Buying & Refurbishing a House on the Darkside

[Jarrod2518]

On 25/05/2020 at 11:07, Petesie said:

'They know what they do"

For the record I  have undertaken major rennovations on a large condo in Pattaya and a house on Darkside. The Thai tradies who were recommended to me turned out to be basically rice farmers working as unskilled hanymen between harvests. I have found it difficult to get a competent tradie who really understands what is required. 

 

[amar]

thanks for sharing & found it informative.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[Petesie]

9 hours ago, amar said:

thanks for sharing & found it informative.

Thanks bud, appreciate the feedback.

As I write the guys outside are making a racket breaking up old tiled areas ready for the new ones to be laid. I've just been taking phone pics as that's what most of us use these days and can easily identify with. Hope my rambling thoughts are of use to others. 

[Petesie]

Rooms Continued...

Living Area

The living area is what I like most about this house; it's a cross sectional area with separate spaces which appeals to me. I have my Mancave, the entertainment lounge and two annexes. One houses Doris's Buddha's and the other is the gateway to the Hong Nam and main bedrooms.

Last space first...

Mirror was on sale for 900 thb from the small shop just outside B & B, Sideboard was Lifestyle again, 30% off, 25k thb from Boontavorn, it also holds my whisky stash. The picture has an interesting tale. 30 years ago in Saudi I set up a bar and entertainment area in a hotel our company had leased smack dab in the middle of Riyadh, we got away with murder, all the things that we shouldn't have been doing...we did. I ran the Xmas raffle and we usually sold 25k GBP worth of tickets, all went back into the prizes, we had gold, watches, electronics, camera's TV's, perfumes, airline tickets, cash, all sorts...the picture was a last minute purchase.

The shop owner told me it was the last one painted by a Chinese guy before he died, I'd been looking at it for months. He also told me it had a prophecy...I didn't find out till 20 years later what it was. My Aussie girlfriend at the time won it & gave it to me...I may go into this later...

The Persian rug I brought from Saudi, it's a Tabriz City carpet, I have a 3 x 2.5 metre one in my attic in Ireland.

The wallpaper once again impressed me. I had the 4 ends of the area done, 4k thb.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Petesie

[Petesie]

I've been mulling over the idea of laying laminate flooring over the tiled areas of the living area...but I like the coolness that the tiles give me! 

Prices vary enormously, I like Boontavorn for tiles, lights & furniture...their quote was over 100k.

Homepro did not have a clue, rapidly going off their so called expertise; their quote was 60k.

Baan & Beyond had a sale on & pretty much the same 64 sqm was 22k, including the membrane. 

Tempted I am...

[Edge]

30 minutes ago, Petesie said:

I've been mulling over the idea of laying laminate flooring over the tiled areas of the living area...but I like the coolness that the tiles give me! 

Prices vary enormously, I like Boontavorn for tiles, lights & furniture...their quote was over 100k.

Homepro did not have a clue, rapidly going off their so called expertise; their quote was 60k.

Baan & Beyond had a sale on & pretty much the same 64 sqm was 22k, including the membrane. 

Tempted I am...

Have you looked in Home Mart?

Suk South between Tai and Kao Talo.
Used to be the main tile place, loads of stock down the back and out front on Sale.
Maybe it changed.
Boontavorn good too, but Homepro not really.

About wallpaper, I vaguely recall asking the EX why there's not much in Thailand.
She said something like "Mai dai cannot....have animal inside can eat".
I guess it's all impregnated with insecticides?

[Petesie]

21 minutes ago, Edge said:

Have you looked in Home Mart? Suk South between Tai and Kao Talo. Used to be the main tile place, loads of stock down the back and out front on Sale. Maybe it changed.
Boontavorn good too, but Homepro not really. About wallpaper, I vaguely recall asking the EX why there's not much in Thailand. She said something like "Mai dai cannot....have animal inside can eat". I guess it's all impregnated with insecticides?

No idea bud, when I enquired about wallpaper the only stuff locally available has temples etc. on it! B & B does have a selection which is cheaper but not the same quality... but then you have to find someone to hang it...if chunks of it start disappearing I'll know we have an alien invasion. 

