In my home country I rebuilt an old cottage, doing most the work myself except for the joinery for the replacement windows and the central heating.  But in Thailand I took the easier path of utilising the skills of my Missus as the project manager.

 

Anyone else try this method? ..... it's a remarkably effective and relaxing way to deliver a project.  She'd already shown her prowess during the rebuilding of her own house, followed by our new house build, so I had full confidence, and she has a trusted team of builders.

 

The brief ..... refit an older 2-bed condo that had been vacant for several years .... within my (tight) budget by using as much of the leftover fittings from the house build as possible.

 

Open it up by removing most the old-style built in furniture and remove the low suspended ceiling.  

 

Aim for a bright 'loft-style' with good lighting.  Fit 3 AC units and refit the 2 bathrooms.

 

Contrary to the negativity about Thai Wives in the general forum, she did a great job.  She retained parts of the original built-in units to save costs, but removed enough to make it much brighter, and had it re-tiled throughout.  Much of the lighting, the extract vents and ceiling fan were leftover from the house build.  

 

It was going to be a rental, but now I think I'll use it, and rent out my city condo as it looks so cool.

 

I'm so proud of my long-haired project manager, and to look at her you'd think she was an ornamental trophy wife, not someone who can manage a major refit, sitting on her camping chair in the middle of the dust and noise while giving orders to her team.

 

 

 

 

 

I would say she's done a great job, congratulations! 

 

 

13 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

I would say she's done a great job, congratulations! 

 

 

Yes ..... I think so too.  And while older condos are low cost compared to new, they don't tend to increase in value, so I didn't want to spend too much.

 

But it came with a dedicated parking space, and I like the area, so I'm happy with what she delivered and the cost was reasonable.  The 3 AC units was the biggest cost.

Looks great!

 

Our shop house had all drywall ceilings. It's amazing how much nicer it is with all of that torn out and just the painted ceilings

50 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Looks great!

 

Our shop house had all drywall ceilings. It's amazing how much nicer it is with all of that torn out and just the painted ceilings

Yes, the ceiling is now half a meter higher, and as the wiring can no longer be hidden, she used metal conduit, which added to the loft style.

 

The concrete ceiling was painted light grey, walls mostly white, and the original mirrors retained, but surrounded by

 

some low cost grey moulding from a sale at Thaiwatsadu.

 

She also bought the tiles, over counter lights and bathroom fittings in the sales.

 

My brief was quite vague, but she planned details like power points and light switches wisely, and was creative with the lighting, which was a low cost way to make it look special.

 

She's a keeper! 😀