It took a short while to write this blog. Many things are not finished yet but we thought it's good to give an update about things going on at our construction site.
First of all I could update my visa again for another year. That will be year number 13 in row I live here in Thailand.
The last couple of weeks temperatures are rising quickly. A bit too quickly to be honest. Yesterday afternoon I had to stop working because I felt I was close to a heat stroke. 36 degrees C during the afternoon is 'normal' again. The next two months temperatures will only rise till far above 40 degrees C. So time to finish activities on the outside of the house before temperatures are too extreme to work and before the rainy season starts.
Although it will not be ready we intent to start to use the house half of July this year.
End of the year we hope to install the outside stairs and sun shields. Maybe earlier but we will see.
At the moment we work on the inside and outside together. Where possible Phatsamon inside and for me, so far, only if I want to have some change of activities. Then I help a bit with painting or work on electricity.
I am still going on with outside tiling. Placed more Dura-one flashing tape under the lowest tiles against water absorbing. Tiling only is possible in the late afternoon now so the glue has time to dry in the night. We use the old bamboo mats to protect the next day against direct sunlight.
Also joint filling, after all the tiles are in, needs to be done in the late afternoon and evening because the high temperature.
So, Phatsamon is doing the preparation work of painting, the finishing touch we do later. We installed the Stiebel Eltron hot-water boiler. We bought already the base boards to install, and some wood. Be surprised.
As many people know, wood is my favorite construction material but it's hard to use it with the amount of termites in our area. But inside (and or not connected with soil), we think and hope, it will not give a problem. So the time for wood is there.
We are installing the ceiling of the meditation/yoga sala. Instead of the bamboo mats we ordered and could not use because of bamboo worms, we use special treated pine wood with an anti UV coating.
The shirts you see hanging under the ceiling we use as scarecrow against interested birds who, during our activities, want to build a nest.
Next week we hope the back sliding door will arrive. I have to do some concrete work for that. We also need to pour concrete for two outdoor air-conditioning units and for the generator and rain water storage tank.
Indoor and outdoor ventilation units with mosquito screens as well as the stainless steel outdoor ventilation unit for the kitchen hood are in place already.
A Hoopoe bird is using the shade of the sala roof to rest a bit. Dog Taffy is watching one of two paragliders interested in our work.
Frans & Phatsamon
