Thai Dhupp and Princess Joy's Thai House Build

[Thai Dhupp]

Kitchen after clean-up




You know what they say about the kitchen being he heart of the house? Looks like we started early...




door frame all in and fixed


A double door here out to the Thai incineration zone.


frame in place...


We are going to make maximum use of that high ceiling...


Lol... that prop is starting to worry me. I hope its not a permanent feature.....


They even sluiced the floor!


K.Pot has developed a way of looking interested when in fact he is asleep....

Kitchen is ready for doors n windows, and service connections, oh and flooring n rendering, of course. An actual kitchen would help, too...

[Thai Dhupp]

Roof remedials





no... he did not fall off








It's a long way down... no safety harness or anything.


Don't turn your back on the 'drop'. OMG if this happened in Dubai......
As I have mentioned before, a fall of over 6m is an almost guaranteed fatality

[David48atTD]

Why such a narrow set-back from the road ... looks maybe only a metre or two/three?

[Thai Dhupp]

Why such a narrow set-back from the road ... looks maybe only a metre or two/three?

Its a bit deceptive David, actually its over 7m. Had to have that distance to get the house on the plot!! there is a boundary wall at the front so still private.

This road is so lightly trafficked that I'm really not too worried about noise or noseyness!

[Thai Dhupp]

if you look at the house... that last section (downstairs dining room, upstairs bedroom.... is a tad over 4m wide, for scale

[Thai Dhupp]

Exposing the Chanote marker







We need to know where it is for what's coming next...

[Thai Dhupp]

Happy campers...






Junior watching the team hard at it after he was involved in the cooking at the Chonburi Hilton earlier....


That window is the perfect height - lucky the builder did not follow my original plan for the window location....!

[Thai Dhupp]

We said we wanted wood on the dining room floor, but I told K.Pot, this is a bit too rustic...





Wooden battens from the shuttering all carefully stored ready to be used elsewhere...

[Norton]

Looking good. Did you manage to locate a source for terracotta?

[Airportwo]

This road is so lightly trafficked that I'm really not too worried about noise or noseyness!

Think to the future Thais are virtual noise machines! sound proof and insulate as much as you can, double or triple glazing (no sliding doors or windows!) - there will be noise!
I built a house that backed onto a small Soi in Pattaya, wasn't even paved when we moved in, sold the house 7 years later as the road was just too noisy, development happens fast here, with no planning or thought in most cases!

[Thai Dhupp]

Looking good. Did you manage to locate a source for terracotta?

Hi Norton... K.Pot was familiar and knows where to get the terracotta. I never got to the SCG shop in the end- distractions finalising the big ticket items elsewhere.

Today...well... I think we have achieved it. Just waiting for the total discounted price...

You were right BTW... a total shopping epic, 5 trips before finalising the choices, and we still have not done the tiles yet...

[Thai Dhupp]

Think to the future Thais are virtual noise machines! sound proof and insulate as much as you can, double or triple glazing (no sliding doors or windows!) - there will be noise!
I built a house that backed onto a small Soi in Pattaya, wasn't even paved when we moved in, sold the house 7 years later as the road was just too noisy, development happens fast here, with no planning or thought in most cases!

You are totally right AP2, and its an important consideration. The rural idyll we have today could become ... well, who knows what!?

On one side I have Lady Mango, who is not selling mainly cos she wants far too much for a tiny plot thickly covered with mango trees, and on the other the plot is owned by a lady who works for the OBT. I have information that shes not building a nightclub, bar or shop but has permission to build a small 2 bed house only. Opposite me, as can be seen from the photos I have a Palm Oil plantation, I think revenue from that is good and getting better, so maybe he wont sell. If he does, I will buy the piece in front of mine. We already own the plot behind us.

How much planning can one do? lol I dont want triple glazing really. The house itself is the AAC block which cuts both heat and noise. We will be surrounded by a 2+m wall, and at the end of the day I can always sell too. We have had interest in this already.

I suppose i can always slip the OBT another bottle of single malt and ask him to veto any undesirable plans.....

lol I know things can change - thats progress and the only way to ensure long term privacy is to buy 20 rai and stick your home in the middle of it!! I'm not that rich and its a bit isolated for me.

We will see what develops over the months and years...

[Airportwo]

The rural idyll we have today could become ... well, who knows what!?

I live in a fairly rural location, unfortunately this involves tractors, trucks, the obligatory motorcycles and off course yapping dogs, nice to be able to shut up the house and have quite at times. It still surprises me how easily noise is able to travel out in the sticks. As you say there is a limit to how much you can plan! just something to bear in mind...........

