Thread: Hindsight house construction

Okay so may of us have built or intend to build homes in Thailand.
We have a pole home/concrete bunker style home on our farm.
Thought it would be of benefit to those who are contemplating building to list some could've and should've s....
a few of mine:

Bigger roof ( currently 2m) overhangs and bigger verandas or deck covered areas.
Gutters led to water tanks
Poured in place polished marble or... ( like malls etc)....floors ..( grout in tiles is an ongoing make work project, especially in bathrooms).
More electrical outlets and external water taps.
More shower floor drains
Built in closets
Tinted glass on windows and doors.
big transit ( electrical or?) pipes in various locations in concrete beams/poles.
No ceiling fans..make do with floor models ( such a pain to clean or replace if broken..we have very high ceilings)

have loads more ..

Perhaps you'll do better on the next project, mate!

Can you have more than 2 meter overhangs without then supporting the roof?

What is needed in Thailand is somewhere that you can sit and/or move around out of the sun, out of the rain, and in a slight breeze if possible. So I'd have to agree with a 2m overhang on roofs so that you've got plenty of space around the house to walk in the shade when the sun is shining and to walk in the dry when the rain is falling. Such an overhand also helps to shade the walls and the air directly next to the house, so keeping temperatures down a little.

I would also recommend:
1. big tinted windows and/or tinted glass doors so they can be opened to allow a breeze through the house, but make sure that the sun cannot fall directly on these windows and/or doors
2. metal window and door frames - wood looks great but requires maintenance and swells and shrinks according to the weather
3. no valleys on the roof - however many times you clean them out there's always some leaves in there blocking the water flow and causing leaks
4. Lots of relaxing places on different sides of the house so that one can enjoy the first and last rays of sun in the morning and evening, and during the day can find a quiet, cool place to read a book or have a beer away from the noise and cooking smells of any visiting locals

bobforest

Thanks for the tips lads ,, great thread idea ,, always good to learn from others mistakes

Originally Posted by crepitas

No ceiling fans..make do with floor models ( such a pain to clean or replace if broken..we have very high ceilings)

That won't deter me. I have used them in many homes and prefer them to the ubiquitous, ugly floor fans everywhere in Thailand. You can buy a extendable duster pole which makes it easy to clean them.

Originally Posted by Koetjeka

Poured in place polished marble

I've never heard of this, I though marble was a kind of rock/stone? Or am I confusing it with something else?

White cement with mica and plasticizer.. As seen in 1980s shopping centers.

Originally Posted by Humbert

Originally Posted by crepitas

No ceiling fans..make do with floor models ( such a pain to clean or replace if broken..we have very high ceilings)

That won't deter me. I have used them in many homes and prefer them to the ubiquitous, ugly floor fans everywhere in Thailand. You can buy a extendable duster pole which makes it easy to clean them.

The only instance where ceiling fans might not be terribly practical is in the sleeping quarters.....[if one doesn't have/need A/C]

^ agree, ceiling fans in the bedroom and those big F off hatari monsters elsewhere.
Mount at ground level to blow the mossies away.

Originally Posted by Necron99

Can you have more than 2 meter overhangs without then supporting the roof?

Our roof is steel with concrete tiles ,original plan had no supports but the guy who eventually finished the house installed box section steel angled supports off pillars after we noticed a tendency to flex...would assume there are some engineering calcs to define max load and design of angled supports but suspect you would need vertical supports at some threshold.
Probably depends on angle of roof and type of roof covering too...ie Zincalume would be much lighter?

Originally Posted by bobforest

What is needed in Thailand is somewhere that you can sit and/or move around out of the sun, out of the rain, and in a slight breeze if possible. So I'd have to agree with a 2m overhang on roofs so that you've got plenty of space around the house to walk in the shade when the sun is shining and to walk in the dry when the rain is falling. Such an overhand also helps to shade the walls and the air directly next to the house, so keeping temperatures down a little.

