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

Visible layout of the main house and developments second guest pyramid

The first layer of load bearing wall blocks is in. A lot of measuring, sawing and cutting for the pipes of electricity, sewage and warm-& cold water. This evening, with the laser instrument, we will level all the blocks by planing them with a special tool. 

Actually now the layout of the ground floor of the main house starts to be visible. 

Also we did the tiling on the foundation wall under the veranda to make, made a (partly) temporary stair and fixed several spots of the concrete topping of the floor. 

We did the tiling of the entrance of the second guest pyramid and put the pavement around. 

The three pyramid guard statues are placed on a concrete foundation block.

Yesterday we ordered the interior doors for the house. Special order because we want wider doors than the in Thailand common used ones. 

Our new, two months young now, orphan puppy Singto feels more and more at home at our place. 

Frans Captijn

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com

First soil moving around the main house and sewage system construction

40 Degrees C during daytime in the shadow. Officially still winter. Maybe climate change? Some people still think nothing is wrong. For here it's extreme but we still go on. Sweating (and drinking water and sport drink) a lot. 

Yesterday and today our Thai digging machine friend with his excavator helped us again with installing (digging) the sewage system and the first tranche of soil moving around the house. We give the soil the chance to settle during the rainy season. Next year we will complete with placing the u-ditches (gutters) around the house, pouring sand on the soil to level and start with tiling the pavement. 

We also did do some soil leveling in the garden to make it easier for the water to flow to the pond during heavy showers. We will discover in a couple of months it this works. Sand for construct the pavement around guest pyramid 2 is in. 

Also we decided to make a 'rest & shadow' place for the dogs under the veranda. So we changed the soil there and put already sand in that makes it a bit cooler. I also started with the main steps to the entrance. There will be both and easy to climb (lazy) stair and a walkway with a slope up.

Just when we thought our job was finished and the excavator could do the finishing touch...Alarm!. The machine hit the main water and electricity supply to the guest pyramids. A fountain of water. 

It took me a bit more than half an hour to fix it. We were lucky the copper electric wires in the pipe were not damaged but the protection pipe itself needed an extra cover. 

The water line I fixed as the picture shows. Everything working again. 

Time for a beer and a short rest now. Two very busy days.

We think we take tomorrow an easy day to relax. 

Frans Captijn

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com