We've bought some land with an old house on it. It's basically fallen down, so all we'll be left with is a slab and concrete post. at a later stage we'd like to build a nice place, but in the meantime we were hoping to put up something simple using the existing slab and posts.

I've attached some pics of the building materials we were thinking of using, namely thatch roof and woven bamboo panels for the walls.

Does anyone have ideas for rough costs of these materials? The owner of the bungalow pictured told us it cost him B90,000 to build. I'm guessing most of this would have been for the concrete slab, tiling and plumbing.

The roofing thatch appears to be made from the simple 36"x18' panels that are made all over the country, small amounts (for a small open sided shelter) were 25 Baht each a year ago. I guess that would come down with volume.

For a house you might investigate fire proofing solutions.

Thanks, I was told they were B15 ea, but that is probably the old price. Any idea how many panels would be needed for a 10m x 10m roof area?

Fireproving is a good suggestion, although what we're thinking about would be quite similar to the bungalow pictured, except without the tiled floor. There would be 2 sealed rooms and are large open area with no walls, only roof.

Thanks, I was told they were B15 ea, but that is probably the old price. Any idea how many panels would be needed for a 10m x 10m roof area?

Fireproving is a good suggestion, although what we're thinking about would be quite similar to the bungalow pictured,

panels are 0.4 m2 - so you need at least 250 of them - for that quantity you might find them for 15 baht. You have to add for overlapping, overhangs, cuttings to the proper shape and taking into consideration some of the panels can be already broken/faulty.

fireproofing won't change the look of the roof - it's a fluid sprayed from both sides of the panels, which protects them from catching fire easily

Thanks, I was told they were B15 ea, but that is probably the old price. Any idea how many panels would be needed for a 10m x 10m roof area?

Fireproving is a good suggestion, although what we're thinking about would be quite similar to the bungalow pictured, except without the tiled floor. There would be 2 sealed rooms and are large open area with no walls, only roof.

an easy and inexpensive way to fire proof is to use a solution of borax and water. the borax

is used as a laundry detergent. try 1 part water to 2 parts borax. soak thoroughly and allow to dry

can be used on clothes too.

hope this helps,mr smith