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Building a new house in Isaan


Encid

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Houses crack because they save on the foundations . If the foundation is strong , the building does not move , and the walls do not crack . And the most worse thing is , you do only save a few k by the weaker foundation . Many Thai houses in villages are build to 100k or less , so a few k does matter . On a 1 mill house , the few k is nothing but saves a lot of worries after .

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32 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Walls crack for a variety of reasons - poor foundations being the main reason for major cracks. However, cracks are also caused other things such as; settlement, using materials that dry at different speeds, heat up and cool down at different rates, vibration, even traffic. I guarantee you that a run of the mill crack (other than foundational) that appears in an internal concrete wall is far easier to permanently repair than a crack in a drywall system - they regularly re-appear.

 

But you have brought up an important subject - foundations.  Most Thai builders are very good at building foundations but unless you can find decent clay (rare in Thailand), you will always run the risk of subsidence and cracking.  It doesn't matter how substantial your foundations are, if they are all individual pads, serving one concrete post each, there is a substantial risk of settlement differential.  All foundations shrink and settle but individual pads may not do so at the same rate and when those rates differ, you will get cracking - concrete blocks are not flexible.  Individual pads are also susceptible to movement caused by major changes in weather patterns (think climate change).

 

Personally, if I was building a new house in Thailand, I would build it on a concrete raft foundation rather than the individual pads that the majority of houses seem to be built on. The OP might want to take account of that in his plans.

What i've seen , they do not bring everything down to stable ground . So that leave deep poles , but they only used in BKK area , where the ground is really unstable .Next is make sure the slab is thick enough and the slabs are big/strong enough all attached to eachother . If that is the case , all poles will remain in place and the walls will not crack , even if the soil might move . the poles will remain straight , 100% like the same day they are placed .

 

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17 hours ago, Lacessit said:

You don't mention the roof insulation, get the best R-factor encapsulated insulation blankets you can afford. Don't mess with PU spray insulation, it's a potential death trap.

I am still trying to figure out the roof/ceiling insulation.

The design is a modern style two story house with a flat concrete roof supporting a steel sloping roof above to collect rain water and also to mount the future solar panels on.

There will be a gap between the concrete and the steel roof which will be insulated by the heat reflector sheeting and ventilated under the eaves.

I am also considering putting a layer of insulation batts on the top of the ceiling (under the concrete roof) to help conserve cool air inside.

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20 hours ago, Olav Seglem said:

Check on goverment electric supply.

Internet.

The nearest PEA poles are 800 metres away.

Fiber optic internet cable is also 800m away.

 

20 hours ago, Olav Seglem said:

Government water supply-regularity.

Road access.

There is no government water supply within 1km or more.

The land has direct access to a concrete government road.

 

20 hours ago, Olav Seglem said:

Drilling  for water-ironized or salt ?

The water table is about 1m underground and the water quality is very good.

The farm has a pond on it that never runs dry, even during drought conditions. It is well stocked with fish.

Some of the locals have drilled wells on their properties and although the water is not suitable for drinking without filtration, it is soft enough to produce a lather with soap whilst showering/bathing.

I am considering using filtered rainwater runoff from the flat sloping roof to provide our primary water supply for washing clothes/bathing etc. and use the bore water as a backup in case of drought conditions.

We will buy bottled water (the 20L bottles) for drinking and cooking.

 

20 hours ago, Olav Seglem said:

Your security- register right to stay on property as long as you live ???

The chanote is in my father-in-law's name. and he has already bequeathed 1 rai where we want to build to his daughter, my wife of 16 years now.

We are building a future not only for us, but for him and his family too... the future benefits of solar powered water supply for gardening and farming purposes will mean that he can harvest rice more than once a year, and perhaps other crops may be considered.

 

We also plan to have a garden... complete with fruit trees and vegetables, herbs etc.

We won't be completely self-sufficient, but we might be able to produce enough to trade with others in a sort of "sufficiency economy" fashion.

 

At least... that is the dream!

 

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I think the labour determines the build.

If using village labour forget the aac blocks unless they can show you some of their work from the past.

You should do a list of sundries for the build otherwise they will use what they can find,things like stabilizers for doors and windows and boards for the cement work.

Large size tiles on the floor and you will end up with softfoot.

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6 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Remember it's very hard to sell a house in Isarn, even in prime areas. I'm moving after 18 years in Khon Kaen, much better places to live in Thailand. 

