Thread: Building a house in Nakhom Pathom

Originally Posted by FatOne

Hi Steve, can you look at martys new house in the sticks thread and give any comments on housewarming parties? I notice you did something similar to what I am planning.

LOL, oops. Is it too late ? I'm sorry.

Good to see you back, mate. No it's not too late, although most of the tips I have received from TD'ers are more along the lines of don't do it!!! I think it will be a bit of fun, and it's turning out that the wife will end up funding it, as at the moment she is earning more than me and I am paying all the household expenses while she sends her money to her account in Thailand to pay for this bash.
We will be doing this on new years day next year so plenty of time.

Originally Posted by JohnG

Originally Posted by Wasp

Originally Posted by eddiev

Korea

Well !! You may be right !!!

I keep forgetting that when she says " L " it's probably an " R " .

So Gowwlee becomes Gowwree. Gowree . Kowree .

You were very quick eddiev and I think it's right .




Wsp

It's not actually a mispronunciation at all, and it's simpler than that.

Just as "Farangsett" = 'France', "Angkrit" = 'England', "Yeeppun" = 'Japan', "Cjeen" = China, etc, so "Kaoli" = "Korea".

If anything we're the ones mispronouncing it!


(edit: and Steve, I'd seriously advise taking down the pics of your distillery; advertising that you're doing something illegal really may not be such a good idea!)

Except Koreans would have no idea where "Kaoli" is nevermind "Gowwlee" and and.
So I do think it is a mispronunciation.

I dont write this as a criticism but in the hope that it may help you to avoid problems later.

I have only see the photos and read the text and not seen the site or house so I may have some things wrong.

First off I dont see any provision for drainage of the section such as drainage holes in the surrounding wall. I see in some photos water sitting, presumably after rain and with the fill you have used and correctly let to settle and even with the top soil you have put on there will not be much soakage into the ground so it is important to have the ground falling away from the house towards drainage outlets in the wall for without this you will end up in a lake after heavy rain.

I would recommend spouting, guttering, what ever you want to call it, around the whole house to take rain (storm) water. this should be connected by downpipes to a dedicated storm water drainage system which would take all the rain water that falls on the house right off the site. Without this all the rain that falls on the house (quite a large area) will end up on the ground alongside the house adding to the drainage problems.

I would say that there is not nearly enough provision for soakage from the outlets of your septic tanks. You have a high water table with the area having been, and still adjacent to paddy, again your fill will not absorb much water so you will need several more of the things you have now. These should be surrounded (in the hole they are in) by at least 2 feet all around of stones fist size of larger.

Also recommend that if you install a storm water system from the house that you feed your spa pool Jac.......whatever, into the storm water system and not into a septic tank for there will be a lot of water each time it is drained and that water will be quite clean, unless you chuck in bubble bath or something.

I write that with many years of experience with water and drainage in rural areas.

Originally Posted by birding

I dont write this as a criticism but in the hope that it may help you to avoid problems later.

I have only see the photos and read the text and not seen the site or house so I may have some things wrong.

First off I dont see any provision for drainage of the section such as drainage holes in the surrounding wall. I see in some photos water sitting, presumably after rain and with the fill you have used and correctly let to settle and even with the top soil you have put on there will not be much soakage into the ground so it is important to have the ground falling away from the house towards drainage outlets in the wall for without this you will end up in a lake after heavy rain.

I would recommend spouting, guttering, what ever you want to call it, around the whole house to take rain (storm) water. this should be connected by downpipes to a dedicated storm water drainage system which would take all the rain water that falls on the house right off the site. Without this all the rain that falls on the house (quite a large area) will end up on the ground alongside the house adding to the drainage problems.

I would say that there is not nearly enough provision for soakage from the outlets of your septic tanks. You have a high water table with the area having been, and still adjacent to paddy, again your fill will not absorb much water so you will need several more of the things you have now. These should be surrounded (in the hole they are in) by at least 2 feet all around of stones fist size of larger.

Also recommend that if you install a storm water system from the house that you feed your spa pool Jac.......whatever, into the storm water system and not into a septic tank for there will be a lot of water each time it is drained and that water will be quite clean, unless you chuck in bubble bath or something.

