A number of features of our new farm house did not originate with me; like the lancah noi (little roof; Lungpaw’s suggestion); the build out of supplemental structures on the south side (Thip’s idea. I had wanted them on the larger section of the pad to the north, away from the best views); and the tongue and groove porch flooring (Thip)... Our stairs can also be added to this list.
I had had a very unassuming, fully functional and inexpensive stairs designed, originally. But, my wife didn’t like it and wanted to get our head monk’s thoughts on a design. Well, of course, when he came up with something completely different, more expensive and totally outside the symmetry I was trying to create, I wasn’t thrilled. But, I was stuck with it because you don’t ask a monk for their thoughts and ideas on something and then not follow through. Besides, Thip would never go counter to Lungpaw’s advice.
Now that the stairs are nearly completed, I must bow to Lungpaw Boon Long’s design. It is beautiful and welcoming. Sure, it’s not as cheap or as well protected from the rains as mine would have been, but the beauty and strength of it is impressive.
Through this very long period of Lott and Naht’s building the stairs -- and constantly conferring with Lungpaw in the process -- I’ve learned something very important about stairs. If you’re going to have them at all, they need to be inviting. You have to build them in such a way to cause people to want to climb them, not take them on as a chore. In a way, stairs are portals. They need to be attractive enough so that people will jump through them.
The stairs are not done yet. The other railing needs to go in and the rail posts -- technically called “balluster” -- need to firm up the rails. None of this work is likely to happen any time soon, as it is now rice season and everyone’s out working their farms. Sam Lott is working his family’s land and while he is away, Sam Naht is back to working in the temple.
[originally posted at: THE ISAAN]
MALCOLM GAULT-WILLIAMS
Nong Bua Lamphu countryside, Isaan
^
Mate I love your little gaffer but i really hope you get a decent Air Con put in before the next hot season hits.
If not you may die in it.
Anyway, all the best with it eh.
Your home in Nong bua lamphu? Very very nice home...That is my dream home ..I want to have one in my issan home
^
Air-cons are cheap in Thailand so no biggy.
Make sure you get an Inverter, you will be using it a lot out there for sure.
I run mine a lot in BKK and power bills are quite cheap.
Only have one in my small gaff and rarely hits over 1500 BHT PM went cranking it up.
Mine is a big one where you will only need a small one. All good for you.
How far do you have to run the electric to get to your place ?
The power lines to the pad go about 15 rai deep into the rice fields. This post has some video that give you a good idea of the distance: THE ISAAN: Bann Nah 5 - Power Lines
This post contains a video (the second one, toward the end of the post) that shows the run lower down toward the pad: THE ISAAN: Bann Nah 8 - Power Lines
Cool place you have there.
I had our house built on pillars as well for the same reason, we always have a nice breeze in morning and night and on and off through out the day. Its very comfy underneath. But I wil say when the breeze stops it can get hot very fast.Originally Posted by LEGENDARY
I am looking into this as well. I have a nice big roof over my car park/shop area that is not visible to the front of the house but gets sun all day. I want to add solar to run some lights and the fans in the shop. I have been doing some calculations on surface area required. Its free power. I already have solar lights on the house and around the property.Originally Posted by LEGENDARY
One thing however here in Thailand is power is relatively cheap so the ROI is not such a big driver. Convenience is the bigger driver if you do not want to pull power to the location. Depends on what one plans to use and do.
Again nice place.
Thanks for that video link Legendary , very interesting to watch
Counting our donation of nearly half of our original 17 rai of farmland to our temple for the building of the chedi (stuppa); then moving out to the remaining 9 rai and putting a dirt pad down, the Bann Nah project has been nearly three years in the making. Whenever it is referenced, however, most people consider it’s only been two years underway because that’s when construction of the house began.
Well, the stairs alone have taken a year to complete. Of course, our workers worked on other things in tandem with the stairs and also took a good number of lengthy breaks to do other things like tend to their harvests, work in and for the temple, etc. Even so, the stairs have taken a long time to get done. I’ve posted a little bit of the progression first starting with stairs pad; the stairs roof; stringer and tred; and finalizing the tred.
(Thip is ecstatic)
Please don’t think I’m complaining. As I’ve explained before, the stairs have turned out far better than I ever imagined they would. Moreover, they have become a major stylistic element to the whole mix; a dominant, beautiful element for sure.
And even though they are not completely done, they are basically finished except for the bottom concrete step and some final finishing with wood preservative, filler, sanding and stain.
The stairs are made up of about four different types of wood, most notably teak (mai sak), mai deng and pra doo -- all hard woods. Here are some details on the woods used the most:
mai sak:
Tree Latin Name: Tectona grandis
Local Lao/Thai name: Mai Sak
Trade name: Teak
Particularly valued for its durability, abundance of oil, and water resistance. It is used for boat building, exterior construction, interior walls and ceilings of cabins and temples, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and usually small wood projects.
mai daeng:
Tree Latin Name: Xylia xylocarpa
Thai name: mai daeng
Trade Name: Pyinkado
Even though a direct translation would work out as 'red wood' it isn't, neither is it rosewood. Pyinkado is actually the Burmese trade name but it covers all wood in Lao and Thai. It is a VERY durable and tough wood which has twice the hardness of teak. Used for railway sleepers, piers and other sub-aqua purposes (15 years life untreated) also excellent flooring. With these properties it is also very heavy when green over 1000kg per Cu meter and also hard to work. It has a very decorative pink-red in color when newly cut, but deepens with age.
mai doo:
Tree Latin Name: Pterocarpus indicus
Thai name: mai doo
Trade Name: Narra
A beauty wood used mainly for furniture, windows and doors but also used for instruments. An open grain with distinctive scent when working -- relatively hard and termite resistant; red-orange in color, with the grain close to the exterior being blond.
