House building

cougarcar20 wrote:

Hi everyone, my name is Peter and hope someone can help me with an argument I'm having with my Vietnamese wife.
We have purchased a property in LaGi  which is in Binh Thuan Province and I'm designing a three story house. I want a flat concrete terrace roof but she wants a tiled V-shape roof because she says it's cheaper then the concrete flat roof ( the area of the roof will be about 80 m2 ). So if anyone can help with which one is the cheaper to build in Vietnam.
Any help would be very grateful.
Stay safe and healthy.
Peter

Forget costs.. flat concrete terrace style easier to maintain than traditional western tiled/pitched roofs. Added to which pitched roofs are great hiding places for birds and other animals. Just spent some time in Tay Ninh under a pitched roof. Poxy birds stomping around are noisy sods.

Happy wife, happy life is cheaper for your roof. Anything against your wife will be very expensive later. There is certain cost that can't be measure with money. So choose wisely and take care of yourself.

Thanks for the reply, yes I agree with you and I also like the terrace as I can use it a a large BBQ and entertainment area, but it's the wife wants the tiled roof.

cougarcar20 wrote:

Hi everyone, my name is Peter and hope someone can help me with an argument I'm having with my Vietnamese wife.
We have purchased a property in LaGi  which is in Binh Thuan Province and I'm designing a three story house. I want a flat concrete terrace roof but she wants a tiled V-shape roof because she says it's cheaper then the concrete flat roof ( the area of the roof will be about 80 m2 ). So if anyone can help with which one is the cheaper to build in Vietnam.
Any help would be very grateful.
Stay safe and healthy.
Peter

Rule 1. Don't argue with your wife.
Rule 2. See rule 1.

Thanks, she like the flat roof idea better but she is thinking of the cost. I told her the flat roof is cheaper but she thinks it's dearer so hope to get info to prove the flat roof is cheaper

cougarcar20 wrote:

Thanks for the reply, yes I agree with you and I also like the terrace as I can use it a a large BBQ and entertainment area, but it's the wife wants the tiled roof.

It might be your house but it's her home...

Waterproofing flat roofs here is very challenging - and I would not recommend. Flat concrete roofs may be cheaper here but that is because the waterproofing systems used are so crude.  As an Architect working here I often have to try and deal with water penetration problems from flat concrete roofs. For my own house that I built 10+ years ago, my worst mistake was having some areas of flat roof. 
A common way here to have a pitched concrete roof with tiles, it produces a typhoon safe roof that looks nice. My preference is to have a flat concrete ceiling soffit with a pitched roof above. It can be designed to be storm proof and has a useable loft storage area with good noise deadening. Both of the above are more expensive than the common basic arrangement of a pitched roof with just a paneled ceiling (which is not storm or noise proof).

Arguing with you wife is like reading a Software License Agreement. In the end, you ignore everything and click "I agree"

To: Cougarcar20 : do listen to Thuansoft with very wise advice. I assume you are expat, so this is not your turf. Even as we don't like it, often we need swallow our pride and smash our ego, because unless you are very Fluent in language and culture, we as foreign spouse, rely on VN wife for support here. So don't ever go against her, you may pay some penalties later,  subtly along the way...

cougarcar20 wrote:

Hi everyone, my name is Peter and hope someone can help me with an argument I'm having with my Vietnamese wife.
We have purchased a property in LaGi  which is in Binh Thuan Province and I'm designing a three story house. I want a flat concrete terrace roof but she wants a tiled V-shape roof because she says it's cheaper then the concrete flat roof ( the area of the roof will be about 80 m2 ). So if anyone can help with which one is the cheaper to build in Vietnam.
Any help would be very grateful.
Stay safe and healthy.
Peter

I have had 2 houses built here & my experience was the opposite. The V shape tiled roof was more expensive.
We went for the V shape tiled because .............me......... because in the rainy season it copes with the torrential rain better.................her........ because a V shaped tiled roof had more status in the village.

