Thread: Building The Inlaws a House in Sanam Chai Khet

Starting a Small house build for the Inlaws on our land in Sanam Chai Khet.

I have a small budget of 400,000 baht Builder has quoted me 125,000 for the labour
Component.

Planning on 15cm thick Qcon blocks for the Walls, 3 meter ceilings throughout

Metal roof with 6 inch insulation above the plasterboard and 1.5 Meter overhangs all around for the roof.

Excellent start "outdoorbloke" ! looks rather compact ? and welcome, best of luck .

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Excellent start "outdoorbloke" ! looks rather compact ? and welcome, best of luck .

Yeah only supposed to be a small one beddy for the inlaws so it is rather compact . Only 9 poles or 42 square metres .

what sort of snow fall is the next door neighbour expecting ?

Originally Posted by outdoorbloke

Only 9 poles or 42 square metres

You can get more than 9 Poles in a room 42 square metres in Lincolnshire. Room for children and dogs as well.

Originally Posted by outdoorbloke

I have a small budget of 400,000 baht Builder has quoted me 125,000 for the labour Component.

Why didn't you just use day rate guys? Would have come out way cheaper. And yeah I would have used regular it-blok instead of q-con, no 6" insulation, and ceiling tile instead of gyprock. Steel roof is a good choice though, and the inlaws wont give a shit about rain noise. These people are borderline narcoleptic anyway.

3 light fixtures and 3 double plug outlets, one for each room, and a 3 circuit breaker box with a main breaker, single RCBO feeding the 3 circuits, and 3 breakers, one circuit feeding each room. Basically the only real give a fuck area would be at least a little electrical safety. You could, in all honesty, supply that entire house with a single circuit assuming no AirCon/hot shower. But even a 3 circuit setup with RCBO is cheap as fuck and has a little room to grow, not like they will care or have the foresight for it.

For a place that small, it could easily be done for about 200k with day rate guys and getting cheaper stuff.

The inlaws don't give a fuck about that 'fancy' stuff and probably view it as a waste anyway.

I agree with your points the main reason for the luxury additions is because it will be my holiday house and base when I get around to doing my build.

Having stayed in a cinder block sweat house I went never again

Thanks for the Info on the fans. I was wondering how much they were worth.

Part of the reason I went for high ceilings was because I am tall and on a normal 2.4 meter place I feel like the fan will cut my head off

I am planing on an Aircon in the living room I am thinking a 3.5KW system which should almost be over kill but will be able to do the whole house. (Feel free to add advice here as I am not an aircon expert by any means )

As for water it will just be the crappy town supply for the moment. I do want to put in a well when we do our house. I also want to filter it but they will both come later when funds allow

What size are your precast columns? If 15cm then perfect for use of 15cm q-con. You can save a bit by using 10cm q-con for internal walls.

Recommend you go with standard sized upvc windows purchased from home mart, global house or whatever in Chachoengsao. Several sizes available.

Originally Posted by Slick

Use a breaker unit with Main Power, RCBO, and several breakers. Leave extra punch outs for circuits you might want to install later.

Check. Wiring all 3 wire ground. Get copper ground spike from local supplier. I would go with more than one power outlet per room. At least on per wall.

Depending on available village water and sewage some thought needed on what you need. Most village water supplies are iffy. Low pressure, frequent loss of supply and cleanliness problems. Best to have holding tank, filter and pump.

Likely you will need septic system. I have 2. One a simple single concrete tank for grey water and another 2 stage (one upvc feeding a concrete tank) for sewage. Have a small pump on grey water we use for watering garden.

Flooring up to you but make sure tile is good quality or troubles in future. Non slip in shower a must!

Enjoy. Looking forward to your build pics.

Originally Posted by outdoorbloke

3.5KW system which should almost be over kill but will be able to do the whole house. (Feel free to add advice here as I am not an aircon expert by any means )

Yep. Get an inverter type.

Originally Posted by outdoorbloke

I am planing on an Aircon in the living room I am thinking a 3.5KW system which should almost be over kill but will be able to do the whole house. (Feel free to add advice here as I am not an aircon expert by any means )

Just to add on here:

Airconditioners here are sold by a BTU rating (British Thermal Unit) and I would get 2 smaller units, one for each room, instead of one large unit. Your spaces are not very large at all, and with the metal roof, q-con, and insulation, myself, I would go with two 9K BTU units of good quality like Mitsubishi, or if its affordable, go with two 12K BTU Units. A good Mitsubishi 9K will cost about 10,000 baht installed and a 12K about 12-13,000 baht installed. But thats me, and my experience with houses with insulation and metal roofs in Thailand. Ask 10 people and you will get 10 different answers on this subject.

Myself, I would definitely NOT use 1 single aircon as you can get 2 for just about the same price it would cost to get 1 unit large enough to cool that house. Also, Airconditioners work on a principal of circulation, pulling warm moist air from the ceiling area, across the evaporator, removing humidity (huge deal, very important) and blowing cool air. It all happens at the inside, wall mounted part of the split unit. It will be way more effective to split that load with 2 air conditioners both working to dissipate heat and remove moisture in 2 separate rooms. Not to mention you can just run 1 at half the cost when not using the other room.

Of course the inlaws will probably think its a huge waste of money regardless.

The in-laws will use a fan. Get the fittings installed & buy the A/C if needed.
We rarely use ours in the north.

Originally Posted by Norton

What size are your precast columns? If 15cm then perfect for use of 15cm q-con. You can save a bit by using 10cm q-con for internal walls.

Recommend you go with standard sized upvc windows purchased from home mart, global house or whatever in Chachoengsao. Several sizes available.

You are on the money here the main reason for the 15cm Qcon is the precast columns are 15cm. And the cost of Qcon has come down alot got quoted 35B per block for a total of 32,000 for all the walls.

I am also planing to use the standard sizes for the windows

Originally Posted by Norton

Depending on available village water and sewage some thought needed on what you need. Most village water supplies are iffy. Low pressure, frequent loss of supply and cleanliness problems. Best to have holding tank, filter and pump.

Yeah the water supply in the village is low pressure and frequently cuts out.
If there is money left for a pump and tank I will get one other wise I will have to live with out

One thing I am not sure on is the cost of roofing does any one have a recent price on the cheap thai stuff with foil backing.

I dont want the U channel stuff but the half circle shaped stuff

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by outdoorbloke

3.5KW system which should almost be over kill but will be able to do the whole house. (Feel free to add advice here as I am not an aircon expert by any means )

Yep. Get an inverter type.

Wall hung splits are good for 1 room only. you will not get enough cooling to seep through the doorway and besides you would need a larger unit.
You will need a multihead split with cooling heads in each room. The rule of thumb of cooling capacity reqirements with roof insulation and standard windows is 160 watts per sq metre or 50 btus per sq ft.
Inverters are cheaper to run and costly to repair. You need a good quality power supply. Remember with a Multi head you still have a large compressor operating when cooling one room. Sometimes its better to buy 2 air conditioners. One system for the lounge room and one for the bedroom. Best brands to buy. Mitsubishi Electric or Panasonic.
Disclosure.
I have an aircon sales and parts business in Bkk and we sell mitsubishi and panasonic but I believe they are 2 of the better brands. I would stay away from Korean brands. I am a refrigeration design Engineer. This is not a sales pitch just my advice based on 45 years experience.

Hard to tell but the room he intends to install the air con is about 15m2. As he says 3.5kw more than needed.

Agree a small unit for bedroom best if he wants it cooled.

Originally Posted by outdoorbloke

Starting a Small house build for the Inlaws on our land in Sanam Chai Khet.

Above I wrote quite a harsh reply because IMHO, what you had planned was crazy and a waste of money because your opening gambit was ... 'a Small house build for the Inlaws' ... now it's building a place for you to live in ... a completely different build.

You have some excellent advice above, Slick, Norton, Hugh Cow, to name a few ... truly excellent advice.

One cautionary word from me though ...

When you hand the keys over to the In-Laws, if they are true to form ... your money will have been wasted.

The extra cost of the Q-con blocks will be wasted as all the windows and doors will be open, whether the Air-con is on ... or not.

Call me a cynic if you like ... but it happens in the majority of cases.

---

I would do one thing ... HAVE A SEPARATE METER FOR THE ELECTRICITY ... don't fall for the 'mai pen rai Honey ... Mom and Dad won't use much elec, 1 meter OK, mai' ... or, don't worry, they will give us 200 BHT each quarter ... BS

But, learn the lessons as you go.

Good luck with the build and we all look forward to seeing the construction and the dwelling as it takes shape.

^
What Dave said.

Why are you building a house for the in-laws? What are they currently living in and who gets that once they move out?

Looking at the ground where the build is taking place it looks as if that ground hasn't been compacted.

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Excellent start "outdoorbloke" ! looks rather compact ? and welcome, best of luck .

yup ditto..

If the 600k budget includes labour, plumbing ,electrical, fixtures and fittings... certainly doable.

Given that heat rises I can never understand why ceilings are insulated rather than the roof panels/frame or just installing suitable venting and perhaps painting the roof and house white. I remember seeing gyproc with foil on the back to reflect heat up.
In temperate climates ceiling insulation is used to keep the heat in?

Anyways good luck..

Just a thought OP:

You may want to consider extending one part of the roof a few meters to include an outside accommodation..shade when it's shining..dry when it is pissing down.

Originally Posted by Hugh Cow

You will need a multihead split with cooling heads in each room.

I never see these multihead split units anywhere. Seems like they are not very common. Are you talking about a central type system with one main air return in the house and multiple cool air vents?

Originally Posted by Hugh Cow

I have an aircon sales and parts business in Bkk

Do you have a link to your shop showing what you have in this multihead split configuration?

Originally Posted by Norton

Hard to tell but the room he intends to install the air con is about 15m2. As he says 3.5kw more than needed.

Agree a small unit for bedroom best if he wants it cooled.

Be careful when oversizing. The larger compressor which uses most of the power will be more expensive to run. Also units use most of their power consumption In the early stages of start up and less towards the end of the run cycle. You can end up using more power with a larger unit constantly cycling on and off compared to a unit that runs much longer. Longer run cycles are better for compressor longevity as most stress is caused at start up. The best power saver is to keep the direct sun off the walls and ventilate the roof space and insulate the ceiling. The Aircon can also be a good source of free water especially in humid conditions.