Thread: Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province

And all is well in bathroom 1 in regard the toilet tissue holder. Now in its intended and correct position. If I wanted to spend the rest of my life twisting to get at one off the wall behind the toilet I would have married a chiropractor or physio, not a nurse. (BTW, towel rack now reversed, bends down.)

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Quite a possibility TD. They've been singing karaoke down in the local village all week for a wedding and no doubt would love a new venue. But I was starting to think business ideas. Looking at the truss it would be a shame to waste it. Think all I need is a block and tackle, a few spanners, safety flip flops and I'll open an engine exchange shop. .

for a business idea, I favour flooring it out above and opening the ''Pua Shisha Lounge and Coffee Shop''
Once the word gets round, you will get a 'certain' type of clientele, but they are good payers and never any trouble...

...and your place will carry a permanent scent of 'Double Apple'.

Have you finalized the carport roof yet ? If not, a bullnose (downward curved) roof would hide the front truss from the road view.
At worst, get some bunting with the Thai and royal flags, hang it across and celebrate the upcoming coronation. I’m sure the locals will appreciate your integration ......
Mike.

The water pump is now onsite. Mart has upgraded it from what was in the contract/cost sheet...not sure at whose cost yet.

The electricians are now onsite and looking to install the oven, hob and undersink hot water heater. In each case some extra parts are required.

Seems they overlooked connecting this light to a switch. Easily fixed.

The carport roofing had been ordered and too late to change. In fact it arrived already.

Went out to get a gas cylinder...2,500 baht. Was sitting down having an iced lemon tea when I realized I need some tubing and that other thing...what is it called...oh yeah, a regulator. All available at the Shell outlet. Arrived back onsite to find all of the aircons where on for the first time. So the electrical issue seems to have been fixed. We paid Mart another 10%, now at 90% of contract price. There are some unders and overs to be finalized in the coming days. Think we are back on track to move in before the end of the month.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Please leave the plastic on as long as possible on everything.

Just to impress your guests that you are a rich man and can afford to buy new

Sort of like the red license plate on a car ... leave it on as long as possible!

Nice cultural hint that David, but too late. I already get the wife to tell them need special price because I poor farang. If they can speak any English I throw in 'Because I have expensive wife'. For some reason I'm yet to see it work. Regards, -BiP

Originally Posted by David48atTD

Please leave the plastic on as long as possible on everything.

Just to impress your guests that you are a rich man and can afford to buy new

Sort of like the red license plate on a car ... leave it on as long as possible!

BiP
As you sprint to the finish line, its all looking good so far. I for one actually like the carport because it is practical, aesthetics are over rated.
You even managed to get a straight driveway something my missus won't let me do.

As always a couple of questions/queries.
What are your plans for managing the run off from the carport roof? That is a big catchment area, are you going to have a gutter across the front? Or is it going to be a waterfall feature?
With the location of where your gas bottle is stored, is it well ventilated? Last thing you want is a gas build up inside the storage cupboard.

One other thing sometime ago the question was raised about the height of your water heater in the shower. I believe people try to have it elevated above the shower so that any risk of it getting sprayed is minimised. If there was a fault AND your earth leakage failed to trip AND you sprayed it with water the result could be bad.

Cheers

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Need to mention coffee and associate it with romance...'Coffee in Love'....

'Arabica Romantica' ,perhaps...?

Well it has more potential than Robusta, but....

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

'Arabica Romantica' ,perhaps...?

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

The carport roofing had been ordered and too late to change. In fact it arrived already.

Good grief BiP those two pictures together really messed around with my perspective.

Hi ootai, lots to respond to.

First, HWH height...I checked and all different heights. All above legal minimum they say but will be raised in bathrooms 2 & 4.

Second, the carport roof will handle not only own rainfall but the rainfall from the south face of the house roof. Right now it would spill over the front lip in a long waterfall just as you mention. It will hit the concrete and then flow to the west (to the left as you look at the house from the drive) as the carport slopes that way to mimic the natural slope of the land. I've got a three, maybe four step approach. I'll start with the fourth approach first, do nothing now and wait to observe. However I'm more likely to get out a hose and look for where the water will leave the carport. At that/those point/s install a catchment sump and pipe it to the west boundary. Second step may be to put a gutter on the front lip of the carport and pipe it to the west boundary. Third step is to store some in tanks on both the west and east side of the carport and house, and pipe/discard the rest to the west boundary. The possibility of storing in tanks next to the house is one reason the carport is so high. (The other is so we could stand at the front door of the house and have an unimpeded view of the driveway to the front gate.)

