Thread: Building a house in Nakhom Pathom

Well done Steve !! and thanyou sooooooo much for taking all the trouble to post the pics mate , I know it aint easy ,, you have one hell of a place out there mate.
I hope you and your wife will be very happy there for a long time.

These are some pics taken by the builder, PD House. The first 2 are taken from the left side of the house. The plan is to have a covered thai-style kitchen just outside. I also want to have a small shallow swimming pool in this area. We also will make this area a garden area with flowering trees, grass, flowers, etc.











I guess we will have the highest view in the neighbourhood.

My lovely missus sent me this pic the other day. Roofing tiles are on site and ready to go up. I guess it's too late for me to change my mind and go with the pricier ceramic ones. I s'pose we can always do that sometime down the road.

In the background is the area where we want to do the garden. We've alreayd started a little bit. You can also see where House 1.0 was sitting originally. Of course, we will have to build a security wall around the lot.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Well done Steve !! and thanyou sooooooo much for taking all the trouble to post the pics mate , I know it aint easy ,, you have one hell of a place out there mate.
I hope you and your wife will be very happy there for a long time.

No worries Nigel and thank you. I am pretty excited about this house. It's been a while since I've had anything this nice. Having a loving & thoughtful partner really helps as well. She is extremely focused on this house. I've tried tempting her with different opportunities and all she thinks about is saving money for the house build. And even though I can't own property or a house in Thailand, she is always very careful to call it "your property" or "your house".

I'm also interested in the contrast of building techniques in Thailand. I've looked at other threads here and noticed the differences. I'm very comfortable in PD House's approach and it seems they have worked out a process that ensures high quality and consistency. Little is left to chance. Am I paying a little more than what others have done. I'm sure I am, but I think it will pay off in the long run.

These are all the pics that i have for now. I'm hoping to get over there in time for Happy New Year. Will post some more then.

Nice looking place and it's coming on well, thanks Steve.

Originally Posted by stevefarang

your house

Shouldn't it be our home!?

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Originally Posted by OneSureThing

You say, you are using PD house as your builders. I checked their site. They have some very nice designs on there. Have you checked how they compare with other companies, price wise?

I might drop them a line about a price for a 3 bedroom.

Yes, we are using PD House. We briefly checked some other house designs, but I really liked this one, especially after we saw the finished house as well as some other designs. Their houses seem pretty solid and PD House has been relatively easy to work with, although not many people in their Nakhon Pathom office speak much english.

They have quite a few designs on their website. I think many of them are concepts and not ever built. But they have a good choice of 3 bedroom houses. I also like thier more modular build concept, instead of having guys hammer different boards together on site, just to pour concrete. I think the roof is better built, well at least the trusses don't look like someone just welded different pieces laying around. Definitely some thought put into it and looks well engineered.

I think their pricing was competitive. Yes, we could have found someone who could have built it for probably half the price. But I feel comfortable with their quality processes and their well thought out approach.

If you want a contact at PD House, send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll put you in touch with the people I'm dealing with. Then they can get in touch with the office closest to your location.

I'll try and post some more pics soon. The roof is due to go up soon and then the exterior walls. I have to get over there to talk with them about the ceiling fans I want in each room to help with air circulation. Plus I want to see the wife and my dog.

Thank you for the response Steve. I am not at the stage right now of thinking to build. I will probably build in about 3 years, when I can live in Thailand full time.
I do like the way they are doing the roof. Seems that it speeds up the build considerably.

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

Nice looking place and it's coming on well, thanks Steve.

Originally Posted by stevefarang

your house

Shouldn't it be our home!?

Yes, it is very much so. But, I just have always enjoyed hearing her say "your house" or "your property". She never tries to act like it's hers and hers alone (I've certainly read horror stories of that happening and I was a little apprehensive when we bought the first lot). She is extremely thoughtful that way, which is something I truly admire in her. Plus I like being king of the hill!!

Originally Posted by OneSureThing

I do like the way they are doing the roof. Seems that it speeds up the build considerably.

Yes so do I. I like the whole modular concept they use, including the interlocking concrete beams and columns. It makes for less on-site errors and a higher quality build.

looking good steve,i also love the way you talk about your misses,sounds like you got a good one,and she has probably done alright as well.theres lots of good ones out there.good luck.

Reading some of the other threads, I see alot of comments against using precast concrete beams & stuff. The consensus seems is to prefer to using poured on-site stuff.
Our house is using alot of pre-poured concrete pieces, as you can see in some of the previous pictures. These pieces come with interlocking steel, rustproofed keys & stuff.
Should I be concerned ?

