Thread: Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province

Looking good, BiP.

Great thread BiP! I have to echo what a couple of others have said, I'd think about opening up the kitchen or having an outside cooking area set aside for the summer months.

I reckon you got yourself a great little building crew there, BiP.

That roof looks fabulous,

...and, unlike my crew, yours are flying along!!

I reckon you will be finished, in, and then doing the first refurbishment to paint or whatever before I set foot through our door!!

Yeah, I know...probably not... I'm just getting a bit frustrated sat here in Dubai watching all this great building work going on and I'm too far away....

Coming together nicely bip. Roof looks great and the reflective film under tiles works great.

Beginning to look like a project, BIP.
Cheers!

Thank you Neverna. - BiP

Originally Posted by Neverna

Looking good, BiP.

Thank you CSFFan, we've worked up a new plan to bring more natural light into the kitchen. But first we'll get it installed as I'm going to be punching more holes in walls and am not confident of calculating the right spots. Already slightly anxious about where we positioned the three low windows we put in for extra ventilation. A number of folks keep mentioning an outside kitchen. The Thai wife used one her whole life when at her parents home near Nakhon Pathom but after joining me in Dubai in 2013 and using a western style kitchen, she wants nothing more to do with outside kitchens. While she cooks asian style dishes her technique and flavours are not such that the kitchen and house reek. I do a lot of cooking as well and would be 60/40 using the gas cooktop versus an oven. We are installing a strong hob/exhaust fan to cater for any cooking smells and fumes. Being an Aussie I do like to BBQ as does the wife. A little side project I'm contemplating is converting the Webber electric BBQ we purchased in Phoenix to use heat beads/charcoal. - BiP

Originally Posted by CSFFan

Great thread BiP! I have to echo what a couple of others have said, I'd think about opening up the kitchen or having an outside cooking area set aside for the summer months.

Thanks TD, might end up with the same distance frustration...supposed to be flying to Abu Dhabi very early AM on Monday but have not received the tickets yet. - BiP

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

I reckon you got yourself a great little building crew there, BiP.

That roof looks fabulous,

...and, unlike my crew, yours are flying along!!

I reckon you will be finished, in, and then doing the first refurbishment to paint or whatever before I set foot through our door!!

Yeah, I know...probably not... I'm just getting a bit frustrated sat here in Dubai watching all this great building work going on and I'm too far away....

Thanks Norton. - BiP

Originally Posted by Norton

Coming together nicely bip. Roof looks great and the reflective film under tiles works great.

Thank you HuangLao. - BiP

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Beginning to look like a project, BIP.
Cheers!

Very comprehensive thread.

Thanks for sharing.

Welcome AntRobertson, and thanks. (I love some of the user names in these forums.) - BiP

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Very comprehensive thread.

Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Thanks TD, might end up with the same distance frustration...supposed to be flying to Abu Dhabi very early AM on Monday but have not received the tickets yet. - BiP

Oooops!

...welcome to the Middle East...

.. lots of things get 'forgotten'... its when they forget to deposit the money in your bank that you need to start worrying....!

Well, that has been a most excellent read Bogan and i wish you all the very best in your new home, thanks very much for sharing

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

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.

I like your thinking, no permanent unwanted residents

Thank you Dead Metal. - BiP

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Well, that has been a most excellent read Bogan and i wish you all the very best in your new home, thanks very much for sharing

Too true CCC. I was originally going to put a third bedroom upstairs but when the wife announced a desire to possibly run a homestay in the future I decided the upstairs bedrooms should be large and have access to the north facing covered deck....views, views, views. Initially decided we'll stick with three bedrooms but when we met Mark the builder I asked if he could do a five meter span between columns without having to do any heavy engineering. My draft plans at that point assumed a 4m x 4m column spacing. Mark said he could so I increased the middle of the house to a five meter east/west span. Gave me just enough room to get this small bedroom in although I had to forego a planned storage space. With the benefit of hindsight I should have gone for 5.5 meters since Mark said he could do up to six meters easily and it would have made a difference in that room. BTW, having got up to speed more on Nan province and Pua in particular tourism, I think the wife's homestay idea has considerable merit, particularly in the cooler months. That was the reason we put in a kitchenette on level 2. Guests would have access to a refrigerator and microwave and can also make tea/coffee/etc at their own leisure from our supplies. May look at it in the middle of 2019. If I'm involved may need a work permit and I've not investigated that at all yet. - BiP

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

I like your thinking, no permanent unwanted residents

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

I love some of the user names in these forums

Speaking of which, yours is... interesting!

If you haven't already read it, post #28 explains that. - BiP

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Speaking of which, yours is... interesting!

Well the next site visit is tomorrow (Saturday) so no new pictures to post today. I thought I'd share with you how we found our builder. Our search proved to be remarkable short, but adventurous none the less.

