The New House Build Begins

[TexasRanger]

Well, the first foundations for my house in Issan went in today, we are on track for the house to be completed in 3 months, won't hold my breath though. I am choosing Panasonic A/C units for the bedrooms/living room, any positive or negative comments welcomed on that one as I have never bought A/C before, only rented.

The house will be from that government house plan book that all Issan conrtractors seem to have (the one with Thaksins smiling face on the front), it is a 3 bed single story but adapted from the plans (after much messing around with autocad to get the dimensions right). Looking at a total of not more than 1.4 Mil.

Just waiting for the headaches to start......

[Riley'sLife]

Hi TR, Panasonic a/c are ok in my experience, but I think Mitsubishi are slightly better quality and tend to run a little quieter too. How many sq. metres are you building? Are you using subcontract labor and controlling it all yourself, or using a builder? Don't forget to take photos so we can all see the progress when you post them here!

All the best on your project, may your headaches be few!

Cheers, Rick

[TexasRanger]

It's only about 100m squared. I am using a builder and he comes well recommended, better than some of the others I contacted. I will try and get some photos done, but I am travelling around at the moment. Cheers for the A/C info.

[Lickey]

When our salon/house was finished, we had 3 AC units installed, small ones in the rest room and bedroom, big unit in the salon, all Samsung units, yes, they work well, but this year, we have never used them, i dont like to walk out of a cold room into the heat, specially to go cooking in the kitchen!!

We have an air re-circulatory fan in the rest room,1400bht from tesco, it keeps us cool and a lot cheaper than AC, and we can move it where we like, outside, balcony, open-plan top floor, ect.

Just another money saving idea!

Cheers, Lickey.

[endure]

How about some photos as the build progresses?

[terrier123]

Well, the first foundations for my house in Issan went in today, we are on track for the house to be completed in 3 months, won't hold my breath though. I am choosing Panasonic A/C units for the bedrooms/living room, any positive or negative comments welcomed on that one as I have never bought A/C before, only rented.

The house will be from that government house plan book that all Issan conrtractors seem to have (the one with Thaksins smiling face on the front), it is a 3 bed single story but adapted from the plans (after much messing around with autocad to get the dimensions right). Looking at a total of not more than 1.4 Mil.

Just waiting for the headaches to start......

Good luck with the build -- hope all goes well. You may be more interested in getting a little fan heater rather than a/c if this winter gets as cold as the past few. Got mine from UK last week. Must try to find your spot next time I'm around Si S.

[Dave the Dude]

When our salon/house was finished, we had 3 AC units installed, small ones in the rest room and bedroom, big unit in the salon, all Samsung units, yes, they work well, but this year, we have never used them, i dont like to walk out of a cold room into the heat, specially to go cooking in the kitchen!!

We have an air re-circulatory fan in the rest room,1400bht from tesco, it keeps us cool and a lot cheaper than AC, and we can move it where we like, outside, balcony, open-plan top floor, ect.

Just another money saving idea!

Cheers, Lickey.

We have 3 Panasonic a/c units and I have not been disappointed with them. As mentioned above, mine have not been used this year although I would much rather have them available if needs be.

Tex

As a qualified plumber, I would suggest you carefully check your pipework is acceptable and if installing a 'wet room' type Bathroom ensure traps are fitted were the water drains away. This stops smells and insects re-entering the house.

Dave

[ronthompson]

Where are u building?

I have three A/C units, a large one in the TV room which is Panosonic I am not really happy with it, does not cool that great and has required 2 service calls; two smaller units are in the bedroom and my office both are Mitsubishi and I am very happy with both.

I believe in PM and have all 3 units serviced twice a year.

My electrical bill runs around 5K a month but I remain very comfortable.

Best of luck with your building.

[TexasRanger]

When our salon/house was finished, we had 3 AC units installed, small ones in the rest room and bedroom, big unit in the salon, all Samsung units, yes, they work well, but this year, we have never used them, i dont like to walk out of a cold room into the heat, specially to go cooking in the kitchen!!

