"inexperienced" Wants To Build A (very!) Little House

[scooterboy]

OOPS! Forgot - yeah, birds, geckos and other "unwanteds". Solved this problem (Sez Me!) in a nifty way, by using fine mesh in a few necessary places around the roof.

The plastic grills I've never seen, perhaps another member can enlighten me......

Cheers

SB

[egg6447]

Seems I'm learning a whole bunch of new things every day, a lot of it is understandable (and very logical), though I admit that this and that can sometimes be confusing, as it can be hard to find out what sizes of things are used for what (ie. water pipes, rebar, roof steel etc.). Many websites and threads tend to presume that you already know exactly what size is required for what purpose.

At the moment I've used the steel sizes from our house tile-bearing roof as a guide (seeing as that's been there for well over 10 years) and 10 x 5cm C type (for vertical) - and 2.5 x 2.5cm (for horizontal) are the chosen sizes just now. Any hints or suggestions would be welcome. Oh, we'll be using (Elephant/Charng or Diamond type, standard size 120 x 50cm) roof sheeting, not tiles, on the new house, if that makes any difference.

.

Don't think we'll use the water tank in the roof idea, though, there's already a well on the land and after enquiring, it seems there is nearly always city water available. That said, we'll have an outside storage tank as well. But thanks, anyway. As a footnote, the moo barn (village) we currently live in (not city water), provides substandard trucked-in water for a couple of hours in the morning and again in the evening. Want an afternoon shower? - forget it! Been like that for ages and a few days ago we got notice that a unit of water would increase from 20 to 38 baht!

Water heaters? - only one, for the bathroom shower - and a little one, at that. We use only lukewarm water in the cool season - and cold water the rest of the time. I'm scary about them, as I don't like electrical things in bathrooms. After looking at several threads, there appears to be a divided opinion about whether to earth the water heater or not - some say the modern heaters don't really need to be earthed, while other insist on them being earthed. Too, I'm aware that a lot of people don't earth their heater and have absolutely no problems at all.

ok you must be looking for headaches, the builders will know what sizes for water pipes and rebar, have you got plans. for what you want to build you can use precast concrete posts, three+half mts long/high, 6x6 square, six in number. i mention the water tank as the first time i built i asked the locals if the water was supply consistant, yes they said. later i found out/realised, that the locals have a enormouse bath type thing in the hongnam, storage tank. so they would never know if there was a cut or not. you are forwarned. i dont think ive ever read on tv that anyone would advacate no earth. in some parts of the world it is illegal . in all parts of the world it is down right leathal, again you are forwarned. you can get plans from your tessabhan. sheet roofing is ok, not as good as tiles but no probs. regards

[scooterboy]

Hi egg6447!

Thanks for your comments!

Sure ain't looking for headaches - just trying to prevent future ones!

Will let the workers decide about the posts (precast or cast on the spot) - reckon they

know more about it than I do - though it's always a good thing to have a bit of "precast" knowledge, just in case - hence the interest to "know" a few things.

As I mentioned, we'll also be having a water storage tank - as well as the well (eh?) that's already on the land.

Agree wholeheartedly with the need for having an earth - I was just relating to the opinions of others.

Thanks for the very constructive criticism - always much appreciated!

Cheers

Scooterboy

[zorro1]

The missus wants "3 steps up" to the main entrance door, which (presumably) would mean raising the general floor level (which has already got me totally foxed and freaked out!). How the <deleted>'ell do you build a house with a raised floor level on a flat piece of land?

If that's what she wants I would dig down and submerge the steps and leave the floor where it is. Just don't tell her until its finished and when she gets bored with it you can simply plug the whole and it will be forgotten.

[scooterboy]

If that's what she wants I would dig down and submerge the steps and leave the floor where it is. Just don't tell her until its finished and when she gets bored with it you can simply plug the whole and it will be forgotten

[Khun Jean]

If possible have a look at some places where they cast pillars.

I have seen a few and most of them use way to much water and inferior cement.

You can see it easily as when they put the concrete in the form it is thin as 'yogurt'. It should not flow too much.

Having rebar exposed is another problem often seen. It happen when they use spacers like wood or bamboo. In time these rot away and expose the rebar.

[scooterboy]

Hi Khun Jean!

Sounds nasty! Will check, though hopefully the workers will know what they're doing.

Thanks for the advice

Cheers

ScooterBoy

[Khun Jean]

Being there and check everything and buying the materials yourself will greatly reduce the chance of inferior building.