Oh thank you very much, I think this is the first reply to actually answer my question about which is more expensive. Do you happen to know how much more expensive ( 10% ) or something, if not no worries and thank you again for the information

cougarcar20 wrote:

Oh thank you very much, I think this is the first reply to actually answer my question about which is more expensive. Do you happen to know how much more expensive ( 10% ) or something, if not no worries and thank you again for the information

Nearly 14 years ago so no

No worries thanks for the reply
Wish you and your family a safe and healthy life

cougarcar20 wrote:

Oh thank you very much, I think this is the first reply to actually answer my question about which is more expensive. Do you happen to know how much more expensive ( 10% ) or something, if not no worries and thank you again for the information

Well, there are a lot of variables. Do you want to used hand-mixed concrete or premixed. Will you use a pump or crane and kibble. What about using a rebar treatment due to being near the seaside. What about admixtures in the concrete. Best to sort out exactly what you are going to build and get two quotes for those specific things.

As for the tiled roof, what materials are you going to use. Again, being near the seaside will you use galvanised trusses or timber. The list goes on and on.

Yes thanks for this information it will help a lot.
Wish you and your family great health and safety for the future

colinoscapee wrote:

cougarcar20 wrote:

Oh thank you very much, I think this is the first reply to actually answer my question about which is more expensive. Do you happen to know how much more expensive ( 10% ) or something, if not no worries and thank you again for the information

Well, there are a lot of variables. Do you want to used hand-mixed concrete or premixed. Will you use a pump or crane and kibble. What about using a rebar treatment due to being near the seaside. What about admixtures in the concrete...

That would be my greatest concern if ever building a house anywhere.

I can't find it with a Google search but there was a story out about a year ago that involved a subdivision of homes in the United States where the original contractors had used the incorrect material for their admixture to the concrete.

I think it was then about four or more years later that all of the foundations were crumbling.

Yes. If they use salt water (from the ocean) the concrete sets up when poured, but doesn't have the same structural characteristics.... Bad news. Must be fresh water to mix concrete.

condo collapse in Florida

All comments to your dilemma offer good thoughts for consideration.
Pitched roofs can provide a cooling air space and tend to minimize water infiltration. Roof tiles over a steal frame can be like living inside a snare drum during hard rains (especially metal tiles or corrugated metal panels), but this can be controlled by installing clay or concrete tiles. Of course, construction methods and materials cost widely vary. 
Flat roof decks provide additional m2, but can introduce a few problems. Heat gain, but this can be controlled with ridged insulation panels. Then there's the screed and waterproofing membrane material cost. Concrete has the inherent nature of cracking, a given. The membrane sucess 'always' depends on the installer's methods and skills. Also, slab penetrations are often a common leak source. Choosing a skilled contractor that doesn't fudge on the concrete mix and employs skilled workers is key.
Costing pitched vs flat roof could possibly resolve the decision.  Good luck!
There's structural loading, but that's another conversation.

Thanks for your reply

River Frogs wrote:

All comments to your dilemma offer good thoughts for consideration.
Pitched roofs can provide a cooling air space and tend to minimize water infiltration. Roof tiles over a steal frame can be like living inside a snare drum during hard rains (especially metal tiles or corrugated metal panels), but this can be controlled by installing clay or concrete tiles. Of course, construction methods and materials cost widely vary. 
Flat roof decks provide additional m2, but can introduce a few problems. Heat gain, but this can be controlled with ridged insulation panels. Then there's the screed and waterproofing membrane material cost. Concrete has the inherent nature of cracking, a given. The membrane sucess 'always' depends on the installer's methods and skills. Also, slab penetrations are often a common leak source. Choosing a skilled contractor that doesn't fudge on the concrete mix and employs skilled workers is key.
Costing pitched vs flat roof could possibly resolve the decision.  Good luck!
There's structural loading, but that's another conversation.

Great post, you have hit the nail on the head with this summery, especially water ingress on flat roof & I have had first hand experience of that, living on the 15th floor apartment with only the flat concrete on top........& it leaked but thats too long a story for this post!
Dont even think about tin roof even tin tiles on a pitched roof!!