The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

dirtydog

Most of the plumbing feeds need to be put into the walls, you haven't got any walls yet, they will probably just chuck in one feed to each bathroom, one waste from each and one toilet waste from each before the floor concrete goes down, but the majority of your plumbing pipes will be put in when the building is nearing completition.

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panthira

Hi. Building a house here seems easy but as you have probally heard the knowledge of the builders often is not on the same level as your own country.
A site I've found very informative is : (I was'nt allowed to post it) .Check it out. Non -commercial just helping fellow expats.....As an licensed electrical contractor from California for 20 years and 2 Bkk projects (Q Bar/Bed Supper Club) lighting design, I have some experience in electrical and will offer some sugestions if you like.
I also have a Thai company here that does specific electrical projects: surge protection, grounding, lightning protection, access control, video/audio intercoms, etc. I hope I don't come off as a self promoter as this is a friendly chat sight, so I won't give any of my info..but feel free to ask questions.
80 % of the resedential electrical panels in LOS are not grounded properly..don't be one of them!

panthira

Peter

I guess I'll have to post 20 x before I can reply to you they did not allow it!

panthira

Panthip

In Thailand most Thai electricians use surface mounted cable (we call it romex in usa) called VAF. That is only 2 conductor w/o a ground. You need VAF/GRD for that 3rd wire. Most people do not ground lighting circuits unless outdoors.
VAF is not waterproof contrary to what you see everywhere. You must use another type or conduit.
Good electricians use the yellow pvc pipe (conduit) and use THW single core wire x 3 (white/black/green).
You are building in the rainy season. A short story:
10 years ago my friend Ray (a well known Holywood gaffer) built a house in the jungle of Costa Rica on a mountain overlooking the Pacific. He built in the rainy season and of course the yellow pipes for the electric filled up with water.
The locals not unlike our own did'nt worry as "the heat would dry it out".
A year later he told me saying all his electronics fried after a lightning strike and the lights were dimming on and off on there own. As well when he drove over the driveway in the rain there were sparks in the dirt.
At considerable expense he flew me down there to repair the conditions.

When I pulled out the wire in the entire house , all of it was rusted,wet and had arc-ed thru the insulation. I had to pumpout the water w/ compressed air and drag small rags thru to clean it, then repull the new wire w/ a ground this time!
I installed a whole panel surge protector, lightning rod and put the main feeders underground in conduit as they were not direct burial type wire.
The local monkeys would stealmy tools and run up to the trees and wave them at me! When I opened the main panel a giant lizard jumped out, the wall boxes wer filled with scorpions and thousand of fire ants.......really unforgetable and profitable!
So get some good advice!

panthira

Panthip

I hope I'm not boring you with this free advice but I need 20 posts to answer anyone.
You must consider what your electrical usage will be. Thais use different size meters that limit how much current you can use . The most common is 15(45).
That is sufficent for most homes. However if you (a farang) aree living in it your usuage will be much higher possibly. You need to do a load schedule.
List all the appliances, lights,pumps, water heaters, power tools, air conditioners, etc. you may ever use. Look at the amperge or wattage on each of them or comparable wants at your local supplier. Add it all up and discuss w/ a professional.

panthira

Panthip

To avoid unsightly blue wires going to you home I recomend using buried conduit
from the meter to your main panel . You've seen this pipe everywhere..it's bleck w/ orange linear stripes. Size it according to you power needs. Do a straight run as each buried j box or glued bend is a potential leak. Install a 2nd for the telephone . Dont use the yellow pvc!

panthira

Well I have changed my profile so I can now receive emails and show my own website.....yes I know..self promotion!
I give alot of free advise.

pone

Dear Panthip,after a carefull look at the plans,i can see you have 6 small rooms
(3,5x3.5=11.25 sq.m) and 2 "bigs"ones (6x3.5m=21 sq.m)including walls.I don't
read Thai but i see no kitchen ,no direct door betwen cook-dine areas either.
plenty banging door if you wont some cross breeze.good luck anyhow.

