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I believe that the PEA buy-back rate for electricity is about 2.2 baht per unit if you are lucky enough to get hold of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with them. Our current "temporary" usage rate is about 8.9 baht per unit. A standard residential usage rate is about 5.5 baht per unit... although YMMV.

We have also selected our kitchen cabinets. We found some that we liked in HomePro... from their “Cabin Chic” kitchen collection. So I again used CAD to do a layout of what doors were to go where and what type, and where the cabinets were to be located etc. and produced a BOQ in Excel. Interesting that the HomePro online pricing was significantly lower than the store advertised prices (even the "promotion" prices), but MegaHome in Korat was able to fill our order from stock at hand and give us the online pricing... and then they threw in free delivery because our order was over 50K!

Work has also started on the counters for the kitchen areas. I did a layout of the counter areas in CAD for our builder and they are working to that. He is also sourcing some granite counter tops for us... early indications are that local prices are much cheaper than Boonthavorn or Thaiwatsadu.

We have not yet installed our solar system. We are still on a temporary disc meter on a temporary charge rate. I expect that to change once our build is complete and we apply for a house number. Then the PEA charge rate will change from temporary to residential. Hopefully it will be an office documentation change only and we get to keep the existing meter (which can spin both directions).

For the bathroom we have chosen 12” x 24” Cotto R10 anti-slip tiles like this: We will be using a black coloured epoxy grout (like Weberepox Easy - which is Anti-fungus, Chemical resistant, Anti-stain, Abrasion resistant, Anti-bacteria, Anti-efflorescent stain, Anti-algae, Dust less, Impact resistance, Resistant to detergents, and Resistant to oils). Before tiling the bathroom, I made sure that the builder understood that I wanted him to lay the floor tiles first... that way the water that runs down the wall tile has a better chance of heading away to the drain point than in another direction. Most tilers like to do the walls first because they can finish the wall and work on the floor while the wall tiles are drying... but you can't do that when you lay floors first, so it takes a bit longer, but it's a more water secure job.

The tiling on the bathroom walls has also started... the floor was completed about a week ago and left to dry and seal. A silicone bead was run around the perimeter of the floor tiles to act as a water seal before the wall tiles were started. The tiler has become quite comfortable with using the levelling system now... as you can see...

One day later and it had all been rectified...

Not such a good job outside in the Thai Kitchen and above the decks. We had discussed a ceiling height of around 2.8m with the builder, but he had not discussed this with the electrician who ran his cables and conduits wherever he wanted... it looked OK, but he had no thought as to where the ceiling would be. The ceiling guy took the figure of 2.8m quite literally, and rather than discussing it with the builder to talk with us about proceeded to install his ceilings at a height that was lower than the concrete roof beams... meaning that his SCG smart board ceiling would have been subjected to rain water on the East and the North sides of the house. I took a couple of photos with the drone and marked them up then sent them to the builder to get things rectified: We didn't bother with the lower kitchen height in the Thai kitchen as it will all be boxed up and rendered then painted so you won't notice it. There will be a small step in the ceiling at the end of the deck where it wraps around to become the Thai Kitchen.

We have had a couple of challenges to overcome since our last visit, and things are now finally back on track... albeit with a minor compromise. The technicians who installed our air conditioners ran the piping to/from the outside condenser units straight across the bathroom at a height of FFL +2.5m (Finished Floor Level) rather than running it around the bathroom inside the cavity wall which is what I wanted. They decided that they knew better so ran the piping in a much more direct route, so we now have a much lower bathroom ceiling than planned... it was supposed to be FFL +2.8m. OK... we decided to live with that as it is only a bathroom and not so important to have the high ceilings that we wanted for the rest of the house. Then one of the AC technicians sold his abilities to our builder as a guy than can do anything, so this guy ended up doing all the suspended ceiling work in the whole build. So we had agreed on a height of FFL +3.0m for the ceiling height in all the internal rooms (except the bathroom). As the ceiling was installed the lighting wiring was supposed to be located and holes provided for the conduits to pass through the ceiling panels. After that the 150mm thick SCG Stay Cool Insulation was to be laid out in the ceiling cavity on top of the electrical conduits as the work progressed, progressing bit by bit towards a final corner that the insulation could be installed before the final ceiling panels were fitted into place. Not a difficult job, but one that needed some coordination between the ceiling guy and the electrician. They actually did a pretty good job... lights where we wanted them and the entire ceiling evenly covered with insulation.

How about using solid core 4mm2 electrical cables as an alternative? Much cheaper than brand name audio cables...

