There is the standard electrical plan, as follows:
Ground (First) Floor Standard
Second Floor Standard
They then give you a list of electrical devices and their associated costs for any changes you want. Since I am not a fan of a single light in a room and one outlet(plug) with a dozen extension cords, I went through and tried to imagine what I wanted in each area. My lovely Thai wife, wants to keep things simple, as her background, but I'm not a fan of snaking electrical extension cords. I also wanted exterior lights, ceiling fans in each room, plus some outside covered (waterproof) plugs for the Thai style kitchen and in each bathroom.
We'll also have a breakered field tap, on each end of the house, for any additional exterior lighting for outside areas.
So we ended up with the following.
Ground (First) Floor Final
Second Floor Final
I have asked PD House to relocate the second covered outlet, in the master bathroom, to between the double windows and the toilet. Hopefully they will do it, although I doubt it.
All the changes, including the Safe-T-Cut, upgraded from 15 amp to 30 amp and to underground cable, added up to about an extra 130,000 baht.
Wife tells me the workers are now back on site. Supposedly they will be doing the ceilings. She will be asking about the bathrooms, which I thought were next.
Slowly but surely...
And since you all need something titillating to keep you entertained until I have a useful update, I present the following...
OK, so the wife sends me a few pics overnight. They are starting to install the frame for the ceilings upstairs. Slowly but surely, it's starting to come together. I'm not sure when they do the bathrooms. I thought they were doing that next.
I think it's a new crew on-site. I hope they are as clean as the last group.
So anyway, here's a couple pics of the upstairs ceiling frame work. So exciting !! (LOL)
This is in the master bedroom, looking towards the unfinished master bathroom.
This pic looks to be the master bedroom looking out to the west. We own the 2 lots extending out from there. There will be a small balcony off this opening.
Not sure where this is. But some wiring box.
Another view of the master bedroom, more of the wall of the master bathroom. And another wiring box.
And finally a picture of a worker. in the upstairs family room. The doorway leads to the master bedroom.
That's all I have for now.
Steve
See you have a fully trussed roof Steve, are they still going to do the usual proxy suspended ceiling?
I'm stuck in the USA, so I can't see for myself, but yes I believe it's a suspended ceiling. We'll also have 6" of insulation up there. I'd like to make it 12+" but the PD House standard is 3" and we are paying extra for the additional 3". Maybe I'll pay some local to go up and roll out some extra fiberglass batts after PD House is gone from the site.
My wife tells me that the granite stone flooring was delivered today. I'm anxious to see how that looks when it's all done. She reports they are doing all the electric right now as well.
The gal steel trusses look the part, nice job.
Yes, I'm really pleased with the galvanized steel truss design. It seems pretty solid and should hold up with the tropical moisture.
I hate to say it, but I've seen some of the other house building threads here, with some old guy in flip-flops and an even older welding machine tacking bits and pieces of metal together to hold the roof together. it just doesn't seem like it would hold up. Plus, the welding would ruin the coating, if there is even any gal coating applied.
Ours is all galvanized and screwed together. That's one positive thing I will say about PD House.
they are usually painted metalOriginally Posted by stevefarang
then the bits welded are repainted
seems to work OK
OK, the wife sent me some new pics. Not much different, more of the framework for the suspended ceilings.
This is the back bedroom on the southeast wall. The plan is to make this my youngest daughter's bedroom.
OK, I figured it out. This is the other end of my youngest daughter's future bedroom, to the right of the picture above. That bump out or column was where the original wall was supposed to go, and on the opposite side is the Buddha room. We reduced the size of the Buddha room to make this bedroom bigger. She should like it. It's a nice space with a nice quiet view, away from the road.
I think this is in the master bedroom, but now I'm not sure.
And another shot of the master bedroom, looking more northwest.
I think this is the master bathroom. I'm not sure what she is trying to show me. Looks like some supply plumbing going around and I think the white is for power ?
