Thread: Building a house on in-laws property

Originally Posted by Wasp

Originally Posted by can123

All I have to do is to learn the software and design it myself.
Sadly, I am pretty useless at designing buildings and confidently expect to be a fluent Thai speaker before I come up with the necessary plans. It's going to be very tough.

Stay away from all the crap that you see at the moment between JohnG and freddy - and read instead the really good builds

Ootai has an excellent thread . Roobarb. Koman . terp80 . Good solid guidance on how to build . Even I have one called " The Building Decisions That I Regret " and if you read through that you'll find good advice from different builders.

The clever ones found an agent to represent them which meant your wishes could be clearly expressed then the agent's job was simply to make sure your wishes were done. No confrontation for you - or 'misunderstandings' - or losing face.

Guys said an agent was well worth the cost.

Sorry, Wasp, I've got to disagree with you again - not with the idea of using an 'agent' but with the whole idea that you can DIY a good quality house build with no experience or training based on an internet forum and being a farang.

If you wouldn't build your own car, at a fraction of the cost and where you'll spend a fraction of the time, why does it make sense to DIY your house build?

My builder, coincidentally, was asked last week what he'd charge to build exactly the sort of house that can123 described, and he quoted 2 mill to build to good farang spec. I'm sure someone could DIY the build themselves for less (say, 1.5 mill) but there would be no comparison in terms of build or material quality. I've had enough Thai builders to know that you don't often get what you pay for, but if you DIY a build without the proper experience you're guaranteed to get the supervision you're paying for.

Can123- I would suggest you employ the services of a professional to help you achieve what you really want and need. Just to get the basic ideas down on paper at least.
I would say, that anybody who has built a house in Thailand, needs a medal. The whole process can be quiet heartbreaking.

Originally Posted by Wasp

Ootai has an excellent thread . Roobarb. Koman . terp80 . Good solid guidance on how to build . Even I have one called " The Building Decisions That I Regret " and if you read through that you'll find good advice from different builders.

Thank you. I have read just about everything on this forum and have recently joined another which is purely to do with building in Thailand. I don't think I am allowed to mention its name here.

There is a big difference between reading threads and making decisions relating to building one's own property. I am essentially a pen pusher and have no manual skills. A bungalow is being built about three hundred yards from me and I think. for the first time ever, I am actually paying attention to what the builders are doing. Having put down the strip foundations for the house, yesterday they poured the concrete for the ground floor.

The bungalow is being built in the UK and, theoretically, it should be built in compliance with building regulations. This, however, has not been the case and the local authority planners have turned a blind eye to one important aspect, that of drainage. The bungalow is adjacent to a stream and that stream has now been blocked making it likely that there will be serious problems in the future. I mention this only to illustrate that even in the UK shortcuts are taken by builders and I can easily imagine that Thai builders will be worse.

Neighbours have done the Thai trick of building up their land with soil causing some run off of water onto my wife's property. It isn't serious but, realising just how stupid Thail neighbours can be, I would like our house elevated from the ground by one metre and have it built on colums. This would ensure that the house was always safe from the nutters next door. My problem is that I have no idea of the size of the foundations for such a building and even less knowledge about the depth of the reinforced floor which would sit on those columns.

I need to learn about this type of construction so that I can make sure that a Thai builder is doing it properly. I do not want my house to fall down.

I take your point about involving the family. They have never had money to throw around and would do everything on the cheap and probably end up creating a botched job. Having said that an uncle and his sons are are all talented in their own ways. Far more talented in manual skils than I am.

As I mentioned earlier if I could find a builder who could do a good job at a reasonable price I would be a happy man. I don't want anything fancy but I want something that will be standing in thirty years time.

Originally Posted by JohnG

My builder, coincidentally, was asked last week what he'd charge to build exactly the sort of house that can123 described, and he quoted 2 mill to build to good farang spec.

I would be absolutely delighted to pay 2 million baht for such a home if was built properly and to what you describes as "farang specifications". In fact, I'll go further and say that I would not mind 1 million more if the finished product was as I wanted it to be.

I would want proper insulation ( Q blocks ?), quality windows, mosquito screens and all the usual stuff. I don't want a palace just something nice, comfortable to live in, and well built. I am not volunteering to be ripped off but I would rather pay a little too much and get a good result than build something which was going to be second rate. I reckon than by building on land my wife already owns that we will avoid being ripped off by paying too much for fresh land and that our saving will be of the order of 750,000 to one million baht. They are asking silly prices for land in Udon Thani province now and it will happen in Khon Kaen as well.

splitlid is a very knowledgeable guy and he's helpful and patient if approached politely. He builds to phenomenal specs so he'd help you with your simpler problems I'm sure.

