House almost finished - July 10, 2010
Location: village of Tri Kaew
Chiang Rai Province, Thailand
July 10, 2010: The home builders just hit the two month mark. Construction began on May 8, and
officially began on May 9. They hit a couple of snags because of the rainy season,
and because right now, everyone is scrambling to get the rice fields planted. So,
there were a few days where not much was accomplished. But, all in all, the
house came together very fast.
Wan has a house opening party slated for next Wednesday, July 14. I don't
know how it can all be wrapped up by that point, but she assures me it will.
The furniture, appliances and curtains have all been purchased and are just
waiting to be delivered and installed.
a walkway has been poured around the entire perimeter of the house
Regarding the architectual ornaments on the peak of the roofs: "This soaring form, called a gaelae (galae),
is seen in Northern Thailand on the peaked rooftops of houses and other structures built by
the Thai Lanna people. On old buildings gaelae are extensions of the ends of
roof beams crossed to form a V-shape. On newer houses they usually are
separate carvings such as this one and are attached to the peaks of the
steep roofs after the basic structure is completed. As to their original use,
the most commonly heard explanation is that they were meant to
discourage large birds from landing on the roofs, and so sometimes gaelae pieces are referred to as glancing crows or glancing pigeons.
Another theory is that they represented buffalo horns, a symbol of wealth.
Regardless of their utility, the carved curves and swirls perched high
atop roofs silhouetted against the sky are an exotic north Thailand sight."
the doors have now been hung
the windows are being installed
the kitchen is just about finished. a two-burner lpg gas stove top will be
delivered in a day or two.
as far as the color scheme goes, the bathroom is my favorite room
nice tilework in here and throughout the house
any of you who have stayed in a Thai guest house understand how the bathroom
is set up. the shower has an on-demand hot water heater and the shower
is not seperated from the rest of the bathroom.
BTW - the septic system,
as sketchy as it seemed, was approved and given the seal of approval by the local
medical office.
