Thread: Building.... a "Teak House"in 20 days!

Well done Roger, l would be more than pleased to have it.

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

but we are nearly at the threat stage!! Mainly family members...but I hate plastic bags and shit everywhere!

education is a wonderful thing

the shit thing sounds a little disturbing, was that the family or the dogs?

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

The upstairs windows have had matching dual sliding glass windows, with fly screens, locks and frames added inside the shutter frames, which makes it easy to open close and lock the shutters from inside, and adds to thermal insulation, and security. The sewer pipe is yet to be painted or encased, and the landscaping has begun.

looks good, and yes, do something about the pipe!

as was just said, how high are the ceilings in the downstairs bit?

I like lots of space, 3m minimum

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

the reason was an unfortunate timing issue that the 16 main Teak uprights were the longest available without delaying the build!

I put mine on concrete pads to make them longer, works well

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

downstairs room is only just over 2.1 metres

If I pop in for a swift half someday you will have to excuse me whilst I remove my cuban heels before entering

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

I now shame them by picking up every morning and disposing

You be careful, someone will be reporting you as the local street cleaner!

Great looking place RR. Hope you don't mind me enlarging for a better look.

Now you've blown it up BY it looks like the back area ( with bog pipe ) seems to have been put together " Lego style " i.e. no mortar

Interesting.. I do like those bricks that don't use mortar (or at least not in between bricks..) Are they also intended to support a structure or roof?

One other consideration if you're building something like this is that if in the bedroom there are windows on every side it can be awkward if when you want a wardrobe , wherever you stand it , it blocks a window. Worth leaving enough wall for it on one side.

maybe you don't need a wardrobe? just folding clothes into drawers is often good enough

unless you wear smart clothes, of course, like a suit and other weird things

Agreed,.... and the wall facing the balcony outdoor area has no windows, just a door at one end, for just that reason. The wall on the bathroom side also has no windows just a door in the centre, so has room for two wardrobes if needed, although this is not designed for permanent residence and wardrobes are not presently envisaged....Just a King bed in the centre and room all round "to swing the cat!"

Great looking place to spend the night! However, your balcony is much like mine upcountry (within reason). What I do not like is sitting on the benches and my feet do not touch the floor. Rather uncomfortable after awhile.

To solve this problem, I merely drag out a chair or footrest from the main house so I can read a book, drink a cup of coffee and enjoy the view.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

What I do not like is sitting on the benches and my feet do not touch the floor. Rather uncomfortable after awhile.

As well as facing the house instead of the view!

This is quite an attractive design, I have seen a few along the Pak Chong-Pak Thong Chai road. But in general most of the wood used for Thai houses in Isaan is not teak, but it is a mix of other hardwoods. It doesn't really matter though--it is all good stuff that will last 50 years or more.

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

We will finish up with 4.5 meter X 4 metre upstairs bedroom with high arched teak ceiling, (about 3.2 meters) and teak polished floor, (very nicely done and finished by the builders!) The upstairs bedroom will have an ensuite bathroom with hot shower with sliding glass Doors (Quadrant with FG base) a hand basin, and "American Standard toilet suite, floor tiles over cement slab sheet on the bathroom floor, and either tiles or fibreglass sheet wall lining. (to be completed next trip back to the farm!) The downstairs room is approximately 7 meters long 4 meters wide with a somewhat low 2 .2 meter ceiling ( will try for longer posts if we build another!)with exposed stained beams.( stained and varnished very nicely by the Teak wood builder!) The floor will be tiled as will the downstairs bathroom. The downstairs bathroom will be tiled floor to ceiling. It also has a Quadrant Glass shower and HWS, Hand basin on the outside wall of the bathroom (by choice) and American Standard Toilet suite.(now commissioned but tiling not yet completed.
Otherwise a large capacity fibreglass Septic tank installed away from the house feeding to a large conventional Thai 4 section round concrete drain sump surrounded by gravel and slotted drainage . I have installed a 70 amp underground power service, with earth leakage circuit breakers to Western standards, a down hole bore pump, ..a water storage tank....followed by a filter system and automatic pressure pump, feeding garden taps and house services. The pumps and all services are either underground, in concrete or locked up!! To keep cost low I purchased all materials except the Teak wooden section (everything haggled over to (often to the stage of embarrassment) by my very tough wife! All plumbing fixtures toilets, showers basins pumps etcetera were purchased from the incredible variety of goods available at the monster Home MAker stores in Udon Thani.
THE COSTS: Roughly with all materials except the airconditioners (still to come and be installed, and upstairs wall lining, and light fittings) about $22,000 USD total all up (which my Thai wife say's is way to expensive!!!!...).but hey you must be there for every phase of work, and have lots of building experience (as I have) or you will not get anything like what you plan.... and it will cost lots more ...and probably fall down around your ears in 12 months or so...If you want "quick" it must cost a bit more. And we were really lucky that no direct family nmembers wanted to work for us...that was a big saving..expect to buy some Leo at the end of long hot days!

