Thread: Building a house: Face North or South?

Originally Posted by Mendip

For a long time I have been thinking about installing air vents in the upstairs ceilings and one of those whirlygig thing on the roof to try and get air flowing through.

I did some reading on the whirly things, after a fair bit of research came to the conclusion they are close to useless, the average house needs about 15 to be effective, better of with an extractor fan in the gable end - if you have one, but even that is limited.

Originally Posted by PAG

Indeed, shading is the way to go. Our place is east facing at the front, obviously west at the rear. Early morning sun glare downstairs is prevented by some trees. This around 8 a.m.

You've got a stunning place PAG, very nice. Furniture, flooring, sunlight filtering in. Has a very old, colonial style atmosphere.

Some great ideas there. Anything that keeps the sun off the walls is a great start such as a covered verandah on all sides.
A pest proof insulation in the ceiling, light coloured roof with ventilation 3.6 metre (12ft) high ceilings. a raised vented floor. Plenty of trees to capture the local cooling effect of transpiration from the trees. double insulated reflective windows.
Something worth consideration is a centralised in roof ducted extraction fan that will draw air through the whole house and will lessen the need for refrigerated air con.

Originally Posted by PAG

Indeed, shading is the way to go. Our place is east facing at the front, obviously west at the rear. Early morning sun glare downstairs is prevented by some trees. This around 8 a.m.

Yep, shade and lots of it. problem is the roof is hard to shade, insulation helps, were too influenced by western architecture, need minimum windows here, wish I'd followed my own advice! Invariably in summer need AC, the floors in the house are 24c now, in the middle of summer they will get to 31c, hard to overcome, theirs a 1m air gap underneath, but just gets so dam hot!

Originally Posted by Airportwo

Yep, shade and lots of it. problem is the roof is hard to shade, insulation helps, were too influenced by western architecture, need minimum windows here, wish I'd followed my own advice! Invariably in summer need AC, the floors in the house are 24c now, in the middle of summer they will get to 31c, hard to overcome, theirs a 1m air gap underneath, but just gets so dam hot!

House was painted about 8 years ago, and the roof tiles were going to be a charcoal grey, with all that meant in terms of heat absorbtion. Had 50mm of sprayed foam applied to the underside of the tiles and supporting steelwork. This has the added bonus of locking the tiles in place, preventing movement and potential leaks. I've been up in the roof space quite a lot recently due to some ongoing water system problems, and the temperature up there is essentially the same as the bedrooms, probably around 5 degrees less than prior to having the foam.







The house colour scheme.

Originally Posted by Airportwo

I did some reading on the whirly things, after a fair bit of research came to the conclusion they are close to useless, the average house needs about 15 to be effective, better of with an extractor fan in the gable end - if you have one, but even that is limited.

each to their own, but my practical experience in Australia would lead me to disagree. There was a noticeable difference when I installed one, and when I took off the access panel to do something in the roof cavity I could feel just how much air was being sucked up into the roof space, and out through the whirlygig.

Originally Posted by mikenot

each to their own, but my practical experience in Australia would lead me to disagree. There was a noticeable difference when I installed one, and when I took off the access panel to do something in the roof cavity I could feel just how much air was being sucked up into the roof space, and out through the whirlygig.

Same here Mike. There's a noticeable difference between the 2 shophouses. One with the glass chimney/whirly-gig feeling more cool than the one without.

Originally Posted by PAG

Had 50mm of sprayed foam applied to the underside of the tiles and supporting steelwork.

Had two houses done in Pattaya some years back - had problems with roof leaking - sure I have a long spiteful. vengeful post on here about what transpired, swore off the stuff thereafter - I may have over reacted...

Looks great PAG and what a great idea! Love the glass bricks as well, bathroom?

Originally Posted by mikenot

ach to their own, but my practical experience in Australia would lead me to disagree. There was a noticeable difference when I installed one, and when I took off the access panel to do something in the roof cavity I could feel just how much air was being sucked up into the roof space, and out through the whirlygig.

Wasn't my "own" just what I read/researched - if you look at the numbers on air moved etc etc, they make no sense - yet people swear they make a difference - I don't know.......

Couple of shady ideas that work for me, above - East side, am curtains
Below South side, travelers palms.

Originally Posted by Bonecollector

Looks great PAG and what a great idea! Love the glass bricks as well, bathroom?

