03 : Building a house - Nong Kung Si - Questions

[Daffy D]

42 minutes ago, Huckenfell said:

Cut cooling costs, use Q-Con insulated blocks.

To late now  

[khunPer]

 

I'm not living up Isaan, but I did build a house in Thailand – or rather, had some workers to build it for me – I did the drawings myself. Even my house is down south, it's not too different to reply to your questions.

 

1). What do you think about a whole house fan? I want one, but I am not sure if this is a dumb idea. We use it to pull in cool air at night.

 

No, I wouldn't.

 

I made ceiling fans in all rooms – a slow rotating ceiling fan is nice for air flow – and do consider aircons in necessary rooms, which could be bedrooms and eventually a living room or work room/study. I have inverter aircons, which costs up to 50 percent more to buy, but save a lot in power. Works very well, and inverter aircons can even heat during the cold season; which you might have up Isaan and appreciate the heating option.

 

Consider using Q-blocks, aerated concrete blocks, for at least rooms with aircon. They are a bit more expensive than the cheap blocks, but again, you save it in cooling power, and you can keep a nice constant temperature inside the building. Also make some level of isolation on top of (upper floor) gypsum ceiling, or ceiling plates. Just a reflector with bubble foam can do wonders.

 

2). Electric Car voltage - I want two drops in the garage for electric car charging. Any idea what a standard circuit for that is in Thailand?

 

I don't have experience with that – other's might know – but make sure you have power enough for it in your garage/car parking area, for example ending in an accessable box, from where any future connectors can be installed. Always good be have plenty of accessable power outlets for outdoor use for various purposes, and preferably on their own circuit breaker(s).

 

3). Outdoor shower - anyone do this? Seems like it would be really nice in Thailand.

 

Yes, good idea. I have it, and we use it a lot, but we also live by the beach. If you plan for a pool, you'll also need it.

 

4). Attic access - none of my drawings have attic access. Is there a reason it is not included in Thailand? I plan on insulating the attic and it would be nice to be able to get up there to maintain anything, get to wiring, whatever.

 

Yes, I made it, and I also use part of the attic for storage, and furthermore have a water tank up there – which is very useful as we always have running water, even during a black out that stop water pumps from working. I furthermore installed a solar water heater on the roof with a tank in the attic – you can also have them with a tank placed on top of the solar panels – which provides plenty of hot water during sunny periods. You can have the tank with a build in electric heater for cloudy day, or just use small instant electric heaters for shower(s) and eventually hot water in kitchen, for "rainy days" backup; that's what I did, but today I would rather opt for a central hot water tank.

 

5). Steam room - anyone put in a steam room fixture in the bathroom? Seems nice in the USA, not sure about Thailand.

 

Yes, I made one, a dedicated steam room. We use it sometimes, but not that much, and we normally use it with aromatic herbs – can just be some lemon grass – and it's really nice. I bought a professional steam device, as we can be two-three persons inside the steam room, and so it gets warm fairly quick. Walls made by Q-blocks and all tiled, benches and ceiling made in hardwood; I used imported oak wood, but teak wood is equally good. Remember an ventilation outlet in the ceiling – could just be a simple wooden slider – se you can let the steam out.

 

6). Termite control - what is needed in Thailand?

 

In some areas, yes. I live in a termite area, and my building constructor advised me to install pipes under the foundation. It was fairly cheap to do – less than 10k baht – and now they are there if needed, we however never had any gas sprayed.

 

Pesticide spray hoses placed inside the foundation during construction, they end up outside the foundation with a small cap...

 

In general avoid as much wood as possible, if you live in a termite area; and when using wood, use as hard wood as possible. Also wooden inner doors, select as hard as possible, as the cheaper soft wooden doors might easily change shape or bend a bit; it's normally always best to do it right, first time.

 

A tip:

 

Consider using galvanized steel for roof construction instead of wood or normal steel construction. I had SCG Home Market's roof specialist team to quote me a total roof installation, they made detailed drawings, and more than one type roof-tile quote for free. Their quotes included galvanized steel construction and all water protection and reflector heat insulation, and it was cheaper than my various building constructor's quotes with normal steel and made by their work team. I decided for SCG when I realized how much specialist work is involved to make a correct water sealed roof, and from SCG comes with a five year warranty; it's ten years ago now and SCG is still around, my otherwise excellent building constructor was not there just a few years after. So far I never had any problems with the roof, nor any cement on the tiles. I also had SCG's Windsor Vinyl team to make gutters.

