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  1. #201
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    . Wondering if facing Curtly Ambrose on a seaming first day 'Gabba pitch would be easier than getting this bloody fence built

    That’s a yes. And that’s saying something!

  2. #202
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    Thanks Stumpy,
    Appreciate the comments. The barbed wire was a one off. I'm usually very risk averse - this is not the way I normally operate. Trying to educate Thais in proper safe work methods is another matter. I'm dreading the day I have to explain to a wife or girlfriend that their partner has been injured due to a workplace accident building our house.

  3. #203
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    See my reply to Stumpy...

  4. #204
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    Fence Build Day 4

    Making steady progress with the fence construction . A team of three are doing the job. The boss brought on a fourth labourer for a day. After watching him sit and stare vacantly into space for 10 minutes while the other three cracked on at a good pace, I spoke with SWMBO and we agreed he was about as useful as an ashtray on a motor bike. So we're back to three: the boss, his elder brother (the gun) and the son-in-law (slow but steady). At 450 THB per day each we believe they are good value - they work well as a team and do good quality work given all the constraints and impediments they have to contend with - The Brother In Law being one of the main impediments, along with orange tree ants. Those bloody things are worse than being attacked by a mob of mozzies - they just keep coming: feet, legs, hair, down the shirt, somehow into the undies. Faaarrrkkkk, get me out of here....

    The mesh turned up this morning. Good stuff too - NZ made sheep mesh. Bought 8 X 50 m rolls 1.5 m and 1 X 50 m roll 1.9 m plus 500 m barbed wire, a wire strainer and various joiners and tensioners from PP PRO Group at Nakorn Pathom. All up inc. delivery 136,300 THB. Expensive but guaranteed to keep buffalo and errant temple dogs out. SWMBO, who is paranoid about personal safety, is mighty pleased. Barbed wire and a slingshot would have done me, but that's another story.

    This was the load as it turned up. Note the lack of load restraint on the top roll - just a wire strainer used as a wedge. He drove from Kamphaeng Saen District, Nakhon Pathom Province, about a seven hour drive, like this. He must have forgotten the ropes conveniently hung on the side rail... Road safety in Thailand...don't get me started...



    Mesh unloaded and put away in the shed ready to be installed



    Fence Posts all Vertical

    A view of the South Eastern corner of our block showing the posts installed along the Eastern boundary. The fence installed earlier this year by the Obotor around the town reservoir is in the background. Pleasing to say our posts sit nice and straight / vertical, unlike a lot of the Obotor's posts.



    Next up, installing the mesh. That may be a few days away as we're still less than halfway into installing the posts as the above shows. Today was slower than expected due to some recalcitrant bamboo planted by one of the neighbours on the border of the land . Now able to add Bamboo Wrangler to my ever-growing list of Thai Land Improvement Skills.

  5. #205
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    Fencing Mesh Management Committee Meeting

    So the BIL is back on the scene again, getting in the way. This is him as Chairman of the Fencing Mesh Management Committee
    That's him in the green shirt. The committee meets pretty well all afternoon, with plenty of breaks for refreshments and idle chit-chat.
    The committee did pass one resolution of note - see below.



    Minutes of the Fencing Mesh Management Committee Meeting held PM Thur 23 December 2021 resolved that a minimum of four Thais be used to tie off the mesh.
    The minutes record this was passed unanimously and no correspondence will be entered into with myself: I submitted a protest saying one Aussie is all that is necessary to tie off the mesh. The protest was ruled out of order as I am not a member of the committee, merely the bloke that signs the cheques, so I have no standing in the matter whatsoever.
    Needless to say, progress this afternoon was glacial, and that's being kind in these days of climate change.
    Completion date has now been rescheduled for January at this rate, given there are 250 posts to tie off and less that 20 were done in a whole afternoon today.
    More on this topic to follow as work "progresses"... Shaking my head while I walk away....

  6. #206
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    I feel your pain…

  7. #207
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    Wire Mesh Fence that's Not Dog Proof

    Part of the wife's desire for a high cost wire mesh fence was to keep the dogs out. Given we're right beside the temple this was completely understandable to me albeit a catapult and barbed wire was my chosen option. However, SWMBO was also insistent on having a fence that not only keeps the dogs out but also keeps out the local riff-raff, so we ended up with a very expensive mesh fence, that is costing me something like the national debt of a small asian country like Laos. Trouble is, it doesn't keep the dogs out as prescribed in the original design. Eagle eyed readers of this post may see the problem in the image below - there is a sizeable gap between the bottom of the mesh and the ground. Dogs will be able to come and go as they please.

    The wife's solution, which is the same one she uses for all situations where the desired outcome isn't met, throw more money at it.

    Give me strength, please...


