Building a house in Isaan, for Dummies.

[Lite Beer]

Looks like you had a good deal. Seems a fare price.
How does the MIL cage cope in a thunderstorm with the wind blowing the rain horizontal? Does it keep dry?

One word of advice. Check to see if the electrics are earthed. Many Thai "electricians" will not do this. If not it is pretty cheap to do afterward.

[sabang]

Originally Posted by Lite Beer

How does the MIL cage cope in a thunderstorm with the wind blowing the rain horizontal? Does it keep dry?

Thats what the other kitchen is for.

Originally Posted by Lite Beer

Check to see if the electrics are earthed

I reckon I'll do that- the builders say it was earthed, but I haven't checked.

[Butterfly]

^^ good question. How do you check if it's earthed ? and do you fix it ?

[Lite Beer]

Bare in mind that I am also a dummy.
Are the electric sockets 3 pin?

Have you got a copper earth rod banged into the ground with a wire connected to it going to the electric circuit?

We got an electrician to bang a 3 meter copper earth rod into the ground. Change the 2 pin sockets to 3 pin and connect them up to the earth rod.
Our electric showers had the earth wires going into the roof going nowhere. They are now connected to the earth. Scared the hell out of me every time I had a shower.
Sorry not very technical but as said I am also a building dummy.

This bloke knows more than I do.

The Thailand Wiring Page

[Fabian]

Originally Posted by sabang

Thats what the other kitchen is for.

But will you let the MIL out of the cage during the thunderstorms?

[peterpan]

Every Thai MIL I have ever meet is a honey, I could imagine the ol Chinese ones to be a bit dragonian (I think I have invented new word) but the issarn ones, great !

[Lite Beer]

Originally Posted by peterpan

Every Thai MIL I have ever meet is a honey, I could imagine the ol Chinese ones to be a bit dragonian (I think I have invented new word) but the issarn ones, great !

You are not wrong PP

[MUSTY]

Hi Mike here,
Loved your place.
In laws require a house.
This seems the perfect fit.
Please assist with builders details and contact.
My Thai wife loves it and I would like to
try to deal with the devil you know than the
devil I have not met yet.
Please assist.
Mike and Nussara

[sabang]

Originally Posted by Lite Beer

Are the electric sockets 3 pin?

All the sockets are 3 pin.

Mike/Musty- PM on it's way. I oughta charge these builders a commission.
They've already started one house based on a referral from ourselves- dunno if it's a TD'er.

Well I took my Mum and Wicked Stepdad up to see the place last week, and give them a taste of village life. A leak had recently sprung that appeared to be under the Isaan Porch (actually it was under the steps going up to the Porch). Seemed like a tough one to fix- but Mrs got on the phone to the Builders. Amazingly, they said they would come down all the way from Khon Kaen two days later to take care of it.

And come they did, by which time a small leak had also sprung under the second bathroom sink cabinet, which is never used unless we're there. The Builder, Mrs Builder, their daughter- who had become friends with the family Kids, and a worker. This is pretty impressive really- KK is around 200km away. The leaks were duly fixed (the one under the steps required some jackhammering and reconcreting), and whilst they were there they plastered and painted over a couple of micro cracks- nothing structural- that had appeared on the outside of the house, which you would normally expect.

Amazing Thailand . This does not fit the usual script. Yep, I'm well pleased with these builders- who obviously take pride in their job, and the house is doing fine.

Drinks that night were on me.

[MUSTY]

Thank you Sabang,
Contacted ORR today and gave her details to go around to the
MIL Farm and check out a suitable site. It appears that the builders
are 5 to 10 minutes down the road. We are near Nong Rua.
For your information, ORR told us straight up front that the cost
of the building has gone up. Bricks had risen 12 per cent etc.
Given this information, it supports that you did get a good price.
With everything that is going on in the world. The price can only
head north.
Reading through your adventures. We will keep it simple by using your
exact design. Island bench, change front glass (opaque),
pick up on your whoopsies.
Good upgrades etc. Just perhaps having the 3 bedroom version.
Your thoughts on that Sabang.
Or any other suggestions.........
Anyway, they will quote now and I will let you know how it compares with
your price.

Thanks again,
Mike and Nussara.

[sabang]

Hi Mike,

Theres plenty of room for a 3rd B/R, I'd prolly put it there, with the pillar as a corner-



Thus leaving an L shaped living area, as opposed to the 'T' large shape now. Easy to put a bathroom in too.

You could also go here, leaving a rectangular living area, but it would seperate the 3rd B/R, & plumbing more pricey-



Good luck- if you want to make the long haul & check out our place, you're welcome. Just tell Orr, and she'll fix it up with the MIL.

[MUSTY]

Dear Sabang,
Musty here, Just an update with our initial inquiry.
The husband and wife team came to the farm and
checked it out with the MIL.
To exactly reproduce what you have, right up to the
lighting, fan, upgrade toilets plus what ever else you had.
Price 1.4 m/bht.
Base price without the upgrades 1.2 M/Bht
To have a three bedroom version of the base price it
is 1.25 M/Bht.
Your thougts on this, did they make little money on your
place and are squaring it up in a fair minded way.
Did the price of building materials rise. Their is plenty of
evidence here with respects to brick and steel current prices.
Is their a 'falang' factor.
From what I have read, these people seem to show good service,
value and a good degree of trust.
My wife believes that this is a good price considering
the current market.
Do you have the original floor plan of the three bedroom
version you borrowed. (never admit any wrong doings, you
are only in trouble in this world, if you are caught)
That you may send me.

