Please help advise on the internal design of house we propose to build in Thailand.

[ubonr1971]

We purchased a small plot of land 60m x 18.3m. Its kind of a long / narrow block. In the photo of the land, the concrete on the left is a small soi which leads to a dead end (neighbours land- no access at all). On the right side is rice field view. To the left is mountain view

 

We were recently having a beach holiday and I saw a nice house that I might copy. I dont know if its possible but might have the same entry steps with the 3 arches at either end- as depicted on my sketch design. Carport at one end and pool area at the other. 

 

I asked the owner of the blue house about the structure and its basically a concrete house with that weather board screwed in- to kind of give it a american vintage house look. 

 

With the size of the house being proposed at 20m x 14m do you think I can manage 3 small bedroom and 2 bath rooms, kitchen and lounge area? If so how would you design it?  Where would you put the lounge area and kitchen?.  The water pipes will run along the side of the rice field fence all the way to the water tanks. 

 

Thanks for your help with this. Just trying to get ideas. 

[thaitom]

If you have a Thai  wife...... make the kitchen in a separate building .  

[carlyai]

Nice looking house. Depends on the builder you get, but a tricky roof, so need a good builder.

[problemfarang]

without seeing inside cannot say or cannot give any suggestions

plus what i see in the photos and what you draw seems not same place.. 

in the photo your house has an extension to left.. but not in your drawing.. 

at this point i strongly suggest do some google search 

Edited April 7, 2023 by problemfarang

[phetphet]

20m x 14m is 280 sqm. Around 3000 sq. ft. Plenty of room for 3 bed 2 bath. But I suppose it also depends on how much external terrace or verandah you want to include in those dimensions.

 

If you intend to copy the blue house, which looks like it has bedrooms upstairs, then you should have plenty of room.

Edited April 7, 2023 by phetphet

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, ubonr1971 said:

With the size of the house being proposed at 20m x 14m do you think I can manage 3 small bedroom and 2 bath rooms, kitchen and lounge area?

I believe you mean 14m X 20m due to your frontage being 18.3m and of course on your plan.

 

Gable roofs as depicted in the photos are great for moving air around in your roofline.

 

Depending on where the sun sets, is where I would place the pool, e.g. sun deflecting off of the pool, so if the sun sets at the front of the house where you propose to put the pool, I would put it at the rear of the house so as not to get blinded by the sun bouncing off of the pool.

 

The set back from the road can then be readjusted to say 10 metres which is more than enough.

 

We have a 300m2 single level house with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, loungeroom (4 x 9), kitchen-dining room (4 x 8 metres) a full gym (4 x 8) and family room (6 x 8), typically the bedrooms are (4 x 4), except for one that has an en-suite bathroom so that's about (6 x 4.5).

 

If the front is where the sun sets, you will want to get some louver doors that close in from left and right to block out the sun hitting the front door/s and or any glass as they will heat up really quickly, we have two front doors opening outwards, left and right and full tinted glass panels next to the doors, the front porch is (4 x 4).

 

Important to build all bedrooms on the side that doesn't see the sun so to stay cool.

 

The most important part and I can't stress it enough is sisalation under the roof tiles, thermal reflective sisalation if you can get it, as it keeps the heat out longer then normal, e.g. our place doesn't start to heat up till about 2pm on days of 37-40 degrees, we also have insulation batts, whirly birds, and those saloon like looking doors which ventilate the air in just under the gable roof, just look at any Thai house and you will see what I mean, can't remember what they're called. Also make your eaves a minimum 600mm wide with those fibro sheets with the holes in them to allow the hot air to exit.

 

If you do the above, you will save on air conditioning costs as you won't need to run air cons as much as others do, e.g. with weather as hot as today, I put on the A/C in the loungeroom at around 2pm and turn it off an hour and a half later, then turn the wall fan on low and the room stays cool till the evening, say 7pm-8pm.

 

As I don't really like having air conditioning on at night, I will put it on for 30 minutes, then turn it off and then turn on the wall fan on low and sleep comfortably all night.

 

Sisalation and Insulation batts will set you back about 100k baht, whirly birds, depending on size from 1,500 to 2,500 baht, insulation on the above shouldn't be that much.

