look at the house;the workers need a place to live and carry one with their lives. This is the temporary home of the carpenters.


Here is the original plan of the home. When the wife and I talked about this project the budget was set at about B300,000. However, keep in mind this project was funded by the wife and I, in other words we split the costs 50/50; she has her money, I have my money.

She had certain ideas that soon became apparent...

[mrsquirrel]

She had certain ideas that soon became apparent...

What?

No walls, roof or doors?

Fucking hell mate put your foot down.

[hillbilly]

Here the workers begin to plane the wood.


Now let's talk money. The guy on the left is an 'ajarn' and the guy on the right is called 'chung'. Our contract deals with the 'ajarn'. Both of these individuals come from the province of Phrae which is known for Teak wood and skillled workers.

Notice their non-verbal communication. Wait to see how this changes...

[hillbilly]

In this shot you can see a worker begining to lay day the floor of the home. Notice the vise that is being used.


A Thai table saw...

[man with no head]

^ Bloody hell, that's an accident waiting to happen.

[hillbilly]

The day's activity was brought to a standstill by the killing of a large lizard by a 12 guage shotgun (illlegal) next to my home. The locals said that the lizard was eating the chickens and trying to eat the dogs. BTW, this reptile is not good to eat so where did the carcass go? Dumped in the Nan River.


The roof is coming along...

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by surasak

^ Bloody hell, that's an accident waiting to happen.

That was my first thought also. I began to wonder about accidents, lawsuits, etc. However and surprisingly the only who ended up with cuts and scrapes was me. To highlight the safety aspect of this construction job lets take a look at the main electrical outlet.

[hillbilly]

One side of the roof is now complete.


The other side of the roof is coming along fine. What little did I know about hiring local people to complete the job...

[hillbilly]

This view shows the home from the back looking towards the main road and the Nan river.


Family members of the workers were everywhere. This little innocent young girl would steal any and everything, much like her father who was soon asked to leave the job site. But more on that later...

[Dougal]

I like this sort of thread.

Are those posts sitting on top of the concrete pads Hilly or are they cemented into them?

Do you have to treat that wood at all with any chemicals?

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by Dougal

I like this sort of thread.

Are those posts sitting on top of the concrete pads Hilly or are they cemented into them?

Do you have to treat that wood at all with any chemicals?

First, the workers dig a hole and place cement along with rebar. The following day the pole is put in place and and then a woodframe is placed in order to pour the concrete. This is to keep the wood from actually ever being in touch with the soil.

Secondly, yes we did treat the wood with a chemical called Chandrite.

This is a point in building our home that almost got me divorced. To me the idea of taking a green tree and using it for a support post seemed stupid. I voiced my belief. The response? "Falangs don't know".

We had many Thai experts say never mind...

[hillbilly]

Would anyone like to guess what this pile of teak wood cost?

[ChiangMai noon]

3,000 baht?

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Secondly, yes we did treat the wood with a chemical called Chandrite.

Thats just Kreosate based, we always use the dark one so I can check it has actually been done, they have a clear one aswell but you would never know if it had been used.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

To me the idea of taking a green tree and using it for a support post seemed stupid.

if it was a horizontal beam it would be stupid as it would just sag as it seasoned, being used as a vertical post it has great compressive strength, but I still think it would shrink or move slightly as it weathered, then again all buildings settle to a certain degree, it's probably not good practise using green wood but I should think that 99.9 percent of the times you would get away with minimal shrinkage, Don't suppose there are any log cabin Canadian builders on the board with a better idea?

[Rigger]

30,000 bht

[Rigger]

Ask Bondy if he is around as he built two nice bungalows for cheap money