We have an air re-circulatory fan in the rest room,1400bht from tesco, it keeps us cool and a lot cheaper than AC, and we can move it where we like, outside, balcony, open-plan top floor, ect.

Just another money saving idea!

Cheers, Lickey.

I must admit I never even considered not having AC, I always have used a normal fan at the in-laws place and it was always fine. Have to give it more thought though, I could always have the AC installed later if required.

[TexasRanger]

To adress some of the questions I am building a 3 bed single story house from the original Thai government plans

Initial Pan

I have extended the size of the main bedroom and reduced the size of the kitchen but added an external kitchen / porch along the back of the house. I also increased the size of the bathroom, cut out the second bathroom and added a storage room.

I will try to add a my plan on here when I fugure out how to do it. The builder has been told about traps and plumbing and also electricity grounding, he usually builds government stuff like police stations etc. and has assured me he knows what to do, I haven't left it to chance though and have chosen the traps / breakers etc. prior to building and noted them at the builders merchant. I also have got an Uncle who has worked in the construction business for 20+ years and he has managed to get hired on and will keep an eye on things to make sure that what I want gets done. The builder has been supplied with a pack I put together with plans, photos etc. and it shows every item I need and how I want it installed etc. Short of being on site 24/7 which is not possible I have tried to cover myself. We have chosen mterials up front and when the builder need something he clears it with us and has it delivered. When my representative up there checks it is all there we transfer the money to the merchant via atm. Same with the builder, we are paying in stages as per normal practice and when he wants the money his work is checked and we transfer to his account, this stops people having to handle large sums of money and gives us a good paper trail.

[TexasRanger]

Where are u building?

We are building about half an hour oustide of Si Songkram.

[TexasRanger]

Headache One:

Builder just called to say he has bought electricity cable and some kind of 30 amp breaker to supply power for his tools etc. He seemed to be under the impression that we would pay for it. I asked the mrs if he thought I would pay for all his other tools as well. Anyway, my rep is going to visit him and give him the bad news, I know things are different here but to me that is just cheeky expecting me to pay for his tools. We are paying him 35,000 for his fee and obviously paying for building materials but I draw the line at paying for his tools too.

[pab]

Hi Texas Ranger,

We have Samsung A/C units and no problems. however, I have a friend who has Panasonic units installed and he also has had no problems apart from being a little noisy.

Good luck with the build but always remember to "inspect what you expect" and "never assume anything" re a builder's understanding.

Go for it mate !!!

[Dave the Dude]

Headache One:

Builder just called to say he has bought electricity cable and some kind of 30 amp breaker to supply power for his tools etc. He seemed to be under the impression that we would pay for it. I asked the mrs if he thought I would pay for all his other tools as well. Anyway, my rep is going to visit him and give him the bad news, I know things are different here but to me that is just cheeky expecting me to pay for his tools. We are paying him 35,000 for his fee and obviously paying for building materials but I draw the line at paying for his tools too.

Hi Tex

Sounds like you have many aspects well covered IMHO. Please check that all power points/switches are marked and understood by your builder. Us Ferangs are far more 'power hungry' when it comes to power points per room. I am not sure about your 'Headache number One,' is the man just trying to provide a power source to work with? The fitting he bought would probably get reused at a later date somewhere in the build?

My house is not that different to that picture and I too extended the main Bedroom(very good idea now) and built a outside utility area behind the kitchen(used every day)

Good Luck BTW

Dave

[TexasRanger]

Re: Headache one, the equipment he wanted me to pay for was only to be used by hime for building, this is not for the house build, hence he isn't getting me to pay for it.

On the drawings I supplied I have specified each power outlet, it's height etc. and each TV/Phone socket. I have tried to give him as much info as I can.

