What Does 2 Million Baht Build In Surin Province

[finchy]

After 6 years of marriage the time has come for me to "bite the bullit" and build a house up in Surin province for my Wife and I.

Over the years we have been pretty good to her Grandparents and as it stands they have verbally agreed to "giving" us some of their farmland to build a house on. At this point i must add that i am not niave enough to think that said land will not involve having to part with some kind of "gesture of goodwill" shall we say !!

The plan is for my wife to go back to Thailand later on this year to get the plot drawn up and legally transferred intoh er name and also to have it dressed up with enough soil to render it suitable to build on. All of this with the idea of building works starting sometime early next year.

I realise that i have a long road ahead of me and that and will know doubt apart from questioning my sanity have a lot more specific questions as the project moves on.

However at this stage i really would just like some idea of what is possible with around 2 million baht build cost.

Thanks in advance

Lee

[jayenram]

However at this stage i really would just like some idea of what is possible with around 2 million baht build cost.

This one cost me Bht 800,000.00 seven years ago. Given the price increases since, it would probably cost about Bht 1,100,000.00 at the present time.

http://gallery.thaivista.net/thumbnails.php?album=15

[finchy]

Thanks Jay for the quick reply and i think it must be said that you have a cracking house that finished from what i can see to a very good standard. If you don't mind me asking did you use a local builder or did you deal with a western run outfit ?

Lee

[jayenram]

Local architect for the original plans which I amended slightly (room sizes and some structural changes). Then hired a local Khmer foreman who in turn hired the rest of the crew. The foreman and all labour were paid by the day to reduce the chance of corners being cut. I bought all the materials myself. I did the supervision which was necessary 95% of the time if not more.

[johnh101]

2 Million Baht will buy you a very decent sized house built and fitted out to a high standard, as long as you get a decent contractor.

[Gary A]

Two million won't build a mansion but it will build a VERY nice three bedroom house. Contractor or not you will need a Thai person that you trust to buy the building materials. The biggest rip off is the contractor getting kick backs on material and then scrimping on the material used by stealing them.

The person buying the material doesn't have to know anything about construction. They just need to be a good negotiator and be able and willing to count. The construction people will give you a list of the needed materials. Buy the material as needed and pay the workers in stages.

Other than that, you have to emphasize that you want everything plumb and square. You see MANY houses where the floor tiles vary by half a tile from one end of the room to the other. I have seen bathroom floors where the water ran out the door rather than towards the drain. (Unfortunately mine).

[Lite Beer]

This cost me just under 1.2 m. Finished a few months ago.

Be aware that there will be extras such as perimeter wall, gutters, insect screens and security grids for the windows, drilling for water, water tank and pump.

[AA1]

This cost me just under 1.2 m. Finished a few months ago.

Be aware that there will be extras such as perimeter wall, gutters, insect screens and security grids for the windows, drilling for water, water tank and pump.

The basic cost of my (my wife's!!) bungalow which I designed was just under B900,000 PLUS the extras which 'Lite Beer' quotes above. Price included all the architects drawings.

Sitting Room. 7m. x 7 - 8 m. with bathroom 2.5m. sq. in 1 corner.

2 bedrooms. 4.5m. x 3.5m. & 3.5m. x 3.5m.

Kitchen. 5m. x 3m.

Store room. 3m. x 2.5m.

Back wash area. 4m. x 3m.

Front terrace. 11.5m. x 3m. (plus 1m. roof overlaps).

I did it through the building side of a builders merchants who had a good reputation in the area. Basically very pleased with the finished product although we have not done the garden yet as at present most of time in Bangkok so only use part time and will be concreting drive to back and building seperate Garage and grain store.

Where abouts in Surin are you wanting to build? We are a few Km. (10?) from Sangkha.

If I was building again I would use the foreman with his team of men direct. Pleased with the quality of his work and very honest. If you are going to build in the Sangkha area and/or want any more info. do contact me.

Picture below shows it before the exterior wall was put round the property as you can see bungalow better!!

[finchy]

The property will be built in Prasat i'm not sure how close that is to your location AA1 but very intrested in contact detail's of your builder.

The situation at present is that we now have the chanot for 3.5 rai of land. A groundwork contractor has been arranged to arrive 2nd week in Jan to raise the plot up to a suitable level for building to commence.

We need to decide on a final design and floor plan sometime between now and then and hopefully get some quote's in toward's the end of jan.

I looked into it a while ago but what is the current going rate for a lorry load of fill

Thank's in advance

Liam

Edited September 25, 2007 by finchy

[tim77]

This one cost me Bht 800,000.00 seven years ago. Given the price increases since, it would probably cost about Bht 1,100,000.00 at the present time.

http://gallery.thaivista.net/thumbnails.php?album=15

Thank you for the photos. We will be building soon, and if you don't mind I will show the contractor the photos as part of the specifications.

[jayenram]

The situation at present is that we now have the chanot for 3.5 rai of land.

That's a fair size piece of land. I have 1 rai and am at a loss at what to do with a third of it.