  8. #208
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    A question to forum users who have built their house using single 7.5 cm AAC blocks - how cool is the interior in the middle of May without the air con on? Is the house comfortable without using air con during the day? Comments / observations and experiences on this would be very much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

    I done a 2x7.5cm double cavity wall on the exterior of my house. It certainly keeps it cool but how much compared to a single wall, I cant say. TBH I wouldnt do it again. I would use a single 20cm block. The additional cost between 2x7.5cm and 1x20cm will actually be less due to the saving in labour not having to build 2 walls. Additionally you will find that they wont run the servicies (electrical and plumbing) in the cavity, they will cut these into the wall and render it. This makes for cracking points in the future. This will be worse if it is only a single 7.5cm external wall.

  9. #209
    or TizYou?
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    keep the dogs out.
    Should've replicated the Dingo fence thats used in Sturt National Park.

    Aussie Style House Build-dingo-fence-jpeg

  10. #210
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    there is a sizeable gap between the bottom of the mesh and the ground.
    I paid my neighbour to put up my fence. He is the wrong side of 70 and so far as I know he did most of it alone, concrete posts and wire mesh. The total run is about 200m, so only a fraction of yours. There is no point at which there is a gap under the fence. That wouldn't be a fence really, more like one of those giant art installations, curiously interesting and without any useful purpose.

    It is simply about doing the job properly. Easier said than done, I know.

  11. #211
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    Quote Originally Posted by skidley View Post
    A question to forum users who have built their house using single 7.5 cm AAC blocks - how cool is the interior in the middle of May without the air con on? Is the house comfortable without using air con during the day? Comments / observations and experiences on this would be very much appreciated.
    I done a 2x7.5cm double cavity wall on the exterior of my house. It certainly keeps it cool but how much compared to a single wall, I cant say. TBH I wouldnt do it again. I would use a single 20cm block. The additional cost between 2x7.5cm and 1x20cm will actually be less due to the saving in labour not having to build 2 walls. Additionally you will find that they wont run the servicies (electrical and plumbing) in the cavity, they will cut these into the wall and render it. This makes for cracking points in the future. This will be worse if it is only a single 7.5cm external wall.[/QUOTE]


    I too cannot answer the original question because I used 20cm blocks. My house is tiny so the marginal extra materials cost minus the labour cost of building two walls was acceptable and I wanted to see how it would work out. If I ever build the planned, larger house I'd use 20cm again. There is no heat transfer at all through the walls, even the West-facing wall that gets late afternoon sun. Once the air temperature is 30C then it is more about the windows and doors leaking air and, for me, allowing reflected radiation from the concrete driveway. If I had the dosh I'd buy double-glazed, sealed windows with a tint. Or, if I had that much dosh, maybe I'd live elsewhere.

    In addition to the advantages you mention I liked being able to buy 20cm Q-Con lintels long enough to span the windows and doors, they add to the costs but they take away the concrete beams that some Isan builders like to put in. Those concrete beams become little radiators if the sun hits them and they also expand and contract differently from the Q-Con. The 20cm blocks are apparently certified for load bearing, I didn't make any load bearing walls although it did mean that I didn't need to think about lintels underneath any windows. (Some houses around here get built without lintels over windows and doors, they just put up the frames and those have to carry the weight of the blocks above them. Fine, until the day you need to replace a window frame.)

    Another advantage is that around here the concrete columns in a single-storey house are typically 20cm square, so the 20cm blocks butt up exactly. A minor point, still I like my corners as simple right angles.

  12. #212
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    Thanks for the replies Shutree. Appreciate you taking the time to write and provide some useful advice. Tinted windows are certainly on the list; double glazing has been taken off the list after advice received indicated the glass thickness was more the issue for controlling heat transfer rather than having double panes. The advice came from another forum user who was able to convince me the thicker single pane with tint was the way to go.

  13. #213
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    I'd do some research on dual pain glass versus thicker. I think the individual on the other forum steered you incorrectly

    Dual pane with glazing slows heat flow. Thicker glass makes it more difficult for heat to pass through it BUT if exposed to direct light it will saturate and transfer lots of heat. The air gap in dual pane provides a barrier to block heat... Having the air gap stops the heat transfer almost completely.

    Cheers

  14. #214
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    Gate Contractor

    We have ordered a 5.0 metre security gate from the firm below. They installed a smaller gate plus stainless steel personal access doors in a friend's home in Surin. Their build quality looks good and they finish their standard mild steel gates in powder coat so the decision to use them was pretty easy as the price was quite reasonable.



    The follow up service has been less than good. So much so I don't recommend them. Alarm bells started ringing after I enquired on progress for the fabrication of the gate. The point of contact, a young Thai lady who speaks reasonable English, informed me that our order hasn't even started yet as they have to come and confirm the 5.0 distance between the gate posts. This was not mentioned in any of the earlier discussions despite ample opportunity to advise us that they needed to physically confirm the posts @ 5.0 metres apart. Apparently they have previously been caught out by customers whose measurements are more arbitrary than actual.

  15. #215
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    Fence Progress - Day 15

    Work on the fence and security gate is progressing at a moderate pace. So far the contractor has installed just under 400 metres c/w mesh albeit much of the mesh has a gap between the bottom wire and the ground that will require rectification, at my cost because my wife didn't stipulate this to the contractor despite "dog proof" being one of her primary concerns and a topic that became quite contentious between us when it came to deciding on the final fence specification. As they say in the classics, "This is Thailand"...