It is just one of those need to do things in Thailand.

I have a builder/worker in my family (Currently busy with 'The River' in Bangkok) and you should hear some stories about how things are done. With something prestigous as The River it will not happen but with smaller projects they will. Even he as a supervisor had to constantly check his workers for quality, prevent stealing and changing materials and even wake them up sometimes.

As long as you are there while they build it, have some drinks and food ready and being not to emotional angry when something goes wrong it will go rather well. Having some reference of a builder would be great.

A nice site to read is www.coolthaihouse.com. A lot of good information can be found there.

[scooterboy]

Hi Khun Jean!

Thanks for yet more good advice. We will be onsite some of the time, but don't want to appear to be trying to look the workers over their shoulders all the time.

Actually, I'll be staying out of the picture completely until the walls start to go up - using the assumption that it would be better if the workers don't know (at first) that there's a foreigner involved.

The wife will have to supervise things the rest of the time, though I'll be eager to inspect when the workers have left (or before they come in the mornings).

I don't for one minute doubt that there's a risk of botch-ups, though we're hoping it will go off as smoothly as possible.

This being a rather small building, things ought to go fairly quickly - at least that's the theory, but let's wait and see

Thanks

Scooterboy

[Lite Beer]

As long as you are there while they build it, have some drinks and food ready .

Do not give them whiskey until the days work is finished.

[ilyushin]

Lite Beer good job. When do I come over for a trial stay?

I am sure the Wife would give a discount for a Thai Visa member.

If you can manage being woken up at 5.45 every morning by the village speaker system and chickens and dogs you are welcome to stay.

Lite Beer,

Thanks! I will take you up on the offer when I come that direction.

I have a house in Roi-et so I may stop by and take a peek.

The house in Roi-et has loud village activities early in the morning. I have learned to sleep all day and stay up all night when in Issan.

Attached is a house similar to Baan Uathorn, but designed and built buy the RTAF. They have said cost are Baht 120,000 baht and labor at 20,000 to 40,000 depending on the piling.

Model and actual units pictures of RTAF LC housing.

[ilyushin]

See below 1 type low cost housing designs and materials ( a past project). I was putting this together for factory staff in Eastern Thailand in mid 2006. Costs haven't changed too much since then.

I am sure there are ways to make it much cheaper (change materials), but we were looking at energy efficiency and more comfort.

I have seen much bigger houses with more features for less, but this was not a one off and did not have the personal touch and budgets as it was for staff not the owner.

Thought it would help some single home builders to source materials and estimate the expenses.

PROJECT_House_Type_C__costing.doc

Edited June 7, 2008 by ilyushin

[maprao]

Don't expect anything too technical from me as I know nothing. I didn't have too much to do with it.

The biggest problem was getting them to understand that the toilet went up against the wall and not in the middle of the bathroom.

Nice house Lite Beer. I built the same house from the free house plans from the Thai Government website. The plans are good and most importantly in Thai and understandable to Thai local builders! The part that made me laugh was yes my toilet is in the middle of the bathroom. Hey but at least it is western!

I am thinking of building a small building just as you have for my Den / Office nice to know how much it cost!

[Lite Beer]

Don't expect anything too technical from me as I know nothing. I didn't have too much to do with it.

The biggest problem was getting them to understand that the toilet went up against the wall and not in the middle of the bathroom.

Nice house Lite Beer. I built the same house from the free house plans from the Thai Government website. The plans are good and most importantly in Thai and understandable to Thai local builders! The part that made me laugh was yes my toilet is in the middle of the bathroom. Hey but at least it is western!

I am thinking of building a small building just as you have for my Den / Office nice to know how much it cost!

The small room cost 110,000 Bhat. Materials and labour.

You have impeccable taste in house choosing.

[scooterboy]

Hi Again!

Apologies for being absent for a long time! Been away for the last month, getting the 6x5m

house planned and built. Seeing as it's in the middle of nowhere, there haven't been any

opportunities to make an update.

Generally speaking, things are going forward and actual work days have been (so far)

around 14, though some of those days weren't especially productive (i.e. the workers

came late and went home early!). I reckon another 14 work days ought to see the house

finished, which is another month in "real" time.

Trouble is, the workers often tend to work for a couple of days and then take a day or

two off without any warning - so we have to be patient. Then of course, there are the

local customs, traditions and parties to contend with - i.e. some days are considered

unlucky to build houses (nobody, anywhere in the area, works on houses on those

days!). Local elections meant more days off - and well, parties tend to drag on for a

few days at a time, don't they!

