Thread: Newbie Build in Chiang Mai (Don Kaew)

"I" have bought a 118 t.w. plot of land in an established development. It is on a cul de sac, which is not favored according to Feng Shui, and also because it has a sharp point caused by the circle (road). Nevetheless, I plan to build a 2 storey, 3BR, 2 BA house, probably after the rainy season. I do not have plans yet, but the left side (looking from the street) is bordered by a small, community garden, so I want to take advantage of that view. The existing back wall (north), with a khlong on the other side, has some erosion problems which I must take care of, and the land will then be raised by fill about .5 m. The house will be about .6 m above that level.

I plan to keep this thread up with pics, as soon as I figure out how to use Photobucket to import them. I do have photos of the land right now.

I'm hoping to get as much help as I can, as I do not have any building experience at all, and have read many nightmare stories. Well, that's it for now.

Importing from photobucket is easy. When you are looking at your library of images, select"Get Links" from the upper right corner of the image (a little gear like wheel image appears when you go to that area). Then touch the IMG code line and it auto copies the img tags and the file name. Then paste here. It's quite simple, hell even I can do it.

I'd suggest you get the fill in ASAP and let it "season" for a good 5-6+ months. Meanwhile, you can figure out what house design and all the little details. You have to decide how much time can you spend on site supervising. That was one of he reasons we went with a house building company, PD House. Overall, I'm OK with it, there are a few issues I have. But there is another guy (handle name is RichardShane) who's had a real nightmare with just getting the bones of house PD House done. I feel very bad for him because I think he was inspired by our house.

You've also got Dr Andy up in the CM area. He might be worth a beer or three to pick his brain for ideas and reliable contractors/laborers.

Looking forward to reading about your build.
Steve

post them like satomic shows.
remember not to move them about in photobucket afterwards, or you lose the link .

https://teakdoor.com/computer-news/11...ng-online.html (A quick 'How to post a photo' using online photo hosting)

Originally Posted by stevefarang

I'd suggest you get the fill in ASAP and let it "season" for a good 5-6+ months.

Thanks SteveFarang. I've been told that I can start the house without filling now, and then fill around the outside to save money. The house would look higher than normal until the rest of the land was filled. I'm not sure if posts are needed or just good footings. Most of the new houses I've seen do not have posts driven.

One problem is that I will be out of the country until September. My better half lives in BKK and can go up there as needed, but she has limited construction experience.

Originally Posted by stevefarang

You have to decide how much time can you spend on site supervising.

I will have the time, but not the expertise, so I'll need all the help I can get. I do plan to hire a builder to do the entire job (except for the north, khlong wall work), but the architect/builder we are thinking of using has limited, but not too bad, English ability.

Your suggestion re Dr. Andy is something I'm sure many people here would agree with, and since I've read his excellent blogs (and yours as well), I will appreciate all the help he (and you . . . and anyone!) can give me. But, alas, the beer will have to wait until I return.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Good luck Twerp all the best mate

Thanks NIgel. BTW, it's "Terp" (U of Md Terrapins) - not "TWerp," but you can call me whatever you like, as long as you give me good advice. E.g. to contact Dr. A. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by blue

post them like satomic shows.
remember not to move them about in photobucket afterwards, or you lose the link .

https://teakdoor.com/computer-news/11...ng-online.html (A quick 'How to post a photo' using online photo hosting)

Thanks Blue. I'll have to try that later. I am having trouble loading my pics to Photobucket - many too many of them at one time . . . I don't know. Anyway, I'll get on it.

Originally Posted by terp80

Originally Posted by stevefarang

I'd suggest you get the fill in ASAP and let it "season" for a good 5-6+ months.

Thanks SteveFarang. I've been told that I can start the house without filling now, and then fill around the outside to save money. The house would look higher than normal until the rest of the land was filled. I'm not sure if posts are needed or just good footings. Most of the new houses I've seen do not have posts driven.

One problem is that I will be out of the country until September. My better half lives in BKK and can go up there as needed, but she has limited construction experience.

We raised our first lot about a meter with fill. My wife then raised the general area where the house is located another meter. We also have at least a dozen pilings (about 8 meters deep if I recall).

The Terrapins of MD. I haven't heard that since I lived in York county of PA. Cool !

Originally Posted by stevefarang

The Terrapins of MD. I haven't heard that since I lived in York county of PA. Cool !

Yup Steve, York County right on the MD border? We used to go to the races at York US 30 Drag-O-Way, back in the 60's. A friend had a AA/gas dragster. Fun times.

Back to the land fill: Sounds like you did the whole plot at one time - well 2 times? I figure if I just fill the land outside the perimeter of the house, it will save about 2/3 of fill dirt. Of couse, no savings on the black dirt after construction. Architect says he will build a wall around the house at the foundation level to keep water out. Sounds OK to me. Any thoughts?

^ Hi Turps.
Your house foundations don't rest on fill so its not a problem to raise the land after you build.
Letting the land settle or otherwise compacting it is more of a concern for outside landscaping.

Originally Posted by terp80

Thanks NIgel. BTW, it's "Terp" (U of Md Terrapins) - not "TWerp," but you can call me whatever you like,

Your welcome Twerp

BTW ,,,, I,m not sure on Windows but you can multi load on a Mac into Pbucket no probs although I must admit I copy and paste em back here 1 at a time ,, I tecnically dont have a right click on my Mac I suppose its a similar control click but then you use the copy image location tab to paste back in the little yellow box on here , just remember to backspace the hhtp/ bit out first .

