Thread: Aussie Style House Build

Beginning to look like a house. Looking good.
23,000 BTU unit should do the job well. Have same in simular size area and works a charm.

Update on Progress 29.03.23

After the plasterers finished the builder asked if we'd mind waiting a week for the tiler to start as he needed him to finish another job prior to staring ours. "No problem." said Yuri. "It'll give us time to go to a home show in BKK." .... After giving the credit card a solid work out, we've got a range hood, a kitchen sink and a lot of tiles. Needless to say I was glad to catch the flight home.

The verandah tiles were ready and waiting for the tiler, who started work two days ago. He and his wife are a great team. Very professional and well set up, bringing their own fridge, stove and rice cooker. Given the amount of tiling involved and the time it takes they are making themselves as comfortable as possible. They have made a solid start and aim to finish the verandah before Songkran. Like the plasterers, their standard of work is very high, in keeping with the overall quality of the build, albeit the rendering is still causing concern for both Khun Pue and me.

Some images below from today:

Yuri inspecting the tiler's work as his wife watches on. She does the manual work: mixes the grout; brings tiles to her husband; gets sand and water for the grout. A very hard worker with a great sense of humour.

A quality job. Can't wait to see how inside the house looks once the floor tiles are down. Next update will be on the bathrooms in a week or so. Stay tuned...

Peciacake
Looks as though you're getting there the last bit is the bit that takes longest because it is the detailed work.

I can't remember what you did regarding making sure or trying to make sure you have no sinking but I can't see the tiler leaving any gap between the tiles.
The same thing happened at our place and there must have been some very minute displacement and the tiles exploded and buckled. We had to strip an area and lay new tiles which of course they don't match the originals.

Ootai, Froggy,
Appreciate your eye for detail. There is a small gap - tiles are the same colour as the grout so it looks deceiving.

Following this thread closely - very interesting ideas. Something I have always pondered - however never took the leap and started the project! I am against any type of "balancing" when it comes to building a structure - everything has to be fashioned so it CANNOT move somehow. Plaster, clips - whatever it takes.

Following along on your journey! Good luck.

Originally Posted by JuniperFred21

Following this thread closely - very interesting ideas. Something I have always pondered - however never took the leap and started the project! I am against any type of "balancing" when it comes to building a structure - everything has to be fashioned so it CANNOT move somehow. Plaster, clips - whatever it takes.

Following along on your journey! Good luck.

JuniperFred21
Not all building are designed to be absolutely rigid i.e. not move at all, there are many especially in earthquake zones that are designed to move so they can withstand the energy of an earthquake.
The problem here in Thailand is that to build something like that would require very detailed engineering design and then it would need to be built to specifications with no deviations.
That is something that would be very rare here if it ever happened at all.
You need to remember that a lot of rural Thais are not even one generation away from building with wood frames and sheaved roofs.

Update on Progress 02.04.23

Ootai's comment above is so true: detailed work takes the time. Luckily we're in no hurry and keep telling the team to take their time to get it right rather than hurry and do a less than satisfactory job. Work commenced on plumbing up the two bathrooms plus installing mixers and showers etc. First one was completed late yesterday afternoon and passed the pressure test.
We're very lucky to have Nhy as the Chang for this section of the build. It's obvious from his painstaking approach that he takes a lot of pride in his work.
The bathrooms will be tiled as soon as the plumbing is completed however given the work also requires shower cubicles to be bricked in and rendered beforehand it looks like this will be after Songkran.

The image below shows the pressure test rig in the guest bathroom and the partially constructed shower cubicle.

^ I'm having some construction work done at the moment and the quality is shit mainly because there is little supervision and they are rushing.

Not to mention the workers are from Myanmar and I cannot even communicate with them in Thai.

I'm in the process of trying to get the main problems corrected and I will correct the minor issues myself.

I wouldn't recommend this particular builder clown to my worst enemy.

Originally Posted by peciacake

tiles are the same colour as the grout

That's quality! I carefully chose grouts to match tiles. They did use what they were given but they failed to start with clean tiles, so the light grey grout picked up the dry season brown dust. Still irks me if I stop to look at it. The brown tiles came out okay.

Originally Posted by Shutree

That's quality! I carefully chose grouts to match tiles.

Hi Shutree, yes quality with a capital Q. We've been constantly impressed with the Tiling Team and their high standards. The wife does all the grouting, and she is very particular with both the colour and the finish; four passes is her standard whereas most village tilers will settle for a single pass. She also adjusted the mix to get the colour just right as the images below show. Her skill in matching the colour emphasised by mixing small batches to ensure the grout doesn't get to dry during application.

The finished job - looks great too.

The tiler has provided a sample layout for the interior tiles offset in the living & dining room. Given the quality of his work there was very little discussion - we agreed with his recommended layout without question.

