Adding a room in the back to an existing house

[onera1961]

My GF has a house in Banglamung (in a gated community) with 2BR/1 bath. It has lots of land in the back. What it will involve adding a room and a bath in the back? A room of size no more than 10x10 (in feet)? Right now I have a rented condo in Jomitien and I live for 6-month only in Thailand though I rent the condo for the entire year. Making plans for future when I want to move permanently and possibly stay through out the year.  Don't want to buy a condo.

 

1. Does she have to take a permit from the Amphoe?

2. How much approximately does it cost to make one room and a bath room. My GF sys it will cost around 100K BHT. Is she right? A ballpark figure. 

3. Is there any recommended builder/contractor who can build it?

 

I don't care whose name is in it. My GF is OK if I pay to build the room.

[simon43]

My GF is OK if I pay to build the room.

 

That's very commendable of her ????

[CharlieH]

Dependent on final finish, quality of materials used etc, I would say 100k is about right.(imho)

 

Naturally there are many variable in there as to tiles used and so on, fixtures fittings, but as a ball park its ok.

 

Just remember never to spend more than you are prepared to walk away from. 6 months down the line she says BYE ! and that was an expensive short let.

 

 

[Crossy]

Just now, CharlieH said:

Dependent on final finish, quality of materials used etc, I would say 100k is about right.(imho)

Yeah, 10-12 k Baht per m² (I know not these "feet" of which he speaks) seems reasonable for a habitable room.

 

You will need to speak to the office of the community to see what you can build.

 

[seajae]

we turned a double carport into a spare room for 20,000 baht, before that we had the back wall knocked out and put in a new kitchen plus did an extension on the side of the house for a second kitchen for the mil, 40,000 baht but this was labour only. We supplied all the materials needed  but they were not that expensive and the builder did a top job, I was in the building industry for 30 years in Australia and was pleasantly surprised. Get a price for the labour and get the builder to tell you what you will need, bricks, cement, tiles, gyprock, bath, pipes & taps, roofing etc and then you can price them as well as getting him to price them, just make sure that they use good quality fittings etc. Just make sure they tie the walls in with the existing building, same with the roof & slab

 

 

[onera1961]

17 minutes ago, seajae said:

Get a price for the labour and get the builder to tell you what you will need, bricks, cement, tiles, gyprock, bath, pipes & taps, roofing etc and then you can price them as well as getting him to price them,

Can you recommend a builder in Pattaya are?

 

17 minutes ago, seajae said:

use good quality fittings etc.

what do you mean by fittings? Bath room fittings?

 

17 minutes ago, seajae said:

Just make sure they tie the walls in with the existing building, same with the roof & slab

What does it mean tying the walls with existing building? 

Ok, I am completely novice in building construction in Thailand and also in the USA. I have a house in Las Vegas but I bought it during the housing market crash around 2008 from a bank foreclosure and never made any repair to that except a paint jobs and door changes

[Oxx]

I don't know what soil conditions are like in your area, but if they're anything like Bangkok you'll need piling that goes down to the bedrock.  I've recently had micropiling done to fix a subsiding kitchen extension.  That cost me 200,000 baht.  It would apparently have cost the same had the micropiling been done up front.

 

Incidentally, when a previous poster wrote "Just make sure they tie the walls in with the existing building" it made me think of a couple of extensions in my moobaan where the extension was pulling off the front wall of the house.  Both extensions had to be taken down.

[onera1961]

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

I don't know what soil conditions are like in your area, but if they're anything like Bangkok you'll need piling that goes down to the bedrock.  I've recently had micropiling done to fix a subsiding kitchen extension.  That cost me 200,000 baht.

OMG, that is pretty expensive. Any other suggestions to reduce the price?

[Mattd]

On 2/24/2019 at 11:23 AM, onera1961 said:

What does it mean tying the walls with existing building? 

Unless you are going to make the room entirely separate from the existing house, then this will need to be done.

Most houses around where the house is located are built on a raft type construction and it is important to make the extension a part of this as much as possible, otherwise the two buildings will move independently of each other and cracks etc. will appear as it all settles.

 

I made some major modifications to a house about 7 years ago, when this was in the planning I asked the builders if any permissions were required and they said no, never had a problem.

100K is a little on the cheap side IMO, I'd budget on at least 150K if I was you, reasonable quality isn't cheap here, plus you are including the bathroom, the fittings (toilet, sink, shower) for this can run up 30k++ very easily, add in the tiles and so on and the bill mounts up.

How are they going to hook in the waste water from the shower and sink, toilet etc.?

[Laza 45]

On 2/24/2019 at 10:54 AM, CharlieH said:

Just remember never to spend more than you are prepared to walk away from. 6 months down the line she says BYE ! and that was an expensive short let.

Good advice.. from the beginning 12 years ago when we bought a small house & started building and improving I decided that everything we did was a gift to her.. I 'own' nothing.. If it turns pear shaped I walk away no hard feelings... I've still got myself covered if that were to happen.  Fortunately I don't see that happening.. I know many others haven't been so lucky.   I just never want to be in a position where I am resentful because 'I've lost everything..'.. 

