On 1/13/2017 at 9:19 AM, Hutch68 said:

You did well there and the wall looks good but why 2 houses?

This is a long  story..u  really want to know why?......................well like Grollies I arrived here with a  sense of fair  play and decency, wanting to  look after staff etc and planned to build myself a nice house, started off with a small 50m2  house which would be for the staff................soon became apparent that 90%  of  staff were  a  waste of oxygen and  despite giving them a nice house, free rice, free motorbike, free fuel, free water , 6 day week, 2  hour  lunch break when hot season, work 8-5-30 ,salary 12500baht a month 1  person, free electric, paid for work permits............. that they could not be even the slightest bit  bothered to "take care" of their shiny  new house/motorbike despite numerous attempts .

So plan 2 Ill live in the first house and get rid  of the staff and build a second even cheaper  house (150k ) for some more staff ...............same result, so finally we  bought a 30 k bamboo hut and let them live like  pigs in that.............by pigs I mean, toilet filthy dirty,  rubbish all round, untidy etc etc will break anything given the opportunity.................took 3  years to find someone "half decent" who doesnt want to live like an animal who didnt leave at the drop of a hat etc.

Funny story about 1  set of staff ( got thru about 14 people) the agent who supplied one set  took pity on them when we got rid  of them and let them stay with her in Bangkok as they were homeless....................2  days later she  called my Wife saying she sees "exactly" what we  meant, she said her house was now "disgusting" and they were filthy and bone idle, she got rid  pronto.

So by now we had 2  houses and didnt build the main house as we couldnt  have kids and didnt need it for the planned  3  bedrooms and 300m2 layout.

Works  well for us and is now the guesthouse although have installed aircon to it, also Wifes  Sister who is decent clean tidy careful sometimes stays  a month or two or three.

On top of this I initially had a builder who half way thru, blocks in ,roof  on ,decided to bugger  off as " I wa s too fussy"  .

Now to clarify  fussy let me show you his roof  welding work and again a long  story he told us he would not be working over Songkran so i could go up to Bangkok for a  few  days to see the Wife...............got back and despite them saying  not  working they had decided to put the roof  on with me NOT there thinking Farang probably not go up and check this ( their bad  luck i spent 30+ years in the Uk  up ladders on roofs etc).

PS I was on site  all day every day and despite Grollies  "belief" anytime they were left alone was when I had to get materials, and why did I have to get materials, well same old  "skimming"  opportunities  by them if i didnt.

Also despite  Grollies other assumptions they did not put ALL the fence  panels into my wall they put in 50 metres, again whilst i was out  getting materials and again being asked NOT to do it without me there, they managed to get 90%  of  the posts (300 metres) straight and I deemed it crazy to check everyone until they got to the last section where they ferked it  up (30-40 metres), it  got to the point where going out to get materials was done in lunch hours or after 5pm only, it was that bad.

Even their  wall footings were inadequate and I had to increase them..........was  told 1  year guarantee, then 5  years BUT after completion and payment (witheld some and they never got it)...NO guarantee as I had " changed  the footings, depth  deeper and  m2 area bigger too.............pathetic

Anyway enjoy  the welding......I made them take it all off................I expect I just dont "understand Thainess"......low and  behold when they arent bone idle they can do it properly, before /after.....just  imagine that  lot  falling in on your head one day as they were too lazy to do it properly

On 1/13/2017 at 11:58 AM, bankruatsteve said:

Perhaps the cheapest perimeter "fence" is the simple hedge.  If planted correctly, it makes a very resistant barrier to dogs, chickens, and people within a year and resists erosion.  Granted, it can be a bitch to maintain with the trimming required, but with the right tools it's not too painful.

used bougainvillea here, requires ZERO watering use Honda 4  stroke petrol hedgecutter brought in from the UK, also stops  erosion of embankment here as  roots are extensive,establishes fast but does need regular ( weekly)   cutting, no problem with hedgecutter and Honda 4  stroke leaf  blower  ( also brought from UK)

Just finished painting the house.

 

Front boundary wall next once the team are back from working next door.

