How about a basement in Thailand and specifically Isaan:

We have been planning on building a house in Isaan. Of course I thought “bigger” and my significant other who is Thai is thinking “smaller.” My thoughts went from a two floor house to a “rancher type” with a basement. I am now requesting your view or experience with having a basement in Thailand. Thanks for your comments. And I’ll guess a few are thinking “he’s crazy.” J

Cheers,

Keoki

Not really sure what you mean by a "basement."' A basement, as opposed to a garage, is normally built below the living quarters of an American house. Sometimes, it is even partially or completely below ground. I would suspect this is done primarily to maximize the use of a relatively small and expensive piece of land. In Issan, the size and expense of the land should not be an issue I would imaging...so no reason to build a "basement" as opposed to an attatched or freestanding garage.

Hi

Fully agree with jonnieBKK and the thoughts of getting one built in Issan are worrying. Its hard enough getting what you want build correctly ABOVE GROUND and a substandard basement can very seriously affect whats above it.

Go out sideways or upwards Selftaopath, much safer.

Dave

I'm not sure about the practicality of building a basement due to water tables, soil conditions, etc. but it shouldn't be hard to find out if it is reasonable or not. A house with a basement, if it is built correctly, has a number of benefits. It's always cool, can serve as a "fraidy hole" during violent weather, makes a great family/game room, good place to store your home brew or wine, and generally adds to the comfort of the home. I wish I had one.

You would have the obvious flooding and/or drainage problems that few builders will have any experience with. Expect that the original reason for basements was to get foundation/water/sewer below frost level in cold countries. We don't have that issue.

A basement is a fine idea only if the basement floor is above your road level. The road levels in Issan are normally designed to be above flood level.

It's always cool, can serve as a "fraidy hole" during violent weather

My memory fails me...when was that last tornado that hit Thailand I think there is more danger to be flooded out of your basement during a torrential downpour than it being a place of refuge. As temperatures are so extreme in Thailand, I hardly think having a basement would have much cooling effect on a house (but I am no expert on this point and may be wrong). Things like house orientation, window placement/quality, and natural and artificial created shade (like large trees) would likely have more cooling effect.

I too have looked at a room below ground level (my ground level is about 1 meter above the road) and the nearest water surface is about 2.5 meters below the road level. However local flooding has put me off for now - I found building up was easier and benifited from breeze and the improved view. Why live under ground and have no option of a view when it's not hot all the time?

For the positive reasons mentioned above I think a basement is quite a good idea, provided you digging below the water table.

But be aware - during the rainy season the water table will rise almost anywhere in Thailand - a basement sitting in wet ground acts like the hull of a ship and will be forced up by the water that it is displacing. The answer to this is either to anchor the basement into the ground or ensure that the basement and the structure above the basement have a mass greater than the displaced water.

Having the value of your house rise is one thing - having the house itself rise is quite something else.

I'm not sure about the practicality of building a basement due to water tables, soil conditions, etc. but it shouldn't be hard to find out if it is reasonable or not. A house with a basement, if it is built correctly, has a number of benefits. It's always cool, can serve as a "fraidy hole" during violent weather, makes a great family/game room, good place to store your home brew or wine, and generally adds to the comfort of the home. I wish I had one.

Thanks Track61; those are many of my reasons. I especially like that it would create a large space that is COOL i.e. temperature. And a basement can be very quiet etc.

Keoki ps would have replied earlier but seems like I am not getting an notice from Thai visa?????

For the positive reasons mentioned above I think a basement is quite a good idea, provided you digging below the water table.

But be aware - during the rainy season the water table will rise almost anywhere in Thailand - a basement sitting in wet ground acts like the hull of a ship and will be forced up by the water that it is displacing. The answer to this is either to anchor the basement into the ground or ensure that the basement and the structure above the basement have a mass greater than the displaced water.

Having the value of your house rise is one thing - having the house itself rise is quite something else.

Ah yes, but I wonder if having a sump pump or 3 wouldn't eliminate any potential problem with water????? And I hope that an entire floor above the basement would be heavy enjough to keep it submerged :-) But hey what do I know. I'm the one asking the question :-)

Wish I received notices of your replies.

Keoki

Maybe I'm wrong, but I wouldn't automatically assume it'd be cool, the subterranean temperature is much higher in thailand than in our home countries. I've noticed caves are still pretty hot. but it'd definitely be cooler than the air temperature. I also don't know how you'd waterproof it, maybe poured concrete walls with sealant? import some Hycrete? I don't know anything about water tables, but in my plot of land in Ubon we're like like 50 feet higher than the nearby Mun river, so I don't see how rainwater alone would be enough to raise a basement... maybe it can do that in the flat soggy plains elsewhere in isaan or siam, but i'd like to know more about it since it's not intuitive. It's just that I've noticed lots of houses up on posts where they're clearly wasn't a water problem, like propped up on giant rocks in pha taem

Maybe I'm wrong, but I wouldn't automatically assume it'd be cool, the subterranean temperature is much higher in thailand than in our home countries. I've noticed caves are still pretty hot. but it'd definitely be cooler than the air temperature.

I thought of a basement but decided against it for this reason. The earth temp will reflect the average temp of the location. As most of Thailand is always warm, so is the ground temperature.

Houses here a built high to allow them to cool off at night. The underneath provides shade and is where ppl spend most of the daytime.

Basements were discussed a while ago, apparently some houses in Jomtien were built with them. Try a search.

If you would like some first hand knowledge, instead of the usual guessing games that go on here. I know of a house in Isan that has a masement and if you go down into it, it is very cool, much cooler than above. It stands to reason, but for those that do not understand it and then say 'not possible' it will always be cooler.

Don't believe me, google 'cooper pedy' and 'dugout' and you will see that in a land where the temeratures reach 50+, the underground house stays very very cool all year around.

The only consideration you need here is that can your builder do it and make it water proof. This seems to be the biggest hurdle to overcome, but it can and is done.

As for keeping the floor above the road....please.

If you would like some first hand knowledge, instead of the usual guessing games that go on here. I know of a house in Isan that has a masement and if you go down into it, it is very cool, much cooler than above. It stands to reason, but for those that do not understand it and then say 'not possible' it will always be cooler.

Good to see the experts coming on board. Exactly how much cooler is your mate's 'masement'? The reason I ask is others gave first hand knowledge in this thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/lofiversion/...hp/t168551.html

One said his was only 1-2 degrees cooler. That was in Pattaya, Isaan has a cooler winter and nights which would make a difference. I'm familar with cooper pedy, but aren't those places fairly deeper and the ground is quite different than here. The basement's in large Thai buildings are only a little cooler.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have one for the hotter months of the year, I'm just not convinced they'd be worth the effort. Besides flooding dampness and ventilation would be issues.

Just curious....are u from Austria?

I have been to only two houses in Thailand with a basement and they both suffered from damp. Guess that their builders didn't know how to build them properly.

Just curious....are u from Austria?

I put a 4m X 4m cellar under my house and have had no problems, but I live in hill country and the floor of the cellar is well above the water table.

Hey dig down far enough in Issaan and you may even strike gas!

Just curious....are u from Austria?

beat me to it.