What Would You Change In Your House / Plot If You Could Start Again ?

[torrenova]

Just thinking about some of the houses I've lived in and those I've seen and visited and I was just thinking about things which people overlooked and which are now very costly or impossible to change.

So I ask, what would you change for a new build, what would you do differently or what would you look for in a house you were buying which you overlooked before. Also, please include things you did not forget and which you think are important.

[MikeyIdea]

Most Thai houses I see have small windows. I am a bit to the other side, I want big windows. The house gets so much nicer to live in if it is a light and airy house.

Compared to most Thai houses, and the one I live in, I would change 2 things: 1) Big windows letting in lot's of light 2) Open layout of living areas (living room kitchen)

[stgrhe]

My house is still under construction but if I had the possibility to restard the construction I would have opted for a design with bearing walls to get rid of the horrible columns.

I have come a long way in avoiding the "this is not how we build houses in Thailand" argument, but I simply forgot the pillar design thing.

[craigt3365]

I would make sure the patios face North! Or at least, have very large awnings over the patios. The sun hits the bottom of my doors and they are wasted. Plus, makes the house warmer.

[philliphn]

A supply of good potable water is very important.

If you find that you have poor Well water, don't build their!

[juehoe]

My house was built in a resort (Tropical Paradise Garden, Khao Tao, Hua Hin) and finished some months ago. You can see some pictures here (sorry, only German comments)

The architecture of the houses where given, but I had some options for the interiour layout. My experience so far:

General

• Check the construction site every day. Most of the time I was still living in Switzerland. Even the main contractor was a Swiss, there were many things which could be better solved on place.
  
• Don't trust the «can do». Even companies with Westerners as bosses, can only deliver more or less the «Thai quality/style».
  
• Keep it simple (see above).
  

General house layout, facade etc.

• The general lyout is appropriate for the tropical climat (e.g. natural ventilation, insulation, shading).
  
• But the flat roof on the maid room is a real heat sink.
  
• I would prefer ouside roller shutters (electric operated) for glare control and safety.
  
• The big aluminium windows and glass doors with integrated mosquito screens are really good, but expensive (from SunParadise)
  

Interiour layout

• General layout is good.
  
• I would change the kitchens to a «real» covered Thai kitchen outside and a small Western «breakfast» kitchen inside.
  
• Smaller master bathroom, but larger wardrobe and seperate toilet room.
  
• Maid room more spacious.
  

[SantiSuk]

Had our house built and completed six months ago. What would I do differently? Would have asked for an experienced plumber and electrician. I would have integrated solar power into the hot water supply, dispensed with the builders crazy idea for two independent water systems for each side of the house and would have installed earthed 3 pin plugs throughout.

The big thing though is the power supply. Too weak - supports only one air con unit on full load at a time. I might have looked elsewhere for a site if I had been told this might be an issue. I found out on day 1 of moving in, although the family clearly knew all along.

Nonetheless - very happy - I designed it to my own spec and it's very satisfying to enjoy the bits that work well (big windows, open plan like a previous poster mentioned and a long verandah out the back). My wife's insistence on vast expanses of light coloured granite tiles has worked really well at flooding the house with light and the main door placements, designed to catch winds and take it through the house have lowered energy costs effectively. Other important things to think about at the design stage are where is the sun going to come up and go down and how wide does the roof overhang need to be to give plenty of shade.

Oh and I would have stopped my wife putting in the soil infill too early after the build. I told her not to but you can't stop an unstoppable force when you are not on site. Had to pay her brothers in law to dig a load of it of it back out again to get down to a stable base for concrete drives and pathways!

[dudemeister]

I would change the wife!

[SantiSuk]

I would change the wife!

I don't think that qualifies as something 'which people overlooked and which are now very costly or impossible to change'.

Walk down the road and smile a lot and you should have no problems fixing that fault!

[craigt3365]

My house was built in a resort (Tropical Paradise Garden, Khao Tao, Hua Hin) and finished some months ago. You can see some pictures here (sorry, only German comments)

The architecture of the houses where given, but I had some options for the interiour layout. My experience so far:

General

• Check the construction site every day. Most of the time I was still living in Switzerland. Even the main contractor was a Swiss, there were many things which could be better solved on place.
  
• Don't trust the «can do». Even companies with Westerners as bosses, can only deliver more or less the «Thai quality/style».
  
