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  1. #1
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    WhiteLotusLane's Avatar
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    Is this enough wood to build a small wooden garden home?

    Calling all wood gurus.. This typical village house is terrible in every way, but there should be a reasonable amount of wood there to re-use on a small-ish garden cottage.

    It would be a small living area and one bedroom. Living area would likely be raised on (concrete) posts because the current wooden posts aren't very tall. The downstairs ceiling is much too low. I could use the wooden posts to support a roof upstairs for a veranda area though I think, they should be plenty tall for that.

    The back of the downstairs area is bricked in but also uses (thinner) wooden posts, 9 of them. Those would work to hold up the roof upstairs I think.

    Stairs, floors, window frames etc could be re-used. Probably the roof supports too.

    I'm not sure there is enough wooden siding for the walls upstairs, and those planks are of lower quality; they're thin and some have some termite damage.

    What do you all think? Would this provide most of the structural building materials other than the concrete posts, downstairs floor and roof? And I'm trying to get to a budget.. We already have land of course, so trying to get to a budget for the worker's / contractor payment and there would need to be a basic kitchen and bathroom. Nothing fancy.





    Right side of the house:



    Left side of the house:



    The back part is bricked in walls, but using (thinner) wooden posts.



    Inside. Ceiling is way too low.



    Inside stairs up to where the bedrooms are.



    Looking towards the back downstairs.



    Back side inside. These posts are plenty tall and would support a roof.



    Front close up. The wooden planks used for the walls are very thin and some have some damage.

    Last edited by WhiteLotusLane; 06-04-2014 at 09:04 AM.

  2. #2
    I am in Jail

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    why not just use gypsum for the outside and use the rest for the inside.

  3. #3
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    Gypsum on outside walls? That would look really horrible? (I can see using gypsum cladding on the inside to get some more insulation.)

  4. #4
    I am in Jail

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    go look at the stuff on sale now looks like real wood

  5. #5
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    He means sheerawood.

    As forr your question, plans, tapemeasure, math....

  6. #6
    On a walkabout Loy Toy's Avatar
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    Without sounding sarcastic..........How long is a piece of string?

    Once you have basic plans it becomes quite simple to calibrate.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Survey the donor building. Columns, beams, floor boards, wall boards and roof sheets. Estimate the % that is reusable.

    Design a new building which you can build with the reclaimed timber plus the new concrete columns. As you say the electrics, fuse box, doors and windows are ok.

    The kitchen is a plastic bowl (Loy Toy has a range to choose from), a one ring gas bottle burner and a couple of floor mats. The floor can be left as soil or splash out on some concrete. A plastic barrel for water storage and a screened cupboard for the food.
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  8. #8
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    Roobarb did a lot of this - his house is big, so he stole the homes of three small villages to make it, but it seems that you always end up with less usable wood then you thought you'd have.

    Check out his recent build on the construction thread.

  9. #9
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WhiteLotusLane
    there should be a reasonable amount of wood there to re-use on a small-ish garden cottage.
    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh
    Estimate the % that is reusable.
    Then design the smallish house to use what you have.
    Or, design the house use what you have and buy more as needed.

  10. #10
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    Probably it is just me but I am confused. Do you plan on building a totally different home or upgrading the present home?

  11. #11
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    I think he plans to buy that home, dismantle it, and use the wood for a new construction.

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton
    Or, design the house use what you have and buy more as needed.
    Or tell the missus you will finish it when you win the lottery.

    Note the top of the concrete column under the front right corner. When designed there was a 2m headroom underneath the wooden floor. You might want longer ones in Issan. Alternatively, you must let the soil settle before you build.

    Last edited by OhOh; 06-04-2014 at 06:41 PM.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yasojack View Post
    why not just use gypsum for the outside and use the rest for the inside.

    Cheaper also !

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bettyboo View Post
    Roobarb did a lot of this - his house is big, so he stole the homes of three small villages to make it, but it seems that you always end up with less usable wood then you thought you'd have.

    Check out his recent build on the construction thread.
    Ho ho ho, the homes of three villages Betty... It was three village homes.

    WLL - the bits to pay attention to are the posts and the floorboards. They are the most valuable bits. As others have mentioned you can always replace the siding with shera wood, or can buy new wood for that. We had toffset a bit of new wood siding on our place and I rather preferred it to the salvaged stuff (better colour, bit thicker and a better fit).

    Floorboards - wide ones are good, thick and wide ones even better. I'm not an expert on the wood types and tend to take the view that if its worked well for the last 40 or so years then it will continue to do so for a bit longer. So long as what's there appears to be in decent condition then it's a good thing. Depending on how you design your place then you may be able to reuse the joists, which will save you a bit of cash. When you walk around on the wooden floor in the original house see if the floor is a bit springy. If it is then you may need to factor in adding a few more joists/reducing the spacing when you build your place.

    Posts - you mention that some of the siding has termite damage. This does rather ring alarm bells. Of the three wooden houses - and, ahem, a rice barn - that we bought to make our pad, one of the houses had three or four posts that had some termite damage. The thing is they had eaten them from the inside so we didn't find out until we had torn the old house down. A clue I think was that the posts were buried in the ground (as opposed to being bolted to the concrete slab above ground level). Gave the termites pretty easy underground access to the wood.

    Ultimately it does depend on how much you pay for the house. I think the one we found termite problems in was a very simple 9 post house which cost us about Baht 50k. We really only bought it for the floorboards, although the posts were to be an added bonus. Not a great bargain all things considered, but yer pays yer money and you take yer chances.

    If you are worried about it then see if the seller will agree a price based on termite-free posts, for every post with termite damage you deduct a percentage of the sale price.

    Betty is right in that it's amazing how little usable wood there can be on these places. You may, like me, find yourself helping yourself to another house to finish your project.

    Good luck with it...

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