Building a new house in Isaan

[carlyai]

Watch the cavity for too much glue use and the 2 sets of blocks having glue bridges. 

You should have a door on the carport to stop all the dust and dirt being blown in from outside.

[Encid]

17 hours ago, Muhendis said:

And strong enough for megawatts of solar panels.

We plan to install the PV panels on the Main House.

Megawatts? 555...

 

17 hours ago, Muhendis said:

You seem a bit light on worktop space in the kitchen areas.

Yes I think you are right, and I was thinking of making a bench counter on the carport side of the external kitchen... good for storage of pots, pans etc too. And putting in a wall on the West side so elevated cupboards could be installed as well as some wind protection.

 

However my wife is thinking that this will work well, as once each dish is prepared/cooked, it will be brought inside where the flies will not be attracted to it and the next dish can be prepared.

 

There is a counter between the internal kitchen and the living area which we were going to use as a breakfast bar, and I was thinking of dispensing with the hotplate/ gas burners in the internal kitchen completely.

 

Internally we will have electrical appliances like microwave, air fryer, coffee machine etc, but the plan is to do the majority of the cooking outside.

[d4dang]

On 2/19/2022 at 6:09 AM, Robin said:

Remember the old rule:

"Everything takes longer and costs more than you expect"

Paricularly applies o Thai building work.  Good Luck

somethings come to an ending faster than one would hope and cost more than you had hoped

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Encid said:

There is a counter between the internal kitchen and the living area which we were going to use as a breakfast bar, and I was thinking of dispensing with the hotplate/ gas burners in the internal kitchen completely.

Serving hatch?

[Muhendis]

2 hours ago, Encid said:

However my wife is thinking that this will work well, as once each dish is prepared/cooked, it will be brought inside where the flies will not be attracted to it and the next dish can be prepared.

We have about 9 metres of U shaped worktop and a 1 x 1 M island and it's always chock-a block. Don't put too much faith in what your wife says "will do". She is probably thinking of keeping the cost down.

[Encid]

20 hours ago, carlyai said:

Watch the cavity for too much glue use and the 2 sets of blocks having glue bridges. 

You should have a door on the carport to stop all the dust and dirt being blown in from outside.

The cavity will be used for electrical conduits too, so they can only build the external wall first, then run the conduits and cable, then erect the inner wall so hopefully no glue bridges (or did you mean the ties between the walls to keep them the same distance apart?).

 

The prevailing wind all year round is from the North-East, which is the lower left corner of the CAD plan I posted earlier, so the Thai kitchen will be sheltered apart from an eddy effect of the wind passing around the corner of the house, it should be relatively calm (except of course for all the toxic eye-watering fumes emitted during Thai cooking!

 

My wife doesn't want a wall and door between the external deck and the carport... it is elevated some 60cm above the carport floor level... but we will see how the situation is after we have lived there for a few months.

 

One good thing about the post and beam style of construction... it is easy to add on extra rooms, walls etc. at a later date.

[Encid]

1 hour ago, Muhendis said:

Serving hatch?

We have planned to install a sliding glass window between the internal kitchen and the external Thai kitchen that could well be used as a serving hatch 

[Encid]

Well the architect has worked his magic on our basic guest house plan... and this is the result:

 

 

 

 

Awesome! 

 

[brianthainess]

On 12/16/2022 at 5:35 PM, Encid said:

For 8m high poles they were never going to remain standing.

? can you explain why you need 8m poles instead of the norm 4m ones ?

[Encid]

2 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

? can you explain why you need 8m poles instead of the norm 4m ones ?

4m high poles alongside a road or accessway might be OK, but across working farm land it's too low.

Don't forget that the electric cables also hang down in an inverted arc from their supports on the poles.

You need to be able to provide adequate clearance for farm machinery, and if the crops change from rice to say sugar cane, then you really do have to have good clearance for the harvesting machinery.

Plus... the cost difference (in the big picture of supply and install) is negligible.

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Encid said:

4m high poles alongside a road or accessway might be OK, but across working farm land it's too low.

Don't forget that the electric cables also hang down in an inverted arc from their supports on the poles.

