My House Construction Pictures

[eek]

Fantastic. Thanks for keeping this updated. Amazing progress!

[NamSod]

What sort of wallboard are you using, standard gypsum? And what is the outside of the building made of?

[rhino533]

What sort of wallboard are you using, standard gypsum? And what is the outside of the building made of?

The outside of the House is made from a material called Rock Wood and what we used for the inside is Smart Board. We didn't use gypsum because Smart board is much stronger.

[Bpraim1]

Make sure all seams are on studs, or your seams will all crack! We used corner locks but smart board is to strong and will crack the seams

Jason, Make sure that all seams connect in the middle of a stud.

This is one of the problems I had, and took the hard way to fix. IE ripping the wall down and reboarding it. Every joint not on a stud cracked within one month.

smart board is not the same as gypsum, if you push on one end the the whole piece wants to move, it needs to be completely solid.

If you did not do this you will pay for it.

[rhino533]

Make sure all seams are on studs, or your seams will all crack! We used corner locks but smart board is to strong and will crack the seams

Jason, Make sure that all seams connect in the middle of a stud.

This is one of the problems I had, and took the hard way to fix. IE ripping the wall down and reboarding it. Every joint not on a stud cracked within one month.

smart board is not the same as gypsum, if you push on one end the the whole piece wants to move, it needs to be completely solid.

If you did not do this you will pay for it.

Peter, Thanks for your advice. We just had a small problem where they didn't sand the walls properly and when they painted the walls didn't look smooth at all, looked really bumpy and not professional. They are redoing some plaster work and sanding every wall again which means everything has to be re painted. Problem is getting fixed as we speak. Hopefully it will look better this time. Other than this, everything is fine.

[wpcoe]

Based on the appearance of the walls in the pics in post #60, it looks like the walls have yet to received their final coat(s) of paint. i.e. It looks like there are sanded patches still visible.

If that is the case, why has the nice wood molding already been installed at the wall/ceiling joint? I would want the wood to be installed *last,* so that any paint transfer would be minimal.

[Artisi]

rhino533 - can you please advise where you purchased your windows / doors they look as if they have come from a very professional organisation.

[ThaiBasil]

To the OP, nice house and great quality stuff. Maybe I can add some advice and tips in here for other readers as well. I built my 3 bedroom (with 1 workroom) house last year. This is what I can recommend:

- built your house 1 meter from the ground, this way you are safe from heavy rainfall and bugs and if you are living up north it even keeps you warmer as you are not directly on the ground.

- built a high roof, this way you do not need expensive insulation as there is a big space between ceiling and roof (you do need to ventilate it really good though)

- surround the whole house by a cement path which extends a bit further than where your roof ends (for instance roof extends 1 meter, cement is 1,20 meters). This way the rain will fall on the cement in stead of the dirt making your house dirty. It will again prevent your house from entering bugs as it is not directly surrounded by grass etc.

- If you have a Thai wife/cook, do not built a open kitchen as smells will fill up the whole house, make it a seperate room, also Thai kitchens do not look beautiful.

- gypsum ceiling with built in spot lights work pretty well as a regular ceiling in Thailand

- make your windows as big as possible, this will make the inside of your house look more natural (mine are 2,5 meters wide: 50cm-75cm-75cm-50cm, the 75cm parts can be opened the 50 cm parts are fit)

I've also added the original floor-plan. We added 16m2 to the rightside of the house and made that our kitchen and also added a carpark.

[flying]

I've also added the original floor-plan. We added 16m2 to the rightside of the house and made that our kitchen and also added a carpark.

Nice open plan tiptip.

The only things I would do differently is the closets.

For instance the two bedrooms at the rear. I would have pulled the closet in the far left bedroom forward then recessed the far back bedrooms closet into the wall it is on. In a sense the two bedroom share that closet wall & yet none protrude into the rooms (flush faced)

The far left rear room also has not door yet the hall does?If the door was moved to the bedroom it could swing open right & against the moved forward closet.

Is it a Thai architect? I notice they tend to open doors from private areas into main areas. Sometimes it is odd with a bedroom but with a bathroom it is very odd. It would have been nice to create a meeting area for the two doors of the forward bedroom & the bath.Easily done with a wall to the right of the forward bedrooms existing door, Then that bedroom door is moved right of the wall & the wall also blinds the bathroom door. Very similar to how the other bath & forward workroom? is done now on the front left side.

Nice house plan & I like the open plan.

Would like to see how you did your ceilings.

Congrats

[flying]

Nice Job Rhino !

