#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Construction in Thailand >  >  > Building in Thailand Famous Threads >  >  Renovation

## buad hai

The homes in the moo baan in which I currently reside are about 15 years old and of very poor quality. They have two normal sized bedrooms (12 square meters), one half sized bedroom, two Thai style bathrooms (cistern and squat toilet), a moderate living room and a small room for a kitchen. In the two years that I've lived here a number of these places have sold and been renovated. Some of them actually look quite nice.

Until a month or so ago our next door neighbor was an older Mor Du (fortune teller) and his much younger wife who works for the tax department. They didn't do much to the place and allowed the front yard to revert to jungle and did no outside maintenance. They moved out, the house was sold and the new owner is renovating.


You can see it here, in the background, before the work started.


A whole crew of Isaan (not Korat) workers moved in over the weekend and started work. It looks like they will extend the living room out on to what was the front porch.


These materials began to arrive the day before yesterday. They will replace all the existing doors and windows.


It looks like they'll also extend out the back right to the rear wall.

I'll try to remember to take and post photos as the project progresses.

(Might as well; nothing to post on my own house. Grrrr.)

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## buad hai

They removed an old window from what was once the front wall and reused it. Since they brought in dozens of window frames I thought they were going to use all new windows.


Here's a view from the other side. 


Removing the old front wall.


Notice the new masonry.


This guy's using a sledge hammer to remove the wall on which he is standing. Note the standard safety gear.

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## WhiteLotusLane

LOL.. nice pics, thanks.

Still I can't help but feel it's a bit of 'beating a dead horse' in that location.. Whatever they do to it it'll still be very average I think?  And this is Khorat right, so not a real shortage of affordable land you'd think to build something that can still be modest, but more airy / spaceous?

Then again.. they probably bought it for under 500K or so, now spending about 100-150K ...   Guess it could make sense.

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## buad hai

^It wouldn't be my choice, but you're probably right on the numbers. Quite a few renovations going on in this area. The blocks of land in this moo baan are about 50 square wa. Residential land in this vicinity is selling for around 12,000 baht per square wa.

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## WhiteLotusLane

In compounds you mean?  Or is it located in the city area?  Otherwise 12K per sq. wa is rather high I think?

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## buad hai

> In compounds you mean?


Yes, I should have been more specific. That's the amount most developers charge. Further out (say, JoHo) it goes down to about 9K.

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## Wallalai

> Note the standard safety gear.


Nothing to worry about, he should be wearing his amulet.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## klongmaster

> This guy's using a sledge hammer to remove the wall on which he is standing.


lovely turn of phrase BH...did you hang around to see what happened when the wall on which he was standing toppled over?

good thread as usual...some here on TD have said that there's no real second-hand market in housing in Thailand but that doesn't seem to be really true...

sure there has always been the Thai reservation about the ghosts of the former owner etc. but everywhere around me in nonthaburi people are buying old or unkempt houses and doing them up...they don't seem to have any problem in reselling...oh but the price is not a lovely 9-10k/sq wa...



.

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## buad hai

^Well, the guy avoided death or serious injury. Every time he whacked the wall he managed to pull that leg out of the way. I guess the amulet worked.

In this area, at least, the second hand house market is booming. Maybe I'll take a few photos of other completed renovations in the neighborhood. Many of these old homes have been made to look very nice.

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## buad hai

It's always tough to gauge land prices where there isn't much of a real estate market and things seem to be changing fast. We bought 200 square wa in a residential area on the other side of Korat last year. It's about 5K from the city center and is in a developed area with paved streets, water and power and lots of houses around. The price was 2,500 per square wa. That compares with 12,000 in the walled moo baan compound.

Here are some renovated and "fixer upper" houses in our current neighborhood:


This one was gutted, renovated and then sold by the lady who owns the local mini-mart. It has a vacant lot next door.


This mess is for sale for 500K and includes the two story monstrosity that was built on top of the car port. It was previously renovated, but has been vacant for at least two years and is in horrible shape.


This huge two story house started out as one of the two and a half bedroom, single story places. It was renovated by the owner over a five or six year period and has since become a pre-school


The place was bought by an EGAT employee who did most of the work himself. He gutted and redid the interior, replaced all the windows and did nice job of repainting and doing up the garden.


Here's the latest on the place next door to us.

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## Butterfly

^ no pink coloured houses yet ?

