What Tips / Tricks Did You Learn When Building Your House?

[Tokay]

Anyone willing to share any tips or tricks (or things to look out for) when building a home in Thailand? From construction to any shady deals the contractors or sell tried to pull.

[luangtom]

First off, our home was constructed by locals of the village that did not seem to be familiar with many of the modern tools that they were provided with. Cordless screw-drivers and such were an oddity and as such not used to their fullest potential. A few of the gents could not master their use, so instead of utilizing the cordless screw-drivers to assemble windows and framing, they hammered the screws in. When queried as to why they did this the response was that it was faster. SO-O-O, make sure you oversee any and all projects to ensure they are completed properly. Just meant this as a word of caution. Attaining cheap labor does not mean it will be cheap in the long-term.......

[kennkate]

Try to get the Toilet fitted up to the wall. A tape measure is important here

It might be better to buy one yourself and show them how it works

The tendancy is to put the pipework in place then the toilet fits were the pipe happens to be

Rule of thumb plays a big part in Thai House building. And the Birmingham screwdriver ( Hammer )

Electrics ask for them to be Earthed. I had to bring them back to Earth ours.

Good Luck Just do not Expect Farang Standards as the norm.

[Tokay]

Cordless screw-drivers and such were an oddity and as such not used to their fullest potential. A few of the gents could not master their use, so instead of utilizing the cordless screw-drivers to assemble windows and framing, they hammered the screws in.

OMG

See, I would never in a million years think that these guys may try to hammer in a screw. I'm almost speechless.

That's a hel_l of a way to start the thread off.

[Tokay]

Electrics ask for them to be Earthed.

Do you know if this is a common problem with Thai builders?

Not grounding the electric, hammering in screws... oh my.

[katabeachbum]

Electrics ask for them to be Earthed.

Do you know if this is a common problem with Thai builders?

Not grounding the electric, hammering in screws... oh my.

hammered screws. electric cables joined twisted and taped with no ground, no straight angles, no slope bathroomfloors, drainpipes full of concrete. pvc waterpipes. leaking roofs

This is the norm. And I ll probably start building my next home in 2 months

Spend 10 hours a day on site, buy readymixed concrete from CPAC and expect to do things twice ore more. And you ll be fine.

[TexasRanger]

My guy was pretty good overall but there's no accounting for some of his helpers. If a guy tells him he is a plumber he may hire him, I had a few leaks after they connected my water because the idiot didn't even know how to use PTFE tape properly. I had to constantly watch what was going on despite giving lots of plans and pictures. You must have a good translator if you can't speak the language, I can only imagine how hard it would be supervising if you can't understand each other.

I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to keep a certain amount back until after you have been in the house for a few days at least to ensure that any problems will be fixed.

I too saw my builder hammering screws into my front doors, I told them that wasn't acceptable and sat and watched them do all the rest, but this isn't just a Thai thing, I have seen it in the UK too, just pure laziness.

Keep an eye on the quality of materials as my guy (trying to look after me) went for the cheap stuff and I had to get it changed for better quality stuff.

My electrician was great, he was the least of my worries, a lot of guys here have worked abroad with Western electricians and know their stuff, ask the guy what he pans to do first and then you can check what he knows rather than just telling him and him nodding and saying no problem when he really might not understand.

One of the best things I did was go and look at some houses that my builder had built, the people even let me come in for a look around (as do I now when people are looking to hire him again), if he can't or won't show you then it might be a warning sign. It is a big confidence booster when you can see his handiwork.

Good luck, on the whole I was very happy, hope you are too.

[InSiSongkram]

If you have contract make sure the specs of the materials are looked at in person before you sign. Many people get scammed by just seeing a list of specs without knowing what they are/look like and in most cases they are below par and expectations.

[T_Dog]

Phillip Bryce's book, "How To Buy Land and Build a house in Thailand" has several anecdotes about problems. Check out the used book stores to find one, as I am not sure it is still in print. ( If anyone has an email address for Phillip, please PM me.) It is a good text about the realities of building in Thailand.

[PeaceBlondie]

Again, I must live in an alternate-reality Thailand. Only the roofer messed up, and another roofer fixed the broken tiles for 500 baht. My partner had also never built a house, and I left it to him. He is Thai; so was everybody else. I made no decisions or suggestions, and the Thais did it right. I was lucky. Then again, some Thais can build Thai houses.

[katabeachbum]

Again, I must live in an alternate-reality Thailand. Only the roofer messed up, and another roofer fixed the broken tiles for 500 baht. My partner had also never built a house, and I left it to him. He is Thai; so was everybody else. I made no decisions or suggestions, and the Thais did it right. I was lucky. Then again, some Thais can build Thai houses.

