Thread: Aussie Style House Build

Looking good mate. Enjoying watching the process.

Originally Posted by DrWilly

Looking good mate. Enjoying watching the process.

Thank Dr Willy, appreciate your kind words.

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

Looks like terrazzo, or is it granite? If you don't mind saying, how much was it to buy per SQ Meter (got to sell the idea to the wife LOL)

G'day Buckaroo,
Tiles are porcelain "Granito" brand from DoHome. Price ฿407 per M2. The tiler was impressed with them - he commented they were a good choice as an outdoor tile, saying they were slip resistant but not to the point of being difficult to keep clean.

Thank you also for your kind words. Overall we are very happy so far - careful planning and a very good builder and Yuri is a great project manager.

Garden Beds

Part of establishing our new home was a commitment to be as off-grid and self sustaining as possible. The land we're building on offers plenty of space, so veggy gardens have been in the plan from day 1. Rather than leave it till after the build, we (Yuri mainly) have started putting in garden beds immediately behind the house. These are made from compressed red clay bricks, line with weed mat and filled with a mix of rice paddy soil, burnt rice, rice husks and cow shit. A watering system will be added once they are complete.
We aim to grow all our own vegetables with any surplus going to Yuri's mum's shop. We're keen to go full organic, but the bugs around these parts are pretty tough - all the usual organic methods of pest control we've tried are of little effect. If anyone can recommend a good organic pesticide we can make ourselves I'd be very appreciative.

We have an organic farm in Chanthaburi.
Putting pvc pipe hoops over the beds and covering them with insect netting works for us.

Hey peciacake. Like the garden planning, that's going to be a healthy amount of space, and you should have plenty of buffalo shit handy. Speaking of which, any new developments in the buffalo wars? Hadn't heard much about that in a while.

Originally Posted by MAF

We have an organic farm in Chanthaburi.
Putting pvc pipe hoops over the beds and covering them with insect netting works for us.

Thanks for the prompt response and recommendation MAF. Any chance of a picture? I can sort of visualize what you've done but would be very interested to see it.

Originally Posted by peciacake

Thanks for the prompt response and recommendation MAF. Any chance of a picture? I can sort of visualize what you've done but would be very interested to see it.

Directly opposite our house is a piece of land which for years was just left. At the beginning of Covid, a family started to cultivate it for a variety of vegetables. These PVC 'hoops' are currently used for growing the long beans, but I can well imagine the same type of framework being covered in mesh both for potential shade and insect protection.

Originally Posted by Froggy

any new developments in the buffalo wars? Hadn't heard much about that in a while.

G'day Froggy, good to hear from you. The Buffalo wars are still happening. Now confined to one recalcitrant who happens to have a herd of 20+ buffalo and lady with only 6 buffalo (who Yuri spent a lot of time with in sorting out how to apply for a chanote...). The recalcitrant with the large herd is a real left hand thread. He's an ex-Thai boxer and has threatened to bash Yuri's uncle (who works for the Obotor) if he tries to put the barbed wire back up again. I suggested the Uncle makes a complaint to the police over the threats however according to Yuri the police would regard it as a "village matter" what ever that is, and leave it to the Uncle to sort out.

The contamination will be less of a problem once the new water treatment plant has been fully installed and commissioned. If you look at the RHS of the image above, you'll see a blue structure just behind the trees. This is a new ฿5.4M facility currently under construction. It is supposed to provide primary and secondary filtration along with chemical dosing, which may only be chlorine and sodium carbonate. The one downside is it is supposed to serve five villages - the reservoir currently serves two and is already very low. Extending the reservoir would be the only option to bring the capacity up to serve five villages. Fortunately the location of the plant, literally 60 metres from our back door, makes it very unlikely our land would be affected. Albeit, I have learnt in Thailand to expect the unexpected...

Originally Posted by PAG

the same type of framework being covered in mesh both for potential shade and insect protection.

