Thread: New Build Near Udon Thani

The truck has arrived and completed the offload of the ceiling materials.



Here is the Elephant brand of #1 sheetrock that is available in Thailand.



This is the water resistant sheetrock that will be used in the toilets. My understanding is that it also resists bacterial and fungal growth. My guess would be that is need to be cleaned periodically with a bleach solution.




Here are the supports that appear to be either aluminum or stainless steel.



I am anxious to see what the house will look like once the ceiling is in. It should change the whole appearance of the house and the way it looks now.

The northern side windows have now been finished and they are about half way done with the window install. Soon, I will have the front door placed along with the two back doors so we can finally start locking the place up. Glass will be scheduled as soon as the last window is in.

Coming along very nicely indeed. Very high ceilings you have too - you're gonna have massive volume, so the place should keep cool.

The ceiling is going up and the space is starting to look more like a room rather than a warehouse.



The toilets are getting the water resistant and antibacterial sheetrock.


This picture shows the shower wiring, shower faucet and sink plumbing along with the sink light wiring and drain.


Here is shot of the ceiling in the living room leading into the dining room. The dining room will receive a round coffering to house the round multi-colored light.



Here is the outline of the round coffering.

I purchased some teak socket bases online and they turned out pretty good. The first electrician we spoke to said they could not be used, but here is the proof they can if you know what you are doing.

This triple base controls three of the outside lights (they are all wired individually which is nice) and the other three control some of the inside lights. Every switch also has a socket access.



Here is a double base and there are some singles as well. They just add a little more to the house than the plain white bases. This shows the TV plug and power source in the living room.




Here is the master electrician finishing up a triple switch box that controls some of the other outside lights. This guy knows his stuff and I would glad to have him do all the electrical. He has also said that if we have any issues to call him since he lives just down the road.

Here are the outside lights that are on the north side of the house. They are individually controlled which means you can only turn on one at night, or have all three lit.



Here are the lights on the front of the house. The two that are over the front door are larger and a different shape than all the rest. This was not a conscious decision, but was a result of Global House only stocking 8 of the lights we wanted, so we had to choose two others for the front door. It all worked in the end.



Here is the Thai kitchen at the back of the house. I am still coming up with a solution for the open void in front that was to look out on the nice view. The problem is that if it is left open, bugs will more than likely migrate into the house. I will either block off the entrance from the kitchen to the house or fill in the void with windows. Price is a consideration and I have to think about it before making a final decision.



Here are the down lights that are in the kitchen and the hallway leading to the front of the house.


This is the hallway leading from the front of the house to the kitchen than I may ultimately block somehow.

The first coat of ceiling paint is done in my son's room.



Here is the completed breaker box. The inside is very neat and tidy. More proof that the electrician know what he is doing. I have seen some real wiring nightmares here in Thailand since there is no code, at least in the village.



The finished ceiling coffering prior to the first coat of ceiling paint.



There are also small quarter circles at three ends of the living room ceiling.

It's becoming a beautiful palace now, Rick. The ceiling makes everything even better.

Do you know how they made the sides of the ceiling (quarter)circles? Is it also gypsum or something else?

About this picture, I really hope nobody is ever going to fall down when they walk out of that door! Especially drunk people tend to fall easily.

I am still coming up with a solution for the open void in front that was to look out on the nice view. The problem is that if it is left open, bugs will more than likely migrate into the house

I think bugs will come into your house (or any house) anyway, they always find their way in. If I were you I would block it off though, maybe some wood would be pretty there.

Looks great Rick. I really like the look of that round coffered ceiling. That would have been nice to have in our place. Ah well.

Keep posting pics !!

Steve

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Sometimes I think I may have good too big

Know what you mean. Always a surprise when the structure starts to take form. Then one thinks, "Oh my sure didn't look so big on the plan drawings".

Great build. Lots of nice touches and designs.

^
Thanks Norton. The wife and I took another long look after most of the ceiling has been painted and it seems to be shrinking in size. Maybe with a little more color on the walls it will shrink even more. I know once you put furniture in a house it never seems big enough and I do not think we will have that problem.

