Thread: Building the Farmhouse

Well, it's a house/bungalow and its on a farm, so it shall from here on in been referred to as the farmhouse..

Construction to start later this week, gotta clear my dragon fruit trees from the land first and that is going to be one BASTARD of a job (the dragon fruit being part of the cactus family and tougher than leather)..cracking on with that this afternoon..

Here's a few pics of the farmhouse plan..



Side plan looking in to bedroom and living room



Side looking into bedroom and kitchen



The back



The plan of the front is currently awol..will post it later.

I can relate to that quality of design and architecture

looks good, just on first look, the windows in the kitchen really need to be 1000mm from floor level, as work surfaces are standard 900mm.

just a suggestion

oh, i would also consider making a hallway from the lounge/living area into the bedrooms and bathroom.
much better design practice.

^ Thanks for that.. will take all those suggestions on board...especially the windows one..

something like this, taking the bathroom back 1.2m wont really be a big impact as its already a big room.

very nice idea..thanks

Originally Posted by Nawty

Also I would move the front door to the left side of the centre line, closer to the kitchen as it gives you an uninterupted room for the lounge then and can place sitting stuff al around that area and not limited by blocking the doorway. Not nice having the toilet open to a public area....especially after leaving a log in there with a lingering smell.

Cheers mate..i'll look into that too, but how dare you suggest my cack stinks!! Nowt but lavender coming out of my arse..

How much are you expecting the build to cost?

Have you thought of raising the house up. Takes up the same amount of space but frees up space under the house for a larger living area. You could block in a small bathroom/utility room and use the rest as a nice open air area to sip a cold bevvie.

Originally Posted by English Noodles

How much are you expecting the build to cost?

480k for the lot..toilet, sinks all the fittings and fixtures. The builder finishes it in a nice wood effect too. Had 4 quotes for the job and they all came out similar.

Originally Posted by shunpike

Have you thought of raising the house up.

For sure, but doesn't fit into my budget.

Building starts next week, just finalising the plan. The bloke reckons it'll be done and dusted by late December..we shall see.

Prelimenary stages of the farmhouse start with ridding the site of my precious dragon fruit trees..but a little demolition can work wonders for the soul..

I arrived on site to find a fairy half-heartedly swinging at the cactus-like trees..



Never being a wall flower in such circumstances, I offered my help. Two minutes later (or was that hours? can't remember, for it twas a scorcher) it looked like this..



We managed to save the 30 posts we took out for re-planting later in the land at the back..I can't speak highly enough of farming dragon fruit. Very little maintenance for a very decent yield.

Good luck with it all somtamslap. Shame about the dragon fruit trees though. Were some saved? Very good for you that stuff. Eat it while drinking wine and there's no hangover. 480k seems decent, I'm building a house here in Buriram town for my boys. Just bought 2 plots side by side opposite Big C off the local big man, half mil total, each plot in each of my boys' names (mum, guarantor ofcourse, but I'm sated). We have a house in the sticks but schooling is here, so needed. Will catch up with you as suggested one day. Cheers.

Looks like a nice straightforward plan. Splitlids proposed alteration looks like it will improve the internal appearance.
Just a thought on the windows. IF you are planning on wood frames its worth noting that Thais don't go in for window sills. The outside frame edge is usually flush to the wall ( least it has been on the houses I've had built). For a little bit more you can have the frames made up to order with the bottom edge about 1" deeper and bevelled then grooved on the underside. This looks neater and keeps the rain out better than a flush fit.
Good luck with it.

looks nice and cosy mate. might build one meself.

Originally Posted by Nawty

Also I would move the front door to the left side of the centre line, closer to the kitchen as it gives you an uninterupted room for the lounge then and can place sitting stuff al around that area and not limited by blocking the doorway.

We built a house of exactly the size and rooms a few years ago (I started a thread about it but didn't get around to finishing it.) Nawty's advise is spot on, in my original design I wanted centre doors but the builders told me to put the door next to the kitchen. It creates a much larger living room which we separated with a corner sofa (loose the breakfast bar you will never use it and it breaks up the space awkwardly). Also your new design for the bathroom works really, as we found out when we did the same.

Originally Posted by somtamslap

480k for the lot..toilet, sinks all the fittings and fixtures. The builder finishes it in a nice wood effect too. Had 4 quotes for the job and they all came out similar.

I will be watching this with interest then, something like that would do me fine, I can then have some nice big party and bbq areas outside.

I may be sending you a PM after the thread is done.

Cheers.

Good luck STS, looking forward to watching.

Originally Posted by somtamslap

Thanks for the comments and suggestions chaps..

Ciaphas, have you got any pics of your place which you could put up on here? Thanks..

Will do.

Having another look at your design I would recommend that you change the roof so that the rain falls to the side of the house, not onto the veranda. It also means you can extend the roof over the veranda. Another feature that our builders recommended that we are very happy with is putting a smaller roof over the stairs, as it means people can take their shoes of at the bottom of the stairs instead of on the veranda.

Cheers to all again..finalising the plans ready for the big off mid week. Have included some of Splitlids plan as in we will have a recess by the bathroom but only one bedroom door in the recess..3 doors maybe a bit cramped..have mentioned to the builder about building the roof out to the edge of the balcony and he reckoned it'd be 5 - 10 grand extra, nay too bad...

I have experience of letting Thai builders do their own thing, do they ever listen to your requests, and the single most annoying feature is when they do the toilet/shower room they put these small stupid windows in that allows minimal light in.

Make sure you get it done how you want,as you spend a lot of your life in that little room.