Initial things to consider when building a house in Thailand - ideas?

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, Mister Fixit said:

Are you French? 

yes i am

[Mister Fixit]

1 hour ago, Don Chance said:

Check out:

 

 

Reading it now.  Very instructive.  Many thanks.

[Cricky]

Slightly off topic but thought it may be relevant for those building a new house.
I have had 2 houses built in Thailand
Next house I will install ventilation fans fitted to external walls, fans that blow air from the outside inside.
At times the air temperature outside is much cooler.
Late evenings and early mornings cool right down, bedrooms are heated from bodies.
Looking for any comments on fans that I would look to buy, something that wont allow bugs/lizards etc to enter into the house.
 

[Smithson]

15 minutes ago, VYCM said:

Slightly off topic but thought it may be relevant for those building a new house.
I have had 2 houses built in Thailand
Next house I will install ventilation fans fitted to external walls, fans that blow air from the outside inside.

Not really off topic, it's good advice.

 

Rather than installing fans that can break, why not try to stop the heat getting in? On an existing dwelling this can be done with shade screens or maybe trees.

 

Quote

At times the air temperature outside is much cooler.

This is very common here and shows bad design.

 

Quote

Late evenings and early mornings cool right down, bedrooms are heated from bodies. Looking for any comments on fans that I would look to buy, something that wont allow bugs/lizards etc to enter into the house.

I don't think much heat comes from people, it's mainly trapped heat. Kitchens, lighting and other electrical appliances all add heat.

 

Traditionally houses across SEA where elevated and modern houses are returning to this design. On At ground level there's few walls, maybe just a single room or bathroom, plus simple out door kitchen. During the heat of the day ppl stay below, where it's shaded and ventilated. Then at night when it cools down ppl move upstairs which cools down fast and doesn't have as many insects.

 

Traditional Thai house

 

Modern Tropical House

[Mister Fixit]

22 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

yes i am

Pretty good English in your posts.

[Mister Fixit]

22 hours ago, Smithson said:

Traditionally houses across SEA where elevated and modern houses are returning to this design. On At ground level there's few walls, maybe just a single room or bathroom, plus simple out door kitchen. During the heat of the day ppl stay below, where it's shaded and ventilated. Then at night when it cools down ppl move upstairs which cools down fast and doesn't have as many insects.

 

Traditional Thai house

 

Modern Tropical House

 

In the floods 10 years ago, my wife's house was under about 5 feet or 1.5 metres of water so as this land she wants is diagonally opposite and up the road a bit, she's now decided we will need to build on stilts.

 

Is there a standard height for them, or is it a local things depending on local geography?   I think 2 metres or so should cover it due to the level 10 years ago, but is it better to increase the height?  Would that affect the size of building that could be built on top?

 

Bear in mind, I don't want to be climbing too many steps every day due to knee problems which will only worsen with age.  

[kingofthemountain]

4 hours ago, Mister Fixit said:

Pretty good English in your posts.

Thank you for the compliment

i try my best (With google translate help)

to facilitate the reading and the comprehension of my comments

by any thai visa forum member, whatever his nationality of origin

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[kingofthemountain]

3 hours ago, Mister Fixit said:

 

In the floods 10 years ago, my wife's house was under about 5 feet or 1.5 metres of water so as this land she wants is diagonally opposite and up the road a bit, she's now decided we will need to build on stilts.

 

Is there a standard height for them, or is it a local things depending on local geography?   I think 2 metres or so should cover it due to the level 10 years ago, but is it better to increase the height?  Would that affect the size of building that could be built on top?

 

Bear in mind, I don't want to be climbing too many steps every day due to knee problems which will only worsen with age.  

Afaik there is no standart height for the stilts, it's up to you

 

As you write the main limit is indeed your ability to climb the stairs due to your knee problem, my advice is go first at the max with the backfilling of the land

 

If your land is 1 meter above the ''normal'' level, you need ''only'' 1 meter height stilts to reach the safety level of 2 meters, that means less stairs to climb.

 

The second house i built was for my old mother who had also a knee problem,so my advice for the stairs is to build the steps as large as you can, and each should be as low as possible, it should makes the climbing process much more easy for you

 

Here a photo of what i did.

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[Smithson]

I would go at least 2.5m high, then you can use the area underneath. If it's too low it'll just be a home for snakes and rats.

 

You may not think you will use underneath, but for sure you will, especially if you have Thai family.

 

It can also serve as a carport.

[Mister Fixit]

5 hours ago, Smithson said:

I would go at least 2.5m high, then you can use the area underneath. If it's too low it'll just be a home for snakes and rats.

