Renovation

[a. boozer]

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

Bare breasted ones?

[WhiteLotusLane]

as they face directly west

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

Not just in Isaan I think..

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

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

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

[buad hai]

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

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

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

[klongmaster]

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

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

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

[buad hai]

^Exactly....

[dirtydog]

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

[DrAndy]

my floors all face upwards, but that is just me

[buad hai]

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




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


Isaan bricklayers.

[Spin]

I thought that was BHs point

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

[buad hai]

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


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

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

[klongmaster]

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

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

[buad hai]

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

Like this:



Taken last night....

[buad hai]

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



Note the nifty night light:

[buad hai]

Looks like they are putting in a proper ceiling:

[buad hai]

Clean up time:

[klongmaster]

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

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

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

[buad hai]

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




Think these two will scrub up OK?

[Marmite the Dog]

Think these two will scrub up OK?

Worth a go. Don't forget the pictures.

[klongmaster]

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

[buad hai]

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

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

[WhiteLotusLane]

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

[Marmite the Dog]

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

[buad hai]

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

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

[WhiteLotusLane]

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

[buad hai]

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