Your thoughts on this matter would be appreciated.

Michael and Nussara

[sabang]

^ Inflation is real, and the Builders basically pulled all stops out to get the job completed as quickly as they could Mike, to get their money out and turn some profit. Yes, our timing was fortunate- Orr made this quite clear. Building material costs started shooting up as soon as we signed the contract (and before), and I think in particular they had some stock of breeze blocks they had got at 'yesterdays prices', fortunately.

I estimate our completed pile cost 1mm bht, factoring in the direct builders costs plus what extra we paid for slightly better stuff for them to install. If you are doing a direct 1:1 comparison with your 1.4mm quotation then, I think 40% cost price inflation does seem a bit high. I don't know what other factors apply though such as earth moving, foundation considerations on your soil or whatever.

20- 25% would seem closer to the mark. Not wishing to be cynical, but could their be a small commission for the MIL built in, for furniture or something? At least you've got the good news that the strength of the AUD somewhat offsets the Baht price inflation - I paid more for my baht!

Haggle, don't sign anything yet, make it clear to your wife and MIL, and the Builder that you are fully prepared to ask for more quotes, or put the whole thing off for a few months if necessary. There should be some room for negotiation there.

[dantomat]

Brilliant. First thread I've read since signing up and already the donation seems trivial.
Just one criticism. From what I've already seen on other (inferior!) sites, the cost of plans is small, around 15k baht for full detail, so is it really moral to 'copy' aka steal intellectual property? Profit margins in LOS are small anyway.

Don't fry me. It's only a suggestion

[sabang]

^ Fair enuff. 15K doesn't bother me, but I found the basics of what I wanted on public domain, then altered it some. Found the builders to do the job- with a few more alterations at their suggestion- after checking around. So, we got influences from other places built before- but the actual architects were the Builder & myself.

I've heard some horror stories about Thai architects also, like them demanding royalties if you don't go with the builders they specify and so on.

I just got what I wanted- simple, functional, ez to follow etc the simplest way possible. Thats my philosophical approach to living here.

As far as I'm concerned, 'architecture' on a simple bungalow like that is like most legal conveyancing in the West- basically a cut n' paste job.

[smeden]

nice tread i migth contact u to get in contact with your builders seems a fair price to me

[BigRed]

If you go to Living in Asia you will find downloadable plans of houses provided free from the Thai Government. You will find that this is the same url as Lite Beers link to the wiring advice, but the home page doesn't seem to link to either

[MUSTY]

Dear Sambang,
Musty here again, firstly I want to say that your contributions in these
forums have been tremendous. Enjoyed all your photos on your recent
holiday. (As well as many other readers)
Forums are great ways to share knowledge, information and opinions.
Opinions can never be wrong, and may at some time be proven wrong or
right, but who cares, all part of the 'learning for life'.

With respects to the plans, once you have developed your own concepts of
an idea, they become your own. The only theft is me, taking from what you and
your own builder have conceived and copying it.

This has benefited me the most, because mistakes made by the builder
are usually rectified in the next attempt. Also makes it easier to price and there
is less change of any communication break downs.

My brother is a builder and house designer and he states, 'No one worries about
chasing people for breaches nowadays. You take an idea and make it better, you know own a better idea. Your concept is a sufficent change that makes it better for you. Example:- a minor change can effect the air flow or light in a building.
This is sufficent to indicate a change or improvement based on your imput.'

Just thought that I would share that with you.

As far as the price is concerned, thanks for that. I believe that a 25% increase is sufficent and will present that to the builder.
As far as being competitive with your house price and this one. We would have to have started at the same start line at the same time.

So all in all, you are no dummy Sabang, just someone unselfish enough to
share the good and bad in all things.
So for that mate, many thanks for your positive contributions. Keep it up.

Kindest
Michael and Nussara

[MUSTY]

Dear Sabang,
Sorry for spelling it wrong in one of my previous messages.

Yesterday we came to an agreed price on this home after a some intense
negotiations. The price for your design, slightly modified to a three
bedroom design (the area in front of the carport) with all inclusions,
but standard toilet and basins in the two bathrooms. Both western kitchen
and a little larger thai kitchen at the rear. Insulation and your grade of
tiles etc. Resulted in a 1.15 million baht agreed price.

Now we will upgrade the water tank, do you know the maximum size
water tank that you can purchase in this area. Global is just outside
Khon Kaen and we may try to see what else is available in the area.

The house itself is 122 square meters of living area. Possibly bigger
with car port and outside thai kitchen area.

Thanks again, apparently we are coming into a three month period that
effects the commencement of the stucture. The builders will ask which
day in the month is alright to start from their local monk and get back
to us.

Overall, the builders wife is a good negotiator and very upfront with
respects to pricing. She has also offered to give the MIL the deeds (chanote)
to their property as security and also a show of mutual trust.
They were punctional, inspected the site (good elevated site on 8 rai) with
little earthworks and preparation.

I would recommend this builder to anyone in their area. She finally concludes
in our conversation that she and her husband will give their 100% effort
with respects to the project. So beyond just words, it appears that your
experience supports their best intentions.
So we are ready for the journey.
Many thanks

Michael and Nussara

P.S Orr was delighted with your positive feed back on your MIL Bungalow.
their property

[sunsetter]

good luck with yours musty, hope you put a build thread up on teakdoor