On the A/C front, I have been recommended as follows,

Bedrooms approx 16m Sq. 1000 BTU approx 13,000 Bht

Living Room approx 25m Sq. 2000 BTU approx 28,000 Bht

I will try to attach the plan here Plan

[Naam]

Re: Headache one, the equipment he wanted me to pay for was only to be used by hime for building, this is not for the house build, hence he isn't getting me to pay for it.

On the drawings I supplied I have specified each power outlet, it's height etc. and each TV/Phone socket. I have tried to give him as much info as I can.

On the A/C front, I have been recommended as follows,

Bedrooms approx 16m Sq. 1000 BTU approx 13,000 Bht

Living Room approx 25m Sq. 2000 BTU approx 28,000 Bht

I will try to attach the plan here Plan

you forgot to add a "zero".

[Naam]

Headache One:

Builder just called to say he has bought electricity cable and some kind of 30 amp breaker to supply power for his tools etc. He seemed to be under the impression that we would pay for it. I asked the mrs if he thought I would pay for all his other tools as well. Anyway, my rep is going to visit him and give him the bad news, I know things are different here but to me that is just cheeky expecting me to pay for his tools. We are paying him 35,000 for his fee and obviously paying for building materials but I draw the line at paying for his tools too.

from what i read the builder needs electric power for his power tools. he asks you to pay for the connection NOT for his tools

[TexasRanger]

Headache One:

Builder just called to say he has bought electricity cable and some kind of 30 amp breaker to supply power for his tools etc. He seemed to be under the impression that we would pay for it. I asked the mrs if he thought I would pay for all his other tools as well. Anyway, my rep is going to visit him and give him the bad news, I know things are different here but to me that is just cheeky expecting me to pay for his tools. We are paying him 35,000 for his fee and obviously paying for building materials but I draw the line at paying for his tools too.

from what i read the builder needs electric power for his power tools. he asks you to pay for the connection NOT for his tools

We are supplying the power, but I am not paying for his equipment/tools as well.

[TexasRanger]

Re: Headache one, the equipment he wanted me to pay for was only to be used by hime for building, this is not for the house build, hence he isn't getting me to pay for it.

On the drawings I supplied I have specified each power outlet, it's height etc. and each TV/Phone socket. I have tried to give him as much info as I can.

On the A/C front, I have been recommended as follows,

Bedrooms approx 16m Sq. 1000 BTU approx 13,000 Bht

Living Room approx 25m Sq. 2000 BTU approx 28,000 Bht

I will try to attach the plan here Plan

you forgot to add a "zero".

So I did, thanks.

[TexasRanger]

Edited post cos I missed a zero or two (it's been a long day)

On the A/C front, I have been recommended as follows,

Bedrooms approx 16m Sq. 10,000 BTU approx 13,000 Bht

Living Room approx 25m Sq. 20,000 BTU approx 28,000 Bht

[kenk3z]

Is this house built up from a concrete slab?

What kind of land are you building on - filled in rice paddy? Hard land?

From what I observed, I have the impression that the concrete slab thickness might be a problem area in Thai construction methods.

If you are building on a slab, but they haven't poured it yet - do some fast research.....

kenk3z

[TexasRanger]

Is this house built up from a concrete slab?

What kind of land are you building on - filled in rice paddy? Hard land?

From what I observed, I have the impression that the concrete slab thickness might be a problem area in Thai construction methods.

If you are building on a slab, but they haven't poured it yet - do some fast research.....

kenk3z

Too late for that mate, the work has started. The land was hard land but was filled up to raise the site approx 1 metre. The footings are dug down into the original ground below the land that we raised.