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## WhiteLotusLane

> It's always tough to gauge land prices where there isn't much of a real estate market and things seem to be changing fast. We bought 200 square wa in a residential area on the other side of Korat last year. It's about 5K from the city center and is in a developed area with paved streets, water and power and lots of houses around. The price was 2,500 per square wa. That compares with 12,000 in the walled moo baan compound.  Here are some renovated and "fixer upper" houses in our current neighborhood:


Ah, I see, that's an excellent deal!!  The trouble for me is especially finding low priced land *in the right size*.   Like if I do find 2500 baht/sq. wa then there's not 200 wa^2 of it but a couple rai's worth, so then you're still looking at millions of baht in total.  :Smile:  

I think the disconnect between 2500 and 12,000 inside a moo ban is too high though.  In the mooban that you show the pictures of, is there actually still a gate and security in place?   And a club/pool?    I think moo bans may be worth it IF they're managed properly, but ssooooo many of them go downhill fast..  then you wonder what the 12,000 baht was for, it's not much more than a scam really, i.e. print some nice brochures, promise secrurity and a well maintained safe environment, then take the money and run and let it all fall to bits back to the 2,500 baht / sq. wa level.

Rant over.  :Smile:   (And not aimed at this particular mooban, more a rant in general, I'm sure just looking around all over Thailand you will find these types of rundown moobans.)

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## Butterfly

^ very good point, saw it many times, even in the "luxury" mooban

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## everglaze

What's the crime wave like in this area?

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## buad hai

> In the mooban that you show the pictures of, is there actually still a gate and security in place?


The Moo Baan where we paid 12,000 is not the Moo Baan in the photos. I'm living in this one until the house in the other one is done. Phase one of the other one is about six years old and still has 24 hour security guard and gate and is quite well maintained. And, the same company's first development, which is 10 or 12 years old is also still in tact and well maintained.

The Moo Baan in the photos in this thread never did have a gate or security guard. And, there are no public areas to be maintained. It's a simple un-gated subdivision.




> What's the crime wave like in this area?


Been here two years plus and never heard of anyone being robbed or burgled.

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## ChiangMai noon

^
still sounds very pricey.
I think ours was 7,000 a sq wah and it's within spitting distance3 of the city.

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## buad hai

^I agree, but that's what prices are here. I have no idea why so high. Land and Houses wants 12,500 not far from here. Home Garden wants 12,000 here and 9,500 up at JoHo.

That said, there's a funky little Moo Baan about 500 meters from here that is selling 3BR homes on 50 wa for 900K; no gate, no guard, no public areas. They've been selling for over two years now and only three houses have been sold.

In the development where our new house is (might be?) the same sized house on a slightly larger lot sells for 1.6 million and they are almost sold out.

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## everglaze

> Been here two years plus and never heard of anyone being robbed or burgled.


That is a far better then Pattaya.

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## WhiteLotusLane

> still sounds very pricey. I think ours was 7,000 a sq wah and it's within spitting distance3 of the city.





> I agree, but that's what prices are here. I have no idea why so high. Land and Houses wants 12,500 not far from here. Home Garden wants 12,000 here and 9,500 up at JoHo.


It depends on the specific development, even within the same town.  I'm in Chiang Mai too and my mooban is 12K through they're upping it to 15K!  It's truly a nice one though, not overly big and was originally established about 10 years ago.  Lots of really nice, big houses.

Like Buad Hai said, I think it's best to buy in an existing mooban, preferably run by a company that has several other ones so you can see how well they keep maintaining it even after all plots have been sold.  With new ones, no matter how nice and promising they look, you can never be sure.

The exact same thing applies to condominium units; if you're paying extra for luxury, facilities, services or fancyness then you want to make sure you're getting what you think you're paying for.  And then it will keep the value very well; the bank at no issues appraising the land at 12K for a loan.

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## Butterfly

> I think ours was 7,000 a sq wah and it's within spitting distance3 of the city.


how about walking distance ? how far ?

7000 that's fucking cheap

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## The Ghost Of The Moog

A renovation fit for a king !

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## WhiteLotusLane

> 7000 that's fucking cheap


Fucking cheap is at Wiang Ping Rd since Santitham was cleaned up.  :Smile:  

Anyway, you have to see it before saying something is cheap.   Distance from town only partly enters into it, some of the most run-down developments are a lot closer to town than some of the more fancy ones. 

In a couple of years it won't matter that much anymore as the city expands; then 'all of it' is considered city, say everything within the outer ring.

Take one of the very first 'high profile' developments in town, Chiang Mai Land.  You need a boat to get there in September. Something similar applies to Palm Springs; they're keeping it up alright and security is good, but there's a couple weeks in the year that you're not really leaving there without wet feet.   And some of the very high priced developments are actually way out.  Jury's still out if those will make it, but also proven compounds like Ban Nai Fan are really quite a bit outside the city center, it's actually not even Muang (city) district anymore there.

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## ChiangMai noon

> how about walking distance ? how far ?


well, not really.
it's about 10 kilometres.
I have also been told that land prices are up to 9,900 baht a wah.

