Thai Dhupp and Princess Joy's Thai House Build

[Thai Dhupp]

How many showers / sinks is it servicing?

Kitchen, 3 showers, washing machine and a bath tub.

do you ever run out of hot water?

Not yet with 100 litre. Daily use by 4. Larger boilers avalable if your usage more. Boiler located in storeroom. Upvc hot water pipe to all mixers. Plus for me is not having electrics hanging off the wall right next to where you're standing in water.

Your call but I'd go with the boiler first and after you get your garden in and have a good sunny spot for a ground mounted solar heater simply run hot water into the boiler.

A daily bath can use 80-100 litres! I bet that 2-seat jacuzzi bath i looked at yesterday in Global House used more! so maybe if going with the central boiler it would need to be uprated. Like I said, the boiler option for the master 'wing', office and maybe the kitchen requirements too (there is possibility for such sharing, as the kitchen is below the master wing) and individual water heaters for the other rooms

The boiler might not be the option for the whole house as it would be long pipe runs to feed the other 2 bedrooms in the other 'wing' (building 3)

[Norton]

A daily bath can use 80-100 litres! I

Yes but a mix of hot and cold water. I haven't had a bath in months. Rarely used now. When first built seemed a great idea but in retrospect probably not.

Agree given the distance between the structures a single boiler not the way to go.

Hot tub/spa needs it's own heater.

[Thai Dhupp]

A daily bath can use 80-100 litres! I

Yes but a mix of hot and cold water. I haven't had a bath in months. Rarely used now. When first built seemed a great idea but in retrospect probably not.

Agree given the distance between the structures a single boiler not the way to go.

Hot tub/spa needs it's own heater.

Even here in the Middle East with its more aggressive and anti-social weather, I'm having 2 baths a day! Always loved a bath, so that habit will be hard to change - i don't want to lose the option to soak in a hot bath!

You are right about hot and cold but i was thinking, say you dropped 50 litres of hot to mix with 50 litres of cold, that bolier gets a 50 litre influx of water to be heated, so there is a delay again until it's up to temp. One thing i definitely want is 'on demand' availability. Here in my apartment, if she takes her usual shower, i have not got quite enough hot water and have to wait a while. you can imagine what happens if i take the bath first.

[Norton]

One thing i definitely want is 'on demand' availability

Then go for it. Your house. Your choice. Soak away.

[Thai Dhupp]

OK... heres some pix of the plans and elevations for STAGE 1 of the build.

I am aware that all the piling for all 3 stages should be completed in one go

Similarly, I suspect that the basic frame and floors will have to be completed for stage 2 at the same time as stage 1 the two buildings are connected. That being the case, we will complete that, but fully finish stage 1, so we can then live there.

The window drawn on the plans for the stairs is a bit out of keeping with the rest of the windows in the building and will be altered. Not sure how just yet!

The windows in general might be a tad narrower as I am still thinking whether I can include shutters. I realise that to make that work we would have to have windows that open inwards


Stage 1 pile plan
I'm told piling is only 5-6m, lets see



Stage 1 Ground floor Framing Plan



Stage 1 Ground floor Room plan
Although not shown, we will be adding a small bathroom arrangement to the office, partly under the stairs



Stage 1 First floor Framing Plan



Stage 1 First floor Room Plan



Stage 1 Rear elevation. (building 2 joins on the left side)
this shows bedroom 2 on the right, and its en-suite window on the left
Below it is the kitchen



Stage 2 front elevation
bedroom folding doors upstairs, leading out onto balcony
Below it is the dining room, which will have folding doors to the front AND side to give an alfresco feel even if eating in.



Stage 1 side elevation (outer wall)
yeah...I'm not so happy with that staircase window now.



Roof Detail



OK... Stage 1. Kitchen. Dining room (to use as living room at first), Office. Master suite, Bedroom 2, Stairs between the two floors and Buddha room (will probably be storage at first) and a few WC / bathrooms. That should be enough for us to get in there when finished.

[Dead Metal]

One of there "slovenly" ways when concreting is to throw the mesh on the floor, now that truly upsets me ! I know you will have palpitations I'm sure...

Sorry, I didn't explain myself, "too much work, knackered by the time I get on the WWW".
They put the mesh on the dirt "No Spacers" prior to concreting .

[runker]

I think the half bath on the second floor would make a better laundry room. Can we see the entry side elevation?

[Thai Dhupp]

I think the half bath on the second floor would make a better laundry room. Can we see the entry side elevation?

Hi Runker, thanks for the contact.

That's the trouble with me only posting Stage 1.

I know the bigger picture, that you as yet did not see.

