I'm with the guys above. Keep em coming. It looks a real classy build.
I'm with the guys above. Keep em coming. It looks a real classy build.
CNX.... Tried to PM you but I don't have the required 20 posts yet. You might try to PM me with your email address as I might be able to receive them.
Thanks for all the info. The pics, wood, and view look great.
Fantastic !!!
Congratulations and good luck with the rest of the journey.......
Love the thread as well. But agreed how are you keeping it at that cost? With all the wood work as well?Originally Posted by giggs
I know it sounds cheap - and no it is no mistake. I have every single bill filed for all the materials and the ones for labor separately.
honestly it took weeks of research to estimate the costs - but that would have not been enough if I wouldn’t have had the help of my project manager Khun Supachai.
I was also lucky that one Thai construction company left me with a written proposal very detailed listing all the materials and specifications. That was a proposal of 4.5 million! It would have not included any of the wood work and no free choice of materials - so most probably the cheapest they could get away with.
I was long suspicious of the prices listed so I did the following: for weeks I was driving around with Supachai to check all the prices for materials used - while I (as the Farang) was hiding in the car (he told me "if they see you the price probably doubles!") - he checked and wrote down all the prices on a list - visiting different suppliers. At the end we had a good overview of what we would spend for materials - add the labor cost and here we go - I had also confirmation that all the prices on the proposal from the construction company where highly "inflated"!
I had additional help from Khun Wed the builder who has a wealth of experience and advised us constantly where we could save and where we should not! He also has a number of suppliers where we have been able to get materials at even better prices than we had researched. The biggest savings however where on the construction cost side. Supachai and Wed gave me a very fair price - the same they would charge a Thai for construction work and I must say they have done a great job so far. To my surprise when we prepared the contract they offered also that all interior woodwork would be included in the labor cost!
They are not the fastest and take their time but I had prepared myself for that before - do not start to built in Thailand under time pressure - there will always be unexpected delays!
For a Farang in Thailand taking on such a project I think it is very important to have a "go-between" person like Khun Supachai – who is loyal to the owner but also very friendly with the construction crew. Whenever I need something from the builder and construction crew he is the one who I talk to - he then talks to them Thai to Thai and this has worked great so far.
Whenever Supachai asks me for a 1000 Baht for rice, 500 baht for whisky and beer I give it to him without a question – it keeps the moral of the crew high and they enjoy to work there - and after all they have saved me a lot of money in the first place. I hope there is some left at the end to give them a little extra bonus they really deserve it!
even more admiration for you now. We did the exact same thing when we rebuilt our first house over 20 years ago now. Really glad to know it can still be done. I can remember going around and buying seconds of cotto tiles. What a savings one small flaw in a box of 24. Hell hide that one.Originally Posted by CNXDoiSaket
Just browsed through the pictures - very nice.
I'll have to go through in detail when I've more time; looking forward to that.
Lokks great, and looks expensive... Good luck with the rest of the build, OP.
great looking wooden ceilings, they will be good to live with
the house is coming on fine, and the views are nice too
Great photo's of the build, love the ceilings, we must be quite near to you, my wife while walking around our complex met a lady from Roi Et with 100 dogs who's daughter is married to an American and renting whilst house being built, not your Mother in Law by any chance? (guessed you were a Yank by your spelling of labor)
Looking good. My experience has shown that building a house in Thailand can be reasonable even with the fittings. However, what is expensive is the next step.
For example, curtains. Looks like you might need a few.
Those views are fantastic CNX, thanks for posting the piccys and waiting
with bated breath for the next instalment.
^ what happened to your brother from Buriram?
Yes it was a super deal giggs.
They usually charge 2200 Baht a sm2 - but because my project was so big and they where happy to get a project that would keep them busy for many month they gave me a special deal at 2000 Baht a sm2. The average price per sm2 came down also because the part of the house underneath which was not planned in first they did not charge me by sm2 but a lump sum of 40.000 Baht for the work to dig deeper for the posts and remove the soil and for the walls - I had to buy the materials anyway.
This sm2 price does NOT INCLUDE - electric work, plumbing, painting - but purely constrution work, roof, ceilings, fixing the doors and windows, floors (tiling, laminate).
Tthey have a plumber, electrician and a paint crew who they work with since years of course one has to negotiate with them again but they are very straight forward. We went around with them separately and they estimated the total price incl. work and materials.
One good example for their connections are the teak doors - I had been looking around or wooden doors for a while - teak was out of the question because of the high price. After all
I needed 21 doors and the prices for teak doors I saw in most shops where between 5600 and 10.000 Baht each!
Some phone calls where made and about a month later a supplier they know replied and came to see us with a series of photos of teak doors at a price between 2800 - 3200 Baht depending on the pattern one wanted. I was surprised about the low price but found out that the company was in the process of supplying 250 teak doors to a very large project - some of them had minor damage, scratches which will probably not even be visible after painting - so they offered me the 21 doors I needed at the incredible price of 2500 and 3000 Baht for the different patterns I wanted. The doors where delivered and inspected and some of the minor damage pointed out I would not even have noticed if not shown.
The rest is really up to you - you can choose the materials used which determine the overall costs and I have not used any cheap materials at all - even the red bricks are the larger slightly more expensive variety.
no I am not a Yank, - and no she's not my mother in law! hahaha.....English as actually not my first language.
I am originally from Austria and my project is just down the road from Wat San-Sai where the Swiss gentleman has built this enormously big and very beautiful Thai style house - guess we are going to call it the "Alps of Doi Saket" if any more of us come down from the snow covered mountains and settle here!
Once I have my sound system up and running just follow the joddeling sounds - promise I will always have some ice-cold beer in the fridge for unexpected visitors!
Thanks for being so forth coming with numbers. We've been looking at building a new house and it's excellent to find out what the figure for construction should be.
The house looks great by the way.
^ I think you would be very lucky to get a price anywhere near that, unless you intend to live far far away
CNX.... I sent you an email so check it out.
Where are you going to get your windows and doors? The price range of those items is extreme.
true..the choice is wood (best), aluminium or plastic (any others?)
I used mainly reclaimed wooden windows and shutters, but a modern style house might not suit those, it depends on the style you want
thanks cnx for your prompt and courteous reply
at 2000 baht a sq metre construction costs as you have described is certainly a super deal
in fact santa clause has came early for you
but at the end of the day your total costs will amount to more then 5500 baht a sq metre as previously mentioned
but never the less what ever that total maybe you certainly appear to be on a super deal all round
may the good luck continue to be on your side for the duration of your build
once again thank you for your reply
Check out these prices back in the USA! Don't forget these are per square FOOT!
New House Square Foot Residential Construction Costs - B4UBUILD.COM
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