 

 

Wish you good luck with your future house...????

[khunPer]

6 hours ago, misterphil said:

I would never ever live in a 2 storey house here again. They are far too hot upstairs. 

I build a 3-storey house with an attic, and it's not too hot on 3rd floor. Had it proper insulated using Q-con blocks and just a basic reflector under roof tiles, and ditto with bubble foams on top of 3rd floor ceiling; hardly use aircon up there.

Edited May 10, 2020 by khunPer

[Tropposurfer]

Only 2 seasons. Hot and wet and hot with short period of dry cool early morning and nighttime.

Tropic building - heat and moisture remediation is the main focus. Termites: use steel framed walls (Maybe concrete blocks or solid natural stone in some west facing walls). 

Roof all galvanised steel too - bingo no termites.

Use sustainably sourced teak for your kitchen and other cabinets to avoid any chance of termites or wood worm.
Don’t be tempted to use any composite compressed particle type wood in the home the humidity will destroy it quickly!

Install standard, easy to find and idiot proof termite/ moisture barriers all-round as per standard US Thai building codes.

Aluminium door n windows n window frames throughout termite problem solved.

Solar panels with easily sourced high tech battery storage bank for long term cost effective electricity. Maybe in 5 years you’ll pay for the whole system! and put power back into the grid????????

... 3 phase mains power as advised already by replied poster provides high ampere (Fast) charging for the car.

Outdoor shower is easy to fit - if your creative you can use the grey-water to feed a lily frog fish pond.

Fans: breezeway built in design to draft air.

I.e. Solid blockout louvres on hot side of house windows to stop heat intrusion during extreme heat periods, wide, covered verandahs On west side of house to keep sun off walls.

Insulated roofing, walls, and ceilings, floors too if not a concrete slab.

Naturally drafting extractions fans in roof, louvred opening ceiling skylights - during extreme heat these can be opened to draft cooler lower air up and out through these skylights.
Include in the house design high set, opening landscape shaped windows throughout the house to increase low to high air pressure flow. Screens can be set into these so no bugs or mosquitoes ????.

These Windows add modern architectural features and also increases light in the house which will give a sense of more space.

Highest ceilings you can afford. Maybe design skillion styles roof’s this way you achieve high ceiling heights AND eliminate having to hang Old fashioned horizontal ceilings as the roof becomes the ceiling - is insulated and lined to create the interior.

If your gunna build on a concrete slab consider raising the slab by a metre or more and using a foam core in the slab this will keep the floors cool by reflecting the ground heat. 

This will combine with the roof venting by draft/feed the cool

low pressure air low down upwards as the upper parts of the house heat up providing a whole fan system in the house????

You can make this low pressure idea more aggressive by installing underfloor cooling tube system filled with water and use the solar and charger battery to store and connect to your aircon system to super chill the water during very hot times.

You can buy these subfloor systems complete????

Roof access: I’d advise no traditional horizontal hung ceilings - skillion in every room. Construction is easier and combining a series of skillion roofs looks great????????

If you don’t go with the skillion, lined roof idea then install a pull down ladder stairway as a roof feature. Easy to get someone to custom build in beautiful timber for a good price in Thailand.

For safety lay walkway boards across rafters for access.

[The Old Bull]

Make sure you have proper power.Our house has one socket per room and a pile of extension cords.

[tweedledee2]

 When I was a kid growing up it the Midwest before AC, my Father installed a 32"reversible  fan in our home. During the hottest part of the day it was used to help push the hot air out of the attic space. At night, all the windows were closed except for the bedrooms and the fan extracted the house air and pulled the cool air through the bedroom windows, it definitely made a difference. The heat and humidity in Thailand is not much different from most of the Midwest in late June, July and August.

[ericthai]

OP,  A few ideas for you.

 

1) when you have the electrical guys run wires, have them run 1 or 2 extra wires on each conduit line as spares for future needs i.e. add ons, a bad wire, damaged wire, etc.

