'Knockdown houses' in Thailand : Pros and Cons?

[CarbonRod]

Hey fellas, 

 

I'm thinking about building what is known colloquially in Thailand as a "Knockdown House". For those that don't know, here's a quick rundown:

 

Essentially, a knockdown house is a largely pre-fabricated house that uses galvanized steel beams for the structure (rather than brick/cement like a traditional Thai house) and various different types of plank (eg. smartboard) for the walls.  Many will have a flat, concrete slab foundation as well, although it is optional.  Windows, plumbing and electrical appear to be done to "standard"... Ie. the quality of the builder you hired. The entire house costs 1/10 of a traditional house and can be completed in 2-3 months. 

 

 

Anyway... do any of you have experience with these knockdown houses? What are the pros and cons? Do you know of any good builders that you would recommend? What were your total costs? How do they handle the heat/rain/wind of Thailand? 

 

 

I want this topic to focus on the home itself, rather than the purchasing of land (which deserves its own thread). 

[KhunLA]

Peeked at that option, and not a fan.   They aren't inexpensive for what you get.   If any wood in the construction, the termites will have at it, not matter what anyone tells you.

 

Location dependent, but land isn't cheap to buy or rent.  If knowing where you want to be, simply buy a condo if available, or rent.   Rent giving you all the options if not satisfied with any aspect of living in that location.

 

Of course, it depends on age, relationship, if having, available liquid funds.   I'm a thrifty shopper, and didn't see the financial advantage to them.

 

Retiring early (45), and RE savvy, buying made sense for me, but has many pitfalls for the inexperienced.  Buying (building) will always be financially better, if staying put for 5 yrs or more.  Does take a very trusting partner/relationship though.

 

If I came here at retirement age (65/66) Then no, I would have rented, instead of building, and maybe a condo if I found an area I liked.   Which hasn't happened, and no condos in the areas I prefer to live.   Rent is very inexpensive though ... location dependent.

 

Rule #1 ... never invest more than you can walk away from.

[Will B Good]

Just on the verge of going for one.....and even with a knockdown it is .....location, location, location.

 

I have to escape from the f*****g morons that inhabit the villages around us.

[oxo1947]

Have you looked at what they are doing with shipping containers.....some look quite impressive.

 

 

 

[Pouatchee]

my wife and i looked into container and knock down houses before building our house. it is a good cheap solution to getting a 'cheapish' home. the only issue, which can be overcome, is that in order to get a house address we needed to provide to our  local area  chief the licence that allowed us to build, the picture of the finished house. when all is said and done we finally got the seal of approval from him. finally we went to the tessaban and were given the address. 

 

i recommend you talk to your local area chief to see what he wants to see in order to approve your final step... the address. if you dont want an address it is a totally different story

[retarius]

I just bought some land, and am wondering what to do with it. I already have a house and don't want another one that I don't own. You might wonder why I bought the land, and the reason is simply that I want to control it and am prepared to pay for the privilege. 

 I am thinking of several options for knockdown houses or containers.

I am having a wall erected at the moment around the property at the moment and when the place is secure I'll build some structure. My needs are air conditioning and soundproofing.

Does anybody have any ideas if these knock down places can be insulated for heat and sound? I'm not really concerned with costs so much as I don't need a big space, but just want somewhere quiet and relaxing to sit and get away from the noise of Thailand and compose myself, gazing at nature. 

[retarius]

5 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

my wife and i looked into container and knock down houses before building our house. it is a good cheap solution to getting a 'cheapish' home. the only issue, which can be overcome, is that in order to get a house address we needed to provide to our  local area  chief the licence that allowed us to build, the picture of the finished house. when all is said and done we finally got the seal of approval from him. finally we went to the tessaban and were given the address. 

 

i recommend you talk to your local area chief to see what he wants to see in order to approve your final step... the address. if you dont want an address it is a totally different story

My understanding (from my wife) is that for temporary residences like containers or knockdown houses no permission is needed. It sounds as though this is incorrect if I am reading your post. Can you clarify? Perhaps this is a local thing. I'm not bothered about having an address. 

 

When we built out home, we built 5 buildings in a sort of compound. We didn't get permissions from anybody. Years later when we wanted to change the name on the title, the land office came and surveyed the property and we got a 50,000 baht fine for building without permission. I'd rather avoid any problems like this. 

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, retarius said:

I just bought some land, and am wondering what to do with it. I already have a house and don't want another one that I don't own. You might wonder why I bought the land, and the reason is simply that I want to control it and am prepared to pay for the privilege. 

 I am thinking of several options for knockdown houses or containers.

I am having a wall erected at the moment around the property at the moment and when the place is secure I'll build some structure. My needs are air conditioning and soundproofing.

Does anybody have any ideas if these knock down places can be insulated for heat and sound? I'm not really concerned with costs so much as I don't need a big space, but just want somewhere quiet and relaxing to sit and get away from the noise of Thailand and compose myself, gazing at nature. 

A proper knockdown .......miles from all the idiots with their PA systems and loudspeakers........ will likely need a power supply.......I've been looking at small diesel generators with a view to ensuring A/C .......you can heat insulate, but sound insulation never works.