Hi PAG, thanks for posting this. I've seen the blue pipe used as a trellis around these parts too. It works well, whereas termites usually make short work of any timber trellis.
I was particularly interested in the mesh. We get everything from moths to beetles along with a variety of other bugs feeding on our trees so the mesh is a very important component.

Kitchen Suppliers

It would be very much appreciated if anyone can recommend a good kitchen supplier. We've reached a stalemate on Yuri's preferred design and the budget cap - the gap is too big for me to afford her preferred design. We've looked at several Kitzcho farang installations for ฿300.0K and listened to the horror stories accompanying the installation process. Suffice to say we'll be steering well clear of them. So I'm on the look out for a company that offers a good design / price and installation. Shouldn't be a problem...

Originally Posted by peciacake

So I'm on the look out for a company that offers a good design / price and installation.

Have a look at Koncept in Surin.

Also check with K. Pu.

Originally Posted by peciacake

We've looked at several Kitzcho farang installations for ฿300.0K and listened to the horror stories accompanying the installation process

Kitzcho makes decent stuff but installation quality varies from great to pure crap depending on where you purchase.

Originally Posted by Norton

Kitzcho makes decent stuff but installation quality varies from great to pure crap depending on where you purchase.

The best installation of any product I have ever had in the world was them. About 3 hours to do the entire kitchen using lasers and other high tech gear. Just two guys to fit out a whole kitchen. I really did not believe they could be done. A quality product as well.

Originally Posted by peciacake

G'day Froggy, good to hear from you. The Buffalo wars are still happening. Now confined to one recalcitrant who happens to have a herd of 20+ buffalo and lady with only 6 buffalo (who Yuri spent a lot of time with in sorting out how to apply for a chanote...). The recalcitrant with the large herd is a real left hand thread. He's an ex-Thai boxer and has threatened to bash Yuri's uncle (who works for the Obotor) if he tries to put the barbed wire back up again. I suggested the Uncle makes a complaint to the police over the threats however according to Yuri the police would regard it as a "village matter" what ever that is, and leave it to the Uncle to sort out.

The contamination will be less of a problem once the new water treatment plant has been fully installed and commissioned. If you look at the RHS of the image above, you'll see a blue structure just behind the trees. This is a new ฿5.4M facility currently under construction. It is supposed to provide primary and secondary filtration along with chemical dosing, which may only be chlorine and sodium carbonate. The one downside is it is supposed to serve five villages - the reservoir currently serves two and is already very low. Extending the reservoir would be the only option to bring the capacity up to serve five villages. Fortunately the location of the plant, literally 60 metres from our back door, makes it very unlikely our land would be affected. Albeit, I have learnt in Thailand to expect the unexpected...

Thanks, village dynamics are always interesting. We will probably be starting on our house in the next couple of years so I always enjoy these good build threads.

I was particularly interested in the mesh. We get everything from moths to beetles along with a variety of other bugs feeding on our trees so the mesh is a very important component.

Different mesh sizes available in rolls.
white is - 7% sunscreen.

Correct Way to Deal with Cracks in Rendered AAC Blocks

Looking for advice from TD subscribers who have experience in eliminating cracks in rendered AAC blocks. Followers of this post will recall the render was not carried out satisfactorily, a fear I held from well before the build started given our use of AAC blocks and the experience of a good friend, Tony Eastmead, who had exactly the same problem.

The rendering crew worked one man short when Chang Nye injured his hand. The result was a poorly supervised job with numerous sections having to be completely re-rendered. Most of this work has been completed, to varying levels of success. Some sections still need re-rendering, which will happen in due course. It is the smaller cracks that I'm concerned about now, where the render is firmly fixed to the AAC blocks, but has numerous hairline cracks spreading.

Our builder is proposing to use a poly-seal primer to cover the smaller cracks, saying this will fill them & stop them from spreading. It is not my preferred option and I'm not confident it will stop them from recurring. I would rather use a poly fill binder after cutting out the crack to allow the filler space to properly penetrate.