Congrats!

I have built a few steel homes & the one thing I dont like is the noise while building

You know what I mean If your use to building all the time in wood. When you do a steel frame the noise of cutting & drilling etc is loud! Good call on the corrugated roof. We use it pretty much exclusively here. It is pre-painted in baked enamel in quite a few colors. It will give you a good 20-25 years easily. Didn't see any pics of the roof up close without the ridge caps on but.....They make a soft tar with alum foil backing tape that is 6 inches wide by 75' per roll. If you tape the ridge where the two side meet before you put the cap on it will never leak from rain blowing uphill in storms & dripping in where the two side meet. Same with the heat vent you put up top. If the flash is up under the ridge cap & you use that tape around the perimeter of the flashing it too will never leak.

Hope you enjoy your new home & thanks for the pictures! Always fun to see.

[Bpraim1]

rhino533 - can you please advise where you purchased your windows / doors they look as if they have come from a very professional organisation.

You don't want them, Sorry Rino! They installed them in my house and within one week. I ordered Upvc windows.

Bugs crawled in , noise levels were not cut, they forgot to silicone my windows in the livinroom and soaked my flooring, which then needed to be replaced.

They look good but thats it.

[ThaiBasil]

I've also added the original floor-plan. We added 16m2 to the rightside of the house and made that our kitchen and also added a carpark.

Nice open plan tiptip.

The only things I would do differently is the closets.

For instance the two bedrooms at the rear. I would have pulled the closet in the far left bedroom forward then recessed the far back bedrooms closet into the wall it is on. In a sense the two bedroom share that closet wall & yet none protrude into the rooms (flush faced)

The far left rear room also has not door yet the hall does?If the door was moved to the bedroom it could swing open right & against the moved forward closet.

Is it a Thai architect? I notice they tend to open doors from private areas into main areas. Sometimes it is odd with a bedroom but with a bathroom it is very odd. It would have been nice to create a meeting area for the two doors of the forward bedroom & the bath.Easily done with a wall to the right of the forward bedrooms existing door, Then that bedroom door is moved right of the wall & the wall also blinds the bathroom door. Very similar to how the other bath & forward workroom? is done now on the front left side.

Nice house plan & I like the open plan.

Would like to see how you did your ceilings.

Congrats

Thanks, however the closets are no built in wardrobes or anything, it is just loose furniture to fill in the picture (just like they placed the beds). All closets have a much better place in real than in the layout.

I designed it myself by the way.

My philosophy with doors was that I wanted to be able to open all doors against the walls (with a 90 degree, so no door actually swings open further than that) so I could lock em with these magnetic door locks which hold the door in one place (on the bottom of the doors) in case of winds. Not sure how to explain them in words here is a picture of it: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vovyuA-oL._SL75_.jpg

Regarding the meeting area for the bath and bedroom on the left (if I understand you correctly) I just wanted an open space there and that second bathroom must have acces for both smaller bedrooms (not too small, still 16m2) and for guests. But I see your point, it should look better indeed.

The whole left-side can only be accesed by one door, this way I have my own big bedroom, bathroom, workroom and even a terrace for my own use. If I could do it all again, I would have added a bath in my bathroom and make my private terrace a bit bigger with acces to the garden (now its only 8 square m: 2mx4m)

Here are two pics of the ceiling. Top the OP, I do not mean to hijack your topic, I just think this topic can be usefull for everyone this way.

[flying]

Thanks, however the closets are no built in wardrobes or anything, it is just loose furniture to fill in the picture (just like they placed the beds). All closets have a much better place in real than in the layout.

I designed it myself by the way.

My philosophy with doors was that I wanted to be able to open all doors against the walls (with a 90 degree, so no door actually swings open further than that) so I could lock em with these magnetic door locks which hold the door in one place (on the bottom of the doors) in case of winds. Not sure how to explain them in words here is a picture of it: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vovyuA-oL._SL75_.jpg

Regarding the meeting area for the bath and bedroom on the left (if I understand you correctly) I just wanted an open space there and that second bathroom must have acces for both smaller bedrooms (not too small, still 16m2) and for guests. But I see your point, it should look better indeed.

The whole left-side can only be accesed by one door, this way I have my own big bedroom, bathroom, workroom and even a terrace for my own use. If I could do it all again, I would have added a bath in my bathroom and make my private terrace a bit bigger with acces to the garden (now its only 8 square m: 2mx4m)

Here are two pics of the ceiling. Top the OP, I do not mean to hijack your topic, I just think this topic can be usefull for everyone this way.

