verticalift
Wandering around with a bag of matchlight, looking for a match.
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2017
- Location
- Phuket...
Why I married her……..
A couple years ago in the late afternoon/early evening, my wife and I were standing on the patio of our townhouse golf course villa on the island of Phuket, in S.W. Thailand.
With a couple drinks in hand and our Golden Retriever, “Mango” at our sides, we were simply enjoying the view out over the 8th green of the golf course and the lake beyond. With the sun just starting to dip behind the 500’ high mountain off to the west, separating us from the next Tsunami coming in from the Andaman Sea on eastern edge of the Indian Ocean, (Hey, everyone has to live somewhere….
my dear wife looked over at our silly little fish pond and waterfall garden feature and said to me………. “That would make a great place for a Built-in-Barbeque”.
For those of you reading this who are in a relationship, you will know that there are defining moments that in that relationship that will remind you of why you love her so much and why you married her. This was one of those moments. However, not believing what I had just heard, I needed to know that it wasn’t just the wine talking. I needed to hear it again. Just to make sure I heard, what I thought I had heard.
The next day the fish were tossed into the neighboring lake and our silly little fishpond waterfall garden feature……… was drained.
Pen and paper……..
I’m old school. I like to use a pen (pencil) and paper to sketch out what it is I want to design and eventually build. I find that it relaxes me. Computer design programs piss me off. My wife says that the really good ideas start flowing somewhere between the 3rd – 4th beer. I don’t know why…….
Looking at the very small backyard patio that I had to work with, I got down to work and started putting my ideas on paper. Lottsa paper. Don’t ask how many beer were consumed during this process, because for the life of me I really can’t remember.
Breaking ground……..
Looking at my drawings, I knew that this was going to be a big job and that it would take a long time to complete. I just didn’t know that the job would span 12 months.
I love surprises……
For those of you who have never undertaken the construction of a home, or a major renovation project on an island 12 time zones away on the other side of the planet where all the workers speak either Thai or Burmese, you haven’t lived. You haven’t even come close……..
My day job, employed as an offshore helicopter pilot based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), I work an 8/4 rotation, flying 8 weeks in the Persian Gulf, followed by 4 weeks at home in Phuket. Fourteen years ago when I started building our home on Phuket, I learned very early on that the owner must be there to “Babysit”. If the owner is not onsite, he has no idea of the mess that he’ll come back to and only has himself to blame. You see, the Asian mindset is 180 degrees offset from that of North Americans. After living in Thailand for over 18 years, I still have no idea what they’re thinking over there. Consequently, this project kinda got drawn out a tad. After all, this is my BBQ that we’re talking about. I wasn’t going to let anyone mess it up. Hence, the 12 months……
There were a series of photos taken Christmas Day 2015 of mayhem that took place in my backyard during the build. Thai and Burmese are Buddhist and don’t celebrate Christmas, working 7 days per week……. Slave labor…? No, it’s just the way it is. How many workers were involved on the project? I have no idea…….
But, I had my plan, and it included protection from the coming annual S.W. Monsoon.
The number of times I’ve decided to BBQ a couple pork chops on my old Aussie Outback gas BBQ when the heavens opened up and the rain came pouring down, are many. Soggy Pork Chops really don’t make a good impression. With an annual 6 month southwest monsoon season stretching from early May thru late October bringing in rains from the Indian Ocean, it tends to get wet. Very wet. I needed a roof. Besides, I wasn’t going to let a little monsoon rain get in the way of my having a BBQ, when I want to have a BBQ. Nuff said……
Taking shape……….
With the cement work done, the “Rusty Slate” backsplash installed (I’m told it came from somewhere in China) and the cement tile roof installed, it was time to find my Weber. Well guess what…….? Weber’s are not sold in Thailand and if they were, they’d be subject to over 100% tax & duty. Ouch….. It’s a good thing I’m a pilot and I get extra baggage allowance.
Once I had the Weber discreetly “imported”, I went about making the side-table.
Almost Done……
The side table build was probably the most fun part of this project. Despite having spent a lot of time looking into what would work and what wouldn’t, I feel that the time spent on the side table, bouncing ideas around, was well worth the effort.
Because we live in the tropics only 8 degrees north of the equator, the humidity averages a sweltering 80 – 90%. Using a wood frame construction was out of the question. The termites would consume the side table faster than I would a pork chop. Teak wood, while gorgeous and impervious to termites, it’s outrageously expensive and illegal to harvest in Thailand, or import from neighboring Burma (Myanmar)
The solution was a heavy steel frame “L” bracket construction welded to the 4 steel vertical posts supporting the roof. Once the frame was in place, I fabricated a template from a sheet of polycarbonate. Placing my new Weber where I wanted it positioned, I traced out the hole for the BBQ. This template was then placed on a 5/8” (15mm) sheet of Cement Bonded Particle Board (Viva Board) http://www.viva.co.th/en/about.php
The Viva Board provided the base for wood grain ceramic tiles to be fitted leaving a ¾” (2cm) gap around the kettle. Surrounding the edge of the table, I fitted some teak slats I had left over from a previous project. The ceramic wood grain tiles were then sealed with Dulux R-221 Silicone Sealant.
The only remaining work to be done is to remove the legs of the Weber and have longer legs (+1” / +2.5cm) installed. I find that the Weber sits just a bit too low, and I wanted the table and grill at a comfortable height. Another option would be to figure a way to secure the bowl to the steel frame, and dispose of the legs altogether, but I haven’t got that far yet. Maybe next year……….
Hope you guys enjoy the attached photos of this little project.
