Jen65 Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 8 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said: https://gardentabs.com/are-palm-trees-roots-invasive/ mmm yes the last sentence sums it up "And take care to plant your palms away from a sidewalk or your home to ensure the root system doesn’t interfere". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 30 minutes ago, Jen65 said: mmm yes the last sentence sums it up "And take care to plant your palms away from a sidewalk or your home to ensure the root system doesn’t interfere". palm roots generally dont interfere 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen65 Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 On 9/25/2021 at 8:21 PM, Rampant Rabbit said: palm roots generally dont interfere tell that to the 5T Kubota guy that I had to employ to dig up the stumps and root system in my front garden and side of the house in order that the builder could lay water / drainage pipes ! The root system was "strangling" the septic tank !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, Jen65 said: tell that to the 5T Kubota guy that I had to employ to dig up the stumps and root system in my front garden and side of the house in order that the builder could lay water / drainage pipes ! The root system was "strangling" the septic tank !! unlike tree roots palm roots do not thicken over time , they are not massive they are in the top 3 foot of soil they will not destroy your house, my house is surrounded by palms hundreds of them there right next to my septic, a properly installed one with a totally sealed system for the black water not open like the Thais do them, the roots will not break through concrete, suggests your septic was open and roots will look for water . The second septic tank for grey water is open BUT should drain easily, if it doesnt drain easily roots will go looking for water especially if its sitting there. Palm root s will wrap around but not break through.. https://activerain.com/blogsview/5445481/can-palm-tree-roots-damage-concrete So, palm tree root systems are generally not a huge problem for the average yard and won't usually cause the kinds of damage you may encounter with other types of trees. The roots are long and thin, so they generally don't exert enough force to do any harm, if any, to concrete paths and walls. Just make sure that your palm gets all the water and nutrients that it needs, and it should be a delightful addition to your garden. Edited September 27, 2021 by Rampant Rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqoop Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Stay on site during the build to watch progress. Correct errors as they happen and watch quality of materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian3005 Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 On 9/6/2021 at 6:49 PM, bwanajohn said: Lots of good advise in the above Remember that the SSW side of the house will get very warm at the end of the day so if those are bed rooms make sure that 3Mt deck runs along there. Use Bamboo blinds on the deck at the rail edge ,cooling and creates a lovely ambience. I use the blinds to block sun in the winter when its low and to block some of the heat rising up from the valley in the hot season. I prefer AAC block to double brick and I think it holds and transfers less heat. I vent the black water where it enters the house with two inch pipe up over the eave rather than the thai style of a 1 inch pipe out the top the septic tank. I think its more effective. Grey water I forgot to put P traps in the shower but was able to buy some very neat little rubber things that fit in the drain and look like a heavy duty condoms with the end cut off ,They open when water flows and close back up when empty . We had abit of smell before we got those. I actually think alot of the smell in Thai bathrooms is from the grey water not the loo, where they are separate systems. I agree with not going for security bars . With battery powered tools B&E is simple as these days, a battery operated saw in three minutes can cut the whole lockset out of the wooden door or make whole large enough to reach in and unlock it all. My neighbours are adamant there are no thieves in the village and all new faces are suspect, but they all have security bars. We have built several houses, 2 in Thailand one in NZ and 3 in Canada. The two in Thailand are in Chiang mai province at 1000metres above sea level so we have a very unique climate . A few nights in winter it gets down to close to frost 2C and lots of single digit nights and in the hot season it will hit 40. Not this year though because we had a very rainy April from the very first day, In the rainy season its consistently 19 to 21 at night and 26 to 30 in the day ...occassionally a couple degrees hotter if the sun is out all day. We wanted a house that needed no heat or AC . Thats worked out quite well. Our kitchen living dining is open air and in the dead of winter its too cold in the late evening in the open parts of the house so we retreat to the closed off rooms. Breakfast when its gone down to 2 at night is time to channel my inner Canadian spirit and put on my snugglies and a toque .It warms up pretty quick and we have a sunny spot on the back side of the house for morning coffee. Although not the most efficient use of materials a long narrow house one room thick allows great cross ventilation and the deck doubles as a hall ways. Rooms can be interconnected as per use. I think cavity walls would be the best and my next project will be a steel framed house with insulated cavity much like the stick frame they build in Canada. A lot of people think insulation is just for the cold but it aint so. I think you can easily get close to R 20 with this method and nothing else will come close to that. With AAC block our rooms stay about 6 to 10C degrees cooler than the outside if we are conscientious about closing up during the day and opening in the evening but at some point in March April it will get overwhelmed if we have a couple warm nights and hot hot days. I think our climate is unique here and so probably not everything will be applicable. I think our village has the highest above sea level hospital,high school and 7/11 Good luck and have fun. Dont build two storeys with out a convection chimney