 

Last but not least, and you didn't ask for it, but I always tell guys looking to build, look at it as a bad investment, i.e. you are sinking your money into a place that is not going to increase in value and won't be in your name, sure you can get an Usufruct and go to court if your marriage breaks down, but at the end of the day, it costs money and time to get perhaps 50% of your investment back, did I mention time, yes I did, so only invest as much as your prepared to lose, which should only be 20% of your worth, anything over that and your a bigger man than I am, suffice to say I have seen guys go all in and walk away with nothing, hence my advice, nothing is forever, I have been very happily married 16 years, living here 7.5 years and if it ever went south, I would just walk away, plan B is my 80% off shore.

 

Hope some of my tips helps.

 

[ubonr1971]

7 hours ago, phetphet said:

which looks like it has bedrooms upstairs, then you should have plenty of room

Actually its fake. Theres no upstairs. Only for show/ presentation. The house is single storey ground level

[ubonr1971]

7 hours ago, problemfarang said:

without seeing inside

Please read the title and the thread. Im looking for opinions how to design the inside based on the space noted in the diagram. 

[tgw]

I have 2 quick inputs:

 

- no serious cooking can be done in an open kitchen inside the house (major mistake in modern Western house and condo designs).

put the main kitchen/cooking area outside the house, backside, as most Thais do, and inside maybe fridge, microwave and a sink for the fancy things.

- bathrooms: I'd suggest placing a drain in the floor.

 

[Dante99]

I suggest that you carefully draw to scale if you want to get an idea of how it will look.  Your current drawing does not seem to be to scale, the spaces on the sides of the house appear to be much wider than the space actually available.  Your lot is 18.3 meters wide and the house is 14 so that leaves 4.3 or about 2 meters on each side but your drawing shows more than  twice that.

 

At the pool area the 14 meter house width is longer than the 17.5 between the house and the edge of the land.

 

This is not just a little deal, we are talking meters of difference, not centimeters.

[brianthainess]

In your plan it looks like you have, but don't forget the 2mt from boundary rule. 

[stratocaster]

If you are building using the normal Thai style of the concrete column and beam construction you have omitted where your columns will be situated, which dictates internal plan. For cheapness and ease of construction most Thai builders construct on a 4 meters by 4 meters grid. Length wise at 20 meters is easy that's 4 internal posts span. Width wise at 14 meters is awkward. Do you go for 2 x 7 meter span (which would have the row of columns right in the center of the house) or two 4 meter spans and one 6 meter. Or 3 x 4.6 m spans. Or are you going to choose a different construction method that eliminates internal columns altogether. Then you have to figure what roof material you use as that dictates the load the walls have to take if columns omitted.

Edited April 11, 2023 by stratocaster
spelling

[brianthainess]

23 minutes ago, stratocaster said:

If you are building using the normal Thai style of the concrete column and beam construction you have omitted where your columns will be situated, which dictates internal plan. For cheapness and ease of construction most Thai builders construct on a 4 meters by 4 meters grid. Length wise at 20 meters is easy that's 4 internal posts span. Width wise at 14 meters is awkward. Do you go for 2 x 7 meter span (which would have the row of columns right in the center of the house) or two 4 meter spans and one 6 meter. Or 3 x 4.6 m spans. Or are you going to choose a different construction method that eliminates internal columns altogether. Then you have to figure what roof material you use as that dictates the load the walls have to take if columns omitted.

Some of my 'pillers' are 5mt apart, i have 2 rooms 5x4. just saying.

 

[ubonr1971]

On 4/11/2023 at 8:45 AM, Dante99 said:

I suggest that you carefully draw to scale if you want to get an idea of how it will look.  Your current drawing does not seem to be to scale, the spaces on the sides of the house appear to be much wider than the space actually available.  Your lot is 18.3 meters wide and the house is 14 so that leaves 4.3 or about 2 meters on each side but your drawing shows more than  twice that.

 

At the pool area the 14 meter house width is longer than the 17.5 between the house and the edge of the land.

 

This is not just a little deal, we are talking meters of difference, not centimeters.

its just a drawing on a piece of paper. Not so important for todays issue on this thread. The builder can draw up proper plans. 