Too, prices for building materials have soared so much, that most people in that particular

area (and no doubt other areas) have halted any building plans they may have had. Some

prices rose by the hour - and I ain't kidding, either! Shop owners had little notebooks with

the current prices and everything was written in pencil, so they could erase the old price

and write the new price in just a few seconds. The worst offender was rebar steel, the

price of which rose constantly - and at this very moment is still rising, along with gas

(petrol) - and just about everything else.

I have to commend the gf, who is tireless in her search for the cheapest prices. Due to

her hard work, we spent ages scouting around in different areas and managed to get

most materials at "reasonable" prices. Still, we've spent over 150K already and there

are still more things to buy.

LiteBeer's roughly 90K estimate is now definitely a thing of the past and I guess

most people will have to think of paying 150-200K for the same 90K house - perhaps even

a lot more.

Also, the fact that she wanted the house floor raised by 80cm presented other problems.

The builder refused to use ready-made concrete columns, saying that they wouldn't be

suitable or strong enough (too thin) to properly support the steel roof. If the roof frame could

be of wood, then ready-made columns were quite okay. However, I didn't want a wood frame,

so he ended up casting the columns himself. Too, when I reminded him to use oxide primer

on the steel roof, I was pleased to hear him bawl me out for thinking he didn't know how to

put up a steel roof properly. He then showed me the primer he'd put in the back of his truck

and the steel was painted twice - once before cutting and welding, and again after the roof

cage was in place - great!

At the present time the roof's on (well, 90 % of it) and the outer walls are almost finished. My

own opinion is, that a bulldozer would have difficulty knocking the house down, it's that

strong!

I'll be off back to the wilderness again in a few days' time - a new update will probably have

to wait until the house is finished.

In the meantime, thanks again for all your excellent advice - cheers

SB

[Lite Beer]

Yes I was wondering how you were getting on.

Yes the local workers are frustrating. As for the price rises, it is all a bit scarey. Ithink your house is going to be a lot stronger than the room we built. Ours was just for the occasional family visit.

Try and get some pictures.

[scooterboy]

Yes - HAVE got photos, but the gf's hanging on to the digital thingy and takes photos every other day. There later ought to be a few to scare or impress other people - heh heh!

Will try and upload some when it's all over and done with.

"Scary" is not the word - "disastrous" would be better. Just in the 2 days I've been back in the familiar surroundings, I've seen many projects apparently abandoned - at least for the moment. Ain't surprised one bit, as building a regular house must now cost the earth.

Cheers

SB

[johnnyk]

The biggest problem was getting them to understand that the toilet went up against the wall and not in the middle of the bathroom.

a typical farang misplanning! how do you dance around the toilet with that kind of odd setup?

Do Clingons go to the toilet?

i thought klingons were the same as weenies. teeny weenie pieces of <deleted> hanging on you arse hair.

Actually they are willnots... cling to the arsebeard and will not come off!

[johnnyk]

Nice to hear things are moving along and that so many here had positive comments and advice.

Nothing to do about the work schedules, its just the way things are.

Cold beer at the end of the day is most welcome to the workers and shows you "have good heart."

If you can, throw a little party on completion and make sure the workers are invited.

[Lite Beer]

Cold beer at the end of the day is most welcome to the workers and shows you "have good heart."

The problem is that they will invite you to share in their BBQ Bats on a stick and other such delicacies.

[scooterboy]

Ho Hum....back to the north this evening. The gf called yesterday - seems very little work is

being done on the house at the moment, as the fruit-picking season has started, so all

available hands are out in the fields and orchards (the money's better there, too!).

Looks like it's gonna be a longer wait than anticipated.

Regarding cool beers and refreshments. We were warned (several times) not to give

the workers whisky, beer or any other alcohol - until the house is finished.

The reason? If you give the workers alcohol, then they'll just end up getting drunk

and won't come to work the next (or following) days, anyway.

However, we did give beer on one occasion - and a bottle of whisky when the roof was

almost on ( it's STILL almost on.....)

Cheers

SB

[Lite Beer]

However, we did give beer on one occasion - and a bottle of whisky when the roof was

almost on ( it's STILL almost on.....)

Don't give them the whiskey while they are sitting on the roof.

[scooterboy]

Well, sorry for the enormous delay in reporting things from up north.