I would also recommend:
1. big tinted windows and/or tinted glass doors so they can be opened to allow a breeze through the house, but make sure that the sun cannot fall directly on these windows and/or doors
2. metal window and door frames - wood looks great but requires maintenance and swells and shrinks according to the weather
3. no valleys on the roof - however many times you clean them out there's always some leaves in there blocking the water flow and causing leaks
4. Lots of relaxing places on different sides of the house so that one can enjoy the first and last rays of sun in the morning and evening, and during the day can find a quiet, cool place to read a book or have a beer away from the noise and cooking smells of any visiting locals

bobforest

hmmm yes the doors and windows..we have sliding aluminum glass doors across the view side of the house....but stupid me had 'em put in wooden windows and doors.
Would have been okay if they were good teak which we have as our front at the back door. I must have shaved down the bathroom doors about 20 times and various windows a few times too even though they never get wet because of the 2m overhang. All the wood was sealed before painting too...oh well...

Re roofs: ours is, I don't know the term , but it is in two parts so there is a vent area between upper and lower..I had 'em install punched plastic molding strip to prevent bird entry but I suspect it still helps keep the house cooler.

Take all the little screen filters of the end of your taps and run water through first, you always get a lot of crap block them immediately otherwise, mostly blue pipe shavings from cutting the pipe.

Good thread.

Originally Posted by Necron99

Originally Posted by Koetjeka

Poured in place polished marble

I've never heard of this, I though marble was a kind of rock/stone? Or am I confusing it with something else?

White cement with mica and plasticizer.. As seen in 1980s shopping centers.

also used extensively here on concrete outside picnic table style furniture...no idea how it is done??
I would have used exposed tiny pebble aggregate for veranders/steps etc but in the boonies could not find anyone to do it.

I have four large sliding doors across the back of my house. Tinted glass with PVC frames. The two sliding windows and sliding door at the front of the house are aluminum with tinted glass.
They really let the breeze blow through the house.
But after five years we are starting to have problems with the aluminum windows and door. What seems to be the standard practice here is the frames are fitted so that the doors and windows are installed from the outside. The guides and runners collect the dirt and grit and start to jam. It also makes difficult to install insect screens on the outside. In farang land the frames are installed so the doors and windows are installed from inside the house so the guides and runners are inside. It is also stronger security as the door or window can only be removed from inside the house.
Keep an eye on that one when they come to install your aluminum doors and windows.
Another thing is along with large drains in the shower and bathroom floors get your builder to install S-Bends it stops the stink coming back up the drains.
Here they are most commonly called P-Traps and can be bought if you look around.
My builder did not want to install them and kept telling my they would block and would not work. I had a devil of a time to get S-bends installed. They even hid the box with them in and completed all of the drains without the S-bends. I had to stand there all day and witness the cutting and fitting of each one.
Five years no problems and no stink.
Insist on S-bends / P-Traps. They are worth the hassall for no stink in the bathroom.
Electricians are another problem.
With a little bit of homework on the net it doesn't take long to know just as much as you local electrician does.
A good rule of thumb is if it looks messy it is not right. CHECK IT.
Try to keep joints in the wiring to a minimum, it just gives problems later.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

One thing I am gonna insist on our small upcoming build is that all the wiring is mounted in plastic casing ON the wall not buried inside it ,, ok its a bit of an eyesore not to western tastes but its not in the west and better safe than sorry as in the future we can see exactly where the cables are.

I have watched some of these build threads and been amazed at the diagonal routes some of the cables buried in the wall take .

hmm true..I direct buried our cables ie no conduit..but I know where they are...except for that one in the downstairs bathroom ..lol

Again on the subject of poured floors, did a few under the table beer money jobs here ..one was wiring an ugly box mansion for sound and video..all rooms had these poured floors..however one living room had a big crack across it and they were in the process of jack hammering the lot up before replacing.

Another should NOT have: I tiled our kitchen counter tops..definite no no..apart from my less than skilled tiling...fricking thing has it's own eco-system in the grout!
A Round TUIT is change to granite..possibly sometime before I die....?