Oh ya, the fish that my wife grilled up last weekend…… Perfect.
A couple years ago in the late afternoon/early evening, my wife and I were standing on the patio of our townhouse golf course villa on the island of Phuket, in S.W. Thailand.
With a couple drinks in hand and our Golden Retriever, “Mango” at our sides, we were simply enjoying the view out over the 8th green of the golf course and the lake beyond. With the sun just starting to dip behind the 500’ high mountain off to the west, separating us from the next Tsunami coming in from the Andaman Sea on eastern edge of the Indian Ocean, (Hey, everyone has to live somewhere….
my dear wife looked over at our silly little fish pond and waterfall garden feature and said to me………. “That would make a great place for a Built-in-Barbeque”.For those of you reading this who are in a relationship, you will know that there are defining moments that in that relationship that will remind you of why you love her so much and why you married her. This was one of those moments. However, not believing what I had just heard, I needed to know that it wasn’t just the wine talking. I needed to hear it again. Just to make sure I heard, what I thought I had heard.
The next day the fish were tossed into the neighboring lake and our silly little fishpond waterfall garden feature……… was drained.
Pen and paper……..
I’m old school. I like to use a pen (pencil) and paper to sketch out what it is I want to design and eventually build. I find that it relaxes me. Computer design programs piss me off. My wife says that the really good ideas start flowing somewhere between the 3rd – 4th beer. I don’t know why…….
Looking at the very small backyard patio that I had to work with, I got down to work and started putting my ideas on paper. Lottsa paper. Don’t ask how many beer were consumed during this process, because for the life of me I really can’t remember.
Breaking ground……..
Looking at my drawings, I knew that this was going to be a big job and that it would take a long time to complete. I just didn’t know that the job would span 12 months.
I love surprises……
For those of you who have never undertaken the construction of a home, or a major renovation project on an island 12 time zones away on the other side of the planet where all the workers speak either Thai or Burmese, you haven’t lived. You haven’t even come close……..
My day job, employed as an offshore helicopter pilot based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), I work an 8/4 rotation, flying 8 weeks in the Persian Gulf, followed by 4 weeks at home in Phuket. Fourteen years ago when I started building our home on Phuket, I learned very early on that the owner must be there to “Babysit”. If the owner is not onsite, he has no idea of the mess that he’ll come back to and only has himself to blame. You see, the Asian mindset is 180 degrees offset from that of North Americans. After living in Thailand for over 18 years, I still have no idea what they’re thinking over there. Consequently, this project kinda got drawn out a tad. After all, this is my BBQ that we’re talking about. I wasn’t going to let anyone mess it up. Hence, the 12 months……
There were a series of photos taken Christmas Day 2015 of mayhem that took place in my backyard during the build. Thai and Burmese are Buddhist and don’t celebrate Christmas, working 7 days per week……. Slave labor…? No, it’s just the way it is. How many workers were involved on the project? I have no idea…….
But, I had my plan, and it included protection from the coming annual S.W. Monsoon.
The number of times I’ve decided to BBQ a couple pork chops on my old Aussie Outback gas BBQ when the heavens opened up and the rain came pouring down, are many. Soggy Pork Chops really don’t make a good impression. With an annual 6 month southwest monsoon season stretching from early May thru late October bringing in rains from the Indian Ocean, it tends to get wet. Very wet. I needed a roof. Besides, I wasn’t going to let a little monsoon rain get in the way of my having a BBQ, when I want to have a BBQ. Nuff said……
Taking shape……….
With the cement work done, the “Rusty Slate” backsplash installed (I’m told it came from somewhere in China) and the cement tile roof installed, it was time to find my Weber. Well guess what…….? Weber’s are not sold in Thailand and if they were, they’d be subject to over 100% tax & duty. Ouch….. It’s a good thing I’m a pilot and I get extra baggage allowance.
Once I had the Weber discreetly “imported”, I went about making the side-table.
Almost Done……
The side table build was probably the most fun part of this project. Despite having spent a lot of time looking into what would work and what wouldn’t, I feel that the time spent on the side table, bouncing ideas around, was well worth the effort.
Because we live in the tropics only 8 degrees north of the equator, the humidity averages a sweltering 80 – 90%. Using a wood frame construction was out of the question. The termites would consume the side table faster than I would a pork chop. Teak wood, while gorgeous and impervious to termites, it’s outrageously expensive and illegal to harvest in Thailand, or import from neighboring Burma (Myanmar)
The solution was a heavy steel frame “L” bracket construction welded to the 4 steel vertical posts supporting the roof. Once the frame was in place, I fabricated a template from a sheet of polycarbonate. Placing my new Weber where I wanted it positioned, I traced out the hole for the BBQ. This template was then placed on a 5/8” (15mm) sheet of Cement Bonded Particle Board (Viva Board) http://www.viva.co.th/en/about.php
The Viva Board provided the base for wood grain ceramic tiles to be fitted leaving a ¾” (2cm) gap around the kettle. Surrounding the edge of the table, I fitted some teak slats I had left over from a previous project. The ceramic wood grain tiles were then sealed with Dulux R-221 Silicone Sealant.
The only remaining work to be done is to remove the legs of the Weber and have longer legs (+1” / +2.5cm) installed. I find that the Weber sits just a bit too low, and I wanted the table and grill at a comfortable height. Another option would be to figure a way to secure the bowl to the steel frame, and dispose of the legs altogether, but I haven’t got that far yet. Maybe next year……….
Hope you guys enjoy the attached photos of this little project.
Oh ya, the fish that my wife grilled up last weekend…… Perfect.
