Some more Pics

The bedrooms and the pool, about 2 minutes before it lashed it down, but as its snowing in London who cares.....

A big house needs a big yellow kitchen and a giant satellite dish. To maintain integrity I couldn't be arsed to tidy up.

The Last Post

We finally moved in on 10 December 2006, the same day our daughter left hospital having been born 4 days earlier.The delay in moving was caused entirely by the kitchen fitter not been ready, which in turn was caused by the builder not ordering it in time. Everything else was ready 3 or 4 weeks earlier but despite this long period where the house could/should have been checked we still had problems. Here are some:

The swimming pool was green. Despite assurances from the builder that it wouldn't be when we moved in, it was. It took the pool company 10 days to get it into a usuable condition. I was not impressed. They have billed me for maintenance. It won't be paid.

The drain in the laundry was blocked. The builder couldn't find which pipe it was without tearing up some of our new lawn. They fixed the block but left the garden looking like a building site and left the repairs unpainted. It was another month until the garden and painting were rectified and even now the new grass is struggling to go green.

The sink in the master bathroom was leaking. This was not a small leak there was a good 10cm of water lying on the floor.

The windows and fly screens were not only filthy dirty but they were covered in protective tape. It took an age to clean it off and not for the first time the builder and contractor both denied responsibility. It was one of many jobs that I have ended up doing it myself.

I had mentioned many times that I didnt think the house had been cleaned. When we moved in the mess in the bathroom especially was unbelievable. I showed the builder who called the cleaner back. She turned up with a broom, not a drop of cleaning fluid in sight. Eventually we ended up shelling out THB 5000 having the house cleaned properly.

Someone once told me that Thais are quite capable of doing things to the same high stadards that we might expect in the west, they just don't see the point in doing a good job when an average one will do. This is something I have really struggled with. I could have plastered the walls better, I could certainly have laid the lawn better which currently resembles a cattle field. We are praying it improves come the rainy season. We love our house, we just wish the finish was better.

And so ends this blog, except for a few final pictures that I will post next week.

No we're not !

Did I really say 2 weeks, I meant 2 years

2 Weeks and we are in !

2 Weeks and we are in, now theres a phrase I seem to be saying a lot ! Nearly finished though, promise.

A nearly finished house

2-3 weeks to go !!

Finally an Update

Due to popular demand ( at least 2 requests) I took some more pictures. The pool/spa is finished and works a treat, the interior is taking shape with walls being painted. Unfortunately they used the wrong colour paint so they are repainting in some areas. The floors are tiled, bathrooms almost finished and the kitchen is ordered, the aircon will arrive imminently, the windows are being made and we're choosing curtains. The garden designs are still pending but with luck and a following wind we will be moving in 3 weeks.

A Half Tiled Roof together with a matching half tiled bathroom. Not much seems to have been done during my month in Blighty!