[AngelCty2Nit]

Since no one has mentioned it I will: those doors look superb.

Is that the revised green? No more lime? Looks good.

[southsidebruce]

Somewhat related to this thread... One thing that I have noticed about furnished condos/houses, in general, unless you are looking at very high end properties, the furniture looks nice and is very photogenic, but when you look close you see how cheaply made the shit is... That was the case in a Pratunmak 1 bedroom condo that I rented for a few years when I first arrived to live in Pattaya... The house I am renting on the DarkSide (5th year we are in it), was mostly unfurnished.  We bought a lot of furniture (relatively nice/big 2 story house, 3 bedrooms/office/3 bathrooms/maids room outside/bathroom outside) - all at Index - pretty nice stuff, not cheap, but not high end... The furniture has held up pretty good, even with high wear and tear by our daughter (now 4 years old)...  The only item that I don't particularly like was a relatively expensive couch, filled with duck (or goose/I forget) down... Too soft, not firm enough for my taste... but the couch gets a shitTONNE of use as well... every year as the house lease comes to a close, we think about moving, but I am not motivated to up&move (I HATE moving... I moved 14 times in 4 years/8 months, that started when I got separated from my ex-wife)... if I move, I would move to CentralPattaya or maybe NaJomtien/near the beach... 

[Petesie]

54 minutes ago, southsidebruce said:

Somewhat related to this thread... One thing that I have noticed about furnished condos/houses, in general, unless you are looking at very high end properties, the furniture looks nice and is very photogenic, but when you look close you see how cheaply made the shit is... T

Furniture is always a personal choice; some fellas are happy with what is there but at the end of the day...it is my home & I have to live with it. Doris lived for 3 months here with only the original stuff as she knew it would be better to wait till I came & picked out the things we needed. We'd spent a few holidays going round the stores so she got a liking for my tastes. I could never make my mind up with Homepro who only offer a limited selection and you have order it and wait for it to be made.

Index wasn't too bad but again you have to insist on the floor model otherwise it's a 3 month wait. If you get it right then it's good for the long haul. There's 2 outlets also in the Index complex; one is stupidly expensive & never sells anything, the other has good quality items in from various suppliers of high end furniture including Lifestyle but again it's not for everyone's taste or pockets. They had a 60% sale there of selected floor stock. Index also have a floor stock sale on at the moment with many items 50% off.

The only thing I'd change is the curtains Doris ordered. 

What you mean, Teerak?

[southsidebruce]

for the OP - do you have a temperature controlled room for your most amazing guitar (and amp/etc) collection (from another thread that I think is yours)?  

[Petesie]

The other end of the middle...

This is her Buddha End

Doris's Buddha's are very important to her; apart from what you see in the cabinet she has a fair few boxes of Buddha's she has collected over her years. The cabinet was from Index, 6k.

The Hall table was made by a guy called Clive Seib, Aussie fella who does superb work & advertises on the FB pages, stylish pieces that sets a room off, there's another few in my Mancave. This table was 9k. The small cabinet was from Homepro at 3k, lamp from B & B at 900. Roman blind from B & B, 600.

The signed football shirt I won in a charity raffle organised by the Rotary Club, I'm not a member I was just a guest; they do fine charity work around Pattaya. The Croc's head I bought from the Croc Kebab stand in front of Central for 500 baht. 

This last one is a bit of a puzzler; I bought by chance in Koh Samui in '97 just when the baht took one almighty tumble; there was a high end art shop which was closing down. It's apparently the 9 circles of life delicately painted by novice monks, it was explained to me that these were very rare and not allowed to be sold outside of Thailand...I did take all this with a pinch of salt. I bought this one & a smaller one for 4k. I believe these are rare as they are not made anymore, they are very intricately done...happy if someone could shed some light on it as I've only ever seen a much smaller one which was quite expensive.

I've had it all these years & even rescued it from a messy divorce.

Last one at this end of the middle...a model of the Royal Barge. We've admired this piece for 2 years; it was from the shop on your right just as you exit through the doors of B & B, they have several models of ships which allegedly the Thai's regard as 'lucky'...not so sure about the one they have of the Titanic. 