When we arrived to live in Nan in late May we had no builder but more importantly, no long term accommodation. So we booked into a riverside boutique resort in Nan city for a week and began our search for a property to lease (and a car to buy). There was no one else staying at the resort and we got friendly with the husband and wife owners and shared our plans. Within the week they had supplied the name and contact of a Pua builder with a good reputation and also mentioned there was another good builder who was the SIL of the owner of a large bathroom fixtures/tile shop in Pua. Within that first week we also found a house to lease in central Nan and had our newfound landlady on the case as well. So ten days after we arrived in Nan we were in a leased house and had purchased a Toyota Hilux. We were ready to head up to Pua to admire our land and dream of the day we could move into our new house.

On that first trip to Pua the wife called the recommended builder we had the number. He was enthusiastic to meet and invited us to a large site where he was finishing off a new multi-story school building. He and his team were very friendly. He looked at our PowerPoint drawn plans and asked how many square meters. Told him 300, he immediately came back and said he could build it for $3.6m (which coincidentally was my maximum desired budget amount). He invited us to go see his showrooms and hardware store in another town close to Pua. We did so and were impressed. He said he already had plans and engineering drawings for something similar he would send, we could sign a contract on Tuesday (this was Saturday) and pay 50% up front. We said to send the plans and left. Of course most of you will have realized he just sunk any chance he might have had. I was quite angry, mainly because he had clearly tagged us as naive suckers. He did send the plans next day and they were both pretty good and close to our design. But his fate was already sealed. My conclusion was he was in need of cashflow.

So we headed back to our land and the old owner was onsite. We had allowed him to continue to graze cattle and he owns the adjacent land. Told him we looking for a builder. He said his brother was a builder and was building the house about 200 meters from us. So we walked down to it with him and met the brother and one of the building team. I don't speak Thai and none of them spoke english so I'm poking around picking up building tips while the wife spoke with them. Then she joined me while they continued to talk. They occasionally addressed her. Started to notice a change in the wife and soon she wanted to leave. Once in the car she explained they were talking about how much money they were going to make out of the farang. Worse for her they were not hiding the conversation and kidded her about it, the inference being she was with me for convenience. Now she was steaming as well. So we tucked our tails between our legs and headed back to Nan.

Being resilient we headed back to Pua next day, found the bathroom/tile shop and inquired after the SIL builder. They made a call, invited us to sit down and provided cool drinks. Within twenty minutes the builder arrived. First impressions were very good, young, polite, well dressed, good hand shake. His first question to us was would we like to come and see some of the properties he has built. We said yes, but never did in the end. He looked at our plans, discussed them, took notes and in response the wife said he thought it would cost between 10,000-12,000 baht per sqm to build. We asked if he would like to go out and see the land and we did. While he can understand and speak limited english, he is much more comfortable speaking in Thai and did so with my wife. This allowed me to watch him and observe his body language. He was walking the land, pacing it out, looking at the orientation and boundaries. Making notes of the electricity and checking for availability of the village water supply. At the end we were walking back to the car and I noticed him turn, walk backwards a couple of step, stop and nod. I knew he wanted to do the job. I asked him about the column span and when he said he could do up to six meters easily, I told him I'd rejig our plans and send the next day. Within half a week we are sitting in a coffee shop in Nan with he and his wife reviewing the first cut of our plans in his CADCAM system. We signed the design contract that day and haven't looked back. The important things were that his reputation said he was good, his body language told me he was interested in the job and his overall demeanor told me we could trust him. It has proved to be the case.

Regards,
BiP

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

If you haven't already read it, post #28 explains that. - BiP

Ah I hadn't and do it does!

I got the "bogan" part but was confused by the rest.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

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

The tiles "interlock" also they have a moulding on the backside that fits above the horizontal roof baton to stop it sliding down, I have seen some roofers wire the "occasional" tiles in place.

Site Visit 20 October 2018

The wife and I visited the site today after a quiet Friday. Did my first 90 day report yesterday at Nan Immigration. Went early afternoon and was in and out in under ten minutes, half that time was spent filling out the TM47 form.

Over the last two days they have completed the bulk of the roof. Just the ridge and hip capping, eaves and gutters to go. Bamboo scaffolding has been erected around three sides of the house. A final load of red bricks were being delivered this morning and now that that has occurred the remaining scaffolding will be put in place. On level 1 bricklaying has continued but slowly. Red bricks were being positioned on level 2.

Mark the builder was onsite today and confirmed to the wife that progress will be slower over the coming weeks due to the manual rice harvesting. Something I didn't mention in my update two days ago was that Mark's supervisor was onsite on our last visit and was indeed supervising. Most likely the third payment, this time 10%, will be due for payment in the next few working days.