And Lloytoy knows his stuff.


Wasp

Originally Posted by Wasp

splitlid is a very knowledgeable guy and he's helpful and patient if approached politely. He builds to phenomenal specs so he'd help you with your simpler problems I'm sure.

And Lloytoy knows his stuff.


Wasp

Thanks.

But John, I'm not stupid, and this repeated barrage of that word shows that maybe after all, you are. YOU are one of the anonymous posters you've posted about. If you're going to call me stupid again, let's meet in person when I move to Thailand. Saying it here shows everyone you're ignorant and a coward. It might surprise the shit out of you when you learn that I'm smarter than you, with the exception of course being what you know about building and legal matters here. Which is still, just your opinion. After I've built the house and found out what it takes to make it all legal, then I'll come back and let you know if you are right all along. And I'll thank you for your advice, after you apologize for being an arrogant dickhead.

This 'builder', has Fred checked to see if he has a work permit? A build is usually paid for by installments. If the 'builder' hasn't a work permit, and gets caught by immigration, then it's bye bye 'builder' along with Fred's installment. Did the 'builder' tell him that?

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

This 'builder', has Fred checked to see if he has a work permit? A build is usually paid for by instalments. If the 'builder' hasn't a work permit, and gets caught by immigration, then it's bye bye 'builder' along with Fred's instalment. Did the 'builder' tell him that?

I know of one such case here in my area , A farang was paid quite a large sum as a down payment for building a big perimeter wall , obviously some local Thai builder took objection to it and grassed him up to the Immigration , he did not get deported or anything but was told in no uncertain terms that he would be if he commenced work , unfortunately he had spent nearly all the money on two new Motorcycles and is now paying the deposit off for a paltry sum every month .

Originally Posted by David48atTD

Cool Thai House is a great forum to read and glean knowledge from.

That's the one I joined, thanks.

Originally Posted by can123

Originally Posted by David48atTD

Cool Thai House is a great forum to read and glean knowledge from.

That's the one I joined, thanks.

Fred's already on that forum. coolthaihouse.com ? View topic - Price in USD?

Originally Posted by Wasp

Originally Posted by JohnG

Sorry, Wasp, I've got to disagree with you again - !!!!!!!

" Excuse me Sir - are you here for the 30 minute argument or the one hour argument ?
I've already told you.
No you haven't
Yes I have !!
No you haven't
Yes I have
No you haven't
Yes I have " ............ ad infinitum.
Wasp

Not really sure what your point is with that, Wasp. I'm not arguing with you, simply stating my opinion ... and in this case it's a reasonably well informed one since chartered surveying and architecture was what I studied at uni before I decided to follow a completely different career.

I've seen some pretty awful work from Thai 'builders' here, but I've seen considerably worse from farangs who set themselves up as 'builders' on the basis that they're farangs so must know better than Thais, and justify themselves on the basis of either 'twenty years in Asia' when two minutes on Google confirms their twenty years was spent running an ice cream parlour in Malaysia or 'twenty years in the UK building industry' which were twenty years selling double glazing.

If you or others want to DIY a house build on that basis I'm not going to argue with you about it - it's purely opinion and arguing about it would be about as constructive as trying to explain something rationally to Freddy (but probably not quite as amusing).

Originally Posted by can123

Originally Posted by JohnG

My builder, coincidentally, was asked last week what he'd charge to build exactly the sort of house that can123 described, and he quoted 2 mill to build to good farang spec.

I would be absolutely delighted to pay 2 million baht for such a home if was built properly and to what you describes as "farang specifications". In fact, I'll go further and say that I would not mind 1 million more if the finished product was as I wanted it to be.

I would want proper insulation ( Q blocks ?), quality windows, mosquito screens and all the usual stuff. I don't want a palace just something nice, comfortable to live in, and well built. I am not volunteering to be ripped off but I would rather pay a little too much and get a good result than build something which was going to be second rate. I reckon than by building on land my wife already owns that we will avoid being ripped off by paying too much for fresh land and that our saving will be of the order of 750,000 to one million baht. They are asking silly prices for land in Udon Thani province now and it will happen in Khon Kaen as well.

can123, my builder (Nuja Land and House) is from Udon and he's outstanding - I really can't say enough good about his work. To put it in perspective, PD House, who are one of the better known construction companies (albeit franchises, so it could be pot luck) asked for 10 mill to build my house, not including a/c's, fitted kitchen, etc. He's charging 3.5 not including the a/c's, fitted kitchen, tiles, windows & doors, bathroom fittings, etc, which I prefer to source myself; so, say 5 mill complete to the same spec as PD House - that's literally half the price.

The owner (Khun Anucha) speaks excellent English, is a genuinely nice guy and pleasure to work with, and although he has a number of other projects on the go he is on the site regularly (5 days a week for the first couple of months when there was more to check, now down to 2 or 3 days a week, and is renting a house locally as we are in Loei. For the first few weeks, given my experience with other builders, I was looking for a catch as it literally seemed too good to be true, but there's less than two months to go and the work's about 80% done and I'm still wondering why we were so lucky to find him.

If you would like any more details drop me a PM.

Thank you. I must sell my house in Wales first but will certainly check him out when I am in Thailand.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Here is a quote from Fred on another forum. Now this guy is dumber than a bag of rocks....

.....
My God the negativity I've encountered here....When I was there, I offered to pay her lost wages for the trip we made together for 5 days. She didn't want the money. Instead she asked me to give it to her employer so she could find another to cover for her those 5 days,and to pay her for it. Have to wait almost a year

It's called an 'off' fee, Freddy.

One of the facts you seem unable to face up to is how she has apparently managed to keep her 'hotel' job and salary despite being with you for three months of the last year.

That's not any sort of criticism of her or you, Freddy, but just an observation of how things are that you seem to refuse to accept.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

...Good sparkies are hard to find.

Agree with all your points, David, but I thought of that one in particular today. My builder is excellent, as I've said, and so are all his specialist teams, so I was surprised when his electricians came back yesterday to start installing all the cables in the conduits to see today that although there was clearly an earth cable to all the sockets and the water heaters there was very obviously none coming out of the conduits for the ceiling fans.

Not really vital as we're unlikely to touch them if there's a short, and the blades are plastic, but grounding everything should be routine. My builder's been away since Tuesday while the plasterers are finishing off and is back tomorrow (Udon's storm permitting) so I'll be interested to see if he picks it up.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

You don't see many 'Thai Houses' in England, yet we try and build 'Western Houses' in Thailand.

Adapting to the local styles is important.

In a generation the will be thousands of empty, unsalable McMansions dotting the Thai countryside ... if there isn't already.

In spite of the torrential rains here, gutters are optional. I recommend them on part of the home, but I'm also a fan of collecting the rain water which we drink.

Bears repeating.

Originally Posted by JohnG

Originally Posted by David48atTD

...Good sparkies are hard to find.

Agree with all your points, David, but I thought of that one in particular today. My builder is excellent, as I've said, and so are all his specialist teams, so I was surprised when his electricians came back yesterday to start installing all the cables in the conduits to see today that although there was clearly an earth cable to all the sockets and the water heaters there was very obviously none coming out of the conduits for the ceiling fans.

Not really vital as we're unlikely to touch them if there's a short, and the blades are plastic, but grounding everything should be routine. My builder's been away since Tuesday while the plasterers are finishing off and is back tomorrow (Udon's storm permitting) so I'll be interested to see if he picks it up.

Must be a really good specialist team then

5 Million love to see it and your slagging someone off for paying around a third of that.

'He's charging 3.5 not including the a/c's, fitted kitchen, tiles, windows & doors, bathroom fittings, etc, which I prefer to source myself; so, say 5 mill complete to the same spec as PD House - that's literally half the price.'

Lol is there anything incuded? you see your problem is not understanding that the cost of building a house is like a piece of string it can go on due to spec and changes of spec in the phases...YOUR THE MAN.

God you are so up your own arse continually having a go at somebody you have never met and getting very personal with it all the while saying you have the best builders on the planet and you are Mr Wonderful.

Freddy needs to start asking you personal questions about your wife and see how you feel numskull.

You are obsessed

Reading your posts is now very entertaining

Yes. And you get it your way and not their version.

Originally Posted by fredwiggy

And you get it your way and not their version.

Here Fred. This is a farang built house. Quite nice.