Rampant Rabbit

On 7/21/2022 at 12:07 PM, Sametboy2019 said:

My worry is that almost every Thai house after a few years has rising damp of some kind wether it comes through the walls near a bathroom or from just the fact there is no damp course or polyurethane sheet under the oversite.

My friend is currently having a house built  and they have just filled the ring beam up with soil and poured a concrete slab over it. 

The builder told him there is waterproofer in the concrete but im dubious. Even if there is its probably not suffecient!

and  for  just a  few  baht they could  add  GANZUM (waterproofing) to the concrete............probably dont even know or  care, or  the very small  cost

On 7/19/2022 at 9:40 AM, unheard said:

That's not correct.

From what I've seen the established high volume house builders (not cheap) will directly employ specialized crews being sent to remote sites.

If not directly employed then at least utilizing vetted contractors on a long term bases.

All depends on quality of the builder and who they employ.

Quality cost money, as everywhere else.

Ive  employed  out  of  town "quality"  construction crews  before twice, I got  rid  of  both within 2  days, the first were to  put  in  piles for me, sent me a fancy  video of  pile  cutting machines  screwing them in and bashing them in....when they turned  up it was  no  machines, hand  digging  then 8 of them standing on a plank to bash them down, pathetic  to watch, they also cut the piles  in half  claiming it was  too stony......the  price for  a  33 metre  length of  2  metre  piles at 1  metre  spacing was 190000 baht, I paid them a fraction of that and got rid  of them. The other was a  well drilling company, similar  story, fancy brochure shoing all the latest gizmos, none appeared  on the day  just a normal water blasting knackered  old drill. They were both from Bangkok and I am  out  in Praxchuap.

In the end I did  my  own  piles.............. the  few  piles they put  in werent  even neatly  cut  off  just smashed with a hammer and half the length they should  have been....Id  put  up their wonderful  video and  name them  but of  course you cant do that here and therein lies  half  the problem with Thailand....similar with architects way back  in 2008 hugely  expensive price and told me when I questioned it that NONE  of their other  customers  were  bothered  by the prices and perhaps I should  choose a  lesser  company....designed  it myself  in the end. 

18 hours ago, unheard said:

btw, the higher prices charged by the out of town builders will also include the expenses for housing their teams in near proximity to the building site.

The reason you don't see any of those in your area is there for the very obvious reasons.

Quality is not cheap.

my  idea  of  quality and  yours  may  vary........wildly..........spent 30 years  in construction,  ive  seen it  all

????

13 hours ago, GarryP said:

"there is  alos the problem if  hiring staff who come and go often, the foreman often can  only  get the dregs locally."

 

But they don't hire locally, as in the same district/town. The project managers/contractors hire specific teams that serve that region. Teams that handle only foundations/footings and other concrete parts, teams that only handle roofing, tiling teams, etc. That is unlesss you hire the local jack of all trades to build your house, in which case you really can't blame anyone. You get what you pay for.     

Out  in the  boonies I dont see any of  those, they all  hire the local  villagers where  all  of them are "changs"..............of  the sloppiest kind.

8 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

With insurance, food, etc

 

It's really easy for a family to rack up debt.

 

There's very little work even if you live in a city like Bangkok.

 

My wifes friend was happy to get a 200 baht a day job working at a restaurant 10 hours a day.

 

Depressing to think about. 

Nonsense  many of them are too  lazy to work, the works there  they just dont want it, In 10  years Ive struggled to find  someone to work on our  land, I pay one lad 15k a  month as I know hes  good, 99%  of the others who came to work here were bone stinking idle. My lads  Burmese and at 41  not so much of a  lad.....and before all the TV whiners  chip in, about the "poor" YES I  have and do work on the land I  know EXACTLY what the works  like and  how hard/easy it is, theyre  just  bone idle.

On 7/18/2022 at 11:39 AM, carlyai said:

Great job ???? Bet your place looks brilliant when a the lights are on.

Unfortunately the garden is in and I really wanted them to shine up under the cane palms outside the pool fence.

Thanks.

 

There are some cheapish  solar  stand  alone  spotlights which  will  last about 3-4 years and  give a fairly  good  light for  about 6-8  hours IF they get  full  sun, I  have  about 15 and they held  up fairly  well 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i1764254952-s5118184249.html?urlFlag=true&mp=1

On 7/18/2022 at 10:21 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe you are the specialist in everything.

I am now

8 hours ago, unheard said:

That's not correct.

From what I've seen the established high volume house builders (not cheap) will directly employ specialized crews being sent to remote sites.

If not directly employed then at least utilizing vetted contractors on a long term bases.