[retarius]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

A proper knockdown .......miles from all the idiots with their PA systems and loudspeakers........ will likely need a power supply.......I've been looking at small diesel generators with a view to ensuring A/C .......you can heat insulate, but sound insulation never works.

Thanks for the response. I don't know much about building but why doesn't sound insulation work. It seems that near us every young man has a motorbike with an exhaust that sounds like a Boeing 747 taking off. I don't understand the logic of why they want to make so much noise but they do....I thought that sound insulation might be a good alternative to murder :)

[Will B Good]

2 minutes ago, retarius said:

Thanks for the response. I don't know much about building but why doesn't sound insulation work. It seems that near us every young man has a motorbike with an exhaust that sounds like a Boeing 747 taking off. I don't understand the logic of why they want to make so much noise but they do....I thought that sound insulation might be a good alternative to murder :)

The low bass notes.....the most intensely annoying ones......lose very little energy as they travel.

 

Energy losses occur where there are regions of compression and rarefaction .....low frequency notes have few of these compared to high frequency notes.

[retarius]

9 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

The low bass notes.....the most intensely annoying ones......lose very little energy as they travel.

 

Energy losses occur where there are regions of compression and rarefaction .....low frequency notes have few of these compared to high frequency notes.

Thank you for the science lesson.

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, retarius said:

Thank you for the science lesson.

Pleasure.....ex-A Level Physics teacher....555

[Will B Good]

40 minutes ago, retarius said:

My understanding (from my wife) is that for temporary residences like containers or knockdown houses no permission is needed. It sounds as though this is incorrect if I am reading your post. Can you clarify? Perhaps this is a local thing. I'm not bothered about having an address. 

 

When we built out home, we built 5 buildings in a sort of compound. We didn't get permissions from anybody. Years later when we wanted to change the name on the title, the land office came and surveyed the property and we got a 50,000 baht fine for building without permission. I'd rather avoid any problems like this. 

I guess the crunch is when does a knockdown become a dwelling?.........the fields around us are littered with knockdowns that vary from a few sheets strung up with rope to small houses......I guess the bigger it is the more you might have to pop into a brown envelope.

[GarryP]

 

36 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

A proper knockdown .......miles from all the idiots with their PA systems and loudspeakers........ will likely need a power supply.......I've been looking at small diesel generators with a view to ensuring A/C .......you can heat insulate, but sound insulation never works.

One of my main complaints about living upcountry is those bloody PA systems, often on trucks. I have to stick my fingers in my ears when they pass. Absolutely insane. However, when I am in my home, the sound is greatly reduced, so I think the double AAC block cavity walls and roof insulation are helping a bit. Luckily, for me the negatives are very few and I'm glad I retired to the countryside. 

 

Now back on subject, a friend has a knock-down house and I really like it, but he had to hire a contractor from a different province, i.e. not Kalasin, as none of the local contractors could meet his requirements.  

[Pouatchee]

42 minutes ago, retarius said:

My understanding (from my wife) is that for temporary residences like containers or knockdown houses no permission is needed. It sounds as though this is incorrect if I am reading your post. Can you clarify?

you are right... temporary buildings can get TEMPORARY ELECTRICITY AND WATER sorry for caps lck... bvut you wont get a permanent address... you can get the water and electricity but it is at a higher rate per unit. only way to get address permanent or otherwise is to follow process we had to follow. maybe different elsewhere but here this is the procedure. i asked my darling to explain 3 times b4 posting. 

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, GarryP said:

 

One of my main complaints about living upcountry is those bloody PA systems, often on trucks. I have to stick my fingers in my ears when they pass. Absolutely insane. However, when I am in my home, the sound is greatly reduced, so I think the double AAC block cavity walls and roof insulation are helping a bit. Luckily, for me the negatives are very few and I'm glad I retired to the countryside. 

 

Now back on subject, a friend has a knock-down house and I really like it, but he had to hire a contractor from a different province, i.e. not Kalasin, as none of the local contractors could meet his requirements.  

We now have f*****g idiots mounting their sound systems on rice field tractors........what is wrong with these people?????

 

Back to the subject......I will probably go for a 'cement plank' off the shelf design.....we have four rudimentary knockdowns in the fields already......but they provide no more than shade......I want something more livable.

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, oxo1947 said:

Have you looked at what they are doing with shipping containers.....some look quite impressive.

 

 

 

most I have seen look ugly as a shipping container - - though your photo looks ok - not great.

[PJ71]

On 1/3/2024 at 4:27 AM, oxo1947 said:

Have you looked at what they are doing with shipping containers.....some look quite impressive.

 

 

 

Good luck doing that in thailand with the quality ( or lack thereof ) tradesmen they have.

[Adumbration]

The house I am sitting in now is full rendered brick, split level and 145 square meters.  It is on a full red chanote block.  It is 5 minutes from the beach in a quiet dead end street with zero through traffic.  I paid 270K for it with the vendor paying all transfer and tax costs.

 

Why would you buy a knockdown?  Just find an existing thai house that has decent bones then renovate it.