Thirdly, sooner rather than later the gas bottle will move outside. I'm looking to get a lockable metal cage (with roof) attached to the house between the side entrance and covered deck steps. In addition to the gas bottle it will store a generator should we buy one and tools and garden implements I'd prefer not to have stolen. The wife talked to the gent overseeing the carport construction today. He does do smaller jobs so we are going to have him quote on both the cage and the two garden trellises we want for the passionfruit vines on the west side of the house. There is no ventilation for the gas bottle space at the moment.

- Regards, -BiP

Originally Posted by ootai

BiP
As you sprint to the finish line, its all looking good so far. I for one actually like the carport because it is practical, aesthetics are over rated.
You even managed to get a straight driveway something my missus won't let me do.

As always a couple of questions/queries.
What are your plans for managing the run off from the carport roof? That is a big catchment area, are you going to have a gutter across the front? Or is it going to be a waterfall feature?
With the location of where your gas bottle is stored, is it well ventilated? Last thing you want is a gas build up inside the storage cupboard.

One other thing sometime ago the question was raised about the height of your water heater in the shower. I believe people try to have it elevated above the shower so that any risk of it getting sprayed is minimised. If there was a fault AND your earth leakage failed to trip AND you sprayed it with water the result could be bad.

Cheers

Sorry NPT, I see what you mean. Will try harder next time. Regards, -BiP

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

Good grief BiP those two pictures together really messed around with my perspective.

BiP
I have to admit I had another laugh at your expense re NPT's comment about the pictures. I have often thought about why you don't insert an empty line after each image to make it easier for us observers to look at. I was going to ask you about it but then I thought you might think I'm a picky prick.

Anyway back to the important stuff the water off the carport roof. Maybe you have more rain more consistently than we do here but if it were me I would put in the gutter and tanks and then use that water to trickle irrigate the fruit trees you plan to plant. If you can keep up a good water supply to fruit trees you will get more produce for sure. It would be a pity to waste the water by letting it run away.

Your idea of waiting and observing is a good idea as well. I was lucky here as we lived in our old house for 6 years before we built the new one and I used to get out in the rain and watch where the water come from and went to now I have the drains in the right places because of that.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Sorry NPT, I see what you mean. Will try harder next time. Regards, -BiP

Not at all, made me laugh at my own stupidity after the 4th take.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

I'm looking to get a lockable metal cage

My advice is to move it immediately outside as long as you have somebody there who can manage it. A cage can come later or not, do not think that somebody will immediately try to steel it.

Your safety is more important, you cannot rely on the fitting. There is always a danger of suffocating and/or explosion in a closed space.

Originally Posted by Klondyke

My advice is to move it immediately outside as long as you have somebody there who can manage it. A cage can come later or not, do not think that somebody will immediately try to steel it.

Your safety is more important, you cannot rely on the fitting. There is always a danger of suffocating and/or explosion in a closed space.

Absolutely. Get the gas tank outside now. Your life is worth more than the couple thousand to replace a stolen one.

Ok gents, message heard. Before we leave today we are going to talk to the carport lead about putting in a metal shelf outside the kitchen between the side entrance and covered deck steps. I'm asking for it to be 140cm x 60cm and be 100cm above the concrete apron. Want it to be able to handle a load of up to 150kg and for the supports to be underneath. As soon as we get handover from Mart, we'll let him attach it and drill a hole for the gas line. Later we'll enclose it with a larger covered cage. Regards, -BiP

Originally Posted by Klondyke

My advice is to move it immediately outside as long as you have somebody there who can manage it. A cage can come later or not, do not think that somebody will immediately try to steel it.

Your safety is more important, you cannot rely on the fitting. There is always a danger of suffocating and/or explosion in a closed space.

Site Visit 24 January 2019

Back onsite now, ninth day in ten. Could do the Nan to Pua drive eyes closed now, might actually lessen the occasional terror. We got Mart's agreement yesterday to continue to bring belongings and store in the house ahead of handover so we brought up a third load in the Hilux this morning. Construction of the great carport of Pua is nearing completion and they are working on the metal gates for the two sides of the front of the house. Before he leaves today we are going to talk to the carport lead about several other jobs to be done direct for us once the house is ours.

Carport views...with blank lines between photos from now on.