Depends, location location location.  Now, a buyer's market everywhere.

 

1st house sold, 2008 at Udon Thani sold 1 day before even listing, via local forum, as posted and talked about a few months before listing.  No bites, so 'listed' at realtor, and before he actually put it on his site, someone (retired farang) offered to buy.

 

2nd house, sold Aug 2020, did take a while, 3 yrs, but, bit further out of town, and as photo above, unique design, on 2 rai, so not exactly cheap, and, main kicker, across from a wat w/crematorium, so Thai superstitions didn't help.  Since out of town, only a retired person would buy it anyway.  Definitely a hard sell.

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19 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

A lot is made of drywall systems - I'm not a fan.

 

They may be a bit cheaper to construct initially but I don't think the saving is worth the downside.  Trying to fix things to them is difficult - sure you may know what you want to fix to them now and strengthen those areas but things change over the years - I guarantee that at some point you'll regret the decision.

The following diagram is from the SCG Smartboard installation manual:

 

512312356_SCGSmartboardInternalDrywallInstallation.JPG.ebb58602e66cdd2aa06080aab6e893c6.JPG

 

I would have thought that galvanized stiffeners every 600mm would provide enough strength to adequately support the drywall.

Other fixtures like power sockets could also be mounted on the stiffeners so they aren't supported by the drywall alone.

It is also supposed to be water resistant, fire resistant, termite proof, has a high durability and impact strength and not subject to shrinkage.

 

1007498337_SCGSmartboard.JPG.0b62dd238f0ef8c046119bb27c6db82a.JPG

 

Has anyone else had any experience (good or bad) with this product?

 

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3 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Personally, if I was building a new house in Thailand, I would build it on a concrete raft foundation rather than the individual pads that the majority of houses seem to be built on. The OP might want to take account of that in his plans.

The current design is an elevated reinforced concrete (RC) floor with horizontal beams supporting/integrated with the slab. The beams will be supported by RC columns which in turn will be supported by RC piles. We have not determined the depth of the piles yet, but will probably be limited to the maximum depth that the drilling company can drill. Ground floor level is planned to be approx 1 metre above finished grade level. The soil is "sticky land" about a metre down, therefore a clay base.

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49 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

We used +37 & +38 for ceiling insulation on present build.  Though think the insulation is overkill for you, since having flat concrete roof and steel roof covering that.

I was thinking more of keeping the cool air-conditioned air inside rather than allow it to escape through the ceiling.

The walls will all be insulated and the windows and doors double glazed.

Do you think that might be overkill?

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18 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Make sure the builder knows to put vents in the soffits, so that the heat in the roof space has somewhere to go. If not, your aircon bills will skyrocket.

Are the soffits not at the lower part of the roof space, so hot air will not escape via them, air will be drawn into them.

Vents on the ridge or whirlybirds are the answer. 

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13 minutes ago, Encid said:

I was thinking more of keeping the cool air-conditioned air inside rather than allow it to escape through the ceiling.

The walls will all be insulated and the windows and doors double glazed.

Do you think that might be overkill?

2nd house we used Q/K- insulated block stuff (various names), with shaded, and that alone was more than enough to keep the house cool.  Built east to west, 9mm tinted window (glass front) was good, with 95+ UV & heat blocking.  All other exterior walls were shaded most of the day.  House was very cool, even on the hottest days.

 

In our 2nd build, more insulation (walls) or double glazed windows wouldn't have helped much.  Our present build will have one east sun exposed surface, mostly glass for a few morning hours, but don't care, as solar powered AC, so shouldn't be any issue cooling, if a bit of heat is transferred via glass sliding doors.

 

Insulation & windows are inexpensive, so a wee bit more for better never hurts, and a small percentage of final costs.  Shaded concrete roof, and insulated ceiling is a bit though, and I wouldn't bother.

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23 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Are the soffits not at the lower part of the roof space, so hot air will not escape via them, air will be drawn into them.

Vents on the ridge or whirlybirds are the answer. 

New build has air vents lower & higher (side wall) and in a couple month, I'll let you know how that worked ????.  Steel roof has thickest insulation available, along with +37/38 ceiling insulation.  Steel roof will be partially shaded with solar panels also.

 

Not expecting any heat problem and practical precautions taken, though again, solar AC, so don't care.

 

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8 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Are the soffits not at the lower part of the roof space, so hot air will not escape via them, air will be drawn into them.