and preferably an outdoor covered stair case . I ve rented two and three storey houses here and with out AC the upper floors are hot hot hot almost all day all year. Plant trees lots of them My two satang ...hope it helps. BwanaJohn.... Sounds like you either lived in The Rhodesia's or South Africa at some stage. I was born in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and lived in South Africa for 10 years so I'm familiar with the term Bwana. LOL I purchased land in the Chaing Kham rural are hoping to build and see the rest of my life out over there in a rural village with peace and quiet. Covid and a cheating wife have stalled progress. LOL I'm having difficulty getting building rates THB/M2 s I can prepare a budget. On 9/6/2021 at 6:49 PM, bwanajohn said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian3005 Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 On 9/28/2021 at 9:44 AM, Sqoop said: Stay on site during the build to watch progress. Correct errors as they happen and watch quality of materials. Appears there are no guarantees on work done over there. I had retaining walls built and after a heavy rain one wall is collapsing. The builder went into hiding and says it's not his problem. I'. used to at least a 7 year warranty on faulty workmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhaoYai Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 I'm sure someone else will also have given this advice - sorry, too lazy to read all 6 pages. The single most important thing I would not do again is not be there throughout the whole build. I guarantee you the first hour of each morning will be spent pointing out all the short cuts/mistakes they made the day before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, Ian3005 said: I'm having difficulty getting building rates THB/M2 s I can prepare a budget. Depending on the quality and comfort you want a rock bottom is 3,000 M2 through 10,000M2 for a comfortable low end going onto 20,000M2 for quite good then as much as you want to spend, though going over 50,000M2 might be a little difficult Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 5 minutes ago, Ian3005 said: Appears there are no guarantees on work done over there. I had retaining walls built and after a heavy rain one wall is collapsing. The builder went into hiding and says it's not his problem. I'. used to at least a 7 year warranty on faulty workmanship. It depends on who you use. Was it faulty workmanship or bad design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarryP Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 (edited) On 9/7/2021 at 10:48 AM, sometimewoodworker said: P1) if you use PP-R pipe and correctly do the joints, pressure test before acceptance, pipes in hollow walls are no problem 2) yes to slump test, but buy from Cpac RMC they can do the test at no cost and since they do the test refusing a load is easy. 3) yes to septic system, absolutely no to grey water into the black septic as the water flow will be too fast for the septic to function as it should unless you grossly oversize the septic tank In my current house we have PP-R piping and it is set in the floor and embedded in AAC blocks. So far 10 years and absolutely no problems with leaks. I had no involvement in this house build. I just bought my townhouse from the developer in Bangkok. However, for my new house which will be built upcountry I was planning on doing something similar. The pipes will be embedded in the floor and will then go up in the cavity walls to the outlets. Still not sure about monkey bars. Will be looking into that soon. Edited July 15, 2022 by GarryP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post burner2014 Posted July 17, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2022 I didn't built a house but I got one pre-made. After 5 years I can tell you what you really should avoid doing ???????? 1. Bad Water... really make sure you plan this well. Otherwise you got just stinky bathrooms. Research here a lot and make a good plan from septic tank layout to screwer gas vents and other stuff like u-pipe 2. Bathroom: take nice anti slip floor tiles. They awesome ???? we renovated all our baths already before they were super slippy. It's like holiday/Bali feeling style. 3. We built another "house" onto our house with a big dining kitchen inside. The end product is awesome but to get there was crazy. Plan your roof well as Thailand has strong rain ???? ???? and yeah I agree control the work as it is done... after it's too late. 4. I agree with the double brick and roof isolation. We don't have this and it gets f****** hot during normal days. Isolation in pre-made houses is not existing ???? 5. Build the whole house (fundament) a bit higher for flooding. Always better to be safe 6. Make sure you plan with a pest control guy early, our guy came for "house kitchen" and made sure in the fundament are the right pipes for pest control later via an access point. Costs like nothing maybe 4000 THB or so 7. In general on the previous pages I agree really invest into a good plumber and a good electrician. Scary how the quality differs ... we had our electric check again by another professional team after we finished that second house just to be sure. As I said in point 1... really I can't emphasize the plumber and a great layout of bad water again and again. A good water pump for fresh water is also nice ???? there are also different qualities on the market... if you buy too cheap there your water pressure in the second floor sucks 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) Build it yourself, its the ONLY way to be sure EVERYTHING is correct.........after watching Thais construct anything thats what I learnt, if you want concrete like soup with stones in, water pipes not prepared ie sanded cleaned with cellulose thinner and glued correctly with the correct strong not weak green tin glue, no earths, wrong colour cables, wrong size cables, door stops in the wrong place, <deleted> welding like bird <deleted>, blocks laid without staggered joints, leaking roofs...........then go right ahead and hire Thailands finest. If you do get a crew in you WILL have to be onsite 24 hours a day watching EVERYTHING as they surely will do all of the above if left alone Experience built 3 houses alone with no help as they cant even mix