#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Construction in Thailand >  >  Ootai's wife builds a house

## ootai

The time has arrived and building has started.

The house is being built by my wife as I am still here in Australia. She is building it using the money she has saved while living and working here for the last 8 and a half years. About 5 years ago we built a cheap house on her land for her Mum and daughter. 

The diagram shows where we are building (sort of) the double lines at the top represent Highway 24 and we are in Burinam. 

A - is where her parents house was /is it is now occupied by her sister.

B - is where she built the house for her Mum

C - is where she was originally going to build her new house

D - the Shed

F - where the new house is being built

WT - is the water tower which will show up in later photos

While allthis may not make a lot of sense at the moment it shoul later when I post more information.


At this stage we don't plan anything other than a garden at the house even though its on 4 rai.
The blocks at B & C are each half a rai so the house is on a total of 5 rai and the missus reckons she wants to build a wall around it all. Looks like I'll be busy.

This next photo is one I just threw in to show some of the "Farm" which is a few kilometres away from the village. 



And here's what she is hoping to have at the end of the build, minus the garden and pond put in by the architect to make it look pretty.



To be continued....

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## DrAndy

> minus the garden and pond put in by the architect to make it look pretty


I thought those the best bits

nice land, hope it all goes smoothly

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## danno5

looking forward to your story, Ootais!

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## ootai

> Originally Posted by ootai
> 
> minus the garden and pond put in by the architect to make it look pretty
> 
> 
> I thought those the best bits
> 
> nice land, hope it all goes smoothly


So far so good, the building has already started and is progressing well at this stage but so does a marriage on the honeymoon.

At some stage in the future we will have a garden out the front of the house but we'll never have a pond at least not on this property.

The garden at the front will be about 1000 sqm so will require some thought and no doubt hard work (or money).

As for the pond, the missus is against having any water around the place. In the last 6 months her cousin's son (9years old) and a friends child (2 years old) have drowned in the village. The youngest one fell into one of those large urns used for water storage, must have seen someone get some water and tried to reach in.

Anyway I will have to be content to put up with the pond at the farm.

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## ootai

I hope everyone understands that I will eventually get to the actual building of the "new" house. What I am trying to do is give people an insight into how the house build has evolved over time. It has, in most people's opinion come about in a bit of a disorderly way but that I think that that is life in Thailand.

This post gives more info on the first house she built for her Mum and her daughter. The reasoning for that was to enable them to move away from living witihin 15m of highway 24. I spent many nights at the family house trying to sleep while a never ending stream of trucks and cars roared up the highway.

The wife first bought the block labeled "C" in the OP which is about half a rai. A year or so later she was offered (and bought) the adjacent block of the same size (labelled "B"). So she then had a bit over 1 rai.

The current house entrance.


The front 


The open kitchen



This photo shows the block "C" looking south from the road.



Looking south west at block C


The last photo shows the water tower in the background which should allow people to orientate themselves.

Once the wife decided she was ready to build "her" house she intended to build it on block C. The timing was mainly governed by when we were ready to move over and live full time in Thailand. Her reasoning was that if she built it any earlier it would be invaded by family and then we wouldn't be able to kick em out when we moved over there.

Anyway once she told me where she intended to build I objected as I don't like to be crowded by neighbours, I hionestly don't know how people live in the small blocks of 400sqm I hear about. Anyway the next photo shows how close to the back of the current house the boundary is behind it, once again the water tower is there. So I suggested that she buy the land behind which is about 4 rai and she could then build on it giving us plenty of room. That will be the subject of the next post.

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## hillbilly

Good luck! This should be an interesting build.

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## DrAndy

> As for the pond, the missus is against having any water around the place. In the last 6 months her cousin's son (9years old) and a friends child (2 years old) have drowned in the village. The youngest one fell into one of those large urns used for water storage, must have seen someone get some water and tried to reach in.


I understand that; a kid in my village in Portugal drownded last year in another neighbours pool

water and kids don't mix too well; I am having to think hard about security for my kid too in my Mae Rim house

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## lob

[/quote]
very constable, a great pic to my mind.  luverly mate.

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## Norton

> I am having to think hard about security for my kid too in my Mae Rim house


Either a tether on the kid or a nice antique railing around the patio.

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## Gipsy

> I am having to think hard about security for my kid too in my Mae Rim house





> Either a tether on the kid or a nice antique railing around the patio.


.... or learn the kid to swim. Not that difficult, and a lifetime reward.

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## ootai

So' because I don't like to be crowded in, I suggested to the wife that she buy the block (4 rai) behind the house she built for her Mum then we (I) would have plenty of room. She agreed, BUT I had to give her the money as I was the one who wanted the extra room. Anyway I agreed that that was probably fair so we went ahead and bought it. I don't know what land title it is but its not "chanote". Several years ago we were offered it and she didn't buy it as she didn't trust the then owners. But in the last couple of years it has had a new owner and she (the wife) obviously felt better about buying it then. If there was a problem with this its that it cost her (me) twice as much as the original asking price. The new owener had done some work in tidying up the block, built a toilet and bathroom and planted some Tagoo (I think that's what they're called) trees.
For those who like to know what stuff costs it was 405,000 baht. It was expensive but I told her not to haggle and just buy it. I think the not haggling hurt her more than paying such a high price and that hurt a lot.

So this is the block looking from her Mum's house. It shows the toilet/bathroom and the skeleton of a previous attempt to build a house.



This one shows the view looking the other way.



This picture taken less than a year later and shows how much the trees have grown.



to be continued.....

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## DrAndy

> or learn the kid to swim. Not that difficult, and a lifetime reward.


that's the best way but it doesn't happen overnight for a baby

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## ootai

back again

the next photo shows the real reason to pay so much for the block



While the missus did the right thing, when she built the house for her Mum and put in a "farang" toilet for me, she, at that time thought cheapest was best, so its a kid size dunny. Nearly as hard for a fat old fart like me to use as a squat dunny. In my previous post you can see the path used when I want to sit and ponder. 

The girl is my wife's niece's daughter Oi. She is also my Thai teacher, that is whenever she can stop rolling on the floor laughing at my attempts to speak Thai. If anyone heard me sing they'd instantly know why I can't speak Thai, bloody tone deaf for sure. But as I tell the missus, some money in one hand and waving and pointing with the other seems to work most of the time.

Anyway I am going to digress a little here and ask if anyone can tell me what type of tree this is (at the front left, near the road) it had to come out and has since been cut up into some nice timber.



Ended up here. 



tune in again tomorrow for some more.

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## danno5

looks like this will be a fun thread!

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## hillbilly

Hard to tell from the photos (not very clear) but it does look like a Teak tree to me.

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## hillbilly

On second thought probably not what I thought. The leaves are to small.

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## ootai

So now I had enough "room to move" we needed to start thinking about what to do with the concrete skeleton. It was decided that it should be turned into a shed which could then be used to secure any materials we bought on site for the house build. Having the bathroom and toilet meant that the builders wouldn't need to come to the house at all. At that stage she wasn't sure who the builder would be and they might have needed to live on site which they could do by living in the shed.

Here's the skeleton she started with.




The wife, her sisters and brothers in law turned it into this.



I thought it was a reasonable job but I was told my opinion didn't count as she who mattered was very happy. The main issue I had was that I had suggested building a door into the back panel on the northern side so someone could walk in and out of the shed to the dunny without having to open the main doors. Anyway the final solution (after they had forgotten about the door) was to split the rear rolladoor, see the second photo. The consensus among the locals was that it was too flash for a shed and that the slope of the roof was to shallow. It seems they all like a steep pitched roof. 





to be continued......

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## ootai

Hopefully someone can identify what type of tree this is.  Here's another photo which shows it more clearly.  Thanks

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## DrAndy

it is a blurred one, or it was

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## fredlk

> Hopefully someone can identify what type of tree this is.  Here's another photo which shows it more clearly.  Thanks


This seems to be the Yung Naa. It is a protected species and cannot be cut down without permission.

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## fredlk

ยางนา = "yang na"

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## slackula

> to be continued....


That's a rather posh shed! It bodes well for the house construction  :Smile: 

Nice thread, thanks and I'm looking forward to following it.

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## ootai

> it is a blurred one, or it was


Yeah I suppose I should have been a little clearer in how I used the word "clearly".
What I meant was that the photo shows the whole tree more clearly not that the photo is more clear. Its blurred because I had to crop a photo and then blow it up ( the photo not the tree) so the whole tree could be more clearly seen in its entirety.

I hope that has cleared things up.

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## DrAndy

yes it did

that was the tree that fell down in the storm?

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## ootai

From about September last year we started trying to come up with a design that she was happy with. So first we needed to decide what we (she) wanted.
Firstly 3 bedrooms, when I asked why not more she reckoned that one for us, one for Mum and one for her daughter, anymore and we could have family moving in. I was happy with that idea except I then asked who would move into Mum's current house? The answer was "Don't worry about that"
The main bedroom had to have an ensuite and a walk in robe and be airconditioned.
The second inside toilet would be a squat version.
A living area and a kitchen with a laundry area outside somewhere.

So I put my idea on paper and come up with this.
Blue line is the slab outline and walls
Red line is lower roof
Black line the "cap" roof



Basically a row of bedrooms on one side and a livving room on the other with an open kitchen at one end with a wide verandah. There would be a roof with an open rectangle in the middle that would have a second "cap" roof on top. My idea was that everything I had seen so far lead me to think that if we didn't have an open kitchen one would be built later anyway. The split roof system would allow the area to be open to he atmosphere but shaded.
In the end her was opinion was, no way its f**king ugly.

So back to the drawing board and this time I come up with this.



end view


This time everything under one roof. The living spaces all enclosed by walls.
The 2 shaded spaces in the kitchen are inside/ outside benches which would have bi-fold windows so that they could be opened right up to give a pseudo open kitchen.

Her opinion this time was, "better but still a f**king box".

I should point out that during this stage she was back here in Aussie, so I gave up and said for her that when she went back home, to find an architect and to get them to work up a design and to then get them to do the structural engineering calculations to produce the final construction plans. So that's what she did and the result will be in the next post.

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## ootai

So she returned to Thailand and found an architect in Burinam and here's the final design









Below is a 3D view however its not actually from the final design but an earlier version. The store room in the corner of the kitchen has been removed and the rear verandah roof (blue) extended in the final design to cover what willbe a l;aundry area. 
In the initial design the storeroom in the kitchen was a bathroom/dunny and the bathroom between the bedrooms a study. I insisted with the missus that it wouldn't be a good idea to be cooking or eating if someone had just dropped an aromatic dump. So it was then converted to a walk-in pantry, but then it was decided to just leave it all open. She will have benches and cupboards in and around the corner, also a mobile workbench. The windows will be bi-fold, probably wood, although I would prefer some glass ones with a built in flyscreen which I have seen on an aussie website. The door out onto the verandah will, I believe, be a large sliding door which should allow us to almost open up and connect the outside to the inside, in a way that will mean we don't have to build an outside kitchen sometime in the future ( I won't hold my breath though).

Anyway as she says "it will be what it is and you will be happy with it or you can *#** off". Now I know why I love her sooo much.



Below is just one page of the twenty which made up the engineering design. Obviously it was just a case of input some parameters ie width, height, length and the program spits out the size of the beams required with the steel reinforcment required etc.



So now we have the land, the shed, the design so all we need is a builder shouldn't be a problem in Thailand, as everyone's anything you happen to want at the time want it.  Of course that doesn't mean they will be able to deliver what you want, so the search started.

One of the benefits of getting the design done by the architect, was that they also have a building company and therefore they wanted to be allowed to quote for the job. When they gave us their quote, it was broken down in a lot of detail which allowed the missus to identify their estimation for material and labour for each bit. Although in the end they didn't get the job, the detail they supplied was invaluable in allowing her to understand the progressive stages of the build. I should say at this point that the cost for their design work was 55,000 baht and she was very happy with their attitude to making amendments, the whole thing took about 3 months.

Finding a builder. In all she spoke with 5 builders and quotes were between 2.65 and 3.6 million baht, she also visited sites where they were working or had built previously. 2 were at the low end and the other 3 were at the high end (she felt the work of each builder to be up to her required standard) so she didn't consider the high end offers any further. Of the other 2, we asked each about a labour only contract, one was willing one wasn't.  As a basis for comparison she used the information from the architect's quote to compare his labour only quote and it was OK. The second builder also owned a building supply shop, so that's why he didn't want labour only as it may mean he loses being the supplier. In the end she needed to go for one and she chose the all-inclusive quote mainly because she felt the guy was or would be easier to negotiate with should problems arise. The one thing I do know about my missus is that she is a very good judge of character (except in my case as I managed to fool her, or was it the other way around?).

So now we have a builder. What next? A contract is needed. Although she was told by several people that she didn't need a contract she reckoned she would feel better having one. So after discussions with the builder and lawyer a contract was signed which gives payments based on when a certain stage has been reached/completed. 

So now she's ready to start building so its off to the consult the monks about a start date.

to be continued....

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## BKKBILL

“The one thing I do know about my missus is that she is a very good judge of character (except in my case as I managed to fool her, or was it the other way around?).”

Your missus does seem to know what she is doing. Thanks for the thread looks like it will be a winner.

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## setaputra

You seem to have got this well under control and organised and remain in the driving seat

I like the comprehensive plans and attention to detail. Too often missing in other builds, with unfortunate end results of course.

My plans included lots of stress calculations and figures on earthquakes. That was beyond me but I appreciated the concern for detail. I followed the drawings ok when on site, though the roof elevations exercised the old grey matter !

I spent about a month on discussions with the engineers/arcghitects/builders and did not rush getting a good final agreement. We did not use lawyers ( i find whoever is paying they tend to be pro-thai as they know how the courts will interpret). I got what I wanted and the buildesrs were happy.  Fair to both sides

The cost of drawings is deducted from the final payment if the work proceeds with the builder. That also i think is fair as a lot of man hours went into the drawings and calcualtions and revisions.

Good luck but I don't think you're going to have major problems the way you are organising this and the way you have thought it through.

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## ootai

> The one thing I do know about my missus is that she is a very good judge of character (except in my case as I managed to fool her, or was it the other way around?).
> 
> Your missus does seem to know what she is doing. Thanks for the thread looks like it will be a winner.


Thanks for the comment. The main thing different about my missus is that she has just finished living in Aussie for over 8 years and knows that with a bit of hard work and perseverance you can get things done the way you want. She has learnt that there is an alternative to the Thai way if you're not broke and hungry. 

Just recently she had to visit a high local government official to get some documents signed, she waited nearly all day and went she got to see him he complained that he had been busy signing papers all day and that his arm was tired. She told me that she interpreted this as "where's the lubrication for my sore joints". I believe he was very surprised when she replied, "that's OK I'll come back in the morning when your arm is not tired." He signed the papers and didn't get any lubrication.

Most of how she has gone about this is with guidance from me based on what I have read on this and other forums like this about building in Thailand. Ultimately it is her decision on whether she heeds my advice or not. What I have learnt is not to instruct her to do anything, instead I just point out areas that may have an unacceptable risk associated with them. For example just having a contract that allows for not making the final payment until everything is finished. This in itself won't stop the builder asking but when the request is refused there is an irrefutable basis for the refusal, which cuts through any "face" issues (in my opinion anyway). Verbal agreements can end up as disagreements due to someone just saying "I never said or meant that!"

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## ootai

The next phase is to build up the land. The choice to do this was hers as I thought it wasn't necessary. Her argument was that she didn't want water running off the road in front of the house down through the front yard. I believed that with a few well placed drains we could control the water flow and possibly divert it to a pond for storage and later use on the garden etc. Well in an earlier post I explained that she had a "No pond policy". So the land needed to be built up. My rough estimates were 1200m3 were needed and in the end thats very close to what was actually placed.

The soil came from a paddy field owned by her Mum. The excavator and trucks she used were owned by a company that her brother works for so he was the supervisor of the job. I have forgotten exactly what we paid for the soil to be placed as we had some other work done as well but I think it was around 36,000baht. 




The auspicious day finally arrived (14th April) so the building could start and be blessed.




I was a bit surprised with this photo (above) as I can almost see the boss (in the purple and white floral shirt near the Monks elbow) she does not usually allow herself to be photographed. Ten years ago that caused some issues when we applied for her Visa as they wanted photos of us together to prove we had known each other for a while.


What I liked about this next photo (below) is that it showed that they had dug down through the new fill into the old compacted soil. This was something I had asked the missus to be very vigilant about but it still comes as a surprise when it actually happens.




So thats a start now lets get on with the rest, sorry no can do its Songkran.
To be continued..