I looked into it a while ago but what is the current going rate for a lorry load of fill

There is an old thread which gives an indication of a variety of prices for fill, if I remember correctly, they vary from between Bht 150 and Bht 300 per 4 wheel truck (4/3.2 m3). The price depends upon the cost at source, the quality and the haulage distance.

One 4 wheel truck load will raise a talang wah (4 sq m) of land by 0.80 m approximately when compacted. IMO it would be prudent to raise the land to at least 1 m above the adjacent road level.

[Gary A]

I'd seriously consider putting in a pond and using that dirt to raise the level of the rest. Size the pond to give yourself the amount of fill that you want.

[roietjimmy]

Just finished a house in Roiet myself. It is approx. 200 sq meters and cost 1.8M. You mention having land fill put in. As jayenram noted the fill should be 1M above road level. I might add, make sure you take into account inclines for drainage. If the fill is put in mid Jan and you start constuction right away you could have some problems. In order for the fill to settle and compact naturally it is best to wait for several months before starting construction. If you plan to start construction right away, then suggest you consider hiring a contractor to do compacting as the fill is put in.

[jayenram]

In order for the fill to settle and compact naturally it is best to wait for several months before starting construction. If you plan to start construction right away, then suggest you consider hiring a contractor to do compacting as the fill is put in.

I would personally recommend not commencing construction until the fill has been down for at least one rainy season.

A friend here took his builder's advice and allowed construction to commence virtually immediately after filling (ignoring the advice of other farangs). The house has settled substantially and cracks have appeared throughout, some as much as 10 mm wide.

[roietjimmy]

In order for the fill to settle and compact naturally it is best to wait for several months before starting construction. If you plan to start construction right away, then suggest you consider hiring a contractor to do compacting as the fill is put in.

I would personally recommend not commencing construction until the fill has been down for at least one rainy season.

A friend here took his builder's advice and allowed construction to commence virtually immediately after filling (ignoring the advice of other farangs). The house has settled substantially and cracks have appeared throughout, some as much as 10 mm wide.

Couldn't agree more. At least one rainy season is highly recommended. Unfortunately, given your timing, this would mean waiting until late next year. As jayenram ponts out, the builder will always come up with a strong no problem statement so he can get money flowing in right away.

[ChangMaiSausage]

Great thread with some good advice, mid next year I intend to either buy a property or a piece of land to build on but I imagine the price of land in Chiang Mai is a lot more expensive!

[pumpuiman]

Built last year....about 2 million. 4 bedrooms 3 baths....lots of granite....well insulated.

Edited September 26, 2007 by pumpuiman

[Gary A]

I had that problem too. I didn't want to wait the year or two so all my columns were dug deeper to below the original ground level. The reinforced footer is re barred to the columns and would stand alone. Three years now and no cracks.

[palm]

However at this stage i really would just like some idea of what is possible with around 2 million baht build cost.

Thanks in advance

Lee

There is an enthusiastic guy who runs a good web site at www.coolthaihouse.com - which covers lots of the details of building in Thailand.

[pumpuiman]

I had that problem too. I didn't want to wait the year or two so all my columns were dug deeper to below the original ground level. The reinforced footer is re barred to the columns and would stand alone. Three years now and no cracks.

Although our land had been filled and compacted for years...I elected to double the size of the footings as well.

Better safe than sorry.....and the expense was minimal.

[incubus]

name='finchy' post='1382150' date='2007-06-26 06:43:10']However at this stage i really would just like some idea of what is possible with around 2 million baht build cost.

Thanks in advance

Lee

Lee,

See what I posted in the "Building a House: I Want a Cool House" thread on this forum, pictures included. My house cost 1,5 million Baht, everything included (except the land). Prasat is within our working reach. If you want something like our house, slightly bigger, slightly better, or slightly smaller & cheaper, we can do that within 4-5 months. I run a Thai-registered company, have my own workers, my own materials. I'm a Swiss perfectionist.

Incubus

[srowndedbyh2o]

http://subweb.dpt.go.th/pip/house_model/framehome.html

Be patient. The website loads very slow!

Edited September 26, 2007 by srowndedbyh2o

[ThaiLawOnline]

With a budget of 2 million you can have a very nice house. The best would be to find plans or to hire an architect to design a house exactly like you want.

I know an architect in Korat who builds in Isaan. He works very well (I saw what he did in the past) and they are 3 architects in his company. If you are interested and you come down in Korat, I can arrange a meeting with him.

Normally, you fix a budget and some specifications (3 bedrooms?, large bathroom?, swimming pool?, garage?, modern or classic house?, etc.) and he designs the house, asks for your approval and build it for you. Building takes about 6 months. If you just require the plans, he can make them.

Many builders will take around 15% for their commission. If you can build it by yourself, that's cheaper but not easy if you don't know anything about construction. You will be living in this house for many years so, I would rather do something that will last. You will have some decisions to make about many things. For example, in Isaan, they normally use cheap bricks. But if you use Cuecon, it will be more expensive at the building (maybe 30 000 baht for a normal house) but you will gain on the long term because it's insulate much more. (for air conditionning or noise...)

Another option is to buy in a development. You can normally have something nice around 2m...

Good luck.