 

Few beers to celebrate with wifey and the guys (or 'sludge' kannot)

On 1/15/2017 at 8:10 PM, grollies said:

Just finished painting the house.

 

Front boundary wall next once the team are back from working next door.

 

Few beers to celebrate with wifey and the guys (or 'sludge' kannot)

your  mileage  may  vary  with  your  "sludge" i  just  relate  my  experience  over 10  years  of  dealing with  the  locals

On 25/01/2017 at 1:38 PM, kannot said:

your  mileage  may  vary  with  your  "sludge" i  just  relate  my  experience  over 10  years  of  dealing with  the  locals

Your experience with locals is a shame, I've got these two lovebirds back cleaning and painting the front wall.

 

My 10th year here also, love it and (most) of the people are great.

 

Sure we've had our ups and downs, shed broken into and motorbike stripped, nicking fish from the pond. All while we were back in the UK. Now is much better, and the social life is great.

 

Anyway, good luck for your future endeavors and sorry about the rant.

 

grollies

UPDATE - as I asked a question on this thread as to price so I give an update on my progress. I finally found someone to build the wall for 1,400 baht per linear meter labor only and we supply the materials. It's looking as if my total cost will be around 2,300 to 2,500 per linear meter. 

 

Now the the question is how much should they charge or I pay to paint it? And what what paint should I use? Finally do people use those spray wands here as that probably would be the fastest and most efficient way to do it? 

 

 

Bare concrete wall? Use a good primer/sealer.

 

Any exterior emulsion paint. There are some one-coat paints being advertised, I used Berger for the house and same for front wall to keep the same colour scheme.

 

I'm having our wall done now, young couple paying 750THB/day between them. Been 9 days now brushing, priming and painting the railings, cleaning all the muck off the wall (using the jetwash did good job). They're kicking the a**e out of it a bit but I don't mind, they are saving up to get married after all.

 

Paint aint cheap here but probably best to go with a recommended brand. Quite a few people here have recommended TOA.

 

Application brush and roller. Not seen emulsion sprayguns here but TBH I haven't looked.

 

Don't let them water-down the paint to make it go further - they WILL want to.

Thanks for the advice. My issue with a brush and roller is that the existing wall which was partially finished has a pattern of clumps of mortar and the new wall will have to match it. (You can see in the bottom left hand corner of the attached photo. ) A roller won't work unless it's a tiny roller so that means a lot of brush work. A spray wand would be the better way. BTW one guy wanted 400 baht per linear meter which seems crazy to me. 

Lots of brushwork I reckon. Imagine the overspray outdoors.

 

Can you find a couple of locals for 300 - 400THB/day each? Couple here going to cost me around 15,000THB for a 150m stretch of wall (both sides).

 

400THB/lm is way too much.

 

Nice looking place and view, where is that?

The house is in Hua Hin. In a worst case scenario I'll buy my own spray wand as it's probably cheaper and they may be able to use it on the house as well.

This cost 1500 baht per Linear metre. Including labour and materials. Except paint. Paint inside and out, 6000 plus 3000 labour. 2 20l sealer. 2 20l white. 1 20 litre green. Only 80 m done so far. At the rear, we need a retaining wall.

On 1/11/2017 at 8:59 PM, localczar said:

contact donald trump, perhaps he can advise you.

no forget it; I heard he let that walling contract go to LEGO

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 7:50 PM, eyecatcher said:

no forget it; I heard he let that walling contract go to LEGO

who's asking you...MYOFB.

3 hours ago, localczar said:

who's asking you...MYOFB.

You see there are posters on this forum who take humour light heartedly, some who just dont have a grip on it at all and some of us who are actually clever with humour..... and those who are simply neither but just plain ignorant...

 

oh yes, thats the category you are in....oh you are also very rude to boot.

6 hours ago, eyecatcher said:

You see there are posters on this forum who take humour light heartedly, some who just dont have a grip on it at all and some of us who are actually clever with humour..... and those who are simply neither but just plain ignorant...

 

oh yes, thats the category you are in....oh you are also very rude to boot.

en shala...