• Keep it simple (see above).
  

General house layout, facade etc.

• The general lyout is appropriate for the tropical climat (e.g. natural ventilation, insulation, shading).
  
• But the flat roof on the maid room is a real heat sink.
  
• I would prefer ouside roller shutters (electric operated) for glare control and safety.
  
• The big aluminium windows and glass doors with integrated mosquito screens are really good, but expensive (from SunParadise)
  

Interiour layout

• General layout is good.
  
• I would change the kitchens to a «real» covered Thai kitchen outside and a small Western «breakfast» kitchen inside.
  
• Smaller master bathroom, but larger wardrobe and seperate toilet room.
  
• Maid room more spacious.
  

Agreed! Have you seen roller shutters here in Thailand? I am just starting to look into them, but think they will be too expensive. We are having nice wooden mosquito screens put in...on rollers next to the doors. Looks very nice. We have a big western kitchen and are having a covered Thai kitchen behind it...with plenty of ventilation. Larger maid room??? Wife does a good enough job!!!!!

[petertucker48]

One think I will definitely change next time is all doors and windows facing East and West to be as small as possible or with a very big awning to keep away the Sun in morning (8 till 11) and afternoon (3 till 5).

In my case once the sun has risen and the big glass sliding doors are in the shade, they remains hot for a further 4 to 5 hours !!!! heating up the lounge and main bedroom beautifully!

Next time Lounge to face North and shutters on East and West (building to start next month).

[PeaceBlondie]

I made no choices; they built it Tnai style. Big rooms, windows, tile floors, curtains, full baths. The tile colors were too loud. No complaints.

[torrenova]

Here's some of what I have already identified, not just "wants" with an unlimited budget !

Services

Western standard with sufficient power and safety. Broadband available. Water not in short supply but backed with a large tank and good pump. Sufficient electrical outlets. Wired for home network including cable. Depending upon location, aircons to be inverter type which can function as heaters in cold weather.

Living room

Open and spacious. No obstructions, mentioned by someone as supporting pillars. Large windows and doors allowing through ventilation.

Kitchens

Internal western and external Thai but Thai kitchen not just thrown on as an afterthought.

Bathrooms

En-suite to each bedroom. Also large enough. Decent hot water system.

Bedrooms

Again, large enough to incorporate sufficient built in storage and wardrobes.

Storage

Secure storage room with external access. Sort of extended utility room.

Orientation

Careful consideration given to position of house on plot. Placement of pool (if installing) leaving sufficient land around. I can't stand houses where the pool is all of the garden. Thought as to garage placement as well as awning and sun trap.

Other

Undecided whether single or 2 storey. Given a budget, I suspect it largely depends upon the cost of another storey versus the extra land. Attention must be paid to the design of the roofing to remove the massive amount of heat that can collect there. Overall, I would need decent construction. Some I've seen (including one we have) are very poor.

I guess that if money was a big issue, I'd rather build somewhere which could be improved as time progressed without massive intrusion into the life of living there. I mean, if I wanted a huge jacuzzi bath but couldn't afford it, I'd rather build the bathroom large enough so that one day it could be installed rather than forgoing it forever.

Loads of other things I'm sure and I'm really not sure that I'll ever build but I don't want to compromise too much.

[Totster]

One thing I urge everyone to do is consider the sun position and angle carefully. It can make the difference from a room being warm or cool. I did consider this, but the next door neighbours are re-building their house to be a single storey one, and taking down the stilt house which was giving us some shade. Knowing this (or thinking this) when we built the house I would could have made extra arrangements to give shade. As it is, I will have to add something on externally.

The other thing is some of the power sockets are not correctly positioned, for instance we added sliding mosquito doors, which then obscured some of the sockets, and light switches.

I think no matter how much you plan or prepare, there is always something that will not be right, or you that could have done differently... with hindsight...

Totster

[villagefarang]

After two years in the house I am still quite content that we did most everything right. Some of the outside railings and wood work will have to be dealt with at some point but that is just cosmetic.

I'm definitely keeping the wife. After all she drew up the initial plans and has done a great job decorating.

[mxr]

Many people mention that a house needs to have a thai style kitchen?

Why can't thai people cook in a normal kitchen? A decent western style

kitchen (for 300,000+ baht) is very comfortable to work in and has all

the amenities, even a powerful exhaust fan to suck out the smell of the

smelly fish sauce.

