#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Construction in Thailand >  >  Marty's New Home in the sticks

## FatOne

Hi All,

I'm finally getting ready to build, after countless hours of reading TD as a guest and picking up ideas my darling wife , Kung has designed a home for us to retire to when I'm able to get the pension - in about 4 years, and use as a holiday home until then. We are building WAAAY up north in Isaan, in a little village called Namjan about 25 mins out of Seka in the Bung Khan province. This is where Kung comes from and should be nice and quiet. 

Okay so it's time to try and add some pictures of the Plan, and the land, and the architect's drawing of the house. I've printed out the instructions from Klongmaster so let's see if I can do it!!

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## koman

Welcome aboard the mighty construction wagon.... :Smile:      Posting pics is easy once you get it sorted out.   

PS.  The builders won't do things quite the same way they do in that Wangarrata place though..... :rofl:

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## Roobarb

Well done FatOne, you've taken the plunge.

Looking forward to seeing the plans.  Good luck with working out how to post them...!

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## FatOne



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## Dillinger

Nice one, fat one

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## FatOne

Yay! That was a lot of mucking around, but 1 Pic down, a few to go! As I'm trying to do this at work between customers ( I run a shop) this could take a while!

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## Koetjeka

Welcome to TD!

It looks like a nice design but I was asking myself why you would like to have a big roof behind and 2 smaller roofs in front? 

The connection between those 2 roofs is going to be very difficult and expensive to make, the chance of a leaking roof is quite big. I know it's only above the veranda but still you should think about it twice.

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## FatOne

Yeah, I've asked the missus to get the gap between them filled with a gutter. Looks very ordinary with just one huge roof tho, adds a bit of character

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## FatOne



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## splitlid

> Welcome to TD!
> 
> It looks like a nice design but I was asking myself why you would like to have a big roof behind and 2 smaller roofs in front? 
> 
> The connection between those 2 roofs is going to be very difficult and expensive to make, the chance of a leaking roof is quite big. I know it's only above the veranda but still you should think about it twice.


agreed 100%.
although there may be a gap between the 2 roofs it will be minimal and will look strange.

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## Necron99

It will also, if you have trees, fill up with leaves an shit which the rain wont remove unless they angle the flashing/gutter correctly.

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## FatOne

> Welcome aboard the mighty construction wagon....     Posting pics is easy once you get it sorted out.   
> 
> PS.  The builders won't do things quite the same way they do in that Wangarrata place though.....


Hi Koman,

I hope they won't do things like Wangaratta, every new home here is the same, nearly all project homes. Go and check out the display home and build on your land for a hell of a lot of money!!!

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## splitlid

I would have maybe set the front porch back a meter or so and then you would have the change in roofs naturally.

but hey, it seems a little late now and don't take any notice of me. :Smile:  :Smile:

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## FatOne

Probably won't get much more posted today, I'll try and put more on tomorrow. At this stage we should have the ground ceremony with the monks next Friday (7th) and start building on the Saturday. Cost with Q Con blocks and tiled roof 1,320,000b, local builder my wife has selected, says he'll put foundations down. He's built a couple of other Farang homes around the area. I will be going over for 3 weeks later next month to select colours, kitchens and bathrooms so I expect the price may go up when he sees what I want!

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## FatOne

> I would have maybe set the front porch back a meter or so and then you would have the change in roofs naturally.
> 
> but hey, it seems a little late now and don't take any notice of me.


On the original plan it was, but I decided I wanted a nice big verandah so I can put a decent BBQ and table and chairs on it

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## BaitongBoy

Welcome to the Buffalo Board, FatOne...

And good luck with the build...

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## koman

> we should have the ground ceremony with the monks next Friday (7th) and start building on the Saturday


Good man....this is the most critical part of the entire build.  I trust you have checked out the dates to make sure they are properly lined up with the cosmic forces and that sort of thing....

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## Smug Farang Bore

Welcome.

Err good luck with your project.

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## Roobarb

Looks good FatOne, and congratulations on working out so quickly how to post photos here.  Building the house will be easy in comparison... 

On the plan, I get the kitchen area and living room at the front, a door down to the bedrooms (nice touch BTW, keeps the village idiots from wandering down there should they make it into the living room), bedrooms, bathrooms etc, but I can't read a word of Thai and have limited imagination, what's the space at the far end for?

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## Roobarb

Actually...

I hope you don't mind me making a suggestion - please do feel free to tell me to sod off if you want - but...

If you were to move the master bedroom door further down together with the door to the bedroom area, then lose the corridor by the kitchen you could open up the living area a bit more.

Bit like this:



It would leave a pillar in the middle of the room, but I reckon if you made a kitchen island that incorporated the pillar then you wouldn't really notice it.  Something a bit like this:



I'd guess you would lose a bit of counter space to fit a fridge in, but with the island you'd gain a lot of surface space there, plus have a handy little breakfast counter thing.

Just a suggestion...........  Koetjeka is probably a better man to advise on this sort of thing than me.

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## hillbilly

> Yeah, I've asked the missus to get the gap between them filled with a gutter. Looks very ordinary with just one huge roof tho, adds a bit of character


I have had guttering installed in the same type of roof you are describing with some of the houses I have worked on. Works great until rust overtakes and then it is a bitch to replace.

Now, I have the workers barely slope the two smaller peaks towards the front of the yard with concrete running down the middle (under the tiles) and it works great. Takes a bit more steel, welding and cutting tile roofs to fit but worth it in the long run.

Good luck!

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## bankao dreamer

Congrats on starting your thread.

I apologise now at the start if I or any of my fellow threaders occasionally erm take the piss. We will do it with the best of intentions and with humble sincerity. When things go wrong or not quite to plan shall we say. The humour and banter can be a bit of a moral booster.

Good luck and if any of your workers is named Somchai shoot him shoot him straight away.

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## gusG

Ahhh ! Wangaratta.

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## koman

It would leave a pillar in the middle of the room, but I reckon if you made a kitchen island that incorporated the pillar then you wouldn't really notice it. Something a bit like this:



Ahem....notice that this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a_ Frankie_ ...on the right hand side of that black part.   Islands are for gays.....Frankie's are for men with balls...... :Smile:    I would never dress my Frankie up in black though.....no taste at all some people... :Smile: 

....also, these open plan kitchens are OK for certain Europeans who cook things that produce no fumes or odour, and often no taste.. .....now can you imaging your typical Isaan wife knocking out a big batch of Pad Khrapow Moo in such an environment..??..... :rofl:    I think the rest of the house would empty out pretty quick....

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## bankao dreamer

^




> now can you imaging your typical Isaan wife knocking out a big batch of Pad Khrapow Moo in such an environment..??..... I think the rest of the house would empty out pretty quick..


Windows, lots and lots of windows or no walls



See I told you so its started already  :Smile:  :Smile:

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## BKKBILL

I like that idea Roobarb just by shortening that hall a lot of usable space is created.

 Do Thais cook inside?

I'm guessing that back area is for the Buddha.

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## FatOne

> Looks good FatOne, and congratulations on working out so quickly how to post photos here.  Building the house will be easy in comparison... 
> 
> On the plan, I get the kitchen area and living room at the front, a door down to the bedrooms (nice touch BTW, keeps the village idiots from wandering down there should they make it into the living room), bedrooms, bathrooms etc, but I can't read a word of Thai and have limited imagination, what's the space at the far end for?


Hi Roo,

The area at the back is going to be a laundry, with space for a big sliding door wall cabinet for storing linen, towels etc.

The suggestion about moving back the hallway door has some merit, I'll have to think on it, the area you have placed the doorway is actually a walk in robe, and my darling wants a walk in robe after seeing many in project homes here!!

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## FatOne

Here is a pic of the land as it was yesterday, my darling has built up the house area with heaps of trucks bringing in dirt. When I was there a few months ago this was all overgrown. Previously it had been a potato farm, and is around 1 acre in Falang terms. Cost me  A$5000, or about 150,000b 2 years ago, and had already had a concrete block barrier erected around it and about 2 metres of dirt laid back then.

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## FatOne

Okay, still coming to grips with placing photos, I can't work out how to do multiple photos which is a bit time consuming, here is another shot of the land

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## FatOne

Here's a photo I received from Kung at 6am this morning Oz time ( 4 hrs later than Thailand ) The mobile phone reception is very ordinary in the village, so pics do take some time and Skype/we chat/line talking is useless. I'm trying to do some research as to how to get decent internet once we live there, there is currently only one phone line into the village, but if we apply now we should get one in a year or two.

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## FatOne

Here's the other pic I got this morning. It appears the builder wants to get on with it, so he is preparing the land. The Buddhist ceremony isn't until next Friday because this day is apparently a lucky day, so I don't think they will actually start the foundations until after the ceremony  -- but then again who knows? They weren't meant to do anything until after the ceremony, and plan A was that they were going to wait until I flew over before having the ceremony. Not that I really want to be there for it, but that was the plan.

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## FatOne

I've been trying to post this one but was just shown how to reduce the resolution so it would drop into the gallery!

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## nigelandjan

Nice one Fatboy I wish you and yours all the best with your new home. 

There have been some very important points all ready made about your roof design,  unfortunately multi hip joints can often bring leaks in Thailand,  so really are best avoided also the leafy gutter problem has been mentioned.

It's a shame you didn't bring this plan to the table a bit earlier,  but I guess it's too late now.

You also mention yourself how quiet it is  up there,  I don't know how long you have spent there in one period and I know we're all different,  but I've been in a similar area now for just over 3 months and I know for sure I could never live full time in an area like this.

 Hope it all works out mate.

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## UdonThani Pete

Wishing you and your wife all the very best on your new venture, it will be very frustrating at times but it will come together in the end.
Cheers
Pete

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## FatOne

Thanks Guys,

I guess I'll probably have to live with the roof, but I'll talk to the builder when I go over in a couple of weeks. As for the quiet life, there are a couple of farangs already living in the village and a wonderful farang restaurant in Seka 25mins away where I chat over a beer or three with many very nice guys from all over the world, so I reckon between that and a bit of travelling around surrounding countries I can keep myself amused. I am currently living in a small town in Oz, with pop 17,000 so I'm relatively used to the quiet life. Lived most of my younger days in just about every capital city and much prefer the country.

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## FatOne

And of course I hope to meet some of you guys, obviously you will be welcome.

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## Wasp

Hello Fatone .

I find these Housebuild Threads fascinating so it's really nice to see a new one starting.

Gotta say ..... I've read lots of these guys and if there's one thing that they are emphatic about it's the potential problems in a multi-hip roof .

So I did a VERY quick Photoshop on your design to see how one large roof would look .





And I have to agree with you that the designed split roofing is far more interesting .

But you have lots of well-meaning advice from these experienced guys who warn of the difficulties.

Me ?   I don't know what I'd do .

But it looks like being an interesting Thread to follow .

Welcome .............. and best of luck with it all.

..............Wasp

............

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## Bettyboo

> this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a Frankie


Looks nothing like a Frankie in any way shape or form! By the way, nothing to do with anything, but that's a nice kitchen in the pic.

Good luck, OP. It'll start slowly, but once the foundation is in and the roof up, it'll move ahead very quickly and be hard to control. If you like your roof design, great, go for it - you should see Koman's kitchen!  :Smile:

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## Buckaroo Banzai

In the rain, the space between the two roofs will be a waterfall, making it impossible
 to get in the house with out getting wet. 
also the garage at 4 m is a little small, 
I took the liberty of doing a crude drawing of what the roof line could look like if you extended the parking space by 1.5 m
These changes can be done on the fly by your builder, and would not cost any more, 
in fact you are loosing one column, so you might save some money.

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## FatOne

Thanks for all the tips, I do like the drawing Buckaroo sent, but I hate the full roof that Wasp sent. We'll see when I get over there, 4 m sounds big enough for a carport to me, but the roof line certainly looks better that way!
Probably won't be much done for a week until the ground breaking ceremony on Friday. I seriously need to look at ways to get the internet when I go over, my wife is having trouble sending photos, she can't even get on most of the time with the lousy mobile reception, even talking to her - which I do every night - is a royal pain, with the usual crossed lines and drop outs.

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## FatOne

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a Frankie
> 
> 
> Looks nothing like a Frankie in any way shape or form! By the way, nothing to do with anything, but that's a nice kitchen in the pic.
> 
> Good luck, OP. It'll start slowly, but once the foundation is in and the roof up, it'll move ahead very quickly and be hard to control. If you like your roof design, great, go for it - you should see Koman's kitchen!


Thanks BB, yep, I look forward to seeing the final result of Frankie! I've been following his and your threads for a while. I have yet to pick out a kitchen design, but it will probably be a pre fab design like Ikea and get the builder to install. We'll see in a couple of weeks.

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## nigelandjan

Just a thought Fatboy,  if you are going ahead with the dodgy roof lines insist BEFORE  your builder tiles the roof he lines it all with felt like ours is.

 This will give your ceilings protection if and when the joints leak.

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## koman

> I have yet to pick out a kitchen design,


Hey, I can let you have my kitchen design as long as we can agree on a fair price.....and that you promise never to let Bettyboo use it.   I know he's green with envy and would snatch it in a second, but never say a word to anybody.  Desert dwellers are very devious and deceptive .... :Smile:   My enemies enemy is not necessarily my friend...and all that kind of thing... :Smile:

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## BaitongBoy

^The curse of the goat will descend upon you soon...Heh...

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## Buckaroo Banzai

The average car is a little more than 4 m long, With the overhang you now have  5m
to fit a car in there you would have to drive up against the wall.
I would want a little room in  front of the car and some walk around room in the back so you can unload groceries from the car with out getting wet in the rain.

My Chevy Colorado is 5.25 m long , wife don't like driving it so we are looking in to getting a Nissan March for her, which is 3.7 m long . this should give you an idea of the range of space you need in a carport.

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## crepitas

oh good another one biting the bullet..or maybe that is dust.
Goodonya all the very best....try and keep the "fk it wish I had thought of that befores" to a minimum.

Agree with posters who suggest a more _open_ plan.

My big _thing_s are as follows:
- wide roof overhangs and big windows....lots of outside covered area and can leave the windows open in all but the foulest of monsoon rains.
- tiered roof ... ventilation between tiers

- overkill of conveniently positioned electrical and water outlets

- big bathroom windows...nasty smells/mold ... drying ventilation for "wet" bathrooms is a must...nothing worse than walking in on a continuously wet bathroom floor..many Thai's houses seem to have this issue.

may want to think about enlarging one bathroom to make combo laundry room (raise the machine and working area by a few centimeters for safety and convenience) with access to outside for 'anging out ya washing? 
Apron/driveway/footpaths around house while the concrete truck is on site...I hate mud between me toes?

Anyways ..all the best ..house builds often continue to evolve to a certain extent no matter how well planned.

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## FatOne

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
>  I have yet to pick out a kitchen design,
> 
> 
> Hey, I can let you have my kitchen design as long as we can agree on a fair price.....and that you promise never to let Bettyboo use it.   I know he's green with envy and would snatch it in a second, but never say a word to anybody.  Desert dwellers are very devious and deceptive ....  My enemies enemy is not necessarily my friend...and all that kind of thing...


Thanks Koman, send it thru and there will always be your fill of Singa waiting at my place, we aussies pay in beer you know!

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## FatOne

> The average car is a little more than 4 m long, With the overhang you now have  5m
> to fit a car in there you would have to drive up against the wall.
> I would want a little room in  front of the car and some walk around room in the back so you can unload groceries from the car with out getting wet in the rain.
> 
> My Chevy Colorado is 5.25 m long , wife don't like driving it so we are looking in to getting a Nissan March for her, which is 3.7 m long . this should give you an idea of the range of space you need in a carport.


Thanks Buck. Good point, I also drive a Holden Colorado over here, same same! And we have to put her scooter somewhere.

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## FatOne

> oh good another one biting the bullet..or maybe that is dust.
> Goodonya all the very best....try and keep the "fk it wish I had thought of that befores" to a minimum.
> 
> Agree with posters who suggest a more _open_ plan.
> 
> My big _thing_s are as follows:
> - wide roof overhangs and big windows....lots of outside covered area and can leave the windows open in all but the foulest of monsoon rains.
> - tiered roof ... ventilation between tiers
> 
> ...


Some very good points, I'll try and incorporate within budget, by the way the plans don't show it very well, but I've asked for a 1m overhang of the roof all round to protect from the sun.

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## Buckaroo Banzai

This is an other option on roof lines if you are willing to take a meter of the side of the porch.
I am sure if you talked with your builder and perhaps show him the pictures and ask him what he thinks, that he would have some ideas also

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## BKKBILL

> This is an other option on roof lines if you are willing to take a meter of the side of the porch.
> I am sure if you talked with your builder and perhaps show him the pictures and ask him what he thinks, that he would have some ideas also


This roof line looks the best so far!

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## koman

^
Now that roof line has a nice "flow" to it; and easy to build too.  The light and shadow would make it look very nice indeed.   Very easy to extend that carport roof out a bit more to get decent sized trucks in......and that is very important.... :Smile:

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## Buckaroo Banzai

I did an animation of the above roof line ,you can get a beeter idea. of the different elevations.

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## nigelandjan

Not quite true about window size in the bogs,,

 We have 2 small windows high up opposite sides of the room,  through flow of fresh air all day windows mozzie screened, , dry as a bone in there  , all ways smells sweet and fresh in there to.

 Except for 2 Mins after my wife has waved bye to last night's Somtum.

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## koman

> Not quite true about window size in the bogs,,
> 
>  We have 2 small windows high up opposite sides of the room,  through flow of fresh air all day windows mozzie screened, , dry as a bone in there  , all ways smells sweet and fresh in there to.
> 
>  Except for 2 Mins after my wife has waved bye to last night's Somtum.


True.  The windows don't have to be very big as long as you have two, and they are placed so that the air can flow through  the room.    If for some reason you can't have two,  get a door with a good sized louvered vent panel, so the place can get air circulation and breath.   In some cases an extractor fan may be the only solution but most of the time I think you can get away without one.

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## stevefarang

House looks promising FatOne. I like that new roof design BB proposed. Looks interesting and less issues with leaves and stuff clogging up in between the 2 smaller roofs.
I also have to agree about electrical outlets. Don't fall for the cheap Thai standard of maybe one outlet in a room and a bunch of extension cords, etc. With our house, we went from the standard of 1-2 outlets per room to one on each wall, if not more (for instance where I expected the TV to go and my office room). Stick a couple of waterproofed ones outside as well, like your covered patio area, and be sure they are all properly grounded. Put in a Saf-T-Cut as well.


I've also got an exhaust fan, venting outdoors (not some inside space that never ventilates properly), in every bathroom.

Make sure you have a 1-2 water taps for outdoors as well.

I suspect the real kitchen will be located right outside your designated kitchen area.

Good luck with the build !! More pics are always good, when you can.

Steve

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## Bettyboo

> Originally Posted by nigelandjan
> 
> 
> Not quite true about window size in the bogs,,
> 
>  We have 2 small windows high up opposite sides of the room,  through flow of fresh air all day windows mozzie screened, , dry as a bone in there  , all ways smells sweet and fresh in there to.
> 
>  Except for 2 Mins after my wife has waved bye to last night's Somtum.
> 
> ...


One word: airbrick.

Second word: don't. 

 :Smile: 



I'm with the OP on the roof (not literally!); if that's what he likes, go for it - it's his place and a popular Thai phrase comes to mind: "up to me!". Nonetheless, I don't like the look of it (this is no argument at all really, aesthetics are not my strong point), and I see issues with drainage and potential leaks, as well as being costly to make with no benefit aesthetically or functionally. In Thailand, simple and functional is good.

BuckBan's suggestion is purdy and functional; fine idea.

A car port with more size has the benefit of maybe allowing 2 cars, or allowing a big truck, or allowing a bit of space for a workshop area, etc. It's a nice idea. If your wife drives the vehicle then please remember to put a few of these between the parking space and any house walls/beams:



My wife is a special case, so I'm having a couple of these:

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## crepitas

> Originally Posted by crepitas
> 
> 
> oh good another one biting the bullet..or maybe that is dust.
> Goodonya all the very best....try and keep the "fk it wish I had thought of that befores" to a minimum.
> 
> Agree with posters who suggest a more _open_ plan.
> 
> My big _thing_s are as follows:
> ...


..no worries mate 2m would be better but 1m better than nothing..
...forgot that one other of my preferences is for pole homes..nice 9-10 foot height area under house for future development or...and a nice place to solve the problems of the world when it is pissing down.
Also upper or any floor having a very high 13ft+ ceiling for _coolness_  is a consideration.
These things are not a great drain on the budget if included in initial build..an expensive pain as after thought..
take care..chin up and keep the fridge full ...lol

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## FatOne

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by crepitas
> ...


The fridge will always be full!! Good tips, I decided early on to keep stairs out of the equation, I figure as I get older they'll cause problems, already getting a little arthritis! High roof? Gotta talk to the builder, great idea.

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## FatOne

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by nigelandjan
> ...


Thanks BB, I have just taught Kung to drive, she's not too bad in a slow sort of way. Got her Oz and international licenses but I'm giving some consideration to your barriers!

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## FatOne

So after a couple of days of nothing the builder has started on the foundations, and it looks like they are going to be nice and deep.

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## FatOne

My darling wife has sent a stack of pictures, these are a sample, amazing how much work these guys can get done in a day in the hot weather.

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## FatOne

Wherever there is dirt, the kids will play in it!

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## FatOne

Looks like the metal they are using is nice and thick!

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## Bettyboo

Here we go, underway!  :Smile:

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## nigelandjan

Well done for getting the hang oc posting pics here mate , some who have been here for years havent mastered it yet.

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## FatOne

Here's a pic sent yesterday, not sure what they are doing, but it looks better than just laying a slab of concrete anyway, nice and deep!
The missus spoke to the builder about roof design, he is not big on changing the whole roof , but has agreed to make the carport 2 m longer, and will fill in the gap between the roofs, somehow! Talking to her on the lousy mobile connection with constant crossed lines and drop outs is pretty ordinary.

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## FatOne

Thanks Nigelandjan, I've got single pics worked out, not so great on multiple pics, so I'm still learning. Thanks BB, still following your thread with interest.

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## Loombucket

Nice to see another building thread. No matter how many you read, nothing prepares you for the genuine frustrations that you can go through, or the pride that you can feel when you get to the end and move in. Well done for taking the plunge and well done for deciding to share. Best of luck with the project and keep posting those pictures.

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## koman

> Here's a pic sent yesterday, not sure what they are doing, but it looks better than just laying a slab of concrete anyway, nice and deep!
> The missus spoke to the builder about roof design, he is not big on changing the whole roof , but has agreed to make the carport 2 m longer, and will fill in the gap between the roofs, somehow! Talking to her on the lousy mobile connection with constant crossed lines and drop outs is pretty ordinary.


That look very much like the rebar cage to which vertical columns will be attached and then buried in concrete.  Looks rectangular, which is puzzling...they are usually square and about 1.2 meters each way.   Maybe they are doing two columns there??  We shall see in due course....every build has it's own character..... :Smile:

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## bankao dreamer

^ 
Unless he is sneaking in a manpool without telling us  :Smile:

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## Koetjeka

> That look very much like the rebar cage to which vertical columns will be attached and then buried in concrete. Looks rectangular, which is puzzling...they are usually square and about 1.2 meters each way. Maybe they are doing two columns there?? We shall see in due course....every build has it's own character.....


Either they'll use 2 columns or it might be a big rectangular column. It might also be for the stability of the building in case he doesn't use cross bracing or walls to keep the building stable.

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## Roobarb

Just as a guess I'd say it was either for the two columns to the left of the front door on your floor plan or the corresponding two columns in the back wall of the house.  Difficult to tell but the hole looks like it would take two pillars about 1.5 metres apart.

Either that or they've dug the hole so they can bury Koman's now infamous Frankenkitschen should it ever escape...  :Smile:

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## Koetjeka

> Either that or they've dug the hole so they can bury Koman's now infamous Frankenkitschen should it ever escape...


lol, that would be the perfect size indeed  :Very Happy:

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## fishlocker

> It would leave a pillar in the middle of the room, but I reckon if you made a kitchen island that incorporated the pillar then you wouldn't really notice it. Something a bit like this:
> 
> 
> 
> Ahem....notice that this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a_ Frankie_ ...on the right hand side of that black part.   Islands are for gays.....Frankie's are for men with balls......   I would never dress my Frankie up in black though.....no taste at all some people...
> 
> ....also, these open plan kitchens are OK for certain Europeans who cook things that produce no fumes or odour, and often no taste.. .....now can you imaging your typical Isaan wife knocking out a big batch of Pad Khrapow Moo in such an environment..??.....   I think the rest of the house would empty out pretty quick....


  Islands  for gays? Frankies for men with balls? I would never dress my Frankie up in black? Wife knocking out a big batch of Khrapow empties out the house? Sounds to me like a party thrown by the Earl of Castlehaven circa 1600s.

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## fishlocker

Sorry my last comment was not only tasteless but in bad taste. Also, its difficult for a heterosexual to admit, I like the black Frankie. Seriously now I wish you and yours the best of luck with the build and whatever you decide its up to you. And as allways thanks for taking the time to share.

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## FatOne

Thanks Guys,
Always good to get the comments, I think the pool will have to come later and the hole is more bath than pool size! Anyhoo, we have the ground blessing ceremony this morning so the real work should begin and we'll see what they are going to do with the bath holes.

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## FatOne

Here are a few pictures out of the many my wife sent me of yesterday's ground breaking blessing, in this one you'll notice that the big holes or baths are in fact for 2 uprights.

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

It looks like they were pretty thorough, even jumping down into the foundations.

----------


## koman

Feels great having a blessed hole doesn't it? ....  I've had the same experience and I highly recommend it...... :Smile: 

Looks like I got it right about having two column in that hole .....I'm on a roll here..... experience with this sort of thing you know.... :Smile:

----------


## Roobarb

> Looks like I got it right about having two column in that hole


 :rofl: 

With all those maybes and question marks?  Lucky guess I'd say  :Smile: 




> I'm on a roll here.


Ah, thanks for the explanation.  I have been worrying for some time regarding the number of sandwiches in your particular picnic Koman.  Now I realise that you must simply be sitting on the missing ones...



We all get a bit forgetful from time to time.

----------


## koman

> With all those maybes and question marks?  Lucky guess I'd say


It is customary to use "maybe" when we are not 100% sure about something like that.  Lucky guess?.....maybe.... :Smile:

----------


## Koetjeka

So in the end we were right, 2 columns  :Smile: 

It's a nice ceremony, I really hope the spirits will like the food and drinks too.




> https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...ceremony_4.jpg

----------


## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> Looks like I got it right about having two column in that hole
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With all those maybes and question marks?  Lucky guess I'd say


Indeed go to the head of the class but don't bring any books
, don't think you will be there that long. :mid:

----------


## nigelandjan

Would be a great film title  ,   two coloums in a hole ,, I might make an exception and watch a cracked copy

----------


## FatOne

I think you are very clever working out what the gigantic holes were! Had me stumped. And I've never had a blessed hole before, particularly such a big one so I'm very blessed.

----------


## FatOne

I think I'm having an Isaan moment, my wife tells me bugger all going on for the last 3 days.

----------


## Roobarb

Ah, Isaan time  :Smile: .  

"It'll definitely be finished this week.  Well, unless it's not.  Anyway, we'll certainly be able to let you know by Friday, or then again perhaps we won't..."

You've got comprehensively-blessed holes now FatOne, it's all up from here on in.  Eventually that is...  :Smile:

----------


## BKKBILL

:Smile: Tomorrow we will get that done tomorrow, you know, the day after today. :Smile:

----------


## koman

> I think I'm having an Isaan moment, my wife tells me bugger all going on for the last 3 days.


Seems a bit early in the project for a 3 day stoppage?  My people worked 7 days a week from dawn till dusk for the first couple of months.  It only started slowing down when the finishing stuff got started.  It takes a bit of adjusting to the new pace after so much rapid progress. 

One cardinal rule of building here is to always owe THEM money.....once they are paid in full for something, it stops even if it's only half ass finished.  

 I once gave my original wall builders an "advance" because they were claiming family distress....no food, no shoes, no medicine for Grandma.....so I coughed up and then they all fucked off for about a week on the piss.   That was the ONLY advance payment they ever managed to weasel out of me.... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Yep, it all seems a bit slack! They only have a 20% down payment at the moment, next 20% is roof up I think, they have been doing something with finishing off the foundations, but no posts up yet and only a few come each day. I'll be going over in a couple of days so we'll see!

----------


## Brunswick

I'm merely a Newbie so I can't exactly be saying Welcome . But I'm enjoying g the start of this new story .

It does seem odd to me how important this business of monks murmuring over the holes seems to be .

I mean they always do it and then you look at the houses sinking , cracking , leaning , subsiding ,  deforming after 18 months and it looks like it just might perhaps be a bit of a scam ?

I mean the monk thing . Not your house .

Oh shut up Brunswick.

----------


## Brunswick

Ignore this . I wrote the same thing twice . I wrote the same thing twice.

----------


## BKKBILL

> It does seem odd to me how important this business of monks murmuring over the holes seems to be .
> 
> I mean they always do it and then you look at the houses sinking , cracking , leaning , subsiding ,  deforming after 18 months and it looks like it just might perhaps be a bit of a scam ?
> 
> 
> Oh shut up Brunswick.


Try telling that to your lovely and see who gets slammed er....... scammed.  :Smile:

----------


## billy the kid

^^  you need to shout it out loud and clear
go on go on go on 
one more time. 

how much did the blessing of the holes cost ?

----------


## FatOne

The blessing cost 2,000b for the monks plus assorted food and drinks, not too bad. I believe the blessing when the house is finished will be the expensive one, then all the villagers are going to want to come and be wined and dined and see the new mad farang's home.

----------


## koman

You may have gone for the economy pack instead of the comprehensive pack.

Protection from lightening strikes         1000 baht
Protection from insect invasion             1000 baht
protection from Typhoon damage           500 baht
Protection from stampeding animals       500 baht
Protection from evil spirits                   1000 baht
Ghost deterrent                                    500 baht
Protection from sinkholes                       500 baht
Earthquake and flood extension              500 baht
Fire and smoke damage                         200 baht
Protection from drunken neighbours        200 baht
Protection from drunk farang visitors     5000  baht
Australian extension                             5000 baht


Do you know which items were included in your 2000 baht fee?

----------


## FatOne

Ha Ha Ha! Yep, maybe it was the aussie super special pack! My wife gets on very well with a very senior monk in our area, takes him gifts all the time when she is in town. I gave him a nokia lumia 920 phone last time I came, so I reckon he's doing alright.
I will be going over for 3 weeks tomorrow night, so may not be able to post much while I'm in Isaan, I will try and look in every so often and see what madness is happening and post some pics

----------


## Loy Toy

I wish you and your wife all the best with the house and years of happy, healthy enjoyment together when it is finished.

You planning a family?

----------


## FatOne

Thanks, Loy Toy, I am building a home to retire to, in a couple of years or sooner if I can find a way. Bloody pension in Oz now have to be 65.5 yrs , and no, not on the drawing board for family. I have a very nice nearly 17yo Thai stepson and 2 grown up kids back in Oz, with 2 beautiful grandchildren who love my Thai wife so no need.

----------


## FatOne

Hi All,

I'm back from Thailand, and have a few pics to post, the Thai workers have been digging holes and bending wires and creating formwork. Above they are pouring concrete and because the trucks chute didn't reach the hole they have pulled a bit of corrugated iron from there little shade / lean to thingy to get the concrete into the hole.

----------


## FatOne

Might take me a while to remember how to post pics properly, this one is the hole they are filling in on the first pic I posted. Had a lot of fun in the village the last 3 weeks but have to come back to work to pay for the house and sober up a bit.

----------


## FatOne

Here is the same hole the next day, formwork ready for post

----------


## FatOne

And this is what the site looked like at this time, they seem to be doing every hole individually!!!

----------


## FatOne

Here's a pic of the lean to / sunshade they are using on site. Obviously my guys aren't living on site. I have been taking a bottle of cold red bull for each one every time I visit, so they like seeing me come. It has been around 38 - 40 degrees in Isaan for the 2 weeks I was there.

----------


## FatOne

This is the highly technical nail in wood system they use to create the wire ties for the formwork

----------


## FatOne

Slow progress, but they are at least getting things done, posts are now being filled

----------


## FatOne

They seem to be doing just one hole at a time, here's a two post hole ready to get some cement

----------


## FatOne

They've finally got all the holes filled and posts ready to be extended I assume

----------


## FatOne

Now they are starting to get their act together, looks like they are going to lay the slab before they erect a roof, bit different to most threads on TD, but then again I could be wrong!

----------


## FatOne

Now they are getting there, but notice there is still a hole to be finished! They are using a mixer on site to do all this

----------


## FatOne

Another angle, lots of rebar going up along the little cement paths

----------


## RPETER65

> It would leave a pillar in the middle of the room, but I reckon if you made a kitchen island that incorporated the pillar then you wouldn't really notice it. Something a bit like this:
> 
> 
> 
> Ahem....notice that this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a_ Frankie_ ...on the right hand side of that black part.   Islands are for gays.....Frankie's are for men with balls......   I would never dress my Frankie up in black though.....no taste at all some people...
> 
> ....also, these open plan kitchens are OK for certain Europeans who cook things that produce no fumes or odour, and often no taste.. .....now can you imaging your typical Isaan wife knocking out a big batch of Pad Khrapow Moo in such an environment..??.....   I think the rest of the house would empty out pretty quick....




Outdoor kitchen is the only way to go.

----------


## RPETER65

> I've been trying to post this one but was just shown how to reduce the resolution so it would drop into the gallery!




With that type of roof make sure the flashing under the tile reaches far enough up under the tile. We had to have are flashing replaced twice. You would be surprised how far a strong wind will push the water up under the tile. Our flashing reaches about 4 ft. up on each side.

----------


## RPETER65

> In the rain, the space between the two roofs will be a waterfall, making it impossible
>  to get in the house with out getting wet. 
> also the garage at 4 m is a little small, 
> I took the liberty of doing a crude drawing of what the roof line could look like if you extended the parking space by 1.5 m
> These changes can be done on the fly by your builder, and would not cost any more, 
> in fact you are loosing one column, so you might save some money.



Gutters work well.

----------


## FatOne

Last day in Thailand, the wooden structure in the background is something my next door neighbour is building. We had to get a new electrical post put in to take power to both properties, he organised it and we shared the cost -- 1500b each!!!! Would cost a small fortune in Oz.

----------


## FatOne

Last pic from my hols, I hope my Sister in Law starts sending me some pics soon, we gave her a Lumia smartphone so she could send lots of pics, and I really want to see what they do next! The big heap of dirt in the foreground is the carport. I assume they will lay some floating slabs after the concrete in all that rebar around the little paths they've made.

----------


## FatOne

We started to pick out some colours and tiles and looked around Global world and home pro, plus the local supply shops. I asked the builder to put in double glazing on the windows and he didn't know what I was talking about- have you ever tried to explain 2 panes of glass separated by gas in the one frame? Anyway a local window manufacturer knew what we wanted and it wasn't that much more expensive, so we'll get them to make up the windows with flywire and some nice burglar proof outside.

----------


## FatOne

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> 
> It would leave a pillar in the middle of the room, but I reckon if you made a kitchen island that incorporated the pillar then you wouldn't really notice it. Something a bit like this:
> 
> 
> 
> Ahem....notice that this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a_ Frankie_ ...on the right hand side of that black part.   Islands are for gays.....Frankie's are for men with balls......   I would never dress my Frankie up in black though.....no taste at all some people...
> 
> ...



I have designed the house with a doorway to the outside from the kitchen for future expansion if needed, and of course I'll have a BBQ somewhere handy, probably the front porch.

----------


## RPETER65

If you havn't already you would do well to insist on a piping system for distributing bug killing spray under you floor.

----------


## FatOne

Just paid second instalment on the house, it was due when the slab was finished. I'm waiting for some pictures from my SIL, so hopefully I'll see what they've done.

----------


## charleyboy

That wooden structure your neighbour is erecting...Looks like a cow shed.
On a good note, it will stifle the aroma of somtam!

----------


## Roobarb

^ I thought the wooden structure looked like Bankao Dreamer's new restaurant when I first saw it.

He won't like it being likened to a cow shed Charleyboy, that's not nice...  :Smile:

----------


## stevefarang

^^^
I thought it was like a sacrificial anode used on metal structures in salt water (ie zinc). In this case, it would draw the termites from your place to all that yummy wood.

 :smiley laughing: 

Steve

----------


## Roobarb

> Just paid second instalment on the house, it was due when the slab was finished. I'm waiting for some pictures from my SIL, so hopefully I'll see what they've done.


Sounds like you are in a similar situation that I was in with my build.  More cash gets sent in the hope that it will, at some point, elicit some photographs from the SIL in exchange.  

At times I did wonder what they were actually up to, i.e. would the slab be poured using a cement truck and lots of guys, or has the FIL got a bit of cement left over from building his chicken shed that he reckons will do the trick *and* save a few Baht...  :Smile: 

It all works out in the end, but I did find it a bit frustrating on my build not getting the regular updates.   

So far your team do seem to be doing a decent job.

----------


## Roobarb

> ^^^
> I thought it was like a sacrificial anode used on metal structures in salt water (ie zinc). In this case, it would draw the termites from your place to all that yummy wood.
> 
> 
> 
> Steve


Ahh, of course.  Makes perfect sense now.

Bankao Dreamer's restaurant is designed as a place where termites can go to eat, not people.

Your sacrificial anode theory is entirely correct Steve.  Well done!

----------


## Wasp

On these Threads we have seen this same photo over and over and over . A hole . Steel rods . Cement .

And it's still fascinating !!!

Can't understand even in myself why that is !

Best of Luck with your work .


Wasp

----------


## FatOne

So, finally got a few more pics from the SIL! Looks like the slab hasn't been laid, but they are about ready. If I could read Thai I'd check the contract, but she who must be obeyed tells me it's all ok.

----------


## FatOne

The cow shed next door seems to be coming along, wonder what it is going to be? I was considering buying that block later when finances came together but I am told the owner got bored trying to sell it. The frame is all very rough hewn wood, so maybe it is a cow shed, not much feed around for them!

----------


## FatOne

I think I might've over edited this one to get it down to a postable size, still, nice shot of the cow shed! Apparently they are filling in and then pouring the slab.

----------


## koman

Remarkably clever building crew.  They have even remembered to lay the pipes before filling in and pouring the concrete.  So  much more efficient than cutting down through the concrete to put them In afterwards.... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Yeah, well, apart from the fact that we noticed they had forgotten the drain in the laundry which we have asked the SIL to speak to them about!

----------


## BKKKevin

> Remarkably clever building crew.  They have even remembered to lay the pipes before filling in and pouring the concrete.  So  much more efficient than cutting down through the concrete to put them In afterwards....


And from your photo it looks like they are planing a beautiful blue lawn ornament on the outside of the house...

----------


## FatOne

You just have to love the blue pipes, could they find anything that was less likely to match? Thankfully I'm going to paint the house a light blue, so might be the best colour to hide them.

----------


## Roobarb

> You just have to love the blue pipes, could they find anything that was less likely to match? Thankfully I'm going to paint the house a light blue, so might be the best colour to hide them.


There we go.  The recipe for a successful, stress-free build in Thailand.

No point trying to fight things, just come up with a solution to each problem and go with the flow.



... er, I'd better clarify that I mean go with the _metaphorical_ flow.  Obviously plans disappearing down the drain and into the septic tank, where they would slowly become as one with the existing contents, might indicate a less than ideal outcome...  :Smile:

----------


## BKKKevin

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> 
> You just have to love the blue pipes, could they find anything that was less likely to match? Thankfully I'm going to paint the house a light blue, so might be the best colour to hide them.
> 
> 
> There we go.  The recipe for a successful, stress-free build in Thailand.
> 
> No point trying to fight things, just come up with a solution to each problem and go with the flow.
> ...


Then the wife decides that pink makes a wonderful contrast with the blue pipe  :mid:

----------


## FatOne

This is the most recent pic the SIL has sent me, apparently it has been raining and they are waiting to lay the slab

----------


## FatOne

So in the above pic they have laid the initial floor for the carport, but so far no slab for the house

----------


## FatOne

Yay! We have power, this shows our new power pole, but interestingly also shows the cow shed next door, which must've been a typo, because it's actually a car shed!

----------


## FatOne

Well they are finally laying the slab.

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

And what looks like the finished slab, getting some pretty good blow by blow pictures from my SIL, pity she didn't take a pic when they were pouring the slab.

----------


## stevefarang

Looking good Marty.
I don't have anything to suggest, but wanted you to know that someone is following your thread and looking at your pics!

Steve

----------


## misskit

Me too, Marty!

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Guys, I was beginning to wonder! I'm no journo, so have a problem with the repartee That some of you lot come up with!

----------


## BKKBILL

^ 

No worries Marty you have many following your build. Did kind of enjoy that cow/car shed mix-up hope they will all turn out that well for you.  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks BK, I still don't know what the next door neighbour is doing, but if it stays just a car shed I'll be happy.

----------


## koman

> Thanks BK, I still don't know what the next door neighbour is doing, but if it stays just a car shed I'll be happy.


It's likely just a temporary shed to store the trucks for the pending construction of the new tire and battery recycling plant....with the affiliate company operating it's animal rendering facility on the other side.... are they upwind or down..... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for the happy thoughts Koman, you're a real help!

----------


## koman

> Thanks for the happy thoughts Koman, you're a real help!


 :Smile:   :Sorry1:

----------


## FatOne

:Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## FatOne

Hi everyone, a few more progress pics, starting to pour the uprights. Apparently they only have enough wood to cover 9 uprights at a time, then pour concrete, let it cure, then do 9 more! Oh well, we are in no great hurry, as long as we get a roof before the rainy season sets in I'll be happy.

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

Just looking at the middle pic, it looks like the neighbour has a slab down already, their builders seem to be a heck of a lot faster than mine.

----------


## FatOne

Well nothing new to post, SIL tells us it has been raining the last 4 days and no one has appeared.

----------


## koman

> Well nothing new to post, SIL tells us it has been raining the last 4 days and no one has appeared.


Don't count on anyone appearing for a while now.  Lots of workers are finishing up today (Apr 10th)  for Songkran,  (although it doesn't actually begin until Apr 13th) and they won't be coming back till about 21st or later...depending on weather and various other diversions..... :Smile:  

Your people do seem to be doing a good job on the heavy concrete and stuff...which is typical of Thai building crews...but then you have the finishing phase to look forward to... and most Thai's don't really understand the concept of "finishing"..... :smiley laughing:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Koman,

It really doesn't matter to me at the moment how long they take, gives me time to save a bit more. And they will not get any final payment until they finish, but my wife will go over to select a few of the finishing touches so she can have the headaches and I'll retain my sanity in Oz.

----------


## Wasp

Dear Overweight Person .

I know that feeling ..... when you are sodding around getting a few pictures Uploaded and Downloaded and then you find an hour has gone and you wonder ........    " Is any bugger reading my work ? "

Well yes ObeseOne .  We are . Including obviously me .

And enjoying it . :mid: 



Wasp

----------


## bankao dreamer

We all read but don't always post I remember feeling very lonely at one stage of my thread.  :Smile:

----------


## Bettyboo

Indeed. Sometimes, we are working, read with interest, but don't have time to write a reply of worth (that's not an open door for you, Koman...  :Smile: .

----------


## Wasp

> I remember feeling very lonely at one stage of my thread.



Well there was a reason for that with such a pooey pond.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for the input guys, sometimes I do wonder if anyone is out there. Nice to hear from someone every so often. Love reading other peoples threads too. Looks like it might be a little while before anything happens after Songkran!

----------


## koman

> We all read but don't always post I remember feeling very lonely at one stage of my thread.


I think most people who start a construction thread feel that way at times, once the initial surge on interest dies down.  ....except BB who just responds to his own posts if nobody else does......or heads off to do an analysis thread on inferior chemically accelerated Asian beers.....knowing that any thread with beer in the title will get a lot of interest on TD..... :Smile:

----------


## bankao dreamer

> knowing that any thread with beer in the title will get a lot of interest on TD.....


  :Smile: 




> Well there was a reason for that with such a pooey pond.


 :Sorry1:

----------


## Wasp

Just teasing , BKD.

From time to time I show the Gallery of Houses to English people .

They always say " Wow " when they see your home .



Wasp


(.... and the Thais always say  " look  exxpensifff  ")

----------


## bankao dreamer

> They always say " Wow " when they see your home .


Thanks old chap

----------


## FatOne

Might as well continue the banter, nothing much gonna happen during songkran. I think everyone says "wow" when they see your house BD, how is it for living in, now you've been finished for a while? Any downside? How did everyone go with furniture and appliances? After a bit of a look around last time it seems Refrigerators are pretty cheap, decent washing machines are not, and dishwashers are bloody expensive.

----------


## koman

> Might as well continue the banter, nothing much gonna happen during songkran. I think everyone says "wow" when they see your house BD, how is it for living in, now you've been finished for a while? Any downside? How did everyone go with furniture and appliances? After a bit of a look around last time it seems Refrigerators are pretty cheap, decent washing machines are not, and dishwashers are bloody expensive.


A lot of things like appliances, electronics, cars etc can seem "cheap" or "expensive" depending of where you come from and how much tax the local nanny state wants to extract from you.    I once posted on another forum that I found wine expensive here and was immediately blasted left, right and center by citizens of countries where wine is taxed to death and therefor expensive.  To these folks wine in LOS seemed cheap.....but not to me.   It can become a pointless and circular argument.

Anyhow, decent dishwashers are quite inexpensive here.  Thai women are very adept at washing dishes and they are not too pricey if you choose carefully..... :Smile:

----------


## bankao dreamer

> how is it for living in, now you've been finished for a while? Any downside?


A difficult question to answer because we all have different needs and tolerances. Our place is all outside living the only enclosed rooms are the bedrooms, kitchen and toilets, however the bedroom doors and windows are nearly always left open I am happy to sleep under a mozzy net. Some people feel they have to be cocooned inside from the heat and buzzy flying things. If thats makes them happy then fine but I am not bothered by mozzies or insects. We have anti bug light bulbs everywhere and they keep insects away. Depending on where the wind is blowing if we have rain we move to where it is not. We could have a gale blowing towards the front of  the house but then the back balcony is still and dry, and visa versa if it is blowing from the back. If it blows from the kitchen side the kitchen protects us. There is always some where dry and sheltered to go. We very rarely watch TV in fact I didn't watch TV for 6 months. The Sala doesn't get used much so I plan in a few months to convert it into a lounge and box bedroom for when family and friends come to stay as they may want a bit more shelter and comfort.
Every one is different our home would not appeal to a lot of people even though it looks pretty. We personally love it and I am content with outside living, I didn't want to live in this climate and lock myself away in an air conditioned box. Im not knocking people that do that, it just wasn't what I wanted. Its like camping you either love it or hate it.
I don't need a dish washer the Wife does a pretty damn good job of it. Appliances her are reasonable here I think, I live here so don't have that mind set of how much  they would cost in the UK.

----------


## Bettyboo

> Refrigerators are pretty cheap, decent washing machines are not, and dishwashers are bloody expensive.


A nice big Mitsubishi for 12k. A nice electrolux for 17k. An ok MiL came free...




> I found wine expensive her


Are you crazy??? 

Actually, I see your point, and I do think wine is very expensive in Thailand compared to other places I've lived (England, Convictland, Cheating Kiwi Bastardland, Mongolia, Oman, Korea). Maybe, for folks from Scandoland wine seems cheap...




> but I am not bothered by mozzies or insects.


& snakes???

I once tried to send my wife outside to look for one of our cats at about 8pm (the cat was by a neighbours house with a ig noisy biting dog, but it knows my missus...), but she said she was scared to go out at that time because of the snakes. & that's a local...

----------


## koman

> but she said she was scared to go out at that time because of the snakes. & that's a local...


