What Kind Of House Can Be Built For 300k?

[RY12]

Below is a rough Google Sketchup of what I was hoping to build late this year in Ubon. I was told that 300k could build a two storey, 9 post house, with basic finishing, so I'm hoping 300k for below isn't too crazy? Specs:

+ two small rooms (one air-conditioned) divided by a bathroom on second storey, unfinished first floor (to be filled in later)

+ concrete slab floor and ceiling of that second storey (for sound insulation)

+ cheapest roof possible- steel trusses with metal sheet roofing? perhaps insulated for attic storage

+ 3 or 4 cheap windows, double-paned for insulation.

+ concrete block walls, insulated on exterior.

+ basic aesthetic cappings to the coloumns, frames for the windows, etc

+ Sink below the second storey, basic countertop next to it for primitive kitchen.

+ bamboo latter to the second storey, no stairs (yet)

+ Tiling only in the bathroom, other two rooms could be finished concrete for a while

Appliances, furnishing already possessed

This is what I'd like to be built, on the otherhand, would I have to get an expensive architect to draft up plans for this, or would I just be doomed to taking pre-drawn plans for the house? The gf is just as in the dark about this as I am- we've both been told that building companies overcharge, but may provide warranties, and self-build with local friends/family is cheap, but may be unstable, no warranty....

[Dave the Dude]

Hi RY12

I think that price range may be possible and with the aid of a reliable and honest builder. He could work from scaled plans plus your autocad pictures. A thai friend had a house built (well) with just giving the builder a calender with little pictures&plans on it each month! Although I would'nt recommend that approach. There is only the village 'head-man' that needs to agree your building proposals, thats all.

As an ex-plumber and Project Manager, I would ensure your bathroom fittings are well placed, remembering a bloody gr8 soil pipe needs to find its way to a cesspit. Do not assume local builders know what you are expecting in the way of lighting/elec points/TV points and last but not least TRAPS on all sinks&drain-aways.

Have you ever tried to sleep in a house with a tin roof? I did and couldnt.

You will get shed-loads of good advice & reference info from the building forum.

Good luck,mate

Dave

[citizen33]

Hi RY12

I think that price range may be possible and with the aid of a reliable and honest builder. He could work from scaled plans plus your autocad pictures. A thai friend had a house built (well) with just giving the builder a calender with little pictures&plans on it each month! Although I would'nt recommend that approach. There is only the village 'head-man' that needs to agree your building proposals, thats all.

As an ex-plumber and Project Manager, I would ensure your bathroom fittings are well placed, remembering a bloody gr8 soil pipe needs to find its way to a cesspit. Do not assume local builders know what you are expecting in the way of lighting/elec points/TV points and last but not least TRAPS on all sinks&drain-aways.

Have you ever tried to sleep in a house with a tin roof? I did and couldnt.

You will get shed-loads of good advice & reference info from the building forum.

Good luck,mate

Dave

It may be possible for 300K, though prices have gone up a lot and I have lost touch. The couple of things that struck me are (1) Fibre cement roofing sheets won't be much - if any - dearer than steel and in terms of looks and noise are better. (2) Double glazed windows are rare in Thailand and will be pretty expensive (3) The aircon won't be that cheap. Try somewhere like Makro at about 15K to 20K plus 2K fitting. If you can plan ahead in terms of the plumbing and wiring it will help when you fill in the ground floor. What has struck me with the couple of building projects I have been involved with, is that various extras like soil in-fill, garden walls, gates and steel fences can add a good bit to the cost. As you will see if you read earlier threads, it is best to agree a labour only price with your builder and buy the materials yourself.

[chiang mai]

The devil is in the detail and will certainly be there big time unless you micro manage EVERY aspect of the build, from start to finish. I agree it can be done but unless you are prepared to invest huge amounts of time and shorten your life by several years, best you factor in a cost over run of around 30%.

[RY12]

The devil is in the detail and will certainly be there big time unless you micro manage EVERY aspect of the build, from start to finish. I agree it can be done but unless you are prepared to invest huge amounts of time and shorten your life by several years, best you factor in a cost over run of around 30%.

