chiangrai

I just had a concrete shed built with a flat concrete roof.I need to put a 16 foot lenght of gutter on one side.

I am trying to work out how to go about it.I live so remote that the guys who come and install gutters for you won't come.

I could get a shop to make up the gutter and install them myself but I don't like that angular gutters that they make out of paper thin aliminium.

Does any one have ant ideas on how I would go about it myself.Painting P.V.C pipe is one idea but I need tips on how to do the brackets.

Any other posabitities home made or otherwise.

I'm looking for a hard surface.

A cheap form of pavestones or paving blocks tht they use in thailand.

trying to find out what laterite is.

I need to choose a surface for a small back yard and a

path for the front of the house.

I am about to use powered colorant but I'm having second thoughts.

At the moment the surface is earth.

I'm looking for something cheap and cheerful that looks natural

doesn't get too hot

Any ideas.

O.K,Thanks,

But the twenty million baht question is.

Can you put it on top of existing concrete or do you

have to put the concrete down and then put the coluured

render on top before the lower layer of concrete dries.

This is what my builder says and I really need to know if it's

bullshit or not.If it's bullshit I will just put the concrete down and leave the colour untill the

dry season.

What kind of sealant should you put on top,is that the varnish I heard mentioned.

I'm just about to do the job so I would love an answer.

Do you know the colour that I've only seen Thai people put on concrete.

It's called "see bpoone"(colour powder).

They use it on floors.They put down concrete first then mix up a rebder mix,put the coloured powder in the render mix and render the floor with it.

Does anyone know the english name for this.

Also the Thai guy who is going to put it on my yard says that you must put the coloured render on the same day that you put

down the concrete or else the colour will fade faster.

Is this true.

What do you think about this stuff,does it last.I asked a Thai guy if the colour

lasts forever and he said "yes,and it lasts even longer if you varnish it."

Thanks all.

The house is cheap and 50 percent of it can be dismanteled and taken away.

So I'm reasonably covered but it's good to be wise just the same.

Right 5 to 10 percent.

Just to be clear. This is per year.

Is there a reason that I shouldn't put in the contract that after 5

years the rent can not be increased by more than 25 percent

and if not 50 percent.

That way I don't have to agree to agree to any increases if the landlady

doesn't mention them.

Thanks,

And is that figure of 5 percent a more or less accepted rate.

I'm just trying to work out a fair rate for both of us.

I am about to sign a 5 year lease and am going to build a cheap house on the land.

I want to put a clause in the contract to say that the owner can not raise the rent by over a certain amount.

Is there a reckognised way to do this.Is there a certain percentage or amount that

people put in in these situations.

The lease is 10,000 baht per year.So the rent can't be put up untill then.

What I want to prevent is to prevent the landlord putting rent up through the roof just to make us leave.

What I've come accross on youtube is a security bar which can be

attached to brackets coach bolted through the concrete outside the

door frame.

I could get one made up cheaply.

And a heat sensitive light and a an alarm............

Right,

So these bolt latches should be welded onto the inside of one door,top and bottom, is that right.

So you close these from the inside,then lock the door,but whats to stop the second door from moving.

I still need a simple solution to the external lock.I don't think the neighbours will go to the trouble of getting an oxoceteline torch.Can you buy these bolt latches that are heavy duty and can be locked

with a padlock.

Or is there a better way.

Two doors that fit together inside a door frame without a centre post to open out.

I just got a small garage built.I want it to be as secure and theft proof as possable.

I got it built in rendered concrete block with a concrete roof.

I have also got two steel doors to fit inside a steel door frame which is allready installed.

I have no idea how to hinge it so it can't be prized open with a crowbar.I also have no idea how to bolt and lock it.

The guy who is installing it says he knows how to hinge it but judgeing by the two little eyes that he wants to weld on to put a padlock on he has no idea how strong I want it.

How would you go about it.What kind of hinges should I use.,How do I fix them to the wall,inside or outside.What kind of lock,padlock,bolts etc...should I use to

lock it up.

I really have no idea but the doors are in a metalwork shop and I can get him to modify things before my builder installs them.Maybe he can make heavyweight hinges and attach bolts and eyes for locking it.

Talk to me please

I've found a Tao exterior varnish on the homepro website but it doesn't say if it's

matte or gloss.

I will just have to go to a few places in the city to see and see what I can find unless someone knows where to buy it online.