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## ootai

More pictures. Boring as shit for most people but if its your own house very interesting indeed.



looks like a war zone full of holes to hide in.



I asked the missus about the builder using all new plywood to construct the formwork and she told me that he said he doesn't re-use the plywood, as once it has concrete stuck on it it doesn't give a good finish. I suppose I have mixed feelings about this as; 
1. we are probably paying a bit higher total price as it is included in the the total price. 
2. If that's his attitude that he likes to get a good result I have hope for the final product.



Finally starting to become a recognisable shape (below). At this point I had one of those moments when you wonder whether something is not quite right. If the boards are the bottom of the floor beams then the house's floor won't be 700mm above the fill. Then I thought maybe the beams are 500mm thick which means the floor will be at the correct height after all. My next problem will be when I come to try and get under the house, how am I gunna fit under them as I am not exactly slim Jim.  Problem solved I'll dig a series of holes so I can get under just like a dog getting under a fence.  Having the house off the ground and not bricked closed was one of my very few wins as I believe it will help with keeping the house a little cooler.  As I explained to her, if it doesn't well close it in later.



I hope people don't mind the smaller photos from this point as I am now relying on the wife to send me updates via email and whatever she does they end up compressed a little. I can still see them OK, if I am wearing the glasses that is.

to be continued....

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## hillbilly

Overall and at the end of the day, plywood is cheap. Yea, they could use the old stuff and the results would be the same. But, it does make the job go quicker and easier for all.

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## DrAndy

> Overall and at the end of the day, plywood is cheap. Yea, they could use the old stuff and the results would be the same. But, it does make the job go quicker and easier for all.


plywood cheap, I wish

maybe they have grade C that is OK?

most builders use cheap re-usable wood planks around us

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## Top Cat

Is that plywood? I dont know.

But as the material used for the shuttering seems to have a white inner lining is it a more specialist type of material?

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## ootai

Thanks for the comments gentlemen. 
I must be running a boring old thread here its taken me ages to get 30 posts (and most of them are mine) and setaputras stamp collection gets 40 overnight?

Anyway I have to check with the boss, as I just assumed it was plywood, it might not be. All I was concerned about was if were paying for the stuff I want to keep it to use when I get there and start building a wall. I will need the same things i.e. ground beams and posts. I asked if he was going to re-use to see if it would be left there for me or not.
So heres the next pictures




Unfortunately I can see a problem coming up in the photo above. There is the slab for the laundry area to go in on top of the new fill. If they don't compact the area it will cause some issues later I am sure. The other way I would solve it would be to build support beams between the posts at the lower level but I'm not there so I guess as she tells me often "what it is is what it is" so I guess some deep breaths and move on.



All was well until I seen this (below) and I immediately thought WTF are we going to have hils in our floors. Then I worked out that this is where the bathrooms are going and the floors are 70mm lower.






so until I receive the next lot......

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## Fabian

> Thanks for the comments gentlemen. 
> I must be running a boring old thread here its taken me ages to get 30 posts


Not boring at all, this is a great thread. Thanks for that and keep the pictures coming.

It is good to see that your wife seems to have the right approach instead of just hiring the next contractor or a family member.

I like the open floorplan.

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## DrAndy

> All was well until I seen this (below) and I immediately thought WTF are we going to have hils in our floors. Then I worked out that this is where the bathrooms are going and the floors are 70mm lower.


yeah, the bastards do that without telling you

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## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by ootai
> 
> All was well until I seen this (below) and I immediately thought WTF are we going to have hils in our floors. Then I worked out that this is where the bathrooms are going and the floors are 70mm lower.
> 
> 
> yeah, the bastards do that without telling you


It certainly seems to be the standard practice here. On my last remodel it took a long time to convince them I wanted everything level. They did make it level but the day I wasn't on the site a curb was installed and tiled.  :mid:

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## ootai

Dr A for an uneducated fellow I feel you may have a quick wit and an amusing sense of humour. 

BKKBill I don't mind so much if they don't make it level but if they put the drain on the high side then I might get a little upset.

Had an interesting conversation with the wife this morning about the builder. Apparently he asked her why she didn't go up to the site and have a chat with his workers as they were wondering who the owner of the house was. Her response was that she wouldn't want to interfere in their work as she thought he paid them to work not chat. I thought it was a good opportunity to ask if she could maybe get some people in some of the photos, in case you hadn't noticed there are none in the pictures. Anyway her response was the same, if she was working and some arsehole kept looking over her shoulder to check on her, or interupting her work she would tell them to f**k off in a hurry. In that regard she is opposite to me as I would be up there chatting (pointing really as they wouldn't understand me) nearly all the time.

Another insight into Thai thinking came out the other day as well. A friend of hers is married to an engineer (civil/structural I don't know) but anyway the missus asked her friend if her husband was interested in coming to the building site and checking that the builder was following the plans, using the correct material etc. Her friend response was, sure he'll do that as we can always use a bit of extra money. Then the missus says to her friend, before you answer for your huasband I think you had better speak with him first, because doing the job has some consequences, in that if anything goes wrong and it ends up in court he will need to testify for me. Its times like that when I know that, while she is Thai, a little bit of Aussie has rubbed off and has slightly changed her thinking to be a little bit more forward looking.

Just so people don't think this project is going exactly smoothly for her, she also informed me that the builder has asked for an early advance on the next payment. My advice to her was "up to you darling its your money" (finally got her back). Anyway, it turns out that he had ordered the prefabricated slabs for the floor and he had to pay for them when they arrived (today) and he hadn't quite completed the work to the point where the second payment was due. The delay was due to rain, Songkran and the missus delaying the start to make it the 14th of April. So she gave in and gave him the advance. 

Just a question for someone. Is it normal to build the roof before the floor? I just never really thought about it but that is what will happen. I can think of 2 reasons for doing it in that order, provides shade when doing the floor and provides protection from rain causing issue with screeded fresh concrete.

Anyway enough of the bullsh#t, here are the pictures I recieved last night.













I have finally caught up to the present date. The posts I have put on here cover about the last 10 months so they have been coming pretty quickly but I didn't want to start this thread until we had actually started to build.

So from here on it will be updates as they come in.

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## DrAndy

> Dr A for an uneducated fellow


I know, I left school when I was 12 and went to London to make my fortune

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## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by ootai
> 
> Dr A for an uneducated fellow
> 
> 
> I know, I left school when I was 12 and went to London to make my fortune


Seems to have worked out well.

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## DrAndy

yes, Bill

several universities have granted me honorary doctorates, for some reason

must be my charm

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## ootai

Latest progress. As I am not as good with the words as some on this forum I'll just let the pictures do the talking. When I have finished loading in 10 photos it means I have the equivalent of a 10,000 word short story.


The verandah looking from the north. Only the other day I was admiring the round colu7mns in Old Monkeys house build and bugger me if the verandah posts on the missus's house are round also. When I asked her about it, her response was of course they're round didn't you look at the plan, maybe you need your glasses checked. If you don't believe me go back to post one and have a look I did and they are indeed round but I had thought that was architect licence to make it look pretty, this time I'm glad to be wrong.


The carport


The main bedroom end and front entrance of the house


The verandah again


The carport again


and again


The front entrance


Verandah outside the main bedroom


The front entrance


The main bedroom end looking north west



and finally "What trees are these?"

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## wazza

great thread, good luck with the build

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## Liquid

Is that blue plastic water pipe used to form the contrete posts? Will it stay there or will you remove it somehow? If it stays, how do you finish it - or should I wait and see  :Wink:  I ask because I am thinking of using round posts and and looking to see how others do it.

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## DrAndy

we used concrete drain pipes for ours, much easier to break off afterwards too

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## D Mac

Thanks for the post's 

looking good  :Smile:

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## ootai

Liquid
Yes I believe they will be removed, I had to ask the missus as I hadn't seen the pipe used before. As Dr Andy says they usually use concrete pipes.

Anyway the missus told me that as far as she knows they will cut the pipe off, how we don't know yet. She did say something about the builder couldn't get what he wanted to use so he used this pvc pipe instead. The only thing I can think of is that the posts are of a quite small diameter and that may have been the issue. If you have a look at Old Monkey's thread his column are round but large diameter compared to ours and he used concrete pipes. Anyway next lot of photos (who knows when they'll come) should reveal all.

She was getting a bit worried as no workers have been on site since Thursday when she made a payment to the builder, I've convinced her that she needs to be careful. Anyway the builder has been coming in alone and wetting down the concrete so today she asked why no workers and he told that there was nothing to do until the posts cured enough to start on the roof beams.

Will post pictures as soon as I get any.

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## billg

Do you have any plans for insulation in the house to prevent heat build up??

----------


## Liquid

> Anyway the missus told me that as far as she knows they will cut the pipe off, how we don't know yet. She did say something about the builder couldn't get what he wanted to use so he used this pvc pipe instead. The only thing I can think of is that the posts are of a quite small diameter and that may have been the issue.


Thanks ootai, I have only seen the concrete ones used before, and that is what I was intending to use. When I saw your blue columns I wondered if I was missing out on a better method  :Smile:

----------


## ootai

> Do you have any plans for insulation in the house to prevent heat build up??


The walls will be QCon blocks which are meant to have insulating properties, we will have foil under the tiles on the roof and I believe building up off the ground should help as well. Hopefully I will arrive in Thailand before its too late to install some sort of fibre in the ceiling as well, at this point in time she who rules is a bit reluctant as it means spending some "extra" money, so if it gets installed I know where the extra will come from.

At this stage we only intend to have 2 air conditioners, 1 in the main bedroom (for me) and one in one of the other bedrooms mainly in case we have farang friends over for a visit.

Work has started again and here's the latest progress.











to be continued.....

----------


## ootai

Well its been a while but things have started moving again. Had a couple of problems the first one was with the computer (hers) getting a virus so had to go to the hospital for a reconstruct.

The second was surrounding the steel bar used for reinforcing. The wife had her engineer come around and do a check on the progress and he wasn't happy that the builder had used different steel bar to reinforce the beams to what was designated on the plans. The way this is handled was part of the reason for this whole thread in that its Thai building for Thai, so I wondered how it would progress as the missus was not happy.

From my understanding the correct diameter bar was used, I had asked the wife to get the builder to show her what was on the plan and what he was using, however it appears that there is more than one type of steel bar. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the difference except to say that what I can rebar has thread type raised sections and the other is just smooth round bar. The raised bits help fix the bar in the concrete whereas the round bar can more easily pull through the concrete. They may also have differing Young's Modulus's which is a measure of their stiffness but I am not sure without being there to check with the Engineer and it gets lost in translation if I try to ask from here.

Anyway she stopped any further work from being done and had her Engineer check whether he thought the steel used would be OK or not. He thought it was not really suitable and made some suggestion about filling in the bottom section of the house. That is, brick in under the floor beams and fill beneath the floor which would probably stiffen the whole stucture. In my opinion that wouldn't do anything unless the fill was very well compacted before laying the floor on top. So she went around and spoke to as many of the local "builders" she could find and most came and inspected the job. The consensus was that the steel that had been used would do the job so rather than knock it all down and start again we are going ahead as it is. She has instructed the builder that he must follow and use what is on the plan. When I asked why would he do what he did, she reckoned it must be cheaper as she knows no other reason. So I suppose in the end he gets away with it but I hope with some understanding that its not acceptable. I know when I finally get ther in a couple of months I will want to discuss it with him.

So if one day you read in the news that a house has collapsed on a farangs head you willl know who and why.

Some photos that show the different steel used.

This one shows plain smooth round bar


This one shows rebar (raised thread) in the bottom centre. Not sure if this was there before or whether it has been added afterward to increase the strength (I hope so).


This shows a corner with a mixture of steel bar types


Just plain smooth bar



Looking north from the south western corner


Looking north east


Looking east with the shed on the right. Shows how far its set back from the road in front.


This is looking south at the kitchen verandah end. When I asked the missus about why the round pole was so white, she said it was because that had put some makeup on it to make it look pretty. Apparently they had added some colouring (makeup) to the concrete.



Looking south at the carport


I have been a bit worried about how high the roof beams are because I had only asked for rooms to have 2.4m ceilings. However I have been informed that the roof sits down over the beams and that the internal ceiling of the rooms will indeed be 2.4m high. Unfortunately I haven't seen a cross section plan through the centre of the house.

She told me today that the locals reckon she's building a factory because its so big. Maybe because its a large floor space on only one floor that makes it appear spread out.

thats it for today hopefully some more photos tonight.

----------


## ootai

More photos have arrived.

The form work has been removed from around the roof beams but not from the bottom yet. It was nice for me to see that all the mounds of dirt have been levelled before they put the floor in so now I will be able to crawl around under there better if I have to.











This final photo shows the steel being painted for the roof. The wife asked me about the difference between spray painting the primer on (which they are doing) and using a brush? My thoughts are that unless they are using a thinning agent to make it flow easier when using a spray there should be no difference. If they are using some form of thinner then they should put more coats on. Can anyone offer some advice from experience it would be appreciated.



Until next time......

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## justincase 13

it's looking good so far joined in a little late on this one, as for the primer not sure if it would make a difference just make sure they primer the welds as they need it the most..maybe ask the misses if she can scratch it off with her finger nail if soo i would say he cutting corners (again)  If the rebar and round stock is a big price difference deduct it from the final cost or tell him you will if he doesn't follow the plan's as they are....just a thought, It must be hard to build a house and not be there..It does seem that your wife has a good head on her shoulder though.. good luck

----------


## ootai

justincase 13 
thanks for the reply regarding the primer, I'll remember the idea of using the fingernail but I won't ask the missus to do it, at the moment the only thing she'd use them for is to scratch me a little or even a lot. In the end she asked several people their opinions and the consensus was 50/50 each way so she reckons it will be OK.

Anyway here's some more photo's things are moving along slowly which is OK by me as I should be over there before its finished and its the attention to the final detail that makes it a good compared to an ordinary outcome.

Looking north across bedroom 3 and the kitchen to the verandah


The floors are in for the bathrooms


The steel is going onto the roof


The carport


Starting to take shape


Looking quite large, blocks out the water tower


When I seen this I thought maybe they have forgotten a drain hole. I thought that there should be 4. One for the shower, one for the handbasin, one for the toilet and one for the floor. So I asked the project manager (missus) about it and politely got told that if I wanted to be in control of everything then I had better get my arse over there on the next plane or leave it to her. As I don't speak either Thai or "women" I left it at that. I know (hope?) she will ask the builder.



until next time......

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## Norton

> As I don't speak either Thai or "women" I left it at that.


Thai is easy.  Womanese an impossible language to learn.

She's doing a good job by the looks of the house so suggest you let her keep things sorted on site. :Smile:

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## slackula

> As I don't speak either Thai or "women" I left it at that. I know (hope?) she will ask the builder.


You will win either way: if there is a f-up you can say "I told you so" and if there isn't you can claim that you trusted her judgement on the matter.  It's the weasel way!  :Very Happy:

----------


## Norton

> "I told you so"


In my house, these words are never uttered.  I avoid even thinking it having learned the consequences of such a foolish act.

----------


## slackula

> In my house, these words are never uttered. I avoid even thinking it having learned the consequences of such a foolish act.


I like to live dangerously!  :Very Happy:

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## SiamRick

Wonderful thread. Learned a lot, Ootai. Which just makes me think I know so little.   :Smile: 

As for the new tree you were wondering about, I think it's a _poi vinan chorai_. 
 :mid:

----------


## ootai

Norton, Slackula
I try very hard not to say "I told you so" instead I usually go with this "Do you remember we discussed this a while ago" still very dangerous but what the hell.
If we didn't like to live dangerously we would never have gotten entwined in Thailand would we?

Siamrick
If you are willing to admit that there is much that you don't know then you are miles ahead of many others because you are showing that you are willing to be taught or learn. The most dangerous are those that either don't know that they don't know or those are unwilling to learn. Most of what we have used in preparing to build and now building our house was picked up from this forum and others like it such as CTH & TV

----------


## ossierob

Ootai that was a good story mate. i too let my wife look after the building of our house in Sampran as I was working in Australia also at the time. There are a couple of things that I would change if I did it again but in the main she did a very good job. I didnt want so many toilets for one but she got her way with that...one in every bedroom one. As it was if the builder digressed from our main plan she made him put it down or off and do it again....and of course held off payment till we were satisfied.  Thanks again for your story mate I enjoyed it and am pleased that it worked out well for you also.

----------


## hillbilly

> If you are willing to admit that there is much that you don't know then you are miles ahead of many others because you are showing that you are willing to be taught or learn.


So true! Sometimes, I have been pleased with screaming NO, and yet often I wish that I had kept my mouth shut. Thin line...