    We ended up short of posts so another 25 turned up today, bringing the total to 275. These arrived just in time for the contractor who needs them tomorrow so he can keep working. My bad, I miscalculated the number of diagonals required. More costs - so far we've spent 267,000 THB and will top 300,000 by the time the "Fort Knox Fence" will be finished.

    Posts supplied by Horhome, Kanchanaburi. Good quality and reasonably priced albeit delivery is slow unless they have enough for a full load. In this case we had to wait for 4 days until they had a load going to Surin.


  16. #216
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    Security Gate Installation Committee Meeting

    To be able to put the gate fabrication contractor's mind at rest that we were in fact building a 5.0 metre long gate, the fence contractor was asked to install the gate columns so the gate fabricator lady can come to site and confirm that we do in fact know how to actually measure 5 metres between the gate post centres. This should never have been necessary, but as per my previous post, "This is Thailand" so anything is possible. In the end it worked out well as we'd run out of fence posts due to me miscalculating (see preceding post) so the fence contractor was okay with the change in schedule.

    However getting to this point involved many conversations between the BIL (now chairperson of the Gate Installation Committee) and the builder, who in the image below is pointing to the ground, while the BIL seems less than sure.



    At this rate getting the columns installed will be slow to say the least. Stay tuned folks, for the next riveting instalment of "Fences of Ayong."

  17. #217
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    To be able to put the gate fabrication contractor's mind at rest that we were in fact building a 5.0 metre long gate, the fence contractor was asked to install the gate columns so the gate fabricator lady can come to site and confirm that we do in fact know how to actually measure 5 metres between the gate post centres.
    Standard procedure, I believe. My gate maker wanted to measure for himself and also check how the bottom rail was going to run, was it free of obstruction, those sorts of things.

  18. #218
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stumpy View Post
    Dual pane with glazing slows heat flow. Thicker glass makes it more difficult for heat to pass through it BUT if exposed to direct light it will saturate and transfer lots of heat. The air gap in dual pane provides a barrier to block heat... Having the air gap stops the heat transfer almost completely.
    I have no special knowledge, only life experience of seeing double-glazing become pretty standard in UK while triple-glazing is common in Nordic countries. It must all happen for a reason.

    That said, in Thailand, I am not sure whom I'd trust to produce truly sealed units. Getting condensation between the glazing is a real spoiler. Single glazing is good for most purposes here, IMHO.

    The only thing I'd do differently next time is have more non-opening windows. The gf was vocal about 'fresh air' when we were buying but the sliding panes we got from Global House are not at all sealed when closed and are simply open gateways into the house at termite season.

  19. #219
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shutree View Post
    Getting condensation between the glazing is a real spoiler.
    I would agree in countries that see heavy temperature thermal cycling. Here that is not a problem and we have dual pain tinted glass through out our house and they make a HUGE difference, especially in direct sun. As for screens, we leave most windows open 24/7 except for our bedroom at night. We have good screens and never have bugs in our house even during the termite flight season. But I do have a recommendation on the drone termites. We set up 2 very bright solar lights away from the house. When they do their thing they absolutely assault that light and stay way away from the house.

  20. #220
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shutree View Post
    but the sliding panes we got from Global House are not at all sealed when closed and are simply open gateways into the house at termite season.
    An important point from Shu, many of the windows (Ali or UPVC) single glazed units have very variable fitment quality, its worth spending time physically examining and testing the products.

  21. #221
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stumpy View Post
    We set up 2 very bright solar lights away from the house. When they do their thing they absolutely assault that light and stay way away from the house.
    Thanks Stumpy. Great idea. This will also satisfy the wife's need for security lighting.

  22. #222
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    Quote Originally Posted by malmomike77 View Post
    An important point from Shu, many of the windows (Ali or UPVC) single glazed units have very variable fitment quality, its worth spending time physically examining and testing the products.

    Hi Mike, we're going to fit Windsor "smart series" windows. Have done QA checks on their build quality at home shows in BKK. Impressed with the sealing and overall level of finish. Having a 2.5 metre wrap around verandah will limit direct sun and it's planned to have heavy curtains for the bedrooms (East facing)

  23. #223
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    The follow up service has been less than good. So much so I don't recommend them.
    Order cancelled this morning after being advised they were, "Very busy" and unable to provide a time & date to come to site and confirm we are building a 5.0m gate.

    Local contractor in the village who does a lot of fabrication work has taken on the job. Have used him for other work and he is as good as the first choice. The reason we didn't go with him initially was he in the middle of a large job building a steel framed house. The owners are tight for cash at present, so we grabbed him. Glad to keep the cash in the village.

  24. #224
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    Glad to keep the cash in the village.
    We have a s/s gate maker in our village and he was our first port of call. He gave that 'so busy' nonsense and of course no discount for being local. Maybe he was looking for a farang premium. The next guy is one km down the road, he was very professional and he delivered as promised.

  25. #225
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    Glad to keep the cash in the village.
    And a close eye on progress

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