Yes, that is what I'm afraid of, since I DON'T have the time to supervise and buy everything myself. There's an uncle in the family that apparently knows how to build and shares a truck with the gf... maybe I could just turn it over to him and hope the thai tendancy to overbuild will make the house strong enough... since structural weakness is what'I'm scared of (leaky faucets, etc are tolerable).

Where would one buy thai books (in thai) on building houses? bookshops i've visited havent had any

[chiang mai]

The devil is in the detail and will certainly be there big time unless you micro manage EVERY aspect of the build, from start to finish. I agree it can be done but unless you are prepared to invest huge amounts of time and shorten your life by several years, best you factor in a cost over run of around 30%.

Yes, that is what I'm afraid of, since I DON'T have the time to supervise and buy everything myself. There's an uncle in the family that apparently knows how to build and shares a truck with the gf... maybe I could just turn it over to him and hope the thai tendancy to overbuild will make the house strong enough... since structural weakness is what'I'm scared of (leaky faucets, etc are tolerable).

Where would one buy thai books (in thai) on building houses? bookshops i've visited havent had any

Without question your biggest risk is cost overrun, I wouldn't imagine that structural integrity will be an issue. Build quality will also be an issue and I would suggest there are areas of the construction where money can be saved and others where money should be spent, e.g use QCON or Superblock instead of red brick for the walls to improve the R Value and provide better build integrity. I have already been through the task that you are now starting and I gave my builder responsibility for the construction and paid him a fixed fee for his labour - I bought most of the materials myself although where I didn't, the builder took advantage and tried to gouge me price wise. Perhaps one part of the solution is to put some effort into the design and QS of the materials up front and insist that the structure is built to spec and that work stops when the budget is spent. As for books on the subject, I have seen lots of what appear to be University grade text books in northern book shops but nothing in English.

[prakhonchai nick]

Below is a rough Google Sketchup of what I was hoping to build late this year in Ubon. I was told that 300k could build a two storey, 9 post house, with basic finishing, so I'm hoping 300k for below isn't too crazy? Specs:

What are your basic dimensions?

No need for drawings, etc. Just a builder from the village who is familiar with what to do, give him the sizes, maybe stick markers into the 9 places where the posts are to go, and basically let him get on with it.

2 points though

1) You personally must be present every day. Do not leave it to the wife or heaven forbid her family

2) Let the builder tell you how much sand cement stones, blocks etc you need and go and give order YOURSELF. Never let anyone else do it for you.

[Dave the Dude]

Below is a rough Google Sketchup of what I was hoping to build late this year in Ubon. I was told that 300k could build a two storey, 9 post house, with basic finishing, so I'm hoping 300k for below isn't too crazy? Specs:

What are your basic dimensions?

No need for drawings, etc. Just a builder from the village who is familiar with what to do, give him the sizes, maybe stick markers into the 9 places where the posts are to go, and basically let him get on with it.

2 points though

1) You personally must be present every day. Do not leave it to the wife or heaven forbid her family

2) Let the builder tell you how much sand cement stones, blocks etc you need and go and give order YOURSELF. Never let anyone else do it for you.

Hi RY12 (again)

All good advice here but 'Builders from the village' or from 'the family' are usually FARMERS WANTING EXTRA MONEY. Before you do anything, go see examples of completed work undertaken by guy you are to trust with your home and money.

Please take the following advice as it is intended and NOT a smart @rse comment. With low cost projects the percentage of overspend can sometimes be enormous do to bad components and workmanship. I know of a number of 'farmer built' properties in Issan where expensive errors have had to be put right 6>12 months down the line when the 'Builder' is no-where to be foound.

Please,please consider recommendations carefully and I'd bet that most of us ferangs here can put you in touch with a good builder ( I can) as we expect higher quality work.

