Thread: Newbie Build in Chiang Mai (Don Kaew)

^ Thanks Nigel. Any time. I will still have to find a place to rent relatively close, between CM and Don Kaew, while I build. But I'm always available through TD. I will also try to confer with Dr. Andy in CM as well, since he has local building experience.

I haven't abandoned ship. I am trying to obtain financing here , as interest rates are much better, plus I don't qualify for financing in the LOS (for any number of reasons). I hope to refi my house here at 2.5% if everything goes well.

Financing process is proceeding along OK so far. In the meantime, I have ordered the design program ChiefArchitect to play with. It seems pretty complex, but I'll keep at it, and hopefully come up with a house design I can turn over to the professionals in CM.

good luck with that!

I hope the program can help you with layout and good "feng shui"

Haha. Thanks Dr. Andy. Maybe I should get a feng shui app. I do know that my lot has "bad feng shui," but I also know there are design changes I can make. I'll go to the library here and get some books. I certainly don't believe the mumbo jumbo parts, but there are some really good design principles behind a lot of it, and that's what I hope to get out of it.

Originally Posted by terp80

Haha. Thanks Dr. Andy. Maybe I should get a feng shui app. I do know that my lot has "bad feng shui," but I also know there are design changes I can make. I'll go to the library here and get some books. I certainly don't believe the mumbo jumbo parts, but there are some really good design principles behind a lot of it, and that's what I hope to get out of it.

I didn't know we farangs were allowed to borrow books from the library? I've been to Bangkok a few times and in the big shopping mall (forgot the name) they have an English book shop with ~500 architecture books. Quite expensive books, the book I wanted to buy was 4000B but I didn't have the money

If you want to make a nice render you should try sketchup for modeling (because it's easy) and indigo renderer for the actually rendering. That's if you want to have a render of course.

Originally Posted by Koetjeka

I didn't know we farangs were allowed to borrow books from the library? I've been to Bangkok a few times and in the big shopping mall (forgot the name) they have an English book shop with ~500 architecture books. Quite expensive books, the book I wanted to buy was 4000B but I didn't have the money

If you want to make a nice render you should try sketchup for modeling (because it's easy) and indigo renderer for the actually rendering. That's if you want to have a render of course.

Thanks Koetjeka. "Here" is currently the US. My county library system is very good, so no shortage of feng shui books. You're right, English language books are crazy expensive in Thailand. That's why I will bring about 5-10 books back with me when I return in September.

I tried Sketchup already and couldn't make it work, so I guess there may not be that much hope for me. But, at least I now have plenty of time to play with "Home Designer." Plus, I only have to learn one program.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Yes, I was sort of joking about FS but all most of it is is good common sense and design a lot of mumbo jumbo has been introduced by it's practitioners to make money but the principles are good Working with a difficult bit of land and building a successful house has its own satisfactions

The land is at the end of a small cul-de-sac, which, as I understand it, is regarded like a dead end, and so is "bad FS." I think that "problem" can be solved by putting the front door at the car port and not directly in the front. That way the bad chi (or whatever ) cannot come flying up the street and fly into my front door. Also the position of the entrance gate could be offset a bit.

I can understand how centuries of practical experience would lead to the conclusion that you should not build a house at the end of anything which requires a change in direction (of horses, vehicles, boats, etc.) to avoid striking the house. So hopefully I'll be OK.

HGTV Ultimate is what I use. As I remember about 75 US dollars. Not too fancy, not too plain. It worked for me, and I wanted a clear drawing to scale that you could visualize. The value depends on what you want it to do for you, and how finished the architects want the plans you hand them. I'm no expert on building in Thailand...far from it, but I think the Architects have to redraw the plans to spec. before they submit them for permits, so HGTV might be worth looking into.

All those programs are quite fun, once you have slogged through the learning process, but not really essential

I just do my drawings with paper and pencil (and eraser!) and let the architect/draughtsman do the hard work

That's how my wife does it, then hands it to me to draw on the computer.
HGTV doesn't have too bad of a learning curve, and it does allow you to to have 3D views rendered. Mainly, it lets me add windows/furniture/appliances to scale so I get a better idea of dimensions.

true, I am not saying they are useless, they do give some idea of scale etc, just that I can't be bothered with them...and I like my paper and pencil versions

Thanks guys, but I now have the HomeDesigner program. At least I have plenty of time to go through all 494 pages of the instruction booklet. I've already tried drawing plans on paper, and I think this program will help, because I'm going to have keep my area to about 190 s.m. and try to fit more rooms, etc. than I'll really have space for. This way, I can move walls a bit here and there and play with various things to end up with the best configuration I can. Then I'll take my plans to a pro and discuss what changes he thinks need to be made before he prepares the working sets of plans, which need to be approved by the powers that be. I'll try to post my preliminary plans for your suggestions at some point; hopefully within a month (or two).

