This weekend!!!

Well the builder is still confident they will hit their 31st Oct Deadline, but.... honestly I'm not, but I'm not massively worried, and for sure there's going to be a list of snagging jobs to fix that will need to be addressed next week, when in theory we will be in place.

The main issues at the moment are that the electrics are not yet in place and connected to the grid... and as a knock on effect, the solar is not fully installed, panels are up but the inverter and batteries are not in place yet....There's also a complication in that the power load in the kitchen was not properly set up to handle 3 ovens... despite me telling the spark we had 3 ovens and him even repositioning the sockets behind the ovens to make plugging them in easier... but all 3 socket were on a single circuit with a 16amp breaker... each oven take 12-15amps...ermmm yeah that was a strange mistake for an experienced spark to make.  A hasty rewire has been arranged to add 3  circuits to handle them.

Plumbing is also stalled, mainly due to some missing mixer taps. We changed our spec several months ago to add a hot water boiler to feed the 3 bathrooms on the right,  (east/west...no idea) side of the house, so instead of a single cold feed they now have hot and cold but for whatever reasons, no one prompted us to choose new taps to handle the dual water flow....And there's been a slightly mad delay  in getting those taps sorted resulting in a freeze on the plumbing work. Also hot water heaters for the guest room shower, were not in our contract, but again no one actually pointed it out.

Granite tops are also slightly delayed... won't be ready until Tuesday...hmmm means we can't really use the kitchen properly for a few days, but again... not really a biggie but annoying that we get told today, and not last Friday...cos we ordered it 3 or 4 Fridays ago.

Windows however, and the bedroom/balcony door are replacement in progress and looking 100% better than the cheap crap that was there before...Furniture is mostly in place, though still waiting some wardrobes and sideboards for the guest rooms... We fitted Index Wardrobes in the master bedroom...the fit isn't exact sadly, but it's close enough for jazz. We do still need to buy a coffee table, and a load of bedding.
 
Jobs still to do.
Fit cooker hood,

Kitchen backsplash tiles.
Fix PEA reported issues to allow us to get meter. (and the knock on, of solar, but that's not the builders issue)
Rewire power and install ovens.
Final outdoor clean down and painting
Seal and install locks on some windows.
Glaze the front window.

Several water faucets to be fitted to blue pipes (for example the washing machine point)
Change handle on front gate (which we really don't like and will point out during handover)
Install boiler/bath and bathroom sinks and a granite sink top in the master.(next Tuesday...grrr)
Finish spreading subsoil to level the ground
Fit heater to guest shower
Fit heater to kitchen sink
Install grease trap (and presumably sink?) may be delayed until the counter top is in place and sink installed. (which by the way I have not seen yet...)
 
Only today and tomorrow left to do these jobs.......though I can't hold them responsible for things delayed by granite... So overall I'm not confident, though I would not be surprised if the worker numbers double today and tomorrow to get these things done.
Hand over is scheduled on the 31st, which of course gives me a chance to point out issues, then they can
deal with snag list which already has a few issues like a light switch not working and some slightly wonky tiles on the kitchen counter.
We can also point out any other issues that might crop up for a year after handover.. so we're covered for any big or small issues.

On the plus side, we don't move out of the rental until the 18th, so if we need to stay here a few more days that's not a problem, we're not being chased down the street.. We will do a slow gentle transition..

Then stage 2 begins... Jirawan gets to design her fantasy Garden
 
Stage 3... Thai Kitchen, Laundry point and Patio..... Again Jirawan gets to have her choice of Thai kitchen, I'll help with sorting out the patio.

Phew, I have missed out some things for sure but that's where we are.... as far as I can remember

Ahthankyew

It's coming

Its been months in the calendar, but now we're down to the last week... The new house is almost ready.

There's a little stress, some issues still with windows, bedroom/balcony doors, solar waiting for PEA power to be turned on...but all will be fixed before the 31st... 

And then we have to work out how to make all the document changes I need as a foreigner living in Thailand.... what fun.

It really is very exciting though, for such a long time things have been disjointed and unclear, but these last couple of weeks we see things that were left hanging being finished and delivery of items/fittings in place.

The most exciting for me has been the new kitchen, and the final processing of the car port/drive. This week we will be able to park the cars/bikes on our drive.

We got an official address, though strangely we don't have a street name, which I am sure will make for a few deliveries going astray until google maps starts to take note that Brian and Jirawan live here....

Furniture deliveries also start this week, assuming they can find it. a bit too early for my liking but there wasn't anyway to stall them longer... some paintwork is still underway so lets hope we don't get splashes on our new couch/sideboard/table/bed etc...

One small luxury we have though is we have 18 days still on our rental lease, so we can move in over the course of a few days with not too much hassle, for sure some things like internet/TV won't be switched over at the flick of a switch, but we'll be able to time the final jump and a couple of truck loads of clothes and other things with relative ease

The only currently outstanding issue, is the wardrobes for the master bedroom, we were considering having the craftsman who made our kitchen do fitted robes, but the price was high...way over our budget, so we're going to have to do a quick rethink and get something more budget friendly from Ikea. But that will be after our move, rather than before... oh well.