Where your builders from CM? I v seen some good workers from CM. But never find any of them when needed here in Phuket. So end up with Isarn, south and burmese

[PeaceBlondie]

I guess they are locals. No noticeable ethnic headwear. Some families migrated here 200 or 700 years ago; some very recent arrivals who resemble Mayas. They work as hard as the Mayas I knew.

[Lite Beer]

As said, make sure the toilet is not in the middle of the bathroom.

As for earthing the electrics? 90% of Thai builders will tell you "Not need" The earth wires from our Electric showers just went into the roof and went nowhere.

They will never understand why you want more than one electric socket in every room.

[basjke]

Phillip Bryce's book, "How To Buy Land and Build a house in Thailand" has several anecdotes about problems. Check out the used book stores to find one, as I am not sure it is still in print. ( If anyone has an email address for Phillip, please PM me.) It is a good text about the realities of building in Thailand.

I thought phillip bryce was a member of this forum so you could pm him.

Edit:just looked it up and his username is stevehaigh

Edited May 24, 2009 by basjke

[T_Dog]

Phillip Bryce's book, "How To Buy Land and Build a house in Thailand" has several anecdotes about problems. Check out the used book stores to find one, as I am not sure it is still in print. ( If anyone has an email address for Phillip, please PM me.) It is a good text about the realities of building in Thailand.

I thought phillip bryce was a member of this forum so you could pm him.

Edit:just looked it up and his username is stevehaigh

Thanks for that idea, and I did just PM him. I think we used to work for the same company based on some things he says in his book.

[katabeachbum]

As for earthing the electrics? 90% of Thai builders will tell you "Not need" The earth wires from our Electric showers just went into the roof and went nowhere.

They will never understand why you want more than one electric socket in every room.

Or they will say yes/kap and never do. Just install earthed/grounded outlets with no ground cable

[Monkeypants]

The local PEA, electric office is the place to go for electrical installation advise.

For example In order to get a new connection meter in our area(phetchabun) you MUST have earthed electrics, it is a requirement for a new meter. I know, I have just finished ours. And they will come out and check that everything is earthed, they also had a volt meter thingy and tested sockets etc.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Monkeypants

[katabeachbum]

The local PEA, electric office is the place to go for electrical installation advise.

For example In order to get a new connection meter in our area(phetchabun) you MUST have earthed electrics, it is a requirement for a new meter. I know, I have just finished ours. And they will come out and check that everything is earthed, they also had a volt meter thingy and tested sockets etc.

Yes, but I have 250-300 outlets/sockets in my last build house, and PEA checked maybe 3 of them. In 10 minutes. The rest I v checked myself.

But earthing itself is overrated, as long as we still dont use earthfault devices in LOS.

[thailandlover]

Phillip Bryce's book, "How To Buy Land and Build a house in Thailand" has several anecdotes about problems. Check out the used book stores to find one, as I am not sure it is still in print. ( If anyone has an email address for Phillip, please PM me.) It is a good text about the realities of building in Thailand.

I thought phillip bryce was a member of this forum so you could pm him.

Edit:just looked it up and his username is stevehaigh

I recall seeing his book for sale in a bookstore in Bangkok recently, but I am afraid I can't remember if it was an Asia Books or the Kinokuniya in Paragon.

[doggie888888]

the book is by paiboon publishing...here is the website they posted on the backcover: www.paiboonpublishing.com

some lessons I learnt:

1) try to word the building contract so that payments are linked to milestones or to %completion (good to do a review to agreed milestones bfore progress payment is made), and try to hold back as much as possible as final payment until all problems are cleared to your satisfaction.

2) farang need not mean western standards...in my case, it meant western pricing but local third world standards.

3) make sure bill of quantity specifies brands/types of fittings (or equivalent standards for refernece) so that builder does not come later andsay he only allowed for some rubbish fixture. Example: if teak is to be used, specify it in contract. Or brand of tiles, taps etc.

4) my builder underquoted and it is my fault for not going thru fine details...in the end, he said he allowed for Rubbish Brand, when I clearly specified A-Quality Brand upfront in written communcations. It was not in contract unfortunately, so I ended up paying the extras. Don't ever fall for the "the details can come later" bull shit...I fell for it because I was told he wanted to start project becasue e had another one coming so to save time, we executed a grossly inadequate contract. In hindsight, I now know it was intentional to put pressure on me.

there are many more lessons, but it is not my intent to write a book here

[kamalabob2]

Not all builders are "shady", but misunderstandings and a difference of "standard procedures" could lead top conflicts.

#1 SPEND the money to have a proper house plan for YOUR home drawn up by a licensed architect. It is NOT necessarily expensive in Thailand. "House from Book" boring and rooms too small in my opinion.

