A "not so Grand Design" in Ubon Ratchathani

**katie23** · 26-07-2024, 07:46 PM

Congrats on the house & house blessing, @mikenot! May you have many happy years in that house.

Request: pics of the exterior & interior of the house, now that it's all prettied up? (only those that won't compromise your privacy & security)

**Topper** · 27-07-2024, 08:58 PM

Well done Mike and thanks!!!!!! I've learned a lot from you!

**mikenot** · 10-08-2024, 09:31 PM

So, about 3 weeks later and we have half moved in to the house. No wifi or TV so evenings are spent at our rental place before sleeping at the house, then during the day Natta usually goes out to the farm and I potter around the garden. We have had the guys back a few times to fix things, the biggest problem has been the main toilet leaking when flushed. The boss and foreman were out there at 6pm today fixing it for the 4th time...or is it 5th ? Apparently he told the missus that if it still leaks again he will give up building. We will see !
Some of the doors were sticking and needed to be shaved slightly, and the front door lock stopped working the day after we moved in. That had them flummoxed as it was working perfectly before. We couldn't lock it from the inside, or remove the key from outside after locking it. After a bit of head scratching they removed the lock assembly, squirted a bit of WD40 on it, and put it back in....works fine now.

**peciacake** · 12-08-2024, 01:03 PM

Congratulations Mike. It looks like a pretty good build when compared with some of the horror stories posted on various forums. Well done mate to both you and your wife and thank you for taking the time to post a very good summary of the build. looking forward to seeing your garden take shape - a previous post on your plans makes it sounds like you'll be making that a priority and that you have some good ideas. It would be great if you would please share these.

**mikenot** · 17-08-2024, 05:18 PM

Burglar proof ?

The wife was adamant that we had to fit security grills to the windows, no matter how much I said they were ugly, or that they can turn a house into a deathtrap if there is a fire. She refused to moved anything valuable, like her 1990's vintage TV

, in to the house until they were fitted. As is usual around here, a friend of a friend happens to make them. Once again no comparing quotes, just get the friend's friend to come and measure up...that will be 20,000 baht deposit thank you.
About 10 days later he returned with a truck full of stainless steel grills, his team of workers...and the friend who no doubt tagged along to get his commission. Looking at them I think, maybe not so ugly after all, the workmanship was quite good. The installation was not though ! First window they did they must have drilled into the edge of the lintel above it and took a big chunk out. The worker quickly put the grill up in place, but not quick enough to fool me. I called the wife and the boss over to point it out, he agreed to take it down and fix it properly. Luckily the bit around the window frame was plain white so no trying to match paint colours.

A "not so Grand Design" in Ubon Ratchathani-img_8278-jpg

The boss put somebody else in charge of the drill for the rest of the windows, with just some surface paint cracks happening. I don't think you could avoid that.

A "not so Grand Design" in Ubon Ratchathani-img_8287-jpg

They covered them up OK, if you didn't know you wouldn't notice them. I was thinking that it would be an easy job to unscrew that and take the grill off but they tack welded a knob over the screws. They only tack welded on one side of the knob though so you could still get a chisel or screwdriver under the knobs and get at the screws if you were a determined burglar.
When it came to installing the sliding security doors for the patio I could see an immediate problem...the door handles for the screen doors were at the same height as the glass doors which meant it would be impossible to close the outer doors ! I pointed it out to the missus but she couldn't see the problem, meanwhile the crew kept trying to get the sliding doors to line up with each other. They were not quite true, so had to be taken off and twisted with a bit of body weight standing on them. Not something you really should be doing in front of the customer. After about 30 minutes the penny finally dropped and Natta realised what I was saying about the handles.

A "not so Grand Design" in Ubon Ratchathani-img_8296-jpg

The easy solution was to move the handles higher of course, but something he should have forseen when doing the measurements.
Also it seems the insect screens, or the doors, are not quite all the same sizes. With 2 screens for each door it took a bit of fiddling and swapping to get all the screens installed. If I ever take them off for cleaning I'll make sure to do them one at a time !
It took them all afternoon to get the doors in properly, they didn't finish until nearly 6pm.

A "not so Grand Design" in Ubon Ratchathani-img_8300-jpg

So 9 windows plus the double sliding doors came to 48,000 baht worth of stainless steel...ouch, that's a bit of a hole in the extras budget. we might be "camping" in the house a while longer before we can afford furniture

.
Next on the wife's wish list was a fancy wall around the house but i told her that's a no at the moment. I'm trying to talk her into just having a wall along the front, and saving money be having a simple fence around the sides. Concrete posts, wire, and netting to keep out the dogs and chickens. Then plant something in front of it and the fence will be hidden from sight soon enough.

**malmomike77** · 17-08-2024, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by mikenot

Burglar proof ?

You'd better just hope the burglar doesn't have a battery drill with a phillips head attachment

**mikenot** · 17-08-2024, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by malmomike77

You'd better just hope the burglar doesn't have a battery drill with a phillips head attachment

yes, that's what I thought too

I was thinking that it would be an easy job to unscrew that and take the grill off but they tack welded a knob over the screws. They only tack welded on one side of the knob though so you could still get a chisel or screwdriver under the knobs and get at the screws if you were a determined burglar.

**katie23** · 24-08-2024, 10:07 AM

@mikenot - thanks for the updates. Re: the metal grills on windows, yeah most houses in PH have them too, esp in urban or semi-turban areas. Both in my parents' house & my flat - the windows have them. Did you have 1 or 2 windows wherein the metal bars could be opened - for fire escape? My parents made sure to have those egress windows in their home & I'm glad that my landlady also put an egress window (window grills could open) in the back portion of the flat. (was probably a requirement from the fire dept for the build permit)

Re: the gate & fence - maybe make a nice front gate for the moment and then use those diagonal/ diamond wire mesh for the rest of the property? It's either that or use "steel matting"/ chicken wire mesh. Some folks here in PH use that plus iron pipes (or tubular steel) for support columns. I don't know if I'm expressing myself correctly. I can visualise the stuff in my mind but can't describe properly in English.