I write that with many years of experience with water and drainage in rural areas.

Thanks for the comments.

It may not be too clear, but our lot is raised a good meter above the surrounding land. In fact, when that area had some serious flooding, about 4 years ago, we stayed "high and dry". Yes, we do get some pooling, after a rain. But it tends to percolate away fairly quickly. As we do more plantings of trees and lay some sod down, I think that will also help.

The septic tanks and dry wells are all built into that raised area. It's been going for about 3 years now, so I think it's working OK.

Only the toilets drain into the septic tanks. Showers, jacuzzi and sinks drain into the first dry well, positioned downstream of each septic tank. I think,if we were using the jacuzzi frequently, then we would have a problem with that drywell on the west end of the house. But, it's only used sporadically, so the amount of water it drains doesn't significantly impact the drywell.

I made up a very basic French drain for the washing machine drain. Originally, they piped the drain to a corner of the house, by the car park. The waste would come out and just run all over the ground. I hated it. We had some left over gravel. So I dug out a small hole/ditch and filled it in with gravel. It works a whole lot better and we don't have waste water running all over the ground. If we do several loads, then yes, some waste water will seep out of the gravel. But, it's much better than before.

I debated on installing gutters, back when we first were starting to build. But an old ex-pat friend, who's a crack engineer and has lived in various parts of SE Asia for 20+ years, persuaded me that gutters will be more trouble than they are worth. And, if it does become an issue, it should be easy to get them installed. I won't run them into the drywells, as that could overload them after a good downpour or two.

Thanks for the comments.

Steve

Originally Posted by FatOne

Good to see you back, mate. No it's not too late, although most of the tips I have received from TD'ers are more along the lines of don't do it!!! I think it will be a bit of fun, and it's turning out that the wife will end up funding it, as at the moment she is earning more than me and I am paying all the household expenses while she sends her money to her account in Thailand to pay for this bash.
We will be doing this on new years day next year so plenty of time.

We ended up funding it, but it was a blast. Well, the party that night was fun. The day time, with the monks and all that was a little monotonous. Plus, they started setting up early in the day. So, we had the wife's friends and family coming over before 8 AM to start preparing food.

There is a tradition, however, that is a lot like a wedding party here in the USA. During the evening party, you and your missus, have to visit every table, exchange pleasantries, drink shots of whiskey, etc. But, in return, you get envelopes with cash inside. Your missus will probably keep track of who gave how much, because when they throw a party. you have to reciprocate with an equal amount or a little more. Still, we ended up with a tidy sum. And, I drank a lot of whiskey that night !!

Does this help ?

Yes thanks Steve. After all the negative comments on the other thread, I think we will have a lot of fun. Good to hear you enjoyed yours.

It was a long day, they started blaring music before 8 AM, and I had been up late drinking the night before.

The Buddhist ceremony was "interesting". I had to sit on my stairs, as I couldn't get down on the floor. Eventually, one of the monks went around and blessed all the rooms and advised where to put the spirit house. I think I posted some pics of the event on this thread. It's #672 & 678.

The party was more fun. We had good weather and a nice bit of space to sprawl out on.

And we netted a tidy sum.

Steve

Firstly,

Congratulations on a stunning home ... you should be rightly proud of it.

Now,

There were a few posts on a small manufacturing plant earlier.

May I suggest, for those interested, an internet search on 'the blue flame'

an illuminating read.

Cheers

This is all very impressive to an Australian builder like me. Precast is obviously the way to go in Thailand just as it is in commercial buildings in Australia.
As long as one has the cranes available it is easy.
The ceilings are coffered but we usually call the change of height a bulkhead. The Asians are still well behind us in plasterboard technology. For over 20 years in Australia we have made gyp beams for bulkheads, no flushing of the external corner required. We rout the back of the sheet with a V shaped router bit, cutting through the plaster but not the paper. Then fold the sheet and glue the joint, its gives you a perfectly sharp 90 degree corner without any plastering. Fast, cheap and easy.