In Australia it would have cost $22,000 for plans and local governement application charges...and after 3 months we would still be waiting for "planning approval" not ready to move in!!!!
Even here there were lots of compromises for me..diffent ways of doing things...but the builder who dug the foundations and poured them and did much of the work under my supervision..paid me the compliment of saying..."you are the builder I am the apprentice and have learnt a lot!!! " I must praise the "Teak House Building Company" they were the best most organised builders I have ever worked with anywhere..They were on time on budget, did good workmanship, and finished the wood section beyond our best expectations. The wooden structure ....which is all they build, (eg, no electrics,foundations, slab, plumbing or services) cost erected on our slab about $9,000 USD, and in my opinion was excellent value for money. I would comment that these Teak houses are a bit flimsy for the extreme wet season weather (storms etc) which is the reason we chose to brick the under-story and greatly stiffen and strengthen the structure.,,,SO no Holiday....just work from daylight to after dark ...but now we have accomodation for Songkran!!

So that works out at about 10,000 thb per square mete, right? Makes sense.

If you include the under roof, upstairs balcony area, that cost calculation is about right, although I have since had guttering added (very nice job by beautiful to watch soldering and shaping, "tin smith" tradesman) that are almost extinct and we are now unable to afford in the West.This was extra......so would push the price up a bit.....but stops most of the "wind blown" water being blown straight off the roof into the balcony, and wetting everything, when a storm passes.
A 42 meter long 2 meter high wall now completed, (to add some privacy from our neighbour, her plastic bags and chickens, and included in the original costs, if removed from the total cost figure(as the airconditioning cost about the same as the 42 metre by 2 meter high brick wall, foundations and plastering) will be offset by the 30,000Bht to supply and install a top of the range Mitsubishi reverse cycle split system mid size airconditioner. (which is almost silent both inside and out, and keeps perfect temp and humidity, even when outside is 40 deg C, and hopefully in winter when the temp drops to 14 deg C.)
The airconditioner exceeded my best expectations for both operation and extremely low noise levels, and is the best I have ever had installed, and now with very high temps and humidity is essential for a comfortanle sleep at night.

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

They are designed for Lego style construction,

Caught my eye Rog as we have a bedroom built out of them in my wifes old house in Ban Pak , can be a little unnerving if your doing anything other than sleeping in there when you can see the rest of the family quite clearly walking to and fro past you

BTW thanks for the useful info on the aircon unit ,, its always handy when someone posts " actual " firsthand experience ,, we have a poxy Samsung rattle and roar box cost me around the 20.000 bht mark,, not my choice the FIL got it for me

200,000 is expensive for what is basically a garden shed on stilts. I am also curious as to your first post,

"intending to have 2 metres (6 feet or so) of fill dumped and levelled on our land, to compact during the wet season"

Why oh why do so many farang go down this road of believing Thais that by simply piling up heaps of soil that it is magically going to compact in the wet season! It doesn't compact on its own it needs force to be applied - rain water is hardly a compacting force.

How many people seem to go down this route and in three years wonder why their walls are all cracked?

If you want to compact soil for building, have it levelled about three inches at a time and then rolled with a big road roller, this is the only way you will compact it - Chreck out the law of gravity if you don't believe me - If I stand in the garden all year, I am not going to compact, I will remain the same. The force of my weight is acted on by an equal force opposing it.

I am not being funny, I only hope to stop people making the same mistakes as loads of people around here when building a new place (Thais and Farangs) Your walls will crack!

^ I think you will find they dig down for the corner / pillar feet / footings ,, I think the raised slab is more to bring the general area level up a bit