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  1. #151
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    Rivo's Avatar
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    No problem seeing the pics down here in Australia BiP 555

  2. #152
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    BoganInParasite's Avatar
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    Thanks for the confirmation Rivo. Made an amateur mistake with the photo file size too big. -BiP
    Quote Originally Posted by Rivo View Post
    No problem seeing the pics down here in Australia BiP 555

  3. #153
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp View Post
    Where was this, and more importantly, when was this!!?

    I remember 8-hour days ...but it was in UK, not middle east.

    Been 10 hours a day since i have been here. Current job, sometimes im starting 7am, finishing 9pm, 9.30pm or even 10pm. its the job, dont get any recognition for putting the hours in. that's just how it is

    Big changes will be coming in the Middle East before too long. I expect the Dubai changes soon after Expo2020. big downturn in projects etc.

    5 years or so from now, I don't think there will be too many western expats here. Taxes, spiraling accommodation costs, fuel rises, lower salary packages...eventually most will say 'its not worth it any more'.

    Glad I got my 10 years in when i did!



    Yeah...that's the sort of hard-won rota i'm looking for next year! lol
    TD
    It was only last year that I finished working and the job was located in West Papua in Indonesia. I'm a Mining Engineer. I didn't quit but was made redundant, like you I was always wanting to leave due to dealing with numpties and I said so, so when it came time to choose who went I was one of the many. Probably a good thing as I was always putting off retiring as I thought "have I got enough saved to last the rest of my life". The problem is when you're older getting another job when you discover you didn't have enough might be impossible.

    BiP
    Sorry for going off track in your thread.

    Cheers

  4. #154
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    Quote Originally Posted by ootai View Post
    TD

    BiP
    Sorry for going off track in your thread.

    Cheers
    LoL.. he will have to get used to that... all great threads have some 'asides'!

    makes them even more interesting...

  5. #155
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Thanks for dropping that ridiculous bold text.

  6. #156
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    Welcome to Nan, Pua is gorgeous country.

    New Aussie restaurant opened up just north of 'Elephant corner" on the west side of 1081. Very good food, decent prices. It's called Crossroads.

  7. #157
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    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    Thanks for dropping that ridiculous bold text.
    Lol...I didn't real eyes it bugged yew sew much!!

  8. #158
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    Quote Originally Posted by marcusb View Post
    Welcome to Nan, Pua is gorgeous country.

    New Aussie restaurant opened up just north of 'Elephant corner" on the west side of 1081. Very good food, decent prices. It's called Crossroads.
    Can’t really see it being a success.
    The locals won’t really be into burgers with beetroot and Chiko rolls I reckon.
    ;-)
    I took my wife into an Aussie highway roadhouse for the ‘dim sim in a food warmer since yesterday’ experience - priceless.
    The look on her face said ‘do these people really eat this shit ?’

  9. #159
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    Hi marcusb, I know where it is. Been on my to do list for a meal there for a month now. It will happen soon. - BiP
    Quote Originally Posted by marcusb View Post
    Welcome to Nan, Pua is gorgeous country.

    New Aussie restaurant opened up just north of 'Elephant corner" on the west side of 1081. Very good food, decent prices. It's called Crossroads.

  10. #160
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    Hi Folks,
    Yesterday I promised a posting on the financials of this build. There is a little bit involved but I'll try to keep it simple and clear.

    The design by Mark the builder was 26K baht (all values in the rest of the post are in thousands of baht). This gave us a proper set of plans and engineering docs which he submitted for approval with the local authority. If we walked away at that point we owed him a further 26K. So really his design price was 52K rebated by 50% if we continued the build with him which we have.

    His contract price is 3,100 (3.1M) and comprised at the highest level of:
    - Material 2,060
    - Labour 635
    - Profit 405 (he used 15%)
    Total 3,100

    Mark gave us a very detailed cost sheet which detailed material and labour costs by individual elements.

    There is a range of owner supplied items where his labour cost to install is included in the contract. These costs are generally firm because we have purchased most of the items:
    - Bathroom fixtures/fittings 66 (includes the hot water heaters)
    - Floor tiles 50
    - External water tanks 31
    - Four split system aircons 114
    - Curtains & hangers 36
    - Security doors 9
    Total 306

    Outside of the contract we have also paid:
    - Water connection 16
    - Fill for foundations/yard 32
    Total Paid Extras 48

    The western kitchen is being supplied and installed by a company working out of HomePro in Phrae. The kitchen appliances including electric oven, gas cooktop, hot water heater, faucet and hob/exhaust fan we have purchased direct from HomePro.
    - Kitchen supply/install 265
    - Kitchen fixed appliances 72
    Total 337

    Further I've estimated 165 for fences, driveway and spirit house stand and actual spirit houses. And a further 40 for permanent electricity and communications connections. (Might get some change back out of these items.)

    So total investment (excluding the land cost) looks like:
    - Design 26
    - Builder Contract 3,100
    - Owner Supplied Items 305
    - Paid Extras 48
    - Kitchen 337
    - Estimated Extras 205
    Total 4,022

    Calculating a cost per square meter probably requires some adjusts to total cost first. I would not include the Estimated Extras of 305 nor the covered carport cost of 256 which is in the contract. So my calculation of it would be:
    (4,022-305-256)/260 sqm = 13,300 baht per square meter.

    I'm pretty happy with that for what we are getting.