[kamalabob2]

Everyone has a slightly different experience building a home in Thailand. Maybe you are tapping electric power from a "family" house and did not have to pay a fee for "temporary" electrical hook up with the PEA. I paid that fee and the refundable PEA deposit, my builder paid for the "breaker" (not one that would ever be considered for inside our home, but a SENSIBLE solution for the needs of the building crew) and some pieces of Romex to be wired into a PEA service point. My neighbor was kind enough to allow us to mount our power cables on his single phase power poles. I gladly paid the labor fee (not much, but maybe 500 to 800 baht) for a real electrical crew to Hook up and install that power connection. We had no electrical fires in the 15 month construction timetable.

Now consider WATER Supply, storage and pumping for your construction project, even on a sensible sized home. Our builder had her normal staff use her materials to construct a cement block water trough. She used her Mitsubishi pump to get water from the municipal water supply into a 2000 liter DOS tank I bought and then after the home was done later used for rain water storage. It seemed crucial to have a steady supply of municipal "clean?" water to use for mixing concrete on site in the electric concrete mixer. Plus we had at times over twenty staff LIVING, bathing, cooking on site in housing built by the builders staff, with the builders materials, so this crew needed to have suitable water. I was TOO KIND as I had large bottles of drinking water and a large bag of ice delivered each day during construction.

The builder provided the two staff toilets and her staff built the two outhouses. The builder provided the lighting fixtures and electrical sockets needed for staff living needs and construction needs. I provided the steel scaffolding, and only after the roof was installed did I provide inexpensive ladders. We have used the steel scaffolding many times AFTER the home was done to add more rain gutters and for TEMPLE PARTIES in my wife's village.

I provided some extra electrical junction boxes and longer electric cords so less of the contractors drills "burned out" due to voltage drops OR waiting for a socket since they were using zip wire as long electric cords. The contractor went out and bought several new items such as an electric concrete vibrator, Honda powered soil compactor to keep our project moving along.

You might consider having the piping for A/C installed PRIOR to rendering your walls. The electrical wire and proper size piping will be in rooms with no ugly pipes visible. Panasonic makes MANY grades of home split system a/c units. We are very happy with our Panasonic Inverter unit, but we also think the Daikin Inverter units are equally quiet. We had an INDEPENDENT appliance shop give us the lowest price and best service. They came months in advance to install the pipes in the wall prior to any actual units being selected or purchased. They even moved our two inexpensive Amena units from our rental home to our new home at a nominal charge.

Quiet and dependable ceiling fans are certainly a great way to save on cooling costs in Thailand. CEI fans in Bangkok gave us great service before the purchase and after the sale service. The managers speak English and sell more ceiling fans than ANY other company in Thailand.

Now: The big question: How LONG are you demanding they keep the wooden forms on new concrete for verticle posts and horizontal beams? I wanted a"longer than typical time", and guess what. The Thai builder, a good one, had not in her budget quite the amount of wood necessary to keep the wood forms on for the length of time we later agreed upon. I "stepped up" and bought more wood, as most builders just want the "one day or one week OK" plan and then move the wood to the next part of the house concrete pour. My wife's family was happy with the "extra" wood I gave them at the end of the building project.

Many of the previous posts form Thai Visa members are 100% valid. I will add you should pay the MINOR extra cost to have a QUALITY "Two way stop valves" on EVERY water service point. I was lucky to have in our contract 52 VRH "Two way stop valves" for our home. What BRAND of PVC pipe glue will your builder use? What THICKNESS of PVC for all pipes?

What size electrical wire in what grade of PVC or Metal conduit for electric wire runs? I suggest you read up via previous posts on this forum regarding lightening rods. You might consider running your RG6 TV copper cable wire APART from the electrical wires and NOT in the same wall box. Easy to research on the Internet. I thought I was wise to have decent speaker wire installed for exterior speakers and in the Home Theater. But I passed foolishly on the option to have the electricians run the speaker wires for OTHER rooms. "Nah I won't need that" Famous last words. Why fight with your wife over what TV program to watch or where the family sings Karaoke? The point is to run speaker wires in conduit in the wall and under the ceiling in any room you might fathom a TV at some point. It is NOT expensive and it will have a "clean" look.