No shit.....we had a visit from a good sized cobra yesterday evening at the wife's village house.   The cat was preparing to dispatch it, but it zipped up the wall and headed off into the neighbours yard.    Lucky cat....the Cobra was about ten times it's size.... :Confused:    This is one of the many reasons why I built an air conditioned concrete box...... :Smile:

----------


## Bettyboo

^ me too...  :Smile: 

However, if I can get decent mesh mozzie (and snake nets) over the windows then it is nice to have a breeze come through rather than the aircon.

I've seen cats kill big snakes, simply because the snakes get tired very quickly, after a couple of minutes they become very slow then easy prey for the cat (if it is still alive). Of course, every Thai home should have one of these:




This one is quite amazing...

----------


## koman

Good fight videos. 

  A household Mongoose was considered essential for the British during the occupation of India.  Finding a King Cobra in the bathroom at 2am when you stumble in from the mess, pissed,  would have been very distressing.  The pet mongoose kept the house free of snakes.   Cobra's are not nearly as common these days but they are definitely still around.....and they will be out hunting for BD cause he wants to live outdoors..... :Smile:

----------


## Bettyboo

BD is made of tough stuff, so he'll be ok, but I wouldn't...

We also have these in a big pond about 200 metres from the house - the FiL reckons they eat cats. I wonder if they eat snakes too?



Can get upto 3m and 50kg, usually upto 2m and 25kg...  :Sad:

----------


## bankao dreamer

> hunting for BD cause he wants to live outdoors.....


 :rofl: 

Seriously though we are aware of snakes we are surrounded by rice fields and ponds. We also lost our pitbull cross puppy to a snake bite 2 weeks back. The Wife found him dead under the bush he liked to do his business in at night. At night we go upstairs with the dogs and shut the gate so they cant go getting into any trouble.  Its a times like this when I fully understand why folks like a sealed home.

----------


## koman

Fok me.. that looks just like my ex-wife when she was pissed off at me.....which was most of the time..... :Smile:

----------


## Bettyboo

^^ dogs seem to be a bit useless around snakes (most of 'em). We have a pack of 6, so I suppose snakes and other stuff just wanna avoid the noise of them, but cats have much better eyesight (especially at night) and quicker reflexes - although I'm pretty sure me cats would run a mile from a snake.

Thought about getting a pair of geese, BD?

^ you, no doubt, deserved it!  :Smile:

----------


## Wasp

In a former life I was a teacher . In Australia .

I must have upset someone cozz I got sent way out into the Bush . A tiny school . One staff ( me ) ... and a house 60 yards away standing nowhere .

It had been vacant for 2 months and I knew nothing about Wilderness .
Very hot and sticky . I went for a shower . Spidey webs and dust .

So I'm standing in this shower ...... and something moves onto my foot .

I look down slowly ..... and its a f***g fat dark brown snake sliding over my feet !

Anybody witnessing this would have thought I was an extremely cool guy just standing there and watching the snake progress slowly over my feet , out of the shower tray and out into the Bush .

I wasn't cool at all . I was stone solid frozen terrified .

Which happens to be the best way to behave ...... more admirable if its done consciously . 

Doesn't look so cool though when you stay standing there in the shower for another hour because you're so scared ..... and if you keep jumping when you see a hosepipe or a branch's shadow !: :Bigeyes2: 


Yuckitty .



Wasp

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## BKKBILL

> dogs seem to be a bit useless around snakes (most of 'em).


We have four dogs that work together when it comes to snakes in the last couple of days they got two of these. This is the small one.

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## bankao dreamer

> Thought about getting a pair of geese, BD?


I know from living in the UK country side how formidable geese can be they are impressive creatures. As for dogs we have 8, what let Snow our Pitbull cross puppy down was his liking for a bush next to the fence all our other dogs keep away from the fence. Our cat Treacle that came with us from the UK goes wandering at night, we do worry but you know cats cuddly but little killers.

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## bankao dreamer

> We have four dogs that work together when it comes to snakes in the last couple of days they got two of these. This is the small one.


Good on them Bill impressive, the dog in the pic looks like one of ours called Bambi

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## BKKBILL

^
That one is called digger for good reason.

My Rottweiler got one like this a couple of years ago one of the most deadly snakes in Thailand, and is one of the top 5 causes of death by snake envenomation in Thailand.

Here is a little about them.

Venomous snakes of Thailand

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## justincase 13

Hey there FatOne nice build coming along... It is pretty amazing the work these guys can do in this heat, and if all goes well they should have the roof and walls finished up before the rainy season hits.. best of luck...

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## Bettyboo

Snakes, horrible...  :Sad:  Let's get back to building and fire risks.

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## koman

> Snakes, horrible...  Let's get back to building and fire risks.


BB....I've seen your photos...with all that bamboo and stuff right beside your house.  You will certainly be visited by ten meter Pythons,  eight meter Cobras, Pit Vipers, Banded Kraits....and maybe even Crocodiles...... you must get to known and love the local wildlife..... :Smile:

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## FatOne

Hi All,

I'm glad you love the way you live BD and that your home is what you wanted, I hope I have a similar but different experience in my air cond box. I will have fly screens on all the windows so I can let in the breeze, ceiling fans on all the light fittings, and hopefully the builder listened to me when I asked for the best ceiling insulation he could get, and the double glazed windows. I live in country Victoria in Australia where we get extremes of very dry heat in summer and very bloody cold weather in winter, and bugs, flys, mozzies, bees , wasps etc. I hope I don't need the air cond very much but I hate the bugs and I particularly hate the spiders and snakes. I have been advised that a decent concrete block fence should keep most of the snakes away- I don't want to wall myself in so I'll build a fence with blocks at the bottom and some iron type see through fence on top, like many I see in TD. Maybe a pet mongoose running around would help, we have two little dogs in Thailand that I doubt would take on a snake. Appliances are mainly tax free here in Oz, just 10% GST, but wine and any alcohol or cigs are taxed until they bleed. A carton of beer here ( 24 cans) known as a slab to most Aussies is about A$35 (980b) and cigs are about A$18 (504b) for a pack of 25 cheap brand smokes. I saw a Panasonic fridge at the local store ( made in Thailand) for a sticker price of A$2400 (67,200b) that I priced in Udon last time at 17,000b on special, maybe not exactly the same but looked like it! Anyhow, carry on- I guess if you've lived in a flat all your life then living in a home like BD's would seem the ultimate in luxury. I've lived in a few cities but love the country and a bit of space.

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## koman

^

Good post FO. You have covered it very well.   One thing I would disagree with;  no wall or fence will keep out snakes unless it's very high and rendered as smooth as a billiard table .  Depending on the species of snake, they can climb trees, slither up walls and get into places you would not believe.    As mentioned in another post, we had a good sized Cobra in the yard here the other evening.  It zipped up and over that wall without the slightest trouble....the wall was about 1.5 meters high with a rail on top...  Walls here are mostly to keep out people, larger animals things of that ilk.   They are often used (as in my own situation) as retaining walls to prevent soil erosion when your land has been filled and raised above the surrounding land.  

Apart from keeping out flying bugs of various kinds, there is another reason to have a virtually airtight dwelling.......dust and smoke.    Depending of where you live,  the air can be laden with fine dust which blankets everything and gets up your nose, into your eyes, down your windpipe,  and is just generally unpleasant. 

  Then at certain times of the year the locals will want to burn off the sugar cane, rice paddy and everything else combustible that they can find.    It does not matter in the slightest to them that you happen to be just downwind.   The air quality over much of North and NE Thailand is very poor for part of the year.    It's never that great, but it's really bad during burning season.

I react badly to some mosquito bites so I need to avoid them as much as possible.   They don't seem to bother some people, but they bother me. 

   Dust, smoke, pollen and all kinds of crap in the air is not good for anybody, so good tight sealing windows and doors will help you keep breathing..  as well as AC with good air filters.   For anyone with allergies, or any kind of respiratory problems,  these things would be essential to have any kind of life at all.

    Of course we all should have screens so the windows can be open as much as possible.   Good natural cross ventilation is the best way to keep your house cool and pleasant.    The air conditioning is only there for those times when the heat and humidity is too high for any amount of air flow to make life comfortable.....with the additional benefit of not having to breath in the smoke, dust and general shit that the Thais insist on pumping into their atmosphere in vast quantities,  as mentioned above..... :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## FatOne

Al true Koman,

I also wanted the double glazed windows to keep out the noise, particularly the damn roosters around the village that haven't worked out they are meant to crow at sun up not in the middle of the night, and the village headman on the loudspeaker. I haven't heard any snake stories from the locals, but the cement wall should hinder them I hope. But I don't want to block myself off from the world either, I love the lifestyle of the village and hope the locals will drop in for a drink. There is no reason for them to walk through my land as there is nothing behind it so I am not building a fence to keep out adult locals, but don't particularly want the kids tramping through all day and helping themselves to the fridge as I've seen in another Farang's rented house in the village.

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## koman

> There is no reason for them to walk through my land





> drop in for a drink





> helping themselves to the fridge


Now, everyone, all together.....let's try to make a connection between these three statements........ :rofl:

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## bankao dreamer

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
>  There is no reason for them to walk through my land
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh dear lord  :smiley laughing:

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## Wasp

They used to wander in very freely .

Help themselves to anything at all that was in or near the Fridge . Drape themselves anywhere to consume it all .

I had a hissy when I saw that .All my Schweppes Tonic water gone. 

And I told them .

And now they don't come ....... and Missy ---  is very sad. :Sad:  :Sad:  :Sad:  

Maybe it wasn't a good move .


Wasp :Sorry1:

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## BKKBILL

^
Wasp that reminds me of Ricky Nelsons garden party.

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## Wasp

I don't see the comparison but that's a really interesting video about Garden Party .

Makes a huge difference when you hear the story to the song hey ? :Confused: 



Wasp

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## FatOne

Hey All,

Maybe I'm being a little naïve, but I will build a fence so maybe it will keep out undesirables, I want to be able to find my tonic water! The video of Ricky Nelson was interesting, not sure if it was remotely relevant, but interesting, and we are not exactly on track anyway! Apparently they are putting some steel frames on the roof preparing to tile, wish I had some photos. I've asked Kung to get her sister to send some. She rang the builder yesterday, she was asking about why he was using steel and not cement on the roof structure!! Obviously didn't consult me first. I don't recall seeing any cement roof structures. Also asked him to hurry up, as SIL has to go back to her job in a couple of months. I said she was crazy, I'm right for the next 2 payments but still saving for the final payment! Anyway, we'll work it out, she is earning good money working in a local THai restaurant and doing a few massages. Having a bit of a headache with the massages tho, blokes keep ringing for sex, or happy endings which she obviously won't do. It's beginning to wear a bit thin.

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## FatOne

Finally got some more pics through! All uprights are ready and steel has been painted with anti rust paint

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## FatOne

Anothert pic of steel, I don't know why, but SIL sent it and I don't have anything else to post

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## bankao dreamer

Not to worry we all love red oxide paint and any pic is better than none just look at the rubbish I post. :Smile:

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## Wasp

> I also wanted the double glazed windows to keep out the noise, particularly the damn roosters around the village that haven't worked out they are meant to crow at sun up not in the middle of the night, and the village headman on the loudspeaker.


On this subject of the noise ...... well yes you're certainly right about the bloody roosters and of course the dogs .

But for me --- even more than the village announcements at full volume at 6 am --- it's the bleeding local WAT which starts its droning at 5 am when somebody has died . 

Droning and droning its miserable dirge at top volume in a loop for hours and for 3 days solid !

There must be a phenomenal number of old Thais stashed away in homes around here because there's scarcely a break between one loud lament ending in a bonfire and the next one starting up .



Wasp

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## FatOne

I agree, thankfully for me my land is too far from the Wat to hear anything, but it seems that every time I am there at least 2 people die and the funerals go on for days. When you consider how small these little villages are, it is amazing how many people cark it in any given week!!

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## Wasp

> Fatone : I agree.
> Thankfully for me my land is too far from the Wat to hear anything, but it seems that every time I am there at least 2 people die and the funerals go on for days. When you consider how small these little villages are, it is amazing how many people cark it in any given week!!


 :smiley laughing:

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## Loombucket

It must be difficult to satisfy the members lust for photos, when you are not in charge of taking them FatOne. However, I appreciate that you are doing your best and the thread is a good read none-the-less. Don't worry about your narrative style, it seems to be working. Keep it up!

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## Bettyboo

> Anothert pic of steel, I don't know why, but SIL sent it and I don't have anything else to post


Come on, FatOne, up your game!  :Smile: 

At least show a pile of bricks or something...

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## ChookRaffle Jones

^yeah, or some village girls carting the bricks, or standing next to the bricks, or throwing the bricks......

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## FatOne

C'mon guys, gotta get off the track a little to keep this thread alive! I am forever asking Kung to ring her sister and get more pics. I wanna see them more than you do!

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## stevefarang

Well, if you won't post pics, how about some other entertainment, like this one supposedly in Chiang Mai ??



Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Steve

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## Bettyboo

^Steve, stop wasting the OP's time and keep things on track, please!!!





















Double veranda and rear path:



Beautiful and artistic kitchen cabinet:



Garage:



Good internet connection:

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## Roobarb

FatOne - As Loombucket says, it's an enjoyable read and the odd few photos are better than none at all.

I remember the frustration I had when my place was being build and I kept asking for photos (again supplied by my Sister in law).  It would take ages then two fuzzy pictures of a dog or a bowl of somtam would turf up.  Just keep posting what you have when you have it and accept that Betty will flesh out (literally it seems) the thread with irrelevant photos when he feels the need  :Smile: 

This should keep Betty's mind occupied on several levels for a little while:

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## FatOne

Talk about fuzzy pics, at least they are of the house build! Thanks for keeping the thread alive with irrelevant pics guys, any pics of girls are good! Anyhow here a couple of very fuzzy/finger in the way type pics of the workers putting the roof supports up.

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## FatOne

Another photo of a finger!

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## FatOne

This one's almost clear, even if it's the same old thing!

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## FatOne

Apparently the workers are now living on site, and here's a pic of their castle. SIL tells Kung that they were getting power from mum in law but they couldn't get enough to run the arc welder so they are now stealing power from her neighbour and we'll have to pay their bill soon as well as MIL.

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## Roobarb

At least you're getting enough power to run an arc welder.  Our power supply is so useless here we had to get in a generator to get the roof beams welded...

It may be worth investigating what sort of power connection you can get when your house gets hooked up (I assume the neighbours have something better than the MIL). I'm now finding that our fridge and water cooler struggle with the power supply we currently have.

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## Bettyboo

Good work, FatOne - looks like columns and a floor; you're moving in the right direction...  :Smile: 

Also, you have 4 workman on site - 4! I never saw more than one (the OP himself) on Roobarb's site, and Koman hasn't seen a workman since pre-Songkran 2011...

To be fair, that blue outside kitchen could become a feature of your finished property - I'm after developing a 'Spanish kitchen' of rather similar design (we shouldn't really talk about kitchen's because Roobarb and Kooman are rather sensitive - Roobarb has to cook on his knees, and Koman with his eyes closed for fear of cocking a leg...).

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## Roobarb

> To be fair, that blue outside kitchen could become a feature of your finished property - I'm after developing a 'Spanish kitchen' of rather similar design...


Just how much more development would be required do you think Betty, because I think you're nearly there already:



Plus



=

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## FatOne

Yeah, well thanks for the suggestions guys. I have made a note of your power suggestion, Roo and have totally ignored you thai kitchen idea Betty, its on the wrong side of the house for starters!

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## FatOne

A few more pics came through from SIL, and amazingly these are nice and clear

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## FatOne



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## FatOne

OOPs, sorry, she sent me that last pic twice!
At this rate the tiles will be on the roof shortly, and I'll have to anti up another progress payment!

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## FatOne

Wow! These guys are getting a move on! SIL tells Kung they are a different crew than those that did the foundations. Anyway, a few more pics came through from SIL last night.

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## FatOne



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## FatOne



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## FatOne

Can't have too many photos!

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## koman

> they are a different crew than those that did the foundations


That would be the norm.  Roofing is a bit specialized and outside the skill set of the concrete mixers/pourers.    You will probably find the roof tile is laid by a different group to the ones that did the steel fabrication.    There are building crews out there that consist of "jack of all trades" types but they are grotesquely dangerous as a rule.   The know how to do everything badly.....and they do...... :Smile:

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## FatOne

All Cool Koman, these guys seem to have a great work ethic, and they have done a great deal in a short period.

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## FatOne

Here's a couple of pics of the roof supports pretty much completed. Annoyingly when I was last in the village we picked out tile and paint colours, now , when it comes time to get the tiles the colour we wanted isn't available. I was after a nice light blue that would be cool and look nice without getting too dirty. Most other light colours would do, but of course the only colours that are available are all dark colours - why would you only have dark coloured tiles in a tropical country? Oh , well, unless we want to wait a couple of months we have to go with a dark colour, and it looks like a dark maroon type roof for us, hope it doesn't look too ghastly!

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## FatOne



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## FatOne

Last Pic today, looks like a very strong roof structure, should withstand anything Thailand can throw at it!!

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## stevefarang

Marty,
If you notice, there are a lot of black cars in Thailand. I always thought that was a stupid idea, being in the tropics. But it turns out, the cheapest car color is black, so most Thais will save the money and stick with that color. I found that out when my wife bought the Honda City last year.

Most likely, the same reasoning goes with the roofing tiles. The cheapest ones and most easily available will be the dark ones, that most people don't want.

Steve

PS: Be sure they put a good amount of primer or "rust-proofer" on the welded areas of your roof structure.

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## FatOne

Thanks Steve,

I picked out the nice light blue cool colour months ago, from a brochure which said they were more expensive and would need to be ordered as a special request. So the builder only ordered them 1 month ago, and they are quoting another 2-3 months delivery. How long does it take to manufacture a roof tile?? Anyway, I reckon there will be bigger things to argue about later.

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## FatOne

After looking at the most recent pics last night, Kung and I picked out a number of problems. First, we asked for a roof overhang of 1 metre all around the house to give a bit of shade, it looks like we'll be lucky to have half that from the pics. Secondly, the roof over the carport and the front porch doesn't meet, I know there was some talk about leaf catching when I first proposed this roof, but on the photo it isn't even close! So when we get out of the car and go into the house in summer we'll get soaked. Thirdly the carport floor doesn't meet the porch floor, there is a gap of about half a metre of dirt-- now that's just stupid!!! 
Anyway Kung spent about an hour on the phone to her sister last night and she finished up telling me these things would be fixed. I'm stuffed if I know how they are going to fix em, but we'll see- the cement floor won't be a problem.

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## terp80

> and she finished up telling me these things would be fixed. I'm stuffed if I know how they are going to fix em, but we'll see- the cement floor won't be a problem.


I'm with you FatOne. Please let us know how they "fix" these. Choke dee! :Nervous:

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## koman

> we asked for a roof overhang of 1 metre all around the house to give a bit of shade, it looks like we'll be lucky to have half that from the pics


A half meter will give you just as much shade as a full meter... only half the area will be shaded, but the quality of the shade will be just as good,  and it costs less.....be thankful, they are just looking after your expense controls...... :Smile: 





> the roof over the carport and the front porch doesn't meet,






> the carport floor doesn't meet the porch floor







> now that's just stupid!!!






> she finished up telling me these things would be fixed


Yes yes, of course they will be fixed....relax and don't worry about it....Thai's "fix" everything in due course...and the baht exchange rate is dropping,  so things are looking up..... :rofl:

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## FatOne

Thanks Terp, and for your kind comments Koman. I tend to agree, if they can fix these I'll be amazed! Can't say I wasn't warned, but I still have my hair- so far!

Marty

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## FatOne

A few more pics posted by SIL, not much has changed. By the look of my accuweather app on my phone it has been and will be raining for a while so maybe we won't see a lot of progress. I'm dying to see what the roof tiles look like when on, maybe they won't be as bad as I fear!

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## FatOne

This pic is from the back of the house, terrible quality I think she used a box brownie camera, but it gives another perspective. You can get an idea of how much fill we put in, and I want to put more fill in the back to give us some sort of a backyard. The back slopes down to a creek of sorts.

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## FatOne

Another box brownie shot of the back, weird perspective!

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## FatOne

That's about all I have so far! Kung keeps telling me that all our complaints mentioned before will be fixed, so I await the outcome with baited breath. See ya on the flipside!

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## misskit

^^^ ^^ Looks like she Instagramed those shots.

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## Bettyboo

Coming along nicely, don't worry, everything will be ok in the end...  :Smile: 

The roof was always gonna be 'interesting', so I'm eagerly awaiting to see how that ends up.

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## cyrille

> baited breath


A surefire recipe for halitosis.

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## FatOne

AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Sil just sent Kung a pic of the roof tiles that were delivered 5 mins ago!!! The pic next to them is the colour that Kung picked. Is there any similarity? Nup! I tell her to ring sil and tell her to get them taken away. Why would I want cow shit brown / rust coloured tiles? We were sent a colour choice of about 4 dark colours and this wasn't one of them! Makes you feel like jumping on a plane, except there's no point because they wouldn't understand my ranting and swearing.

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## koman

Yes, "Tawny Brick" is definitely  a lot better than "Anemic Cow Shit.   Incredible how they can try to pull this kind of thing off.  They probably have a big supply of the Cow Shit roofing that even the locals won't buy at discounted prices,  so they decided to offload it on the farang hoping it would not be noticed....... :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

I think Tawny Brick is the colour of our roof.  It's a really nice rich colour......hold your ground; give no quarter; make them take the Cow Shit tile back and get Tawny.  or else..... :Smile:

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## FatOne

Actually it was the SIL brilliant photographic skills that sent us into a spin, although this pic isn't perfect you can see it is actually the colour we ordered. Kung phoned her and asked her to get the shop to pick up and re-deliver the correct ones and they insisted they had delivered the colour we ordered. Then she got SIL to take another picture and explained how to use the camera on the phone we gave her!!!! It does look like we'll have to re think the exterior paint colours tho, we had planned on a blue tile with contrasting blue paint. Looking at colours now, but probably go with a light pink with very dark red almost brown on the top and bottom for about 50cm.

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## FatOne

Well they've started to put the tiles on, from this shot they look grey, colours are not easy to see with my SIL photographic ability. She hasn't quite worked out that the sun should be behind her, but at least she's not using the multiple camera filters that come with the phone now.

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## FatOne

Here's the latest disaster to try and upset my normally balanced sanity, night before last the rain collapsed the retaining wall that was built to contain the fill, and you can see my house in the background! Kung phoned the SIL last night and the builder is apparently going to rebuild it today. It wasn't his build, this was done well before he was appointed, but I reckon whoever she employed to build it was a local shonk.

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## FatOne

At least they are using some foil insulation under the tiles which is a start. I don't believe this will be enough and have asked for fibreglass insulation between roof and ceiling. Has anyone had experience with just the foil insulation? Do I need the fibreglass Batts?

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## koman

> She hasn't quite worked out that the sun should be behind her, but


You must start hoping that she never will.  Having the sun "behind" you is seriously bad photo technique and should be avoided where possible.  You end up with flat dull colours and a lack of contrast.   The sun (light source) should be either behind (backlit) or to the side of the subject (oblique) .....That gives the photo depth, contrast and brings out details that get burned out in the flat lighting you get from having the sun behind you.... :Smile: 

Pass this on and you may end up with National Geography quality pics form the site..... :Smile: 

Don't like the look of that wall collapse.  Better get that sorted out before the heavy rains come otherwise you are going to have a lot of  your fill spread over the neighbourhood..    Looks like there was a lot of soil piled up behind that wall....too much obviously... :Confused:      Once the soil becomes saturated during the rainy season, it becomes very heavy, so you need to really beef up the retaining walls.....

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## nevets

Really enjoying your thread FatOne thanks for doing it.

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## Wasp

I'm going to be really miserable here Marty and say that the wall collapse looks a very serious problem .

Which is sad because I'm enjoying your build story and I'm waiting to see walls going up .... 

 I have to agree that whoever built that wall as a retaining wall has about as much building ability as Missy's Indolent Brother .
They don't care . They really do not care . All appearance and no structural understanding.

I hope you get a good solution without a big spend .



Wasp

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## nigelandjan

Dear Fat one ,, I,m sorry I was going to say something earlier on in this thread about this land ,, I just cannot for the life of me understand why when all the land there is in Thailand you have had to end up building this close to a potential swamp . 

I wish you all the very best with this mess before this starts getting serious with movement from your footings .

Just another point to note mate ,, the clowns that are putting your roof on have run the felt from top to bottom , instead of side to side , if there is ANY ingress of water from the tiles it will find its way onto the tops of your ceilings .

Roof felt should run side to side then have a good overlap on each joint working from the bottom of the roof upwards , like our house is done.

I have also noticed a lot of the concrete pillar joints looking like they have been ( rendered up ) to fill gaps with one in particular not even sitting square on the pad .

 Good luck with it all mate , I really hope someone gets a grip of this soon for you .

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## BKKKevin

I don't think the foil is designed to be any kind of water barrier...  It acts as a radiant barrier...

Also will protect everyone in the house from being bombarded with mind control rays... But will not stop spirits from entering...

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## FatOne

Well the tiling work is well under way, but they've run out of tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't believe they couldn't work out how many tiles they would require, but then again who knows? 
The builder has quoted 50,000b to fix the retaining wall and I have asked them to get on to it straight away, had to fork over 30,000b for materials yesterday so I guess they are doing it.

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## FatOne

Just another pic because I had it!

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## FatOne

Another pic of the foil underlay, I hope this shows them doing it the right way around! The tiles don't look to bad colourwise from these shots, look pretty much light grey. Maybe we can keep the original colour scheme of blue paint, but I think Kung has other ideas! Now she's seen the pink, probably her original plan, agree with whatever I say, then change it later.

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## FatOne

We seem to have overcome the 1 metre overhang problem, if you look closely the roof now has a decent overhang. I'm not putting guttering on at this stage, but will have a 1m wide cement path around the outside of the house so that run off doesn't undermine the foundations.

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## stevefarang

> We seem to have overcome the 1 metre overhang problem, if you look closely the roof now has a decent overhang. I'm not putting guttering on at this stage, but will have a 1m wide cement path around the outside of the house so that run off doesn't undermine the foundations.


Yes, we did something similar. I have an old British ex-pat friend who has lived in SE Asia for at least 17 years. He strongly advised me against gutters, as I was keen on them. So we'll see how this works out.

Steve

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## koman

> British ex-pat





> He strongly advised me against gutters,


Never listen to anything the British tell you.... :Smile:  

  Just bear in mind some of these same British ex-pats are against urinals, nice colours in the kitchen,  mosaic,  and anything else that would lift your residence above the level of an Amsterdam public lavatory.  Brits thrive on austerity. Even indoor plumbing is considered a bit too progressive.

 They only discovered central heating and proper plumbing in the 70ies FFS.   

Notice how well the better run colonies did... after they broke away from the Mother country...... :rofl: 

Of course Americans are at the other extreme with 7000 watt water pumps when 250 watts would do....and multiple septic tanks....search lights....velvet window coverings........ :Smile: 

Installing gutters will not do much good if you just let all the outflow run out the bottom of the downspouts.  You have to have the downspouts connected to a proper drainage system otherwise you may as well not bother. 

     You can also collect and store a lot of good water from your roof runoff.   Buy a few big concrete storage jars of 1600 liters or so.  They run about 750 to 900 baht each and make for an excellent backup water supply.....or just do like the Brits and let the place fall into decay.  Decay is considered quaint and is suitably eccentric for a Brit ex-pat...; but is this what you fought your war of independence for????.... :Smile:

----------


## Wasp

Has somebody British upset you today  K ? :Squareeyed: 



Wasp

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## stevefarang

> Originally Posted by stevefarang
> 
> British ex-pat
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sheesh, someone is in a cranky mood today !   :Very Happy: 

He may be British, but he's an excellent engineer, which is why I take heed to his advice. He's not some old babbling sod sitting in a bar and banging any thing that breathes.

7000 watt water pumps ?? Surely you're not talking about my little abode, with it's *250 w* pump. LOL, I had no say in the curtains and am still not sure if I really like them, but the wife likes them. I'm sure you know the saying, "A happy wife means happy life".

I did consider the idea of collecting the run-off when I was thinking of gutters . I know it's commonly done down under. But I don't want a bunch of concrete jars around my house to collect the water. I also don't want them to be mozzie breeding grounds. And I don't want to spend more money to somehow tie them into my plumbing system. Although thinking about it, maybe have them somehow gravity feed into our in-ground water tank might be possible.

Cheers !!!    :UK: 

Steve

----------


## koman

> Sheesh, someone is in a cranky mood today


No, not at all.  I'm actually feeling quite up-beat today.  Just making a last ditch effort to try and correct the erroneous thinking some people seem to have about roof drainage..... :Smile: 




> I had no say in the curtains and am still not sure if I really like them





> but the wife likes them


Ahah.....game, set and match then...  Better convince yourself that you like them too... :Smile: .

----------


## stevefarang

Sorry Koman,
His experience is empirical based (17+ years in SE Asia) and I do value it, just as I also consider what you and others have to say about the subject here. For now, we'll forego them and see how things go.

And yes, I am trying to like the curtains. It's just not what I would have done and I hate to think about the difficulty in cleaning them once a year (or whenever).

Steve

----------


## BKKKevin

Before you buy a water pump I recommend  you search past forum posts... The wattage is irrelevant...It is the *color* of the pump you will be judged by...  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Ah! Some interesting comments! I have a friend in Seka who is a Pommie, and he reckons he avoids other pommies like a plague because all they do is whinge about how much better it was at home! ( for the uninitiated a pommie is an Englishman) I know many fine people from the mother country, I am a mixture of pommie and Italian myself as are many aussies, but there are a few that fit the label pommie whingers!

----------


## Roobarb

> he avoids other pommies like a plague because all they do is whinge about how much better it was at home!


Well it's hardly surprising, for a start we have proper gutters there - and if there's one thing us poms should know about it's dealing with rain.

Steve - I'm intrigued as to the reasoning behind not having gutters in Asia - I'm convinced there must be sound logic behind it ( :UK: ) but I'm struggling with working out what that logic might me.

----------


## Roobarb

> Before you buy a water pump I recommend  you search past forum posts... The wattage is irrelevant...It is the *color* of the pump you will be judged by...


Yes, we've got a white one but it seems to cut out from time to time.  I'm considering painting it yellow but I'm not sure if that will make things worse or not?

----------


## Bettyboo

You don't need gutters... Stupid things, stupid design, worthless, pointless leaf accumulators... What are they for anyways?

Yellow, pumps should be yellow; Koman and Roobarb got white ones, so they'll have no end of issues with them.

----------


## Roobarb

> You don't need gutters... Stupid things


Agreed, the IQ of an average bit of PVC guttering is a little low.




> stupid design


Not really the fault of the gutter though, it was born that way.




> worthless, pointless leaf accumulators... What are they for anyways?


Accumulating leaves and/or other stuff that falls out of the sky?

(although I should add, before the theorists latch onto the idea, that this is unlikely to include MH 370)




> Yellow, pumps should be yellow; Koman and Roobarb got white ones, so they'll have no end of issues with them.


Hate to admit it, but for the second time in a post you might actually be right here too  :Smile:

----------


## stevefarang

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> he avoids other pommies like a plague because all they do is whinge about how much better it was at home!
> 
> 
> Well it's hardly surprising, for a start we have proper gutters there - and if there's one thing us poms should know about it's dealing with rain.
> 
> Steve - I'm intrigued as to the reasoning behind not having gutters in Asia - I'm convinced there must be sound logic behind it () but I'm struggling with working out what that logic might me.


The argument against gutters is that tree leaves and other such debris, surrounding a house, can play hell with the gutters, plugging them up. Granted, we don't have any tall trees next to us, yet. But I did rent a house, years ago, over near Don Mueang airport and we had leaves all over the place. I could easily see gutters getting clogged up with them.

While we have gadgets that you can install, to keep your gutters from getting clogged up, available here in the USA. I seriously doubt anything like them (that truly work) are available in Thailand.

I also just don't have it in me to go climbing up a ladder, that high, to clear them out as well. We have the concrete pad surrounding the house, so we should be fine. The raised land seems well settled as well, having been there through several years of rainy season, including the floods about 2 years ago. My wife's family had to stay in the shell of our house, as her mother's place flooded out.
Maybe we'll add gutters down the road and some type of water catch/storage setup. But I don't see it as a priority right now.

Steve

----------


## Wasp

Steve ... we have loads and loads of trees near our homes in England .
And every single house has gutters .

Why would anyone expect you to clean out gutters ?  Nobody expects you to go pumping out your septic tank .
 No need at all for you to be climbing up anywhere .

When your house was being built what was the rate for a whole day for a labourer ?

350 Baht ? 400 ?  450 perhaps ? Cleaning out your gutters is two hours . 200 Baht would be quite a good payment .  500 would be phenomenal . 


Twice a year .



Wasp

----------


## koman

As I've said before somewhere in my own thread, I've had gutters on every house I've lived in for the past 40+ years and never had a problem with them.  They do however prevent all kinds of problems caused by the excessive runoff from a large roof that has nowhere to go except to turn the house surrounds into a quagmire. 

  If the place is surrounded by deciduous trees you might have to brush some leaves out once a year after the trees have shed their summer coats, but it's an easy job and does not take long.    As Mr Wasp quite rightly points out, it might cost you a whole 200 baht a year in Thailand to have the whole thing taken care of.


I've also had several  white pumps and have never had a problem with them either.
Yellow pumps are for attention whores, Padites (usually one and the same.. :Smile: )  and are far too gay for any man with red blood in his veins.... :Smile:    If for some reason, I ended up with a yellow pump, I'd paint the fucker white or hide it under a tarp.... :Smile: 

There's a house down the road from us....occupied by four ladyboys and of course their pump is yellow.....as one would expect.   The retired Admiral who lives 2 houses away has a white pump and so does the very successful district loan shark.  Enough said.


This campaign against sensible and very practical gutters seems similar to the one launched against white pumps,  urinals,  colourful kitchen features, mosaic and anything else from the post Boer war period...... :Smile:

----------


## terp80

Great stuff here. So now my questions are 1) any problem with installing the gutters a year or so later? (when I have more money); 2) is it OK to put gutters on just 1/2 of the house? I'm assuming no problems, but . . .  :Shrug: : and 3) since my trim will be white, how about white PVC (or whatever plastic Windsor uses)? The only real problem I see with the white is that it'll be hard to keep clean. BTW, can you rent pressure washers here? (I guess that's #4)  :bananaman:

----------


## FatOne

Aside from all that Hokum about gutters and pumps ( got no idea what colour the pump is on my place, just pumps plenty of water from the bore and supplies MIL as well as my place ) SIL has been busy taking pics and has actually come up with some reasonably clear ones without fingers in the way! So while the should we/should we not have gutters debate continues here's a few pics to colour the thread

----------


## FatOne

Another

----------


## FatOne

There are a few! Looking at the colour of the tiles they've come up pretty grey, the red doesn't seem that obvious. I told Kung last night we could probably keep the original blue exterior colour scheme - she didn't seem too enthusiastic! I reckon she'll go over and put pink on before I have a chance to over rule her!

----------


## FatOne

Another shot from the front, there aren't too many trees near the house now, but they grow like mad, after MIL planted some paw paw and other trees here last year after we filled the block it was looking like a jungle. I'm initially going down the no gutter route - plenty of water from the bore and cement path around the house to prevent a quagmire. Also it seems the builder has built the two front roofs closer together but hasn't joined them, so we will still get wet from the car into the house. Kung reckons we'll fix it later!

----------


## FatOne

This is the last one today - you can't say I'm not posting enough pictures! This one is from the perspective of outside the MIL's place at the back. I did get a couple of pics of holes dug to put in new retaining wall, not really worth posting - just looked like holes in the ground. Okay guys - back to your debating. Never did hear back from anyone on the insulation question?? I have already specified the fibreglass insulation for the ceiling so I suppose it's irrelevant anyhoo!

----------


## koman

> Great stuff here. So now my questions are
> 
>  1) any problem with installing the gutters a year or so later? (when I have more money)
> 
> No. You can install them anytime, but usually the sooner the better.  Before the monsoon sets in with daily doses of very heavy rain would be a good idea.  
> 
>  2) is it OK to put gutters on just 1/2 of the house? I'm assuming no problems, but . . . 
> 
> Yes of course.  There may well be places where the water does not run from the roof.....like in my own case, I don't need them across the front of the house,  because the water runs off to the sides and not off to the front...so no point in putting gutters there.   I had the builders install 4 inch drains inside the pillars at the rear of the house.   The gutters will be connected to those downspouts which are then piped into an 8 inch concrete drainpipe and directed back to the pond which is about 60 meters away.   The water can also be directed into concrete storage tanks once the roof is nice and clean...and then back to the drain once the tanks are full.    Simple, sensible, practical, useful ....and terribly un-British......
> ...


Probably, but I've never done it.  Never had much success at renting anything in LOS...except a few cars and pickup trucks over the years.  You can buy an electric one for a few thousand bhatskis and they work just fine for the normal household stuff, car washing etc.   Very handy tool to have around.

----------


## koman

> plenty of water from the bore and cement path around the house to prevent a quagmire


Not sure what this means FO?.   I see a lot of talk about concrete paths being the solution to excess roof runoff.   A path is fine and a very sensible thing to have but after the experiences in my last house here I fail to see how it prevents water from the roof accumulating and making a mess of the place. 

   When you get a tropical storm producing something a bit like Niagara falls around your house,  the water just bounces of the concrete path and goes where??    That is exactly what was happening and the whole garden was inundated every time it rained heavily.   We installed gutters  and directed the water out to the main storm drain system alongside the road outside;  and solved the problem right away.  

Nearly every house around us had gutters, for the same reason.   The few that did not had badly water stained walls from the ground up to a meter or so high, and a mud-patch for a garden.     The roof runoff has to go somewhere.... and bouncing off a path won't do much to help it go anywhere...... :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## FatOne

Oh well, with my current budget I'll have to wait and see! Maybe there is a gutter project somewhere in my future. I'm hoping that a nice lawn will soak up most of the runoff.

----------


## Bettyboo

^Nice pics, FatOne. The roof colour looks fine, not sure about blue or pick exterior walls, but, hey, could be worse... (yes, I know that a yellow and orange pic is likely to be pasted now...).

Guttering - every house will be different with regard to roof, paths and the surround, so once you've completed the house, seen where the water is a problem (and as Koman says, it is likely to be a problem somewhere) then you can sort it out after...




> The argument against gutters is that tree leaves and other such debris, surrounding a house, can play hell with the gutters, plugging them up. Granted, we don't have any tall trees next to us, yet. But I did rent a house, years ago, over near Don Mueang airport and we had leaves all over the place. I could easily see gutters getting clogged up with them.


We are surrounded by tall bamboo, and they would clog the gutters up weekly - much more falling debris than trees.




> I've also had several white pumps and have never had a problem with them either.


It's only a matter of time. We had a white Hitachi pump in Bkk, a noisy crude thing, never again...




> hide it under a tarp....


Hmmm...

Guttering does make sense if the house is well designed and cared for. If you are simply sticking a shack (and tarp) up in the jungle then I wouldn't (and didn't) bother.

When in Thailand...

----------


## stevefarang

I forget what your question is about insulation up in the ceiling and I'm too tired/lazy to go look it up. I do know PDHouse standard is 3" of fiberglass batts up above the ceiling. We did the optional extra 3". In a year or two, I may pay some healthy young guy to go up in the attic and roll out another 6". I'm from New England in the USA, you can never have enough fiberglass insulation in the ceiling.

I'm also thinking about installing a couple of those whirligig attic fans to help keep air moving.

For a while, I was considering some spray type foam that is applied under the roofing tiles. It's a good insulator and it supposedly will also help keep your tiles in place. But, I have since found out that our tiles purposefully have gaps that allow the hot air to dissipate. We have soffits but no vents. We have a decorative vent on the front of the house, but it's non-functioning. That's how I found out about the gaps in the tiles. Soooooo, if I have that foam sprayed under my tiles, I'll lose the vent pathway for the hot air. I'm also worried about the flammability of that foam, we have a lot of electric wire strung up there.

Does this help ?

I can't answer about the foam with reflective surfaces that I've seen in a few projects here. It too would block the vent path for hot air with our tiles.

Steve

----------


## koman

> I forget what your question is about insulation up in the ceiling and I'm too tired/lazy to go look it up. I do know PDHouse standard is 3" of fiberglass batts up above the ceiling. We did the optional extra 3". In a year or two, I may pay some healthy young guy to go up in the attic and roll out another 6". I'm from New England in the USA, you can never have enough fiberglass insulation in the ceiling.
> 
> I'm also thinking about installing a couple of those whirligig attic fans to help keep air moving.
> 
> For a while, I was considering some spray type foam that is applied under the roofing tiles. It's a good insulator and it supposedly will also help keep your tiles in place. But, I have since found out that our tiles purposefully have gaps that allow the hot air to dissipate. We have soffits but no vents. We have a decorative vent on the front of the house, but it's non-functioning. That's how I found out about the gaps in the tiles. Soooooo, if I have that foam sprayed under my tiles, I'll lose the vent pathway for the hot air. I'm also worried about the flammability of that foam, we have a lot of electric wire strung up there.
> 
> Does this help ?
> 
> I can't answer about the foam with reflective surfaces that I've seen in a few projects here. It too would block the vent path for hot air with our tiles.
> ...


All I can say is that the fiberglass blanket encapsulated in shiny foil laid just above the ceiling works really well.  That's what we did....15 cms thick.   There is no foil stuff under the tiles.  The shiny foil surface reflects the heat radiating down from the tiles back up;  and the cross flow ventilation and convectional currents blow the heat out through the big gable vents.  I see no need for fans because it's a completely self generating airflow.   (there are no doubt situations where fans are necessary) 

  The thick fiberglass matt inside the foil envelope provides a very good thermal barrier between the high temperature attic and the cool house interior.  It's all about generating  a good strong airflow to keep the hot air moving out through the vents. 

 You can stand in the attic and feel the current moving through.  You can also feel the difference in temperature just above the ceiling and a couple of meters higher.  It is much cooler lower down near the ceiling.   It must get really hot right up in the ridge of the roof

I really did not know how well this setup was  going to work here and had made the decision to use it based on previous experiences in Canada.  There was a bit of debate over the merits of it on my own thread some time back. 

   Now; after some experience of actually living in the house with days over 40C and humidity levels almost off the register, I can tell you that our house stays cool and comfortable with minimal air conditioning.    The 12 cm Q-Con block walls also helps a great deal.  Even on the hottest days the inside of the  walls on the south side stay quite cool, while the one small section of wall built of red brick (outside bathroom wall) is a bloody heat sink... totally suited to the building of pizza ovens and suchlike.... :mid: 

This is no longer theory folks....I'm actually living it now.... :Smile:

----------


## terp80

Koman. Thanks for all your feedback. I didn't quote all your stuff, because I am tired/lazy. But not too tired to thank you and FatOne and Bettyboo. :Razz:  :Arms:

----------


## BKKKevin

> Another


You might consider a gutter just on this side of the house... You have that retaining wall very close... Without a gutter all the roof rain runoff from that side of the house focuses right down to saturate the ground adding pressure to the wall... Or maybe as an alternative have the wall builder incorporate some drain tile behind the wall  like this...

----------


## Bettyboo

> Now; after some experience of actually living in the house with days over 40C and humidity levels almost off the register, I can tell you that our house stays cool and comfortable with minimal air conditioning.


To add a balanced view: we had zero insulation, zilch... We had high ceilings and big rooms with a big volume. &, every time I speak to my wife, she complains how hot it is in the house... I will, in future, be adding the insulation suggested (luckily, we have the access and roof space). The way I see it, the house is too hot and every month I spend 2,000 baht on lecci bills I could've spent 750 baht instead...

----------


## FatOne

Nothing much happening on the roof as they are waiting for more tiles, here is a picture of them fixing up the retaining wall. Thanks for the info on insulation and gutters, with the under tile foil and fibreglass insulation, Q con blocks and double glazed windows plus ceiling fans in every room I should get away with hardly ever running the air con!

----------


## stevefarang

I wouldn't say that Fat One. It still gets a bit warm and sticky inside in our place. You may not have direct heating from the sun, but warm air will move around. Fans certainly help (floor and ceiling), but I got to have my a/c to sleep.

I am impressed by those Q-Con blocks, nice and toasty with that southern on the outside and relatively cool on the inside. Very little heat conduction.

Steve

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Steve,
I run the air most of summer here in Oz, but with good insulation I'm hoping I can keep the cost down! I agree, can't sleep at night without air.

----------


## FatOne

The other big question is will the power supply in the village be up to the task. At my friends house the fluorescent lights flicker on and off all day. Rented house so he can't do much about it. There are no other houses in the village with air con, so I can't even check it out.

----------


## FatOne

They do work pretty well once they get the raw materials! The roof is pretty much finished. They have left a small gap between the two front roofs over the carport and verandah, we will probably fix this with a gutter when we put some gutters in, at least down the side, but probably all around. Discussed these with Kung after reading all the comments, she tells me someone drives around regularly at the beginning of rainy season looking for guttering work.

----------


## FatOne

So, I guess we'll have to cough up the next progress payment, due when the roof goes on! Should be seeing some QCon blocks arrive shortly!

----------


## FatOne

I'm actually impressed these guys have been using proper scaffolding!!

----------


## bankao dreamer

> I'm actually impressed these guys have been using proper scaffolding!!


No no it can't be it they must have spray painted some bamboo.  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Here is a pic of the finished roof with gables all completed. The SIL sent me 27 Pics but I think this one will do!

----------


## FatOne

Here is what they have done to fix the retaining wall. Looks pretty solid, you'll noticed they have tied the wall to the slab, so if it falls over again it will take the whole house with it.

----------


## FatOne

Well, the roofs all finished and the Qcon blocks have arrived so work is continuing. The workers have been finishing off the re-build of the retaining wall between rain storms.

----------


## stevefarang

^^^

How thick are those Q-Con blocks ?

Steve

----------


## FatOne

Hi Steve,
I have no idea, I just specified Q con blocks, are there different sizes??

----------


## koman

> Hi Steve,
> I have no idea, I just specified Q con blocks, are there different sizes??


Many different thicknesses FO.   Most individual  builds use 10cm as far as I know...but I've seen 7cm blocks being used in those big speculation builds where they throw up 200 houses....one meter apart on 50 talangwa lots and sell them to fresh frangs for 5 or 6 million.

  We used mostly 12cm because my building manager was able to get a real deal on the things so they  ended up not costing much more than the 10 cm ones.... :Smile:    It can make a considerable difference to the insulation and heat transfer through the walls.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but I would guess your blocks are 10cm.....which is fine.   They don't appear to be 7cm so you are A-OK..... :Smile:

----------


## rickschoppers

Sorry I have joined this thread so late, but best of luck to you Marty. It appears you are making good progress and your build brings back memories of retaining walls and my worries of one collapsing. We did have a double wall built with cement being poured in the middle which was strengthened by steel. It seems to have done the job since we are now going on two and a half years with no problems. I am having some back-fill dirt brought in little by little to give more strength as well.

You are doing a great job reporting your progress and there are many on this thread who have experience with their own builds. Keep up the good work and I look forward to following your story.

----------


## terp80

> We used mostly 12cm because my building manager was able to get a real deal on the things so they  ended up not costing much more than the 10 cm ones....   It can make a considerable difference to the insulation and heat transfer through the walls. 
> It's hard to tell from the photo, but I would guess your blocks are 10cm.....which is fine.   They don't appear to be 7cm so you are A-OK.....