[Thai Dhupp]

I live in a fairly rural location, unfortunately this involves tractors, trucks, the obligatory motorcycles and off course yapping dogs, nice to be able to shut up the house and have quite at times. It still surprises me how easily noise is able to travel out in the sticks. As you say there is a limit to how much you can plan! just something to bear in mind...........

lol... they get an endlessly yapping dog...I get an endlessly hungry crocodile. Let's see who wins!!

Might work for noisy neighbours too....

I'm joking of course....
(only hungry alligators available)

[Thai Dhupp]

So... we had a meeting on site with the PEA...

Dont know if you remember back to the start of the build four MONTHS ago....

At that time we were sorting out, amongst other things services - water and power - for the build.

Water was straIght-forward. we tee'd off the existing supply and came to an arrangement with the other small house.

The PEA were not playing ball though, largely cos they thought there might be a payday in it somewhere. We needed a temp supply and also... that bloody pole moved off the frontage.

The upshot was, their '6 week minimum' quote became, 'this afternoon, sir' once our helpful OBT called his PEA counterpart and spelt out what the Farang wanted.

Power was indeed connected, but that left the pole. It had to be moved ANYWAY, as it was within our boundary. That work was free of charge, but we wanted it moving several meters to the side also

cher-ching... payday for Mr. PEA Boss
(or so he thought)

He promised 2 weeks, but it never happened.

Fast-forward to now, months later, and this PEA 'gentlemen'was stringing it out, trying to build up the drama and of course the money he thought he could charge.

Enter OBT for call No.2 - why it had not been done? why the farang was being kept waiting? why PEA not keep promises? and a few more choice words not for a family-orientated web-site such as this.

so... ''you give me A DATE NOW!. What time will you be on site? you will come prepared and no more bullsh1t? OK good''

so that's how we came to get the pole MOVED:


Well, they turned on the right day - 1 hour late though because, apparently...they got lost.


Boss-man looked suitably meek, and even more so after meeting the walking hurricane-storm that is PJ


This was when she uttered the danger-signal words- ''you want to have problem with me..?''

[Thai Dhupp]

Assessing the Job

despite the fact that they ALREADY assessed the job, they wanted to do that again... OK no problem!


Even K.Pot got involved, largely because he wanted to know how long the power would be off!


The PEA ground troops Standing by the chanote we had helpfully uncovered for them


They seemed to swell in numbers when someone mentioned there might be some extra cash...


Yep... that's the pole and you gotta move it - how difficult can this be.!?


Finally the second truck with the all-important Hi-ab arrived.

[mikenot]

at least you've got a real pole ! Told the GF one of the first things we will have to do is get a couple of real posts, she asks 'why?"
Tirac, how high do you think that cable is ?
"About 3 or 4 metre" (actually it's about 2.5m, maybe 3m)
how high do you think delivery trucks are ? how high is a concrete truck "
"Oh..."

[Thai Dhupp]

at least you've got a real pole ! Told the GF one of the first things we will have to do is get a couple of real posts, she asks 'why?"
Tirac, how high do you think that cable is ?
"About 3 or 4 metre" (actually it's about 2.5m, maybe 3m)
how high do you think delivery trucks are ? how high is a concrete truck "
"Oh..."

Lol, Mike,... those poles have been known to take root and start growing so you might be OK in a few years . Was that a service you laid in yourselves or was it already there!!?

[Thai Dhupp]

Cutting the power and disconnecting the cables

So, we finally got agreement from all parties involved to cut the power. The notice issued to the residents around us said 9 am, but it was actually 10 am.




They have boot add ons with metal rods that fit in the holes in the poles






I hope to God the power IS off....











Is it live....??


No!!






Again...its a long way up ...or down depending on which way you look at it...


Finally...all the cables disconnected

[Thai Dhupp]

Moving the pole 1

so.... at last we start to move the pole...

This is where we left it last time.... cables disconnected, Hi.ab connected




Everyone out of the way...


Taking the strain under the watchful eye of..well... everyone


Pull the cables out of the way...


And....lift....




Its not coming out easily...there's about 1.5m in the ground


Might have to move the truck...

[Thai Dhupp]

Moving the pole 2




yep...move the truck!!




reconnect the hook...




and....lift!!


finally its out.


We have lift off!!

[Thai Dhupp]

Moving the pole 3






It's like a pole huggers convention...










OK...that's moved it from A to B....

[Thai Dhupp]

Digging the hole part 1

Well... there needs to be a hole to put the post in, right?

[Thai Dhupp]

Placing the pole...or trying to



Spare Cable on hand if needed...




wait a minute...that hole is too small

[Thai Dhupp]

Digging the hole Part two










PEA supervisor supervising from the shade