Thread: Budget Build - Nong Khai

Hello,

What is the final estimated price ?

Thanks.

Good Luck with your build.

Glad to see some house building threads coming online......

Nice thread and looking forward to seeing how this turns out - hopefully well!

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Hi joesixpac, wish you all the best in your build.

Pillars look rather thin ?
my MIL's are bigger for sure !
could be an optical illusion !

Not sure Dead. Look narrow to me also. Will check.

Originally Posted by JournalistsAreLiars

Hello,

What is the final estimated price ?

Thanks.

That is the million baht question!! The floor plan I originally designed was around 100 m2 and I was trying desperately to bring it under 900k or so. That plan (there is a drawing earlier in the thread) had an inexpensive outdoor Thai kitchen tacked on the back and room for a second bathroom out back (to be put in at a later date),and some other things that helped lower the cost. My logic was the family likes to spend most of its time outside solicalizing and didn’t really need an indoor kitchen so a big front porch and a Thai kitchen (kind of a caged enclosure with lots of ventilation) would fit their needs. However, wife overruled me so the sq footage went up 35 m2, and now includes a western kitchen (which I don’t think they will use much), a second bathroom (probably a good idea), a dinning room (which likewise probably won’t be used) and a bhudda room (which they will likely use frequently but seems like a luxury item to me). We are overseas right now and the build is being largely left up to wife and MIL. I warned wife the bigger footprint would have a corresponding larger cost but I don’t think she really believed me until after the pillars were in and we were locked into the m2. The pillars are up, the steel support is up for the CPac and they are working on the foundation so we still have some room to make decisions that impact the overall cost. Wife finally looked at the build sheet and budget (partial because some items still haven’t been bid) I drafted so I think we will be getting costs framed up closer in the near future.

My guess right now is the house only, excluding land, landscaping, wall, etc., will be 1.2 TB. But MIL and wife are really going to need to real things in to make it happens. I will put in a build sheet and costs a little later on.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Good Luck with your build.

Glad to see some house building threads coming online......

thanks! We need the well wishes, believe me!

i love the build threads and am happy I can contribute although this build may be more a lesson on how not to do things!!

Originally Posted by Joesixpac

My logic was the family likes to spend most of its time outside solicalizing and didn’t really need an indoor kitchen so a big front porch and a Thai kitchen (kind of a caged enclosure with lots of ventilation) would fit their needs. However, wife overruled me

That could be correct logic some 50 years ago, not now when everybody socialize with smart phone, TV and a/c, out of the sun effect...

Originally Posted by Klondyke

That could be correct logic some 50 years ago, not now when everybody socialize with smart phone, TV and a/c, out of the sun effect...

True, everything seems to be wired now. Still think they will use the outdoor Thai style kitchen 90% more than indoor western kitchen.

Builder got got some dry weather and started on foundation. Have to tell you it looks shoddy and unworkmanlike to me. Can’t believe the think brick and cement block will hold the fill, floor and house that will sit in it. Looks like limited or no rebar also.

Great to see it progressing. Joe ...more good luck your way...!

A bit surprised he's not put the roof on so that he can keep working throughout the rains?

Any reason you know of why hes left it open?

They've got that industrial sized blue umbrella if the weather gets to wet

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Oh boy.....get rid of the brick layer ASAP. That is so bad, stupid, it will always want to fall dow

Hey, hey, not so harsh. If the blocks were locked inside somehow, then it is not so bad. Beside, the connecting cement mortar - 1:3 as usually made in Thailand - is strong enough to keep it together.

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

Great to see it progressing. Joe ...more good luck your way...!

thank you!!,

A bit surprised he's not put the roof on so that he can keep working throughout the rains?

Any reason you know of why hes left it open?

no reason there than Thais don’t apparently like to work in the rain and it has been raining a lot. He is back on site and working now and there has been progress but The foundation concerns me. Pictures of the two pipe for the two bathroom below. Notice there is some rebar in the breeze blocks but doesn’t seem enough for me.

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

They've got that industrial sized blue umbrella if the weather gets to wet

They tried to work in the rain a few weeks ago an a worker slipped off the roof and inured his hand - so they now have no faith in the embrella to protect them! But they did get a break in the rain to continue to work on foundation.

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

Oh boy.....get rid of the brick layer ASAP. That is so bad, stupid, it will always want to fall down. That is not the way to lay bricks .

You have your first line of bricks the next line that goes atop MUST cover the Joint of the line under.

So if you have started with a full brick the next line above it will start with a half brick, which means ALL joints are covered.

This also goes for Ceilings [Gyproc / sheet rock]. This gives the job strength and rigidity.

im afraid you may be right. It certainly concerns me. They are doing it in the interior walls so they know how to do it so not sure why they didn’t do it on the base. Could be they thought they could get more cement it, but it still seems light on rebar.

Originally Posted by Klondyke

Hey, hey, not so harsh. If the blocks were locked inside somehow, then it is not so bad. Beside, the connecting cement mortar - 1:3 as usually made in Thailand - is strong enough to keep it together.

I’m afraid metal may be right on this. I didn’t see much locking together, only some rebar in the breeze blocks themselves and the rebar frame on top of the breeze blocks. Some more pictures follow.

That's one lucky worker , if he only "hurt" his hand after falling off the roof.
Hope you treated him to a couple of bottles of beer's for his trouble

Hope he gets better soon.

Originally Posted by Dead Metal

That's one lucky worker , if he only "hurt" his hand after falling off the roof.
Hope you treated him to a couple of bottles of beer's for his trouble

Hope he gets better soon.

I think beer might have been a contributing factor to the fall!!! He is back on the site so it looks like he healed up. Poured floor below. There has been a break in the rain so they made some progress.

We had a bit of a side project over the last several weeks. Family member who is a monk needed a small living quarters at the temple and so we had the below built. Turns out the contractor had no experience and was a bit of a drinker so the quality is what it is. Hope we nevertheless get some good luck points for the effort as the heart was in the right place. Whole thing went together in a week or so. Rumor is the floor is not level so it has bit of a slope - I guess it prevents standing water although the result was completely unintentional. And no, I have no idea why the pictures are of a screen shot from a phone. I asked the same question but the explanation was devoid of logic. I am happy however the family is making the effort to get us pictures and their photography skill (except for this minor set back of pictures from a phone screen) is progressing!!

The small monk shack has already been blessed and approved so mind your tongue! ��

Well gents, I would appreciate some advice. Walls are going up and we realized builder is working off plans he proposed but we rejected. He forgot we gave him different plans. Resulted in a couple interior walls coming down which isn’t a big deal. The big deal is the bathroom layouts. It appears that the pipes he inserted are in the wrong location. Both bathrooms (which are next to one another) are supposed to be galley types, with the shower against the exterior wall, then the toilet and then the sink and then the door. But take a look at the pipes.





Not only only do they not look like they are set up as a galley style and with the pipes coming up too close to the exterior wall, when they moved the walls to match the plans the pipes come up in bizarre places in the bathrooms. 1st bathroom is 2 x 3 and the second is 1.75 x 3.5.


I dont see any way way for the pipes to be fixed except for the contractor to dig out the floor and re-lay the pipes do you?

It looks like the builder has put the toilets next to the wall, probably to get the correct angle of drainage on the outlet pipes. Probably a good idea. Were you planning on shower cubicles, or Thai style “open plan” ? If the latter then presumably the other pipe is the floor drain and as long as the floor slopes down to it then no problem. But what about the sink drain ? Along the wall and into the floor drain ? Not very aesthetic but “functional”.
If you were planning on shower cubicles then yes, major stuff up .
But also, no U bends on the drain ?

oops, double post.

Comhing , slab looks sound, thanks for sharing

Yes, it is to be a cubical type shower and not a Thai wet bathroom. Builder agreed to dig out the pipes and put ones in at correct location. He must has reached the conclusion that it was such a big screw up nobody would accept - and we certainly will not pay until corrected. He should have followed the plans. This is the third time he hasn’t.