lost in isaan

Thank you, i was actually trying to find a lab to test the water, so that link is really helpful. I dont plan to drink the water, so the initial plan is to use cheap filters like this https://s.lazada.co.th/s.80c65 + a UV filter. I might change to proper filters later on, if there's a need for that.

Does anyone know the correct method for aligning a foundation and pillar that are not level? It appears the foundation was not laid straight, while the pillars were measured accurately using a laser, resulting in the pillar being a few centimeters over the foundation ????

Many good points, thank you. My plan is to build a small 2x4m "hut" where i store my well pump, rainwater tank pump, filter system, solar system and consumer unit for the house. Does the room really need AC? From what I've read so far it should be enough if i keep that hut ventilated, everything should function normally. Even in 40 degrees celcius. Thanks for the battery tip. So far I've been considering buying it from lazada https://s.lazada.co.th/s.8ZwUL or just build it by myself, as I enjoy the process of DIY and learning how things work. I recently added solar water pump with water tank for my in-laws for practice purpose: Also ordered some lifepo4 batteries with BMS to build a new 24v battery for the pump.

Thanks for the suggestion. My current plan is to start with 10,000 litres and leave expansion room for more tanks. I 'll first asses if i can fill up all the tanks with rainwater ???? At my current house we are using around 4000 litres per month.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. New try:

Greetings! After receiving several excellent suggestions on a previous thread regarding carport(https://aseannow.com/topic/1289707-building-a-carport/), I have decided to share updates on my current building process here. I would greatly appreciate any additional insights or advice that the community may have to offer, and I hope that this information will prove useful to others in the future. I've been lurking the forums many months, without posting and many of the posts have contributed some of the ideas, so thank you for that! To give you a better understanding of my goals and intentions, let me share a bit about myself. I am in my early thirties and was fortunate enough to retire thanks to some lucky choices I made earlier in my life. Seeking to escape the cold and dark winters of Finland, I moved to Bangkok on an elite visa where I eventually met my wife. After some time, we decided to relocate to her hometown of Yasothon, as neither of us was fond of the polluted and hectic environment of Bangkok. Unfortunately, there are few rental options available in our remote location, and the house we are currently living in, despite adding running water and AC, is of very low quality. While I have grown quite fond of living here, I am still uncertain if I want to settle here for the long term, which is why I am hesitant to build a proper Western-style house. Instead, I have decided to start by building a smaller house to gain firsthand experience with the building process and learn from any mistakes that may arise. In addition to the aforementioned issues, living here has its own set of challenges. For instance, the water supply from the main line is only available for a few hours in the morning and evening. Unfortunately, this limited supply is not enough to fill our water tank, especially during the dry season when it may not run at all for many days. Furthermore, even the water from the well may dry up during these periods. Another problem we face is power outages during storms, which can last for hours, if not days. To mitigate these challenges, I have decided to implement a two-pronged approach. Firstly, I will rely on a combination of well water and rainwater collection, rather than the main water supply. Additionally, I plan to install a 10 kW solar system with a 20-30 kW battery backup, which will ensure a reliable source of electricity even during extended power outages. I also plan to to construct a 17x5m "carport" adjacent to my house to house the solar panels. To ensure an efficient use of space, I plan to collect rainwater from both the house and carport using a rain gutter system, which will then be stored in five 2000-liter tanks situated beneath the roof. Both the well water and rainwater will be filtered to ensure their purity. I'm still open to ideas and nothing is set in concrete. Our house has been built by a small building company that also specializes in construction projects within the Isaan region. The blueprint for our house is as follows: Although the cost was relatively low, I understand that you often get what you pay for, and I am fully prepared for any drawbacks. We did make some modifications, such as increasing the size of the bathrooms, which brought the total cost of the house to 750k. We plan to further enhance the default material choices, which will likely raise the price to around 850k. While the building company has demonstrated their knowledge and helpfulness, there was one instance where they insisted that insulation was unnecessary in an Isaan house due to wind. Nevertheless, overall, I am content with the decision to work with this company thus far. Step 1: We raised the ground around 30-40 cm and waited few months it to settle while watering it almost daily. A 33-meter hole was drilled on the corner of the elevated land. The driller discovered multiple waterlines in the area, but fortunately none of them were located directly under the house. Water was already found at a depth of 10 meters. I installed the hitachi pump that pumps the water from ~27m. As you can see i also installed the consumer unit and water tank for the builders to use. Step2: Building the foundation. The builders manually excavated 15 holes, each with a depth of 1.4 meters, for the foundation. Not sure why they installed panels and didn't just fill the holes with concrete? To save money? Septic tank. I'll make sure the waste water will be atleast 30m from water pump. The 2 bathrooms look still bit too small? Oh well. Pouring the concrete. I was sad to see that they did not use concrete vibrator. Not looking too good, but they said this will be fixed later on I asked them to fix this right away as this hole is under the supporting pole This is the latest picture. Couple of the poles went a bit over the foundation. They said it will be fixed, but I did not understand how due the communication barrier. I'll keep posting the updates. Feel free to give me tips as i have no prior experience with building a house. Thank you for reading ????

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions! I was pleasantly surprised by the number of great ideas that were shared. As I'm currently in the midst of building a house, I have decided to create another thread with a broader perspective, where I will share my current progress with the house. I'm certain that many of you will have helpful feedback to offer, and I hope that my updates will be of use to others as well. If a moderator could kindly close this thread, I would appreciate it. Thank you once again!

Thank you, this is really good.

The current plan only includes the construction of the carport, but I also intend to install five 2,000-liter tanks underneath it for easier maintenance compared to underground tanks. I will personally add the rainwater harvesting system at a later stage.

Thank you for the feedback. Lot's of good suggestions. I'll see if i can find any builder i can hire. The structure itself will look similar to this: (Picture stolen from https://<URL Automatically Removed>/construction-in-thailand/180243-thai-style-building-carport-do-yourself.html)

Hello everyone, I'm in the process of building a 17x5m carport that will serve as a rainwater collector and support 30x340w solar panels. However, I have some concerns about the builder's suggestions. The builder proposed using ready-made concrete pillars and a 1.5mm steel roof structure, but after doing some research, I'm not convinced that this would be sturdy enough to support the weight of the roof with solar panels (~15kg/sqm). I'd appreciate any thoughts or recommendations on this matter. Additionally, I'm concerned that I may be paying too much for the work. The builder quoted me 195k for the job, which includes a polished 10cm concrete floor, 10 pillars, and metal sheets for the roof. However, based on my calculations, the materials alone shouldn't cost more than 60k. Do you have any tips or suggestions on how to proceed? Should I consider finding a new builder? Thank you for your help.