In addition to the en-suite facilities, I believe there needs to be one wc on each floor for visitors to avail themselves - don't really want anyone having to go through the bedrooms if they need to take a pi... answer the call of nature.

Out of shot, and just to the left of that WC, in building 2 is a large verandah and living room. chances are some visitors / family / who knows, even selected TD members, might find themselves here, and even 'upstairs;' and then i would get howls of criticism if i have not catered to their every need!

Therefore, there is one unattached WC on each floor

TBH, i don't really know much about laundry... i thought the laundry fairy just rolled up occasionally and ..bingo!... clean clothes, etc. appeared in drawers n cupboards. My design instruction was direct from the laundry fairy controller and she tells me the washing machine will be down in the kitchen, near to the external door, leading out under the building 2 floor slab, where a 10m x 8m area can be used for that drying / airing.

I believe it is a dangerous move to argue with the laundry fairy controller...

[Thai Dhupp]

One of there "slovenly" ways when concreting is to throw the mesh on the floor, now that truly upsets me ! I know you will have palpitations I'm sure...

Sorry, I didn't explain myself, "too much work, knackered by the time I get on the WWW".
They put the mesh on the dirt "No Spacers" prior to concreting .

DeadMetal... me and you both!!

That mesh just sitting on bare earth!? Or mesh at the bottom of the slab, and not in the middle? oh no! That's what the chairs are for.

I will definitely be using the chairs. not sure why they would avoid them as it so quick to fit, and makes a much better, solid slab. are thai builders really that lazy? jeez... why am I asking? i know the answer already.... yet another thing to watch closely when we pour ours.

I am suffering with to much site work just now, massive Client pressure to complete, meaning i only have limited PC access during my work day.i am totally crashed out by the time i get into the apartment.

[VocalNeal]

I think the half bath on the second floor would make a better laundry room. Can we see the entry side elevation?

If the site is large enough I would put the laundry and an outside kitchen in separate building with the drying area hidden from view in a walled "courtyard" Laundry fairy permitting.

Nothing ruins the idyllic life like a visible line/drying rack with laundry on!

[Thai Dhupp]

Can we see the entry side elevation?

Sure...I forgot to upload.



Of course the view is somewhat obscured by building 3. Not sure about the final alignment of the Sala yet but we dont need to worry about that during the stage 1 build.

[Thai Dhupp]

I think the half bath on the second floor would make a better laundry room. Can we see the entry side elevation?

If the site is large enough I would put the laundry and an outside kitchen in separate building with the drying area hidden from view in a walled "courtyard" Laundry fairy permitting.

Nothing ruins the idyllic life like a visible line/drying rack with laundry on!

I agree Neal, but location-wise she don't want the outdoor kitchen to be away from the main building. The 10m x 8m 'open' area will probably have a back wall for security purposes so will be open on the front only, although there will be air bricks or some other such arrangement to allow adequate airflow. Security is as always v important.

The outdoor kitchen will come off that outside kitchen door, and will again be 'boxed off from view. there will be some open area at the top, or an extraction chimney to allow smo... 'cooking smells' to dissipate. Outdoor laundry will be beyond that again, with a walled screen, so that the outdoor 'living ' space under the first floor does not view either area.

Think of the laundry fairy controller as SWMBO, to understand why I don't argue (occasionally)...

[Norton]

Another thing to think about during construction. Termite control. Tubing installed in the foundation recommended.

For example.

Termite Guard System | Rentokil Pest Control Thailand

[jonnyenglish]

If It's any help, the 14 drilled wells registered with the the Department of Groundwater Resources in Tambon Bo Thong, Amphur Bo Thong, Changwat Chonburi have an average depth of 63 metres and and an average yield of 4.87 cu.m./hour.

Obviously if you are in a different tambon, the results will vary. The database lists specific villages and coordinates.

Now, that's the kind of information one needs.
Where did you get it from?
Is it online.

Good work

There is a government interactive map here:

?????? | gmis.longdo.com

you have to type in the location of your area (in thai) in the search box, Press enter (blue left hand button next to search box), this will then centre the map on your area.

Then you can click the icon on the map legend (top left hand side).

If you zoom in to your local area, icons appear showing what wells/boreholes have been sunk nearby (if any), depth and width of pipes, plus use and water type are indicated.

[Thai Dhupp]

There is a government interactive map here:

?????? | gmis.longdo.com

you have to type in the location of your area (in thai) in the search box, Press enter (blue left hand button next to search box), this will then centre the map on your area.

Nice one, Jonny... it also works if you just type in the Northings and Eastings. You can overlay the coordinate information on Google Earth Pro if you are not sure what your Northings and Eastings are for any particular location.

[Thai Dhupp]

Another thing to think about during construction. Termite control. Tubing installed in the foundation recommended.

