The House that Jan Built

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Originally Posted by Norton

If I understand correctly, the bedrooms will have suspended ceilings so laying the insulation on top the ceiling will provide further insulation. No intent to be silly but if you think of an AC space being insulated on top, sides and bottom like a refrigerator then you'll get the best AC efficiency. Are the bedroom walls all block and concrete?

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Norton, I wasn't clear enough in my post.
The upstairs rooms will have no air-conditioning and as such I understand it will be better not to have insulation laid on top of the ceiling. As heat rises, the heat from the room is not trapped below the ceiling by insulation. I do not want AC efficiency, I want to allow the hot air to rise naturally.

My main concern was that if the air in the roof space is hotter than the room, then the room heat will remain trapped in the room in the same manner as if there was insulation.

By the way, the walls are wood paneling outside and plastered masonry inside.

Cheers

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Originally Posted by Nelly

The upstairs rooms will have no air-conditioning and as such I understand it will be better not to have insulation laid on top of the ceiling. As heat rises, the heat from the room is not trapped below the ceiling by insulation.

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Originally Posted by Nelly

the air in the roof space is hotter than the room, then the room heat will remain trapped in the room in the same manner as if there was insulation.

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the air in the roof space is almost certainly hotter, therefore insulation laid on the ceiling will be useful

if you just have a fan, then having an open window/door will let the trapped hot air out

This looks really good I also have the same plans downloaded for interest, I was wondering why you couldnt have the single pitch to the roofs and needed to go for a kink, is this a water drainage functionality??

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

This looks really good I also have the same plans downloaded for interest, I was wondering why you couldnt have the single pitch to the roofs and needed to go for a kink, is this a water drainage functionality??

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Good question benlovesnuk…..why the kink? Quite a simple answer really.
Jan wanted a Thai style roof with a curved slope and not the bulky roof as shown in the plans. But to make an identical curve in all the roof trusses would be very expensive and they would probably get it wrong anyway. So the compromise is the kink and hopefully when the curved end piece of wood is fixed to the gable ends, it will look like a traditional Thai curved roof.




Cheers

Ok, good answer! When you say bulky roof, what do you mean by that exactly, (more pics i hope soon)?

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Ok, good answer! When you say bulky roof, what do you mean by that exactly, (more pics i hope soon)?

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The bulky roof is the one in the plans. OK I could have called it a big triangle on the roof. Anyway instead of the roof shown below Jan wanted a traditional Thai roof.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...Bulky_Roof.jpg


More pics will be posted when the workers return after Songran.......providing they are not all in the fields planting rice!

Cheers

"I think what you are seeing as cracks is where thay have chipped out to put conduit and refilled"

Sorry I haven't figured out the quote feature here. The above quote was from page 2 or so.

I first saw this "build a wall and come back later to chip out space for conduit and plumbing" type of work when I was in in Abu Dhabi years ago. I asked them about it and they looked at me like I had carrots growing out of my ears.

Think about it.......you just made a CEMENT frickin' WALL, and now you are attacking it because?

Why not lay all the plumbing and electrical conduit uprights first?

Then build the fecking cement wall over/on top of them?

OK........IF there is a problem with the plumbing 20 years from now, then that is the time to attack the cement, no?

It's like pouring all the cement for a pool and then digging it up to install the plumbing.

I guess the "P" in Thailand stands for "Planning".

Not flaming anybody, but I just don't get this idea overall.

Cheers,
Jay
:sorry1:

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Originally Posted by Nelly

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Ok, good answer! When you say bulky roof, what do you mean by that exactly, (more pics i hope soon)?

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The bulky roof is the one in the plans. OK I could have called it a big triangle on the roof. Anyway instead of the roof shown below Jan wanted a traditional Thai roof.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...Bulky_Roof.jpg


More pics will be posted when the workers return after Songran.......providing they are not all in the fields planting rice!

Cheers

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ok that's another good explanation! I think that the traditional curve in the roof is mainly due to the flexibility of the material they used and aesthetics they followed, easy being wood, as yours is concrete all i can say is fair play. Not easy, but it seems like it might just work! many thanks for your reply.:)

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

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Originally Posted by Nelly

The upstairs rooms will have no air-conditioning and as such I understand it will be better not to have insulation laid on top of the ceiling. As heat rises, the heat from the room is not trapped below the ceiling by insulation.

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Originally Posted by Nelly

the air in the roof space is hotter than the room, then the room heat will remain trapped in the room in the same manner as if there was insulation.

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the air in the roof space is almost certainly hotter, therefore insulation laid on the ceiling will be useful

if you just have a fan, then having an open window/door will let the trapped hot air out

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If the area between the roof and ceiling is well ventilated and insulation put under the roof tiles not the ceiling, would that not create an area for the hot air from the rooms to escape to; and hence out to the open air.

I'm no expert but would that work?

yes, people even put in small ventilation fans to vent that area

it works

Well the workers are finally back after Songran, but progress is slow! The next installment is due when roof is complete and 1st floor walls up, but the builder is pushing for an advance and we think he can't pay for the wood.

Will probably give him some to speed things up and hopefully things will start to move again.

They are now working on the internal skin of the 1st floor walls which will be plastered.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...04_10_-_05.jpg

Cheers

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Originally Posted by jaywalker

It's like pouring all the cement for a pool and then digging it up to install the plumbing.

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cool I like that idea, dig hole for pool fill with concrete and then chip out pool from concrete block!!

Would bring a new meaning to Thai building!!:mid:

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Originally Posted by Nelly

Well the workers are finally back after Songran, but progress is slow! The next installment is due when roof is complete and 1st floor walls up, but the builder is pushing for an advance and we think he can't pay for the wood.

