Seeking Builder for Simple Home Renovation - Suggestions Most Welcome

[RoboLB]

The story so far.........

Thai wife and I live in Sydney Australia.  

Have a tiny condo in BKK and wanted to get something a bit bigger.

 

Couple of years ago we bought a really run down house in Bang Plad.

Typical 2 up 2 down thai house.

Concrete ground floor, wooden 1st floor.

Quite small, on a very small piece of land.

But not a bad location and at least we got into the market.

 

It's been sitting empty whilst we try to find someone to renovate it.

Thankfully family keep an eye on it.

 

It's not really habitable as it is.  Needs new bathroom. a kitchen, decorating, new roof, new windows etc.

maybe a small extension at the back.  like an extra 1 metre... not much.

  

1st Attempt.

Architect came up with a great plan.  We loved it.  Lovely guy.

But building was way over budget and council would not approve it.

We made the plan more simple, still no approval and still way over budget.

Architect and we, lost interest.

 

2nd Attempt.

Small builder.

Needed to draw up their own plans. (for a fee of course)

We stipulated the budget was 1.2 million.  No problem they said.

Plan came back with a costing of 2.5 million.

Asked for simpler renovation.  Now they are losing interest.

 

3rd Attempt.

Not really sure what to try next.

The MO seems to be.

1. Tell us it can be done for our budget.
2. Get us to pay for anther plan.
3. Put in a quote way over budget to see if we accept it.
4. If not............move on.

 

Any suggestions as to our next move?

 

I'm sure there are small builders / renovators out there who know what they are doing?

 

At this stage we have an uninhabitable house and some nice looking plans ????

 

This is our first foray into dealing with builders in Thailand.

 

Seems as bad as Australia!

I had 5 contractors come to quote on fixing our roof.

Only 1 bothered to send a quote.

He starts Monday.........

 

If you know of anyone reliable to do a renovation for us in BKK, please share ????

 

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by RoboLB

[Airalee]

Having restored one house in the US and now doing a gut renovation on my condo here in BKK, I am reminded of the advice (which has proven to be true) that a few contractor friends have told me over the years...

 

When planning a remodel, it will cost twice as much and take twice as long as you originally estimate.  Also, renovations are far more expensive than building new.  Perhaps it would be cheaper to just level the house and start from scratch as it sounds like you already have just about everything on your list that costs a lot and haven’t included plumbing, electrical etc.  Also, your budget of 1.2m can be burned through quite quickly as you have now seen.

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is what it is.

[BangkokAlan]

My advice would be to go through the quotations you have now and determine where is the major costs, generally costs by items can be reduced if you firstly change an expensive finish to something cheaper such as changing you kitchen worktops or the standard of bathroom fittings or your floor tiles. The other thing to do is buy the major items yourself such as the kitchen, bathroom, flooring, lighting etc as all these items will have the cost price increased with the addition of your builders mark up. The builder can fit them or just provide the services to the kitchen and bathroom and each supplier can come in after and fit them for you. 

[RoboLB]

23 minutes ago, BangkokAlan said:

My advice would be to go through the quotations you have now and determine where is the major costs, generally costs by items can be reduced if you firstly change an expensive finish to something cheaper such as changing you kitchen worktops or the standard of bathroom fittings or your floor tiles. The other thing to do is buy the major items yourself such as the kitchen, bathroom, flooring, lighting etc as all these items will have the cost price increased with the addition of your builders mark up. The builder can fit them or just provide the services to the kitchen and bathroom and each supplier can come in after and fit them for you. 

 

Good advice, thanks.  We are doing that with the current quote.  Getting it down slowly........

[bankruatsteve]

I'm locking this topic for now.  If you want advice on something, start a new topic and specify where you live.  The link you provided is in the states and not likely to be helpful in Thailand.  If you are not residing in Thailand, please find a local forum to your location.