Self Build Project In Petchabun Province?

[macleod101]

My wife inheirited land about 20km west of bang Sam phan (sumort tart 60km south of petchabun), and I want to build a 1 bed house on the land.

I'm very serious about this project and the only thing that will delay it is the final cost (have I got anough funds now),

I'm looking to build a small house with one bedroom, one very large lounge, one kitchen, one bathroom and a porch.. my estimate for final project price is about 200Kbaht.

Now I could just give the money for this house to my inlaws and let them manage the project, but they've devoloped a skill of messing things up.. and I want to make sure the builder doesn't cut too many vital corners. So I'm looking at coming to Thailand to manage the project myself! Do you think that this is a wise way of doing things? or an unessecary way?

could I for 200Kbaht pay a contruction company to do this for me?

Should it cost less than 200k baht for that size of project?

all help is much appreciated!

(more Q's to come)

[chownah]

How many square metres do you think you will build? This is important in estimating the cost. A 50 square metre house built for 4,000 baht per square meter would consume your budget of 200,000 baht. Do you want to include the bathroom fixtures?...kitchen sink?...kithchen counters?....refrig?....stove? etc. in the price? What quality of materials and workmanship are you expecting?...sheet metal roof ok?...4mm cement board walls ok?...cheapest tiles?....cheapest windows?...etc.

Do you speak Thai and if not how will you communicate with the workers?...if your interpretor will be your wife does she know enough about construction so that if you ask her what size rebar they will be putting into the grade beam will she understand what you are asking?....will she understand the English?...and if she does understand the English does she know the words to use in Thai?....and more importantly is she willing to walk around with you while you inspect and make corrections and suggestions?

Do you know enough about building to be able to supervise what they are doing? When they go buy rebar whose size is "see hun" will you know to check it to see if it is actually big enough for what you want (assuming you know what you want)....not all "see hun" is the same....do you know that to send the rebar back because it is too small means someone loses face and in Thailand that someone will be you and not the workers?...and that losing too much face will usually put a real strain on your relationship with the workers, your wife, and her family and your neighbors?

I supervised the construction of our house.....my advise is if you decide to do this too that the most important thing is to never get angry....never never never get angry....anger is alway alway always counterproductive in the long run.

Chownah

Edited February 4, 2008 by chownah

[macleod101]

How many square metres do you think you will build? 40sq metres

. Do you want to include the bathroom fixtures?...kitchen sink?...kithchen counters?....refrig?....stove? etc. in the price? yes

What quality of materials and workmanship are you expecting?...sheet metal roof ok?...4mm cement board walls ok?...cheapest tiles?....cheapest windows?...etc. sheet metal roof is okay, 4mm cementboard are a bit thin IMO, but yes cheap tiles, cheapest windows..

Do you speak Thai and if not how will you communicate with the workers?...my wife won't be with me, just her family who don't speak english and me, i had thought to a translation service.

Do you know enough about building to be able to supervise what they are doing? in a word 'no'

When they go buy rebar whose size is "see hun" will you know to check it to see if it is actually big enough for what you want (assuming you know what you want)....not all "see hun" is the same....do you know that to send the rebar back because it is too small means someone loses face and in Thailand that someone will be you and not the workers?...and that losing too much face will usually put a real strain on your relationship with the workers, your wife, and her family and your neighbors? 3yrs with a thai person has taught me 'face' although i call it '<deleted>'

I supervised the construction of our house.....my advise is if you decide to do this too that the most important thing is to never get angry....never never never get angry....anger is alway alway always counterproductive in the long run. cheers

Chownah

[Tony121]

I think for this price it will have to be really basic and the cheapest materials possible, if you have the labour for free it may be possible but i think you need more money.

Have you got water/electric on the site already ?

Have you included connection to the electric ?

Does the plot need to be filled with earth ?

Have you thought about sewage treatment water pump etc

Just these things could come to thb50,000 or more

I would still say save more money and it will save you headaches

[macleod101]

we have electricity, and water, so that's 50k off the bill

labour is 150bht a day (checked that) myself AND my in laws will be doing a lot of the basic stuff..

Materials for 40sqmtrs came to about `150k baht last time i checked with my inlaws...

[macleod101]

we have sewhe treatment etc etc.. all th basics ae htir we just a property bassicly...

[donx]

As a comparison for you, my wife oversaw the building of a one room bungalow with an attached bathroom and porch. She used medium-high quality products (e.g. porciline tile instead of granite) and the cost back in 2004 was about 330,000 baht. This included air conditioning. She bought all the materials, her brother inspected the building every evening, and all the laborers were local villagers. The bathroom included a western sink, toilet and electic heated shower.

[aitch52]

If this helps I am just finishing off a 6 x 8 metre Garage/Workshop in Breeze block & Pillars with a good roof for less than 200,000 baht, and lots of steel reiforced concrete for the base the house details are in Petchabun Forum started by Macb

Chris

[Rimmer]

Materiel and direct labor cost on my 54 sq mtr 1 bed 1 bath/ lounge staff house B250,000 1 year ago, doubt if you can do it now for the same cost. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/banjopicker/1466458111/ for a small picture of it.

[HANDYMAN]

Hi there,

Don't know if this post is too late. you would be able to get started for 200k, but unlikely to build anything of size as material costs have gone up so much, unless you built from bamboo and maintained it well. I built a 220 sq mtr bungalow 3 years ago and it cost 850k without the land cost, then you need a well and electric supply and a road if you don't have one. Make sure you shop around for builders and because you are farang you will pay a tax for that to the builder, you won't get a Thai price for sure, unless your wife has family in the business. Go to the amphur and check with them what you can do and cannot do first before anything !!!

Good luck

David

[parbeau]

Hello David,

Picking up on the 1,5-year old thread about building house in Phetchabun, and your answer from nov 2008. I´m in a similar situation. Planning to build a house next year and I´m curious about what it would cost, roughly. The house will be 125 sqm + 25 sqm terrace (bungalow, western standard), plus carport and outdoor storage of 9 sqm. Our land is just south of Wan Chomphu, in small soi just near big road. I think I have an idea of what soil, water and electric would cost but when it comes to the house structure itself I´m out in the blue. Do you have any up-to-date advice on builders in the area? By the way; did your 850 k include fully-equipped kitchen, bathroom, air-conditioners etc? Pay tax to builder because I´m farang??? What do you refer to? I hope I can be "in the background", let my wife do the negotiating, and get "normal" Thai prices....

Hope you´re still around (or somebody else) and can give me a hint!

Andy

[InterestedObserver]

The house will be 125 sqm + 25 sqm terrace (bungalow, western standard), plus carport and outdoor storage of 9 sqm. By the way; did your 850 k include fully-equipped kitchen, bathroom, air-conditioners etc?

850k is on the very low end of the cost scale for what you describe. Certainly depends on the contractor and quality, but I would expect something like that to cost at least 1.5 million given material prices today. Are you including land fill, utilities, a good fence, and furniture in that price, if so - no way.

Edited October 9, 2009 by InterestedObserver