Our original plan was to have all the electrical switches and sockets surface mounted (rather than embedded in the walls/columns) with white conduit running down the walls from the ceiling cavity. But after my wife saw the first photos of the Thai kitchen will all the surface mounted conduits she demanded that we change them back to the embedded type. "Mai suay" she said... 555. It wasn't a big cost addon ( about 5K) and the electrician was happy to do it too, so we made the change. I suspect that the cost of the white conduit and junction boxes etc. is not much different to the yellow,

Some very good advice there Jerome... thanks! I do plan on being there in person when the grouting is done... as you say it is critical to the quality of the tiling finish.

CPS Inter Solution. They so not speak any English at all though, so get your wife to do the talking. It also pays to be specific about the make/models you want too... so do your homework first so you know exactly what you want then call them for a quote.

The quest for suitable air conditioning units was a journey in itself... I had originally decided on Mitsubishi Electric units, however due to a shortage of the cassette inverter units in the whole country and no supply for the next 6 months, I opted to go with Daikin. We found a supplier with a very competitive price in Korat city who was prepared to deliver and install. His pricing was some 18Kbaht cheaper than HomePro for the same models so it certainly does pay to shop around. The units being installed are: 1. Bedroom - area 21m2 - wall mounted 15,000 BTU inverter FTKZ15VV2S - SEER rating 24.7 2. Living/Dining - area 36m2 - ceiling mounted 24,000 BTU inverter FCF24CV2S - SEER rating 22.51 Both compressor units are being mounted outside on the bathroom wall where we have just added a concrete block wall to keep the units shaded from the afternoon sun. (See the last photo in the previous post).

And the air conditioning units are being installed.

The ceiling supports are also being installed...

The electrician is also now on site and he is busy cutting tracks in the walls to hide his conduits.

I'm not sure of the fixing details yet, however I have asked that the screen section are to be made removable. More to come on this subject for sure...

As the real roof is concealed by a façade (see the aerial photos a few posts ago), we cannot really introduce any air flow in the ceiling cavity... that is why we have opted for 6" thick SCG "Stay Cool" insulation to be laid on all ceiling surfaces. That, combined with the PU foam layer underneath the steel roof sections should provide us with adequate thermal (and acoustic) insulation.

You guys were right about our tiler not knowing how to use the tile levelling system properly. I spoke to our builder about it and he was on site the very next morning to 1) check the tiles already laid, and 2) assist the tiler in understanding exactly how the leveling system is supposed to work. He sent me back some photographs and assured me that all the tiles that have already been laid are perfectly level and lip-free, as his tiler was "a good craftsman" and has given me his personal guarantee that we will not have any problems. I will be heading up there again in a couple of days to check it out first hand.

I have a Hayward 1.5hp pool pump for filtration/circulation, and another Hayward 1.5hp pool pump for the waterfall (which we rarely use). Each uses 1.1kW per hour of operation, so if you are filtering your pool for 8 hours per day (8am-midday, and 2pm to 6pm) then your daily power consumption will be 8.8kW. Installing a solar system just to power the pool pumps (during daylight hours) is an option you may wish to investigate.

555... My wife wanted a blue roof but I insisted on a white roof.

And now that it is more or less weather-proof inside the building, today (25th June) the tiling work has started, although we are no longer there to see it in person. SIL is now charged with providing us with daily progress photos as our niece has gone back to university, so the quality of photos is not as good as before. We bought the tiles over a month ago at Boonthavorn and they were delivered to site last week. Good to see that the builder heeded my request to use tile spacers and wedge-based levelling system for the tiling work. A line has also been etched (using a laser level) on the walls 1m up from the FFL (finished floor level) so the uPVC window and door manufacturer can come and perform his final site survey and measurements for the windows and doors.

One small problem... birds! Many birds of all shapes, sizes, and varieties are now trying to make nests in the gutters and also pecking out the PU foam on the carport roof as well. So we have come up with some solutions. For the exposed edges of the carport roof we will install pieces of Conwood that have been cut to match the profile of the steel roofing material. For the gutters we will install some expanded aluminium mesh sections that overlap each other and are fixed via SS screws to 2" x 1" steel box sections that will run the full length of the gutters. Only the steel box sections will need painting, as the fixing screws and the mesh are corrosion resistant. We looked at using polypropylene bird mesh netting, but it is really only good for a few years before it degrades in the strong sunlight. This is a much more durable solution that will hopefully last for 10 years or more.

And when we visited site on the 20th June we could see that the roof was nearing completion... only the sealing and flashing to finish off. From the air you can see how the real roof is hidden by the AAC block façade, and how the guttering/drains system works.