Top 10 building mistakes in Thailand and SE asia. 2019

[Don Chance 910]

This is useful list if you are building new or buying used. I've noticed after years in Asia.

 

1. Roofing.

- No roof. Flat roofs are not water proof. Need black tar or rubber membrane or water will leak through columns into top floor.

- Roof too small. Like a yamaka, water runs over building or onto roof. Roof should extend over building and balconies.

- Roof should be vented on the sides and or ridge vents.

- Concrete panel roofing. Beware of asbestos. Common in Thailand.

 

2. Exterior.

- Exterior walls should be water proofed with rubberized paint or even tar.. Water resistant paint will not be good enough. Ideally foam board insulation glued onto the walls will keep the building cool. Stucco or spray foam onto exterior walls also will work.

- Strange ledges extending from the floor to the exterior. Bad design will allow water to enter structure and under neath flooring. Can be cut off completely removed. Or water proofed with rubber or tar. This is just lazy ways of building so they can work more easily on the exterior.

- Balconies. Tiles are not water proof will leak eventually and enter the floor. Needs underlay, water proof slab or Schluter-DITRA Tile Underlayment.

 

 

3. Foundations. Avoid slab foundation. Rather pier style raised or crawl space.  Slab foundation need to be have rubber water shield under neath before pouring concrete. Barrier should extend up the side of the building.  Thailand is prone to monsoon floods. Other wise you have a wet, damp slab. Moisture will rise up into the house and cause problems.

 

4. Septic.  Never put a septic under the build it self should be set away from the house. Avoid buying a unit with the septic underneath, it will smell and mold will rise up into the house.

Septic tanks should be away from the structure a 2-3 meters, needs 3" vents intake and out take (google septic venting diagram)

Sewage connected to municipality should have back flow protection to prevent snakes and odors from entering the building.

 

5. Plumbing

Asian plumbing does not include stack vent. This will make the drains function much better and also displace sewer gas. Otherwise sewer gas will rise up to various parts of the building, infect structure will mold. (google stack venting plumbing for diagram.)

 

6. Floor tiling.

Most building have mold under the tiles in Asia ( more western people suffer from mold allergies than Asians.) This is because the slab is wet and is unable to dry out, so mold grows. There needs to a air gap, a dimpled plastic sheet such as DMX air gap. There are also chemical sealants that can be applied to the sub floor.

 

Another issue i see in new builds is the adhesive or mortar used for the tiles is wet. The tile go over it and the glue can not dry because no air can reach. The adhesive or mortar needs to be put down then left to dry awhile so it is sticky. There are new building that still smell of adhesive years after completion. Creates unhealthy VOC's.

 

Use Schluter-DITRA Tile Underlayment or other in the shower and bathroom, this is never done in Thailand and will fail in a few years with heavy water use. Bathroom becomes full of mold.

(google tile floor underlay installation for diagram.)

 

7.  Kitchen and bathroom vents. A lot of kitchens in Thailand don't have vents. This is good idea to control fires and humidity.

 

8. Interior. If you have concrete walls, ideally finish with dry wall and 1/2" gap will allow interior, unfinished concrete walls to dry out. Do not put wall paper on the interior or there will be mold growth in no time.

Ceiling should have dropped space so unfinished concrete can dry out and allow for venting of humidity from the floor.

 

9. Wood on concrete. Another common mistake wood on concrete should always have a plastic barrier you will see this with wood windows on the concrete form. Sometime wood  piers sit in concrete for fences, decks or foundation, they should have tar painted to protect. The concrete will corrode the wood with water and cause it rot quickly.

 

10. Grading and run off. Beware of monsoon may flood the building. I've seen this many times during the monsoon, building are constructed too low.

 

 

 

 

[Artisi 15,770]

Only 10, with a bit more thought this could be doubled, and with some critical in-depth thinking doubled again. 

[emptypockets 4,247]

I've never had a problem with a flat slightly sloping roof over a patio. Colourbond sheeting no leaks.

 

[sirineou 17,014]

They are not so much mistakes as it is improper code enforcement and supervision.

That's why when we were ready we opted not to buy ready built from a developer, and to build our own. 

and even then strict supervision is required.

The selection of a professional builder is paramount, and a fair for both parties ,price needs to be negotiated , otherwise the builder will cut corners to make a profit.   