They might be 7.5 cm like mine. The expense goes up a lot when you go up to the next size - even though they aren't much thicker. If I had to do it again, I would try to go with 10 cm - if I could afford it. The little bit extra also helps when you consider the conduits are going to be put into those walls, like what they're doing right now in my house. I'm hoping my 1.5 overhanging eaves and pretty good shade trees will get me by. I have bought an electronic thermometer toy which I will employ once the house is finished. :bananaman:

----------


## koman

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> We used mostly 12cm because my building manager was able to get a real deal on the things so they  ended up not costing much more than the 10 cm ones....   It can make a considerable difference to the insulation and heat transfer through the walls. 
> It's hard to tell from the photo, but I would guess your blocks are 10cm.....which is fine.   They don't appear to be 7cm so you are A-OK.....
> 
> 
> They might be 7.5 cm like mine. The expense goes up a lot when you go up to the next size - even though they aren't much thicker. If I had to do it again, I would try to go with 10 cm - if I could afford it. The little bit extra also helps when you consider the conduits are going to be put into those walls, like what they're doing right now in my house. I'm hoping my 1.5 overhanging eaves and pretty good shade trees will get me by. I have bought an electronic thermometer toy which I will employ once the house is finished.


I'm not too sure about 7 cm for outside walls but they are fine for interior walls.  

The difference in cost for the 10cm is worth it IMO and as I said in our case we managed to get 12 cm blocks for just a bit more than the 10cm ones.....very good deal as it turns out.  Even 10cm is a 30% increase and if you look at the thermal properties of each it's quite a significant improvement.  

I'm reading on another forum  where guys are discussing AC running costs during the current hot spell.   If their information is accurate, I'm keeping a 250 m2 house comfortable for about half the cost of other comparable houses.  

 The new generation of invertor AC units are very energy efficient it seems,  and the 12 cm Q-Con walls probably make a big contribution as well.    All the shade trees and overhangs in the world won't prevent the high humidity levels from making life uncomfortable.   We've had days where the temp was 40C and the humidity level was at 86%+ .....that's  like a frigging Turkish bath....or a Sauna.......

  Our AC units have a "mode" where you can reduce the humidity level substantially without the need for a drastic reduction in temperature.   This is very useful because the reduction in humidity alone can make the place feel comfortable without grinding the ambient temperature down to near freezing point....which seems to be what a lot of people are trying to do.. :Confused:    Once you get the moisture out of the air you can set the AC at 27C or so....and it's just perfect.... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Hi Rick, glad to have your input. 
I gleaned all my meagre knowledge of blocks from Teak Door, but I failed to notice a difference in thickness. I guess whatever they are will be better than the standard blocks the builder was originally quoting, I paid an extra 30,000b for the Q Cons. In the pic they look about 10cm so let's hope!

----------


## FatOne

In Oz the vast majority of houses are built using the brick veneer method, with a wooden internal frame and red type bricks on the outside, plaster board on the inside, so I reckon this house will be considerably stronger than houses in OZ.

----------


## FatOne

And a hell of a lot more termite proof!!!

----------


## Wasp

.
terp80..... I'm hoping my 1.5 overhanging eaves and pretty good shade trees will get me by.
 I have bought an electronic thermometer toy which I will employ once the house is finished. :bananaman: 





You see that bananaman dancing around like a drunk dad at his daughter's party ?

I hate that bananaman .






Wasp

----------


## terp80

> You see that bananaman dancing around like a drunk dad at his daughter's party ? 
> I hate that bananaman .       Wasp


Worse than  :Smile:  ?  

Yours truly, 
Terp  :bananaman:

----------


## stevefarang

> And a hell of a lot more termite proof!!!



But still, be sure to have a termite grid installed under the house. Better safe than sorry.

Keep on posting pics !! House is looking good ! Green coming your way, if it lets me. Nope, it won't. I have to spread some more around somehow.

Steve

----------


## FatOne

[IMG]https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/userpics/56951/BLOCKS2_%281%29.jpg[/IM
Thanks Steve,
Here's a pic SIL sent last night, better look at blocks, those of you in the know might be able to tell me from this what size the blocks are???

----------


## FatOne

try again!!

----------


## stevefarang

> [IMG]https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/userpics/56951/BLOCKS2_%281%29.jpg[/IM
> Thanks Steve,
> Here's a pic SIL sent last night, better look at blocks, those of you in the know might be able to tell me from this what size the blocks are???


Let me fix that:




Sorry, my eyes are not calibrated to read thicknesses.

Steve

----------


## FatOne

And another Pic because I had a few! I thought you had special glasses for reading thickness Steve???

----------


## terp80

They look thicker than mine which are (only) 7.5 cm. I think mine are too thin, especially when they run conduit for electrics in it. Too late for me to change now. :Sigh:

----------


## roger77

Sorry, my eyes are not calibrated to read thicknesses.

Steve[/QUOTE]

The length divided by eight ????????

----------


## Wasp

"Wasp"You see that bananaman dancing around like a drunk dad at his daughter's party ? I hate that bananaman .       

Worse than  :Smile:  ?  

Yours truly, 
Terp  :bananaman: 

I'm ill at the moment terp .  Very ill . Very poorly . Temperature . Little things swimming up inside my cocky and bursting out of my nose . And headaches . I think I'm going to expire this afternoon .

And what do I get from you ?

Defiance . Humiliation . Contrariness .


Poorly poorly me .



IllWasp

----------


## palexxxx

^^  They are 60cm long,  therefor those blocks are 7.5cm thick.

----------


## Wasp

Thanks Steve,
Here's a pic SIL sent last night, better look at blocks, those of you in the know might be able to tell me from this what size the blocks are???

So I asked my nephew about these blocks and HE said the 10cm are for outside walls and the 7.5 are for when you are doing double-wall cavity .
 !

----------


## Drainpipe

He sounds correct

----------


## Buckaroo Banzai

From the picture, the columns seem to be  20 cm thick and the block seems to be half the column thickness,  So if I had to guess , I would say the block is 10 cm thick

----------


## terp80

:Puke: 


> You see that bananaman dancing around like a drunk dad at his daughter's party ? I hate that bananaman.   
> 
> *Terp80*   Worse than  ?   
> 
> Yours truly, 
> Terp 
> 
> *Wasp*   I'm ill at the moment terp .  Very ill . Very poorly . Temperature . Little things swimming up inside my cocky and bursting out of my nose . And headaches . I think I'm going to expire this afternoon . 
> And what do I get from you ? 
> ...


Oh my. Well, I certainly hope you feel better soon, if you haven't already expired. In which case I suppose it doesn't matter whether I use a  :Smile:   or  :bananaman:  or maybe  :Puke:

----------


## terp80

> So I asked my nephew about these blocks and HE said the 10cm are for outside walls and the 7.5 are for when you are doing double-wall cavity .


That sounds good. Of course, the thicker the better, but they ARE expensive.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## Wasp

Terp80  
.. Worse than  :Smile:  ?    Oh my. Well, I certainly hope you feel better soon, if you haven't already expired.
 In which case I suppose it doesn't matter whether I use a  :Smile:   or  :bananaman:  or maybe  :Puke: 





I'm at the end of my short life .

I'm crossing the bridge onto the jetliner of Death .

And from you I get Two Jack Nicholsons , a fucking bananaman ..... and now a vomiting smiley .

Such compassion !!!

Goodbye cruel cruel World .




ExpiringWasp

----------


## koman

Hey FO....can you kindly have someone stick a measure across one of those blocks and take a close up photo......we need to relieve all this guesswork and anxiety over block thickness.  

Must be a lot of Americans on this thread.....you know how they tend to obsess over the size of everything..... :rofl:

----------


## palexxxx

^   I've already told you the answer,  post 320.

60cm divided by 8 = 7.5cm.

----------


## FatOne

They are moving ahead very quickly. The SIL sent me a stack of pics so I'll post a couple today. You guys all have your arguments and comments when we at the bottom of the world are sleeping. I hope you are feeling better by the time you read this Waspy, we would definitely miss your banter if you expired!!! Terps, I love your throwing up thingy. I have asked Kung to get her sister to measure the blocks, but I'm not sure the message has been translated correctly!

Marty

----------


## FatOne

[

Here's another one with a cute little kid, you've gotta love the way the Thai people combine work and family! The lower stress lifestyle is what I am hoping to find when I finally retire to the village.

----------


## FatOne

And one from outside, at least they seem to be laying the blocks in alternate layers, whatever thickness they are.

----------


## palexxxx

> [
> 
> Here's another one with a cute little kid, you've gotta love the way the Thai people combine work and family! The lower stress lifestyle is what I am hoping to find when I finally retire to the village.



the blocks behind the kid seem to be a bit thicker than the ones pictured earlier,  these ones maybe 10cm.

----------


## FatOne

Here's a pic of how they've finished off the retaining wall, looks pretty good. Had to pay another progress payment on the retaining wall, 15,000b yesterday. I guess that means they haven't finished completely because I still owe 5,000b for that job! We should end up with a cement path right around the outside, probably won't look as posh as Koman's tho.

----------


## FatOne

I hope you're right Pale, but whatever I have is what I'll get, too late to pull down now

----------


## FatOne

Probably bored everyone enough with pics today, can't complain the SIL doesn't send enough, I have about 5 more! If you are really bored they are all on the fat one album in gallery.

----------


## terp80

> Terp80  
> .. Worse than  ?    Oh my. Well, I certainly hope you feel better soon, if you haven't already expired.
>  In which case I suppose it doesn't matter whether I use a   or  or maybe      
> I'm at the end of my short life . 
> I'm crossing the bridge onto the jetliner of Death . 
> And from you I get Two Jack Nicholsons , a fucking bananaman ..... and now a vomiting smiley . 
> Such compassion !!! 
> Goodbye cruel cruel World .     ExpiringWasp


 :sorry2:  Wasp, if you're still with us, I'll try to make you feel better. How's this  :party43:  :Wavey:  

But wait. "I'm crossing the bridge onto the jetliner of Death."  :Pat:   :Smile:

----------


## Wasp

I may survive .




WeakWasp

----------


## terp80

> I may survive .     WeakWasp


Hang in there Wasp. Here are a couple photos I took this afternoon driving the back roads around CM. I think these should perk you right up.  :Shocked:

----------


## Wasp

The ugliness of those constructions is beyond any measurable bounds ...... he just about croaked ......




Wa.......

----------


## stevefarang

> I'm crossing the bridge onto the jetliner of Death .



Boeing or Airbus ?

What airline ?

Steve

----------


## Wasp

Wasp : _I'm crossing the bridge onto the jetliner of Death ._


Boeing or Airbus ? _Tupolev 160B_
What airline ?

Steve


_Hades Airlines_ .
.
.
.
.

----------


## thaimeme

Coming along nicely, FatOne. Good luck with the project.

----------


## Buckaroo Banzai

> ^   I've already told you the answer,  post 320.
> 
> 60cm divided by 8 = 7.5cm.


From the pictures it is a little confusing.
Usual column size in Thailand is 20x20 cm or 25x25 cm since this is a one floor constructions and by the look of it , I say they are using 20x20 cm columns. Using that as a reference,one  can easily extrapolate the size of the block.
in the picture with the young boy by the cement sacks it looks like they are using 7.5 cm thick block,as they are one third the size of the column, in the picture by the hammock, it looks like they are using 10 cm thick block, as they are about half the size of the column.
 I don't know why they would be using different size block on different walls, Perhaps the  7.5 block wall has plumbing and they will be using a cavity wall to hide the pipes, but if I was building a cavity wall I would be bringing both sides of the wall up, at the same time so that I can install ties between both walls and tie them together. 
I dont know why people use super block for interior walls. If I am missing something,perhaps, some one can point it out, I am not beyond learning new things :Smile:  
The  benefits to super block are insulation, lightweight, and load bearing capability. Non of these benefits are required in this type of construction for interior walls. So all you have left is the higher cost, and the fact that it is more difficult to hung things on a super block wall.  
IMO, and I could be wrong, red brick interior wall is less expensive and stronger.
Nothing to critical though, it should be fine, just more expensive.

----------


## Drainpipe

> I dont know why people use super block for interior walls.


It is much faster to lay, much easier to cut correctly, and has good sound insulation, which normal blocks don't

Add to that using the same material throughout, it makes life simpler too


I don't think red bricks are used normally for internal walls, just  cement blocks

----------


## FatOne

I tried to get Kung to get her sister to measure the thickness of the blocks, all I got back was the length and width!!! I agree with Drain, might as well use the same blocks, as they are much easier to lay and better soundproofing. The cost isn't much more in Oz dollars. Haven't had any more pics so far, yesterday was Queens birthday holiday here, not that it is relevant, but some of you might find it funny we have a birthday public holiday for the Queen in England, but she is also our Queen until we become a republic, which has been voted against twice in my lifetime.
And Waspy, I hope you are better! Not sure that the pics Terps sent would make me feel better!!

----------


## koman

> until we become a republic,


"The peoples democratic republic of Australia"....... :rofl:  

Will you be having a short fat military dictator, and really big military parades to go with that?..... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

I can't see it happening, most people feel "if it ain't broke, don't fix it " and right now there is no reason to change as the Queen is basically a figureghead and in general doesn't interfere with the running or generally stuffing up of the country. Politics in Oz is like most other countries, a choice between 2 major parties, both of whom are out of touch with the majority of the people.

----------


## RPETER65

> Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai
> 
> I dont know why people use super block for interior walls.
> 
> 
> It is much faster to lay, much easier to cut correctly, and has good sound insulation, which normal blocks don't
> 
> Add to that using the same material throughout, it makes life simpler too
> 
> ...



Red bricks were used through out our house, seems to have great noise insulation.

----------


## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> until we become a republic,
> 
> 
> "The peoples democratic republic of Australia"....... 
> 
> Will you be having a short fat military dictator, and really big military parades to go with that?.....


Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy and we seem to be doing OK.

Mine you I do like parades. :Smile:  we have Victoria Day celebrated in honor of the birthdays of both Queen Victoria and the current monarch of Canada it's when you can start gardening in late May about a week after the ground thaws.  :bananaman:

----------


## koman

^

The Queen actually seems quite popular in Canada if you filter out  and ignore the Quebec separatist crowd who are pretty much against everything...especially if it's connected in any with the British.  They even get hysterical over the English language being used on road signs..... :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## FatOne

There's that dancing banana again, BK you'll upset Wasp and send him into a tailspin! I thought Canada was a pure republic, totally separate from the monarchy??

----------


## koman

> I thought Canada was a pure republic, totally separate from the monarchy??


Bite your tongue......you must be thinking of that other insignificant republic south of the Canadian border....the one that wasted a whole shipload of perfectly good tea in a misguided protest against taxes;  and then won an independence war because the British sent a totally foppish and incompetent commander over to manage the uprising..... :Smile:  

They still argue and fight relentlessly over taxes....so the whole sorry episode was a waste of time.... :Smile:

----------


## Wasp

.
.
I have indeed noted the increased use of both Jack Nicholson and the maniac annoying dancing banana ...... ever since I declared my seething dislike of them .


 :Tired:  :Tired:  :Tired:  :Tired:  :Tired: 





Unhappy Wasp
.
.
.

----------


## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
>  I thought Canada was a pure republic, totally separate from the monarchy??
> 
> 
> Bite your tongue......you must be thinking of that other insignificant republic south of the Canadian border....the one that wasted a whole shipload of perfectly good tea in a misguided protest against taxes;  and then won an independence war because the British sent a totally foppish and incompetent commander over to manage the uprising..... 
> 
> They still argue and fight relentlessly over taxes....so the whole sorry episode was a waste of time....


Bite your tongue indeed you must be talking about those southerners who declared war on Canada in 1812, they lost that one.  :Smile: 

Then there was The Pig War of 1859 fortunately the only casualty of The Pig War was the pig.

- The Pig War

----------


## svendiederik

> I dont know why people use super block for interior walls. If I am missing something,perhaps, some one can point it out, I am not beyond learning new things 
> The  benefits to super block are insulation, lightweight, and load bearing capability. Non of these benefits are required in this type of construction for interior walls. So all you have left is the higher cost, and the fact that it is more difficult to hung things on a super block wall.


Beside for heat insulation super blocks are also excellent for sound insulation. Some people might like that. Of course you would need to insulate your ceiling then. I for one am considering to use the floor or wall panels made by Q-con in the same material for my ceiling to have a better sound and heat insulation. I never heard of anyone using those thou. 

Nice thread Marty.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks guys,

I received a message back from SIL that the blocks are 7CM, so looks like they've used the lowest grade ( I don't think she works in fractions but prob 7.5cm) Anyway, too late to change now. Haven't see any pics for the last couple of days, I assume nothing real interesting, just more blocks being put up!

----------


## FatOne

Here's a few of the pics the SIL sent last night. She can only send when she goes to the closest town so I received about 25 pics. Looks like progress is happening!

----------


## FatOne

A few interior pics, blockwork looks pretty good!

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

Look! Real scaffolding!!!!

----------


## FatOne

Last one, the rest are just lots more of the same! Only of real interest to us. It does looks as though these guys are getting on with it, and I notice there doesn't seem to be a lot of rubbish around, unlike a lot of building sites I've seen on TD.

----------


## terp80

> Last one, the rest are just lots more of the same! Only of real interest to us. It does looks as though these guys are getting on with it, and I notice there doesn't seem to be a lot of rubbish around, unlike a lot of building sites I've seen on TD.


Nice! They look very professional FO. All the crews on my site were messy. Now, my brickie family generates an amazing amount of trash and rubble. They clean up only when they are completely finished in a room, which means everyone has to step over/on this stuff for a good while. But they don't seem to mind. Although the son did step on a nail the other day.  :Crazy:

----------


## FatOne

Yeah, Thanks Terps, especially considering there is little supervision! The builder is a local guy who has built a few Farang homes in the area, we visited a couple and all looked well finished. Only thing I didn't like was the kitchens, so we are just getting them to do the basics and we will get someone to build in drawers and cupboards later.

----------


## FatOne

Hi All,

Off the construction subject for a moment, any Ozzies out there living in Thailand on the aged pension? I am building this house to retire too, and from the social security website, getting the pension shouldn't be a problem, but I would like to get some feedback from anyone who has been through the system. I have about 4 years to pension age, 64.5 Yrs old at my birth date. I have been self employed all my life so I have no superannuation and will need the pension to survive. Will I have to spend part of the year back in Oz? Will they pay the pension into a Thai bank account? Was there any problems getting the pension when living overseas? Any tips will be appreciated. My wife is naturally much younger than me, so even if she becomes an Australian citizen I assume we cannot get the married pension?

Marty

----------


## FatOne

Posed this question on the living in Thailand forum, Some interesting replies. It seems the issue is unclear to most, but the social security website seems to be pretty clear, if I've been working in Oz all my life I shouldn't face a problem.

----------


## FatOne

Here's a few more progress pics the SIL sent last night. This one is the 2 bathrooms - ensuite and guest back to back.

----------


## FatOne

This one is looking from the front at the kitchen and the two guest bedrooms. They are using a reinforcement cementing around all the doors and windows.

----------


## FatOne

This one shows the master bedroom window , the two bathroom windows and the door out the back from the laundry. We will still need to buy some more landfill to give us a bigger backyard, the back drops away to a creek, but there is still a fair bit of room to get in some sort of backyard.

----------


## terp80

> They are using a reinforcement cementing around all the doors and windows.


Nice looking brick work FO. Can your SIL take a photo of the reinforcing cement bag  - or can she/you tell me exactly what they are using? My brickie family use some sort(?) of cement with small reinforcing wire to make my columns, beams and lintels. :Smile:

----------


## terry57

Looking good mate.  A solid clean Build. 

Good luck with it.

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## FatOne

I can but ask, Terps. Usually these messages get misinterpreted in the translation, like when I asked for the thickness of the qcons, and got every dimension but the thickness.!!!
And thanks Terry, yes I am impressed with the cleanliness and scaffolding and such, no thanks to me the wife picked the builder!

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## roger77

fatOne, I'd like to ask you about the lintels above the windows, post 367 is a clear picture.  I thought that Q-con bricks were not load bearing so I wonder if the lintels are supported, maybe at their ends ?

been watching your build and wish you well I'm sure you will be happy there.

----------


## terp80

> I can but ask, Terps. Usually these messages get misinterpreted in the translation, like when I asked for the thickness of the qcons, and got every dimension but the thickness.!!!


 :rofl:  Yeah, I can appreciate that. No problem. Thanks! :Cool:

----------


## FatOne

Hi Roger,

They seem to be putting a frame around all the windows and doors, not sure if they have put rebar inside but assume so. Bit hard to get info from SIL, but this guy has built many nice homes around the area and none have cracked so far!

----------


## roger77

Thanks, seems the same as our place with the red bricks, note you have a substantial top plate anyway.

----------


## rickschoppers

The lentels and "top plates" will create a heat transference from the outside temperature to the inside. You will need to take this into consideration when you think about insulating your house from the outside heat, or trying to keep the cold air on the inside. This is one of the weak points of using Q-con or similar products.

----------


## FatOne

Good point Rick, still must be a heap better than red bricks! The windows are huge too, good thing I am putting double glazing and reflective or darkened glass in them. I looked at the photos recently and they look really big! I am a bit worried about the kitchen windows coming down too far and the bench not being high enough, particularly to put a dishwasher underneath, getting SIL to check!

----------


## koman

> Good point Rick, still must be a heap better than red bricks! The windows are huge too, good thing I am putting double glazing and reflective or darkened glass in them. I looked at the photos recently and they look really big! I am a bit worried about the kitchen windows coming down too far and the bench not being high enough, particularly to put a dishwasher underneath, getting SIL to check!


You definitely have to watch the kitchen window height.   Thais nearly always place them too low for farang height counters.   When we bought our last house we had to have the kitchen windows raised by about six inches...which is not such a big deal if you catch it before everything is finished.... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Yeah, Ta Koman, it will be a pain if they are too low, but as we haven't ordered windows yet they should be able to fix the blocks without too much drama

----------


## FatOne

A few more pics came in today from SIL. Has been raining a lot, but they have almost finished the blockwork. By the look of it they even ordered the correct number of blocks!!!

----------


## FatOne

I finally got a reply to my question about the kitchen window height! Yep, they have stuffed it up, good thing I noticed from the pic, not too late to fix. The window is only 85cm from the ground, makes a bloody low kitchen bench! This will be where we put the sink so it will also need to be high enough to fit a dishwasher underneath, and they are all about 90cm! The question came back- will it ba alright if the window looks a little bit higher than all the others? My answer, I'd rather it look a little funny than stoop down to an 85cm bench!

----------


## FatOne

The Kitchen window is the one next to thje doorway, 2nd window from the other end of pic!

----------


## FatOne

This one is from the front of the house, the carport and verandah in the foreground. Nearly finished, now they have to battle the elements to render, and with a bit of luck let the render cure before they paint!!!! ( thanks Steve) Once the render s finished I'm up for the last big progress payment, The last final payment on completion is fairly small.

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
As one Aussie to another (but a Qlder), I seek your opinion on roof colour. We are using Ceepac roof tiles & Q-Con bricks (thanks to the forum).
*My wife likes brown & grey.*
I recognize that there may be various shades of brown.
*You are using brown - good choice (in hindsight)?*
(Our home is quite large, 2 storey (high-set) - whatever.
PS - I played Aussie Rules during my playing days. As a spectator, I switched to RL. Now, in LOS, I watch far more Aussie Rules (at the moment Geelong v Essendon - very close at the moment).
Re age pension, I sent you a PM. As I have lived here for some 12 years now, our situation is different? I must say that I found the "whole affair" quite confusing. Although I lost a motsa to my sister (super bitch) & GFC, I think I do not qualify under the assets test. Further, returning to Oz for 2 years in order to qualify is a BIG CALL! I might be dead before I qualify.

----------


## luckyjim

> I'd rather it look a little funny than stoop down to an 85cm bench!


A good point, mate.
However, when we did our build years ago I stuffed up in a big way. I was asked what height we wanted the benches. Naturally (read dumb) I said "about waist height.

And so they did. We had to get the whole lot lowered later because, of course, the wife's waist is considerably lower than mine. She didn't say anything at the time and it was only when I spotted her inability to reach the back of the bench that the penny dropped.

Mu bad.....

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Guys,

CNX, I originally opted for a light blue tile as I thought it would be cooler, unfortunately there was a ridiculously long wait for them, so we opted for the brown, which turned out better than I had thought. I would always go for a lighter colour if you can get it, but they seem to need about 3 months notice to order anything out of the ordinary in LOS. If I had known that when we started building I would have asked the builder to order when he was starting the build.But then again, they ran out of tiles at the end of the roof job and that would have been a major pain if we had to wait another 3 moths for the last few tiles.
Thanks for your insight on pensions, there is a thread I started on the living in Thailand forum that goes for a few pages with all sorts of interesting, if sometimes conflicting info. There does seem to be a 2 yr residency requirement which I find really annoying, but you could probably bury your assets in a Thai bank ( which I had some!!) and rent a house in Oz for two years, and flit back and forth.

----------


## FatOne

That was supposed to be wish I had some, not which I had some. Be an idea to proof read before posting!!!

----------


## FatOne

Hi Jim,

Thanks for all your insights, my wife although typically short, is not too bad. We have 1 metre benches in our house here and she is fine, the major thought was to fit a dishwasher under the bench, and we will require 90cms clearance for that. After a few years living here I don't think she would live too long without a dishwasher for any large dinner parties etc!!

----------


## FatOne

Here's a couple of pics from the front of the house looking thru the carport and verandah. I said to my darling when we received these last night that it looks like they have left a huge hole for the double doors behind the verandah, ( ok how do you spell it? Maybe porch? Spellcheck keeps telling me I'm wrong but doesn't offer any suggestions)anyhow back on topic- she answered that the builder will have to find doors to fit, so I will just see what appears!

----------


## FatOne

I also asked her about the cement floor in the carport not meeting the porch (!!) She said she has requested a step from the carport to the porch so they will have to do it later. I said maybe they could do it when they lay down a driveway to the road.

----------


## FatOne

The windows all look very large don't they. I am glad I am getting double glazing, otherwise I think the house would be way too hot and noisy.

----------


## threestags

> ... she answered that the builder will have to find doors to fit, so I will just see what appears!


What would you say if a roller door appeared?

Enjoying your thread.

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
Surprisingly, I am one of the few Aussies who does not drink (ANYMORE). I did give the grog & the cigs a lot of research though. Started both at a young age. Stopped the cigs in 1982 & drinking in 1984 (AA). (I am president of the local "Wowsers" club - "prayer meetings" available at an extra fee). However, my "conversion" to a "pure" life did not stop me from getting throat cancer (stage 4 - Rolls Royce model) about 5-6 years ago. What a bitch of a thing!
Had a read of your thread on Oz pensions. Basically, they do not wish to give anything to expats? (In CNX, there is a Bangladeshi Consulate about 200m from me - Oz contact - there is one here - but where & how useful? (nothing against the delegate himself). My "allegiance" to Oz - was very high - now close to zero. If you do your "time" in Oz viz 2 years, qualify for the OAP, receive it & THEN come back to LOS - *can they then stop it (after 6 months)*? If you can access the OAP, I think that it is a pretty good deal. $20k/ann (B45k/mth) - living in Nthn Thailand, one can live well. Up here, a Thai earns B10-20k/mth. I am "sick" of "fighting" inflation. It is beating me. However, now I do not "need" much - no cigs, no booze, food is limited to soup (throat cancer). I am 66yo - I will have no problems (if I die by age 67).
Thanks for the tip re roof colour. Logical! My problem will be time. ie roof goes up in about 1 month - move in Jan (year 2015/2016/2017)? Just spoke to wife - apparently, she has already ordered grey. To be honest, I do not really care about colour (except NO BLUE). Somehow, I thought that you were building in CNX. Seka - it may be bigger than Fang - Wiki has a post on it - population - 22k. In Fang, I gather that houses range from B400k to B10m (most lower end - say B1.5m). We will be in Fang - 150k from CNX. If I were still living in Oz, I could not afford the cigs & grog (I loved Mr Bundaberg) ("Mr" - should be treated with respect!) - at least $200/wk?

----------


## FatOne

Few nice pics coming back from LOS. CNX yep, well we could always share a coke mate, I am over all the rules and regulations in Oz, I love Thailand for the lack of stupid rules, and the fact that you don't sue every time you trip over a loose piece of path. I am not a big drinker myself, but I do enjoy a few Singhas when in LoS. Sorry to hear about the throat mate, hope you are well now. At least, if you are like me , you are getting a second chance at a happy life with a wonderful Thai wife.

----------


## FatOne

Looking back at the house from the other direction. If they put a roller door on I'll be very miffed 3, I specified double wooden doors, picked out some nice ones with dragons carved into them last time I was in town, but they won't fit into a gap that big!

----------


## FatOne

Looking at the back of the house, it is obvious we need to put a lot more fill to build up the back into a back yard. There is a creek behind the house but I reckon we can go back about another 6-10 m and get some back yard.

----------


## BKKBILL

Marty, if you have the frame made with side-lights I think your doors will fit just fine.

----------


## FatOne

Now that looks pretty cool Bill, thanks. Printing pic to show the missus. Looks better than a roller door!!!

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
Not drinking did not seem that wonderful when I commenced a "new journey". In hindsight, not drinking has been a wonderful investment. I have never had a DUI , no speeding tickets - one parking ticket, & no pissing in the clothes basket - my speciality. Good management - no. Good luck/fortune - yes. Who cares?
Re the Thai wife, this IS the BEST investment in my life - no BS! We met when she was just 24yo - a 24yo Thai girl is "very young" (never been to Pattaya). Even with the throat cancer & being ripped off by my sister (>$300k), this past decade has been the best 10 years of my life - a total change in my attitude & values. Better than a dream come true! Luck again? (the sister issue still "hurts" like hell - I retaliated a little - WW111 broke out - mother & sister combined forces - "I should be back in Oz" - BS! - for what).
Shifting from CNX to Fang is another adventure. It increases one's life expectancy. Like you, my other half is decades younger. In Oz, I would be sharing a bed with the "blue-rinse" brigade (if I am lucky). Death would be better? What surprises me is that, despite the vast age difference, my wife is always asking me whether I still want her/love her. *No, I prefer the "blue-rinse" combo, a little line dancing & some bingo!*
Another amazement re Thai lady, she can sleep anywhere at anytime! Not a worry in the world - a wonderful attitude - no pessimism. Only potential problem with Thai lady - "gick" - not on the table (or discussion). If I have a "gick", immediate payment required is B3.7m. The reason for this payment - wife is in pain - she needs to shop - a lot!
*I did ask a question re OAP - specifically, what happens when you have been back in LOS for 6 months (with full OAP)? Curious!* $20k/ann @ say 2.5% is similar to having $800k on deposit! Oh, what a feeling!
At the moment, I am a little like a farmer - weather matters - until the roof is up on the house. The decision to build a house has elevated my wife's happiness (& that of her parents) by infinity+1.
Over here in LOS, I watch quite a lot of ABC (Oz). Q&A is very informative. It reinforces my decision to get out of Oz. I had the high-rise, BMW, $$$ etc but it was EMPTY. Here, just watching my lady sleeping at 11.30am is wonderful - contentment personified (she also luvs Som tam) - any correlation?

----------


## cnx37

Just a recollection re drinking. There were 4 "players" - I remember that 4 pots (10oz) cost $2.
a) died by age 40 - a heavy gambler - clerical work
b) wife's decree - marriage (& no piss) or piss off (a gambler) - got off the piss - clerical work
c) myself - similar to (b) above (a gambler) - got off the piss - clerical work
d) now a "casual" drinker - there are less of us in the group (NOT a gambler) - he was a dedicated fisherman - tradesman.

There is a moral to this story? 
Do not drink & gamble (if you are a clerical worker)?
Drinking & fishing is OK (if you have a trade).

----------


## palexxxx

> Now that looks pretty cool Bill, thanks. Printing pic to show the missus. Looks better than a roller door!!!



I don't know,  roller doors can look quite nice you know,  especially if you paint the panels different colours,  you know,  like a rainbow.   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## stevefarang

There is a "structure" across the road from our house with 3 roller doors. Occasionally I will see one and some bird cages and stuff about. I asked my wife what kind of a shop is that and she said it was a "baan". I didn't believe her, so I pointed the place out to her and she repeated it was a "baan".
So all these comments about roller doors, makes me smile.

That wood door looks great !!

Steve

----------


## Wasp

> There is a "structure" across the road from our house with 3 roller doors. Occasionally I will see one and some bird cages and stuff about. I asked my wife what kind of a shop is that and she said it was a "baan". I didn't believe her, so I pointed the place out to her and she repeated it was a "baan".
> So all these comments about roller doors, makes me smile.
> 
> That wood door looks great !!
> 
> Steve



 :Confused: 
 :Confused: 
 :Confused: 

What's a " baan " ?  :Confused: 


I hope this isn't a joke about a ' barn  ' .



Wasp

----------


## stevefarang

^^^

Are you serious ?  :Smile: 

"Baan" = house

Steve

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## palexxxx

Steve,  are you referring to my post with your '^^^' ,  three posts up from yours,  or to Wasp's post,  immediately above yours.

If it's Wasp's post then only use one of these '^'

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## cnx37

Use "rainbow" colours - only if you are very happy ie "gay".

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## stevefarang

> Steve,  are you referring to my post with your '^^^' ,  three posts up from yours,  or to Wasp's post,  immediately above yours.
> 
> If it's Wasp's post then only use one of these '^'


Sorry, I didn't know there was a rule stipulating the number of "^" to use. 
Although I think it's obvious I'm replying to the Wasp man.

 :Smile: 

Steve

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## terp80

> Steve,  are you referring to my post with your '^^^' ,  three posts up from yours,  or to Wasp's post,  immediately above yours. 
> If it's Wasp's post then only use one of these '^'





> Sorry, I didn't know there was a rule stipulating the number of "^" to use. 
> Although I think it's obvious I'm replying to the Wasp man.


Haha. I didn't know it either :ourrules: , and, yes, it was pretty obvious. :Cool2:

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## BKKBILL

Of course now that would be ^^^^^^.

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## palexxxx

Try to educate someone and what thanks do I get? .... sheesh.     ::spin::

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## snakeeyes

> Try to educate someone and what thanks do I get? .... sheesh.


Deputy palexxxx report them to Sheriff Koojo ,  :Smile:

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## stevefarang

> Try to educate someone and what thanks do I get? .... sheesh.


khop khun krap palexxx, I honestly didn't know about that. I just do it, to avoid quoting someone posting right above me.

Cheers !!!

Steve

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## terp80

> Of course now that would be ^^^^^^.


Now I have a headache. :Headache:

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## FatOne

Geez, I get a headache just trying to work all that out too! I think I'll just reply to CNX who at least talks English and not TD techniques.
CNX- Yup, I totally agree, I've been married to my darling Kung just 3 years and it has been the best 3 years of my life. She is wonderful, but she does love shopping! Thankfully I still have my health, even tho I'm getting slower and fatter, her cooking is fantastic! Before Kung I was single for over 30 years, occasional girl friends but always ended badly. I was not looking for a partner when I visited LOS for the first time, it just happened and I couldn't be happier. I hope I will be able to live in LOS on the OAP even tho apparently I will get only half the married pension rather than the single pension because I am married to someone still of working age, a difference of nearly A$200 a fortnight. And yes, building a home in LOS has definitely made her very happy and her family!

Marty

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## cnx37

FatOne
I assume that you are in Vic at the moment - enjoying the weather. Here, "weather fine; track good".
Married (1/2) pension v single pension is a big ouch. However, compared with my OAP (zero), it is a fortune eg if you have say $400k inversted at 2.5% less 15% tax, that equates to $8500/ann ($326/fn). You will get x 2 that amount? When the "blues" set in, just multiply your annual pension by 40 & that is how much you will need in the bank to achieve a similar return.
How is the house going? % complete?
I receive infrequent reports only - usually "good" - whatever that means. It is early days for me - 1 week today. Our guess of completion date is January (year unknown). I am getting "toey".
I am even researching TVs for the new home - my only "job". It is a maze. As I watch a fair amount of TV, we will get a reasonably good one (the Thai family never watch TV - at least not more than 23 hours/day). I was a Panasonic addict but am switching my loyalty - probably Samsung (2nd LG) - 55". If you have surplus "loot" you can spend B2m on a TV!
Cheers - Bundy is a good bedmate in cold weather.

----------


## FatOne

Hi CNX,

Yep, in Vic - middle of winter, Max 11 degrees here today, min 2. I hope I get over there soon!!! Went up to the snowfields at Mt Buffalo yesterday, 0 degrees but beautiful. Wouldn't want to live anywhere that it is cold enough to snow! Yep, [U]if I get the OAP it will definitely be better than you're $326/fn, about $520/fn, but with still 4 years to go that's still an if, not a when .My place is up to the rendering blocks stage, Kung is expecting to fly over in October to see to the finishing touches. Apparently no one turned up to the site in the last 2 days because it was too wet, if that's the excuse they won't be there at all until the dry season! 
When I quickly researched TV's around my area they didn't look much cheaper than Oz, and I had trouble finding anything bigger than about 42". I have a 60" here and don't want to downgrade too much when I have all day to do nothing but watch all my downloaded TV and movies.

----------


## cnx37

I have seen the snow once - once too many times! Went skiing with g/f, then wife/then ex (all the same person). At least, she was a major "player" in getting me off the piss! Four (4) years is a long time in politics. From what I watch on TV, the situation is not improving re eligibility. However, it is all about votes. As more & more are contributors to superannuation, there will be less OAP. At least, being self-funded, I am in "control" except for interest rates. I remember the good ol days - 20% interest! It was some time ago!
How does Kung "enjoy" Oz? My wife will not even go to Oz for a holiday - Thai food!  We went to SGP - missed Thai food. 
Here, prices for TV are quite OK up to 55". Then, they escalate quite quickly. 55" is OK by me. Currently, I am researching the "Smart TV" concept - know zilch about it. At present, I do not download. In fact, I only got a wi-fi a couple of months ago - prior to that - telephone & modem. Re this "Smart TV" concept, there are alternatives - but soon, I assume that Smart TV will be part of the deal - no choice.
If one wishes to get "serious" - "real serious" - you can pay B2m! Refer www.quidlab.com

----------


## FatOne

You won't get me to the snow again for a long time! Took Kung 3 years to get me to take her! She loves Australia, even in the country we can get most basic Thai foods, green pawpaw, green sour mangoes, all the sauces and noodles and sticky rice. There are Asian shops popping up all over as the population of Asians increases. We tend to eat different meals, she makes her Thai food, I make my own dinners. When she makes a Thai dinner party with chicken penang etc and we have people around ( about once a fortnight ) I freeze the leftovers and have great meals for a week. She loves the regulated lifestyle, which bugs me, with all the bl..dy rules. And of course she loves the amount of money she can earn, A$50 for a massage etc

----------


## FatOne

I found out why the boys were not on the job the past few days- they are all out planting rice. They told my SIL that they have to plant the rice now, but the house doesn't have to be done now! Fair enough I guess, that is how things are in Isaan, everyone pitches in when rice farms need planting or picking, even my dear old mother in law!

----------


## koman

> I found out why the boys were not on the job the past few days- they are all out planting rice


Priority stuff....as is rice harvest, sugar cane cutting, Songkran (good for a whole week),  special monk days, weddings, funerals, novice monk going away parties, New Year ... or any other occasion when a bit of surplus cash may be available.. :Smile:

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
Without the "Asian invasion", Oz is stuffed!
They buy our minerals, our agricultural products, they send their kids to Oz for education, they have holidays in Oz, real estate investment.
When (history does repeat itself) the Asian boom times cease, dive for cover. Oz is in for rough waters ahead!

----------


## FatOne

I think Oz is in for rough waters anyway, but you're right, without Asian migration and money we would be stuffed earlier.

----------


## FatOne

Interestingly they have put a freeze on all immigration from Thailand at the moment according to Kung.

----------


## cnx37

My allegiance to the Aussie flag - what is the Aussie flag? The national anthem - I never did convert from "God Save the Queen". I am a bit like the Rugby League footballers - we mumble when the NA is being sung. I cannot remember when I last utilised QANTAS services.
Australia's National Anthem - "I Still Call Australia Home"? Is that it? Love you Peter!
I would gladly accept PR in LOS. However, for retirees it is impossible - I researched it thoroughly. So, I guess that the wife handles the 3 monthly visits & I go out annually for the extension checkup - 'til death do us part - shame about that.
The wife & I have been "debating" the "Red brick"/Q-con issue. External - no debate - 20cm Q-con. Internal - RB -7.5cm? v Q-con 10cm? It is now resolved (I hope) - Q-con throughout.
A reader suggested that we relocate the M/B from the 1st floor to the G/F (ground floor - not girl-friend). Very logical with impending old age. However, the uniformity/symmetry of the master plan is a challenge (the current M/B is much larger than the existing BR on the GF).
Forward-planning - TV - 55" Samsung with "Smart TV" - prices depends on model B40k-B75k).
Roof - grey is the chosen colour.
Weather here in CNX is OK - a few showers in Fang (but only at night). The actual building eg footings & other commenced about 10 days ago. How time flies - 5% complete already.

----------


## window

This BLACK Frankie must be the modern metro version.
 your wright it has no place in a thai cooking room

----------


## FatOne

Hi CNX,
I went for a single story home for just that reason, I am starting to get a little bit of Arthritis in the knees, and figure it can only get worse. You can always use the spare downstairs bedroom later if you have difficulty with the stairs. I still call Oz home, still love the country, just over all the rules and regs! Look forward to my retirement in LOS. I don't think it matters what sort of bricks you use internally, I just went for Qcon because I didn't think too much about it!

----------


## cnx37

FO - who is window?
Why did we go 2 storey? It just evolved. Of course, land size may have been a contributing factor. Ego? Stuffed if I know.
Recently, on TD, I have received tremendous assistance re home design - currently WIP. I am even have "my" bedroom downstairs on a permanent basis.
Australia - I never thought I would say it. Oz & I are divorced. :Aussie:  I do not think that this event will have any effect on the Oz economy - no need to dispose of your multi-$m share portfolio!
What do I "miss" about Oz? Of course, blue skies comes to mind.; beach; TV programs (I watch ABC TV here); after 12 years, I have basically ceased all social contact in Oz (just evolved). Would I come back? Finances basically prohibit this. To start again - a nightmare (once, I did a hypothetical on it). "Life partner" - too bloody good here - ("blue rinse" brigade in Oz - I have an allergy); "blood family" - we divorced (all parties happy with the result - they do not understand me anymore - I have changed - of course, I have changed - for the better).   
Don't forget to set aside say B2m for a quality TV in LOS! Me - B40k-50k
"Red brick" v Q-con - until this week I had not heard of Q-con. "Mind debate" followed. Now settled - Q-con throughout.
Currently, the house plans are WIP - but all for the good. I could never have done this solo.
Enjoy the weather! (I have no donned a pullover for years).

----------


## FatOne

Been reading your thread and like Norton's plans. I am lucky my land is very big so could do single story. Thanks for the weather comment, sooner I'm in LOS the better!!! At least the sun is out today, last few days have been grey and freezing. I noticed that the blue sky and sun is absent from LOS and I do love it, but then again mostly missing in capital cities here, benefit of country style living. I'll prob need to come back to Oz once a year for family and friends and I'd like to show Kung some of the country once I have the time.

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## cnx37

Crystal ball! As time goes by, your trips to Oz will become more infrequent. I went to Toowoomba in the early '70s - used to drive back every weekend. As time went by, trips became more infrequent. Returned to BNE, similar. Went to Gold Coast, similar. Went to LOS, similar. When you relocate, the new social network expands; the existing network declines.
I am not trying to put the "moccas" on you - just my personal experience.
I am impatient. I wish to finalize house plans & get on with it. "Time waits for no man" - nor does it accelerate at my decree.

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## cnx37

We are in agreement re ground floor (Norton, wife & self) - door at rear of hallway will be omitted (amended plan is posted on my thread). Tomorrow, wife goes to Fang for 2 days. I have been reviewing cost estimates (excl land). Cf to Oz, it is absurdly cheap. Latest estimate from builder - Labor/mats=B3.7m. With alterations/additions - say B4.5m. Add TV, home theatre, curtains, A/C, garden & furniture - say B500k max. Grand total=B5m (AUD167k) for 375sqm (2 storey). Yes, this excludes land component. You could not buy the land in Oz for AUD167k! (12yrs ago, I sold my GC condo for almost AUD400k). PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE!

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## FatOne

Yours will be a lot more fancy than mine, mine cost b1.4m basic, without furniture and trimmings. Land was about b150k so I am getting out of it pretty cheap. I really don't need it complete for a few years so will purchase extras as we go.

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## cnx37

FO - fancy - no fancy - no idea. This is wife's home (as it is for all of us). If you get out of it for B2m, it is "petty cash" cf to Oz.
At my age & situation, I do not "NEED" much - very little in fact. At 66, I need a bed, TV, bathroom/toilet & a lot of love & care. The rest - superfluous.
Your location in LOS - seems very "outback" (researching Wikipedia - no mention of the town).

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## terry57

> Looking at the back of the house, it is obvious we need to put a lot more fill to build up the back into a back yard. There is a creek behind the house but I reckon we can go back about another 6-10 m and get some back yard.



Mate I do really like your house but it does worry me a tad that it will be washed away with the first decent rains or flood. 

It's right on the edge innit.   You will need a hell of a lot of fill around it Eh plus retaining walls to secure it all.

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## FatOne

Hi CNX,

Yep, that's why I called the thread in the sticks. Closest town is Seka right up in the north east, closest decent town Bueng Khan, we are in Bueng Khan district. It's on the Mekong and still not very big. No politics, no demonstrations, peacefull !! 4 other farangs in town, and plenty in Seka with a good little farang café where everyone meets.

And Yes Terry, I know! Priority is to get some fill in backyard and create a backyard. Not much point in having a backdoor that you step out of and fall down a hill. Plenty of room at the back.

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## terry57

^

Bueng Khan is a great little town, Ive been there a few times now and always stay on the river.

Love seeing all the vegetables being grown on the river bed. Brilliant that.

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## FatOne

Nice little town, apparently it has a good farang restaurant but I haven't been able to find it in the 2 visits I've made there. Very pretty on the river.

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## cnx37

> Hi CNX,
> 
> Yep, that's why I called the thread in the sticks. Closest town is Seka right up in the north east, closest decent town Bueng Khan, we are in Bueng Khan district. It's on the Mekong and still not very big. No politics, no demonstrations, peacefull !! 4 other farangs in town, and plenty in Seka with a good little farang café where everyone meets.
> 
> And Yes Terry, I know! Priority is to get some fill in backyard and create a backyard. Not much point in having a backdoor that you step out of and fall down a hill. Plenty of room at the back.


With 4 other farangs in town, one cannot afford to have any "enemies"! No politics, no demonstrations etc - too good - you will have to fix that! (I did check Seka).
I had better retain my TD name ie CNX37 - my real name is "Terry"=confusion.
From memory, I think that you mentioned that land was B150k ie AUD5k (that is obscene!). I suggest that you give the seller a tip or make a substantial donation to the local wat.)  Maybe a monument in your name is appropriate - "Thank you to the FatOne".

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## FatOne

Thanks CNX ( Terry)
Yep, sounds like paradise to me! Am looking at the block next door, the missus wants to build a little supermarket and I reckon I could fit 2 small flats to rent out, but prices have gone up, they want around b300k for a corner block. Will look at when house finished.

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## cnx37

> Thanks CNX ( Terry)
> Yep, sounds like paradise to me! Am looking at the block next door, the missus wants to build a little supermarket and I reckon I could fit 2 small flats to rent out, but prices have gone up, they want around b300k for a corner block. Will look at when house finished.