Dave

[egg6447]

my father in law built a 18 post x 4 bedroom single story, steel roof cement sheets, for 300k. oh two shower rooms. i dont think you,ll get two story for 300k. your wories ref the quality+ standard, ive never seen a realy bad job, thats when i travel around to look. why. because the type of house your talking about is a glorified shed. no offence a fact. any farmer worth his salt can build this as they all do. tileing in thailand is a higher standard than uk for my money. my garden is tilled and ive been driving a 4x4 on it for three years, no probs, in uk it would be a no no to drive on tiles before you start to condemn. stop worying and let the boys do what they do. if you know anything about the trade keep your eye onem by all means but dont interfere with " i know best" chances are you dont as european ideas/standards dont nessesarily work here, regards expansion insects and other things. thia do seem to be jack of all trades , get a recomend and let em get on with it.

[prakhonchai nick]

Hi RY12 (again)

All good advice here but 'Builders from the village' or from 'the family' are usually FARMERS WANTING EXTRA MONEY. Before you do anything, go see examples of completed work undertaken by guy you are to trust with your home and money.

Dave

You are correct, but RY is building a 2 room structure on stilts not a mansion or a palace and wants it done at a bargain price.

Local farmers in between the rice are in my view quite capable of doing something basic like this, but still need to be supervised every day by RY, to ensure sizes are adhered to, doors and windows go where they are supposed to, and the toilet sits against the wall, and is not a showpiece in the centre of the room (Think I'm joking - they did it to me when I was away for just 1 hour!!!). Don't let them do the electrical work though! I always do my own.

Having just replaced all my ill fitting wooden windows with aluminium ones. i would suggest these especially as the wooden ones are likely more expensive

[RY12]

Please,please consider recommendations carefully and I'd bet that most of us ferangs here can put you in touch with a good builder ( I can) as we expect higher quality work.

Alright, can anyone recommend good builders in Ubon ?

[RY12]

What are your basic dimensions?

Well I'm not sure, just put the man in for scale in the sketchup drawing. I'd say 4m by 8m for width and lenght, then a small portico like I indicated. maybe a 2 or 3 meter high roof (from the floor of the attic to the peak ridge ) on top of that, enough for storage. Yes, all I want is a glorified shed, a bamboo latter instead of stairs is even sufficient for the first few years.

Without question your biggest risk is cost overrun, I wouldn't imagine that structural integrity will be an issue. Build quality will also be an issue and I would suggest there are areas of the construction where money can be saved and others where money should be spent, e.g use QCON or Superblock instead of red brick for the walls to improve the R Value and provide better build integrity.

Are there any other tips like this where you think a more expensive product is called for? I for one am hoping to use epoxy grout instead of cementious, even though it's more expensive it is much more sanitary.

Edited July 14, 2008 by RY12

[ozsamurai]

Dave Cross has an excellent site with all the Thai govt house plans there available for FREE, maybe this may save a bit of cash if you can hand over the blueprints as is

http://www.crossy.co.uk/Thai_House_Plans/

Some of them looked very similar to what you have planned.

oz

[chiang mai]

What are your basic dimensions?

Well I'm not sure, just put the man in for scale in the sketchup drawing. I'd say 4m by 8m for width and lenght, then a small portico like I indicated. maybe a 2 or 3 meter high roof (from the floor of the attic to the peak ridge ) on top of that, enough for storage. Yes, all I want is a glorified shed, a bamboo latter instead of stairs is even sufficient for the first few years.

Without question your biggest risk is cost overrun, I wouldn't imagine that structural integrity will be an issue. Build quality will also be an issue and I would suggest there are areas of the construction where money can be saved and others where money should be spent, e.g use QCON or Superblock instead of red brick for the walls to improve the R Value and provide better build integrity.

Are there any other tips like this where you think a more expensive product is called for? I for one am hoping to use epoxy grout instead of cementious, even though it's more expensive it is much more sanitary.

You've indicated a fairly basic structure so as long as the concrete and steel parts are constructed properly and you use an insulating brick such as QCON for the walls there's not much left apart from roof, windows and doors. I would definitely invest in insulation for the roof void and make sure you have adequate air flow in the roof space (this subject has been covered extensively in this forum many times) - the bigger the roof vent the better. I would avoid using wood or natural products anywhere simply because they attract bugs and vermin and there are many suitable cost effective alternatives such as windows and doors etc. I would also encase any wiring in the roof void in blue pipe to avoid destruction by vermin. Lastly, I would give some thought to the placing of the house to see if I could site it in such a way as to reduce exposure to the sun, shade it if at all possible. Double paned glass windows only work well if properly constructed, the size and types of glass (and the air gap) are critical as is the need to remove all air in the gap and replace with an insert gas - they are prohibitively expensive to buy but you could try getting a quote from say Thai/Asahai glass - BTW, green coloured glass is the optimum colour apparently for heat resistance, not tinted black glass. Can't think of anything else, good luck!

