Housebuilding Thread

mrbojangles · March 11, 2012

Looking really nice Crossy. DO you get down there every day to manage the build?

We've only been back a month and the wife and I are chomping at the bit to get back to our build.

Crossy · March 11, 2012

We try, She Who Must Be Obeyed tries to get there every day, being between major projects I do too. Oddly (or not) everything that has gone wrong has been when we have been unable to attend for a day or two.

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flying · March 21, 2012

Wow major movement since I last looked!

Congrats ! your moving right along.

OMG! your workers have shoes on!

I think it is the first time I have seen this on Thai construction

Perhaps because it is roofing day?

Congrats house looks great!

PS: I am a contractor & I would not want to hang those Barges

whew looks heavy once assembled. Nice detail though

Edited March 21, 2012 by flying

David006 · March 22, 2012

Crossy how did they attach the barge boards to the ends of the steel....they pounded and nailed wood into the end of ours... thought they should have welded plates on the ends but who am I to argue the way it is supposed to be done.

I appreciate the aesthetics of the teak , nice..are ya gonna have to send up somebody every year to clean and re coat or just leave it go grey?

Crossy · March 22, 2012

The barge boards are drilled and screwed through the steel, if you look closely they are not attached right at the end, there's a couple of inches overlap, the fascias are screwed to mai daeng plugs bashed into the ends of the rafters.

We shall see what the teak looks like after 12 months. I'd like to leave it to naturally weather, Wifey may have other ideas. Either way it won't be me going up there

Crossy · March 23, 2012

Khun Sparky has arrived, he didn't bring his Magic Piano.

Origami time with the trunking, the result is actually as neat as buying the expensive fittings.

Meanwhile the bathroom wall tiles are taking a bath.

Ready to go on the walls.

Despite my 'suggestion' that he ran trunking all around the room, Sparks decided that conduit was 'easier', well he has the fun getting the cables in. It will all be hidden anyway.

Whilst I wasn't looking he ran some of his own special colour code. It will be replaced with something more standard, although I've let him use yellow as the switched live for the lights.

Consumer units go on the wall. I built these for him as I have zero confidence that he would be able to do as I require. The green box is the generator transfer switch, I spent a good hour explaining that he must run separate cables for the UPS and genset despite this being totally clear on the drawings.

See, he has replaced the incorrectly coloured wiring

GarryP · March 23, 2012

I think I said somewhere earlier, but in my new house the wires are red, white and green. And green is not earth!!!scarey.

harrry · March 24, 2012

Hope he has not just changed the colours with a twist join 6 inches before it comes out of the wall.

Crossy · March 24, 2012

Hope he has not just changed the colours with a twist join 6 inches before it comes out of the wall.

The voice of experience Harrry?

Yes, he has pulled new wires, I watched.

RAZZELL · April 1, 2012

How much were your roof tiles?

And what other options are there?

Many thanks

RAZZ

Crossy · April 1, 2012

RAZZ. I don't have a full materials cost breakdown to hand, but I'll check the cost of the tiles when I get home from Incredible India. They're one of the CPAC range.

Crossy · April 8, 2012

The ceiling chaps have arrived, and sparks has gone UA again so I've been fixing the minor wiring issues myself. Nothing really serious, just most of the neutrals on the wrong neutral bar (we have 3).

We are using foil backed Gyproc for the little extra insulation it provides.

The upstairs rooms have almost full height ceilings.

The framework gets started.

The space above the ceiling is vented at both ends. I may add fans in the top of the ceiling to vent any hot air, we'll see how warm it gets. There is a fair sized airspace between the Gyproc, fibreglass and the tiles, there are vents at the eaves (with wildlife screens) so with luck we'll get a decent circulation up there.

When it's done it looks like this before paint. There will be wooden cheat bars to break up the area, it looks too much like a tent otherwise.

There is an attic space above both upstairs bathrooms for storage of Christmas decorations etc. Looking up through the access hatch (specially Farang sized) you can see the foil backing, what you can't see is the fibreglass batts that sit on top of the Gyproc. Yes, I spotted that bit of conduit that's come adrift, it has been fixed.