You need to be able to provide adequate clearance for farm machinery, and if the crops change from rice to say sugar cane, then you really do have to have good clearance for the harvesting machinery.

Plus... the cost difference (in the big picture of supply and install) is negligible.

Yup.

5 Metres is the required minimum headroom at the lowest sag point for traffic to pass under and, as always, across a road there has to be a marker on the lowest point for drivers to spot the wires.

[Encid]

After the Guest House has been built, fitted out with furniture and necessary fittings and appliances, water and power connected, and fully habitable we will start with the construction of our main house. We may need to wait for a while because the build is dependent on the sale of our current house in Najomtien. Hopefully it will sell quickly and we can use the funds to build the new house in a timely manner.

 

The construction is also to be based on piled foundations, using driven piles (22cm x 22cm x 6m long). I forgot to mention before that when we drive the piles for our Guest House, we will also setout and drive the piles for the Main House, so we will only have to pay for a single mob/demob of the pile driving equipment.

 

The Main House will be a U-shaped building loosely based on a 4m x 4.5m column grid system, with a master wing comprising of a bedroom, walk-in-robe room, and large bathroom, a connecting open plan living/dining area and internal western kitchen, an internal bathroom with additional shower, and the second wing comprising of a second bedroom with a full ensuite bathroom.

 

Internal living area will be about 168 sq.m.

 

Just outside the western kitchen will be a large Thai kitchen area, with a ramp leading down to a covered carport that will be large enough to not only house our 2 cars, but also enough room for a small EV and a motocyc or two. Also inside the the carport will be a workshop/battery room where I will be able to store all my tools as well as the inverters and batteries for our future hybrid solar power system.

 

The front of the U-shaped house will contain an 8m x 4m swimming pool, which will be surrounded on 2 sides by SCI wood decking. The pool will be an overflow type, with an infinity edge on the East and South sides. As the prevailing winds come from the North-East, any surface floating debris that gets blown into the pool should be blown to and overflow into the South-West corner of the pool. 

 

The decking (front and rear) will be elevated about 90cm above grade, hence the need for some steps at the front of the house, and the ramp access inside the carport.

 

 

One the Main House is built, fitted out with furniture and necessary fittings and appliances, water and power connected, and fully habitable, we will then move in and the Guest House will become my Inlaw's (wife's parents) new home.

 

We are all looking forward to it.

 

 

[Encid]

Well the architect has worked his magic on our basic Main House plan... and this is the result:

 

 

 

 

 

[couchpotato]

7 minutes ago, Encid said:

After the Guest House has been built, fitted out with furniture and necessary fittings and appliances, water and power connected, and fully habitable we will start with the construction of our main house. We may need to wait for a while because the build is dependent on the sale of our current house in Najomtien. Hopefully it will sell quickly and we can use the funds to build the new house in a timely manner.

 

The construction is also to be based on piled foundations, using driven piles (22cm x 22cm x 6m long). I forgot to mention before that when we drive the piles for our Guest House, we will also setout and drive the piles for the Main House, so we will only have to pay for a single mob/demob of the pile driving equipment.

 

The Main House will be a U-shaped building loosely based on a 4m x 4.5m column grid system, with a master wing comprising of a bedroom, walk-in-robe room, and large bathroom, a connecting open plan living/dining area and internal western kitchen, an internal bathroom with additional shower, and the second wing comprising of a second bedroom with a full ensuite bathroom.

 

Internal living area will be about 168 sq.m.

 

Just outside the western kitchen will be a large Thai kitchen area, with a ramp leading down to a covered carport that will be large enough to not only house our 2 cars, but also enough room for a small EV and a motocyc or two. Also inside the the carport will be a workshop/battery room where I will be able to store all my tools as well as the inverters and batteries for our future hybrid solar power system.

 

The front of the U-shaped house will contain an 8m x 4m swimming pool, which will be surrounded on 2 sides by SCI wood decking. The pool will be an overflow type, with an infinity edge on the East and South sides. As the prevailing winds come from the North-East, any surface floating debris that gets blown into the pool should be blown to and overflow into the South-West corner of the pool. 