FatOne (Marty)
Land prices have gone up in Fang too. FIL bought the land for garage (& now house) 2-3 years ago - B500k? - now B1.5+m. You & I are fortunate that we made "wise/lucky" choices in the past ie LOS, wife & land. In addition, I guess that you remitted $$$ to LOS at a favorable time ie high FE rate. My timing has been disastrous - GFC; then about THB28:1 v 30+:1 today. Most important - we have "ENOUGH"! Enough is never enough? 
Forget the past - live today - "AA philosophy". (AA philosophy is not just for alkies!)
"Little supermarket" - there must be millions of little supermarkets in LOS. In Oz, a thing of the past ie corner/convenience stores. What is important is HAPPINESS (for both of you as a team). Flats to rent - similar? As you say - LATER! (First things first - AA). I have owned too many investment properties in the past. That is why I am selling CNX. You might consider whether flats are potentially an invasion of privacy. Value of privacy?
Recently, my cancer pain escalated - difficult to make quality decisions in this state. Today, wife (solo) is going to HomePro/Global House or wherever - to select shower units (for me) ie enclosed (not Thai style). She is capable. Her choice is not life-threatening? Whatever decision she makes is GOOD - it is made with love (for me). ("Count your blessings" - more AA.)
Today, I am very philosophical (morbid?). We humans spend too much time considering "externals" - very little on "internals". The sermon is now concluded.
Wife has just come in with milk. Would I like a "gik"? Price (for having "gik") is still B3.7m! That is a lot of land! Decisions, decisions.
Cheers, Digger

----------


## terry57

> With 4 other farangs in town



The last time I stayed in Bueng Kan I passed a local shop on the river road with 4 farang sitting in it drinking beer.

I automatically thought that this was there weekly meet up and though about them maybe being TD members. 

Nodded and said hello to them as I passed.  Could of been you EH.

----------


## FatOne

Hi CNX,

Since I started coming to LOS exchange rate has been b30=A$1 down to b27=A$1, currently around b29.5=A$1. I've been sending as much as I can afford over at the current rate. My darling wants to have some sort of income and something to keep her occupied once we retire and this is her thinking, it may be just a little pawpaw salad shop, but we will see. It's important for her to have some sort of income as when I go there will be nothing.

Hi Terry57,
I doubt that you spotted me, I can't find the farang place there, and have only been twice. They do have a visa place there so will probably have to go every 3 mths once I retire. Very pretty along river, plenty of little eateries.

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## cnx37

FE has been my BIGGEST headache by far (living in LOS). When I arrived (2003?), the conversion rate was 15/16:1! I did buy a condo soon after for B1.3m - doubled my $$$ BUT really made zero - the FE rate had doubled too.
After GFC & cancer, I decided to bring all $$$ to LOS (& pay 15% flat tax on the interest - no tax in SGP) mainly to make wife's life certain & easier. It has cost me a bundle of $$$ - opportunity cost (economics terminology). SFW! At least now, the amount of THB I/we have is certain. Daily fluctuations-intra-day fluctuations can drive a man to drink. Really, this FE stuff is massive speculation - I am too old for that - let it be fate. TODAY, I am much more contented - that matters! Wife is happy - I am happy!
A quality wife, a good night's sleep, a daily crap - heaven!
In receipt of OAP, your FE problems disappear. The Oz govt sends the $$$ on a regular basis - their time & frequent intervals - it averages out. Having lump sums of $$$ has its own set of problems.

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## cnx37

Life is good (LG)! In Oz, both partners work full-time - stress, cost of living, "desire", keeping up with the bloody Jones's (arseholes). Quality of life in Oz - leave me out.
My major daily decisions - another milk, another soup, time for a shower, TV, nap? It is very demanding living here! The wife is well-trained - takes care of most things - quality delegation of duties.
But , never forget, NO $$$, NO HONEY!

----------


## cnx37

> Hi CNX,
> 
> Since I started coming to LOS exchange rate has been b30=A$1 down to b27=A$1, currently around b29.5=A$1. I've been sending as much as I can afford over at the current rate. My darling wants to have some sort of income and something to keep her occupied once we retire and this is her thinking, it may be just a little pawpaw salad shop, but we will see. It's important for her to have some sort of income as when I go there will be nothing.
> 
> Hi Terry57,
> I doubt that you spotted me, I can't find the farang place there, and have only been twice. They do have a visa place there so will probably have to go every 3 mths once I retire. Very pretty along river, plenty of little eateries.


FatOne
"when I go there will be nothing". (In fact (no jest), you/wife are quite correct - a mature outlook).
Where are you going? On a holiday with "gik"?
Today, wife looked at shower screens. Everything here seems to be a major project. Wife is confused - 100cm v 120cm. After several hours, she arrives home. I have to get into the shower unit - test the measurements. The difference in price is B30k v B10k (we are having 2 of these damn things). After deliberation, we are having 120cm ie B30k/unit - 20cm equals B20k - not cheap. When in doubt, bigger is better? There goes the saving I made yesterday - easy come, easy go.

----------


## FatOne

CNX
When you consider the age diff, I am 61, she is 36, if she doesn't outlive me by many years then her luck has run out! I need to be sure she can look after herself when I enter the wheel of life and come back as a cockroach! Apart from that she is a dynamo, hates doing nothing (I'm all for it!) so needs to have some sort of job and if it can give her a future income then that solves 2 probs. I am going to send her to the village when my house is closer to completion to choose bathroom fittings, kitchens etc. I can't afford to be away too long and I trust her judgement.

----------


## cnx37

FO, Good strategy!
My reply was in "jest" (holiday)- a bit of banter (as they say). If the female is in her tender years & will not be having children (as in our case), an occupation is fruitful.
Selection of fittings/appliances - I consider that, in LOS, (in many cases), the Thai can do a better job! All will be OK (or better). By "permitting" my wife to make decisions, her maturity/wisdom escalates - TRUST! Sometimes, I ask the question - "Is my wife more mature than me?" (My response - NFP.)
Today she is in Fang again - left CNX at 5am. My "other/better" half is a mere 34 - I am 66 (just think "Blue rinse brigade" in Oz - it trims years off your age!). Those of us brought up with Christianity have total fear of death. By contrast, the Buddhists have a superior approach - "Birth, suffering, death" - simple. See you in the "Wheel of Life".
PS: Cockroaches, grasshoppers are quite tasty - I have tried them. My preference - grasshoppers!

----------


## FatOne

Well, finally can get back to some construction! The workers are back from the rice fields and have been finishing off all the edges prior to rendering the blocks.

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

Soon be time to get the local window guys in to action. Kung has a separate fund saved for purchasing double glazed windows with screens and decorative theft proof bars. Hopefully they will render soon then leave lots of time to cure, particularly in the wet season, so we don't get the cracking that Steve Farang got with his Chateau.

----------


## koman

> The workers are back from the rice fields


Just in the nick of time so they can go off again to celebrate the beginning of lent....which starts today...Friday and Monday are holidays.....with visits to the temple being mandatory.... piss ups are optional.... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

That'd be right! Good thing I'm not in any hurry!

----------


## FatOne

In Case anyone is reading this and not Terps thread, has anyone any experience with the type of metal roofing insulation you can see the builder has put under my tiles? My wife reckons it is all we need, and what all the other farang houses in the village have, but I am argueing we need to spend the extra and put in fibreglass batts as well???

----------


## cnx37

Fo
As disclosed in Terps thread, relevance of what other farangs are doing - NO RELEVANCE! Elementary, my dear FO!

----------


## koman

> In Case anyone is reading this and not Terps thread, has anyone any experience with the type of metal roofing insulation you can see the builder has put under my tiles? My wife reckons it is all we need, and what all the other farang houses in the village have, but I am argueing we need to spend the extra and put in fibreglass batts as well???


There is one obvious reason why people do the baking foil stuff under the tiles.....it's a lot cheaper than 15cms of fiberglass packed into a foil envelope and laid on the attic floor.

All the shiny foil can do is reflect heat waves back.  It actually does not "insulate" anything, but of course by reflecting back heat waves, it would have some effect on the attic temperature, so in that regard it would work OK.

The fiberglass matting makes a thermal barrier between the attic and the house interior....AND it has the reflective foil as well.....so it's much better.   It's also very easy to install...and you can choose to add as much thickness as you want.   We decided on 15cms because I guessed that it would be enough.   20cms would probably be better, but so far 15cms seems to be adequate.  

We have gone through a very hot season this year and after actually living in the house,  I can assure you it keeps the interior much lower than our last house, which did not have it.   

There was a fair bit of argument, discussion, photos etc posted on my own thread......very useful stuff, but only for those who bother to read it....... :rofl: 

No good arguing with the wife.  (A) She will know best.   (B)  Thais don't care about heat...they don't break a sweat at 45C even when they are working in it.... :Smile:

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## cnx37

koman - wisdom beyond your years! (You are a young guy?)
Arguing with wife? Unskillful/unwise. It is NOT HOT in Thailand - just ask a Thai!

Fiberglass v foil. Toxic effects of fiberglass? (note the US version of spelling "Fibreglass" - remedial classes in order?)

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## FatOne

Thanks Koman,

I reckon I will go for the nice thick fibreglass, I'd rather the heat than the cold here at the moment, but if I can get a nice pleasant 25 degrees Celsius I'll be happy, so I reckon the air con will cost half as much to run with the right insulation. Had fibreglass insulation here in every house, never had a prob with any toxic fallout, CNX

----------


## cnx37

A quick tale. Wife - "I think that I prefer fibreglass insulation to foil". Please telephone chang. No problem darling (her response).
3 hours later - Teeruk, what did the chang say? Mai kao jai (no understand). Of course, she telephoned - did she?

The above is actually a joke! When I asked the wife, she looked up the quote by builder. Then, she telephoned the chang. He is going to recheck with the shop - fibreglass v foil. My wife is smarter than me - impossible? Quite possible!

----------


## koman

> Thanks Koman,
> 
> I reckon I will go for the nice thick fibreglass, I'd rather the heat than the cold here at the moment, but if I can get a nice pleasant 25 degrees Celsius I'll be happy, so I reckon the air con will cost half as much to run with the right insulation. Had fibreglass insulation here in every house, never had a prob with any toxic fallout, CNX


I think you could manage 25C or less most of the time;  except for the very hottest days.    However, it's the humidity that makes life uncomfortable (at least for me), so you need  a decent AC setup to keep that down.    I actually set the AC at 24C for half an hour or so and then move it up to 27C once the humidity level has been reduced....and it feels very comfortable when it's 40C outside with 85% humidity.

The later model Daiken (and I would assume others) have a "mode" setting which de-humidifies the air with minimum temperature reduction.   It makes the air feel more comfortable than the older type, which did not handle the humidity as well, so you end up with cold "clammy" feeling air.   Warmer dry air is much more comfortable than cold damp air.  

......or you could just go with the wifely ideas and learn to tolerate the sauna like conditions common to Thailand between April and July +/-..... :Smile: 


PS.  Reversing the e and r in fiberglass is not a US thing.....and I'm not from the US......it's just me being sloppy again; which gets our spelling and grammar cop Wasp all stirred up.... :Smile:

----------


## cnx37

koman, I am surprised re spelling of fibreglass v fiberglass! When I type "fibre", the spellchecker issues a warning.
I guess that we need to SOS Wasp for informative clarification.

----------


## koman

> koman, I am surprised re spelling of fibreglass v fiberglass! When I type "fibre", the spellchecker issues a warning.
> I guess that we need to SOS Wasp for informative clarification.


Because it's an American spellchecker....so it's not going to accept any Pom/OZ bastardization of the language...... :Smile:  

   I'm always  getting picked up for mis spelling words because I spent half my life in the UK and the other half in Canada/US.   I'm caught between two versions of the same language, so no matter which one I use, somebody is telling me it's wrong..... :Smile:

----------


## terp80

From Wikipedia:

"In British English, some words from French, Latin or Greek end with a consonant followed by -re, with the -re unstressed and pronounced /əɹ/. In American English, most of these words have the ending -er.[16][17] The difference is most common for words ending -bre or -tre: British spellings calibre, centre, fibre, goitre, litre, lustre, manoeuvre, meagre, metre, mitre, nitre, ochre, reconnoitre, sabre, saltpetre, sepulchre, sombre, spectre, theatre (see exceptions) and titre all have -er in American spelling.

Most English words that today use -er were spelled -re at one time or another. In American English, almost all of these have become -er, while in British English only some of them have. The latter include chapter, December, disaster, enter, filter, letter, member, minister, monster, November, number, October, oyster, powder, proper, September, sober and tender. Words using the "-meter" suffix (from ancient Greek -μέτρον via post-Classical Latin meter) have normally had the er spelling from earliest use in English. Examples include thermometer and barometer.

The e preceding the r is kept in American-derived forms of nouns and verbs, for example, fibers, reconnoitered, centering, which are fibres, reconnoitred, and centring respectively in British English. Centring is an interesting example, since it is still pronounced as three syllables in British English (/ˈsɛntərɪŋ/), yet there is no vowel letter in the spelling corresponding to the second syllable. It is dropped for other derivations, for example, central, fibrous, spectral. However, such dropping cannot be deemed proof of an -re British spelling: for example, entry and entrance come from enter, which has not been spelled entre for centuries.[18]

The difference relates only to root words; -er rather than -re is universal as a suffix for agentive (reader, winner, user) and comparative (louder, nicer) forms. One outcome is the British distinction of meter for a measuring instrument from metre for the unit of length. However, while "poetic metre" is often -re, pentameter, hexameter etc. are always -er.[19]"

More than you wanted to know.  :deadhorsebig:

----------


## cnx37

korman, "YOU ARE ALWAYS WRONG, INCORRECT, BSA - all of the above." I just ask my wife - she is a genius. I am a DH. When I have an inspiration (or a read of TD), it automatically becomes her idea. Easy - easy.
A cool autumn green (now summer yellow - could not read green) colour/color is in order here.
Again - joke. Reality - she flatters me - there is more $$$ in flattering - she is NOT stupid. $$$ - she has been in a l/t relationship with $$$.

----------


## cnx37

terpo80
Just a tad more than solicited. Hell, where did you "pilfer" that from?

----------


## koman

> More than you wanted to know


Yes, but it may help to deflect attention from the spelling police..... :Smile:     Can we accept that there are simply different ways to spell some words rather than right and wrong ways?  

I still see posters on TD spelling  Jail as Gaol....and I thought that went out of fashion about the time of the Boer war.   Again; I don' think of it as wrong or right....just an old fashioned spelling and out of step with the modern versions of the language.

We don't use thee, or thou much anymore either.....not even in Yorkshire I hear.... :Smile:

----------


## cnx37

> Thanks Koman,
> 
> I reckon I will go for the nice thick fibreglass, I'd rather the heat than the cold here at the moment, but if I can get a nice pleasant 25 degrees Celsius I'll be happy, so I reckon the air con will cost half as much to run with the right insulation. Had fibreglass insulation here in every house, never had a prob with any toxic fallout, CNX


Living in a condo in CNX - then you will really comprehend the "cost of electricity". My guess - condo electricity cost/unit - x 3 that of a residential house.
Being a "conservationist", a redneck, protester (whenever possible), insulation appears to be a far superior option.
(I am also trying to veer this thread back to "construction".) I like blue skies, blue movies, blue jokes :sexy:  - other? (I am happy observing "nature" too - getting back to nature is natural - Hi, Ms Nature - feeling horny?).

----------


## terp80

> Yes, but it may help to deflect attention from the spelling police.....    Can we accept that there are simply different ways to spell some words rather than right and wrong ways?


Yeah Koman, Wikipedia seems to be saying just that. I only know American spelling well and would feel "fake" if I were to use British spellings. Although, if I were writing for a British publication or court, I would have someone else proof my writing to be British. But, on TDF, it's all the same, innit? :UK:

----------


## cnx37

Guys, FatOne is in tears. Back to the original thread please. What is it - women?

----------


## rickschoppers

As with most building threads, the roof insulation question comes up. Using the reflective foil along with the fiberglass insulation will keep any house more insulated which in turn, means having to use the A/C less which also translates to lower electrical costs.

My personal logic is a little different than most, but here goes. There are only two rooms in my build that have, will have A/C. The master bedroom and the computer/guest room. They are both 5m x 5m, while the rest of the house is fairly large and will not have A/C. My logic is to insulate only those two rooms since it would be a waste of money to insulate the entire house, IMO. 

The outside walls of the house have double block with an air space between which seems to help with the heat being transferred from the outside to the inside. I can touch the outside block when the sun hits it and the inside block of the interior walls are relatively cool. 

Back to the insulation. With the double block on the outside, my plan is to use fiberglass insulation in the attic over only the two rooms with A/C. If I can keep these two cubes cool, that is enough for me. 

For those of you who A/C their entire house, the more insulation that can be added via Q-con, foil, fiberglass or spray insulation, double pain windows, the less the A/C units will have to run to keep the space cooler. 

As for the price of electric, that seems to vary a bit in Thailand. There are several threads on here that discuss this topic. As an example, when I was in my wife's parent's house, there was basically zero insulation. We often ran two A/Cs during the hot months, two fridges, and three TVs. Our monthly electric bill was around 2000 baht. During the cool season, the bill dropped to about 600 baht per month.

How cool your space will be is a function of outside temp, how well the space is insulated to trap the cool A/C air and the A/C setting. A lot of it is common sense and depends on what an individual wants to spend insulating their space(s) that they want to have cooled.

A lot of what I have learned about cooling a house comes from owning houses in Arizona and Las Vegas where the outside temperatures often reach 110 degrees F or more. In Arizona, we also had the "Monsoon" season when moist air would come up from the gulf increasing the relative humidity. Insulation was always a key factor in how much one paid each month for electric which could range from $200-$600 depending on the factors I have stated above. Thailand is no different. The more you can insulate a house, the better. 

This logic also holds true for beer coolers. The better the insulation, the longer the ice will keep your beer cool. I personally have a Yeti cooler that works the best for me in Thailand. So if the electric does go off, I always have a nice cool beer to sip on.

----------


## cnx37

SUMMARY: "The more you insulate, the better - just do it".

----------


## FatOne

OMG!! We actually got back to construction! I love the banter you guys come up with. Yep, I reckon I agree, just gotta get the minister of war ( wife ) to agree. She is worried we won't have enough to build her a nice kitchen and bathroom. I like the thick 6 in fibreglass batts, so in the end we will put them in, just waiting for a quote, but right now everyone is off at some sort of "special day" Buddhist ceremonies, and SIL is spending the weekend at the local Wat. Good thing I'm a patient man

----------


## BKKBILL

^^^

I concur rickschoppers very important information I must check out those Yeti coolers. :Smile:

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## terry57

> I reckon I agree, just gotta get the minister of war ( wife ) to agree.



Mate, When it comes to the Important stuff Like " proper insulation " you just do it.

You don't argue the Toss with the wife simply because she don't know shit when it comes to this stuff.

Its your wallet mate, you're paying the bill.

Do it properly the first time.

----------


## terp80

> Mate, When it comes to the Important stuff Like " proper insulation " you just do it. 
> You don't argue the Toss with the wife simply because she don't know shit when it comes to this stuff. Its your wallet mate, you're paying the bill. 
> Do it properly the first time.


Yeah FO. I'm glad to see you add some good insulation now. I'm with Terry on this, especially on the "important stuff." And you can always promise her something extra-nice for the kitchen - to be bought or installed later, if you must placate the MOW. :Cool:

----------


## terry57

^

At the end of the day the Farang is paying for everything.

Jesus, I make the rules in my place.

----------


## cnx37

Priorities! Insulation NOW! Kitchen & bathroom - later.
Cooking - Mama noodles in the s/t.
Bathroom - a hose will suffice.

----------


## cnx37

Somewhere, I read -
Lady's $$$ is her $$$.
Man's $$$ is our $$$.
Well, that is the way it is in our family - conditions unlikely to change. Who am I to argue?

----------


## terry57

^

Yes well one must always let the Thai female know who is really the boss of the house.

If they are bringing half of the money fair enough but when you are keeping the shit house a float you have the last word. 

If not, Something not quite right.

----------


## koman

> Somewhere, I read -
> Lady's $$$ is her $$$.
> Man's $$$ is our $$$.
> Well, that is the way it is in our family - conditions unlikely to change. Who am I to argue?


Well, put it this way....who else is going to argue if you don't?   If you allow people to walk all over you and take control,  they will usually do it.   It might be a good time to review the old Jewish golden rule.  (ie.  He who has the gold makes the rules... :Smile: )

I'm quite willing to share decision making with my wife and I do.    Her family simply have no say whatsoever...ever...and they know better than to try and intervene.

    She accepts that without argument.    Decisions are made jointly 99% of the time, but we both know and accept that I have the veto; although it has never been necessary to exercise it.      We have on a few rare occasions been unable to decide if we should go with her idea or mine....in which case a coin was flipped,  with entirely satisfactory results..... :Smile:

----------


## terry57

> Decisions are made jointly 99% of the time, but we both know and accept that I have the veto; although it has never been necessary to exercise it.      We have on a few rare occasions been unable to decide if we should go with her idea or mine....in which case a coin was flipped,  with entirely satisfactory results.....




Exactly how things must be, anything less is inviting disaster.

----------


## cnx37

koman
my discourse is "banter/jest" 99% of the time. (Life is very short). I am not Jewish - but thoughts - similar.
Wife gets an opinion - she does not make the decisions.
Similar to you, most times we are in agreement. If no agreement, it is "my $$$ - my way or no way". (Anyway, I am older than her - she MUST show respect - Thai-style".
We don't flip a coin - no $$$!
FIL/MIL - no say- simple.

----------


## FatOne

Hi Guys,

We WILL be putting in the fibreglass batts, R37 6", no argument, but it should be mentioned that Kung is working her cute little butt off to send money to Thailand to pay for our place, the majority of my income is used to pay the bills here. I had the first 3 payments from selling my other home, now we are sharing the cost, which is why we are both a little cautious about spending, but to me the batts are a no brainer, and she is ok to do anything that I insist on, like the double glazed windows.

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## koman

^

Good decision.  You won't regret the expense.... :Smile: 

These double glazed windows you speak of.....do you mean two separate panes of glass or double panes with a vacuum between.   We did not double glaze our windows, but they don't get much sun exposure anyway,  (most of them don't get any at all)   and outside noise is not a problem here.  

 I'm curious about the cost of thermal glazing, because I don't know anybody who has installed it.

----------


## nigelandjan

> and outside noise is not a problem here.


Christ thats a rare find in Thaialnd mate well done !

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## cnx37

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
>  and outside noise is not a problem here. 
> 
> 
> Christ thats a rare find in Thailand mate well done !


Outside noise is NOT a problem for koman - he is acutely DEAF!

I am surprised (again). I checked the internet re double-glazing in LOS. There is plenty of activity - TV thread, coolthaihouse.com, TEASCO, PSD (Phuket). Maybe the problem is choice of supplier?
Interested!

----------


## FatOne

We did get an approximate cost from the local glazier in Seka, but I can't remember what it was, and it was just the price of a standard window Vs double glazing. Yes it's the real deal, 2 panes with vacuum. I will try and post the actual cost when we get a quote, but the windows will also include screens and decorative anti theft grills plus some form of tinting, so all up they will be more expensive than just the panes in a frame. Kung knows exactly what we want. I mentioned earlier the fun we had trying to get the builder to understand what we meant by double glazing, he had never come across it and just couldn't grasp the concept, so we will outsource them. I think Kung has the SIL talking to the glazier now, and he should be checking out the house and giving us a quote in due course ( Thai time). Kung has put aside about A$3k just for this in a separate account in OZ. She adds A$200 every week. She's a clever one, my girl!

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
Maybe both you & Kung should consider additional employment in Oz? Fiberglass insulation, double-glazing. Do not forget - BKKBILL - he advised in my thread that warmth is a factor in winter (ie AC inverter systems).
I suggested that when one does an original budget, one should add an "extra factor" - say 30-50% for add-ons. Maybe I have under-estimated on this one?

----------


## FatOne

Yep, CNX, I'm a little deaf too, but I definitely hear the blooming chooks ( roosters for you non aussies ) crowing at 3 am in the village. Last time we were there Kung made me stay at her mothers place when I got too drunk on my birthday to drive home ( the whole village was having a party to celebrate a local sporting win and Kung got them all to sing happy birthday to me and then ply me with beer all night) , the chooks woke me up a few times, they have no sense of time, I thought they only crowed at dawn, but these ones were at it in the middle of the night! I like to sleep in, so with the size of the windows in my house double glazing is not optional.

----------


## FatOne

CNX,

Kung is already doing 2 jobs, she does Thai massage at home then works 6 nights at the local Thai restaurant, and I'm too old to get a second job. The one I have used to pay really well ( I own a franchised computer store in a small town )  but the last few years have been a bit thin, hopefully it'll get better before I retire.

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
I asked the wife about the option of double-glazing - "mai kao jai". So, my "double-glazing" problem is 2-fold - wife & builder interpretation. Insect screens, ant-theft grills (decorative - no "Plain Jane" stuff) - just put it on the tab - waiter! Who cares? My shout! What's another B100k-300k for a bit more stuff.
One more thing - or two - refer to Steve's thread. Will the insect screens open to the inside or outside - choices? Then, why not a fish pond (with fish), swimming pool, waterfall? Add furniture selection - "modern" v 'Thai-style". Life in LOS is TOO EASY - I LOVE THE SIMPLE LIFE!

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
Kung - OK!
You - too old? "Rent that handsum bod - short-time". Only a few more years to go  before LOS. Another option - line-dancing tuition at the local bowls club? Imagination, laddie!
Honestly, living in LOS - I have not found it expensive (no booze, cigs anymore). I know one Aussie who cannot survive on OAP in LOS! Mate, a little loving, a little TV, a little food - note that I emphasise "little". - FO!

----------


## FatOne

Thanks CNX, I cannot wait! To get out of the hustle and bustle and corporate shit and live the LOS lifestyle in a little village so far from the maddening crowds.

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## cnx37

> Thanks CNX, I cannot wait! To get out of the hustle and bustle and corporate shit and live the LOS lifestyle in a little village so far from the maddening crowds.


FatOne
Quiet! Beautiful!
Keep busy in Oz! Line-dancing tuition - $$$! Don't be shy! This may be a hidden talent.

----------


## Iceman123

FO

I would be really surprised if your double glazing had a vacuum, this would be nigh on impossible to manufacture - think about it, I think it is just a fallacy that is bandied about by people who have little idea about double glazing and the benefits ( created by the gap - no vacuum required)

----------


## cnx37

FO
I just asked the wife re double-glazing (again) - curiosity. No need - insect screens are enough! Now, that is beautiful logic! (I should have thought of that!)
Honestly - I am told that Fang is much cooler than your town. My opinion - irrelevant!
In the end, we have an absolute amount of $$$. Allocation thereof - # 1! My budget estimate is up by 1/3!
My wife's current obsession - "buark" (termites). Wood - minimal. Laminate - max. Who is boss? NOT ME!
Presently, laminate is an obsession! Tomorrow, we are going to the "door shop". Change of preference? 50% wood - 50% laminate. ie bathrooms - water? Laminate? Logical?
Wife wants a "beautiful" house - for me?

----------


## koman

> FO
> 
> I would be really surprised if your double glazing had a vacuum, this would be nigh on impossible to manufacture - think about it, I think it is just a fallacy that is bandied about by people who have little idea about double glazing and the benefits ( created by the gap - no vacuum required)


It is no fallacy.   I've used it for almost 30 years in Canada, where it tends to get both very hot and very cold at times, depending on where you live.

 The last two houses I owned before coming to Thailand actually had triple glazed windows.   There are different types.  One where most of the air is evacuated; then fused around the edges during the manufacturing process.   That's why they are so good.  Heat and sound do not travel through a vacuum very well. 

The other type replaces the air between the panes with a gas which has lower conductivity than air.   

The type used will depend on the kinds of temperature extremes and cost.

Thermal glazing and double glazing are not the same.   Double glazing is just that....two glass panes with an air gap between.

Here is some basic information from Wikipedia on the subject:

 VIG _units have most of the air removed from the space between the panes, leaving a nearly-complete vacuum. VIG units which are currently on the market are hermetically sealed along their perimeter with solder glass, that is, a glass  having a reduced melting point. Such a glass seal is rigid, and will experience increasing stress with increasing temperature differential across the unit. This stress may prevent Vacuum glazing from being used when the temperature differential is too great. One manufacturer provides a recommendation of 35 °C.

Vacuum technology is also used in some non-transparent insulation products called vacuum insulated panels.

An older-established way to improve insulation performance is to replace air in the space with a lower thermal conductivity gas. Gas convective heat transfer is a function of viscosity and specific heat. Monatomic gases such as argon, krypton and xenon are often used since (at normal temperatures) they do not carry heat in rotational modes, resulting in a lower heat capacity than poly-atomic gases. Argon has a thermal conductivity 67% that of air

_

I've never even considered looking into real thermal glazing in Thailand, so I don't have any idea what's available.  The real thing is probably pretty expensive and not likely to be worth the cost outlay for most people.

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## cnx37

"Curiosity killed the Cat". Decided to check Namjan again - then Seka.
Thoughts - Namjan - "Culture Shock" - a lot of TV viewing, gardening (I hate gardening), Vipassana, daily classes in Thai language (essential).
Seka - 25min drive - far more "bustling"? Population per Wiki - 10k. Fang is BIG - real cosmopolitan - 20k. CNX - nobody knows - 600k? No - Wiki again! Muang - 160k; metropolitan area - 1m; Province - 2m. So, what is the answer? 
My wife is concerned - will I get bored in Fang? No Dear, many beautiful Puying in Fang - I run for cover (fast) - if it was handed to me on a plate, I would not know what to do with it! Sad but true. Ageing - leave me out!

BLOODY WINDOWS! LEAVE ME OUT AT THE MOMENT (OPINION SUBJECT TO ALTERATION IN ANY MINUTE!) LISTENING (similar to Mr Wasp).
koman lives in Isaan! That is a hint for me - thanks, but no thanks to this one!

Come on FO - tell us about your line-dancing enterprise - satisfied grannies - all the sordid details required. Price negotiation? Competition?

----------


## cnx37

Marty - refer my thread. Shopping today - options too many! 22cm v 20cm toilet is only the beginning + automatic close"d" option. How many males close the lid (after urination)? When "pissed", closed lid prior to urination - not that unusual. 
My cost estimates are going up, up & up!

----------


## FatOne

Hi Guys,

I didn't actually specify what type of double glazing, I was just happy to find someone that knew what I was talking about! I believe that whether it has a vacuum or just air they will still be better insulation from heat and noise than standard glass. If you look at the pics Kung has designed the house with a lot of glass, so with all the extra dosh spent on the right bricks and the right roof insulation I believe the use of double glazing is going to prove itself. And-- CNX, line dancing is definitely not my thing, in fact at my weight, dancing is not my thing. Kung wants to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb (A$260) when we go to Sydney in 2 weeks, there is no way I can join her, I just wouldn't make the half way point!

----------


## cnx37

FatOne - just another $$$ making suggestion (line-dancing)!   :smiley laughing: 
I was patiently awaiting a response!
Rob a bank - investment advising for CBA? Arseholes! (I got done for AUD400k with an international bank in SGP - vulnerable at the time - still hurts). The best vocation - MP - member of parliament. Jeering, heckling ability - only credentials required. A "gay" companion - bonus?
There are better things in life - loving spouse, contentment with what one has; simplicity in life; nothing much really matters (except toilet seat design); reduction in desire - should I become a Phra (Buddhist monk)?
Being a futurist, I suggest that ALL will be fine for Kung & you - now & forever (doesn't that give you goosebumps?

----------


## FatOne

Thanks CNX,

I hope so! We are very happy now, so I think the future looks pretty rosy. The simple life sure does sound good to me, hopefully soon.

----------


## cnx37

FatOne! Quiet life in LOS - there ain't no better. We self-create most problems. Diameter of toilet bowls, toilet elevation. double-glazing, fish ponds, insulation, window tinting, insect screens - on it goes. If this continues, one may as well reside in Oz! Shudder!
When I arrived in CNX, I lived in a guesthouse for maybe 6 months. Not much to be concerned about? Just pay the monthly rental fee. Other - ladies & their demands. I have resolved the lady dilemma. In its place, so many "things" - headache - pass the Bundy.

----------


## FatOne

As long as I've got a couple of mates to chat with and some real food to eat I will be fine. Plenty of really nice expats around me, and I reckon I'll have to make my own pies and sausage rolls but have a good farang restaurant 20 mins away and can make most of my usual tucker from what I can buy in Seka.

----------


## terry57

^

That's brilliant mate, I wish you all the best .

I respect the punter who is enjoying his life and making the best of it.

----------


## cnx37

FO - I suggest that you go 1 step further. Invest in a pie-van; mushy peas; "black" sauce" - park outside the local hotel (bar-beer).
Before you know it, you will have so much surplus $$$, you will gain another problem - too much $$$.
The Poms will be there!
Maybe a TV for the cricket & football?
"Pie & Piss" - a man's best friend?

----------


## FatOne

Might just do that, Maybe there are a few others who are hanging out for a pie fix? Last time I was there I checked out many places to try and find frozen pastry to no avail. I have found a recipe for making pastry, but it looks like hard work. The Farang restaurant makes a nice Cornish pasty and she reckons she can get me some fresh pastry when I need it, so we'll see.

----------


## cnx37

FO - an inspiration. Initially, try selling the pie/pea "gourmet delight" at your new corner shop - less initial investment? Your competitor (owner of Cornish pastry shop) - can you work in together? Frozen pastry - try CNX/Khon Kaen - many bakeries/breadshops? Probably, quite expensive by Thai standards?
My wife is hard at work today - poor/slave pay - Immigration Office on my behalf.
PS: I am a 20cm man - not pies!

----------


## FatOne

Gotta keep this thread alive, SIL has gone to Pattaya for a few days to visit boyfriend, so no Pics for a while, but all they are doing is rendering blocks so I reckon it would not be very riveting. I've booked Kung air tickets for end of October so she can go over and supervise the finishing touches.

----------


## cnx37

SIL visiting boyfriend in Pattaya? Usually, the other way around?
"keep the thread alive". For a "small" fee, I can provide regular banter, as much BS as you wish, current trends in toilet diameter, photos of schoolgirls in uniform, naked grannies. An updated menu available within 30 days.

----------


## FatOne

Schoolgirls in very brief uniforms???

----------


## cnx37

I think I need an adviser. This is a little like diameter of toilet seats - I am confused. Long skirts - No, No, No! No knickers - still being considered. Living in LOS - too many decisions - headache. Any suggestions from the forum re this dilemma?

----------


## cnx37

Apologies! Hogging your thread. At least, this is a very important matter. It may have serious ramifications on the SET!

----------


## cnx37

FO - I have NEVER seen an electric dishwasher in LOS! Your new home - a showcase? Maybe it is time to say that ever so difficult word to Kung - NO! 
Of course, you can always volunteer your labour-intensive services. I have never washed/dried in 12 years in LOS. I am one of those male chauvinist pigs? Hang the pig!

----------


## FatOne

Plenty of dishwashers in the shops in Udon, not very cheap. I checked out a number of appliances on the last visit, fridges are much cheaper than OZ, washing machines about the same and dishwashers looked a bit more expensive.

----------


## FatOne

Considering when I put air in my house it will be the first house in the village with air, I reckon a dishwasher isn't over the top!

----------


## stevefarang

Marty,
Don't forget you'll have to find the proper soap to use in a dishwasher. They could be pricy or hard to find if you're the only house with one in town.

Steve

----------


## Lancelot

> Thanks CNX,
> 
> I hope so! We are very happy now, so I think the future looks pretty rosy. The simple life sure does sound good to me, hopefully soon.


Good for you FO, you're the lucky one.

----------


## koman

A dishwasher is one appliance that you can seriously do without here.   Apart from being relatively expensive they are for the most part,  very under-utilized.   I considered one for our new house, but discarded the idea when I realized that the wife would just use it for storing stuff in.  She thinks they are just plain stupid things.    It takes about 2 minutes on average to wash up our dishes so storage is about all it's good for.  If we had a house full of kids or something I might think differently, but with only two adults????      As always....up to you..... :Smile:

----------


## cnx37

Fellow contributors - appropriate dishwashing powder availability is a good point - bulk purchase at Macro once per year? Usage - we have no kids. In Oz, it was WW111 re my stepchildren - so we bought a dishwasher. Problem solved.
If FO extends himself to this degree, maybe Thai "Home & Garden" mag will do a feature article - farang doing it tuff in Udon. Koman sums it up -  " up to you....."

----------


## terp80

> A dishwasher is one appliance that you can seriously do without here.   Apart from being relatively expensive they are for the most part,  very under-utilized.   I considered one for our new house, but discarded the idea when I realized that the wife would just use it for storing stuff in.  She thinks they are just plain stupid things.    It takes about 2 minutes on average to wash up our dishes so storage is about all it's good for.  If we had a house full of kids or something I might think differently, but with only two adults????      As always....up to you.....   
> 				__________________


I lived mostly by myself for the last 15  years in the US and used my dishwasher once a year - if that - just to make sure it was still working. So, no I won't have one here. Unless you count the one who's in the shower right now. :09:

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## Lancelot

*I lived mostly by myself for the last 15 years in the US and used my dishwasher once a year - if that - just to make sure it was still working. So, no I won't have one here. Unless you count the one who's in the shower right now.*

+1 That's the ticket  :Smile:

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## cnx37

The one in the shower - definitely counts! This is exactly why I am with my spouse - soapy water adversely affects my soft hands.

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## FatOne

Yep, I do see the points raised, only one that bothers me is the soap availability, but then again the availability of a lot of things will always be a problem. We use the dishwasher here when we have a few people around for a dinner party or when we get slack and don't wash up for 2 days. Can't see it being any different over there! My missus won't let me do the dishwashing, she reckons I don't wash them very well! She is fastidious about the cleanliness of dishes, particularly rinsing them very well. In Oz we usually just throw them on a dish rack and let them drip dry, it has never before bothered me that there might be some soap residue.

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## cnx37

FO - A/C - now dishwasher! You - HiSo!

----------


## FatOne

Yay! Finally I have some pics to post. SIL still away but some of Kung's friends sent us some updates. This one is the kitchen and dining looking thru the front door.

----------


## FatOne

This one of the loungeroom looking from the dining room. Some controversy over the doorway into the hall seen in both the above pice. The hall is 1.5m wide but for some odd reason the builder has made the doorway ( which will have a sliding door - mainly to seal in air con) only 80cm. Kung will get SIL to ask them to widem doorway to the full 1.5m, mainly so we can fit furniture thru, but she informs me she wants the door to be see thru glass, so it'll look better as well.

----------


## FatOne

This is the walk in wardrobe in the master b/room. We looked at the pic last night and reckon we should be able to fit a hanging rail on each side lengthwise and some cupboards on the end wall.

----------


## FatOne

This is the master bedroom, with ensuite. The WIR is just to the right of the ensuite. I reckon the windows are a bit big, but too late now!

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## FatOne

Final Pic for today, the hallway looking towards the rear and laundry area, 2 spare bedrooms on the right.
I will be away on hols visiting my parents in Sydney area for a week with limited access to computer. Hopefully more pics when I'm back. I think it's coming along well, but it has been raining constantly so they can't do much to the outside.Slowly catching up to you Terps!

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## terp80

> I will be away on hols visiting my parents in Sydney area for a week with limited access to computer. Hopefully more pics when I'm back. I think it's coming along well, but it has been raining constantly so they can't do much to the outside. Slowly catching up to you Terps!


Haha. Yes you are - and not slowly! :smilie_clap:  When I looked at the first pic, for a second I thought it was *MY* house. :Very Happy:  Looking good! :bananaman:

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## FatOne

Thanks Terps, having a great time in Sydney, nice balmy 20 degrees and sunny. Glad to be out of Victoria, if only for a week. It was a max of 9 degrees C in my home town yesterday. Going to Cnaberra tomorrow which will probably be colder than Vic.

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## Iceman123

^^^
Are you sure that hallway is 1.5m wide - it may be the photograph but it does not look it.

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## FatOne

Kung had a friend take a tape measure, we thought the same, apparently it is!

----------


## FatOne

Back at home, with limited use of a PC. Usually use my laptop at work. Kung came down with the flu and hasn't been out of bed for 3 days. Thai girls are not great when it comes to colds and flu are they? SIL hasn't sent any new pics yet, not sure if she's back in the village yet. No point in talking to my darling, all I get is one syllable answers while she is sick.

----------


## cnx37

FO, Thai girls - illness! Nothing! Try Thai men - a bunch of sissies, Mummy's boys! "Sick"!  LOS is awaiting YOU! LOS wants your $$$!

----------


## FatOne

Yay! Finally getting some pictures in! SIL is back and sent some pics last night. This one is a bit blurry, but I added because it's a good overall shot of the house and where it is up to.

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## FatOne

I really like the detail these guys do, the bottom of the wall looks interesting. Kung reckons all Thai houses have this , which is news to me.

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## FatOne

Just another pic of back of house

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## FatOne

THey have all this weird bamboo scaffolding up around the carport and verandah, I cannot see why. Kung reckons it's so nothing falls down, but if it was going to fall down why didn't it fall down before they put all this stuff up? Don't know what they are doing, maybe putting a ceiling in?

----------


## FatOne

Here's another angle of the carport. Any ideas? Just looks like a whole heap of scaffolding for no reason to me???

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## FatOne

So every Thai house build has to have it's problems right? AAAArrrggghhh!!! We want to put a proper western style kitchen in, so asked SIL to tell builder just to put benches in kitchen with sink and stove and we would get someone to build in cupboards later. But, SIL has been away, obviously message did not get through! Kung spent half an hour on phone last night with the phone dropping out all the time ( great reception in village) trying to sort this one out. I told her just get the builder to pull down the one in front of the window, and make sure when he puts the bench in to put the sink up one end to leave enough room to put a dishwasher underneath. We'll just have to work around the other two benches with stupid little cupboards. The same builder did the same style of kitchen in my Swedish mates house across the road, and it looks pretty ordinary.

----------


## terp80

> The same builder did the same style of kitchen in my Swedish mates house across the road, and it looks pretty ordinary.


Hah! I think we found the real reason he did it that way. He may have been told the correct way, but just decided to do it the way he did it before. :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  

The added "feature" to the outside bottom of your house is something I haven't seen before, but maybe it's a local thing.

From the photos, I can't tell what the scaffolding is for either, but it's probably needed for something. Looking good though FO. :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Terps, yeah, I reckon they are doing a top job!

----------


## splitlid

That plinth around the house is not common in thai houses. Maybe the beam was poured incorrectly and they put that on to hide the beam. The supports look like the base shuttering for a beam. Maybe the existing steel/beam is not sufficient and is sagging

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## splitlid

Looking at the shuttering support again it looks like a false beam will be poured so the ceiling can be the same level around the house and the. Under the carport the ceil can be raised as there is a height difference in the floor levels

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## BKKBILL

I'm with splitlid on the supports in carport looks like you are getting another beam.

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## FatOne

Yeah, well that'll look interesting. Always amazes me the way these guys do such a great job finishing off a house when it is such a budget job. You are lucky to get a wall and ceiling on a house here for 10 times the cost!

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## FatOne

The SIL sent this pic, the builder has done as requested and taken out the cupboard under the window, just putting in the sink so we can slide dishwasher under.

----------


## crepitas

nice thread and house mate..goodonya.
re dishwasher..do you have a large family? Had dishwashers in all my houses over the years...but if a dozen or dishes,couple of pots just 1/2 hour or so to clean and put away..ex used to get mad at my _enthusiasm_ ...

Have a few sets of  pots/pans and dishes, cups etc..accumulated from overseas trips over the years.....piles of 'em in the cupboards ..only ever use two or three from top of piles. 
Dish washers are good if you have many house guests for eatathons..otherwise methinks maybe a disposal unit in sink is a better investment..Thais tend rarely scrape food off the plates before dumping in the sink in my experience.

_Oh ....don't forget to advise builder to provide for power under counter for dishwasher_! 

Do dishwashers come with sink drain "y" connector for water disposal in Thailand?..If not pick one up before you come to Thailand.

I keep my " I do later deah!" _dishwasher_ in jewelry and clothes.._not_ under the sink....55

----------


## FatOne

Hi Crepitas,

Very good advice re electrical. If it was up to me I wouldn't bother with dishwasher, we may not put one in straight away anyway, but Kung has become westernised and loves how clean everything comes out, so she'll put all the stuff in the dishwasher for a couple of days until it's full, then run it. And it is great for dinner parties, I'm sure we'll have a few freeloaders over when we move in to our house permanently!

----------


## BKKKevin

In the US I had one of those drawer dishwashers and kept the daily dishes in it all the time and ran it every night after diner... But have not seen them sold here?...

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## nigelandjan

They would have about as much appeal in Issan as a conservatory ^

----------


## FatOne

A few more pics sent by SIL

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## FatOne

Looks like all that scaffolding was just so they could do the fancy bits above the front poles. They are going to add some other finishing bits to these.

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## FatOne

I would love one of those drawer style dishwashers, in Oz they are available in 1 or 2 drawer configerations.

----------


## FatOne

You can see by this pic that they are getting on with it. The ceiling frame is in, and electrical work is going along nicely. They complained that I wanted too many power points, but I hate the way they all use extension leads everywhere.

----------


## FatOne

The rest of the pics were a bit like this, even I couldn't work out which rooms they were. This one is the master bedroom I think

----------


## crepitas

> Hi Crepitas,
> 
> Very good advice re electrical. If it was up to me I wouldn't bother with dishwasher, we may not put one in straight away anyway, but Kung has become westernised and loves how clean everything comes out, so she'll put all the stuff in the dishwasher for a couple of days until it's full, then run it. And it is great for dinner parties, I'm sure we'll have a few freeloaders over when we move in to our house permanently!


55 no worries mate..we have a 240v ignition drop in gas range  ..bought it before building/wiring  kitchen so dropped in power cable (this old fart wired and plumbed our house). All well and good till the power goes off in the _sticks_ ..then it is butane gas wand. Can never have too many power points in a kitchen methinks...fridge,water cooler, rice cooker,microwave, toaster oven etc.
have fun...

----------


## crepitas

more "power" thoughts:

Power for range hood and/or extraction fan?

----------


## FatOne

Yeah, good idea, but so far I'm not sure we are going to get quite that upmarket. At this point I just want to pay for the place and get the basics, I'll worry about other important stuff like ovens and air con later, it'll probably be 4 years before I move permanently, so right now it will just be a holiday house. There is a giant window in the kitchen that will have to do.

----------


## FatOne

I am having enough trouble trying to explain earthed power points to my beloved, she really doesn't see the point. I'll prob get 3 point power points, but not sure if I got the point that the 3rd hole has to be wired to earth.

----------


## gusG

You may have more luck, if you refer to it as "ground'.
The sparkies here use that term.

----------


## terry57

> I'll prob get 3 point power points, but not sure if I got the point that the 3rd hole has to be wired to earth.


When you get the Electricians in make sure you are there when they wire those power points.

My guys came in and  used twin wires with no earth.  :Confused:  

You must ensure they do it properly.   

As far as trying to explain to your other half, forget it. Just do it.

----------


## koman

It's not impossible to convey some understanding of these things to a Thai wife
.    I explained it this way:

There are two ways we can deal with a faulty wall outlet.    The first method involved putting in an extra wire that takes the electric current to a big metal rod in the ground if something goes wrong.

The second method is simpler and cheaper.  It involves sending the current through you.  The only problem with this method is that it often causes death.  

Which one do you think we should go for?

----------


## bankao dreamer

^
Depends if you take into account any insurance payout.  :Smile:

----------


## cnx37

FO, you are fortunate - I know SFA re this sub-topic.
I think that koman is the "professor" on this.
However, if Kung still insists on no "earthing", what will be your next move? Checkmate?

----------


## FatOne

She certainly doesn't insist on no earthing, she just doesn't understand it. I had to grab an 3 point Thai plug to demonstrate what I was talking about, then the message has to be relayed to the SIL to tell the builder who then has to tell the sparky. Unfortunately I won't be in LOS until February, and by then the work will have been done. I can only hope that the message gets through.

----------


## koman

> She certainly doesn't insist on no earthing, she just doesn't understand it. I had to grab an 3 point Thai plug to demonstrate what I was talking about, then the message has to be relayed to the SIL to tell the builder who then has to tell the sparky. Unfortunately I won't be in LOS until February, and by then the work will have been done. I can only hope that the message gets through.