Meanwhile, downstairs the Gyproc is going up and hiding all those pipes. Each area has an access hatch for maintenance, fortunately it's not Farang sized so I won't be required to go up there.

The crane has gone so our patio area is now unobstructed, plenty of room for entertaining.

This is where the power and phone will enter, yes the cables will be clipped to the wall We did originally intend going underground, but since the last floods Wifey has decided that aerial cables will be more reliable.

Another general outside view, just to see progress.

Wifey has decreed that we will move in early August.

mrbojangles · April 8, 2012

Looking really good Crossy. I got some more pictures, so you've shamed me into updating mine.

Crossy · April 15, 2012

Well the wheel has come off in a big way, my nemesis of course is the sparking.

I made the classic error of ensuring that the unusual bits of the wiring (genset and UPS) were explained in intimate detail to Sparky before I headed off to India for a couple of weeks to earn some cash. I assumed (big mistake) that the non-unusual bits would be at least reasonably done, after all everything so far has been done well and to pretty good quality even with my darling wife's modifications. Whilst I was away Wifey told me Sparky had run out of yellow Wago connectors, I though this was odd as these are 2 way and intended for joining wires in ceiling roses, anyway under direction from me she found another box.

So, upon my return I checked the unusual bits, and, amazingly, it was wired right. Off to the fridge for a celebratory beer

Friday was the first chance I've had to actually check properly the wiring job that's been done without having Sparky glaring at me every time I connected my test lamp to a wire. Thus far I have used no test equipment more complex than a battery and a lamp, something I expected him to have of course.

I spent an increasingly less happy couple of hours ensuring that the A/C and water heaters were connected appropriately, they were, sort of. Breakers were all in the wrong order and the water heater in the main bathroom was on a 20A breaker meant for the A/C. OK move the wire, of course it's too short so I crimped a pigtail on to the end. Test again Live was OK but no earth continuity. Mark as 'no earth' for Sparks to fix.

Leave that for a bit and check the outlets, I ran out of FAIL labels (yes I made some up) with an assortment of open circuits on Live, Neutral and Earth or any combination of the three, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the errors.

Saturday was beer and water throwing with the family

Today, Sunday, time to check the lighting. It rapidly became apparent that my specified segregation of indoor and outdoor lighting had been 'forgotten' as there was only one incoming live at switch boxes that should control both indoor and outdoor lights. OK, never mind, we can cope with that it's not the end of the world.

Then I found a dead short between the switched live for the outdoor lights and the neutral for the bedroom outlets. This most definitely was Big Bang material. Marked up, let's see if we can find the error, after all it's white wire connected to a black wire somewhere.

Lid off one of the accessible junction boxes revealed a box full of cable joints. The reason for Sparky running out of my expensive Wago connectors was immediately apparent. Rather than running a single length of wire from the Consumer Unit as would be considered good practice back home he had run a bit to a JB with a join, then another bit to the next JB with another join, then another ad-infinitum. Whilst not hazardous per-sé every joint introduces potential reliability issues, at least they're not twist-and-tape.

Then the killer, potentially literally. In his infinite wisdom Sparky had used the 2.5mm² Wago terminals on the 4mm² aircon and water heater circuits, this is a potential fire, and not just one or two. I found FIVE joints in the run to the heater in the bathroom, all made with the small Wagos, some were inside the trunking where it was evident that Sparks had used my connectors to make up for his cutting the cables too short. Grrrrrrr.

Long story short. Sparky has been fired by the contractor. A new Sparks is going to come and sort out the issues, my take is that as a minimum he must replace the water heater runs with single un-jointed lengths for safety.

I actually found a lot more issues than those above, let's say they are the highlights. I've written a 3 page diatribe to Dusit (our contractor) which will be translated for him to give to the new sparks. It will of course be ignored, I would actually be happier to do it myself but I just don't have the time.

I was literally close to tears this afternoon when I found error after error, did this man do any testing at all? Of course all the ruddy Gyproc is up and hiding a multitude of joints, the lot is going to have to come out!

And no, I will not be paying for the rework.

bbradsby · April 15, 2012

ok, now that's one major opus. nicely done!

I believe someone else had asked as well, so if you don't mind sharing, what did the traditional roof cost - without framing or battens - at that steep a slope? My projects are less steep, so this would be a good reference point.