Yes, the house is finally finished - it was actually finished a few

months ago, though I haven't had any proper access to the internet

until recently, when we finally managed to get a phone line installed.

I'm hoping that the photo of the house has arrived together with this

short (?) report, otherwise I'll post it separately - I've had big problems

before with uploading photos - and only having a 56k modem doesn't

improve my chances much.

In the photo the house has just been finished - still got

the rest of a can of paint on the right and some loose water pipes at the rear.

As you can see, floor of the house is "elevated" off the ground somewhat,

due to the gf being dead scared of flooding - even though the locals

insist that there's never been any flooding in this particular area. I didn't

argue with her about it and certainly didn't want her to live in a house that

she didn't feel 100% sure about - and it was for me really no big deal. Too,

we're situated about halfway up a gentle slope, so any vast amounts

of rain water automatically drain down the slope - and then flood out other,

more low-lying, areas. (And yes, we've already experienced the massive

amounts of rain that fell in September and October - and apart from some

very large puddles on our land, the house has remained quite dry). The

house may look rather small from the outside, but there's actually quite a

lot of room inside.

The house is situated on just over 1 rai of land and there's more than

enough room to frolic around, as much as we want to. When we started to

make plans (with your excellent suggestions in mind) to build the place,

we looked around the land at which possibilities there were and finally

decided to have the house erected towards the front of the land, near to

the asphalted road. That left a very large area at the rear, which is mainly

filled with fruit trees, though there are some "bare" patches, as well.

It was necessary to fell 4 fruit trees to make enough room for the house,

but we were rather lucky, as there were some Thai guys looking for trees

to fell, as (they said) they were building a wooden house. They duly felled

the 4 trees and carted away the trunks and thicker branches, leaving the

foliage and tree bases behind. The foliage was burned and the gf insisted

on digging up the tree base that was in the middle of the house area, by

ourselves. I told her that it was an impossible job (we're townies, not country

folk) but we bought some tools and worked for a couple of hours a day. After

4 days we'd uncovered a few (and there were lots more!) of the long and very

thick roots - and we were aching from head to foot with the effort of digging

and cutting each day. Our soon-to-be neighbor offered to complete the job

for 400 baht, which we accepted on the spot, not bothering to haggle the price

at all. The following morning the base and most of the roots were gone - and

there was an enormous crater where the tree had once stood. The neighbor

got his hard-earned money - and admitted that he'd had to call another guy

and split the 400 baht between them, as the job was just too much for one man.

The remaining 3 tree bases weren't exactly in the way for building (though their

branches had been in the way!) and could wait to be dug up another time - and

thank goodness for that!

We proceeded to peg out where we (roughly) wanted the house to be, so as to

be able to point it out to the builder and say "there"! Strangely enough, the house

ended up a couple of metres more towards the road than we'd actually wanted.

The work was scheduled to start after a few days, but on the appointed day no

workers turned up. We called the builder, who said that it wasn't a considered

to be a conspicuous day in these parts to build houses, so the work would start

the following day, instead - which it did. As we'd rather expected, there were a

few (read: many!) problems along the way. The builder (and the locals) had never

heard of S-bends (or U-bends) for water pipes and was taken aback when I said

that I wanted all water pipes to go through the outside wall - and not under the

concrete floor - and it took a lot of persuading before I got what I wanted. (Mind

you, the inspector from the amphur office later said that the planning of the

plumbing was excellent and was the proper way to install pipes, even though

Thai builders normally don't and won't do it any other way than the traditional

straight pipe outlets that almost every normal Thai house has.)

Too, the bathroom floor we ended up getting, wasn't the one I'd specified. I have

to admit that things get lost in the translation, when I have to communicate

most things via the gf and the drawings I'd done by hand weren't even looked

at (more than once). I'd wanted a drop in the floor level, where the shower

area was to be, but ended up getting a slight dip in the level of the flooring

instead - but at least the waste water trickles towards the floor outlet, so I have

to be satisfied with that. The builder wanted to install a wall outlet for the waste

water, but I insisted on a floor outlet - and by a floor outlet, I mean an outlet about

3cm from the wall, with the waste water pipe going diagonally out through the

outside wall. Too, the western toilet was for some unknown (by me) reason built

onto a brick base, so it's raised about 15cm from floor level - and it feels almost like

sitting on a throne!

The work went terribly slowly, sometimes due to rainy days, but mostly because

the fruit-picking season was upon us - and there was more money for the locals

to be made picking fruit. We had to sit and wait until the harvest was in before

work on the house continued. There were also the Buddhist holidays to cope

with - so the house took 6 weeks to build, though without the fruit and religious

days, I suppose it would have taken approximately 4 weeks.

