Attic insulation going rate per square metre to lay

[4MyEgo]

Anyone know what the going rate for laying insulation is. 

 

I am in a village, can do it myself, although have someone in mind, at first thought I was thinking about 100 baht per square metre, but when I did the numbers, that does add up to half the price it cost me, and when you have over 200 square metres, its getting up there.

 

I have done it once before about a decade ago, it isn't that hard and took me about a day, but was half the size of this place, sure a few aches and pains afterwards but saved a few bucks back then.

 

Any first hand experiences on paying per square metre, my Mrs is saying to pay the person that I am thinking of a day rate of 500 baht which she says is more than enough considering no formal qualifications and never having done this before, that said I am allowing say 2, 3 days a best, also don't mind paying double that if the job is done correctly. So looking at around 2,000 - 3,000 baht if I pay double what the Mrs is suggesting, still sounds too cheap for my liking, but hey, when in Thailand do as they do in Thailand.

 

The rolls come in 600 x 2.4 metres long with foil over x 93 of them.

Edited July 26, 2018 by 4MyEgo

[CGW]

If I remember correctly we paid ± 60 Baht per M² (±200 M²) about 3 years ago, that included taping all the insulation together and cutting out for lights extractor fans etc, the fitters were good, that was all they did, took a couple of days as just got to hot for them in the afternoons, miserable job, would have paid more rather than do it myself.

 

[tutsiwarrior]

the wife got her brother involved laying the mats in the attic...believe that she gave him a bowl of khaao tom muu to begin with and then some laab and a couple of bottles of Chang at the end of the job...they are a close family...

 

 

[eyecatcher]

We paid someone to lay 14 rolls for us on a suspended ceiling strewn with spotlights and dangerous cables.

there wasn't a cat in hells chance of my weight being carried on the metalwork and I even tried using a board myself.

I conceded and we paid I think 800bt for one lad to do it, so about 40bt/m2

 

in the end, the skill in this job isn't to even get into the ceiling, it was the skill in how to handle a 4m long stick to roll out and push into position.

 

you need to look for the higher R values, 27+ and a thickness of at least 75mm. The cheap rolls at 130bt or so are pretty much useless. for around 300bt and one of the imported rolls then you are getting somewhere.

 

just one layer of 3 inch made a massive difference to our use of aircon and city electric rates.

[4MyEgo]

12 hours ago, eyecatcher said:

We paid someone to lay 14 rolls for us on a suspended ceiling strewn with spotlights and dangerous cables.

there wasn't a cat in hells chance of my weight being carried on the metalwork and I even tried using a board myself.

I conceded and we paid I think 800bt for one lad to do it, so about 40bt/m2

 

in the end, the skill in this job isn't to even get into the ceiling, it was the skill in how to handle a 4m long stick to roll out and push into position.

 

you need to look for the higher R values, 27+ and a thickness of at least 75mm. The cheap rolls at 130bt or so are pretty much useless. for around 300bt and one of the imported rolls then you are getting somewhere.

 

just one layer of 3 inch made a massive difference to our use of aircon and city electric rates.

There is plenty of standing room in the attic, that said, we also have suspended ceilings hence the reason I don't want to get up there.

 

As for wiring, when we built the place we made sure all wiring is in PVC tubes or that aluminium looking coil that you feed the wires through so no issue there.

 

We do have 35 recessed LED panel lights which I believe are referred to as downlights, the will have plant pots over them and their driver with a hole above to allow any heat out, so I am covered there.

 

The ceiling batts are R-38 rated and cost 425 baht a packet x 93 packets a it of an outlay but its the comfort I am looking for vs the $'s over the years and the batts are non combustible are environmentally friendly (green) and are 150mm thick with foil around them, so looking forward to getting them up there, although the weather now is cooler with a little rain for now.

 

At 40 baht a m2 x 220m2 its still within my budget which I have allowed 10,000 for, that said, don't want to be throwing it away, as I am a believer of a decent wage for a decent days work, and as the guy who will be installing it hasn't done this before, I can't say he should be getting paid more than that, although his work is clean and good quality in other areas, so if he pulls it off and I am happy with it, I am sure he will be doing high 5's for his remuneration.

[thoongfoned]

500 baht a day, give the man a bonus at the end if you are happy.... tell him about the bonus in the beginning and whats expected.

[4MyEgo]

3 hours ago, thoongfoned said:

500 baht a day, give the man a bonus at the end if you are happy.... tell him about the bonus in the beginning and whats expected.

I should have added the words "and bonus" after remuneration ?

[4MyEgo]

Update:

 

The job took 3 days to complete x 2 guys as I decided to do the other side of a section of the house that we don't really use that often as well, so it went from 93 bags to 128 bags.

 

When they finished the wife asked them in Thai what the bill was and they said 300 baht per head x 3 days, i.e. 1,800 baht, and my wife said so if we gave you 400-500 baht per day per head you would be happy ? They said very, so she told me to give them 3,000, I said that's too cheap we should give them a bonus, she said, we already were, so I went inside and came out with 3,000 baht plus 6 bottles of Chang which made them even more happier, and when they got in the car to leave and the Mrs went into the house, I slipped them another 3,000 baht with my index finger in an upright position over my lips as to say keep this one between you and me, they both looked at each other, then back at me, and if you could see the expression on their faces, very happy chaps, wai-ing all the way up the street, considering they probably lost 5 kilo's each from the sweat over the 3 days they were here doing the job, I felt it was a win/win, still cheaper than what I budgeted for labour wise, and more baht in each of their pockets then they expected.

 

Gotta go out to replace my 6 bottles of Chang now, but as its so cool in here, I think I can wait for another day, that or send the Mrs out to fetch me drink......?

