Housebuilding Thread

[Crossy]

They are compact fluorescents, I'll post some images when it gets light.

The units came from HomePro about 900 Baht plus lamp, they are quite big when compared to halogen units with the same light output but in our application the physical size makes no odds.

Lamps are Racer brand warm white 25W, 89 Baht (made in Thailand, the cheapest I could find). They look about equivalent to 120W halogen so fine for soft architectural lighting.

I did look at LEDs but they are still too expensive, maybe when they need replacing.

We also have some big halogen floods for party illumination, two 1,500W beasts which make the garden look like Wembley (and the meter go round like crazy).

[David48]

Crossy ... the night-time photos do cast your home in a different 'light' ... looks great at night.

That first shot of the front is particulary impressive.

[cheeryble]

They are compact fluorescents, I'll post some images when it gets light.

The units came from HomePro about 900 Baht plus lamp, they are quite big when compared to halogen units with the same light output but in our application the physical size makes no odds.

Lamps are Racer brand warm white 25W, 89 Baht (made in Thailand, the cheapest I could find). They look about equivalent to 120W halogen so fine for soft architectural lighting.

.

Thanx I look forward to pic.

Presuming they are waterproof ? .....they sound just right and the warm white actually looks fairly warm in your pix.

[Crossy]

Photos as promised Yes, they are IP65 according to the label. We have nine of these with 25W warm-white CFL lamps to illuminate the architecture. Neighbours are already asking how much our power bill is

Fruit trees are coming along.

As is SWMBOs kitchen garden

The raised beds from concrete rings were my idea, at 85 Baht each it's a cheap (read not hard work for Muggins) solution, OK not 100% use of space but who cares Thai salad and chillies coming up.

These are tomato seedlings, they'll be transferred to Gro-Bags when bigger.

[cheeryble]

Thanx that would do!

[Crossy]

There must be a reason I bought that nice fitted kitchen.

 

Ah yes, so Wifey can sit outside cooking something stinky on her charcoal stove

 

 

 

 

[rgs2001uk]

There must be a reason I bought that nice fitted kitchen.

Ah yes, so Wifey can sit outside cooking something stinky on her charcoal stove

Image00001.jpg

See she can mutli task, frying up with the LH, RH got some mortar and pestle action going on, and still manages a smile for the camera. Bless her.

[Crossy]

How to install a Spirit-House in a few easy lessons (OK 1post).

First and most important, get one of the chaps in orange round to tell the best place for your spirit house.

Get a spirit house, the flashier and more garish the better.

Prepare its location with 1m piles and a brick and block surround cum formwork, damp the sand down well.

The supervisors keep a close eye on proceedings.

Then place hand mix concrete on a simple mesh reinforcement, after it's gone off tile with the cheapest floor tiles money can buy.

Then, on the auspicious day, this chap will come, chant a lot, burn incense and eat the food Wifey and her friends have prepared.

Spirits safely installed we can all sleep soundly knowing they have a better appointed place than we do.

[villagefarang]

There must be a reason I bought that nice fitted kitchen.

Ah yes, so Wifey can sit outside cooking something stinky on her charcoal stove

Image00001.jpg

No home is complete without a proper Thai Kitchen in addition to the Western one.

[Crossy]

No home is complete without a proper Thai Kitchen in addition to the Western one.

Indeed, this is one time I wish I hadn't listened to Wifey (she said she didn't need a Thai kitchen).

We have bags of space so I suspect a suitable arrangement will be made 'round the back' later in the year.

[Naam]

There must be a reason I bought that nice fitted kitchen.

Ah yes, so Wifey can sit outside cooking something stinky on her charcoal stove

Image00001.jpg

No home is complete without a proper Thai Kitchen in addition to the Western one.

initially i planned one. wifey said "no harm in building one but anything cooked there will only enter our house over my dead body!"

[villagefarang]

A small dining area, in the form of open space for floor mats or a rustic table with stools, attached to the Thai Kitchen, may become a more popular venue for those somtam lunches and local visitors.

The locals like to gawk at the insides of our house but find it too clean and formal, so prefer the outdoor kitchen and garden where they don’t have to worry about making a mess. That suits me just fine.

