Possibly an unexpected four months delay

All load-bearing wall blocks from the first five pallets (500 pieces) we ordered are now glued.
We use Q-Con special strong (G4) blocks of 15 cm thickness for the load bearing walls and regular blocks (G2 quality) of 10 cm thickness for the inner walls. The ground floor load-bearing construction walls are at half height now. Time to order the second and last five pallets 15 cm blocks and also two pallets of 10 cm blocks.

It was for us an unexpected and big 'surprise' when we wanted to order that both types of blocks are out of stock because there is only little interest in them.

The regular way of building in Thailand is to make a concrete structure of poles and beams and fill up the space in between to create outside and inside walls with normal type of blocks of 7.5 cm. Working with load-bearing walls as we do is very uncommon.

So the factory told us they can make a special order only if we order at least 4000 pieces of blocks for each thickness we want. So, for us not at all great news because there is not a real alternative available.

Phatsamon made a lot of phonecalls because somewhere in Thailand we think there must be a dealer who has some stock.

Finally our regular dealer in Surin took over this 'searching for the right blocks' job for us and we could order. But... it can take up till around four months before delivery can take place.

It is the way it is. We still have work to do to finish the second guest pyramid and also want to take a short holiday as soon as the air in Chiang Mai is clean again.

So the pictures show the present 'waiting to continue' situation.

Some small other 'construction news':

# Cutting a tree behind the workshop I miscalculated the weight of Phatsamon puling the robe connected with the tree to be cut to help to fall in the right direction. She simply is too light ;). Although cut in the right way to fall a little bit wind was enough to help the tree to fall partly at the new roof of the workshop and to damage it. A new roofpanel is on its way.

# At the townhouse in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai, painters started redecorating the balconies with epoxy primer and paint.

Frans Captijn

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com

Sabai, sabai

Just take it easy. At the moment there is no other way. During daytime temperatures are above 40 degrees C. This forces us to work max half an hour and after that take a ten till fifteen minutes break. Sometimes even around 1 AM a nap. The sun now is nearly straight above our head around lunch time. So hard to make progress. But... still we do. 

We finished welding the base of the veranda. The joints treated with two component steel filler. Painting primer we did in the late evening after dinner by construction light. Althouh the temperatures are a bit better still it's hard to see and the lights attract many mosquito's. But painting during daytime with this temperatures is not done. 

All the load bearing walls are at one meter high level now. We just started to bring in two wires of rebar to reinforce the walls even more. Actually not necessary with this type of blocks but I want to do it every meter to create even more stability and (I hope) less possibilities to get cracks in the walls after tiling and plastering. 

Just this afternoon I finished the basic entrance stairs. Now only temporary blocks as stairsteps but at the end these blocks will be replaced by temple stones. 

I used U-ditches and filled them with empty beer bottles to create the seperation to create also a ramp. A very heavy job I can tell you. The pictures only now give an idea. This project is not finished yet. The ramp I will create with beer bottles as well next year. 

The first dragon fruit is planted by Phatsamon. 

The dogs, with this amazing high temperatures, try to stay cool during the day and in the evening they are alive and playful again. Dog Singto cools down with her tail in her water bin.

We had a little hiccup because, cutting a tree, my stepladder slipped so I fell down to the tree and hid also the barbed wired fence. I hurt my back a bit and damaged my workclothes. Two weeks later dog Cupid, playing and jumping with our new puppy Singto, also was hurt by barbed wire. She needed to go to the vet and got some stitches. Both of us needed about one week to recover and everything is fine again (for the time being).  

We intend to take a short break and to enjoy my house in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai. The air quality at Surin is not too bad (related to Asian polution levels) but in Chiang Mai it is terrible for months already. Both Phatsamon and I are suffering of allergies and air polution so if there is no change we will stay in Surin.

'Surprise', at Saturday March 18, a tremendous strong summerstorm with hail, possibly caused by making rain against the ongoing burning in Chiang Mai, damaged my house at The Residences in Mae Rim. A construction firm had to repair and, being back, there is more work waiting there for me. So if we can go to Chiang Mai it will not really be a holiday. 

Frans Captijn

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com