Cheers

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Looks great Rick. I really like the look of that round coffered ceiling. That would have been nice to have in our place. Ah well.

Keep posting pics !!

Steve

In hind sight, I see some things I may have done differently, but as you said, ah well.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I am still coming up with a solution for the open void in front that was to look out on the nice view.

Rick, as a thought, you could look at installing something like these Bahama shutters in the picture below. You could attach a mozzie screen on the inside so you still have ventilation and a bit of light when they are closed but hopefully remain reasonably bug free, then during the daytime you can prop them open:



You may want them to open a bit more than the ones in this picture so they don't block the view, but you get the idea...

It probably wouldn't be too expensive to do either if you can find some stock size louvered doors/shutters somewhere.

How quickly did the ceilings go up, Rick (they look good, still nice and high)?

Looking good RC,

Keeping the Mosquitoes out is always a going to be a challenge. I have been giving this a lot of consideration and research. Those slotted cement tiles in your pictures allow them in by the droves as they are attracted to the exiting air if hot in the house because its loaded with Co2. I saw a pretty slick idea in a house I went and looked at where the guy had taken screen door material inserted into each one. From what I saw he just wrapped the mesh around a wire that basically was spring loaded and held in place. So it still allowed air flow but minimized bug migration and did not look tacky and an after thought

You will not keep them all out by any means but you can mitigate it significantly.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

How quickly did the ceilings go up, Rick (they look good, still nice and high)?

They were up in one work week. It was a six man crew and they were like an assembly line. They were off to Udon to do two more falang houses once they finished mine. The labor are right around 31,000 baht for about 235 square meters, plus the circular feature plus the rounded corners in the living room.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Looking good RC,

Keeping the Mosquitoes out is always a going to be a challenge. I have been giving this a lot of consideration and research. Those slotted cement tiles in your pictures allow them in by the droves as they are attracted to the exiting air if hot in the house because its loaded with Co2. I saw a pretty slick idea in a house I went and looked at where the guy had taken screen door material inserted into each one. From what I saw he just wrapped the mesh around a wire that basically was spring loaded and held in place. So it still allowed air flow but minimized bug migration and did not look tacky and an after thought

You will not keep them all out by any means but you can mitigate it significantly.

A good idea. I was also thinking about placing some bug screening on the outside of the slots. Since my house has no bug screens in the windows, I don't know if the slotted brick will add much additional access to the house or not. What I really need are some killer mosquitoe zappers placed around the house.

I have learned, after living in the tropics and staying in Mexico, that there is no real way to keep the mospuitoes out. The only good protection I know of is a good net around your bed.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

You will not keep them all out by any means but you can mitigate it significantly.

MiL on 24 hour duty with one of these:

Originally Posted by Koetjeka

It's becoming a beautiful palace now, Rick. The ceiling makes everything even better.

Do you know how they made the sides of the ceiling (quarter)circles? Is it also gypsum or something else?

About this picture, I really hope nobody is ever going to fall down when they walk out of that door! Especially drunk people tend to fall easily.

I am still coming up with a solution for the open void in front that was to look out on the nice view. The problem is that if it is left open, bugs will more than likely migrate into the house

I think bugs will come into your house (or any house) anyway, they always find their way in. If I were you I would block it off though, maybe some wood would be pretty there.

I vote to keep it open... Great place to hang orchids from...

Originally Posted by bankao dreamer

Rick well done the house is looking more homely which you knew it would. Good choice with the anti bug light bulbs I have used them everywhere on our place because its all open and they really do work I am sat at the moment underneath our place with all our lights on and not a bug in site

Thank you BD. The yellow bug lights are great and I also tried to use as many LED lights as possible. I am still trying to figure out what to use on the back sala since it is all open and I do not want to draw every bug from miles away once I turn on the lights. I may have to try and find some good LED spotlights. They would come in handy for the pool table and bar area.

^^^
Rick the anti bug lights do just fine. It doesn't make much difference where we sit it is all open and we don't get troubled by bugs at all.