You really should not have a problem with this.  Although earthing/grounding electrical circuits is a fairly recent practice around rural Thailand,  it is well understood by those who have received proper training as electricians.   There are lots of myths about this sort of thing in farangland. 

 Some people insist on employing village idiots to do work that requires training and experience, and they wonder why it didn't turn out right.

  According to some of the sages on Thaivisa and some other forums, the Thais are incapable of screwing in a light bulb.

I was assured by other expats that there was no way I was going to be able to have GFI (safety cut out) circuits installed in my house.....but we have lots of them, and it was no trouble at all.  The individual GFI's are double protected because the main panel has another safety cut-out, so there is double protection in the event of a short or other electrical calamity. 

  We had a Dutch fellow, who happened to be an industrial electrician, stop by for a look one day, and he thought our electrical system, and especially the safety part,  was excellent.  Thailand has come a long way in recent years....depending on where you live and who you deal with.

----------


## cnx37

> She certainly doesn't insist on no earthing, she just doesn't understand it. I had to grab an 3 point Thai plug to demonstrate what I was talking about, then the message has to be relayed to the SIL to tell the builder who then has to tell the sparky. Unfortunately I won't be in LOS until February, and by then the work will have been done. I can only hope that the message gets through.


FO - life is finite! I have recently conveyed "earthing" info to wifey - esp the potential consequences of non-adherence. She has advised chang to the best of her ability. As chang has completed govt work, I am confident with the outcome.
Line of communication - that is exactly why I have minimal.

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## terp80

> I was assured by other expats that there was no way I was going to be able to have GFI (safety cut out) circuits installed in my house.....but we have lots of them, and it was no trouble at all. The individual GFI's are double protected because the main panel has another safety cut-out, so there is double protection in the event of a short or other electrical calamity.


Koman, where is a good place around CM to buy these (electrical supplies)? Homemart didn't have any in stock, and my builders are trying to tell me (unsuccessfully) that I don't need any, i.e. the main panel circuit breaker is adequate. :Scared:  And . . . do you happen to know the *Thai word[s] for GFI*? :Scratchchin:

----------


## koman

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> I was assured by other expats that there was no way I was going to be able to have GFI (safety cut out) circuits installed in my house.....but we have lots of them, and it was no trouble at all. The individual GFI's are double protected because the main panel has another safety cut-out, so there is double protection in the event of a short or other electrical calamity.
> 
> 
> Koman, where is a good place around CM to buy these (electrical supplies)? Homemart didn't have any in stock, and my builders are trying to tell me (unsuccessfully) that I don't need any, i.e. the main panel circuit breaker is adequate. And . . . do you happen to know the *Thai word[s] for GFI*?


I don't live anywhere near CM, so I have no idea.  Sorry.

Our electrical contractor got ours, but I think they may have  been ordered in from BKK.   Any good electrical contractor should be able to source them.   My project manager and electrical guys knew exactly what I was talking about.

One thing you might want to try:  GFI or GFCI are American terms used only in the US and Canada as far as I know.  They are known as RCD's  (Residual Current Devises) in the UK, Euro and other undeveloped areas of the world..... :Smile:  

The two brands used here were Chang and Toshiba units  set to cut out when any current leak from the live wire exceeds 30mA.  

  30mA would give you a nice tingle but 30A will fry you....tingle is infinitely better than fry... :Confused: 

Yes, your builders will go to considerable lengths to dissuade the installation of such mysterious farang devises;   which likely explains why so many people manage to electrocute themselves in Thailand every year; although they may try to tell you that it's because of bad spirits and nothing really to do with electrical safety.

   The latest generation of bathroom water heaters have RCD's built in, but we installed secondary units anyway, because water heaters are one of the most common sources of electrocution here and the built in units are prone to failure as the unit gets older in such a corrosive environment.  

You tell em T80......if they don't play ball, shoot a couple of em... that always gets attention..... :Smile:

----------


## terp80

> I don't live anywhere near CM, so I have no idea. Sorry.


Ooops, sorry; can't read "Isaan." :Rolleyes: 




> One thing you might want to try: GFI or GFCI are American terms used only in the US and Canada as far as I know. They are known as RCD's (Residual Current Devises) in the UK, Euro and other undeveloped areas of the world.....


Haha. *Thanks Koman*. I'll use "RCD's" next time.





> Yes, your builders will go to considerable lengths to dissuade the installation of such mysterious farang devises; which likely explains why so many people manage to electrocute themselves in Thailand every year; although they may try to tell you that it's because of bad spirits and nothing really to do with electrical safety.


Spirits indeed.  :gost: 





> You tell em T80......if they don't play ball, shoot a couple of em... that always gets attention.....


Damn right . . . ahm 'Murican. If 'ey don't do what you want, shoot 'em. :2guns:

----------


## cnx37

koman, you are in fine form today! There is never too much wit!

----------


## crepitas

> Yeah, good idea, but so far I'm not sure we are going to get quite that upmarket. At this point I just want to pay for the place and get the basics, I'll worry about other important stuff like ovens and air con later, it'll probably be 4 years before I move permanently, so right now it will just be a holiday house. There is a giant window in the kitchen that will have to do.


55 ..I installed range hood...never use it ..frickin noisy...the _somewhat overpriced_ light is a _nice to have_ though

----------


## crepitas

Go buy your own domestic consumer panel ( houses main GFI/RCBO and distribution breakers)...pick one with integral GFI/RCBO safety cut...need to find an electrical supply house methinks..Homepro etc probably has them but suspect suspect the floor assistants always say "no have"  ....read they have no frickin idea what you are talking about.
Google a photo and show them a pic on your phone..might work.?

----------


## crepitas

re earthing/grounding:

You probably have a temporary meter...rate is twice regular KW/Hour rate!!!!..When you apply for permanent meter the local EPA will inspect your house wiring etc..albeit a very cursary inspection. If you have no evident ground rod and GFI or only two pin outlets they will not pass it.

Re the wife:
Show her the _three_ pin plugs on most appliances..55

----------


## Bettyboo

^ you don't need to worry about all that. I asked the missus/FiL/builders about lightening rods a number of times, and they are yet to understand what I'm talking about, or that they actually exist...  :Smile:

----------


## 6kon

> re earthing/grounding:
> 
> You probably have a temporary meter...rate is twice regular KW/Hour rate!!!!..When you apply for permanent meter the local EPA will inspect your house wiring etc..albeit a very cursary inspection. If you have no evident ground rod and GFI or only two pin outlets they will not pass it.
> 
> Re the wife:
> Show her the _three_ pin plugs on most appliances..55


But then she thinks why use 3 it works pretty well with 2  :Smile: 
And its just to remove the extra pin or change it .....

----------


## FatOne

I talked to her again last night, I think the message is getting through, she reckons her mums place has the leakage detectors, so we will have them too.

----------


## cnx37

FO! If it were me (who knows?). I would just enjoy the "journey" - many sparks; head - spiky (frazzle) - thrown across the room. 
Suggestion - do a video - for publication after your 2nd burning.
Chok dee!

----------


## FatOne

Thanks CNX for those kind thoughts!

----------


## cnx37

You are welcome teeruk. When I am "in the mood", many similar will follow. I just luv sarcasm & dry (very dry) wit. My (sarcasm/wit)skills - often taken far too seriously. Often gets me into "trouble".
Clean your teeth before 2nd burning - courteous to others?

----------


## crepitas

> ^ you don't need to worry about all that. I asked the missus/FiL/builders about lightening rods a number of times, and they are yet to understand what I'm talking about, or that they actually exist...


Actually not lightning rods..copper sheathed 1-3 meter rods driven into the earth to be wired to distribution panel to provide ground/earth for 3rd pin.. 
Hate to suggest it but there is an egotistical, arrogant,know all mod, on TV who claims to be a sparky. He has done _grounding_ to death .....some good info and links pics etc nevertheless


Unless of course that was tongue in cheek and jocose....in which case I feel really silly...55

----------


## RPETER65

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> 
> She certainly doesn't insist on no earthing, she just doesn't understand it. I had to grab an 3 point Thai plug to demonstrate what I was talking about, then the message has to be relayed to the SIL to tell the builder who then has to tell the sparky. Unfortunately I won't be in LOS until February, and by then the work will have been done. I can only hope that the message gets through.
> 
> 
> You really should not have a problem with this.  Although earthing/grounding electrical circuits is a fairly recent practice around rural Thailand,  it is well understood by those who have received proper training as electricians.   There are lots of myths about this sort of thing in farangland. 
> 
>  Some people insist on employing village idiots to do work that requires training and experience, and they wonder why it didn't turn out right.
> ...



I thought I lived in the sticks, but maybe not. All of our electrical done by the builder is two where withal copper ground, and all wiring we have had done by another electrician for our ad dons are grounded, the jacuzzi tub has a GFI in the circuit. Where are you living that the Thai people do not know about this?

----------


## FatOne

We are way up in NE Isaan, about 20 Kms out of Seka in Bung Khan province. They probably do know and would have done it anyway, just trying to explain electricals to my better half is sometimes frustrating.

----------


## cnx37

2 choices FO?
a) Explanation - not required.
b) Just do it!
Bring in the Oz Consulate - if necessary - whatever it takes? FBI?

----------


## FatOne

Well, they are doing the electricals as we speak, so hopefully all will be well.

----------


## FatOne

Another Pic - I like the decorative windows around the front doorway!

----------


## FatOne

Looking towards front door and dining from the loungeroom

----------


## cnx37

My info - per wife. Doors & windows - abundance=bliss!
It is apparent that "grounding"  problem has been removed. Sparkies - my technical expertise coming to "light" - already on the job.
Good luck - teeruk!

----------


## heavyT13

Hiya Fatone, just been reading thru ur build, I noticed you are up to wiring, definitely invest in rcbo or safety cut as mentioned earlier. The only catch with the Safetycut Gold system is they come preloaded with the Amp circuit breakers, which more then likely may not suit all your wiring. The cheapest way is to go with
Square D as its plug and play, they do a RCBO 63 amp as a main switch,  which will protect all your circuits and then u can use mini circuit breakers to suit your wiring, the only catch is if something trips the whole lot will go out. 
100% use earth, the cost for 100mtr 3core sheathed wiring is about 120 bucks aussie and is worth the expense (2.5mm), if your sparky has already purchased twin wire he can buy a roll of earth only and it costs bugger all to put in at this stage of the build.
I would get wify to check the wiring, rule of thumb, 
Powerpoints 2.5mm cable (this will be written on the wiring)
lighting 1.5mm cable
Do a bit of research on individual appliances, i.e 6000w shower will need 6mm cable on a 32 amp circuit breaker (the switch in your fuse box will have 32 written on it.)
Aircon, depending on the size but most new ones up to 24000btu use 2.5mm cable on 20 amp breaker.
See if your builder can put a small manhole up the ceiling for later access to wiring, preferably near your fusebox.

cable to breaker sizing
1.5mm cable = 16amp circuit breaker
2.5mm = 20amp
4mm = 25amp
6mm = 32 amp

My sparky wanted to put 32amp breaker on my 2.5mm wiring for aircon, I told him the new Daicon / Mitsubishi are rated for 20amp.

I went with the 150mm batts (double foiled the green ones) in my condo as I am on the top floor and it made a massive difference without a aircon installed. It kept the radiant heat from the concrete ceiling. I could stand anywhere in my appt without breaking out in a sweat.

If you are putting in a stove get wifey to take photos of what she may like and online will show you recommended amps. A 4 ring hob may also need the 6mm cable with 32amp protection.
I also suggest if you use a PC to earth it, it will save your harddrive.

Goodluck.

----------


## cnx37

heavyT13
Please note that this is an English language forum.
However, I am extremely confident that FO will very much appreciate your contribution. Good luck, FO!

----------


## crepitas

> Hiya Fatone, just been reading thru ur build, I noticed you are up to wiring, definitely invest in rcbo or safety cut as mentioned earlier. The only catch with the Safetycut Gold system is they come preloaded with the Amp circuit breakers, which more then likely may not suit all your wiring. The cheapest way is to go with
> Square D as its plug and play, they do a RCBO 63 amp as a main switch,  which will protect all your circuits and then u can use mini circuit breakers to suit your wiring, the only catch is if something trips the whole lot will go out. 
> 100% use earth, the cost for 100mtr 3core sheathed wiring is about 120 bucks aussie and is worth the expense (2.5mm), if your sparky has already purchased twin wire he can buy a roll of earth only and it costs bugger all to put in at this stage of the build.
> I would get wify to check the wiring, rule of thumb, 
> Powerpoints 2.5mm cable (this will be written on the wiring)
> lighting 1.5mm cable
> Do a bit of research on individual appliances, i.e 6000w shower will need 6mm cable on a 32 amp circuit breaker (the switch in your fuse box will have 32 written on it.)
> Aircon, depending on the size but most new ones up to 24000btu use 2.5mm cable on 20 amp breaker.
> See if your builder can put a small manhole up the ceiling for later access to wiring, preferably near your fusebox.
> ...


Whew...bit of a ramble ..hard to find salient points....don't understand your point about breaker/consumer panel manufacturers.

Bear in mind that this home is in the _sticks_, and OP has already pointed out that the current aim is for relatively cheap and cheerful. In all probability the meter is rated at 30amp or less.

----------


## heavyT13

cheaper then ripping apart your ceiling later to replace wiring or worse electrical fire.

----------


## terry57

> Powerpoints 2.5mm cable (this will be written on the wiring)
> lighting 1.5mm cable
> 
> cable to breaker sizing
> 1.5mm cable = 16amp circuit breaker
> 2.5mm = 20amp



Your info regards cable sizing is spot on regards Australia and it should be here also.

But here is the rub,  In Thailand a power point can consist of either two pins or 3 pins, the 3rd pin being the earth . 

I dislike the two pin system intensely simply because it gives Somchai the Electrician an excuse to install 1.5 mm twin core wire to the two pin power point.

Its a crazy system and open to abuse. If all power points where 3 pin like Australia  Somchai would automatically run 2.5 mm twin and earth.

I had my kitchen wired up and Somchai used twin core 1.5MM wire to wire up three pin power points.  :Confused: 

Must watch Somchai at all times.

Somchai will only use 2.5 MM three core wire to Aircon's, water heaters and other heavy load appliances as a given and that's debatable in the village.

Even in kitchens where an earth is required for fridges, kettles, toasters and so on chances are he will use two core 1.5 mm cable.

----------


## terry57

> Whew...bit of a ramble ..hard to find salient points....don't understand your point about breaker/consumer panel manufacturers.
> 
> Bear in mind that this home is in the _sticks_, and OP has already pointed out that the current aim is for relatively cheap and cheerful. In all probability the meter is rated at 30amp or less.



Certainly not a ramble but straight up information by one who knows what he is talking about.

Cheep and cheerful wont cut it when fatboy is lying dead because Somchai has installed 1.5mm cable into a power point where 2.5mm and earth was required. 

Or when Somchai has cut corners on the safeT cut out or wired it wrong. 

I worked in the game for 4 years.  

Jesus, with the amount of rain you guys get up North I would not settle for anything less than an Electrical system wired to Western Standards.

I would have all work inspected by the local Electrical authority as a minimum. 

You only die once. No second chances with power usually.

----------


## heavyT13

I guess most thais dont realise how many appliances us farangs like to use, it would suck for you as you probably paid good money to get it installed. Im guessing you dont run your microwave and rice cooker all at the same time. I ran my own wiring and got a sparky to check it, he looked it all over and said to my GF its a better job then what he would have done. 
The condo im renting at the moment has a hotwater unit in the shower no earth and no safety T cut switch in the fusebox, my gf had one look and told me not to use it lol.




> Originally Posted by heavyT13
> 
> 
>  
> Powerpoints 2.5mm cable (this will be written on the wiring)
> lighting 1.5mm cable
> 
> cable to breaker sizing
> 1.5mm cable = 16amp circuit breaker
> ...

----------


## terry57

> cheaper then ripping apart your ceiling later to replace wiring or worse electrical fire.


Punters who know nothing regards wiring a house correctly can be excused that cheep and cheerful is good enough.  They can plead ignorance but unfortunately ignorance can kill when we are talking electricity. 

Hence why in the real world it takes a 4- 5 year apprenticeship to learn the trade.

But at the same time when their house burns down or their wife has been electrocuted because of an incorrectly system I'd just say,

 " Well you did want cheep and cheerful EH " 

The uneducated Thais have a saying.

" Thai electricity is different, not need other wire "  :Smile:

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## 6kon

...and its not much better outdoors...




6kon

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## terry57

[quote=heavyT13;2853956]

I guess most thais don't realise how many appliances us farangs like to use, it would suck for you as you probably paid good money to get it installed. 
[quote=terry57;2853950]


Nope,

Somchai cost nothing compared to the real world and exactly why I got somchai to do it.

I could of done it myself easily but thought I'd give somchai a job and save myself the work.

Big mistake right there. Never again.

So I get Somchai into my Apartment and tell him I want 6 double power point's installed and I want the three pin variety . Baby work, just wire into an existing power point and continue the run. No need to run a new line back to the Power Point.

So I leave him to it as I done other stuff, Three hours later and 3 K baht he has finished and I sling him the cash.  I mean it would cost 3 K back in Perth just to get the spark over.

Jobs looks reasonable. Anyway I thought Id just unscrew the end Power Point for a look see.

Fuck me,  Somchai has run 1.5 mm cable with no earth.   :Confused: 

Bastards 10 mile down the road by now. 

This was in my Kitchen by the way so Somchai new it would used for heavy load appliances.

Beware the Somchai. 

Just for your info, the power point he began the run from contained an Earth.

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## koman

> Just for your info, the power point he began the run from contained an Earth.


There you are; Somchai was looking out for you after all..... :Smile: ....unless the wire was not actually connected to anything.... We had a rented house some years ago. It had a nice big copper stake in the ground, but they had never connected any ground wire to it... maybe they thought the copper stake was enough...... :Confused:

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## terry57

Many people say SomChai the Electrician is a retard but I don't actually believe this.

Having a look at the massive building projects that are done all over Thailand including Issan its only a matter of sourcing Somchai the Electrician who is actually qualified. 

It can't be that hard.  I'd start at the head office of the Electrical company in my town. 

I certainly would not be using Leks second cousin removed by marriage or dangs brother in Law.

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## FatOne

Thanks for all the info guys, I will get it all checked out before electrocuting myself!

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## koman

> its only a matter of sourcing Somchai the Electrician who is actually qualified.


Common sense innit.... :Smile:     There are plenty of pretty decent electricians around; although the more out in the sticks you get, the harder they might be to find. 

   We had a very good electrical contractor,  which was evident right from day one, when they showed up in a nice pickup truck with tools...even had a couple of meters, and all kinds of different colored wire and serious looking electrical stuff..... :Smile: .  

 The litmus test is to show your electrician a GFCI/RCD wiring diagram and gauge the reaction.... :Smile:   A blank stare is not a good sign., whereas instant recognition and a positive nod is very promising.

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## crepitas

> Originally Posted by heavyT13
> 
> 
> 
> cheaper then ripping apart your ceiling later to replace wiring or worse electrical fire.
> 
> 
> Punters who know nothing regards wiring a house correctly can be excused that cheep and cheerful is good enough.  They can plead ignorance but unfortunately ignorance can kill when we are talking electricity. 
> 
> ...


You misunderstood mate...was referring to the accommodation probably not having all the electrical nice to have appliances you indicated.
Kudos for being in the trade and all that....unfortunately bits paper do not always equate to a professional job..upgraded a few of my own houses over the years ...some of the trade practices of the original work were pretty slapdash. ( possibly done by the _apprentice_ while the _boss_ was off having a cuppa?)

some good downloadable bedtime reading here:Best Practice Guides - Electrical Safety First

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## cnx37

Mr FatOne - a more "important" question?
When you make the "regal entrance" to Namjan, will you acquire a vicious guard dog - to protect you from those young, aggressive Isaan lasses? 
"Isaan" - just checked the 'net - koman is an "Issan" man - Isan, Isaan, Esarn - this Thai is SO easy! Koman, my punt is Isaan.
Must fly, Somchai calling!

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## FatOne

We've got a couple of fluffy dogs , will they do?

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## Bettyboo

> Well, they are doing the electricals as we speak, so hopefully all will be well.


We live in hope, die in frystration...

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## cnx37

FatOne - "fluffy" dogs x 2? That is a tuff one! After deliberation - 2 OK. 1 - NO! Why - ask the BKK "Fireman" - there ain't nuffin he don't know.

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## FatOne

Few new pics in of progress, they are doing a nice job in the carport and verandah area

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## FatOne

Same thing, different angle

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## FatOne

Progress in the kitchen, in the foreground is the bench that will be a breakfast bar and sooner or later we will get someone to build in cupboards underneath.

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## FatOne

And lastly the standard pic on every forum of the guys plastering getting ready to paint. At least there has been progress, the initial quote of 6 months last February is looking to blow out just a teensy bit! Not that it bothers me, gives me some time to save, and I won't be over there until next February anyway!

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## Bettyboo

Nice place, FatOne - coming along very nicely although you're worrying too much about the small stuff like the lecci; it'll be alright....  :Smile: 

The guy 2 doors down from me is the FiL's brother, worked all his life for the local lecci office, quite highish, and he got the satellite tv stuff sorted out himself on a special deal, put it all in too. Never worked. The missus got it all ripped out again and gave him some serious verbals...

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## FatOne

Thanks BB

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## FatOne

Nuthin- no pics from SIL, wonder hat's happening if anything!

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## cnx37

> Nuthin- no pics from SIL, wonder hat's happening if anything!


FO - don't wonder; don't worry - be happy. If you cannot achieve this, then be sad! 
Worse case scenario? SIL & b/f have made a take-over (invasion). At least, it is still in the family. Just think, they are happy! You - jai dee guy.

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## FatOne

At last! Some more pivcs, mind you nuthin much happening, a bit of undercoat

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## FatOne

A bit of a mess around the hall doorway where we got them to widen it.

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## FatOne

A shot of the ceiling, maybe to show they are doing something

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## FatOne

A pic looking into the back laundry area, showing they have built a bench with cupboard

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## FatOne

Had a bit of fun yesterday, came home to pick up Kung and take her to work, and she was all of a dither, her SIL had told her that we needed to pay the builder b99k for the extension to the garage. ( remember we made the garage 2m longer than the plan, as we figured it wouldn't fit a decent sized car) She reckoned if he was charging b99k for that, then how much would he charge for all the other extras we were getting??? I worked out that we were paying about b8k per sq mtr for the whole house, so how could he charge b99k for an extra 12 sq mtrs??? Considering that 8k included plumbing, wiring etc. Anyway when she came home from work at about 9.30pm she rang the builder ( only 6.30pm in LOS) and he explained that wasn't just for the garage, it also included lots of other extras he had done, like the extra .5m overhang of the roof all around the house, the outside taps, the heightened kitchen cabinets etc etc. OK no probs, but wish the SIL would get it right. So we decided last night that we wouldn't have the money to do everything we wanted straight away, we could pay the 99k but she told him she wanted the house finished in a month. So we will just get normal glass sliding windows, and worry about flyscreens and stuff later. With some decent heavy curtains they should block out a fair bit of heat and noise, the cost difference for "safety glass" as double glazing is known in LOS was about 3 times the price. We are working strictly to a budget, just making payments as they are due, and when Kung goes to LOS at the end of next month we will lose her second stream of income.

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## terp80

> A bit of a mess around the hall doorway where we got them to widen it.


"Bit of a mess?" I thought you had been reading my thread. I don't know what you would call all that stuff in and out of my house . . . "disaster" maybe? :Yikes:   Your house looks neat as a pin by comparison. :Fing02: 




> So we will just get normal glass sliding windows, and worry about flyscreens and stuff later. With some decent heavy curtains they should block out a fair bit of heat and noise, the cost difference for "safety glass" as double glazing is known in LOS was about 3 times the price.


Probably a smart decision there. I was very surprised at the difference in price too. I'm going with curtains (next year, when I can afford them) as well. Hang in there!  :Cool:

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## FatOne

Thanks Terps, it mostly comes down to money!

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## stevefarang

^

Yeah, I know THAT feeling...    :Smile: 

Steve

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## cnx37

$$$ - I do not "need" money - I "need" a lotta $$$!

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## FatOne

[IMG]https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/userpics/56951/pAINTING3_%281%29.jpg[/IMG
A few pics came in last night of the outside, where they have started the undercoat. Looking pretty good, I will be very interested to see what the final paint job looks like, we picked a light blue initially with dark blue highlights around skirting boards etc, but my darling has changed the highlight colour to pink. Could look great, might be a bit much, we'll see soon enough.

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## FatOne



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## FatOne

That's better, don't know why pic didn't come out on previous reply, anyhoo a few more to come

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## FatOne

Here's another

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## FatOne

And another

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## FatOne

I'm not going to post the last one because it looks almost identical to the first one. I find it amazing the detail these guys put in to a cheap house. The finish is very good, and much better than most of the plain jane brick veneer project homes you see sprouting up in Oz in all the new estates that cost upwards of A$200k + land

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## terp80

Looking very nice indeed FO!! :Fing02:  

And if you flip those last two photos back and forth really fast, it looks like the guy is painting with a jerky motion -  like a cartoon. :bananaman:

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## FatOne

Ha Ha! They are almost the same aren't they. SIL is not a photographer! Thanks Terps, for a cheapie build I reckon it's coming along really well. For A$40k I was originally envisioning something like my mother in laws concrete block bunker but I insisted the walls meet the roof to be bug proof, (unlike hers) so I am agreeably surprised at the quality and finish every time I gat a pic back. It's going to be better than the A$200k home I live in that the bank owns in OZ!!

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## cnx37

FO - B1.2m - they ripped you off! (by at least B27.0 - <AUD1) = BIG RESENTMENT! 
Get your vicious dogs onto the arseholes!
I have vague recollections that the average home price in SYD is about AUD1m.
NICE BLUE SKIES IN NAMJAN!

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## FatOne

Yep, but the diff is mainly price of land. Cost of building is much the same everywhere. Where I live in small town ( POP 17,000 ) you can buy from about $200k, I sold my very nice 4 bed home for A$340k last year and moved into my last rental home so I could finance the build in LOS.

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## 6kon

Nice house. Looks much like the one you draw.


6kon

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## cnx37

FO - curiousity! Post # 628 - photo. What is the situation re neighbour?

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## FatOne

Hi CNX,

Asked Kung, neighbour is apparently original owner of land my house is on, has lots of land and is just using this block to keep cars and trucks on, no residence there.

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## FatOne

Here's a couple of better pics of the outside of the house

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## FatOne

One thing I noticed in these is that the builder has closed the gap between the carport and verandah roofs and put a decent gutter in, and has closed the gap in the cement floor and put the stairs I requested between the carport and verandah.

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## FatOne

For a cheap build I reckon they are doing an outstanding job

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## bankao dreamer

Its looking good mate, practical and your happy with it. Looks like your builder has sorted the guttering issue. Onwards and upwards good progress.

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## BKKKevin

> One thing I noticed in these is that the builder has closed the gap between the carport and verandah roofs and put a decent gutter in, and has closed the gap in the cement floor and put the stairs I requested between the carport and verandah.


Yes looks like you will have a nice water feature...    :Smile:

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## cnx37

Blue coloured "feature" - advanced security system?
My personal preference - worth shit - same colour as roof tiles.
Neighbour's extras - originally thought - used car yard.
You certainly have a construction problem - big problem! Builder is following/adhering to your instructions. Stop that immediately - fellow TD members will be 'pissed" off.
Just maybe, he thinks that you are a handsum man?

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## FatOne

He has met me!!!!

I think the colours are going to be quite a bit louder than I would have preferred! I really don't care, whatever makes " the minister of War / she who must be obeyed " happy.

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## cnx37

> He has met me!!!!
> 
> I think the colours are going to be quite a bit louder than I would have preferred! I really don't care, whatever makes " the minister of War / she who must be obeyed " happy.


You - FO! Speak truth or forked tongue?
If you & Kung don't like it, change it. Are we talking big $$$? Fix now - or later.
You happy - Kung happy=BLISS. 50% =shit?.
(the "wise one" has spoken).

PS: Who will mow the lawn - you or Kung? A Victa or "hand-job"?

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## Wasp

Anyway .... what d'you mean .......... "  _I'm near the finish line on mine. winge moan winge_ "

Look at the state of it !!!!!!!



Wasp

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## Roobarb

^ if his builder is anything like mine was Wasp then he'll certainly be claiming the job is neary done  :Smile: 

Nice looking build BTW FO.  I reckon it's turning out really well.

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## Bettyboo

That's a really cool outdoor shower design, FO.

 :Smile:

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## Klondyke

Is there any easy access to the gutter for cleaning? With the first huge rain after dry season I always get troubles if I did not check beforehand.

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## cnx37

FO - suggestion. Interior photos?

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## Wasp

You've got 4 Stars now !!!!!!!!!!!!

All that moaning and whining worked .
Showing that an unfinished shell with a primitive outdoor shower is slightly above the average in Thailand .
So pretty much spot-on !




DW.
DisgruntledWasp
.
.
.

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## FatOne

Yay, I'm happy now! Thanks for the vote of confidence Guys, I was getting a bit despondent. Kung has told the builder she expects it to be finished next month, so it's still a lot closer than yours me old mate Wasp, which is still at the drawing board being argued about. More pics shortly.

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## FatOne

> Is there any easy access to the gutter for cleaning? With the first huge rain after dry season I always get troubles if I did not check beforehand.


No! Only a ladder and broom! Or a sprightly young stepson.

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## FatOne

Hmmm! I thought this might be a bit bright! Oh well, it's only the bedrooms

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## Bettyboo

^ liking that, and looking forward to the tiling!  :Smile: 

Keep up the good work, FO.

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## FatOne

In contrast the light blue for all the other rooms is a bit light! Following pic is the same colour in hallway. At least they seem to be getting on with it, and they are painting before they tile the floors, which is a bonus!

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## FatOne

Thanks BB, here's the painted hallway. You will love the floors if they come out the way I envisage, I've asked for the large white tiles with a black border 1 tile in around the outside, but only half the width of the white tiles. - It should look good if they can follow my directions, sent thru Kung, interpreted by SIL!!!

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## Bettyboo

> It should look good if they can follow my directions


 :rofl: 


The tiling time is always a stressful time for us thread owners, mate. Make sure you grow a thick skin before posting pics (it sent poor Nigel over the edge).  :Smile:

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## FatOne

Speaking of tiling - SIL sent pic of this tile they were going to use in double row as splashback on kitchen bench. I said NO! Use it as a highlight, OK, but not every tile, every third tile maybe - we'll see how that works out!

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## FatOne

And this one they were going to tile the bathroom with. I said try doing the top row, middle row and bottom row with these and use white for the rest. We have requested floor to ceiling tiles in both bathrooms.

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## fishlocker

> One thing I noticed in these is that the builder has closed the gap between the carport and verandah roofs and put a decent gutter in, and has closed the gap in the cement floor and put the stairs I requested between the carport and verandah.


Could builder incorporate the drain line into the outermost column vai 90 degree elbows. Then form around the pvc incasing it in concreet. The column would be wider but you would eliminate the shower feature.      Or just get one of those giant clay pots put some lillies in it and raise some coy fish.  Not too big of pot though, dont want the neibor jumping in for a cool off and clean up.

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## fishlocker

How about a copper or stainless down spout pitched twords the front column and following it down.  Space it just off the moulding and centered with the column. It would look classy if done properly and would not break the bank.

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## FatOne

It has never occurred to me that the builder would leave it this way, you guys are so negative! I'm sure he will add more pipe and drain it away, but I might just mention it to Kung, you have more experience at this stuff.

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## cnx37

TD farangs - never ever negative. Just less positive.

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## BKKBILL

The house is coming along well FO, looking good.

A suggestion for your gutter if it was sloped toward the house the down-pipe could run down next to the exterior wall then drained to the front yard under ground. That way if painted the same as the house you would not notice it much.

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## terp80

Hey FO, your colors look a little like my two smaller bedrooms! My house was the inspiration, right?  :bananaman:

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## cnx37

OK - FO - it is an honest program. Terp's thoughts reflected my own eg lilac/pink - whatever. 
Full confession is appropriate? Number of "Hail Mar(t)y's" - yet to be determined.

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## Klondyke

> Could builder incorporate the drain line into the outermost column vai 90 degree elbows.


Better to avoid 90 deg elbow. The gutter will collect a lot of leaves during dry season (if not cleaned up), then it does not go easily thru the 90 deg. with the first splash.

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## FatOne

Yeah, sure Terps. Actually we picked out the colours from a brochure back in February, but I didn't think the bedrooms were so pink, I remember them being more peach. Oh well, they'll do.
And I'm not sweating on the details of the drain so much, as long as it goes out to the ground.

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## cnx37

FO & Terps - good morning, Sirs.
As you are aware, I am a member of "The Fellowship" - yes.
What comes to mind? "Nothing MUCH REALLY matters". That I like.
Colour - "up to YOU". I love banter - give me more.
"Don't take life TOO seriously" - "Wear life like a loose cloak" (Mahatma Gandhi)
Mahatma - a nickname given to me by an Aussie lass - a compliment? Yes?
Colours - I like "soft not "loud" - so "F" what? Wife - her "likes" change on a daily basis.
So, for us, we will be like the wind.
Life is that important that after the Meeting today, we are having a "debate" - to hold hands or not. This is very serious? (American style - no wai style; pat on back style). Personally, I am not a supporter of "hand holding" - where have your hands been? Did you wash them afterwards?
Enough BS? Well, almost.
"Drain" - I support the FO! Hit the bloody ground = success. Time elapsed to achieve goal - who give a "F"?.
Enjoy your day - but if you choose - "NO" - OK by me.
End of an extremely important "sermon on the mount" - stay tuned.

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## FatOne

Oh my God!!!!!!!!!!!!
What have they done??????
So, we asked for white tiles in the bathroom, SIL shows us a pic of some tiles with birds on them, I say looks interesting, but not for whole bathroom, just do 3 horizontal strips between white tiles, top, bottom and middle -- complicated?? I didn't think so! This is what it ended up looking like!!!!!!! Those yellow tiles make it look like my grandmothers bathroom, but even she wouldn't put the picture tiles all over the place with no rhyme or reason.

What can be done? stay tuned. At least they started in the guest bathroom, Kung has told SIL to tell them not to touch ensuite until she gets there later next month.

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## FatOne

Is there anyone out there who actually thinks this doesn't look too bad? I'm probably going to have to live withit, at least I won't be looking at it!!

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## FatOne

EEEwwww!

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## FatOne

At least the kitchen bench tops look good!

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## FatOne

Same benchtops in laundry

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## terp80

> At least the kitchen bench tops look good!


That's all I'll say about the bathroom tiles FO. Isn't it amazing how simple instructions can be "misunderstood?"  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## fishlocker

Sorry about the tiles. They can be removed. I did just that with one of our bathrooms. Should have seen their faces when I said " we need to get a sledge hammer and bust out all this tile." They painstakingly removed each tile by hand managing to save 80% that sil was happy to have for her place. Ugly color. A trip to town and a few dollars more in tiles and all was good. I'll try to post pics later. Can't from phone.Hell it could be worse. I swear could screw up a wet dream some could.

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## stekegto

That's bad luck, I think the reason you got yellow is that they are very cheap.
I think you have been pretty lucky so far considering you are not there.
In January I am embarking on a very similar build in terms of size and design.
But in a village outside Kanchanaburi.
Cant make up my mind if I am looking forward to the challenge or just dreading the hassle.
I think I will just need to keep calm, we will see.
Good luck with your finishing touches

----------


## FatOne

THanks guys, I think they will be pulling this down and starting again. We have told them to just use plain white, but wait until Kung comes over at the end of next month. Let's see if they can follow basic instructions on the floor tiles, I have pictures of the tiles. They look OK. I have changed my instructions to make it less complicated, just do whole floor in white with a black border, going up the wall about 50cm. What's the chances???

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## FatOne

Here's the latest pics of the outside, not quite what we asked for, but easy to fix. I actually think it's not bad, but Kung wanted the pink in a band along the bottom and top, so we'll see what they end up with.

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

These stripes will have to go!

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## FatOne

A nice front on shot to finish off.

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## Bettyboo

Bringing back lots of memories, FO - except you have a kitchen...  :Smile:

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## FatOne

I can't remember you having the same probs with tiles,BB?? Frustrating , but not insu mountable. ( is that a word, my spellchecker doesn't think so??

----------


## Bettyboo

^ my tiles and tiling were average; the TDers did have a laugh, but I was happy enough, did not get involved and it all ended up ok, if not perfect...

I stayed at a distance until it was all done...  :Smile: 

Your tiling is pretty good, mate - just go with it, you're pretty close to the finishing line now! When you moving in? 4-6 weeks?

----------


## FatOne

Actually I'd move in today if I could, but no, it's going to be 4 years until I am eligible for the Oz pension. Until then we will just be back and forth on hols, and that will give us a chance to buy all the bits and pieces that will make it a home.

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## cnx37

> Actually I'd move in today if I could, but no, it's going to be 4 years until I am eligible for the Oz pension. Until then we will just be back and forth on hols, and that will give us a chance to buy all the bits and pieces that will make it a home.


4 bloody years! How many lifetimes is that?
Sell "FO Mansion" - change DOB by deed poll - live in a tent - no problems. Too easy.
When in $$$ difficulties - FO sells/rents his bod.

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## FatOne

FO Mansion in Oz owned by bank, FO bod not worth a damn, relying on lottery to get me there before I die!

----------


## Bettyboo

> hen you moving in? 4-6 weeks?





> it's going to be 4 years

----------


## FatOne

Yup, that's how I feel, hence spending all day at work on TD!!

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## fishlocker

Dont worry Fatone I've about nine years to go myself. By then I'll have to gut the place and retile everything. I have plans to add an addition and outdoor barbie man cave pool ect, ect. Your place is looking fine. Dont sweat the small stuff and good luck with the rest of the project. P.S. my intention was not to critisize the gutter (so called shower feature). It was to suggest a viable solution. Stainless steel at a 30* pitch to the front pillar then down and out. As with anything watever you do you only have to please yourself and of course youre better half. Good luck.

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## 6kon

4 years is nothing. I have to wait over 20 years till I'll live there for a longer period.


6kon

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## Bettyboo

> I have to wait over 20 years till I'll live there for a longer period.


You'll be dead by then...  :Smile:

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## FatOne

Looks like they've started to pull out the ugly tiles in bathroom 2

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## FatOne

Couple of extra pics sent to Kung by a friend, this one shows what they interpreted as our wish for pink highlight, actually they are wrong!! We want top and bottom, what is with putting things in vertical when we ask for horizontal??? This one's a lot easier to fix than the tiles.

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## FatOne

Just another pic of the front showing water feature still not fixed- but I notice power seems to be connected.

----------


## FatOne

And finally a pic of master bedroom, showing colour from this camera actually looks more like the peach colour we picked out 6-7 months ago. Maybe the other pics were just the camera!!

----------


## cnx37

Pics -

Bathroom tiles - no like
Shower (exterior) - no like
Paint colour - master bedroom - no like

Other - bloody fantastic!

Power - no need - cannot see in the dark.

The rest - the ultimate. Congratulations, FO.

----------


## FatOne

Here is a pic of the main ensuite bathroom, we gave up trying to get something interesting, can't go too far wrong with white tiles!!!

----------


## FatOne

Kung has been researching front doors on the internet, the 2 I've posted are the 2 I like best

----------


## FatOne

What do you reckon? She says this last one is very lucky?

----------


## cnx37

Last one is # 1! My ill-informed opinion - a quality front door is extremely Hi So, inviting to guests & encyclopedia salespersons.
Lucky is good - Unlucky is not good. Kung has wisdom.

----------


## FatOne

Not a hell of a lot of encyclopedia salesmen in village!!!

----------


## Nicethaiza

nice project i guess

----------


## 6kon

I liked the white tiled bathroom better than the yellow and flowered one  :Smile: 


6kon

----------


## fishlocker

First off I dont want to hear about it. However this is what They gave me while I was away. Cost was about 200us for fixtures plus a little for labor. Mil picked the tiles. No problem to fix it to my liking.It was my fault as I simply said I wanted it tiled with a shower and a "western" style crapper. They built it to local standards from what I have seen in the area. Live and learn. Had I heard of TD build threads at the time I may have saved a few headaches.

----------


## fishlocker

This is how it is now. the tiles still had some grout on them that was buffed off after I took this pic. Cotto brand sink and throne. I may redo it again If and when I spend more time there. No big deal. I don't like the paper roll that close to the window. Common sense, I thought I made it clear where to place it. I will not do a thread because its a pain to relive these special moments.

----------


## fishlocker

Like I said, you should have seen their faces when I said "were going to get a sledge and bust all these tiles out of here!!!!" You can see why. They could not!!! Note the drain on the left.Yes the PVC ran down the wall outside. I saw this set up In many places in town as well as the villages.I was lucky to have PVC and not just let the water run down the wall. This was styling tiling for some.

----------


## fishlocker

We had to reroute the drains, water lines, and built a proper shower. No problem. Expect nothing to be right and you may be pleasantly surprised.The shower is to the left on the other side of the wall.The door opens to the right now. Easy fix.I'm happy with it now. No wet feet as the shower is encased. We have a similar set up downstairs. Very livable now. Good luck with the rest of your project.

----------


## cnx37

> No problem. Expect nothing to be right and you may be pleasantly surprised..... Good luck with the rest of your project.


fishlocker
words of wisdom indeed. How true it is.

----------


## cnx37

FO - before you know it - a big win in the lottery. Then, a designer kitchen for cooking meat pies, paint job like nothing else, bathroom & toilet too good to use, gigantic TV, lazy boy chair & a MU7 parked in the garage (personalized plates of course - "FatOne").  
What is missing? Oh, yes, a Hills Hoist in the back yard. Home sweet home.

----------


## cnx37

Wait! There is even more to this super, super deal - possible?
Kuhn FO is relaxing in his Jason lazy-boy. It has been a tough morning. FO had to adjust the temperature on the A/C - a warm 24C? None of those insects encroaching - this is an insect-free zone - Obama decree. Meanwhile, his adoring wife, Kung, is by his side - finished the manicure - now the pedicure.
The "slip-slop-slap" has been gently been removed after a vigorous 3 laps of the mini-pool.
Nong Somchai has put the Victa away.
"Waltzing Matilda" is being played in the background on the latest sound system.
At the prestigious front door are the tambourine players - they have arrived from BKK to provide some soothing soul therapy.
Oh no - more damn tedious work for the FO - life is so unfair. The pie cooking procedure is complete - bell ringing on the "Franke" oven. FO has restricted his intake to 5 pies today - hell, it is 11am. Another humongous decision to be made. Does one add Tomato or Worcestershire sauce to the pies & mushy peas.
The "Thai Home Garden" crew has arrived - forgot - FO is so busy. A feature issue in next month's edition - "Life is tough for Aussie farang living in Isaan".
For non-Aussies, FO is providing a special promotion for this month only - comprehensive translation of the above for a mere B5k.

----------


## stevefarang

> This is how it is now. the tiles still had some grout on them that was buffed off after I took this pic. Cotto brand sink and throne. I may redo it again If and when I spend more time there. No big deal. I don't like the paper roll that close to the window. Common sense, I thought I made it clear where to place it. I will not do a thread because its a pain to relive these special moments.


Not sure why these pics are on FO's thread, but why did you get rid of the bum gun that was to the right of the toilet ?

Steve

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Fish,
Sorry about your pain, but glad to hear I'm not the only one. And that toilet paper is not only under the window, but a bit of a stretch from the throne.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks CNX,

Sounds like paradise, do I have to wait here for another 4 years??????

----------


## cnx37

FatOne
Things are pretty good! 4 years is only 1461 days (including one leap year) - one day at a time (AA shit).
Paradise it ain't - it's even better.
You do not "have" to stay in Oz. I happen to know a very nice Thai lass - early 70s. She wishes to "take care" - not possessive. CV?

----------


## fishlocker

> Originally Posted by fishlocker
> 
> 
> This is how it is now. the tiles still had some grout on them that was buffed off after I took this pic. Cotto brand sink and throne. I may redo it again If and when I spend more time there. No big deal. I don't like the paper roll that close to the window. Common sense, I thought I made it clear where to place it. I will not do a thread because its a pain to relive these special moments.
> 
> 
> Not sure why these pics are on FO's thread, but why did you get rid of the bum gun that was to the right of the toilet ?
> 
> Steve


My fish sence could feel the Fat Ones pain over his bath tiles. Post 630 something. So I showed what could be done if one had just two things. One being time the other money.  Also the lack of a proper drill bit halted the bum gun install by another day or two. No biggie. No cracked tile.

----------


## FatOne

I have shown the pics of the stuffed tiling to a number of my friends, and I haven't yet found anyone who would be able to live with it the way it was. Surely someone must have seen how awful it looked over there, and maybe thought we'd better check this before continuing.

----------


## cnx37

> I have shown the pics of the stuffed tiling to a number of my friends, and I haven't yet found anyone who would be able to live with it the way it was. Surely someone must have seen how awful it looked over there, and maybe thought we'd better check this before continuing.


FO - my only suggestions.
Change your circle of friends. Blindness is a distinct advantage in this case. Set a match to the "FO Mansion". Buy a caravan.
Today - AFL - grand final - Hawks v Swans. Personally, I do not give a s..t who wins. Some are obsessed. 
My only obsession - supreme quality of life - not much to seek?

----------


## ludwig

Hey Fat One.
Great build. It would be a bit boring if everything went to script.
Given a bit of time i'm sure those colorful tiles will gain a bit of character
I'm over the hill at Mokoan (aka Winton wetlands)
PM me if you want to catch up for a frothy.
No Singha at Glenrowan  :Confused:

----------


## FatOne

Hey Ludwig,

Lucky to get a beer at Glenrowan! Only 1 pub I've seen. Catch up soon

----------


## FatOne

Should be getting the internet put on today. New system faster than mobile ( which doesn't say much ) I don't know what it's called but local internet games shop rang Kung a while ago trying to get enough subscribers to make it worthwhile them putting up a tower.

----------


## FatOne

Lots of pics from SIL - thay have commenced the floor tiles, so far all looks pretty good. This is the loungeroom

----------


## FatOne

This is the master bedroom. The plan is to have black tiles around the outside edges and going up the walls about 6cm -- hopefully it will work out and look good!

----------


## FatOne

Not sure what room this is, but it gives you an idea of the pattern in the tiles

----------


## FatOne

They have repainted the pink highlights where we asked, the bottom won't be done until the cement path goes around the outside.

----------


## FatOne

THey haven't quite got it right on the front, the curved arches should be all pink, I think they are getting jumpy and don't want to do too much until they are given precise directions!!

----------


## FatOne

Every thread needs a picture of a pig!!!
Actually the MIL has purchased 2 of these and is fattening them up for the housewarming next February!!!

----------


## terp80

> Every thread needs a picture of a pig!!!
> Actually the MIL has purchased 2 of these and is fattening them up for the housewarming next February!!!


Coming along very nicely now FO. :Very Happy:  And nice pigs! Looks to me like you and the pigs will be ready *before* February - will you? :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## FatOne

I can't get time off before Feb anyway, I hope the house will be ready well before Feb.

----------


## bankao dreamer

Ahh pigs you will be building a chicken coop and eating Somtam before you know it. :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

A couple more pics sent last night by SIL. This one showing the living room looking towards kitchen and front door, tiles nearly finished, just have to lay the black tiles around the edges and up the walls a bit.

----------


## FatOne

This one looking back the other way into lounge

----------


## FatOne

THis one I added because it's an interesting perspective, looking into the house from front porch.

----------


## FatOne

They seem to be doing some cleaning up around the outside, hopefully they will be laying the path around the house soon. The window guys have been out and measured up, as I mentioned before I have given up on my wish for double glazed windows due to budget constraints, they were going to be about three times the price of standard windows. I'll just use a heavy curtain to keep out noise and heat. I am still waiting with baited breath to see how the tilers handle the black edge tiles, soon I hope. You'll notice in these pics they've also started to finish off the benches in the kitchen with the same granite as the benchtops. We will organise someone to add drawers and cupboards to the kitchen later.

