John's budget build

[RLTrader]

always nice to see another blokes build coming along...
there was one thing that irked me with my build, and I see the same thing in Johns, which may assist others to think about before their build..
its the ugly wiring ducks crawling up and down and across the wall to make an eyesore in my house..especially the air con which is a big pipe..mine crosses the wall. I have painted it the same colour as the wall which has nullified the effect somewhat, but why they cant electricians take the wiring the shortest didtance up and thru the ceiling then outside to the unit is beyond me..alot of my other wiring in our concrete house is tucked in beside the pillars so when painted it hard to see, rather than down the middle of the wall..anyway, something for new builders to think about...

A little blurred, but
you mean something like this?
Think its called planning ahead.

[bluejets]

its the ugly wiring ducks crawling up and down and across the wall to make an eyesore in my house..especially the air con which is a big pipe..mine crosses the wall. I have painted it the same colour as the wall which has nullified the effect somewhat, but why they cant electricians take the wiring the shortest didtance up and thru the ceiling then outside to the unit is beyond me..alot of my other wiring in our concrete house is tucked in beside the pillars so when painted it hard to see, rather than down the middle of the wall..anyway, something for new builders to think about...

Wiring is fine, no problem to do that BUT the interconnect runs with the piping.
The piping(suction and discharge) usually comes out the fan coil unit on the RHS ( looking at the unit) and then is bent at rightangle for packing purposes , along the back.
I always find it to be a "touchy" process, straightening out the piping to exit directly back through a hole in the wall.
They are , however, annealed copper so never seems a problem, just I get nervous if you like where the copper joins the fan coil aluminium.
So it might be one reason why they exit left,(pipes stay as supplied) but then who knows as TIT.
When they exit right, then that argument flys out the window.
What doesn't change, whatever the install direction, right , left or straight out the back, is the condensate water drain line which cannot go up through the ceiling for obvious reasons.(gravity)
Now I imagine there will be some who will jump in and say, what about ceiling mounted cassettes....??
Answer there is they include a dedicated water pump internally to do the job.

[maaka]

perhaps in hindsight I should have had the unit on an exterior wall so could go straight out the back..but of course was not there for install...I am used to the look now, but my builders never seem to think of visual impact

[RLTrader]

always nice to see another blokes build coming along...
there was one thing that irked me with my build, and I see the same thing in Johns, which may assist others to think about before their build..
its the ugly wiring ducks crawling up and down and across the wall to make an eyesore in my house..especially the air con which is a big pipe..mine crosses the wall. I have painted it the same colour as the wall which has nullified the effect somewhat, but why they can't "electricians" take the wiring the shortest distance up and thru the ceiling then outside to the unit is beyond me..alot of my other wiring in our concrete house is tucked in beside the pillars so when painted it hard to see, rather than down the middle of the wall..anyway, something for new builders to think about...

maaka, do not think the wiring is going outside, but to the House electric box. Would think that the outside wiring is going thru a hole in the wall with the copper and drain pipes.

[sometimewoodworker]

maaka, do not think the wiring is going outside, but to the House electric box. Would think that the outside wiring is going thru a hole in the wall with the copper and drain pipes.

Both of our AC have the electrical wiring in the conduit that holds the refrigeration lines outside the house, inside all the pipes are together in one conduit for the bedroom AC as it is not on an outside wall. The other has all pipes in the ceiling, so I think RLTrader's idea is the usual way.

FWIW only my paint room, workshop and outside kitchen have any visible "on the wall" wiring

[pipoz4444]

Air Conditioning 04 Installation.JPG (14.94 KiB) Viewed 6147 times

For a Mitshubishi AC Unit

[maaka]

lord knows fella's. I just see this plastic pipe going across the wall and assume its the wires.. I dont really know how an air con works. anywayssssssssss this is Johns thread and I think you all get my point by now..

