Thread: New Build Near Udon Thani

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

with nothing but twigs and leaves

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Originally Posted by rickschoppers

^
Appreciate that and good advice.

Another thing you could consider at this late date is to use a quality reflective paint on the outside walls. Something like solarguard which claims to reflect something like 70 or 80 % of the radient heat.

You seemt o have gotten to this stage without anything being put in upside down or backwards? Are you onsite all the time?

Ootai, I posted a response on the other thread before I was this so I will just cut and paste.

"Ootai, you asked the question about the building pad being raised and then the house as well. The main reason for that is the height of the front road was initially much higher than the building plot. I wanted to make sure during rainy season that the house would not be lower than the road which is something everyone should think about in Thailand.

The extra 1 meter raise was a combination of again preventing any water reaching the inside of the house and Thai preference. It seems in Thailand, the higher the house, the better and more attractive. I did it out of sheer functionality to discourage snakes and water from coming inside the house.

The tall support pillars were again to accomodate the 4 meter high teak wood panels and I do like high ceilings like Dr. A. I have a bit of a claustrophobia in small, low roofed houses and I wanted to open things up."

Hope that explains some of it. I also felt that with the size of the plot and the layout, it would be better to have a taller/larger house to fit the scale. It would probably look a little strange to have a very small house on 4 rai of land, but that is just my opinion. It all boils down to personal preference and budget.

Originally Posted by ootai

Rick
I just posted a reply over on the thread about roof design where you posted a couple of pictures of your place and thought i reall yshould ask here instead.

Firstly I love your place and wish my missus have let me build something similiar but she was only worried about it "looking good".

My question is. why did you raise the nature land level and then inside that raised area raise the floor of your house so much? With the high posts you have used it makes the house look extremely high when viewed against the natural land surrounds. No issues with what you've done just wondering why is all.

Another thing, are you going to put in a ceiling or are you going to leave the roof open?

Once again love the place!!

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Thanks Nigel, you are the second person to say it looks like a warehouse.

Sorry mate no offence meant just an observation as to the vastness of your place.

One thing that comes home to you , when we got home to our little home in England is just how small our homes are , especially with regard to room size, being on the big size myself I love the big space , it helps me not to clatter into things

No offense taken. I would agree that it does look like a warehouse due to the sheer size and metal roof. I am the same when it comes to big spaces. In the US, you could have a large house like this but it would be much more expensive and would take a lot longer to build due to all the inspections and regulatory agencys that would have to approve every nail and wire.

Originally Posted by Necron99

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

^
Appreciate that and good advice.

Another thing you could consider at this late date is to use a quality reflective paint on the outside walls. Something like solarguard which claims to reflect something like 70 or 80 % of the radient heat.

You seemt o have gotten to this stage without anything being put in upside down or backwards? Are you onsite all the time?

Good idea on the paint. I will look into that.

So far, so good but the plumbing and electical are yet to come. These are the parts that wonder so far from western standard that it gives eveyone heatburn. The floor tiling will be simple as will the Thai kitchen. The crew has supassed my expectations so far since I did not hold them to too high of a standard. They know how to do block and steel and that is a major part of the build.

I am on site every day to check and see how they are doing and if they need any materials. The little lady and I have purchased everything ourselves with some help from the one brother that is a pretty good mason and is the "foreman" and another brother-in-law that has been doing steel for over 20 years. I would highly recommend anyone to be on site as much as possible to make sure your shitter does not wind up in the middle of the toilet.

wrt the "warehouse" look people have mentioned, how are you going to make it look like a house instead?

any pics from a distance showing that it will look like a home?

^
I'll take some distance pics shortly to see if you still think it resembles a warehouse. I was trying to wait until they started placing the teak panels, but that probably will not happen until after Songkhron.

oh right

the after Songkran disease

we have that too, no workers from now until next week

I took a quick walk around the house from a distance and took these pics. It was the first time I really took time to do that other than looking at the house when driving up the road.

Here is a shot from the pond along the side road.



A closer shot walking up the side road.



Rounding the corner along the frontage road. Now most can see why I built up the plot. The house needed to be higher than the frontage road.



Looking at the back patio.

Here is a shot looking across the planted banana trees. One of three dogs in the foreground who serve as my alarm system.