Crossy · April 16, 2012

I believe someone else had asked as well, so if you don't mind sharing, what did the traditional roof cost - without framing or battens - at that steep a slope? My projects are less steep, so this would be a good reference point.

Sadly we don't have a price breakdown that specifically details the roof as an item Hindsight being 20-20 I should have asked for one if only because people keep asking me (and the contractor) how much extra it cost.

Anyway, the build contract is for 4.3 million about 750k-1M over my inflation adjusted estimate which was for the original government plans without the sexy roof, so I would say the roof added about that. The killers are those Teak barge boards which I know ended up costing 180k for six.

I also know our contractor is not the cheapest in the area, but he was the only one to even consider taking on the roof style, everyone else said it was too hard

Sorry I can't be more specific, we did ask about a wooden roof structure (out of interest only) at the place we got the barge boards, 1.5M per roof! I love my wife very much (the roof is her baby) but I don't love her that much

saorsa · April 16, 2012

Excellent thread and the house is looking really good. I am looking into buying a plot of land in Bangkok to do a build if I can find something that isn't a crazy price. How have you found the whole experience so far? I am in a similar position where I work 28/28 offshore and am a bit worried about what may happen in my absence!

necronx99 · April 16, 2012

Well to fair Crossy, it does seem to have gone relatively well to this point.

Can't wait to see the plumbing.

Giving it some thought, a lot of those faults and dead lines will probably start working when they turn the water on........

Edited April 16, 2012 by necronx99

Crossy · April 17, 2012

Now you're scaring me necronx

And yes, it has all gone pretty well this far, indeed everything that has gone pear-shaped has occurred when we've left the contractor to his own devices for a microsecond or two. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the construction and the look has Wifey happy (most important).

The thing that's really irking is that it's obvious that Sparky did no testing whatever, if he had he would have found and been able to rectify the open circuits before the ceiling chap put up the Gyproc. Of course the majority of the plumbing is behind that same Gyproc and that's not been tested either.

K. Dusit (the contractor) is really miffed with Sparky, we are his first farang house and it's attracting a lot of attention locally (hopefully for the right reasons), he doesn't want my wife telling prospective customers that the sparks is carp.

Such is life. Nothing has caught fire, nobody is dead, and it will all get fixed in the end. New Sparky is apparently moonlighting from Tesco Lotus where hopefully he is an electrician and not a checkout operator EDIT Maybe he's a car park chap, I'm sure I saw a whistle in his toolbox

I'm off to Singapore for a month next week, let's see how badly the new guy can fix the issues. I'm debating whether to tell him about the dead short between the outdoor lighting and bedroom outlets, I only found it by accident, for sure he won't find it until things go bang!

necronx99 · April 17, 2012

Now you're scaring me necronx

And yes, it has all gone pretty well this far, indeed everything that has gone pear-shaped has occurred when we've left the contractor to his own devices for a microsecond or two. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the construction and the look has Wifey happy (most important).

The thing that's really irking is that it's obvious that Sparky did no testing whatever, if he had he would have found and been able to rectify the open circuits before the ceiling chap put up the Gyproc. Of course the majority of the plumbing is behind that same Gyproc and that's not been tested either.

K. Dusit (the contractor) is really miffed with Sparky, we are his first farang house and it's attracting a lot of attention locally (hopefully for the right reasons), he doesn't want my wife telling prospective customers that the sparks is carp.

Such is life. Nothing has caught fire, nobody is dead, and it will all get fixed in the end. New Sparky is apparently moonlighting from Tesco Lotus where hopefully he is an electrician and not a checkout operator EDIT Maybe he's a car park chap, I'm sure I saw a whistle in his toolbox

I'm off to Singapore for a month next week, let's see how badly the new guy can fix the issues. I'm debating whether to tell him about the dead short between the outdoor lighting and bedroom outlets, I only found it by accident, for sure he won't find it until things go bang!

it will just take a bit of getting used to. Flushing the upstairs loo turns the outside lights off and on as long as the hot water tap in the kitchen is off....