 

You may not think you will use underneath, but for sure you will, especially if you have Thai family.

 

It can also serve as a carport.

Yes, we've been talking of using it as that as well as a laundry and possibly a kitchen so as to maximise internal room space.

[Mister Fixit]

17 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

Afaik there is no standart height for the stilts, it's up to you

 

As you write the main limit is indeed your ability to climb the stairs due to your knee problem, my advice is go first at the max with the backfilling of the land

 

If your land is 1 meter above the ''normal'' level, you need ''only'' 1 meter height stilts to reach the safety level of 2 meters, that means less stairs to climb.

 

The second house i built was for my old mother who had also a knee problem,so my advice for the stairs is to build the steps as large as you can, and each should be as low as possible, it should makes the climbing process much more easy for you

 

Here a photo of what i did.

 

Good advice, which I hope her family and the builders listen to, but then again ...

 

I like those steps with the low risers.  What height were they?  Standard height is 9 inches, but they look like 4 or 5 inches (about 100 or 125 mm).  Looks about right.

The treads look wider too, or is that because the risers are low?

 

I think I'd want to go for a 2.5 metre ceiling under any stilts as @Smithsonidea so it may all fit in nicely, although there may have to be a turn in the stairs to accommodate any extra height.  

 

The latest news is that the daughter, Covid permitting, is going to investigate the banks to get a figure against which she can borrow so let's how that goes first.  

 

[kingofthemountain]

10 hours ago, Mister Fixit said:

I like those steps with the low risers.  What height were they?  Standard height is 9 inches, but they look like 4 or 5 inches (about 100 or 125 mm).  Looks about right.

The treads look wider too, or is that because the risers are low?

It has been few years now that i am not anymore in the area

but iirc the height of the steps was 150 mm (15 cm) to basically allow to

climb the steps without having to bend the knee

 

and indeed the treads were also wider than usual, the idea

was to avoid the risk of slipping when go down the steps if the size was just of the size of the feet, so the width was 400 mm or 500 mm (40 cm ou 50 cm, i have now a doubt on the exact number)

Edited April 29, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[Mister Fixit]

17 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

It has been few years now that i am not anymore in the area

but iirc the height of the steps was 150 mm (15 cm) to basically allow to

climb the steps without having to bend the knee

 

and indeed the treads were also wider than usual, the idea

was to avoid the risk of slipping when go down the steps if the size was just of the size of the feet, so the width was 400 mm or 500 mm (40 cm ou 50 cm, i have now a doubt on the exact number)

Great information, many thanks.

 

Looking at the tiles, they look quite glossy and smooth.  I think I will do similar sizes, but try to get tiles with a non-slip surface, and possibly another handrail attached to the house wall.     

 

Need to think ahead 10 years for when I shuffle rather than walk!  ????

Edited April 30, 2021 by Mister Fixit

[kingofthemountain]

2 hours ago, Mister Fixit said:

Great information, many thanks.

 

Looking at the tiles, they look quite glossy and smooth.  I think I will do similar sizes, but try to get tiles with a non-slip surface, and possibly another handrail attached to the house wall.     

 

Need to think ahead 10 years for when I shuffle rather than walk!  ????

You are welcome

and i agree, the tiles need to be chosen wisely

most of the tiles are slippery when they are wet

the ones i used for the house weren't

i have tested it first in the shop with water on it before to buy

[Smithson]

On 4/30/2021 at 12:50 PM, kingofthemountain said:

You are welcome

and i agree, the tiles need to be chosen wisely

most of the tiles are slippery when they are wet

the ones i used for the house weren't

i have tested it first in the shop with water on it before to buy

I remember asking a builder to ensure that tiles were non slip, he laughed and said such basic things don't need to be mentioned. There's no harm doing it and it's not a loss of face. A guy in the next soi is in a wheelchair due to slippery tiles. This difficulty discussing and clarifying things means you really have to keep an eye out.

 

Across from us is an expensive house being built. Today I notice they have pulled down a huge wall on the second floor. How is it possible to make such an obvious and visible mistake? I can only guess that they spend very little time looking at plans. Even without checking, tradies should have a mental picture of how it will look. There's lot of ppl on site, it seems none of them noticed this problem. Astonishing, but very common here, especially when concrete's involved.

 

If I was building I would look at pre fab steel, where it's all welded in a factory and they just bolt it together. This way you'd be dealing with skilled employees who regularly work off plans, hopefully. Thai builders grab whoever they can, workers leave without notice. So even if you start with a good crew or the guy had a good crew last time, halfway through the job they may have changed. There's just not enough Somchai's here who can read plans and they are way too ready to keep going if they 'think' it's correct.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Smithson