For example.

Termite Guard System | Rentokil Pest Control Thailand

I had this in mind Norton- in fact, the guy who was keen to build had included a fancy system (of course and big cost) and told us it was mandatory for all new build to have such a system. (termite system, not necessarily his system!).

I will include it, and thanks for mentioning stuff like that - you can be sure I will forget or not have considered some of this sort of thing along the way

[crackerjack101]

the guy who was keen to build had included a fancy system (of course and big cost) and told us it was mandatory for all new build to have such a system.

I think that is highly unlikely to be true. "Mandatory" bollocks.

[Shy Guava]

I've had a couple of houses built in Thailand and was dumb enough to make the same mistake twice.

The plumbers will usually lay PVC water pipes underneath the ground slab. This looks fine until you start to live there. After a while, especially if the ground subsides further under your house, the weight of water in the pipes causes them to sag and eventually break. The builder will have no idea by this time where the pipes are, which makes repair difficult.

If I ever do it again (God forbid), I would go to the extra expense of using flexible HDPE piping under the house with a bit of slack in it. If you have crawl space you could probably fasten the PVC pipes to the underside of the slab.

The other expense I would shell out on is having professional as-built drawings of the electrical wiring showing locations (actual), sizes and colours. The builder will only give what he would have liked to happen or what he believes you would like to see. If anything goes wrong in the future, it can be very hard to sort when you get up in your ceiling and find a dog's breakfast of wiring.

I would also get an as-built done for the plumbing.

[VocalNeal]

Seems you need to create a barrier by treating the soil around pilling/footings. Also under the slab prior to pouring.

I've only scratched the surface (sorry about the pun) but it seems unless the barrier is dug up there is no need to retreat. Termite Chemical Treatments

[Thai Dhupp]

the guy who was keen to build had included a fancy system (of course and big cost) and told us it was mandatory for all new build to have such a system.

I think that is highly unlikely to be true. "Mandatory" bollocks.

He probably thought I was the 'dumb Farang' and translated 'mandatory' as 'sh1t... termite control is expensive BUT I HAVE to have it'

He is not involved in the building and nor will he be.

[Thai Dhupp]

I've had a couple of houses built in Thailand and was dumb enough to make the same mistake twice.

The plumbers will usually lay PVC water pipes underneath the ground slab. This looks fine until you start to live there. After a while, especially if the ground subsides further under your house, the weight of water in the pipes causes them to sag and eventually break. The builder will have no idea by this time where the pipes are, which makes repair difficult.

If I ever do it again (God forbid), I would go to the extra expense of using flexible HDPE piping under the house with a bit of slack in it. If you have crawl space you could probably fasten the PVC pipes to the underside of the slab.

The other expense I would shell out on is having professional as-built drawings of the electrical wiring showing locations (actual), sizes and colours. The builder will only give what he would have liked to happen or what he believes you would like to see. If anything goes wrong in the future, it can be very hard to sort when you get up in your ceiling and find a dog's breakfast of wiring.

I would also get an as-built done for the plumbing.

They're good ideas, Shy, and I will also be on hand to literally photograph what is put where in walls and floors, ideally with some visible measurements to aid location, as a pictoral reference. We don't have a crawl space.

[Thai Dhupp]

Seems you need to create a barrier by treating the soil around pilling/footings. Also under the slab prior to pouring.

I've only scratched the surface (sorry about the pun) but it seems unless the barrier is dug up there is no need to retreat. Termite Chemical Treatments

Neal, I did not know that. I always thought there had to be regular 'top-ups' on the chemical to keep it effective.

[Thai Dhupp]

Not a whole lot more to post today, until i go back to Thailand on the 16th May so... any questions so far?

I have posted quite a lot of detail but did I miss anything?

Any burning questions for me?

or...any other good advice that i should be considering / incorporating into the design before it is too late?

[Norton]

any other good advice that i should be considering / incorporating into the design before it is too late?

Think the biggies have been raised and you are addressing. Land fill, water, sewage, electrics and termite control.

Next is the biggest of biggies. Finding a builder who has and will build to your well thought out plans. Take your time. Find three based on quality assessment of work they have done. Prepare a contract containing build as drawings (materials detali), payment schedule/milestones and start/completion date. Negotiate, sign and get the show on the road.

Good luck.

[Thai Dhupp]

Thanks Norton.... Good to know I am largely on the right track.

We have two builder leads at the moment... One from afar, one from Chonburi locale. Princess Joy is following up, I'm keeping low profile. After I get back fro UK we will be heading BKK way, and all being well, will complete the land raising before I again return to AD. Also by that time we might have some preliminary agreement with said builder.

All to play for... Bring it on!