Why So Few Loft Conversions?

[brit1984]

In the UK (at least in London), nearly every house has a loft / attic conversion, and often a basement conversion too, but in Thailand I have seen very few examples of either. The previous residents of our place in Bangkok did have the basement converted but now we want to convert the attic spaces too.

Is there a particular reason why attic (and basement) conversions are not popular in Thailand?

Does anyone know of any firms in Bangkok (or elsewhere) that specialise in attic conversions?

[bkkjames]

Easy, heat rises (lofts) - and basements - never seen one here.

[brit1984]

Easy, heat rises (lofts) - and basements - never seen one here.

Wouldn't air-con' work in a loft?

[CharlieH]

The Temperatures achieved in the loft space would be unreal, especially as most the roof beam work would be steel. (Usually).

The basement dependent on area may be a possibility of flooding ? They dont have the water run off's etc as all the flooding in recent years has shown.. Only a guess.

Edited September 12, 2012 by CharlieH

[bkkjames]

Easy, heat rises (lofts) - and basements - never seen one here.

Wouldn't air-con' work in a loft?

they would work but as charlie said, hot air rises cold air sinks. I like lofts and high ceilings, perhaps one could open up (covered and screened for rain and bugs) a section to let the hot air out

[DP25]

Where I'm from in the US I've never seen either of these things. No one even has basements. Maybe some people convert attics but its not common and I think it would be unbearably hot most of the yearl. Think its the same in Thailand.

[TwoDogz]

I know someone that just built a small house with a loft and a basement, but not in Bkk.

The loft gets very hot during the day, but believe they did not build it properly with attention to heat and insulation. It does cool down quickly though as he built in vents and at night it is fine.

Insulation would be key and venting also as even with insulation, it will be hotter than downsatirs simply cos heat rises. If aircon then no problem, but again must insulated 110%

We used a spray on foam on the ceiling of a house we built, stopped heat and 85% of noise very well. That combined with some fibreglass matts perhaps would work wonders.

The upper aircon will also fall down stairs as cold air sinks, so you may be able to save on downstairs cooling with aircon.

As for basements, theirs works well, nice and cool but you need to make sure it is waterproof, think build it like a pool and use waterstop seals at floor level and water proof agent in the cement.

Bangkok builds high rise carparks for a reason, apparently it is less expensive to build up than down on swamp land.

[Soutpeel]

The basement dependent on area may be a possibility of flooding ? They dont have the water run off's etc as all the flooding in recent years has shown.. Only a guess.

Think its more than a guess.. ....your very own in door swimming pool during certain times of the year

[arthurwait]

The reason is IMO most the property is rented in Bangkok, most is owned by a very small percentage of the population. The people who own will just buy another property instead for the land as an investment. It's less hassle than doing or organizing the work of builders who like to rip the customers off and spend most their time lying on their backsides if not supervised extending their labour costs.

As most people who own property are business owners they don't have the time to spare to do this.

If you see design magazines you will see people aged 25/30-40 are buying the townhouses and maximising the space, but in comparison to the overall population it's a tiny amount.

Other reasons maybe that they don't trust the build quality of houses and now you to have any conversions legally signed off by an architect which you have to show at time of sale with the original blueprint of the house which probably got lost years ago.

Also if you own the land it's probably better to just knock the house down and start again built by a house build company.

Edited September 12, 2012 by arthurwait

[lazygourmet]

Easy, heat rises (lofts) - and basements - never seen one here.

Wouldn't air-con' work in a loft?

Industrial ones are doing the trick... but at a cost !

No time to look for the proper link but here you might be able to find some examples of converted factories -large shophouses actually- around Hua Lamphong train station.

[Thongkorn]

Where I'm from in the US I've never seen either of these things. No one even has basements. Maybe some people convert attics but its not common and I think it would be unbearably hot most of the yearl. Think its the same in Thailand.

maybe you can convert your loft and with the heat grow your own marijuana (ganga). just a thought .

[bendejo]

I think the artsy-type converted loft you see in major US cities, with exposed brick, exposed plumbing etc wouldn't go over big here. In this part of the world they like the glossy-glitzy look, you may have noticed. Maybe some artists/musicians would go for it, which was the way it was in NYC before the 1970s, when converted factory space became fashionable for non-artists. Now these places are priced out of the struggling artist range, and the only people who can afford them are successful lawyers, entertainers etc. I can't see that happening here just now.

It's like the way cool scruffy (t-shirts, ripped jeans, beards etc) does not play well out here either, except with some younger people.

But boho-chic is starting to catch on in Malaysia.