Recommendations / comments / suggestions would be very much appreciated from those who have had to deal with a similar problem with rendered AAC blocks and have been able to successfully stop the cracks from recurring.

peciacake
Do what I do, which is don't look so hard for them and then they miraculously disappear.
I have tried to learn not to worry about the small stuff. There is so much that needs remedial work on our house after 13 years but my Missus won't get anyone in to fix anything.
For example leaking gutters which I can't do cause I can't stand on the top of a ladder and work at the same time.
Hopefully I will be able to make a trip over again one day to have a look as your place is looking very nice.
I might wait until you get your garden sorted first though particularly the insect mesh.

Originally Posted by peciacake

Tiles are porcelain "Granito" brand from DoHome. Price ฿407 per M2. The tiler was impressed with them - he commented they were a good choice as an outdoor tile, saying they were slip resistant but not to the point of being difficult to keep clean

That's exactly what I need, it is an area that does not get a lot of sun and I am tired of pressure washing it two or more times a year.
I am not too far from Do home, and I also need a rope pulley to lift my heavy generator in the back of my truck to take to the farm . I usually leave the generator in the farm , but the other day during a storm we lost power for a couple of hours and it would had been handy to have had the generator. Also since I am not at the farm most of the time I am concerned it might get stolen.
So when I go to Do Home for the rope pulley I will take a look at the tiles
Thank you for that info. and keep the pictures coming.

Progress Update 02/05/23

The tiler has done an excellent job on the front steps, continuing his highly satisfactory work. He really does take a lot of pride in what he does. The images below show his attention to detail in the way he fitted the aluminium wear edges, using his laser level to get them "just right." Very impressed.

Full view of the front of the house:

Rear of the house and veggy garden beds as seen from the top of the new water treatment plant tank:

Originally Posted by peciacake

Garden Beds
Rather than leave it till after the build, we (Yuri mainly) have started putting in garden beds immediately behind the house. These are made from compressed red clay bricks, line with weed mat and filled with a mix of rice paddy soil, burnt rice, rice husks and cow shit. A watering system will be added once they are complete.

you should have set 2.5m concrete posts in first to put in a shade frame and netting around the sides to keep the pests out

^ no fukin idea what is going on with the text on that post, more TD quirkiness.

Do Home Bath Delivery Take 2

Do Home Surin gave us a good deal on a bath, 2 X toilets and a bathroom vanity and cupboard. We were very please with the sales rep who looked after us - he really did try to get the best price for us after we told him he needed to sharpen his pencil. So after doing the deal we waited patiently for delivery yesterday, being advised "the truck is leaving now" at 13:15. He was coming direct to Ayong, about 45 minutes tops. By 17:00 we were getting a little anxious as we were trying to plan installation with Chang Nhy. At 17:30 the truck rolls in with a sheepish looking young driver and his girlfriend. So we set about unloading everything and I immediately noticed two rectangular holes in the bottom of the box for the bath. Closer inspection confirmed my fears - the storeperson who operated the high reach at Do Home decided the bath needed two extra drain holes in the side of the bath. The bath went straight back on the truck. Next up the boxes the toilets were in were inspected - two corners on one were badly crushed. Hmmmm.... Yep, a broken toilet bowl. Back on the truck... Oh, did I mention they forgot to load the vanity and cupboard? Or maybe they noticed these were damaged too & didn't load them.

The upshot being Nhy took off early this morning to carry on working at another job they have underway, leaving us waiting on the replacement / missing items. Which turned up at 10:20 this morning, intact.....

Originally Posted by peciacake

Recommendations / comments / suggestions would be very much appreciated from those who have had to deal with a similar problem with rendered AAC blocks and have been able to successfully stop the cracks from recurring.

I think you are over worrying, you can get acrylic putty/filler just apply that to the larger ones and the smaller ones will fill when you roller paint over them.