I am under the impression that "well water no good for making concrete". I do know that if the electricity goes out, that most mix on site concrete mix machines can be hand powered. But WITHOUT A TANK FULL OF WATER you grind to a halt. In our town the municipal water supply is not dependable yet. The 2000 liter tank was a useful back up for construction and daily needs of the building staff.

You MIGHT BUY SOME SIMPLE HAND TOOLS AT SOME POINT IN THE PROJECT FOR YOUR STAFF. You will see how s l o w it can go with a "nail pushed through a piece of rubber hose" as a cheap substitute of a proper 30 baht metal chisel. You can bitch, you can complain OR you can go to a local builders merchant and buy some very basic tools to SPEED BUILDING PROGRESS ON YOUR HOME. My wife was a fiend about the importance of getting hand tools back each night from the staff. We now have plenty of hand tools for simple jobs, since we "loaned" the building staff some simple cheap tools to build our home. I am NOT a kind hearted person by nature, but I bought some colorful straw hats for our building crew more than once as I observed them sweating in the sun with no hats. Wait until you realize they have "no plasters", no Iodine, etc for minor injuries. You can complain or spend a few baht and have "kind heart" and get staff back to work quicker. On a very hot day you might soon spring for a bottle of Big Cola for the children of your workers to pass out in a tin cup to your building staff. You might be at Makro buying some cheap work gloves when you see how damaged your workers hands get. Your wife will play a key role in getting the staff to take care of the ONE TIME glove purchase.

WHISKEY is a bad Saturday evening treat as they will work slow on Sunday. I've made that mistake and many others. I should have heeded my wife's advise.

When you see what paint BRUSHES the "painters" show up with you will consider "stepping up". You must stay on top of the painters every evening to PROPERLY CLEAN the brushes and rollers. That will present two more "battles". How much time spent on paint PREPARATION, how much time BETWEEN coats of paint and HOW MUCH WATER TO THIN PAINT? Oh sure they will have drop cloths!! They will have lame "aggressive" masking tape when you can purchase proper painters tape for use on wood.

As I have posted previously on Thai Visa. You can get EXPERT ADVISE, even a on site "seminar" led by real experts for your building staff when you purchase many building materials and do your homework on requesting a on site seminar. The owner of a good builders Merchant can pick up the phone and call a "technical supervisor" for perhaps CPAC or other customer oriented firm and they will honestly come to your site with a lap top presentation, instructional brochures in Thai and answer questions from your building staff. It is easier to train them, then you getting jammed up on a repair later.

As you might soon hear from the English speaking daughter of the builder merchant owner when you ask about an item "This is what is typically used in a House in Thailand" Now she did NOT say that is the best VALUE, longest lasting or most appropriate for YOUR needs and expectations. Tile grout is typical. MOST small stores Up Country only sell cheap tile grout as they "cater to the market". You might consider the 30 baht bag with anti mold features. You might consider a WEBER product for under wall tile, floor tile and floor granite.

You can also make ON LINE payments to your builder and building materials suppliers with a BETTER PAPER TRAIL and BETTER RECEIPTS YOU PRINT OUT, and in many cases ABSOLUTELY FREE. That ATM payment method is NOT the best in my opinion. Almost EVERY merchant, sub contractor and of course our Thai builder had at least one account at Bangkok Bank. You have space on the transaction to print invoice numbers.

You are starting on a great adventure. Some days will be frustrating. Some days will be amazing. Just e-mail one of your friends in America and ask how long it takes and how much money in fees and permits to obtain a building permit for a custom home of the same size that you are building in Thailand. How about the workman's compensation fees you are paying in Thailand?

So as tough as it might appear, it is a breeze here in my opinion compared to a place such as California. A good quote from "build a home Thailand" web site was "Choose your battles" when building a home in Thailand or something to that extent.