A list of available wood types in Thailand, with their Thai, trade and Latin names:
Mai sisiet nua = Akazie (Acacia catechu)
Mai makha = Monkey Pod Tree (Afzelia xylocarpa)
Gaang luang = Coffin Wood (Albizia chinensis)
Mai krabak yai = Krabak (Anisoptera costata)
Mai saake = Brotfrucht (Artocarpus communis)
Mai kanun = Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
Mai ngiu = Flamboyant / Flame of the Forest (Bombax ceiba)
Mai chayapruek = Laburnum (Cassia fistula)
Mai ma prao = Kokos (Cocos nucifera)
Mai daang = Rosenholz (Dalbergia parviflora)
Mai ma klua = Ebenholz (Diospyros mollis)
Mai yang = Yang / Gardschan Balsam (Dipterocarpus)
Mai yukalip = Eukalyptus (Eucalyptus sp)
Mai ni krot = Banyan / Feigenbaum (Ficus bengalensis)
Mai dton bo = Bodhibaum / Feige (Ficus religiosa)
Mai para = Gummibaum / Rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis)
Mai takhien = Takhien (Hopea odorata)
Mai tong bung = Kempas (Koompassia)
Mai ma muang = Mango (Mangifera caloneura)
Mai champa = Magnolie (Michelia champaca)
Mai dton son = Pinie (Pinus kesiya, merkusii)
Mai pradu = Nara Wood (Pterocarpus indicus)
Mai ching chun = Siamese Rosewood (Pterocarpus macrocarpus)
Mai gong gang = Mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata)
Mai cham churee - Chamchuree (Samanea samana)
Mai daang = Burmesischer Sal Baum (Shorea obtusa)
Mai rang = Thai Sal Baum (Shorea siamensis)
Mai gong gang = Mangrove (Sonneratia sp)
Mai makam = Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
Mai sak = Teak (Tectona grandis)
Mai daeng = Ironwood (Xylia xylocarpa)
[above list courtesy of Buriram Expats Forum]
[This chapter in the construction saga originally posted at: THE ISAAN
Enjoy many happy years living your dream.
As our three year-long “farm house”project was slowly drawing to a close, I started getting sad thoughts about how much I’d miss not having our workers Sam Lott and Sam Naht around. The feelings/thoughts reminded me of when I used to lifeguard in the summers of long ago. You knew summer would come to an end and you knew you wished it would last forever.
This was an unnecessary sadness, I had to remind myself. To be sure, there will be continued construction at Bann Nah and Lott and Naht will most likely be the ones to get the work done. Not only that, but soon they’ll be working daily at our Kamattan temple just five minutes away. I will be very surprised if they do not become semi-regular after-work visitors at Bann Nah. During those days-to-come, I imagine we’ll do the same as we do now: crack open some bottles of beer Chang, eat, talk and listen to Thai Luktung. The song that was most often played this past year (2015-2016) was “Sai Wa Si Bor Thim Gan” ( ไสว่าสิบ่ถิ่มกัน ):
As I understand the song, it basically says: you promised to be with me forever. For months, I looked trying to find this song thinking it was entitled “Sai Woosy.”
Anyway, the number of things left to do in this wrap-up of Phase One of the Bann Nah Project I could now count on one hand, as Lott and Naht finished up the trim work and began the final staining. It’s amazing how much trim makes in beautifying a building!
[originally posted at THE ISAAN
While Lott and Naht were finishing up on the wooden structure (Phase 1), we had them do one Phase 2 task before they would leave us for a while -- maybe a long while. We had them put in the concrete floor downstairs.
Whenever family or friends in The States ask us why we built Bann Nah so high off the ground -- and “is it because of flooding?” -- we have an opportunity to explain a little about our Phase 2 plans of enclosing the downstairs eventually. I always like to throw in the part that it is traditional to build on stilts in Southeast Asia.
The reality, though, is that these days most SE Asian housing is now built from the ground up -- almost always using a concrete pad. In the very distant times, bamboo construction of living quarters demanded structures being built above ground (probably not much more than two or three feet) to ensure that the bamboo stayed mostly dry. Elevating the structures also protected occupants from things crawling or slithering on the ground.
As time went on and wood and nails replaced bamboo in home construction, homes were still elevated for the same reason when it came to other ground creatures, but now it incorporated a little greater height so that people could have a living space underneath the house in daytimes -- to block from rain and sun.
When I first met my wife, this was the state of her family home. They even had chickens and ducks living underneath the house, which I didn’t think was sanitary or a good idea, but then again it wasn’t my house.
After Thip and I married, we had the family house elevated further so that the entire house could be built out, underneath. This involved jacking the whole house up, putting in support posts and beams, concrete block walls and a concrete floor which was tiled over. Many Thai houses have had this done to them. Chances are, when you see a Thai or SE Asian house that is wood on the second floor but concrete on the first, that structure is that way due to evolutionary change, not by initial design.
[originally posted at: THE ISAAN]
Phase 1 of the Bann Nah project is finally finished, after 2 years and 3 months duration.
Phase 1 was essentially the main building construction, mostly of wood.
Phase 2 will begin sometime next year, I imagine. Depends on the wife and our financial resources.
I've written about the "final" days (is anything ever final?) at THE ISAAN
Thank you all who have read about this project, here at TeakDoor. A big "Thank You" goes out to those of you who took the time to comment, make suggestions and lend your encouragement. Very much appreciated!
Thank you for taking the time to post up your thread with all the pics.
Chock dee mak mak !
May the good lord shine his light on Thip and you too...keep on living the dream. Surf's up.
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