#2 Have a DETAILED list of materials prepared and then pay a translation service or attorney to TRANSLATE to your native language. EXACT MODEL NUMBERS where possible or exact "series" of materials.

#3 In writing how long is the minimum for concrete to cure for various concrete applications in your home. "One day NOT o.k." Insist on an ELECTRIC concrete vibrator used in all appropriate applications. Be clear in writing on waiting time between application of primer and painting coatings.

#4 Attend any functions such as the Architect Expo to see building materials and obtain brochures and business cards of the various companies.

#5 Use a free service such as www.third-drawer.com to list EVERY material in your home, and the contact numbers, warranty information so you can have instant access to that vital information. In our case the manufacturers were very responsive and helpful before and after sales with questions and service. You WILL get some defective parts or parts with bad designs which can be replaced at no charge if you have your ducks in order and stay in contact with the manufacturers.

#6 COMPARE prices in WRITING. Get personal mobile phone numbers of the English speaking managers and owners, who run the merchants building supply stores.

#7 Do not hesitate to phone a manufacturer or distributor, make an appointment and go see the actual product in person.

#8 SERIOUSLY consider "Top Hat Solutions" from Cement Thai Home Services" to INSTALL your roof. They will come back and FIX your leaks without a "run around". Your builders staff really is NOT trained in the same manner.

#9 Send your building staff to any free training seminars for wall blocks, etc.. Talk to your Home Mart owner about when the free seminars are offered to Thai Construction workers.

#10 You can hire professional electricians. Who do you think does the electrical installation at a Big C or a shopping center, even Up Country? Track down the electrical contractor.

#11 Before you shell out big money for expensive door locks, expensive steel security doors, window bars, CCTV, consider getting a bid from one of the four electric fence companies in Thailand. I've visited the booths of three of those companies at the Bangkok Architect Expo. They will all give you a price bid which when you consider other fence toppings, window security bars, good quality door locks, it is a FRACTION of the cost.

#12 Buy your own good quality "spirit level" and see them in use for pipe runs, floor installations, etc..

#13 There are high quality pipe systems possible to have purchased and installed in Thailand for hot and cold water. Items you NEVER see at a local hardware store, but you can see displayed at an Architect Expo.

#14 Remember that MOST good building materials stores can "special order" items you do not SEE on display.

#15 Avoid HDF and MDF doors.

#16 If you are like most of the expats building a home in Thailand, a large number of relatives children will be running around (not necessarily living with you) so spend the minor baht extra for "safety shutter" grounded electric outlets.

#17 Molding / baseboards near the tile, granite, laminate, wood, floors are crucial since Thai women love to mop with damp mops every day.

#18 Get a good Independent Air conditioning dealer to install your AIR CONDITIONING tubes in your wall PRIOR to any rendering or painting of the walls. Early in your building process consider where the drainage of your air conditioning will go.

In your architects electrical plan will be where the wires go for each possible air conditioner.

#19 Use electric conduit not only for electric wires, but RG6, speaker cables, cat5e or other cables you might need at some point in your walls. I spaced on the future "need" of speaker wires in my daughters room, and boy does it look stupid to have speaker wire running on her walls, when it could have at a very minor cost been installed months ago in conduit in the same walls prior to rendering the walls.

#20 Research on google and wikipedia any item or process you are uncertain. Your Thai builder is not stupid, they just do not always research every item the way you might consider appropriate.

#21 Consider a larger diameter water supply PIPE and larger water meter for your home municipal water supply. It is a minor difference to have a better supply of municipal water.

#22 In EVERY area is at least one "pump shop" which sells and services the water supplies for hospitals, hotels, villages, and schools. These "pump shops" can come and help you with the design, purchase, installation and service of your water supply, for LESS MONEY than you buying the items at a Modern Trade retailer. In Buriram the "pump shop" sells and installs over 200 Mitsubishi SUPER PUMPS in villages each year. These Independent shops will have the lowest prices on tanks, pumps, FILTERING SYSTEMS, etc.. and staff that can properly install your water tanks, pumps and filters.

#23 In our area COTTO / TOTO after sales service was better than other brands of plumbing / sanitary ware.

#24 Not all Home Marts have the same selling price. Some have WAY BETTER after the sales service.

#25 1.5 meter is a good OVERHANG distance. 3 meters is a good Veranda width in my opinion when you condiser SHADE, SUN, RAIN.

#26 make suitable rain gutters with downspouts part of your house building contract.

All of the previous posters had valid suggestions, but it need not be hel_l to build a home. Challenging and time consuming yes!!

[PeaceBlondie]

Funny: here in alternate Thailand, maybe we did one thing on that list of 26 items. My next door neighbor nearly went mad trying to do all those things.