Interior Floor Tiles

Prior to heading for a well earned break over Songkran the Tiling Team wanted to leave us with a sample of what the interior floor tiles will look like, so they pressed ahead and tiled the lounge / living room and foyer area.
This was after giving us a few options to consider on the layout: as mentioned above we adopted their recommendations.
The image below shows a section of the living room. Both Yuri and I are very impressed with the result. The same tiles will be used for the rest of the house excluding the bed and bathrooms. Apart from being aesthetically pleasing to Yuri and I, the tiles are not slippery even with water on them, are easy to clean and feel great under bare feet.

Update on Progress 09.04.23 - Windows are In

Those of you with a keen eye for detail may have noticed the window behind the tiler. Tana Aluminium from Roi Et delivered and installed the windows on Friday, arriving at 10:30 and leaving at 16:15 - job done. They look great too, completed with dark reflective glass to further our aim for a cool house. The change in glass spec cost ฿2,000 extra, which when compared to the ceramic film originally planned made it an easy decision to change, particularly after reading about some of the difficulties experienced by novices when applying ceramic film.
Now we need some good strong insect screens. Crimsafe is the go-to security screen in AUS. Does anyone know of a Thai equivalent? As always, suggestions & recommendations will be gratefully received.

Below is another shot of the same wall, with the main bedroom window in the foreground. Note the white crosses on the wall - cracks in the render are still appearing both inside and out. Hopefully these can be successfully filled using a good quality silicon based sealer. It's an ongoing concern though, particularly when reading the expression on Nhy's face when we discuss the cracks with him.

Now we need some good strong insect screens. Crimsafe is the go-to security screen in AUS. Does anyone know of a Thai equivalent? As always, suggestions & recommendations will be gratefully received.

No personal experience but this link for "Majestec" might be of interest :https://www.huator.info/majestec?gclid=CjwKCAjw29vsBRAuEiwA9s-0BwwCckbqBSkF167-YF0qgh5y8iklSHjp8DInSw-g2W5BD8HfwasPBhoCcU8QAvD_BwE

Really coming together and starting to feel like a home. The tile for in the house is a very nice choice.

Originally Posted by mikenot

this link for "Majestec" might be of interest

Many thanks Mike. Exactly what we're looking for. Hope the budget can be stretched sufficiently.

Saw this at Thai Watsadu Roiet the other day.

Security Screens | Thai Hua Wire Mesh Co., Ltd.

Originally Posted by Norton

Saw this at Thai Watsadu Roiet the other day

Many thanks Norton. Looks ideal for our application.

Originally Posted by Froggy

Really coming together and starting to feel like a home. The tile for in the house is a very nice choice

Thank you Froggy. Yes, with windows and tiles it does very much feel like a home.

Update on Progress 23.04.23

The break for Songkran has meant things haven't progressed much since the last update. The tiler came back from holidays 17.04.23 and continued tiling the main living area / kitchen / laundry and study.

The image below is a view of the main living area looking from the kitchen. The wife of the tiler does the grouting - as mentioned previously, her attention to detail is the same as her husband: to a very high standard

The image below is a view from the back door looking through the laundry and the study area to the front door.
Cables are for underground power to the main switch board. The breezeway effect works well: even when there is next to no breeze outside there is still air flow through the passageway

The tiler started doing the wall tiles in the second bathroom yesterday and tiles on just one wall has made an appreciable difference, lifting what was a dark and dingy room to a much brighter space

While work has slowed appreciably due mainly to the break over Songkran, we are in no hurry - as mentioned previously, it's about quality. So far, apart from the less than satisfactory render, the build quality is to a high standard, something we are very grateful for. We visited a friend's build yesterday - 14 months and still not complete, and plenty of problems too - the owners are at their wit's end. The build is being done by a large company, who operate throughout Issan: at one stage we considered using them. Thankfully Koh-kay Constructions were recommended to us. Our build has gone almost seamlessly by comparison.

More to come soon. Thanks for reading.

Looking really nice. Good floor plan.

Soon you will be feet up enjoying your new place.

Coming along, managing the build yourself is the best way if you can.

Is the cable in the Kitchen floor(?) for an island?

Originally Posted by peciacake

The breezeway effect works well

to blow your fortune out of the house

Originally Posted by Stumpy

Soon you will be feet up enjoying your new place.

Thanks Stumpy. Yes, it won't be long and we'll be relaxing on the verandah sharing a couple of coldies with friends.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

Is the cable in the Kitchen floor(?) for an island?

Yes it is for an island Mike. The kitchen is one area still not fully sorted. The budget doesn't quite stretch to the design Yuri has in mind.

Originally Posted by peciacake

The budget doesn't quite stretch to the design Yuri has in mind.

Knowing Yuri, doubt you'll change her mind so be prepared to change some AU$.

Coming along nicely mate.