----------


## Bower

Really enjoying this thread, thank you

----------


## ootai

ossierob, hillbilly and Bower - thanks for the comments

As for my last post about the missing drainhole, well I got my come uppance there. The feedback was what are you trying to do make me look stupid? Lucky I (her)went and had a look first before I ask the builder, there are four holes there, cant you count? I thought for moment about bringing up the fact that looking at a photo and being there make it a little different but I thought nah let it slide.

Things have been a bit slow lately, apparently its been raining a bit so no work. I should point out that the builder only has a few guys working for him, Ill have to remember to ask how many. Turns out that while the wife gets along OK with the builder (not on site most of the time but comes and checks every day) she does have a bit of a problem with the foreman who is there all the time. She pointed out to him that she thought the steel work on the roof was not straight and aligned very well and he got I bit put out so her response to him was well next time Ill say nothing and then when you have finished get you to pull it down again and do it straight. Her words to me were doesnt he understand that I was trying to help?

An update on the saga regarding the steel used by the builder that never matched the plan they spent some time together at the lawyers yesterday and signed up a document that they both agreed to and signed. Not sure exactly but it involved an extension to the guarantee and for her to retain a small amount (2% ?) of the build cost for the period of the extended guarantee. I agreed with her in that its not about the money its about him understanding that he agreed to build what is set out in the plans. I think she was very happy with her lawyer, must have been the aussie hat she bought back for him last time she was over (april).

There has been some progress. The roof steel work has been completed, the welding which in my opinion leaves a bit to be desired will be inspected by her checker. IU was happy to see that they had at least painted the welds. Turns out that the builder didnt order the tiles earlier enough and is now waiting on their delivery. I see they have started putting in some props to support the floor slabs but I think he plans to put the tile on first.
Anyway heres a few photos.




























till next time...............

----------


## highlander

ootai that welding really looks a bit iffy blobs of weld everywherealso the steel could of been better cut to get the edges to butt better and make for better welding.

scotty

----------


## ootai

> ootai that welding really looks a bit iffy blobs of weld everywherealso the steel could of been better cut to get the edges to butt better and make for better welding.
> 
> scotty


I couldn't agree with you more and as I said in the post 
"The roof steel work has been completed, the welding which in my opinion leaves a bit to be desired will be inspected by her checker. I was happy to see that they had at least painted the welds."

I spoke with her about it when she sent through the photos and she told me that she has an independent guy who she has told me she will get to inspect the job. I try hard not to be pushy otherwise I won't get to see anything until I get there in a couple of months. I will wait for the outcome and in the end there's probably nothing I can do about if she decides its OK. I think the problem is the "jack of all trades" that are used. Also I don't know about the costs etc associated with a MIG welder in Thailand but that's what they need on the light steel they use.

I just think that the majority of Thais try to avoid conflict and the others take advantage of them.

----------


## setaputra

> I just think that the majority of Thais try to avoid conflict and the others take advantage of them. ootai is offline Add to ootai's Reputation Report Post   	 Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!


I had some small issues on my Sarapi thread and found that you need to be firm and keep smiling when thee are problems - though mine were only small issues. 

If you don't smile they think you are being aggressive and thus have an automatic right to ignore you. If you smile and make your point then walk away , they correct and are able not to lose face.  Took me some time to realise that and even longer to actually deal with it their way and not the wetern way.  But it works.

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## Buckaroo Banzai

Ootai ,  and others who have posted on this tread, thank you all for a wonderful thread, very informative, civilized and entertaining, a pleasure to read!
I am married to a wonderful Thai girl, we travel back and forth from the USA to Thailand but mostly live in Florida for the time, we own land in Khon Kaen and plan to build there with in the next year, and eventually move there.
I Have being following your thread as a non- member of this forum, with great interest, and a little, guilt for not contributing. Seeing the welds on the roof steel, prompted me to finally join The Teak Door forum so at o offer some advice. First let me post some my qualifications, I am a union Carpenter with local 926 in New York, specializing in concrete form construction. I hold several licenses, and is currently working as a Site Safety Manager. First let me say that I have only seen pictures of the welds ( some one at the site can make a better assessment) , but from the pictures it looks to me that they have not welded the beams, rather they have tack them together. That in my part of the world is totally unacceptable. Also what I see is that some are tacked only on the bottom, allowing  the tack to easily separate if a downward or a torsion force is applied .If you have not done so already, I would have some one with expertise in the subject  inspect  the so called weld.
Having said that, please let me qualify my opinion to one who has only seen some pictures.
 Any way,  you are doing a great job, keep up the good work, looking with great anticipation  to the rest of your building adventure.

----------


## dirtydog

Buckaroo, in Thai construction it is normal to tack weld the lot then weld it properly afterwards, your jumping the gun a bit putting your new york values into Thailand, thai worker $5 perday, New york worker a slight bit more so time really don't matter in Thailand.

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## Buckaroo Banzai

You are probably right Dirty Dog, that is why I qualified my whole observation. 
I follow this, and other forums  reading about variety of subjects and point of views trying to get an inside on the prevailing attitudes in Thailand.
One thing I know is structural integrity, and in my opinion (and from my perspective)  these welds dont look structurally sound, and I would think that at $5 per day, it might be a good idea to spend an extra day doing a better job.
Again I want to stress that my assessment is one of limited information and with out  the context of the whole structure.If with in the context of the whole roof trust structure ,  these weld are structurally adequate , then  fine.if not , then I think  a closer look is warranted. :Smile:

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## dirtydog

I have no idea why they do it that way, 100 pieces of steel just tack welded and then they are all walking on it thinking it's safe, then they weld it properly, lucky they only weigh around 60 kilos I suppose, pretty sure if Thai's were on the large side there would be a hell of a lot of accidents whilst they were doing roofs in Thailand.

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## Norton

> I have no idea why they do it that way


Easier to fix all the "oops, that don't fit quite right" bits before you finish all the welds.

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## lom

> Buckaroo, in Thai construction it is normal to tack weld the lot then weld it properly afterwards, your jumping the gun a bit putting your new york values into Thailand, thai worker $5 perday, New york worker a slight bit more so time really don't matter in Thailand.


Yes, but you do the final welds before painting it..

The sad truth is that most of these building workers can't make a proper welding, they are mostly using to high current (it's easier to start up the electrode..) thereby burning through the material. 
Neither do they have a choice of electrode size, my well assorted hardware shop is selling two sizes which they call medium and big  :Smile: 

I haven't welded for the last 35 years but I am sure I can still beat any of them building workers when it comes to welding.
The only exception is the blacksmith workshops and they are the ones I hire if I need to get something welded, they have modern equipment and have the experience to do it properly.

----------


## ootai

gentlemen 
regarding the welding I couldn't agree more with what you all are saying and I can't understand at all why it is so. It is my understanding that what you can see in the photos is the finished product. As soon as I seen it (and being here in Oz means all I have is the photos) I asked her to get someone to check it for her. Remember at the start of this thread I did say I was trying to present how a build would go when done by Thais with a Thai (my missus) in charge. She has informed that her "metal" man (who knows what his qualifications are) has inspected the job and told her it is not good enough (really?). So she has spoken to her builder and told him they need to come back and do a better job of fixing it. 

I don't want to push the issue too hard as then I won't get any pictures at all. I am, after 10 years of being married to a Thai (whom I trust 100% and know is smarter than the average bear) and being involved in all the dealings that occur amongst them, I never worry too much about anything. As is stated on here quite often if you let it get to you it will do your head in. I'll smile and leave it up to her, maybe my head will be done in when it falls down on it, if it does hopefully its while I'm asleep.

I honestly believe that we farangs are as much too blame as the Thais as we come along and expect them to build things beyond their norm. If we stuck to timber and light weight roofing material with spans of 3m we would never have a problem. I wanted to use load bearing block walls and steel trusses to get 6m spans to give open living areas but gave it up as too risky. I tried to get my missus to agree to use light weight colourbond roofing but she reckoned it looked cheap and ugly. I tried to tell her we were talking about the roof not me, but anyhow bloody heavy concrete tiles it is.

While I'm on about the tiles. I found out that as part of what the builder gets when he purchases the tiles from ??? (can't remember the brand Cotto?) he gets free lessons for his guys in how to put them up/on. I should point out that as far as I understand the builder (only on site for short periods) has a "supervisor" and 2 or 3 others doing all the work. As a consequence they are the normal Thai "jack of all trades". In the end they probably do the best they can and its not me they have to satisfy but the wife.  I can only hopefully provide some guidance.

Anyway thanks for the comments thats what helps others learn about this sh*t.
As I said in another post most people just grow old and retire gracefully but I'm going to retire in Thailand.

----------


## pet coon

You can try to justify the Thai way but the welding shown on the roof is not characteristic of their ability. The paint says they are finished welding. Yes they do spot welding but normally it will be 2 inch spots rather than running a continuous   bead, thus saving rod and time. The overall spot weld is normally about one half of the potential weld. Maybe semi spot is better term and this is accepted and does provide enough strength. The obvious gaps are probably due to the position/height of the support bean on the support column being somewhat off. I have built 2 houses for family and 2 for friends here and the steel roof was always installed/welded by crews who only do this work for various contractors, same with the installation of tiles (C-pak) a contractor who uses the same crew is expecting more from his workers in the way of versatility than any I have observed. 

Tell the wife to watch when they wire tie the C-Pak on roof iron, they will try to tie one in four is your lucky. Now I just have them tie every tile down and put access to attic thru ceiling in convient place in the house. good luck

----------


## DrAndy

agreed with most of the above comments

the spot welding is fine just to hold the metal together but will not be strong enough to support the weight of the tiles

get it done properly, the tiles can weigh tons

----------


## ootai

Well it appears that the consultations have ended and with the arrival of more materials work has started progressing again and more pictures have come through.
As for the welding issue the missus got her man to come and inspect the job, he marked any areas that needed (in his opinion) repairing and these were fixed. I personally can't ask anymore from her in that she doesn't know what is a good weld or not so she has sought assistance from the best person she knows well enough to trust to check for her.
She had a meeting on site with the builder and her lawyer the other day to straigthen out a few issues regarding what the builder's obligations are in terms of building what is on the plans.
So we should now see some progress.

The house from the rear with roof steel completed


Most of the pre cast floor slabs have arrived and been put into position


The front steps taking shape


The qcon blocks for the walls are on site (hope they tied them down)


Close up of the qcon block



The roof tiles have arrived


Closer look at the finish on the top of the tile.


to be continued...........

----------


## ootai

Some more photos. I don't want to post too many at one time it gets confusing.

Showing floor pre-cast slabs. Looking from the kitchen end toward the main bedroom (top left) and bathroom, ensuite (top right)


From the main bedroom end looking toward the ktichen end


Tiles are starting to go on. I pointed out the cracked one to the missus and asked her to make sure they know that they must replace any that they crack.


same same but different


Close up of how the tiles are fixed in position. There are 2 screws like this, one in each top corner. I asked the wife to tell them to try and seal the hole around the screw or else the water can make its way down the screw to the steel and cause it to rust. I know (and she pointed it out to me) that this area is covered by the tile laid on top but...


Don't know what you call this in technical speak, but to me its the roof trough guttering


till the next time

----------


## SunTzu

I'm impressed with the way your lady deals with the project : she seems spot on !



Not impressed with the screws holding the tiles either : I wouldnt want to see them slip 10 years from now after the screw has rusted away. I'd guess it'd be ok with  corrosion proof screws though. Anybody got a clue where/how much etc to find them ?

----------


## Norton

> Anybody got a clue where/how much etc to find them ?


Should be stainless self tapping screws.  Normally the tile supplier has them the proper size for the tile purchased.




> I asked the wife to tell them to try and seal the hole around the screw or else the water can make its way down the screw to the steel and cause it to rust. I know (and she pointed it out to me) that this area is covered by the tile laid on top but...


Appears you have a 30 degree slope so assuming the tiles have the correct overlap, not much if any water will get under the overlapping tile.

Have seen several 20 year old houses using the same approach as yours with only minor repairable damage.

----------


## ootai

Suntzu
Hopefully the screws last me out. She sent a photo of the screw against the side of a tile to show that it is at least twice the thickness of the tile in length and it looks as though it shouldn't rust. i haven't posted it because it was badly out of focus.

Norton
One of the photos in this post shows that the screw holes and screw head are well covered by the overlap and as you say the slope should ensure water runs off quickly.

I'm not sure if I post too many pictures as most people probably think not much is happening but to me every small change means it progressing and hopefully we'll be moving in there around end of October (this year??)

anyway here's more photos to look at.

the roof is slowly getting covered in tiles.


The foil insulation is going in. I wasn't sure whether this was going to happen or not so I'm pleased it is.


I am starting to like the look of the tiles


This shot of the corner shows that they overlap quite a bit, no problem covering the screw hole


Looks neat and I hope its an optical illusion that they look like their not offset from each other enough.


Looking south west at the back yard. I have been informed that as of today there are now over a 100 banana trees planted in there. Must think I'm a monkey needing that many.


Looking north west at the rest of the back yard and the current abode. Don't know what that stack of blocks is for.


The truck in the distance is travelling along Highway 24


till next time....

----------


## Norton

> I hope its an optical illusion that they look like their not offset from each other enough.


Think it's an optical delusion.  All the other roof pics look OK.

----------


## ootai

Progress is being made. The banana's have been planted. 



The pre-cast slabs are in ready for the concrete to be poured.


The concrete floor has been poured. I was a little concerned about the rough finish but then realised that it has been left that way because tiless are going on top later and will get abetter bond on the rougher concrete.








Starting to look like a house


until next time..............

----------


## ragandbone man

Looking good, have you specked more insulation in the roof space when the internal roof is complete ??

Hope you don't mind I have copied some of your photo's to show my builder some things, when the time comes.

Great thread, good learning for those of us still to build.

Nice one
ragandbone man

----------


## slackula

> Starting to look like a NICE house


There, fixed that for ya! 

Congrats and keep on with the pics!  :Smile:

----------


## ootai

> Looking good, have you specked more insulation in the roof space when the internal roof is complete ??
> 
> Hope you don't mind I have copied some of your photo's to show my builder some things, when the time comes.
> 
> Great thread, good learning for those of us still to build.
> 
> Nice one
> ragandbone man


I am not sure whether it is included in the quote but at some stage I will install insulation (batts) in the roof space above the internal ceiling. If its not included then I am sure the "boss" won't want to spend more money to put it in so I will need to convince her that we will get it back by saving on power for the A/C.
The way I look at insulation is that the foil shields the roof space from the heat generated from the tiles. The fibre batts separate the cool air from the warm/hot roof space. I've read lots of opinions on this and other forums about this so if we don't do it straight away it will allow me to take measurements and convince myself of the science. The supposedly insulating preoperties of the QCon blocks is why we went for them as well.

As for using photos, that's why I started this whole thread. I think I spent nearly a year lurking around this and other forums like TV and CTH reading about building in Thailand so I felt I should try and giveback as it has helped us a lot. I didn't use the photos for the builder as I'm not there but last year in October I flew the missus back her to OZ for a month and basically all we did was look at building stuff, well we argued a fair bit too but then that's to be expected.

Cheers

----------


## ootai

> Originally Posted by ootai
> 
> Starting to look like a NICE house
> 
> 
> There, fixed that for ya! 
> 
> Congrats and keep on with the pics!


 
Thanks for the editing. I believe that we (farangs) might find this a nice looking house because its more of a farang stlye than the normal 2 story Thai style. 

I actually wanted the Thai style but my missus insisted on single story because she reckons it won't be long and I won't be able to climb stairs and she ain't carrying me. My comment was "Darling I'll install a mechanical lift" and her response was "well go and built your own bloody house". And because she learnt english here in Aussie from Aussies that's exactly what she said, she speaks with an Aussie accent, surprises a lot of people. 

Anyway I sometimes find myself checking the first post which has the 3D version of the design in it and I do believe it is now starting to look like the design, bloody marvellous.

----------


## jandajoy

Splendid. Thanks, mate.

----------


## Norton

> The way I look at insulation is that the foil shields the roof space from the heat generated from the tiles.


Well worth the relatively small cost to keep A/C spaces cooler.  Easy to install after the house is finished.  Convince the boss.  She won't be that stingy with the small added cost as I see you have reflective aluminum under the roof tiles.

----------


## ootai

> Well worth the relatively small cost to keep A/C spaces cooler. Easy to install after the house is finished. Convince the boss. She won't be that stingy with the small added cost as I see you have reflective aluminum under the roof tiles.


Norton
I'm sure we will end up with it in there but it will take a bit of negotiation first. Its just that she reckons if it ain't in the plan and therefore part of the overall quote then we don't need it. In the end I'll pay for it if I have too.