There's virtually no wood used in the house, apart from the decorative wood planks

under the roofing. The builder reckoned that having wood around the roof area

wouldn't attract the notorious wood-eating insects that most houses here are

infested with - I jut hope he's right. The door surrounds (jambs) are of either plastic

or metal, the floor is tiled and there's no wood inside the house (except for the

furniture). I don't personally have anything against wooden houses - in fact I've

lived in one for a number of years before coming to Thailand - but I can't cope

with the insects, as they're almost impossible to get rid of once they've arrived

(rather like the in-laws!).

We have sliding glass doors and windows - and they seem to be reasonably

well done. We also ordered insect nets for the bathroom ventilation bricks - and

were surprised to find them nailed to the inside walls, so it's impossible to take them

down to clean them. Too, they let ants and other small insects into the bathroom,

which we're not happy about. At the moment I'm making my own set of insect nets,

which wil be hung on the outside wall, so that we'll end up with a double barrier to

keep the crawling things out. When the new nets are in place, then I'll try prying the

inside nets off the walls - and then re-hang them so as they can be taken down

for cleaning when necessary.

The ceiling was put up by a friendly Thai guy from another area, that is a friend of

the builder. He'd never put up ceilings that followed the contour of the roof before

(i.e. not a "flat" ceiling, but an inverted "V") and spent a couple of days pondering

over the idea before doing the actual work - and a first class job he did, too! It's

quite impossible to see any joins and the ceiling looks like it's made from one

enormous gypsum sheet. The height of the ceiling makes the room look much

bigger than it really is - and we don't get that "claustrophobic" feeling that you

can sometimes get with the low, flat ceilings.

The electricians came to install the wiring - at least 4 guys - and they did a very

good job, too. I'd insisted on "visible" wiring (not wanting wiring hidden in the

walls) - and they made a very nice job of it. I realise that most people don't want

to see wiring all over the walls - but personally I've had enough bad experiences

with the more normal hidden wiring, so it's not for me. The wiring is legal and has

been done by the book - no cutting of any corners or improper installation. Not

that we could have gotten away with anything like that, for it was inspected by the

power company shortly after we moved in. Nowadays you have to have 2-phase

wiring put in (for 3-pin plugs) - with an earth rod set in the ground. Apparently,

the days of 1-phase wiring (for 2-pin plugs), for new houses, are a thing of the

past.

The painting - aah, never seen anything like it! Paint on the the power sockets,

lamps, floor, door and window frames - as well in the right places. I'd told the

gf that it would be a lousy result, but she insisted the builder do the work, as the

job would be done quickly. I was just happy that there was only one color (white),

as I'd dread to see what mess there would be if we'd chosen two or more

colors.

Generally speaking, we're quite satisfied with the house - and I'm painfully

aware that when you move into a new house, then the first month (or more)

goes with scraping off paint, filling the many holes and cracks that always

seem to accompany a new house - plus the million or so small repairs that

crop up. There was also a tree base and roots that we had to dig up, as it was

rather close to the concrete apron that ran around the house. We still have 2 more

to dig up, but we'll leave them in the ground until next year, as the work is not for

the faint- or weak hearted.

I think we ended up paying around 225k for the basic house, but at the same time

the cost of building materials was soaring, so we'd expected the increased

expense. Included was the added expense for the elevated floor, bathroom fittings,

water heater (shower), electricity (including a consumer box), 4 outside lights,

2 outside power points, 2 telephone points, 6 inside power points and inside lamps.

Now that we finally have the house, I'm quite happy that we didn't wait to build,

for the world economy being what it is (Nov. 2008), we wouldn't stand a chance

of getting a house built now. Neither could we have saved up, for with interest

rates being slashed to next to nothing, our income has fallen so much, that we

wouldn't consider building now, or even in the future. Our plans for building an

extension in a year or two have been shelved to the "indefinitely" area - and

we'll just have to make do with what we've got, though it's no problem at all and

the gf insists that she'd much rather live here than back where we were before.

We're very pleased to be here in the beautiful north, great scenery, plenty to do

and see - and a pity we didn't come here earlier. Another good thing is that we live

in a relatively agricultural area, where there is a big variety of locally grown

vegetables at very reasonable prices and the dreaded McD's and KFC's haven't

yet arrived - and hopefully they never will.