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## ChiangMai noon

> Anyway, you have to see it before saying something is cheap. Distance from town only partly enters into it, some of the most run-down developments are a lot closer to town than some of the more fancy ones.


actually, muy place is very nice.
we moved in because the earlier phases still looked great after quite a few years.
the club house and pool are fabulous.

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## Butterfly

it does look very nice, are you still selling ?  :Razz:

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## ChiangMai noon

^
I think so.
mine isn't the big one on the lake, it's the little one with the bike.

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## DrAndy

> ^
> still sounds very pricey.
> I think ours was 7,000 a sq wah and it's within spitting distance3 of the city.


 
you originally thought that was rain

those city folks, no manners

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## DrAndy

> ^
> I think so.
> mine isn't the big one on the lake, it's the little one with the bike.


 
who did that pond edge, disgraceful

I like the plants that are there though

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## buad hai

The new walls are slowly coming up. When this project started there were half a dozen workers. Now it's down to two. One woman who mixes the mortar and one guy who lays the brick.

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## a. boozer

> That said, there's a funky little Moo Baan about 500 meters from here that is selling 3BR homes on 50 wa for 900K; no gate, no guard, no public areas. They've been selling for over two years now and only three houses have been sold.


Any pictures of this development please?




 :lam:

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## Butterfly

^^ I see that all the time. The project starts with a lot of workers, usually a dozen, with half doing fuck all and then down to 2 or 3

and then they all disappear and come back weeks later to finish or get paid

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## a. boozer

> ^^ I see that all the time. The project starts with a lot of workers, usually a dozen, with half doing fuck all and then down to 2 or 3 and then they all disappear and come back weeks later to finish or get paid


 
TIT ! 


 :saythat:

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## buad hai

> Any pictures of this development please?


The development is called VS Home. They have advertising all over the place and a large block of land, but they've only built 8 houses so far. The owner of the development lives in one and three others have been sold. They are about 110 square meters in size on blocks of land that are about 50 square wa. The selling price is 900K baht. 


This is a row of seven completed home.


The eighth is across the road.


Plenty of room for more.


Some guy bought a lot and is building a funky wooden house himself. It has a bar for a "coffee shop", two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Opening soon.


The proud builders.

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## Marmite the Dog

If I may butt in here...?

GoW and I looked at a moo baan just outside Ayutthaya yesterday. A small plot of land (55sq wa) was going for around B750k and small, badly designed houses (not too dissimilar from those above) were going for around B1.5m.

Badly designed 2 storey places were around B2m I think. All in all well overpriced I reckon. The project was initially started about 11 years ago, then stopped rather abruptly a year or so later. They all got a bit wet during last years floods as well. This is my main reason for not wanting to buy a place in Ayu; it tends to flood badly every few years.

Back to our reporter in Korat...

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## buad hai

> badly designed houses (not too dissimilar from those above) were going for around B1.5m.


Is that house and land or just the house?

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## ChiangMai noon

> B750k and small, badly designed houses (not too dissimilar from those above) were going for around B1.5m.


massively overpriced for sure.

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## Marmite the Dog

Land B750k
Small house B1.5m
Larger house B2.0m (maybe a bit more).

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## klongmaster

They're building a new condo next to mine which is just over the Sathorn Bridge and they are asking 45.000/sq.m...

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## buad hai

A bunch more workers showed up after lunch and they began welding the roof:


The guy in the blue shirt is actually an OK mason. He's laying up the pillar to match the other one. He actually puts the bricks in straight and even.


This Isaan cutie is happy to have her photo taken by Handsum Man.


In most of these renovations they try to have the living room extension roof line echo the carport roof. Here they seem to be just adding on a shed-type extension. Not sure how that will look with so many different roof lines.

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## Spin

> This Isaan cutie is happy to have her photo taken by Handsum Man.


Oh, not you taking the piccies then? :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## buad hai

> Oh, not you taking the piccies then?


No, that's me in the yellow hat and blue shirt showing the workers how lay brick properly....

Nice tan, eh?

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## buad hai

Here they've started to put the roof tiles up. I predict leaks where the new roof meets the old, but what do I know? I never built a roof that didn't leak.



As you can see, the renovation has a long way to go.

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## buad hai

I'm not sure what's the fascination with glass block. I guess if you want to keep fresh air out but keep heat and light in, they're OK. Our new house design had six glass block in the bedroom. I asked for three each in the bathrooms instead. They said "no". I asked them to leave them out entirely. They said "OK" and went ahead and put them in anyway.

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## a. boozer

> Our new house design had six glass block in the bedroom. I asked for three each in the bathrooms instead. They said "no". I asked them to leave them out entirely. They said "OK" and went ahead and put them in anyway.


TIT!  :goldcup:

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## WhiteLotusLane

> I'm not sure what's the fascination with glass block.


