Thai Dhupp and Princess Joy's Thai House Build

[Thai Dhupp]

Ground floor column shuttering


some shutters placed before striking the plinth beam...






reasonably straight...




the OrBorTor engineer dropped by to see the ring beam.







....now, about that inspection...

[Thai Dhupp]

Plinth Beam / general inspection


the Engineer, Khun Ek arrives from the OrBorTor Office.


''lets get straight to it...''






'so...this bit is the ''downstairs-outside-under-shade 'bit', is it?...''


...'and over here is the West Wing...''


K.Pot: ''Apparently, he calls this bit the 'study/office' but it might be retreat or man-cave or hidey-hole... he's specified a lock on the inside and a hidden booze cupboard, anyway...''
K.Ek: ''interesting...very interesting...''


"'OK gents... looking good... can you crack on 'cos me and those lovely PEA ladies have all got invites to the pool-party when its finished....''

[Norton]

me and those lovely PEA ladies have all got invites to the pool-party when its finished....''

PEA soup with ham. One of my favs. Enjoy.

[Thai Dhupp]

PEA soup with ham. One of my favs. Enjoy.

Dunno if I will be able to post the photos and numerous videos from that still-some-way-off pool party, Norton cos strictly speaking it's fu... nothing to do with the building thread, and it might incriminate government officials...

PEA soup..mmm mmmm... its a winner. Mushy PEA's not bad either. Not so keen on processed PEAs. I didnt see any marrow fat PEA's when I was there...

[Thai Dhupp]

Ground floor plumbing























Lol...hopefully, all of the above means something to someone - I am not a plumbing expert, so I'm relying on the original plans and K.Pot's ability to follow them.

I think its the right colour anyway. Oh... and its in the ground below the floor so I think thats right too...

[Thai Dhupp]

Fitting the Duct Banks
















Another job completed...

[Norton]

Another job completed...

Don't forget the termite tubing.

[Thai Dhupp]

Don't forget the termite tubing.

Dunno what happened to my reply to this, Norton... I actually answered yesterday but for some reason its not showing up in the thread...

Yes... a reminder was sent to the builder yesterday and i followed it up with a sketch and refresher instructions too.

[Norton]

Dunno what happened to my reply to this, Norton... I actually answered yesterday but for some reason its not showing up in the thread...

Yes... a reminder was sent to the builder yesterday and i followed it up with a sketch and refresher instructions too.

Great.

[Thai Dhupp]

Pouring the ground floor columns


In the time-honoured way...


Plenty of supports used.


Soon my cages will have fattened up and metamorphosed into ... RC columns!!

Not got too many pics of this.. but we have all seen concrete being poured into columns, right!?

Only got video of this bit

[Thai Dhupp]

ha yeah Mike... I wondered if anyone would spot that!! I get carried away sometimes with 1001 ideas popping up all the time. Seemed like a good idea when I wrote it down but as you point out, probably not practical. maybe a pressure switch tho.... lol joking. oh wait... a motion sensor? maybe... but not in the lounge or bedrooms... damn! ...more work needed.

BTW...I have rejected / dismissed so many ideas before we got to the plans, contract and now the build.

That pic was about the windows opening inwards to allow for traditional working shutters.

Ha! I better not upload ALL my scribbles or I might get moved to the 'loony section'....

[dennis4558]

Wow lots of great pics, hopefully all the blue pipe is in the right place, hard to change once the floor is poured.
Looking great and moving right along.

You're lucky your front and back doors didn't line up or the build would have to start over. That was the first thing my wife asked about when I told her I had plans drawn up, do the front and back doors line up.

[Thai Dhupp]

Wow lots of great pics, hopefully all the blue pipe is in the right place, hard to change once the floor is poured.
Looking great and moving right along.

You're lucky your front and back doors didn't line up or the build would have to start over. That was the first thing my wife asked about when I told her I had plans drawn up, do the front and back doors line up.

I hope so too, Dennis!! lol ...difficult for me to check from Dubai so the OrBorTor Engineer is paying a visit this afternoon. They are fitting the first of the septic tanks today too, I think, so photos will follow soon.

[Thai Dhupp]

The discussion yesterday and today was about grease traps on the grey water outflow, before it meets the soakaway system. thought i had not included it in the contract (I had not) but luckily, K.Pot azssumed I wanted it as part of the waste water scheme and had got it anyway. Hurrah... A builder that thinks for you, not himself. No extra cost for that piece of good luck. I'm pretty happy...

