Archive for the ‘Build A House In Thailand’ Category

Today Is The Official Completion Of Our Retirement House In Packchong (Pak Chong), Thailand, As Kanyah Moves In

7th November 2011 – Another Difficult-to-Forget 7/11 Date

Today’s the date that as I reported in the Move-In Date Fixed – Thailand Retirement House Build Project Finished… ? Post the monks will come to bless the house and Kanyah will move in to reside there.

The retirement house build project is officially finished.

Silence From Kanyah In Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand

Kanyah phoned me yesterday to tell me (again) about the monk’s visit today. But she was very subdued and didn’t sound at all excited. “Send me more money” was the theme of her call.

But she did mention that two water tanks to collect water from the roof had been delivered – each tank 4 m3 capacity. She also said that she had bought a kitchen for 50,000 Baht and had to pay more for the builder to fit it. When I pressed her for details of what was in this kitchen she had bought she said that it was a cooker and kitchen cabinets like in the West. So much for my theory of a Thai kitchen on the Move-In Date Fixed – Thailand Retirement House Build Project Finished… ? Post

I’m not surprised that she hasn’t phoned today – it’s Kanyah’s way. No phone call, no photos, nothing.

Kanyah received for house address (Baan Lek Tee ) on 29th October 2011 as I reported on the
Thai House Address – Baan Lek Tee In Thai Language Post and promised to send me a scan of it to put on the website. That was well over a week ago and nothing arrived so far.

Fine when she wants money and I send it to her immediately. But she can’t even be bothered to send me a scan of the house address or any progress photos. That last time she sent me photos from our retirement house build project in Thailand was on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 3:15 PM and that is just two weeks ago.

Thinking Of Marrying A Thai Woman And Building A Retirement House In Thailand?

My advice? Read this Post and all the other Posts on this website, read the Dont Retire To Thailand page and think carefully. Above all don’t rush in.

What Next in The Retiring In Thailand Story?

Well, “all” we have done so far is to buy a car in Thailand (Toyota Hilux Pickup), bought some land and built a retirement house in Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand.

I haven’t done any retiring at all so there’s that to look forward (?) to…

But let’s get practical.

• She (we) need furniture for the house.
• I need to buy my machine tools and hand tools for the workshop.
• I want a big freezer stocked up with farang food and a bigger fridge stocked up with cool beer.
• I need an Internet connection, my work desk and executive chair…

And my next trip to Thailand is for Christmas and New Year coinciding with the Pakchong (Pak Chong) Cowboy City festival.

I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s festival as recorded (complete with movies) on the Pakchong Cowboy City Countdown 2011 – Happy New Year 1 page and this year it can only be better.

My Model Engineering Workshop In Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand

Maybe I’ll send some money to Kanyah for her to buy the furniture so that I can spend my visit looking for machine tools. Steve W tells me that there are streets in Bangkok selling second-hand lathes and milling machines at reasonable prices.

Here are some photos of machine tools for sale in Bangkok that I have found on various Thai websites:-

Second-Hand Lathe for Sale in Bangkok 003

Above, this second-hand lathe for sale in Bangkok, Thailand is advertised on the http://www.machinethai.com website.

Below is a half-decent milling machine for sale on the same website.

Second Hand Milling Machine for Sale in Bangkok 003

My ‘Beautiful’ Workshop Floor Will Be Messed Up In No Time !

Above, these machine tools do a messy job of machining metal. A lot of oil is spalshed on the metal cutters to lubricate it an keep them cool. The metal cuttings (swarf) fly in all directions making an oily dirty mess everywhere.

The ‘beautiful’ marble terrazzo floor that Kanyah has put into my workshop See the (Mission Creep – Costs Escalate – Time Overruns – Photos Show Why) Post will be completly ruind as soon as one of these heavy machines is dragged into position.

Here’s another website selling machine tools in Bangkok:-

http://www.thaimachinetools.com/?machine-type=lathes

To save you leaving this page I have posted a photo of a typical machine tool of the type I’m likely to be putting in my workshop below:-

Another Second Hand Lathe for Sale in Bangkok

I must admit that these machine tools are a bit bigger and older (worn out) than I really want. It’ll take me some time in Bangkok to find small machines in good conditions with lots of accessories.

So, I have my goal set for this forthcoming visit – to set up my model engineering workshop in Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand.

After that, it’s back to the UK to earn more money to replenish my depleted pension pot so that I can eventually retire in Thailand.

I expect that Kanyah will stay on in Pakchong (Pak Chong) until the (UK) spring or summer to give her time to make the Pakchong (Pak Chong) house garden ‘beautiful’.

About Steve W

Steve is very knowledgeable (in general but also about Thailand). Some photos of Steve’s houses on these pages:-

• Si Khiu Korat House 1
• Si Khiu Korat Farm

I met Steve out in Pakchong last Christmas and we have kept in touch ever since. His Thai wife is now expecting twins.

Steve (unlike Kanyah) just sent me some photos showing the progress on his retirement house build project in Si Khiu Korat near to Pakchong (Pak Chong) and I’ll upload those to the website in the next few days.

Move-In Date Fixed

Thailand Retirement House Build Project Finished… ?

Fantastic news from Kanyah yesterday!

She has consulted with the monk and a date for the house blessing ceremony (keun ban mai) has been fixed as the 7th November 2011.

I don’t know anything about the Thai house blessing ceremony except that Kanyah can move in to live in the retirement house she has built in Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand, after the ceremony.

Finishing Off The House Build

Although the house has ben “finished” for a long time there are still a few things left to do to finish it off.

Talking to other people building a house in Thailand not finishing seems to be a common trait amongst Thai house builders.

These last bits and pieces, according to Kanyah include:-

Burglar bars for the doors on the second floor. Apparently these are made from – guess what – stainless steel – and just have to be fitted. I haven’t any photos of the burglar bars from Kanyah but I can imagine something along the lines of the main gate to the front drive.

Insect screens on the doors and windows. I’m intrigued how these will be configured. Opening windows, burglar bars and insect screens. Quite a lot of components to coordinate and still allow the windows to open.

The kitchen. I don’t expect Kanyah to put in a fitted kitchen as you would find in a western house. I’m imagining just gas stand alone burner perhaps with two rings supplied from a gas bottle. The original house drawings and specification had a granite work top with fitted kitchen sink but I have no idea what Kanyah has had fitted.

Retirement House Thailand Kitchen

The hot water machine. Yes, that what she called it. I suppose she is talking about the hot water heater. I think she said it cost something like 8,000 Baht. Sounds like and expensive water heater to me. And why the plumber didn’t fit it wham all the rest of the water pipes were installed beats me.

Kanyah Is Living With The Neighbour

Apparently Kanyah moved out of the hotel – The Mansion in Pakchong (Pak Chong) – on 31st October. She told me that she is staying with our neighbour while she waits to move into the house. Her belongings are locked up in my workshop.

Kanyah Now Has The Thai House Papers – And We Have The Baan Lek Tee (House Address)

A Time To Celebrate – At Last Kanyah Has Her Name Registered On Her Own House Papers And I Have An Address In Thailand!

Wow! What an exciting moment for Kanyah. She phoned me just a few minutes ago to tell me that she now has the Thai house papers with he name registered on them.

Then an hour later a tearful Kanyah phoned me again to tell me, guess what, that “she now has the Thai house papers with her name registered on them!”.

(She loves to repeat things as I’ve said before)

This Is A Lifetime’s Dream Come True For Kanyah

Now Kanyah is so, so happy, that her dream of owning her own house and having her own house papers with her name on them has now actually come true. In her phone calls she thanks me profusely in English and Thai.

Yes, we had a house in England but she never really assimilated (anybody go the correct word?) to that as being ‘hers’.

Kanyah Is No Longer The Tramp With No Place To Call Home

Now she truly does have a house and a place that she can call home – after 30 years of following me around the world like a tramp. (Not a poor one but a tramp nevertheless)

It’s not surprising that she is jubilant, happy and at last fulfilled. Not surprising then that she thanked me so much.

In Thailand The House Papers Are A Passport To All Official Business

What I mean is (and people familiar with Thailand will know this) that to do any just about official business in Thailand a Thai must show the house papers with their name registered on them. Without the house papers (and their name on them) a Thai person is basically non-existent – a gipsy for want of a better word.

