The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Deck Ape

Too late, they have gone much further. These pics were a recap of the work done about 6 months ago. Not sure what subterranean sub sub..... well anyways. These walls are not part of the house structure. They are the perimeter walls around my land, about 50 meters per side.


I'm going to be here this rainy season. If I've got a drainage problem I'm confident I can fix it.

Deck Ape

It's your standard Thai wall. A little on the short side as it's more for keeping the critters out than anything else. Other than keeping the dirt in, of course.

If I can't get this part right my plans for the particle accelerator might need a little oversight.

Norton

....... Love your sense of humor. Hang in there!

AZZZEY68

Anymore pics

Deck Ape

This one's dedicated to Norman. Tried to resize it, too.

Here we are at our wan yok sow ekk. Doesn't translate very well, but then again imagine trying to explain this one to the folks back home. Tie the string around the perimeter to ward off all the bad ghosts. It appeals to me greatly.

Deck Ape

Deck Ape

Here's me and the wifey praying to her heathen god. The guys from the construction crew were on hand to make sure the monks could take it easy.

All in all a good day. Didn't slip in the mud and impale myself on one of those rebar sections (almost did, but didn't) Thank god. I mean well,mai ben rai.

This was in May. One or two more days of strolling down memory soi.

DrAndy

yeah, good for you

hope it all goes better than your wall

Deck Ape

Yeah thanks Dr. Andy,

It has been going pretty well. The reason I was disappointed with the performance of my perimeter wall was due to my own neglect. The contractor, a very capable guy, suggested we put in some pvc sections and I postoned it. I'm kinda pissed no one just knocked a hole or two in the wall above the soil line once the rains came. Never felt the need before, but with this big (Gringo) house and land I will hire a caretaker when I'm not here- roughly 50% of the time.

Deck Ape

Here we are. The monks don't look like they're worried my big gringo wall is going to fall on them.

The whole wall cost about 200,000 all told. This was right about the time the price of oil started going through the stratosphere.

The way I've gone about this is to supply ALL materials and to contract the labor on a section by section basis. This agrees with my stops-and-starts income flow. For instance when the wall was done the contractor Nai and his guys (all local) went off to do other jobs for a few weeks before we started on the house.

Deck Ape

Khun Sea Traveler,

Thanks for joining in!!

The funny thing is, yes I'm a planner BUT. Still find myself learning stuff either 5 min too late or just in time to scramble to get it done. (How does that thing go about that sound being God laughing while you'rew making plans?) Should be an interesting few weeks anyway- roofers and roof on the way, Q-con stacked for use tomorrow. The mortar's gonna fly and it's gonna be fu**in awesome!!DA

DrAndy

so, is a "gringo" the same as a "farang", or just larger?

Deck Ape

I'm the big gringo. But the house will be the average farang size. About 200 sq. meters if you count the porches.

good2bhappy

sounds like a fair size.
Good luck, look forward to more pics.

Deck Ape

Deck Ape

Deck Ape

This last one pretty much brings us up to the present.

Laid out my own floorplans and then brought them to an architect. Cost 5,000 baht. Permission to build from the amphur 100 baht or something like that. Will have to get a "house number" once everything is done, but Mrs. Deckape doesn't know how much that'll cost.

Footings and pillars, the usual. Ecxept I opted for 5m spacing between mine. Lots of cement, lots of rebar.

Was away winning bread when the slab was poured, but pics were taken in my absence. I was incessant in my insistance that the soil be compacted. This was done (I've seen the evidence). It also seems that Nai laid down some plastic before he poured.

The steel for the roof trusses was bought at a steel supplier inside Korat. Due to the 5m spacing of the pillars the steel from the regular building place was deemed inadequate. Na Nai told me (and it turns out to be true) that the dimensions stenciled on the side of the steel are a little misleading. If you get the tape and check them you'll see they're smaller than what they say. So we went to the steel only place. Steel cost - about 200,000. Labor cost for footings and roof trusses- 120,000.

So I've returned from work, been here for 2 weeks and have been lining things up. The blocks were all on site yesterday. So I'll bring my camera with me and post a few fresh pics later today. Hopefully.

Deck Ape

Thanks Khun Good2,

Your username's a good sentriment to remember when your "dream house" is in the wilds of Korat.

DrAndy

looks good. I have a small worry, how will you get underneath the house to put up your hammock, the columns seem a little short?

Deck Ape

Hammock? MMMMmm... get back to you on that.

Worried more about whether I will ever get some walls or a roof. Here is this afternoon's pic. The blocks are stacked nicely. Yeah, that's the ticket. I HAVE A VERY CLEAN, ORDERLY WORKSITE. Very quiet, too. A little quieter than I expected.