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

I have watched some of these build threads and been amazed at the diagonal routes some of the cables buried in the wall take .

Those little gizmos that can tell where wiring is in a wall are a must in LOS.

Originally Posted by Kurgen

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

I have watched some of these build threads and been amazed at the diagonal routes some of the cables buried in the wall take .

Those little gizmos that can tell where wiring is in a wall are a must in LOS.

What little gismos?..I have tried a compass without success..PLEASE post a photo..where to buy?..lots of cable finders in the west never seen 'em here?

Originally Posted by crepitas

Originally Posted by Kurgen

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

I have watched some of these build threads and been amazed at the diagonal routes some of the cables buried in the wall take .

Those little gizmos that can tell where wiring is in a wall are a must in LOS.

What little gismos?..I have tried a compass without success..PLEASE post a photo..where to buy?..lots of cable finders in the west never seen 'em here?

One at the bottom for two grand..

Cable, Metal & Stud Detectors - for online sales of Electrical Test Equipment| RS Components

My hindsight and general tips:

- Be there whenever the builders are able to hide what they are working on when they are finished, such as the pipes under your bathroom floor. If they will short cut, they will.

- I found hand mixing cement doesn't turn out so well. At the very least get them a mixer that fits on the end of a drill.

- Floors need to be poured in one pour. Make sure you have enough before the pour because they are OK with adding another area later even if the color changed and you can see the lines. This is for if you want to actually see the concrete and not tile on top of it.

- Don't let them forget the earth!!!! Also confirm they did it correctly. I had one numb nuts tell me they drove the earth rod into the wall and then covered over it! Of course they didn't do anything and just tried to steal my rod.

- Use wire nuts, not black tape.

- When you put on security bars, make sure they weld the exterior bolts on. Otherwise, burglars just unscrew them and come on in.

- Don't leave them alone at any crucial stage. 99% of them WILL screw up or short cut whatever it is they are doing, even if it is so basic you think they can not possibly screw it up.

- Use a drain smell stopper that stops the smell from coming up through the pipes. I don't know what they are called, but you can find them at almost any shop here.

- Be cool. Buy them beverages at the end of the day. Get your hands dirty with them. Don't be a bossy dick.

[quote=Dino;2496413]My hindsight and general tips:

- Be there whenever the builders are able to hide what they are working on when they are finished, such as the pipes under your bathroom floor. If they will short cut, they will.

The only pipes the builders installed were the brown water drains to septic tank...they forgot to glue, then when they did glue, did not sand the joints. Wanted to omit clean outs too!
Also had to move the upstairs toilet drain as too close to wall to install toilet. ( frickin pain impact hammering a new hole through the concrete!!)
I installed all the water pipes under bathroom floors...of course the builders walked all over them laying base for tiling. Turned on the water weeks later...nothing in downstairs bathroom...had to tear up part of the floor/wall to replace presumed split piping...left the broken piping in place rerouted around wall..which I should have done in the first place!

Originally Posted by Necron99

Originally Posted by crepitas

Originally Posted by Kurgen

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

I have watched some of these build threads and been amazed at the diagonal routes some of the cables buried in the wall take .

Those little gizmos that can tell where wiring is in a wall are a must in LOS.

What little gismos?..I have tried a compass without success..PLEASE post a photo..where to buy?..lots of cable finders in the west never seen 'em here?

One at the bottom for two grand..

Cable, Metal & Stud Detectors - for online sales of Electrical Test Equipment| RS Components

Thx for that...

p-traps in floor drains:

considered the latter but decided against due to lack of access.. a bitch if they get blocked I thought..cannot get a drain cleaner spring through.
Do get smell sometimes but just put pressure washer down and bathroom acid ...seems to work.
Blockages I actually clear with a shop vac..suck, blow, suck blow lol..very efficient...would work with p traps I suspect?
Our grey water drains are separate, ie not to septic tank, just go off into the farm about 100metres away so the odd drain smells must be from dirty pipes and or adverse winds..maybe I should put a p-trap on the end?.....naaaah f..k it!