Here are some of the things you need the house papers for:-

• To obtain a Thai ID card
• To obtain a thai passport
• To obtain a driving license
• To open a bank account
• To get married
• To obtain a British visitor’s (or any other) Visa

(If you know of any more, please post a comment or send me an email)

It seems that my words are getting through to Kanyah

If you have read my other posts then you will no that I’m pretty direct with Kanyah and let her know in no uncertain terms what I want her to do. I have for months and weeks been pushing her to get these house papers.

At last my harassment seems to have bourn fruit. Just as my ranting and raving back in May of 2011 about the standard of workmanship and the failure of Jalan to supervise the construction led eventually to Kanyah giving the previous builder and Jalan the push. (Pushed out i.e. she sacked them). There is a Post about those ‘dark days’ at “Thai Retirement House Building Project From Hell – And I’m Sick Of It” and related Posts.

So those of you who ask me to ‘go gentle’ on Kanyah take note. Pushing her brings results!

It might be painful but that’s life. If you don’t push for what you want in life you’ll get what they give you.

About The Thai House Address – Baan Lek Tee In The Thai Language – And The House Papers

Well I’ve just about said what I want to say on this subject – that is until Kanyah send me a copy of the house papers.

I’ll then post a copy here and get them translated into English and put the translation up here also. And then I’ll know Kanyah’s (and my) address in Thailand so I’ll send her a letter.

Here Is A Copy Of The Thai House Papers

Placeholder for the Thai House Papers

This Email Will Rattle Most People – It’s How I Felt (And Have Been Feeling For A Long Time)

I actually sent this email to my lovely wife, Kanyah. Apart from intending to explain my frustration and discomfort with what she is doing out there in Pakchong, it was also intended to have an effect – to change what seh was doing.

I Deleted The Email From Her Email Account After She Phoned Me

The she called me. Yes she was eventually getting round to doing what I had been imploring her to do for months – basically to stop living in the hotel and to move into the house.

She told me that…

• The house itself would be finished and ready to move into in three days time
• The drive (for the car) would be finished in three days time
• The local Sherrif had been to see her about getting her house papers and getting her name registered on them
• She would be leaving the hotel at the end of the month (one week away) and moving on to stay with our neighbour
• Tomorrow she will go with our neighbour to see the monk to get the date for blessing the house so that she can move in
• and… please send more money!
• She also said that when I push her and we end up arguing, she feels “down” and loses her motivation to push things forward.

Kanyah Is building This Retirement House in Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand, For Me Not Just For Herself

But what really  prompted me to delete the email was when she said the “when you see how wonderful the the house is you will be proud of what I have done”. Then the penny dropped with me. She was doing all this not just for herself but also to please me. She wanted me to be proud of her. That’s why she was doing it – for me – not just for herself.

Anyway, here is the email. It’s still in her gmail account in the deleted folder – I can undelete it at any time.