Hi

Yes I see what you mean about the closets being wardrobes. Yes that would make a big difference & I forgot how popular that style is in LOS.

Also I see now that what you were creating on the left was a wing/master suite

Nice job on your designing.

Yes I am familiar with the magnetic latch too.

The meeting area for the bed & bath doors on the right not to open into the living was basically similar to the left side of house & all would still have access to that bath. Most of the homes I build I try to minimize wasted hall type space & also do not like the tunnel feel of long halls. Yours is nice in that it does not have any wasted space as halls.

The front right bedroom door would open against the wall that you have the shower on the opposite side. If there was that meeting are like the left side of house & of course the door moved right.

But all that aside your all ready built & looking good. I like the ceilings too looks like 10 foot heights? Dee Mak !

When you said "if I could do it again" I had to smile as 95% of all the homes I have built I have said the same. There is always something that ergonomically or aesthetically could be improved in most homes....after we are done

[rhino533]

Here is the floor plan of my house. I only have the old plan on my computer not the newest one. Have a look and see what you think. My wife and I designed it our self. We are really happy with how it turned out. Exactly how we wanted it. The plan shows the hallway by the bedrooms as 1.2m we changed it to 1.5m. We added more windows through out the house and the terraces are about 1.2m further out from the house. I'll add some more house pictures this week sometime. Cheers.

Edited August 15, 2009 by rhino533

[rhino533]

To the OP, nice house and great quality stuff. Maybe I can add some advice and tips in here for other readers as well. I built my 3 bedroom (with 1 workroom) house last year. This is what I can recommend:

- built your house 1 meter from the ground, this way you are safe from heavy rainfall and bugs and if you are living up north it even keeps you warmer as you are not directly on the ground.

- built a high roof, this way you do not need expensive insulation as there is a big space between ceiling and roof (you do need to ventilate it really good though)

- surround the whole house by a cement path which extends a bit further than where your roof ends (for instance roof extends 1 meter, cement is 1,20 meters). This way the rain will fall on the cement in stead of the dirt making your house dirty. It will again prevent your house from entering bugs as it is not directly surrounded by grass etc.

- If you have a Thai wife/cook, do not built a open kitchen as smells will fill up the whole house, make it a seperate room, also Thai kitchens do not look beautiful.

- gypsum ceiling with built in spot lights work pretty well as a regular ceiling in Thailand

- make your windows as big as possible, this will make the inside of your house look more natural (mine are 2,5 meters wide: 50cm-75cm-75cm-50cm, the 75cm parts can be opened the 50 cm parts are fit)

I've also added the original floor-plan. We added 16m2 to the rightside of the house and made that our kitchen and also added a carpark.

Yeah this is all good advice. I'm pretty much doing everything you advised to do. We didn't build out house 1m above the ground but about 0.75m. The total Height of the house is around 6.5m and there is enough space in the roof to stand fine and I'm 190cm tall. We are putting 1.2m concrete path all around the house. We built the kitchen seperate. There is a door between the kitchen and the living room for the reason that you stated. Thai food can smell a bit strong sometimes. We are using gypsum ceilings with spot lights. We have lots of windows in the house, 20+ windows.

By the way, your house look really nice. Is it steel frame?

Edited August 15, 2009 by rhino533

[flying]

Here is the floor plan of my house. I only have the old plan on my computer not the newest one. Have a look and see what you think. My wife and I designed it our self. We are really happy with how it turned out. Exactly how we wanted it. The plan shows the hallway by the bedrooms as 1.2m we changed it to 1.5m. We added more windows through out the house and the terraces are about 1.2m further out from the house. I'll add some more house pictures this week sometime. Cheers.

Nice Rhino !

I like the master suite. Just be sure to have ample ventilation for the bathroom. Although steam may not be as much of a problem in LOS. Here we notice at times a walk in closet off a bath can get steamy & cause mildew between clothes.

What is the usage of the small area at the end of the hall adjacent the master bedroom 1

Very nice large cooking & wash areas too.

Congrats!

[rhino533]

Here is the floor plan of my house. I only have the old plan on my computer not the newest one. Have a look and see what you think. My wife and I designed it our self. We are really happy with how it turned out. Exactly how we wanted it. The plan shows the hallway by the bedrooms as 1.2m we changed it to 1.5m. We added more windows through out the house and the terraces are about 1.2m further out from the house. I'll add some more house pictures this week sometime. Cheers.

Nice Rhino !