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Should I be concerned ?

If the builder knows what is doing (and he seems to) no problems at all.

By the way great thread, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us and I hope you and your wife have many happy years together enjoying your lovely home.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Should I be concerned ?

If the builder knows what is doing (and he seems to) no problems at all.

By the way great thread, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us and I hope you and your wife have many happy years together enjoying your lovely home.

Thanks Loy Toy. I was very impressed by the finished houses we toured, before signing the contract. And we've been fairly happy with the way they communicate and do things. And, given the volume of business they do and the fact they have offices throughout the country, they are no fly by night business. They seme to a well thought out process. I just started wondering when I saw all the negative comments, in other threads, about prepoured concrete pieces.

And thanks for the compliments on my wife. I am extremely fortunate to have her. There are a lot of horror stories of Thai women (and I know a few myself) but she's a real keeper. We truly look forward to building many happy memories together in the house and having a few kick-ass parties !!!

Great thread and superb pictures. Keep it up, I will be following this build with interest.

Thanks kiwiney.

I'm still debating if I want to do the wood trim, for the front entrance, like the house we visited. You can see it in the first few pics of this thread. I was thinking that the wood trim is going to have to be redone probably every couple of years, depending upon the strength of the sun. That could be an expense that will add up. But it really enhances the look of the house.

The standard is to go with the white plastic like (polyurethane ??) trim, much like you see with the windows trim. Will probably be easier, but less attractve/dramatic.

Decisions..decisions...I love it !!!

I'd go with the wood mate , I even quite like to give it a coat every now and again its quite a satisfying job when its finished. If you do go the wood route ( I am sure you know ) but make sure you use a good stain that will go IN the grain as opposed to sittin on top of it for the sun to peel it all off again ,, ie Sadolin's.

I would imagine with a lot of plastic in one place there will be a lot of movement in the heat

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

I'd go with the wood mate

Second that. Everytime you come back and see the plastic you will regret the choice.

Recoating should not be too expensive with the cheap labour in Thailand.

May I ask how much a house like this costs? I really like that.

Originally Posted by Fabian

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

I'd go with the wood mate

Second that. Everytime you come back and see the plastic you will regret the choice.

Recoating should not be too expensive with the cheap labour in Thailand.

May I ask how much a house like this costs? I really like that.

Thanks y'all. I am rethinking the wood. It looked so damn good on the finished house we toured last year. Maybe we should go back now and see how it's holding up.

The price is about 6 million baht. It was quoted as % point something but we added some things (underground wiring, doubling the insulation in ceiling from 3" to 6" - may ask them to add another 3"), etc. Yes, it's costing more than many of the houses I see people are building. However, I've been denying myself certain pleasures over the years and I think it's time I have an awesome place of my own. I wanted to be sure I had someplace that, as I get older, I can still use and not feel crowded in.

If all the stars align properly, I will be going back over for a few weeks in January and will post some new pics, although not much progress has happened as we are trying to get the current balance due paid up, which should happen soon. I wanted to go back for Happy New Year, but airfare was more than double what it normally is. To hell with that. Instead I'll be there for my lovely bride's birthday.

Looks like its coming together great. Sounds like using this company might have been the best way to go if your not around for the build...Looks like there doing a great job so far, Best of luck with the finish work and keep us up dated!!

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

These preformed concrete structure poles, and the dirt dumped and built straight away; is the this the way to go for a substantial two storey property?

You're clearly not skimping on cost, but is the builder?

Another comment, if I may - please don't take this the wrong way; the house seems totally out of character with the environment, properties around, it's as if you're trying to make a small piece of America in NP... Do you think this will cause problems/resentment from the local community which you'll be living amongst?

I think he has this covered. v

Pile party Here are some shots taken from the first piling ceremony back in March 2011. Unfortunately, I was stuck in the US at the time, but my wife made sure everything went smoothly. If I recall, the pilings were driven down about 8 meters.

^ I'm not talking about the depth; that's dependant on local conditions and the specific construction.

The pilings might be a 'special' strong type, but I was told by a few folks that the preformed concrete pilings were cheaper and easier to deal with, but weaker and could be a problem with 2 storey properties - better to make on site; I'm no expert, just wondering. I'm gonna use preformed concrete pillings as a cost reduction, but I'm taking into account that I have a single storey structure with vert little load carrying requirement, amongst other issues.