[ubonr1971]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:08 AM, stratocaster said:

If you are building using the normal Thai style of the concrete column and beam construction you have omitted where your columns will be situated, which dictates internal plan. For cheapness and ease of construction most Thai builders construct on a 4 meters by 4 meters grid. Length wise at 20 meters is easy that's 4 internal posts span. Width wise at 14 meters is awkward. Do you go for 2 x 7 meter span (which would have the row of columns right in the center of the house) or two 4 meter spans and one 6 meter. Or 3 x 4.6 m spans. Or are you going to choose a different construction method that eliminates internal columns altogether. Then you have to figure what roof material you use as that dictates the load the walls have to take if columns omitted.

You raised a valid point above. I dont have any building knowledge and thus appreciate your opinion in this regard. Below is an updated drawing of my proposed 3 b/r and 2 bathroom. Actually in the master bedroom I want an ensuite bathroom with bath tub. In the middle of the other 2 rooms is a small toilet room and shower bathroom with sink inside. Also I want to put the kitchen outside next to the back verandah

 

My drawing is evidently not to scale. Are you able to take a look at it and estimate the room sizes based on your comment above re concrete column positions. I have no idea about this actually. Thanks if your able to help me design this properly

 

 

[ubonr1971]

On 4/7/2023 at 10:14 PM, tgw said:

I have 2 quick inputs:

 

- no serious cooking can be done in an open kitchen inside the house (major mistake in modern Western house and condo designs).

put the main kitchen/cooking area outside the house, backside, as most Thais do, and inside maybe fridge, microwave and a sink for the fancy things.

- bathrooms: I'd suggest placing a drain in the floor.

 

After reading your comment I decided to put the kitchen out the back area on the rear verandah. It will give me more space inside the house. Do you think this idea will work?

 

I dont understand your last comment actually. All bathrooms have drains in the floor. What do you mean exactly?

 

Looking at the plan, where should the onsite septic system be positioned?

[ubonr1971]

On 4/7/2023 at 2:46 PM, 4MyEgo said:

I believe you mean 14m X 20m due to your frontage being 18.3m and of course on your plan.

 

Gable roofs as depicted in the photos are great for moving air around in your roofline.

 

Depending on where the sun sets, is where I would place the pool, e.g. sun deflecting off of the pool, so if the sun sets at the front of the house where you propose to put the pool, I would put it at the rear of the house so as not to get blinded by the sun bouncing off of the pool.

 

The set back from the road can then be readjusted to say 10 metres which is more than enough.

 

We have a 300m2 single level house with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, loungeroom (4 x 9), kitchen-dining room (4 x 8 metres) a full gym (4 x ???? and family room (6 x 8), typically the bedrooms are (4 x 4), except for one that has an en-suite bathroom so that's about (6 x 4.5).

 

If the front is where the sun sets, you will want to get some louver doors that close in from left and right to block out the sun hitting the front door/s and or any glass as they will heat up really quickly, we have two front doors opening outwards, left and right and full tinted glass panels next to the doors, the front porch is (4 x 4).

 

Important to build all bedrooms on the side that doesn't see the sun so to stay cool.

 

The most important part and I can't stress it enough is sisalation under the roof tiles, thermal reflective sisalation if you can get it, as it keeps the heat out longer then normal, e.g. our place doesn't start to heat up till about 2pm on days of 37-40 degrees, we also have insulation batts, whirly birds, and those saloon like looking doors which ventilate the air in just under the gable roof, just look at any Thai house and you will see what I mean, can't remember what they're called. Also make your eaves a minimum 600mm wide with those fibro sheets with the holes in them to allow the hot air to exit.

 

If you do the above, you will save on air conditioning costs as you won't need to run air cons as much as others do, e.g. with weather as hot as today, I put on the A/C in the loungeroom at around 2pm and turn it off an hour and a half later, then turn the wall fan on low and the room stays cool till the evening, say 7pm-8pm.

 

As I don't really like having air conditioning on at night, I will put it on for 30 minutes, then turn it off and then turn on the wall fan on low and sleep comfortably all night.

 

Sisalation and Insulation batts will set you back about 100k baht, whirly birds, depending on size from 1,500 to 2,500 baht, insulation on the above shouldn't be that much.