[canopy 1,927]

I think these things have merit, but I would not necessarily rank them all in the top 10. Just getting thai's to properly make arbitrary concrete seems so hopeless. Often mixing entails nothing more than a few strokes with a hoe in a tub, wrong proportions, never consolidated, wrong rebar strategy, never cured, etc could go on and on. Concrete is such a basic part of any house and builders were never taught, never inspected, and just never learn their whole lives how to use it properly and have no idea they are doing anything wrong. Sort of like driving I guess. The sad part about it is doing concrete right can be cheaper, stronger, more attractive, and more long lasting than doing it wrong.

 

I watched them build a water tower once. They dumped little buckets of concrete into forms as they went along. No tamping or vibrators were used. When the forms came off, predictably the concrete beams were a chunky rock surface rather than smooth. I then got a kick out of them spending the extra time, manpower, materials, and associated costs to render every beam to make them look smooth! What a waste and a weaker structure to boot. Unbelievable.

 

[Henricus 375]

NORMAL IT`S T.I.T. 

[LNKDES1 247]

17 hours ago, Artisi said:

Only 10, with a bit more thought this could be doubled, and with some critical in-depth thinking doubled again. 

And nothing mentioned about electrical.

[StevieAus 1,099]

I am somewhat surprised that you you fail to mention under plumbing the common problem of the failure to install U traps in showers, baths, sinks etc to prevent smells, there is even a question about it on today’s page.

In relation to the use of tar to seal a roof that sounds like a procedure from many years ago and whilst I am not a builder I would have thought that the temperatures in Thailand would cause it to melt.

[Artisi 15,770]

1 hour ago, LNKDES1 said:

And nothing mentioned about electrical.

Farangs can't comment on electrics, because Thai electricity is different. 

[Artisi 15,770]

3 hours ago, canopy said:

I think these things have merit, but I would not necessarily rank them all in the top 10. Just getting thai's to properly make arbitrary concrete seems so hopeless. Often mixing entails nothing more than a few strokes with a hoe in a tub, wrong proportions, never consolidated, wrong rebar strategy, never cured, etc could go on and on. Concrete is such a basic part of any house and builders were never taught, never inspected, and just never learn their whole lives how to use it properly and have no idea they are doing anything wrong. Sort of like driving I guess. The sad part about it is doing concrete right can be cheaper, stronger, more attractive, and more long lasting than doing it wrong.

 

I watched them build a water tower once. They dumped little buckets of concrete into forms as they went along. No tamping or vibrators were used. When the forms came off, predictably the concrete beams were a chunky rock surface rather than smooth. I then got a kick out of them spending the extra time, manpower, materials, and associated costs to render every beam to make them look smooth! What a waste and a weaker structure to boot. Unbelievable.

 

Normal. 

[transam 49,543]

I do miss those 6x2 loft rafters where you can actually shimmy along to sort wiring out....

[kekalot 584]

15 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Farangs can't comment on electrics, because Thai electricity is different. 

lol this made me laugh

 

I used to have a Bull Terrier and my friend (who is Thai) asked me if I wanted her to bring my dog for the free neutering they had in her village nearby. I said yes

like an hour later she calls me saying that they wouldn't do it -- because "they said cannot! because they only have medicine for Thai dogs".

 

so I asked her if her dogs were Thai Bangkaews (i knew they weren't) and then told her "you better ask them to put the balls back in your dogs then because your dogs are not Thai dogs either"

 

but yeah, no grounding on houses is a deal breaker for me, sad to say that so far most of the places I have been renting have not done it and when i inquire about it .. they ALWAYS ask "why you need it?" and when I explain that it's because I have expensive computers and electronics they always tell me "oh, don't need it!" and act like I am asking them to do brain surgery if I push for it

 

all I am thinking is "ok dude, if the most expensive thing you have is a 129 baht rice cooker from Big C then maybe YOU don't need it" but I certainly do not enjoy getting shocked every single time i touch my metal microphone,  monitor stand or try to plug USB cables

 

funny thing is that the 2.5 meter copper rods are sold about 150 baht, 3 prong sockets same price and the cable is usually sold in a big spool and maybe 200-300 baht for like 100 meters spools and you can do this job by yourself (but not cleanly) in 10 minutes if you are not a total idiot. add 150 baht and few more minutes for per additional outlets.

[448glb 85]

You forgot one of the most important and dangerous, ELECTRICAL....

[Artisi 15,770]

50 minutes ago, 448glb said:

You forgot one of the most important and dangerous, ELECTRICAL....

Already addressed. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Artisi

[GreasyFingers 1,487]

Good luck if you think you can get a builder to do everything you mention. Your farang price would be double the normal farang price. Currently doing an extension and it is impossible to get Thais to do what you ask/demand. Even though they can do good work their mentality is that of cowboys.

No worry about the electrical though, the BIL is actually licensed and rewired the old house before we moved in.