I hope the build is starting to look more like a house and over time, I think the "warehouse" look will be watered down a bit.

Looks like a home to me, like an Aussie house. looks almost done.

Thanks Ben. The shell is almost done,but inside is still dirt. They are forming between the columns that will have walls now and plumbing will be started after Songkhran. Once the plumbing is in, it will be time to pour the cement slab.

I just wish it was finished, but it should not take too long after the slab is poured.

Rick
Thanks for the reply (on both threads).
After looking at the long distance shots it is plain as day why you did what you did. What I have seen is that most build up the whole block of land to road height whereas you have only built up enough to fit the house onto.

Keep on trucking don't let it wear you down. I can tell you it will one day come to an end and will be able to really enjoy the place.

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Looks like a home to me, like an Aussie house. looks almost done.

Stick a couple of roo's in the yeard and you could plonk that down just about anywhere in rural Oz and not be out of place.
Beers on the balcony during the first thunderstorm of the wet..ahhh

Hi rick im new on here i have followed you build for a while very nice house you are building lots of shade from the sun BUT i have 1 question to ask at the back of your house on the roof that is going to catch a lot of rain water looking at your photos does your roof project over your retaining wall or just short of it if short that retaining wall is going to catch a lot of rain water behind it maybe a thought to have an over sized guttering fitted with out lets on both ends of the house. anyways good luck with your build

^
Townclock, the back roof runs out past the retaining wall by about a half meter or so to make sure the runoff goes onto the land and drains off. It was planned for the very reason you are discussing. To make sure I have as little rain hit the patio as possible. There will be some rain that hits the sides even though the overhang of the roof in 2 meters, but most of the plot will be protected.

Runoff of rain water was one of my main concerns with this build and I tried to think of ways to make sure there is no buildup. The front should drain away from the house and toward the north where it will run down the perimeter of the land into the pond. The entire plot is sloped toward the pond and ours in only one of three ponds that run in succession. The ponds at the farthest end are the largest and it would take a lot of water to gather before it would reach our pond. We usually drain the pond before rainy season and the locals have been doing the same to the others while gathering the fish to eat. We then dam it up to let water gather again.

Needless to say, water runoff is very important here and something I learned about while living in Arizona where they were very prone to flash flooding.

^^

Good idea. I will put that down as one of my projects. The water is so cheap here that we usually water by hand. My lady likes to spend time caring for the flowers, but I think we will have more on this plot then she had back at her parent's house. Do you just bucket the water to the needed areas?

^^

It sounds like you may have changed your opinion on the "warehouse". I think with all the features and additions you mention, it should look more residential. The large shade trees are a little spendy around here, but it doesn't take long for a medium sized tree to grow and add some shade. As mentioned, I too think the foliage will soften the sharp edges and add to the overall appearance.

As far as the pond goes, that is exactly what I had planned. I do not want to drain it every year as has been done in the past. That was something the locals did on their own and it may take a barbed wire fence to keep them out and gathering all the fish each year. Maybe I can add a sniper blind near the house and dust them off as they try to drain the pond.

you will just have to let them know it is your pond

a big dog often works wonders

I have two 3 month old Thai dogs that will be my future security system and one small loud one. I will make sure to train them to molest anyone trying to drain the pond once the fence goes up.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I have two 3 month old Thai dogs that will be my future security system and one small loud one. I will make sure to train them to molest anyone trying to drain the pond once the fence goes up.

What if they eat the dogs?

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Do you just bucket the water to the needed areas?

I have 2 main vegetable area's , both handily with sheds nearby , so I gutter all the water into a 3 tank water system then dip me can in and water from there ,, to be honest there is very little walking involved ,, although the excersise does me good

Great build Rick!
like the other blokes said, this place wouldn't look out of place anywhere in Australia - typical hot climate homes here a have a verandah all the way around the outside on all sides - which is a great feature for enjoying the outdoors when its pissing down or having a cold beer.

With regard to rain water collection - I noticed at my lady's place the other day her mum has 2 of those huge clay pots mentioned earlier. When I asked them about running the rain runoff from the roof into them - they just kind of nodded and agreed.

Installing a big purpose built rain water tank could supply water (pumped on demand) for drinking water, showers, to flush toilets, water the garden...just a thought