lets get things straight.
1. i'm not a contractor. i'm not trying to sell you anything.
this is my own house, on my own piece of land. not a documentation on some other fella house/project.
2. respect is warranted. this is not kopitiam.

the initial plan was to acquire this land and build a house at this location:

effective ~10,000 sqft after minus all the road reserve and sea reserve.

imagine opening your door to this, every morning, for the rest of your life.


and kitchen and deck opens up to this


there's a wave breaker as you can see, and even at high tide, the sea level doesn't rise past the barrier. even then there's a drainage system to avoid seawater from going into paddy fields. MADA takes great precaution to avoid such situation from ever happening.

the land deal however, didn't went through. sigh.
proceeding with backup plan.

This post has been edited by paskal: Jun 19 2018, 03:08 PM

proceeding with backup plan.

~7000 sqft effective (100ftx70ft).
with a small stream in front of the land. and the soil is naturally good for plants.

not as nice, but i do get ~15km unobstructed view at the back. naturally windy, and safe from tsunami hahaha.

This post has been edited by paskal: Nov 9 2014, 05:25 PM

Since you are already doing what I just had in mind, perhaps I can learn a thing or two from here.

Okay, already track this topic. Waiting for further post.

I want see ur further post

Not scared kena another tsunami ah?

nice piece of land you have there....

if you engage an architect, insist that they do a site survey or site study.
it's the only way to check for sun movement and wind direction in the area. simple info that will make your house cooler and properly ventilated.

avoid orientating the largest wall in the house against sunshine as it will heat up the area inside. avoid arranging bedrooms directly facing the evening sun as it'll make your room hot at night.
and change the direction of your window opening to guide wind into your house, rather than deflecting them away.



can't find the complete 3D design since there's so many interation and revisions to the plan. it's in here, somewhere.
but the cheapest i got quoted for this plan is RM260k.
basic house, basic equipment, good build quality (from contractor past build history).

specs agreed for RM260k:
12 feet wall
metal deck (because roof pitch is only 5 degrees x 40 feet)
insulated roof
folding door, folding window
full plaster ceiling, 10 feet high
normal downlight, cfl bulb
normal ceiling fan with regulator
16" tile, entire house
full height tile in bathroom
normal paint, indoor and outdoor
normal bathroom finishing
no outdoor tile
no glass railing as in pic

IIRC 4 bathroom, 5 bedroom, 1 ht room, wet & dry kitchen, separated guest living room & dining area, family area, 2nd floor family area, 2 decks.
~3000 sqft interior floorspace.
translates to ~RM86-something psft

edit: (refer post below for accurate floorspace)

This post has been edited by paskal: May 5 2014, 10:23 AM

Where is the location..???

found the floorplan to the 3D which i've submitted for quotation.


correction it's not 2400 sqft. total interior space is 3143 sqft.
RM260k, which translate to ~RM83 psft.

deck and porch at half of the interior price. total build price not breaching RM300k.
5 bedroom, 1 ht room.
separated wet & dry kitchen.
2 family area at ground floor & 2nd floor.
6 bathroom
indoor store room
separated guest area & dining area

hard to believe?
believe it.

Building a bungalow you can't avoid west.
Only way is extend the roof by another 2-3 ft
rm86 is dirt cheap already.
With 7000sqft of land, I'll prefer to build single storey rather than double storey. 2400sqft of total build up, if double storey translate to about 30*40ft or 20*60 which will make the land area very big(and hard to maintain if your family are not big).

Nice project. The price you got is it including fitting and id? Ready move in (excluding appliances and furniture)

U sure you are going with metal decking roof next to a beach? better get a properly treated one, and plus, wouldnt you want a roof deck so you can have an outdoor barbecue next to the beach on your house? or probably just a lemonade on your roof?

You can have a flat roof first

2 friends managed to negotiate with the same contractor and got their houses build for RM75 & RM78 psft. already finished construction in 2013 and moved in.

spot on.
after discussion with friends and relatives owning double storey houses, they advised against proceeding with the plan since there's no constraint with land area.

but but but. double storey looks really nice.
but they suggested that it's a nuisance having to climb up and down the stairs everyday.

no ID. contractor only gonna include a concrete table top at the wet kitchen.

