Thread: Thai Dhupp and Princess Joy's Thai House Build

Hi TD,
Just tried to send you a personal email to Cyber etc but did not get through. Would you mind sending me a note to check I have the correct one? Planning an arrival on 7th June. Thanks, Ian

Originally Posted by Radar

Hi TD,
Just tried to send you a personal email to Cyber etc but did not get through. Would you mind sending me a note to check I have the correct one? Planning an arrival on 7th June. Thanks, Ian

Nothing came to anywhere so far, anyway!!

I will PM you

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

Nothing came to anywhere so far, anyway!!

I will PM you

No, could not do that either so I emailed you!!

Congratulations granddad. Unfortunately an experience that will always pass me bye !
My late wife would have loved a little girl but hey ho !
My Thai wife did ask , but I'm too old now.
House looking real good now TD.

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Congratulations granddad. Unfortunately an experience that will always pass me bye !
My late wife would have loved a little girl but hey ho !
My Thai wife did ask , but I'm too old now.
House looking real good now TD.

Thanks DM.... for all the comments..

Wait til you see the roof progress pictures today!!

i know, i know... pictures been slow coming because there has been a lot of rain over on the site and I do not want them 11m up on slippery wet scaffolding in their bare feet with the lightening crashing around them.

I need 10 workers, not 9 and and an ash pile!!

I fly tonight, BTW...

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

I fly tonight, BTW

Great. Sure you will be glad to be front and center in the middle of the grand construction.

Originally Posted by Norton

Great. Sure you will be glad to be front and center in the middle of the grand construction.

Well, I am in BKK Norton but we do not go to the site until tomorrow... lol more waiting but it will be worth it.

Bring on the shopping spree.......

Ongoing construction

Yes, K.Pot has been hard at work and it is great to see the house for real rather than through the lens of a camera.

It's really house-shaped now, with all the roof trusses in place (photos to follow once Imgur gets its arse in gear), with just the battens to be fixed.

Most of the internal walls are now completed on both the ground and first floor, as are the external walls

Door and window frames are all in place

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

For what!!!??????

For all your TD friends who are coming to eat all your food and drink.

Agree. Keep the concrete to a practical minimum. Garden space always wins out in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

hmmmm...... I cant turn my back for a second.

They need supervision thats for certain! they have strange idea's as you are finding out, I realised years back that if you look where "they" (family & builders) live, that is their standard and what they consider acceptable, my wife accepted (had to!) that my ideas were far superior to hers
A word of caution on the kitchen, use teak if possible! I "lost" a kitchen some years back when the local termite population decided to eat it!

Originally Posted by Norton

Agree. Keep the concrete to a practical minimum. Garden space always wins out in my opinion.

The 2 big wins keeping the concrete to a minimum is the constant reflective heat off it during Thailand's pleasantly HOT summers and the cement heat saturation issue that will ultimately store heat around the house. Plus ants LOVE living under concrete and then tunnel into the house.

I have no cement around our main dwelling, just grass. Keep it green.

Question time........can anyone point me in the direction of a source of... square Terracotta floor tiles?

We have been to HomePro, Bunthavorn, Thaiwasadu, Home City and Grand Home, just to be met with blank stares and shoulder shrugs, like such tiles never existed.

Maan,, I know they do - I have seen them used in various house builds across all the forums!

Im talking about a plain terra cotta floor tile approx 50cm x 50cm or even 30 x 30cm


So... where they come from!!!???

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

So.. things to decide on or change, now that I have been to the site and seen everything first hand:

there will be a small under-stairs storage area and this will be accessed from the kitchen not the office bathroom.

the stair depth, he has made just too short. he thought he had before I arrived and i confirmed it. he will redo it to a longer depth.

he will give us a price for fabricating the kitchen now that i have a design in mind.

We do not need that second window in the office

We needed a bigger window in the Buddha room, and he has already done it - we approve.

We got the info re max bath size and general bathroom layout so that we can make informed choices for the sanitary ware.

we considered and ultimately rejected moving the car parking area to the other side of the house

I dont know what it is but sometimes I sense crazy decisions and that car park move is one of them. The original plan was to park them next to the kitchen, its a short walk to the sala and ultimate access to the home, but no... the builder, and my wide wanted to move the car parking to the other side, gobbling up the only bit of garden we have with a vast parking area for 5-6 cars!! For what!!!?????? We only have 1 car. why burn up the garden into a concrete slab? i don't get the logic, or lack of it and I v quickly made it clear that this was not an option., It would take a lot longer to walk to the entrance AND everyone would be walking though our bit of privacy!!

hmmmm...... I cant turn my back for a second.