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paul
paul

Panthip

Kuhn Panthira,
I really appreciate your comments and advice. I have picked up your web address in case I need your assistance.
My plan now is to find out how the builder will run the wiring, what sort of lightening protection and grounding he will apply. The cable size to the consumers likes the cooker, washing machine, dishwasher AC and so on.
To my consolation this builder has 3 different companies builder several places in Thailand. He has also constructed several “farang” houses and my hope is that he has picked up an advice or two over the years.
Bu t I need to know what’s on his mind. It’s difficult when the construction lot is in Korat and we are here in Norway. I’m not too sure about his ability to speak English either. Seem like a tall wall this but hopefully it’s not.

dirtydog

The odds are he will sub out the electrics to some electricians, lighting cable is 1.5, mains 2.5, heavy stuff like electric cookers and good hot water heaters 4mm.

Panthip

Khune Phone
Thanks for taking part in the tread.
Yes you are right there are many doors. So far I haven’t worried. I thought it could be a benefit concerning the AC, so the cooled air doesn’t drift away.

Panthip

Kun Sunsetter
Unfortunately there isn’t much I can do with the quality of the images. They are sent me by e-mail and I try to sort out the best ones. Sometimes you have to choose a gruffly one or no pics at all. That’s just the way it is when you are far away from the site.
I try to inform you the best I can

SEA Traveler

Khun Panthip,
Experienced same with my house about the receipt of pictures. Except for the ground breaking in January and the 6 weeks of construction pictures I took in March-April time frame, I was dependent on the contractor and friends to take pictures and forward to me. Fortunately the friends used a digital camera and I had some good shots. The contractor Khun used the phone camera and these were a little grainny and of less quality but, as you say, being away from the site we all do what we can do. The fact that you are posting updates is enough. Keep up the good work and happy construction.

Ciao!

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"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff....and it is all small stuff"

sunsetter

cool no problem, keep it going

pone

To Panthip.yes that sound logical+the little porch for BBQ!
To Maily it's ok for me to look at your plans,but why don't you put them on T.Door so every body can give his comentary(s?)as i understood,many members did build all kinds of houses a little everywhere;i did not read all forums yet and me wifi coverage is poor but once i hook T.D it stay on;maybe D.D has a gate with Bill.
pone for paul.[at]St Martin ,carebean sea ,for some more times
P.S.I still dont know what are all those little graph on the bottom of
the post &how to use them(Td & e-new member)

panthira

Panthip
Dirty Dog is correct in his short wire list. But to be really sure you must look at the name plate of the cookers and water heaters and if in kw convert to amps.
for example a 1 point water heater for just the shower is usually 3.3 kw so 3300 divided by 230v= 14.35 amps so you would be tempted to save money and use 1.5 wire which is rated at 15 amps, but because of voltage loss over long runs due to resistance and solar impact as you are running the wire in the attic it is much wiser to use 2.5 wire w/ a 20 amp breaker . I use the name plate amps and then multiply x 120% which would be 17.22 amps..a common practice in usa.
Most Thai electricians don't know the proper size breaker for the wire. Do not trust them. I encounter these problems every day.

panthira

P
if you google thai yazaki wire (local mfg) you can read all about the wire sizes, amperage and special uses
p

panthira

P
one more thought...the panel..most people use square d here . A great company .
But Siemens, Bitcino, Legrande have a din rail unit (like Europe) and it is much better as you can buy modular (cheap and easy to replace) surge protectors.
Also you can feed what are called ground fault breeakers in usa (RCB in Thai) from the main to individual breakers allowing you to use one unit instaed of 5 (they are expensive). You need to use this on the kitchen, bathroom and outdoor circuits as there is a good chance it will save a life. In usa they are required by law. Here (BKK) they use one big ugly unit for the entire house called a Safety Cut...it is not as effective for many reasons..but cheaper..most din rail panels have to be ordered from Singapore or Europe. Square D at your local store.

panthira

P
Another common mistake here is to use the neutral wire as the switch leg. This means the hot wire is constantly on your light so when you change a bulb you risk serious shock if you don't turn off the breaker which is probally labeled in Thai. So make sure your guy does not do this! It will also turn your flour fixtures into dimming glowing night lights as the current is still there!

Panthip

Apparently I was wrong concerning when the casting was supposed to take place. Here are some shots I received yesterday.

I’ll let the images speak for its self.