[55Jay]

45 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Update:

 

The job took 3 days to complete x 2 guys as I decided to do the other side of a section of the house that we don't really use that often as well, so it went from 93 bags to 128 bags.

 

When they finished the wife asked them in Thai what the bill was and they said 300 baht per head x 3 days, i.e. 1,800 baht, and my wife said so if we gave you 400-500 baht per day per head you would be happy ? They said very, so she told me to give them 3,000, I said that's too cheap we should give them a bonus, she said, we already were, so I went inside and came out with 3,000 baht plus 6 bottles of Chang which made them even more happier, and when they got in the car to leave and the Mrs went into the house, I slipped them another 3,000 baht with my index finger in an upright position over my lips as to say keep this one between you and me, they both looked at each other, then back at me, and if you could see the expression on their faces, very happy chaps, wai-ing all the way up the street, considering they probably lost 5 kilo's each from the sweat over the 3 days they were here doing the job, I felt it was a win/win, still cheaper than what I budgeted for labour wise, and more baht in each of their pockets then they expected.

 

Gotta go out to replace my 6 bottles of Chang now, but as its so cool in here, I think I can wait for another day, that or send the Mrs out to fetch me drink......?

You very Jai Dee!   We just got done painting exterior, onto installing roofline extensions all the way around, which will help keep the sun off the house walls, and then I've gotta sort out the attic this cool/dry season.

 

Do you have a hip roof or a gable roof?  If Hip, how do you manage the heat build up in the attic? I don't want to put in whirlybirds, so I'll probably have a small addition built up there, like a quasi-chimney for a lack of better terms, or raised ridge line tiles of some kind to allow heat outflow from the top..... and then do the insulation.

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by 55Jay

[4MyEgo]

18 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

You very Jai Dee!   We just got done painting exterior, onto installing roofline extensions all the way around, which will help keep the sun off the house walls, and then I've gotta sort out the attic this cool/dry season.

 

Do you have a hip roof or a gable roof?  If Hip, how do you manage the heat build up in the attic? I don't want to put in whirlybirds, so I'll probably have a small addition built up there, like a quasi-chimney for a lack of better terms, or raised ridge line tiles of some kind to allow heat outflow from the top..... and then do the insulation.

 

We have a Gable roof, plenty of room to stand in up there.

 

As for the whirlybirds, I have 2 in the back part of the original house which seems to suck the air out as it is pushed through from the front vents. 

 

The SCG R-38 Stay Cool insulation batts we installed have done their jobs, I say that sitting here with a fan on number 2 typing away, it feels as if I just switched off the air conditioner with the fan blowing that cool air around, didn't require the air conditioners on in the bedrooms last night, that said, I also turned the fan off at 3.00am this morning as it felt cold, noticed that I am also not sweating at all like I used too, it's 30 degrees atm and the humidity is 76%.

 

The Mrs and the kids have noticed the difference as well, yesterday they were at school (Sunday), kids had to finish off some exams and when they came back at around 3pm walked in and said wow the house is so cool ?? 

[55Jay]

Just now, 4MyEgo said:

We have a Gable roof, plenty of room to stand in up there.

 

As for the whirlybirds, I have 2 in the back part of the original house which seems to suck the air out as it is pushed through from the front vents. 

 

The SCG R-38 Stay Cool insulation batts we installed have done their jobs, I say that sitting here with a fan on number 2 typing away, it feels as if I just switched off the air conditioner with the fan blowing that cool air around, didn't require the air conditioners on in the bedrooms last night, that said, I also turned the fan off at 3.00am this morning as it felt cold, noticed that I am also not sweating at all like I used too, it's 30 degrees atm and the humidity is 76%.

 

The Mrs and the kids have noticed the difference as well, yesterday they were at school (Sunday), kids had to finish off some exams and when they came back at around 3pm walked in and said wow the house is so cool ?? 

Nice!  Agreed, once you've acclimatized, 29-30c is just right with a fan on. 

 

1300hrs, 33c in my office/den, typically 34 to 36 as the day wears on.   The roof line extension job is in progress, he's out there welding, cutting and banging away.  Clearly though, the big improvement will be in the attic ventilation and insulation job.

 

Thanks for posting the details and update.  All good stuff. 

[4MyEgo]

1 minute ago, 55Jay said:

Nice!  Agreed, once you've acclimatized, 29-30c is just right with a fan on. 

 

1300hrs, 33c in my office/den, typically 34 to 36 as the day wears on.   The roof line extension job is in progress, he's out there welding, cutting and banging away.  Clearly though, the big improvement will be in the attic ventilation and insulation job.

 

Thanks for posting the details and update.  All good stuff. 

All good mate

 

It's all a learning curve building here in Thailand, having coming from Sydney Australia, it does help when you have a property background and TVF to get to bounce ideas off one and other and read posts from those that have built before.

 

I knew what had to be done, but sat through each season (Winter, Summer & Rain) to see what we actually needed and what we could get away with (nil) Vs cost/wastage, the previous year in the wet season we ran the air conditioners from around 10am till evening, then built a covered outdoor area which covered 3 walls in a u shape, plus we built an external kitchen which covered another wall, that reduced the air conditioners coming on till about 2pm, we also covered the back part of the house with a patio so the sun only goes onto the front of the house in the afternoon from around 1pm and the only room that gets the sun on it, is the spare room (no 6 bedroom) as there is a covered patio next to that and the carport next to that.

 

The house is now complete, built almost 3 years ago has all the modern comforts we could only dream of back in Sydney, that or borrow a million $ to build it back there, i.e. 320m2 @ $3,000 a square metre Vs $100,000 here...lol

 

Good luck with your completion.