Ahthankyew

Cold, Covid, man flu??

Must be a seasonal thing, around this time last year we were both struck down with a mega flu that took us off our feet, and its happened again!

Started with Jirawan having a bad cough, then getting more and more tired before developing a low grade fever. At which point I told her to get to bed and rest..I kept her pumped up with orange juice and light snacks and cold meds. She basically slept for 2 days... when her fever broke she was still tired and listless but improving.

At which point, Florence Nightingale here, started coughing and getting tired and developing a mild fever... I'm not blessed with Jirawans ability to nod off at the 1st opportunity but I certainly had to take a lot of paracetamol and cough mix...and stayed in bed as much as I was able.

We're over the worst, but as with all these respiratory virii,  the cough lingers and our ribs ache... we'll need a few more days.. of chilling.

But I still had to go to the house daily to take the update photo's and videos and progress is really accelerating in these last few weeks, maybe days even.. A couple of minor issues with the windows not being as we asked but an honourable compromise was reached.

We are on track.. Oct 31 is move in day..18 days.... exciting....and scary.. the costs ramp up..but we'll almost on budget...we will make it.

Ahthankyew

Spend spend spend

Or more accurately, try not to spend, spend, spend.

The hunt for bargains is ongoing, we're finding we can save quite a bit on things when we shop around. And also there's a temptation to spend big on things when we find really nice stuff.

The intention is to furnish the house as minimal as possible, at least to start, we can add things month by month as we go, but this rash of spending as we move in needs to have a hard limit....though don't ask me what the limit is, I was hoping 250K but 300K is probably closer. I will itemise things soon.

But we're doing ok, we've got beds sorted now, TV's, matresses, kitchen units, ovens, hob, hood, couch, Table, chairs, sideboards, units, wardrobes, and at least a couple of options on Fridges and freezers.

We overestimated on the garden, it will be around half what we expected, and we found good deals on a large table, matresses and ovens... as well as the kitchen units, saving us a pretty penny which allows me to get TV's and matresses on order before we move.

Jirawan gets to let her hair down on the garden now and stll keep a bit of cash in reserve for plants, or home gadgets.

We certainly overspent on hand made wardrobes... and one of the beds....But they were just too nice to not buy.

However... as far as we can see, we've got all the main things sorted out... and more or less under budget even if that budget is not totally fixed down, its not red....yet.

But now we have things like bedding, towels, crockery, pots, pans, storage bins, shelves, and things we've not thought of yet... But will discover we need the day after we move in.

There are still some final installments on the build to pay though, almost 1m baht in total, which leaves us with about 2m to fund these last few bits and feed ourselves for a year... its actually quite tight.

Lets hope we can pull this off..

Ahthankyew

Bugger...its fried

The phone is fried... there was water in it...probably from a showe accident where the shower was not pointing down and sprayed all over the bathroom sink...where I had my phone...

But bottom line its screwed, they can't fix it, it still works, and mobile seems to be ok, but wi-fi is dead.. so its kaput.. had to buy a new one.

11K ouch.... an Iphone 13, just 3 months after buying that iphone 12...grrr

But I have learned from this my bank and phone locks are now totally different codes.
5 hours or so later, the new phone is working ok. Lets hope I don't need to replace it in another 3 months.

Ahthankyew

Feckkk I feel so naked

My phone had a small brain hemorrhage this morning, it turned out it has a major fault requiring some internal surgery.

Took it back to the place I bought it, who acknowledged it used to be one of theirs, even though I've lost the receipt and they will fix it...3000bhat (normally 5000 for phones not bought there)

Im ok with that as thats cheaper than buying a new phone and all the hassle of getting it set up again. But what did unnerve me was Jirawan willingly game them my unlock passcode to test it out when they fix it.

Which in turn potentially gives someone access to all my other passwords and app access....

I know Thais are honest, and trusting, but I wish she'd translated his request to me before giving him the numbers...

going to stress a bit now.. Lets hope my bank accounts don't get drained in the next few days.

Ahthankyew

Quickest way to get poor

furnishing a house......

And we've just started. So far we have 1 bed, 1 dinner table, 8 chairs, a sideboard, and now we're agreeing details on a fitted kitchen (partial) made from reclaimed teak, which sounds expensive but compared to the kitchen company prices we investigated its actually at the lower end.. Some of those specialist kitchen places are seriously taking the piss..Having it made by a Baan Tawai craftsman will ensure a solid sturdy set of properly fitted cabinets...maybe lacking soft close doors and sensor controlled lights with auto opening hidden drawers and other bollox they add these days, but still it will look amazing.

Bloody expensive though... And we've still got 3 more beds/mattresses, 3 TV's 6 bedside tables, Sofa, a coffee table, bookcases.
Wardrobes...oh god wardrobes...probably fitted in master, but likely some cheaper options for now in the other rooms. If the fitted kitchen goes as planned, we'll probably get the same craftspeople to do the bedroom(s).

AND!!!! ovens, hobs, fridges, freezers, fryers, plates, cutlery....

Christ the list is endless, and the cost seems to be just as endless.... bargain hunting though, doing our best.

Ahthankyew