Thread: Building a house in Nakhom Pathom

A couple shots of the other bathrooms.

Guest suite bathroom:








The maid's/visitors bathroom:






Steve

The place is looking great Steve, well done. You're getting it finished just about in time it seems. When's your wife due BTW?

What kind of pressure do you get in the rainshower? Sorry but can the standard wall mount electric heater put out enough pressure for it? I have top dollar ones and still I am not happy with the pressure. We have a lot of family in the Nakorn Pathom, Thamaka area, this surely has to be one of the nicest houses around.

Thanks!
The wife is due sometime mid to late March. I'm really hoping he doesn't pop out in April. My 2 oldest kids are born in April, I have enough April kids.

As far as water pressure, I can't speak for the electric water heater showers. Obviously, if it's a small tube line, then you're not going to get much. I haven't checked it out, but will do so when I get back from Jakarta.

Our shower in the master bath has decent pressure. It doesn't have as much pressure as the ground level water taps located outside the house. It's got to work it's way through the plumbing up from the ground and somehow interface with the solar hot water heater (which cranks out some good hot water).

The house is off the beaten track, so we don't get that much traffic. Hell, we don't even have a street address !! I was just really impressed by the nice breezes we were enjoying. We can keep a few windows open, during the day to help keep airflow and then button it up at night to keep out the bugs.

Steve

Steve

I'm interested in that solar water heater of yours. Where did you get it? I'm planning to mount some solar panels on my south facing roof at some point and a water heater would be a good addition I think. We don't need a lot of hot water around here with just two of us, but still......

The solar heater came as part of the house. If you look closely, you will see it has a PD House label on it. If you want, I can ask them who supplied it.
Yeah, be sure it's on a south facing roof. They first put ours on the north roof, never asking what we wanted. I had to make a stink to get them to move it, partly by questioning the capabilities of the engineer in charge.

Originally Posted by stevefarang

The solar heater came as part of the house. If you look closely, you will see it has a PD House label on it. If you want, I can ask them who supplied it.
Yeah, be sure it's on a south facing roof. They first put ours on the north roof, never asking what we wanted. I had to make a stink to get them to move it, partly by questioning the capabilities of the engineer in charge.

If you don't mind. It would be good to have a source for future reference. I saw quite a few of them when I lived in Hua Hin, but none locally.

Amazing that a company like PD would not know to mount a solar devise on the south side.....my north side gets hardly any sun at all because of the roof design.....which was quite deliberate....

Yep, the first thing I thought, when they sent me the pic of the house with solar hot water on the north roof was, "Why the F%ck did they do that ?". I guess maybe they thought it would look more beautiful on the front of the house. That, or they wanted their PD House logo out for everyone to see, free marketing.

I'll check with them and see what answer I get from them. The heater works great for showers, It will be interesting to see how well it works when filling the jacuzzi.

Steve

Well that was a quick reply !

Here's what they said:

Dear Mr. Steve,

We get this item from PD Siam Supply and Services Co., Ltd., the solar hot water machine and the hot water pipe. But they don't provide installation service. Your friend may contact the sales person at hr.karnpicha@gmail.com for more information. She can reply the email in English.

Steve

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Well that was a quick reply !

Here's what they said:

Dear Mr. Steve,

We get this item from PD Siam Supply and Services Co., Ltd., the solar hot water machine and the hot water pipe. But they don't provide installation service. Your friend may contact the sales person at hr.karnpicha@gmail.com for more information. She can reply the email in English.

Steve

Thanks, appreciate that...very quick response. I've made a note of the contact for future reference because I'm nowhere near ready....I need a lot of things finished around here first.

For fecks sake Steve the wife has just looked at the pics of your maids bathroom. Its 20 times better than my posh upstairs loo ( mind you it was built by Somchai ). Now she wants a basin like the one in your pic, please stop posting pics

Originally Posted by aging one

What kind of pressure do you get in the rainshower? Sorry but can the standard wall mount electric heater put out enough pressure for it? I have top dollar ones and still I am not happy with the pressure. We have a lot of family in the Nakorn Pathom, Thamaka area, this surely has to be one of the nicest houses around.

OK, I checked today and we have good water pressure/flow (bathrooms upstairs and downstairs), hardly the dribble I've seen on some wall mounted units and it does seem to heat up fairly well too.

The south facing Q-con block wall stays nice and cool inside.

Steve

I could be in some trouble here steve .

I've been saving your Thread and now I'm about to start but I just saw bankao's comment .

Methinks depressing times are coming up .



Wasp

Broke in the jacuzzi last night. Found out that you have to plug the damn thing in first, which is accessed through a panel on the side of the jacuzzi. So we're going to have to find a waterproof power switch to mount on the side. I'm not bending over and pulling that panel out and sticking the plug into a socket.

Jacuzzi is nice, although I felt a little too big for it (and I'm not a tall dude). The only problem with it is the drain handle is on the far side, up against the wall. It's going to be tricky to close, without going into the jacuzzi first. But it was nice to relax in some nice cool water. My wife was looking rather jealous when she came in.

We also tested the Saf-T-Cut. I had my first ex-pat visitor, an old Brit friend of 20 years. I was showing him the Saf-T-Cut and he suggested increasing the sensitivity. Well, while playing with the air pump for the jacuzzi, the main breaker tripped.

At first, I thought it was me and that button for the air pump, I was trying to turn it off and pushed it twice when the breaker tripped. But while eating breakfast this morning, the breaker tripped again. So I've dialed back one setting on the Saf-T-Cut.