Just yesterday I asked her to check with the builder as to whether we have gutters "in the plan/quote" and it turns out we don't. When she asked the builder he (and she agrees with him) said that gutters would spoil the look of the house. 
At the start of this thread I spoke about my cheaper functional plans but she reckoned they were fugly. 

So I asked her how are we going to catch some rain water for drinking and cooking? Are we going to do what I see all the time, tie some doubled over corrugated iron from the eaves and direct it into a pot/urn. So now we will have guttering along the north side of the carport and along the back of the roof. Gives us water but maintains the "looks pretty" bit as well.

Sometimes its a struggle, but you just have to persevere and I wouldn't miss it for quids as its so much fun sometimes seeing the light come on.

----------


## Norton

> whether we have gutters "in the plan/quote" and it  turns out we don't.


A common oversight.




> gutters would spoil the look of the house.


May well do if they are the typical Thai sheet metal type.  PVC gutters are more attractive and may be the answer from what I see on your house design.

----------


## jandajoy

> PVC gutters are more attractive and may be the answer from what I see on your house design.


That's what we want. They seem very difficult to source though.

----------


## Norton

> They seem very difficult to source though.


All over the place in Roiet.  Surprised you can't find in your area.

----------


## jandajoy

> All over the place in Roiet. Surprised you can't find in your area.


One shop in Chiang Kong had a display. Success methinks.

Nope, it's just a display we've had for years.

Can you get me some, I need a lot?

Nope, use steel.

Bye..............

 :smiley laughing:

----------


## Norton

Looks like you have to get out of the jungle and go to a bigger place.  When the house is done, you can get all the bits well defined so you can purchase what you need.  Straight pieces, corner pieces, down pipe, elbows and the like.

----------


## jandajoy

> Looks like you have to get out of the jungle and go to a bigger place. When the house is done, you can get all the bits well defined so you can purchase what you need. Straight pieces, corner pieces, down pipe, elbows and the like.


Exactly, that's the plan. Get all the basics done and then we'll do a week in CM or somewhere to but the add ons.

(Whoops, did I say "plan" ?  More of an idea really.     :Smile:  )

----------


## ootai

Norton
I don't think the gutter was overlooked (by me that is) but somewhere it got lost in among all the other stuff I was trying to tell her that she needed to get the architect/ engineer to put on the plan. I'm sure we discussed it but like when I asked her about where she wanted the powerpoints sometimes you draw a blank.

Anyway I have read some discussion on one of the forums about guttering and I mentioned to her about using plastic ones when she told me it wasn't on the plan. I will be very keen to check out the detailed plans when I get over there in 3 weeks.

When you say they are all over the place in Roiet is that in a particular company like Homemart or something? If it is can you let me know and I will look for it in Korat. She goes to Do-Home mostly.

----------


## Norton

> Korat


Korat sure to have a few suppliers.  Here in Roiet I purchased at Global House.

----------


## hillbilly

This is going to be one big ass house!  :Smile:  I love big homes, sure there is more upkeep and such but I like to wander around. Often I do this in our home in BKK, different rooms and different thoughts.

----------


## graym

Great thread Ootai, thanks for all the effort. I'm watching with more than the usual interest as I will be finding myself in a similar position in the near future; she who is to be obeyed will be the foreman on our project down South in Krabi and I nwill be offshore working most of the time to keep up with the payments.

I hope when my turn comes the thread will be as entertaining as yours...

----------


## kiwinev

Nice thread, good looking house too. I like the long low look. Will be keeping an eye on this build.

----------


## ootai

Hello to all I'm back,

Well I'm not sure if I have made the right decision or not.

Over the past 4 weeks I have quit my job , packed up the house and loaded the stuff into a container which is due in Bangkok on the 4th or 5th August. Spent sometime in Adelaide sorting out some business and then drove for 3 days across the Nullabor to Perth. Spent a week driving around WA catching up with my family and people I hadn't seen for years

Anyway got on the plane in Perth at 12:05am Monday 19th to fly to Thailand via Singapore. Bloody seats on the Jetstar planes don't lay back so they were very uncomfortable to try and sleep in. Got the Bangkok at 9am and met up with the missus and her niece OK, they had just arrived 10 minutes earlier so that was well timed.

Next on the way home stopped to get fuel and then something to eat and guess what, first case of food poisioning for me, finally after spewing my guts up started to feel better later that night. 

Next day this place tried to cook me, it really is close to hell. When you walk into an airconditioned room (set on 30c) and feel like you're walking into a fridge you know its bloody hot outside.

Wednesday comes along and its humid like you wouldn't believe, by early afternoon we had the thunderstorm from hell, cyclonic winds blew down trees all around the place, closed the highway just south of us, rain like I've never seen before, then the power went off. I was standing out the front of our house and lightning struck a tree about 50m away it made me crap myself.

So I wake up thinking Thursday's got to be better but now we have power but no internet cut off from the world.

So finally after a week we now have the internet back up and running so hopefully I can catch up with where the house is at. I must say that being here makes things seem to go very slowly (checking up on progress each day is like watching grass grow). Maybe that's not true in Thailand as right now the grass is growing like mad.

Here's some photo's which the missus sent while I was in transit but I will eventually get up to date.











When I seen this I thought what have they done putting little bits of blocks in the wall. But they have acrtually done a good job of not lining them all up together. The length of the wall must be just not quiter right to fit a half brick in.


This wall shows the blocks nicely offset by half a brick.


This will be the "living" area


This is looking the opposite way to the previous picture into and through the kitchen


Looking into the kitchen from the verandah


These will be the ensuite and walk in wardrobe


The front steps. Had a discussion (through the missus) about the width of the steps and he assures me that they will be 300mm tread width when they are finished. At the moment they are just a little bit short for my liking as I can't get more than the front of my foot on them.

Until next time.......

----------


## ootai

More photo's of further progress, albeit slow.


The view of the rear with the walls almost completed.


Looking from the kitchen out through the carport.


The third bedroom.


The steel work for the slab which will form the roof of the patio outside the main bedroom.


A different view of the main bedroom patio roof to be.


The roof capping.


Looking down into the living area toward the kitchen.


The main toilet and bathroom.


The ensuite (left) and the WIR of the main bedroom.


Until next time......

----------


## ootai

Hopefully people don't think I'm posting too many photo's, if I am then please let me know. Sometimes I think that while it may be interesting to me seeing some small progress it may not be the same for others. Its like the parents opinion of a new baby "beautiful" but to others "ugly and wrinkly". Anyway until I get complaints of too many I'll keep posting them.

Today there are quite a few but at least I will then be up to date to the end of July and at this rate caught up in real time by the end of the week.

So here's today's offerings.

Most of you are probably sick of this view but it shows the overall progress each time.


This shows the skirting which has been fitted around the whole house. There is still some debate (with herself) by the missus about whther to paint it or not.


The carport columns, I'm not sure but I think they end up getting covered in sandstone type tiles.


Another view from inside the carport. The storage space is for??? At the moment its where the damaged bricks have been "stored". 


View through the carport to the kitchen and verandah.


The front entrance.


The sunken electrical conduit.


This shows how much grout they will be putting on, I was surprised it was so much. Its not this thick everywhere through.


Looking out through the carport from the verandah


More sunken conduit. Had to ask what the bit sticking out above the top switch box was for. I thought it was acting as a spacer but in fact its for the fan controller.


More of the same (maybe this is why I seem to post too many photos?).


This shows what happen when they trench on the other side of the wall without being careful, they knock a big hole in the wall which is quickly patched up.


Another view from the kitchen to the living area. I am sure that more "living" will be done in the kitchen than in here.


Another view from the front to show overall progress.


Lastly "my" house complete with bathroom and dunny.


Until next time....probably tomorrow!

----------


## fredlk

Do keep posting the photos. It makes it much more interesting seeing it all and to see so much detail.
It should turn out to be be a very good-looking house.
Fred.

----------


## kiwinev

Yes, keep posting the photos, good to see the bulild thru the stages.

----------


## Happy Dave

> Originally Posted by ootai
> 
> As for the pond, the missus is against having any water around the place. In the last 6 months her cousin's son (9years old) and a friends child (2 years old) have drowned in the village. The youngest one fell into one of those large urns used for water storage, must have seen someone get some water and tried to reach in.
> 
> 
> I understand that; a kid in my village in Portugal drownded last year in another neighbours pool
> 
> water and kids don't mix too well; I am having to think hard about security for my kid too in my Mae Rim house


Pool security regulations are extremely strict in Queensland , due to child drownings. Everything has to be fenced with special childproof locks on the gate.
Child drownings are happening all over the world due to people not considering the dangers of open pool areas.
Congratulations on your thoughts on this one !

----------


## Happy Dave

> it's looking good so far joined in a little late on this one, as for the primer not sure if it would make a difference just make sure they primer the welds as they need it the most..maybe ask the misses if she can scratch it off with her finger nail if soo i would say he cutting corners (again) If the rebar and round stock is a big price difference deduct it from the final cost or tell him you will if he doesn't follow the plan's as they are....just a thought, It must be hard to build a house and not be there..It does seem that your wife has a good head on her shoulder though.. good luck


I have worked on many 'high rise' construction jobs in and around Brisbane and the Gold Coast over the last 30 years, and never seen that smooth steel bar used, always the other rough surfaced stuff ?

----------


## Happy Dave

> You are probably right Dirty Dog, that is why I qualified my whole observation. 
> I follow this, and other forums reading about variety of subjects and point of views trying to get an inside on the prevailing attitudes in Thailand.
> One thing I know is structural integrity, and in my opinion (and from my perspective) these welds dont look structurally sound, and I would think that at $5 per day, it might be a good idea to spend an extra day doing a better job.
> Again I want to stress that my assessment is one of limited information and with out the context of the whole structure.If with in the context of the whole roof trust structure , these weld are structurally adequate , then fine.if not , then I think a closer look is warranted.


 
I tend to agree with you Buck !  If they intend coming back on those roof truss tacks and complete the welding, why did they bother to paint them, surely paint comes when its finished !

----------


## Happy Dave

> Originally Posted by Norton
> 
> 
> Well worth the relatively small cost to keep A/C spaces cooler. Easy to install after the house is finished. Convince the boss. She won't be that stingy with the small added cost as I see you have reflective aluminum under the roof tiles.
> 
> 
> Norton
> I'm sure we will end up with it in there but it will take a bit of negotiation first. Its just that she reckons if it ain't in the plan and therefore part of the overall quote then we don't need it. In the end I'll pay for it if I have too.
> 
> ...


To me thats a lot of BS!  a roof without a gutter looks half finished. Next time she goes to oz tell her to just look around !  no gutter, unheard of. My house in Queensland has 2x5000 gal underground concrete tanks fed from the gutters . Town water never used. No gutters, probably one of the first things i noticed when i came here.......ugly. and when it rains, all that water just gushing off the roof.

----------


## crackers

Try and get european (uk is best) imported electrical sockets for your home so much better than the thai ones

----------


## ootai

fredlk and kiwinev
Thanks forthe comments its nice to know someone is appreciative of my posting the photos.

Happy Dave
She has agreed to put up gutters as we have found some nice plastic ones which I reckon I can fit myself. As I said before I too hate the way the water just runs off the roof everywhere.

The next 6 photos show the house from directions different to what I've posted before. Sorry if the pictures are slightly distorted as I reduced them with software that was in Thai so I guessed what I was doing.












The next 4 are of the slab that forms the roof over the main bedroom patio. The patio is shown in the picture above. I haven't yet checked the slope and we could end up with a shallow swimming pool over our head.






The wall and door frame for the bathroom are going in.


The carport floor being prepared, I wasn't happy about this and got them to make some changes which I'll show in the next post.


Until next time...............

----------


## jizzybloke

> Hopefully people don't think I'm posting too many photo's


You can never have too many pictures!

Coming along very well Ootai.

----------


## kiwinev

The gutters will be good, a chance to save the water for a less than rainy day. :Smile: 

Keep posting the pics. :bananaman:

----------


## sunsetter

cracking thread any idea of a finish date ?

----------


## MrBoJangles

I concur. Keep the piccies coming Ootai.

----------


## ootai

crackers - I don't think I'll have much luck with your suggestion as she thinks Thai is best (even after spending most of the last 10 years in Aussie where she seen things can be better) so it'll probably be Thai sockets.

jizzybloke, kiwinev and mrbojangles thanks for the encouragement it is needed at times.

sunsetter - the original timeframe given by the builder was 6 months to finish. We started April 14th so that would take it out to october, however the other day he said he may be close to finished at th end of this month. He obviously allowed for some delays etc that haven't happened so far.

Anyway here's some more pictures.

This is the common bathroom wall has been rendered


The wall of the main living area, the sections which have wiggly lines on them are to be covered with sandstone brickettes/tiles as a feature wall same as parts of the outside columns


This is a repeat from my last post showing carport floor about to be concreted. I wasnn't happy that the fill hadn't been compacted and there was only minimumal steel being put in. This combination over time will lead to the floor cracking as the fill subsides underneath and the steel isn't strong enough to take the load from above. They made a handheld compactor (which I wish I had taken a photo of) from a large square piece of wood with 2 handles and a flat board on the bottom. 2 guys used this to compact the fill in the carport, not as good as a whacker packer but better than nothing. I also got a second layer of steel mesh put into the floor offset to the first sheet.

This is the edge where I made them dig a trench down to the hard ground level and form a beam along the edge.


Dug down to solid ground


Steel reinforcing for the edge beam


The finished floor


The finished edge


The stairs from the carport to the patio and kitchen


Notice he has made these wider as I asked for.


This what happens if you mix dogs and wet concrete, no big deal this time as there are tiles going on top.


Well that's it for now up to date until the 8th August. Haven't had much time at home recently spending it chasing up tiles, toilet seats, fans. lights, bore drillers, pumps, tanks etc etc.

----------


## ivanlaw

Looks like it will be a great house,
good luck, with the completion.

 Regards
   Ivan
PS
  Please keep the photos coming

----------


## ragandbone man

Great thread ootai, keep it going much appreciated, photos are good as well.

Thanks for the effort.

Regards
ragandbone man

----------


## BKKBILL

> 


Don't think you will find many houses in los without this K9 signature.

Keep up the photo's as they help tell a good story.

----------


## ootai

Time to post some more pictures, to those who have commented thank you and to those who haven't "why not?"

The carport pillars getting rendered. We have asked the builder to extend the stairs down to the current ground level rather than build the level up to match them as they are now. There will also be a tank stand out from the stairs to catch the rain water at this end of the house. We will also have another tank at the back of the house for rain water, 4000 litres all together.


Inside the carport, still haven't decided what I will store in this "cupboard".


The gap below the floor being closed in. She won this one (again!!) as I wanted to leave it all open for air flow under the house. Her consession is some vent blocks with stainless steel mesh covering them and a trap door so if I want to go under the house I will be able to. Will I want to is really the question, but my idea is if something happens to any water or sewerage pipes etc they are able to be accessed to repair without digging up a concrete floor.


Looking through the kitchen


Looking through the main living area.


This is the main bedroom and one of our stuff ups. The main bed is meant to go between the 2 windows and if we had a normal sized bed it would fit. We have had our bed for nearly 4 years now and we love it but it is 2m wide and 2.5m long and the gap between the windows is only 1.8m. So the learning for anyone out there plannong on building a house and they have a particular piece of furniture they intend to keep and use make sure you include its requirements in the design.


The WIR of the main bedroom


A view from the south with the new rice barn in the foreground. I will start a new thread about it soon as to me it was a fascinating story.


Its slowly moving along


This was what we started with. They are just starting the put the roof framework onto my shed.


Now we have this, running out of room to build anything else thankfully.


till next time..................

----------


## Marmite the Dog

> she thinks Thai is best


 :rofl:

----------


## nigelandjan

Apart from anything else I think your wife has to be congratulated for working and saving so hard to fund this project !
 Had a few issues with the missus over the window size and placement in the plans for our humble little abode ( nothing as grand as this )  think its because of the mix of east + west with the old Thai style houses having many large windows to vent the place , but with aircon and the insulated buildings now , IMO the much smaller windows are a better bet , especially if your a bit remote from a security point of view if nothing else.
       Good luck with it all mate I am sure you will have many happy days there

----------


## sunsetter

use it for storage for a nice hosepipe and some car cleaning stuff,oil can etc

----------


## hillbilly

Fantastic house. I love the massive size, wish I had waited a bit before starting my resort/retirement home.

What do you think your AC bill is going to be in the hot season here in Thailand?

----------


## kiwinev

Good progress, looking to a good strong house.

