Advice on building

[bladerunner2120]

or more specificaly ideas and links to a design/advice that will hopefully keep a house cooler than the norm from what ive seen over there. I am allready aware of some things like keeping the exterior walls shaded, vented double skin roof , roof with water run off, things like that.
Since timber from what ive been told is expensive i was wondering if they have light gauge steel sections that could be used for studds and floor joists in place of timber. i know...ive heard it in other forums...but the reality is solid masonry construction in a climate like thailand is wrong full stop and the argument that everyone builds like that in the region is crap...original thai houses were built in teak/wood. At a guess it was the europeans arriveing there bringing there building knowledge of the way they build in europe, the fact that it is cheaper is becasue of scale.
I dont want to go into the costs side of it becasue i already know what i want will be more expensive, i will accept that but then again im not going to build a palace either, if i want a large home i will stay put thank you very much, town house size is more than enough for 2 people with the odd overseas vistor staying a week or two.
I am not against double with cavity masonry external walls with vents and large openable windows, i think its probley best to stick to what they know but i wont have a concret floor, it retains the heat over night radiating it out. i would prefer to sit the floor off the ground at least 300mm useing steel floor joist with timber batterns and solid timber strip flooring.
Termite controll is another area i need to get to know
Again i would prefer steel roofing as it cools quickly once the sun is not on it or it rains..again ive heard bad reports on there steel roofing sheets but i dout its as bad as some claim.
So you know i am in the building industry in ausralia, i am a licenced builder and a carpenter by trade, design isnt an issue for me i can do that i just need as much info regarding suitable materials and passive solar design principles for the thailand region.

[STEVE G]

I don't know all that much about house construction, but a friend of mine built his house here with those light insulation blocks that I think are called something like Q-Con and he says it's cooler as a result.
I think he got them delivered from Bangkok.

[T.I.G.R.]

The best advice you can get: Build on the beach !!

Foam filled blocks are good as well as Low-E glass which is very unusual here.....most are 3 cm junk.

Seriously on the beach thing, we bought a condo on the beach three years ago and we've never been cooler or happier. For quite a few years I've tried to build or buy houses with good wind exposure and design them to catch the wind....and you won't get a cool breeze anywhere like you do on the beach, with nothing blocking it.

It you're not picky on where you live Prachaup Kiri Khan and areas south have a lot of beach that is still a reasonable purchase (or lease if you don't have a Thai wife).....

Good luck

[Super Joe]

a friend of mine built his house here with those light insulation blocks that I think are called something like Q-Con and he says it's cooler as a result.

Yes, a lot of people swear by these for external walls.
Super Block: http://www.superblockthailand.com/index1.html
Q-Con: http://www.qcon.co.th/refer/refer-e.php

You can find their thermal properties on the websites, they also come in different sizes/thicknesses.

SJ

[hhfarang]

...but the reality is solid masonry construction in a climate like thailand is wrong full stop and the argument that everyone builds like that in the region is crap...original thai houses were built in teak/wood. At a guess it was the europeans arriveing there bringing there building knowledge of the way they build in europe, the fact that it is cheaper is becasue of scale.

You must be correct. I owned four houses in three states in the U.S. and I never saw this kind of construction before. It's all hollow wall there using either 2x4 wood framing or steel studs with sheet rock inner walls and stucco, wood, brick, or aluminum outer walls... much cooler and easier to run electric and plumbing and much easier for repairs or remodels. The way they do it here (and in Europe I guess) seems insane to me.

[crazy88]

Wattle & Daub with thatched roof for England or a wigwam for America are pretty traditional. Igloos for the Eskimos. Careful design and positioning of the house considering air movement and the sun both daily and seasonally will do the job so you don,t end up with a sweatbox and 24 hour air-con requirements.