Right,

I get the point about varnish outdoors so may paint the parts that gets direct sunlight..

I have a tin of Tao matte lacquer which says suitable for all interior woodwork to be applied with brush or spray.I'm

going to have to get better than that.Do they have laquer for outdoors in Thailand and can I use a brush with it.

I'm starting to put wooden clading on the outside of my house.

I want to stain it redwood and cover it with matte varnish.

My local shop only has matte lacquer.I must go to the city and see what I can find.

If I knew the answer to these questions first it would make it a lot easier.

1-what's the difference between varnish and lacquer.

2-Can you get stain and varnish 2 in 1.(espechialy in redwood)

3-What do I use for thinner with lacquer.

I'm building a rustic style house and I have to buy 7 door locks.

I have my heart set on Matt Black.

I've been on eBay and the cheapest there are 800bht delivered.

Does antbody know where I could get cheaper tha that.

Or a method of making it cheaper by buying stainless steel,which are half the price and changing the colour..

Or some cheap and cheerful solution for the problem.

There are two exterior doors which I could buy the locks and put something simple od the interior doors.

Latch locks or something.

Any ideas.............

Another thing,does it matter if it rains after you

render an outside wall.

Will the rain affect the render in anyway.

I'm afraid posting an image of what I want on this post is beyond me but

I'm looking for a rough old world finish.Not perfectly fat and smooth.

Like when a stone wall is rendered and you can still see the shape of the stones

in the render.

Humpy and bumpy with a course render and rounded corners not perfectly flat and smooth

with sharp corners.

This is probably easier to do than the smooth way if I just knew how.Would haveing them use course sand instead of fine sand help or not applying the second coat.

And telling them not to screed it off with a long stick and not to flatten it out with the float.

How far can I go without affecting the fungtion of the render,The quality of the blockwork is poor and it lets in damp.

Whatever I do I will have to know by tomorrow morning when they turn up for work

I can use Google Images but I can't paste the image on here.

You could probably tell me how in one sentence though.

I found some things on Google Image that I like and would love to

show them to you so I could get some advice.

At 4.30 just before they knocked off for the weekend one guy started rendering

a corner and made it so sharp it looked dangerous.The render looked very smooth.

Maybe I can tell them not to make the render mix so smooth and then when they apply the render not to smooth it off with the float.I will go back to YouTube and watch a video on how to do the smooth finish plastering and see if there is some stage where I can tell them to stop.

I am having a house built and just about a half hour ago they started the concrete render.

They are giving it a really sharp straight finish which I don't want.So on Monday morning I have to know what finish I want and probably how to achieve it as well.

I am searching for videos on youtube but could do with some advice.I heard of somebody finishing render with a sponge before but that's all I know.

What's the best way to achieve a non-sharp finish with concrete

render on a concrete block wall both at the corners and the flat surfaces that a Thai builder will understand.

O.k.,thanks,

So it's best to put one in every outlet but do I have to

put it as close to the drain hole as possable or will it work just as well 12 foot

down the line.

Please say yes.

I just had a little Toilet/brick shit house put on the side of my house today.

As soon as the concrete floor was poured I remembered that in Thailand

you must allways tell the builder to put a U-bend/P-Trap in every outlet pipe

or your bathroom will smell after a short time.

There is a U-bend built into the toilet but the drain for when you wash the floor has none.My builder says it won't smell because it's not conected to the shit pipe,it just goes straight out into the woods.

So my first question is "is this true" or do I need a U-bend.

My second question is,if I do need one where should I put it.There are 2 choices,I can dig up the earth just outside the bathroom and put a U-bend about 2.foot from the drain hole.If I do this it's more awkward than the second option.

The second option is to wait and see if it smells and if it does I can put one in but by that time I will only be able to put it about 12 feet from the drain hole.This involves much less diging because of the lay of the land,to keep a long story short.

So is it going to smell and would a U-bend 12 foot from the drain hole be less efective than one about 2 foot away.

Thanks in advance as I need to decide before they put donw more concrete..

From what I can see the best deal is to buy the "body only" from japan on eBay

and buy the batteries and charger here.

Aslong as I don't get cought in costoms.

Yes,KhunBENQ this is exactly what I'm looking for.

I didn't think of going to the brand name sites.

Thanks a lot,I will try another few brands to see if they have

Thai websites too.