They're CHEAP. 

AND easy to put in.  Compare that to having to put in window frame, windows, perhaps anti burglar bars, mosquito panel, curtains for privacy..   Or you just get nine 40 baht glass blocks and be done with it.

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## buad hai

The renovation includes installation of this massive stainless steel water tank. The water pressure here rarely gets high enough to fill a tank like that and there's no pump in sight, so I don't know what the plan is.

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## buad hai

The guy doing the rendering is a real craftsman. Carefully measures everything and works the mortar until it is smooth, even and just the right thickness.


This is what he's got to work with. The existing columns are being widened. I guess this is to enhance their decorative effect. 


The extended living room will have big sliding picture windows in front. Nothing to see, though. However, they will let in a substantial amount of the bright afternoon sun as they face directly west.

The owner showed me the two huge gilt lions he bought at Dan Kwien pottery village yesterday. I wish I'd had my camera. They stand about three feet high and will guard the entrance to the carport.

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## Marmite the Dog

> The owner showed me the *two huge gilt lions* he bought at Dan Kwien pottery village yesterday. I wish I'd had my camera. They stand about three feet high and will guard the entrance to the carport.


Pure class (not).

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## Thetyim

> The owner showed me the two huge gilt lions he bought


Great.  Has he got a couple of lady statues holding up lights as well.

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## Spin

> as they face directly west


correct me if i am wrong, but in Isaan the west side of any building is the hottest due to the fact the sun passes vertically over the south facing side and then lowers shining straight at the western aspect?

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## a. boozer

> Has he got a couple of lady statues holding up lights as well.


Bare breasted ones?

 :saythat:

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## WhiteLotusLane

> Originally Posted by buad hai
> 
>  as they face directly west
> 
> 
> correct me if i am wrong, but in Isaan the west side of any building is the hottest due to the fact the sun passes vertically over the south facing side and then lowers shining straight at the western aspect?


Not just in Isaan I think..   

Typically the Northern side is coollest, Eastern side gets some sun in the morning but that's usually manageable as the air is still cool so as long as you don't have it shining directly into your house then this won't be much of an issue.

South - South-West & West side is the side that really needs a lot of shading from trees if possible.

For this particular house, ther's no space for trees.  :Smile:

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## buad hai

> For this particular house, ther's no space for trees.


Certainly not much, nor for a nice outdoor porch, which is where we spend much of our time.

I forgot to mention that in addition to the gilt lions he bought two very large lotus-shaped bowls. I shudder to wonder where these will be placed.

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## klongmaster

> Nothing to see, though. However, they will let in a substantial amount of the bright afternoon sun as they face directly west.





> correct me if i am wrong, but in Isaan the west side of any building is the hottest due to the fact the sun passes vertically over the south facing side and then lowers shining straight at the western aspect?


I thought that was BHs point...lovely big windows to make the living room as hot as possible...

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## buad hai

^Exactly....

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## dirtydog

A trellis with some climbing plant a meter or 2 in front of the windows would soon stop the build up of heat from the sun, all my floors face East To West and we don't have a real problem with heat caused by the sun, although thats due to having a roof extending out.

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## DrAndy

my floors all face upwards, but that is just me

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## buad hai

Normally this crew knocks off about 5 PM and they all hit the sack by 8 PM. Last night they worked very late for some reason unknown to me.




This guy is the real craftsman in the group. A pleasure to watch. He doesn't seem to mind being photographed.


Isaan bricklayers.

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## Spin

> I thought that was BHs point


I was just committing those facts to the thread for the benefit of those who were not sure. A point not wasted on the natives :Smile:

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## buad hai

Yesterday afternoon the foreman drove up and made them remove the bricks they'd pasted on to one of the existing columns. The bricks came off in one sheet, demonstrating that they hadn't stuck them on very well.


It was pouring down rain last night and it was pitch black but they continued to work until after 9PM. Odd that some days they knock off at 5PM and other days work well into the night.

In case you're wondering, they're all staring at my bad haircut.

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## klongmaster

> In case you're wondering, they're all staring at my bad haircut.


truth be told they're probably looking up your shorts if you're sitting in your customary chair BH...

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## buad hai

> truth be told they're probably looking up your shorts if you're sitting in your customary chair BH...


Like this:



Taken last night....

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## buad hai

The crew worked late again last night. This guy is a recent arrival and spent the day and evening putting trim around the windows and capitals on the columns:



Note the nifty night light:

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## buad hai

Looks like they are putting in a proper ceiling:

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## buad hai

Clean up time:

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## klongmaster

looks like they've done a good job there BH...

hope you got their contact #s for future reference...

amazing how well those brickie girls scrub up...just ask DD..

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## buad hai

These guys are working nights now as they seem to have another project for the day time.




Think these two will scrub up OK?