[David48]

Following on from what VF wrote above ... the placement of the Kitchen does seem to be a regional thing.

The gf is a Bangkok area girl and no thought of an outside kitchen there what-so-ever. We talked about this again just now and 'our kitchen inside', sure 100%.

In context, this is a Thai Person home, the gf's parents built it maybe 30 years ago.

Also has an indoor toilet.

crossy ... my gf just went WOW when she saw your kitchen ... I followed that up promptly with ... 'Honey, don't get any ideas that ours, when we build in the future, will be that flash. He (crossy) is rich man ... I am just poor man" ...

She replied 'does crossy man have single brother?' ...

.

[Crossy]

@ VF

Yup.

We have a large open area downstairs with a TV, seating and coffee table along with a stock of floor mats. Thai visitors tend to sit down there.

Farang visitors sit in the upstairs open area with brolly and beer fridge, much more to our comfort level

@ David48.

I may have been a relatively rich man once (at least by Thai standards), not any more, I've paid for this lot

Sadly for Mrs David I only have a sister, and she's married http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1604966/

Wifey never actually requested an outside kitchen. But the smoky activities do get done outside so I think a small roof with a sink, a second gas hob and space for whatever goes on in an outside kitchen may be an idea. She currently operates the electric grill on a folding table.

[mrbojangles]

Wifey never actually requested an outside kitchen.

Mine didn't either Crossy but at my insistence I gave her one. I wanted open plan with no smells coming into the living area and so I shown her the design difference having the kitchen inside the house and closed off. She was against it at first but now that the neighbours are saying what a good idea, she's all of a sudden bought into it.

[Crossy]

I know, I should have been stronger.

But whenever I try insisting on something with my darling I get the silent treatment (or worse, the non-silent treatment).

Our indoor kitchen is totally isolated from any of the living area, even when SWMBO is cremating something I can't smell it in the lounge, and with four 1.5 x 2m opening windows the kitchen is nearly outdoor anyway

[Naam]

A small dining area, in the form of open space for floor mats or a rustic table with stools, attached to the Thai Kitchen, may become a more popular venue for those somtam lunches and local visitors.

The locals like to gawk at the insides of our house but find it too clean and formal, so prefer the outdoor kitchen and garden where they don’t have to worry about making a mess. That suits me just fine.

that might work for the lucky ones who, like you, live in Thailand's northern cool arctic areas. we softies living at Thailand's equator cherish an airconditioned environment, especially when eating spicy hot food.

[villagefarang]

A small dining area, in the form of open space for floor mats or a rustic table with stools, attached to the Thai Kitchen, may become a more popular venue for those somtam lunches and local visitors.

The locals like to gawk at the insides of our house but find it too clean and formal, so prefer the outdoor kitchen and garden where they don’t have to worry about making a mess. That suits me just fine.

that might work for the lucky ones who, like you, live in Thailand's northern cool arctic areas. we softies living at Thailand's equator cherish an airconditioned environment, especially when eating spicy hot food.

I didn’t say I like to sit out there. I am inside, away from the smell and noise.

We are still enjoying a little arctic cool at night here, but it is up in the 30s during the day. Perhaps the smoke is helping to keep it cool, as in a nuclear winter effect.

[thaibeachlovers]

I know, I should have been stronger.

But whenever I try insisting on something with my darling I get the silent treatment (or worse, the non-silent treatment).

Our indoor kitchen is totally isolated from any of the living area, even when SWMBO is cremating something I can't smell it in the lounge, and with four 1.5 x 2m opening windows the kitchen is nearly outdoor anyway

Oh, how I wish mine had a silent treatment mode. Count yourself lucky.

[thaibeachlovers]

Photos as promised Yes, they are IP65 according to the label. We have nine of these with 25W warm-white CFL lamps to illuminate the architecture. Neighbours are already asking how much our power bill is

Image00001.jpg Image00002.jpg

Fruit trees are coming along.

Image00005.jpg

As is SWMBOs kitchen garden

Image00007.jpg Image00008.jpg

The raised beds from concrete rings were my idea, at 85 Baht each it's a cheap (read not hard work for Muggins) solution, OK not 100% use of space but who cares Thai salad and chillies coming up.