 

2) Consider having a few RJ45 outlets, figure out where you will have you router and then runs connections for TV, Computer, etc.  

 

Hope this helps! 

[Zillod]

Look at ducted air conditioning.  You can use it just as a fan or you can activate the AC if you need it.  Steam room .. Nah!  I have a garden bathroom but that is because all my house bathrooms are en-suite.  Coal powered cars are a great idea but It will be a long while before they replace Diesel.

[Petey303]

Excellent points Tropposurfer! You brought up a lot of things - thank you.

 

14 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

Roof all galvanised steel too - bingo no termites.

Use sustainably sourced teak for your kitchen and other cabinets to avoid any chance of termites or wood worm.

Noted

 

14 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

Solar panels with easily sourced high tech battery storage bank for long term cost effective electricity. Maybe in 5 years you’ll pay for the whole system! and put power back into the grid????????

I may have to re-think solar, more people coming forward saying they do it. My wife said people will try and steal the solar panels (I had brought up the idea to put solar at the farm).

 

14 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

Fans: breezeway built in design to draft air.

Yes, will have a breezeway and ceiling fans (I added ceiling fans)

 

 

 

[Petey303]

13 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

 When I was a kid growing up it the Midwest before AC, my Father installed a 32"reversible  fan in our home. During the hottest part of the day it was used to help push the hot air out of the attic space. At night, all the windows were closed except for the bedrooms and the fan extracted the house air and pulled the cool air through the bedroom windows, it definitely made a difference. The heat and humidity in Thailand is not much different from most of the Midwest in late June, July and August.

I grew up in the midwest as well, we had one too. Thailand may not cool down enough at night for this to make sense. I am on the fence about the whole house fan, leaning towards not having it.

[eero]

Make two floors hause then downsterars is cool in the daytime. Isolert between roof in uppsterirs.  Make double wall redtiles outside and inside thehe whote bloxs, between 2cm then hot air goes upp.  Make double windows then hot air dont come inside.  Solarpanels mit on grid system because batteries living time is 4-5 year. I have 14 panels on the roof and now I pay only less than haf.  Chek that water flows away from bathroom.  Better put opposite wall 5 cm higher were water flows away.  I have aircondition also in kitchen very nice make gooking when is not hot. 

Best regars

Eero Osara

[sometimewoodworker]

On 5/9/2020 at 12:08 PM, Crossy said:

 

We've been here since 2004, never seen hail. Quality panels should be hail resistant anyway.

We had hail just last week, though it was small, last year there was golf ball sized hail in Udon I doubt that even the best panels would have been totally unscathed.

 

The storms are extremely localised.

Edited May 13, 2020 by sometimewoodworker

[samuibruno]

totally spend a lot of time planning 

all the details need to be on your building plans 

more time planning less time wasted later 

 

good airflow is always a good idea

q con blocks for me are great if in the budget

ceiling fans in all rooms would be my plan

venting the roof cavity always helps cooling and should be detailed in your building plans 

should always have access hatches to the ceiling cavity, they should be clearly marked on your plans also 

can exhaust vent out the walls with a water proof cover outside so driving rain doesnt enter 

 

cheers 

[ifmu]

one thing jumped out at me .. you said you are telling your wife what to say .. big problem .... things will get confused she will interpret your words in eng to thai and the builder will decide what u want ... its just like a haircut .. they cut it their way not your way ...      wife and i just did electrical .. total nightmare find english and thai speaker . one who has done western building  please please 

[Petey303]

On 5/10/2020 at 5:31 AM, khunPer said:

 

I'm not living up Isaan, but I did build a house in Thailand – or rather, had some workers to build it for me – I did the drawings myself. Even my house is down south, it's not too different to reply to your questions.

 

1). What do you think about a whole house fan? I want one, but I am not sure if this is a dumb idea. We use it to pull in cool air at night.

 

No, I wouldn't.

 

I made ceiling fans in all rooms – a slow rotating ceiling fan is nice for air flow – and do consider aircons in necessary rooms, which could be bedrooms and eventually a living room or work room/study. I have inverter aircons, which costs up to 50 percent more to buy, but save a lot in power. Works very well, and inverter aircons can even heat during the cold season; which you might have up Isaan and appreciate the heating option.