 

Last but not least, and you didn't ask for it, but I always tell guys looking to build, look at it as a bad investment, i.e. you are sinking your money into a place that is not going to increase in value and won't be in your name, sure you can get an Usufruct and go to court if your marriage breaks down, but at the end of the day, it costs money and time to get perhaps 50% of your investment back, did I mention time, yes I did, so only invest as much as your prepared to lose, which should only be 20% of your worth, anything over that and your a bigger man than I am, suffice to say I have seen guys go all in and walk away with nothing, hence my advice, nothing is forever, I have been very happily married 16 years, living here 7.5 years and if it ever went south, I would just walk away, plan B is my 80% off shore.

 

Hope some of my tips helps.

 

Thanks for your comments. I will 100% be putting in insulation bats and the thin silver insulation that is positioned close to the roof tiles. 

 

Would you be able to look at the new plan attached and give any suggestions. 

 

On the master bathroom I want to put a bath tub, sink and toilet.  In between the other 2 rooms a shower room with sink and separate toilet

 

Kitchen outside the rear area on the back verandah. Do you think thats a good idea

 

Another guy on this thread discussed positions of the columns. Will my room plan work ok in this regard?

 

thanks

[ubonr1971]

On 4/7/2023 at 2:14 PM, phetphet said:

20m x 14m is 280 sqm. Around 3000 sq. ft. Plenty of room for 3 bed 2 bath. But I suppose it also depends on how much external terrace or verandah you want to include in those dimensions.

 

If you intend to copy the blue house, which looks like it has bedrooms upstairs, then you should have plenty of room.

Do you think if the front of the house (pool area) with the gable roofs looks exactly the same at the rear of the house (carport area) then this will look ok? 

 

Also I propose 4m high ceilings. I dont like the low ceilings in small houses. What do you think about this height?

[tgw]

7 minutes ago, ubonr1971 said:

After reading your comment I decided to put the kitchen out the back area on the rear verandah. It will give me more space inside the house. Do you think this idea will work?

 

I dont understand your last comment actually. All bathrooms have drains in the floor. What do you mean exactly?

 

Looking at the plan, where should the onsite septic system be positioned?

placing the heavy cooking part of the kitchen outside will always work in Thailand ????

you will have to think about details such as smoke/exhaust management, easy placement of cooking supplies, roofing, etc.

 

regarding the drain in the floor, yes, Thai bathrooms usually come with that drain in the floor, but Western bathrooms usually don't.

I mean building the whole bathroom floor with a very slight slope that guides the water towards the drain. The bathroom floor could also be 1 cm lower than other floors. The Japanese generally make very clever bathrooms.

[phetphet]

20 minutes ago, ubonr1971 said:

Do you think if the front of the house (pool area) with the gable roofs looks exactly the same at the rear of the house (carport area) then this will look ok? 

 

Also I propose 4m high ceilings. I dont like the low ceilings in small houses. What do you think about this height?

I can't comment on the roof design, but what you might need to consider with 4m high ceilings, is the cost of cooling that amount of space if indeed you intend to instal air con. That is a lot of wasted space to cool above your head.

 

Not a big problem if you intend to have small rooms.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by phetphet

[KhunLA]

Use TH available materials vs wood/logs.

https://www.kontio.com/en/models/glasshouse80-logcabin/

[4MyEgo]

8 hours ago, ubonr1971 said:

Thanks for your comments. I will 100% be putting in insulation bats and the thin silver insulation that is positioned close to the roof tiles. 

 

Would you be able to look at the new plan attached and give any suggestions. 

 

On the master bathroom I want to put a bath tub, sink and toilet.  In between the other 2 rooms a shower room with sink and separate toilet

 

Kitchen outside the rear area on the back verandah. Do you think thats a good idea

 

Another guy on this thread discussed positions of the columns. Will my room plan work ok in this regard?

 

thanks

Your welcome. Just make sure you choose good quality sisalation (insulation) as you refer to it, and good quality insulation batts, the ones I recommended are made from fibreglass so don't burn well if you have an electrical fire.