----------


## FatOne

Yay!! Latest pics showing how the black tiles look! Fantastic! I love it. SIL is a little worried that in some spots the black tiles will be different sizes on different sides of the room, I said it'll be okay, after furniture and stuff goes in I doubt that it will be too obvious!

----------


## nigelandjan

Good luck with all those mega highly polished tiles on the floor in the wet season . 

I made sure ALL our floor tiles were rough / slightly abrasive surface I absolutely hate those shiny slippery bastard things .

I,m thinking on mabe a bit later on in life especially when we are not quite so sure under foot , with my luck it wouldn't be too long before I had a broken hip / leg

----------


## FatOne

Yep, I can see that being a problem, but in the Thai style we will prob be wearing bare feet and I doubt the floor will get wet except kitchens and bathrooms. We will just have to be careful, no worse than most of the highly polished granite floors I see on this thread.

----------


## FatOne

Geez! Don't everyone jump in at once! Where is everyone? The past week or two have been very slow on TD, maybe we need to stir up some controversy or has everyone gone back to the moth/fatherland for hols? I know Waspy gave up in a huff, still see BD, CNX, Terps and a few others.

----------


## terp80

I responded to your post re my snack, and it was removed and another thread created. I didn't think it deserved a separate thread, but what do I know. You'll have to go there to see if it tasted like chicken. :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## bankao dreamer

Im still looking mate it's coming together nicely

----------


## Wasp

Peoples is looking Fatone .

Peoples is looking .

I've had this as well --- posting and writing and no response. 
You need response to energise you enough to write - but when I'm reading a Thread it's a bit dull to come on and say " Lookin Good " .
Because someone or two has already said that .

So I just think  ' Yep .... looking good .'  But I don't write it .




But it's looking mightily fine .


Wasp

----------


## BKKBILL

Looking good FO  :Smile:

----------


## Wasp

> Looking good FO




SEE !!!!!!!



FFS !



Wasp

----------


## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by BKKBILL
> 
> 
> Looking good FO 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SEE !!!!!!!
> ...


Really Wasp!  :smiley laughing: 

Sometimes I just can't help myself.

----------


## FatOne

Nice to know someone is out there!!

----------


## Yemen

We are out here, keep it going.

----------


## FatOne

Yay!! It looks as though they have followed instructions to the letter, and I reckon it looks much better than a plain white tiled floor. Even tho there was some conjecture that all the surrounding black tiles wouldn't be the same size, in most places there will be furniture around the outside and it won't be noticeable.

----------


## FatOne

I've got 10 pics of floor tiles, so I've selected 5 to show you guys, What do you think, not too foul for relatively cheap tiles. Try getting that done in a A$40k house in the west!

----------


## FatOne

This is the only room I can see a big difference in the size of the black tiles, and I intend building a sliding door wall cupboard over the ones on the outside wall anyway to hold linen, towels etc.

----------


## terp80

I like the black tile edge. I wasn't sure at first, but very nice!  :Very Happy:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Terps, it was a bit of a risk, but I think it's turned out really well. I got the idea from another older TD thread. It will be interesting to see how it looks when the put the black tiles about 6cm  around the base of the walls, I hope it will finish it off nicely.

----------


## FatOne

Final pic for today

----------


## Bettyboo

Hmmm, not sure about those black tiles around the edges... Loving the pink wall though!  :Smile:

----------


## cnx37

The black colour tiles as they are - quality!
Upper edging black tiles - no - overkill.
Pink colour - what is going on?

----------


## Wasp

*
*
Bettyboo;" Hmmm, not sure about those black tiles around the edges... Loving the pink wall though! "  :Smile: 



I'm very very sorry FO . 

EXTREMELY sorry ..... but I'm inclined to some agreement here with Bettyboo .


I think the black tiles running along the corridor make it feel narrow .
Claustree   Klosstrafo  Clissteeph   It looks a foot narrower than it really is .

If they were a third of the width they are now then  they would look like a trim . But in relation to the pinky tiles they a little bit dominate.
At least in that corridor.



in my opinion 




Sorry



Wasp




?

----------


## fishlocker

I have a black frankie. I like the black frankie. girl cant bake anyway.who cares. no urinal so im envious of those that do.

----------


## fishlocker

> Originally Posted by koman
> 
> 
> It would leave a pillar in the middle of the room, but I reckon if you made a kitchen island that incorporated the pillar then you wouldn't really notice it. Something a bit like this:
> 
> 
> 
> Ahem....notice that this very upscale kitchen has something that looks very much like a_ Frankie_ ...on the right hand side of that black part.   Islands are for gays.....Frankie's are for men with balls......   I would never dress my Frankie up in black though.....no taste at all some people...
> 
> ...


Did I say I liked the black frankie? Yes I did. Thats all I have to say about that.

----------


## cnx37

A change of mind re my last post.
Kick-board - I agree with FO - 1.5cm is spot on - better than no kick-board.
Re width of black edging tiles - it is done.
Color "pink" - looks like "candy pink" - "baby pink" - can do better than that?

----------


## Wasp

.
. 
So .... FatOne..........

Instead of just saying I think the black edgings are too dominant I did thinkst to myself

" Well what would I do now ? "

And I decided this .

To take more of those pinky tiles and cut strips that are half the width of the black ones .
And put these strips on top of the black edges and banged up to the wall .

And for you to consider --- this is how it would look ............







Wasp

----------


## FatOne

That was the original plan waspy, not quite like that but I wanted a black tile one tile in from the edges. I reckon it would've looked better too, but the builder and SIL convinced my minister of war that the difference in tile widths on the edges would make it look all wrong, so I agreed with just placing the black tiles around the edges. At least it looks better than all white to me, although I don't think she who must be obeyed is over happy with it!!!
Anyway, after getting them to pull down the guest bathroom tiling, and getting feedback and pics all the way through the floor process I don't think I'd be too popular if I got the floors pulled up, and I couldn't afford the cost which they could justify charging me as it was my idea.

Anyhow, I like it!!!

----------


## Bettyboo

> Anyhow, I like it!!!


That's the main thing, FO.  :Smile: 




&, the pink?

----------


## FatOne

Well____ I can live with it!!

----------


## Bettyboo

^ you'll learn to love it...  :Smile: 

I'm impressed with the way you got them to paint the stripes out; I was too weak, so we have range stripes around the 'orrible yellow...  :Sad:

----------


## FatOne

THat was mainly Kung, she told them what she wanted and they screwed it up. Like the bathroom, if they screw it up, then they can fix it!

----------


## Wasp

" Anyhow, I like it!!! "


Good .  Good if you like it .

My effort wasn't digging up ...... those narrow tiles would simply be on top of the present black tiles .

If you are happy that's fine .
But it does sound like the last 6% of the work is wearying as it all seems like potential confrontations .
Exactly the same experience as so many Threads .

Missy's renovations were entirely in Missy's hands and I could see the potential cockups but had promised to bite my tongue .
Sure enough ....... within a month of finishing .... she had bits sinking or bending . And some on the house.


That's not very cheerful is it ? It's supposed to be supportive .



Wasp

----------


## FatOne

Well, at least it's all coming together. I love the house, and it is going to be bloody hard waiting the 4 odd years until I can move there permanently. Meantime I'll have fun staying there a few weeks every year and adding bits and bobs. I saw an electric ice maker here the other day and thought it would be ideal in LOS. Hopefully I can buy it there. Here I have an ice maker in my fridge hooked up to tap water, but can't use tap water there!

----------


## cnx37

I have yet to see a domestic ice-maker in LOS. Just purchase a bag of ice - drop it on the floor. Ready to use.
New avatar - delicious? Better than an ice-maker?

----------


## FatOne

That's an ice *breaker* mate!!!
If I can't get an ice maker there I'll have to buy here and send over, I reckon it's a ripper of an idea, couldn't be buggered walking to the shop every hour for ice!

----------


## Brunswick

Where do you buy bobs ?

----------


## Brunswick

Thought I was asking someone else !!!

----------


## Wasp

.
Still not happy about this star situation  :Sad: 

You've got 8 votes averaging 4 stars !

Why are people giving you 4 stars . Might as well give you 5 . You're not paying them enough .

( I've got more votes than you !!!!  HAHH ! ........... but only averaging 3 stars  :Sad:   :Sad:   :Sad: .)





Couldn'tCareLessWasp

----------


## FatOne

Hi Guys,

Just got some new pics in - they are doing a great job in the kitchen. And Waspy, I've got more pictures than you!!But then again I was 5 stars, dunno why I lost one!

----------


## FatOne

I've got a couple of kitchen photos, the attention to detail is pretty good, but I think maybe now we've made the benches a tad high. Oh well, better than too low, which they would've been if we'd kept the windows where they were originally.

----------


## FatOne

As much as I hate these Thai cupboards they don't look too bad here, the other benches will get custom made drawers or cupboards plus some wall cupboards above this bench.

----------


## FatOne

Back to my black floor tiles, now growing up the sides of the walls, love 'em or hate 'em

----------


## FatOne

And they're growing up the walls in the lounge room too!!

----------


## cnx37

FO - the vertical floor tiles add beauty, style. Surprise.
You have a new sponsor? Coca Cola?

----------


## FatOne

Hadn't thought of that, maybe I'll ask them, if I include a bottle in every photo????
Yeah, I like the floors, don't think Kung does, but it was a win for me!

----------


## Hoops

> Hi Guys,
> 
> Just got some new pics in - they are doing a great job in the kitchen. And Waspy, I've got more pictures than you!!But then again I was 5 stars, dunno why I lost one!


Hi there, just wondering if the tilers are using proper levels to get everything true.  If it's the same guy that did our new kitchen....I'd be worried!

----------


## FatOne

Levels?? Wots that?

Yeah I hope so, bloody interesting if everything rolls downhill. Mind you from the tiling in my lounge room I don't think the walls are real square!!!

----------


## Wasp

It was an adventurous idea .


Wasp

----------


## Wasp

.
I keep saying these stars things are just a source of fun ...... but I do seem to remember seeing you had Five .
So if you now have 4 then someone has taken the trouble to give One !!!

That's what bothers me . Why does someone bother ? If they don't like a particular Thread then don't read it .... but don't go being such a misery .
There's one Thread on here that I dislike a lot ..... even with my naturally sunny and positive nature ........... so I just avoid it now.
It's a sour thing to go making disparaging comments or bothering to do a One star just out of malice.

Go and do that on KoratFarang or Thai Visa where it's standard behaviour .

Anyway I think you have a 5 Star Thread ... and a One star retaining wall so there .



Wasp

----------


## Stumpy

> Levels?? Wots that?
> 
> Yeah I hope so, bloody interesting if everything rolls downhill. Mind you from the tiling in my lounge room I don't think the walls are real square!!!


Yeah do not expect to much to be square. I have not seen any builders use a level. Here in the US with our tooth pick houses I have yet to see a plumb wall either. 

anyway grab a marble and put in the middle of the room and let it go. You will find out quickly. I did see my GC's team using a small twine across certain parts to check our build. The funny thing is, I was curious what they used as a reference to ensure twine was level. :rofl: . 

In the end It doesn't really matter, its those things I do not sweat. It will be close enough and that's all that matters. Life's to short to sweat it.

----------


## FatOne

Yes, thanks for that support guys, and Wasp, thanks for the kind words, you do wonder why anyone would bother bringing down a post, but in reality who cares I guess. I enjoy the banter and while it takes a bit of work and time to post the pics I look forward to sharing the pleasure and pain!! And I really enjoy most of the comments.

----------


## FatOne

A whole bunch of pics sent thru last night, this is a before type pic. The minister of war got a call yesterday asking her to pay for some more landfill to go around the perimeter of the house so they could lay the cement path surrounding the house She asked them to get 10 truckloads @ 350b per load. They got a tractor in to clean up around and level.

----------


## FatOne

Some of the plumbing looks pretty dodgy???

----------


## FatOne

The kitchen is pretty much finished until we add some more cabinetry. Nice finish on the benches, note the floor tiles have been finished with the black tiles nicely laid around the benches and doorway

----------


## FatOne

A few pics of the outside, note the painting is being finished, but the outside shower is still there!

----------


## FatOne

A pic of the tractor spreading the landfill, note we have a bit more flat land at the back of the house. Kung reckons she has to ask her mum to remove some of her garden so we can put more fill out the back.

----------


## FatOne

These last two pics I am just posting because the look nice!!!

----------


## FatOne

So we now have enough room to swing a cat behind the house, and it doesn't look like it's going to fall into the creek!! Phew!

----------


## baldrick

> note the floor tiles have been finished with the black tiles


useful for hiding mold  :Smile: 

I see the bench at the front is nicely lined up with the tiles

----------


## FatOne

I don't think anything is square!!

----------


## Stumpy

Looking Good FatOne. Roof over your head and a place to call home. Lots of fun project time coming your way.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks JP, definitely looking forward to getting over there.

----------


## FatOne

This is a new pic of the guest bathroom, after they pulled down the previous disaster tiling job!!

----------


## FatOne

Couple of pictures of the finished floors, King arrived over there yeaterday and says the house looks fantastic!

----------


## FatOne

Nice shot of lounge room, will look better when cleaned up

----------


## FatOne

And the dining/kitchen/hall

----------


## FatOne

And a shot from the front, with painting now in the right places, I see the "outside shower" has been painted white but still isn't connected to anything!

----------


## terp80

:bananaman: Looking bloody good, FO. :Smile:

----------


## Stumpy

"Looking Good" as Waspy requested we say...... :rofl: 

I like the archway features. Almost time for landscaping and furnishing it.

----------


## FatOne

I am very happy with it so far, just needs doors and windows and bathroom fit out. Kung has been to home pro and purchased some fan/lights and some shower and tap fittings so all systems are go!

----------


## FatOne

Lots of pics coming in now Kung is over there. Her photos are much better too!

----------


## FatOne

They are starting to lay the tiles on the verandah and the carport, you can see the light blue tiles going down

----------


## FatOne

Kung has been shopping, using the credit card. This is a photo of the fan/light going into the dining room and lounge room.

----------


## FatOne

And these ones into bedrooms, I can't see the light fitting, so I'm not sure if these will be supplemented by those sunken ceiling lights or what?? Guess I'll leave that to her.

----------


## FatOne

And this is the shower fitting she has chosen for our bathroom

----------


## Wasp

> Looking bloody good, FO.



When it comes to sheer bloody-minded contrariness .....................




Waspindesperatedespairshakinghishead.

----------


## Wasp

Like the shower retiling and like the shower fittings.

Don't like the fan .
Not lookin good.




W.

----------


## RedWhiskeredBulBul

> Actually...
> 
> I hope you don't mind me making a suggestion - please do feel free to tell me to sod off if you want - but...
> 
> If you were to move the master bedroom door further down together with the door to the bedroom area, then lose the corridor by the kitchen you could open up the living area a bit more.
> 
> Bit like this:
> 
> 
> ...



Good idea... it has more of an open air feel to it. It moves the hall door way back and provides an excellent line of sight from the living room into the kitchen. I think it's a better atmosphere.

----------


## cnx37

Kung, the shower accessories - excellent taste.
The FO - an outdoor man. Of course, the natural style would be more his style.

----------


## RedWhiskeredBulBul

> And these ones into bedrooms, I can't see the light fitting, so I'm not sure if these will be supplemented by those sunken ceiling lights or what?? Guess I'll leave that to her.


Fans are a nice touch.  Go with the can lights. Better distribution of light and the globes on the fans are a nuisance to clean.

----------


## Nicethaiza

looking good and good ^^i like it

----------


## Wasp

FFS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

----------


## Stumpy

You know there is no way to properly address FatOne. Firstly FatOne alone kind of makes me laugh. FO is...well.....We all know. I started to write FatO but I am not sure which is worse FatOne or FatO.  :Smile: 

So Mr M is what I will go with.

The ceiling fans are going to be a blessing for you. I do not care for the oscillating fans all over the house on the floor. We are installing 7 ceiling fans in our place(All bedrooms, living area, TV room and the Sala). Here is a site www. lighting fan.com. Some suggestions FWIIW, I do not know about you, but I am not a big fan of pulling the chain deal to turn on fan and light or adjust the speed and remotes get lost, If you go to the above site they have a very nice wall mount fan light control. Now I can't say how good they are, but the missus track them down. They look very nice and clean. here is the link http://www.lightingfan.com/modules.p...w&qc=34&No=551

Your place is moving right along. Nice touches from Mrs. M in regards to the shower hardware. it looks great and we will do something similar having the rain shower head. I cant wait to get to the point where you are.

Cheers

----------


## BKKBILL

Damn find FO. Hope that meets the  approval of the inspector of righteousness.

Getting so you can't say shit anymore..... Oh hell can I say shit.  :Confused:

----------


## terp80

> Damn find FO. Hope that meets the  approval of the inspector of righteousness. 
> Getting so you can't say shit anymore..... Oh hell can I say shit.


You said, "damn, hell, *and* shit." Nicely done BKKB. :bananaman:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for the comments folks. Too late to do anything about the fans, they are bought and paid for, I don't know what sort of controls they have but I hope they are the permanent stuck on wall type. The minister of war chose the fans and fittings so I take no responsibility. I believe she is going with 4 downlights in the bedrooms rather than a light in the fan.
AND_ redwhiskeredone, WAAAY too late for that!

----------


## terp80

FO, now I know where you got your inspiration for your black tile borders:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=2&theater

----------


## FatOne

They are tiling the outside, front verandah and carport in blue tiles

----------


## FatOne

The bedrooms all have a peach grout

----------


## FatOne

The living areas have a blue grout - should look better when clean!
Kung tells me the house looks fantastic, she loves the floor now she has seen it in the flesh, and the house is very cool. She has picked up a few spots where they have stuffed up and laid cracked tiles or poor fitted laying and is getting them to make perfect.
Maybe for those nay sayers who didn't like my floor ideas , (and I didn't see it anywhere else it was purely out of my scone!!) you'll just have to come and visit and share a tiger or two and check it out in the flesh. Spare room available.

----------


## FatOne

Okay, yes I know! But I couldn't rotate it in gallery and am too slack to go back and rotate it before I post to gallery, so you'll just have to stand on a silly angle!

Anyhoo - Kung has ordered a shitload more landfill to create a backyard, this is the beginnings this morning.

----------


## BKKBILL

^

OK that's it I'm calling a lawyer. Wonder how much a twisted neck injury is going for these days. :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

In Thailand you'll be lucky to find a lawyer, probably haven't ever heard of a personal injury claim judging by the sidewalks in BKK and Udon!!!

----------


## FatOne

The backyard is growing! She is going to get more fill soon, I asked her to find out about putting some lawn down, otherwise the weeds will just take over again.

----------


## cnx37

Peach colour - like very much. Far better than that pink stuff.
A lawn - who is going to do the mowing? T57? A Victa of course.

----------


## Stumpy

> In Thailand you'll be lucky to find a lawyer, probably haven't ever heard of a personal injury claim judging by the sidewalks in BKK and Udon!!!


^ I know, isn't that the best damn thing about it all. I hate friggen lawyers. They are a disease with no cure in society.

----------


## Stumpy

> The backyard is growing! She is going to get more fill soon, I asked her to find out about putting some lawn down, otherwise the weeds will just take over again.


Mr M,
The weeds will be popping up by tomorrow :smiley laughing: , this I can guarantee. We brought in fill at our place to level off a section of the additional land we bought and in 3 days weeds were sprouting. I had to buy FIL a Honda weed whacker. He loves that thing.

BTW, Tile job looks excellent and the biggest plus, the Missus likes it. definitely a win and BIG WIN....

----------


## FatOne

I agree wholeheartedly JP, lawyers are responsible for so many woes in the western world. I will put up with the dodgy footpaths etc to be rid of them!!
And yeah, love it or hate it, and the colours are controversial I'll admit, wouldn't go down here in Oz, but she who must be obeyed absolutely loves it, and that's what matters to me!!

----------


## Stumpy

> I agree wholeheartedly JP, lawyers are responsible for so many woes in the western world. I will put up with the dodgy footpaths etc to be rid of them!!
> And yeah, love it or hate it, and the colours are controversial I'll admit, wouldn't go down here in Oz, but she who must be obeyed absolutely loves it, and that's what matters to me!!


Man this world would be such a better place without lawyers. If people knew they did not have some shady dirty cheating snake that twists the laws up on to their side they would do less to push the envelope and behave. 

The colors are demographic my friend. They would not fly here either but fit right in around Thailand. 

A happy wife sure makes life that much easier.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Jp, yep, a world with a lot less or no lawyers would definitely be a better place. People might just learn personal responsibility as you say.

----------


## BKKKevin

I was thinking of a solution to your water spout in the front... Have them build a concrete planter box there and run the pic down and thru it... Then buy/build a wood cross hatch lattice up to hide the pipe and plant a nice Bougainvillea plant to grow up and hide everything

----------


## FatOne

Works for me!!

----------


## Stumpy

> I was thinking of a solution to your water spout in the front... Have them build a concrete planter box there and run the pic down and thru it... Then buy/build a wood cross hatch lattice up to hide the pipe and plant a nice Bougainvillea plant to grow up and hide everything


That's a really good idea. Those plants look nice and really vine up nice in the lattice.

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## FatOne

I will be off the air for a few days, have to go away for conference, should have heaps of pictures to post when I get back next Thursday

----------


## nigelandjan

Of the conference ??

----------


## FatOne

[IMG]https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/userpics/56951/DOORSAND_WINDOWS_%282%29.jpg[/IMG

You would be very bored with pics from a computer franchisee conference!
Things have been moving along nicely at the house, I have 48 new pictures of which I've selected 10 for your enjoyment.

The ceiling fans have been installed , and down lights fitted. Kung informs me this is costing a further b20k for the sparky.

( dunno why that image failed but here it is below!)

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

More ceiling fans in lounge/dining

----------


## FatOne

Front doors with dragons, hung and hardware fitted. Should look good when stained

----------


## FatOne

THis pic of bathroom gave me pause!

The distance from the shower to the tub is pretty small. Kung was going to get a glass screen put in, I have asked her to wait until I see it in the flesh, looks pretty damn small!

----------


## FatOne

This is her pride and joy!

----------


## FatOne

Internal doors look pretty good, hope they stain them dark

----------


## FatOne

Windows have all been installed. Pity I didn't have the money for double glazing, but came pre tinted so that's a blessing. Kung has organized for fly screens to be fitted in the next couple of days.

----------


## FatOne

The door into our ensuite

----------


## FatOne

And the doorway into the hall. I specifically wanted this so I could air con the front of the house and isolate it from the bedrooms.

----------


## FatOne

Here's a last one for the moment. This is the dining room and entrance. They have put extra dark tint on the windows around the doors that you may notice on the outside shot of the doors.

----------


## FatOne

So it's really starting to look like a house now! My darling went to Seka ( largest town near us ) to get the book house organised so we can get power on, but came back without it after all day. She needs some other stuff and more people to vouch for her or some such rubbish, said she will try again when she can get everything together.
I've asked for a new picture of the front of the house as I haven't seen it since the tiling has been finished and the doors and windows put on. She is also organising curtains.

----------


## Wasp

> Internal doors look pretty good, hope they stain them dark



Hope they take them outside to stain them  :11: 




Wasp

----------


## Hoops

Your a brave man letting the wife buy curtains on her own!  If mine went on her own it would be some cheap shit in a revolting colour!   :rofl:

----------


## Stumpy

> Here's a last one for the moment. This is the dining room and entrance. They have put extra dark tint on the windows around the doors that you may notice on the outside shot of the doors.


Mr M...Really like the fan and doors. Nice job.

----------


## terp80

Yeah FO, it really has a finished look now. I know there a lot of small details left, but it really looks great. :Very Happy:

----------


## Stumpy

> Your a brave man letting the wife buy curtains on her own!  If mine went on her own it would be some cheap shit in a revolting colour!


^ Yeah he is... My wife and I talked about colors and I have to keep reminding her of whats NOT happening in our house just as a measure to keep it all clear. I have walked into some homes and the curtain colors made me woozy... :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Hi All,

We did discuss curtains and colours while she was back at home about a month ago. She pulled up a whole heap of photos so she knows pretty much what I like, and in the end she has pretty good taste and would get her own way anyway. I have told her to make sure they are nice heavy backed curtains so we can keep out the sun if we need to. b31k was the quote for the whole house , bloody cheap by Oz standards!!! Another quote we have accepted was b28k for flyscreens and screen doors for the whole house, that's 3 outside doors including the front double door. I also have a quote for some sort of security grills for the windows which I haven't accepted at this stage, for b30k ( sounds like everything is being quoted for around the same price, doesn't it???)

----------


## FatOne

Here's the latest photo of the front of the house, you'll notice the garage has received tiles and the outside ceiling fan is installed, plus the nice lights Kung purchased on the front pillars. Apparently the locals all think I'm mad putting the fan outside, but I'll show 'em!! I reckon it's a touch of genius, it'll be nice sitting outside watching the world ( very small world) go by with a breeze and a singha or tiger in my paw!
I will have to ask Kung about what to put in the gap between the garage floor and the verandah floor, I would have thought the tiles would have been placed there, and it could get awful muddy after rain, particularly if they don't fix the outside shower soon!! Maybe I'll get it cemented when they do the driveway at some later date, we plan an exposed aggregate driveway.

----------


## FatOne

Kung also sent me a few photos of the power points going in, this one of the kitchen shows they have at least put in power points with earth, whether they are connected to earth remains to be seen, you can only emphasise this so much!! I placed the power points last time I was in LOS and I probably went overboard, but better than not enough.

----------


## Stumpy

Mr M, I am one that believes more outlets are better then having extensions cords everywhere. Just put appliances in front of them all.  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks JP, yes that was the plan, when I go to her mothers place there are only a couple of points, but there are extension leads and multi point adaptors everywhere, and when they want to move a fan or put on a rice cooker they have to pull out a plug and plug in another with no on/off switches as we are used to, it all looks like a recipe for disaster to me!

----------


## FatOne

Here's a photo of the thai labourers using their laser guidance system (eyesight) to line up the kitchen cupboards Kung purchased in Sakhom Nakhom last week.

----------


## FatOne

This is the finished job! A little bit skewy, anyone else wanna find a lawyer in Thailand to sue me for crick neck?
I asked Kung why they didn't fit the stove fan under the cupboards, her answer was there wasn't enough room, but to me there looks like stacks, my one at home is closer to the gas hob than this would be, maybe I'll move it later, no point in argue ing from this distance, besides I had just had the following argument -

----------


## FatOne

So anyway - the throne! This one's partly my fault, the one in my home is pretty low and uncomfortable, so I measured it - 40cms from floor to seat. Thinking a few extra cm would make it better particularly for when I get older and the arthritis really kicks in I told her to tell SIL to get them to make it 60cm floor to seat. A few days ago I was thinking about this, measured the one at work which is pretty comfortable, and it was 40cms too! Maybe it's not just the height, and looking at 60cms I figured it was going to be way too high, and we wouldn't be able to put our feet flat on the floor, so when I spoke to Kung I asked her to tell the builder to make it 45 - 50cms.
Then I received the above pic, apparently the idiots asked the SIL and not Kung how high, and made it 60cms!!AAArrrggghhhh! So Kung has asked them to take out and try again, but they say if they break the cistern we'll have to pay for another one..

----------


## FatOne

And lastly for this morning the guest bathroom - nothing special here, probably mainly be used by family anyway. They are putting in a bit of a trough below the shower. There was alos a pic of them doing the same thing in our bathroom and I freaked and phoned Kung in a panic because I thought they were going to build a wall, and I didn't think there was enough room for me and a wall between the spa bath and the shower, but it was all cool, just a trough so the bathroom wouldn't flood, very un-Thia like!!

----------


## terp80

> So anyway - the throne! This one's partly my fault, the one in my home is pretty low and uncomfortable, so I measured it - 40cms from floor to seat. Thinking a few extra cm would make it better particularly for when I get older and the arthritis really kicks in I told her to tell SIL to get them to make it 60cm floor to seat. A few days ago I was thinking about this, measured the one at work which is pretty comfortable, and it was 40cms too! Maybe it's not just the height, and looking at 60cms I figured it was going to be way too high, and we wouldn't be able to put our feet flat on the floor, so when I spoke to Kung I asked her to tell the builder to make it 45 - 50cms.
> Then I received the above pic, apparently the idiots asked the SIL and not Kung how high, and made it 60cms!!AAArrrggghhhh! So Kung has asked them to take out and try again, but they say if they break the cistern we'll have to pay for another one..


FO, I remember we had this discussion about toilet seat heights some months back. I had thought about raising mine for the same reasons, but decided against it, when I realized that, at least for the next few years, I should not really have any *serious* trouble - and then, if and when I do, I can get one of those heightened seats for old folks that someone (I forget who) recommended instead. And by the way, thank you "someone" for that simple solution. Anyway, 60 cm *does* sound pretty high to me. I think I would tell them to carefully pull the toilet off, knock that cement out of there, and redo it. Butt, your call. :Very Happy:   Good luck.  :Fing02:

----------


## Stumpy

> This is the finished job! A little bit skewy, anyone else wanna find a lawyer in Thailand to sue me for crick neck?
> I asked Kung why they didn't fit the stove fan under the cupboards, her answer was there wasn't enough room, but to me there looks like stacks, my one at home is closer to the gas hob than this would be, maybe I'll move it later, no point in argue ing from this distance, besides I had just had the following argument -


Mr M, Maybe if they stopped downing M150 Red Bulls they could see things straight.  :smiley laughing: 

Is that where you planned the the stove fan location?

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## FatOne

Hi Terps,

I have purchased and tried one of those seat raisers for my toilet here and I don't like it!! Because of the way it fits it has a small hole and is very hard, and eventually will tend to be loose I believe, anyway I took it off and it's sitting in a cupboard.

And JP, NO! Looks weird, but I think that's where she wants the stove top as it's near the window when she's cooking something fishy.

----------


## Stumpy

> JP, NO! Looks weird, but I think that's where she wants the stove top as it's near the window when she's cooking something fishy.


OK,  A womans logic, who are we to question it.. :Smile:

----------


## terp80

> Hi Terps, 
> I have purchased and tried one of those seat raisers for my toilet here and I don't like it!! Because of the way it fits it has a small hole and is very hard, and eventually will tend to be loose I believe, anyway I took it off and it's sitting in a cupboard.


OK. Well that's not very encouraging for the future. :Happysad:  Then I guess I'd better stay in shape as long as I can. :Yeah:  :Lol:

----------


## Hoops

Bugger me!  From all the problems you have to deal with I am glad when it's my turn to build I will be here to add some supervision!  Oh shit, it is my turn....to build a shed!  A lot of the materials have arrived but not the uprights.

----------


## Wasp

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> So anyway - the throne! This one's partly my fault, the one in my home is pretty low and uncomfortable, so I measured it - 40cms from floor to ...........  etc.
> 
> 
> FO, I remember we had this discussion about toilet seat heights some months back. I had thought about raising mine for the same reasons, but decided against it, when I realized that, at least for the next few years, I should not really have any *serious* trouble -




Bear with me on this one for its a subject that bugs me .

Measure from the floor to behind your knee . It will be 50 cm . So when you sit its a very comfortable height if your upper leg is parallel to the floor .
Meaning a seat height of 50cm .
Lower than that and you need a slight " Hupp " to get yourself upright again .
And it's an unnecessary strain.

It IS a subject that gets on my nerves . I HATE sofas that have a seat height lower than 50 cm --- and they are all lower than 50 cm !
I just HATE having to do a bit of a rocking motion to get out of a stupid sofa .
I order my sofa to have a cushion height of 55cm high and people do like it .Their bums arrive at the cushion sooner than they were expecting and they always like that . Why have such a low standard height which just leaves you splaying your legs akimbo ? ( See I really have thought a lot about this ).

And the same with a toilet .
God knows why they are made so low and yes you may need a tiled plinth to get the height but I assure you it's very comfortable .





Wasp

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## Stumpy

> Originally Posted by terp80
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by FatOne
> ...


Wasp,
No worries on the toilet deal. I hear when folks hit a certain age they crap standing up like they did when they were a child... :rofl:

----------


## Wasp

Crapping comfortably is a serious subject JPPR .

Some miserable Gollums criticise if I am frivolous so I get onto a serious subject like shitting , pissing and reading a book in a comfortable manner without the indignity of wiping your bum and saying " Hey Up !! "  and look what happens !


Mockery from the colonies !!!!



Wasp

----------


## Stumpy

> Crapping comfortably is a serious subject JPPR .
> 
> Some miserable Gollums criticise if I am frivolous so I get onto a serious subject like shitting , pissing and reading a book in a comfortable manner without the indignity of wiping your bum and saying " Hey Up !! "  and look what happens !
> 
> Mockery from the colonies !!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Wasp


I hear ya. I have a few acquaintances that have stated they will spend 30 minutes or more on a commode. Never understood it. The medical community has reported that its really bad to do that and stresses ones bung hole causing other issues. This is why I never cared what a shat lounge looked like, get in and out. Some build them bigger than a bedroom. Seems odd for a place where one would only be there for a few minutes. 

Carry on with the comfort room dimensional requirements.  :Smile: .

Mr M; Apologize that we sent your thread to the "Toilet" so to speak. 

Back to the build.

----------


## Wasp

> I hear ya. I have a few acquaintances that have stated they will spend 30 minutes or more on a commode.  The medical community has reported that its really bad to do that and stresses ones bung hole causing other issues. This is why I never cared what a shat lounge looked like ................


OK OK !!!

Too much interest being shown in this subject.

----------


## FatOne

I knew if I mentioned the toilet it would start a few replies, now I know someone is reading this! Even if they only give it 4 stars!! Hopefully the toilet will be replaced at 50cm height soon, it was pulled out without breaking.

----------


## FatOne

Things are moving along nicely at the home in the sticks, here's a pic of the tiles going into the kitchen. Not sure if I love them, but I did choose them!

----------


## FatOne

And the same tiles into the laundry

----------


## FatOne

THe shower with hot water that appears to be for the bath as well.

----------


## FatOne

The hand basin in the ensuite

----------


## FatOne

These round lights are popping up everywhere. I asked Kung and she said they were part of the contract, the down lights and fanlights are ones we added!! She was off in Seka picking out curtain colours and venetian blinds for the kitchen. Today, hopefully, she will go into Seka and get the book house organised so we can get the power on. Apparently the internet failed the other day because the router was continuously being un plugged so someone could use the power which is currently on a long extension lead from MIL house.

----------


## Stumpy

MR M,
Back splash tiles in kitchen looks nice.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks JP, for a cheap b1.2m house I reckon the whole house is fantastic, much better than I had hoped.

----------


## nigelandjan

> THe shower with hot water that appears to be for the bath as well.



Jesus H Christ mate !! 

 Are you serious ? that great big rainfall , go everywhere shower head , with the electric socket / exposed wire for the electric shower right in range .

 I would have a serious re think on the positioning of that one before its too late

----------


## Stumpy

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> THe shower with hot water that appears to be for the bath as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Mr M,
I tend to agree with Nige, That hot water heater should be up above shower head line and on same wall as shower head at minimum. Some manufacturers claim they are water tight but I wouldn't bet my life on it. The other outlet should be even higher or not even in the shower area at all. The power line could have been brought in from above.

----------


## 6kon

Or you can let people you don't like borrow the bathroom for a "hot" shower,,,,,  :Smile:

----------


## Stumpy

> Or you can let people you don't like borrow the bathroom for a "hot" shower,,,,,


Hmmmm. Now thats a heck of an idea for the "Guest" bathroom.   :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Some good advice there thanks guys, and just to add insult to injury they've put a whole mess of blue pipes all around it!!! Guess when they finish they will do something, Kung is speaking to them!

----------


## FatOne

Getting close to the finish now!! Still don't have the power on, this is running from MIL house. Power should be on soon, Kung has organised book house and spoken to power company.

----------


## FatOne

The kitchen is pretty much complete, we will organise the rest later. You'll notice the tap and power for dishwasher under the sink.

----------


## FatOne

Kitchen tiles all finished, not much more to be done, paint some doors, some cement around the outside etc. The rest like curtains and fly screens is outside people.

----------


## diverken

> The kitchen is pretty much complete, we will organise the rest later. You'll notice the tap and power for dishwasher under the sink.


No U Bends?

----------


## nigelandjan

Yep ^ just what I was gonna say ,, I would get them put in before they go home with the money mate .

Gotta be a standard practice or smells and insects etc will find a path straight into your home

----------


## cnx37

FO - looking good.
Observations - correct. Blue piping in bathroom - Kung will speak with them - very firmly I hope - "demanding mistress style" - make them bend over - a good spanking in order?
Exterior lighting - Stevefarang style - only the helicopter & carriage missing.
Kitchen tiles - looking good.
Dog - very quiet? T57 - the houseman will meet the dog's demands. It will be a lot of woof, woof by T57.
U Bends - definitely requiring research? 2 posters have addressed this issue - I have no idea.
In a few years, Kung will be relaxing in the bathtub; perfumes etc - Cleopatra style - awaiting to meet the demands of her master.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for the comments, haven't the plumbing experience to check for u bends, will check it out.
CNX you are a bad boy!!!

----------


## BKKKevin

> Some good advice there thanks guys, and just to add insult to injury they've put a whole mess of blue pipes all around it!!! Guess when they finish they will do something, Kung is speaking to them!


Yikes!.. You went from bad to worse!...

I can not understand the switch thing?... I had one in my shower when I moved in and had them remove it... I don't see the purpose... Why would you need to turn the heater off & on?... And it just add a huge electrocution hazard upstream from the GFI built into the heater!?... 

I would ask them to put the heater on the same wall as the shower high up on the wall - where the heater is to be placed drill a hole behind the heater (I assume to the outside) and run the wiring out  and the electric feed out the same way - thereby have NO wiring inside the shower!

While their at it have them run the water outside and around to the shower it my look a little messy on the outside of the house but it will be in the back and a little baby blue paint and you will hardly notice... Remove as much clutter in the shower area as possible unless you a maybaan who is detail oriented ��

----------


## Wasp

This photo of your shower with blue pipes ............

I assumed it was a Photoshop joke .

Honestly !!

So I wasn't going to say anything ........ but it seems to be a serious bit of work .

Marty ,  ....... there's lots of nice stuff going on in this house . You have a nice tidy kitchen..........
  ( but yes your sink needs a u-bend . Very simple to fit . You could do it yourself if you must ) .

BUT ...... this whole shower thing is looking a disaster . With hardly any room under it , a _truly_ dangerous power and heater arrangement .... and now these blue pipes .

I sod around a lot Marty but I also do House Maintenance in England and that one square metre there which constitutes your shower is deadly and terrible work .

That's not down to you Marty . It probably looks like the height of luxury to the somchais who did it. 
The same somchais who have done some very good work elsewhere in your build . But I'm holding my breath here to see what happens .

It's a fact that a few tiles are gonna come off here as that unit and its power feed go up above the shower head and then you disappear the blue pipes . 
Sad for you a bit. :Puppy Dog Eyes:  :Puppy Dog Eyes: 
Would you like The Indolent Brother to go and lend a hand ?




W :Puppy Dog Eyes: sp

----------


## Stumpy

> You'll notice the tap and power for dishwasher under the sink.


Why on earth would your wife need power underneath to wash dishes. Its gonna be a bit cramped for her there, does she need a light?... :rofl: ...JK

----------


## terp80

> Quote:    
> 					Originally Posted by FatOne  You'll notice the tap and power for dishwasher under the sink.    Why on earth would your wife need power underneath to wash dishes. Its gonna be a bit cramped for her there, does she need a light?......JK


 :smiley laughing:

----------


## FatOne

Hell yeah! I totally agree, it's almost finished, looking great then they completely screw up the shower! I spent some time on a bad phone line with Kung last night talking about this and the U bend in the kitchen, gave up with the U bend, just couldn't convey the concept- have to fix it when I go over but the shower!!! THis pic is the builders fix, paint the awful pipes white. I have convinced Kung to ask the builder to move the heater up or use the shower himself and see if he survives!!! The following picture is some pipe that Kung found that should at least be a bit more aesthetic ( is that a word)

----------


## FatOne

This would at least bend and look better than the plastic pipe!

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Waspy, I think the indolent brother would probably do a better job, but judging by your thread it wouldn't be finished by the housewarming next February!

----------


## Wasp

Marty ......


Water plumbing is what I actually do ..... and a photo will help tell your workers what to do under that sink .

You need 2 u-bends .

And at that right hand sink you need to take the pipes straight back to the wall and then do a left turn sloping down to the other one .

The left also needs to go straight back because that existing pipe set-up is unnecessarily cutting straight across some useful access or storage space .

 


In the left picture here I've twisted it a bit to show the u-bends .

The other picture shows going straight back and freeing up good space instead of that pipe diagonally cutting across .



Wasp

----------


## Yemen

The whole installation of sink drain is wrong. There is no vent piping, both drains can joint together then use a u-bend ( we call them P-traps ). Wasp- you show too much grade on the drain after u-bend which can cause syphoning of the u-bend as the water drains too fast.

----------


## Wasp

Yemen;Both drains can joint together then use a u-bend . Yes . 
Wasp- you show too much grade on the drain after u-bend which can cause syphoning of the u-bend as the water drains too fast. Yes again ..... but if you are showing a gradient then you have to see a gradient .  It's showing a different and less intrusive routing .

----------


## cnx37

I agree with all of you! But what is a "u-bend"?

BTW, #902 post is superb - thank you JPPR2.

----------


## Wasp

> But what is a "u-bend"?



This is the u-bend...........









Wasp

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## cnx37

Wasp, the pic make sense! Looks just like a "U". Thank you, teeruk.
I am still in love with your avatar.

----------


## Wasp

> Wasp, the pic make sense! Looks just like a "U". Thank you, teeruk.
> I am still in love with your avatar.



Valentina D'Agostino !



W.

----------


## terry57

> Thanks JP, for a cheap b1.2m house I reckon the whole house is fantastic, much better than I had hoped.




Mate,

For 42 K AUD you have got a screaming bargain.  All the small stuff you can sort out later.

Good luck with it all.

----------


## Wasp

*Agreed* .

You've done really well .

For that money in England you would get a damp , plastic mobile home on a rainy hill  surrounded by dross people. 20 square metres of smelly Hell.

This business with pipes is just small stuff . It's easily accessed and cheap to fix . Not like burying cables and pipes under 2 feet of concrete and then having to dig it up for a problem .

I'm not sure of the size of this bathroom Marty .... but one idea might be to run the shower to the centre of the room , anchoring to the ceiling and pointing straighty down for a ' rainfall ' shower .
That's if the floor slopes to take the water away .



W.

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## 6kon

Yes 1.2mill is a good price for such a house in these days. Is that for everything?

6kon

----------


## Stumpy

I totally agree with you guys, I felt anything $100K or less is a downright bargain for what you would get here in the states(Hell people drop $100K on SUV's around my area like it was nothing). I was speaking with a friend the other night about it. I said I could have bought a house for $75 - $100K here somewhere but it would have been a dump, needed a ton of work, in a neighborhood that I would never want to live or so far removed from civilization I would lose my mind.

Nice job Mr M

----------


## terry57

^

Just to put Martys house in perspective.

My mate has just bought the top of the range Land Rover Discovery, around 85 K. 

He then bought a Jayco Off road pop up camper for 30K.   

Jesus,   42 K for Martys house is play money.

I'm quite jealous actually.     :Smile:

----------


## Stumpy

> ^
> 
> Just to put Martys house in perspective.
> 
> My mate has just bought the top of the range Land Rover Discovery, around 85 K. 
> 
> He then bought a Jayco Off road pop up camper for 30K.   
> 
> Jesus,   42 K for Martys house is play money.
> ...


Terry,
Man I see the same thing, Where I am working now there are 7 Tesla S cars in our parking lot $85K a copy. Some gal has the new Benz 450SLE AMG SUV ($115K). This standard fair. I see it everyday on my commute home. The Big Range Rover is $100K as well. Its crazy when I compare a car to a house I am getting in Thailand. Cars depreciate incredibly fast. I do not even want to go into house to house stuff. We can leave it at cars.  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Guys, as I said somewhere else on the thread when I had the initial quote I asked Kung to make sure the walls met the ceilings and didn't let in the bugs, so I am ecstatic at the results, hell I reckon I'll probably have to spend more on a car in LOS than I did on house and land ( land was A$5k ) and while there have been a few niggly problems nearly all have been fixed promptly by the builder. The kitchen sink is an easy fix, the shower - well we'll see, but Kung is getting something done as we speak. My darling deserves all the credit, she designed the house on a foolscap drawing pad, found an architect on the internet, sent her drawings to him, he drew the whole shebang up for a poofteenth of what an aussie architect would charge, about A$200, then when we had a guestimate of the cost of building we sold our house to get the moolah,and she went shopping for a builder, got the best price/value compromise and has been on top of it all the way.

----------


## Stumpy

> Thanks Guys, as I said somewhere else on the thread when I had the initial quote I asked Kung to make sure the walls met the ceilings and didn't let in the bugs, so I am ecstatic at the results, hell I reckon I'll probably have to spend more on a car in LOS than I did on house and land ( land was A$5k ) and while there have been a few niggly problems nearly all have been fixed promptly by the builder. The kitchen sink is an easy fix, the shower - well we'll see, but Kung is getting something done as we speak. My darling deserves all the credit, she designed the house on a foolscap drawing pad, found an architect on the internet, sent her drawings to him, he drew the whole shebang up for a poofteenth of what an aussie architect would charge, about A$200, then when we had a guestimate of the cost of building we sold our house to get the moolah,and she went shopping for a builder, got the best price/value compromise and has been on top of it all the way.


Mr M,
You are set my friend. Life will be good as soon as you call it. CHEERS!!!!

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## terry57

^^

I have always been of the opinion that building houses in Thailand is a very risky business simply because farang cannot own land so at the end of the day everything hinges on the strength of the relationship with the Female.

That said,  If I could build a house including the land for $ 47 I'd stump it up in a heart beat and not worry about it. 

As I said,  simply play money compared to the real world.

Unfortunately that will never happen as I'd go stark raving mad out in the Boonies.  

Mad enough already.   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

Anyway, regards that water heater in the shower. 

Whatever you do not use it until it is relocated above the shower head and make sure it is wired separately to a " safety cut "

Those missing U bends on your sink will not kill you but that shower certainly will.

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## 6kon

Yes its a risky business... even a marriage is a risky business :Smile: 
Still a life without some risk must be a boring life.
Sometimes you loose and sometimes you win.
But as long as you don't invest more than you can afford to loose I think its safe.

I think FO's investment is on the lower risk scale.

6kon

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## FatOne

Thanks for the kind words all, yeah, I think we got a bargain. We will be out in the boonies, but the locals are friendly and as a base to explore Thailand and surrounding countries it should be perfect. I am no longer into city life, I hate traffic, noise and not knowing my neighbours. This will suit me just fine. A little bit of finishing, like fences and appliances and furniture and it will be my idea of heaven.

----------


## FatOne

A small housewarming ceremony was had on Saturday night. By the look of the pictures a fair percentage of the village turned up, no monks, but my darling tells me she can now sleep in the house.

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## FatOne

I love the way everyone pitches in and helps. Lot's more pics of villagers spread throughout the house. Who needs furniture, BYO mats! Didn't want to bore you all with them.

----------


## good2bhappy

nice little pad

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## FatOne

A couple of pics Kung sent me this morning, the front doors have been given a first coat of stain, the gap between the garage and the verandah has been filled and tiled. Looking pretty good.

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## FatOne

Just another up to date pic from the front of house.

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## terry57

Great thing about that house is considering you have built it at such a great price you could possibly build a nice pergola coming off one side giving you a very nice outside entertaining and hang out area. 

A house to add to slowly, a play thing as such.    Low out lay big return.

Really good stuff.