 

The decking (front and rear) will be elevated about 90cm above grade, hence the need for some steps at the front of the house, and the ramp access inside the carport.

 

 

One the Main House is built, fitted out with furniture and necessary fittings and appliances, water and power connected, and fully habitable, we will then move in and the Guest House will become my Inlaw's (wife's parents) new home.

 

We are all looking forward to it.

 

 

My observation is a very nice plan, but to me the kitchen area lacks bench space, and an 'island' would be a a very useful and aesthetic addition.

[Encid]

6 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

My observation is a very nice plan, but to me the kitchen area lacks bench space, and an 'island' would be a a very useful and aesthetic addition.

Funny you should mention that... I was thinking exactly the same thing myself today after a visit to Hafele to look at all their lovely (but expensive) household ideas.

 

I will give it some more serious consideration.

 

It will not affect the build, as kitchen layouts, islands etc can be added later, although location of power points and water pipes/drains need to be sorted out early.

 

[Encid]

The architect also showed the relationship of both the Guest House and the Main House on the proposed building site:

 

 

 

As you can see it's a large area, and the houses will be spaced far enough apart to provide us all with our own privacy, but close enough for family communication and interaction.

 

The access road I have allowed for is currently 4m wide, which is more than adequate for private vehicular access and turning, as well as for agricultural equipment that will need access to the farm.

 

 

[couchpotato]

21 minutes ago, Encid said:

Well the architect has worked his magic on our basic Main House plan... and this is the result:

 

 

 

 

 

The only other thought I had (only if it was my place). When you park your car, it it seems only 2 ways to enter the house, and both are a long way. ie: go outside, past the pool and in the balcony door, or up a ramp, into the Thai kitchen, and then enter through a small door (meters away at the end of the thai kitchen).

IMHO.

[Encid]

5 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

The only other thought I had (only if it was my place). When you park your car, it it seems only 2 ways to enter the house, and both are a long way. ie: go outside, past the pool and in the balcony door, or up a ramp, into the Thai kitchen, and then enter through a small door (meters away at the end of the thai kitchen).

IMHO.

Yes you are correct... the normal point of entry after parking the car would be via the ramp and the Thai kitchen... all under cover so no sun and no rain. And that is acceptable to us rather than adding a new door into the western kitchen and steps down (approx 80cm).

 

The large sliding doors at the front of the living/dining area would normally only be used by visitors, or when moving large items of furniture or appliances into (or out of) the building (same with the sliding doors on the bedroom wings).

 

Of course, all the sliding doors and windows will be used when we want to freshen the place up with fresh air.

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Encid said:

The architect also showed the relationship of both the Guest House and the Main House on the proposed building site:

 

 

 

As you can see it's a large area, and the houses will be spaced far enough apart to provide us all with our own privacy, but close enough for family communication and interaction.

 

The access road I have allowed for is currently 4m wide, which is more than adequate for private vehicular access and turning, as well as for agricultural equipment that will need access to the farm.

 

 

Looks really good.

Observations are as before.

Flat rooves leak.

I have a flat car port roof. It leaks

My neighbour has a flat house roof. It leaks. 

 

A strong DPM would be necessary twit roof concrete and final screed but then I expect your architect has something in mind for that anyway.

I don't see where you are going to park the Cesna. 

[Encid]

And of course I have worked up a plan for locating PV solar panels on the roof of the Main House.

 

I was thinking about installing 40 x 540W panels as per the sketch below.

Panels 1-10 and panels 27-36 facing South (total 20 panels.

Panels 11-14, 21-26, and 37-40 facing East (total 14 panels).

Panels 15-20 facing West (total 6 panels).

 

This would preserve the appearance of the house (which faces East) and enable us to extend the working collection day of the panels by collecting more solar energy earlier in the day from the East facing panels, and again later in the day from the West facing panels, and also avoiding the midday peak in production that is associated with panels that all face South.

 

Future additional panels could be mounted on top of the carport if required.

 

 

I will be most interested in feedback from members who have their own solar installations on this proposed arrangement.

 

[Encid]

5 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

I don't see where you are going to park the Cesna. 

We have access to an additional 17-19 rai if we want... 

