John's budget build

[ajarnudon]

3+ years now Phil - thanks for the kind words. Very part time as I have been working in Bangkok for nearly all of that time. Covid's silver lining is that I have been working online from home in the village for nearly four months now, and saving at least THB 4,000 per month on air fares. Some more pics of smaller jobs around the place. First, the PVC tanks on the southern side.

The 1,000 litre tank is from the village supply which is slightly brackish and rusts everything. The 2,000 litre tank collects roof rainwater from the southern side of the house, and this periodically gets pumped to the concrete facility on the northern side.

Finally have stairs for the back deck. These chequer plate steel stairs are designed to be lifted out (by a couple of very strong men, not me) if the need arises. One of the aircon compressors is behind, as well as under house access to electrics and plumbing.

Opted for concrete stairs at the northern end, and the landing doubles as a pump housing.

Next, we moved indoors and started work on the indoor garden and water feature.

The above view is from the front entrance adjacent to the kitchen. The areas in the immediate front and far rear will be indoor gardens of potted plants. The wall on the right of this picture will have a 1.6m waterfall with water recirculated by a pump from the sump at the foot. In front of the waterfall is a stillwater pond for fish, water lillies etc. A view from the bathroom

The electrical control box.

The black glass touch switch at the top controls the four sockets below it, which will supply the pump and solenoids for drip irrigation of the potted plants. The glass switch is wifi enabled so I can control/schedule from my phone anywhere, anytime - the irrigation that is, the waterfall will not be in operation if nobody is there. And finally

The 12v submersible (boat bilge) pump and its 12v power supply.

[ajarnudon]

The indoor garden and water feature are nearly complete and I have moved onto another major outdoor project. On the left of the house proper is a skillion roof housing a garage, tool cage/workshop, laundry and outside toilet. My original intention was to put a motorised roller door on the front of the garage (for wifie's wheels) and have a separate carport for my pickup on the RHS. This has now been revised - the carport is being erected in front of the garage, to the left of the large front patio, and the roller door will be close to the street frontage. The thinking here was that it provides more security to the front of the house, and it adds to the effective entertaining area by being an extension of the front patio if required. Framework 90% complete, and we should get the roof on tomorrow.

[glalt]

From the looks of things, you should no longer call it a budget build. That said, it looks great and you have not skimped on anything.

[ajarnudon]

Thanks for the kind words

[ajarnudon]

A few more pics to keep rolling along. A view of the kitchen looking from the elevated lounge room entrance.

The garage door has gone up and this project is nearing completion except for the concrete work, a couple of planks across the top of the door and some guttering. The remote control motorised roller door came in at THB 28,000 incl installation. BTW, the door is not dinted or deformed - click on the image and in the larger version you will see that it is an optical illusion caused by the sun's reflection.

Work then moved over to the other side of the house - a landing connecting the sliding door to the front patio, and one step down to the extended under eaves pathway and what will be the Thai style outdoor kitchen.