[ajarnudon]

Yes, good point Maaka. And you are spot on as well RL Trader. In fact, these rooms do have cavity walls (as does most of the house) - masonry block externally and AAC block internally for the added insulation qualities. All of the electrics and plumbing come thru the cavity and are not visible. The internal walls were buillt first and the wiring for the air cons (and all power outlets) put in at an early stage (many moons ago). Where I failed however, was in missing the cue to instal the air cons. What Maaka says would have been very easy if I had installed them while only the single AAC wall was in place - however, as RLT says I was probaly concentrating on forward planning and not taking enough notice of the job in hand. The cavity is around 8 cms, which could accommodate the ducting before the exterior wall was built - but to do a retro instal in the cavity was mission impossible. If you have been following this blog you may remember that I had planned to do the front patio lastly, somewhere down the track. The last wall to be buillt was at the front of the house and I was enthused by a coming milestone. As the wall grew higher by the hour, I suddenly thought "wait a f*n minute" as the realisation dawned that the central steel house columns were disappearing out of sight. The main beams for the patio roof had to be welded to those central columns. So I had to call a halt to the wall building for a few months as we needed to excavate for concrete pillar pads and build the patio first.
So yes, forward planning is essential - but don't lose sight of what is happening today. Lost one, won one - but nothing that I can't live with.

[ajarnudon]

Just a few happy snaps as we move along: Main bedroom ensuite is virtually complete.

Tiling the staircase.

The 1,000 litre town supply tank and pump. This will soon be supplemented by a 2,000 L rainwater tank. Toying with the idea of a semi-underground rainwater tank on the other side of the house. The town supply is full of iron salts and rusts everything. Want to use this for the bathroom and garden, with rainwater for cooking and washing, and bottled water for drinking - although I have no issue with drinking rainwater.

The stage being setup for the 'soft' family morlam housewarming party on Christmas night. These are the left banks of speakers - note how they get the upper one mounted - with a block and tackle. After 11 pm I slept in a resort about 1 km distant - could still hear it, but with the amount of C2H5OH that was in my system I slept like a baby. Local police were in on the act, singing on stage, and closed it down at 1 am.

[ajarnudon]

I should expand on the morlam concert for those of you who are not familiar with the concept. The concert is a gift to the local community, most of whom don't get a formal invite but, on hearing the music, will come down to enjoy the performance and a modest amount of free drinks. You need a permit from the amphur, who notify the police who will come down to check on brawls etc. In a small village like ours, they already knew about it and joined in the party. The missus was aware of locals who had a reputation for going off the rails and only gave them soft drink.
I was chuffed when the owner of the local concrete batch plant turned up (he did get an invitation) - I have spent a lot of money with him (and his parents who own the large local building suppllies company). He enjoyed the drinks, the show and a tour of the house.

[NongKhaiLee]

I agree with the others...the locals like to skimp on rebar or mesh in driveways, but the ground here becomes so fluid in the rainy season that it can cause some real problems with the concrete if it's not reinforced really well. Looks like you are doing a great job of researching all this stuff and doing it right anyway.

[ajarnudon]

Thanks for the kind words NongKhaiLee. Last weekend we had 3BB fibre optic wifi installed. We won't be living there fulltime for quite a while - but that is exactly the point, for the security system. Firstly, my wife told me that her sister in the village had installed a great fibre connection from 3BB, so arranged for the local rep to come on down and check it out. The going price was 590 baht plus VAT for 100 MBS up/down, but as a promotion that was increased to 200 mbs up/down. About six months ago we ditched 3BBs ADSL+ 30 MBS connections both in BKK and Udon that were costing 690 plus VAT. Installation for the new connection cost 0 baht, including running fibre optic cable 150 metres from the highway right to the wifi router on the wall - compare that to Oz fibre to the node. The next weekend I ran some speed tests and both local and Telsra Sydney (NRL connection, all that matters) came in at 100 MBS. I have read in other forums that using an internal LAN connection gives the full advertised speed. I am not concerned (even though I will get the subscription checked). For the last NRL season I watched it via my Dtac 4MBS phone data, and this was perfectly adequate. Although it will be great to watch the NRL from 4+ metres on a huge screen, the driving factor is the security system. It has an 8 channel 8MPS 3TB UHD network video recorder capturing wifi in, and backup to the cloud. We have three PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) HD cameras inside with 2 way audio, alarm push email, phone app motion, local alarm etc. and five 5 MB UHD fixed angle cameras extenally (with the same same trip features). The cameras and NVR are all powered via a dedicated 12V supply from a 25,000 mAh battery bank - this will last for weeks/months in a passive situation, or for more than a week if recording. So although the 3BB wifi is all about surveillance/security, I am looking forward to watching the first game of NRL via the fibre optic wifi on a huge UHD screen. My mate Peter at the Aussie pub in Nutty Park has a sign up saying 'Beer and fishing - nothing else matters'. With me, some other things matter, but beer and NRL are very close to top of the list.