I have finally taught my wife to use the kitchen we have, why cook in the

back of the house on a dingy old stove? Progress....

[stgrhe]

I agree with you mxr and simply refused to add an ugly looking Thai kitchen for my house.

[dhwj]

I rented a house in Phuket and the owner had one small room built with a combination "safe" door instead of a regular door and no windows. Wonderful feeling that when I went away all the most likely theft items were in the safe. Of course a determined thief could break through the concrete walls but really. Anyway, I am planning to build and will definitely build a "safe" into the house.

[kamalabob2]

We have a decent indoor Western Style Kitchen with good grade fixtures, appliances (Siemens cook top, exhaust fan, dishwasher) and granite counters with a couple of decent sinks and VRH faucets.

However it has proven to me in the past 19 months that the expense of a exterior Thai style kitchen with a Franke sink, hot and cold water in the VRH faucet, Siemens gas cook top, the http://www.gasbbqthailand.com/page/bbq.html Quik-Fire stainless steel gas BBQ, some inexpensive King Brand cabinet doors, Thai local granite counter tops on standard brick and concrete "village construction" counters and tile inside the cabinets and on the walls to the ceiling with an inexpensive Granito brand tile floor and Kacee brand bamboo roll up blinds

http://www.kaceecurtain.com/KC/eng/b_bambo...2=bamboo&h=

to filter the afternoon sun was well worth it. My Thai wife thinks it is best for our relationship to cook some items outdoors and not indoors so who am I to argue. You do not have to use a "dingy old stove" in a Thai outdoor kitchen.

On the covered veranda we put a small Teka sink, VRH faucet and granite countertop for the laundry area. Tile and workman to install tile need not be expensive in Thailand, especially "up country".

[craigt3365]

Fantastic. Who says Thai kitchens have to be ugly? Yours is beautiful. I am sure the wife will enjoy it...and so will you (no fish/chili smells in the house). We are planning pretty much the same thing. But ours will be out front near the pool, so the wife can be part of the party, not just in back cooking...

Love your inside kitchen also! Beautiful...

[kamalabob2]

Thanks for the compliment on the kitchens. If I could start again I would have made the rear veranda deeper, done spray on foam roof insulation, had a more detailed building materials plan and followed the lawyers advise to expand upon that building materials plan to list things down to MORE specific model numbers.

I should have allowed the good Thai electricians to place the Panasonic grounded sockets horizontal OR vertical (with the ground on the TOP, not bottom as I foolishly insisted) and I would have had a few more English language versions or English translations done of some building materials installation brochures. The "living room" is NEVER used, and the UNCOVERED 2nd floor terrace is NEVER USED. Verandas and balconies FAR from a food source are ignored by our Thai family and any UNCOVERED area is never used during the day. I would have had the electricians install wiring for low voltage garden lights. I would have never used BLACK tile near the pool deck area. I would have bought more casement opening windows are no "single hung" windows. The largest mistake I made was to not pay or insist on a English language translation of the CPAC roof building materials list. Just ONE item switched by a shady Home Mart caused me grief, but our builder took responsibility and sourced the correct larger part, which Home Mart did not stock or sell. CPAC in Thai had specified the item, the supplier switched the part and it was a real problem until switched.

I would NEVER get talked into HDF or MDF interior doors again. We bought some attractive pvc doors, wood doors with glass inserts and fiberglass doors, but the MDF or HDF doors expand and shrink. I would have spent less on CCTV had I known how effective the WASP SECURITY electric fence would prove. The deep (wide) COVERED verandas are used 365 days a year, but the uncovered balcony is used ZERO times a year. I should have had RAIN GUTTERS and DOWNSPOUTS as part of the building contract as that was a cost that I shouldered and it was a necessary item. I would have hired CEI fans to install all the ceiling fans so it would have been correct the first time. I did not realize that a DRIVEWAY was not part of our building plan and our front steps were not at the same level as the type of driveway I THOUGHT was in the building contract. Generally I was happy with how the house turned out, but I would not relish building another home in Thailand. The photo of the woman with a BROWN metal section and a stainless metal section shows the difference in what we originally received (brown) and what size CPAC actually specified (stainless larger size) as part of the roof "valley" system.

