The construction of Ms. Buad hai's house

[stroller]

^^
With a closed mind like this you will never be happy in the LOS!

Btw, my neighbour just had a porch-roof added on, priceless!
I bet they'll call on me after the first rain, our roof seems to be the rare one which doesn't leak in the village (mind you, took me half a year to get this sorted)
Squatters rules OK.

[DrAndy]

I am looking forward to seeing the finished kitchen could you have got a carpenter to build your cupboards or is that not strong enough for the granite top great thread good luck

The cost of having a cabinetmaker do the work was quite high. About twice what this is costing. There are some guys who do some very nice work; just out of my pocketbook range.

And, the wood cabinets would have been fine for the weight of the granite top. They do it all the time.

I made a wooden framework for a granite top; it is easily strong enough - I often stand on top of it as well to change light bulbs etc

[Spin]

They said it wasn't strong enough,

Thats BS, Superblock is structurally sound and strong enough for your house to not have any concrete beam uprights.
A company in KK builds two story hoses with this stuff and uses no vertical columns on the second floor. for the roof a "c" section beam is bolted to along the lenght of the top of the blocks using those bolts that expand and then the angled beams that carry the tiles are welded to to the beam. This takes at least 2 weeks off the build time.

[buad hai]

Thats BS

I know that, but I've learned that it's pretty much useless to get a Thai person to either change their mind or do something they really don't want to do....

[in4zip]

.......

But, after moving here I look back upon the Filipino work product with fondness. ............

I have never seen work as sloppy as what the guy we hired is doing.

It came as a bit of a shock..

for nearly 2 decades I've had loads of stuff built in Africa and when I came here, I was pleasantly surprised of the 'not so bad' quality of thai craftsmen compared to ...

everything is relative innit?

[buad hai]

everything is relative innit?

Indeed. Part of the pleasure of living in different parts of the world.

[Spin]

I've learned that it's pretty much useless to get a Thai person to either change their mind or do something they really don't want to do....

Then just escort them out of your house and pay them up and say goodbye.

Who's in charge here, the man with the money or the employee?

[buad hai]

Who's in charge here, the man with the money or the employee?

Who's in charge is the woman who can actually speak to the employees. Along with a lot of other things I've learned that Ms. B is a strong devotee of the concept of Graeng Jai; she has a very limited ability to say anything negative, contradict anyone, or point out that someone is incorrect or has done something wrong.

I have to carefully pick and choose how I direct her or else she simply runs out of gas.

For example, the nitwit electrician who wired the kitchen put the oven (which draws up to 22 amps) on the same 16 amp circuit with the kitchen utility outlets. This, of course, is wired with 2.5mm wire. The oven needs a circuit of its own with 4mm wire. I told Ms. B to inform the architect of the error. She did. He said it would be OK and there ended her ability to be contradictory.

Only when she actually read her "Chang Fai Fa Nai Baan" book and an article on kitchen wiring in a "Baan Lae Suan" magazine did she realize how serious the error was. Armed with both the book and magazine she finally worked up the courage to insist that the circuits be rewired.

I knew in advance that while she'd be able to ask Khun Chang about using Super Block she never would have worked up the courage to contradict his assertion that they were insufficiently strong.

And, there you have it: Mr. and Mrs. Meek.

[Spin]

^ Greng Jai's bang on if there is a small problem with a check bin but burning to death is another matter.
Thai's have to wake up and smell the coffee regarding safety and competancy, especially when selling to foreigners i reckon.

He said it would be OK

Why would you let that situation continue knowing full well he was talking nonsense?

[DrAndy]

everything is relative innit?

It is if you live in Isaan

[buad hai]

Of course, the afternoon was not a total loss. I did see this beautiful sky:


And, on the way home this crew of mostly female steel workers were happy to have their photo taken:

[buad hai]

you got any electricity yet?

No, and no sign of it.

Kitchen crew seems to have given up as well....

[dano]

i suggest listening to the Beach Boys "In My Room" for 2.5 hrs at various speeds or joining me for a 60km bike ride.....couldn't hurt

[DrAndy]

depends on your saddle

as for the wife not being able to contradict the workers/architect, it is reasonable

I too would not contradict any tradesman etc if I did not have sufficient knowledge to do so. She read up on the facts and then had the courage and facts to back her assertions

good for her

[buad hai]

Kitchen crew seems to have given up as well....

Ms. B called Khun Chang this morning to ask when he's going to finish the job. He said he'd come on Sunday and finish it. I have no idea why the week long gap between pouring the counter slab and finishing up. Also, I can't believe he will be able to finish it in one day. Doesn't he have to let the mortar on the tiles harden up before he puts in the cabinet faces?

[dirtydog]

The cabinet faces go in first.

[buad hai]

The cabinet faces go in first.

The instructions that came with them say that the concrete should be dry before the cabinet faces are installed.

[dirtydog]

They are protecting themselves from any liabiliaty, the frames will be fitted and then cemented in.

[buad hai]

^So, you don't think it's a problem to mount wooden cabinet faces in wet cement? Or, is it a case of: they've always done it that way so that's they way they're going to do it, no matter what?

[dirtydog]

If they done it by the instructions, they would end up having to plane down the frames and doors to try and get it all to fit in, how do you think Thai door frames or window frames are fitted?

[buad hai]

Well, the instructions are pretty clear. Make the openings in the front of the kitchen counter to a specific size. Fit the cabinet face frames with the hardware supplied. These are not designed to be mortared in the way they do door and window frames and those plastic cabinet face frames, as demonstrated in the photo above. The cabinet faces have a flange which is designed to be screwed in to the counter after the surface has been rendered and the tile affixed. Trying to mount the face frames and mortar around them will defeat the purpose of the design.

Of course, now we run in to the problem of trying to tell a Thai, especially a Thai artisan, that what he knows or the way he's always done it is wrong. They simply decline to be influenced by either logic or evidence.

Sure, I can tell him how I want it done, but this gives him license to fail, doesn't it. "See, you made me do it this way and I f*cked it up. It would have been OK had you let me do it the way I've always done it."

So, do I make him do it the way the manufacturer intended or let him do it his way?

[a. boozer]

So, do I make him do it the way the manufacturer intended or let him do it his way?

Let him do it his way!

[a. boozer]

Of course, now we run in to the problem of trying to tell a Thai, especially a Thai artisan, that what he knows or the way he's always done it is wrong. They simply decline to be influenced by either logic or evidence.

Logic is something that should be confiscated by customs on entry to the LOS. as it is a meaningless word here!

.................................................. ................

[Propagator]

Logic is something that should be confiscated by customs on entry to the LOS. as it is a meaningless word here!

Very true - can't green you for that must spead the loving around

[stroller]

The instructions that came with them say that the concrete should be dry before the cabinet faces are installed.

Well, yeah, but just because it's printed, doesn't mean this is the only way to do it.

If you want it to be done, let him do it his way, of course he'll smear cement all over the frames, as they usually do, but TIT.