 

Consider using Q-blocks, aerated concrete blocks, for at least rooms with aircon. They are a bit more expensive than the cheap blocks, but again, you save it in cooling power, and you can keep a nice constant temperature inside the building. Also make some level of isolation on top of (upper floor) gypsum ceiling, or ceiling plates. Just a reflector with bubble foam can do wonders.

 

2). Electric Car voltage - I want two drops in the garage for electric car charging. Any idea what a standard circuit for that is in Thailand?

 

I don't have experience with that – other's might know – but make sure you have power enough for it in your garage/car parking area, for example ending in an accessable box, from where any future connectors can be installed. Always good be have plenty of accessable power outlets for outdoor use for various purposes, and preferably on their own circuit breaker(s).

 

3). Outdoor shower - anyone do this? Seems like it would be really nice in Thailand.

 

Yes, good idea. I have it, and we use it a lot, but we also live by the beach. If you plan for a pool, you'll also need it.

 

4). Attic access - none of my drawings have attic access. Is there a reason it is not included in Thailand? I plan on insulating the attic and it would be nice to be able to get up there to maintain anything, get to wiring, whatever.

 

Yes, I made it, and I also use part of the attic for storage, and furthermore have a water tank up there – which is very useful as we always have running water, even during a black out that stop water pumps from working. I furthermore installed a solar water heater on the roof with a tank in the attic – you can also have them with a tank placed on top of the solar panels – which provides plenty of hot water during sunny periods. You can have the tank with a build in electric heater for cloudy day, or just use small instant electric heaters for shower(s) and eventually hot water in kitchen, for "rainy days" backup; that's what I did, but today I would rather opt for a central hot water tank.

 

5). Steam room - anyone put in a steam room fixture in the bathroom? Seems nice in the USA, not sure about Thailand.

 

Yes, I made one, a dedicated steam room. We use it sometimes, but not that much, and we normally use it with aromatic herbs – can just be some lemon grass – and it's really nice. I bought a professional steam device, as we can be two-three persons inside the steam room, and so it gets warm fairly quick. Walls made by Q-blocks and all tiled, benches and ceiling made in hardwood; I used imported oak wood, but teak wood is equally good. Remember an ventilation outlet in the ceiling – could just be a simple wooden slider – se you can let the steam out.

 

6). Termite control - what is needed in Thailand?

 

In some areas, yes. I live in a termite area, and my building constructor advised me to install pipes under the foundation. It was fairly cheap to do – less than 10k baht – and now they are there if needed, we however never had any gas sprayed.

 

Pesticide spray hoses placed inside the foundation during construction, they end up outside the foundation with a small cap...

 

In general avoid as much wood as possible, if you live in a termite area; and when using wood, use as hard wood as possible. Also wooden inner doors, select as hard as possible, as the cheaper soft wooden doors might easily change shape or bend a bit; it's normally always best to do it right, first time.

 

A tip:

 

Consider using galvanized steel for roof construction instead of wood or normal steel construction. I had SCG Home Market's roof specialist team to quote me a total roof installation, they made detailed drawings, and more than one type roof-tile quote for free. Their quotes included galvanized steel construction and all water protection and reflector heat insulation, and it was cheaper than my various building constructor's quotes with normal steel and made by their work team. I decided for SCG when I realized how much specialist work is involved to make a correct water sealed roof, and from SCG comes with a five year warranty; it's ten years ago now and SCG is still around, my otherwise excellent building constructor was not there just a few years after. So far I never had any problems with the roof, nor any cement on the tiles. I also had SCG's Windsor Vinyl team to make gutters.

 

 

Wish you good luck with your future house...????

khunPer - great post! Thank you! I marked down multiple points.

[Petey303]

On 5/14/2020 at 2:55 AM, ifmu said:

one thing jumped out at me .. you said you are telling your wife what to say .. big problem .... things will get confused she will interpret your words in eng to thai and the builder will decide what u want ... its just like a haircut .. they cut it their way not your way ...      wife and i just did electrical .. total nightmare find english and thai speaker . one who has done western building  please please 

Not my experience ifmu, not worried about this one. I have been reading the eBook "Building a House in Isaan" and the author also describes having his wife and friend along were invaluable in getting things done. My wife and I get on the same page and then she interprets. This has been working so far for me.