Flash Earth may be an alternative to Google Earth in places. They seem to have newer updates on their maps.

Thanks Racin. And thanks for the PM. I'll keep that info for when I am ready. Certainly curious as to his pricing, but I guess I find out when I return to CM.

Originally Posted by terp80

I've already tried drawing plans on paper, and I think this program will help, because I'm going to have keep my area to about 190 s.m. and try to fit more rooms, etc. than I'll really have space for.

If you get too involved with the process of the program, it is easy to lose sight of the "flow" of the home

How you want to live and what you do, all personal and particular to yourselves

Originally Posted by DrAndy

If you get too involved with the process of the program, it is easy to lose sight of the "flow" of the home

Funny you should mention that. I was thinking the exact same thing after I drew my first basic plan. I hope the 3D feature helps me get a better sense of that. We'll see. I won't be wedded to whatever I come up with and will discuss everything in detail with the architect, whoever that ends up to be. Also FS, is pretty big on that too, so maybe I'll get some good ideas from those books - got to get to the library soon.

I really like going around old houses, wherever they may be

some fantastic ideas and they can influence your later plans

Chinese Shop houses, Turkish courtyards, Spanish/Moroccan patios, Egyptian rooftop terraces, Arab style ancient houses with great big walls hiding the beauty within etc etc

Originally Posted by terp80

Originally Posted by DrAndy

If you get too involved with the process of the program, it is easy to lose sight of the "flow" of the home

Funny you should mention that. I was thinking the exact same thing after I drew my first basic plan. I hope the 3D feature helps me get a better sense of that. We'll see. I won't be wedded to whatever I come up with and will discuss everything in detail with the architect, whoever that ends up to be. Also FS, is pretty big on that too, so maybe I'll get some good ideas from those books - got to get to the library soon.

It might be true for some or most people but from my personal view I think it's a lot more efficient to design with a computer (or at least use a drawing tablet). I've been raised using computers since I was 4 or 5 (commodore 64 time with a tape recorder or huge floppy). I've done everything with it and will keep doing everything with it, it's like second nature. At school I always liked to draw pictures but everything I created was poorly drawn

I sometimes ask myself how the heck I ever passed sketching and drawing classes at university but I actually had pretty good grades for it somehow.

I really like going around old houses, wherever they may be

some fantastic ideas and they can influence your later plans

Chinese Shop houses, Turkish courtyards, Spanish/Moroccan patios, Egyptian rooftop terraces, Arab style ancient houses with great big walls hiding the beauty within etc etc

Very true, one needs to get his inspiration from somewhere. I always like to take a closer look at old/fascinating constructions to learn from them. When I'm going to the border for my 90 day check, I usually take my camera with me to take some photo's along the way for review purposes.

Originally Posted by Koetjeka

sketching and drawing classes at university

blimey, was that a Thai uni?

or do you mean Art College?

ah, OK I understand what you mean now, sorry

we had to do some of that at school for our architecture course, visiting famous houses and drawing some of the features

Originally Posted by Koetjeka

I've been raised using computers since I was 4 or 5

Well then, that makes a lot of sense. When I was 4 or 5 my technology consisted of Crayons and pencil and paper. Oh, and a rotary dial telephone and a radio.

I really like the architecture software, but I am a bit slow at it - at least for now. If I had to design a house in a week, I would just make a bunch of drawings with pencil and eraser, but this is more fun, and I have the time. Plus, the 3D, walk thru camera, paint/materials, etc. features are cool.

My biggest restrictions are money (no surprise there - 2.3Mbaht) and size (footprint less than 100 s.m.). The HOA restrictions are it must be 2 stories and have a green tile roof: no problem there.

Originally Posted by terp80

My biggest restrictions are money (no surprise there - 2.3Mbaht) and size (footprint less than 100 s.m.).

the size may seem smallish for a family house but as a lot of living is done outside in Thailand, a large terrace area makes up for that

BBQ on one side, large table, a few benches, whatever..


if you have the room, get a solid steel base made up and get the local stone men to deliver a massive slice of marble to sit on it