Message from Your Husband Date: 24 October 2011 Dear Kanyah, I have always sent you money when you have asked for it and I have done it again today. But this is the last time. There are three reasons why I say this:- 1. I Am Not Saving for Retirement to ThailandI am supposed to be saving for my retirement, but I’m saving nothing – all my income goes to you. 2. You Are Wasting Money You are spending money on things not necessary and what I did not agree to. A lot of the money you spend is wasted on things not necessary. 3. You Won’t Finish The House First You are supposed to finish the house so that you and I can stay there. ________________________________________________________________________________ DETAILS 1. I Am Not Saving for Retirement to Thailand Look how much money I have been sending you:- Description Sent £ Sent Baht TOTAL House and Land 94,517 4,651,335 Land Cost 20,000 1,000,000 TOTAL House Only 2011 74,517 3,651,335 Nearly £100,000 and 5 million Baht! That is crazy money. When we started this project you said you could get the house and land for £20,000. Now you have spent nearly £100,000 (3.6 million Baht) and it’s still not finished. Pongsak’s price to build the house was 1.7 million Baht. You are over double that! Look how much money I have sent you in the last four months:- Month £ Baht July 11,000 539,000 August 6,000 294,000 September 7,000 343,000 October 6,000 294,000 That is all my income – before TAX. I didn’t pay tax yet. I have to go back and pay tax on my income. That means I have to work a month or more just to pay my tax. And I’m not saving anything for my retirement to Thailand. You are selfish and thinking only about yourself and the house. Spending money without thinking about our plans for the future. I think of you like Jalan and Pongsak – sucking money from the rich farang. Not very nice is it? 2. You Are Wasting Money First the toilet. Look at the toilet:- Rendering The Blockwork On The Right Hand Side Of The Toilet Block I was thinking about 1.5 by 1.5 meters. This toilet block is about 10 meters by 3 meters. It’s big enough to be a house. You never asked me about the size and you never tell me how much things cost or what you want to spend. The toilet is so big you can’t even take a photo showing all of it! Not fair and a waste of precious money. Next, the concrete. Look at this photo:- Toilet Block and Mass Concrete This is just the concrete in the front of the house. You have it all round. What’s it for? In the photo above exactly what is that concrete for? How much did it cost? Did I agree to it? Did you ever ask me? Did you tell me the price before you did it? In this case you are eating into the land where you want to grow plants. Does not make sense to me. Now the marble floors. Look at the photo. Reflections Of The Windows On The Shiny Surface Of The Highly Polished Terrazzo Marble Floor In The Workshop This is my workshop. A workshop is a dirty place. My machinces will scratch the marble and spoil it in weeks. The black colour is wrong. When I drop tiny pieces on the floor I won’t be able to find them. This marble floor is not necessary for a workshop. 100% waste of money. Next picture:- This is the car park! Whoever had marble floors in the car park? A car park gets dirty from the cars. The wheels make a mark and the oil drops down. You keep it clean then. 3. You Won’t Finish The House First I keep asking you to move out of the hotel and into the house. But you don’t do it. In a few weeks I’ll be coming there for Christmas. If you haven’t moved in where do you think I’m going to stay? In The Mansion? Forget it. If I can’t stay in my house that has taken 2 years and 5 million Baht to build just give me my car back and I’ll go stay somewhere else, without you. ________________________________________________________________________________ Guesss What? Can you guess? Do you know what I am thinking? In case you can’t let me make it easy for you, my Darling. I AM NOT HAPPY! I feel cheated. I have been ripped off. I have no money. I have been too soft. I’m p****d off and angry. See you at Christmas (Maybe) Love, Dad.

The Next Day Everything Was Different

The next day I was glad I deleted the email before Kanyah saw it because she phoned me with some great news as you can read on the  ”Thai House Address – Baan Lek Tee In Thai Language” Post. Go there right now to be cheered up!

Who’s In Control Of Cost And Programme On This Retirement House Build Project In Thailand? Clearly Not Me!

Mission Creep – The Nightmare Scenario Feared Of Armed Conflict Comes To Roost In Pakchong (Pak Chong)

A bit dramatic? Maybe wouldn’t make the front page of the daily newspapers but when I’m told the house is finished and I am still sending vast sums of money out to Thailand month after month after month, it’s a nightmare scenario for me.

The Return Of The Bad Old Days?

If you have been reading this blog for a long time you’ll recall the Bad Old Days when I was writing posts like “Thailand Retirement House Build Plans Dashed” when the Thailand retirement house-build project was really getting me down and I seemed to have hit an all-time low.

Are those days back again after we lifted ourselves back up with a new builder?

Not quite. The new builder is terrific. Excellent quality and easy for Kanyah to work with, helpful, considerable, knowledgeable, and as far as I can tell – honest.

The Problem Is With Kanyah. Not The Builder

On the “Our Retirement House In Pakchong (Pak Chong), Thailand, Inches Towards Completion With One Wooden Wall Finished” post dated 28 June Kanyah was talking about 3 to 6 weeks to complete the house construction. She originally (20 June) said it would take 3 months as advised by the new Thai builder.

Now it’s 5 October, and it’s still not finished. The builder has stopped work on the house (original scope) to do all these add-ons (mission creep) instructed by Kanyah.

I implore with Kanyah to get the house finished so that she can take residence there and cease renting the hotel room at The Mansion.

I’m completely mystified why she doesn’t do this. Surely, I think, she would be more relaxed and happier living in her own house, in her own space, with her own belongings unpacked and with the facilities at last to cook real food for herself instead of eating takeaways from the few roadside food stalls there are in Pakchong.

But she is waiting until “everything is finished” before moving in.