Listen to old man says.
Actually I prefer bungalow land of 5000-6000sqft, easier to maintain. Now I in the search of such sized land also, sadly, all are >7000sqft and shouting for rm40-50 per sqft

1) May i ask why do u have a 6.5' of empty space beside the study? why not extend it all the way there?
2) open staircase concept?? nice...

Look like need another 300 - 400k on ID depend your taste

Thanks for sharing guys, can the property build on any type of land or it must be on a residential gazetted land.

Must be resident land.

did considered flat roof, but considering the amount of things that could go wrong with the concrete, i would pass.
also considered a parapet wall, with metal decking to cover. but considering that it'll only welcome fungus growth, also avoided.

anyway i didn't get the seaside land.

there's an entrance there, family entrance. the space is the walkway.

how did you arrive at that estimation? another couple of hundred thousand just for interior design is a bit too much don't you think?

if it's an agricultural land, you're entitled to 1 building per each land title. so don't have to change the land type if you're thinking of building.

otherwise you need to change the type to residential or development. changing agricultural type to residential do take time and you need written consent from your local council. they have specific rules on what type of land that cannot be changed so be wary.

ID as in finishing like tiles, marbles, flooring, doors, windows all this not cheap. My wet work on my house vs interior is almost 1:1 ratio.

Thanks for the info, in short we can build one building in a piece of land say (1 acre size) in any type of land other than resi land where you can build more, does it constrain on the height (eg not more than 3 story) or the size of that one building.

Forgot totally that agri land can build a house inside
Too bad Seremban most of the agri land are for bumi only
No need to engage ID since it will bring up your overall building cost by 100-200% for the same work if you design your self.
Since you have plenty of space, built in ceiling height cabinets are not a must compare to terrace house.
Always put practicality, ergonomics in mind.
Air cond compressor mounting you can make concrete table for it, look more neat

Agree on this, huge difference in $$$ when im doing my DS house 6 years ago.

Nice.. following the developments.. all the best paskal kianwee

This post has been edited by Jenn77: Apr 29 2014, 03:20 PM

I will just build single storey with that size of land. Then plant tree around to cover the building

If we know the basics, we don't need ID in the first place. If you are a Chinese, feng shui is 1 of the element we need to consider, so can't simply use reflecting materials on the cabinet doors, on the wall and so on.
Using solid finishing will look dull or old fashioned. Some soft color finish will be the best and nearer to wet kitchen should be using darker color(dirty also not that obvious).
If worry to get wet, aluminum cabinet at bottom(mine are concrete table and finish it with aluminum sliding doors) while MDF/chipboard cabinet on top.

Something like this ...



Attached thumbnail(s)

rm83/sqft is do-able based on the plan shown and with basic finishing. I completed my house last year and it cost me around rm130/sqft. but my house is much bigger at 6000sqft and with slightly better finishing. The amount of concrete used also quite a lot since part of my roof is concrete roof.
For this to be possible, you cannot engage a contractor; you need to hire the indon workers yourself and be the project manager - manage everything yourself. One important thing is to get a good "chief indon" worker - who can help you manage the other workers. Other than that you will get a bit of headache every now and then ... after then you house will be ready! not impossible at all.

something like this looks simple but actually not that easy to build. concrete formwork must be good ... otherwise, you cannot get this beautiful fair-face concrete.

i have only seen a few houses like this in kl but not as nice as in the picture.

Don't build this type of house, no gate and fence here.
Later kena rob.

No where near to building my own house from scratch yet... But this thread will be a good read!!!

p/s: TS, great land!!!!

TS already stated that 2 houses have already been completed, and these 2 houses were his friends'. If it was that terrible, his friend wouldn't have recommended to him.

site survey.



there's 2 prevalent wind direction, which change according to the northeast or southwest monsoon season.
sunrise and sunset movement are also shown. the sun rises at relatively the same position but sets at different location according to the season.

land plot is actually square, but drawn in trapezoid because i'm bad at drawing artsy.
drawing not according to scale. it's a sketch afterall.

What are the cons and pros if having a property on agriculture land vs residential land?

What kind of paper work/authorities do I have to approach in order to build a house in agriculture/residential land?

Thx. Hehe I can't wait to see ur dream house coming true.

there's quite a number of arrangement that we could make to integrate the view, wind direction and sunshine.
the only thing that have to be fixed is the car porch which should be facing the entrance.


in total, i think there's more than 20 revisions made to the plan before we finalized the layout.
friends commented that if were to engage an architect for all of this, it's surely going to cost me an arm just for the drawing.


no idea. maybe the land + house value is lower because the land type is agriculture.

first check with your land office. as land code is different from state to state. then check with your local council because they're the one you're gonna be submitting the plans to.

It seems like the wind are directed to the walls. Have you considered positioning the house in a way where the wind directly flows into the living room/open deck, through the house for an unobstructed open ventilation? Most traditional kampung houses are designed in this way, which is why it's always feel more cooling in kampung house.

Just to share, I'm modelling this house for my upcoming construction (not my pics*).

good luck in your construction.

thanks for the suggestion. we indeed have positioned the layout so that the wind is directed into the house, tho not following the one in your picture.
reason being, the wind do get quite violent at times, so arranging large glass panels directly opposing them is avoided in my design.

the side of the house facing the wind direction are filled with bedrooms. nice view from the bedroom, smaller glass panels facing the wind and hidden from the entrance/service road.

you're considering that much glass panel to your design? it's gonna be hard to secure from break-ins with that much unprotected glass. and adding iron grille to it would just be too ugly.
what's your idea on this issue?

You opt for 5mm tempered lami glass which is much stronger than normal glass ... but if given ample time and tools, the burglar will still be able to break in.

I use 8mm tempered lami glass as flooring for my fish pond and its safe for human traffic on top of it.

wahlauweh. issit true? at the recent homedec, i was quoted something around ~RM70+ psft for folding doors and windows with 8.38mm laminated glass. indeed i'm considering them as the budget for folding door & window is RM20k.

gosh. all this discussion make me wanna revise the plan, AGAIN. arghhhh

yea, we prefer natural lighting and a bit more breeze, so we have to compromise that for higher budget on security systems

we allocate this budget on slightly better aluminium doors/windows with security tinted glass and a better lock mechanism and hinges. grilles are not our cup of tea too due to aesthetic reasons and also it doesn't 100% deter would be burglars breaking in, more to delaying their time.

our planned security system would have these layers:

layer 1. perimeter guard
layer 2. secure windows/door
layer 3. vibration/motion sensors

perimeter guard:

I cant really recall how much I pay for the glass as its a few years ago. I have try to jump from a 5 feet high onto the glass and it doesnt crack (do not do this) So giving that, it will surely delay the break in while the vibration sensor is kick in.

Nicely thought off, may I suggest :-
layer 1. perimeter guard (Alarm buzzer and electrical shock wire, voltage is just enough to shock and not kill)

sketched the outlook if should i use parapet walls to cover the low angle roof.
and got this:

10 degrees pitch and 5 degrees pitch, covered with 3' parapet wall.


17 degrees pitch and 5 degrees pitch, 6' parapet


3' parapet, 5 degrees pitch.

but i still think this looks better:

15 degrees pitch


17 degrees pitch

we've experimented with quite a number of roof design:


any suggestion?

Should be DIY style design, unless you build your own.

How about a one piece slanted cantilever roof.

something like this?

15 and 17 degree looks great. Looks more cosy. the one piece slanted looks like factory design

This two looks good. Its very good for rain harvesting as well if you are into it and you have high ceiling height.

This is not bad too, construction wise I can only think of I beam and wrap with aluminium ...


This post has been edited by ShadowR1: May 6 2014, 08:14 PM

floorplan:


with dimension:

walls, windows and openings added.


all the walls are spec-ed at 12cm, except for the ht room wall which is spec-ed at 24cm.
24cm ala DIY style. double bricked wall with an air gap to have maximum sound attenuation. thick wall, so should have no problem mounting double door to the ht room. if required. maybe.


walls and interior spaces rearranged so that there's minimal cutting needed to the tile.
since it's DIY, i could spec the walls and spaces to be in exact feet length, to the nearest cm, nearest half a meter or whatever i want. might as well spec it to be in multiples of 60cm.

Kitchen should not be too near to main door.

Wet kitchen ... heavily ventilated ?

Edited ...
Stuffing fiberglass in the air gap of the HT wall ?

Structural drawing ?

This post has been edited by ShadowR1: May 9 2014, 11:55 PM

why's that? any particular reason it's not recommended?

you could say that. i'll try and post the 3d for the wet kitchen.
not planning to put cooker hood on top of the cooking area. so there's no top cabinet at the cooking cabinet. just exhaust fan.

nope. just gonna leave it empty. air gap.

don't have it yet. it's all diy, so haven't draw.
got a sketch for the main structures tho. drawn sketched by a civil engineer.

impressive, as an architect, i like 17 inch pitch roof, anything regarding the design layout, can ask me, i can give my opinion.

Thnks!

are you thinking abt self-sustaining module? i.e. Solar panels etc. If so then more roof-area could be useful.

My 2 cents if I plan on doing a DIY house

how about internal courtyard... open bath... private space... interesting right.. you can play around!! dont be scared!

your master bedroom so pity, the shape not defining the 'MASTER' itself..

how about a bit of privacy of outdoor deck for your beautiful queen.

no need solar panel..expensive i guess..
why not passive energy?

natural ventilation..
sun orientation..
wind stack effect



wowwiiii

If i have the kind of real-estate you do, I'd be intent on making some money out of it.

Say you consume less than the what the solar panel provides, you can supply the excess energy to TNB line and get money out of it. So the ROI for the expensive solar panels can be paid off quicker.

Just my thoughts

Hi..is this located sumwhere in yan?

Logical thinking.
Is like putting your backside in front.
Anything should go on order, eat with mouth, sheet from back side.

Why do I feel that the master bedroom is a bit small..
Overall, the floorplan is very nice though..

solar panels are not viable for implementation. the cost is too high.
the house will be built in area that have lots of sunshine, but the panel cost is too much considering how much output it generates.

trying to avoid those as budget is limited. we're steering clear of negative spaces to maximize interior space.
tho internal garden will be implemented as part of future extension plan.

refer plan below.

the master bedroom size is already 17'x15'. the toilet took a lot of space since wife really (really really) wants a jacuzzi in there.
so to fit in a 1.5mx1.5m jacuzzi we have to compromise the bedroom size.

i have to agree the master bedroom size isn't as large as most RM1million houses that i've been, but for my requirement it's adequate. i'm not planning to put a TV or a work desk in there. my previous main bedroom is only 12'x12'

budget constraints.

do more extensive research for the solar feed-in-tariff to change your mind.
currently it costs circa RM10k for 1kW panel. say you get 10 hours of sunlight from 8am-6pm everyday, generating 10kW of electricity.
that's 10 unit of power, which you paid in average 30 cents per unit from TNB. so everyday you generate RM3 of electricity at best case scenario.
every month RM90. so RM10k will take you 9.2 years to break even. in a perfect situation.

after 10 years something will almost certainly break. and if it does then there goes your investment.
the only reason people are going for solar FIT is because TNB is paying them a lot more compared to the rate. 4-5 times more.
read more about the solar fit tariff. there's even a few threads here in lowyat.

no. further north near the border to perlis.

logic not found.
we purposely put the kitchen there so it's easier to see if someone's coming through the entrance and porch.
furthermore it's not wet kitchen there. it's the dry kitchen, which is more functional as the dining area.

i find it a hassle having to drag an entire trunk full of groceries through the main door, living room, pass the dining area just to get to the kitchen.
the proposed plan fully separate guest and family area. guests don't have to see the kitchen and family area. and family members have easy access to the family area and bedrooms.

So basically you are following a flat's concept.

natural ventilation is indeed considered. together with sun orientation.
sun movement and natural lighting for the proposed design is even simulated in google earth and sketchup to make sure i don't get too much sunlight and heat up the house.

any good idea on how to improve the ventilation? i've posted the wind direction and sun movement before.


it is quite small. the HT room is the single biggest room in the house.
for the current funding situation, must make do. can move the master bedroom to another part of the house if should i proceed to extend the house. refer extension plan below.


something like this. not in any way final.
but i could add another ~1000 sqft to the house for another RM80-100k. additional 4 more bedrooms and an indoor garden.
in 10 years time, maybe. if necessary.

i'm not an architect. not familiar as to how flats are designed.
it looks like a flat, designed like a flat, but 3x the space of a flat. must be an expensive condo.

Well, when we have the land to design, might as well design it perfectly.
Try design it such that it is truly square or rectangle without too much angles, it will really make the house looks bigger.
And I won't build too much of kitchen cabinets also. Big house with cramped cabinets will make it small.

Tracking this thead. I'm very interested with building own house. Now i'm in the quest of finding land at the reasonable price.

tiles bought.
niro granite basaltina.
grey basalt and dark grey basalt.

these have been sitting outside for a couple of weeks now. for testing purposes.

we're going for a modern look, without all that shiny shiny mirror finish floor effect.


experimented with a couple of designs, and opting for a simple straight parallel line across the room.

proposed tiling plan.

most of the house will be using the basaltina, except for main living room and guest dining area.
wife wants a cement or concrete finish for that area.

she won't let me put the same tile in my ht room.

I'm wondering who else did you hire to build your house...like planner, M&E consultant, etc. What kind of paper work is require at certain stages of the house building, paper work for authorities etc?

How's your tiles durable test going?

Interesting post! Am gonna follow this post

Since you built your own house and looking some idea and solution, you can read something from here --> http://www.cooltek.org/

This site is from a British couple who retired here and built their own house in golf course air keroh. He write very detail how to cool down, save energy and other about built a house. Earn many award also.

But he no longer update his website since he pass away suddenly 2yrs ago . You can download his report and others to read and follow.

i didn't hire anyone. it's DIY so i (we) did it ourselves. pandai pandai try try like that one. haha
tho there's an architect directly involved in the design. indirectly involved an electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and 3 civil engineer. well basically everyone from my wife's office.

residential plan submission for my area only involves the local council. but since it's a rural area even the local council doesn't bother about it. check with your local council.

the tile is freakin durable. kindda expected from a full bodied heavy duty tile. i've compared the tile after sitting outside for 1 month against the others from the box and there's no fading.

thanks. i've came across the site before. it's properly measured and the results are quite scientific in nature.
too bad the owner passed away. no wonder it's not updated for quite a while. would really to know how the current cost of their fully air-conditioning cost since the entire house is fully air conditioned 24/7.

after a few years the air-cond efficiency drop and the cost goes up. i've read that it used to cost them RM70/month to fully air-cond the house 24/7.

i've asked for a few lighting proposal.
here's the one that really makes sense and i really like:


converted to visio for easy understanding:


the PDF is attached. pardon the missing right side wall. my pdf printer is stupid. it's free so yeah.
 Visio_electrical_wiring.pdf ( 97.83k ) Number of downloads: 38

bought some LED lights and your normal CFL lights to check for their efficiency and light output.




i don't trust manufacturer specs, especially those from shady brands like these oxyone lights. so bought the ones that my wife really like to do an actual measurement.
the oxyone leds are rated for 18w, compared against phillips 18w, phillips 11w and panasonic 18w.

also bought these ge10 and mr16 small led lights to measure their power efficiency and light output.



i did my phd in energy efficiency so yes it's a major consideration.

opting for 100w energy usage for wall light, garden light, flood light and any other lights turned on during sleep time. makes no sense to put all those nice nice mood & outdoor lighting only to be turned off most of time because they're too expensive to run.
100w x 10 hours everyday from 9pm-7am x 30 day = 30kw = RM9 to run every month. ngam ngam budget haha

Nice work!

Maybe "lumens per watt" might be a better measurement of efficiency? The usual ones are around 65 lpw, good ones are approaching or exceed 100 lpw.

I'm an electrical engineer too, hehe if you don't mind me been nosey and offering my opinion.

Hope we can exchange ideas.

Hi Paskal,

Thanks for sharing your journey.