[khunPer]

9 hours ago, Petey303 said:

Not my experience ifmu, not worried about this one. I have been reading the eBook "Building a House in Isaan" and the author also describes having his wife and friend along were invaluable in getting things done. My wife and I get on the same page and then she interprets. This has been working so far for me.

There is another great book to read "How to Buy Land and Build a House in Thailand" by Philip Bryce (Paiboon ISBN 1-887521-71-2). That book helped me a lot. It's available in bookstores selling English language books for about 600 baht – might be a good investment easily saving you 100-fold or more that amount of money when building your house – and presumable it's also available online.

[khunPer]

I should also mention that if you consider to have a European style kitchen installed, and also wish to make lots of Thai food, then make two kitchens with a semi-outdoor Thai-style kitchen for cooking Thai food...????

[Petey303]

18 hours ago, khunPer said:

I should also mention that if you consider to have a European style kitchen installed, and also wish to make lots of Thai food, then make two kitchens with a semi-outdoor Thai-style kitchen for cooking Thai food...????

Two kitchens are in the plans. Higher counters in the Falang kitchen, lower in the Thai kitchen ????

 

[Prairieboy]

On 5/9/2020 at 8:56 AM, Petey303 said:

4). Attic access - none of my drawings have attic access. Is there a reason it is not included in Thailand? I plan on insulating the attic and it would be nice to be able to get up there to maintain anything, get to wiring, whatever.

Here are a few items to consider based on 50 years of construction experience and the nightmarish experiences I have had with my Thai Built home (I was unable to supervise the construction):

1.  Attic access and ventilation is a must -I recommend a suspended ceiling with acoustic tile panels (see photo)

2.  Whole house insulation (a cavity wall), not just the attic, is very strongly recommended!

3.  Ensure that your electrical system and all outlets and switches are properly grounded (earthed)

4.  Install top quality drains and piping material and ensure that it is accessible for future repairs -      embedding pipes in a concrete wall or floor is not a good idea.

5.  Water supply lines and DWV lines must be sized to meet their purpose

6.  Perform a 24 hour pressure test on all waterlines to detect any leaks

 

If possible personally check all materials, supervise each and every phase, demand as-built drawings and last but not least, have a reliable translator to ensure your exact wishes are carried out!

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Prairieboy

[Prairieboy]

On 5/14/2020 at 4:55 PM, ifmu said:

one thing jumped out at me .. you said you are telling your wife what to say .. big problem .... things will get confused she will interpret your words in eng to thai and the builder will decide what u want ... its just like a haircut .. they cut it their way not your way ...      wife and i just did electrical .. total nightmare find english and thai speaker . one who has done western building  please please 

I agree 100% - you need an independent translator who has no vested interest.  When you give an instruction to the contractor or the farmer/part-time jack of all trades person, you want to be sure that he gets your precise instruction not some twisted up thoughts from someone who has no real clue or understanding but just make up words interjecting the famous"'farang too dumb we don't do that in Thailand"

[stupidfarang]

I highly recommend the web site cool thai house

 

the site is about building in Thailand and covers everything you will need to know from farangs who have built in Thailand, this is a must go to site. Also some great storys from start to finish on building

[Rdrokit]

Petey,

PM me your phone number and we can talk. I am from the USA and have been living here full time since 2007 and built our house in 2008. 

 

[Petey303]

On 5/16/2020 at 6:43 PM, Rdrokit said:

PM me your phone number and we can talk

Done

[Petey303]

Hi Prairieboy,

 

Thanks for the post.

 

On 5/16/2020 at 6:18 PM, Prairieboy said:

2.  Whole house insulation (a cavity wall), not just the attic, is very strongly recommended!

 

I am currently looking at double wall AAC, and also a newer wall (at least new to me) called Smart Truss. Have you had any experience with these walls? I am trying to find out the thermal characteristics.

See attached...

 

On 5/16/2020 at 6:18 PM, Prairieboy said:

6.  Perform a 24 hour pressure test on all waterlines to detect any leaks

 

Added to the list