Now, I have an admission to make at the outset.
You see I have this dirty little secret that I've not been letting on to any of you about, and it's this:
All the while (well, the six months) that I have been a member of TD and posting largely irrelevant drivel about the machinations of life in the subcontinent I have in fact been, somewhat accidentally it has to be said, constructing a house up in Isaan.
When I say I have been constructing a house it's not actually me that's been doing it, and therefore here was the first issue: I've been holed up in Delhi earning the wherewithal to pay for the thing whist all this has been happening. With no idea as to whether I would get enough photos I was a bit wary of starting what could turn into a rather dull and wordy thread.
Before anyone leaps on this, yes, it will still be dull and wordy, but it will have pictures so you can ignore the words if you want.
Here's the second issue: I was honestly rather unsure how this was all going to pan out, and given some of the problems that folks have faced with building in Thailand in the past, despite their detailed research and planning beforehand, there was a good chance that with the little forethought I did on building our place, the whole thing would quite rapidly turn to, um, custard as it were (i.e. be a complete disaster).
As we enter the final furlong of the build these two issues seem to have been resolved, which just then leaves me with a third, and it is this:
As I look through the photographs that I have they are somewhat limited both in quality (many were taken with a phone and MMSed) and also content. Some glaring omissions that could upset the harder-core readers of the construction threads are:
- Action shots of the construction crew eating their lunch, or sleeping it off afterwards.
- Any form of in-depth study of the building site's health and safety measures.
For this I would ask that you use your imagination. Suffice to say we did not try to influence the crew from what they would naturally do in any way whatsoever so, in this regard, your imagination won't have to wander too far from the well beaten path.
Not having been on site to take photos is a little frustrating as the pictures I have show the work, but in an odd sort of way way don't really tell the tale. There are however many members have walked in these particular shoes before and produced some cracking reads, and no doubt more will follow afterwards. Having gained a lot of pleasure out of reading of the experiences of others, I feel it's only right to chip something back in as best I can.
One thing to mention - I'll update this thread as and when time permits, but there will probably be some long gaps simply because, rather like the building works, I am too lazy to approach it in anything approaching a disciplined fashion.
So, metaphorically hammering the first marker peg into the ground, here then is (or will eventually be) the tale of Roobarb's patch: