Anyone watching this guy's channel ?

So relatabel if you are/were building a house here.

This guy does such a good job putting it in entertaining video's.

Scroll down to about 6 months ago were he starts the build.

https://www.youtube.com/@Rides4Kickz/videos

I used to follow him and enjoy watching his house build, but now I just feel annoyed. He and his wife chose to manage the building process themselves instead of hiring a company, which I believe would have been much better. They handle all the procurement and look for contractors in local Facebook groups. Some contractors work out well, but others do not, forcing them to find replacements. Sometimes, contractors simply do not show up, creating a chain reaction of delays for the next crew who cannot start their work. Regarding procurement, they constantly buy too few or entirely wrong materials. It seems like Luculous has to go out and buy supplies every single day.I also follow a Swedish couple who are building a house in a completely different way. They hired a highly professional building company, so all they have to do is choose the materials and watch the progress. While their price tag is probably higher, the Swedish couple's approach seems much better when you factor in the stress, the endless problems, and all the extra driving Luculous and his wife have to do. I also have to say that the Swedish house has a much better finish in almost every aspect, and the building process is moving much faster

It's Lucous by the way. I agree with some of what you say but I think following the build has made for an entertaining process. I also think he let's his wife have too much say in what they are doing rather than follow his instincts which are normally right.

25 minutes ago, jimn said:

It's Lucous by the way. I agree with some of what you say but I think following the build has made for an entertaining process. I also think he let's his wife have too much say in what they are doing rather than follow his instincts which are normally right.

Well it’s going to be hers eventually so she wants a say, it’s not his wife, they are not married. His estimates full build costs including the land is 1.8 million baht, I doubt a builder would be as cheap as that plus nothing fazes him irrespective of the mistakes. A mistake is only a mistake if you can’t make it right.

I highly recommend you work out your utilities before taking the first step to draw up plans and get the builder involved. My wife and I were told that we couldn't approach PEA for the cost of bringing adequate electric to our proposed home until we prepared building plans to present to them first. All of that nonsense is bass-akwards and totally self-defeating. We spent weeks working on our plans and paid 20,000 Baht for a set to present to PEA only to be told that the cost to run electric to our home would be about 150,000 Baht which a few weeks later turned into 1,000,000 Baht after they saw that I was a farang. Needless to say, we shelved the entire project and gave up on our dream home in that location. Every rat in h**l will come out of the woodwork looking for a way to relieve you of your money!

6 minutes ago, fittobethaied said:

I highly recommend you work out your utilities before taking the first step to draw up plans and get the builder involved. My wife and I were told that we couldn't approach PEA for the cost of bringing adequate electric to our proposed home until we prepared building plans to present to them first. All of that nonsense is bass-akwards and totally self-defeating. We spent weeks working on our plans and paid 20,000 Baht for a set to present to PEA only to be told that the cost to run electric to our home would be about 150,000 Baht which a few weeks later turned into 1,000,000 Baht after they saw that I was a farang. Needless to say, we shelved the entire project and gave up on our dream home in that location. Every rat in h**l will come out of the woodwork looking for a way to relieve you of your money!

What, no solar there? Screw the PEA.

Not in my case. We had this house built on land in Rayong owned by my wife 30 years ago. Builder came to us via a recommendation from a local shop owner. He couldn't speak English, and my Thai is limited. Nevertheless he did a wonderful job. No paperwork or local planning permission involved. I fear things will be far more complicated these days

After nearly buying a new build house i pulled out due to the poor build quality, concrete structure in filled with 4 inch blocks, even the divide walls from the neighbouring house.The AC company said the exterior units would have to be fixed to the concrete structure, if fitted directly to the walls they would vibrate.

1 hour ago, hanbla said:

I used to follow him and enjoy watching his house build, but now I just feel annoyed. He and his wife chose to manage the building process themselves instead of hiring a company, which I believe would have been much better. They handle all the procurement and look for contractors in local Facebook groups. Some contractors work out well, but others do not, forcing them to find replacements. Sometimes, contractors simply do not show up, creating a chain reaction of delays for the next crew who cannot start their work. Regarding procurement, they constantly buy too few or entirely wrong materials. It seems like Luculous has to go out and buy supplies every single day.I also follow a Swedish couple who are building a house in a completely different way. They hired a highly professional building company, so all they have to do is choose the materials and watch the progress. While their price tag is probably higher, the Swedish couple's approach seems much better when you factor in the stress, the endless problems, and all the extra driving Luculous and his wife have to do. I also have to say that the Swedish house has a much better finish in almost every aspect, and the building process is moving much faster

Agree, and you can find Thai building constructors that might let you — or help you to — choose sub-contractors for specific works like electric, tiles and roof. I did that, and I had a very good co-operation with my Thai building constructor and excellent work from sub-contractors. I agreed prices myself, but the system often works with the main building constructor gets a commission; so, at the end it's same as if included in the main contract, just giving you more freedom. I also bought both electric switches and lamps, and roof tiles, and floor and wall tiles myself; so, I was master of negotiating discounts. Also aircons — I have 7 of them — and I got good discount there too. I presume it's much better to find a balance, than trying to be fully on your own, especilly somewhere you don't really know how it all works...😉

