good villa builders

[charlesanouzi]

dear all,

i m looking to buy a land in phuket or samui,
and want to build a 2 storey 250 to 300sqm villa with a garden and a pool,
been reading about house builders but not impressed with what i am finding on the net, before i decide to buy i m looking at 2 options:
1-buy a house with one of the big market name in a compound (would be happy if someone can list them )
2- buy a land and contact a house builder.

so i m studying both options now and would appreciate your help in listing the big real estate companies in phuket-samui, as listing a good house builders list in those location.

finally which option would be more cheaper according to your opinion.
my budget will be around 5 to 6 million thb including high quality material (granite, teakwood...)

tnx

[stevefarang]

For Phuket, you might want to double your budget.

PD House is the group I'm using to build my house. They have an office in Phuket. You can also check out their website for ideas. I've got mixed feelings about them right now. Another member was really screwed over by them at the onset of construction.

You best check the Thai laws. A foreigner cannot own property in Thailand without jumping through some mighty high hoops. If you don't have Thai partner, better get a good English speaking lawyer to help with the details.

How often can you be around to supervise construction ? Some type of temporary lodging/transportation will be another cost you need to factor in. How long a construction period ? Be sure to specify some type of penalty/damages if delayed.

As far as materials, be sure to specify Q-Con blocks (9+ cm width), instead of the cheaper red bricks that do not have the insulating properties like Q-Con.

I'm certain smarter people than I will be chiming in with all kinds of advice.

Steve

[Dead Metal]

Hi charles, your best bet is to spend a week or two going through TeakDoors construction pages. All your questions are answered (for-free) within these pages. Look up "stevefarangs" & "Dr.Andy"pages to give you an insight to building in the land of smiles. One thing you must endeavour to do for the entire duration of your build is "Be-There, Every-Day".
Best of luck and look forward to your build with lots of photos Please...

[charlesanouzi]

i m an engineer so i m familiar with standards, and i m a picky guy in that, i ve been with my gf for 5 years and getting married soon, so owning is not a problem, pd house is not a smart choice as i know,specially when building the foundation, i dont know why its hard to find a good standard in thailand, material wise i m pretty good at choosing and testing it, time is not a problem for me, but i really want a decent house that wont crash with the first earthquake, heheeh, if u need some advise about flooring ,choosing the tiles, electrical standard and electrical material, will be more than happy to help u

[charlesanouzi]

what about alen the builder ,i heard a bit of positive stuff about him , but more pricey,
any opignion

[stevefarang]

Charles,
I was actually very satisfied with the foundation work done at our house by PD House. They did a good job with our pilings and building the skeleton of the house. I still think the interlocking concrete beams and columns is a good way to go.
I'm not sure why PD House failed so badly with richardshane's house, other than a shady local manager and engineer trying to cut corners. I feel bad that he expected something akin to what was done at our place.
My issues with them is more customer service related plus some attention to detail on the interior. And they are now 2 months behind the latest deadline, agreed to last August.
It's worth taking a look, if nothing else, for inspiration in house design.

[Sleesy]

Check out the above just a few minutes west of Heroines Roundabout for pretty good construction and prices (and location)....

We had one built there 3-4 years ago with only one issue !

They have pre built or you can spec your own ....

[Mozzbie47]

what about alen the builder ,i heard a bit of positive stuff about him , but more pricey,
any opignion

I would like to hear Marmite's opinion re Alan the builder

[ataloss]

#2 'be sure to specify Q-Con blocks' - not only insulates but deadens sound, fireproof, and lightweight yet strong. Even the Thai government buildings are now being constructed with it. Thicknesses vary but width and length are constant.
I would use 12.5 cm in the walls of all air-conditioned rooms, and 20cm thickness on the entire west side with glass blocks not windows.

If you'd appreciate an American-designed 2-Story 480m2( 5159ft2 ) 5-Bedrm designer home with the plans redone by a Thai architect to convert the entire 1st

floor garage as living space


including thessabahn stamp signifying Thai Govt approval, then PM me for details of the attached teaser pic.


You will be pleasantly amazed. I believe I also have the materiels list done separately - just need to check what storage container it's in. We never did build as Thai wife separated just after land purchase, and she got the land.

[Brown Sugar]

dear all,

i m looking to buy a land in phuket or samui,
and want to build a 2 storey 250 to 300sqm villa with a garden and a pool,
been reading about house builders but not impressed with what i am finding on the net, before i decide to buy i m looking at 2 options:
1-buy a house with one of the big market name in a compound (would be happy if someone can list them )
2- buy a land and contact a house builder.

so i m studying both options now and would appreciate your help in listing the big real estate companies in phuket-samui, as listing a good house builders list in those location.

finally which option would be more cheaper according to your opinion.
my budget will be around 5 to 6 million thb including high quality material (granite, teakwood...)

tnx

Piece of advice from one who had villa built professionally six years ago find a professional builder, inspect some of the properties he has constructed. If ground is at all suspect for stability and you are having a "concrete tiled" roof (heavy) make sure foundations are piled to the appropriate depth (not as expensive as you might think, a friend of mine ignored this and five years down the line requires major structural repairs to his property, incidentally mine does not have a single crack any where). LASTLY BUT MOST IMPORTANT - KEEP AWAY FROM "FAMILY" AMATEUR BUILDERS the work will be shoddy unstable and will probably cost you more in kick backs than a contracted builders price. Simple to draw up a fixed price contract where one pays by results at various stages of construction.

[DrAndy]

LASTLY BUT MOST IMPORTANT - KEEP AWAY FROM "FAMILY" AMATEUR BUILDERS the work will be shoddy unstable and will probably cost you more in kick backs than a contracted builders price.

you mean relatives, not Family builders, as in a small building company?

probably right

[charlesanouzi]

how to find a professional guy,is there a tip, as anyone could lie specially in thailand

[aging one]

and want to build a 2 storey 250 to 300sqm villa with a garden and a pool,

On Samui or Phuket very very hard to do without some land connections.

You are looking at an absolute minimum of 10,000 baht a tarung wah, probably much higher in each of these locations. So for a house on only 200 tarang wah you are looking at 2-4 million baht for the land alone.
The guys I know who have built house like usually have 1 rai + which is 400 tarang wah.
Best of luck.