Building Your Pillbox

[David006]

During the coarse of my brilliant career ( apologies to Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin) I have visited several commercial building sites where the "architect" has "forgotten" access to to utilities such as aircon /telecom and computer room... had to bring in expensive core drilling teams....(to bring in fibre coax...blah blah...etc)

I...like many, have built a concrete bunker house in Thailand and in hindsight I have though "oh shit" re various basic stuff.

a couple of things that I "would've done":...

..stick in a few dozen bits 'a of pipe through the concrete beams for cables and pipes ( many hours and frustration with hammer drill and angle grinder could've been avoided).

a few basic questions to ask ya'self

..my gas stove /hob where am I gonna put the tanks..don't forget a drain for potential propane ( heavier than air) "leaks:"

...am I gonna want a fancy ice maker fridge..need water supply...

...washer dryer??drain , water supply and power

...water heater supply and ..

...additional outside lights and power plugs for DIY stuff,bbq spit, mozzie traps, pumps etc etc??

seems to me we have limited ability re quantity surveying...how many times have you bought x number of elbow joints, connectors, kilos/metres/cu metres..qty of bits of stuff to to find you have need for x + 12 or whatever...lol

just a thought...time for annudder beer...

[billd766]

Many times, many many times.

Now I usually buy n + 3 and chuck the spares in my workshop for "just in case I need the odd one".

It saves me going 6 km each way to the village.

Edited July 28, 2011 by billd766

[Crossy]

I invariably end up with N-12 of component X and N+15 of component Y, then when stocking up on X go and buy more Y in case I need them

Old age setting in I'm afraid.

[billd766]

I had the honey truck come around yesterday evening to empty the septic tanks at both the big house and the M-I-L at the small one.

They left and about an hour later I was walking past M-I-L place and saw water bubbling up from the ground.

It was raining (as it does when something like that happens) but I got a shovel and into a pair of working shorts.

I cleared the area and sure enough where the truck was parked for pumping the pipe was cracked.

No problem,I'll just get a couple of 3/4 connectors and fix it.

This is when I find I am N-2 connectors, it is nearly 7 pm and I am now cold,wet, miserable and thoroughly pissed off. No shops are open to buy the bits either.

Earlier in the day my water pump started leaking and I couldn't fix it. Then a Thai friend who was cutting the scrub for me as a favour chopped though another water pipe which was no big problem as another Thai had already chopped the pipe in a different place and it was shut down already.

This morning I was at the hardware shop in the village at 06.30 and I was 3 rd in the queue waiting for them to open and bought 10 3/4 connectors.

I went home and fixed the 2 pipes before breakfast because I had to shut the water off overnight. I changed the pump but the replacement keeps cycling as it did before (but it doesn't leak) so I will have to work out how to fix that soon.

The good side is I now have Y+7 connectors and it was only 50 baht for 10.

Edited as I couldn't remember what septic tanks were called until after I posted

Edited July 29, 2011 by billd766

[David006]

of course we get older and "wiser" and as crossy says... we buy way more of the wrong frickin thing...then buy too many of the right thing put the extra somewhere "safe" then have to go buy more next time cos you have no idea where you put all those extras.

....oh and what about all those "bits" you rescued from that broken thing you replaced..can never find 'em or use 'em. The only exception in my case is nuts,bolts,screws, springs and washers ..actually have 20 year old tupperware containers full...of course 50% of the time they are the wrong size or thread...DIY is sooo much fun!

[Pacificperson]

You know about once in twenty times I actually have all the bits and pieces that I need for a job around the house.

Then, about ten out of the twenty times, I screw the job up trying to use something I have on hand instead of going out and buying the right bit in the first place.

The other nine times, I just go out and buy twice what I think that I will need in the first place.

Edited July 29, 2011 by Pacificperson

[thaibeachlovers]

Many times, many many times.

Now I usually buy n + 3 and chuck the spares in my workshop for "just in case I need the odd one".

It saves me going 6 km each way to the village.

So right.

Trouble is, one does eventually move, and what to do with all the spares- no one is going to buy them, and it's a waste just to throw them away.

I had that problem when moving to the village- had loads of stuff for fish that can't use up here. Will try and convert tank to a terranium, but what to do with half dozen tank filters ( some of which cost real money )?

[thaibeachlovers]

of course we get older and "wiser" and as crossy says... we buy way more of the wrong frickin thing...then buy too many of the right thing put the extra somewhere "safe" then have to go buy more next time cos you have no idea where you put all those extras.

....oh and what about all those "bits" you rescued from that broken thing you replaced..can never find 'em or use 'em. The only exception in my case is nuts,bolts,screws, springs and washers ..actually have 20 year old tupperware containers full...of course 50% of the time they are the wrong size or thread...DIY is sooo much fun!

Oh, ain't age a bitch! That's my story too.

I have a can of WD 40 that I brought from Pattaya that I put in a safe place, and guess what? And, can't buy the stuff here.

Back home I still have boxes full of bits from old sewing machines from 30 years ago.

The nuts you have on hand will NEVER fit the bolt you have. Murphy's Law.

While we're on a related subject, anyone else have problem with coils ( of anything )? No matter how carefully I coil something, whether hose, rope or wire, it never uncoils properly, ending up as a tangled mess. Arrrrrrrgh!

[thaibeachlovers]

You know about once in twenty times I actually have all the bits and pieces that I need for a job around the house.

Then, about ten out of the twenty times, I screw the job up trying to use something I have on hand instead of going out and buying the right bit in the first place.

The other nine times, I just go out and buy twice what I think that I will need in the first place.

Yes, try to save a few minutes by using the wrong thing that "might just work", or the wrong tool, and spend 4 times as long messing it up, then having to go and get the right thing anyway, only it's a more difficult job than it would have been because of the stuff up.

Now, I even buy two of the same tool, drill bit whatever, as the only one I normally have breaks right at the critical time. Was using a drill bit so blunt it burnt it's way through the wood, because I didn't have a spare, and no time to go to the shop.

I was amused when I eventually got to the shop, because they only sold wood drills, unless you asked for the "special" hi speed steel metal drills. Like they were a big deal or something. Then trying to replace a broken pair of long nose pliers- "Oh sorry, just sold our only pair". Eventually found a small one in the computer store, but a proper one will have to wait till our visit to Fun City.