Iolare

Terrific suggestion! I’m happy to read that those fumigaton bombs exist in Thailand.

I had an insecticide tube system installed in my new place too, so I’m sorry to read that yours proved to be useless. I’m wondering what others experience has been with them.

I think I’ll call the folks who tested and charged my system up when it was first installed and have them back to re-charge it now that we’re about to install cabinetry and millwork, and then to go over to the storage garage and bomb it.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'll be looking into both possible solutions today. I'm still a little surprised that those aerosol fumigation bombs aren't available here. They're easy to use and in a short time the problem is solved. And I think they're pretty safe as long as you turn off any pilot lights and leave the place for a hew hours.

I guess I’ve got a “welcome to the Tropics; you’re not in California anymore” type of story.

When we came here about a year and a half ago, my wife and I stored a shipping container’s worth of our household stuff in a garage here in Chalong. Now that we’re getting ready to move into a house we’ve been building, I checked in to discover that the place is infested with ants, termites, and various other insects and even a few geckos (and who knows what else?).

So I’m in need of advice about what to do, so that we con’t contaminate our new place. I really did look around for those aerosol can bombs, but no luck.

Thanks Crossy, i’ll check them out at Home Pro. In your opinion, would the electricity savings be significant enough over the life of the lamp to justify choosing them over tungsten despite the higher initial cost and more limited controllability?

Thanks Crossy, i’ll check them out at Home Pro. In your opinion, would the electricity savings be significant enough over the life of the lamp to justify choosing them over tungsten despite the higher initial cost and more limited controllability?

While doing some research on the web I noticed that dimmable fluorescent bulbs with Edison fittings are available in the US and the UK selling for between $12 and $20 USD. They can function with most dimmer switches and screw right into a standard socket. Does anyone know if they are available here in Thailand, and has anyone tried them yet?

My wife and I want to thank George, Buckwheat and the sponsors who made the pleasant evening possible. The food, venue, and people were all terrific.

I’m using PPR, the green pipe and fittings, for the hot side of the water piping system in the house Im building. You need to use an electrically powered heating device that melts the fittings and ends of he pipe enough to allow them to be fused together. It was quite easy to use, and it seemed to me to be the best solution after considering plastic lined galvanized pipe and copper as the other alternatives.

You could cut out the broken portion and install a new section with a couple on one end and a union on the other.

I can't seem to find her card, but Porn Tip who has an office across the road from Dowroong Wittawa School knows all there is to import a boat.

I tried calling her from info. on a website, but that was the weekend and she wasn't expected back in her office until Monday. I did find someone else who also seems quite experienced, so I think I'm set. But Thanks for the response.

By the way, the boat isn't coming in overland from Singapore. That info. was a miscommunication. It's going to the big port near Bangkok, then by truck from there.

I'm negotiating on a Sea Ray boat and its trailer that's in the Singapore area. Can anyone recommend a clearing agent to manage the customs clearance and Thai registration process? It would be shipped up in a container overland and delivered to the Boat Lagoon. Any leads would be much appreciated.

In my search for toilet flange and wax ring, I took Chownah’s suggestion and tried the Home Mart in Chalong, but they didn’t have the parts either. So that made it zero for four (including Home Pro), but fortunately they directed me to an American Standard dealer who had a kit containing the flange, a wax ring, and bolts. They’re located in a shophouse on the Bypass Road just north of Lotus on the west side of the highway, for those of you in Phuket who are interested.

As I mentioned in my post about floor drains, i was kind of lured into a happy complacency by the performance of my builder in the early stages of the building project. He proved himself to be competent in the siting and stakeout of the building, the excavation, and the cement work, so when I arrived on site to see the initial plumbing work, I was surprised and disappointed.

If i had been out of the country or just not paying attention, I would have had a situation exactly like Xerostar described. Fortunately the builder and I reworked almost everything and I’m confident that the system, as constructed so far, will perform correctly. He has taken my intervention in good humor so far, and I’ve tried to sell my involvement as wanting to have the system the same as we do it in California. But the fact is that he totally “freelanced” away from the plans, and if covered in concrete I wouldn’t have known until it was too late to correct. By the way, I’ve never seen blue PVC pipe with such a thin side wall as he was using.

Frotting mentioned using copper in the water piping, and I considered it too. In California it’s it’s still the new construction standard, and I’m very comfortable using it, but I’ve been advised that PPR plastic is actually a better choice. It’s strong, heat resistant, a good insulator, nontoxic and not subject to corrosion. It’s installed by heat welding, so it’s a little more bother than gluing PVC, but it’s my choice.