This is a sample of the type of ceilings we will do in several of the rooms. It was something I wanted to do, but the last time I was there and mentioned it to PD House rep, they said it was too late to do. I was thinking to myself, "Well why didn't you ask me before? I know I mentioned how much I like that look.". Well it turns out my wife was talking with the people doing the ceilings and they asked her if we wanted it and she said yes. So I'm finally happy.
I do want to see if I can source and install white LED lights for the straight edges. It should look good and be cheaper to operate than fluorescent tubes (I think that is what they use).
She doesn't have any pictures of the granite flooring yet. She said they delivered 500 pieces !! I can't wait to see it.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Steve
Last edited by stevefarang; 18-02-2013 at 04:08 AM.
Flash looking ceilng there Stevo ! very nice
Nice looking roof and I like the ceiling. I am pretty much at the same stage and, as mentioned before, had welded steel that was painted, welded and then painted again. Been up since last March and everything seems to be doing fine.
Good Luck
Thanks all. It's nice to finally get some progress beyond looking at just the concrete frame. Hopefully, the house will be done by the middle of this year. It's been 2 years now !!
Most of the steel work iv'e looked at in Thailand, is as you say primed steel, but it is painted over the mill carbon, you are not painting the steel just the carbon, it rusts in front of your eyes, there is no subsitute for Galvanised steel, as in Steves house. If you do use steel and you wont it to last, it shoulkd be sand blasted, the primed immediately.
Our granite flooring, intended for the ground floor, sitting in the car port area.
A close-up of the granite flooring. Looks good. Nice and neutral.
Some electrical work for the carport area. The standard is one light in the middle. I wanted a few more.
A wiring run from upstairs to downstairs. Not sure where this is in the house.
This hurts to see, beautiful concrete chipped away to the rebar. But I guess it's necessary.
Some wiring work upstairs somewhere.
Looks like some worker has moved into a corner of the downstairs family room.
Ground floor core area is a great dry storage area for construction materials.
They are finally starting work on the bathrooms. This is the mother in law (or maid) bathroom on the ground floor.
And another view of the same bathroom.
Some plumbing from upstairs.
Our front entrance area is a wee bit messy right now.
I am anticipating to be in Thailand around Songkran. So I'll try to get a good series of clear update photos then.
Really like the granite flooring. Was it that much more than tile? My experience is that they are close, but one does have to be aware of the possibility of stains penetrating its porous nature. I am thinking about using marble which is also a good buy in Thailand and is not quite as porous as granite.
The PD House standard is some crappy wood laminate flooring.
We first looked at marble tile and saw some nice stuff. But my wife heard about granite floors and how their seams are much tighter than tile. That appealed to both us. So we went to a stone flooring company and checked them out.
Then we found out it was less than half the price for marble tile. We both really liked that aspect !
I do understand it will be slicker than marble, when wet, so we'll have to be careful about that. And I think they sell a sealer to apply to granite floors. I seem to recall seeing cans of the stuff for sale at the stone flooring supplier.
I would have liked to use use it upstairs, but PD House was concerned about the additional weight. So we'll use an upgraded wood laminate up there. Maybe some time in the future, we'll install marble tiles up there.
Don't ask me the name of the stone flooring place. It was someplace on the road to Nakhom Pathom and all the signs were in Thai. If you really want, I can see if my wife can send me the address.
^
Less than half sounds good. There is a stone store in Udon that I have looked at and have seen several granite shops on the way to Chiang Mai. When it comes time, I will look at both and compare. Thanks for the info and please take some pics once the floor is down.
all stone has some porosity but marble is stained much easier than granite, and can be attacked by acidsOriginally Posted by rickschoppers
both are tough but I would only use granite for kitchen worktops
depends on the granite; all stone can vary wildly in price, depending on their origin and rarity. The granite in the picture is the most common type, may come from Thailand or India, and is nice enoughOriginally Posted by stevefarang
I have reported your post
we have never bothered to seal granite (I don't think you can!?), just buy it polished and it seems to last forever. Sandstones may need to be sealedOriginally Posted by stevefarang
Got some new pics overnight.
The Master bathroom tiling.
Still a work in progress...
This will be the second bathroom upstairs.
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