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## terp80

> This will suit me just fine. A little bit of finishing, like fences and appliances and furniture and it will be my idea of heaven.


*That's* the only thing that matters! Looks great FO.  :Very Happy:

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## FatOne

Thanks for the kind comments - I reckon with all the land at the side a pool, pergola or something will be in our future. But first we have to save up for the other things.

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## Yemen

FO-I hope you have many great years in your new house.

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## nigelandjan

Well done mate now all the house warming is over you can be allowed to kip in it when your over .

I think you was lucky not being there for the event , unfortunately I was at our event which went on and on for about 18 hours with karaoke + drinking + eating + drinking + drinking with everyone and they're aunties from miles around snouting around in the new home . 

I,m not really into all that , I like and know and am able to fumble/ communicate with our local neighbours , but so many of the others who simply come to stand and gawp at you grates after a few hours

I hope you and your wife are very happy there for many many years and you have a long and healthy retirement , sounds like you have chosen a  good spot to suit your upcoming lifestyle .

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## Stumpy

BIG CHEERS Mr M,

Nice job. Many years of happiness to you and the Missus!!!!

Continue to update as you landscape. That's what I am really waiting to do at my place. I just have to get the house done first...

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## FatOne

Thanks Guys,

I still have to go through the main housewarming with the monks and all the surrounding hangers on. This one was apparently just a small one so my wife could sleep in the new house. The biggie is scheduled for February when I am going over, and I'm not looking forward to it.

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## nigelandjan

555 ^ you have my sympathies mate ,, and i thought yu had escaped it !

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## FatOne

This is the latest on the long running shower saga, and it's a lot better. Power connection has been raised and all the crappy looking pipes have been replaced with metal hose. The heater? Well the heater seems to be staying, but I have used them like this in many cheap hotels and they seem to be fine!

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## FatOne

The fly screens have been installed. Look pretty good to me, about b27k, including all doors.

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## FatOne

Door screens - 2 x single and 1 x double doors
And yes Nige - bugger!

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## Hoops

> Door screens - 2 x single and 1 x double doors
> And yes Nige - bugger!


That gap at the bottom looks big enough for the flies to walk through.  Maybe a rubber draft stopper would fix that.

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## FatOne

The septic stuff is going in

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## FatOne

As stated earlier we have a cement path going in right around the house

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## FatOne

I was sent about 20 pics of workers putting cement path around house, so I'll post a couple

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## FatOne

They are taking things literally, and putting cement path right around the house, including in front of the carport. Oh well, I suppose that's going to make the driveway easier.

So I guess it's nearly finished. The electricity should be on after Kung went back to Seka and gave them b1k under the counter to get their act together. Water coming soon, but has been tested and found a problem with spare shower which has been fixed.

Kung has been sleeping there with her mother the past few nights and loves it, says it is pretty cool inside, so we will get the air cond in when we visit in Feb to do the main housewarming, but shouldn't cost too much to run.

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## terp80

> They are taking things literally, and putting cement path right around the house, including in front of the carport. Oh well, I suppose that's going to make the driveway easier. 
> So I guess it's nearly finished. The electricity should be on after Kung went back to Seka and gave them b1k under the counter to get their act together. Water coming soon, but has been tested and found a problem with spare shower which has been fixed. 
> Kung has been sleeping there with her mother the past few nights and loves it, says it is pretty cool inside, so we will get the air cond in when we visit in Feb to do the main housewarming, but shouldn't cost too much to run.


Well, see? Maybe you *did* finish first :goldcup: , because your wife moved in *before* I did.  :Very Happy:

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## FatOne

Even if she moved in before it was finished?? Let's call it a tie.

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## terp80

> Let's call it a tie.


Deal!  :Very Happy:

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## Stumpy

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> Let's call it a tie.
> 
> 
> Deal!


Cheers to both of you on jobs well done.

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## terp80

> Quote:    
> 					Originally Posted by terp80    Quote:    
> 					Originally Posted by FatOne  Let's call it a tie.    Deal!     Cheers to both of you on jobs well done.


Thanks again JP!  :Very Happy:

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## FatOne

Yep, thanks JP.

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## FatOne

Curtains went in yesterday, power and water are now on, I think we'll call it finished!

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## FatOne

I did also get some pics of the bedroom curtains but for some reason the colours were very off, maybe I'll get some better ones today.

----------


## FatOne



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## FatOne

Another shot of the front of the house, pretty much finished, cement path goes right around house. Still a lot of landscaping to do!

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## terp80

> Curtains went in yesterday, power and water are now on, I think we'll call it finished!


Very nice indeed, FO!. Congratulations to you and your wife on a job well done. :smilie_clap:  And at least you have *curtains*, while I entertain the neighbors.  :Very Happy: . . . or more like  :Shock:

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## FatOne

You are probably a lot more photogenic than me Terps!

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## terry57

Its great mate, nice little gaff at a bargain price.

Good luck with it.

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## Stumpy

> 


Mr M,
Like the Blind style. I am not much a curtain guy. Prefer blinds as you can open to the level of light or privacy you want in. 

Call it done, Come on over. Its ready for a beer on the front porch.

 :Smile:

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## FatOne

I know I always like looking at the finished pictures on other threads, so I figured I'd get Kung to take some pics around and inside to give a good idea of the home she designed and built.

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## FatOne

Another angle

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## FatOne

Loungeroom

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## FatOne

Master Bedroom

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## FatOne

Ensuite

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## FatOne

Laundry

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## FatOne

Guest Bathroom

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## FatOne

Another angle on loungeroom

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## FatOne

Hallway looking back towards loungroom and front of house.

That's probably about all the pictures needed to finish off this building thread. Probably won't be much more done until we both go over next February for the housewarming, then we'll have to do something about lawns and furniture and cupboards and appliances ( better start saving!!)

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## 6kon

FO: Thanks for the pictures. Your house is looking good. Do you have a plan for upgrading the bed in the bedroom?  :Smile:  

6kon

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## misskit

> Ensuite


Does this bathtub have a door on the side or just a fancy window? 

I sure like your sliding doors inside instead of regular ones. Saves a lot of space.

Also, I noticed back a while back a pic of your shower and on demand water heater. I think the water heater needs to be mounted higher than the shower head to make the heater work properly. If you have problems getting hot water, have the unit put up higher.


Your new house is lovely.

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## FatOne

Hi 6,

Yep, not sure I could sleep on a mat on the floor! I certainly couldn't get up in the morning. My missus and MIL are sharing this at the moment, told her to go buy a bed, she wants to wait until I come out and choose it!!

Hi Miss,

It's a window so you can see the sexy curves of whomever is using the tub! We'll see how the hot water goes, tried to get them to lift it but I think it all got lost in the translation.

----------


## Hoops

> Master Bedroom


Phew!  Dodged a bullet there. We bought new curtains for our bedroom and nearly chose gold...but went with a different colour pink than our pink walls.

Wouldn't want to be accused of being a copy cat!  :bananaman:

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## FatOne

My Darling has discovered the curtains in the master bedroom do not keep the room cool enough in the afternoon, they should have been backed with something. We will have to get a replacement later. Thanks for the kind thoughts grim reaper!

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## nigelandjan

> Ensuite


Please tell me thats not the electric power lead to power that bath hanging from that wall

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## terry57

^

Fair question that one.   :Smile:  

I don't considerate it life threatening as nothing live can fall into the tub but it could of been done a tad better EH. 

But considering the price of that Gaff I'm not sweating the small stuff, can be changed though without to much work or expense.

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## FatOne

Yeah, I'll worry about that stuff when I get there, I can see a few items that need a bit of TLC, and I did spot that lead!! The builders have had to fix a couple of plumbing screw ups, I gather the drain in the bath didn't drain, and a few power points don't give power. No PD homes warranty, so wife holding back some of final payment until all fixed!

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## Stumpy

> No PD homes warranty, so wife holding back some of final payment until all fixed!


In most cases that works way better than a warranty anyway. :Smile:

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## FatOne

Yeah, but not exactly long term, once you pay, caveat emptor!

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## cnx37

Mr Marty

It is definitely time for a sea-change! Time to liven up your thread. Do not be concerned with the "House Construction" theory.

We need photos of beautiful girls - the less clothes the better. Girls in uniform (school) - a bonus.

Your thoughts on female underwear.

Now, get real, Mr Marty. We expect much more of YOU!

Minimum - an attractive young schoolgirl consuming one of your famous/infamous homemade meat pies!

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## cnx37

When you are really desperate, a revisit to the diameter of toilet seats & height.

A video/photos of FO in action - apron on - a new batch of meat pies.

What else? I will contemplate & then report.

BTW, my lady who has the furniture shop in Fang can source* "lazy boy chairs".* Suitable for a big ares - please get a custom fitting.

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## jaiyenyen

Your home looks good. Congratulations.

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## cnx37

*FO - your home is lookin' too good!*
Cold showers for you
No swimming pool.
Wash your own vehicle.
Eat Thai food.
Do your own manicure, pedicure.
Windows - wide open. Let the flies in - they won't eat much.
Speak Lanna - a lot of sign language necessary.
Rise at 6am every morning - go for a jog or take the dog for a walk - or both.
Then the daily - S, S & S.

*You are going to be a very busy man, FO (unless you have a sex change - then?)*

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## FatOne

Thanks Jaiyen,
Thanks for all your kind suggestions CNX, we'll see in a few years when I go there for good.

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## cnx37

Come now, FO. Time to lift your act. An increased frequency in posts urgently demanded.

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## FatOne

No new Pics, house finished, nothing to say

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## cnx37

House finished?

a) landscaping/garden
b) furniture
c) house warming party

The above equals house unfinished?

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## FatOne

Wait for it!! Maybe a few months. Priority - Money.

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## FatOne

JUst to keep the thread alive--
I have accepted a change of scenery here in Australia, and at the end of January I am off to Bundaberg. For those of you who don't know, Bundaberg is fairly tropical so should allow me to acclimatise to my new Thai home, I am currently living in northern Victoria where it gets very cold in winter and very hot and dry in summer. I will be doing the same job, franchise owner of a computer shop but in a much bigger town. My wife was looking for new friends on facebook and looking at Thai people in Queensland , I had to show her a map on my phone that Queensland was about twice the size of Thailand! I still have a few years left before I can get the pension, so hopefully I can make some real money in this new shop.

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## nigelandjan

Good luck with all that FO I hope it all works out for you , will your wife join you in Aus while you are still building up to retirement ?

I am guessing you have a private pension as from what I read on here the Aus state pension is all but dead .

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## Wasp

Bundaberg !!!

Have another look at your maps and find *Maxwelton* , FO.

I worked in Maxwelton for a while.

...... and nigelandjan commented that the Aus state pension is all but dead .
Maybe so . 
But my Aus friend has not lived in Aus for many years ..... lost all his money one way and another in Thailand ...... and Aus happily gave him a Pension of a thousand $ a month !!! Which is not bad hey ?




Wasp

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## FatOne

Hi Guys,

From what I can read on TD and other sites incl govt website Aus pension is definitely still alive and well and can be paid into a Thai bank account if I wish. Just have to wait a few years until I am eligible. And my wife has been with me in Oz for the last 3 years, and will shortly apply for Oz citizenship.

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## nigelandjan

Well thats good news about your pensions , sorry I seem to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick . 

I seem to remember something Terry was on about in another thread .

Anyway same as me in the UK , paid in all my life so , yeah should indeed get your pension , although a lot of people here reckon this one,s gonna evaporate .

Is any one gonna look after your place till you retire FO ? if your missus is over with you until that day ?

The small place we had built is on a family plot with 3 other houses so its not too bad there is always someone there to keep an eye on things and the plot is never left unattended completely

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## Wasp

I had said how someone I know did get a Pension from Ozz in circumstances where it seemed unlikely .
A generous Pension really .

But one of the countries where they will NOT pay him ..... is Thailand .



Just saying ............



Wasp

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## BKKBILL

I have a good Azzie friend living here his pension is deposited into a Thai bank. Canada also deposits my pensions here with no transfer fees and I think a slightly better exchange rate being government to government.

----------


## Wasp

Well the person of whom I speak found he had to look around for an acceptable country and he's spending his Winter in *Spain* :Sombrero:   :Sombrero:   :Sombrero:  ..... where they will happily send his Pension .

There must be confusion somewhere .

Thailand would be his first choice !




W :Sombrero: sp

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## FatOne

Thanks for the replies,

Yes , wife's family is looking after the house, it is next door to MIL's house and better, so I think they are sleeping there at the moment. 
According to Oz Govt website for pensions there are no restrictions as to what country the aged pension can be paid into, maybe the friend is on a disability pension? The important things seem to be that you reside in OZ for at least 2 years prior to applying and you must tell them you intend living overseas. In my case because my wife is much younger than me I will only be eligible for 1/2 the married pension which is about $1100 / fortnight - so about $265 a week, try living on that in any developed country!!!

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## Stumpy

Mr Marty,
While this is a build thread, Its the same here in the US in regards to our SS. It is not very much for all the money we poured into it. But as they say, it is not something to live off of, it is supposed to be a supplement income. However the problem is most live check to check here and can save very little to none. It takes great discipline to save for the future. Some quick numbers. The Gov takes 38% of my check. I lose another 6% for medical insurance. Of the net from my payroll, I spend 65% just keeping a roof over our head, utilities, 2 cars, ins, fuel, maintenance, cell phones etc. Then comes food, required living items and if lucky entertainment. Lets not forget about the "OH Shit, forgot about the bill". Its hard to make any headway. I work to pay others to live my life. Its crazy. I could not imagine even trying to live a life in the US on SS. This is why most work until they die.

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## FatOne

Yep, it's the same in Oz, pretty hard to save for retirement. We have a system here where your employer has to pay a percentage of your income into a superannuation fund for your retirement, trouble is I've been self employed most of my life so no super for me! I have however paid a s..load of tax which should entitle me to something back, and I believe it will, saving the govt changing the rules somewhere along the line !

----------


## nigelandjan

> In my case because my wife is much younger than me I will only be eligible for 1/2 the married pension which is about $1100 / fortnight - so about $265 a week, try living on that in any developed country!!!


Now I am presuming from that statement they will keep paying a pension to your wife /widow after you pass ?
Well thats a good thing for sure.

I think the UK pension has stopped that , I will get the full National state pension but when I am gone so is my pension I believe , however she WILL still get the pension I receive now which I have had since I was 50 from my previous works pension ( at the moment as the current rules stand ) watch this space

----------


## FatOne

That, I haven't worked out! If she becomes a citizen, then I can't see why not. But right now I only qualify for 1/2 the married pension because she is 25 years younger than me.

----------


## nigelandjan

BTW  your Aus pension works out at about only £15 a week less than we get in the UK , I am lucky I have my works pension and other monthly income form investments to top it up , but most in the UK exist on the pension , just , its not really what you call living .

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## FatOne

Yeah, impossible to live on pension here, lot of people buy a caravan or motor home and just drive around this big country, often staying beside a nice creek or something for free. We call them grey nomads. This was my plan before I met my darling. Now I can live in a nice house and have enough money to live on and buy a beer or two. Hope the exchange rate stays OK.

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## terry57

^

You know Fatty, the grey nomad is an urban legend that is talked up.

It can be a great trip or it can be a nightmare given the person one travels with and ones luck on the road.  Car wise especially.

Breakdown in the outback and it could cost one anything to get out with the car and van. 

The price of fuel is large, distances huge, caravan parks run at a minimum of $35 a night, in premium spots like Cairns and the Gold coast they run at $ 70-80 a night just for the dirt patch .  :Confused: 

Free camping when one can is the way to go. The longer the more cost effective, 12 months would be good.

One is banged up with the Aussie hand bag 24/7, I mean that's gota get old real quick EH.  

Next thing its incredibly unhealthy as one is sitting on his arse most of the time driving. 

Oh yes, driving around Australia is one very expensive prospect.

That said, ones gota do it at least once,  its a friggin awesome trip. 

I'll do it again one day.

Do that I recon and then bolt to Thailand.  :Smile:

----------


## Stumpy

> Oh yes, driving around Australia is one very expensive prospect.


Terry, same here in the US. I have done a couple of cross country runs with friends with Tractor trailers delivering cars. Your ass hurts, there are stretches of nothingness but big fields. You eat crap food and shower at truck stops and as you noted it is expensive as hell. Everything in the US is so spread out. But as you said, you need to do it a few times as its an awesome trip. 

As much as I like the US, people seldom venture out past there own states. Its cost prohibitive. The missus wants to see NY before we return. She did some trip planning and was thrown back on the cost for a week with airfare (~$3,000 to $3,500) and that does not include any shopping or cab fares. She is funny, She said its pretty but not $3,000 dollars pretty.  :rofl: 

Sorry to go off tangent Mr M....

----------


## FatOne

No probs about tangents, that's all I've got left until I go over and do some more work on the house!
Yeah, I agree Terry, but when on the pension what's the alternative? Sit in a small 1 bedroom unit with no extra money to spend eating dogfood???

----------


## Wasp

It's surprisingly tasty stuff !



Wasp

----------


## RPETER65

> Well the person of whom I speak found he had to look around for an acceptable country and he's spending his Winter in *Spain*   ..... where they will happily send his Pension .
> 
> There must be confusion somewhere .
> 
> Thailand would be his first choice !
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wsp



I have a friend from Australia living in Thailand, he had to back to Thailand to get his pension but he has been back for over a year and now gets his pension

 Can your friend not get his pension deposited in an Australian bank then wire it to Thailand.

----------


## Wasp

> I have a friend from Australia living in Thailand, he had to back to Thailand to get his pension but he has been back for over a year and now gets his pension
> 
>  Can your friend not get his pension deposited in an Australian bank then wire it to Thailand.


I just dunno .

He looked at countries where Australia WOULD pay him and *Spain* was the most practical .
It's all weird .

What difference does it make to Australia if they send his money to Argentina or Russia ? It's all just computer stuff and it's automatic every fortnight .

Anyway I'm staying away from it .
I believe it's all changing again soon .



Wasp

----------


## FatOne

They have recently changed the eligible dates for younger folk, you now need to be 70 years old to collect if you are about 50 now, thankfully they haven't changed the dates for us old codgers

----------


## Loy Toy

I have really enjoyed your thread FatOne and wish you and your wife many happy years enjoying your new home.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Loy Toy, appreciate the comment. I look forward to being there full time

----------


## FatOne

Well, I finally get to see my house, I managed to finally get a couple of weeks off work even though I have moved shops now and am living in Bundaberg in tropical north Queensland in Australia. I thought I'd share what we have been doing the last few days since being in LOS. We have a very limited budget but it's amazing how much you can get for very little money here. 
We decided to just get enough so we could stay in the house, but in a bare house that still meant a lot of things. We stopped at Big C in Udon on the way and purchased towels, linen, cutlery, plates, a fridge, kettle, toaster oven, hotplate and various other items - about 20K baht.
Then to furniture, the lounge pictured was 8,500b with coffee table, we also purchased beds and for us a genuine pillow top soft mattress for about 20kb at a local furniture shop in Seka, our closest town. Biggest problem was they don't take credit cards in Seka and I am very short on cash.

----------


## FatOne

This is our new bed, there was a really nice bedhead but we decided it was too expensive, and this one with all the space meant we didn't need to buy bedside tables

----------


## FatOne

This is the spare bedroom, currently being occupied by my stepson, cheaper queen bed, ours is a king 6x6. The wardrobes are from the back of a truck that passes our house about twice a week laden with all sorts of furniture. You get now, pay in 1 year!!!

----------


## FatOne

This bed is for the mother in law, who seems to have taken up residence!

----------


## FatOne

The kitchen is pretty liveable, still a bit to be done. This will do for a while, we'll put stove and cupboards in later.

----------


## FatOne

The most important acquisition, after 3 days here we bit the bullet and decided we just had to have an air con in the bedroom. I can wait for air in the living room but sleeping in the heat is a real problem. 17k b for 17,000 btu LG air pretty cheap by Oz standards and that included same day installation. We can get smaller 9,000 btu units for the other bedrooms but our room gets the sun all afternoon and is like a sauna.

----------


## FatOne

Our "walk in wardrobe" with a wardrobe purchased off the back of a truck passing by. - one day we'll get it fitted out but this will do for now.

----------


## FatOne

This pic is taken from our front door. The SIL has set up a little shop selling food and drinks and seems to be making a go of it. Cost bugger all to set up, we sent her some money, and saves us sending her money every month for looking after the house. We had to build an outside Thai toilet to stop her letting people into the house for a pit stop.

Needless to say I am extremely happy with the house, it's actually bigger than it looks on photos, plenty of room everywhere. Build quality is Okay, a little dodgy in places but nothing you'd worry too much about unless you were a perfectionist.

----------


## terp80

Looks very nice FO, and didn't spend an arm and a leg. Good to go! Enjoy yourself!  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Terps, it'll do for now. Good enough for hols.

----------


## terry57

Your house is great Fatty. well done.

Funny thing with the A/C huh.

18 months ago I had two A/C 's installed in my gaff in Perth before I rented it out. 

The Install alone was 25000 Baht.  :Confused: 

 4 hours work for two guys.   :Smile:

----------


## Stumpy

MrM, Nice additions and glad you are enjoying some quality time there. I personally like the little twin bed your MIL uses. I have found them to be great little beds to take a nap. Sort of like camping in the house... :rofl:  

When do you head back?

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Guys,
Only got 2 weeks, back to the grindstone end of next week. Loving it here. Have to make some more money so that I can get it just right.

----------


## nigelandjan

Well done F1 hope you have a long and happy retirement in your chosen place . 

I would imagine like anything else the cost of building one later on is only gonna go up, so its good you have it in place now ready to go.

I must have it wrong I assumed all these years a Queen bed was 6 foot and a King 5 foot ,, mabe thats because in the UK a King actually is 5 foot

----------


## FatOne

I'm quoting Oz sizes, King is the larger in Oz, here they just use 6x6, 5x6 etc

----------


## FatOne

Hi All,

Thought I would show you a couple of pics of disastrous plumbing sent to me from LOS. We have a friend with family staying and looking after the house. This is a pic of the wall in my walk in robe, the bathroom on the other side is obviously leaking into the wall!

----------


## FatOne

This one shows the basin drain in the spare bathroom that has been disconnected because it didn't drain!

----------


## FatOne

This is the wonderful job done in caulking around the spa bath in our ensuite

----------


## FatOne

This is the bum washer in the spare bathroom, obviously lacking a head

----------


## FatOne

My wife said - He not do very good job - None of this should be too much of a problem apart from water in the wall, but not being there I will have to rely on help from friends to get it all fixed. Wonder what else has gone wrong?

----------


## terry57

> Hi All,
> 
> Thought I would show you a couple of pics of disastrous plumbing sent to me from LOS. We have a friend with family staying and looking after the house. This is a pic of the wall in my walk in robe, the bathroom on the other side is obviously leaking into the wall!


 
If you are lucky it will be a simple case of Somchai not doing the grouting properly.

This lets the water into the wall. Looks horrid but not a big deal.

If you are unlucky Somchai has not joined the pipe properly and the water is leaking into the wall.

Thats means you will be knocking part of that wall out to find the leak. 

Good luck with it.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Terry, I reckon it will be the latter, pull it apart and try again!

----------


## Wasp

> This one shows the basin drain in the spare bathroom that has been disconnected because it didn't drain!


I do know a tiny bit --- and those brackets are for bookshelves .

or for pine shelves in your shed so you can display your 500ml half-empty bottle of White Spirit  --  and your collection of used sandpaper scraps .

They are decidedly NOT for supporting the weight that is on them now .

You got one of the many many many slack workers there .



Unfortunately.





Wasp

----------


## terry57

> Thanks Terry, I reckon it will be the latter, pull it apart and try again!


 

No do not do that,  I had the same problem in my gaff in Perth.

So I contact my Insurance company and they sent a plumber out to test it. 

He puts a pressure test on the system and informs me that there is no leak in the system so the water must be coming through the wall,  the grouting has come away. 

So the deal is that you must then let the wall dry out then get all the grouting redone by some foker who does it properly. 

I had an outside shower so moved outside and let the wall dry.

Once regrouted correctly all was good. 

You need to get a Plumber out to pressure test your system before you do anything.  

Do not assume Somchai has fuked up the Plumbing.

----------


## terry57

^^

Wasp,

The brackets supporting the sink has fuk all to do with the plumbing problem.

When Somchai the plumber comes out to sort the leak in the wall he can explore what is blocking that drain pipe.

Could simply be a piece of shit.  Blockages are generally no big deal unless some foker has pored concrete down the pipe.

----------


## Wasp

I did not think for even a fraction of a millisecond that the brackets would have any influence at all in the problem of the water ingress leak situation difficulty.

But they are shit crap useless Chinese tin brackets .

Somchai strikes wherever he can .

----------


## terry57

^

I think you'll find those shit brackets will actually last forever.

But I do agree with you that they are shit.

----------


## Wasp

And I agree with *you* Terranss .

But they will not last forever . 
 They will rust and bend and crease and bring down the whole house !

Marty's home is doomed .

*DOOMED* I tell you .  :Yup:  :Yup:  :Yup: 





 :No:

----------


## FatOne

AAArrrgghhh!!! Doomed before I even move in!!!
The hard part will be to find a decent plumber, we will need to ask around. It was a cheap build, so I guess you've got to expect a few screw ups.

----------


## terry57

^

I would not panic yet, water leaking through the grout is a common occurrence and the vast majority of damage to walls is because of this.

That said, it should not happen in a new build such as yours but considering Somchai has done the grouting no one would be surprised. 

Just make sure when the cause is found that wall is completely dry before attempting to repair and paint it. 

You will need to shut down the bathroom for a while to achieve this .

When you get back the first thing to do is scrape all that flaking paint off and bring it back to bare plaster.

----------


## Exit Strategy

FatOne, thanks for the thread and I would not worry too much about doomsday... deal with it if it becomes a prob, otherwise live long and prosper mate

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Exit, I intend to, tho prosper could be a challenge!

----------


## sheldom smith

Really like this design

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Sheldon,

Very comfortable to stay in when I was there earlier in the year

----------


## Dead Metal

So where are we at now FatOne ? Been a few months now. New year, new look ?

----------


## FatOne

Hi Dead Metal, yeah, right now we are no where. Wife is over there at the moment, has fixed a few little things like the bl..dy pump not working (again) but I can't afford to get into anything too expensive right now, so waiting on $$$

----------


## FatOne

Rural Rd Nong Khai 3098, Nam Chan, Bueng Kan, Thailand | Instant Google Street View

Hope this works, this is a street view of our home on google maps. It was taken when I was there last February (2015) as the car I rented is in the background. Interesting that they would bother in such a small village. The SIL little shop at the front is no longer there, but you can use your mouse to look around the village.

----------


## RPETER65

> Thanks Terry, I reckon it will be the latter, pull it apart and try again!


Which is not a big deal.

----------


## roger77

> Rural Rd Nong Khai 3098, Nam Chan, Bueng Kan, Thailand | Instant Google Street View
> 
> Hope this works, this is a street view of our home on google maps. It was taken when I was there last February (2015) as the car I rented is in the background. Interesting that they would bother in such a small village. The SIL little shop at the front is no longer there, but you can use your mouse to look around the village.


Great view of your village, the thing I noted is that like where we live there is a range of houses from near derelict to much better than our place.

----------


## Happy Dave

> I knew if I mentioned the toilet it would start a few replies, now I know someone is reading this! Even if they only give it 4 stars!! Hopefully the toilet will be replaced at 50cm height soon, it was pulled out without breaking.


My rented bungalow is one year old. The kitchen benchtop  a little under 80 cm, which is too low. The toilet seat is 40 cm., with a little arthritis in my hips i often find it very difficult  and painful to stand up.   50 cm would be ideal.   :deadhorsebig:

----------


## Happy Dave

> A couple of pics Kung sent me this morning, the front doors have been given a first coat of stain, the gap between the garage and the verandah has been filled and tiled. Looking pretty good.


Still no privacy screen around the outdoor shower !

----------


## Happy Dave

> Yeah, impossible to live on pension here, lot of people buy a caravan or motor home and just drive around this big country, often staying beside a nice creek or something for free. We call them grey nomads. This was my plan before I met my darling. Now I can live in a nice house and have enough money to live on and buy a beer or two. Hope the exchange rate stays OK.


you can live here comfortably in your Aussie pension, i do and Samui is a lot more expensive than BKK or the bush

----------


## Happy Dave

> No probs about tangents, that's all I've got left until I go over and do some more work on the house!
> Yeah, I agree Terry, but when on the pension what's the alternative? Sit in a small 1 bedroom unit with no extra money to spend eating dogfood???


Mate, you have the single most important item for your retirement, your own home !
I pay bht 9000 per month for my home manage to go to the local bar every sat & sun., live in probably one of the most expensive places in Thailand, Koh Samui and manage quite well on my Aussie pension. Just relax and look forward to your future life in LOS.
 ::chitown::

----------


## terry57

^ ^

The Aussie pension works out at 261 buks a week or around that.

The Aussie dollar is falling rapidly and at the moment is under 25 baht to the dollar so that's 26000 bht per month,  4 K under a Teflers wage.   :Confused: 

Yes, one can live on that but it's bullshit if you do not have a nice wedge in the bank to cover visa fee's and especially fall back money to cover medical. 

It's the medical part of living in Thailand which can bring guys surviving on a Pension crashing back to Earth and reality very quickly.

----------


## Happy Dave

> ^ ^
> 
> The Aussie pension works out at 261 buks a week or around that.
> 
> The Aussie dollar is falling rapidly and at the moment is under 25 baht to the dollar so that's 26000 bht per month,  4 K under a Teflers wage.  
> 
> Yes, one can live on that but it's bullshit if you do not have a nice wedge in the bank to cover visa fee's and especially fall back money to cover medical. 
> 
> It's the medical part of living in Thailand which can bring guys surviving on a Pension crashing back to Earth and reality very quickly.


My doctor charges bht130 per visit. I use the local govt hospital. Had a chest infection last year, went to hospital, saw 2 different doctors had 2 xrays, walked out with medicine for 14 days, cost me bht 800.  Whats expensive about that .

----------


## terry57

^

Nothing at all, fantastic deal for small time ailments. 

What about if something serious happens to you like cancer.  

If you are not concerned with that no point in answering.

----------


## Wasp

You don't spend your life in a place where you don't want to be just in case you get cancer one day .




Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

Yes that is correct,

But on the other hand considering one must be at least 67 years old to gain an Australian pension the only thing certain is that illness will occur simply because of age.

That's all I'm saying,  make sure you have money in your pocket to sort shit out.

You are a long way away from Australia where the Tax payer will sort out your sick arse.

----------


## Wasp

Printed twice for some reason.

----------


## Wasp

One miserable aspect of my area in the UK is that for  some reason there are an awful lot of Retirement apartments , Care homes and Respite centres . 
These are packed with ageing folks who look like they've never done a risky thing in their whole lives .
I imagine they have their thermostats set to 22°C and they have a lot of soup.

They emerge once a fortnight to teeter down to the Post Office and check their Savings Account for their biannual cruise from Malta to Barcelona and back .... flying to Malta on Ryanair.  Subject to a doctor's note saying they can fly.
Their birthdays are shit as their children are not prepared to spend £4000 flying in from Adelaide just to smell the Homes and sing Happy Birthday .  Instead their carers might connect Skype so they can see that it's 4am in South Australia and everybody is just going through the motions.
Probably it will be Cancer or Alzheimers that will take them away . 
But that's not so bad.
Because  the NHS doctor is literally less than half a mile away and there's a cancer unit at the big hospital 2 miles  away .

....... and in a few quiet moments they may wish they had made a few different decisions in their lives .

But never mind . 

Because the NHS doctor is literally less than half a mile away and there's a cancer unit at the big hospital 2 miles  away .





Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

Well Waspy,

I scream loud and clear that being in Thailand when one is an old fuk is far preferable than being at home in a shitty bed sit wasting away. 

But that said, 

The fact remains that if one is relying on his shitty pension to survive things are going to get very messy if the shit hits the fan over here health wise.  

Just have money set aside to sort out your old arse.

No coont here is going to pay for it.

----------


## Wasp

In just one comment here *^* you have one ' fuk ' , two ' shitty ' , a ' shit ' , an ' arse ' and a ' coont ' .


Do you honestly talk like that every day ?



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

Jesus Wasp, 

You're so politically correct at times you piss me off.  

Go get yourself a beer or something.   :Smile: 

So anyway Wasp,  back to business. 

Ya got money stashed in the Bank here just in case you throw a stroke or ya just going with the flow and gunna let Buddha sort it.   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## Wasp

It's not " political " in any sense at all terry.

I do wonder why people use such language when it's so offensive and it's  just tiring . 
And you just know that people will get aggressive if you object !

Why ?

I don't need  a beer . 
As if having a beer means I'm going to " chill out " in some way and start using the same language !
What I need is a hot chocolate because it's  -2° .

There's nothing " politically correct " about having to decipher your words in between the swearing .   
You make good points .  
This Forum has gone practically torpid .   I want to read what you say .  But I don't want to have to read around that stuff !


And I'm sure you don't give Patsy ' The Horn ' at all .



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

I'm very sorry about that Wasp but I'm not fuking changing.   :Smile: 



Maybe just get one of those pens where you can whiteout my naughty words.  

.

If that don't work, fuk it eh,   just work around it.     :silvercup: 

Anyway Wasp,

I don't like it when you use all those silly fookin colors in your fonts. 

Cut that shit out will ya wasp.  :Confused: 

Besides that Waspy,

You have a nice day freezing your balls off over there. 

It's a lovely 29 Deg in BKK.     :Trink26:

----------


## Wasp

One ' fuking ' .   

  One  ' fuk ' .  

One ' fookin ' 

.... and just one ' shit ' !

You're slowly improving terence.




Wasp

----------


## Yemen

terry & wasp- you guys are entertaining.

----------


## Wasp

Yemen --- do you like all those " Stickies " at the top ?

I don't .

With those Stickies there  how  do you know when a new post has been made ?


I don't like them . Even though the Gallery is fabulous .





*Wasp*

----------


## David48atTD

> ^ ^
> It's the medical part of living in Thailand which can bring guys surviving on a Pension crashing back to Earth and reality very quickly.


+1

Couldn't agree more.

Easy when you are a bit younger, but as you age, entropy takes it's toll, and those who only see blue sky everyday, fail to plan for when the cyclone hits ... and it will.

----------


## David48atTD

> <snip> In my case because my wife is much younger than me I will only be eligible for 1/2 the married pension <snip>


Just to clear up a fact, the reason that you are only eligible for '_1/2 the married pension_' is not because your wife is much younger, it is because she is eligible to work.

If you both decide to move to Thailand and she decides not to work in Australia, then there is no reason for the Australian government to pay the full married rate.

Indeed, it will be the time she spends in Australia that will decide her level of pension entitlement once she reaches the appropiate age.


I know the above post won't be popular, but I'm just dealing with the facts as they currently are.

----------


## David48atTD

Extracts form the relevant government website ...

*Your pension rate outside Australia*

                 If you have been absent from Australia for longer than 6 weeks, or you are not living in Australia, your pension will be paid at an outside Australia rate.
                 If you are paid Age Pension under an international social security agreement,  the agreement rules determine the amount that you are paid while you  are outside Australia. If you are paid under an agreement, the rate paid  after 26 weeks, detailed below, may apply to you when you leave  Australia.


*Age Pension rate after 26 weeks*

                 After 26 weeks your rate will be based on how long you have lived in Australia as an Australian resident between the age of 16 and age pension age.
                 You will usually need to have lived in Australia as an Australian resident for *35 years*  to get a full means tested rate of Age Pension after 26 weeks overseas.  If you have lived in Australia for less than 35 years, you will  generally get a proportional rate.
                 For example, if you lived in Australia for 10 years between the age of 16 and age pension age, you will generally receive 10/35ths of the full means tested rate.
                 If you were receiving Age Pension, or another  Australian social security pension, outside Australia on 1 July 2014 and  you have not returned and stayed in Australia for 26 weeks or more, you  will usually need to have lived in Australia for 25 years to get your  full means tested rate.


More here ... Age Pension while travelling outside Australia - Department of Human Services

----------


## David48atTD

But, I have digressed from your build thread.  I do tip my hat to you having a build while neither you, nor your partner was there to supervise things.  Something I could never do.  I still have hair ... and I'd like to keep it thanks!  We did a few adds and alts (additions and alterations) when I was in the West and my Partner here and that was stressfull enough, let alone an entire build.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for all the comments and entertainment everyone. I hope that by the time I retire I will have a little bit in the (Thai) bank for emergencies. I am hoping to do a bit of travel in my declining years. I am 63 this year, and retirement and pension should be available at age 64.5. I am also looking at health insurance, but I'll worry about that in a couple of years. Meantime I'm enjoying going home to the village for hols and doing a few improvements when I go. As far as being there during the building I was happy with the outcome, and much less stress!

----------


## terry57

I'm reading the pension payable outside Australia to be $ 405 per week for a single person. 10 K baht per week  ???

Sounds a tad generous, have i read that wrong maybe. ?

----------


## bobo746

> You are a long way away from Australia where the Tax payer will sort out your sick arse.


I agree with terry i got crook would have cost me a fortune in thailand came home 9 days in a private room in a public hospital no charge and the medication for the next 3 months $35 all good now.

----------


## FatOne

Payment rates for Age Pension - Department of Human Services

Dept of human services pension rates

For me - $594/fortnight

----------


## terry57

^ ^

I do bang on about the Medical side for us expats but I had some serious shit happen to me at age 55 and it took a year to sort. 

Luckily I was still working, had private health Insurance and was under the care of people who I could communicate with and who sorted me out.

If I was in Thailand with no health or minimal health cover fuks knows what would of happened.  :Confused:

----------


## terry57

^^

Be OK up North on that.

----------


## Wasp

> fuks knows what would of happened.


Well just ask this guy ' fuks ' if he knows so much !

----------


## Wasp

So Marty ..........

In November everybody pretty much agreed that your new home was *DOOMED* because of the* massive* amount of water that was destroying your walls .

So  what happened ?

Is it fixed ?



Wasp

----------


## FatOne

Nope, I haven't had the funds to fix it. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. It will have to wait until I get some $$, later in the year.

----------


## Wasp

Hmmmm .

Think I caught you in a serious mood.




*Wasp*

----------


## FatOne

Sorry, should've said still DOOMED!

----------


## cyrille

> things are going to get very messy if the shit hits the fan over here health wise.


Things are gonna get very messy at some point _anywhere_, tel.

----------


## terry57

^

No doubt about that mate,

All I want to do is to be able to service the bill when it does.

Unfortunately we can not all be so lucky as to just drop dead from a heart Attack. 

If we could,  I simply would not give a fok about this health business.

----------


## Happy Dave

I get $A770 fortnight  plus $A230 UK pounds per month = Bht 44,648  before fees !

----------


## Happy Dave

> ^ ^
> 
> The Aussie pension works out at 261 buks a week or around that.
> 
> The Aussie dollar is falling rapidly and at the moment is under 25 baht to the dollar so that's 26000 bht per month,  4 K under a Teflers wage.  
> 
> Yes, one can live on that but it's bullshit if you do not have a nice wedge in the bank to cover visa fee's and especially fall back money to cover medical. 
> 
> It's the medical part of living in Thailand which can bring guys surviving on a Pension crashing back to Earth and reality very quickly.


my aussie pension is $A1540 mth. plus UK pension $A230 mth  total about $A1770 or Bht 44,648 before fees.

----------


## terry57

^

Is that a private pension or a Government Aged pension. ?

I was under the Opinion the Government Aged pension for a single person was not that much.

Maybe you can set me straight on that.

Ta

----------


## Wasp

> Sorry, should've said still DOOMED!



Such light-hearted frivolity comes too late.

----------


## Happy Dave

> ^
> 
> Is that a private pension or a Government Aged pension. ?
> 
> I was under the Opinion the Government Aged pension for a single person was not that much.
> 
> Maybe you can set me straight on that.
> 
> Ta


No mate, this is my Aussie Seniors pension, less the medical supplement of course.which they deduct if one lives overseas. I get a little less than i would due to the small amount from UK which remains frozen from the time i left in 1973.   Despite what the "bar flowers" say, i manage quite well on that. Could even afford to go to my bar and watch SOUTHAMPTON defeat Man U last night on the big screen.

----------


## terry57

^

I'm sure you are living a very nice existence on that amount of money.

If no debts to pay and one's not silly it's all good.

Cheers.

----------


## nigelandjan

Allways easy when you feel reasonably fit and painfree to post up with a load of bravado about how you will bum along untill a prob arises , just like it never will 

WRONG  unfotunately a lot of us on here in this situation are in our golden years , the harsh reality is likely sooner or later some orrible thing out the blue will rear its ugly head .

A dear mate of mine who has been retired out here 11 years now emailed me yesterday with not good news , he has been pissing blood on and off quite heavy at times for 3 days now , I'm sure most of us know where thats leading , however he neither has and insurance or funds to see to it  , the drawbridge is up for him as far as scuttling back to the UK ,, what to do ??  I wish him well 

BTW he was allways in the brigade of what will be will be ,, now quite understanably he is very very worried

----------


## Happy Dave

Don't be smug Nige.  He can go to any govt hospital.

----------


## nigelandjan

Nothing to do with being smug FFS  I have spent days and days with my inlaws in some of the gov hospitals ,,, how long you spent in em ?? 

The 2  that I have spent days in  have convinced me I would rather be gone 

Mabe there are better ones out there , but the experiences I have had ,, no thanks 

Do they provide free ongoing cancer surgery and treatment for foreigners ?? 

I dont know , enlighten me please

----------


## terry57

^

For sure Government hospitals differ from province to province. 

one may be lucky and in their area the Hospital may be OK but one may be unlucky and their local is shit.

My mate lives in Kalasin and had to take MIL there,  said it was a fokin nightmare.  

Maybe the one on Samui is quite OK.

----------


## FatOne

I assume that is a single pension Happy D, from what I read I am only entitled to half the married pension unless I divorce my darling and live in sin. She is too young for me to get the married pension.

----------


## Happy Dave

> ^
> 
> For sure Government hospitals differ from province to province. 
> 
> one may be lucky and in their area the Hospital may be OK but one may be unlucky and their local is shit.
> 
> My mate lives in Kalasin and had to take MIL there,  said it was a fokin nightmare.  
> 
> Maybe the one on Samui is quite OK.


Yes, the one on Samui is very good.  My doctor works there and he tells me that they are quite well off  as they get a lot of the tourists who have got insurance. It seems that  "Samui Rescue"  the free ambulance service,  take a lot of farang accident victims there if they do not demand any specific hospital ( probably due to Dr Brown Paper Bag)  but a funny thing happened to me last year, i was in a m/c accident and Samui Rescue took me to the govt hospital Naton. Had a smashed ankle. Laying on the gurney and they brought a young tourist in alongside me with his feet all mangled. The doctor proceeded to scrape the filth and gunk out of my ankle wound without me even feeling it. However when the nurses started to work on the young English guy, they had to remove the remains of his toenails with pliers, he started screaming like hell.  His g/f  who was an English nurse  demanded they give him morphine which they said they had !   However it seems that they had given me the morphine by mistake..........Thank god for that.    lololol

----------


## Happy Dave

> I assume that is a single pension Happy D, from what I read I am only entitled to half the married pension unless I divorce my darling and live in sin. She is too young for me to get the married pension.


Yes  it is the single pension, my ex has since passed away. However i had a legal separation previous to that and got the single pension. Think about the legal separation, it was easy, only had to fill out and sign a form.   ::chitown::

----------


## Happy Dave

> Nothing to do with being smug FFS  I have spent days and days with my inlaws in some of the gov hospitals ,,, how long you spent in em ?? 
> 
> The 2  that I have spent days in  have convinced me I would rather be gone 
> 
> Mabe there are better ones out there , but the experiences I have had ,, no thanks 
> 
> Do they provide free ongoing cancer surgery and treatment for foreigners ?? 
> 
> I dont know , enlighten me please


Sorry about that Nige, but you know how some come into forums just to snipe and feel important.

----------


## nigelandjan

Not at all ^  it matters nothing to me as it wont affect me ,, I am only sharing the experience that my mate is in . 

He is very worried , and tbh I was bloody upset when he told me .

I have as I said also spent many many hours with my MIL and SIL in various gov hospitals and from what I have seen its not pleasant to say the least .

One of my other SIL"S is now in charge of a local hospital , so I do spend a fair bit of time in em one way or another .

We are hoping to retire to Spain where hopefully the UK will remain in the EU and it gives us excellent medical cover

----------


## Mathos

Hi  Nige, I don't normally jump on the 'Band-Wagon'
so to speak, but having spent so much time in The East
over the years, I have witnessed and heard of numerous
sad cases when the money runs out, and or when the
inevitable health problems arise.

It's sad to see ashes passed on to folk who have no idea 
what they are going to do with them or even appear to care!

I think you are being very sensible Nige in re-addressing your 
retirement plans and settling in Spain. Assuming of course 
you don't want to relax and remain in your own homeland.

The other man's grass is always greener!

Many folk seek happiness in alternative countries, 
(rest assured, both me and Flobo gave thought to living in The East)

I'm glad we didn't! Very glad.

I think you can treat and water your own grass, 
and have the best.

Nature itself creates a certain bond in the 
innermost part of your being and psyche, 
to whichever country you owe your birth
and infancy. It cannot be dismissed or ignored.

I wish you all well  hoping sincerely whatever 
decisions each individual makes serves him well.

----------


## Wasp

In for example Korat .... it's not at all difficult to find out which government hospital is good ...... and which should be avoided.

And when I needed a hospital -- in  Thailand -- I got terrific service . Pleasant caring medics . Three nurses and two doctors in swift attendance. 
And a bill at the end of my treatment . 800 Baht.

In the UK when I needed the help of a hospital I got a waiting time of 4 months and then that appointment was cancelled twice.

So I wouldn't automatically disparage the Thai hospital treatment at all .



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

You obviously do not have Private health Insurance and are relying on the Public system.

IT works exactly the same way in Australia, the punters drinking from the public trough will go to the back of the waiting list for non urgent treatment.

Totally fair enough this.

On the other hand if you are going to die the public system is the place to be simply because you will banged straight to front of the list and treated immediately basically for free. 

The Nanny system is sensational in life threatening situations.

You cannot have it both ways.

If you want treatment immediately pay Private health insurance other wise wait your turn. 

Alternatively you can pay cash to seek immediate treatment if you have it.

----------


## Wasp

So back to this house then ....................



This *doomed* house .



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^
When I see these houses I see great potential to create. 

Outside living is the go in Thailand  so add the Verandas, car bay and gardens and they're all good.

----------


## FatOne

It will be a little while before I can get the necessary $$ to finish this place, my plan is to put up a nice front fence with just a tall block fence around the other 3 sides and maybe a nice waterfall and fish pond in the front. Some grass and a garden should finish it off. Still some cabinet work to do inside, plus some better furniture. And of course, need to fix the doomed plumbing before it all comes crumbling down.

----------


## FatOne

As for hospitals, the local village hospital is ok for colds and headaches, the closest decent hospital is in Seka and I don't know how good that is. I recently had an experience here in Bundaberg where I went to outpatients feeling lousy and they found out I had a burst appendix, rushed me straight into surgery. Brilliant team saved my life. The public system is great for emergencies here in Oz, but elective surgery like knee replacements could see you on a very long waiting list.

----------


## nigelandjan

Bloody hell mate ^ that was a close call , that nearly killed my late Mum years ago , I believe its called peritonitas ? at that stage .  not sure but I do remember it was a bad situation that very quickly developed .

How long have you got to go before you retire over to Thailand full time ?  is there kind of basic checks + ongoing surgery offered in the Aus system that you could get done free prior to retirement ? Sorry I know nothing of your system .

Here in the UK things are not so good as they used to be caused by insufficent funding plus so many being allowed in from Europe , ok I know we get reciprical Euro treatment but I believe number wise we have so many more here on our shores.