I like the master suite. Just be sure to have ample ventilation for the bathroom. Although steam may not be as much of a problem in LOS. Here we notice at times a walk in closet off a bath can get steamy & cause mildew between clothes.

What is the usage of the small area at the end of the hall adjacent the master bedroom 1

Very nice large cooking & wash areas too.

Congrats!

The master bathroom has a big window in it that opens fully and the master bedroom has lots of windows which will be open daily so hopefully there should be enough airflow through the walkin closet to stop any mildew. There is a door between the bedroom and the walkin closet which will be open almost all the time. We'll have aircon in the bedroom and the cold air will flow into the walkin closet which should help stop the mildew problem too. So I will have to wait and see how it is. Hopefully it's ok. If not I'll knock the wall down and make a big bathroom area instead but hopefully won't have to do that.

The small area at the end of the hall is a budda area from my wife. She wanted to have a little area where she could pray. So we added that spot into the plans for her. But you could also put a door in and use that space for storage. It's a perfect area for it. I think a lot of people, if they use our plan will probably make it a storage area.

[flying]

The master bathroom has a big window in it that opens fully and the master bedroom has lots of windows which will be open daily so hopefully there should be enough airflow through the walkin closet to stop any mildew. There is a door between the bedroom and the walkin closet which will be open almost all the time. We'll have aircon in the bedroom and the cold air will flow into the walk in closet which should help stop the mildew problem too. So I will have to wait and see how it is. Hopefully it's ok. If not I'll knock the wall down and make a big bathroom area instead but hopefully won't have to do that.

The small area at the end of the hall is a budda area from my wife. She wanted to have a little area where she could pray. So we added that spot into the plans for her. But you could also put a door in and use that space for storage. It's a perfect area for it. I think a lot of people, if they use our plan will probably make it a storage area.

That sounds great Rhino !

I like that idea of a small meditation prayer room there very cool.

I mean to ask...I build with corrugated metal roofing for over 20 years now & what we use to attach it is Stainless Steel screws with a rubber then SS washer.Colored heads to match the color of the roof. We screw in the high spots say every 3rd or 4th hump. Then every purlin row.

I did not see how yours was attached? Just curious

[ThaiBasil]

Thanks, however the closets are no built in wardrobes or anything, it is just loose furniture to fill in the picture (just like they placed the beds). All closets have a much better place in real than in the layout.

I designed it myself by the way.

My philosophy with doors was that I wanted to be able to open all doors against the walls (with a 90 degree, so no door actually swings open further than that) so I could lock em with these magnetic door locks which hold the door in one place (on the bottom of the doors) in case of winds. Not sure how to explain them in words here is a picture of it: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vovyuA-oL._SL75_.jpg

Regarding the meeting area for the bath and bedroom on the left (if I understand you correctly) I just wanted an open space there and that second bathroom must have acces for both smaller bedrooms (not too small, still 16m2) and for guests. But I see your point, it should look better indeed.

The whole left-side can only be accesed by one door, this way I have my own big bedroom, bathroom, workroom and even a terrace for my own use. If I could do it all again, I would have added a bath in my bathroom and make my private terrace a bit bigger with acces to the garden (now its only 8 square m: 2mx4m)

Here are two pics of the ceiling. Top the OP, I do not mean to hijack your topic, I just think this topic can be usefull for everyone this way.

Hi

Yes I see what you mean about the closets being wardrobes. Yes that would make a big difference & I forgot how popular that style is in LOS.

Also I see now that what you were creating on the left was a wing/master suite

Nice job on your designing.

Yes I am familiar with the magnetic latch too.

The meeting area for the bed & bath doors on the right not to open into the living was basically similar to the left side of house & all would still have access to that bath. Most of the homes I build I try to minimize wasted hall type space & also do not like the tunnel feel of long halls. Yours is nice in that it does not have any wasted space as halls.

The front right bedroom door would open against the wall that you have the shower on the opposite side. If there was that meeting are like the left side of house & of course the door moved right.

But all that aside your all ready built & looking good. I like the ceilings too looks like 10 foot heights? Dee Mak !

When you said "if I could do it again" I had to smile as 95% of all the homes I have built I have said the same. There is always something that ergonomically or aesthetically could be improved in most homes....after we are done

I really wanted no wasted areas at all, even the only "hall" area in my private "wing" adds a bit more space into the bedroom. Also for the eye it was much better not to make that area a "hall" or "meeting" area. It would have been completely useless.

Ceilings are about 10 feet.