Edited July 14, 2008 by chiang mai

[jay-uk]

Hi RY

My father-in-law is a builder and completes small projects locally such as shops, brick salas, garages, walls and small houses/bungalows etc. Can you PM your Ubon location as he may be suitable for your project if close by. Obviously if you are too far away then travel to/from the project can be an issue. We are about 5 mins drive from bigC and city centre.

[bergen]

Hi RY

My father-in-law is a builder and completes small projects locally such as shops, brick salas, garages, walls and small houses/bungalows etc. Can you PM your Ubon location as he may be suitable for your project if close by. Obviously if you are too far away then travel to/from the project can be an issue. We are about 5 mins drive from bigC and city centre.

Any percentage for you Jay

[PhilHarries]

I'm not a builder nor a civil engineer (mechanical with a bit of civils experience) but my main concern would be structural integrity. Your sketches do not depict any walls in the ground floor and, if this is the case, the structure lacks lateral stability. Thus, unless the column foundations are substantial and the columns themselves are well reinforced, the building could be severely damaged or destroyed in an earthquake.

Of course the omission in your sketches of the ground floor walls could be down to them just being quick outline doodles but even if there are to be walls or you are not building in a seismic risk zone it is as well to get a professional to at least eyeball the design. This kind of leads you down chiang mai's route of putting effort into the design and QS and buying the materials yourself. But set against that you are saying you don't have the time for supervision of the construction implying you don't have much spare time period.

Personally I'm not of the "Thais know what they are doing so just let them get on with it" brigade. Sure the Thais do know what they are doing (they've been building houses in Thailand for a good bit more time than us farangs) but they also do know how to cut corners to save themselves costs and make more profit. In my opinion it is essential to have 100% trustworthy, experienced supervision on site right through the construction period and whether your gf's family can fill that role only you can answer that. Another advantage of this is being able to keep the builders on schedule.

Another thing you need to consider is the financing. Depending on whether you or the builder purchases the materials he will want an up front payment. Thereafter he will require stage payments to cover expenses incurred during construction (wages, materials etc). you will need to draw up a contract between yourself and the builder setting all these things down in writing and signed by all parties. This gets everything straight right from the start and avoids future strife (which is why I am against using family and friends for the job and don't forget in a dispute your gf will side with family).

OTT? Maybe, others will almost certainly disagree with what I have said, but I've known of more than a few such projects/friendships come to grief over such issues.

Last thought. You mention using a bamboo latter (ladder I assume) for access to the first floor. Whilst that it okay in the general run of things you should consider access at night (with power cut), in the p1ssing rain and in an emergency (you/gf sick or injured). I would ask for a breakout price for a precast reinforced concrete stairway (also easier to get furniture up) and do a cost/benefit analysis.

[jay-uk]

Hi Bergen how are you? No percentage for me just like to keep my father-in-law busy. All his work is usually word of mouth around the village and he does most jobs on his own or with very few people (1 or 2 friends/neighbours) to keep himself occupied. Never big jobs just small projects and he never takes anything on if he thinks it is outside of his capabilities. I've never found him work myself other than when he obviously built our house for us but apart from that he generally finds his own work and when not busy turns to making things out of bamboo. I have respect for the guy not just because he's my wife's dad but i find he is very hard working and in the last 9 years i've never seen him sit for more than 5 mins. Spent his younger years in Singapore building office blocks.

[RY12]

I'm not a builder nor a civil engineer (mechanical with a bit of civils experience) but my main concern would be structural integrity. Your sketches do not depict any walls in the ground floor and, if this is the case, the structure lacks lateral stability. Thus, unless the column foundations are substantial and the columns themselves are well reinforced, the building could be severely damaged or destroyed in an earthquake.