[kamalabob2]

The power and hand tools in the above photo are the tools of our carpenter wood staff. Not my tools. You can pay a nominal fee to a local fire department to TEST YOUR ROOF FOR LEAKS, prior to installing gypsum interior ceilings. Simple to fix PRIOR to rainy season.

[jazsnake]

Thanks for all the information. We are about to initiate this great adventure in Thabo and have decided to move forward with a builder in Udon. This came after a friend of a friend's cousin first appeard to propose that they build for us. After, visiting several of their completed projects, we discovered shoddy construction and settling houses. Your recommendations and suggestions will serve as my guide as we progress.

[Diablo Bob]

Kamalabob2,

The driveway pattern you used is awesome! I am building a house right now and would consider a colored scheme similar to yours.......

Should be finished with Phase I by Christmas.... started around 1 August, the house is 210sm. High standard of construction.

Everyone has a slightly different experience building a home in Thailand. Maybe you are tapping electric power from a "family" house and did not have to pay a fee for "temporary" electrical hook up with the PEA. I paid that fee and the refundable PEA deposit, my builder paid for the "breaker" (not one that would ever be considered for inside our home, but a SENSIBLE solution for the needs of the building crew) and some pieces of Romex to be wired into a PEA service point. My neighbor was kind enough to allow us to mount our power cables on his single phase power poles. I gladly paid the labor fee (not much, but maybe 500 to 800 baht) for a real electrical crew to Hook up and install that power connection. We had no electrical fires in the 15 month construction timetable.

Now consider WATER Supply, storage and pumping for your construction project, even on a sensible sized home. Our builder had her normal staff use her materials to construct a cement block water trough. She used her Mitsubishi pump to get water from the municipal water supply into a 2000 liter DOS tank I bought and then after the home was done later used for rain water storage. It seemed crucial to have a steady supply of municipal "clean?" water to use for mixing concrete on site in the electric concrete mixer. Plus we had at times over twenty staff LIVING, bathing, cooking on site in housing built by the builders staff, with the builders materials, so this crew needed to have suitable water. I was TOO KIND as I had large bottles of drinking water and a large bag of ice delivered each day during construction.

The builder provided the two staff toilets and her staff built the two outhouses. The builder provided the lighting fixtures and electrical sockets needed for staff living needs and construction needs. I provided the steel scaffolding, and only after the roof was installed did I provide inexpensive ladders. We have used the steel scaffolding many times AFTER the home was done to add more rain gutters and for TEMPLE PARTIES in my wife's village.

I provided some extra electrical junction boxes and longer electric cords so less of the contractors drills "burned out" due to voltage drops OR waiting for a socket since they were using zip wire as long electric cords. The contractor went out and bought several new items such as an electric concrete vibrator, Honda powered soil compactor to keep our project moving along.

You might consider having the piping for A/C installed PRIOR to rendering your walls. The electrical wire and proper size piping will be in rooms with no ugly pipes visible. Panasonic makes MANY grades of home split system a/c units. We are very happy with our Panasonic Inverter unit, but we also think the Daikin Inverter units are equally quiet. We had an INDEPENDENT appliance shop give us the lowest price and best service. They came months in advance to install the pipes in the wall prior to any actual units being selected or purchased. They even moved our two inexpensive Amena units from our rental home to our new home at a nominal charge.

Quiet and dependable ceiling fans are certainly a great way to save on cooling costs in Thailand. CEI fans in Bangkok gave us great service before the purchase and after the sale service. The managers speak English and sell more ceiling fans than ANY other company in Thailand.

Now: The big question: How LONG are you demanding they keep the wooden forms on new concrete for verticle posts and horizontal beams? I wanted a"longer than typical time", and guess what. The Thai builder, a good one, had not in her budget quite the amount of wood necessary to keep the wood forms on for the length of time we later agreed upon. I "stepped up" and bought more wood, as most builders just want the "one day or one week OK" plan and then move the wood to the next part of the house concrete pour. My wife's family was happy with the "extra" wood I gave them at the end of the building project.