I did google it to find they are made by one guy in Bangkok who has won accolades & awards for them; usually bought as a parting gift for Ambassadors & other such dignitaries. I'm unsure if this is from the same guy or just a reproduction; anyhoo over the last 2 years we started at 45k & eventually settled a couple of weeks ago at 19k. A bit extravagant for my tastes but Doris loves it and it certainly is a centrepiece.

[Petesie]

Next up we'll have a gander at the outside as that's where most of the work has been done. 

The interiors were covered mainly to give some details on general prices around town.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Petesie

[Petesie]

The Canopy

This structure took around 10 days for them to construct install, finish & make waterproof. New lights for the posts x 5, wall x 2 & decking x 1. Privacy fencing all around was additionally fitted. Ignore the drive tiles as they have nearly finished re-doing them! Total cost including painting of the outside of the house & garden walls was circa 100k.

Before

After

 

[Petesie]

Nipping swiftly back indoors...

Bedroom 2

As the virus hit gym memberships I got our own; Running machine 17k, weight bench & weights 16k. These were bought from the guy who operates out of Big C Extra Pattaya Klang, he's situated in the car park. We put the wardrobes in this room which frees up space in the main bedroom; these were bought from the furniture shop at the top of Klang as you turn into Sukhumvit, 10k. Aircon is the original one that still functions, blinds from B & B, 50% off (I like that when I see it) 1k.

Paint & wallpaper already paid for. 

[Fired Up Paul]

On 28/05/2020 at 15:08, Petesie said:

I've been mulling over the idea of laying laminate flooring over the tiled areas of the living area...but I like the coolness that the tiles give me! 

Have you thought about vinyl flooring as an alternative?

One of the benefits is that you can replace planks that become damaged giving a longer life to the "new" look.

I have noticed that if laminate becomes frayed at all it's look goes downhill really fast.

All of that said, I like your tiles 555

[Petesie]

7 minutes ago, 1500B said:

All of that said, I like your tiles 555

I've thought about it & decided to keep the tiles as they are for the following reasons;

• If I did go for laminate flooring I would have to do the bedrooms as well
• The tiles are a good contrast to the wall colours
• I like the coolness of them on me tootsies

[dh842]

Very nicely done! You got good taste mate.

[Petesie]

Staying inside as it's pissing down...

My Man Cave

Chair & Lounger & light came from Boontavorn, chair was reduced from 18k to 10 & the Lounger 12k, Light 1200 thb. The picture was 1500 thb from the wee place just by B & B.

Gaylord, Denizen of the Deep, there's 2 guppies in there with him, there was 3 but one was a nosey cow so he savaged her. Fish 50 baht, tank & bit's 'n bobs, 1500.

Tables were from Clive; I'd initially got the main table as a Computer Desk but when the amps came he very kindly put two side tables together for me, 10k for the main, 4.5 each for the sides.

Computer chair was a present from Doris, Boontavorn 3k. 

Lamp from Homepro, 950 thb.

Guitars were 500 thb each...at least that's what I told Doris. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Petesie

[Edge]

The blue fish....is that a Siamese Fighting Fish?

Edited May 30, 2020 by Edge

[Petesie]

12 minutes ago, Edge said:

The blue fish....is that a Siamese Fighting Fish?

He is that mate...

[Edge]

1 hour ago, Petesie said:

He is that mate...

Bit mean on the Guppies then yum yum.

Soon he'll live alone.  

[Petesie]

49 minutes ago, Edge said:

Bit mean on the Guppies then yum yum.

Soon he'll live alone.  

If I get any more guitars I might be with him...

[Jebb]

1 hour ago, Edge said:

Bit mean on the Guppies then yum yum.

Soon he'll live alone.  

I think we have all had experience with the Siamese fighting variety. Make them angry at your peril. 555

[Atlas]

Hey mate,

Looking good. 

I have to question your tank size !

We had a 1500 Ltr tank which was fine until they stopped the town water everyday.... Then we added the kids so we went and bought a second tank and plumbed it in. With very sporadic town water I end up moving a storm pipe directly into the tank, filled them both up after our first storm ! Excellent.  And a few weeks later we have moved to Sattahip, bought out extra tank with us and now have to sort it out, as the water situation here is no better... 

Anyway good luck with the rest of it.