[Snow Leopard]

On 2/25/2019 at 5:02 AM, Oxx said:

I don't know what soil conditions are like in your area, but if they're anything like Bangkok you'll need piling that goes down to the bedrock.  I've recently had micropiling done to fix a subsiding kitchen extension.  That cost me 200,000 baht.  It would apparently have cost the same had the micropiling been done up front.

 

Incidentally, when a previous poster wrote "Just make sure they tie the walls in with the existing building" it made me think of a couple of extensions in my moobaan where the extension was pulling off the front wall of the house.  Both extensions had to be taken down.

I was 240,000 in Piling. Mine is an extension on a new house. 

[Snow Leopard]

On 2/25/2019 at 7:38 AM, onera1961 said:

OMG, that is pretty expensive. Any other suggestions to reduce the price?

Check if it needs to be piled first. 

[ICECOOL]

I recommend you get drawings done in Thai and English then get a written quote for labour only. Agree to 2 -3 stage payments. Order and pay materials yourself. I purchased a simple invoice book at Tesco and builder filled out in Thai as needed. Kept control of costs. 

[seajae]

On 2/24/2019 at 11:23 AM, onera1961 said:

Can you recommend a builder in Pattaya are?

 

what do you mean by fittings? Bath room fittings?

 

What does it mean tying the walls with existing building? 

Ok, I am completely novice in building construction in Thailand and also in the USA. I have a house in Las Vegas but I bought it during the housing market crash around 2008 from a bank foreclosure and never made any repair to that except a paint jobs and door changes

when you add onto a building you have to make sure that they are locked together(slab with rio bars as well as properly packed under it/footings if needed and bricks laid in interlocking layers ) and not simply butted up against each other. I was in the building industry for over 30 years and saw a few extensions where the concrete slab and brick work were not tied together, they eventually started to pull away from each other with large gaps at the top of the walls, fittings are windows, doors, bath/shower, toilet as well as tiles.

 

[seajae]

On 2/25/2019 at 8:02 AM, Oxx said:

I don't know what soil conditions are like in your area, but if they're anything like Bangkok you'll need piling that goes down to the bedrock.  I've recently had micropiling done to fix a subsiding kitchen extension.  That cost me 200,000 baht.  It would apparently have cost the same had the micropiling been done up front.

 

Incidentally, when a previous poster wrote "Just make sure they tie the walls in with the existing building" it made me think of a couple of extensions in my moobaan where the extension was pulling off the front wall of the house.  Both extensions had to be taken down.

our house was built 10 years ago, when we had the new work carried out we had to have concrete piles embedded along the back of our house due to movement, the house was built too soon after the area was backfilled with the red dirt and was not compacted enough or enough foundation used originally. Big problem here is lack of required substrate work or qualifiers workers

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Any old cardboard boxes, corrugated iron, political banners, condo ads, etc hanging around your girlfriend's house? If so, I'll build your extension for half the 100k quoted above.

[Jlop]

Do you trust your room addition to random advice in a forum? Spring for an architect, they charge 5-10 percent of the project cost, and a good one will help you address all the issues raised here.

[onera1961]

1 hour ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Any old cardboard boxes, corrugated iron, political banners, condo ads, etc hanging around your girlfriend's house? If so, I'll build your extension for half the 100k quoted above.

No, nothing of that kind. My GF calls the office every month and demand that they come and cut the grasses in front/around her house. . 

[onera1961]

8 minutes ago, Jlop said:

Do you trust your room addition to random advice in a forum? Spring for an architect, they charge 5-10 percent of the project cost, and a good one will help you address all the issues raised here.

Wow now need an architect to add a room in an existing land. 

[Mac98]

My landlord built three houses up north. With one he wanted more room. He didn't add on, he built a separate, and large, bed and bath out back. Much easier than attaching to the existing unit and tearing out walls for doorways and such. Then he added a nice patio and outdoor shower. Happy man and better refuge when wife is moody.

[eero]

Eero from Chaiyaphum,  make red tiles and 2 cm air between and then siporex inside. Isolation on the roof, double windows.

Then you can save lot of money with you aircondition, and your walls are never hot.

[khunPer]

On 2/24/2019 at 4:35 AM, onera1961 said:

1. Does she have to take a permit from the Amphoe?

2. How much approximately does it cost to make one room and a bath room. My GF sys it will cost around 100K BHT. Is she right? A ballpark figure. 

1.

You should first check if there are any limitation and regulation in the gated community of what one is allowed to do with a property there.

You would normally need a building permission from Tessa Ban (not Amphor), and to obtain that, you'll need to supply an architect drawing. It's your GF that should seek for building permission, if it's her property and registered in her name.

 

2. 10'x10' room plus a bath, i.e. 9 m² room plus baht, for example 3 m² if small bath room, so total not less than 12 m².