Hope that helps , I rreally hope you get yourself a good crew to do this mate as you sound like its gonna be a long distance build from your part , I,m sure the Doc can reccomend you one for that area.

All I can add to that is that its imperative to either be there yourself or have someone in charge you can really trust as things can and probably will go wrong ,, unfortunately as you probably well know it dont matter how many times you tell them the Thai brains are geared for shortcuts and also money saving ,, even if they think they are doing you a favour by saving money and bollixing something up ,, believe me I have seen this many times in some of my friends builds , which results in a whole lot more money being spent to put it right.

I am in the very fortunate position of being able to take 6 months off this year to oversee the build of our shed ,, I know many others are not that lucky.

Originally Posted by terp80

Originally Posted by stevefarang

The Terrapins of MD. I haven't heard that since I lived in York county of PA. Cool !

Yup Steve, York County right on the MD border? We used to go to the races at York US 30 Drag-O-Way, back in the 60's. A friend had a AA/gas dragster. Fun times.

Back to the land fill: Sounds like you did the whole plot at one time - well 2 times? I figure if I just fill the land outside the perimeter of the house, it will save about 2/3 of fill dirt. Of couse, no savings on the black dirt after construction. Architect says he will build a wall around the house at the foundation level to keep water out. Sounds OK to me. Any thoughts?

It's been 13 years since I lived in York Co. Even back then, I think the dragway was long gone. My oldest kids live there, so I go back once in a while.

We own 3 lots in Nakhom Pathom. All were former rice paddies. We filled lot 1 with 1 meter of some crappy fill and let it season for a year. We then added additional 1 meter of a better quality fill just in the general area of where the house is located, not the whole lot. It's made quite the difference. With the bad flooding of last year, Lot 1 stayed nice & dry. In fact, the wife's family stayed dry hanging out in the shelter of the concrete frame of our house. Even the neighbors appreciated the fill, no more water running over the road into their land.

Lot 2 is where we have been trying out raising ducks, chicken, geese and fish. I want to add 1 meter of fill and raise it up so I can locate my man-cave there. I want to make better organization of where the fowl wander and may also get rid of the fish. I'm also going to try and set up some solar cells and wind generators and see what I can do to help offset my electric bill. I like my a/c both for sleeping and working. Our house is a wee large too (my choice not hers) and I know my wife feels it's important to have lights on (need to invest in good LED bulbs!! LOL).

Lot 3 is still an active rice paddy. Supposedly the farmer growing the rice gives us some as payment for usage of the land. I've never been there if he does it and really haven't made it an issue yet. We're still kicking around ideas as what to do with it. It may not stay a rice paddy for much longer.

How is a wall going to stop water out? It may block a flow, but I would think it could still seep right under, especially during a flooding event. I still think filling is the better way to go. I know my wife didn't even want to talk about a perimeter wall until the house was done, or near completion. Something about keeping good luck away as I recall.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

. . . you sound like its gonna be a long distance build from your part , I,m sure the Doc can reccomend you one for that area.

Nigel, I will be back in late September for at least 6-7 months, may be longer if need be . . . and it sure sounds like need there probably will be. I plan start building in December and want to go there pretty much every day, but still want a good builder who can make sure things go according to plan.

I will certainly seek out Dr. Andy's advice on a good builder.

And thanks for the Photobucket tips.

Originally Posted by Necron99

Your house foundations don't rest on fill so its not a problem to raise the land after you build.

Thanks Necron, that's what I was thinking.

that is true, but you should infill your foundations after to make the floor slab, not leave it open!

Originally Posted by stevefarang

How is a wall going to stop water out? It may block a flow, but I would think it could still seep right under, especially during a flooding event.

The architect explained how he would keep water out, but now I cannot remember what he said. I only recall it was something to do with building some perimeter something around it. But what would happen even if water did get in and under the house? Wouldn't it seep into the soil when the flood waters receded? Everything in that area would be cement, so . . . ? Mold? Maybe I should ask him to explain his method again.

Good luck with all your land endeavors. Sounds like you have your hands full.

what water is he trying to keep out?


flood water, ground water?

anyway, if filled it doesn't make any difference

Originally Posted by DrAndy

that is true, but you should infill your foundations after to make the floor slab, not leave it open!

My impression was that the 1st floor would not rest on any dirt at all, and that the foundation wall and the inside pillars would be backfilled to the level of the existing land. Later, the fill dirt would just go on the outside of the perimeter wall. Is that OK?

I forgot to talk about the house itself: It will be about 190 sq. m. - more or less modern style, so I'm guessing the footprint will be about 100 sq.m. About the only village requirement is that it have a green tile, hip roof. Eventually, I want to build a teak patio with a fish (Koi?) pond on the west (park/suan) side.

[I originally wanted to build a traditional Thai style house, but have given up on that now because not enough baht.]

Originally Posted by DrAndy

flood water, ground water? anyway, if filled it doesn't make any difference

FLood water . . . and point taken.

I'm trying to save a little money here (and there), because I know I'll use it all in the end.

Another Marylander what are the odds I'm from Annapolis. Good luck with the house sounds great.

Originally Posted by naptownmike

Another Marylander what are the odds I'm from Annapolis. Good luck with the house sounds great.

Hi Mike: Annapolis: one of my favorite cities in the US, let alone Maryland. The odds? Thanks for the good wishes.

Does anyone know the proper wording for setting up a Thai bank account and specifying that the funds are to be used solely for purchasing land?

Surely you will be using your wifes thai bank account ?

Just open an account and put money in it