[ajarnudon]

Work is progressing steadily downstairs. Here the coping for the internal garden and water feature (waterfall/pond/fountain) on the right, with the downstairs bathroom on the left.

Island bench in the kitchen/dining area - cupboards to the right, breakfast bar on the left, manufactured stone/granite bench on top with semi-circular ends. Six of these bench tops in total - two in the kitchen/dining area, two in the living room and one in each of the bedrooms.

Finishing off upstairs. This box section above the cenral passageway gives access to the downlights, with junction boxes at the far right and left for future lighting enhancements (disco/spotlight/effects lighting for the karaoke stage), as well as anything else that may come later. There are four fixed panels and three sliding access panels. This was a very intricate and time consuming job, but I am very pleased with the (yet to be painted) final result.

Installed curtains in the lounge and main bedroom (this pic shows the curtain covering the 2.2m loungeroom window - matching curtains for the 2.25m door to the rear deck and the 1.8m bedroom window).

Spent 6 man-hours cleaning Sunday arvo, and we are all ready to move in next weekend. There is still plenty of work to do on the lower level, but the upstairs area is now complete (except for some benchtops). The lease on the house we have rented in the centre of Udon for the past 11 years expires at the end of this month, and we are moving all of our furniture to the new house next weekend. Concurrently, we are going to rent a fully furnished apartment in the centre of the city until I retire from the Bangkok job, or the missus gets sick of running her bar at Nutty Park (whichever comes later I guess).

[ajarnudon]

Been a while since I visited here; I will put up some pics as things have moved along a little. As foreshadowed in the previous post, we have moved out of the house we rented in Udon city for the previous 11 years and all of our furniture and appliances are now in the new house. That includes our washing machine which is now in the laundry at the rear of the garage. Although we have had it for nine or ten years, I have only just found out that this model doesn't have a pump. In its old location, the waste water was (I now know) gravity fed into an open drain. The new house has waste lines beneath concrete feeding into an absorption trench. I learned of the absence of a pump when we fed the WM outlet into the laundry tub waste line - the WM only partly emptied. It is now elevated on some 40 cm masonry blocks and empties as it should.

Bought three liquid soap dispensers to grace the laundry tub and the two bathroom wash basins - that was the easy part; finding liquid soap isn't. What I bought turned out to be shower gel, and is too thick to come out of the small rubber nozzle. Best send the missus on this job.

Building the pond which will feature a waterfall and fountain, flanked fore and aft by indoor gardens of potted plants including some 3 metre palms.

This lady (comprising four 40 x 40 cm tiles) will find a home on the wall of the water feature - not quie sure where yet.

This pic shows the electrics for the water feature - a standard Thai-style four-socket outlet switched by a four gang wifi glass capacative touch switch.

The next is a screenshot of the Smart Home app on my phone from which I can individually switch on/off the waterfall, fountain and lighting (from anywhere) as well as schedule on/off operations. The missus can use the local touch switch control.

[sometimewoodworker]

Bought three liquid soap dispensers to grace the laundry tub and the two bathroom wash basins - that was the easy part; finding liquid soap isn't. What I bought turned out to be shower gel, and is too thick to come out of the small rubber nozzle. Best send the missus on this job.

It is easy to find in Tesco and BigC if you can communicate, though it’s a little more difficult to find the refill bags.. If you are using the foaming dispensers then I’ve been using the Amway dish drops successfully for the last few years

[kopkei]

makro sells liquid hand soap, big bottles, inexpensive...as info

[ajarnudon]

Thanks STWW and Kopkei - appreciated

[kopkei]

makro today

full stock ....

[ajarnudon]

Good stuff Kopkei - can't see any of the liquid that I really need there though

[Niggly]

Good stuff Kopkei - can't see any of the liquid that I really need there though

You could just dilute the shower gel to bring the viscosity down.
Demin water to thin it & salt to thicken it, that’s what we used to do when mixing 10 tonne batches