[Encid]

9 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Flat rooves leak.

I have a flat car port roof. It leaks

My neighbour has a flat house roof. It leaks. 

 

A strong DPM would be necessary twit roof concrete and final screed but then I expect your architect has something in mind for that anyway.

I have just OK'd the 3D views and the general shape(s) of the structures and paid the progress payment for him to start working on the detailed construction drawings and BOQ which will serve for local authorities building planning approval, as well as enable us to go out for bidding by building contractors.

 

Most of his plans are modern, flat roofed, houses... and he has had them built all over Thailand... from Phuket in the South to Udon Thani in the NE to Chiang Mai in the North. He has a good reputation.

 

I will ask him what his waterproofing plans are (and let you know of course).

[couchpotato]

11 minutes ago, Encid said:

We have access to an additional 17-19 rai if we want... 

That should do it.

I applaud you on extremely good ideas, an excellent plan, and most importantly willing to take other posters ideas and suggestions with a smile.????

[Elkski]

Power on the island cat 6.

I like the idea of being able to pass  or grab dirty dishes directly through onto the counter. I think you will use and store more things ( dust, bug free) inside rather than  in the Thai kitchen.   

I did think quite a bit about pool bathroom situation.   Looks ok from function but not sure you want a wet front entry inside.   A deal entry toilet and sink?  If tile gets wet Wife can keep the front entry clean or a good mat.  Look at the tiles slippery rating when wet.  The rankings mean not always easy to detect in salesroom.   Outdoor shower?

Oh I forget I hate flat roofs because they require craftsmanship and perfect weather to apply properly.  When they leak and I bet big it with in time.  Also 40 solar panels with 4-8 holes each?   

[Will B Good]

4 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Power on the island cat 6.

I like the idea of being able to pass  or grab dirty dishes directly through onto the counter. I think you will use and store more things ( dust, bug free) inside rather than  in the Thai kitchen.   

I did think quite a bit about pool bathroom situation.   Looks ok from function but not sure you want a wet front entry inside.   A deal entry toilet and sink?  If tile gets wet Wife can keep the front entry clean or a good mat.  Look at the tiles slippery rating when wet.  The rankings mean not always easy to detect in salesroom.   Outdoor shower?

We made a big mistake re: tiles outside.

 

I've had to put down tape down in strategic places, as walking in the rain could be fatal.

[Muhendis]

38 minutes ago, Encid said:

I will be most interested in feedback from members who have their own solar installations on this proposed arrangement.

That's a total of 21.6kw which is excessive for most inverters which all have limits of input power.

It would be interesting to work out the angles of each batch of panels to reduce the power outputs throughout the year so that they will never exceed the inverter limitations. 

Have you done your power requirement calcs. yet?

[sometimewoodworker]

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

We made a big mistake re: tiles outside.

 

I've had to put down tape down in strategic places, as walking in the rain could be fatal.

We have used non glossy tiles everywhere, some with more grip than others. There is one problem with that and that is that they take marks and stains quite easily, to the extent that I’ve just purchased a powered floor scrubber, it does a reasonable job but certainly isn’t fast, quiet or cheap, even so I probably wouldn’t change any of the tiles to glossy ones just because of that.

[Elkski]

It is obvious your a CADD man.  I was talking to a dating site to an interior designer in Malaysia. Our LDR was more on home design as I was doing a project.  

She told me I could get a 3D work up walk through cad made for just a few hundred USD 6 years ago 2018

[Muhendis]

10 minutes ago, Elkski said:

It is obvious your a CADD man.  I was talking to a dating site to an interior designer in Malaysia. Our LDR was more on home design as I was doing a project.  

She told me I could get a 3D work up walk through cad made for just a few hundred USD 6 years ago 2018

I've been using Google Sketchup (as was) for the past 20 years or so but only because it's free.

[Elkski]

A flat roof does let you tilt the solar panels to best angle and cleaning woykd be real easy if you   also had a rooftop patio with  some stairs.  1 house in chaingmai we visited the roof top was  a great sunset nightcap place with friends.  It had privacy and some nice views of the sunset.  It did require and have railings.