All depends on quality of the builder and who they employ.

Quality cost money, as everywhere else.

you  did  read the bit where it says "locally"

Saw that you can get reinfected  after just 28 days  now with ba4-5 report  out of Australia

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe you are the specialist in everything. But how many of us are on that level?

In general I am not bad in DIY, but not in everything. I.e. I looked at at least 20 videos how to lay tiles. In theory I am sure I am pretty good at that. The only problem is that I never actually did it. That makes it extreme unlikely that everything will be correct if I do it myself.

There are expert builders out there in Thailand. How do I know? Look at all the high price hotels, condominiums, shopping malls, etc. Many of them are made by professionals who know what they are doing. But obviously these people are more expensive than Somchai. 

It's good if you know what you are doing. But it's also good if many of us know that criticizing someone else work is a lot easier than doing it ourselves better. 

whoever  is  building is  highly unlikely to find any professionals  like you mentioned. they will already be working for big  companies and often overseas...........under the veneer  of those  condos and malls  is a  <deleted>fest of crapp, there is  alos the problem if  hiring staff who come and go often, the foreman often can  only  get the dregs locally.

Build  it  yourself, its the ONLY  way to be sure EVERYTHING is  correct.........after watching Thais  construct anything thats  what I learnt, if you want concrete  like  soup with stones in, water  pipes  not  prepared  ie sanded cleaned with  cellulose  thinner and glued  correctly with the correct strong  not weak green tin glue, no earths, wrong  colour  cables, wrong  size  cables, door  stops  in the wrong  place, <deleted> welding like  bird  <deleted>,  blocks  laid without staggered  joints, leaking roofs...........then go right ahead and hire  Thailands  finest. If you do get a crew  in you  WILL  have to be onsite 24  hours a  day watching EVERYTHING as they surely  will do  all of the above if  left  alone

Experience   built 3  houses alone with no  help as they cant even mix  mortar  correctly. This  one was for my staff...........before they arrived

When selecting a  partner  (not using that  tosh)  woman, I  use the  Eddie and Richie  method 

Durability  will be your  main issue, the led  strings  are  junk in many cases. I  put 25  lights  aroud  my land using NYY 1.5mm cable  buried a  foot  down over 200metres  length then each  light  set on a concrete footing a  foot  deep  bolted  down with stainless  screws. I  found lights  that have GLASS  covers  as the plastic  one s will go <deleted>  looking real  fast and brittle and break. Lights  were  about 1200 baht each, all 3  core  earthed and on elcb with earth rod, the lights  came from  homepro, thai watsadu do a  cheaper  crapper  copy  for  about 800, the main thing  is with the  sun they just dont  last if  plastic, these are  aluminium and  glass, been in 4  years  now. Do it  once, do it  right, or  just  keep  doing it if  you dont, the only thing ive had to change is  apart  form bulbs is  the dusk  sensor  to turn them on..............the crappy  plastic covers  break in about 3  years

20 hours ago, frantick said:

Concentrate on the good events in your day, not the bad. You'll have a more peaceful, happy life. 

Ignorance is  bliss  eh, christ when I get like that I  hope Im put  down

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Intelligent people understand things fast - in general.

They  might  undertsand it  like my Dad but if  asked to lay a  brick wall could  never  do it, theoretical and practical for me, with both of those  thats the genius.

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Did you ever participate in an IQ test?

no.

2 hours ago, greeneking said:

More like his sponsors.

if no  one voted for their party there would  not be a  party, so  it  appears many Thais  must want him there.

9 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Einstein and Newton were geniuses... 

Ive  known some of these  geniuses genii? and many couldnt cross a  road without being run over, the real geniuses  are those  people who can instantly  understand ANY subject those bastewarsd who can learn anything ,  just for  fun, theres  nothing they cant understand or learn, those  swines who decide to learn a  language or the piano and after a  few  days    could  play chopins  fantasie  impromptue  blind fold  with their  feet.............you  know the  sort....jealous? yeah damn right I am 

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

As I am of an age in the high risk group I will do what I feel is sensible. Europe/USA with its high infection and mortality rates should not be held up as shining examples .... 

France... that is a good laugh..... 

it  could  turn out to be a  latitude  thing  not a  western mindset  thing

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32599103/

how this  pos  gets  into govt and remains  in govt says  a  lot  about the electorate

if  only they had a transgender  Asian/ mixed  race applicant then they really could  tick  all the boxes, if  you askl me, minorities in the govt on all sides are well and truly over represented

47 minutes ago, transam said:

I don't think Thai folk would do that on mass, so not a relevant comparison.....????

They all  dont wear  helmets  so Id  say it  was