I think building on stilts is another idea given the reasons below:
a. coastline - wind or storm surge will bring in the water esp if there's a river nearby.
b. Ventilation - easily allows for wind to come in.

The car park area could be either heightened with an elevated bay or their structure augmented with storm doors if build at ground level.

Building materials like AAC help slow down heat build up on from the exterior. Natural lighting via clerestory windows as shown in some of your sketches and as some mentioned taking advantage of prevailing winds to naturally ventilate the house.

This post has been edited by halcyon27: Jun 10 2014, 09:03 PM

it is, but i still don't have any good method of measuring the light output. haven't researched how manufacturers carry out their measurement to come up with their lumens per watt rating.

i do have access to a lux meter, but need to build a makeshift reflector to channel the light and avoid diffraction. so for now it's just relative comparison when the room lights are turned off and the sample lamps turned upwards to light the ceiling.

nice to see another engineer. the led lights are freakin simple to construct. can even build ourselves DIY style.

Hope this info will speed up some of your research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy#Examples_2

Have thought of return of investment? Price of LED with power saving(TNB Bill) vs CFL with much lower capital(Half as much if im not wrong [With Fixtures, etc]) while both having the same-ish LPW (Lumen per watt).

Personally, i have did a rough calculation on this topic, it turns out to be CFL favour...ROI was just too long and the warranty are usual 1 year or 2.

But i'm eager to read your thoughts and findings on these.

BTW, have you thought of have a 2nd floor or a ventilated roof system to isolate your first floor from direct sunlight heat ray, to saves A/C bills =P . Another topic im interested in.

It is good to know the actual running watt. Sometime really difficult to believe what they claim. Specially for the LED.

Is this the actual watt for the led light 18w? Or their state spec? What is the lumens ? How is the Amp measure before and after the power supply?

Agree, verify their "claims" first. We can crunch the numbers later =P

i've read that them Autoclaved aerated concrete-AAC have some sort of health issue? got a thread before this discussing the aac building material.
searched the net and found there's a sort of lawsuit regarding aac. no idea if the same issue is apparent in malaysia since i've seen a couple of building in my area built using something that resembles an aac block.

there's just the master bedroom wall that's gonna heat up from the evening sun. thinking of adding a sunshading wall later if the heat buildup is too much. quite sceptical of adopting aac after reading about the issues.

it serves as a rough guideline, but the actual light efficacy have to be measured since not all LED have the same efficacy.
manufacturing process, material used, the housing, etc etc all have a direct effect to the light output. i got a friend that's from the industry, worked till senior engineer post at a japanese company manufacturing led solutions before resigning. detailed explanation from him till get earbleed.

anyway the ROI is just too long. kindda not worth to implement the entire house with LED. at some parts of the house it's more logical and cheaper to use cfl.

roof insulation is integrated. i'm gonna use monier's bubble wrap roof insulation system just after the roof tile, with an air gap of 1-2 inch. that should provide the best possible insulation for the roof.

i've came across a study on roof insulation and bubble wrap with an air gap is indeed the best possible way to get the highest heat attenuation. monier have another double layer bubble wrap called super r or something like that. no idea if it's available locally.
the current quotation is for the monier roof with bubble wrap insulation and air gap.

must consider roof insulation since electricity costs isn't coming down. after all, the difference isn't by much. i'm even considering of adding another bubble wrap layer (or a few more layer) laid on top of the plaster ceiling to further attenuate heat transfer from above. only problem is the FIRE HAZARD haha.

to improve ventilation inside the roof structure, i'm gonna use these ceiling panels for the outside:



i actually have this:

so i visit friend's house, other peoples house, house in construction and measured their ceiling temperature. haha
some using high roof, low roof, metal deck, metal deck with insulation, asbestos ceiling, plaster ceiling, low pitch, high pitch, no ceiling, roof tile, etc etc.
with this little device it's all scientific and require no guesstimation

it's quite late. till next time.

In Saudi Arab, they have this kind of aerated clay brick. Very effective.
Even at mid noon can sleep in hotel room on high floor with just fan on.

But not sure if can get locally. Or if local sifus know how to build with this. Much bigger size than our standard brick.