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Our architect has finally issued us with a preliminary copy of our house design detailed construction drawings, and although the concrete roofs look flat, they actually have a 1:100 slope on them to corner drains to let rain water out. Sample below: He has specified a product called "Beger Cool Roof" to provide a heat-reflective and waterproofing coating. See below: When I look at the Beger Thailand web page to learn more about this product it does sound like a fantastic product. Depending on whether you want the 7 year product or the 15 year product the price is not so expensive for a quality roof paint. The prices below are from Global House: They recommend applying an elastomeric primer such as Beger Cool Super Ceramic Shield No. 8000 for new concrete surfaces, and recommend that the cement surface should be left to dry completely for one month and the moisture content is less than 14%. Does anyone have any experience with this particular product or can recommend any other concrete roof sealant?

Captain DIY does a lot of these.

I don't wish to argue with you but that is what is taught in civil engineering classes at university. I was taught it when I went to uni in the West many years ago, and my niece was taught it last year at Khon Kaen university.

Curing time of concrete is typically 24-48 hours, after the initial set forms can be removed and people can walk on the surface. After one week, concrete is typically cured enough to handle continued construction and traffic from vehicles and equipment is OK. Concrete is recognized to be fully cured and has reached full strength 28 days after placement. For painting purposes, I'd agree with 72 hours (3 days) as already recommended.

Why am I not surprised? You can buy a complete kit for your toilet (the image below is a Cotto kit) that contains all the bits you need (including the sealing wax ring and the holding-down bolts) at any HomePro or other DIY store.

You want the finer things in life? How about this gold-plated beauty? You can even get a matching urinal and sink for it too...

Another positive about your installation is that none of the PV panels are visible from the road... maintaining your "street appeal" and keeping it out of sight of any prying (PEA) eyes... Does that mean that it can't/won't feed into the grid, or that you have been advised that you shouldn't feed into the grid?

100% agree. For a system like that fully installed by professionals, and all PEA-approved kit, for just over 700K baht it's pretty impressive. I am now starting to re-think my own requirements... the DIY route may be cheaper, but my age and physical condition is going to force me to use alternative/additional labour for much of it anyway... the contractor installed route may work better for me too. This has given me a lot more homework to do...

Hafele also supply a "smart" toilet with most of the bells and whistles too... Smart toilet Soft closing toilet seat and cover with automatically Cyclone Jet flushing action Water consumption 5.5 Lpf Automatic flushing system Powerful cleaning Gentle cleaning (bidet function) Water temperature adjustable Warm dryer with adjustable temperature Adjustable seat temperature Adjustable nozzle cleaning Automatic nozzle cleaning Deodorization system Night light mode ELCB (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker) Power: 220V / 50Hz S-Trap rough-in: 305 mm. Including remote control, stop valve, and wax ring Size: 400 x 655 x 455 mm Including remote control, stop valve and wax ring

To achieve that they have to be tapered at both ends...

I'd be relocating all movable objects away from the work area too (the dunny brush & holder etc.) and turn off the water supply at the wall. Then you should flush the toilet one last time to make sure that the cistern is empty with just a cupful or so remaining in the bowl. If there are no holding-down bolts at all you may have to try to rock the toilet from side to side to dislodge it from the grout seal (although your photo does not really show much grout at all), and you wouldn't want water splashing about. @Toolong have you tried rocking your toilet from side to side at all to see if there is any movement?

Another good thing about @sometimewoodworker's installation above is hidden behind the pot plant in the stand in the corner... two separate valves from the water supply... one to fill the cistern (at full pressure and flow rate so it fills quickly) and one to supply the bum gun (which may be regulated by the valve if the pressure is too high for comfortable use).

The only fan you want to have above a cooking area would be an exhaust fan to remove the steam and toxic vapours produced by Thai cooking, not a ceiling or wall fan that would spread those fumes elsewhere (including the eyes of the cook). Floor standing fans are more versatile when it comes to positioning for optimal cooling.

