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Project: Thip Thani Project 2

Posted By Alec on April 26, 2010

Having been busy with client projects over the past week or so, I had somewhat neglected our next project in Thip Thani.  However, after a couple of days of focus I have now finalised the design for our second project in Thip Thani, which we will be offering for sale once completed.  If you like the idea of moving into a brand new home, finished to western standards, feel free to <a href=”http://contact.nongkhaidesign.com/”>contact us</a> to discus this or our future construction projects.  If you prefer, we can also help you find land and then design a build home to you exact specification and budget.

Any way, with that bit of shameless marketing out of the way, back to the project….

The house will again be two storey in order to maximise the available garden area.  The area of the plot is 400 sq.m. and the house will have a footprint of 90 sq.m. (not including a detached covered parking area).  The total internal floor area will be about 170 sq.m.

On the ground floor will be a family room, lounge, dining room, kitchen, laundry room and bathroom.  Then on the second floor will be the 3 en-suite bedrooms.    Below are my initial plan drawings of the house.  I shall also be producing a 3d rendered view of the property which I shall post to the blog in the next few days.

Once I have completed all of the detailed architectural drawings, I shall pass these on to our structural engineer to perform all of the calculations necessary to ensure the structural integrity of the building.  He will then produce the structural drawings the structural calculation report which will be submitted to the local planning department.

You may think this would be a long process if you have any experience of building projects in other countries.  However, in Thailand, obtaining planning permission is a very simple procedure. For our last project, it only took 30 MINUTES to obtain planning permission.

I anticipate all of the structural engineering and planning to be completed by the end of next week (7th May).  We will then be able to begin to prepare for construction by digging the holes for the footings.  This should tie in nicely with work being completed on our first Thip Thani project and our workers will be able to move seamlessly from one project to the next.

Ground Floor Layout Plan

Second Floor Layout Plan

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Tags: architecture, Home Construction, house design, Nong Khai, Planning Permission, Structural Engineering

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 26, 2010

It’s been a few days since my last post, but this is not to say that there has been no activity on site.  Most of the exterior has now been rendered.  The down pipes have been fitted to the roof guttering and today the concrete supports have been prepared for the brick work that will box in the drain pipes.  Also over the last couple of days, work has started on producing the steel structure for the ‘wing’ which will be fitted to the roof.

Roof wing frame structure

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Tags: architecture, Home builder, House Construction, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineering, Thailand

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 21, 2010

About half of the initial exterior rendering has been completed.  Once completed, decorative form work will be added to house and additional rending added.  The feature roof ‘wing’ will also be added after rendering.

Exterior rendering

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Tags: architecture, Home Design, House Builder, House Construction, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineering, Thailand

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 18, 2010

Everyone was back to work yesterday after the Songkran holiday.  Most of the electrical trunking was installed yesterday.

Electrical Trunking

Today work began on internal rendering.

Initial rendering

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Tags: architecture, House Builder, Interior Design, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineering, Thailand, THip Thani

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 12, 2010

Light switches

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Tags: architecture, Builder, Electrical Fittings, Home Construction, house design, Interior Design, Isaan, Light Switches, Nong Khai, Thailand

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 11, 2010

Yesterday, the scaffolding was erected, ready for the rendering to be applied to the exterior of the house. This will not now be started until after the Songkran (Thai New year) celebrations. Expect more progress updates after 16th April!

Scaffolding made from Eucalyptus

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Tags: House Builder Architecture, house design, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineering, Thailand

Project: Thip Thani Project 2

Posted By Alec on April 9, 2010

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Tags: Architect, Home Construction, House Builder, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineer, Thailand

Project: Thip Thani Project 2

Posted By Alec on April 9, 2010

Timed to perfection, even if I do say so myself! The surveyors had just finished marking out the boundaries of our new plot of land as the first truck load of infill arrived!

Soil arrives as the surveyor leaves...

