Raising the Level of Land

[westerby]

Something no one seems to have mentioned about raising land levels, flooding.When I purchased our land I noticed the gradient was down road towards us, which meant all the water would be going my way. So I raised the entire plot level by 1 mtr and the house foundation level by a further metre.

Interesting, so what you're saying is that you raised everything by a metre?

Did you think about any particular sort of land fill or was it just ordinary clay?

How long ago did you build the bungalow and how many bedrooms has it?

[trubrit]

Something no one seems to have mentioned about raising land levels, flooding.When I purchased our land I noticed the gradient was down road towards us, which meant all the water would be going my way. So I raised the entire plot level by 1 mtr and the house foundation level by a further metre.

Interesting, so what you're saying is that you raised everything by a metre?

Did you think about any particular sort of land fill or was it just ordinary clay?

How long ago did you build the bungalow and how many bedrooms has it?

Yes basically the entire land area and a further metre the building area, It actually compressed down after 6 months and a heavy roller to about half that height before building commenced. It is a four bedroomed bungalow each with en-suite facilities but one room acts as my office.It was constructed to my own design and the work supervised every day by myself just over 5 years ago now We have recently converted what was an open 2 car garage into a double size shop for my wife who has just completed a one year hair and beauty diploma course.The soil used was straight off the farm, complete with sugar cane growing.

[Goldcoaster au]

Very interesting ...........l just put 40 trucks on my 2 blocks and l will put about 40 - 60 more...........l think its a great idea of letting it settle for long period of time before building.
Although in saying that my wife's- sister just put fill on her land and will build straight away on it,like start next month.
Last mths rain the soil was like jelly. they are thai and said its ok to build on it.
l will let the soil settle on our land , need to save more for a house anyways , laugh.

[westerby]

Yes basically the entire land area and a further metre the building area, It actually compressed down after 6 months and a heavy roller to about half that height before building commenced. It is a four bedroomed bungalow each with en-suite facilities but one room acts as my office.It was constructed to my own design and the work supervised every day by myself just over 5 years ago now

Yes, this is broadly along the lines of what I want to do. I'm looking at building a four bedroom bungalow on the half rai that I've got. Although, it looks as though you've put your kitchen inside and I was thinking about putting mine outside. So what depth did your pillars and foundations go down to?

[beer monkey]

Have the best of both westers, the Thais prefer outdoor, where as when you wish to rustle up some beans on toast you can in comfort in the in-doors section, wouldn't cost much to do both.

[trubrit]

I will try and answer all in one go.
First the depth of the pillars. Down 2 meters, so 1meter infill+ 1 meter into original ground, they were also extended 1/2 meter above ground and cross beams were constructed,at which point building commenced, this 1/2 meter was later filled to the level of the beams to make a firm foundation for the flooring.I used 300 trucks to fill my 1 rai plot and a further 100 to infill the house foundations.The house is therefore 3 steps up from garden level.I also later added another 100 trucks of top soil to the garden, but nothing to do with the construction.
The kitchen. We have two kitchens, 3 if you count the garden The window directly facing the drive in the photo is constructed as a European style one, complete with domestic appliances such as electric oven, microwave, fridge/freezer and cupboard units.The other , smaller one which you can see as a projection to the right of the photo, is basically Thai style. It has gas rings for the inevitable wok cooking. A heavy duty working surface for the pounding of the daily somtum.Space under for the gas bottle and of course a good air extraction system. I met resistance when I located the kitchen at the front of the house, but when I explained she would be spending more time in there than the bedroom and would see immediately if we had any visitors, she capitulated and now agrees it is a good thing.Despite having two kitchens, when friends come round its out with the mats in the garden, light the barbie, pound the papaya, and eat on the floor.But at least she has a choice.
I do have my original house plans if anyone is interested in seeing them.

[trubrit]

Don't know if I explained that very well so dug out some old pics taken during construction and one taken today that illustrates the floor height above ground level.

Untitled-Scanned-61.jpg

Untitled-Scanned-64.jpg

Untitled-Scanned-67.jpg

[trubrit]

Sorry limited to three. Some more.

IMG_3126.jpg

IMG_3127.jpg

The construction wasn't without its humour.

Untitled-Scanned-81.jpg

[saint]

400 trucks of soil ? man thats a lot . they look like 10 tun trucks , so that would be 10 cubic metres per truck if full . you used 100 to fill the floor levels to half metre , so the house is 200 square metres ? 300 to fill the land makes would make the ground 3000 square metres . but 1 rai is only 1600 metres .? with the cost of land fill these days at about 500 to 600 per truck , obviously cheaper 4 years ago , but not less than 400 thats a lot of money . 160, 000 baht i make it, has it ever accured to you that you may have been taken to the cleaners on that one.? either that or the land is more than 1 rai , or !!!! ive been in construction many years , and these figures just dont add up . even compacting with a heavy roller would not increase the material by more than 25% , making 1 rai no more than 200 trucks in total . sorry but if i was overseeing this project , some serious questions would be asked and heads would roll .

