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Home > Original Coolthaihouse Section > Original Coolthaihouse Build > Intro

Views from the Land

Includes a shot of bare land (as seen on January 1, 2004) and other shots of the area. The land plot is 84 sq. wah and had already been leveld with dirt fill by the time this picture was taken!

12 files, last one added on Sep 28, 2011
Album viewed 80 times

Road Story

Something I never thought about when I bought the land was this -- 'Would I actually be able to drive all the way to the land, or not?' One of those things we take for granted that can turn into a nightmare.
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This is one of those funny (but not at the time) stories! The lot for this house is in a small development which will eventually have 10 houses. There will be 5 houses on either side of an entry road which comes off the road in front. When buying the plot, during the dry season, the entry road looked sturdy enough. Only later did I find out that the road was made of the wrong type of dirt, sticky mud, and watched as it got progressively worse during the rainy season. Not being my job to get it fixed I just waited (and complained a little bit to which I was told patience!), and finally the primary developer had all of the mud taken out and replaced with hard pack. One other developer isn't happy because the road is actually above his property line - which brings me to one very important point. One of the worst mistakes anyone can ever make is to build a house 'too low'. It is one thing that cannot be later corrected.

20 files, last one added on Sep 27, 2011
Album viewed 81 times

Finished House

The finished house. The house was officially 'finished' on the 6th of July, 2004. There are still various things to get done, eg. entry gate, but the final contract milestone of the 'building the house' is complete. These shots show how it turned out, including a windows media player movie.

17 files, last one added on Sep 28, 2011
Album viewed 227 times

Shot of the Week

Digital cameras don't use film. That means photos are free right? Yes, but with this project there are about 750 photos, so if you want a quick and easy overview -- start here.
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On this proto-type 'cool thai house' project I really made an effort to record the full and accurate history of the building of the house. I've come to the conclusion that recording a full history isn't really possible. There is so much detail that goes into it that the number of pictures is at times overwhelming. So for those of you who want the brief tour: this section displays highlights of the building with a shot of the week, giving a summary view of the project. Since I figure the entire project has a life span of about 26 weeks, I am aiming to display about that many pictures here -- give or take.

31 files, last one added on Sep 28, 2011
Album viewed 169 times

Project Hindsight

12 files, last one added on Sep 28, 2011
Album viewed 138 times

5 albums on 1 page(s)

Last additions - Intro

This is the land plot after some fill dirt has been brought in (to the left of the truck). It is 84 square wah. (01-Jan-04) dozerSep 28, 2011

If I knew now what I knew then. These oh so common words with regards to building here. So what would I have done differently? Keeping in mind that the house turned out very well, yet even so these are things that if I was starting over I would consider...

With respect to the plan, I would have done a more thorough job. There are a number of books sold at the bookstores here, which have 100's of house designs in them. I would try to find a nice design suitable for the shape of the land, and have the dozerSep 28, 2011

This is another case where most expensive is not necessarily best. These Grohe bottom washers are super heavy duty but somehow constrict the water flow, meaning that the emitted water is low pressure. A low cost standard washer has not problem with pressure. I know it is these washer since I had two installed and they both had the same problem. Later I replace on with a 'cheapy' and that one works great.dozerSep 28, 2011

Here is something you wouldn't (or at least I wouldn't) think of. A toothbrush holder where the holes are too small to hold a toothbrush. (26-Aug-04)dozerSep 28, 2011

Random files - Intro

A view of the area from the end of the road, with the cool thai house on the right. (02-Sep-04)dozer

This is the poured base for the small bathroom shower enclosure. Unfortunately it isn't supposed to be 'raised' like this so this was later leveled and done a second time. (15-Jun-04)dozer

Having the thicker wall would necessitate using aluminum windows, but these I would now select in all cases, even if I was using the regular cement block. It is becoming the window of choice and with good reason. Easy maintenance, it doesn't degrade due to weather or direct sunlight. It looks modern. The screen used can be slid open. One notable downside is that normally the security metal needs to be mounted on the outside which looks ugly. In any event, this would be my window of choice on subsequent projects.dozer

I wanted to contrast the previous road to what everyone would really like to see. This land is subdivided and a concrete entry road has been poured to a 20 centimeter depth. There is also associated drainage and the electric is already setup, all prior to any building started. Now, the downside. This land, which is in the same area as the cool thai house plot, is 2 1/2 times more expensive, and the minimum lot size is 1 rai (at 2.5 million Baht)! So, you can find perfection but you must pay the price! (29-Jul-04)dozer

Here the roof is partially tiled. The left shot shows the parking lot and patio. The right shot shows the main roof sections. Notice the aluminum drainage sheeting shown in the valley of the right hand picture: it is not really sufficient and will need to be supplemented later. (22-Mar-04)dozer

This is the view of palm trees out the right side window of the house. (24-Jan-04)dozer

This shot shows how the kitchen cabinets were formed. First off the counter is poured cement with a wire mesh cross support. This cross support is anchored in the wall. Then bricks are laid and finally the doors are placed. The doors are anchored into place with nails affixed to the side of the frame. (14-May-04)dozer

The sink is laid in towards the wall too far. You need to really lean over to wash your face. (06-Jul-04)dozer

Debug Info

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