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The work has started on the excavation for the new power poles. They will be digging down to a depth of 1.5 metres before dropping the 8m poles in then backfilling with concrete. I have asked if they plan on installing guy wires and anchors at cable route changes in direction, to prevent the poles leaning once the cables are installed... now waiting on an answer.

I just had a look at that option in CAD. No... a 17º pitch on such a small structure would look awful, as would 15º or even 10º. I think we will proceed with a 5-8º pitch and use elevated support panels for the PV panels later.

My advice would be to get someone small and light (say 40- 50kg) to do it.

Definitely not! If you dare to go up there only walk on load-bearing walls, not the suspended ceiling frame. Most homes have an entry hatch to the ceiling cavity in one of the bathrooms... rarely accessed unless you need to repair a roof leak or dispose of some rodents that have gained entry.

I was thinking more of the reflective foil under the metal roof (to keep the heat out), and 2" thick rolls of insulation (no silver foil) on top of the ceiling (to keep the cool in) - bedroom only. I'm thinking of getting one of those portable AC units like this for when we stay there. The suspended ceiling frame could certainly support this.

I understand what you are saying however it is an unlikely scenario. Currently the land is owned by my FIL's sister, and she is too old and not interested in farming it herself so she rents it out to other rice farmers. Her children are not interested... her son is a few sandwiches short of a picnic and has left home to stay alone with his dogs, and her daughter has married a falung who has just sold their house in Thailand after 11 years here and vowed never to return. Her daughter may return from time to time, but both she and her mother have given us consent to proceed.

Good idea! I was planning to use the roof later to support solar panels (see earlier post) but if the roof is already sloping at the correct angle then this would minimize the PV panel supports. It would also create a large volume between the roof top and the suspended ceiling above the bedroom/storage room, so insulation would be easy to do. I think that I'll change the roof outline to be square instead of having that notch in it... the prefabricated beams can handle the minimal extra load.

@MJCM has... see here.

It's probably about time I shared some of the building plans with you guys, and see if you have any suggestions for improvement before we commit to building. Firstly, the guest house. It will be pile supported structure based on a 5m x 4m column and beam design and walls made of Q-CON AAC blocks near the edge of the property on the east side. It will have a lockable room with a suspended ceiling and insulation in which we intend to stay during the main house construction period. This room will also contain the power breaker box for the structure. It will also have a lockable WC (also with a suspended ceiling) containing a shower, toilet, and washing basin. An electric hot water system under the basin will provide hot water for both the shower and the basin (essential for shaving IMO). The open area will have a sink, gas hot plates, and a refrigerator, drinking water machine (hot and cold), and some casual outdoor style seating and dining table. Maybe an ice-maker too? Between the guest house and the perimeter wall will be the septic system. The roof will be a simple flat metal sheet structure supported by simple light weight prefabricated beams. In the future it is intended to use this roof to support PV solar cells which will power the submersible pump in the well (yet to be drilled). As I said previously we intend to stay here during the main house construction period, until the house is finished and we move in. After that it will revert to a rest area for the family who tend to the farm. The lockable room will be used to store small farming and fishing equipment, and maybe even used as a rice storage area. With the availability of well water the FIL will not be limited to just one rice crop per year... and perhaps different crops might be tried? My preliminary plans which I will give to the builder are below. Any thoughts/suggestions/constructive criticism etc?

Work also started today on phase 2 of our land fill. It's amazing to see how quickly the countryside becomes green after a bit of rain. With rain and thunderstorms forecast for the next 6 days or so, it will probably start to get a bit muddy out there. I hope that the earth moving equipment is big enough and strong enough to pull out one of those trucks if it gets bogged.

Our builder had his lads back measuring on the farm again this morning and has come back with a revised quote... 9 poles @ 30m centres (total run is now across the tops of the bund walls not through the rice fields)... 100,000 baht. We have approved his quotation and paid a 50% deposit. The work will start tomorrow and be complete in 5-7 days.

That is a Google Maps "feature"! The road is minor, a poorly laid single lane concrete government road about 3m wide. You cannot travel much faster than 30 km/hr on it due to the roughness and you have to move your left wheels to the verge if another vehicle approaches from the opposite direction.. The nearest PEA pole is 800m to the north and is only single phase. The road to the west of us (left) is a more major 2-lane concrete government road with both HV and domestic PEA power supply lines. You can easily travel at 60 km/hr or faster on it, although you need to be careful because the local farmers travel on it in a variety of slow moving vehicles. Funny thing about Google Maps... many times it identifies private roads (gated off) as public roads... can be frustrating at times!

Good idea! We may proceed with the well drilling then, but I think we will wait for some soil settlement before I start putting down concrete pads for water tanks and filters. Schedule-wise we should have PEA power by then so can power the submersible pump, and the solar can wait until later.

As I posted earlier, all of the farm land that the poles cross belongs to the family, and they have given their consent. Written consent by the owners is required by the PEA if the land chanote next to their pole where the meter is to be installed is not yours.