In my experience (used to be in real estate on Koh Samui) there is ALWAYS something you want to change afterwards.

Are you in construction in Thailand or back home? I'm curious if you have a floorplan of something you built as well. I just the discussion going on in here.

[ThaiBasil]

Here is the floor plan of my house. I only have the old plan on my computer not the newest one. Have a look and see what you think. My wife and I designed it our self. We are really happy with how it turned out. Exactly how we wanted it. The plan shows the hallway by the bedrooms as 1.2m we changed it to 1.5m. We added more windows through out the house and the terraces are about 1.2m further out from the house. I'll add some more house pictures this week sometime. Cheers.

Nice layout, I would have made the terraces even more bigger (with huge sliding doors on both sides) and probably the bedrooms too. I just believe the outdoors in Thailand is very important, so big terraces are important too me.

Is it correct that the master is 3.50 x 3.40 = 11.90 sqm? I think that is really small, but than again you do have a walk-in closet (nice!) so you'll have more room in the bedroom (no need for a closet I mean). Both my smaller bedrooms are 16 sqm (master is 20sqm) which I think, when I step in the room, are really about the minimum for a comfortable bedroom.

Ah, a buddha area, I was already wondering too, haha.

Good to read you did many similar things, regarding the tips I mentioned. 6,5 is a good height for a house and will keep the place cool!

Again nice house and to answer your question, only my roof is steel (strong and no termites, the only wood I have are the doors and windows, so I do not worry too much about termites there, I'm also very high of the ground as said before so should probably be okay)

[Artisi]

rhino533 - can you please advise where you purchased your windows / doors they look as if they have come from a very professional organisation.

You don't want them, Sorry Rino! They installed them in my house and within one week. I ordered Upvc windows.

Bugs crawled in , noise levels were not cut, they forgot to silicone my windows in the livinroom and soaked my flooring, which then needed to be replaced.

They look good but thats it.

Would you mind expanding on these comments, when / where did the bugs crawl in, where was the silicone forgotten etc.

[flying]

I really wanted no wasted areas at all, even the only "hall" area in my private "wing" adds a bit more space into the bedroom. Also for the eye it was much better not to make that area a "hall" or "meeting" area. It would have been completely useless.

Ceilings are about 10 feet.

In my experience (used to be in real estate on Koh Samui) there is ALWAYS something you want to change afterwards.

Are you in construction in Thailand or back home? I'm curious if you have a floorplan of something you built as well. I just the discussion going on in here.

Nice!

Yes I have built the same way for over 20 years now.

I am a contractor but not in LOS just back home. But I live on an Island & our building design methods are very similar. Except we build mainly with wood.

But our homes are mainly post & pier ..ie: off the ground although we do slab on grade too. I will try to see if I have anything on the computer. I still basically do old school from the start I sketch the plan & then have a drafts person clean it up & do the sections.

I also started doing that no hallways from back in 86. Even with four bedroom homes I would do two wings with living areas center & out. The halls on both ends were only 5' long. It was just a meeting/ blind for usually 3 doors 2bedroom & a bath on each wing. But the master wing has the bath door direct from room of course.

I love high ceiling & mine here are 17' dropping to 8' over a run of 17 which is a 5/12 roof pitch.

Here are some pictures of a smaller 1224 sq foot home I did recently.

Just 2 bed 1 bath a laundry room & back deck. Also has a garage/car park option

Folks liked it so much I ended up doing 3 of them.I like high ceiling & mine here are 17' dropping to 8' over a run of 17 which is a 5/12 roof pitch. All wood 1x8 T&G pine interior double wall & also the small hall set at a 45 degree angle. Very comfy for a couple. I drop & joist the ceiling over the bath,hall & closet, it creates a large loft in the bigger bedroom. Tall enough to stand up there & walk around due to the 17' high center point. Probably about 120 sq feet. Good for additional storage.

[ThaiBasil]

I really wanted no wasted areas at all, even the only "hall" area in my private "wing" adds a bit more space into the bedroom. Also for the eye it was much better not to make that area a "hall" or "meeting" area. It would have been completely useless.

Ceilings are about 10 feet.

In my experience (used to be in real estate on Koh Samui) there is ALWAYS something you want to change afterwards.

Are you in construction in Thailand or back home? I'm curious if you have a floorplan of something you built as well. I just the discussion going on in here.

Nice!

Yes I have built the same way for over 20 years now.

I am a contractor but not in LOS just back home. But I live on an Island & our building design methods are very similar. Except we build mainly with wood.