mortar correctly. This one was for my staff...........before they arrived Edited July 18, 2022 by Rampant Rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoreFarang Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 2 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said: Build it yourself, its the ONLY way to be sure EVERYTHING is correct Maybe you are the specialist in everything. But how many of us are on that level? In general I am not bad in DIY, but not in everything. I.e. I looked at at least 20 videos how to lay tiles. In theory I am sure I am pretty good at that. The only problem is that I never actually did it. That makes it extreme unlikely that everything will be correct if I do it myself. There are expert builders out there in Thailand. How do I know? Look at all the high price hotels, condominiums, shopping malls, etc. Many of them are made by professionals who know what they are doing. But obviously these people are more expensive than Somchai. It's good if you know what you are doing. But it's also good if many of us know that criticizing someone else work is a lot easier than doing it ourselves better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) 3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said: Maybe you are the specialist in everything. But how many of us are on that level? In general I am not bad in DIY, but not in everything. I.e. I looked at at least 20 videos how to lay tiles. In theory I am sure I am pretty good at that. The only problem is that I never actually did it. That makes it extreme unlikely that everything will be correct if I do it myself. There are expert builders out there in Thailand. How do I know? Look at all the high price hotels, condominiums, shopping malls, etc. Many of them are made by professionals who know what they are doing. But obviously these people are more expensive than Somchai. It's good if you know what you are doing. But it's also good if many of us know that criticizing someone else work is a lot easier than doing it ourselves better. whoever is building is highly unlikely to find any professionals like you mentioned. they will already be working for big companies and often overseas...........under the veneer of those condos and malls is a <deleted>fest of crapp, there is alos the problem if hiring staff who come and go often, the foreman often can only get the dregs locally. Edited July 18, 2022 by Rampant Rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unheard Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 (edited) 23 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said: the foreman often can only get the dregs locally. That's not correct. From what I've seen the established high volume house builders (not cheap) will directly employ specialized crews being sent to remote sites. If not directly employed then at least utilizing vetted contractors on a long term bases. All depends on quality of the builder and who they employ. Quality cost money, as everywhere else. Edited July 19, 2022 by unheard 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 8 hours ago, unheard said: That's not correct. From what I've seen the established high volume house builders (not cheap) will directly employ specialized crews being sent to remote sites. If not directly employed then at least utilizing vetted contractors on a long term bases. All depends on quality of the builder and who they employ. Quality cost money, as everywhere else. you did read the bit where it says "locally" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 On 7/18/2022 at 10:21 AM, OneMoreFarang said: Maybe you are the specialist in everything. I am now 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarryP Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 3 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said: you did read the bit where it says "locally" "there is alos the problem if hiring staff who come and go often, the foreman often can only get the dregs locally." But they don't hire locally, as in the same district/town. The project managers/contractors hire specific teams that serve that region. Teams that handle only foundations/footings and other concrete parts, teams that only handle roofing, tiling teams, etc. That is unlesss you hire the local jack of all trades to build your house, in which case you really can't blame anyone. You get what you pay for. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 13 hours ago, GarryP said: "there is alos the problem if hiring staff who come and go often, the foreman often can only get the dregs locally." But they don't hire locally, as in the same district/town. The project managers/contractors hire specific teams that serve that region. Teams that handle only foundations/footings and other concrete parts, teams that only handle roofing, tiling teams, etc. That is unlesss you hire the local jack of all trades to build your house, in which case you really can't blame anyone. You get what you pay for. Out in the boonies I dont see any of those, they all hire the local villagers where all of them are "changs"..............of the sloppiest kind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post unheard Posted July 20, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted July 20, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said: Out in the boonies I dont see any of those, they all hire the local villagers where all of them are "changs"..............of the sloppiest kind. Deep in the sticks you usually don't have much of a choice for a local based builder. It surely won't hire anyone far away from town. And yeah, prices are great. At the same time even In the middle of nowhere you can still get quality big city based builders that will send specialized teams to your location. But the prices won't be nearly as cheap as with local "changs". And please don't say no one does it just because "you don't see any". Edited July 20, 2022 by unheard 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unheard Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 (edited) btw, the higher prices charged by the out of town builders will also include the expenses for housing their teams in near proximity to the building site. The reason you don't see any of those in your area is there for the very obvious reasons. Quality is not cheap. Edited July 20, 2022 by unheard 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarryP Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 2 hours ago, unheard said: Deep in the sticks you usually don't have much of a choice for a local based builder. It surely won't hire anyone far away from town. And yeah, prices are great. At the same time even In the middle of nowhere you can still get quality big city based builders that will send specialized teams to your location. But the prices won't be nearly as cheap as with local "changs". And please don't say no one does it just because "you don't see any". This is what I am doing at the moment. Company based in Khon Kaen, house building in Kalasin. Specialized teams for each stage. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 18 hours ago, unheard said: btw, the higher prices charged by the out of town builders will also include the expenses for housing their teams in near proximity to the building site. The reason you don't see any of those in your area is there for the very obvious reasons. Quality is not cheap. my idea of quality and yours may vary........wildly..........spent 30 years in construction, ive seen it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 On 7/19/2022 at 9:40 AM, unheard said: That's not correct. From what I've seen the established high volume house builders (not cheap) will directly employ specialized crews being sent to remote sites. If not directly employed then at least utilizing vetted contractors on a long term bases. All depends on quality of the builder and who they employ. Quality cost money, as everywhere else. Ive employed out of town "quality" construction crews before twice, I got rid of both within 2 days, the first were to put in piles for me, sent me a fancy video of pile cutting machines screwing them in and bashing them in....when they turned up it was no machines, hand digging then 8 of them standing on a plank to bash them down, pathetic to watch, they also cut the piles in half claiming it was too stony......the price for a 33 metre length of 2 metre piles at 1 metre spacing was 190000 baht, I paid them a fraction of that and got rid of them. The other was a well drilling company, similar story, fancy brochure shoing all the latest gizmos, none appeared on the day just a normal water blasting knackered old drill. They were both from Bangkok and I am out in Praxchuap. In the end I did my own piles.............. the few piles they put in werent even neatly cut off just smashed with a hammer and half the length they should have been....Id put up their wonderful video and name them but of course you cant do that here and therein lies half the problem with Thailand....similar with architects way back in 2008 hugely expensive price and told me when I questioned it that NONE of their other customers were bothered by the prices and perhaps I should choose a lesser company....designed it myself in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unheard Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 4 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said: my idea of quality and yours may vary........wildly..........spent 30 years in construction, ive seen it all I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here. We're talking about general trends here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unheard Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said: Ive employed out of town "quality" construction crews before twice, I got rid of both within 2 day As someone has mentioned in this thread. If you're experienced in the field and know what you're doing. Great! Then you definitely don't need to rely on anyone to complete your building tasks. This is not what this discussion is all about and your proclaims about nonexistent Thai "quality" are misleading. There are many quality tradesman in Thailand. The trick is to learn how to find them, and how to take into account associated cost differences (often very significant) since the field's hierarchy is not the same as in the west. Edited July 21, 2022 by unheard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sametboy2019 Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 (edited) My worry is that almost every Thai house after a few years has rising damp of some kind wether it comes through the walls near a bathroom or from just the fact there is no damp course or polyurethane sheet under the oversite. My friend is currently having a house built and they have just filled the ring beam up with soil and poured a concrete slab over it. The builder told him there is waterproofer in the concrete but im dubious. Even if there is its probably not suffecient! Edited July 21, 2022 by Sametboy2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 On 7/21/2022 at 12:07 PM, Sametboy2019 said: My worry is that almost every Thai house after a few years has rising damp of some kind wether it comes through the walls near a bathroom or from just the fact there is no damp course or polyurethane sheet under the oversite. My friend is currently having a house built and they have just filled the ring beam up with soil and poured a concrete slab over it. The builder told him there is waterproofer in the concrete but im dubious. Even if there is its probably not suffecient! and for just a few baht they could add GANZUM (waterproofing) to the concrete............probably dont even know or care, or the very small cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampant Rabbit Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 On 7/21/2022 at 10:49 AM, unheard said: As someone has mentioned in this thread. If you're experienced in the field and know what you're doing. Great! Then you definitely don't need to rely on anyone to complete your building tasks. This is not what this discussion is all about and your proclaims about nonexistent Thai "quality" are misleading. There are many quality tradesman in Thailand. The trick is to learn how to find them, and how to take into account associated cost differences (often very significant) since the field's hierarchy is not the same as in the west. and I already said I hired the so called professionals who turned out to be KRAP and it wasnt a cheap price either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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