Originally Posted by blockhead

This is all very impressive to an Australian builder like me. Precast is obviously the way to go in Thailand just as it is in commercial buildings in Australia.
As long as one has the cranes available it is easy.
The ceilings are coffered but we usually call the change of height a bulkhead. The Asians are still well behind us in plasterboard technology. For over 20 years in Australia we have made gyp beams for bulkheads, no flushing of the external corner required. We rout the back of the sheet with a V shaped router bit, cutting through the plaster but not the paper. Then fold the sheet and glue the joint, its gives you a perfectly sharp 90 degree corner without any plastering. Fast, cheap and easy.

You do that with inside and outside corners?

Kudos mate very impressive result.
A couple of questions:
Did the builders pile drive those somewhat skinny, what appear to be precast, poles before the slab was laid, what is tying them together..concrete beams?
Is the slab floating or does it have footings?
Did they install reinforced concrete lintels and frames for doors and windows?
Drain tiles? Any flooding?
Our pole home was built with on site poured poles and quite,overly massive to my mind cross beams. Even so it swayed in high winds before the reinforced concrete window/door lintels/frames and brick walls were in place.


Oh and where are ya gonna BBQ and drink beers when it is pissing down?...555

i hope for you Steve and your family that it went all well in the end and you finished with PD HOUSE....
i was lurking as a guest for a long time and followed it,and reread a lot.....again...especially because of PD.
our house we're building is with PD as well........not because i read your thread....dont worry....lol....it was our choice after a long time of looking around and researching.....LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF SIMILARITIES ......

im gonna start another housebuild thread soon (i hope so...)with a bit a different approach....it is close to the end,our build(we hope so and it looks like it,but as it stands....we have a lot of issues with PD...)
its gonna be a lookback-from the start to hopefully help others as well,what worried us or what to do better and so on.......english is not my first language.
have been there most of the time and ive done all the electrical work by myself and with the help of my wife...............i had no time for writing,been well to busy with the house building.....
......
well anyway thats it for now,
i wish you and your family merry x-mas and a happy new year

Urs&family

Originally Posted by stevefarang

This is a pic of the model house from the PD House website.

That's definitely rather American.

Great thread. Read through it all. At the end seems you have a really nice home. All the Best.

Originally Posted by crepitas

Kudos mate very impressive result.
A couple of questions:
Did the builders pile drive those somewhat skinny, what appear to be precast, poles before the slab was laid, what is tying them together..concrete beams?
Is the slab floating or does it have footings?
Did they install reinforced concrete lintels and frames for doors and windows?
Drain tiles? Any flooding?
Our pole home was built with on site poured poles and quite,overly massive to my mind cross beams. Even so it swayed in high winds before the reinforced concrete window/door lintels/frames and brick walls were in place.


Oh and where are ya gonna BBQ and drink beers when it is pissing down?...555

Sorry, I was away doing some work in the UAE and Oman and then finally getting the wife and son here into the USA.

I think if you go back towards the beginning of the thread, you will find answers to many of your questions. A large number of pilings were driven into the ground. Precast concrete pieces make up the frame of the house, with Q-con blocks making up the walls (interior and exterior).

We currently use the car park in the evening, although my plan is eventually build an open air wing on the east side of the house. This will have the outside Thai kitchen and an area to kick back and relax.

Thanks and cheers !

Steve

Originally Posted by CaptainNemo

Originally Posted by stevefarang

This is a pic of the model house from the PD House website.

That's definitely rather American.

Yes, my wife reminds me that she would have preferred something smaller. But I didn't want a small place where, as I get older, I just shuffle from the bedroom to the tv room. We now have a nice large, shaded area on the ground floor, with plenty of room for my son to run around and play and no-one is sitting on top of each other. Maybe, eventually, I'll install some air-con there. But only a couple of bedrooms have air-con for now.

Steve

Originally Posted by Vettronics

Great thread. Read through it all. At the end seems you have a really nice home. All the Best.

Thanks very much. With our son in the picture, the plans have changed a bit. The house will be more of a vacation home for now. My wife will probably go back for a month or two every year, and I'll go as vacations permit. My wife's brother has been living there, since the start, helping to take care of it, so we have a housekeeper.

Steve

Its such a pity all the pictures are gone, Steve.

The thread is great but the photos would have really put the icing on the cake.

Did you have any more video of the build apart from those two you posted?