----------


## ootai

In response to the replies since my last post.

Marmite the Dog - she knows that they are not the best quality but most of her buying is done on price. I have tried to explain buy 1 good one or 3 ratsh*t ones in the end you will end up paying the price of the good one.

nigelandjan and kiwinev - thanks for the cmments.

sunsetter - no way mate as I don't clean cars the missus may well do something like that though.

hillbilly - its not really that big. I calculate total floor space, including patios and carport as 235sqm. It looks massive as the floor is 700mm above the ground and Thais like a high pitch angles on their roof so it then becomes 6.5m above the ground level to the top of the roof.

Here's the latest progress.

The back steps are in


This will be a tank stand, tank is 2000L so stand needs to be able to support the 2 tonne


The supports for the ceiling are being put up


The electricians have started if they think I've been picky before they better be careful as I think this is the crucial bit.


Looking out of the main bedroom to our patio which will only be accessible from the bedroom, unless of course someone climbs over the rails or whatever she has planned for there.


same as before but looking from the outside in


The exterior is getting rendered and the trimmings are going on


Close up of the trimmings


more of the same


The inside of the carport has been boxed in and rendered


We needed water so the missus made some phone calls and these guys turned up, I had marked a rough spot where I would like the pump to go, so one of them wandered about with his "diviners" and they settled on a spot which was fine for me. The missus is a believer in the divining but its not for me I reckon they could have drilled anywhere on our land and hit water.


The spirits past were pacified


and drilling commenced


a few hours later after drilling down 35m they installed the pump and we had water. According to the pump chart the pump will draw 12L/min from that depth which matches what we get at the current house.


When the pump is initially turned on the water reaches the timber scaffold at the corner of the house. Total price including the pump was B15,000


just a random photo of the backyard showing the current house.


well that's all for now, so until next time...........

----------


## justincase 13

looks like everything is coming along well. do you have plans for vent under the house??? looks like there about to finish the brick work at the back of the house. i remember you said something about an access door but vents to release moisture will be good...your going to have to get a juicer for all those bananas...keep up all the pics. good luck

----------


## ootai

here's the latest...

The internal ceiling has been put up. In the living area


and in the kitchen


she made them repalce this section


the bottom is being closed off with some holes left for ventilation. I have asked for stainless steel screens to be made and fitted so I will wait and see what we get?


ventilation hole at the back none were put in at the front (wouldn't look nice)


at the side


the eaves bieng closed in. not sure of what the product is feels a bit like cement so maybe some sort of fibre board?


a closer view


another view of the same


the joins in the plaster board being sealed up and screw holes patched over


this is the ribbon they use over the joins


work has started in putting on the sandstone decoration. I reckon this will take the longest of all the work to finish as it is very tedious work.



until next time.....

----------


## sunsetter

keep it coming dude, best construct thread on here, whens the completion date?

----------


## ootai

Firstly I should apologise to hillbilly as I didn't totally answer his question regarding cost of AC. I don't see it being an issue as we will be only using airconditioning in the main bedroom on a regular basis. There will be an airconditioner in a second bedroom for overseas guests if and when they vist other wise the house will be as per a normal Thai house i.e. people cooled by fans. Hopefully the q-con blocks and vented roof do help keep it slightly cooler. Time will tell I guess.

sunsetter not sure of when it is going to be finished but the contract was for 6 months before penalties start to be applied and that gives him until the middle of next month. We're hoping it won't be that long.

today's pictures....

ther ceiling has been put in in the main entrance its a different garde of plaster board they have used that is for outside installation


The eaves getting covered in prior to the plaster board being installed in the carport.


The living area ceiling has had its first coat of paint


I am waiting with great anticipation as to how they are going to install the covers for the eaves under the roof in this area where the roof of the main bedroom patio is only a few centimeters below


ventilation holes for the space under the house


the entrance with the pillar having been covered with sandstone tiles, this is a slow process as he cuts each tile to fit.


Something I thought I would never see, them cleaning up some of their mess. I've told the missus that we don't pay the final payment unless they have cleaned everything up. Its the one thing I hate most the bloody mess they work in or around all the time.


I was blown away when I saw this. The pwoer point was installed before the window border and something didn't quite fit, so their solution? I (the wife did anyway)asked the builder to move the power point lower and to fill in the cutout bit of the border.


the view from the front, to me it doesn't seem to chnage much.


the view from the back, with the coat of promer I think it can now be called "the white house"


until next time........

----------


## tangmo

Wow  very nice job.

looks like it is really coming together.
I think your right about the soffits & think that is cement wonder board with slots.

Good to see that insulation above the rafters.

Congrats & love seeing your progress pics

----------


## jizzybloke

Great place Ootai and i hope you and the Mrs are very happy there!

----------


## Issan Man

Been following this thread the whole way through,you certianly have a bloody nice place there ootia :Smile:

----------


## DrAndy

> I was blown away when I saw this. 
> ........


 
great job

there is another thread somewhere about intelligent Thais

----------


## SciFly

Great thread - thanks for sharing. 

Having just decided on a life in Thailand and building my own house this has provided me with some valuable insights.

I look forward to your final posts and seeing the finished article.

----------


## DrAndy

> Having just decided on a life in Thailand and building my own house this has provided me with some valuable insights.


better get in touch with Smeg about your lifestyle change

building your own house is very stressful and really frustrating

it is great when finished though

----------


## ootai

Finally got time to post some more pictures. I wasn't in any hurry as to me very little has changed BUT when I had a look at the last pictures I posted there has been some improvement in reaching the end. The contract says we are supposed to be in the house by the 15th of October, we'll see?

anyway here's some pictures as they are worth more than words apparently.

the back patio still needs a roof and tiles the base around the bottom needs rendering and screens for the vent holes.


The pillars in the foreground are for the tank stand we will have gutters to catch the rain down this side and around the back.


The pillars at the front of the carport still some panelling to be fitted and painted


The centre of the front of the house. here you can see the original colour (orange brown) that we chose for the ecthing around the windows but we (she) have now changed it  to the lilac


The front entrance


Looking into the main bedroom 


The living area looking at the front entrance and toward the kitchen


The main bedroom being tiled


The kitchan (eventually)


The living area from the kitchen end


a closer view of the future kitchen


the windows of the main bedroom this is the south end of the house


the eaves have been sealed only thing left to do to them is more painting


a rear view


and the front view


thanks to those people who have commented and I can agree with DrA in that building your house can be very stressful and frustrating luckily I can't speak Thai or I would have sacked most of the people working on our house but that's for another day.

----------


## sunsetter

shes coming along a treat! cheers for the update, love these threads :Smile:

----------


## DrAndy

> ...your going to have to get a juicer for all those bananas


not a juicer, they hate bananas; you can make shakes though

house looks good, soon be in!

----------


## jizzybloke

^^what he said!

----------


## siamsky

> Finally got time to post some more pictures. I wasn't in any hurry as to me very little has changed BUT when I had a look at the last pictures I posted there has been some improvement in reaching the end. The contract says we are supposed to be in the house by the 15th of October, we'll see?
> 
> anyway here's some pictures as they are worth more than words apparently.
> 
> the back patio still needs a roof and tiles the base around the bottom needs rendering and screens for the vent holes.
> 
> 
> The pillars in the foreground are for the tank stand we will have gutters to catch the rain down this side and around the back.
> 
> ...


Looks like, according to the photos, it it going down well. Having done some research since this will be down my path... (living in the city for now)

----------


## UdonThani Pete

You are doing a good job mate, any update on a completion time, I am sure there will be a run over time, it will then give me a good idea on how much extra time will be on my build. Keep up the great work!

----------


## Norton

Looked at all the pics. Looking good. Suggest you install screening on top of your under eave sheets.  Not expensive. Comes in rolls. If you don't put in the screening material your attic will be a nesting ground for all sorts of insects and critters that get in all the small slits in the under eaves broads. Normally it would have been installed between the boards and battens but now you can put it on top of battens and will work fine. Should talk to your builder and have it done. Well worth it.

----------


## bororamboy

Thanks for the pics and a great report so far, I may have missed it in the report, but how much you expecting the total costs to be Ootai??

----------


## ootai

Well I am finally making the time to post an update. I have been a bit busy lately, I thought I was coming over here to live in retirement i.e. do nothing but its turning out the opposite. Building the house, buying some toys to play with, the missus buying a car, me trying to make snse of applying for a 12 month visa, spending 2 days walking around cranky because of the F**k**t BIB. My missus says to me when they pull me over for their lunch money "just pay and go, don't make a fuss!" Grrr!!!

Anyway to those who have added comments thanks I do read them and appreciate them also.

UdonThani Pete 
The house was supposed to be finished next week but it won't be. The builder and his staff never turned for 5 days last week, made a whole pile of bullshit excuses. His staff have said to the missus that he hasn't paid them for over 2 months. The local hardware store where he has bought stuff on credit paid a visit to site as they are concerned with the amount he owes them. The missus reckons he may do a runner. If he does then we will need to get people in to finish the job we shouldn't lose as we have adfhered to the payment schedule as agreed at the start. I personally think he doesn't have a clue about managing money or a building project but then again he is Thai.

Norton 
I couldn't agree with you anymore than I already do and I suggested putting some fine stainles steel mesh on the back of them as they were being installed but she (the missus wouldn't) sometimes I lose a battle to hopefully win the war. I to think we will have to do it later after exterminating the residents of the roof space.

bororamboy
The contract is for 5 payments of 474,000 each a total of 2.37million. When I did a rough calculation on the floor space its about 235sqm so roughly 10,000 per sqm. However there are extras that we have added along the way which I believe will add another 200,000 to the total. For example we will more concrete laid at the back for the water tanks, the missus also got better quality on some things than he had in his budget. She goes to him and says " how much have you budgeted for doors and tiles" he gives her a number then she goes shopping for what she wants and we pay the difference. 

Anyway here's some pictures so you might be able to see what I struggle to see, taht is any progress.

The front view with no scaffolding.


The southern end of the house


Looking into the main bedroom


Don't know what these are for but we had to pay for them as the builder had no money that day. Its times like these when I am glad my missus knows how to manage money.


This is the internal fittings i.e showers, basins dunnies etc as well as the three wtaer tanks. Each tank is 2000L and 2 will be for rain water and the other for the bore water which will feed the toilets and showers.


This is one of those extras she paid for a centre piece of 4 tiles, I must admit I like it.


This bit (the living room looking toward the kitchen) is almost complete and gives me hope.


The shitty view out the front door


So far the kitchen bench is only a partially built formwork


The plumbing in the ensuite bathroom


It comes out here


The vacant space waiting for a shit tank



They're in but not yet buried totally


I asked the builder to make sure the stairs were all at least 300mm wide, which of course they weren't so he said he would fix it. They addes a small brick onto the front of each step. I couldn't get through to them that yes that fixed the top one but not the next 2 down.


The back of the house with the patio roof going up


This stuff goes on top


another view


this is what it looks like viewed end on


and this is what it is. I initially thought it would be useles but today I was under it with the full sun above and it actually does a good job


until next time......................

----------


## Begbie

Thanks, pity about the builder.

----------


## juehoe

> 


My experience with such kind of roofs made of PC is that it is quite hot underneath. Will see what you will say in some weeks...

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## Marmite the Dog

> the F**k**t BIB. My missus says to me when they pull me over for their lunch money "just pay and go, don't make a fuss!" Grrr!!!


Try just sitting there ignoring them and refusing to pay. That works for me.

----------


## DrAndy

I have never paid the BIB, never ever

mind you, I have never been pulled over

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## nigelandjan

Ive built a greenhouse out of that twin wall ,,,,,,,,,,in the UK  ,,,,,,,,,it multiplies what little heat we get here quite nicely ,its also safe when my 3 granchildren come around booting footballs about.
                Looking fantastic mate I am very envious of you ,, it will be at least 4 years before I am in a similar situation allthough on a smaller scale ,all the best looking forward to more pics,,,,I am all into the garden and growing me own so I dont know if your gonna do something along those lines in your garden but it will be nice to see when finished

----------


## ootai

Marmite & Dr A I would dearly love to not pay but the missus reckons its not worth creating a problem, she doesn't understand that payin them is the problem for me. One day, I will get stopped on my own and then I will try just sitting there talking to them in English until they give up.

Anyway as it has been raining too much for our builder to do any work, according to him, so not much has happened in the past week. The missus has been on the phone with her lawyer so that she knows what she can do etc. The builder has admitted that he is now into penalty time, where it costs him for every day he goes over the agreed finish date, which was 15th October, so we will see what happens. She told me that he reckons he only needs 10 days to finish it all. My comment to her was, that we may be in by Xmas, of course I am then in the bad books for being negative.

Anyhow I thought I would post some pictures anyway just to keep the reader's happy. I got the brother in law to take the photos from up on the water tower, which is diagonally across the road from our place. The tower is about 10m high, so I couldn't climb up there to take them as my legs turn to jelly at 2m off the ground.


This shows the water tower where the photos were taken from. In the corner you can just see the corner of my shed roof.


We got this beast in to the clear out the old eucalyptus stumps from the newly acquired (by her) 7.5rai of land adjoining our backyard. I think she wants to turn our block into a farm. The total is now about 14 rai



Looking west from the tower you can see the excavator working and our rice house in the middle right of the photo.


The estate is taking shape? or evolving?


The "house"


The street in front of the house heading north into the village


Looking east from the tower, the water on the right is the village water supply which is pumped up to the tanks on the tower and then gravity fed around the village.


The street in front of the house heading south to highway24


hopefully next time there will have been some progress on the building and I can post some photos to show that progress, until next time.....

----------


## hillbilly

Dude I must say that your house is looking great! Just keep in mind that an estate is never finished. Trust me on this one.  :Smile:

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## UdonThani Pete

ootai, you are doing a great job, just hang on in there mate!

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## StrontiumDog

Yep, loving the updates. The house looks great. Thanks for all your posts.

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## ootai

Its been a long time since I posted but not much has happened unfortunately.
To those guys who made a comment thank you.

Just my observation but I have never seen so many take so long to do so little as the builder and his "workers".

There has been a lot of discussion between the missus , her lawyer and the builder and D day is supposedly tomorrow when if he's not finished he fu*ks off and we get others in to finish and deduct it from his final payment. If I could speak Thai there would have been some bad things said as I think the builder's a tosser, tells lies, can't direct his workers, has no clue in how to budget or plan ahead etc etc.

Lucky I decided to take the photos from the water tower when I did as it was taken down and moved 3 days later. The reason for the move was to put it on a cleaner water supply as the old one was always a bit brown. Anyway as with all good planning now half the village can't get water unless the half is turned off, I suppose it will go down as another well thought out and executed Thai plan. I must have been here a bit long as I'm starting to be a little intolerant of some of the stupidity I see.

Anyway enough ranting about the natives of this wonderful place and onto the pictures. Sorry about the size of the pictures as I couldn't get some to enlarge to copy the url and when I reduced them to post to my gallery I think I reduced them too much.


The bedroom doors have been fitted. They had to plane some of the edges to make them fit which means we have to restain the wood. Maybe thats normal but I wasn't happy.


The front entrance is all but complete.


Surprise surprise they stuffed up the front doors. They tiled before hanging the doors (good idea) but stopped the tiles a couple of inches short so now the doors hang in mid air.


If only they had thought first and continued the tiles out to the edge of the door frame.


The solution doesn't look too bad from the front but when the doors open there is a stretch of 2 inch tiles under the door that is an extra join in the tilling.


The glass blocks fitted in the living area. If you look at thr front doors you can see the gap under them prior to them putting "the fix" in place

Glass blocks fitted in common bathroom. I don't understand why they didn't build them into and with the wall.


Glass blocks in the ensuite bathroom


The ensuite bathroom is almost tiled


another view of the same


started building the bench for the cook top and sink. I couldn't help myself and pointed out to them that the sink wouldn't fit into the hole they had here so they changed it before the concrete was poured.


The carport is being tiled. I am not sure about the tiles but the missus couldn't have her first choice as the shop didn't have enough stock. Another case of planning ahead but in fairness to her the builder was supposed to supply them and he has no money or credit so we are buying the materials to get the place finished. If he had told us when he was planning on doing this job we could have had time to get the tiless we really wanted.


The rails are installed around the back patio. These guys were asking us for money but we just told them talk to "Bob the builder". I think he's up to his neck in credit and his credtors are getting nervous, cause as I said he can't manage money.


The rails on the main bedroom patio


The view out through the carport at the new "wall". The local guy the missus got from in the village to build this is an absolute legend. He is there at first light getting things ready for his workers when they turn up, he asks the missus well in advance for materials he needs that is he plans ahead, he is very particular about how the job looks and his levels etc. and he works like a trogan. There is some hope for this country if they use his genetics.