[CarbonRod]

On 1/5/2024 at 6:21 AM, Adumbration said:

The house I am sitting in now is full rendered brick, split level and 145 square meters.  It is on a full red chanote block.  It is 5 minutes from the beach in a quiet dead end street with zero through traffic.  I paid 270K for it with the vendor paying all transfer and tax costs.

 

Why would you buy a knockdown?  Just find an existing thai house that has decent bones then renovate it.

That sounds like a pretty good deal and a good strategy..... but I haven't seen any deals like that anywhere. Where are you located? I'm looking in the East and maybe a few provinces a bit further north. 

[Classic Ray]

My wife and I both got jobs in Bangkok so moved there.

 

First rented a house on a mooban 100m from Ban Thap Chang ARL station. It was very quiet, in a cul de sac, even with the station PA announcements and trains.

 

Now bought a house on a large mooban in Prawet, ten minutes walk from Paseo and Robinsons. As it is set back from the main road there is no traffic noise, birds and squirrels in the garden, little passing traffic and no PA trucks or noisy neighbours.

 

Even in busy cities there are places where annoying noise is absent, you just have to seek them out.

[Grumpy one]

There was me thinking the fine builders here only made knock down / fall down homes  

[Will B Good]

1 hour ago, Classic Ray said:

My wife and I both got jobs in Bangkok so moved there.

 

First rented a house on a mooban 100m from Ban Thap Chang ARL station. It was very quiet, in a cul de sac, even with the station PA announcements and trains.

 

Now bought a house on a large mooban in Prawet, ten minutes walk from Paseo and Robinsons. As it is set back from the main road there is no traffic noise, birds and squirrels in the garden, little passing traffic and no PA trucks or noisy neighbours.

 

Even in busy cities there are places where annoying noise is absent, you just have to seek them out.

I find Bangkok much more tranquil than Isaan.........and would move back there tomorrow.

[MangoKorat]

In the UK these are known as 'modular homes'. One major thing to consider with modular homes is future repairs.

 

If for any reason a panel gets damaged or you have to remove one to get to something inside - resulting in a panel being destroyed, will you be able to obtain a new panel in the future? There are other aspects where non-standard materials and/or construction is employed - consider these and how any future repair can be carried out.

 

Where a problem occurs on something inside the frame of the house, it may be very difficult to get to the problem or cause a lot of damage getting to the item.  Modular homes are usually 'plug and play' - all the wiring and pipework is fitted during the offsite construction process.  Consider how you will access damaged wiring or pipework.

 

I used to build modular homes in the UK and I often thought - these things will be a nightmare when it comes to the 25 year re-wire.  I am yet to see a modular home where consideration has been given to future access to anything within the framework.

 

I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.

[mikebike]

Too bad there are no responses from anyone actually living in a knock down/prefab. So far the responses are useless. 

[couchpotato]

On 1/3/2024 at 11:07 AM, KhunLA said:

Peeked at that option, and not a fan.   They aren't inexpensive for what you get.   If any wood in the construction, the termites will have at it, not matter what anyone tells you.

 

Location dependent, but land isn't cheap to buy or rent.  If knowing where you want to be, simply buy a condo if available, or rent.   Rent giving you all the options if not satisfied with any aspect of living in that location.

 

Of course, it depends on age, relationship, if having, available liquid funds.   I'm a thrifty shopper, and didn't see the financial advantage to them.

 

Retiring early (45), and RE savvy, buying made sense for me, but has many pitfalls for the inexperienced.  Buying (building) will always be financially better, if staying put for 5 yrs or more.  Does take a very trusting partner/relationship though.

 

If I came here at retirement age (65/66) Then no, I would have rented, instead of building, and maybe a condo if I found an area I liked.   Which hasn't happened, and no condos in the areas I prefer to live.   Rent is very inexpensive though ... location dependent.

 

Rule #1 ... never invest more than you can walk away from.

Very relevant to the OP's question..not!

[richard_smith237]

On 1/3/2024 at 11:27 AM, oxo1947 said:

Have you looked at what they are doing with shipping containers.....some look quite impressive.

 

 

The temperature with these would be an issue I imagine...

 

I lived in building which had a lot of metal (all of it was metal cladded / or glass windows)...  the AC bill was about 15,000 baht per month !! and needed to be on 100% of the time.... 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

How about a Vessel 'pod', they have some of these at a lake near MaeJo golf ourse.

https://www.vesseluk.co.uk/product/vessel-s5/

 

[sirineou]

On 1/3/2024 at 10:45 AM, INANIMATECARBONROD said:

I want this topic to focus on the home itself, rather than the purchasing of land (which deserves its own thread). 

What is your budget?

A shipping container is  just a box, that you then have to convert into living space. Why not just build a box with conventional building material that is already a living space? 

You are asking for trouble. 

If you have the land you can build a simple home inexpensively. A few prefabricated columns, a slab, cement block or AAC block for walls ,( I recement  AAC) a bluescope tin roof, and you got a house. 

 

[KhunLA]

3 hours ago, couchpotato said:

Very relevant to the OP's question..not!

More helpful than you silly reply to me