Many of the previous posts form Thai Visa members are 100% valid. I will add you should pay the MINOR extra cost to have a QUALITY "Two way stop valves" on EVERY water service point. I was lucky to have in our contract 52 VRH "Two way stop valves" for our home. What BRAND of PVC pipe glue will your builder use? What THICKNESS of PVC for all pipes?

What size electrical wire in what grade of PVC or Metal conduit for electric wire runs? I suggest you read up via previous posts on this forum regarding lightening rods. You might consider running your RG6 TV copper cable wire APART from the electrical wires and NOT in the same wall box. Easy to research on the Internet. I thought I was wise to have decent speaker wire installed for exterior speakers and in the Home Theater. But I passed foolishly on the option to have the electricians run the speaker wires for OTHER rooms. "Nah I won't need that" Famous last words. Why fight with your wife over what TV program to watch or where the family sings Karaoke? The point is to run speaker wires in conduit in the wall and under the ceiling in any room you might fathom a TV at some point. It is NOT expensive and it will have a "clean" look.

I am under the impression that "well water no good for making concrete". I do know that if the electricity goes out, that most mix on site concrete mix machines can be hand powered. But WITHOUT A TANK FULL OF WATER you grind to a halt. In our town the municipal water supply is not dependable yet. The 2000 liter tank was a useful back up for construction and daily needs of the building staff.

You MIGHT BUY SOME SIMPLE HAND TOOLS AT SOME POINT IN THE PROJECT FOR YOUR STAFF. You will see how s l o w it can go with a "nail pushed through a piece of rubber hose" as a cheap substitute of a proper 30 baht metal chisel. You can bitch, you can complain OR you can go to a local builders merchant and buy some very basic tools to SPEED BUILDING PROGRESS ON YOUR HOME. My wife was a fiend about the importance of getting hand tools back each night from the staff. We now have plenty of hand tools for simple jobs, since we "loaned" the building staff some simple cheap tools to build our home. I am NOT a kind hearted person by nature, but I bought some colorful straw hats for our building crew more than once as I observed them sweating in the sun with no hats. Wait until you realize they have "no plasters", no Iodine, etc for minor injuries. You can complain or spend a few baht and have "kind heart" and get staff back to work quicker. On a very hot day you might soon spring for a bottle of Big Cola for the children of your workers to pass out in a tin cup to your building staff. You might be at Makro buying some cheap work gloves when you see how damaged your workers hands get. Your wife will play a key role in getting the staff to take care of the ONE TIME glove purchase.

WHISKEY is a bad Saturday evening treat as they will work slow on Sunday. I've made that mistake and many others. I should have heeded my wife's advise.

When you see what paint BRUSHES the "painters" show up with you will consider "stepping up". You must stay on top of the painters every evening to PROPERLY CLEAN the brushes and rollers. That will present two more "battles". How much time spent on paint PREPARATION, how much time BETWEEN coats of paint and HOW MUCH WATER TO THIN PAINT? Oh sure they will have drop cloths!! They will have lame "aggressive" masking tape when you can purchase proper painters tape for use on wood.

As I have posted previously on Thai Visa. You can get EXPERT ADVISE, even a on site "seminar" led by real experts for your building staff when you purchase many building materials and do your homework on requesting a on site seminar. The owner of a good builders Merchant can pick up the phone and call a "technical supervisor" for perhaps CPAC or other customer oriented firm and they will honestly come to your site with a lap top presentation, instructional brochures in Thai and answer questions from your building staff. It is easier to train them, then you getting jammed up on a repair later.

As you might soon hear from the English speaking daughter of the builder merchant owner when you ask about an item "This is what is typically used in a House in Thailand" Now she did NOT say that is the best VALUE, longest lasting or most appropriate for YOUR needs and expectations. Tile grout is typical. MOST small stores Up Country only sell cheap tile grout as they "cater to the market". You might consider the 30 baht bag with anti mold features. You might consider a WEBER product for under wall tile, floor tile and floor granite.

