Homebuilder Recommendations(?)

[zapatero]

We are looking for recommendations for a quality homebuilder in Mukdahan. Has anyone any experiences that s/he is willing to share?

We have located a couple of tentative candidates but would greatly welcome any first-person recommendations.

Otherwise, if anyone has experiences with builders in adjacent areas around Mukdahan, we would appreciate the contacts.

Thank you very much,

~~zapatero

[ballbreaker]

Whom ever you decide to use make sure you have looked at some of the homes they have built. You might also knock on the door and see if the owners are happy with the work and verify your guy was the acutual builder. Just make sure he is tied to the community and is not some migrant builder.

No money up front.

[zapatero]

Thanks for the tips, Ball.

We've been doing just that -- knocking on doors and talking with the owners.

We're learning a lot!

We're still open to recommendations though, from anyone, before we make a decision...

Thanks again,

~~z

[IsaanAussie]

Thanks for the tips, Ball.

We've been doing just that -- knocking on doors and talking with the owners.

We're learning a lot!

We're still open to recommendations though, from anyone, before we make a decision...

Thanks again,

~~z

Dear Zap,

Can I ask you who is going to supervise the construction? How will the specifications be agreed? I have found many people who ended up with a house which resembled what they wanted but was far from what they thought they were getting. In nearly all those cases the owner spent little time on sight, and in most the price of corrections was expensive. Building here is as they say, largely "Up to You".

Isaanaussie

[yourshoutmate]

Thanks for the tips, Ball.

We've been doing just that -- knocking on doors and talking with the owners.

We're learning a lot!

We're still open to recommendations though, from anyone, before we make a decision...

Thanks again,

~~z

Dear Zap,

Can I ask you who is going to supervise the construction? How will the specifications be agreed? I have found many people who ended up with a house which resembled what they wanted but was far from what they thought they were getting. In nearly all those cases the owner spent little time on sight, and in most the price of corrections was expensive. Building here is as they say, largely "Up to You".

Isaanaussie

[Tagaa]

Zapatero,

We just finished building our house, about 18K outside of Muk. You are welcome to call & come by for a look around & to get some insight on the whole process. We have been in about 2 months now & are nearing the end of everything I have to "redo" because of shoddy workmanship.

If you are interested, PM me for contact info.

[ThaiLawOnline]

One of the sponsor, Isaan-Properties, used to be mine.

Now, Isaan Lawyers and Isaan Properties are separated.

Isaan Properties will be managed by Barry (UK) and Eve (Thai).

You will find some information about builders on the website and can ask them for more.

There is no commission or wages to help you out find a nice builder or architect.

In Isaan, I've seen some people like Piman, Alanthebuilder, or PD House having very good comments.

When you know that you want to do, ask quotations. But even with a good quotation, you should verify

if you company is reliable, do good work.

A client of mine in Mukdahan built a nice house...but now, has some LEAKING problem with the roof.

Verify that you have a good contract, good warrantee, and pay the last amount ONLY when you are satisfied with the work.

Good luck.

Sebastian.

[zapatero]

Sorry for the slow response folks; I have been out of town. Thank you all for your thoughts.

IsaanAussie: Who will supervise the construction? That is still to be determined. We have talked with several satisfied new home owners who have hired "foremen" to manage their constructions, and the owners provided them with the materials. Others have been satisfied by contractors that were selected by competetive bid; who managed the entire construction including procurement of all the materials. And some others who were quite unsatisfied -- with both their contractor's responsiveness and their workmanship. And finally, surprisingly, we found at least one construction in which the owner was satisfied, and recommended his builder, but upon our visit we found so many flaws that we would not have even considered that builder! The owner's response to most of our observations was "mai pen rai", and "sabai". So our conclusion is that if the owner really doesn't care, why should the builder? But I now believe the bottom line is that one has to do just what we've been doing -- talk with lots of new home owners in the locality.

Re your question, how will the specifications be agreed? We have an architect that has developed a 45 page set of plans, so they will be pretty detailed. In retrospect, I think that we went overboard as compared to the local conventions, but we started this project from a different continent. To answer your question though, he will prepare a contract as part of his contract.

Re will the owner be on site during the construction? You can bet that this one will! Every day.

yourshoutmate: You've got me there mate.

Tagaa: Thank you for your kind invitation! PM on the way.

Isaanlawyers: Thank you for the tips, and for the website -- I will check it out. I too have heard of Piman and Alanthebuilder, and have heard good things about PD House. One owner said that PD House provides a long (from memory?) 15-year guarantee, and returns annually to inspect the construction. They will even pay the owner a fine if they don't meet schedule. I suspect that their bid quotation reflects these things though... BTW, we also encountered one owner who was "a nice guy" and paid the final amount before completion. He never saw the workers again. Job still unfinished.

Thanks again all, for your responses,

~~zapatero

[Inuit1963]

We are looking for recommendations for a quality homebuilder in Mukdahan. Has anyone any experiences that s/he is willing to share?

We have located a couple of tentative candidates but would greatly welcome any first-person recommendations.

Otherwise, if anyone has experiences with builders in adjacent areas around Mukdahan, we would appreciate the contacts.

Thank you very much,

~~zapatero

I am very curious to know if you desided witch contracter you want to use.

I am in the same situation

Until now we are communicating with Allan the builder who we did find on the internet and considering that we want to use his company for the construction of house and wall.

Our house is the A30 see it here thailand-isaan com

brgds

Tim

[EndofDays]

Whom ever you decide to use make sure you have looked at some of the homes they have built. You might also knock on the door and see if the owners are happy with the work and verify your guy was the acutual builder. Just make sure he is tied to the community and is not some migrant builder.

No money up front.

Really, no money up front? We plan on building a house this year. I thought it was almost required to put money down. What is the reasoning. I need all the advice I can get.

[livingthedream]

Ther

We are looking for recommendations for a quality homebuilder in Mukdahan. Has anyone any experiences that s/he is willing to share?

We have located a couple of tentative candidates but would greatly welcome any first-person recommendations.

Otherwise, if anyone has experiences with builders in adjacent areas around Mukdahan, we would appreciate the contacts.

Thank you very much,

~~zapatero

We recently stopped at a house being built here in Mukdahan to chat with the builder as we were quite impressed from the outside with the construction. He has used good quaility materials and it was a refreshing sight to see a house built to such good standards. I have his telephone number as we want to build another house in the near future and prices seemed reasonable. If you drive out from Mukdahan on the main road going towards That Panom and turn left at the traffic lights (before you get to the Laos/Thai bridge) then drive about 2km its on the left hand side on the corner with the road heading towards Barn Gwian. Worth a look I'd say, just so you can see what is achievable up here with the right builder. Wish I'd met him sooner.

[beerchang]

Be careful of the Thai 'well I can't see what's wrong with that' attitude and supervise the construction as much as you can. I watched almost every minute of the construction of my house and had to step in many times. (not as boring as it sounds when you've got chang and your laptop!)

Went to town for an hour one day and they'd hung a door the wrong side of a frame in that time after being told which way to hang it!

Good luck.