 

I had a look at the plan and this is my take on it, the hallway will benefit from a door/s where the walk-in wardrobe wall ends, you would also benefit from having the door to the shower in that area, e.g. before the door/s that will block access to the hallway to the master bedroom and bedroom 2 when closed. 

 

The reason I suggest this is for the air conditioner, it will cool that room ( open plan living/dining, as opposed to allowing the air to circulate all the way down the hallway which will take longer for the house to cool, suffice to say, you should also have an air conditioner in the master bedroom and other bedrooms for hot nights, you will only need to turn them on for 30 minutes and then let a floor or wall fan take over on speed 1 or 2, and if it gets hot during the middle of the night at say 2am-3am you can turn the air conditioner back on for 30 minutes, but don't do what I do, i.e. fall back to sleep and wake up an hour or so later freezing, that said, I have our air conditioners set on 26, that is comfortable.

 

You might also entertain an inside kitchen, cupboards, benchtops, sink, because outside kitchens can get hot, suffice to say just behind bedroom 1, butting up on the same side as the outside kitchen would work well.

 

Last but not least, doors, we have sliding doors to all bedrooms and bathrooms, the only place that has doors, is the main entrance, family room and the external kitchen, sliding doors don't take up any space and slide out of your way easily, the front doors open outwards and butt up against the external wall, the family room door open to the right and stops against another wall and the external kitchen door opens outwards and butts up against the wall. To me it has always been important that doors don't get in my way, i.e. take up space, and of course these days depends on the hinges you get as they can get the doors out of the way, but for bedrooms and bathrooms, they work really well.

[4MyEgo]

19 hours ago, phetphet said:

I can't comment on the roof design, but what you might need to consider with 4m high ceilings, is the cost of cooling that amount of space if indeed you intend to instal air con. That is a lot of wasted space to cool above your head.

 

Not a big problem if you intend to have small rooms.

 

The higher the ceilings, the cooler the house, first thing I learned in construction, that and room sizes should be a minimum 4m x 4m.

 

The only reason Thai's build 3m x 3m rooms and have lower ceilings, is because they can't afford the extra costs to have higher ceilings and bigger rooms, i.e. the extra cost in materials is a lot to them, but peanuts to us.

 

We have 3 metre ceilings and the house is cool up to 2pm on the hottest days in summer 40-41 degrees, (well insulated) and as one can stand up in the roof space in certain sections, the higher the roof space, the better chances you have of getting that hot air to circulate back out of the roof space.

 

Room sizes are important as well because most people believe it or not live in their rooms these days, especially the kids.

 

Mum and Dads room is 6m x 8m and was originally the family room, but as we saw the kids didn't take to it, or the lounge room, I put my name on it, suffice to say 48 square metres of bedroom is exceptional if you can have one that size, we have our King bed in it, a lounge suite to watch TV, my desk for work and still loads of space.

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, ubonr1971 said:

You raised a valid point above. I dont have any building knowledge and thus appreciate your opinion in this regard. Below is an updated drawing of my proposed 3 b/r and 2 bathroom. Actually in the master bedroom I want an ensuite bathroom with bath tub. In the middle of the other 2 rooms is a small toilet room and shower bathroom with sink inside. Also I want to put the kitchen outside next to the back verandah

 

My drawing is evidently not to scale. Are you able to take a look at it and estimate the room sizes based on your comment above re concrete column positions. I have no idea about this actually. Thanks if your able to help me design this properly

 

 

I'd put the master across the back and put the ensuite, bathroom, shower and toilet on one side which would allow larger bedrooms

[phetphet]

Looking at your drawing, and bearing in mind it is not to scale"

 

If you moved bedroom 1 to the other side, behind the walk in wardrobe,  Wouldn't it make what I presume is the living room, more of a square space?

 

To be honest 280 sqm internal space is pretty big (and I don't think you realise how big) for a 3 bedroom house.

 

I have less than that, around 155sqm, and have three double bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and my living room is still have 6m x 6m

You really  need to do a 'to scale' drawing.

 

I might be reading this wrong, but I will give you  an example:

 

If each bedroom on your drawing is 4m wide, it would leave you with a hallway right through the house that is 6m wide.

4m + 4m + 6m = 14m

 

Also, What is that wasted space opposite the bathroom? You could move everything forward to the front.

