Finding and Building a Residence for Mr and Mrs MTSINTERNATIONAL

[a. boozer]

Without wishing to detract from this thread, this poem, by the Canadian, Robert W. Service, came to mind, and seemed rather appropriate at this stage.

The Three Bares
by: Robert W. Service

Ma tried to wash her garden slacks but couldn't get 'em clean
And so she thought she'd soak 'em in a bucket o' benzine.
It worked all right. She wrung 'em out then wondered what she'd do
With all that bucket load of high explosive residue.

She knew that it was dangerous to scatter it around,
For Grandpa liked to throw his lighted matches on the ground.
Somehow she didn't dare to pour it down the kitchen sink,
And what the heck to do with it, poor Ma jest couldn't think.

Then Nature seemed to give the clue, as down the garden lot
She spied the edifice that graced a solitary spot,
Their Palace of Necessity, the family joy and pride,
Enshrined in morning-glory vine, with graded seats inside;

Jest like that cabin Goldylocks found occupied by three,
But in this case B-E-A-R was spelt B-A-R-E----
A tiny seat for Baby Bare, a medium for Ma,
A full-sized section sacred to the Bare of Grandpapa.

Well, Ma was mighty glad to get that worry off her mind,
And hefting up the bucket so combustibly inclined,
She hurried down the garden to that refuge so discreet,
And dumped the liquid menace safely through the centre seat.

Next morning old Grandpa arose; he made a hearty meal,
And sniffed the air and said: `By Gosh! how full of beans I feel.
Darned if I ain't as fresh as paint; my joy will be complete
With jest a quiet session on the usual morning seat;

To smoke me pipe an' meditate, an' maybe write a pome,
For that's the time when bits o' rhyme gits jiggin' in me dome.'
He sat down on that special seat slicked shiny by his age,
And looking like Walt Whitman, jest a silver-whiskered sage,

He filled his corn-cob to the brim and tapped it snugly down,
And chuckled: `Of a perfect day I reckon this the crown.'
He lit the weed, it soothed his need, it was so soft and sweet:
And then he dropped the lighted match clean through the middle seat.

His little grand-child Rosyleen cried from the kichen door:
Oh, Ma, come quick; there's sompin wrong; I heared a dreffel roar;
Oh, Ma, I see a sheet of flame; it's rising high and higher...
Oh, Mummy dear, I sadly fear our comfort-cot's caught fire.'

Poor Ma was thrilled with horror at them words o' Rosyleen.
She thought of Grandpa's matches and that bucket of benzine;
So down the garden geared on high, she ran with all her power,
For regular was Grandpa, and she knew it was his hour.

Then graspin' gaspin' Rosyleen she peered into the fire,
A roarin' soarin' furnace now, perchance old Grandpa's pyre....
But as them twain expressed their pain they heard a hearty cheer----
Behold the old rapscallion squattinn' in the duck pond near,

His silver whiskers singed away, a gosh-almighty wreck,
W i' half a yard o' toilet seat entwined about his neck....
He cried: `Say, folks, oh, did ye hear the big blow-out I made?
But now I best be crawlin' out o' this dog-gasted wet....
For what I aim to figger out is----WHAT THE HECK I ET?'

[DrAndy]

12 June 08:

Major issue resolved today with the rework effort to have the Master Bathroom "TOILET" centered between the shower wall and the sink counter top wall. Hooooa!


Above Picture: Toilet centered between walls...

hah! well done, now you can have paper holders on both sides

[SEA Traveler]

[quote=DrAndy;657078 hah! well done, now you can have paper holders on both sides[/quote]

Good observation Khun Dr, I didn't think of that. Possibly I'll ask Khun to reset the toilet back to where it was off center so I can do as you suggest.

[HINO]

As long as you have the spray hose there who needs paper?

[SEA Traveler]

15 June 2008:

The front terrace and steps are now completed and the placement of tile in the driveway is almost completed. Interior work continues. Front door wood threshold is now installed and the custom kitchen cabinets in the Western and Thai kitchens have been started. Her are a few pictures of the most recent progress as described above.


Above picture: Front terrace steps and carport driveway tile completed.



Above Picture: Front door wood threshold.



Above Picture: Western kitchen custom wood cabinets being made and installed.

[dirtydog]

I can imagine that toilet as being problematic in the future, taking a wild guess here I assume he has stuck in 2 extra 90 degree bends

[SEA Traveler]

I can imagine that toilet as being problematic in the future, taking a wild guess here I assume he has stuck in 2 extra 90 degree bends

Good Point Khun DD. Something to verify and have corrected again if necessary. Thanks.

[SEA Traveler]

17 June 2008:

With most of the big work completed Khun and crew continues to concentrate on some of the finer details like tying in all the electric to the circuit box, final touches in the bathrooms, getting the kitchen cabinets made, stained and put into place, and of course, completing the pump house.

No major issues but was advised by Khun that the electric company is now insistent that I have an electrical pole on my grounds and at my expense. This whole electric thing through out the project has been the thorn in the side. 1st issue was the fact than the fact that there was only single phase electric coming into the soi. We resolved that by checking and ensuring that 3 phased electric was planned for coming into the soi and it was.

The 2nd issue had to do with the size of the electric box. I was initially advised that 15amps was the most that I could get. After much discussion with the electric company, Khun was able to work things so that a larger amp electric box would be authorized. Not knowing for sure what is available in Thai and just not being sure what was agreed to, I can not say if it is a 30, 40, or 50 amp box that is being used.

The 3rd issue was the electric coming into the property underground. For aesthetic purposes, this is what I was looking for but was advised that because the city was going to come in before the end of the year to pave the road and because the electric poles were on the other side of the street, that putting the electric under the ground into the property was not possible. Anyway, I opted at that time to not have an electric pole on my property that I had to pay for just to have the underground electric coming to the house.

Now the 4th issue, I’m now being advised that I still need an electric pole for which I will be required to pay for. I don’t get it. It is all a little frustrating but I’m over it and am moving on. "It is what it is".... or "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff..... and it is all small stuff". Thanks to Khun and Mrs Hino, here are some pictures of the past 2 days activities.


Above Picture: Picture of the inside of the circuit box.


Above Picture: Electric at entry point into the house carport area.


Above Picture: Location and connection point for central water heater.


Above Picture: Construction of Custom Kitchen Cabinets.


Above Picture: holes were drilled into the kitchen wall and wodden plugs were then inserted in to the holes. the kitchen cabinets will be secured to the wall using anchors that go into the wood plugs.


Above Picture: Master Bathroom ceiling lights and newly installed exhaust fan. The tile in the bathroom is looking good and seems like plenty of light.


Above Picture: Pool Pump House that will have a toilet and outside shower being constructed.

[ThisOldHouse]

^ Uh-oh! Is it just hard to see in the picture or are there no ground (earth?) wires coming into that Breaker Panel along with your many circuits?
=TOH=

[SEA Traveler]

Khun House,

Probably can't see from the picture. No need to worry, electric and box are grounded to a long ass copper rod that went into the ground. Could be that because the ground wire is not green you were unable to pick it out. Thanks for the observational comment.

Caio!

[Marmite the Dog]

I think you'll have to get the pole installed at your expense, but I'd just rearrange the leccy to your liking afterwards.

[SEA Traveler]

I think you'll have to get the pole installed at your expense, but I'd just rearrange the leccy to your liking afterwards.

Khun Marmite,

as I understand, I pay for the pole but the electric company will install it. As a lot gets lost in the translation, I may very well be misinformed or just don't understand what I'm being told. I sort of like getting all the details out in the open but I know for Thais, flying by the seat of their pants is standard operating procedure (SOP).

I have given specific advisement as to where I want the electric pole located. I'm sort of waiting for the ball to drop on that plan as well. Would not surprise me if they want to place the pole in the middle of my driveway. Am I being too sarcastic? Anyway, I really do think this one is under control. We shall see...

[DrAndy]

There are rules governing pole placement, but they are not too onerous

We got a private guy to put the pole in rather than using the electric company, which made it a lot cheaper. You can prob find someone by asking around

Our guy actually worked subcontracting for the electric company, but when he worked directly for us he supplied the post and wire at a much better price

The electric company wanted to charge B8000 including wire, the guy charged us B3000 plus the wire costs (approx B1500)

[lom]

I have given specific advisement as to where I want the electric pole located.

There use to be some rules for placing the poles, one of them is that the poles may not be more than 20 meter apart.
It is not uncommon that they place one in the corner of your plot, your meter facing your plot. Gives them an opportunity to put your neighbors meter on the other side of the pole, facing his plot.
Their most important rule seems to be just that one, it should be obvious for them to whom the meter belong.
Hence, they don't allow long cables to a nearby pole.

[SEA Traveler]

I can imagine that toilet as being problematic in the future, taking a wild guess here I assume he has stuck in 2 extra 90 degree bends

Khun DD,

I'm happy to report, at least for now, that it looks as if the contractor did the movement and centering the toilet with no negative or improper variations of the PVC plumming.