If you have Home Mart stores there try the best one you can find...that's where I get my toilet stuff but I live in Chiangrai. They sell a kit which contains a flange and a wax ring...I used one and it works perfectly....for some reason they don't sell just the wax ring....but they do sell all of the other parts for the guts of a toilet either in sets for complete rebuild or one piece at a time if you're into saving money.

Chownah

Thanks Chownah,

I'll be in Home Mart on Monday AM for sure. I'm really enjoying the house building experience here in Thailand despite its many challenging moments. I can do the construction business back in the US practically in my sleep, but here just getting a concept across to my workers and having it done is a major challenge, but success is a sweet victory. Difficulty in shagging parts and materials is something that never occurred in the US. But then there were a whole set of different issues like the price of those parts, satisfying building inspectors, and the list could go on for several paragraphs. Thanks again.

I’ve noticed that most toilets in Thailand are apparently just cemented in place, but I’d much prefer to install the toilets in my new house the western way with a closet flange, bolts and a wax ring. I just returned from checking four different supply shops in Phuket, and couldn’t find any of those parts.

I don’t speak Thai, so I’m not sure I communicated what I wanted well enough to know if the store actually had the parts, but i suspect they did not. One clerk led me to a pneumatic nailing gun after I tried to tell her what I was looking for.

Aside from a shipment from America, does anyone know where to buy these parts? And is the Thai way to just smear the bottom of the toilet with mortar and nest it over the pvc pipe, as I’m thinking my builder would do if I wasn’t involved? That's what I think it is, but maybe there's more to the installation the Thai way.

The chlorine isn't a good idea for the septic tank, and might be overkill for the mozzies, but not the end of the world.

In my house design the septic tanks are for toilets only. The drains flow into seepage rings with soakouts, so the very diluted chlorine water shouldn't hurt anything.

The trap doesn't do much good unless the drain is used often (mopping the floor or a shower). If this is the case, you need to use a "trap primer" that lets a little water drip into the trap constantly.

I thought about trap primers too, but decided against it. The maid can pour a cup of water with a little chlorine into the floor drains once a week.

isn't chlorine highly corrosive?

chownah

What I had in mind was using a dilute solution similar to the swimming pool (she could even dip a pail into the pool and use that) just to kill any mosquito larva that might be there. The drain system is pvc plastic, and the drain housing metal will be chrome plated brass so I don’t think corrosion would be a problem.

The trap doesn't do much good unless the drain is used often (mopping the floor or a shower). If this is the case, you need to use a "trap primer" that lets a little water drip into the trap constantly.

I thought about trap primers too, but decided against it. The maid can pour a cup of water with a little chlorine into the floor drains once a week.

IMHO. Any drain inside the house be it floor, sink, shower, bath or bidet will need a trap if you want to prevent 'orrible pongs coming back up from the murky depths even if they don't discharge into the septic itself

That said, TiT, good luck in persuading your plumber

EDIT A piccie to show the plumber:-

Another type, possibly better suited http://www.jrsmith.com/products/internatio...ittal/i2095.pdf

Crossy, Thanks once again for your input, and though I confess I don’t know exactly what ‘orrible pongs are, they sound ominous enough that I want to trap them out, so I think I agree with you. My reasoning was that water traps would of course prevent smells, but hopefully also any ants, cockroaches, geckos, etc. that might try to gain entry. On the other hand, the traps in infrequently used areas might breed mosquitos, so that’s maybe an argument on the other side. But, in balance, drain traps it is, and thanks for the “piccie” and the link for the plumber.

The plumber is actually the builder himself. I selected a Thai guy who has built some good looking homes in this area, and he is doing a very nice job on my project right up to the plumbing. I’m happy that everything is coming out true, level and square, but apparently he just never did plumbing to a western standard before. The lower level of my project has a bath for the pool area, and the rough-in was his first stab at plumbing on this project.

We took it out and redid it together, substituting sanitary tees and y’s for regular tees, eliminating 90 degree elbows in the drain lines, adding a clean out in the waste line, vents for the sinks and the toilet since the stool was over 3 meters from the stack. So now it’s the way I want it, but I needed to think about the floor drains and get some advice before making those changes too.

My builder, who I’ve come to really like, will not be doing the electrical, so don’t worry about that. Your help is appreciated.

My experience in plumbing has been with systems that connected to the municipal sewer lines only, so I'm a rookie when it comes to septic systems. The house I’m building has septic tanks for toilet waste lines only, and gray water drain systems with soak outs for everything else. The kitchen one also has a grease trap. The contractor is just starting the plumbing, and I noticed that the floor drains don’t have traps. Are traps unnecessary in a gray water system?