[David48atTD]

Norts ... I saved you the time trying to locate this post ...

Expect many more subject to local norms. Here are a few.

Stairs must be of an odd number.

Headboard on bed cannot be facing west.

The builder of the house owns it until you pay him at the pre moving in ceremony. Auspicious day and food a must.

House will need a Buddha room.

You will need to have the house inspected/approved by a local elder who deems it fit before you can move in. Auspicious day and food a must.

Offerings of money and gold must be placed in the footings prior to continuing construction. Auspicious day and food a must.

Main entry to the house cannot be facing the the end of a road. Ghosts traveling down the road will have a direct path to enter.

A spirit house is required on the property. Placement of it will be critical.

A scarecrow (scareghost) like thing must be placed on road entry to the house.

And finally, a gathering (banquet) of monks and all the neighbors in the house on an auspicious day before it is deemed safe for human habitation. Auspicious day and food a must.

As you move on to landscaping anything planted that cannot be eaten, while not necessarily considered bad luck, should be avoided.

The above take precedence over all other practical considerations such as strength of structure, access to rooms, design for living and other irrelevant things.

[Norton]

Norts ... I saved you the time trying to locate this post ...

I'd forgotten all about that.

But

check local customs

[jonnyenglish]

yes.. I had the same issue with orientation of bedrooms... my plans had feet facing east-ish and that was a big 'no no.. cannot', so had to rotate everything 90 degrees.

By the way, looking at the roof tiles you sketched, at some early point in thinking/planning of building a house and the materials and style etc. I thought that those tiles were really nice, and then I lived in a wooden house that had them and thought that was great... until it rained. These types of tiles have no rain channels, so if it's windy and raining there can be water ingress, but most importantly, they can only be used on a roof with an extremely steep pitch otherwise you'll have an indoor waterfall on your hands (speaking from first-hand experience here).

[Thai Dhupp]

Jonny... thanks for that.... we intend to use the SCG Ayara tiles which have the diamond finish but are double tiles. They are obviously heavier than thin single tiles.

Pitch-wise, we are building the Ayutthaya style roof with the variable pitch - steep at the top, but shallower at the bottom.

Hopefullly that's going to be OK..what do you think?

[jonnyenglish]

Jonny... thanks for that.... we intend to use the SCG Ayara tiles which have the diamond finish but are double tiles. They are obviously heavier than thin single tiles.

Pitch-wise, we are building the Ayutthaya style roof with the variable pitch - steep at the top, but shallower at the bottom.

Hopefullly that's going to be OK..what do you think?

Looking at the tiles you have chosen on SCG's website, they are the ones that are flat on the back (I was looking at these and also the timber shingle look), so no secondary channel like Monier have to prevent water running under and across, instead they rely on second tile lapping over the join of the first, no problem, BUT...

Your steel-work will have to be absolutely bob-on to allow for correct seating of these (no mean feat with an Ayutthaya style roof). My builder steered me away from these when discussing choice of roof tiles (lighter than using CPAC monier and I really liked the overall look), I'm guessing he thought the team's standard of construction with steel wasn't up to the job, or failing that he had never worked with them before, either way he wasn't keen! That doesn't mean you shouldn't though, these have been around for a while.

I think you'll have to go for the smaller size, as they are more suitable for roofs with greater pitch angle (even though the larger size are generally used for bigger roof areas).

[Thai Dhupp]

Looking at the tiles you have chosen on SCG's website, they are the ones that are flat on the back (I was looking at these and also the timber shingle look), so no secondary channel like Monier have to prevent water running under and across, instead they rely on second tile lapping over the join of the first, no problem, BUT...

Your steel-work will have to be absolutely bob-on to allow for correct seating of these (no mean feat with an Ayutthaya style roof). My builder steered me away from these when discussing choice of roof tiles (lighter than using CPAC monier and I really liked the overall look), I'm guessing he thought the team's standard of construction with steel wasn't up to the job, or failing that he had never worked with them before, either way he wasn't keen! That doesn't mean you shouldn't though, these have been around for a while.

I think you'll have to go for the smaller size, as they are more suitable for roofs with greater pitch angle (even though the larger size are generally used for bigger roof areas).

Hi again Jonny, .....just wondering... any reason why we cant put a waterproof membrane under the tiles same like we do in UK? I did not plan for it, but for the cost, assuming no technical reason, it might be a good option, also for break ins deterrent, animal ingress protection, etc, etc.