I have just had the full blood count tests all done about a month ago , enquired last week and was told at the moment no news is good news , however all the tests are not yet complete . The wife is actually going next week here to for the same .

Hope you make a full recovery and you probably are glad that got sorted in your home Country beforehand

----------


## FatOne

Hi Nige,
All better now, local hospital was very good and caring. Big scar as it was too far gone for keyhole surgery, which they tried, but all is good, no pain a few weeks after surgery. I think the doctor is the go to guy here for general health. My Doc is OK, but my wife hates him because he keeps sending her for blood tests etc that always seem to come back negative. She is very afraid of needles.

I have about 1+1/2 years before I am eligible for govt pension, looking forward to it!!

----------


## David48atTD

Dear slightly rotund member (aka the Fat One) ... couple of hard questions if that's OK?

This area in Thailand that you will be living, have you actually lived any extended time in?
Like 3 or 6 months?  Just to really get the feel of the locale.

Do you speak Thai?  Even basic Thai, say a vocab of 1,000 words?

If you have lived in the village/locale for some time, have you made any close contacts with the other westerners there?

You mentioned about installing a dishwasher.  You said that in Australia, it was usefull after your dinner parties.
My heartfelt advice is that this appliance may not reach it's full service potential where your house has been built and the money saved, from not buying said machine would be put to much better use.


One thing I  noticed you haven't mentioned is your water supply?
Do you have an on-site water storage facility with and associated pump?
Or are you relying on the mains water supply?

----------


## FatOne

Hi David,
This area is where my wife grew up, it is a very small village. I have stayed there a few times over the past few years but no, I haven't spend an extended amount of time there. I speak a little Thai, but they speak a Laos variety in the village. There are a couple of Farangs in the village, 2 Americans, a Finn and a Norweigan all of whom I have had a few cold ones with and enjoy the company, but thankfully I am pretty much at home with my computer and TV downloads. There is a farang restaurant in nearby Seka which always has a few blokes hanging out if ever I get bored. Water supply is via a well and pump, with back up town water which is pretty inconsistent.

----------


## terry57

^

I've just returned to Bangkok after a 3 K road trip through the North East.

As usual I end up over nighting in some small obscure towns, in these small towns I will always encounter a few Farang.

Amazes me the places I see these Guys. 

Definitely not for me but good on the guys who can enjoy these places. 

Be certainly cheap that's for sure.

----------


## Conche

Just seen and read through this thread ....... quite a few eye openers in here for sure

overall very well done indeed !

----------


## JohnG

> I have just had the full blood count tests all done about a month ago , enquired last week and was told at the moment no news is good news , however all the tests are not yet complete .


A MONTH???

I live in Loei province.  I can go to the local government hospital in Nong Hin, 10 minutes away, and get the results an hour after a 1 or 2 hour wait for a blood test; or go to a private lab in Loei city, 40 minutes away, and get the results in an hour; or to the government hospital in Loei and get them after waiting all day; 300 baht or so at any of those;  or if I want to be pampered and pay for it I can drive a couple of hours to the Bangkok - Khon Kaen Hospital, pay 5 or 6,000 baht, and get them in a morning.

A month!!!

Last week I went to see the urology specialist from the government hospital in Loei when she was at her private clinic in Wang Saphung, 20 minutes away.  Waited an hour, had a very informative talk for 15 minutes or so, and because I didn't need any medication it was free!

A month ... Wow.

----------


## Conche

Depends what sort of blood tests he had done ^  a friend of mine has a recurring problem within the thyroid region and she was told when the took the blood one of the tests would take 6 weeks to come back with the results

----------


## FatOne

Thanks Conche, still a work in progress but quite liveable as it is. Fence, lawn, inside cupboards still to be done.

----------


## Conche

Yes very nice indeed anyway , there is no rush as and when you can afford to retire you can do at your leisure....or your wifes instruction  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Yep, as soon as I get some money I'll be back onto it!

----------


## Wasp

I think there's only me and you and Conche reading these any more . :Worried:  :Puppy Dog Eyes: 



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

I'm still reading Waspy,    I rather like your threads. 

All those different Font colors are wonderful.   :bananaman:

----------


## Wasp

Well you've changed Terence !!



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

Na,

I'm still the same friendly affable fella I have been ever since I Joined TD.  

Others may flounce WASP but I shall be here until they close those Teak doors.  :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

Not much happening on the construction threads these days, no wonder no one is reading. Isn't anyone building in Thailand anymore?

----------


## David48atTD

> Not much happening on the construction threads these days, no wonder no one is reading. Isn't anyone building in Thailand anymore?


Each forum has it's own particular interest set.

TD is a great place for general info about Thailand.

When it comes to serious building, many drop by the Cool Thai House ... coolthaihouse.com | Building in Thailand

It's a pure building info site and doesn't clash or overlap with TD.
(Hopefully the Mods allow the link)

Some great reading there ... as there is here inside the TD


As for me, personally, I was involved in a small reno of a Thai farmhouse riddled with termites and sinking foundations.  

It was unique as it was a Thai job, done for Thais by Thais ... and a real insight into their construction methods.

But that was a couple of years ago.

----------


## David48atTD

> Hi David,
> This area is where my wife grew up, it is a very small village. I have stayed there a few times over the past few years but no, I haven't spend an extended amount of time there. I speak a little Thai, but they speak a Laos variety in the village. There are a couple of Farangs in the village, 2 Americans, a Finn and a Norweigan all of whom I have had a few cold ones with and enjoy the company, but thankfully I am pretty much at home with my computer and TV downloads. There is a farang restaurant in nearby Seka which always has a few blokes hanging out if ever I get bored. Water supply is via a well and pump, with back up town water which is pretty inconsistent.


Ah, of course, ignorant me, not much Thai up your way.

I wish you and your wife a wonderfull life in your new abode.

But, TBH, I do have concerns that the boredom of living in an Alien Society, with, presumably, your wife being the only point of contact with the outside world.

While you are in Australia, the dream of living carefree in a Village may appeal greatly, but the reality is that often that dream is not realised.

I'm living in the same state as you are presently, but have spent 1/2 my life, these past few years split between Thailand and the West.


Good luck with it all, find a hobby that interested you in the West, or discover a new one in the Kingdom and it might relieve the mind numbing boredom that many a newly resettled ex-pat write about. 

Have a real serious look into the Healthcare options open and available to you and think twice before cutting all ties to Australia.

Cheers and beers

OH, BTW, what beer do you like?

----------


## bindog

Aww, I'm still reading.  Usually way behind and nothing to add, but reading.  
I think I'm up to Songkran 2014 on this thread, with the serious note-taking reading. Gotta get a wriggle on though, I'm dying to find out what y'all mean about Fatty's doomed plumbing.  

I won't build 'til 2019 or so, when I retire from my corporate prison.  But I could start a 'design concept' thread or something if anyone is desperate - must have a dozen designs that I've lost interest in or had to change due to our future location changing.  Started out with a mini farang palace, now I'm aiming for something about the size of Fatty's place...

Re the health insurance option - my plan is to head back to Oz and the public system should I start pissing blood etc.  Is that not an option for those from the UK, to return home?  

I had my appendix out at the Mackay base hospital Marty, pretty well just up the road from Bundaberg - there's a coincidence for you.  I was about 12 years old though.   :Smile:

----------


## bindog

Orright, I'll ask a serious question FatOne... 

Back in May 2014 you posted pics of your roof frame going up.  I notice it is a steel frame.  Yet your concrete support columns appear to be in that Thai-standard 4m x 4m grid.  

I recall on about the first page of your thread someone was suggesting some layout changes that would have left a column on the corner of the (suggested) kitchen island bench.  With the steel roof frame, could you not have just taken out that column to leave an eight meter span?  At the architect / engineer stage of course, not mid- or post-build.   :Razz:

----------


## David48atTD

> Re the health insurance option - my plan is to head back to Oz and the public system should I start pissing blood etc.


Well, not exactly ...

If you have not been a resident (of Australia) for more then 5 years then I would suggest that, returning 'for a 2 week holiday' is not enough to qualify as a returning resident.




> *Supporting documentation * You need to provide documents to support your residency in Australia,  or your severing of ties with the previous country of residence if you  are:
>   an Australian citizen returning to Australia to live after living overseas for more than 5 years


 https://www.humanservices.gov.au/cus...-medicare-card

Just a heads up about the reality of leaving Australia to live in Thailand.

----------


## JohnG

> Orright, I'll ask a serious question FatOne... 
> 
> Back in May 2014 you posted pics of your roof frame going up.  I notice it is a steel frame.  Yet your concrete support columns appear to be in that Thai-standard 4m x 4m grid.  
> 
> I recall on about the first page of your thread someone was suggesting some layout changes that would have left a column on the corner of the (suggested) kitchen island bench.  With the steel roof frame, could you not have just taken out that column to leave an eight meter span?  At the architect / engineer stage of course, not mid- or post-build.


Only if your architect/engineer didn't like you or you had a serious death-
wish.

Steel frames are by no means stronger than reinforced concrete beams  -  most aren't.

I've not looked too closely at the build but its  clearly  concrete 'Roman' tiles  -  on a 150 sqm build that's about ten tonnes before you add on ceiling, a/c units, etc, all on a standard 'C' section medium or thin guage frame, with a roof design that doesn't put all the roof posts above the house posts but has some going up off the trusses.

That's unlikely to be a problem at all as long as you stick to a 4 x 4 'box' plan, as most Thais do.  Go much further than that and you need to look at other options: thicker 'C' sections, engineered trusses, concrete / re-bar top beams, a different roof design, or a lighter roof.  I wouldn't go for box sections personally as you can't paint them inside so they'll rust from the inside-out.

I'm using 'standard' tiles, as subjectively I think that roof panels look like a shed, and the bigger the roof the bigger the shed, but objectively (and from the inside) panels are the way to go - much cheaper, far lighter, insulated, and some don't look too bad (from a distance, for me, but some like the 'industrial' look.)

You can get bigger rooms without any major engineering as long as your builder knows what they're doing.  A lot don't, so they stick to the 4 x 4 boxes not just because it's what they're used to but because there's a good safety / fudge factor built in.   If you've got a decent and experienced engineer to check your ideas against, go for it, but I wouldn't put too much faith in what 'someone' said on an expat forum or what some of the genuinely qualified engineers I've met have said.

----------


## Wasp

I had a whole  Thread about this and never really got an answer .

Where were YOU JohnG ?  I was looking for you .

John Sir .... Assume your stroppy little Thai ' builder ' has turned up with the usual standard cement columns for to space them 4 metres apart .

How far could you actually safely space them apart ?



Wasp

----------


## JohnG

> I had a whole  Thread about this and never really got an answer .
> 
> Where were YOU JohnG ?  I was looking for you .
> 
> John Sir .... Assume your stroppy little Thai ' builder ' has turned up with the usual standard cement columns for to space them 4 metres apart .
> 
> How far could you actually safely space them apart ?
> 
> Wasp



I don't have a _ "stroppy little Thai 'builder' "_ .  I have an outstanding one as you can see if you read the thread on 'Looking for a builder in Khon Kaen'  (he is based in Udon, but also builds in Khon Kaen, and now Loei and Nong Bua Lamphu.

As I said above, you can't say "_how far you could actually safely space them apart_" as there is no one answer;  there are too many variables, the primary one being how much money you're willing to spend (!), with the second one being what the weight of the roof is (panels or tiles), as well as the roof design.

My largest room is 5.5m x 13.5m, but that's the largest I wanted.  It also doesn't have to be a 'box', as it depends on your roof plan  -  mine mainly are, but as the house is a 'T' shape all the 'boxes' are different sizes.

Go for a lighter panel roof instead of tiles and I'm sure you'd have a lot more options, but although objectively they make sense I just don't like the way they look.

----------


## Wasp

" your " should be read as ' ones ' .

So it reads " ... Assume ones stroppy little builder "....et cetera .



Wasp

----------


## JohnG

> " your " should be read as ' ones ' .
> 
> So it reads " ... Assume ones stroppy little builder "....et cetera .
> 
> 
> 
> Wasp


Same answer - it depends what else he turns up with!

----------


## bindog

^^^^^^ 

I will coincidently be having a metal (colorbond) roof, so that will reduce the hassles I'll have with larger spans.  I wouldn't trust myself to build a decent chicken coop (chook pen), so will certainly take my 'umble little design along to a local architect for them to "formalise" it.   Finding a decent architect will be the first hurdle.  

Largest room in my current plan is 8.5m x 5m or so, so sounds like I won't have too many issues / extra cost.

----------


## bindog

> Originally Posted by bindog
> 
> 
>  Re the health insurance option - my plan is to head back to Oz and the public system should I start pissing blood etc.
> 
> 
> Well, not exactly ...
> 
> If you have not been a resident (of Australia) for more then 5 years then I would suggest that, returning 'for a 2 week holiday' is not enough to qualify as a returning resident.
> ...


We could start a whole new thread about this!  :Smile:  

We will be retired when we move "permanently" to Thailand, and will keep our Australian house - son and his missus will have the house, we will have the "granny flat" in the back yard.  So will have the luxury of flitting backwards and forwards.  ( Probably crammed in the cheap seats on Air Asia, but flitting none the less!  :Smile:  )  Plan is to spend at least two or three months in Oz each year, which will satisfy the Medicare requirements.  But after reading Marty's age pension thread I'm not too hopeful on the pension front - gonna be heartbreaking having to spend two uninterrupted years in Oz when I'm almost 70, with all the fruit trees etc. we will have in Thailand by then.  My government pension age will be 68.5.   :Shocked1:   If they still have such a thing by then. 

Would appreciate updates on your pension journey btw Marty over in that thread.  There's a similar long-running thread on the big nasty Thai forum, but it doesn't offer much more information than yours.  

OK, back to the build...   :Smile:   Still haven't gotten to the doomed plumbing.

----------


## bindog

> That's unlikely to be a problem at all as long as you stick to a 4 x 4 'box' plan, as most Thais do. Go much further than that and you need to look at other options: thicker 'C' sections, engineered trusses, concrete / re-bar top beams, a different roof design, or a lighter roof. I wouldn't go for box sections personally as you can't paint them inside so they'll rust from the inside-out.





> Go for a lighter panel roof instead of tiles and I'm sure you'd have a lot more options, but although objectively they make sense I just don't like the way they look.


What do you mean by "box sections"?  Just curious.  

And by "panel roof" you mean metal I take it?  They don't seem popular in Thailand, don't understand why.  If someone such as yourself doesn't like the look of it, then fair enough.  It's what we grew up with that pleases our eye I suppose - mostly tin roofs where I come from, but not so many in Sydney where I live now.  

Haha, we did the rounds of project home "display villages" to get an idea what we wanted for Thailand.  One of those builders trumpets their steel frames as setting them apart from the rest (termites are an issue here in Sydney, and most project homes are timber-framed brick veneer), but you cannot get a tile roof on their houses - the flimsy steel frame cannot support tiles FFS!  

Thanks for your input btw John.  Wasp needs all the help he can get.   :Laugh:

----------


## terry57

> Plan is to spend at least two or three months in Oz each year, which will satisfy the Medicare requirements.  But after reading Marty's age pension thread I'm not too hopeful on the pension front - gonna be heartbreaking having to spend two uninterrupted years in Oz when I'm almost 70,



The smart money is to be finantially independent and forget about the AUD pension.

The most important thing is to always be classed as an AUD resisent so you can access the Health System if you ever find yourself in seriously deep shit health wise.

This is my plan.

----------


## JohnG

> Originally Posted by JohnG
> 
> That's unlikely to be a problem at all as long as you stick to a 4 x 4 'box' plan, as most Thais do. Go much further than that and you need to look at other options: thicker 'C' sections, engineered trusses, concrete / re-bar top beams, a different roof design, or a lighter roof. I wouldn't go for box sections personally as you can't paint them inside so they'll rust from the inside-out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry, my fault, I was/am posting on the mobile which is really annoying at times!   I should have said 'box section beams', where the cross section is shaped like a box, not a 'C'.

... and by 'panels', yes I meant the large metal panels.  Some of them are pre-insulated and even shaped to look like tiles, but unfortunately for me they still look like metal panels  -  I gather Colorbond are among the best, but I just wish they didn't look the worst!  I know its prejudice and objectively they make so much sense, but I just can't be that objective!!

My builder swears by them, but he still gets most of his builds with tile roofs - even a lot with Excella ceramic, which are crazy at 80 baht _per tile_.  If you're building in Loei / Udon / Khon Kaen area my roof should be on in about a month, so anyone's welcome to visit (near Suan Hin Pha Ngam) and I can recommend him 100%.

Good luck with your build when you get round to it  -  I just wish those roofs didn't look so like sheds!!

----------


## bindog

> The smart money is to be finantially independent and forget about the AUD pension.


Haha, you're not related to former treasurer "silver spoon" Joe Hockey are you?   "The starting point for a first home buyer is to get a good job that pays good money," he said.  "Then you can go to the bank and you can borrow money."

But it's a trade off innit?  Work until you can be a "self-funded retiree", or retire when you are still young enough to enjoy an active life, but rely in part on the govt pension later on.  I could sell up in Oz, but that doesn't seem fair to my kids.  (Although having just read an article on a phenomenon called "inheritance impatience", I'm not so sure I should be so considerate.  Greedy little buggers.   :Laugh:   )

Superannuation has only been a "thing" since 1992 for the majority, yet they are wanting to whip the govt pension away from the baby boomers, who were in their 30s and 40s in 1992.   :bananasexy:   Might be more than a few of us that start to look at the typical Isaan diet as being not a bad idea.  Frogs and bugs with smelly green slimy stuff on the side anyone?   :Puke:  

But yeah, I do agree with you Terry.  My acceptance of this has a lot to do with my much more modest plans for a Thailand house build.  And anyway, the 60 sq m (645 sq ft) "granny flat" we have recently built in the (Oz) back yard is perfectly adequate for a couple with no kids.  If you went a little bit bigger you could have a fine house with plenty of entertaining space.  Just like Marty's house.

----------


## bindog

> Sorry, my fault, I was/am posting on the mobile which is really annoying at times! I should have said 'box section beams', where the cross section is shaped like a box, not a 'C'.
> 
> ... and by 'panels', yes I meant the large metal panels. Some of them are pre-insulated and even shaped to look like tiles, but unfortunately for me they still look like metal panels - I gather Colorbond are among the best, but I just wish they didn't look the worst! I know its prejudice and objectively they make so much sense, but I just can't be that objective!!
> 
> My builder swears by them, but he still gets most of his builds with tile roofs - even a lot with Excella ceramic, which are crazy at 80 baht per tile. If you're building in Loei / Udon / Khon Kaen area my roof should be on in about a month, so anyone's welcome to visit (near Suan Hin Pha Ngam) and I can recommend him 100%.
> 
> Good luck with your build when you get round to it - I just wish those roofs didn't look so like sheds!!


Ah got it! - just googled 'box section beams' and get the picture now - literally. Thanks.



You make me smile with your metal roof aversion.  There's a Colorbond ad on TV here, short fat guy ducks out the front door to collect his newspaper in the morning wearing just his y-fronts, turns around and is spellbound by his beautiful Colorbond roof.  Just standing there in the driveway of his McMansion wearing nothing but his y-fronts, oblivious to the world around him.  

You are anti- y-front guy!   :Smile: 

And your builder sounds like a gem.

----------


## terry57

> But yeah, I do agree with you Terry.  My acceptance of this has a lot to do with my much more modest plans for a Thailand house build.



My Government pension age is 67.

If I want to get that Pension or part there off I must go back to Perth at age 65 and not leave the country for 2 years to qualify. 

Do I want their Pension.? 

Shit yes, I worked my whole life since I was 16 and finished at age 56 so I recon they could give me a Pension considering. 

Would I want to relocate back home at age 65 to Qualify ?

Well, if I stay with my present Handbag I could not think of anything worse and would not.  

Wasting 2 years of diminishing life force sitting back in Perth just to pick up their shitty pension. ? I think not.

Lucky I'm cashed up and they can bang their Gov Pension up their arse. 

On the other hand, If I am single at age 65 I may just do that.

All depends on the situation at hand but in reality I may be dead by then.  :Smile: 

Bottom line being,

I have provided for myself to be Self funded in my Retirement, I am driving the car and they are not. 

The only thing that is important is to never cut ties with Australia, I may need the Nanny Health system at some stage.

This my only attachment with Australia.

----------


## David48atTD

Just discussing about the use of steel panel roofing, the 'ColourBond' style ... assuming that you are referring to Thai's building a house then I suggest this.

If a Thai wasn't going to build using cement tile (heavy concrete tile) for roofing then he/she would (usually) opt for a fibro cement tile.


Credit:- http://www.norfolksteelbuildings.net...nt_roofing.jpg


Fibro cement tiles are cheaper
Many (less expensive) Thai homes don't have a ceiling.  Depending on the roof pitch, a tin roof can let in a lot of sound when the rains get heavy, a fibro cement tiles roof, less so.

Fibro Cement roof tiles come in different grades (thicknesses/strength) so you can put a cheaper one one on a carport and a better quality one on the house roof.

They can also be bought 'second hand' and thus cheaper again.

To have a cement tiled roof is good 'face' but increase the cost of the build considerably.  Deeper footings, stronger framing etc.

Just my take on the question posed.

----------


## FatOne

Hi Guys,
Terry I would much rather be self funded, but alas all my retirement plans went to the dogs during the global financial crisis a few years back, I had a few investment houses but my income crashed and I couldn't afford to keep them and had to sell them well under what I had paid for them--goodbye retirement plan. So now I have to try and earn enough to cover the necessities like money in a Thai account for retirement visa purposes and a car and finish off the house.I built the house on money I gained after selling my main residence in Oz, so I now am just renting and counting the days until I am 65.5 and can get half the married pension as the minister of war is too young to share the aged pension. There is a serious consideration about getting divorced before we retire, so I can get the single pension. Currently single pension is A$788.40 a fortnight, married is $594.39 ftn so there is a strong case for divorce and living in sin.

----------


## Wasp

Re: That financial crash .  I have read probably a dozen books about that Crash .  " The Smartest Guys In The Room "  "Too Big To Fail " " All The Devils Are Here " " The Big Short "
 "  When  Genius Failed " " The End of Wall Street " " The Predators Ball " ... and more .  It all fascinates me . 
 And I remember the newscasters saying this would all impact on EVERYBODY .

I didn't see how the insanity of young liars on Wall Street was  going to impact on say a guy sitting in Australia .  But how right they were .
I had taken my ( low ) savings and put them safely  into the Shares of a dull but totally safe company . Barclays Bank !  Bought at 580p and now around 160p !!

And in all my reading -all the  clever schemes involving Credit Default Swaps and CDOs and CDOs Squared and ' Tranches of Mezzanine Unsecured Debt ' et cetera it all came down to people seeing ' Red '  come up 9 times in a row so they put all their investments on ' Black ' .

And Red came up .

And my shares sank and Marty's investments went South .

And nobody went to jail .



Wasp

----------


## FatOne

Yeah, Waspy. I was still in the same Biz I am today, selling computers from a franchise. Before the crash I was earning very good money and had no problems paying the little bit extra plus rates and water on the houses I had been renting out. I didn't see the huge difference it would make. My income went to less than half and I started to get behind on payments, to add insult to injury the housing market collapsed so some of the "clever" buys I had made turned out to be pretty sour. I guess I was lucky that I made it out the other end with at least my main residence.

----------


## terry57

> There is a serious consideration about getting divorced before we retire, so I can get the single pension.
> 
> Currently single pension is A$788.40 a fortnight, married is $594.39 ftn so there is a strong case for divorce and living in sin.


Well Fatboy,

If you have half a brain cell this is exactly what you will do.

You must play their game and if divorce is what it demands just do it.

When you both come back to Thailand do a village wedding and Fok the Australian Government. 

Myself will be getting my 2 bobs worth out of the Government when I reach 67 simply because I paid taxes all my working life and never once collected welfare. 

Don't recon I'll collect though,   be dead before that.  :Smile:

----------


## Wasp

> Yeah, Waspy. I was still in the same Biz I am today, selling computers from a franchise. Before the crash I was earning very good money and had no problems paying the little bit extra plus rates and water on the houses I had been renting out. I didn't see the huge difference it would make. My income went to less than half and I started to get behind on payments, to add insult to injury the housing market collapsed so some of the "clever" buys I had made turned out to be pretty sour. I guess I was lucky that I made it out the other end with at least my main residence.



You know - in essence those shites were given  charge of billions of dollars to invest and the deal said that if they made profits they got maybe 2% of the profits as bonus. 
But if they lost money - even ALL the money -maybe they would lose their job but there  was no other penalty for  them.
So you can just as easily skip all the work and  go  to a Roulette table.Watch for a while then put all the money on Red . There's a 50% chance you are going to  make enough bonus for the whole of the rest of your life . And if Red does not come up you don't have to pay back a  single dollar .
That's a fantastically attractive situation . A 50% chance and none of that money is yours !

And that's what they did .


And banks lost investments and they stopped lending and businesses cancelled orders for computers and Marty's sales went down .

It all stinks and it still makes me angry.



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

Wasp,

I can well understand that you are pissed off  concerning how the cards have fallen for you.

But you could well have bought your properties at the right time and made a killing on your investments.

For every loser there is a winner and this is how the world operates. 


I do hope you can get it together and enjoy your future time in Thailand.

Good luck with it.

----------


## Wasp

You've misread this Terranss .

I didn't buy any properties or invest in any properties.

I was writing about the stupidity of a situation where young bankers got vast bonuses if they gambled correctly but they lost nothing if the gambles went sour .



Wasp

----------


## terry57

^

Exactly the same as high flying executives who still get their massive bonuses even though their company has not performed.

Way it is mate, us little people can't play this game.

But hey Waspy, Lots of people made a killing buying property in the last decade.

Prices in Perth had continued to raise steadily and huge gains piled up. 

The trick for the speculator is to cash in before the market stalled. 

Many called it and sold and many held on and got caught up. 

All relative innit. 

I know guys who got caught and I know guys who minted it. 

Myself was never a speculator in property, my long term game plan was to own one property outright on retirement, rent it out and collect income to top up my Super.

I could of owned more but I used the other money to fund my Traveling life style.

Lucky I did that because now my Super is parked in Cash making very little but at the same time protected from this downturn and my Rental return is keeping me going.

Long term plan Waspy, that's where its at.

----------


## FatOne

Good if you called it at the right time, bloody annoying when you stuff it up! I have at many times in my life been relatively well off, and relatively broke. I have made many silly mistakes and now I need to get some capital together before another crunch hits so I can retire comfortably.

----------


## FatOne

Hi All,
We are going to have a house warming/blessing ceremony on new years eve/new years day. The main Monk around our place has told us this is the best time to hold it. So my wife has been talking to me about planning and I thought I'd see if anyone on TD has any comments or suggestions. She will fly to LOS about 2 weeks before me, I can't leave Oz until after Xmas. She has to walk around the village and personally invite all the households. She has lined up some young pigs to roast that will be ready by then. She says we need to rent some tables and chairs and covering, and can borrow most of the cutlery and plates from the village. The monks will come on New Years Day early morning and serious drinking will be done after they leave. Maybe we could get a local band? Ideas?

----------


## Pragmatic

> The main Monk around our place has told us this is the best time to hold it.


Probably cuz that's a free day in his diary.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## Bettyboo

> Ideas?


Don't get a local band. Don't have any alcohol. Don't invite any locals.

----------


## Conche

Get some good quality ear plugs

----------


## Wasp

Don't let a Thai control the Volume levels on the sound system.

ESPECIALLY not a young Thai .



Wasp

----------


## Pragmatic

> She has to walk around the village and personally invite all the households.


I never heard that one before. Usually, invitations are a card in an envelope and handed out to basically everyone they know. The invitation envelope is then used to donate money to the party and collected during the event.

----------


## FatOne

Maybe it's a thing in her village?
Volume won't matter, everyone in village will be there.

----------


## bobforest

Don't worry about any rubbish bins.

----------


## Bettyboo

> Volume won't matter, everyone in village will be there.


Can you go to Bankgkok or Hua Hin for the weekend? This sounds like my worst nightmare!  :Smile:

----------


## Dillinger

Fuck being woken by the whole village and a load of chanting monks with a raving New Years hangover

----------


## Wasp

It does sound dire.  

Absolute Hell.


Just what the Somchais love.



Wasp

----------


## David48atTD

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> She has to walk around the village and personally invite all the households.
> 
> 
> I never heard that one before. Usually, invitations are a card in an envelope and handed out to basically everyone they know. The invitation envelope is then used to donate money to the party and collected during the event.


Yep, that's how it is usually done.


Seems a lot of fuss/face for a house warming.

It ain't a mansion.  Or a wedding ... forget the band.


If it starts costing more then B30,000, have the balls to say NO

----------


## Dillinger

> If it starts costing more then B30,000, have the balls to say NO


I would imagine, as with the Villagers prolonged New Years festivities :Smile: , that decision wont be his.

----------


## JohnG

> Originally Posted by FatOne
> 
> She has to walk around the village and personally invite all the households.
> 
> 
> I never heard that one before. Usually, invitations are a card in an envelope and handed out to basically everyone they know. The invitation envelope is then used to donate money to the party and collected during the event.


Ditto.

Either your village customs are very different to anything I've ever come across (a band? New Year's day? Tables and chairs?) which is perfectly possible, or you're being had by the village, led by the 'main monk'.

None of this sounds like anything I've ever come across in 'house warming', particularly the day after a Buddha day / New Year's eve.  This sounds far more like a merit making.  What happened when you were invited to other people's 'house warmings' in the village?

----------


## Luigi

> Originally Posted by Pragmatic
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by FatOne
> ...


Not only that. 

The amount received by each guest is all noted down and kept on a big sheet, so that when someone else has an event, the same amount will be given back them.



Foking bunch of tight-ass, fake-ass, uptight weirdos the lot of them.  :Smile:

----------


## Dillinger

^ ahhh........................................so that's how you got the cash envelope back to pay for the BMW  keyring

----------


## JohnG

> ...Foking bunch of tight-ass, fake-ass, uptight weirdos the lot of them.


I've always thought it was rather a good system.

Everyone "chips-in" when someone's just finished paying for their new house and is probably short of money, so they have money when they need it, and at the same time friends can make merit by helping to provide and prepare the food for the monks and to share afterwards  -  albeit I've never known it to include suckling pigs, a band or all-day boozing other than at a look chin party or a free merit-making, which has nothing to do with the monks and the house being blessed.  

Two completely different events in my experience. 

Everyone usually chips in the same amount so there are no free-loaders, while those that can't are still invited and included but they just get a similar amount back when it's 'their turn' and those who want to splash the cash and
show off, on the other hand, can do so by making merit and throwing a free party.  It's just the community supporting those in it when they need it  -  I really can't see why you find that so 'weird'.

Many villages run a similar system for funerals too, like life insurance  -  or more accurately death insurance.  Everyone pays in 20 baht a month and in return everyone is guaranteed a decent funeral, whether they're one year old or a hundred.  Do you find that 'weird' too?

----------


## Luigi

Yes.


Live life without worrying or even thinking about what others are paying. 

Pay what you feel like, certainly don't sit outside a party with a pen and pencil. Meticulously documenting what every guest is paying with red, blue and black pens as they enter.  :Smile: 


Foking bunch 'a uptight weirdos.  :Smile: 

If someone pays 200 baht less than the accounts say thay should have, the machetes probably come out after the whiskey toast.  :Smile: 



In the name of Buddha.  :Smile:

----------


## David48atTD

> Originally Posted by JohnG
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Pragmatic
> ...


That's a new one for me, I've not seen the reciprocal accounting arrangement in practice.

We are Central Thailand ... where do you mostly see that?

----------


## David48atTD

What counts as a house warming from my experiences usually is ...

10 / 20 / 30 / 40 relatives/acquaintances rock up, maybe a couple of Monks, early like.

Simple food, sit on the new tiled floor.

If there is a pig on, maybe an outside do, sitting on the patio/verandah floor.


After the Monks have gone and a few Leo's are downed, anyone interested gets into a game of cards.


That said, I did go to a posh do once, a Thai Man, built a mansion ... he had some serious coin.

----------


## FatOne

The one that stevefarang did looked pretty similar to what I plan, pics on his building thread. You there Steve? Any ideas? He had tables and chairs and a singer. I believe the done thing is for visitors to leave some money. And yes, they all pay into some sort of death insurance system in our village too.

----------


## JohnG

If you're not too worried about doing what everyone else does, why not just do whatever you want? 

Doing it on New Year's Day, plus pigs, band, and all day booze for the entire village isn't my idea of a traditional house blessing and there's no way I'd want to do anything like that for a whole range of reasons, but if it's what you want to do, why not?

----------


## hawkeye

Following on about the payment insurance for funerals.

Some 10 years ago my wife joined 2 schemes for funeral payments.
The first was run by a local Rice co-op, and every second Saturday the payment collector would turn up looking for payment. The deal was that when a member died, all surviving members would pay in 10 baht per deceased member.

 Most times he had 5 members names to show us and we coughed up 50 baht. From day one I called him "HA SIP BAHT." Some times he called and had 10 names, so we paid 100 baht. 

The second scheme was run by the local temple and was exactly the same idea. 

About 8 months ago I asked my wife what had happened to the two schemes as I hadn't seen either collector for several weeks. 
The first scheme had fallen over as the collector had stolen all the funds collected over the previous couple of years. Was he caught? No but still lives in the town, and now is the right hand man to the Head Monk at the local temple. Large as life and at any of the major functions held in the town.
The second scheme run by the Temple has also fallen over and no payments have been made for over a year. Officially it was run by the Head Monk so nobody says a word. Several thousands of baht are missing and and families not getting paid insurance after paying monies in for years.

Confirms my understanding that Thai's do love each other, and go the extra mile to help each other in difficult times.

HAWKEYE.

----------


## Conche

Just make your own provision , why get involved in any of these hair brained schemes ?

----------


## Wasp

( Conche :  that's " hare "-brained )



*Missy* has apparently been paying into one of these funeral things .

1800  Baht every 6 months .  And Guaranteed Payout of 140 000 Baht .

So Yeesipp died .  And she got 22 000 Baht !

" Why ? "    " Many people die    No money." 



Wasp

----------


## FatOne

Not sure what the scheme Kung is in, sounds fishy to me, but then so does the Thai lottery system!! The one she is in apparently covers hospital stays as well?????

----------


## David48atTD

So *FO* (Fat One), we've proffered our advices ... what have you decided re the House Warming Party?

----------


## JohnG

> Not sure what the scheme Kung is in, sounds fishy to me, but then so does the Thai lottery system!! The one she is in apparently covers hospital stays as well?????


Ummm ...... most "stays" in a government hospital cost 30 baht - or even free if covered by government insurance (paying tax).

Maybe she should ask what she gets 'extra'?

----------


## FatOne

Hi David,

I doubt if I can get out of the planned party, my darling is busily planning and it's still 6 months away.

----------


## Conche

> ( Conche : that's " hare "-brained )


( Wasp thats your interpretation )    :Cussing: 


Urban Dictionary: hair brained scheme

----------


## bobfish

> Originally Posted by Wasp
> 
> ( Conche : that's " hare "-brained )
> 
> 
> ( Wasp thats your interpretation )   
> 
> 
> Urban Dictionary: hair brained scheme


OR....
HAREBRAINED: adj. Having or showing little sense; foolish: a harebrained scheme.
Usage Note: The first recorded use of harebrained dates to 1548. The spelling hairbrained also has a long history, going back to the 1500s when hair was a variant spelling of hare. The hair variant was preserved in Scotland into the 1700s, and as a result it is impossible to tell exactly when people began writing hairbrained in the belief that the word means "having a hair-sized brain" rather than "with no more sense than a hare." While hairbrained continues to be used, the standard spelling of the word is harebrained.

But who gives a sh*t

----------


## Conche

> But who gives a sh*t


Wasp  ...........apparently

----------


## Wasp

Not giving a shit is " cool " then is it ?

What are you ?

17 ?

----------


## FatOne

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...108-WA0006.jpg

----------


## FatOne



----------


## FatOne

Trying to remember how to post pics!! Think I have it now. It's been a while since I updated this thread. I put off the housewarming after losing my job here in Oz last year. We are going ahead getting the house ready to be lived in, albeit slowly as a reduced income requires. The current project is to build a fence to keep all the extra dirt we put in to build the lot up and to keep out unwanted dogs/snakes etc. So I'll post some pics of progress.

----------


## FatOne

As you can see from the first pic they are doing a solid job. Parts of the original job at the side of the house were crumbling and they have had to replace the poor stuff.

----------


## FatOne

At the front we have decided to use the lower half block and upper half some sort of Iron grill ( we haven't picked it yet. There will be a front and back gate and the driveway gate.

----------


## FatOne

This is some of the dodgy cement the original builder put down.

----------


## FatOne

a work in progress

----------


## FatOne

You will notice that we now have a sealed road in front of our place. Haven't been there since this was done but apparently goes all the way to our nearest town-Seka

----------


## FatOne

They seem to be doing a pretty nice job.

----------


## FatOne

Down the side we will have an outside kitchen and we are getting the whole area cemented in, with a fiberglass type roof to keep out the dust from the construction workers yard next door.

----------


## FatOne

Cementing the side. They will also paint the fence and she who must be obeyed also has them building a rain gutter out the front

----------


## FatOne

I'll post a few more pics as they come to hand

----------


## Stumpy

Looking Good Mr M. progress whether fast or slow is progress nonetheless.

Some input. Make sure they do not bury old cement hunks around the property. I was adamant about that. I said leave in a pile over in the corner I will take care of it. Trust me nothing worse then digging holes later to plant trees and having to dig up 20 big chunks of cement.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks J,

Yeah, I'll check that out

----------


## Vettronics

Yes I always see the builders start hiding rocks under the ground when they are finishing building.

----------


## Wasp

> Cementing the side. They will also paint the fence and she who must be obeyed also has them building a rain gutter out the front


Tell me what they did here , XXXL .

Did they tamp down the soil to fairly level .... then put that mesh down .... and then lay cement on top ?

Is that it ?    

Will it be strong ?  Could you park a car on it  ? 
It only looks about 40mm deep .

Wondering ............. :Ponder:  :Ponder:  :Ponder: 


Wasp

----------


## FatOne

I don't know Waspy, I wasn't there. But it doesn't need to be particularly load bearing, it's just at the side of the house and will just become an outside kitchen floor.

----------


## Wasp

Well what you see for is this ........ if that is enough for people walking around and maybe a chair or two .... perhaps a small table ....... without it cracking , then I'll arrange for an area like that .    A wider area with no cars but perhaps a motorbike . 
If that is strong enough .  
Which I would have thought not but as you can tell I don't know a lot .



Wasp

----------


## Vettronics

I always like to put stone down before the wire mess and then lay the cement. I do not see a lot done that au in Thailand though. Does anyone think t is necessary to put stone done first?

----------


## FatOne

Probably won't even have any chairs on it, knowing the MIL it will probably just get one of the earthenware pot fires with her squatting in front of it.

----------


## Dead Metal

> I always like to put stone down before the wire mess and then lay the cement. I do not see a lot done that au in Thailand though. Does anyone think t is necessary to put stone done first?


I have noticed the Thais always do it that way ( mesh on the floor ) which is a waste of time and can lead to "concrete cancer".

The mesh/rebar's should be raised approx. 1 inch away from the finished face. The mesh/rebar's give the cement strength and rigidity .

----------


## Stumpy

> Originally Posted by Vettronics
> 
> I always like to put stone down before the wire mess and then lay the cement. I do not see a lot done that au in Thailand though. Does anyone think t is necessary to put stone done first?
> 
> 
> I have noticed the Thais always do it that way ( mesh on the floor ) which is a waste of time and can lead to "concrete cancer".
> 
> The mesh/rebar's should be raised approx. 1 inch away from the finished face. The mesh/rebar's give the cement strength and rigidity .


I agree. It really needs to be elevated to almost sit middle of the slab pour planned thickness but a 1" minimum is more than adequate. Now I have seen some pour cement and lift it up as the cement is being moved around. That can work as well but just leaving it laying in the dirt is not really effective. The guys that did my driveway used little square cement pieces randomly scattered around to lift the wire mesh. Probably 2" or so

----------


## Dead Metal

Irrespective of what the job is for, there is only one way and that's the correct way. Everything else is sub standard .

----------


## David48atTD

> Irrespective of what the job is for, there is only one way and that's the correct way. Everything else is sub standard .


Nope .. you're wrong, and this is why.

Everyone has different standards ... it's what you grew up with and accept.

For example, if a method was available which had a low possibility, say 99% of no water penetration and cost BHT 100 ... many (Thais would go for it).

If an improved method which had a probability of 99.99% of no water penetration and cost BHT 500, many would go for it, both Thai and Westerner.

So pedantic Westerners want a 99.99999% chance of no water penetration and are prepared to pay BHT 2,000 ... are they 'the correct way'?

What about the guy who will pay BHT 20,000 for a 99.99999999% that water won't penetrate?  Remembering that 99.99999999% is 100 times better then 99.99999%.

it's a relative thing.

Me ? ... I'm pragmatic.  Best value for the money spent.


BTW ... I'm a sparkie, high voltage though ... don't ask for ceiling fans ...   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

All, of course, IMHO
.

----------


## Dead Metal

Thanks for that, D48, I think  :Confused: 


 :Smile:

----------


## FatOne

It's probably all irrelevant now, my wife and I have had a split. She says I can use the house and live there but I can't bring any girls there!!! We are still on good terms but I doubt that I will live there now, I am thinking more about going to live in Udon Thani and finding someone there.

----------


## Stumpy

> It's probably all irrelevant now, my wife and I have had a split. She says I can use the house and live there but I can't bring any girls there!!! We are still on good terms but I doubt that I will live there now, I am thinking more about going to live in Udon Thani and finding someone there.


Mr M....No way.......So sorry to hear. 

I sent you a mail.

----------


## Davis Knowlton

Almost three years to the day from the beginning of the thread.....shitty ending.

----------


## Wasp

Not good news .   :02: 



Wasp

----------


## Mozzbie47

> It's probably all irrelevant now, my wife and I have had a split. She says I can use the house and live there but I can't bring any girls there!!! We are still on good terms but I doubt that I will live there now, I am thinking more about going to live in Udon Thani and finding someone there.


Know how it is mate, been there done that as they say, move on, it worked for me.

----------


## John Lennon

Straight ahead. Don't ever look back.

----------


## thaimeme

> Originally Posted by Dead Metal
> 
> 
> Irrespective of what the job is for, there is only one way and that's the correct way. Everything else is sub standard .
> 
> 
> Nope .. you're wrong, and this is why.
> 
> Everyone has different standards ... it's what you grew up with and accept.
> ...


 
Ta, David...
As many don't get it nor ever will.

 :Smile:

----------


## terry57

> It's probably all irrelevant now, my wife and I have had a split.
> 
>  She says I can use the house and live there but I can't bring any girls there!!! We are still on good terms but I doubt that I will live there now,
> 
>  I am thinking more about going to live in Udon Thani and finding someone there.


Jesus Christ Fat Fuk.  :Confused: 

Ive been trying real hard to not log in to this shit house but after reading this fookin rubbish i must do the dirty. 

So ya  spend 3 years cranking up this thread and here we are on the money shot and ya tell us ya have split from ya Bint. 

Weak as piss innit, It just don't happen on a pin head eh, the writing is on the wall way before-hand.  

Fuk it eh.   :spam2: 

Anyway enjoy Udon Thani, hanging out with the other retarded farang losers ain't that bad i suppose. 

Yes it is Fatty,  its simply another farang grave yard. :bananaman: 

Anyway, I'm login out innit coonts.  :France:

----------


## Wasp

I honestly do not understand WHY anybody actually wants to sit down at a keyboard and write such offensive stuff .


Wasp

----------


## David48atTD

Hey *Fat One* ... what is the plan now?

My understanding is that you have spent most/all of your savings from a lifetime in Australia on this place and now it's a no go.

What is the financial plan?


BTW ... BUMMER News
.

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for the replies - yeah bummer, but life's like that isn't it. I hope to be getting a pension soon, and that will give me enough income to live comfortably in LOS. Looking at a few blogs on Udon Thani I can rent a nice house for about 8kb a month, I reckon it won't be hard to find a nice bird to live with me and there are lot's of great farang bars and restaurants there. I reckon I'll be ok.

----------


## Dead Metal

Devastating news FO, but lets remain optimistic, its been a long road together must be worth hanging out for some common ground that will lead to reconciliation !

----------


## David48atTD

> It's probably all irrelevant now, *my wife and I have had a split.* She says I can use the house and live there but I can't bring any girls there!!! We are still on good terms but I doubt that I will live there now, I am thinking more about going to live in Udon Thani and finding someone there.



A year earlier, almost to the day ...




> So back to this house then ....................
> 
> 
> 
> This *doomed* house .
> 
> Wasp



*Waspy*, the Fortune Teller extraordinaire.


BTW, I found this by accident when reading an earlier post of mine on this thread advising the *FatOne* not to go to the expense of installing a dishwasher as it was unlikely to be used to it's potential.


My heart goes out to the *FatOne* as it's a sobering reminder to many of us.
.

----------


## dennis4558

Bummer I was looking forward to see how you were going to fix things up once you lived there. Like DM said maybe something may come of it yet. choke dee

----------


## FatOne

Thanks for the wishes guys, I am currently talking online to a lovely girl in Udon Thani which looks like a great place to live- lots of farang restaurants and bars and plenty of ex pats to hang out with. If I can find a nice girl to cuddle up to and get all that life won't be all that bad.
My ex says the house in the village is still mine and hers, and I can stay there any time, as long as I want --- but I can't bring a girl home!!
Anyone on here from Udon? I'll probably be over for a few weeks in April.

----------


## threestags

Hi Marty,

I like Udon very much.  Great base for exploring the  Isaan region.  Plenty of beer bars and restaurants.  Some good  reasonably priced hotels and plenty of options for long term rentals.

There is a forum Udon Thani Map, Udon Guide, Udon Thani Magazine - Udon Thani, Thailand that will provide plenty of info.

Cheers

----------


## biff

Here is another forum in the area...nice place to live for awhile..

? Index page

----------


## FatOne

Thanks guys,
I've been on to Udon Maps and Udon Guide, I'll check out the others

----------


## beerlaodrinker

Udons actually not a bad little town to park up for a while I reckon, quite like the place and used to go often for weekenders to catch up with mates bar scenes not in your face and can get as lively as you make it, even got condo developments going on with the same rules as bangers and Pattaya, you can't own it but as a farang I think you have to live above the first floor. Looks like the Thais started to invest heavily after the Bangkok floods, seems to be plenty of money around. The Thais have temporarily fucked up my udon jaunts with the introduction of only 2 land crossings per year( I've used them) my plan B is to grab a 6 month multi entry visa at 5000 baht but I can't do that until march when my Lao work visa gets renewed, if I do now my 6 month Thai visa expires when the Lao permit expires, fuck it I,ll just wait them out, udons quite a livable place but the traffics getting bad. Choose your location wisely

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## rickschoppers

FO, please contact me once you arrive in Udon and I can show you around. Sorry to hear about your situation and I will be putting a good friend of mine on a plane back to the UK on Tuesday who has been through a similar deal. He still comes back every year for three months and then goes back home to work.

I have lived in the Udon area for over 10 years now. The choice to build a house there was mainly due to the fact that we live in the same village where my wife grew up. Udon has most of what you would ever need and it is an area where the cost of living is relatively low. The city has changed quite a bit over the last 10 years and the biggest negative is now the traffic. There is a lot of new money here now which came from those moving to get out of the yearly flooding.

If I had it to do again, I would probably moved somewhere along the Thai coast. Hua Hin is nice and you would never have to be concerned about running out of water like in the Udon area. Live and rent for at least a year before making any decisions on where to build or purchase. It will pay many dividends.

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## FatOne

Thanks Rickschoppers, I will PM you and get your phone before I come over. Hoping to come over in April for a couple of weeks to check out new GF I met online.

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