Will probably give him some to speed things up and hopefully things will start to move again.

They are now working on the internal skin of the 1st floor walls which will be plastered.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...04_10_-_05.jpg

Cheers

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Will you put anything in between the batons and the brick wall on 1st floor or just leave air, as its cheaper?

Also im not sure its been mentioned but how big is the sqm of the house?

mANY THANKS:)

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Will you put anything in between the batons and the brick wall on 1st floor or just leave air, as its cheaper? Also im not sure its been mentioned but how big is the sqm of the house? mANY THANKS

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Half of your question is easy - no there will be nothing betewwn the wood paneling and the masonry wall. Insulation would be nice but not in the budget - even masonry was extra!

The size of the house is difficult as there is so much open space, but the footprint of the house is 121m2, so as its 2 stories high it could be 242m2.
But there is only 102 m2 of internal rooms excluding the open stairs. Of that, 42m2 is on the ground floor (kitchen dining and toilet) and 60 m2 on the first floor (2 beds, bathroom + the separate living room).

Cheers

Fascinating and how lucky you are, look forward to following this.

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Originally Posted by Nelly

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Will you put anything in between the batons and the brick wall on 1st floor or just leave air, as its cheaper? Also im not sure its been mentioned but how big is the sqm of the house? mANY THANKS

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Half of your question is easy - no there will be nothing betewwn the wood paneling and the masonry wall. Insulation would be nice but not in the budget - even masonry was extra!

The size of the house is difficult as there is so much open space, but the footprint of the house is 121m2, so as its 2 stories high it could be 242m2.
But there is only 102 m2 of internal rooms excluding the open stairs. Of that, 42m2 is on the ground floor (kitchen dining and toilet) and 60 m2 on the first floor (2 beds, bathroom + the separate living room).

Cheers

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I know your not discussing your budget but are you paying per sqm, and does that mean your paying for 121m2 or for livable space (basically how did you get a total, without telling it to us)?
cheers:)

Sorry another question - will the wood paneling be flush with the concrete and does this mean that the structural pillars were set back slightly?

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

I know your not discussing your budget but are you paying per sqm, and does that mean your paying for 121m2 or for livable space (basically how did you get a total, without telling it to us)?

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The price was a lump sum and agreed in a very short time. I had three alternative designs, all lifted from the same web site. With all the plans I sat down with Jan, Mom & Dad + a builder friend of Dads. After much deliberation everyone liked the current design, but with a few modifications. Builder went away and returned two days later with a lump sum price of 130% of the final agreed price. As this was way over Jan's budget, which was 80% of the agreed price he was sent packing. She then got three other prices of 210%, 160% and 140%.

At this stage, I concluded there was no way she could afford it and would have to have a small house and not the Thai style she wanted. This was received like a bad hangover so there was a big family meeting and half way through the builder friend was summoned to Dads house. After the meeting, it was announced that the house would be built for 100%, which was still 25% above her original budget. But this didn't appear to matter as Jan had a farang bf who could be called upon it times of emergency. A contract was prepared with the stage payment and works began.

Now Jan's biggest worry is that he will run out of money before its finished - she has already advanced money before the milestone was achieved. But I think it will be OK, even if it means using money from another project as it would be too much of a loss of face infront of Dad who helped him start up his business.

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Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Sorry another question - will the wood paneling be flush with the concrete and does this mean that the structural pillars were set back slightly?

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The front of the panelling will not be flush, but will slightly overlap the concrete to stop water seeping in. The edge of the structural columns are flush with the concrete walls. I think you can see this from the pics below.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...04_10_-_03.jpg


Hey, benlovenuk, you are taking a keen interest in this build. Are you anywhere near Udon Thani? If so why not take a trip over there and have a look. This invitation goes to anyone else who is in the area as Jan loves to show off her new home!

Cheers

Nelly
Has the roof been finished and how did it work out? Haven't heard you mention any issues since way back then.

I also liked the design you are building but the missus didn't as she wanted a more western style after spending the last 9 years over here.

As for the cost the wife got several quotes which were 30% to 40% above her expectations and her reaction was, "I can't breathe" but she (as you did) persevered and finally got a builder, that while above what she expected to pay, was substantially less than the others. All I hope is that it doesn't cost her in the end through re-work or lack of a quality job.

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Originally Posted by ootai

Has the roof been finished and how did it work out? Haven't heard you mention any issues since way back then.

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ootai - the roofers, well one on them, came back to work a couple of days ago and he says it will be finished this week. But below is a photo taken today so you can see it is starting to look OK.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...04_10_-_01.jpg
Cheers

Nelly unfortunately in UK, but when in Thailand Im located in Chiangmai. Thank you for the invitation very kind of you!:)

Im taking an interest because we are looking to build a family house very soon and also have the thai traditional house plans you have, and as your doing it, (and it looks so good) i just thought asking would make it easier for us when we come to build.

So far you have been extremely helpful and i thank you for that!

great thread, really nice work so far
good luck with it all

Thank you for doing this build thread it is very good, and i can not wait to see the house when fiished.:)

A little progress has been made in the past week and it's good to see that the wood has finally started to be installed.

The eaves are now just about complete and the gable end above the stairs is fixed.

A few of the past weeks photos

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...05_10_-_10.jpg

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...05_10_-_04.jpg

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...05_10_-_01.jpg

Thanks for the kind words about the house, I know Jan appreciates that her home is getting a lot of interest.

Cheers

Great looking house so far, I hope all goes well at the end of the build.. I was glad to see you went with the Mai du (Padauk) as it is one of my favorites over here...