Image00009.jpg

These are tomato seedlings, they'll be transferred to Gro-Bags when bigger.

Image00010.jpg

Where do you get your gro bags from?

[thaibeachlovers]

Part I of what promises to be a looooong story of our gates.

Wifey shelled a not insignificant sum on a pair of steel / wood automatic gates. The company have a nice glossy catalogue and came promptly to measure and quote.

I strongly recommend that you do NOT use the same gate supplier. Forum rules prevent me from naming-and-shaming, but if you're in northern Bangkok and the crew have a red pickup with a hole in the hood where it wouldn't close over the replacement engine, run!

The crew arrived today, a day early, and got off to a bad start by getting to work without announcing their presence.

Image00002.jpg

Task-1 remove and cut the wood slats so that the pedestrian door would open, note that they did this before even attempting to hang the gates.

Image00003.jpg Image00006.jpg Image00007.jpg

They had also failed to pre-make the hinge plates and so spent several hours failing to fabricate on-site, before finally disappearing for two hours to get them cut and drilled. I will never understand how a crew who (supposedly) do this job all the time can fail to have the relevant tools. TiT I suppose.

Image00008.jpg

Plates were attached to our gate posts, sadly nobody taught the chaps to use the spirit level (bottom right) or a tape measure. This resulted in the gates not being remotely centred on the plates, I wondered if these chaps had ever installed gates before. They were bemoaning the fact that we have hinged gates not a slider, so maybe they haven't.

To give them a little slack, the gate posts inner faces aren't vertical, for some reason the contractor decided they would look better off square, of course this means that the hinge brackets are all different.

Image00011.jpg

Gate is held in position and the hinges TIG welded to the plates, no regard taken that these are moving parts, let's get the bearings nice and hot to ensure they will seize at the first opportunity.

Image00012.jpg

At least the welder chap had a proper mask

Image00013.jpg Image00016.jpg Image00017.jpg

Not a washer in sight I did try asking why they had not fitted them, I got the expected blank stare.

Image00015.jpg

The anchors do come with washers so that's not the reason, of course they've cut off the anchors too short to add the washers now.

Image00018.jpg

Having welded it all up they tried (and failed) to open the gate, evidently a misalignment somewhere. The idea of loosening the anchors on the centre hinge and waggling the gate did not occur to them.

Then the rain arrived so everyone went home, leaving our one gate half open and tied back so it won't move in the wind (maybe). I'm half hoping for a decent blow tonight to take it off so they'll have to fit it again properly.

At least your gates appear to be staying on. The clown my wife hired tried welding over crud. The weld didn't penetrate, and the next morning the gate fell off.

I'm thinking of buying a welder 2nd hand and doing my own.

Mind you, how anyone expects to do a proper job with their eyes closed ( no mask ) I don't know.

[Crossy]

Where do you get your gro bags from?

Sorry for the tardy response TBL.

They are not 'real' Gro-Bags, just the 20 Baht bags of potting compost you get from the places by the roadside (we get them wholesale from the depot in Pathum Thani) with a slit cut in one side for the plants.

Sadly the toms did not do well, possibly bad seed as the beans and lettuce went like wildfire, I'll try again later in the year.

[thaibeachlovers]

Where do you get your gro bags from?

Sorry for the tardy response TBL.

They are not 'real' Gro-Bags, just the 20 Baht bags of potting compost you get from the places by the roadside (we get them wholesale from the depot in Pathum Thani) with a slit cut in one side for the plants.

Sadly the toms did not do well, possibly bad seed as the beans and lettuce went like wildfire, I'll try again later in the year.

No problem, and thanks.

[Crossy]

One of the Thai 'features' of our home is the absence of gutters. Wifey thought (and I agreed) that they would detract from the natural look of our roof.

Of course, without gutters the rain, well, runs straight off (Newton has a lot to answer for). On the outer edge of the roof we have a French drain and bounce preventer to keep the walls mud-free (see earlier posts). The inside edge around the terrace area just runs onto the terrace, I thought we could live with that, after all, you don't use the terrace when it's raining, do you?

I was wrong!