Edited April 15, 2023 by phetphet

[Will B Good]

Haven't read the thread.....but pay attention to airflow.....try to avoid trapped, air hot spots....we have a couple.

 

Also consider big, wide concertina doors to open up the house to air (at least in the winter time)......I would put up external shutters...keeps the house cool(er) and is a security feature.

[sandyf]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:45 AM, brianthainess said:

Some of my 'pillers' are 5mt apart, i have 2 rooms 5x4. just saying.

 

It depends on the foundations. Although we are in the country the architect we had got to do the plans used heavy traffic foundations.

The floor plan is 12m x 8m and the pillars are also 5m from one side on the width, variable 2.5m - 4m pitch on the length.

Lounge is a clean rectangle of 7.7m x 5m.

 

[sandyf]

22 hours ago, ubonr1971 said:

You raised a valid point above. I dont have any building knowledge and thus appreciate your opinion in this regard. Below is an updated drawing of my proposed 3 b/r and 2 bathroom. Actually in the master bedroom I want an ensuite bathroom with bath tub. In the middle of the other 2 rooms is a small toilet room and shower bathroom with sink inside. Also I want to put the kitchen outside next to the back verandah

 

My drawing is evidently not to scale. Are you able to take a look at it and estimate the room sizes based on your comment above re concrete column positions. I have no idea about this actually. Thanks if your able to help me design this properly

 

 

As someone else has suggested you really need to reconsider the width, 2 metres each side is not enough to work with.

On the basis main access will be from the public road then the car port and living area ought to be at that end. I would angle the corner of main road and small soi and put main gate there. 

As for the pillars you can have them where you want to a certain extent, depends on whether you use existing plans or have your own drawn up.

I made sketches like you, a friend tidied them up on autocad, found an architect to turn them into plans, then went looking for a builder, not that easy when you deviate from normal Thai conventions. Good luck.

 

[stratocaster]

21 hours ago, ubonr1971 said:

Thanks for your comments. I will 100% be putting in insulation bats and the thin silver insulation that is positioned close to the roof tiles. 

 

Would you be able to look at the new plan attached and give any suggestions. 

 

On the master bathroom I want to put a bath tub, sink and toilet.  In between the other 2 rooms a shower room with sink and separate toilet

 

Kitchen outside the rear area on the back verandah. Do you think thats a good idea

 

Another guy on this thread discussed positions of the columns. Will my room plan work ok in this regard?

 

thanks

Basically what you have designed is a Thai standard 3 bed one story house. the difference is most houses have all the bedrooms and one bathroom along the right side and the living area on the left side with a toilet and hard standing at rear for a kitchen. The right hand bathroom normally has a door from each side bedroom to make it two en suit bedrooms. The size would be 10 meters wide and 16 meters long. Span width is 4x2x4 meters.

Your house as sketched has from the rear of the wardrobe to the rear wall is 12 meters assuming 2 meter bathroom 4 meter bedroom and 2 meter wardrobe. This 12 meter span would require 2 columns sticking up from the floor in the living area assuming using the 4x4 meter system. If you make the bathroom 4meters the bedroom 6 meters then you could lose one column. Or as someone said move a bedroom from right side to left side. You can build any size rooms and span widths that your heart desires but remember that the two factors involved are builders skill level and cost constrains. To build a beam and post frame from 4x4 modules is 30% cheaper than using 5x4 modules. My last house had a column-less living room 15meters by 20 meters spanned using a cantilevered steel system. It did not cost an arm and a leg, it cost two arms and two legs.

[Crossy]

All good stuff above ^^^, a few thoughts.

 

I would try to avoid any valley roofs; they look very nice. But, they always leak, and if the drain is too small or blocked you are in a world of hurt.

 

Is your "rice field view" worth looking at, why not make the living area look out that way?

 

Which way is north on your drawing, you need to consider which walls will be getting the direct sun and heating up (add cavity construction).

 

Are you considering solar power? Where?

 

I'd probably put the car parking at the front and the pool at the rear out of sight of the gawking neighbours.

 

it's worth visiting your local district office, they usually have lots of free house plans available which you can then customise, at least they will give you an idea.