beechstreet

Got an update for us!?

Hi guys,

I have a few specialized tools that I brought over with me from the US. I am going to be building a house soon and will work out some sort of more long range solution (transformer and frequency converter) but want to be able to power them intermittently (ideally at multiple locations) before we get that all set up. If I was smarter I would have just thrown a nice Honda generator in the container with the rest of my stuff...but one can't always think of everything.

I'll be back in the US for a few weeks and was thinking I should just suck it up and get a nice used generator, crate it, ship it, and find a good customs broker...Unless its possible (long shot I know) to find an acceptable 120v/60Hz generator here.

I would also be interested in consulting with an expert on this, these aren't tools that I want to F up, if someone could recommend an experienced electrical engineer that would be great as well.

Thanks!

Don't listen to any of that nonsense...

Triangular shaped lots are the best! They allow people who couldn't normally afford real estate the opportunity to get creative. There are at least 4 examples in San Diego of great architecture sitting on "unbuildable" triangular lots. Here's one http://www.lloyd-russell.com/projects/inde...pID=r3_triangle

Shades of Retro, 522/3 Soi Thonglor, corner of Soi 16, phone no. 02 714 9657, is selling retro vintage furnitures.

They also make a nice gin and tonic!

Another bar/vintage shop is Tuba, Ekamai Soi 21.

Just saw a sparse little shop at JJ mall (3rd floor?) with a few nice vintage pieces; old-old cash register and a sweet pinball machine.... they might have access to vintage furniture.

Post what you find!

David

My wife and I were at Homepro yesterday looking at cook tops. We need something temporary until we gear up for the real kitchen (in about a year). So we were thinking of spending a couple thousand baht (hopefully less) on a gas cook top that can just sit on our counter. We are used to cooking with open burners and natural gas in the states so I am unfamiliar with these infrared type burners. The Homepro swarm was of course no help, telling us about all the features that we can readily observe ourselves..."That's a cooktop" "It is stainless steel" and of course telling us to buy whatever model we are NOT looking at.

So do any of you guys have experience with the infrared gas cooktops? I know in theory how they work but want some insight on practice. We have some nice Sitram pots and pans that I would rather not F up. The one thing that a Homepro dude told me, which I want to believe, is that the infrared burns "cleaner"...

Thanks,

David

they do work. i am using one...

Naam,

You may have already cover this elsewhere...but do you have any other details you can share about your set up?

David

Also, it might be worth noting that the 1 rai/1 meter numbers that the contractors give out are supposed to imply 1 meter of compacted soil... so they are actually trucking more than 1600 cubic meters to the site. We also found that contractors like to throw around cubic meter prices for both compacted and uncompacted soil-- it's like the classic used car salesman technique of confusion through numbers. I think as we progress on the house we are going to start making bidding contractors fill out a form, that we provide, in order for us to clearly compare their confusing prices.

Here's an update: We gathered 3 bids from separate contractors, hoping to be able to compare "apples to apples." However, each contractor offered something slightly different, so it was a bit difficult to compare the 3 bids. One promised pure topsoil, another promised the soil that is found below topsoil, another promised a layer of topsoil above a layer of crushed and compacted construction debris, claiming it would be a more stable foundation (and cheaper). Some contractors also said that grading should be done in the dry season, since dirt is more readily available (because other construction projects are starting up, and with excavation comes dirt!). Others said the rainy season is a better time to fill and grade, since the moist soil is easier to work with. So far, everyone has a different logic. The only true constant is that gas prices are rising, and the way I see it, time = inflation.

The total depth of fill needed, depending on the location on the site, ranges from 1.8 meters to 2.1 meters. The total area to be filled is 1520 square meters (almost 1 rai). In short, we are trying to raise approximately 1 rai of land by 2 meters. Because our property is in a small soi with a freshly-paved concrete street, 10-wheelers are not allowed, and thus the contractors had to take into account an increased number of trips using their 6-wheelers instead. I have heard different holding capacities of 6-wheeler trucks, ranging from 5 cubic meters per truck to 7 cubic meters per truck.

