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  1. #1
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    Aussie Style House Build

    G'day people,
    Started this thread to gain as much knowledge as possible (a challenge for an old bloke I'll admit) about building a house in Thailand.
    My wife Yuri (the brains of the outfit) and I will be building a single story two bedroom house in Ayong which is about 45 mins East of Surin.
    The land belongs to Yuri's dad - he's kindly giving it to us (covered in detail later). Its 7 rai located on the edge of the village between the town reservoir and temple.

    We've taken a while to get to this point - plenty of speed bumps along the way already. These will be covered as the thread goes along.
    Looking forward to input on your own experiences and advice you can offer on avoiding the many pitfalls encountered when building in Thailand

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    Welcome peciacake, we have an embarrassment of riches on builds atm. Look forward to it.

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    Thanks Mike,
    Appreciate the welcome. Good to hear there's plenty on about building ATM. Will get stuck into posting stuff ASAP. Can't promise an edge-of-the-seat thriller. More like days-of-our-lives Thai style, which is what it's been so far...

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    Where it began

    Yuri and I first met in February 2014 at the height of the Yellow and Red shirt confrontations. We got out of Bangkok fast and spent a month touring together. One thing lead to another and before I knew it she accepted my offer to come and live with me in Australia. Still have to pinch myself sometimes - how lucky can a sixty yr old bloke, whose come out the wrong side of an expensive divorce, end up with a smart, very attractive Thai lady who wants to live with me.

    Fast forward to Feb 2020: I'm retired and we're heading to Thailand to build our dream home...

    ...to be continued... (gotta get the post count up)

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    Good to see you in this forum.
    Looking forward to reading about your bild.
    Many of us here have been through this building process, so plenty of dos and don'ts
    Post what you are planning to build when you have a chance, and perhaps we can offer some useful advice.
    Good luck.
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

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    You should put that aerial view of land video on this thread. A great starter for your coming adventures.

  7. #7
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forum mate! Browse around the construction forum. Teak Door has a vast library of construction threads with all sorts of good info.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    Good to see you in this forum.
    Looking forward to reading about your bild.
    Many of us here have been through this building process, so plenty of dos and don'ts
    Post what you are planning to build when you have a chance, and perhaps we can offer some useful advice.
    Good luck.
    G'day Buckaroo, thanks for your kind words.
    We are building a two bedroom house that will eventually be in the style of an Aussie farmstead - wide verandas all round etc. Roof will be Bluescope Colourbond steel with double Q-Con walls.
    Will get some sketches up once the post count reaches the required level.
    We plan to run a hybrid solar system, running as much as possible off grid.
    Moore to follow.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    Yuri and I first met in February 2014 at the height of the Yellow and Red shirt confrontations. We got out of Bangkok fast and spent a month touring together. One thing lead to another and before I knew it she accepted my offer to come and live with me in Australia. Still have to pinch myself sometimes - how lucky can a sixty yr old bloke, whose come out the wrong side of an expensive divorce, end up with a smart, very attractive Thai lady who wants to live with me.

    Fast forward to Feb 2020: I'm retired and we're heading to Thailand to build our dream home...

    ...to be continued... (gotta get the post count up)
    Heading to Thailand? Where are you now?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Switch View Post
    You should put that aerial view of land video on this thread. A great starter for your coming adventures.
    Hi Switch, this video was shot by a good friend of mine Paul White, who has been an invaluable source of information and assistance on my relatively brief, but almost vertical journey:
    Paul's blog Eco House Thailand is well worth checking out, charting Paul's build and the lifestyle he and his partner have embarked on

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Welcome to the forum mate! Browse around the construction forum. Teak Door has a vast library of construction threads with all sorts of good info.
    Thanks Norton, yes I've already found some great information and advice from the many members who've undertaken the journey before me or who have years of experience in building and construction, both professionally and DIY.

  12. #12
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    I presume that as he said Feb-20 he is in Thailand now?

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    Quote Originally Posted by nidhogg View Post
    Heading to Thailand? Where are you now?
    We're in Ayong, about 45 mins East of Surin, arrived in March 2020.

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    Quote Originally Posted by malmomike77 View Post
    I presume that as he said Feb-20 he is in Thailand now?
    Yes Mike. We're living with the in-laws: so far, so good.

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    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    Thanks Norton, yes I've already found some great information and advice from the many members who've undertaken the journey before me or who have years of experience in building and construction, both professionally and DIY.
    Might be useful to give this a look as well.

    Thai black magic?

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    Hi mate and welcome to the forum.

    A very nice plot of dirt you both have there but do you have town water and connected electricity? 3 phase electric connection is always handy.