The view from the main bedroom. 


and finally the view from the back patio of our backyard


hopefully there will be better progress in the days ahead and I can come on here and say its finished.

until next time.......

----------


## sunsetter

well its coming along a treat ootai, youll get there in the end

----------


## hillbilly

It will never be finished...

----------


## ootai

sunsetter 
thanks for having confidence I am running short at the moment.

hillbilly
It will be finished, as in enough so we can move in, maybe/probably not by the person(tosser) who has done the building up to now. That said, indeed it will never be finished as there is always something to add such as a garden, a driveway etc etc.  My missus has been astute enough in managing the money she has paid to the builder and spent on materials that there is still enough outstanding that we shouldn't have to put in a great deal more than the original contracted amount should we kick him off site and get someone else to finish it off.

In the end if we weren't optimists we wouldn't survive living in this country.

----------


## Marmite the Dog

There's some nice details on your house, ootai. Despite the numpty building it, you should end up with a nice home.

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## erich23

> There's some nice details on your house, ootai. Despite the numpty building it, you should end up with a nice home.


...wasn't in the dictionary, found it at urbandictionary.com

Scottish term, dialect chiefly Scots (plural numpties)

someone who (sometimes unwittingly) by speech or action demonstrates a lack of knowledge or misconception of a particular subject or situation to the amusement of others

a person who never has or never will have a f*ing clue what he is doing

idiot, pratt, wally

a bumbling fool or one who is intellectually challenged

a person so stupid they are incapable of understanding the simpliest of things

btw great thread, i really enjoyed reading it

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## ootai

Marmite 
thanks for the comment to me its just a house but to the missus its the manifestation of her dream so I hope she's happy with it when we finally get it done.

erich23
thanks for the definition as I had never heard of it before.  Your description of a "numpty" fits him very well.

The missus has now stepped in and is arranging the people we need to get it finished so I reckon things will start to move very shortly. It turns out the prick (our ex builder) hadn't paid his staff  and I know he has racked up 200k in credit so I hope that those people get into him. as for us we are just happy that he's gone and we can move on and get the house finished.

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## jumbo

Looking very nice, credit to your wife`s ability to manage the builder

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## ootai

Well its been quite a while since I put anything new on here but with the rice harvest season, the missus organising new workers and a trip to Indonesia to check out a job its been busy as.

Nothing happened for about a week after we got rid of the builder while the missus organised people to do the remaining work. Surprise surprise it just so happens that the village is full of tradesman and they also happen to be related in some way. I shouldn't be too harsh as they mostly did a good job and the work got done, if not entirely to my satisfaction at least to hers and that is what counts.

I should say that we are almost ready to move into the house. Just waiting for me to finish the septic, grease trap and leach drain system. As I told her, we could move in but then we would need to go somewhere else to go to the toilet. So I will endeavour to post more pictures over the next few days to bring you up to date.

The back doors to the kitchen are in.


So are the doors to the main bedroom.


The "great hall" has been repainted


The ill fitting front doors are still there and probably always will be.


Discovered (after tiling) that the plumbing was in the wrong place, that is the shower and the hand basin were on the opposite side to what we wanted. So they had to take off some tiles and refit the pipes in order to change sides/corners.


Here it is finished (well finished Thai style) but we won't go there.


The ensuite for the main bedroom. I reckon I could write a book about what's wrong in here but once again I will leave it unsaid.


Finally started building the kitchen bench


The kitchen is getting some fittings on the other side. I actually really like these.


This is the top of the kitchen bench, when the previous builder was putting the form work in for the concrete, I mentioned to him that he had forgotten to allow for cutlery drainage, so the bit at the bottom right was added to the hole.  I also asked him to check that it was wide enough at the other end.


Well bugger me it wasn't! How can anyone stay sane in this place?


Getting the tank stand and back area ready for concrete.


to look like this. Building this came very close to causing our divorce but as they say "what doesn't kill you"


Levelling the front of the carport and marking out the driveway and path


Where we are at so far with the gate and wall.


hopefully I will be able to post some more soon...........

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## DrAndy

> Well bugger me it wasn't! How can anyone stay sane in this place?


you can't

anyway, welcome back and have fun moving in

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## sunsetter

looking goos, now start doing some work on it and keep this thread going please  ::chitown::

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## BKKBILL

> Originally Posted by ootai
> 
> Well bugger me it wasn't! How can anyone stay sane in this place?
> 
> 
> you can't


True but after a while it all starts to feel normal.

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## nigelandjan

Thats one hell of a sink mate !  what you gonna wash in there ?? 

Given me an idea for when the grandkids come over

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## ootai

Well now that I know that going insane in this place is "normal" and that once you reach that point you start to fit in and feel like everything that is happening is normal. What a fantastic feeling to look forward to!

Thanks to those who made comments, its nice to know someone reads and looks at this stuf.

Anyway here's some more pictures to bring everyone up to date a bit more on how we're progressing.

The ensuite bathroom was meant to have a sliding door so this is what we have


a two way sliding door. I asked the missus if that was so I could lay in bed and watch her while she's in the shower or on the throne.


The electrician's have been busy and all the fans,lights, airconditioners, oven, gas cook top etc are all installed and connected and I should add "working".

I commented before about how I was impressed that she had used nice soft pastel colours and then....


I turned around and seen this


and around the corner this. More to come later but once she started with the bright colours there was no stopping.


This is part of the 1m wide concrete walkway that we are putting around the whole house. She wanted it to stop the water splashing the walls. I pointed out that as we have agreed and ordered guttering then there will be no splashing but I like the idea of, in the future, being able to walk around the whole house and not have to dodge any muddy spots.


More of the pathway with the ditch cutting across being for a drain for a down pipe that will be installed at this corner.


As we are putting in quite a bit of concrete i.e. driveway and path and also have a couple of down pipes at the front of the house I got my little yellow toy out of the shed and dug some ditches for the drains. The brother in law is actually a very good excavator operator.


ditch for one of the down pipes where it will connect to the main drain.

and another near the carport


the main drain across the front of the house


the drain which will collect the water near the gate and feed it into the main drain


the view of the drainage system from the carport


more to come, hopefully tomorrow......

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## DrAndy

I do like a nice drain

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## taffyapple

:cmn: having read every page of your thread you are a braver man than me,we had a 5bed/3bath.house built left it all to the arcitect and went back to the uk for 9months,we were kept informed and had dvds.sent of the progress,when we came back i had 2pages of a4paper with faults nothing major but westerners would spot them a mile away,just one fault 4sets of double doors all not fitted properly before we paid they did correct bigest part of the faults to thai standereds i did get the t.i.t.syndrome that effects your heath but not my wealth as i looked at it this way if we had this house built in uk.it would have been £5oo,ooo.i do feel a lot better now,when i am passing i might look you up and we can share our exsperiences and have a laugh good luck.

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## ootai

Dr Andy.....I'm not sure about your comment are you serious and like drains, making some sort of joke about how you feel after sexercise or as I suspect taking the piss out of me for posting a whole heap of boring pictures of my drains?

taffyapple.....I'm sure I could more than fill a couple of pages but its not me that needs to be happy with the work but the missus. I personally think she has compromised too much on a lot of things where I would have demanded that the issue be fixed properly. The other thing is she takes what some Thai numpty (see previous posts for definition) has to say about how something should be done. As for visiting, I'd be happy to have a conversation in English with someone other than the missus. Just send me a PM if you're heading out to Nang Rong sometime and I will give you directions and a mobile number.

more pictures....

The path to the front door. Take note of the steel work either side of the gates as you will see later she wasn't happy with it so it got changed


The visitors carpark / turn around outside the carport


the driveway, she doesn't like straight lines


from the road


from the carport


the path going around the whole house, plus the rubbish dump. I have never seen anywhere like this place for creating rubbish dumps they just throw shit away when they've finished with it and don't care where it lands.


the path on the north side showing one of the rain water tanks


this is another compromise as the kitchen windows were meant to be bi-fold so the whole window space could be opened but once again...


the kitchen (north side) taking shape and getting its many colours. We are getting (its ordered, how come Thai stores selll everything but its never in stock? Inventry cost?) an island bench for the open space.


the south side, it still is going to get some more colour


the pump for the showers, sink toilets etc. The tank is filled from the bore pump. The valve is opened once a day to fill the tank and then turned off to stop the bore pump cutting in all day whenever someone uses a little bit of water.


now just for Dr Andy another drain. This time the grease trap for the kitchen sink and the laundry.


in the foreground is the septic tank for the common bathroom and beside it a trap for shower, basin and floor drain


the idea is that water from the kitchen and bathrooms go via their traps then into the 3 tanks on the left. The toilets go into their septic tank and then into the 3 tanks on the right. Its probably overkill as in our current house we only have 1 tank and it handles the demand put on it (which won't change).


the view from the road, note the steel work on the left of the gates has been changed, the right side gets done later and then it gets a coat of "bright" paint


more tomorrow, hopefully...............

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## Marmite the Dog

> More to come later but once she started with the bright colours there was no stopping.


It makes a nice change to see a Thai use colour. Shame about the green, but it's better than magnolia everywhere.

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## nigelandjan

Dont take this the wrong way Ootai but to me your kitchen ( with the colour look ) could almost be a page in an Ikea catalogue .     nothing wrong with that just a comment , it all looks very clean and modern mate and I to have followed your pics all the way through,, I have thoughrally enjoyed it as I am sure many others have , it would be good for me to see the garden take shape , but mabe not interesting enuf for others. I am not sure where you are as there seem to be many places in the N / east with that name or similar  , we will be back over in Feb 2012 to the wifes place in Ban Dung area ( N/east Issan ) so anywhere for us is visitable , believe me on our last visit I drove best part of 6000 miles to visit ( the relatives ) and I would love to come and see it and chat and learn from you as we will then be nearing the point of our new build experience,, one good thing in my favour is I have allready met the guy who,s gonna build for us several times before , both when he is working and also socially and I am more than  happy with him , he also speaks good English , but I am sure there is a hell of a lot I can learn before its too late from others experience like yourself.       Cheers all the best

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## ootai

Marmite.....at first the green was a shock but it grows on ya and now I quite like it. She asked my opinion about what colour to use and I told her to paint everything black! Her response was "fuk off ya idiot". To which I answered "asking me about what colour to use is like asking a Thai to drive sensibly, fuking impossible".

nigelandjan.....it should look like a page out of a catalogue as that's where she spent a lot of time reading and still does for ideas. We are located just off highway24 before Nang Rong as you head to Buriram from Chok Chai. So about 60kms from Buriram and about 85 kms from Nakon Ratchasima (Korat). If you do decide to visit PM me well in advance and I will give you directions etc. My advice to you now is start designing now, to build in a year. Get a plan drawn up and then try and envisage what you would want to do in that area. That will allow you to put things like power outlets etc in the right place. Already we are discovereing that we don't have an outlets where we need them. Also if you have any furnitiure that you want to keep and use in a new house measure it and build room for it. We forgot that our bed is 2m wide and now the distance between the windows where we want to put it is 1.8m. I suppose I could solve it the Thai way and cut 0.2m off one side and then put some blocks under it to replace the legs that would be missing. 
If we were doing it again (building) I would get a Thai that I could trust (nearly impossible) who was experienced in building and emply him to work for me as a supervisor overseeing the project with "our" interest as his primary objective. Remember if you employ a builder his primary objective is to make money (at your expense) on the project, your primary objective is to get value and quality for your budgeted (not more) outlay.
Anyway good luck to you if you do build I'm sure you will need it.

here's some more pictures..............

the front yard, note the new colour of the steel work


another view of the same


and again


planted some trees outside the main bedroom


hopefully gonna be a hedge in the future between the front yard of the house and the shed. I told MIL she can keep it trimmed with scissors, she's already started to take over caring for the garden which means it will grow well and turn out fine.


the missus only got the people to put down grass on a small section so she could check out their work before getting them to do anymore. She was gonna put a Sala in the middle bit between the path and the driveway but I reckoned it would block out the view of the house so she's not doing that now. Who knows what she will put there.


a closer view of the trees outside the main bedrom


a different view of the house


a closer view of the grassed corner


the "gates". The main gate has remote control. She didn't want to spend the money for the remote but I asked her if she was willing (during the rainy season) to wait for it to stop raining so she could get out and open the gate? The big and the small gates together cost 50K and the remote 25K including installation of it all.


a view from the road


and finally starting to unpack some of the stuff we shipped over from Aussie 6 months ago.


I should say that I actually had a "hot" shower here last night, first time I have been able to do that in our own house in Thailand and it was great.

until tomorrow............

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## taffyapple

:cmn: its coming on great your misses looks like she has good taste in colours i like all greens mixed,when we done up our house in the uk.i mixed floors,wall and furniture in diff.shades of greens and the misses went nuts,but after she went to visit a rich friend who had done almost the same,the twat said youve done this nice she was so nice to me after,make sure u have enough water taps arround the garden we have 500sq mts and they only put in one.so get them to put them where you want and watch that they dont do what they done in our house knock in screws with a fuking hammer,no plugs,if you havent orded any guttering we done part of the house with windsor upvc.it looks very smart we might try and get the whole house done,got it from home mart.

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## nigelandjan

Cheers for that Ootai some good advice mate and yes we allready have some of that in place , I remember the bed bit from before infact we will not be having as many windows as the Thais like to build full stop . There will be aircon in the bed + mabe one living area room but fans will suffice for the rest . As far as furniture is concerned her existing will stay in the old house and new will be coming all the way from Khamphangphet ( dont worry I have allready been to look at it 555 ) 

             As if by magic the garden pics appear ! fantastic   I love that little hedge that follows your drive I have seen a lot of that grown in Korat area I think its like what we call box hedge here ( Buxus ) takes ages to grow here and trims up beautifully . I would be out there on a weekly basis trimming it . 

               Never been to Burriram area mate so will be good to get some pics etc ,, I like to paint so any new material is good for me . Def will PM you nearer the day.
           Cheers and thanks for the pics

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## DrAndy

> Dr Andy.....I'm not sure about your comment are you serious and like drains, making some sort of joke about how you feel after sexercise or as I suspect taking the piss out of me for posting a whole heap of boring pictures of my drains?


yes, there are some good choices there!

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## ootai

taffyapple....if anyone is putting in taps it'll be me as I am the "they" you refer to. So far we don't have any just a long hose from the bore, I will run the pipes once she has organised the garden so then I will/may know where to put the taps. As for the gutters, I don't know what brand we ordered just that its white plastic and looks good in the TOA shop where we buy most of our stuff from. As for the green I will wait until she stops and then pass judgement on the finished product as I made the mistake before of not waiting and she usually comes good with something that looks good.

nigelandjan......when you say that you like to paint, please come over soon as we still need to give the outside another coat.

DrAndy.....obviously a politician as you gave an answer that was non-committal and said nothing that could be held against you.

Anyway as this is the last post from me for this year I hope you all have an interesting 2011 or should I say 2554.

These are the latest photos so you are now up to date with our progress.

the view from the carport that keeps changing


she's added some more red and green


the cook top and sink etc are finished and working


a wider view of the same thing


another ... I swear that if I didn't drink I was pissed when I put these together seems to be a bit of repetition.


the living area starting to take shape


looking the other way


so far only the bear has moved into the main bedroom


the kids bedroom. the bed on the right come from Aussie and it requires a mattress 6ft long which is not standard here in Thailand where they are 6.5ft long.


I thought I would put this in for nigelandjan as this is the laundry tub and is where the young kids will get washed no doubt.


the doors for the under house vent holes to stop the dogs etc getting in there, maybe I use them to keep the dogs in instead.  The gates are covered with wire mesh to allow for air flow. The air from under the house is really quite a bit cooler than outside and when you put your head close you can feel the cooler air flow so I think it might work as planned.


constructing the lids for the leach tanks.


I think I may have gone a bit overboard as they were very heavy to lift into place but I am sure that when some fukwit drives a truck over the tanks the lids won't break.


have a happy new year and hopefully I'll update some more next year.

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## taffyapple

:cmn: look forward to next years completion. happy new year to all.

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## nigelandjan

Er  Ootai thats not quite what I meant about the painting , mind you when I get retired no doubt if I lived a little closer I would give you a hand .

         Just my opinion ,, but if the cement on those green + red tiles on the kitchen splashback that were leftover from next doors patio I would whip em off quick and re do it with the same lovely 3 colour black , grey + whites on your other units,, 
           Keep up the good work mate

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## Bettyboo

> I do like a nice drain


I never thought I'd say this, but: the drainage pictures were quite fascinating and very well planned out.

