The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Jet Gorgon

Agree, nice layout. Ground-floor bedroom for your study?
Dude, nice house, but those blue curtains are so...Thai?

The_Dude

The head of the house is Thai so what can you do?

Loombucket

Not sure yet, a lot depends on which way round the house faces.

Good job you can't see the pink ones someone was looking at earlier (YUK!!)

Jet Gorgon

^ hehe. How about vertical blinds?

Hey, Dude, no offense meant -- I just remember one house I rented had similar window dressings until about two minutes after I moved in.

Tao

You ought to have seen the furniture in our bangkok condo before we rented it. Think it was a royal blue, pink, green, and white sofa.

We told the thai-chinese twat we'd rent the place as long as he removed his disgusting furniture first.

Loombucket

This is our first meeting with the Architect. Sorry, I can't pronounce his name so after the fith attempt we agreed that I could call him 'Archie'. That's the future Mrs Loomb on the right and her Mum on the left. Picture was taken at the Temple at Surrat Burri. I may have a thread on this later (lovely gardens).



This is a new picture of the, nearly, completed lake. We had to have the digger in again because the sides kept falling in at one end.



Here is BIL one, trying to work out where the boggy bits, around the edge, are.



TF Mrs. LoomB makes a start on the, all important, Mangoes, around the edge of the plot. Now we have two!



Last one, for now, shows the raised soil area, where the house will sit. I think this is, actually, just outside the living room, where the rockery and small waterfall/sound garden will be.

Texpat

You do realize what you're getting yourself into, don't you?

Looks like a great adventure shaping up. Good luck to you and the lady.

Do you have a front elevation design?

Loombucket

Yes I do and it's about 50/50 exciting/scary. I don't have any elevations yet but when I do, I will post them here. Thanks very much.

Marmite the Dog

A good start. I really looking forward to the rest of the adventure.

Loombucket

One or two problems have come to light. The first is the pipe we had put in to drain off the excess water, as well as the stuff that runs down the road. Here, the water has got under the pipe and washed the whole lot away. It was a cheap job, no foundations and too close to the fence.



We have been waiting, and waiting, for the soil man to arrive and spread a little more happiness around. More by luck than jugement, He arrived about the same time as the relatives that were doing the pipe job. Firstly, meet some more of the familly. Here is Khun Cow, on the left, and Khun Lee. Cow is a Carpenter from up in the north, somewhere, and worked the hardest on both days. He also has a great smile and a fruity laugh but didn't like the camera too much.




Time to get the digger in to clear up the mess and re-profile the edge of the lake. Notice Mrs LoomB giving strict instructions to the driver.

DrAndy

yeah, the edges of your pond are far too steep and will erode very quickly

never mind, it will keep you busy

Loombucket

Here is the mess cleaned up and the edges hammered down. A great improvement! That's Lung Pa, being in charge.



We had the digger cut a new slot for the pipe and then let it go, so it could dig up some soil from down the road.



Next, the boys got started on some sort of slab to mount the pipe on. That's home made concrete. Sand, cement and, what looked like, road building chippings. All mixed in a big metal box thing. Khun Cow, barefoot and up above his ankles.

Loombucket

That's true, and I didn't really want it that big but, as you say, it will keep them all busy. I will slip into 'told you so' mode.

Loombucket

Here, we see the, nearly completed, pipe in it's new position. The boys broke the first two sections, getting them off the pickup. We bought two more and then rescued the others from the original mess.



Whilst this was going on, the boys from the soil were going hell for leather down the other end of the field.



We had Khun Wiha, four sons, three trucks, a tractor and a digger. Later we had two wives, who joined us for lunch and an improptu finger nail painting session. Here is Khun Wiha, checking his percentages and keeping an eye on things.

Jet Gorgon

Oh, but you have a white cow. Very auspicious.

Loombucket

That's actually on the road behind the fence, but I know what you mean.

Loombucket

Here is the new drain pipe in position with the soil put back where it belongs. Hopefully, this one will stay a little longer and not be so tempted to jump into the lake, the moment my back is turned.



This is the result of two days hard work by the soil crew. We needed the extra because they are widening the road and I wanted to go back by about a lanes width. Also, I fancied a larger, raised, space by the house, for parties and such.



Photo doesn't really do it justice. I needed to be up a tree and there aren't any handy, yet.
Well it has been a hot and busy week and although the first showers of rain have started to lay the dust, I reckon I have inhaled enough to fill a couple of barrows. The best part of the week, for me, was the loan of this little beauty. For a few hours, I roared up and down the road, at about 40 KPH, with a big grin on my face. If I ever have the money....... The worn out red plates were a nice touch.

Loombucket

Sorry, duplicate post

Tao

It's unlikely you are going mad but go easy on the Chang beer, i'm sure it gives me mental health problems. Must be something about the chemicals in it...

baldrick

how long will you be letting the dirt settle ?