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Tags: Home Construction, House Builder, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineering, Thailand

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 9, 2010

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Tags: Architect, Home Construction, House Builder, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineer, Thailand

Project: General

Posted By Alec on April 9, 2010

I will be blogging here a about all of the future properties we are developing as a company, and also client projects that we are involved with, when permitted.  As we embark on new projects, it may get a little confusing following along with all of them in one blog stream, so I will be adding them to separate blog ‘categories’.  You can view all posts relating to a specific project, by selecting it from the ‘categories’ menu in the right hand column.

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Project: Thip Thani Project 2

Posted By Alec on April 8, 2010

Yesterday, after a lot of searching and negotiation, we finally managed to secure the plot of land for our next building project. This plot is also in Thip Thani, about 100m from our other building project.  However, this plot of land is slightly larger and bordered on two sides by the stream that flows around Thip Thani.

I now have to get to work designing a home to fit with this land, which I shall be starting shortly.  I intend to have the design completed by the end of April so that the footings can be dug ready for the workers to get straight to work once they have finished the current build in mid May.

Thip Thani - Plot 2

As you can see, the plot is a bit of a Jungle at the moment, but tomorrow the land will be cleared and levelled.  That should give a much better idea of what we have to work with and make it easier to visualise a property on the land.  As I mentioned, the land is bordered on two sides by a stream, however during the rainy season this can become more like a raging torrent!  In order to secure the land from erosion we will shore up the land over the next few days if it is required.  This is a job that certainly can not wait as the rainy season should be starting any day now – it will definitely be easier to shore up the land while the stream is just a trickle.

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Tags: Architect, Builder, Home Design, House Construction, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineer, Thailand

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 8, 2010

After another couple of days of hard work, the initial roofing has been completed.  However, there is still some secondary roofing work to be carried out to form the “wing” that overhangs by 1m around the perimeter of the roof.  This wing is primarily an architectural feature for aesthetic appeal, but it will also provide some additional shade to the exterior walls and windows.  The ‘wing’ will be fitted after the walls have been rendered.

Initial roofing complete

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Tags: construction, Home Design, Home for Sale, House Construction, House for rent, Nong Khai, Property, Real Estate, Roofing

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 6, 2010

The concrete staircase was poured yesterday…. it is nice to finally have an easy route up to the second floor, rather than the ladder that we had relied on before! We also took delivery of the cement for the exterior rendering which will be applied over the next few days.

Completed Staircase

Today, work has begun on the roof. By the end of today, all of the steel framework should be complete and then tomorrow, the roofing material will be fitted. I think the workers will be relieved to finally have some shade to work under. The temperature over the past few days has been over 40 degrees.

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Tags: construction, Home builder, House Design Architecture, Isaan, Nong Khai, Staircase, Thailand

Project: Baan Sanploen

Posted By Alec on April 2, 2010

I’ve just realised that it is a week since my last blog post. This is not because there has been no progress, rather that it has been such a busy week and I have not seemed to have time to upload videos and pictures and write a post.

So, what has been happening. We have spent a lot of time trying to secure land for our next project, which has not been an entirely straight forward process…. more on that project in due course.

Much of the brickwork for the ground floor has been completed, including the casting of concrete frame for the large doors that lead from the living room and from the dining room out into the garden. The beams and slab for the large porch area has been poured.

The first brick is laid

I have had a very specific idea of the look and finish that I want to achieve with this home. Sometimes it has been hard to source appropriate materials, fixtures and fittings. After spending quite some time trying to source internal doors that fit my requirements, I have decided to make them myself and have been making preparations with the construction of tooling jigs etc… Sometimes it is the small details that make all the difference to a home and I am happy to have finally found the right door handles for the property!

We are now a little closer to having a complete set of kitchen appliances, having ordered a large refrigerator, to add to the oven, hob and extractor that has already been delivered. I have also more or less decided upon fixtures and fittings for the bathrooms, though these have not been ordered yet.

At the moment, there are three main tasks underway. Onsite, brickwork for the second floor is progressing at a fast pace. Also, the shuttering is being prepared for the casting of the main staircase, which should be ready to be poured by tomorrow. Meanwhile, off site, the steel structure of the roof is being prepared and will be brought to site for assembly over the next week.

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Tags: architecture, Home Design, House Construction, Isaan, Nong Khai, Structural Engineering, Thailand