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## Marmite the Dog

> Think these two will scrub up OK?


Worth a go. Don't forget the pictures.

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## klongmaster

I bet the one in the green would give you a mean hand job...

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## buad hai

> I bet the one in the green would give you a mean hand job...


She's actually quite cute with a very tight little body. Too bad she really only speaks Lao....

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## WhiteLotusLane

Ask the Mrs. how to say 'hand-job' in Lao then?

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## Marmite the Dog

I'm sure she would speak Thai if you waved a few hundred baht around.

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## buad hai

The big sliding picture windows were installed yesterday. They also started building a platform for the spirit house. I'm not sure what the plan is for the roof. It looks pretty raggedy right now. I'm guessing the pile of concrete blocks will be used to rebuild the perimeter wall. Note that they also started putting sandstone facing on the front of the house.

I can't wait until the giant ceramic lions make their appearance.

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## WhiteLotusLane

Make sure they build the perimiter wall high enough to at least partly block their windows.   I mean all those nasty views to the outside, air flow... who wants that when you can have a nice moldy concrete brick wall.

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## buad hai

^looks like they have enough block to do just that.

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## buad hai

I think this much sandstone on a small house is a bit much. The guys who did the dry wall ceiling were real experts. It looks perfect.


These guys have all the tools and expertise necessary to make something flat and level. For some reason, this spirit house platform is neither.

Note the fine bamboo scaffolding.

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## buad hai

I love the modest spirit houses. Fit right in with this modest neighborhood. I guess they'll look good with the golden lions.

They've added two courses of block to the wall. That will keep out unwanted breezes and spoil the view.

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## Marmite the Dog

Good to see the roof has been finished professionally. Should last a month or two before leaking.

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## WhiteLotusLane

That $*#$*(# hurts...   Both to see my worst case scenario on the perimeter wall come true, and to make it even worse, they paint it pink...    

They couldn't PAY me enough to go live there!

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## sakaew

You can say what you like about Thai "tradesmen"...but they're more often than not just rice farmers with exactly zero training of any kind.
And sadly....a great many of them are rough as guts

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## Marmite the Dog

> but they're more often than not just rice farmers with exactly zero training of any kind.


Not really tradesmen then, are they?

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## Spin

Now then, all further photo's should go in the hideous Thai houses thread :Smile:

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## breezer1

The pinks rocks i think the front of the house would be nice in yellow. 

Breezer

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## DrAndy

> You can say what you like about Thai "tradesmen"...but they're more often than not just rice farmers with exactly zero training of any kind.
> And sadly....a great many of them are rough as guts


I agree that many builders are also rice farmers; but I disagree about the lack of skill or training

some of them are experts at what they do, but you have to be careful who you hire or you may get a gut rough one

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## buad hai

> you have to be careful who you hire or you may get a gut rough one


I'm still at a loss as to how you tell. The guy we hired to do our kitchen came highly recommended. We saw his work at two different sites. It looked fine. A person we trust hired him once to do the kitchen at her restaurant and again to renovate her living room.

But, he cocked up our kitchen in ways that I still can't believe.

So, if you can't choose based on either recommendation or observation of past work, just how do you pick one?

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## Marmite the Dog

> So, if you can't choose based on either recommendation or observation of past work, just how do you pick one?


I think that even if you find someone who is considered decent, you still have to watch them like a hawk. At least until they have proven to you that they can work unsupervised.

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## DrAndy

I think that you always need to supervise any work, in any country

builders tend to have their own way of doing things, and will do it that way unless you sit down with them and discuss it until you are sure they understand you

your builder obviously made mistakes as he thought one set of measurements was applicable to another (the height = the width)

if you had been there, you probably would have spotted the mistake.

in my house recently, we had good builders and good communication, so most things went well. They were not plumbers though, and we got another guy for that. He did all the pipework when we were not there, it all worked fine....except he ran the pipes across a window, across a ceiling and also down the centre of a wall

we had to make him do them again, and put them in a more unobtrusive position.

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## buad hai

> if you had been there, you probably would have spotted the mistake.


Except I was there three or four times a day and I didn't notice that the counters were 75 instead of 60. My bad. But, by "supervise" do you mean check every measurement? That seems a bit over the top....

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## El Gibbon

Mistakes in construction are not limited to Thailand, happens all the time all over the world. Attention to detail in any project is the key.

My daughter built a large home recently. The construction was timber and the shell was basically built in a 'factory' then transported to the site and erected. Now she is a professional user of Autocad and spent many hours designing the house. She went to the factory and spent two days with their designers going over the plans and getting final Autocad files established.

She actually supervised the laying out and pouring of the foundation to the exact specs called for.