What does “everything is finished” mean? Here are some of these mission-creep projects Kanyah has started or is planning that are over and above the original house build scope:-

• Utility Building – Massively oversized and over-specified. (Work commenced)
• Concrete slabs about 2m wide all round the house – not necessary. (Work commenced)
• Marble Terrazzo floors to all ground floor areas – Grossly expensive, extravagant, out of place and unnecessary. (Work commenced)
• Stone driveway. (Work planned)
• And then there’s the landscaping of the garden…

Yet all the house needs to make it habitable (so she says) is to put up the light fittings, install the power outlets, switch on the electricity and the final house clean.

Oh! And she says there are no kitchen cabinets, cooker etc.

Never mind that Kanyah! What do you have in The Mansion? A rice cooker that’s all. Get yourself a fridge and a bottled gas cooking ring or two and you’re sorted! Why aren’t you getting that fixed instead of concentrating on all of the additional  external works?

You’ll be more relaxed and comfortable and I’ll be able to stop paying for the hotel bills and water and electricity on two locations.

Now Let’s Look At The Latest Photographs Showing The Progress On Building The Retirement House In Pakchong (Pak Chong)

But before we get into that let me ask you a question…

When you look at these photos what are you actually looking at? Or looking for?

• Construction techniques and materials in Thailand?
• The weird and wonderful way the Thais do things?
• How beautiful (or otherwise) our retirement house looks?
• Problems building a house in Thailand?
• And other things you may not know you are looking at or for.

When I look at the photos I am looking for:-

• When will it be finished?
• Is it another waste of money?
• When can I stop sending sack-loads of money out to Thailand?

In the beginning I wasn’t looking for answers to those questions.

No I am because every 100 Baht spent on unnecessary building works can buy me a meal in Thailand when I retire.

And every cubit metre of concrete and every 10m2 of terazzo marble flooring can keep both of us in food and drink for  month when I retire to Thailand. (No calculations done to prove this – it’s the concept that matters)

In other words, I am working in UK and sending all my spare money to Thailand for Kanyah to waste on unnecessary luxuries. That money should be going into the bank to spend on living in Thailand when I retire. We could probably both live your a year or several on the amount of money she has spent just on the stuff you are about to see on this web page.

O.K. On to The Photos – How To Waste Money On Building A Retirement House In Thailand

Pouring The Concrete To Form The Patio At The Rear Of The House

Kanyah has decided to have a concrete strip about 2 m wide cast all around the house and you can see one of the strips being poured in the photo above. This is the road side of the house which is normally called the front of the house, but we have built our house so that the front – where the balcony is – is at the back, so to speak.

When I asked her what it was for she said “It looks beautiful” and that it was to stop the dirt from your feet coming into the house. Sorry, Kanyah, I thought that’s what the ground floor patio was for – before you covered it with marble-finish terrazzo.

Sure, I can see the benefit of this concrete buffer zone – but the advantages far outweigh the cost in my book. We could live for a year in Pakchong (Pak Chong) on the amount of money that concrete has cost me.

Pouring More Concrete To Form The Patio At The Rear Of The House

Another pour of concrete going on whilst the first is still being trowelled smooth.

The guy in the foreground is trowelling the concrete smooth while another concrete pour is going ahead in a different position at the rear of the photo.

I know from my considerable construction industry experience URL that the correct way to pour concrete is to pour the next load right alongside the previous one so that the pour appears as one homogenous mass of concrete.

The objective is to ensure that the concrete does not dry out between different pour batches because that creats a wet-to-dry conrete joint which is no where near as strong as contigous concrete that you get pouring wet next to wet concrete.

Even a non-builder will understand this.

But look at the photo. They are making a second pour well away from the first and still wet pour. Why?

Judging (from the photo) by the area that one pour of concrete covers there are at least two more pours to go in betweeen the two you can in the photo before they meet up. Plenty of time for the previous concrete pour to dry out!

Septic Tank And Soak-Away Covers

The third concrete pour at the rear of the house. At least this pour is next to the previous pour. Perhaps thay have been listening to me!

But the reason I am showing this photo is to highlight the manholes.

The circular hole is the top of the septic tank I don’t know what the square brick hole is for. I could guess and say it’s the top of a soakaway tank but heh! let’s not conjecture – I’ll save this mystery as something to be discovered when I go out there next Christmas.

