Thread: Crazy Horse Ranch

Originally Posted by OhOh

What are the little triangles with numbers in pointing at the walls? Also the boxes with Fx and Cx plus numbers +1.000 etc at the room centres?

The triangles designate the type of wall, or other partition, so " 1 " might be concrete blocks, " 2 ' might be the little red bricks ( horror, horror !), etc. If you look at the bathroom, the outer wall is one material, inner is another....probably tiles in this case ?
circles are for the type of door (D1/D2, etc) , hexagons for the type and size window (W1/W2). Included in the plans will be a list of all these detailing sizes, materials, even particular brands.
The boxes F1/C1 designate the type of floor or ceiling finish, so F1 might be ordinary floor tiles, F2 for bathroom tiles, and F3 for outdoor patio tiles. Next to them is the floor and ceiling heights, so the living room is +1.00 (one meter above normal ground level) while the bathroom is lower at 0.90m. Ceilings are 3m, and 2.7 in the bathroom. Well, that's the normal use anyway.
!!!! But I am confused as to why the bedroom floor is shown at 2.80m and the ceiling is at 3m ....either somebody has made a mistake or it is a bedroom for very tiny midgets with only 20cms headroom ! Runker ??

! But I am confused as to why the bedroom floor is shown at 2.80m and the ceiling is at 3m ... Yea that was a typo. I had originally planned a window
above the sink but with that wall facing west I decided to reduce the amount of sun coming through. I have planned on more indirect lighting for the house during the day. Only two people will be using the bathroom and we don't use more than one type of shampoo and conditioner at a time and we use the same type of soap in the shower. As for a back door, it is only one meter high off the ground. A large patio door was considered and could always be added if desired in the future. This house is on a tight budget, my wife is paying for it.

Originally Posted by runker

This house is on a tight budget, my wife is paying for it.

555 good luck , look forward to see more, I let my local wife deal with all the negotiations , just paid up and was delighted withe the price and result.Once you've moved in there's time to tweak add/change in light of experience.

Originally Posted by runker

I had originally planned a window
above the sink but with that wall facing west I decided to reduce the amount of sun coming through.

I'd still put a window in above the kitchen sink (a view helps with the daydreaming whilst scrubbing pans), you can always put blinds up and plant some bamboo or install a trellis screen with climbing plants or similar outside a bit further away to dissipate the direct sun.

Good to see the plans ... actually passed by your land the other day on the way up to buy more trees/plants.

Speak soon,
Cheers, JE

A few photos from the ground clearing. It is hard for me to say what you are seeing. The first photo is taken above the old pond on the east side of the land. The third shows the cleaning out of the old pond.

There does not seem to be a lot of dirt being moved, mostly overgrown brush. It would be nice to get an overall shot from a few hundred feet high. Anyone have a camera drone?

I got more photos of the land being cleared but I'll wait until I get some images that convey a good "after" photo to some "before" photos I have. They are now moving dirt out of the pond and using it to level off the low spots. Should be some nice fertile soil from all the fish poop and decayed biomass.

In my opening I said my wife bought this land in 2010, well it was 2003 and we've been on the "in five years" plan since 2006 when our son started college. Unlike many building threads where the wife is in Thailand the husband is away working, I will be in Thailand and my wife will be in the US working. Hey, that is the way she wanted it and besides I retired for the second time and need something to do.

The other night I woke up at 3:30 thinking, holy crap that is a lot of land that needs tending to. Small bites, I thought and went back to sleep.

Yep, there's always tomorrow.


Once you get building just be careful of those lady steel fixers. If you've seen them straightening and bending rebar on their thighs once you get ideas.

The land has be cleared and the pond is starting to refill.

Pond is refilling


I think I now know why the front area was always wet, the drain pipes were blocked and still probably need some more work

Looking good keep your updates coming.

I've read here many times construction cost being estimated by multiplying square meters by a baht. We got an estimate cost from our builder this way and my wife thought the cost was a little high for the size of the house. Looking at his numbers I noticed that the indoor living space square meters were combined with the outdoor living space square meters. Is this normal practice?

That is a nice big piece of land you have. I wish we could have bought our place 10 years ago seems like prices are always going up.

Originally Posted by runker

Is this normal practice?

One would have thought they would be priced/sq.m. differently.

The rate of exchange was very good at the time, 45 baht to 1 dollar US.

Yeah those where the good old days. The rate is always bad when It's my time to buy. Bought two places and both times the rate was down oh well all over with now it's hard to time it all perfectly.

My builder is on site now and laying out the house.

He also owns the red bus you see in the background so workers have no excuse for not having a way to work.

Is that a level he has on the tripod or a more exotic instrument?

I can't say for sure, I'm not there. He did use a compass when asked to have the back of the house face north.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Is that a level he has on the tripod or a more exotic instrument?

Looks like a lazer surveying device. You can lease them. Work good.

Originally Posted by Norton

Looks like a lazer surveying device

That would give you levels yes.

I look at office construction sites locally and see no setting out centrelines, no cut, foundation or wall boards. When I was a lad these things were sacrosanct an woe betide any chippy or steel fixer who didn't pay attention to them. that was of course in the west.

Our good friend Suk and BIL doing their part to make sure everything goes well.
The house is being built on a slight slope. The back of the house will be 1 meter off the ground while the front will be 1.7 meters off the ground. I like the seeing no standing water in the hole. I was told they had a heavy rain the day before.
Our builder contractor looking over things. It is hard not being there but I am sure I would not be much help except for getting good photos and these are fine. I would still like to see an overall from a higher angle.