I'd like to thank all you people for your comments and suggestions and most of

the advice was taken. We've also learned a lot about what to do and what not to

do, what pitfalls to try and avoid and without your help we would probably have

ended up with a wreck of a house!

Cheers - and again, thanks!

PS We forgot to dismantle and take our satellite dish with us when we moved

house, so if anybody has a "PSI" D-MOVE satellite dish in working order that

they don't use - or knows of somebody with one, then be sure to let me know,

as it appears to be quite impossible to get a spare dish (they're only sold in

complete sets - with the receiver), so we're informed.

[Lite Beer]

Well done.

Next the girlfriend will want a 6.am house party complete with Monks.

More money.

I went to one last week. Drinking alcohol at 6.am .

[Carib]

Looks good, and a nice story as well, hope you both will be happy there !

One question... is wearing a mask mandatory when approaching the house??

[Lite Beer]

Thanks for getting back to us. I was wondering what had happened. As you said, a bit more expensive than we imagined at the beginning. Having said that, some Thai friends in the village have just finished building a small house and that was 160,000 Baht and I should think that the specs were a lot lower than yours.

As for falling incomes. We are all struggling with that. It's amazing what you can buy from the local food stalls for 25/30 Baht.

[VegasVic]

Hi!

4.5B for blocks? Wow! Not bad... Enquired yesterday about a few things

Blocks about 6B (the guy wasn't sure, though)

Tiger Cement 50K bag 150B, the price just having risen yesterday (01 June 2008).

Homemart (here) apparently have offers on tiles & toilets until 15th July, though I found

them still to be rather expensive (but very nice).

Worked out that just to tile & furnish the bathroom would cost approx. 14K Baht, presuming the

roof was on and the walls up. Is your water heater earthed, by the way - and how?

Trouble is, I ain't good at asking about things in stores that I don't know much about - and I get put off when walking around a large store with an assistant following me very closely all the time.

Today we're off to see about steel roof supplies and maybe another tile shop.

Cheers

Scooterboy

PS Thanks, too, for the new photos

All sounds a bit expensive.

We bought a bag of Tiger cement a couple of weeks ago 120 Baht.

The toilet was 1,850

Wash basin 700

Shower 1,490

Tile around 300.

Maybe Chiang Mai is more expensive than Khon Kaen.

Get your wife to deal with the ordering and talk with the staff. You do get used to them following you around. Especially if it is a pretty young lady.

The shower is earthed. Buy a copper earth rod and bang it into the ground.

This has been a great thread seeing all of you helping the OP with valued information on geting his house built I just have one question myself, I saw pictures of and dicussions about grounding (earthing) rods, and my question is don't they have GFCI outlets and switches over there in Thailand?

[Lite Beer]

This has been a great thread seeing all of you helping the OP with valued information on geting his house built I just have one question myself, I saw pictures of and dicussions about grounding (earthing) rods, and my question is don't they have GFCI outlets and switches over there in Thailand?

You have gone over my head already.

It should all be on here.

http://www.crossy.co.uk/wiring/

[scooterboy]

Mask? Uhh...err the gf had just got off the motocy and hadn't yet removed it (I think).

But doesn't she always look like that?

Party and monks - nope, we're trying to avoid that one, as we're "waiting for the extension to be built before any tamboon takes place" - and hoping that everyone will have forgotten about it in the meantime (we're not

drinkers).

Yeah - the falling income is a real pain - for everybody!

160K for a house? Sounds good! Congrats on that one!

Thanks for the good wishes

Cheers

SB

[Svenn]

Hi scooterboy, I was wondering why your house cost 110,000 more than Lite Beer's? since they look relatively the same. Was it just in the raising of the foundation and cathedral ceiling, or have prices risen that much?

I was thinking of making something exactly like these houses, but preferably up on storey-high posts- can anyone describe how that's done with all-concrete/block houses like these? I'd still like to have a poured concrete floor and block walls on the second storey, and have it be earthquake proof, but just thinking about that seems daunting- wouldn't i have to get a lot of timber to make the forms for the floor and posts? also seems like the slightest shift of the posts would make all sorts of cracks on the second storey...

Also, Lite Beer- Do you think if I decided against the two-storey option, I would be successful having my lady take photos of your house to local builders in Ubon and request the same labor/materials prices you paid? We don't know any builders, and I'm worried it's too cheap of a project to interest the advertised builders right?

thanks

Edited November 19, 2008 by Svenn