Building House In Issan

[Bpraim1]

Must say houses looks ike it will be a beaut! Good luck and many cools afternoons!

[Bpraim1]

Kamal,

I have taken a look at this webite. I'm trying to figure out what you mean, by your contractor telling you to not use PU foam, As this website he sent you to says it is a good use desides fiberglass batt. Non cfc Pu foam has no toxic gasses!!!

This is a quote from there website.

Other non-toxic alternatives to fiberglass insulation include a product which is essentially cement coated air bubbles (derived from sea water), cotton insulation made from shredded denim textile scraps, and CO2 foamed urethane.

Please fill me in with more info, as I will be useing Non cfc Pu foam in my home. I would like as many points of view as I can get!

[Joe Walshe]

Kamalabob2,

House looks very impressive from what I can see - good design and construction.

Reminds me of when we built our first house ouitside Chumphae. The builders refused to believe I wanted 600mm wide trench foundations with steel re-inforcement. They were on day rate and we had to get others to do it. We built block walls off foundation. Walls supported roof. Floor slab was also 100mm concrete with bamboo re-inforcement. The locals joked that we were building a condominium - everything seemed so much stronger than what the locals did.

I often wonder if they were right to just dig a few holes, fill with concrete with pre-cast concrtet columns. Cheap and easy. There houses cracked as they subsided but not seriously.

Good luck with your house - hope to see updated photos.

[kamalabob2]

BPRAIM1: Please accept my apology. What Thai Building Contractor could you imagine discussing SAFETY or suggesting a client check out a WEB SITE such as www.greenguide.com It was a poor attempt at humor. I could post 20 photos as could any Farang who has built a home in Issan of serious OSHA safety violations. We all make our own informed choices in building materials and perhaps the insulation material you have chosen in best for your situation. I wish you the best of luck and perhaps your home will be finished prior to our little 4 bedroom home in Buriram.

JOE WALSHE: Our Architect who eventually became our builder does have a real understanding of safe construction design since she had worked on projects in Bangkok with real building codes. I love living in Issan for the most part, and to hire a builder with a sense of "doing things the CORRECT way" is refreshing. I also checked with six of her previous satisfied clients PRIOR to signing a building contract.

Our foundation was quite elaborate and the raised ground floor support beams perhaps a bit over spec'd than most in Buriram. The ugly cement "shell" photos give you an idea of how much steel and concrete are in this home.

I took the liberty to photograph a Swimming Pool being built by a DIFFERENT BUILDER at a Farang house in our community. No need for any string to make the hollow bricks straight, no need for pilings, pillars or steel wall "forms" on this pool. That pool is the FIRST pool. Our pool photos are later in the sequence.

The pool we are having built is not large, not stunning, but fine considering the limited space on my wife's plot of land. It has an approved professional plan coordinated by our architect and JD Pools Bangkok Head office. You can see in some of the photos our home is raised up from the ground level on 54 pilings. We do have access to ground floor bathroom plumbing under the home in a concrete block lined utility room.

I will attempt to attach Three ROUGH drawings of what a couple of the interior rooms will appear like in a few months. I will post new photos each month. I feel I have gained valuable advise from reading posts of the experiences of fellow Expats on Thai Visa Forum.

[Bpraim1]

You building a house or mansion! Where are you at in Burirum, would love to check out your pad. I will be come'n through with my contractor next week to do some last slopeing of the land, before we start. I have nothing against Batt insulation, was going to use it myself. But Pu foam seemed a better option as I will not use brick to build with.

Just woundering if I seen you at the Bar-B-Q at FC last month?

[Joe Walshe]

How is the house going? Would like to see some photos, if you get a chance. Joe

[kamalabob2]

House is making good steady progress. I just spent the past five days in Bangkok meeting with possible suppliers of audio visual, plumbing fixtures, and built in appliances. We checked out some new window designs of the window fabricator and selected ceiling fans. The ceiling sub contractors are almost finished with the 2nd story ceiling and I see our pool tile is in the design I selected from options of the Tile supplier. I just need to have a suitable place near the pool for the fantastic Barbecue I bought from Doc at www.gasbbqthailand.com In about 5 weeks the first batch of windows will arrive from Bangkok. Here are some photos from this morning. It is very cool inside the home with the window openings so I feel confident that Casement Windows was a wise choice for the 2nd floor windows.

[Naam]

House is making good steady progress.

nice house but tiny skimmer in pool. why no overflow skimming with a hundred times more efficiency?

[Joe Walshe]

Kamalabob,

Looking better everyday. Very ambitiouse project. Looks like good workmanship from what I can see.

Joe

[Bpraim1]

Wow That is a monster! Beautiful house Bob!

I see a huge influx of Lao maids on the way to clean that mansion.