    First thing I would do is sink a well for back-up water supply but make sure you firstly apply for and register the well.

    Has the father in law transferred the chanoit into Yuri's name yet?

    Anyway good luck with the build cobber.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loy Toy View Post
    First thing I would do is sink a well for back-up water supply but make sure you firstly apply for and register the well.

    Has the father in law transferred the chanoit into Yuri's name yet?

    Anyway good luck with the build cobber.
    Very sound advice , remarkabel after 29000 posts the Pied Pieman is finally sober.

    It's good you live near site , check local hsitory for any floods, hurrcanes etc and of course site specific factors.

    While a Queenslander sounds attractive ,insect and snake control need consideration .

    A thai parner may well wish an external cooking area for BBQ etc

    You are blessed with sch a large plot to have space for garage/workshop/stoarge /laundry away from lvng areas and maybe all on one level.

    Sure I speak for all we look forward to some pixs, sadly mine long lost

    Do consider 20x20 blocks little dearer than 2 x 7.5 but make u for taht with speed and added insuation and osie dampening. I used Supeblock Hebel made neear Sophanburi they sent a free team to train my builders but its so common these days I'm sure a utue video will do.I liked being on site daily to help teh guys and not really cost control but there always decisons and saves a lot of retro fit.

    I chose to chase pipes internally. In retrospect here in an earthquake zone would externalize, tho blue pipes look very unattractive can easily be boxed in or concealed ,

    May be worth comparing quotes block costs are 2 x when I built but still competitive, I paid think around A$1200 delivery for 2 trucks .Have old palettes (readily for sale ask around or knock up a frame from old wood ready to keep the new absorbent block well clear of mud rain and maybe a tarp

    I only bult 2 leves so we retro poured the rebar columns, unless anglng for a seaview! I cannot imagine you need even go up at all with all that space.My Mrs however think ghost swill see her nightie at ground level, apparently they are not spectral climbers!

    When old a one level home is so much easier to paint maintain, gutters etc
    With all those trees do gutter screening DIY or off shelf available

    Rural an Outhoise Gatehouse may make sense to store undesirables, paints other tems prefer away from home , flammables, motorcycles, pumps etc , Lazada drops off water , meters, doghouse etc up to you

    Good Luck
    Quote Originally Posted by Latindancer View Post
    I just want the chance to use a bigger porridge bowl.

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    Super Block Co.,Ltd.
    Mr. Supichaya Srithammet
    1156 Soi Somdej , Chaopraya 17, Somdej Chaopraya Rd.,
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    Tel : 02 863-2531-7
    Fax :02 439-7912
    E-mail : sales@superblock.co.th , ssupichaya@yahoo.com
    Website : http://www.superblock.co.th

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Might be useful to give this a look as well.

    Thai black magic?
    Hmmm... not sure about that. Yuri will probably scoff at it - she's definitely not a believer! If we were to ask her mum though, it would be an entirely different conversation. We're already in trouble with her for not picking the right date to start the build.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Loy Toy View Post
    Hi mate and welcome to the forum.

    A very nice plot of dirt you both have there but do you have town water and connected electricity? 3 phase electric connection is always handy.

    First thing I would do is sink a well for back-up water supply but make sure you firstly apply for and register the well.

    Has the father in law transferred the chanoit into Yuri's name yet?

    Anyway good luck with the build cobber.
    Thanks for the welcome LoyToy. Town water is available and we've got pumped water direct from the town reservoir. We're going to go with a well too - there was one on site years ago that we'll reinstate. Appreciate the advice on registering the well. Will also be doing rain water harvesting. If the funds will stretch that far we plan to dig a dam too - water security is a top priority for us.

    Power is already on site courtesy of the father in-law who previously had a decent sized cattle shed there. It's only single phase though. Given we'll be running Solar PV and batteries plus PEA, power will be okay.

    We're meeting the solicitor today to go over the tenancy agreement between Yuri, me and the in-laws

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by david44 View Post
    Very sound advice , remarkabel after 29000 posts the Pied Pieman is finally sober.

    It's good you live near site , check local hsitory for any floods, hurrcanes etc and of course site specific factors.

    While a Queenslander sounds attractive ,insect and snake control need consideration .

    A thai parner may well wish an external cooking area for BBQ etc

    You are blessed with sch a large plot to have space for garage/workshop/stoarge /laundry away from lvng areas and maybe all on one level.

    Sure I speak for all we look forward to some pixs, sadly mine long lost

    Do consider 20x20 blocks little dearer than 2 x 7.5 but make u for taht with speed and added insuation and osie dampening. I used Supeblock Hebel made neear Sophanburi they sent a free team to train my builders but its so common these days I'm sure a utue video will do.I liked being on site daily to help teh guys and not really cost control but there always decisons and saves a lot of retro fit.