Of course the omission in your sketches of the ground floor walls could be down to them just being quick outline doodles but even if there are to be walls or you are not building in a seismic risk zone it is as well to get a professional to at least eyeball the design.

These are the kinds of concerns I have that make me really confused about this whole process. On the one hand there's posts saying building a house is no big deal and i can just throw a rough sketch a local builders, and on the other hand there's people suggesting elaborate soil tests, specifc materials specifications, earthquake protection, etc. to be done by professionals. Is there any kind of middle ground here to make a safe structure with a warranty of sorts without having to get cheated out of 30% of the costs? Are there reasonably-priced professionals out there that can supervise a building and gurantee its stability while at the same time allowing me to buy the materials?

So yes, I was planning on having the first floor unfinished, and then walling it in when I have more money.

[jay-uk]

Hi RY

I'm not sure you are going to get much in terms of guarantees and warranty's with that kind of budget. Lets put this into prospective you are planning to spend in the order of US$ 9,000 (UK£ 4,000) to complete the whole house including materials and labour. This is not a great sum of money and you pay for what you get even out in Thailand. If you want a builder to put some kind of warranty forward my guess is he would be looking to charge alot more than you have budgeted and any warranty would be useless as many offer them verbally but rarely would they be around if anything went wrong. My advice for what it may be worth is if you want guarantees you'll need to reasses things financially with a view to possibly spending more with a larger reputable building outfit and that's going to take you well away from your original figure and more likely starting above 1 million baht plus.

Edited July 14, 2008 by jay-uk

[chiang mai]

I'm not a builder nor a civil engineer (mechanical with a bit of civils experience) but my main concern would be structural integrity. Your sketches do not depict any walls in the ground floor and, if this is the case, the structure lacks lateral stability. Thus, unless the column foundations are substantial and the columns themselves are well reinforced, the building could be severely damaged or destroyed in an earthquake.

Of course the omission in your sketches of the ground floor walls could be down to them just being quick outline doodles but even if there are to be walls or you are not building in a seismic risk zone it is as well to get a professional to at least eyeball the design.

These are the kinds of concerns I have that make me really confused about this whole process. On the one hand there's posts saying building a house is no big deal and i can just throw a rough sketch a local builders, and on the other hand there's people suggesting elaborate soil tests, specifc materials specifications, earthquake protection, etc. to be done by professionals. Is there any kind of middle ground here to make a safe structure with a warranty of sorts without having to get cheated out of 30% of the costs? Are there reasonably-priced professionals out there that can supervise a building and gurantee its stability while at the same time allowing me to buy the materials?

So yes, I was planning on having the first floor unfinished, and then walling it in when I have more money.

I'm afraid you are on the verge of opening a debate between the purists and the pragmatists and I doubt that either group will meet your requirements, you need to be somewhere in the middle. If you were investing huge sums of money in this project I would suggest strongly that you go down the fully professional route and follow all the steps set out in the western bible of building houses. If on the other hand you were a local you would have none of those things and you would put your trust in local knowledge and local skills and perhaps keep your fingers crossed. The results in both cases are likely to be similar.

Construction using concrete posts is seen every where in Thailand and it's not rocket science hence many of the locals have been able to adopt such methods with great success. I would suggest that you use local family members to identify a local builder who is willing to do the work on a fixed fee basis for labour only. You will need to identify someone who has show evidence of having done this sort of thing before and provide on e or two reference sites. I think it's important to find someone who is local to you because that means they have a reputation to protect and as you know, face is important to local Thai's.

You will need to provide a sketch with dimensions at a minimum and this will need to anticipate the changes you may want to make in the future. If you plan to leave the ground floor open initially and perhaps build it out in the future you will need to prepare the base in such a way as to allow for this. For example, leaving the sketch to show columns that support an upper structure probably is not sufficient hence the plans should show the uprights being tied together at the base with a minimal load bearing capability.

As for guarantee's: the best you can expect on this front is that the builder will do a good job but may overlook one or two things thus it will be sensible to with hold say 10% of the payments until 30 or 60 days after the work is finished.