When it came time to erect everything went fine, until, it was time to erect the front walls (complicated design with varying protrusions and lots and lots of glass to take advantage of her mountain top views). To make a long story somewhat shorter it turns out the side walls were about two inches too long. OOOPS.. now nothing would fit, precut ceiling beams, prebuilt roof trusses, prepositioned plumbing and wiring, etc. etc.

Down came the side walls and return to the factory, special trucks etc, to be rebuilt as the accumulation of small errors affected placement of doors, plumbing etc. Major fuck up by the factory in converting something or other that I am not familiar with.

Cost the factory a small fortune and caused a two month delay in completion of the house. Various contractors that had been hired on a strict schedule were left out in the cold and the rescheduling was a nightmare.

Can happen anywhere not just Thailand.

E. G.

EDIT; DD the spell checker works great!  Thanks

EDIT 2:  The spell checker has nothing to do with DD....  upgraded Firefox yesterday and apparently has an on-the-fly checker built in now....  :Smile:

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## buad hai

> Mistakes in construction are not limited to Thailand, happens all the time all over the world. Attention to detail in any project is the key.


Of course. As I've corresponded with friends about my own home here many of them have come back with similar tales. My friend in Brisbane who is in a wheel chair had a custom built home that would accommodate his needs. By the end of the project he'd fired the builder and ended up in court.

Same with my Dad who had a home built on the Northern California Coast. He ended up firing his builder and settling the matter in court. His words of wisdom:




> Sorry that you are having so many problems right at the end like this. But after it is all done and you are tucked in these are the things that you and Pat will laugh and laugh about.

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## lom

> Except I was there three or four times a day and I didn't notice that the counters were 75 instead of 60. 
> My bad.


See it as your mistake got corrected  :Smile:  (60 is too smallish)

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## Marmite the Dog

> See it as your mistake got corrected (60 is too smallish)


Exactly. Builders are fuckwits the world over. You've just got to realise that everything you want will be a compromise.

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## dirtydog

60cm is standard  :Smile:

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## a. boozer

> Exactly. Builders are fuckwits the world over



Hope DD doesn't take exception to that comment!


 :saythat: ..................................................  ......................... :St George:

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## buad hai

> 60cm is standard


... In Thailand.

Most counters in the US are 25 inches or so.

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## lom

> 60cm is standard


There are two standards (or commonly used sizes) in the modern world, 60 or 80 cm  :Smile: 
Even a third , 100 cm for those "stand-alone-in-the-middle-of-the-kitchen" walk around benches.

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## NickA

25 inches = 63.5 cm

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## buad hai

I'm fascinated with the art of making bamboo scaffolding. And, while this is only one story and nowhere equal to the stuff you see in big cities, it did give me a chance to see the technique close up.





Amazing how they just use rope and cheap plastic raffia for the ties.

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## El Gibbon

have seen in excess of 15 stories in Hong Kong, in Din Daeng I saw one 9 stories and looked closely at it. Rope for the stress junctions and the rafia was just to hold the torque stick in place. 

Pretty ingenious the way they do it and very quick. Watching painters and construction folk run around on them with just flip flops is mind blowing to me.

E. G.

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## dirtydog

We were offered a job to paint the exterior of a hotel, biggest place I done before was 5 storey and I lost my bottle, they set it all up and I told them to call me when they had finished, the hotel in the end I had to refuse, it was still open so people wandering about and just too damn high, about 12 storeys and not any where near enough ground to put in bamboo that I would consider a tiny bit safe to keep the bamboo against the building, ie to push the uprights and hold them against the building, even tried pricing it with a crane and building a cradle but it was too expensive.

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## gos

I have just had an extension to my house to start with when they dug the foundation trenches they were a metre out and when they came to put the roof on one wall was 100 mm out which put the roof line out so they had to knock it down and rebuild so it pays to keep an eye on them

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## El Gibbon

> and not any where near enough ground to put in bamboo that I would consider a tiny bit safe to keep the bamboo against the building, ie to push the uprights and hold them against the building, even tried pricing it with a crane and building a cradle but it was too expensive.


The one I mentioned in Din Daeng was braced from the inside of the building which was way cool. Stick the bamboo in the window/door and tighten with a cross piece across the opening, solid as a rock. At least I didn't see it fall down and they did three buildings in a row that way.

E. G.

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## buad hai

They changed the electric meter from 5 amp to 15 and installed new drop lines. This painter is touching up around the new lines.


It's still pink....

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## a. boozer

> It's still pink....


It's not going to be a place where non-heterosexuals gather, is it?

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## buad hai

> It's not going to be a place where non-heterosexuals gather, is it?


No, family of three. Friendly Dad, scowling Mom and uppity teenage daughter.

Wait until you see the living room chandelier. It must use two dozen light bulbs....

Can't get a shot of it yet, though.

