Encid

Have you ever had any problems with rodents (rats, mice, geckos, tookays, snakes etc.) taking up residence in your polystyrene? Or are the cavity walls capped to prevent ingress?

Which company was that, if you don't mind me asking? Actually, I'd like to know both the companies please and their contact details/websites. Please send me a PM if you wish the information to remain private.

And it also depends on the type of build (material-wise) you want from the company. For example, PD House have 3 different build types (and corresponding prices) that you can choose for your house: Exclusive, Smart, and Luxury. You can download their specifications from their website. Rather than try to compare specs across pdf files, I put the major items into a spreadsheet so you can see at a glance what the differences are. See below:

Front load washing machines are considered superior at cleaning clothes with less water usage and less wear on your fabrics. Whatever you decide, make sure that it is an inverter model.

In most Thai provincial cities there are IT malls where there are vendors selling CD's containing popular Thai music in mp3 format. These CD's usually sell for around 100 baht each and contain up to 100 songs. These vendors do not accept credit cards, only cash. If you can speak Thai, the vendors will search through their collections for what you want, and if they don't have it, they will ask one of the other vendors if they have it.

Have a look at some of the house plans and details on this government website.

Congratulations Yes that battery certainly needs to be a bit higher, but otherwise looks like a nice neat installation. By the way... you and I have the same make/model of electric lawn mower!

Check out the timber doors and their prices at Thaiwatsadu online... then compare them with what you have now. I would not be paying 1 satang for a second hand door, even with such a lovely paint hue!

Perfect! They have many options to consider. Thank you very much. ppfence

In most Isaan villages there are many unemployed lazy males who do nothing but drink with their buddies or do yaba. They are always looking for money because they are too lazy to get a job and earn it, and a new house is a prime target. There are always opportunistic thieves around so visible protection and deterrents are needed for peace of mind. Already my FIL caught some people trying to steal our new water pump, and that is 100m behind a 3 strand barbed wire fence (meant to keep cattle not people out) and not visible from the road. The new water tank is visible, so they assumed (correctly) that we had a new water pump, and they decided that they wanted it. Luckily they were noticed before they could do any damage, and they ran away. Now we have a family member sleep in a shelter at the farm and have set up solar lighting, until we get our guest house and fence built when there will be a more permanent presence there.

Never you mind what I plan on growing...

Neither would mine. I really don't like the prison effect that I get when I see window bars which is why I am looking into laminated glass or double glazed windows, both for security as well as insulation. Our proposed security layers will consist of 1) border fence (with barbed wire or maybe a few electrified strands), 2) motion activated lighting and CCTV, 3) double glazed windows and digital door locks with dead bolts, 4) alarm system with motion sensors and sirens, and 5) a big dog or 2.

I have a rural area of about 2.4 rai than I want to fence in. It has a perimeter of approx 264m. I'd like to have a chain mesh fence topped with some barbed wire (or maybe electric wire) to deter would-be thieves, but still allow the breeze to get through. I am looking for something like this: Does anyone know any fencing contractors in Isaan that can supply and install such a fence? We are located halfway between Korat and Khon Kaen.

Nice looking build Will. What is the function/purpose of the structure in the back corner behind the carport?

You are obviously not based in Thailand. ALL Thai trade people prefer to work in cm.

You might want to touch base with Poolworld Korat. They make and install prefabricated fibreglass pools up to 18m long all over Isaan. I have a mate who used them to supply and install a pool on his property at Lam Luk Ka... he's very happy with their work. And their prices seem to be quite reasonable.

Photos... need photos...

Congratulations @007 RED A savings of nearly 10.6K THB in your first year of operation is certainly a good return on your investment. Well done!

So is that 19 rises which would mean a floor level difference between the first and second levels of 3.8 metres? (19 rises x 20cm high) If so, one fix would be to demolish the existing stair structure and build a new one, but it would be dependent on the area you have available at the landing on your second level. From your photos you currently have 15 steps to an interim landing followed by a further 2 steps to the second level, making 19 rises in total. You could build a new stairwell comprising 20 or 21 rises meaning that your step heights will be slightly less giving you more headroom at the overhead beam. So, your new stairs could comprise 15 steps as before to an interim landing followed by a further 3-4 steps to your second level. This as I said would be dependent on the area you have available at the landing on your second level, as it will increase the total run length of your stairs by 1 or 2 steps (25-50cm). Another possibility for a new stairwell design and again dependent on the amount of area you have available at the landing on your second level, would be to change the stairway from an L-shape into a U-shape, by reversing the stair direction after the interim landing. Perhaps if you take another photo (or two) from the second level with a wider angle we could see if you have the area needed to achieve either of these options?

In any case the first thing I would be doing is to head down to the nearest MrDIY shop and buy a roll of this... a foam based safety edge guard. It may not stop you from hitting your head on the edge of the beam (until your body's muscle memory starts working), but it will prevent any cuts or abrasions that draw blood.

That would be a Thai engineered standard 60cm deep reinforced concrete structural beam. The only differences between them is the amount and sizing of the rebar inside, which is in turn dependent on the structural load that the beam has to support. See the drawing below for some standard sizes as an example. Depending on the concrete coverage of the rebar I don't think that you'd be able to shave any more than 2-2.5cm off it. You can see in the details for the columns (C1, C2 etc.) that the concrete coverage should be 3 cm over the rebar, however this is approximate only and varies a lot. The coverage is also further reduced by the steel wire that is used to tie the whole beam rebar arrangement together before the concrete pour.

Where is that sad emoji when you need one? Hope it doesn't get any worse for you.

For sure you are in a worrying situation now @Crossy. How does the water from the khlong get into your yard? Via your yard drainage or through your front gates? Assuming that your perimeter wall is reasonably watertight I'd be looking at sandbagging your main entrance then dropping a sump pump into your perimeter drains and pumping the water out back into the street over your sand bag wall.

Congratulations! That is a nice and neat install. So the entire system cost was ฿445K installed?

Same here... we bought a new Pajero Sport 4x4 last year and were pleasantly surprised to discover a heating function in the AC after setting the temperature to 27°C one chilly night coming home from the local hospital about 30km away. Off-topic but it is not the only hidden and under-advertised feature of the Pajero either... it has a special "Driver Assist" mode that works when you are using the GPS... it's actually a radar detector! Goodbye speeding fine photos!