Also, the dirt fill; again, especially for a 2 storey property, I was told that giving it plenty of time to settle would help prevent movement and later concrete cracking/weakness.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

^ I'm not talking about the depth; that's dependant on local conditions and the specific construction.

The pilings might be a 'special' strong type, but I was told by a few folks that the preformed concrete pilings were cheaper and easier to deal with, but weaker and could be a problem with 2 storey properties - better to make on site; I'm no expert, just wondering. I'm gonna use preformed concrete pillings as a cost reduction, but I'm taking into account that I have a single storey structure with vert little load carrying requirement, amongst other issues.

Also, the dirt fill; again, especially for a 2 storey property, I was told that giving it plenty of time to settle would help prevent movement and later concrete cracking/weakness.

Thanks Betty, the initial fill had about a year+ to "season" and settle. The additional meter of fill had about 6-7 months, if not a little more, before pilings were driven.

I'm no expert, hence that was why I made the iquiry about the prefabbed concrete pieces. I was seeing a lot of negative comments about them. However, in this case, this company seems to have a process that they use for all of their designs. They must be doing something right, since they have been opening additional offices throughout the LOS. Certainly not the impression of a fly by night crew. As I recall there's at least 10 pilings, about 8+ meters down for each.

Does the house fit the smaller houses surrounding it. No. But I didn't want a simple shack with an indoor loo. For a multiple of reasons, I've been denying myself certain pleasures. I think I finally deserve a really nice house to call my own (yeak ok, in Thaialnd lol). The neighbors all seem like nice people (including the village chief who lives across the road).

Justincase, when I go over next month, we'll be talking with the builder about the celiing fans for each room. This was something I wanted since the start. They've also asked to start thinking wardrobe designs. Obviously, they have someone who can handle the work, but we might lok around elsewhere. Same for the western kitchen. My wife liked the Ikea stores (and their kitchens) in Australia, so we might pay a visit to the new one that just opened up in BKK.

The ethernet cable is a good idea. Although I thought the easiset way to get internet is by one of the usb powered transmitter/receiver deals linked with 1-2-Call, DTAC or similar phone companies in Thaialnd)

Thanks again all !!

^ thanks for the answers.

Originally Posted by stevefarang

The additional meter of fill had about 6-7 months, if not a little more, before pilings were driven.

Good stuff.

Originally Posted by stevefarang

However, in this case, this company seems to have a process that they use for all of their designs.

I can see how it's hard to get around this. Many 'successful' Thai companies cut corners for the sake of profit with little regard for their long term image - I hope everything is okay for you here; I'd be worried about the company myself, I don't trust Thais - the bigger and more powerful they are the more they cheat and cut corners, imo...

Good luck with the build, please take care - even though you're paying lots of money and the building company are large/established, they will not be trustworthy, so you'll need to be ontop of everything; it's unlikely the wife will be able to manage this situation because the company will be owned by some Pu Yai who will just outrank her...

Originally Posted by stevefarang

Reading some of the other threads, I see alot of comments against using precast concrete beams & stuff.
Should I be concerned ?

From PD House no. The system is well engineered and bound together by the pre-stressed floor slabs.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

These preformed concrete structure poles, and the dirt dumped and built straight away; is the this the way to go for a substantial two storey property?

The fill dirt in this case plays no part in supporting the structure or its ground floor slab. All loads are transferred to the piles which are driven well beyond the fill dirt.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

The pilings might be a 'special' strong type, but I was told by a few folks that the preformed concrete pilings were cheaper and easier to deal with, but weaker and could be a problem with 2 storey properties - better to make on site; I'm no expert, just wondering. I'm gonna use preformed concrete pillings as a cost reduction, but I'm taking into account that I have a single storey structure with vert little load carrying requirement, amongst other issues.Also, the dirt fill; again, especially for a 2 storey property, I was told that giving it plenty of time to settle would help prevent movement and later concrete cracking/weakness.

Driven piles are rarely formed on site.They are manufactured under controlled conditions to ensure consistent strength and quality.
Again, this construction method does not care if the fill dirt was installed yesterday or ten years ago. Everything sits on the piles.

The only time where fill dirt might be an issue is when exterior paths and concrete sitting areas are constructed. Adequate compacting and steel size will overcome any problems here.



This is looking like a real quality build. The PD Home system forms a clean and accurate skeleton with the CPAC galvanised roof system providing maximum strength for minimum weight.
Hope all goes this well at the next stages.