I went out to Cape Yamoo yesterday to have a look, and I can report that the OP has done a nice job building his hovercraft. The location is a beautiful shallow bay, and the facility is right on the water. Unfortunately when I got there it was high tide and the craft require low tide, so I was unable to give it a try. At low tide one could go up the coast toward Ao Po. I plan to try again, but I'll check a tide table first, before I go next time. The OP mentioned that he intends to acquire a 4 place hovercraft that can travel over water in the near future.

I’d be interested, but I have to finish my house building project first. I spotted your ad in the Gazette, but didn’t want to respond because, for at least the next few months, I’d be in that “time wasters” category that you mentioned in your ad. In the mean time, though, I’d like to try it out. What is your rental rate? I’m a pilot, but I assume you must have a checkout procedure before turning customers loose with your craft. Is that one in the center of your picture a 2 place for checkouts?

I’m building on the bay, and have enough land to launch either a hovercraft or an amphibian aircraft, and I have a shop being built that will be large enough to build either. I’ve already checked out in the SeaRey, which is a great little plane, but i was planning on looking into this flying hovercraft kit, also. It‘s made by Universal Hovercraft, and flys in ground effect up to an altitude of about 12 feet.

I have given my grown up kids plane tickets to Thailand. They get a holiday and I get to see them, double bubble!!! Everyone's a winner baby!

It is still a bit weird though, sitting here in shorts and a tee shirt on Xmas day with the builders in the background finishing off my European kitchen and bathroom extension! Doesn't seem right and proper somehow!

Not that I really celebrated it much in the UK but shouldn't it be cold at the very least? Perhaps with a new democracy the Thai people will respect the traditional values and restore a cold christmas next year! Is that too much too ask??

Wherever you are and whoever you are with, enjoy already!

Doesn't seem much like Christmas to me either, as I've always associated the holiday season with snow. It's a beautiful day here in Phuket though, and life is good, so no complaints. Here's what I'm used to:

We’re underway now and the pre-game jitters are over. Thanks for those tips Callao, and to Teacup for his too. I’ve arranged for the heavier poly sheeting. I like your system with the with a couple of inches of rock under the plastic. I plan on two horizontal perforated pipes behind the retaining wall, one below floor level, and one about half way up the wall. I plan on waterproofing both sides of the basement wall and will probably use the product Yypex. Since the lot slopes, I can run the perforated drain pipes to open air and into drain channels that will be part of the overall drainage scheme for the site. With all the rain we get, this stuff in important.

Here’s an idea related to the drainage pipes. Considering that they will be open to the air, then will travel deeply underground, what about “T”ing in a couple of vertical tubes that would terminate in the house as floor or wall grates? The house will have air conditioning units, but most of the time I plan on open doors and windows with good convective ventilation. Is it possible to achieve a slightly lower than ambient temperature in the house due to air passing through the cool soil before entering the house? I would insect screen both ends to keep critters out. What do you guys think?

I’m also part of the group who appreciate people taking the time and effort to communicate their thoughts clearly. It allows for a better flow in a discussion thread not to be distracted by having to divine what the poster is trying to say due to poor spelling, composition, inebriation, or regional slang. That is not to say that every post should have to be fit for submission in an essay contest. A conversational tone is fine to me as long as it moves the discussion along without those annoying stops to figure out what the guy meant.

This is an international English forum and while regional eccentricities are interesting, they can be confusing to others from the other side of the pond, as PeaceBlonde mentioned For example, some Australian posters use slang that, while colorful, is a little difficult to follow. When they say “mate,” I know they’re probably not referring to their wife or girlfriend, but instead their good drinking buddy. But when they use “piss” one wonders if it as a bodily function, a slur, or a glass of beer. It’s sometimes hard to be sure. But not to pick on the Aussies, who seem to be a rather congenial group; I mention them because they seem to be the majority of the expats in LOS.

Probably everyone is a little ethnocentric regarding the language, just assuming that their particular dialect is the gold standard. I, as an American will plead guilty to that charge. And, I appreciate that some posters are communicating a second or third language, and certainly don’t expect perfection from anyone, just an honest effort to be clear. Yesterday I bought some items at a shop that had a Thai receptionist who spoke some English. As I was leaving i said “Seeya.” When she looked puzzled I had to add, “it was nice to talk to you. Goodbye.”

OK....Let me be the first to say it. It is kind of a boring topic. I think I’ve got a handle on it anyway, and I’ve selected a good builder. So, for those of you who used to play sports, just chalk it up to pre-game jitters. Sorry I posted it.