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## buad hai

I know you can buy masking tape in Thailand. When is somebody going to show the painters how to use it?


The window frame here has already been painted dark brown. But, the guy who did the pink couldn't be bothered to mask off the frame and slopped the pink paint all over the place.


Here they got pink paint all over the newly installed drop lines and insulator bracket. No attempt to do the job neatly or clean up.

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## a. boozer

> I know you can buy masking tape in Thailand. When is somebody going to show the painters how to use it?
> 
> 
> The window frame here has already been painted dark brown. But, the guy who did the pink couldn't be bothered to mask off the frame and slopped the pink paint all over the place.
> 
> 
> Here they got pink paint all over the newly installed drop lines and insulator bracket. No attempt to do the job neatly or clean up.


I certainly wouldn't have accepted this poor quality of work on my new home. In fact, when the paintwork was completed, our builder had two female workers go around touching up any defects inside and out. When that was finished they then had to go around and ensure that all the glass and tiles were free of any paint spots. In all, it took the two women four days to complete the work.
But, having said that, can never understand why the average Thai appears to be quite happy putting up with substandard work .

..................................................  .............................. :St George:

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## Marmite the Dog

> I know you can buy masking tape in Thailand. When is somebody going to show the painters how to use it?


I don't know why anyone needs to use masking tape. I can do a better job just using a steady hand. I'm actually amazed at just how bad a job these idiots manage to do sometimes.

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## buad hai

Our new house is "two tone". The top half of the outside walls is a lighter color than the bottom half. What they did was snap a chalk line and paint "using a steady hand". And, for the most part, it looks OK. There are a few wobbly areas, but I guess I can either live with that or tell them to fix it. But, with masking tape that transition from one color to the other would have been really nice and crisp.

And, at this point the kitchen needs to be repainted because Khun Chang made such a mess of the walls. But, I may do it myself so I can mask off the new cabinets and bench and keep drips of paint off.l

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## Thetyim

^ Thats the only way to do it.
You cannot use masking tape on a concrete surface

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## Marmite the Dog

> But, with masking tape that transition from one color to the other would have been really nice and crisp.


I was talking about painting around window frames and other similar jobs.

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## buad hai

> I was talking about painting around window frames and other similar jobs.


Yeah, with a decent brush and a steady hand that's an easy job to do right.

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## NickA

> ^ Thats the only way to do it. You cannot use masking tape on a concrete surface


Yes, quite true... I did it and the tape brings half the paint off.

Thew windows I'm looking at now still have masking tape on from when I painted them 3 months ago...might be a bit difficult to get off now :Smile:

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## dirtydog

Trouble is around wooden window frames and door frames is an indentation, this goes all the way round to create a weak point for the concrete to break away from the wood, this needs to be painted aswell, to paint this without masking tape you will get it on the wood as you need to sort of blob the paint into it, also on the wood will be small amounts of concrete, so you haven't got a straight smooth edge to start with, normally all walls and ceilings etc would be painted first and you don't worry about slopping a bit onto the wood, then you would do all wooden fixings.

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## buad hai

The owner is pretty proud of this tree. It cost 6000 baht. They dug the hole for it while the tree was suspended from the crane.

At the same time the tree was going in they were pouring this concrete slab in the front yard. No forms of course and no real attempt to get it level or worry about drainage.

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## WhiteLotusLane

I'm waiting for really elaborate chromium or blue/golden gates & fencing to arrive.

And of course the family will have a car that costs at least 1 mil baht; say about double what they spent on the house.

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## buad hai

This afternoon a few of the construction ladies from next door arrived with several cases of empty beer bottles. I wondered why. Silly me. When they started breaking them I realized there were for topping the wall:



For some reason, they are staining the sandstone with wood stain. I guess this is to satisfy the Thai predilection that everything has to be shiny. I'm wondering if they ever actually notice the matt finish that is part of most of nature or if they've just observed it in a glossy magazine.

This is the living room chandelier. Nice eh? The owner told me that he wanted the living room to look like a hotel lobby.

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## jumbo

Nice light, shite security on top of the wall. Great shame that this type of thing has to be done to deter unwanted guests.

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## WhiteLotusLane

> This afternoon a few of the construction ladies from next door arrived with several cases of empty beer bottles. I wondered why. Silly me. When they started breaking them I realized there were for topping the wall:


 :Confused: 

The last couple of updates seemed like a train-wreck in slow-motion.

This MIGHT just keep cats off your walls, but doesn't do much else besides looking f&ck-ugly.. 

Hotel lobby, right.. How many hotels have broken glass on their walls I wonder.

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## buad hai

The place is pretty much finished now. They must have worked like crazy to get it done. I was away for a couple of days so didn't document the progress. The Tamboon Baan will be tomorrow, Saturday. I'm invited so I'll sneak around and get some pics of the finished product. The gilt lions are in place and looking quite spiffy!