I think it's obvious that I'm not in the game from past posts, but really for all the mystique you tradey types like to wrap it in it's just not that difficult at the domestic level is it?

3 wires of different colors connected at various points in one of several approved manners? Is there more to it than that really?

August not far off thankfully for your blood pressure.

Edited April 17, 2012 by necronx99

Crossy · April 17, 2012

Indeed, it's definitely not rocket science, a few common sense rules and you're pretty well good to go. Trouble is, so many Thai tradesmen lack the common-sense gene

My original lighting design had 4 way (or that may be 5 way to those from the western side of the Pond) switching on the outside lights. Sparky was OK with 2 way switching (top and bottom of the stairs), but he just could not get his head around the concept of using intermediate switches to add extra switching locations. That, coupled with the difficulty of finding intermediate switches in the ranges that Wifey liked meant that in the end I left it as 2 way, the spare bedrooms don't get control of the outside lighting.

harrry · April 17, 2012

Must be about time to send those invitations for the housewarming party Crossy.

Crossy · April 22, 2012

Don't worrry Harrry, you'll get your invite

Meanwhile, sparky is fixing the problems, he understands my requirements now they're written down in Thai. Actually they were before, but I missed off a lot of the common sense and good practice stuff.

If anyone is interested this is the stuff I wrote for him, help yourself Electical installation instruction_b.docx edit as you see fit of course.

Yes, Wifey really does want to call the house "Baan Farang" everyone in the village calls it that anyway, even Boonthavorn and Homepro have it as the address (we don't have a proper number yet).

haveaniceday · April 29, 2012

Any updated pic?

House looks great.

But sends shivers down my spine bring back flash backs.

Crossy · May 15, 2012

A quick update, more pictures next week when I return from Singapore.

Sparky ran away last week when he could not get the outside lighting to work. How hard can it be, eight outside lights with two-way switching so we can work them from the lounge (at the top of the stairs) and our bedroom?

Anyway, located a new sparks at the second attempt (the first attempt also ran away after an hour), who actually seems to know what he's doing, has proper test gear and has got everything working in two days. He has also done proper testing and therefore we don't need a back-hander to PEA to get them to connect up the permanent power (an arrangement which I was not happy with).

Parquet and tiled flooring is down, windows are in and doors go on this week.

Crossy · May 23, 2012

Here we go with more progress piccies.

The light well that will have a tree growing up from the planter downstairs gets its wall, at least I won't fall down it now.

Simple Cotto floor tiles on all the downstairs floors, flooding is a real possibility so we don't want anything that will be wrecked by a bit of damp.

Half a tropical forest arrives in a pickup.

Parquet for the upstairs flooring, laminate was not an option Wifey would entertain.

Windows go in, the moving part of the frame is Teak.

Meanwhile, the tiles are fitted around the columns.

And Chippie gets going on the floor.

Crossy · May 23, 2012

All the floors upstairs except the wet-rooms are parquet.

Discussions and measuring for the wooden treads, risers and banisters.

Chippie has all the gear and knows how to use it.

Sparky Mk2 arrives and sets to sorting the disaster that Sparky Mk1 left.

Kitchen units make a convenient ladder.

Standard, flood-proof, concrete kitchen units.

A rather pensive looking Sparks finds that a whole section of downstairs lighting has no feed.

Resulting in major discussions of my lighting layout drawings.

onionluke · May 23, 2012

All the floors upstairs except the wet-rooms are parquet.

Discussions and measuring for the wooden treads, risers and banisters.

Chippie has all the gear and knows how to use it.

Sparky Mk2 arrives and sets to sorting the disaster that Sparky Mk1 left.

Kitchen units make a convenient ladder.

Standard, flood-proof, concrete kitchen units.

A rather pensive looking Sparks finds that a whole section of downstairs lighting has no feed.

Resulting in major discussions of my lighting layout drawings.

Loads of natural light . I really like that .

Crossy · May 23, 2012

Grand-daughter from the Thai side of the family supervises.

The patio door gets mounted, it folds to either side leaving a 4m wide gap.

The glaziers arrive and get to work installing the window glass.

The effluent processing system, ok septic tanks, arrives. Whilst not the most advanced available these things do the job, if they're good enough for the locals, they're good enough for us.