3 hours ago, hanbla said:

I used to follow him and enjoy watching his house build, but now I just feel annoyed. He and his wife chose to manage the building process themselves instead of hiring a company, which I believe would have been much better. They handle all the procurement and look for contractors in local Facebook groups. Some contractors work out well, but others do not, forcing them to find replacements. Sometimes, contractors simply do not show up, creating a chain reaction of delays for the next crew who cannot start their work. Regarding procurement, they constantly buy too few or entirely wrong materials. It seems like Luculous has to go out and buy supplies every single day.I also follow a Swedish couple who are building a house in a completely different way. They hired a highly professional building company, so all they have to do is choose the materials and watch the progress. While their price tag is probably higher, the Swedish couple's approach seems much better when you factor in the stress, the endless problems, and all the extra driving Luculous and his wife have to do. I also have to say that the Swedish house has a much better finish in almost every aspect, and the building process is moving much faster

You have a link to the Swedish couple's house build ?

I've renovated quite a few houses and condos in the US. I've been GC for the smaller renos. I would definitely hire an experienced, motivated, builder who has a strong reputation if building a new house in US or Thailand.

If you've done a reno of any size you know how important it is to understand the order of flow, lead time for ordering materials, a itemized detailed cost estimate spreadsheet, and why well written contracts are important.

What you need to understand in Thailand it is Not common to buy extra and then return it for a refund later. They have Homepro not Home Depot here. You also need to understand if your there looking over their shoulder bothering them then they May intentionally order to little and ask you to get more to get you out of their hair for a while.

23 hours ago, FlorC said:

Anyone watching this guy's channel ?

Some of the contractors are doing terrible work and he does nothing about it! For example, look at the video where they put the vented soffits in the corner, and the new front step was not mechanically joined to the main building.

People with little to no RE or building experience should buy something less than 5 yrs old. Any issues would probably been fixed, along with, simply getting an inspector to review the property, and give a list of repairs needed before closing, or knocked off the price.

Daughter bought a pre-planned townhouse in a development, and before settlement, had it inspected with a list, to be fixed before taking possession.

Also if you do contract a builder, make the last payment to be released, only after an inspection, and anything found, corrected.

Common sense money spending, not really rocket science. All should have been learned, way before retiring to TH.

Not exactly your first house purchase, hopefully.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by KhunLA

3 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

I fear things will be far more complicated these days

Depends on land location. I built mine 3 years ago and since there were elec/water available we did not even bother to get any permit. There were several shops, a big house and an apartment building on the same lot. Local builders asked too much for such a small house (50sqm). Fortunately I could do it by hiring construction workers, but I had to watch them all the times, otherwise they would never follow instructions. it took me a year to finish it. I did some work by myself. I installed windows and doors (2 sliding, 1 entrance) , floor tiles wall tiles, floor laminate, electrical wiring and all kitchen. myself. You pay and they still can’t do a clean job🙁. It cost me 13k-15k sqm.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by OneManShow

I mentioned in his comments to fit the windows/doors during the build or a template which he didn’t resulting in I think 3 of the internal openings for the doors being to small. The openings had to be made larger causing damage to the surrounding blocks/plaster.

For some reason he goes through numerous builders for similar jobs, some come do bit then never come back again. I think he is being Penny-wise and pound-foolish" is an idiom describing someone who is overly careful about saving small amounts of money but wasteful or shortsighted with large financial decisions. It often refers to saving a small amount now, only to incur a much larger expense later.

6 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

For some reason he goes through numerous builders for similar jobs, some come do bit then never come back again. I think he is being Penny-wise and pound-foolish" is an idiom describing someone who is overly careful about saving small amounts of money but wasteful or shortsighted with large financial decisions. It often refers to saving a small amount now, only to incur a much larger expense later.

he is known amongst his friends/fellow Pattaya youtubers as the ultimate cheap charlie..........watched him for years, they're not wrong.............I gotta say though; his journey has been entertaining & interesting, sad at times and very well documented. He is a master narrator, but this house build series just isn't for me.....

Been following this Krabi build, enjoying the progress:

19 hours ago, FlorC said:

You have a link to the Swedish couple's house build ?

Yes . Here is a link to their channel.

But - it's in Swedish 😉

A house is built

Edited June 27Jun 27 by hanbla
Did a mistake

21 minutes ago, hanbla said:

Yes . Here is a link to their channel.

But - it's in Swedish 😉

A house is built

Thanks.

No worries , YT has a translate function.

That said , you get more people to watch when it is in english.

I watch these swedes too , building their boat from scratch,

and in english. (freaking impressive ! )

https://www.youtube.com/@RANSailing/videos