The long rows are actually a dressing room, the smaller ones further back yes, the master en suite.

^^

Nice looking plot.

Looking from the south is the master bedroom, it has a flat roof with a bar on top - (which in ten years we have never once used), painted the roof tiles with a "special" heat repelling paint - it lowers the surface temp ~10c - be great for a roof but be too expensive.

Originally Posted by Airportwo

Had two houses done in Pattaya some years back - had problems with roof leaking - sure I have a long spiteful. vengeful post on here about what transpired, swore off the stuff thereafter - I may have over reacted...

Just curious: Was the roof leaking before the application? Or started leaking afterwards?
We made a mistake not to replace the cement-fibre plates before it was sprayed on. There's one corner giving us problems. Hard to fix with the PU-foam applied.
But overall, it made the roof super-strong and quiet.

Originally Posted by Schuimpge

Under a window

Originally Posted by Norton

Bedroom on the Southeast corner of the house. Headboard facing east against a wall but not the outer east wall. So far no unusual bad luck and sleep like a baby.

Our master bedroom is NE corner of house with headboard pointing north. Bed against the wall in between 2 large windows. Morning sun in big window on east wall but no heat and like Norton sleep like a baby. Honestly (and fortunately) my wife didn't care about any of the Feng Shui stuff sans the location of the buddha statues in the house which are in the upstairs TV room ( basically my office) and are mounted on the south wall facing North....I dunno as I don't pay attention to any of that mumbo jumbo. We decorated as we felt.

@ PAG, Nice place. Like the curved staircase. Are those snacks on the counter in the dog bowl? Nice to have them available for guests.

Originally Posted by Schuimpge

Just curious: Was the roof leaking before the application? Or started leaking afterwards?

? It was a long time ago, at least 15 years, no longer able to search old posts, recall posting here about the whole saga. Roof only leaked when the wind gusted in a certain manner - it would go many months with no leaks, remember that bit. We had a similar problem is this house, took 7 years to find where the water was coming from - (it was blowing up the gable end and getting into house when the wind was blowing hard from the west) was hard to locate as doesn't rain that much up here, we ended up taking the ceiling down in the area that we thought the leak was and watching from below when it eventually had the right conditions....

Originally Posted by Airportwo

Below South side, travelers palms.

I like those and nearly used them to shade the house on the west side, but like yours they tend to grow east-west (or so I have been told) and I need something that would grow north-south.

Shade trees which made/make a huge difference in keeping a house cool assuming the roof/attic has proper ventilation



East wall where MB and upstairs balcony overlooking the pool. Sun never hits the wall due to trees and longer eaves



West wall where the sun sets and is the hottest, large shade trees that cover the house wall. Currently at ~ 2:30 pm today and 35.8c out, the guest bedroom and my FIL's room upstairs is 28c with no AC or ceiling fan running.

Originally Posted by Stumpy

large shade trees that cover the house wall.

Those look useful. Do you remember what they are?

Originally Posted by Shutree

Those look useful. Do you remember what they are?

Which wall Shu?

I can find out the names. 3 of them on the west side are the same flowering trees. They smell really nice, grow fast and have large leaves. You can easily find large mature trees and have them brought in for a very very reasonable price and not wait 5 years for them to grow larger.

Originally Posted by Stumpy

Which wall Shu?

Those trees on the west side.

Originally Posted by Shutree

Those trees on the west side.

From what I can find, it is a Michelia Champaca Tree or Champa.



It grows hearty leaves. loves full sun, flowers 3 times a year. They grow relatively fast.



I have 2 small ones growing now as we will add a few more. They do drop leaves on and off FYI.



We also have this very nice smelling bay tree on the corner area heading down the west wall. Offers full shade.



Another very hearty shade tree is the one above. HUGE leaves, full shade. grows well but does drop very large leaves randomly. we have one that shades the outside kitchen. Wife loves it.



This is me looking up directly at the sun at 3:20PM today and no sun hits the house or underneath the house. It has full shade.

Again, just some ideas or suggestions.

Originally Posted by Shutree

I like those and nearly used them to shade the house on the west side, but like yours they tend to grow east-west (or so I have been told) and I need something that would grow north-south.

Yes, they orient themselves east/west, apart from one on the end that decided on NE/SW - theres always one.... Only thing I dont like about them is snakes like them, one dropped on my head when I was trimming branches!