Normally you should count around 15,000 baht per square meter when building an ordinary house – all depending of choice of materials and finish – might be a bit more with such a small extension, including a bath, so count 200,000 baht, and be happy if it's less than that. For more mid-range Western-style quality the square meter count is more like 25,000 baht, whilst luxury is (a lot) more.

 

Had a kitchen and bathroom extension made for GF's house up Isaan little more than a decade ago – about 20 m² nice work and finish, but nothing fancy after Western standard – and that ended up with 200,000 baht in total, or around 10,000 baht per square meter. Construction prices has in general gone little up since then, and it's also often little more expensive to build in tourist areas than up Isaan. My own house was build for 25,000 baht a square meter when finished 9 years ago, its more up to Western standard; it would probably cost 30% more today.

????

[Guderian]

You'll need to check with the village management what can be built under their rules and if there are any conditions. One village I know, for example, insists that people having building work done must deposit 10K Baht with the management which can be used as a penalty if the roads aren't kept clean and clear, and to ensure that noise isn't unreasonable and work finishes at a sensible hour. If all is done properly you get the 10K Baht back at the end, but it's a useful reminder that you have neighbours who need to be shown some respect.

 

Strictly speaking, you should also go to the Land Office and register the modifications, I think they'll then calculate the extra tax you have to pay but at least it's all above board. Few people bother with this though, especially Thais it seems. For a small addition like you're talking about there may be nothing to pay. One house I was looking at buying was enormous, six bedrooms over two stories and with a very large granny annex added on as well. The Land Office had it recorded as a small, one-storey house on a piece of land less than half the size of the reality. The original owner had apparently bought the small bungalow, then a large empty piece of land next to it, knocked down the original house and built the big new place, without ever telling the Land Office or anybody else, and never paying over 20 years or more a satang of extra tax on the place. Needless to say, I got out of there quick.

 

As others have said, building work is cheap here, partly because labour is still reasonably cheap and partly because there's no legal requirement to make buildings or extensions energy-efficient as there is in much of the West, so a single layer of cement blocks with no insulation is good enough. I had an extension about 4m X 2m added to my house as a storeroom and it cost a bit over 20K Baht. What will cost more money is the fittings and furniture, depending on the quality you want. You'll probably want a window similar to those already in the house, which can be expensive if they're uPVC. Ditto a door. A decent bed can easily run to 50K Baht, but OTOH you can get a basic one for less than 10K, up to you as they say.

 

You'd need to ask around for a decent builder in your area, your GF should be able to help with that. They seem to be very busy these days, I'm currently having a patio extension put on my house and the guy I use says it's really hard to find anybody to work for him, even though he pays 500 Baht a day and gives them a free lunch. So don't be surprised if it takes longer than you expected to get it sorted out, my patio's already a week behind schedule.

[rutteketuut]

I built a free standing small shop with bathroom, about 20 sq meter in my garden 3 y ago. I paid 50000 thb for the labour, first they asked 80000. The roof is in tiles. The materials I bought myself. Did't ask municipaly permission to build. This is in Banglamung.

[onera1961]

My landlord built three houses up north. With one he wanted more room. He didn't add on, he built a separate, and large, bed and bath out back. Much easier than attaching to the existing unit and tearing out walls for doorways and such. Then he added a nice patio and outdoor shower. Happy man and better refuge when wife is moody.

That's what I want to do. I don't think my GF would agree to tearing her walls. Also, when she said I could build one that's what she meant. A separate room with a toilet.

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[NoshowJones]

I had a room built on to my house about six years ago, It cost me 52000 Baht, that was everything, four walls, electrics, painting, floor tiles, roof tiles, three windows.

No expensive planning permission, like in the UK. Great decision, never regretted it, never needed any repairs

so far.

[onera1961]

I built a free standing small shop with bathroom, about 20 sq meter in my garden 3 y ago. I paid 50000 thb for the labour, first they asked 80000. The roof is in tiles. The materials I bought myself. Did't ask municipaly permission to build. This is in Banglamung.

How much was the total? Did you hire labor yourself or got it through a contractor? Do you have a list of materials that you used? I think 20 sq m will be perfect

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[onera1961]

I had a room built on to my house about six years ago, It cost me 52000 Baht, that was everything, four walls, electrics, painting, floor tiles, roof tiles, three windows.
No expensive planning permission, like in the UK. Great decision, never regretted it, never needed any repairs
so far.

Did you have to pile and make foundations as others are talking about? How the frame was made? Steel? And the walls cocrete block? Roof is tile. Right?

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[NoshowJones]

7 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Did you have to pile and make foundations as others are talking about? How the frame was made? Steel? And the walls cocrete block? Roof is tile. Right?

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No nothing like that, my house is a Thai styled one which was only half built when I met the wife.

the room was built underneath part of the house. The concrete was already laid.

[DJ54]

17 hours ago, Guderian said:

You'll need to check with the village management what can be built under their rules and if there are any conditions. One village I know, for example, in

Very important especially if your in the city proper. I lived in a gated community (leased) they had rules such as any trees can’t be over 2 mtrs tall. Some of those associations are whacked