Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

BANHAMMER

I'm locking this thread for a few days till people cool down.

Just an update about some material problems we ran into the last couple of weeks.

1. Flashing tape
We used flashing tape of the brand Protec for the top edge of the roof of the workshop (a Nissen hut type of building). The tape is for guiding the rain water of and over the side planking (made out of a composite concrete product commonly sold here, about that later more) so no water will flow under the planking. Even if that would happen in rare occasions there is a plastic vapor barrier underneath the planking to prevent water from reaching the OSB board underneath.

Well, the stuff worked for not more than about 1 month and than the leakage started. It is supposed to last for at least 5 to 10 years! Well not this kind. During the following month it got worse and worse. Even the plastic shield underneath couldn't stop the water anymore from penetrating the OSB board. Bummer!

Now we have areas of OSB exterior A3 quality (!) imported from Austria that are starting to rot. No other option than replacing them, which means breaking down that side of the roof completely and start again.

Is the company that sells it (Megahome) or the one who imports it (Dura) taking responsibility? Hardly to non.




So probably no other option than dragging these cheaters into court and have them pay for the damage.

The next posting is about wood!

Quality of wood in Thailand is very, very low. Plywood of reasonable quality is hard to find, let alone plywood of acceptable quality. What I ran into today beats it all, though. The manufacturer just fakes it is plywood but stuffs it up with all kinds of crap, including saw dust!!! The building market, Megahome, sells it as interior grade plywood with one B side!





I'm surprised not to find spoons, forks, nails, old saw blades or other household gear for filling it all up.

Probably I must have pissed off the locals so they particularly target me with all this crap. But what about the Thai that buy the same stuff?

Bunch of criminals!

Paul,

That sucks. Sorry you have to go through all that due to the crappy materials. Don't the companies have any pride in their products? How do they stay in business when their materials are of such low quality? I guess there is no real consumer protection programs available...other then the courts. Sometimes, when I see pictures of yours and others systems in far away places, I wish I was there. Then there are times I'm glad I'm where I'm at....with three building supply warehouses within a 15 minutes.

Paul,no comment,
Question for you,is Boon Cow Calcium Hydroxide here in LOS,i bought some but the PH isn’t right,it should be 12.4 this isn’t.
What do you think ?

I don't understand your question, Andy. Where do you want to use it for? It's generally used for making lime mortar, among other applications.

My PH has finally decided to drop,its currently running at 6.4ish,i want to buffer/regulate or what ever term we use with Potassium Carbonate,which i have learnt to make myself and Calcium ? i was going to use Boon Cow as i thought it was Calcium Hydroxide but the PH is to low,so just a bit confused,i am using whatever it is and it is working,but i want to be positive on what i am using....

Thanks for the supporting words. Sigh…. it really slows things down a lot. This story repeats itself with many products around. It's a real quest, every time again, to find products that are suitable and have at least a minimum quality level.

There are not a lot of companies here that exist for longer than 10 years. The reason is clear. The ones that do exist longer can have quality products, but there are only a few. Some of them are heavily supported by money that is obtained from activities that are in the league of corruption… It's the mindset of this society that has only money on their mind, the kind of money hunger you find in people that are poor and feel treated wrongly by live itself. Anything is allowed to make a buck. Not really my cup of tea.

Well, that's the fact we have to deal with and I just stubbornly keep trying to find solutions and get on with things. One day it will all be done and a sweet time for enjoyment and victory. Tsjakka!

Allright, got it. Never encountered the stuff, so wouldn't be of much help there. If it works though, and you get the result you want, looks to be the right stuff then? I would be careful though and observe closely the Ph values to see if it stays under control.

I'm sure there are some guys here on the forum that can be of more help with this issue?

Dodgy buggers for the wood. If it was something like a interior door, it'd be okay, but plywood should be solid.

How much does it cost out of curosity?

Paul paid 680 Baht which is roughly £14 UK,that same piece on this side of the country i would have to pay 950 Baht or roughly £20 UK.

Actually I paid Baht 590/plate, just checked the bill. Was another type of plate that was Baht 680 or so.

The worst is, that we brought it back and these black holes start to argue that it was a cheap plate and one even said he knew about the quality of the plate and that they sell it all over Thailand. 5 minutes later the same dude tells me that he has over 10 years experience in the wood business and never seen this before. Another 5 minutes later he tells us that this is real plywood and he doesn't see what the problem is! Yindee to Thailand, the land of smiles and endless liars.

5 months ago we bought a hand trolley there, my wife went to inflate the tires of it, one of them exploded (!!!) and almost blew her hand off. She was out of business for 2 months. Parts of it are still buried in the wood of the workshop walls. Their reaction? Oh so sorry, you want money back? That's it.

The story goes on and on with that place. I'm done with them and will have them answer to a judge to pay the damages we had out of this all.

For all in Thailand; stay away from Megahome and their absolute crap products.

I remember somebody bragging here a while ago about how smart he was and had his house and pool build within one year. Will be fun to see the state of it all in a couple of years.

From now on I just import everything, unless I can find addresses here that are 100% guaranteed reliable.

Soit!

I can sympathise Domani,but don't let the anger and negative stuff get in the way of the fabulous project you've planned.
I think you've lived in Thailand longer than the 4+ years I've been here, you know how it is, you'll never change things, buyer beware!

Ehhh, there is no anger here, just being annoyed about so much incompetence. And.. we did change things around us visibly and noticeable. Some Thai people we know also start to object and question certain practices of companies and governmental bodies, no longer taking for granted their alleged "superiority". We regularly receive feedback from them of succesfully opposing against these practices. So, I cannot agree with you on that. But indeed, a buyer in Thailand has to be aware of counterfeiting and cunning shop keepers more than in the West.