The first few showers of the damp season showed that, whilst we didn't get wet, the run-off from the roof carried all the dust and other crud down from the roof and left a nasty brown line on the terrace tiling. This required immediate action with the hose to stop it drying in and needing a scrubbing brush to remove.

Enter the requirement for a gutter round the terrace.

Choosing a gutter was fun, not. I thought of using one of the many PVC systems available, you can even get them in brown (to order). Unfortunately any of the PVC gutters big enough to handle our roof area were also too bulky for Wifey and really did look like spoiling the roof line. There were also going to be issues where the bedroom roof interfaces with the lounge as there is a height difference and some customisation was going to be needed.

The PVC idea was shelved.

Enter the local 'gutter chap', he brought some samples of a lightweight galvanised steel gutter, big enough to handle our run-off whilst remaining discrete enough to satisfy SWMBO. It's big advantage is that the flat rear surface, asymmetric section and slim steel brackets let it sit right against the fascia largely underneath the tile overhang, it only extends the roof line by about 4cm. Oh, and it was relatively cheap

Of course both it, and the brackets need to be painted with industrial strength lacquer.

The lightweight steel lends itself to customisation to fit special situations like ours, it's been a while since I used a soldering iron like that

The downspout is of the same lightweight steel and is readily fabricated into custom bends.

Levelling and marking of the runs.

Safety harness? What's that?

Painted sections get put in place.

I think he did a good job of hiding the downspouts.

Not the best pictures of the completed job, it was getting dark, a few touch-ups of the paint will be done this weekend.

I also got the man to paint inside the gutter despite him saying 'no need' (we bought the paint), should last reasonably well, we shall see.

Of course, since it was finished we've not had a drop of rain, such is life.

[David48]

^^ Mate ... fantastic job.

A happy chappie, doing a great job for you.

Photos #0007 and #0008 are classics!

The finish looks good ... hope it lasts (primers and preparation and all that).

You've had a win here ...

[Crossy]

The finish looks good ... hope it lasts (primers and preparation and all that).

We bought the paint along with correct primer, K. Gutter's wife used said primer so with luck we have something that will last a few minutes.

It's not perfect, but totally acceptable and Wifey is happy which is the most important point

The man actually does steel roofing, sunshades, sheds and other similar structures and came recommended by my step-son, he will be getting more work.

We've actually had good experiences with our local one-man-bands where a single craftsman does the job along with his wife, also no major issues with the big suppliers like HomePro (who installed our aircon). It's the mid-sized outfits who have semi-skilled, minimum wage, installation crews without adequate supervision (like the gates people) where wheel tends to come off.

[cheeryble]

crossy ... my gf just went WOW when she saw your kitchen ... I followed that up promptly with ... 'Honey, don't get any ideas that ours, when we build in the future, will be that flash. He (crossy) is rich man ... I am just poor man" ...

She replied 'does crossy man have single brother?' ...

.

Maybe Crossy can have a brother on Friday evenings.......

(ps: does Mrs Crossy read this thread?)

Edited May 11, 2013 by cheeryble

[Crossy]

crossy ... my gf just went WOW when she saw your kitchen ... I followed that up promptly with ... 'Honey, don't get any ideas that ours, when we build in the future, will be that flash. He (crossy) is rich man ... I am just poor man" ...

She replied 'does crossy man have single brother?' ...

.

Maybe Crossy can have a brother on Friday evenings.......

(ps: does Mrs Crossy read this thread?)

I hear the quacking of an unfamiliar duck

[Crossy]

Whilst I wasn't looking the chickens got a new palace.

OK, I did help build it, but no construction photos as the camera was out of order.

Only the left side with the split door is for the chickens, the right side is for 'potting', or more likely, me, when I've been a bad doggie

[harrry]

crossy ... my gf just went WOW when she saw your kitchen ... I followed that up promptly with ... 'Honey, don't get any ideas that ours, when we build in the future, will be that flash. He (crossy) is rich man ... I am just poor man" ...

She replied 'does crossy man have single brother?' ...

.

Maybe Crossy can have a brother on Friday evenings.......

(ps: does Mrs Crossy read this thread?)

I hear the quacking of an unfamiliar duck

I thought it was just Naam who had a duckpond. He must be very well behaved.