    I chose to chase pipes internally. In retrospect here in an earthquake zone would externalize, tho blue pipes look very unattractive can easily be boxed in or concealed ,

    May be worth comparing quotes block costs are 2 x when I built but still competitive, I paid think around A$1200 delivery for 2 trucks .Have old palettes (readily for sale ask around or knock up a frame from old wood ready to keep the new absorbent block well clear of mud rain and maybe a tarp

    I only bult 2 leves so we retro poured the rebar columns, unless anglng for a seaview! I cannot imagine you need even go up at all with all that space.My Mrs however think ghost swill see her nightie at ground level, apparently they are not spectral climbers!

    When old a one level home is so much easier to paint maintain, gutters etc
    With all those trees do gutter screening DIY or off shelf available

    Rural an Outhoise Gatehouse may make sense to store undesirables, paints other tems prefer away from home , flammables, motorcycles, pumps etc , Lazada drops off water , meters, doghouse etc up to you

    Good Luck
    Some good advice Dave - many thanks. Pic's will come soon. Getting the posts up ASAP so I can post pics on progress so far: new shed, shade house, water pump etc. Was tempted to go with 20 X 20 Q-Con but opted for 2 X 7.5 on the basis of better insulation using double block rather than single.
    The shed is well away from the house and provides under cover storage for the build, plus some security, with a lock up section at one end.
    It will revert to a workshop at the end of the build (some photos to follow)
    Single floor construction a must - my footballer's knees can't handle stairs these days and Yuri isn't bothered by spirits

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    G'day Buckaroo, thanks for your kind words.
    We are building a two bedroom house that will eventually be in the style of an Aussie farmstead - wide verandas all round etc. Roof will be Bluescope Colourbond steel with double Q-Con walls.
    Will get some sketches up once the post count reaches the required level.
    We plan to run a hybrid solar system, running as much as possible off grid.
    Moore to follow.
    Very exciting building your first home here in Thailand where there is freedom to do many things. Since the house was built I have done so many things that back in the US would had been almost impossible and certainly costly , what with submitting plans , getting permits, having everything signed off by licence tradesman etc.
    We also did the double wall 7.5 Q-con on all the outside walls ,

    Aussie Style House Build-cavity-jpg
    Aussie Style House Build-walls-top-jpg
    and we are glad we did. House is nice and cool, and our electric bills are reasonable.
    And you dont see the columns.
    Make sure they build a bottom beam a top beam and side columns by the windows. as shown on the second picture,
    Also when they cut the grooves on the Q-con,to run the electric, make sure that when they patch it up , they put wire lath (screen) over the grooves they cut to prevent hairline cracks showing up later on. I was not there when they did the rendering on the walls, and now i see a small hairline crack leading from the electric outlets. I can tell exactly where they run the lines. I suspect they did not tape the grooves with wire screen. When I did another bedroom extension later on ,I insisted on taping the grooves with wire screen, and I don't even have one crack on the walls.
    excuse me for repeating things that you might already know, but I don't know what you don't know, so better to be safe than sorry
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Aussie Style House Build-wall-sill-jpg  
    Last edited by Buckaroo Banzai; 28-09-2021 at 01:07 PM.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    Looking forward to input
    Another Aussie, Tony, tracked his housebuild in detail and eventually published an ebook. That could be a useful reference for you.

    Building a House in Thailand eBook | Tony in Thailand

  24. #24
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    Cheers. Will follow along from the cheap seats in the back.

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    Quote Originally Posted by peciacake View Post
    Was tempted to go with 20 X 20 Q-Con but opted for 2 X 7.5 on the basis of better insulation using double block rather than single.
    I used the thickest Qcon and I find no heat transfer at all, even when the sun hits the west wall. I don't know for a fact if one option is better than the other.

    A couple of reasons I chose the single block: It is one wall, not two, so saves some labour time. You can buy Qcon lintels so no need to build a concrete heat sink above the doors and windows. I never bothered with concrete beams and pillars under and beside the windows, the thicker blocks have enough structural integrity to support the weight of the window.

    I did ponder the idea of extra Qcon lintels under and beside windows but so far no problems have arisen as a result of my not using them.

    Not necessarily better or worse, just the way I chose to do things. The builder had no experience with Qcon so I was on my own here.

    As an aside there is a Thai man down the lane building his own house. He has done most of the work himself. He used cinder blocks for the walls and just balanced them over the tops of the window frames. With a bit of plaster on top it all looks fine although if the day ever comes when he has to replace his windows that will be fun.

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