So this makes me wonder. It seems we have a minor earthing issue somewhere (not the jacuzzi as it was unplugged after use), is this acceptable ?

Steve

None of this story is acceptable .

It's freezing here and the roads are flooded .


Wasp

Steve, you are lucky to have good water pressure. I have read where this is a hit and miss thing. If I knew I would have enough pressure, I would be buying fixtures like yours. Maybe I will finish the one toilet first and then see if a sun shower works or not. If it does, I will get one for the second toilet since I like lots of water for my showers.

Rick,
We have a 250 W Mitsubishi pump, based on the advice of others here.
A while back, I was worried while in the USA. My wife was telling me that you could only use one faucet at a time. But I've tried it here and so far have had no real problem. I was also worried that, with all the piping we would have some pressure losses as the water moves through the piping, but it hasn't really been noticeable.
Yes, filling the jacuzzi and taking a shower, the shower pressure is a little less, but not a trickle.

PD House is coming tomorrow. The guy who always promises me one thing and does another. This will be interesting.

Steve

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Rick,
We have a 250 W Mitsubishi pump, based on the advice of others here.
A while back, I was worried while in the USA. My wife was telling me that you could only use one faucet at a time. But I've tried it here and so far have had no real problem. I was also worried that, with all the piping we would have some pressure losses as the water moves through the piping, but it hasn't really been noticeable.
Yes, filling the jacuzzi and taking a shower, the shower pressure is a little less, but not a trickle.

PD House is coming tomorrow. The guy who always promises me one thing and does another. This will be interesting.

Steve

Speaking of water pressure, I have a Hitachi 300W pump and am having some problems with it pumping what I would regard as sufficient amounts of water to support a rain shower. We have had a couple of locals look at it and they keep saying I need to replace it, but I feel there is nothing wrong with the pump, but only with the way it was set up. We have the person who drilled our well coming out today to look at things and one of the possibilities may be the pump in not sufficiently primed.

Since I am not an expert on these things, it is frustrating for me to try and explain to my wife that the pump is fine, we just need to make sure all the settings are right along with the way it is plumbed.

Might want to remove the shower head and have a look-see as a lot of rain showers are being shipped with restrictors at the threaded joint. A water saving device.

I haven't purchased the rain shower yet, but would hope when I do, I have enough water pressure. The test for my current water pressure has been done by just opening a valve for a garden hose and watching it dissipate to a small amount. The pump manages to build the pressure, but when the valve is opened it runs great initially, but it appears the pump can not keep up to maintain that pressure point.

Bill has an excellent suggestion, check for any type of "water saving' flow restrictor in the line. You could have a suction problem, since your pump is bigger than mine and I get great pressure at my 4 water taps around the house (ground level). Does it make a lot of noise when operating? That's a sign of cavitation and insufficient suction (ie low discharge pressure & flow).
Is the pump taking a suction from a water tank ?
Another thing to check is if the pump is/was properly vented.

PD House, to their credit, sent 2 people out to the house today to review the issues we have. One guy was their main translator for foreigners and the other was the District Manager. They were very patient in going around with us and taking pictures of the things we are having problems with. They assured me that they will be in touch tomorrow to let me know when a work crew will be coming in to correct things.

Big Buddhist house blessing party on March 3.

Steve

The person who dug our well came out and has gotten the pump working 90%. My understanding of all the translations is that there may be a spring that needs to be replaced. The pump sat for about a year without any use, which should not make any difference in my mind, but that is what I am being told is the problem. He will buy a replacement part and see if that takes it up to 100%.

Steve, the proper venting sounds right and there have been two times now that either birds or mice have made a nest near the intake which may be contributing to the problems. The pump is very quiet when operating and sounds good to me, but again, I am not a water pump expert. I just feel it needs the right person to look at it and buying a new one is not needed IMO. Glad to hear you have good water pressure since that can be a headache.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will get it sorted at some point since I am set on having a sun shower.

Yes, I should have said that if the pump is cavitating, it will sound like little rocks shaking inside a tin can. If she's quiet, then it is probably ok.
Springs do wear out/fail, even just sitting there. Might be the spring for the pressure regulator, maybe it's not flexing anymore.

Hopefully you'll be sorted out soon.

Watch out for the Google Earth cameras when you do your sun shower, you don't want to give the world a free show...


Steve

The view, looking south, out of the upstairs family room. We had the doors open when PD House came over to see some of the issues I have with the house. They seemed impressed with the view. I don't know, it's just a rice paddy. Maybe it's the Wat you see in the background that caught their eye.

Although, I do want to buy the paddy, right next to ours, one day. I can see a lovely swimming pool in that spot.





This is a closer shot of the railing for the balcony. I've noticed what looks like corrosion towards the west end of the railing. However, it's stainless steel, which normally doesn't rust (unless a poor quality SS). But I need a good suggestion for some type of cleaner to remove the crud on the railing and brighten/protect it. Something I can easily find at my local Home Pro store. Can anyone suggest anything ?




This is looking west, from the family room balcony. The larger window is in the dressing area of the master bedroom. And the smaller windows are part of the master bathroom.





This is looking down from the family room balcony, looking at the south west corner of the house. That's the location of my office & where we are sleeping right now (only room with A/C right now). You see my nice banana "tree" there. My gardener tells me we have 3 different types of banana trees on our properties. He knows I like bananas and has started new "shoots" around our water trench on the second lot. I want him to get some more lemon trees as well as an orange tree or 2.




I'm pretty pleased with the color combination we went with, even if I really like the blue tile roofs. My only real complaint with the paint is in the application. There's a lot of paint splatter, both inside and out. But more on that later.

Steve