And, guess what color the living room curtains are?!?

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## Marmite the Dog

> And, guess what color the living room curtains are?!?


Pink?

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## stroller

> And, guess what color the living room curtains are?!?


Neon-pink, no doubt.

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## buad hai

A green to MtD for being first with the correct answer.

Sorry stroller: "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to stroller again."

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## Marmite the Dog

> A green to MtD for being first with the correct answer.


Horay!! I win!  :goldcup:

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## Spin

Is this house worth more now than when they started?

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## buad hai

> Is this house worth more now than when they started?


Only if you like pink....

I suppose so, but I question the wisdom of spending so much in a marginal neighborhood. However, this is an older moo baan in a very good location, so maybe the investment in the renovation will pay off.

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## buad hai

Well, today is the big day for the Tamboon Baan (merit-making for the new house).


The front yard is newly paved, the gilt lions are in place, the new gate is open for visitors and the stage is ready!


The caterers took over another neighbor's driveway.


Seven monks came to chant to join the one who stayed overnight.


Not much parking space left in the moo baan this morning.


The tables are all set.




The monk who stayed overnight does some Pali scripture over the front door.


He also passed out some sort of paper money(?) and string.

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## buad hai

This is where the monks sat to chant. Note the nice curtains.


The indoor shrine.


Spirit houses


I didn't see who pasted this money above the car port entrance.


Poo Yai table.


What's he doing there drinking whiskey at 9 AM?

And now, for the entertainment!

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## Thetyim

^ ah, now those curtains are much nicer  :Smile:

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## buad hai



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## buad hai



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## Thetyim

^ Oh yes.  :Smile: 
I re-grouted the downstairs bathroom least week
Can I have a Tamboon  ?

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## buad hai

> Can I have a Tamboon ?


Depends on how you feel about pink. 

I think the pink in that photo above is the first place where its use is appropriate....

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## Marmite the Dog

I always thought these ceremonies were a crock of shit, but they're beginning to look quite appealing for some reason.

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## Spin

> Tamboon Baan (merit-making for the new house).


But its a second hand house!




> Can I have a Tamboon  ?


I reckon so, I'm having one for my condo, BH, get the number of those dancers :Smile:

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## buad hai

> BH, get the number of those dancers


Good idea. I find I was quite entranced by the effect of the hot pink hot pants with the black knickers peaking out over the top.

Keep in mind, though, that this was a solemn Buddhist ceremony.

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## Spin

^ hehehe. Bet you wish you were this guy :Smile:

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## buad hai

^Yeah. My crappy little Canon can't get nearly close enough. I want to know the brand of those knickers and I want it now.

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## Spin

> I want to know the brand of those knickers and I want it now.


not interested in the brand, but i wouldnt mind a quick sniff

 :rofl:

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## buad hai

Of course, the Tamboon Baan must be held on an auspicious day. Unfortunately, the 14th was one of the last auspicious days before "The Rains" (Khao Phansa) the three month period during which you cannot do stuff like a Tamboon Baan. So, our neighbor was in a big hurry to get enough of the renovation done to hold the Tamboon Baan as scheduled. The last day there was a flurry of activity, including painting the wall between our house and his. Here's the result:



Paint all over our orchids, the orchid boxes and dripping down the wall on our side. They even managed to paint palm fronds.

Hooray for being in a mad rush to mollify superstition.

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## a. boozer

And of course, if you should say anything, the stock reply will be, 'mai bpen rai'.

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## jizzybloke

I really thought those pink curtains were too obvious, expected a tasteful lime green!

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## WhiteLotusLane

Your side needed paint anyway. > :Smile:

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## a. boozer

> Your side needed paint anyway. >


Buad Hai, 
Suppose, that if you were to paint your side a tasteful shade of pink, in would blend in well!

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## buad hai

> Suppose, that if you were to paint your side a tasteful shade of pink, in would blend in well!


And let it drip to the other side a bit? Great idea....

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## buad hai

Two houses now up for sale on this soi. Both un-renovated. They are on 50 square wa plots of land. Two and a half bedrooms, two bathrooms, small living room. Asking price is 800K for each.

Three hundred meters from here you can get a brand new, three bedroom house on a similarly sized log (pictured somewhere in this thread) for 900K.

Why buy an old fixer-upper for 800K when you can get a brand new nice one for just a hundred K more?

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## buad hai

I previously reported that my neighbor said that he wanted his newly renovated house to look "like a hotel *lobby*".

I now realize that I didn't understand correctly. After several weeks of observation I now realize that he really wants his house to look "like a hotel *laundry*". [Thanks to Ms. B for assisting with the clarification.]

I regret the error and apologize for it.

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