Generally, the whole thread is very interesting, and the house is looking great; a testament to the hard work put in by the OP and his missus.



These are the types of things that frame the title 'amazing Thailand'...

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## Marmite the Dog

The place looks great and whoever cooks should lose a few calories with all the walking that's required to get to and from the 2 halves of the kitchen.

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## ootai

taffyapple............as far as I'm concerned its finished any work left to do now is of the type you get even after having lived in a house for years, that is gardening, painting and fixing shit that breaks etc etc. I have been informed that the official day we are moving in is the 14th. I want to move earlier but must obey the powers to be i.e. the missus, the monks and the spirits (past, present and future). We moved the bed up there yesterday and slept there last night (she's worried about stuff walking away). So about the only thing that we haven't done yet is cook there so hopefully we don't upset the spirits.

nigelandjan.......I know that not what you meant when you said you like painting but thought I'd have a crack anyway, you meant like Rembrandt and Picasso. If you ever come and visit don't repaet those comments about the red & green tiles coming from someones left over patio as she selected them especially for that spot. I agree with you though that tiles like on the other bench would look good.

bettyboo .... thanks for the positive comments about my drains, not like some other poster here. I agree this is "amazing Thailand" and what makes it worse is I continue to discover how amazing everyday. I asked the missus this morning whether she was happy wth the end result and she is except for she reckons she would make the back patio wider as it gets the full afternoon sun and she wants a Thai style "hong nam". I'm sure we will built both some time in the future. As for me If I can get past looking at all the little things that are not up to the standard I wanted then I really like the "vibe" of the place, it feels good.

marmite....thanks for the comment. As for the distance needing to be travelled in the kitchen there are two things that you don't know. First is there will be an island bench in the middle and secondly I have never seen less than 4 cooks in our kitchen at any one time so they will just pass the stuff around. I should point out I am never one of the cooks (I'm just a consumer) so I don't care. I fully expect that at some stage the floor in the middle will be where they all sit down and eat.

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## Marmite the Dog

> will be an island bench in the middle


Fair enough. That makes more sense now.

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## nigelandjan

Wouldnt dare to be so insensitive mate ,,,,,dont worry its only light hearted banter on here from me ,,,,,,,,, I would bite me tongue and congratulate your good lady on her choice of tiles , bless her , she,s happy and thats all that matters mate.
     Funny thing about red + green though , even the saying is red + green should never be seen ,,, However one of the basic rules in art is opposites attract and generally speaking they do red + green sitting directly opposite each other on the colour wheel so it should work but in my opinion and a lot of others it dosent.
           When I paint I NEVER use green from a direct source I allways make it myself from a couple of primaries , this tends to keep the picture real .
               Hows the garden coming on ?

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## taffyapple

:cmn: when we moved in our house the wife kept on about spirits so i went out and bought vodka,gin,whisky,barcadi they are not here anymore.

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## ootai

Well it had to come, the missus has deemed we need a Thai stlye "hong nam", we also need it before the 14th so those attending the house warming don't need to tramp through the house to piss in the toilet. So luckily I had foreseen this request, I even asked her at the design stage about building it, so I sat down and drew up a sketch and then she ordered the materials and got the nephew and a couple of others to start building.

This is the bit about rural Thailand that I love, no red tape i.e. getting plans approved and permits etc. In Aussie it'd take months to go through the processes prior to starting the building bit.

So here's the progress to date.

First I dug the hole for the tank. I was trying to determine the levels so that the shit didn't have to flow up hill.


I reckoned I had enough room so we bought some 1m high reinforced posts and stuck them in the ground then this shows getting the beams ready to be poured.


No it wasn't a fart that did this they dropped it B4850 gone in a flash.


My missus always spits the dummy when I insist on decent reinforcing in any slab but I tell her it needs to last me 25 years and her probably twice that.


Even with my early calculations I think I might be pushing shit uphill. I believe that water will flow on a slope of 1in 100 so does that mean shit will flow on a slope of 1 in 50 (water assisted?). The crap comes out the blue PVC closest to the camera  and then goes into the tank and the water overflow goes to the blue PVC furtherest from the camera.  When I installed the other septic tanks I had an extension put in and capped ready for this.


Pre-fabricated poles were used to save time in forming them on site. Its a long story but the poles closest to the house were supposed to go against the existing concrete so when they put them where they did, of course they were too tall. All the workers made fun of the farang engineer, until I asked them to have another look at the drawing I had given them and they realised what they'd done. So it was time for a redesign, something I am now accustomed to doing at each step.


same thing different angle


The floor was poured in the morning and the wall started to go up in the afternoon. The space to the left of the "hong nam" is going to be our junk room used for storage but will probably become another bedroom one day or possibly a laundry.


from a different angle

again


some left over glass blocks were stuck in the wall


another view from the south west. I couldn't believe the trouble he had trying the get the roof sheets to line up.


until next time............

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## nigelandjan

Looking good again matey ,, for sure we will have an outside dunny to , dont know if its gonna be so close to the house ,, allthough following in Thai tradition I suppose it will have to be within earshot of where the clan all sit and hubbab around the bog door as you try unsucsessfully to part company quietly with your last massaman

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## JoshuaInMukdahan

> DrAndy.....obviously a politician as you gave an answer that was non-committal and said nothing that could be held against you.


Does politician automatically promote one to the dual title of sexpat?

Joking aside, you mentioned the gates were 50k and an additional 25k for the remote, actuators, equipment etc. How much do you have in the wall itself? I think the wall makes the property really stand out nicely from the road. I do thank you for the posts and photos on the drainage system, I think the end result once the concrete was poured and finished is fabulous. This is clearly a house that will be standing and looking great still many many decades from now.

Please ignore your hesitations on posting too much, that is what this forum is for, I don't think anyone here could get too many pictures as none are duplicates and each show a different angle and perspective of the build. If they say otherwise they are obviously wasting their time in a forum area they don't belong. Everyone following this forum has a keen interest in the build process and likely are seeking tips on our own projects.

Last I would like to point out that in this construction forum there are 875 different threads.* Ootai's Wife Builds a House* is among the top 5 with nearly 12,000 views. Please don't think anyone finds it uninteresting, rather please do continue updating this one as this is my wife's favorite thread here thus far. As already mentioned by others here, we too can't wait to see how you will manage the landscaping of the property.

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## sunsetter

sure you didnt clout that with the minidigger?  ::chitown::

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## ootai

nigelandjan.........its not so much that we need an outside dunny as we already have one over by the shed, its more about having a shower room for the MIL in a stlye that she is used to. I really don't think she would feel right in a 0.9m x 0.9m cubicle plus having hot water. This will be the 4th dunny and the only squat style one so I'm happy as I've got 3 choices.

JoshuaInMukdahan....thanks for the feedback it is great to know that there are people out there looking at the thread. I suppose part of the reason is that I post a lot of pictures and few words, more people read comics than Shakespeare because everyone can understand (or put their own interpretation on) a picture. When I post I try to pick those pictures that I think will show the different stages, ideas etc. As you can imagine I only post about 10% of those that I take. The missus is always going on about me taking pictures but as I tell her in ten years time when we want to fix a pipe and we can't remember where we put them we can look at the picture to see how we built it. As for the landscaping I reckon all the Thai's will like what gets done as it will be the MIL who puts it all together and looks after it. On some of the forums here in Thailand the MIL's get a litte denigrated but I have the greatest respect for mine. Although we can't speak to each other she has a good sense of humour and she works like a trogan same as she has all her life probably. To see her enjoying the garden is great she deserves it. As for the wall I am told it cost us about 200K altogether gates and steel bits etc inclusive. Its the part that I think was done the best and as I said in an earlier post the guy who built it is a legend (at least to me).

sunsetter.......... the full story is that I dug the hole and lowered the tank into it in order to determine (or check) the levels were right. The guys had put cement in the bottom of the hole the night before for me. Anyway it turns out that I needed another 10cm of concrete in the bottom to raise the tank to the right level. So while I was inside feeding my face they decided to lift the tank out (with the excavator) but they didn't tie the rope on very well (surprise surprise) and the rope let go and the bottom of the tank hit the concrete floor, you can see the result. I asked the missus what was happening when I heard the noise and all she would say was "stay away, don't go out there". She has told them that they are working for B4850 less than they thought. In my opinion what it has done is made them a little bit more careful around the existing pipes etc. I must be going soft as I told the missus that I thought she was being a little bit harsh charging them the full amount, in the end my last comment was my usual one "up to you darling".

anyway here's some more pictures to add to the comic....

the gate has finally been fitted in front of the shed B12,000 for this one. Still some mess to clean up.


a closer view


the hedge is still alive


I finally got around to landscaping the ground down this side of the house. All the water from the drains flows out the pipe in the bottom right corner of the picture and then down my "river". Last year when Korat got flooded and we had lots of rain I was here in it watching where all the water was running so I could get the drains in the right places.


looking from the other side


the grass is going quite well and this concrete structure is being built in the middle of it


for these to have somewhere to go. Apparently the spirits need to be able to see the first or second post and have an uninterrupted view of the whole house, which they can from there. Tomorrow their house gets built.


The dogs like the grass.


MIL is slowly moving plants from the current house up here. I had to built a bit of shade for a couple of the new plants as the sun was a bit fierce for them.


the grass from the spirit house construction site ended up here. I asked the missus how I was going to get the mower in there. Once again my solution is MIL and a pair of scissors.


the great hall is filling up. Sorry about the quality of the picture but it was early morning. Have to shift some of this stuff tomorrow to make room for 9 monks to sit in a straight line facing the front door.


the old dining table got shunted out to the kitchen by the new one (bottom right)


that's all folks....................at least for today

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## JoshuaInMukdahan

You realize this is the first photo we have seen with grass?! I am glad my wife is sleeping right now, her heart would sink of shear jealousy if she were to see that. In her eyes it is now a finished product, if there is green grass she can landscape and the entire property would become a living edible garden in one week's time. Lemongrass in every corner the very first day! LOL

I think 200k for a wall that nice is a steal no question!

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## Minty4Thai

What a Thread, absolutely fantastic.. I bet theres been many jelouse observers like me. You have achieved a round of applause from me love it.

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## ShilohJim

Ootai & Mrs. Ootai,
Congratulations for a super thread and beautiful house project. Of course refining work will now begin but you are living there and can accomplish whatever you or the Missus dream up. I was/am confused though with the last post of "your river", I thought you were capturing run off in the collection tanks for reuse????

Never mind the colors, they will change every so often anyway, just keep the master suite as neutral as possible. One thought on the bathroom doors, have your new found super guy tear them out (gently) and then frame up a proper door. Seems easy enough from 10,000 miles away. Possibly reuse those same doors in your outdoor dunny.

Great thread and job, many greens for an entertaining read.

Shiloh Jim

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## ootai

JoshuaInMukdahan............I'm sure that over time the rest of the front yard will get grassed as well but I don't think the missus wants to spend any more money right now. As for making the place an edible garden there is plenty of that down at the old house and our land here is now 15 rai so it would be a BIG garden. I also am very happy with the wall in total it is almost 80m and therefore averages out at B2500 per metre. When you consider that the gates (9m) cost B62,000 the actual wall works out at B2000 per metre.

Minty4Thai.....thank you for your feedback it is appreciated

ShilohJim......yes we will be catching the run-off from the roof for reuse but the rain that falls on the drive way will be running into the drains. Also we only have storage for 4000 litres so once the tanks are full then the excess will also end up in the drain and into "my river". I would have dug a "pond" at the end of the river but my missus does not like open water holes almost to the point of paranoia, as she worries about kids drowning in it. I reckon if she had ever learned to swim she wouldn't be so bad. As for the ensuite bathroom doors they are not an issue, it was just when I first seen them that I was gobsmacked, as they were not what I expected at all. But then again in Thailand you might eventually get used to expecting the unexpected. Thanks for the positive feedback.

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## taffyapple

:cmn: what a fine job you and the wife has done  now you can relax start to plant the fruit and veg.we had our first mango last year and we have the bigest papaya i have seen.will be ready shortly,what a big plot you have.few chickens nothing as nice as free range eggs.couple of goats to keep the weeds down and goat meat is not to bad either,how long its going to take to you both to plant every thing i can only guess we are into our second year and still planting,but the wife dont let me do too much work because i am always thirsty after and cider is 86bht a can so i am limited to 8,so good luck to you both and hope we can meet one day and have a few tins and share our exsperiences i live in korat so if your ever down this way let me know.

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## BKKBILL

ootai I agree with all the others your wife did build a lovely home. You obviously picked a good one and with a hard working mil to boot. Doesn't get any better! Good stuff most enjoyable read.   ::chitown:: Thanks for sharing.

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## ootai

taffyapple.........I don't think we will be having either chickens or goats. They reckon the chickens shit everywhere and she says she already has one old goat and he stinks just like all the others. I just keep telling her that's she's lucky I'm a smelly old goat not a horny old goat and reckons once again I don't know what she wants. As for the cans, sorry tins, they would have to be coke as I don't touch that devil juice called alcohol. Many years ago I did but it got me into too much trouble. I do get to Korat sometimes i.e. 90 day report so maybe we will meet who knows?

BKKBILL........yes I think I got a good one, definitely not an airhead more like a hothead but that keeps life interesting. The MIL is wonderful keeps telling me to give the missus a lift under the ear when she (the wife) is being a bit bossy. I think she (MIL) knows that I don't want to die just yet, I honestly couldn't sleep at night worrying what she (the missus) might do if I had given her a lift. All that being said I couldn't do without her.


well today is the day we move in seems like there are some formalities to go through first.

these guys turned up and started praying/chanting


of course once they're through praying they'll need to be fed so here's the food prep area. I knew that open space next to the new dunny would be useful.


also need some rice to go with the other stuff. That would have to be the biggest wok I have ever seen.


once all the eating has been finished we're gonna need somewhere to wash the dishes


hope they're hungry!


dinner/breakfast is served


so they bogged in


and the old ladies sat in the corner with the lady monk (are they called a monk?) and chewed the fat/betel


once he'd finished eating this guy thought that the place needed a bit of a clean as he went around splashing water everywhere. He must have agreed with the missus that I stunk as he threw lots over me, I can't speak Thai but I think this is what he meant "you need a shower mate!"


anyway after that they all decided to leave. hard work this caper being a monk.


and I thought they walked everywhere barefoot, must be 2554 "back to the future"


the people who stayed behind probably thought "thank god they've gone now we can bog in.


It was actually a very nice ceremony and while I don't pretend to understand if you believe in something enough then its real. Thai's believe it.

until next time...

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## taffyapple

:cmn: good day had by all,went to one last sunday morn.good chanting by the monks,good food i dont know where he got to know i needed some tins of the devil juice 9am but i did get some good sleep afternoon,once again good luck for the future might meet at imm.got to go 9feb.and 7mar.the wife likes your new dineing table/chairs we bought the same set.

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## Marmite the Dog

The house looks great, but personally I wouldn't have bothered with this crap.





Each to their own though.

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## DrAndy

> The house looks great, but personally I wouldn't have bothered with this crap


not crap; it is quite entertaining though - all that chanting is great

we had our house ceremony for our concrete box this morning; five monks with good chants, healthy appetites and lots of respect

they went away happy, and our house residents and guests thought it was fine

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## nigelandjan

Been through various monk chanting / string experiences over the years , dont mind its part of the culture we have chosen to join , but I allways put in a request before we begin that after 15 mins or before my legs become too numb + blue I am allowed the grace to scrape myself up off the floor and stand for the remainder.

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## neilandmeechai

Hello and thanks for calling along our thread about our extension build. I am writing this quick message from page one of your thread as I don't want to spoil the surprise by scrolling through to the end of your build. Up to now (I'm on page three I think?) it is looking like quite a project ..... anyway, I need to get back to see how you are doing so, lots of success and "Keep Posting"  .... Neil and Meechai (Chonburi).

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## ootai

to those that made postive comments thank you.

marmite.... I think I found someone else who wishes we hadn't bothered, a mate of yours?



I suspect that you would have been more interested in this spirit house! Thanks for commenting as I don't mind what she does if it doesn't cause me any grief and as I said before Thai's believe in that stuff.


anyway the house is finished as we have moved in.
this is the new Thai squat dunny

and Thai shower


the view from the back showing the new extension


from the front showing south end of the estate


the front, the tents are for the house warming party.


"The Party".
I thought these made enough noise during the blessing ceremony but..


then they started to get serious about making some noise.


the caterer's turned up and made their own kitchen.


