Sorry to be greedy - a question about an extension!

[cliveshep]

We, my lovely Thai wife and I, have very recently returned from the UK and have bought ourselves a house for all of us to live in. It's a typical Thai detached house, having rather more space than some around it. To the rear it backs onto a farm and has 1.6m to the boundary wall, and there is a 2.7m strip to the kitchen side decreasing to 2.2m where the existing kitchen projects 500mm. The other (lounge) side has 3.0m.

It's a nice house with quite small rooms which from an air-con running-expense point of view is good but although it has a massive front master bedroom and 3 other smaller but adequate bedrooms it is very mean on the bathroom front, they are small and rather nasty, one upstairs and one in the downstairs stair lobby. It also has only a small kitchen space, with no facilities whatsoever, and a sink on a stand out the back overlooking the farm. Their washing machine is out the back too, both under a piece of asbestos roof - no walls!

Compared to UK standards the kitchen is a slum area! Nothing currently in our shipping container (now only a week away) will fit into it and we cannot put all our appliances outside in the open!

My Beloved says we can build pretty much up to the side boundary, and given that the width of the kitchen at the back is only 1.6m it is more feasible to extend sideways 2.0m as that side of the kitchen is already 2.8m so it would result in a kitchen 2.8m x 3.6m - large enough for everything to fit in.

(In the new house we are renting our kitchen has a garden wall with that fake wood above and a asbestos cement roof over, the house behind has done the same so the two of us are separated by "Conwood" fencing in the kitchen. The side wall is shared by the family next door with their fake wood boards up to roof level. I do think building in proper block has to be an improvement!)

At first floor roof level the plan is to match that part of the house, set back 500mm, and carry on up to extend the roof over, creating space for a decent size en-suite over the top to the back corner bedroom. And THAT bedroom is mine - I got "dibs" on it!

So - here is the killer question - in Thailand everyone seems to build onto their house regardless, in most cases up to the boundaries. Now I will not overhang the boundary wall at all nor will roof water be allowed to shoot over, and our neighbour's house is the better part of 3.0m away. Can we extend as we need to on the side for 2.8m length at the back? The house is in an older "village" development near Min Buri by the way.

[lopburi3]

Normally neighbors will allow such for single story if you ask and allow them to do the same. But there is a law requiring setback on books that could be enforced (and it was in our village when someone tried to build a 3 story home too close to an abandoned 2 story ruin - construction was about 75% and stopped to never start again (been 5 years or more).

Remember it is best to cook outside for easy cleanup (and air change) when stir frying. Also easier to wash pots and pans in open area. So you may not require that enclosed kitchen to be very large.

[tolsti]

Oh dear...

[ripley]

You might think about whether you really need 4 bdrms. After all, a kitchen is just a room. You could save yourself garden space, building costs and hassles with your neighbours by making a few small arrangements for extra plumbing, some power-plugs, a good oven hood and exhaust fan to convert one of your other rooms into a kitchen. I once converted a small boxroom which had windows on two sides into a fully functional and comfortable kitchen and was happy with it.

Edited November 21, 2015 by ripley

[cliveshep]

The kitchen would house a proper cooker and oven and trust me - baking is defo on my wife's agenda big time whereas stir frying is not so important. She has adopted lots of English habits! Plus we have two massive fridge freezers, one making chilled water and ice. We brought those with us and none of them is gonna live outside! We need space and worktops for microwaves, bread maker, coffee maker and so on and with a big family a functioning kitchen is important.

Ventilation would not be an issue - windows back and front (but not over-looking next door) would allow a through breeze and there is always a breeze from the open land at the back. One of the reasons for buying the house was the constant wind blowing onto the back.

Ripley - we need more than 4 bedrooms, we are adding another doorway in the upstairs hall and dividing the master bedroom in two to create 5 bedrooms. I can't see even Thais sleeping in the kitchen.

I'm leaning to going to the land office or similar and asking the question about the side extension because I don't want to break laws here.

[lopburi3]

Well if she has had to bland down to English meals perhaps the cross breeze will be enough - but suspect she may have other items on the cook list now that they are available and fresh. Especially if the big family has any say.

Sounds as if you may need to invest in good water filtration if planning on direct connection of refrigerators.

[cliveshep]

Some linked large water tanks, a biggish pump and a water filtration unit are already on our priority shopping list, along with kitchen unit fronts and high level units, sanitary ware, tiles etc. We have checked out most prices on our build list - ThaiWatsudu is cheapest so far for pretty much everything fwiw!

Our English style cooking certainly isn't bland as we use Hoi Sin in catering quantities - already in our container, along with soi sauce, oyster sauce etc plus of course around 12-15 boxes of tea bags! There is a lot of Chinese element to our normal food. We've always used Thai vegetables, just more expensive in the UK so no changes there! So our food in the UK was always spicy, but stir frying I suspect is where there is no alternative, i.e there is only a top single or dual burner as in so many Thai households or market places. Certainly once my wife learnt use of an oven and the expanded cooking repetoire it offered she went for it totally. Try making carrot cake in a wok - you'll see what I mean!

[lopburi3]

You may change your mind with some of the items here, and durian is almost pleasant.

[cliveshep]

We have a durian tree in the garden of our new house, it had one large fruit left but i bet it isn't there now!

Just after I posted the other response she called me for dinner, pork chop in bar-b-q sauce, cooked with tomatoes and sliced onions, served with a broccoli and corn in a cheese sauce and with mashed potatoes. Now come on guys - what's not to like about that and not an ovn in sight as yet!

Back to the original post - looking elsewhere on this forum it seems you have to stay back a meter from a boundary wall, or 3m from your neighbour - no one seems to clear on that. Any answers please?

[PattayaPhom]

Many do indeed build to the boundry wall but it is illegal. A few years ago we bought land for constructing rental rooms, the abutting properties had all built to the boundry with roof overlapping. After many attempts for them to just add guttering so the rain would not fall on our rooms they did nothing, We informed the Tessabhan. Repeated attempts led to nothing, after 9 months they were ordered to demolish their extensions which they then did. Foois, the guttering we offered to fit for free if they each paid for materials which was less than 1,500 each, instead they lost maybe 100,000 or more.

[JMWPACIFIC]

If you do as your wife proposes, you better stay on the friendly side with your neighbors. One complaint and the farang will have to remove his encroachment.