But our homes are mainly post & pier ..ie: off the ground although we do slab on grade too. I will try to see if I have anything on the computer. I still basically do old school from the start I sketch the plan & then have a drafts person clean it up & do the sections.

I also started doing that no hallways from back in 86. Even with four bedroom homes I would do two wings with living areas center & out. The halls on both ends were only 5' long. It was just a meeting/ blind for usually 3 doors 2bedroom & a bath on each wing. But the master wing has the bath door direct from room of course.

I love high ceiling & mine here are 17' dropping to 8' over a run of 17 which is a 5/12 roof pitch.

Here are some pictures of a smaller 1224 sq foot home I did recently.

Just 2 bed 1 bath a laundry room & back deck. Also has a garage/car park option

Folks liked it so much I ended up doing 3 of them.I like high ceiling & mine here are 17' dropping to 8' over a run of 17 which is a 5/12 roof pitch. All wood 1x8 T&G pine interior double wall & also the small hall set at a 45 degree angle. Very comfy for a couple. I drop & joist the ceiling over the bath,hall & closet, it creates a large loft in the bigger bedroom. Tall enough to stand up there & walk around due to the 17' high center point. Probably about 120 sq feet. Good for additional storage.

That is beautiful, I love the high ceiling, I love the light wood and the black contrast. You gotto love the Thai vautled ceilings by the way. I was thinking of making something in the master bedroom but thought the option was too expensive compared to regular gypsum ceiling. Also I never find the right spots for the lights.

[flying]

That is beautiful, I love the high ceiling, I love the light wood and the black contrast. You gotto love the Thai vautled ceilings by the way. I was thinking of making something in the master bedroom but thought the option was too expensive compared to regular gypsum ceiling. Also I never find the right spots for the lights.

Thanks yes I love high open ceilings &I do not see the point of attic space that is not usable. But I also have seem some very nice variations on 10-12' flat ceilings.

Your right about lighting it has to hang when vaulting or never looks right. I have seen some interesting use of track lighting though on a few.

[Bpraim1]

rhino533 - can you please advise where you purchased your windows / doors they look as if they have come from a very professional organisation.

You don't want them, Sorry Rino! They installed them in my house and within one week. I ordered Upvc windows.

Bugs crawled in , noise levels were not cut, they forgot to silicone my windows in the livinroom and soaked my flooring, which then needed to be replaced.

They look good but thats it.

Would you mind expanding on these comments, when / where did the bugs crawl in, where was the silicone forgotten etc.

The bugs crawled in under the slideable section of window, as the fir gaurds were the wrong size, and on some windows they didn't add them. This is the grey coloured seal.

They forgot to silicone around the windows completely. Young kids came to do it. They missed on the top between the house and window sill.

Windows look nice don't get me wrong, but for not much more you can have Upvc windows installed.

34,000 for Alum, and 47,000 for Hoffen Upvc.

Upvc sealed great, locks are good, bug screens A plus, 6mm thick glass.

[a99az]

That is beautiful, I love the high ceiling, I love the light wood and the black contrast. You gotto love the Thai vautled ceilings by the way. I was thinking of making something in the master bedroom but thought the option was too expensive compared to regular gypsum ceiling. Also I never find the right spots for the lights.

Thanks yes I love high open ceilings &I do not see the point of attic space that is not usable. But I also have seem some very nice variations on 10-12' flat ceilings.

Your right about lighting it has to hang when vaulting or never looks right. I have seen some interesting use of track lighting though on a few.

Love it but I thinl that the loss of the loft space will make the house hot. A well vented loft is good for getting rid of heat.

[flying]

Love it but I think that the loss of the loft space will make the house hot. A well vented loft is good for getting rid of heat.

Good Point!

Many times what works well for steep pitched roofs is a cupola like shown below.

Then the heat rises & escapes.

Or an exhaust fan like the OP has on their home.

I live in the mountains so a ceiling fan is sufficient.

[GungaDin]

But our homes are mainly post & pier ..ie: off the ground

@ Flying.....

If you're referring to 2m+ Polehouses, I'd like to see what you've built/designed.

I'm a big fan of Polehouses, esp Thai ones.

Thanks

[rhino533]

We added a large wood vent on both sides of the house to let air flow nicely throught the roof. I need someones opinion on if we should keep it wood color and just stain it or should I paint it? Colors? Any ideas would be great. I'm kind leaning towards keeping it wood color. Here are some updated pics taken today.

[ballbreaker]

Go with the paint I think it would be less maintenance over time.