I didn't know there was going to be this stuff happening.


the singer was a stunner and had every male there drooling and dribbling, the missus asked me a few times if I needed a tissue.


most of the village was there and those that weren't invited just danced in the street


the gold chairs and special tables for the elite?


and finally I must say that the house looked good from the street side


so I reckon that's about it from me. I won't be posting any more pictures for a while as I have done myself a mischief and tried to sever my right leg so I am immobile (for a month) and can't get around and take pictures. 

For those interested in the gory details a blade came off my new brushcutter (I didn't check that they were tight) and gouged a channel through my right tibia as well as fracturing it, lucky there was no displacement along the fracture. It also completly cut 2 muscles and a tendon that operate my foot. So I suppose all I need to worry about now is whether the Thai doctor can stitch better than the Thai welders can weld.

Once I have recovered I will be off to Indonesia to work so whenever I return here I will try and take some pictures of the garden and post updates.

Thanks again to one and all (even Marmite) for viewing and posting replies.

as they say at the end of a Warner Bros cartoon.

"THAT'S ALL FOLKS"

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## nigelandjan

My God Ootai  " your the man " !    what a party ,, I aint gonna let Jan see these pics incase she gets any ideas after our build ,,,,,,,it will be a much less grand affair , I am afraid my pockets aint that deep ! 

              You really have done yourself proud mate well done and all the best wishes for recovery of your leg ,,, it will be nice to see some pics of the garden take place at the rear , mabe I cann call round next time were over ,all the best mate. Nigel

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## sunsetter

blinding thread, get well soon thanks muchly  :Smile:

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## Marmite the Dog

> Thanks again to one and all (even Marmite) for viewing and posting replies.


You've done a great job, despite what my in-built miserableness says. Well done!

(PS - I wouldn't have had all those people over for a party either...)

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## terry57

One must respect the expats that actually manage to build places like this.

Mate you are a legend. 


Cheers

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## JoshuaInMukdahan

Already been said but that is one hell of a party! Was clean up bad?
Can you upload a shot or 2 of the spirit house after being assembled? I see it in the corner by the speakers but would like a better glimpse if you don't mind.

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## ootai

nigelandjan........in my opinion it wasn't all that expensive the net cost to her was about B25K. The caterers were B24K to feed 120 people, the band B8500 so in comparison to my daughters wedding last year in Australia it was cheap. If you ever want to visit send a PM first as I may not be in Thailand and the missus is a bit wary of visitors.

sunsetter and terry57.........thanks for your comments

marmite.....I think I preferred to old nastier persona be careful the new nicer one doesn't become permanent.

JoshuaInMukdahan........the clean up wasn't too bad as she has a big family with lots of kids. As for the spirit house this is the best I have.


apparently someone reckons she built it wrong and that's why I hurt my leg.

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## DrAndy

well done Mrs Ootai

a good job you let your hubbie sit back and relax whilst you did all the building and organising

and the party too

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## Little Chuchok

> marmite.... I think I found someone else who wishes we hadn't bothered, a mate of yours?


That's Marmites doppelganger !

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## taffyapple

:cmn: someone else with a smile,that would make a good brawn,good thread and good luck and hope your leg heals quickly.

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## nigelandjan

Wouldnt dream of turning up without an invite Ootai no worries mate ,, hope your leg keeps getting better . 

      agreed 25k in the scheme of things if you are still a working man as you are isnt a big deal , but 25k here and 15k there and another 30k here etc on various "things " soon eats away into the pot when you are retiring early like I hope to be.

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## ShilohJim

Outstanding build thread, very well documented and described. Sorry to hear you've had a little incident (well maybe not so little), here's hoping you heal quickly and completely. Look forward to any and all updates, like the garden area and other developments around the "estate". Maybe change your name to "Country Squire". May the lord and Budda bless you and the missus.

Shiloh Jim

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## nigelandjan

^ thats a nice looking bit of kit in your Av Jim

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## ShilohJim

Nigelandjan said: "thats a nice looking bit of kit in your Av Jim"
Thank you, I'm pleased with it, that was my 65th birthday present to myself almost 2 years ago. Really enjoy riding since I retired and live out in the country. Raising a family kept me off bikes for about 25 years. That is a Honda Shadow 1100 cc, I upgraded from a Honda 600 Shadow, much better motorcycle.

Shiloh Jim
thats a nice looking bit of kit in your Av Jim

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## Bilbobaggins

Ootai, hat's off to you and your missus, the house (bungalow?) looks great, congratulations to the pair of you, hope you will be very happy there for many years to come.

Get well soon!

(p.s. got that singers number?)  :Razz:

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## rickschoppers

Great build and I give you all the credit in the world to let the little lady do everything. Not sure I will be doing the same, but it appears to have worked well for you. Congratualtions and get well soon!!!!!!

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## wkb global

Just read the whole thread - very informative, thanks for posting.

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## ootai

Well its been a while, about 8 months actually, and I finally managed to get home for a visit a couple of weeks ago, so I have some pictures to share on what it looks like now. 
I would have posted them while I was at home but some bastard knows when I come home because they steal the bloody phone lines off the poles and I end up with no internet connection. Maybe its time for me to get up to date with the new technology and go wireless.
Anyway on the morning I am due to leave work, I get up and look outside from my balcony. Yep, the weather looks good so the buses should be flying.



Her come the first bus


Bugger missed that one but the extra hour in bed instead of in a queue at the booking counter will be worth it.



Hope the weather stays clear for the next trip. It would be nice to hitch a ride on this racy machine though.



Anyway next morning when I wake up I go out onto the bedroom patio and see this.



And this



Then this. I still cant get over why she used so many different colours of roofing material


I walk around the corner of the patio



And a bit further



The grass we planted around the spirit house is still going Ok but I like the natural stuff in the next picture better. I hopes it will survive when it gets a bit drier.



Later from the front of the house looking toward the bedroom patio



Will post some more soon..

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## nigelandjan

Thanks Ootai mate for the trouble to post ,,,, it ,s looking good in the ol garden now it,s gettine quickly established, true what you say about the multi coloured roof,s , but as you well know they do have some funny ideas  :Smile:

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## ootai

nigelandjan
Thanks for taking the time to post a response I appreciate it

Once upon a time I did say that I was hoping to convince her to put guttering around the house. Well she did and it works great. Here's some pictures.









This is one of the two rain water tanks we have. They are 2000litres each which should give us enough water to last through a dry season. They both filled up with the first shower. We didn't put the pipe into the tank until we had let some rain wash the roof first. The problem now is trying to control the overflow as it doesn't exactly go where I planned it to go.



The one on the right is rain water and the other for bore water for the showers and toilets.



Nothing is ever perfect so we ended up with 2 "leaks". This one just drips.



This one is a lot worse. When they were putting the gutter up I asked them to put a bracket each side of every join but when they put this short "closer piece" in they must have forgot. Unfortunately this gutter runs all the way along the back of the house, around 20m, and this break is just before the tank downpipe so the gutter would have got very full and it come apart.



As for more details. The total length of guttering is 84 metres and we only put in 5 downpipes, 2 of which go into the tanks. There are 9 outside corners and 5 inside corners. The cost was approximately (she would know exactly but I 'm not there at the moment to ask) B34000 of which B7000 was for the guys who did the installation (B80/m) plus a tip.
When we got the guy who was selling the guttering to give us a quote it was B85000, she told him to take a hike. However he did say that according to his calculations we needed 8 downpipes to cater for the roof area. Unfortunately there wasn't room for any along the back of the house so as I said we ended up with only five.
I also got the guys to put brackets every 750mm instead of every metre to help support the extra water in the gutter due to having less downpipes and each side of a join as well as each side of a corner piece.
So with the gutter, the cement path all the way around the house and a good drainage system we have no problem with water or mud around the house which is great.
until next time......

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## nigelandjan

> The problem now is trying to control the overflow as it doesn't exactly go where I planned it to go.


  I can well imagine that mate ,, I know when it does come down out there it sure does !!!!!! 

   I have to say I am a little suprised they havent mortared the tiles onto the external corner ridges,, infact you can see daylight ,,, I would be worried about strong wind lifting them off mate like dominoes falling down ,, mabe wrong ( I usually am ) but just a thought mate.

         I bet it looks good in the dark those colours around your window details etc ( sorry I,m not being funny ) I just happen to know the pinks/ lilacs/ mauves tend to give off an eyrie glow in very low light  :Smile: .

            Shame about the gutter mate , I think I would do that myself , with all respect to the guy,s that have built your gaff ,, gutters are about as common to them as Sala,s are in our back gardens in the UK 
       having said that my mate here,s got one ! 

 All the best mate looks wonderfull  :Smile:

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## sunsetter

nice one ootai, get another bracket and some sealer, and a ladder  :Smile:  and sort the leaks  :Smile:

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## John 1

I liked you overall design I'm thinking something similar but 1.5 meters off the ground and veranda across the back and bedroom side of house. Do you have any comments on the blue roofing material you used on the veranda outside the kitchen is it hot under during mid day. Also what would you change to make it more user friendly if anything. I did notice you have to walk from 3rd bedroom to shower and toilet through the lounge.

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## ootai

> I liked you overall design I'm thinking something similar but 1.5 meters off the ground and veranda across the back and bedroom side of house. Do you have any comments on the blue roofing material you used on the veranda outside the kitchen is it hot under during mid day. Also what would you change to make it more user friendly if anything. I did notice you have to walk from 3rd bedroom to shower and toilet through the lounge.


Regarding the "blue material" I would maybe use it again, there is no problem with it being too hot under it. The issue is that when they put it up they didn't seal the ends and because it sat there open, it has developed a bit of mould and accumulated some dirt inside, which detracts from its looks. At our place the verandah along that end of the house is always the coolest place as it gets the breeze no matter what direction the wind is blowing from.

If I could change anything about the design, I would not have such a big kitchen space as it is wasted (as I knew it would be) because Thai's prefer using an outside or open air kitchen. I would use the corner of the kitchen to establish a walk in pantry (what I originally wanted it to be) or it could be used to make a bathroom toilet for the bedroom that opens onto the kitchen. That way the other bathroom could be used solely for the second bedroom so each bedroom would then end up having its own bathroom and toilet.

The louge room, while it is big, hardly gets used as everyone sits outside on the verandah or in the carport. Actually, I would probably make the carpot an outside kitchen area. I would also consider having an access to the main bedroom from its patio as it is now you need to walk through the house to get into the main bedroom.

I would also remodel the whole back of the house where we ended up putting the Thai bathroom and toilet and where the open air kitchen has been established. Your idea of a verandah along the back is what I would do, but I would make it at least 5 metres wide and more likely out to 8 metres wide. Plenty of covered open air area for living in. It would also be my preference to leave the area under the house totally open, rather than close it in, as my missus did.  But it doesn't seem to have made a big difference as the air under the house is always a lot cooler than out in the open.

From this reply, people may get the idea that I am not happy with the house but quite the contrary, I am very happy with it and it has a "good feel" about it. But as with any new house it can always be improved with the hindsight gained once you start living in it.

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## John 1

appreciate your reply yes I'm thinking 3 mtr verandah across back and up the side to master bedroom. also looking to put bathroom in the 2nd bedroom and where bathroom was put a door out to back verandah. The blue material you used for the verandah roof is it supposed to be sealed and how the picture looks like a 25mm air gap.

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## Brunswick

I've been hopping around Teakdoor but I do enjoy the Construction threads the most .

And I've been working through the 5 star rated threads first . Thinking they must be pretty good.

Today I read through this thread all the way - in one session . And I have to say  It's been one of my  most enjoyable reads.

Nice house .... And a LOVELY garden Mr and Mrs oo.
Really nice , and a good tale. :Smile:

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## Vettronics

Just want to say very nice build you have there.

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## deuhie

Good progress, looking to a good house.

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## Rivo

Agree with comments on a great build Ootai and your missus...........I bet the garden is a lush jungle now 555.................How has the house held up after 5 years ?

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## Vettronics

Yes it would be good to know how it is holding up. Looks well built.

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## Neverna

It's a nice looking house.

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## David48atTD

^  Nice *bump *Nev* ... I hadn't read this one before.

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## Dead Metal

Excellent Ootai , nice looking pad.
How's about an update ?
Enjoyed reading .

Thanks DM

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## fishlocker

Yes, nice bump of a build. I used to be all over the construction threads. To bad I didn't find them before we started our project. I'd have done a few things differently to say the least. 
I believe Wasp had a " things you'd have done differently " thread. A good read for anyone concidering a fresh build. 

My favorite was Old Monkeys build. What a playhouse. May be worth a look. The pool would have made an awesome fishpond and just may be by now. 

Only two things keeping me from making that sort of plunge; time & money. I can only hope all is well with the monkey. 

Peace out, the fish.

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## ootai

Well as it seems there are a few people interested in what has happened at the estate I have finally got off my arse and taken a few pictures so I will see if I can post them.
This is what it looked like then but we have now taken down the small porch roof and added an extension to the back of the house. It is about 8mx8m and high enough to drive our truck under so +3m. We concreted the floor and it is now the main area where everyone congregates to gossip, sleep and eat.


As for the house it hasn't deteriorated much just some minor tension cracks in some of the walls due to settling, still have the leaking/broken gutters but they don't cause much of an issue. Still not used the indoor kitchen (oven and gas top) to cook so my advice to people is make the kitchen outdoor if you build here. I suppose there are some who like to cook for them selves but I'm not one of them and my Missus likes the outdoor kitchen.
Overall I am very happy with the house and it has a good feeling about it (for me anyway), the Missus has finally admitted it is too big and we should have built something a bit smaller. She kikes to keep things clean and tidy and it is a bit hard because of the size. I have suggested paying someone to clean but she reckons that they don't do a good enough job, she's fussy except with her choice of a husband.

Anyway here's some pictures of the front.     

Cheers

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## Lofty

Hi there, great thread, can you say how much to build the bare house please, thanks

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## ootai

> Hi there, great thread, can you say how much to build the bare house please, thanks



Lofty
I am not really sure of the final cost, it was nearly 8 years ago. I think that the builder we gave the job to quoted 2.4 million baht but then I believe he got himself into financial strife so his quote was probably too cheap. At the time I didn't think he had a clue how to manage money or a budget. We had local suppliers he had got stuf on credit from coming to us and asking us to pay, our respnse was not our problem.

I seem to remeber that the quote for the build from the architect who did the design and plans was for 3.3 million baht which we thought was too high.

In the end we spent about 3 million baht all up.

Cheers

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## Klondyke

If nowadays one looks around the construction shops available in the area, one can see a really wonderful choice of materials and of any possible furnishing items needed for a house. Hence - if one can spare a time and has a bit knowledge what such a house needs - it is pretty easy to list the material and their costs.

Then, it needs just to find a reliable builder and negotiate with him the price for the workmanship. It seems that the total cost of the house can be rather a half of the amount he would be asked for turn-key job.

Moreover, the selection of the material, comparing different options, can be quite enjoyable task...

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## Stumpy

Great pics Ootai.

I always thought it would be nice for posters who did build threads to come back and update on how their house is progressing. Your house looks great and the trees are growing in well to offer shade. 

BTW, I totally agree on doing an inside western style kitchen. Probably a waste of floor space. We did the same and the only thing my wife cooks upstairs is chocolate chip cookies and brownies because the oven is there, if no oven then it would never be used. Being we basically live downstairs underneath tour home the outdoor kitchen is just convenient and cleaner.

Happy New Year

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## ootai

JPPR2
The house is now 10 years old and the oven still hasn't been used.
The missus has finally after all these years admitted she should have built a smaller house as this one is too hard to keep clean (to her standards) I don't give a toss and she cleans long before I consider it messy or dirty.

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## Stumpy

Ootai,
 Had I known that we would ultimately be "living" outside the house, the kitchen area could have been smaller albeit though the smaller upstairs would have led to less hangout space underneath being our house is stilted.  My wife, like yours, keeps upstairs really clean but that's pretty easy when the only time we are in the house is some time after 7pm every day. 

Our outside detached kitchen was an after thought but the best thing we did. We have had numerous parties at our house and having to pack food and drink up and down the stairs would have been a lot of work plus traffic in and out.

If I had a do over here is what I would have done (Hindsight is painful sometimes  :Smile: )

I would have made the upstairs kitchen area smaller and made the master bedroom bigger. I do like having the sink, refrigerator and cabinets upstairs.I would have also either made a pass through from the current spare bedroom into the guest bathroom so guests do not have to come out and walk into the bathroom next to it to shower or the spare bedroom with its own captive bath/shower and dumped the balcony that gets used so infrequently.  That said I have drawn up a plan to make a sliding teak door and will cut the wall out so you can go in and out and not have to open the bedroom door.Made my car park area a little deeper and wider so my truck fit in it further.

Short of that, all is good.

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