Thread: DrAndy's Wife's New Project in the old city

Work continues, slowly but surely

The downstairs bathroom has had the wall moved




from the inside, the toilet cistern will sit against the new wall. Whilst only about 50cm has been gained, the bathroom now can be designed so that it will not feel cramped, and the shower water will not wet everything in there




The upstairs bathroom has also been rejigged

The shower moved to the neighbours wall; we couldn't dig holes for the pipes in that wall, so we built up an extra row of bricks inside the shower enclosure

The toilet will be rotated!





a view down to the kitchen, the arch has yet to be cut




This small outside roof really is an eyesore, so we will lift it and make the underside match the rest

the neighbour has done that and it looks much better

we will probably bring the roof right across to hide the other roof side



the neighbour






the funny bit about that is that the electrician bet the builder B100 that we would ask him to do that

builder was a bit sour-faced!

Dr. A, have you done this is a past life, or did you gain experience by building your houses? Your apartments in the city are very nice and I would think these will be similar in quality and finish.

I may have to come over and pick your brain when I return and look into building something similar.

Cheers

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Dr. A, have you done this is a past life, or did you gain experience by building your houses? Your apartments in the city are very nice and I would think these will be similar in quality and finish.

I had to do a lot of jobs with my first house way back, as I had no money to pay builders. I had a kind friend who helped me learn all sorts of basic skills

from that, I have renovated several houses over the years, with my own designs, and often doing a lot of the work myself

The two houses in Thailand which are subject of threads are the first houses I have ever designed and built from scratch; both are good to live in so I am pleased with them

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I may have to come over and pick your brain when I return and look into building something similar.

No problem, our consultancy fees are reasonable

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Is that such a good idea to put an arch into the kitchen Doc ?? you know what the Thais are like with they're cooking smells .

Should be fine as I will not be living there!

and there will be enough ventilation in the kitchen

next...this is the frame for the bedroom sliding doors

essentially a spacesaver but a bit costly





from the inside of the bedroom; the doors will slide to each side inside and, yes, the electric points and switch will have to be moved to the adjacent wall



the upstairs kitchen basically set up ready for the doors and top




the view out of that kitchen window

a lot were blown down last week




and the view from further in



seems slow at the moment but things are getting there

Very nice - starting to look like something.

cheers Davis

it is always nice to go there and see it all coming together

should be more dramatic soon, lots of Gyproc has arrived on site

Originally Posted by KiCanCummins

I am always amazed at the way Thai's go about building, one guy puts up wall that is all he knows how, next guy comes and removes 1/3rd of wall for window, Next electrician comes and removes structural integrity of wall when he puts in conduit for wiring, 1st guy has top come back and slap mortar over conduit to cover it up. (from my experience here in LOS)

not in my experience

any doors and windows are built into the new walls

and yes, if a conduit needs to be cut in, the electrician will do that, depending on the thickness and strength of the wall. We will not be cutting into any shared walls as we don't want to upset the neighbours by making any holes!

the final render is not usually applied until all the work on the wall has finished

the only times I have seen any different is when the client/owner has changed his mind and decided he needs a window that was not on the building plan, for instance

Originally Posted by KiCanCummins

Its a pity that there are no proper trade schools any more

well, this building is situated very near a Technical school where most of the trades are taught. The electrician I use has his son there and is very happy at the skills he is learning

Have been planning an eventual remodel of the house in Pattaya I told you about Dr Andy ... but I think your thread has me thinking about some different ideas now ... like how to brighten up the interior. I'm thinking I'll have to place some sort of window opening in the roof.

Yep, if you don't have the option of a window in the wall, then a roof opening can be good; you have to be careful about heat though if that roof is southerly facing

^
What about water leakage?

^consult an expert, easy enough to do with the correct design criteria

Quite often you can just replace the tiles you have with transparent equivalents, then it is easy

you then build a silvered box down to the ceiling to transmit the light

if you have to make a hole and put a window frame in, then you have to be careful about leakage

at last, the ceiling Gyproc boards are going in

They give a better feeling for what the rooms will be like

this is the back bedroom upstairs




the hallway




and the front living room





meanwhile downstairs they are rendering the walls, and the beams eventually





and we now have a semi-secure storeroom so we can buy anything in advance

this will hopefully cut out any delays due to the materials not being available

Originally Posted by DrAndy

today we have a full crew, and the two electricians (in red)

apologies for the quality of the shots





...

Does your team of builders sleep on the premises after work or do they vacate and return to their homes?

I currently have at least 6 workers sleeping over at my project. (prolly a scam too )

yes, that is the best of the scams

but we only have one who stays there, and he doesn't even get paid as a security guard!

he sleeps in a tent which keeps most of the dust out

Originally Posted by DrAndy

but we only have one who stays there, and he doesn't even get paid as a security guard!

Plenty of security guards about but they don't sleep. At least not the ones on the night shift.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

he sleeps in a tent which keeps most of the dust out

Both houses on the property is full of those tents.

more progress

they have moved downstairs again

here is the front bedroom ready for rendering

we will keep the louvre window and just fit new screens




The kitchen, similar to the other one

this is quite a bright room now, with the two windows and the double doors opening to the patio




the back bedroom, which could also be used as a living space as it will be connected to the breakfast room with sliding doors

the pipes area will have a false ceiling, the rest will be rendered directly



The upstairs kitchen having the sloping ceiling fitted





The front bedroom ready for the Gyproc



the big tiles will start to be laid upstairs tomorrow, as long as the ceilings are finished

Are you getting rid of the louvered windows and what is the cost to do a section like above? Looking good so far. Thanks for the pictorial.

^ no, we will keep the louvres, they need a good clean though

Louvres have the big advantage that they fully open the window space and take up little room

and they are already exist

we have considered putting in sliding windows, they cut the opening by half

or frame type windows but they need to be wide open for good airflow