I guess it depends on how secure you want your property to be. Also, do you have dogs?

Cheers!

**mikenot** · 24-08-2024, 06:56 PM

@ katie ....no, none of them open in an emergency. To be honest there is not much that can burn in this house apart from furniture so no real danger, but I have persuaded the missus that we can leave the patio security doors unlocked at night...just in case. Really I think there is little chance of us being burgled, there are only two ways to/from our house and there are cops living 50m from us in both directions. I'm sure the local no-gooders know that, everybody knows everything around here, so any burglar with a bit of common sense will find somewhere else to rob. And the other neighbours have a mob of dogs which bark at anybody and everybody going past them.
I also plan on putting solar powered motion sensor lights up all around as a deterrent too.
Natta wants to get a dog, once we have a fence, I'm not really a dog person though so it will be her "problem".

We finally got around to getting our True internet connection transferred to the new house a couple of days ago, 500 Mbps fiber for about the same price (575 baht/month) as we were paying for 200 Mbps at the old place. Plus 460 baht fee for connecting the house to the line along the main road about 90m away and installation. 2 young guys who looked barely old enough to be legally driving the True truck, and had apparently never seen Windows 7 as when they were connecting all our devices they didn't have a clue how to connect Natta's ancient laptop ! After a few minutes I took pity on them and showed them the Windows 7 "Control Panel".
One thing that I had overlooked in the design was power to the best router location in the center of the house so we settled on an outlet near the "Buddha Zone". As it turned out that was good as the cable down from the ceiling could be hidden behind a post. Note to self....next time run a conduit down inside the walls to a blank cover so that internet cable can be run down unobtrusively.

**Stumpy** · 24-08-2024, 07:41 PM

@mikenot. Also for some inexpensive security, they make those remote BT CCTVs. Put a couple up and people always see them and they are a good deterrent. IMOU is the brand. Set up the app on your smartphone and you can quickly check.

**peciacake** · 25-08-2024, 08:52 AM

@mikenot. After some lengthy debates Yuri agreed to go with CCTV for security. And believe me she is paranoid about security (long, scary story). We opted for HIKvision cameras, purchased on-line and fitted by a friend, who did a bloody good job. The install was very straightforward, almost plug and play. He also ran the cabling in for the satellite TV antenna at the same time. The HIK app gives Yuri peace of mind while we're away from the house - see screen shot below. These cameras have excellent night vision and the base model system comes with seven day storage. Well worth the investment - doesn't cost a penny in dog food.

A "not so Grand Design" in Ubon Ratchathani-cctv-jpg

**malmomike77** · 25-08-2024, 09:33 AM

CCTV paired with an approprite threat reduction measure accessible from your panic loom is the ultimate solution

**Stumpy** · 25-08-2024, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by peciacake

Well worth the investment - doesn't cost a penny in dog food

I agree Peciacake. We initially installed a full CCTV system with 10 cameras. All remote, always recording very very nice system but you do have to connect to your internet system and if one has poor internet or slow service it can impact quality.

The IMOU stand alone are pretty nice and have alarms
I added a few in our car park area and underneath our place. Work great and far cheaper overall. Now we have 4 dogs ( 3 labs and a Golden Retriever) and they keep everything out, snakes, cats, people. Plus my wife loves having the dogs.

In the end though, do what makes works and keeps the wife happy.

**Bonecollector** · 31-08-2024, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by peciacake

doesn't cost a penny in dog food.

I'll have to remember this saying, great one!

Glad to see it has all come together Mike and I hope there are not too many snagging issues in the months to come! It is always nice to see a build from start to finish and I have learned a lot of valuable information from your experience and posts. I am already well prepared from the nonsense I will receive from my builders and it was interesting hearing about the problems the big man on campus 'mansion' has had with their three different builders. Maybe it was the size of the fucker compared to the available local skill set which was the problem??? I dunno but I am well prepared for the headaches. Luckily my wife's uncle is not only a legend but also a builder by trade.

I really enjoyed the pictures of the new home blessing ceremony. You seem to have really nice neighbors and that one particular photo of the Thai gentlemen guiding you and smiles all around was very moving! Thailand is a great country and I can never imagine they will lose their traditions like we have in the west.

Thanks again and best wishes to you and your wife in your happy home for many many years to come! Chok Dee

**peciacake** · 04-09-2024, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by Bonecollector

I dunno but I am well prepared for the headaches.

@BC Looking forward to your build posts. It will be an interesting journey and hopefully free of the usual curve balls out of left field that characterize building in Thailand.
@mikenot's posts were a treat to read. A laid back, larconic Aussie if there ever was one. Like you, I gained a lot, particularly in the way Mike dealt with different issues.

**Bonecollector** · 07-09-2024, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by peciacake

@BC Looking forward to your build posts. It will be an interesting journey and hopefully free of the usual curve balls out of left field that characterize building in Thailand.

In reality I am looking forward to it. We will be building just outside of Mueang Surin, so you will be most welcome to stop by for a tin or two! We have decided to get an architect at more expense but he/ she have their own builders they trust and will supervise every step of the way as well.

**peciacake** · 08-09-2024, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by Bonecollector

We will be building just outside of Mueang Surin

We're 38 klm's from Surin, approximately half way between Chom Phra and Sikhoraphum.
Similarly, you're welcome to drop by for Chang or two.

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