[trubrit]

Thank you for your concern Saint. I assure you I was on site most of the time the infill took place and personally tallied the trucks arrival. What you didn't understand, perhaps I didn't make perfectly clear, was that the level was raised from the street level, at the rear and sides it was lower being rice fields, as this photo shows. So it took much more to get an even overall surface. As I wanted to build a surrounding wall round the property I also raised the level outside my boundary, at least a meter to prevent erosion.

Untitled-Scanned-48.jpg

[saint]

good ! if your going to be taken for a ride here , at least they should be young and pretty and not some truck driver !!!!!!!

[trubrit]

good ! if your going to be taken for a ride here , at least they should be young and pretty and not some truck driver !!!!!!!

Your assumption that I was taken for a ride couldn't be further from the truth. Admittedly I didn't have the benefit of a weighbridge to check each individual load, so some might have been short or even over, who knows, in fact , who cares? I didn't and after all I was the one paying, not you. Perhaps good I didn't have the benefit of your expertise as I only paid 100,000bht for the first 300 loads, no where near your estimated figure.

[saint]

my assumption was based on your original post , which unfortunately did not state the same as your second post ??? my estimated figure was a guess as i have only been in the market here for landfile for 2 years , however not a bad guess at that , i quoted about 400 baht a truck and you paid 330 baht a truck , but perhaps your right it is good that you didnt have the benefit of my expertise for obvious reasons !!!!!!! may i be so bold as to suggest that if you are posting facts about building here , for others to get some idea of costs etc , that those facts are accurate . which in your first post were obviously not.

[trubrit]

my assumption was based on your original post , which unfortunately did not state the same as your second post ??? my estimated figure was a guess as i have only been in the market here for landfile for 2 years , however not a bad guess at that , i quoted about 400 baht a truck and you paid 330 baht a truck , but perhaps your right it is good that you didnt have the benefit of my expertise for obvious reasons !!!!!!! may i be so bold as to suggest that if you are posting facts about building here , for others to get some idea of costs etc , that those facts are accurate . which in your first post were obviously not.

Thank you teacher, I will consider myself chastised. Strange isn't it? I post trying to be helpful whereas I notice many of yours on various subjects are just simply critical. Wonder whose got the right idea?

[Guns482]

Not that I know too much about raising the land or its costs, I do however have made it my business to ascertain certain building facts.
raising the land is best done in the dry, then waiting for a full year before building as then the land will have settled itself and would show where it needed exra filling.
A depth of about 1-1.5 metres is best for walls, with possible piles at stragegic points down to about 2 metres below the level of the foundation walls.
This will then alleviate any possibility of land drying out over a long dry spell, whcih we have had over the past four years in which land which I knew was about 2 feet below a house, went to 3 feet due to water extraction.
Flooding is another point in which historical levels are unknown, as the local government does not keep records, hence house built 3 feet above the paddy field on raised land may flood as 25 years ago water was 5 foot above the paddy field leaving houses flooded as nothing is done about water removal as in western countries.
most i fear have built and Thai builders have done the job, I hope over a long term houses would be ok.
my house was built 16 years ago, floor level some 3 ft above ground which is about 3 ft above paddy field level a total of 6 ft, makes one wonder when you see house built only 3ft above paddy field depth.
I did not build my house, but was assured that the man who did knew a thing or two.
Also having dug down next to my house the piers/piles go down 10feet below floor levelnot piles but dug piers made of reinforced concrete built by hand.
possibly too expensive by todays standard but obviously worth looking at.
This is just for info.
Me I have no knowledge of building at all, but I do believe in the belt and braces effect.

[saint]

my assumption was based on your original post , which unfortunately did not state the same as your second post ??? my estimated figure was a guess as i have only been in the market here for landfile for 2 years , however not a bad guess at that , i quoted about 400 baht a truck and you paid 330 baht a truck , but perhaps your right it is good that you didnt have the benefit of my expertise for obvious reasons !!!!!!! may i be so bold as to suggest that if you are posting facts about building here , for others to get some idea of costs etc , that those facts are accurate . which in your first post were obviously not.

Thank you teacher, I will consider myself chastised. Strange isn't it? I post trying to be helpful whereas I notice many of yours on various subjects are just simply critical. Wonder whose got the right idea?

if you look at the first page of this thread , ive tried to be helpful and constructive . im sorry if ive offended you but i tell it as i see it , however if people want bulls~it i can do that just as well !!!!

[trubrit]

my assumption was based on your original post , which unfortunately . im sorry if ive offended you but i tell it as i see it , however if people want bulls~it i can do that just as well !!!!

I have noticed.

[beer monkey]

Now now come on Gentlemen....

[trubrit]

Now now come on Gentlemen....

Not all officers are gentlemen. Same as not all gentlemen are officers.

[westerby]

Val, your replies were helpful to me, many thanks.