Planning to hang around until completion, Dhupp?
It will do your heart good.

Best to ya and the project.

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

Question time........can anyone point me in the direction of a source of... square Terracotta floor tiles?

We have been to HomePro, Bunthavorn, Thaiwasadu, Home City and Grand Home, just to be met with blank stares and shoulder shrugs, like such tiles never existed.

Maan,, I know they do - I have seen them used in various house builds across all the forums!

Im talking about a plain terra cotta floor tile approx 50cm x 50cm or even 30 x 30cm


So... where they come from!!!???

Try Cotto (COTTO | E-Catalog). Browse to their E-Catalog-Floor-Tiles (it's a pdf file). I'm looking at a terracotta tile in their Parete Series (45cm x 45 cm).

Nothing wrong with a few 'visitors' dropping by Norton, 'by appointment' lol (obviously we need to be there as its us you all want to see, not the food n drink....)

I've seen enough concrete in my working life to want any more than is absolutely necessary in my relaxing life!

There's tons of room to park on the opposite verge or round the back if necessary so its not as if we are limiting anything....

All thise places you mentioned have them. I got mine from SCG shop. Think there is a communication problem. Not the best pic but might help.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Planning to hang around until completion, Dhupp?
It will do your heart good.

Best to ya and the project.

Thanks for the encouragement HL and honestly, I wish i could but work contract and cash requirements are preventing it.

Every penny is accounted for this year for completing this and finishing the payment on some property in PH. roll on 2019.... I can take a breather!!

Originally Posted by Airportwo

They need supervision thats for certain! they have strange idea's as you are finding out, I realised years back that if you look where "they" (family & builders) live, that is their standard and what they consider acceptable, my wife accepted (had to!) that my ideas were far superior to hers
A word of caution on the kitchen, use teak if possible! I "lost" a kitchen some years back when the local termite population decided to eat it!

You are not wrong, AP2, all the gardening is done in concrete pots, sitting on the concrete drive, lol good luck with that but not for me.

Kitchen-wise we might end up with the concrete carcass for the lower cabinets, as long as the doors can be made to butt up so that it maintains the look of a built in kitchen.
the only things we are agreed on are: black galaxy granite for the worktops, induction for the hob, a feature light over the island, breakfast bar seating at one end of the island, and... an OVEN and microwave... jeex... an oven,, what will she do!? oh and a dishwasher, the lazy c... clever girl. Wood finish cabinets, colour to match the granite, floor might be a wood effect tile too, after what we have seen on our shopping trip recce's

Built in / fitted kitchens in all the big stores are astronomic costs - we looked at some today starting at 1.1m for a basic shape through 1.5m for average sized to 1.8m for individual designed, these are European prices!! lol K.Pot knows a good carpenter who might be able to make it for us.. lets see....

Originally Posted by JPPR2

The 2 big wins keeping the concrete to a minimum is the constant reflective heat off it during Thailand's pleasantly HOT summers and the cement heat saturation issue that will ultimately store heat around the house. Plus ants LOVE living under concrete and then tunnel into the house.

I have no cement around our main dwelling, just grass. Keep it green.

Yeah, with you on that JPPR2, i think someone also pointed out that having a hard path also splashes dirt on the walls when it rains...

Originally Posted by PAG

Try Cotto (COTTO | E-Catalog). Browse to their E-Catalog-Floor-Tiles (it's a pdf file). I'm looking at a terracotta tile in their Parete Series (45cm x 45 cm).

hanks PAG, im checking it now, seems to be just the job...

Originally Posted by Norton

All thise places you mentioned have them. I got mine from SCG shop. Think there is a communication problem. Not the best pic but might help.

The pic is fine Norton, and thats just the sort of thing I am looking for, yet... PJ and I were in Bunthavorn, and I was HOLDING a small 8cm square Terracotta tile in my hand and he STILL played dumb. PJ was asking him... same like this but bigger? no nope nothing like that at all!!!

omg. when a Thai asks a Thai in Thai and still gets a blank look, there is no hope for me. i looked in all the stores we went to specifically. loads of marble, travatine, granite etc etc..

Maybe we went on 'no TC day;, or something....

Originally Posted by Norton

yep... looking good, and just what I wanted!