My little Christmas treat!

Is Kanyah Building The House Of Babel?

Or Eschers Ascending Descending Stairs?

Is Kanyah Building Another Tower Of Babel?

Bâbel, a Hebrew word means Confusion and the The House Of Babel or more often The Tower Of Babel is a storey found in the Biblical book of Genesis, and is one of the most famous and beloved legends of mankind. It’s a story where all the people building the huge tower that would reach the heavens spoke a common language and the Lord changed all that so that everbody spoke a different language and stopped building.

This picture of  The Tower Of Babel is  similar to the famous “Escher’s Ascending Descending Stairs” where the steps around the building rise and fall in an impossible fashion like this:-

Escher's Ascending Descending Stairs

The pictures of the The Tower Of Babel and Escher’s Ascending Descending Stairs above are what I want you to remember when you look at the next couple of photos of the retirement house that Kanyah is building in Pakchong (Pak Chong).

Close-Up Of Poured Concrete To Form The Patio At The Rear Of The House

Notice in the photo above that the top of the new concrete slab and the patio are on the same level

Poured Concrete Slab To The Side Of The House To Carry The Water Tanks

In the photo above the concrete side slab runs down the side of the house between the house and the fenceline to the neighbours land.

This is a complete waste of money!

That area is where we plan to put a couple of huge water tanks to store water from the roof collected by the huge gutters we have had put up.

But water tanks don’t need a flat concrete slab to sit on. If anything they need a slab of concrete independent of the house to allow for differential settlement. Put big water tanks on this slab and I guarantee the slab will crack.

The tower of Bâbel story continues…

Look at the photo below which is a close up of the photo you have just been looking at – the concrete side slab:-

Notice the 150 mm Step Up From the Side Concrete Slab To Patio

Above, notice the 150 mm step up from the concrete side slab to the patio slab itself (which is a good thing to keep rainwater from the patio). Now compare this the ring of concrete with the rising ramps that spiral around the Tower of Babel in the Tower of Babel photo above.

And remember that in the “Close-Up Of Poured Concrete To Form The Patio At The Rear Of The House” photo above, the top of the new concrete slab and the patio are on the same level.

So where does the level change if it’s not a “Babel Ramp”?

Poured Concrete Slab To The Side Of The House To Carry The Water Tanks

I added the picture above to show the thickness of the concrete side slab. It’s a massive piece of concrete!

My next question is whether Kanyah will continue this concrete slab around the front of the house where the steps are?

OK enough of concrete. lets now look at some of the …

Photos Of The Terrazzo Marble Floors

Two Floor Grinding Machines At Work Polishing The Terrazzo Marble Floor In My Workshop

Terrazzo is an all natural material only consisting of stones or aggregate (commonly marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips) mixed with cement. As such, after the concrete/stone mix has been poured and allowed to cure hard the stones (e.g. marble granules) are embedded in the concrete and not visible. The floor just looks like concrete until it has been ground.

Next the grinding machines are put to work to literally grind the concrete and cut into the marble granules leaving a lovely shiny finish.

Reflections Of The Windows On The Shiny Surface Of The Highly Polished Terrazzo Marble Floor In The Workshop

Above, the result of grinding the marble terrazzo floor in the workshop.

At the risk of booring you to death with my mantra let me say that this is…

… This Marble Terrazzo Flooring Is A Complete Waste Of Money

Here’s why:-

Three Reasons Why Marble Terrazzo Flooring Is A Complete Waste Of Money For The Retirement House IN Pakchong (Pak Chong)

1. I’ll be Ruining That lovely Shiny Finish In A Few Weeks Of Moving In

This will be my workshop. My hobby is making model steam engines and I’ll be retiring to Thailand to do my hobby full time.

Above, some photos of the model steam engine I’m building at the moment. (Part finished) And below some photos of the individual parts.

Some Components Of A Model Steam Engine

I will be putting heavy metalworking machinery in there like a lathe milling and drilling machines, a hacksaw machine and welding equipment.

My Lathe in the Workshop

Another Workshop Machine- A Pillar Drill

Workshop Machine Tool Bandsaw

I’ll be dropping heavy steel parts on the floor (always happens) which will chip the beautiful shiny floor finish and the metal cuttings (swarf) from the machines will form an ideal grinding paste to wreck the marble finish.