Above Picture: PVC plumming in the crawl space from Master Bathroom Toilet after toilet being centered.


Above Picture: PVC and hot water plumming in the crawl space under house.

[SEA Traveler]

18 June 2008:

The making and installation of the custom Western Kitchen and Thai Kitchen cabinets continue. Today Khun was able to begin hanging the cabinets on the wall and start fitting the doors into place. Things are coming together nicely.

Sparky has been finishing up with the wiring and started placement of the lamps on the walkway, house wall, and on the perimeter wall.

Khun got a little creative with the exterior wall of the Pump House where the shower is going to be. Looks as if he placed some clumps of cement on the wall to give it sort of a stone finish look. I like it.


Above Picture: Western Kitchen Cabinet installation.


Above Picture: I specifically like the way Khun put the corner piece in where the door is set at an angle. Also not the flashing being put in above the cabinets.


Above Picture: Here is a look at the unfinished doors that will be installed on the cabinets and will be stained a cherry wood color.


Above Picture: Entry point of Electric to the house. wire ready to be connected to electric pole and electric source.


Above Picture: Sparky installing one of the lamps on patio wall.


Above Picture: Exterior of Pump House Wall where shower will be.

[SEA Traveler]

Above Picture: Thai Kitchen hanging cabinet. I like the way the cabinet sits at an angle facing diagonally into the Thai Kitchen for easy access.


Above Picture: Front gate entrance.


Above Picture: Carport Driveway looking out into Soi.

[Loombucket]

I like the lumpy wall, and the diamond window, Sea Traveler, reminds me of a small cottage in Wales. Good thread, keep it coming.

[AZZZEY68]

Its looking good ma boy.

[good2bhappy]

some tasty finishings Sea Traveler

[SEA Traveler]

Its looking good ma boy.

Thanks 68 for popping in and providing your encouragement for my project.

Caio!

[SEA Traveler]

some tasty finishings Sea Traveler

Appreciate your kind words Happy. Hope the BarBQ party when this is all completed is as tasty....

[AZZZEY68]

I am a man of few words but its looking good.

[SEA Traveler]

24 June 2008:

Finishing details on the house are steady but slow and the day to day differences are a lot more subtle than when the columns were going up or the blocks for the wall being cemented together. Here are a few pics complements of Mr. & Mrs. Hino.

Construction, installation, and staining the kitchen cabinets are in the final stages. The granite counter top will be next.

The bench seat on the open side of the car port is finished and the placement of grout between the carport tiles under the bench seat is near completion.

The 50 liter Ferroli central hot water tank that is located under the guest bathroom sink counter has been installed and connected to the hot water pipes leading to bathroom showers and sinks and the Western and Thai kitchen sinks.

The final coat of several coats of stain and lacquer on the Makha wood flooring in the Master Bathroom and Office is being applied.

Floor tile in the Thai kitchen is being placed. Khun added a nice touch by framing a light colored tile that was used elsewhere in the house with the darker leftover driveway tile that is also being used for the steps and patio work area just outside the Thai kitchen.

I was somewhat surprised at my stupidity when I saw the recent pictures of the exterior walls pump house. I previously reported that Khun had puts lumps of cement on the wall to give it a stone finish type look when in reality the cement was put on the wall at thickness guides for when rendering the walls with the smooth cement. I know this but it totally escaped me at the time of reporting. My bad.

Landscaping will begin in a about 2 weeks. Grass sod has been ordered and several various palm trees have been ordered to include a large big leafed fan shaped palm at approximately 3000 baht was ordered and will be placed to block out the neighbors house roof that detracts from the surroundings.

Anyway, progress is ongoing and I suspect that this report will be completed in less than 2 months when I am on site and can take final pics and compile my final report. In the interim, I report what I can. Cheers!


Above Picture: Stained Kitchen Cabinets & Doors.


Above Picture: Stained Kitchen Cabinets with doors and drawers being installed.


Above Picture: Carport bench seat with grout being placed between the carport tiles.


Above Picture: Hot water heater installed.


Above Picture: stained and finished Makha wood floor in Office.


Above Picture: Staining the Makha wood floor in the Master Bedroom.


Above Picture: Placement of Thai Kitchen Tiles.


Above Picture: Completed placement of Thai Kitchen Tile.

[Whiteshiva]

Above Picture: Toilet roll holder installed.

I take it you like your food extra spicy!




Nice thread - and a great project - thanks for sharing!