Low Budget Village Build For In-Laws

Post by **glalt** » February 13, 2019, 5:08 pm

runrunshaw wrote: ↑
February 13, 2019, 10:50 am
Good point about dirt from the roof in rainwater. I drank a lot of rain water in Central America when I stayed in the Keyes and it was great. The trick is to collect it in at least a semi-sanitized way if you want to drink it.

Once in awhile, my kids will put a bowl outside during heavy downpours...tastes good.

We did drink rain water for several years. We had a small roof area made from galvanized steel over the outside kitchen area. The roof was low enough that my wife blasted it with the high pressure washer before allowing the rain water to go into a 1,500 liter fiberglass tank. It then was pumped through an 18 liter filter of activated charcoal then through another small three stage filter with a ceramic filter at the final stage. This year the pump died and she didn't bother to clean the roof and fill the tank. She says it is easier to have the jugs of bottled water delivered. I trusted the rainwater system further than I trust the bottled water.

Post by **runrunshaw** » February 13, 2019, 11:11 pm

glalt wrote: ↑
February 13, 2019, 5:08 pm

runrunshaw wrote: ↑
February 13, 2019, 10:50 am
Good point about dirt from the roof in rainwater. I drank a lot of rain water in Central America when I stayed in the Keyes and it was great. The trick is to collect it in at least a semi-sanitized way if you want to drink it.

Once in awhile, my kids will put a bowl outside during heavy downpours...tastes good.
We did drink rain water for several years. We had a small roof area made from galvanized steel over the outside kitchen area. The roof was low enough that my wife blasted it with the high pressure washer before allowing the rain water to go into a 1,500 liter fiberglass tank. It then was pumped through an 18 liter filter of activated charcoal then through another small three stage filter with a ceramic filter at the final stage. This year the pump died and she didn't bother to clean the roof and fill the tank. She says it is easier to have the jugs of bottled water delivered. I trusted the rainwater system further than I trust the bottled water.

Yes, we stopped using a water provider in udon after Thai friends warned us what his source was. Even bottled water in many countries is just a scam.

Post by **robytoby1960** » February 14, 2019, 1:59 am

Bottled water in any countries is a a scam

Post by **robytoby1960** » February 14, 2019, 2:09 am

or do you believe that "Vittel" or "Evian" water... small citys in french Vittel and Evian could supply and deliver water so named in bottles sold anywhere at the globe in supermarkets? They make about 5 millions bottle every day but from a handful of sources ? They need huge amount of energy and oil to produce plastic bottles...see the number above. But the water amount they really get out of that sources could not be enough to simply satisfy the surounding villages

Post by **maaka** » February 14, 2019, 4:55 am

just to throw it out there, i have a 4000lt plastic tank catching some water off our house roof..
its on a 1m high steel stand to give it some pressure. No pump..we have the pipes worked so we can also fill it from the village supply, should there be lack of rain, and we need storage..we dont drink it but it does the showers, toilet, laundry, dishes and washing the motorbike..we have had it 4yrs now and I gave it a clean out a month back..glad we didnt drink it...water and heat dont go..the village water boy with the big bottles has never made me crook, so I am happy..

Post by **bluejets** » February 14, 2019, 5:47 am

As Maaka says, usage mainly for toilet, garden, perhaps washing and laundry as this seems to be the larger usage.
Tank on a stand avoids using any pumps.
Dirt in system can be avoided with a fairly simple trap arrangement that dumps the first flow.

Seems at certain times of the year the water can go off without notice and stay off for 3 or 4 days, mostly just 1 day though.
Still a PIA. When it comes back on it's usually red mud colour for at least a day or so anyhow.
Gutters and tanks went in at my wife's place last visit at a fairly reasonable cost.
The gutters we would refer to here in Aus as "country guttering" due to the large size.

Post by **Soonsoon** » February 14, 2019, 6:07 am

What about stainless tanks ? Anyone experienced with them ?

Post by **glalt** » February 14, 2019, 9:43 am

Soonsoon wrote: ↑
February 14, 2019, 6:07 am
What about stainless tanks ? Anyone experienced with them ?

My 1,800 liter tank is stainless steel. It is more than ten years old and never any problem. The 1,500 liter fiberglass tank the I used for collecting rainwater is now not being used and I have plans to use it for extra storage.

ADDED - You have to be careful with plastic tanks. You should take a bright flashlight and hold it against the outside of the tank. If you can see any light showing through the inside, find another tank because you are very likely to have algae growing inside the tank.

Post by **saint** » February 14, 2019, 1:33 pm

glalt wrote: ↑
February 14, 2019, 9:43 am

Soonsoon wrote: ↑
February 14, 2019, 6:07 am
What about stainless tanks ? Anyone experienced with them ?
[/quote

ADDED - You have to be careful with plastic tanks. You should take a bright flashlight and hold it against the outside of the tank. If you can see any light showing through the inside, find another tank because you are very likely to have algae growing inside the tank.
Excellent point , and something i would not of thought of .

Post by **bluejets** » February 16, 2019, 7:53 am

A plus for concrete lined corrugated steel tanks.
Perhaps they don't have them in Thailand. (yet)

One hears all the objection about drinking tank water, frogs in the tank, bird crap on the roof but never did us any harm.
One can keep the dead pidgeons or whatever out by the use of a standard mesh steel filter and the dirt problem by making the outlet 6 inches or so up from the bottom of the tank.
I think it might be a little like the adds on tv where the moment some kid gets a bit of dirt on their hands, people go racing for the dettol or whatever.
Already shown that it is probably preferred to let kids play in the mud and build up natural immunity.