[Beardog]

We started in Pattaya area with a ultra modest 6 meter by 12 meter single story.It was suppose to be 220,000 at the start. It went into 340,000 baht with unforeseen markups. The job was re-estimated to have been 150,000 to light so the contractor rolled em up & went bankrupt. I was glad this was the pretest for the real house that is more than a 2 1/2 car garage.

Me and my girl had to rebuild 40% of the house along with me installing all the plumbing & septic system. This all with no Air conditioner as that is roughly another 20,000. If you are going off a design not newer than yesterday July 14th 2008 expect it to be way more. All const. materials have gone up 20-30% due to the cost of fuel & you have to add in another 30+% over the original bid. Do not expect for a real good job as at the low wage does not make for a happy crew.

It is a dam_n good thing I was in the construction trade as I was able to foresee in 10 days we were going to be way over cost.

Phase 2 The real house I will build as I love to create & like quality work. The septic system they were going to dig (jut the hole not the drainage field) was a 2 ft hole 3 ft. deep right outside the kitchen(suck em up pump it out 1 time a month.

Agreement was a suppose to be a septic system 30 meters from the well so we didn't drink KEY!

You better be there watching as the builders will hack you behind your back & cut every corner they can to make the meager funds by shortchanging you on supplies.

The design will most likely be 500,000+ although it is not complete enough to tell. The labor will be cheaper in your area , but the supplies will be about the same. i have a bunch of acquaintances who all have the same experience. Really best to be there & make sure they don't put your septic less than 30 meters from your pump. I put in a series of access points that have a 4" pipe housing a 1/2 " pipe so I can get to the water lines without smashing out the crete.

I hate to be a buzzkill but whoever told you you can get this done with an aircon is blowin smoke up your ass.

Remember when the money gets funny- they walk to cut there losses & it is much more expensive to finish the job on round 2.

Our house is a single story as well. We built in Dec. a 1 month wonder(+ 2 1/2 months to repaint) reinstall some electrics re -tile redo the fascia & redo most of the roof. Worst mistake I ever made was getting roped into getting the long sheets of roofing & the cheap(difference 46 baht-52 baht) not to go through the roof when repairing it.

I hope you are luckier than everyone else-but you know the old saying you get what you pay for & it is most definitely true.

We have an expat that is building a 5 million baht house & is already over 160,000 baht 30 days into it. they cheated him on 30 cm on the pool(shallower) the 3 meter walls pencil thin steel(no 5/8 ''rebar) the uprights 20 of them reduced 25% carport cut in half.& his hateful tale is still going. And he was the only hopeful farang I have met here. He decided being a doctor was enough expertise to be the subcontractor. Although I have subcontracted in the U.S. I wouldn't dream of it here, There are no laws to protect you.

Good luck & keep an open mind on the costs fluctuating greatly.

Edited July 14, 2008 by Beardog

[Thai Chi]

Intresting and relevant post Beardog, any pics? could help the OP.

[blue eyes]

You should be able to build this home for 300kTHB.That is about what it cost us.

Edited July 15, 2008 by blue eyes

[Beardog]

Intresting and relevant post Beardog, any pics? could help the OP.

Sure no problem!

The key point in keeping your cost down is decide & buy now! cement- rebar-sand -rock- roofing materials have all gone up in the last 2 week period. As fuel costs soar so does the prices of building supplies. The 30% on top of the estimate is the same somewhat in the U.S. It is an unavoidable part of the estimate so the contractor can buffer the rising costs & unforeseen hidden costs.

The second addition of our house went up already 180% as of 6 months ago on the original quote .If that is I decide to give another contractor the chance to build. Seriously Ry you should be present at least every other day to non obtrusively view the work & check that the materials are what you agreed on & corners are not being cut. This is Thailand & I wouldn't expect anything to be perfect- but you can minimize your losses by being there to keep an eye on the work. A place I rented in Pob Choke (Baan Sare) rais were 4.3 million a rai now 4.7- A poor man from Sweden had a 9 million baht house built (that was really worth 3 million. Had to be the crappyest work I have ever seen . The bricks ran downhill to 3 bricks low. I guess they never heard of a T-square or a level.They just covered it up with red brick & it looked good except any layman that saw the prework cringed & he never got to see the Broilmasters school of carpentry (Butchers work)When he came back to se his dream home he almost dropped a loaf in his pants. The estimates for rework were 3 million + as it was structural mistakes.