Just wondering.. we are some way off so there can be any number of changes.

[Thai Dhupp]

Greetings Norton and David...

OK...lets see how we are doing with the great spirit council on the land / sky!

Stairs must be of an odd number.
check.. they are

Headboard on bed cannot be facing west.
check - will definitely not face west

The builder of the house owns it until you pay him at the pre moving in ceremony. Auspicious day and food a must.
He's getting paid... don't know too many Thai builders who work for nothing! 6 week retention at the end so we can check for snags, so..OK... month and a half in limbo, living in 'his' house...

House will need a Buddha room.
check - that was SWMBO's only solid request

You will need to have the house inspected/approved by a local elder who deems it fit before you can move in. Auspicious day and food a must.
yes..it will happen - she already primed me about this!

Offerings of money and gold must be placed in the footings prior to continuing construction. Auspicious day and food a must.
check - ceremony pictures earlier in this thread

Main entry to the house cannot be facing the the end of a road. Ghosts traveling down the road will have a direct path to enter.
check - faces at right angles to the road and not at the end

A spirit house is required on the property. Placement of it will be critical.
As previously mentioned, shes been looking at gigantic spirit houses - i told her she can buy what ever she likes with her money...

A scarecrow (scareghost) like thing must be placed on road entry to the house.
Is this that next door guy who looks like he last had a wash in 1972? not? ahh ok... so a trip to Toys-R-us 'scareghost' section s needed, but not until the end, right?

And finally, a gathering (banquet) of monks and all the neighbors in the house on an auspicious day before it is deemed safe for human habitation. Auspicious day and food a must.
yeah yeah.. more food and drink... sure no probs but they are not getting in the pool, I'm sure thats not on the spirit list of 'things-to-do', right?!

As you move on to landscaping anything planted that cannot be eaten, while not necessarily considered bad luck, should be avoided.

so, my magnolia is out, then? what about flowers? cant eat them all.... i will avoid ... telling the spirits about then, thats the solution...

cheers!!

[mikenot]

As you move on to landscaping anything planted that cannot be eaten, while not necessarily considered bad luck, should be avoided.
The above take precedence over all other practical considerations such as strength of structure, access to rooms, design for living and other irrelevant things.

Frangipani/plumeria used to be called "Lahn Tohm" which has connotations of bad luck and there fore used to be only planted inside temple grounds where the good karma could outweigh the bad luck which would arise if you planted it at your home. Nowadays it is "rebranded" as Lelawadee which is ok. my GF still thinks it is bad choice though and told me we will not be having any in our future garden ......to which I replied that it is a good luck tree in Farangland, she can do whatever she wants on her half of the land where the house will be, but in "my land' that I paid for I'll do what I want. She conceded that as our land is 2 separate chanotes, having Frangipani in the garden should not bring bad luck to the house ....but I'm sure there will be an "I told you so' coming sometime !

"I can't wait to be in a position to get one of those spirit-houses because, I'm assuming it's at the end of the build, right?"
Yes, everything will fade into insignificance at that time.

[Thai Dhupp]

Frangipani/plumeria used to be called "Lahn Tohm" which has connotations of bad luck and there fore used to be only planted inside temple grounds where the good karma could outweigh the bad luck which would arise if you planted it at your home. Nowadays it is "rebranded" as Lelawadee which is ok. my GF still thinks it is bad choice though and told me we will not be having any in our future garden ......to which I replied that it is a good luck tree in Farangland, she can do whatever she wants on her half of the land where the house will be, but in "my land' that I paid for I'll do what I want. She conceded that as our land is 2 separate chanotes, having Frangipani in the garden should not bring bad luck to the house ....but I'm sure there will be an "I told you so' coming sometime !

"I can't wait to be in a position to get one of those spirit-houses because, I'm assuming it's at the end of the build, right?"
Yes, everything will fade into insignificance at that time.

Simple really... you probably wont be allowed in to 'her' house with all the bad luck that's ''probably brushed off on you.''

[Norton]

yeah yeah.. more food and drink... sure no probs but they are not getting in the pool, I'm sure thats not on the spirit list of 'things-to-do', right?!

Not on the list. You're good to go.

that was SWMBO's only solid request

The ultimate authority in all this stuff. My SWMBO did not require a separate Bhudda room, a spirit house or a scareghost.

[David48atTD]

We, the Thai Family, of course have a 'a spirit house'.

Being mere mortals, we were not of a higher level to decide where it should be placed.

Must get the Monkal advice on that one.