You can also make ON LINE payments to your builder and building materials suppliers with a BETTER PAPER TRAIL and BETTER RECEIPTS YOU PRINT OUT, and in many cases ABSOLUTELY FREE. That ATM payment method is NOT the best in my opinion. Almost EVERY merchant, sub contractor and of course our Thai builder had at least one account at Bangkok Bank. You have space on the transaction to print invoice numbers.

You are starting on a great adventure. Some days will be frustrating. Some days will be amazing. Just e-mail one of your friends in America and ask how long it takes and how much money in fees and permits to obtain a building permit for a custom home of the same size that you are building in Thailand. How about the workman's compensation fees you are paying in Thailand?

So as tough as it might appear, it is a breeze here in my opinion compared to a place such as California. A good quote from "build a home Thailand" web site was "Choose your battles" when building a home in Thailand or something to that extent.

[MJP]

Just about to finish my second in Issan.

Was going to build the big one this year on the Bang Saray land I bought in 2007, but the economy is looking so dire at the moment I've put that one off.

Anyway, a really good site that I've lurked on for a while now, click link.

http://www.coolthaihouse.com/

[chrisyork]

Your respondents have picked out the key issues. It's the detail that trips you up! As an overview Thai's tend to major on how impressive the building is when first completed and not on how durable it is. This leads to selection of poor quality materials, particularely things like windows, doors and paint! And of course the omission of things we would take for granted like U bends!

Be vey carefull in criticising Thai electrics. It is not necessarily a good idea to have a strong earth connection - you might find you finish up pulling down all the faults in all the houses on the local grid! Rather concentrate on having RCD protection on any socket outlets and ELCB protection on the complete installation. It might be worth specifying a ring main for the socket outlets with UK or continental sockets though. The Thais don't generally do high current plug in devices and you might want to use some. Thai style sockets and normal wiring sizes are unsuitable.

I concur heavily with the anti A/C lobby but for a different reason. Thais live much of their lives outside the house, and continually going in and out of cold air will give you colds and chills. Instead fit insulation into the roof space and onto any walls that catch the sun (or shade with trees etc) to minimise the heat gain of the house. By all means keep your options open for later by putting in provision for pipe runs and electrics.

I bet nobady has thought of how to provide hot water to your bathroom and shower. If they have it will probably be electric, but why not provide some solar hot water panels? You can buy easily in Bangkok. You need to think about how to install as they may need some stronger roof structure to sit on or an adjacent bespoke "tower". As of today they are not an economic proposition because of the bizarely low price of electricity - but surely that can't last?

If you want a thernmostatic mixer tap for your shower you're going to have to bring it from outside Thailand - I have yet to find one for sale in the Kingdom.

Best of luck!

Chris

[kenk3z]

Is the Thai electrical feed to a house two-wire, or three-wire (with a ground)?

If it is two-wire as I suspect, one is the neutral. Would that neutral be grounded somewhere near the house on a feed pole?

I do have some criticism of Thai electrical practices because I want to live. Having hooked up my laptop at the house I was visiting, I could feel a slight shock whenever touching one of the screws underside that hold the laptop together. This while sitting on a wood chair.

There have been a fairly significant number of military people killed in Iraq due to the unsatisfactory grounding of water heaters for the showers. When you are wet, 220V is quite capable of causing death.

If I were to build a house in Thailand, I suspect the electrical wiring to be the root of many serious disagreements I'd have with the builders. They would get tired of the Ting Tong Farang quickly.

kenk3z

[chuckd]

I have four Panasonic A/Cs in my house and I am satisfied with them.

The master bedroom is 20m2 and it has a 13,000 btu. The other two bedrooms are 16m2 each and we put 9,000 in both of them. They all work quite well.