I doubt you will get laid away for 300,000 baht most it will cost is 150,000 extra to straighten out the worst case scenario.

But it will pay off to be present or have someone sharp to look out for you. Mai Pen Rai means your screwed & they are going to do it their way regardless. The cost of our house did include the 40,000 baht fence I forgot to mention.

Edited July 15, 2008 by Beardog

[PhilHarries]

You should be able to build this home for 300kTHB.That is about what it cost us.

I was tempted to ask which is your house the timber or the wrinkle tin one but that would be facetious in the extreme. Apologies for even thinking along those lines.

Looks a nice house, is it entirely timber and how much of the design was done on paper before starting construction? Did you contract out the entire thing as a design, supply, erect and fit out job or did you undertake any of the work yourself. Timber is a nice material to build with as it is flexible and will give a bit during a tremor rather than crack and fail as with poorly reinforced concrete. The downside is that it is expensive, vulnerable to attack by pests and requires ongoing maintenance to keep it proofed against the elements.

[kamalabob2]

Hello RY12,

Many GREAT replies to your post, especially by OZSAMURAI and Dave the Dude. The "calender" refereed to is a CPAC roof tile calender given away free at every Home Mart. I believe those plans might be based on FREE GOVERNMENT PLANS that are linked in the replies. The free government plans indicate a price of materials (the cost of materials has generally gone up, some dramatically so) and there are actually several different books you may borrow for free from many Home Marts and Government Building Departments. The Thai Government made these House Plan Books so that people of limited means (which certainly is the majority of the hard working Thai Citizens of Issan) can have a shot at building a home on a "Thai Budget". Your google sketch up is interesting, but perhaps you should consider getting a free plan that has dimensions and materials list in Thai. The Thai Government House Plan books are for small homes and medium homes. There are "hardcover House Plan books" you can purchase in most EVERY Thai book store. I think the free Thai Government book will have more suitable house plans for the under 400,000 price range. Plus that free book will have a "basic" materials list.

There are good MATERIALS warranties in Thailand and you can get great customer service "after the sale" from reputable building materials companies.

You might have to make the contacts with the building materials company yourself if you do not deal with a responsive building materials supplier. There is NO LAW in Thailand to mandate residential (of a certain size) architects, engineers, building contractors and sub contractors to have any liability insurance. The INTEGRITY of the people you ultimately hire and deal with will become apparent. There are no "bonds" for small building projects.

I did research, went to several "Architect Expo" type events, had a different budget, and I had the luxury to be on site almost every single day for the building of our home in Issan. I had a copy of the house plans and the building Foreman had a copy. Twice I pointed out window and door locations to him. Simple to fix if YOU ARE ON SITE. I had a very experienced general building contractor but we still had one roof item sent the wrong size (due to a switch by a now former building materials supplier, NOT the builder) and the roofing subcontracting work crew made a mistake with how they applied the flashing. Both problems were solved and the INTEGRITY of the building contractor was proven. It could have gone real bad with a roof as large as we had. No home is built "perfect", but a proper plan (free from the government or low cost from a local Thai architect) will help you and the people who build your home. TEST your roof with water sprayed by a fire truck PRIOR to any gypsum ceilings being installed. The local fire truck fee is dirt cheap in Issan.

I highly recommend spending 200 baht and put a 36 watt florescent light fixture on a wall switch "in your attic". Make sure you have access to your attic through your gypsum ceiling. You will have occasion to go up into your attic and look for leaks and the attic light will be of great service.

