Standard House Specifications

[BKK90210]

i would definitely want someone i can trust with a bit of building background to watch over the building for you. plans don't mean much here, the builder will do what every they want to do anyhow.

one thought on the building that hasn't been mentioned yet, make sure they put vent pipes in the plumbing, Thia's often don't bother and the bathrooms smell really bad.

oh, and don't forget lightning protection.

I agree

for those americanS...."vent pipe" in the plumbing = P-TRAP

Edited January 30, 2006 by BKK90210

[johnnyk]

A vent pipe is something else. It is a pipe leading outside (often through the roof) in order to equalize air pressure through the piping run.

The P-trap is to hold water in order to prevent fragrant bouquets in the room. The P-trap also provides an access point for clean out.

[ray23]

i would definitely want someone i can trust with a bit of building background to watch over the building for you. plans don't mean much here, the builder will do what every they want to do anyhow.

one thought on the building that hasn't been mentioned yet, make sure they put vent pipes in the plumbing, Thia's often don't bother and the bathrooms smell really bad.

oh, and don't forget lightning protection.

This one bring up a good question for me anyone got any ideas. Two bathroom house both with vent pipes one has a occasional order smells like amona, the other doesn't. Problem seems worse on cold nihgts. The only thing I can think of is something is wrong with the vent pipe ?

Anyone got any ideas.

[Beachbunny]

i would definitely want someone i can trust with a bit of building background to watch over the building for you. plans don't mean much here, the builder will do what every they want to do anyhow.

one thought on the building that hasn't been mentioned yet, make sure they put vent pipes in the plumbing, Thia's often don't bother and the bathrooms smell really bad.

oh, and don't forget lightning protection.

This one bring up a good question for me anyone got any ideas. Two bathroom house both with vent pipes one has a occasional order smells like amona, the other doesn't. Problem seems worse on cold nihgts. The only thing I can think of is something is wrong with the vent pipe ?

Anyone got any ideas.

Do your showers have p-traps?

I see a lot of the questions etc. talked about here have answers on the blog and forum at www.coolthaihouse.com

[BKK90210]

This one bring up a good question for me anyone got any ideas. Two bathroom house both with vent pipes one has a occasional order smells like amona, the other doesn't. Problem seems worse on cold nihgts. The only thing I can think of is something is wrong with the vent pipe ?

Anyone got any ideas.

Due to that specific bathroom location: May be the cool air drops from your roof ridge during the cool night and passes down through your pipe...therefore blocking the warm bad smell air from getting up and out? Remember the cool air is heavier and denser than the warm air.

[excaliber]

i would definitely want someone i can trust with a bit of building background to watch over the building for you. plans don't mean much here, the builder will do what every they want to do anyhow.

one thought on the building that hasn't been mentioned yet, make sure they put vent pipes in the plumbing, Thia's often don't bother and the bathrooms smell really bad.

oh, and don't forget lightning protection.

Most Thai builders do put a vent for the septic tank, either on the exterior wall or directly on top of the septic tank with a "T" on top, most usually a 1/2" pipe. The smell usually comes from not having a "P" or "S" trap under the floor/shower drain and/or one under the sink, toilets have them built in. The common clean-outs under sinks are not water traps at all.

There is quite a lot of advice within this forum, some good, some questionable. Experience is always the best teacher..

A friend of mine said to me once, "You'll have problems with the house construction whether you're on site all the time or if you're in another country, the only difference is, if you're not on site you won't have the daily headaches." ..............true, although if you or someone reliable is on site to supervise & manage you won't have to repair or re-do the 'undo-able', i.e., major problems with foundation and/or structure.

Another common practice in Thailand, intentional or not, rarely does the water on the floor flow towards the drain, Why? Most Thai workers don't use bubble levels, instead use water-filled tubing to get levels & elevations. In addition, the tiling process here is pre-historic and more often than not leads to breakage later on. Proper adhesives are now available as are admixtures for thinset & grouts.............................just my 2 salungs' worth.........

[Morden]

Well, I started this thread with what seems now like a few very basic questions. The construction of our house began last summer and is now nearing completion. As the thread has come back to life I thought that I would give a very brief update.

The original builder lost his workforce to the harvest before we even sat down to talk to him. We looked at the work of another builder and decided that we like it. My original question was about house plans. This guy had two books; one about bungalows and the other about two-storey houses. Each double page showed an artist's painting and an outline plan of a particular model. The general style reminded us of the houses on the big new developments. I photographed six models and asked for a price for each. Then we had the images developed and decided which model we liked.

The negotiations with the builder were relatively easy. He readily agreed to a fixed price, fixed period contract with us paying in four stages. I went through my printout of Coolthaihouse with him to check the quality of the materials that he intended to use (pointing at pic.of cement bags, 'Which colour bags will you use?'). We discussed the specification and agreed alterations, some of which affected the price and some of which did not. The first payment was made before he started work and the last will be made after we sign off on completion. We paid extra for some better quality items such as flooring, tiles and a few light fittings. The contract price includes farang bathrooms but we have paid extra for farang kitchen fittings.

All in all we have been very impressed with the quality of the work and the helpfulness of the builder. Where we changed our minds on some details he has carried out the work without charge. Where we have upgraded the quality of materials he has charged only the difference. Father-in-law has watched the work very closely and I am sure that this has paid off. We both recently spent the best part of three weeks on site and my wife is there still as the cosmetic work is finished. She has an instruction from me that, when the electrical work is finished, she turns on the hob, oven, water heater and lights all at the same time to make sure that the power supply stays on!

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since I asked my question last year. I've learned a great deal and am grateful to those of you who were able to offer advice to get me started. It's been an adventure but nowhere near as painful as I had expected.

Here's a pic. taken the other day and emailed to me to show you what we are doing: