Thread: Building The Inlaws a House in Sanam Chai Khet

Originally Posted by crepitas

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.

I was thinking the same as there appears to be no kitchen so I assumed it will be an outside one, Thai style. It'll need a roof.

My half-penny's worth ....... is to somewhat agree with David's words .

Purely because I have watched 2 fallangs build houses for in-laws which were way way more than the in-laws needed ..... or even wanted .
One friend took his German standards and gave them pricey tiles and mosaic borders . The in-laws would have been totally content with bare walls .
Even putting a cement screed on the walls would have been a luxury touch for them .

All the work ( and money ) the 2 guys put in - was never appreciated .
The houses deteriorated pretty quickly into slumish dwellings . Sometimes I think they just resent being in any way beholden to a fallang .

And when David says put in 2 electricity meters . YES.

I look forward to all of this Thread .



Wasp

Originally Posted by Wasp

I have watched 2 fallangs build houses for in-laws which were way way more than the in-laws needed ..... or even wanted . One friend took his German standards and gave them pricey tiles and mosaic borders . The in-laws would have been totally content with bare walls . Even putting a cement screed on the walls would have been a luxury touch for them . All the work ( and money ) the 2 guys put in - was never appreciated . The houses deteriorated pretty quickly into slumish dwellings . Sometimes I think they just resent being in any way beholden to a fallang

They're not all the same as your ex and her family....surely

Originally Posted by Wasp

And when David says put in 2 electricity meters . YES.

I don't think allowed. On completion of build the Elec board will send a man around to calculate the wattage for the meter. As far as I know it's one meter per Amphur registered address.

Originally Posted by Dillinger

They're not all the same as your ex and her family....surely

Wrong .

They ARE all the same .

Smiling lying shitty hypocrites.



Wasp

About electrical mains, does PEA have to supply the main meter or can you supply it?

Its been four days now OB, anything happen yet ! what's the latest ?
Got any photos for us ?

Thanks for the info, that's kinda what I thought, we'll be building in Roi Et so I would assume it would be the same. Empty lots on both sides so will have to get a building meter.

Sorry guys everything has come to a halt because there was a death in the village.
I have a question for the group. The builder has told me we can build the beams either above ground or underground. I assume above ground just means there will be a step up to the house any suggestions on which way to go I didn't even know it was an option

OB when my missus built our house the beams were above ground and I was in favour as it would in the future allow access to water, drainage and sewer pipes. Unfortunately we didn't make it quite high enough to allow an old fat farang to get under there. She also enclosed it with a few access holes left around the backside which is also where the slope of the ground gives greatest height. These holes are closed off with mess gates to prevent dogs from getting under there. They also allow some airflow which should help cooling. The step up to the back of our house is only about 1.2m so its not an issue for access for oldies.

if I did it again, I would make it at least 1m above the ground for easy access. Right now I have a blocked drain from 1 of the bathrooms and I have to wait for a small person to go under and fx it which does not make me happy. If you wanted to you could search for our build thread and have a look for yourself. The house was built back in 2010.

Good luck for the future.

My thoughts are that any raising above the natural ground level assists with flood mitigation.

We, the Farm Family, have their house built on 'ground level' which is about 25 - 30 cms above the normal level of the Klong/Canal ... and the canal is 2 metres away.

Yep, they get flooded occasionally ...
.

Originally Posted by ootai

They also allow some airflow which should help cooling.

I do the opposite of this

Geothermal temperatures are substantially cooler than the ambient air temperature outside. Old logic has homes built on stilts for airflow, but mainly to keep away from wildlife and vermin.

Geothermal temps are constant year round, and are not effected by the sun on the earths surface. Geothermal temps are maintained by the earths core radiating outward. Go down a meter or 2 and its usually about 75F year round depending on location, and doesn't change much. Sometimes deeper. If you have a water well, thats why the water feels so cool compared to the temperature outside when its hot as balls here.

By capping the earth with the cement floor of your house, you are trapping the cooler geothermal temps and keeping the ambient temperature outside away from your home. When its hot outside, there can be a temp difference of like 15-18C from earth temps to outside air temps. Way cooler. You are also adding a shitload more R-value in the flooring area.

I usually fill the land to the elevation I want, and build the house to have about 2 steps from the ground, to the house. Then fill the cavity with dirt, compact it, cement panel it, then pour the floor. Trapping the geothermal temps and keeping the outside, hot as balls air away from the house. Nice cool floor all the time and requires less air conditioning BTU's to cool the space.

Some will argue about people building houses on stilts in tropical climates for hundreds of years because its 'cooler' but thats not really 'cooling' anything. Its just getting airflow of hot, outside air, and keeping wildlife away. They also usually have wooden flooring material as well.

But for OP - the inlaws, they probably don't care, and having a storage space under the house is probably good for them, and maybe your self too. Like others have said

Just my .02 on the elevated house thing and cooling.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

flood mitigation.

This is huge too. Its very location dependent and drainage planning is essential as well. Sometimes in these places its impossible to properly drain the land as well

The up sell (scamming) commences .

You are right I have been on land after a few days of rain and it won't properly drain out.

ootai talks of a 1 m space under the home . Pragmatic talks of 1.2m .
Once you get to 1.2m you might as well go 2m and give yourself a straight back while you walk around looking for problem services .

That Slick is damned informative , hey ?
I had never considered that the " cooling breezes " underneath an elevated home are in fact more like heated breezes maintaining heat in the floors !
So perhaps an end wall to cut off the 'breeze' ?

2m height for your pickup ?

The Thais certainly like that sort of height .
More space for their unbelievable mounds of junk.



Wasp

2m is pretty much a pole home methinks?... at 2m perhaps the poles should be 25cm +?

We have about, 3m ....nice open cool, shaded, tiled, beer drinking area with laundry/bathroom and guest bedroom...oh and a beer fridge.

5555 ....WASP! I do believe you are somewhat inclined to the cynical..I also suspect that the expertise of Slick and some other professed knowledgeable posters is limited to google. 5555

Originally Posted by crepitas

5555 ....WASP! I do believe you are somewhat inclined to the cynical........ 5555

crepssss ....... I prefer to think I'm somewhat inclined to be realistic . Especially about how the Thais lovingly preserve all their old juice cartons , ripped plastic wrapping , cardboard boxes , snake skins , broken distorted bicycle wheels et cetera and store it all under the house to block those heated winds from coming through .

Practical and cheap Thai solutions .



Wasp

Well its official my optimism has been killed.

Turn out I should have listened to all the stories I have read on the forum.

Always be onsite for the build. As it is just for the inlaws and because I have a limited time I can spend in Thailand at moment due to work. I though I would let them build the poles and beam with out me being there.

How much can they stuff that up? I thought after all it is a very basic design

I'm going to play a game of guess what the stuffed up and then if no one gets it I will post later in the week but it is pretty obvious when you compare my hand drawn plan to the foundations they have pored.

In fairness though the foundations or beams part isn't the builders fault as inlaws told them to do it that way oh well i might just change back to cinder block as they have made my Q-con pointless