Crazy 88

[bladerunner2120]

Thanks, i looked up those links sj one of them is Heble, we have them here but they dont do so much partly because there fairly expensive, im guessing the superblock is the same sort of thing differant trade name.
On the beach would be great if i could find something suitable when the time came, i might renovated and if i do i still want to make the place cooler.
Apartment living is out, unless i end up in BKK, i wont have much choice there, aussies are only now getting into apartment living most of us were bought up in a house with plenty of land around us.
Ive spent time searching the net for design principles for a tropical climate, there isnt that much so far...what i have noticed in thailand is the temp doesnt really change much from day to night, a few degrees, not a hell of a lot, the problem is because you dont get a significant drop in temp overnight the place stays hot, certianlty when i stayed in BKK there was no breeze to take advantage of, i had to run the fan the entire time i was staying with my partner, if i didnt move much i was ok..
So if i built i would want to eliminate as much masnory as possible....at least the concrete wouldnt be radiating it back in,
Yes in Australia and the USA we use timber or steel to frame houses then use either a brick or some type of light weight cladding for the external, up north which is in a sup tropical area houses are built off the gound enough to get a car under if you want, thats to get airflow under, over and around...but we have wind in AU...i havent been anywhere there and felt the slightest breeze.

[malcolminthemiddle]

How about those heavyweight, hollow concrete blocks? Any good? I couldn't find a link to post. Anyone?

[PeteC]

As a non-builder but resident of many houses in many tropical areas made of masonry with concrete floors, I scratch my head. My floors have always been cool in the heat of day and even without aircon running for many days while we've been away, when you first take off your shoes and enter you notice the coolness of the floor. If you run your aircon at night the floors and walls retain and emit coolness for half of the next day. Granted, two of the places I've lived I've been aware that the water table is high, only about 2 meters below the pilings. Perhaps that makes a difference with the floor retaining coolness?

The original Thai pole houses had nothing to do with 'coolness'. It had to do with safety from rising water, wild animals and snakes, bandits and invading armies. Perhaps a good breeze was an extra. Go to any resort here with the Thai style wooden bungalow up on stilts with a high Lanna style arched roof. They are hotter than hades without an aircon running as the hot ambient air flows over, under and around. More modern pole houses with a steel/tin roof are even worse.

Anyway, just an observation and opinion. Pete

[Super Joe]

Remember this thread from ages back, might contain some useful info bladerunner:
http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/vi ... it=Thermal

SJ

[bladerunner2120]

I dont know enough about tropical passive solar energy to coment pete, i do know that here its become very comon now to build houses on concrete slabs one of the reasons we have cold winters and if sited correctly the slab wil radiate heat at night, you still going to need a heater but you migh turn it on later rather than earlier, eliminates drughts, house is air tight, Our summers can be very hot so shadeing of windows and heavy insulation helps keep cool...since we have more money in our pockets many have air con now.
But we have wind/brezzes and Melbourne weather changes every day, its rare to have many hot days in a row and normaly we get a respite at night.
I am aware that certain solid counstruction useing hollow blocks double skinned with a cavity with eaves shadeing exterior walls will deliver a cooler house in the tropics.
To get back to a concrete floor, i dont belive you can have a cool concrete floor there unless your runing air con 24/7, its always going to radiate heat even if its at a lower tempreture, timber floor over joists and bearers dont contain any heat, cant store it so it cant radiate it.
Some of the coolest buildings ive been in in the tropics one in Seam Reap Cambodia reminded me of other cafes in northen Australia, where there were 2 or more open sides to the building with celing fans, it was very comfortable and no air con and mid summer, it was also positioned so no direct sun was shineing into the open areas.

[splitlid]

your tiled, concrete floor wil be the second coolest place in your house after the fridge, after all what is there to make it so hot? using timber will be expensive and tasty for the termites.

[bladerunner2120]

[splitlid]

why all the headbanging?

you'll get a headache

[brianks]

I will have to tell my Thai wife not to lay on the floor during the heat of the day. She lays there because it cooler but I guess I need to tell her some Australian builder knows better.

Me thinks someone needs to live here for a while before building so he can learn from experience what works and what does not work.