Post by **saint** » February 16, 2019, 9:04 am

I have a stainless tank in a shaded enclosure , supplied by a deep well . It has a lid that can be locked , so nothing can get in the tank .
This provides all the house water and has worked fine for over ten years without a problem , although we did have to have the well cleaned about 3 years ago , because the water was getting sandy .
Also cleaned the inside of the tank at the same time , and still crystal clear .

Post by **runrunshaw** » February 18, 2019, 8:46 am

All of this input re rainwater collection and water tank systems is terrific. It's the kind of information-sharing that makes UM so valuable.

As for my humble build for the in-laws, I'm already over-budget. The water pressure from the village system is very strong and my wife's family will be paying the water bill, so there simply isn't any inducement for me to spend the extra money.

Now that I'm back from a short trip to China, I'll get caught up with more posts and try to bring the build up-to-date. I will be asking advice from you guys about a few things I still need to do.

Post by **runrunshaw** » February 18, 2019, 9:35 am

Okay, so here are some photos of the build as of late December, 2018--so about six weeks ago.

Here's the south side of the house.

Back, or west side of house:

Front of house:

North side:

Some interior shots:

Post by **maaka** » February 18, 2019, 11:18 am

looks ample room for the in laws..can I suggest that you make some alcove seating in the outside corner under that roof.. I just use concrete blocks out from the wall, fill it with dirt, and then concrete the top, render it, and then tile it all...nice to sit outside in the shade

Post by **runrunshaw** » February 18, 2019, 1:53 pm

Good idea. I've got extra blocks waiting to be used.

Post by **runrunshaw** » February 19, 2019, 5:14 pm

So here are some photos of the house as of about three or four weeks ago. Rendering finished, plumbing finished, doors hung.

Yes, I told my wife to make sure to tell her uncle Mak to use only green PP-R water pipe, but of course, they didn't. I can only shake my head.

The house is solid, but sloppily built in places. Here are a couple of exterior shots:

It certainly didn't come out looking like the model we set out to build, which was only 10M X 6M. The layout was completely changed. The bedrooms are no longer kitty-corner, but share a common wall. I have a diagram somewhere of the layout and will post it if I can find it.

The Thai kitchen was last thing to get worked on. This looked sketchy to me, and indeed, the work to finish it was really sloppy. I think the crew's mindset was, "We're done, we've worked enough for the money." They left one guy to do the kitchen. I'll post photos later of what it looks like now.

Some other shots:

Before the crew bugged out, I had them build a roof over my containers. Labor was 3500 baht. I already had roof panels and some iron. Will post photos of that next.

I'll also present a tally of what this all cost, to give folks an idea of what can be accomplished on the cheap.

Post by **runrunshaw** » February 19, 2019, 5:55 pm

FYI, the Thai man who built this house for a claimed 230,000 baht got a lot of interest from other Thais online.

He has been open in saying he did a lot of the work himself, and that the cost of materials varies. So he says there is no guarantee anyone else could build it for the same cost. He posted this budget breakdown, but it's in Thai. Hope this helps those who are interested.

Post by **parrot** » February 19, 2019, 6:47 pm

1. roof truss, labor/materials
2. beams + earth + prepare the earth, labor/materials/earth
3. floor + cement, cpac + wire mesh, labor
4. plaster walls, labor, materials, coating
5. tiling, tiles/labor
6. doors
7. electrical, materials, labor
8. windows, all over house

Post by **ajarnudon** » February 19, 2019, 10:35 pm

'John, When should the electrical be done. Our walls have been rendered so I figured now was the time. But we'll have conduit running down to light switches and sockets. Hate to see how a painter will edge around plastic conduit.'

The build is looking good RRS. I have chosen to respond to your PM here because my situation is far different from yours, and I beleive that others can probably add more relevant info. Here is a picture of the most common Thai electrician's installation, which is perfectly serviceable. If you want cleaner lines, they can chase in the vertical cabling all the way down the wall instead of just at the power outlet /switch.

Most of my walls are of cavity block construction, with concrete blocks on the outside and AAC blocks (block kaew) on the inside. This has the advantage of hiding most of the plumbing and cabling in the wall cavity. In this situation, the electrician keeps returning. The power outlets are supplied via conduit beneath the floor slab, while the lighting cable is run down from the roof. As the inner walls go up, cable is fed through the inner wall (by the blocklayer using a holesaw), before access is denied by building the outer wall. This is why I have made this post here as your situation is very different from my own, and I think others can give you more helpful advice. Just two points:
1. I would suggest using low-profile (flat) trunking. It has the advantages of being painted over with the wall paint making it almost invisible, as well as giving easy access if needed later (rather than chasing in under render).
2. Any cabling in the ceiling (or any loose horizontal cable) should be enclosed in conduit. Rats love to line their nests with the insulation.
Hope others can post more advice here.
Regards, John

Post by **maaka** » February 20, 2019, 6:10 am

yup, that was one thing that miffed me, was the ugly electric cable or plastic casing running down the middle of the walls..real eye sore..so I make them put the cables or plastic boxes down the corners or tuck them down beside the concrete pillars, ans then paint the same color as the wall behind..at least it lessen the eye sore effect...it means you got to think about location of switches and plugs...I made a new laundry and while away the electrican put in a wall plug that if I was to plug in the iron to iron on the work bench the ruddy thing would dangle from the wall, the socket is that high..will have to change it..

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