Basically, the contractor who is most likely going to get the job has offered us soil for 220 Baht/cubic meter. This is soil that is excavated from rice fields, although it is not topsoil, she claims, but the layer of soil that lies beneath the topsoil. She claims it is still fertile soil, but not recommended for serious gardening. This is okay with us, since we are mainly going to build a house and a gravel road on this fill (and a few small trees and bushes here and there).

This is the calculation for the bid:

2892 cubic meters (total compacted volume) x 1.2 (a compaction factor of 20%) x 220 Baht/cubic meter = 763,488 Baht

She estimates the job will be completed in 7 days. Another reason we are deciding to go with her is that she has previously done work for my wife's uncle before, which, in many ways, makes her more reliable/predictable than the other two contractors whom we found from either the phone book or driving around.

FYI, prices for pure topsoil range from 240 Baht/cubic meter to 300 Baht/cubic meter, depending on who we ask. Sand is 300 Baht/cubic meter. Prices for raising 1 rai of land by 1 meter (using 10-wheelers) range from 250,000 Baht to 350,000 Baht. All contractors that put together bids for us are in the Nonthaburi area.

...I have talked to alot of property developers in Bangkok, and they all pay 600k baht per rai for filling land...

Hey Greg,

When you say 600k baht per rai is that for 1 meter in depth?

Well we visited the site today and met with a guy that was referred to us by an uncle...he is going to give us an itemized bid early next week. Said he would give per truck numbers on "good" dirt and not great dirt. Also talked to a neighbor who said he would get us some phone numbers of other sources. So ideally I'll have a couple of bids to choose from. I'll keep y'all updated, and thanks for all the input!

Yeah 2.25 rai and it's pretty low...the land is an old durian grove. The trees are long gone but it's still striated by the irrigation ditches, which are always at least half full of water. So most of the site is only about .5 meter above the level of the adjacent klong. But once we fill the ditches then the land is still a solid 1.5 meters below the level of the soi.

Eventually my wife's parents will move here, as well as her uncle, so we've spent quite a bit of time master planning the site and trying to figure out the phasing of each project. We figure about 4,000 cubic meters will fill the ditches and raise the land where we plan to build our house (as well as a few areas where we would like to plant some long term trees). We'll worry about the other houses when the time comes.

We thought about a pond but decided that we would prefer a series of small ponds rather than one big one, which wouldn't supply us with a significant amount of dirt...

aroi mai?

(sorry couldn't help myself!)

makyai,

just a thought, but it might be easier/cheaper to paint a piece of sheet metal with chalkboard paint, then you could use it for both chalk and magnets? You could use a pretty thin gauge and just laminate it to the old surface with contact cement, add a couple of screws for insurance (this all assumes the old chalk board isn't actual slate of course!).

hth

Gary, Thanks for the offer...I've been racking my brain trying to come up with creative ways to 'Shawshank' the dirt down here... I'll have to run the numbers but I wonder how much free dirt 500,000 baht of postage would get me???

Cuban, Thanks for your additional insight. The dirt was part of a fence/wall contract that is being coordinated by a family member so we are somewhat disconnected from the specifics of the agreement...but based on what we saw & were told we started to get real nervous about the rest of the site work. The fence isn't done yet so we might have prepaid for dirt that hasn't arrived yet (I hope!). I'll keep your numbers in mind as I start to solicit bids and will report back with any updates.

If anyone else has a lead or suggestions be sure to let me know!

My wife and I are getting ready to build in Nonthaburi, and of course we need to raise the land up about 1.5 meters (Bangkok is sinking remember?). We got a quote that seemed pretty darn high compared to the numbers discussed in this dirt thread. We just got two truck loads so they could start building our fence, and it cost 6,000 baht (gasp!)... looked like approximately 9 cubic meters of nastiness (mostly hard clay, full of trash and chunks of concrete).

What have you guys paid for dirt recently? Any suggestions on who/where to get some good old fashioned dirt? We need about 4,000 cubic meters!

Thanks!

David

(By the way, I am glad to have found this forum...!)

What I love about this whole thing is that I have 2 BKK-JFK tickets booked for the middle of August...

You'd think they would contact me directly and initiate some sort of solution to their problem. Now I get to call and play the irritated consumer.

Wonder how they are going to deal with the fact that I paid for economy deluxe and physically don't fit in economy seats (too tall).