Dirty Swarf on the Lathe

Here’s a picture of a typical workshop floor to give you an idea of what a workshop looks like (not my workshop by the way):-

2. I Won’t Be Able To find Anything I Drop On The Floor

My models incorporate some very small pieces about the size of a matchstick or smaller. These are often screws, washers etc and as you’ll see in the photo below the marble terrazzo floor makes a perfect camouflage for such tiny pieces of metal.

Image of Making A Model Steam Engine Steam Engine Small Bits

Brass Construction Joint In The Highly Polished Terrazzo Marble Floor In The Workshop

Above, try to find a black steel nut the size of a rice grain on this floor!

Note also the brass strip put in to act as a construction joint to control cracking between different sections of the flooring arising from thermal expansion of the terrazzo flooring.

The next photo of the workshop is more to do with the sink than the marble terrazzo flooring:-

Kitchen Sink In The Workshop

In the photo of my workshop above in the distance you can see what looks like a kitchen cabinet. It’s probably my kitchen sink that I asked Kanyah to have put in. I just wanted a stainless steel sink to wash my oily hands and to wash oily pieces of models etc, like this one:-

The Stainless Steel Workshop Sink I Envisaged

Obviously, Kanyah is trying to please me, God (whoever that is) bless her.

Next is another close-up picture of the marble terrazzo flooring. This looks like a step to me, probably the step up from the patio to the workshop:-

Detail Of The Brass Expansion Joint At The Step Down From The Workshop To The Patio

And talking of the patio, here it is:-

Terrazzo Marble Floor To The Rear Patio

Lovely terrazzo marble floor finish on the patio, above.

Turn the corner and we see the car port:-

Terrazzo Marble Floor To The Car Port Patio

Above the marble terrazzo floor finish in the car port.

3. You Don’t Need Expensive Marble Floors For A Car Park!

If you haven’t worked it out this is the third reason why This marble terrazzo flooring is a complete waste of money.

What do you commonly see in a car park?

• Oil. Dripping from the cars.
• Dirt. Dirty soil brought in on the tires.
• Tyre marks. Big black tires scuff the surface and scratch it whilst also leaving behind tire rubber marks.

In short- marble finish terrazzo flooring is the last thing you want for a car port!

Meet Our Second Thai Builder

Our New Thai Builder Seems To Enjoying Himself

If you want a retirement house built in the Pakchong (Pak Chong) area then do your best to get this Thai builder to do it for you. He is very pleasant to deal with and does  superb job as you have seen on this blog.

The Largest Utility Building In Pakchong (Pak Chong)!

When we signed up with our first builder was asked him also build a toilet downstairs for the use of guests and anyone in the garden. It would also be handy for myself whn working in the workshop.

That fell through when Kanyah sacked the builder. So when she told me she had asked the new builder to build a downstairs toilet I said “That’s fine but can you also put a shower in it?”. Useful, I thought to cool off on a hot day.

Now look what she’s having built:-

Right Hand Side Of The Toilet Block Showing 4 Of The Six Posts

Above, the toilet block is so big Kanyah can only fit half of it in the camera frame. It’s a six-post building and in the photo above you can see four of them.

The left hand side of the building is shown in the photo below:-

Left Hand Side Of The Toilet Block Showing The Other Posts

Above, note that the ridge of the roof is directly over one row of three posts. that means that the entire front half of the roof is unsopported by the posts but is cantilevered out. Strange design.

Rendering The Blockwork On The Right Hand Side Of The Toilet Block

Above the lightweight concrete block walls are up and are receiving the cement rendering finish.

Three Quarter View Of The Toilet Block

In the photo above you can see the cement rendering on the end of the building is quite smooth, that on the front is clearly not finished yet. it looks like this side of the building will be the toilet given the lack of windows.

Rear View Of The Toilet Block

The rear view of the utility building showing on the left a small window for the toilet and on the right you can see a larger window. this is likely to be a Utility Room. i.e. Washing and ironing.

Front View Of The Toilet Block Showing The Concrete Slab Thickness

I have added this view to display the thickness of the concrete floor slab. Should be strong enough and high enough to keep the rain water out.