The preliminary project schedule is as follows: 1. Complete land fill – March/April 2022. 2. Construct perimeter wall 3m high on 2 sides and install sliding gate - April 2022. 3. Establish PEA meter 30 (100) AMP required and run cables and poles @ 30m centres across land to building site at edge of pond, then cables to be run underground in black/red HDPE conduit - April 2022. 4. Plant out sloping sections to prevent erosion - April 2022. 5. Drill well and install filtration tanks and structure to support PV solar panels to power submersible pump - May 2022. 6. Drive piles and build Guest House - October 2022. 7. Obtain Tabien Baan - November 2022. 8. Begin construction of Main House - January 2023.

Our builder contacted us today with his proposal for power poles and cable from the PEA domestic supply pole we identified earlier: His preliminary estimate for the work (all inclusive) was 90,000 baht. We asked about the pole spacing and he replied about 50m. This will not work for us as we want to add Internet fiber optic cables to the route in the future and they will not span 50m without additional support. We also did not like the way the route ran straight over the rice fields, as this will impact future planting and harvesting - particularly the pole in the middle of the large rice field. We also do not want to see ugly overhead cables from the house... better to run them underground in conduit once they reach our construction site. So I marked up a Google Maps image of an alternative route and pole spacing and asked him to revise and resubmit his proposal. This is what I sent him:

Rather than allowing your grey water to overflow to the street drains you could install your own grey water tank or soakaway. That way flooded road drains will never back-flow into your septic tank and cause it to overflow. Your grey water from the house (shower and sink outlets as well as washing machine drain) should be piped to your grey water tank, not your black water tank. Have a look at my topic on septic tanks to see what I mean. And yes I agree with STWW... your system needs to be properly vented at both the house wall where the black water exits and at the septic tank itself. The vent outlets should be high (above human nose smelling height) and filled with mesh to stop birds and rodents from entering. A lot of vents are installed under the eaves for these reasons. Once painted the same colour as the house, you will never notice them again.

Our builder is planning to use piles for the foundations. Not the drill, reinforce, and fill type, but hammer-driven piles. He expects that they will go down 5-6 metres (depending on the "hardness" of the land, so well past the non fill level. He has an acquaintance who performs soil bearing tests.

I believe that it is a 4 tonne road roller, but would need to confirm. And BTW, I was unable to open the HEIC file you attached. That is what our builder said too. I think I will save the money instead. Thanks.

We have been quoted 15,000 baht per day for a roller. Is that a good price or is it expensive?

Great tip... thanks!

I think it will be years before the PEA extends the supply past our property... nobody is building out there (except us of course) and very few will meet the criteria in the options that the PEA provided above. Our (private) poles will be on family owned farm land, so nobody (including the PEA) can extend our supply. On the screen shot below from Google Maps the little heart shows the location of the land where our house will be built. You can also see the FIL's pond to the west of the house site. The north-east corner of the block has direct access to the concrete government road that I was talking about but the nearest PEA pole is about 800m away to the North. All the land to the west of our building site is family owned rice farming land up to the larger concrete government road with the "big power" HV lines and also domestic 220v supply lines. The final route has yet to be decided but I expect that we will be running new poles at 20m intervals (to support both domestic power supply and future internet fiber optic cable) along the tops of the rice paddock bund walls to the NW corner of the pond. I plan to go underground from there. Obviously changes in direction of the cable route will put some poles under tension, and this typically cases them to lean, but we will try to mitigate that. Being "private poles" we are assured of no further additional load being put on them.

Whilst we were there my wife and her father visited the local PEA to see what options are available to getting electricity to our building site. It is on a concrete government road, but the nearest PEA pole is 800 metres away at the edge of the village. They were advised that we have three options: 1. Build your house, obtain a house number (tabien baan), then apply to bring in domestic electricity. 2. Apply for a farm supply, need at least 5 different people with 5 different chanotes all with tabiens for "working farms". 3. Rent a meter for 4000 baht, then run your own cables (to PEA spec) and poles to your building site. As our plan is to build a "guest house" first (a single structure comprising lockable bedroom, hong naam and shower, and open kitchen/resting area) for us to stay in whilst the main house is built, we were considering going with option 1. However after meeting (on-site) with our builder, he suggested going with option 3 and coming across family owned farm land from the larger "big power" lines from another road about 220 metres away. Sure enough, below the HV cables on the large poles there were step-down transformers to power lines on smaller poles carrying the domestic 220v supply. We made note of the nearest PEA pole number and our builder will survey the route and provide us a quotation to run the poles and cable. Once we have power cables across the farm land to our building site, the plan is to then run it underground inside that black with red stripes HDPE pipe.

Mohk (โมก) Wrightia religiosa (Apocynaceae) is what we used for a hedge in our garden in Najomtien and I'm told that it will thrive in the Isaan conditions. It does need regular pruning and the flowers attract a lot of insects in particular bees (including the large and loud carpenter bees). They do need a lot of direct sunlight, otherwise they can grow straggly and get subject to white mould like insects if in heavy shade. There are other quick growing varieties available and we're looking into them too. I'm told that sour tamerin trees are also quick growing and very resilient.