I also attached a photo of the 2000 baht a month two bedroom rental house kitchen we used for two years prior to moving into our own home. There is also a photo of our rental home "thai kitchen" BBQ that was actually in our front yard since our rental had no back yard. That stainless steel BBQ, made in Udon, Thailand has been used 365 days a year for over 3 years with no problems.

[mxr]

yes beautiful kitchens, well done.

however i still have the argument with my wife on 2 points - why can't thai people learn

to cook in a normal kitchen, and why prepare and eat food on the floor.

i tell my one not to cook on the floor, when she goes back to her country side village

they can all sit on the ground with the dogs and kitchens, and eat with their hands,

but i want my kids to grow up civilized and not prepare food on the floor.

riding down the soi, i see thai people sprawled out in the driveway with 20 dishes on

the floor, looks like the 1800s to me...

maybe i am wrong, i dont know.

[petertucker48]

[

however i still have the argument with my wife on 2 points - why can't thai people learn

to cook in a normal kitchen, and why prepare and eat food on the floor.

i tell my one not to cook on the floor, when she goes back to her country side village

they can all sit on the ground with the dogs and kitchens, and eat with their hands,

but i want my kids to grow up civilized and not prepare food on the floor.

Ask yourself the simple question "Why Not"

If the people are comfortable sitting on the floor why walk around up top making work for yourself.

What is your definition of "Civilised"

Just because YOU want to eat off a table does NOT make it "Civilised" it makes good in your eyes but unfortunately not necessary "good or civilised" in others peoples eyes.

Relax and enjoy life here as it is.

ENJOY

[craigt3365]

Peter: right on. It does crack me up when they eat on the floor when there is a table nearby. But many times they eat outside. There are no tables big enough outside, especially when the whole family is there. And many only have a few pieces of furniture in their house anyway. They just can't afford stuff like this. No worries, I eat on the floor with them and use my hands. They LOVE it!

Kamalabob2: I have already left an email for your BBQ company. Looks great! I agree with the verandas. We are having ours extended and gutters added. Unfortunately, the house is already built, but just a shell inside. And it faces South and West! With small verandas. We were planning a sala with BBQ across the pool from the house, but have decided it would not get used, so we are putting it right next to the house now...just like you said! And for sure, will do some landscape lighting...

I have a few questions:

1. I have heard mixed reports on the spray foam insulation. Is it really that good?

2. Not sure I understand the deal with the grounded sockets...why does it make a difference if they are up or down?

3. I am researching security systems now. CCTV will be part for sure, and was considering electric fence. Do you have a link for that WASP Security system? I have a back wall that faces an open field. I know it will be a problem!

Your house looks great! I am sure you are enjoying it now.

Craig

[craigt3365]

Oops! I found the references to the security system. Looks intense. I am on their website now. Thanks for the info!!!!!

[kamalabob2]

I am NOT sure that "spray on roof insulation foam" is the BEST procedure to deal with heat, but I see the limits of the CPAC Ultra Kool insulation product.

The GROUND plug on a male corded appliance that "hangs" is on the TOP of the 3 pins, unlike America where the ground plug is on the BOTTOM of the three pins. So I originally had the electricians install the Panasonic sockets the way I was "used to" in America, but when we plugged in the Panasonic inverter Fridge the corded plug is grounded and was going up putting tension on the cable, etc.. So the sensible thing is to install sockets in Thailand horizontal or "upside down" from the American system since the grounded plugs here conform to a "layout" with the ground socket on the TOP.

Heck our family sits ON the kitchen counter, sometimes on the floor, sometimes using the kitchen stools made by NEO HOUSE in Korat, all depending on how many people are eating. I never know what sort of fruit will be in any sink so I try to enjoy life in this Country.

[skybluestu]

I love our house, wouldn't change anything apart from one small thing. Our bedroom has 6 spotlights but I'd rather have 4, sometimes it looks like a UFO is about to land.

[manarak]

Something to think about is computer cabling.

Use of computers will only become more and more widespread, so it is natural to plan a house network with connections to all rooms.

[stgrhe]

Something to think about is computer cabling.

Use of computers will only become more and more widespread, so it is natural to plan a house network with connections to all rooms.

Good comment and this is why I have planned for that in my house.

[villagefarang]

Something to think about is computer cabling.

Use of computers will only become more and more widespread, so it is natural to plan a house network with connections to all rooms.

Good comment and this is why I have planned for that in my house.

WiFi is more flexible.