    An interesting note on the contract payments to Mark the builder. I rejected his first contract outright because it didn't contain an installments schedule and other important elements. He came back with a really good contract that addressed all of the points I required. His installment schedule was nine payments, the first being 15%, one other at 15% and the other seven at 10%. But the amazing thing was no money upfront. To get his 15% initial payment he proposed he had to mobilize to the site and complete the foundations. It wasn't me badgering him to get this installment schedule, I'd already told him I'd pay up to 20% upfront if required.

    And one other item...another 300 being spend on extra furniture and appliances.

    Regards,
    - BiP

  11. #161
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BoganInParasite View Post
    13,300 baht per square meter.
    A fair price for your build.

  12. #162
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    Looks like a great piece of land and house too. It's nice to visit the job and see the work going on. Looks like you have a great crew out there.

  13. #163
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    Thanks naptownmike, yeah I think they are pretty good too. For the first five weeks there was the same 6-7 onsite and the wife ascertained they had worked together for many years. Then three weeks ago 4 more turned up so we had 10 onsite, apparently another job had finished. Then a week later two ladies were added but the crew numbers dropped to 7-8. It is the early rice harvesting season here and that is done by hand atm. It seems many in the team have rice farms and if not working on their own farm they are helping others. In a month or so the mechanical harvesters should arrive. So far the work they have done has been very good, not perfect, but structurally sound. The first glimpse I've had of finished work is the roof frame and that really does look good. Today I'm expecting they may have made a start on the roof tiling. Probably the litmus test for me is when I start to see the quality of the wall cement rendering and the wall and floor tiling. Mistakes or unacceptable finishes there are going to be seen for a long time and hence I'll be casting a critical eye on it. BTW, the two ladies hold their own in the team. Mainly by mixing cement and bricklaying. - BiP
    Quote Originally Posted by naptownmike View Post
    Looks like a great piece of land and house too. It's nice to visit the job and see the work going on. Looks like you have a great crew out there.

  14. #164
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    It's amazing how hard the ladies work. We had quite a few on our job doing it all mixing cement, laying block, installing tile, digging holes. You don't often see any women on jobs here in the U.S. except the architects and designers. As you said the real test is when the finishing starts, like you I had a bit lower expectation than back home. I'll find out in a few months when we get back. Anyway good luck with your project I'll look forward to watching the progress.

  15. #165
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    Quote Originally Posted by naptownmike View Post
    It's amazing how hard the ladies work. We had quite a few on our job doing it all mixing cement, laying block, installing tile, digging holes. .
    I second this. my build crew under K.Pot is 6 guys and 4 ladies.

    I swear sometimes, its the ladies doing all the work!!

    The ladies are married to some of the guys in the team so its good the family units are together, hence I have a couple of kids in the Chonburi Hilton as well...happy families!

  16. #166
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    Site Visit 18 October 2018

    We headed out to the Pua home site this morning after resisting the urge for two days. On the off chance they had started the roof we went through the rice fields and were finally able to see it. (Circled in the photo below.) We were not too far off. Since our last visit they have progressed the brickwork on level 1 but the main activity and what was being exclusively worked on today was laying the foil insulation and roof tiles. The roof looked really good when we got our first close up view of it arriving at the site.

    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-locationfirmed-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-locationfirmed-jpg  
    Last edited by BoganInParasite; 18-10-2018 at 02:26 PM.

  17. #167
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9916-jpg
    Our first full view of the roof this morning. Really like the colour and texture.

    Another load of roof tiles arriving. Not sure of the number but they said each of the two pallets weighed 1.5 tons. They were unable to lift them direct to level 2 so the poor team will have to carry them up the stairs.
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9920-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9920-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9916-jpg  

  18. #168
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9924-jpg
    Noticeably cooler under the roof shade today.
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9925-jpg
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9926-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9924-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9925-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9926-jpg  

  19. #169
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9934-jpg
    We dropped more owner supplied items off again today. Had them inventoried and accepted by the supervisor. Then sent him and Mark the builder the photos.
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9935-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9934-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9935-jpg  
    Last edited by BoganInParasite; 18-10-2018 at 02:27 PM.

  20. #170
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9936-jpg
    The small level 1 guest room is taking shape. It will be big enough for a double bed, two bedside tables and a lowboy dresser with mirror. And small enough not to encourage long stays.
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9938-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9936-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9938-jpg  

  21. #171
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9941-jpg
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9942-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9941-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9942-jpg  

  22. #172
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9943-jpg
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9946-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9943-jpg   Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9946-jpg  

  23. #173
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    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9947-jpg
    This is what I like to see. They haven't laid a single brick on level 2 but already have the window and sliding door reinforcing ready.

    Next trip to site will be Saturday.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9947-jpg  

  24. #174
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BoganInParasite View Post
    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9916-jpg
    Our first full view of the roof this morning.


    Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province-img_9924-jpg
    Noticeably cooler under the roof shade today.
    Great stuff.

    I've never built with concrete tiles in Thailand.

    Given the sarking, how do they attach the tiles physically to the roof batons?

    Thanks

  25. #175
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    You know I pondered that on the drive back to Nan today. Don't know. Will find out on Saturday. There were many boxes of some type of tie near the storage shed this morning but I wasn't curious enough at that point to think of and ask the question. In any case, the climate data for Pua indicates a very benign environment when it comes to strong wind and/or hail, both very very rare.
    Quote Originally Posted by David48atTD View Post
    Great stuff.

    I've never built with concrete tiles in Thailand.

    Given the sarking, how do they attach the tiles physically to the roof batons?

    Thanks

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