@Toolong A few important observations about this diagram/method statement by Cotto that you need to compare with your own toilet... Fig. 1 shows a dimension of 305mm from the face of the wall to the centreline of the 4" waste pipe outlet. Is yours the same? Fig. 2 shows the fitting of the floor gasket, the PVC adapter flange, and most importantly, the sealing gasket that most Thai plumbers neglect to use. Is yours the same? Fig. 5 shows the location of the holding-down bolts for the toilet. Typically these are covered by white plastic caps so they might not be easily noticed, but all toilets have them. Can you find yours?

That's exactly what I was referring to... The warranty typically guarantees that the battery won’t degrade past a certain percent of the original charge capacity during the warranty term. I'd be happy with the warranties provided by Alpha. They've taken away the laughing emoji so here's another one just for you.

I see that both the inverter and the battery packs have 5 year product warranties, and the battery pack has a 10 year performance warranty.

Apart from the faster charging and discharging rates are there any other benefits to using an HV (389-400V) ESS? What about longevity compared with LV (48V)?

From what I have been seeing lately you have got a pretty reasonable price for a professionally installed system. Sure, there are cheaper systems around, but for a contractor-installed system comprising 11.25 kW of PV plus a 10 kW 3 phase on-grid hybrid inverter with 16.4 kWh of ESS (high voltage means faster charging and discharging rates) I think that it's a pretty good deal. The installation looks very professional, although I'd be a little concerned over the bottom battery being susceptible to the occasional accidental swipe from a wet mop... I'd prefer to see it raised about 20cm.

I just discovered that SOFAR also manufacture LiFePO4 batteries... starting with the BTS E5~E20-DS5 (5kWh) which can be expanded by adding additional packs up to 20kWh. Link Does anyone have any experience with these or know any dealers here in Thailand?

Globally esteemed engineering award given to Australian research team The prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering has this year been awarded to the University of New South Wales’ Professor Martin Green, Dr Aihua Wang and Dr Jianhua Zhao, as well as the Australian National University’s Professor Andrew Blakers, for their research work and development of PERC solar technology. The esteemed engineering accolade is presented to engineers responsible for ground-breaking innovations that have been of global benefit to humanity, with judges deeming Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PEERC) technology as underpinning solar’s success story, ultimately enabling low cost, decarbonised energy the world over. In 1983, Martin Green and Andrew Blakers at the University of New South Wales produced solar cells with 18% efficiency, surpassing the 16.5% recorded previously. Over the next few years, they published cell results of 19% and 20% efficiency, and theoretically determined the maximum achievable efficiency to be close to 30%. Green’s Lab at the University of South Wales held the global record for efficiency for 30 of the 40 years from 1983 to 2023, with Aihua Wang and Jianhua Zhao leading the work which eventually reached Green’s 25% efficiency target. Read the full article from PV Magazine here

I must get some of them... you saw what happened to my 220VAC-12VDC lighting transformers didn't you?

Painting the PVC pipe will also help with UV protection as it will degrade and get brittle over time in direct sunlight. Good to see that you took off all those ugly stickers on the tank.

Ideally you would arrange your filtration system as follows: PWA mains inlet water -> storage tank -> activated carbon filter -> ion exchange resin filter -> booster pump -> 5 micron sediment filter -> house The activated carbon filter absorbs chemicals, odours, colours, residual chlorine including toxic substances such as pesticides, detergents, and hydrocarbons. The ion exchange resin filter removes magnesium and calcium and "softens" the water. You could add a bypass line and block valve from the PWA supply line around the tank to the resin filter just for the backwash/brine regeneration process if the pressure from the 2.5m high tank wasn't strong enough by itself, and possibly make the regeneration process easier for your FIL to understand. You could also get your wife to set an appointment/reminder in his phone calendar to regen every 7 days.

Thanks for the tip guys I wonder if they work with the gecko's larger cousin... the tookay? I have a mate in Isaan who had to have most of the wiring in his BMW replaced due to hungry rodents. I'll let him know about this solution.