Lat's House

The prototype of truly tropical house.
At the time when we did not rely on electricity or piped water.
When the natural breeze from the surrounding lush greeneries gave us cool fresh air that no air conditioner, purifier of ionizer can beat.

Thatched roof: Renewable, readily available and effective heat shield.
Large windows: Fantastic ventilation. No stagnant corners for mosquitoes to linger.
(Check this out: Modern houses have large glass windows to keep air conditioner working hard to fight the blazing tropical suns fronm the large openings.)
Elevated wooden floor: Extra ventilation for cool air. No worries for flash floods too.
Large shared spaces: best for ventilation of air and emotions.
Bathrooms: Open air and cool well water. No solar panel or special piping required. More fun, more healthy.
Kitchen: Far away from the WC to avoid possibility of contamination.

It is a fantasy to have both convenience and ample natural at a affordable price.
Who knows one day the dream will come true when we try hard enough!

How crafty can Doors be?

Pile caps!

'A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. '
David Brinkley

Reinforcement was done with more iron rod frame around the denuded pile ends. We didn't use bricks at this stage but surely lots of cement was poured into the deep holes around the piles.

'Because if you have a strong foundation like we have, then you can build or rebuild anything on it. But if you've got a weak foundation you can't build anything. '
Jack Scalia

Undressing tops, of the piles

After the piles are set to solid ground to provide for a good foundation, the excess length of free column is removed in the most noisy way.
This lorry brought the petrol powered driller to remove the cement on the iron rods. Pile caps will be built around these iron rods.
The noise literally shook the ground with the noise level probably equivalent to a small earth quake. The amazing thing is the worker was not even wearing any protective gears. Really man of steel!

Piling - do your homework first

This is the part that is most unpredictable. Even though surface earthwork has been done, the engineer can only know the depth of the solid boulders under the build site after digging the soil out. These solid boulders will support the piles, which in turn support the weight of the whole house to prevent cracking and worst, tumbling.

We started with some 2o feet 6 inch reinforced concrete piles. After the 10th feet the piles did not set in but broke on pressure. We wasted 11 piles. After consulting the engineer and changing to 10 feet 8inch piles, luckily everything went well. We need 42 piles for an area of 1500 sq feet.

House built on reclaimed mining pond land sometimes need a few piles in a straight line to touch the solid ground at depth of 80-100 feet. The similar build up area can use up to 4 times more 20 feet piles! So choose your land well.

Preparing the ground

Our land was flat and previously filled with river sand. Bushes as tall as a man's height was cleared in one day by a bulldozer. The engineer was rather pleased. He told us stories of difficult earthworks where gigantic boulders needed to be moved and deep mining pond was to be filled up. Well, we saved money on this.

Next, the land surveyor came to locate the legal boundaries of our land. Believe it not, the art of surveying started in Egypt at 3000BC. So, people were concerned with territory and ownership way back then.

The surveyor also checked to make sure the house is facing the feng shui direction. As our land has an irregular pentagon shape, he helps us to mark a rectangular shape from it. Based on feng shui, rectangles are easier to plan and manage. We are going to leave the extra land out for non essential activities e.g. space for dogs to roam.

Always look out for Hidden dangers - water

The land was just next to the river which has caused flash floods before. We have to take heed of the reports of global warming, melting ice bergs and rising sea levels; even though we are 83km from the sea.

Measures that we have taken:
1. Ask neighbours about the incidence.
2. Look at water marks on the walls of houses around.
3. Increase the height of the floor to 2.5 feet above the current ground level. Take 1 and 2 into consideration.
4. Ensure a gentle slope to ease drainage of the water.
5. Ensure proper drainage around the house.
6. Keep the huge Bobinsana tree near our house. The roots will help the hold the ground better. We also try to keep the trees around the land as much as possible.
7. Build a 2 storey house.
8. Prepare escape route: balcony accessible to the roof, a small boat....
9. Good storage of food!