I am not sure how far you are from a large building materials supplier such as Home Mart, but that firm (and similar firms) offer FREE CLASSES for your construction crew to learn how to properly install insulation, tile, wall blocks, etc.. It seems to me that most large building materials retailers have a "Daughter or Son" who went to College in an English speaking Nation and they can translate and be your liaison in deciding which materials to purchase and how to take full advantage of any free training programs for your building staff. They also can translate the receipts which are in Thai. All of the roof tile companies will provide you with a FREE PLAN and list of exact materials to purchase if you give them your house roof plan. They can easily figure out how many roof tiles, battens, etc.. to purchase. CPAC and many of the other building materials manufacturers all have reams of literature in Thai, including INSTRUCTION BROCHURES in Thai with photos for your staff.

Bring your OWN decent level to the site once it gets near flooring. A proper SLOPE is possible, but you have to check YOURSELF. Double pane glass might be out of your price range. Window glass up to 6mm thick is fair in price, but thicker than 6mm you are looking at serious costs. If you are near a Home Pro or Home Works you can save greatly on materials such as tile, sanitary ware, lighting and kitchen fixtures, cabinet handles and other fittings if you look at the "clearance table".

Good luck and enjoy the experience.

[Dave the Dude]

Good advice Bob

You are right about the spirit level, the only one I saw when my house was built was my own,Crazy. But my guys did a good job IMHO. Probably cos they were scared of the WIFE!!!!

Is your house finished yet?

Hey, I like your pretty red firetruck, bet thats fun in the little soi's around Satuk. Bet its quiet without that wierd Brit nextdoor.

Dave

[FrangipaniGal]

Do you know you can actually purchase a build house..but is in wood and it look nice, not sure how much is it though. I actually saw these house along the way to Korat.

[kamalabob2]

Hi Dave,

Often I thought about those "kit homes" that I had seen in Bangkok near Carrefour on the end of Sukhumvit Soi 26. I've seen these "built a a factory and truck to the building site" homes at least one other location in Bangkok and I thought a very interesting concept. Certainly worth checking out if someone was in the area.

TBWG has his return ticket to BKK. It will be great to have him and his better half back in our town.

Our home was completed enough to move from our rental on May 1st. We enjoy the new place very much, especially the children. There are some finishing touches such as more rain gutters, insect screens and final built in furniture to still be installed, but I am willing to wait for the work crews I have complete confidence based on previous experience. Now that we sleep here I do not want as many strangers coming into the home.

My wife and I did order more custom wood and upholstered furniture at a fair price in the designs we like from NEO HOUSE in Korat. I like some aspects of DO HOME in Korat, but Neo house had good service in English and the styles of custom made interior and exterior furniture at the price we can afford.

I neglected a garden plan and driveway plan in my original house budget. After our cement block driveway is installed then perhaps a lawn and some trees will be planted in the front yard. In the meantime my wife is working with some potting soil we had delivered and some vegetation she gets from her village to start some small rear and side yard gardens.

We had the "construction supply DOS water tank", old DOS water tank from our rental house and two new Sandstone Tanks installed and piped up for rain water for the garden water supply. A well like my British neighbor has would be more cost effective, but NEW wells are not permissible in our town. We at least have a back up water supply if the municipal water supply goes over a week without water.

We have many of our windows and door open 24/7 now that I had an attractive and cost effective electric fence installed from Wasp Security. The price of painted steel or stainless steel fence topping and/or window bars was out of my price range. The electric fence is barely visible at night, but the local citizens of dubious ethics would think twice about the shock from the fence. The warning sign is in Thai on the fence. We took down the barbed wire that was previously on a common boundary fence and installed the electric fence.

Buriram Supply near the Bamboo Bar did a wonderful job installing a DEPENDABLE satellite dish with the English speaking television stations I enjoy. The picture quality is far superior to UBC. Many broadcast stations look as good as a DVD, not a VCD. I regret not making the Home Theater larger as we have had over twenty friends and family singing along to Thai Karaoke DVDs.

I might have made several mistakes in the planning of this home, BUT having 3.5 meter wide ground floor Veranda with 1.5 meter wide roof overhangs was a good choice. It can be raining hard and we can still enjoy meals outside on the veranda. The 2nd floor front balcony with no real roof was a waste of money. It does now have the "Farang stainless steel safety bar" at a proper height, unlike many hotel balconies in Pattaya and Phuket.