Vents on the ridge or whirlybirds are the answer. 

The best solution IMO is to have a false vented window in a pitched roof, like the one in the photo.

You're right, vents in the soffits are not particularly effective, but they are better than nothing.

I'm a bit nervous about whirlybirds, if they stop whirling with a Thai downpour the results might not be good.

baanlek10.jpg

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3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

We used +37 & +38 for ceiling insulation on present build.  Though think the insulation is overkill for you, since having flat concrete roof and steel roof covering that.

 

Previous house had flat concrete roof, shaded by raised steel roof, which provide shade most of day, and good coverage, since rectangular house and built east to west lengthwise.  Ceiling stayed cool all year, not radiating any ambient heat from the outside.  Concrete roof was quite thick, not just slabs with thin concrete coating, but thick & waterproofed, since 'open', as designed for 2nd story if needed.

 

 

 

16177717_367765266934031_6626971769240748479_o.jpg

What sized columns did you have? 250mm x 250mm?

And at what spacing?

From your photo it would seem that you have quite large spans... 8 metres x 5 metres?

Apart from rebar and mesh any additional steel in the first floor?

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1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

I'm a bit nervous about whirlybirds, if they stop whirling with a Thai downpour the results might not be good.

Never had a Whirlybird leak here, and in my opinion are very effective in removing the heat built up in the roof space.

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3 minutes ago, Encid said:

What sized columns did you have? 250mm x 250mm?

And at what spacing?

From your photo it would seem that you have quite large spans... 8 metres x 5 metres?

Apart from rebar and mesh any additional steel in the first floor?

Columns between the window are 5 meters apart.  Main house was 8m wide, but, with support columns midway.  So one half was 20 X 4 open, the other, same, but with 3 seperate 'rooms; bdrm/bath, kitchen, bdrm/bath.  Column & beam, so no real support walls.  So 4m concrete slabs were used for roof.

 

Here's more than a few photos of the build, if having Google account, don't think you need to sign in to access: https://goo.gl/photos/69JVYh4LtQF8rixM6

 

101_2533.jpg

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20 hours ago, Olav Seglem said:

Check on goverment electric supply.

Internet.

Government water supply-regularity.

Road access.

Drilling  for water-ironized or salt ?

Your security- register right to stay on property as long as you live ???

Do builder speak english??

Impotant-be on site, every day to check whats going on, and do adjustments/improvement along the way.

Ps: good luck-memory for life ????

 

 

All good advice but isn't it a little late for the OP?

 

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19 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Be absolutely clear on what you want and how you want it - employ a translater if necessary but I repeat, BE THERE.

I would amplify this to: make sure there is a trusted person on site 24/7. Unguarded building materials, even already installed material and fixtures will disappear in the night if you don't have a watchperson...and not the wife's uncle who appears with a bottle of Sangsom in his back pocket.

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21 hours ago, Will B Good said:

We are 90% complete now (same as you: wife's land Isan).

 

Went the opposite though. Complete turnkey contract. Penalty of 1.300 baht per day for late completion. Way over due, but not overly concerned as I fully expected it to be late......and don't expect to see a penny of the penalty money either.

 

Good luck.

 

Keep us all posted.

Did the construction workers enjoyed the music from your opposite neighbor ...? (????..)  ????

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5 hours ago, Encid said:

The current design is an elevated reinforced concrete (RC) floor with horizontal beams supporting/integrated with the slab. The beams will be supported by RC columns which in turn will be supported by RC piles. We have not determined the depth of the piles yet, but will probably be limited to the maximum depth that the drilling company can drill. Ground floor level is planned to be approx 1 metre above finished grade level. The soil is "sticky land" about a metre down, therefore a clay base.

If you are using piles, that's a whole different ball game but well done piles can be better than a raft.  However, the worrying part of your post is saying that the piles will be limited to the capability of the drilling company.  Although I'm sure a professional  driiling outfit will have access to the geological survey maps and therefore, know the likely depth they will need to go to - there is absolutely no point at all in using piles at all if they don't reach solid a substrate.

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18 hours ago, david555 said:

Did the construction workers enjoyed the music from your opposite neighbor ...? (????..)  ????

Hi,

 

On the odd I day I have visited (I have stayed away on purpose) the builders were fighting back with their own sound system.......frickin mental the lot of them. Thais seem to have no inclination whatsoever to simply relax and listen to nature, they have to have some sort of noise drowning it out.

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