[kamalabob2]

For the O.P.:

Please consider in your building contract to list having ceramic tile from floor to ceiling in your bathrooms and both your interior and exterior Thai kitchens.

Either way on tile insist on specific tile grout series in writing and consider if you want the builder to use a "Weber type product" to place under floor and/or wall tiles OR just use common concrete.

If you have a couple of "Independent Satellite Shop owners" come to your house after interior walls have been erected, but PRIOR to any wall rendering, they can suggest the location to have RG6 cables run for your satellite TV to a "distribution box area" and then to each room you might consider having a TV jack installed. If you do this early in the home building process you will avoid naked wires that could have been hidden with some thought and planning. Same with any telephone cables.

In your house building contract consider having VRH ceramic two way stop valves for every water inlet. With a suitable a "wall flange" for each stop valve. Water pipes can leak, maybe not in the first month, but with a good quality Two way stop valve you can stop the flow of water and fix the problem.

Simple stuff such as running the electric wires in conduit into position for even exterior lighting prior to rendering exterior walls and exterior columns can help you avoid the ugly wires you often see where the builder has the electrician come in "after the fact".

"Planning" and looking in advance at the "Step by Step" process with your builder does not COST you more money, it actually saves you money since they do not have to "go back, tear out some building material and fix and then paint again" if it was placed in a proper sequence.

House Building contracts might be a bit unclear about sidewalks and driveways. I misunderstood that aspect of our home building.

Another error I made was passing on the opportunity to have (at an extra charge) ac power run for garden lighting. I FOOLISHLY thought and bought some solar garden lights!!!!!! Now we can tear out some lawn to install proper electric garden lights.

Consider "under the counter" multi point water heaters which can provide hot water in a safe manner to perhaps three points. It is less money per water service point, and better looking to have this type of unit installed than the wonderful wall mounted shower hot water heaters. It is a situation where your builder has to schedule the installation of the hot and cold water pipes under the floor tile to your shower and to the sink areas prior to laying tiles.

A mistake I made was not being specific about the "change" in height of one counter top in a bathroom. I switched the style of sinks after a new model came out. The on site building manager adjusted the concrete counter height too low, had the granite counter top and sinks installed when I was away. They offered to tear it all out, but I passed while making a note to not authorize any more changes until I measured the difference. The sink counter is perfect for most Thai men, certainly for my Thai wife and if I someday in the distant future am in a wheelchair it is a correct handicapped height.

An error I made was not having the curtain man, window man and screen man all work together with the architect at the same time. They all have to be on the "same page" in order for the screens to be installed in a manner they can be opened and windows cleaned.

If you plan to build a pool consider the cost of a "child proof" fence in your budget.

An important item to have in my opinion, is a 2000 liter water tank, temporary cement block water trough, and an electric water pump during your construction. While CPAC type ready mix delivered (and every concrete delivery does in fact have a "ticketing system" indicating the load) is suitable for many aspects you WILL want to have an electric mixer provided by your builder on site. The staff in a middle of a job can turn that electric mixer by hand, but the staff must have water to make concrete. If your building staff live on site for most of your building project, they will greatly appreciate having a supply of water in that "trough" and an emergency supply from the 2000 liter storage tank. You can later use that tank for your water supply storage or rain water storage. It is not just "up country" where municipal water supply is not 24/7 available. Today on the morning "news" broadcast on the speakers in our neighborhood was the not so rare announcement of no municipal water for several hours. So for the O.P. to consider some sort of water storage tank(s) prior to water entering his home.

In your building contract be clear on the requirements of RCBO breakers for "wet room" applications. Simple for any SQUARE D Independent dealer (or wholesale electric supply house) to order. You might not ever see an RCBO breaker at a normal hardware store, but simple to obtain and install in Thailand.

Do not neglect to plan in your house budget (not necessarily the building contract budget) a sensible allocation for the "Spirit House", that "ceremony" and the "Monk blessing" party.

In some Urban areas you can obtain free professional installation of Cotto sanitary ware and Cotto fixtures. More often than not your builder has some "plumbing staff" who were also good "tile staff" and they will attempt to install your plumbing fixtures. CARDBOARD (not newspaper, not paper towels) placed UNDER each set of sink inlet and outlet pipes will reveal if you have leaks.

I hope that my points will help the O.P. in his house project. I think the vast majority of the previous posts will give him a "heads up" on what to plan for, be cautious of and most important problems to avoid.

I think the final result of being part of the planning process and keeping a constant eye on the actual building of your home is worthwhile in the satisfaction of a safe, enjoyable, comfortable home for 50% less than a "housing estate" or "developer built" home of similar size.

[PattayaParent]

The vent for your septic tank will only be 1m high and will most likely be placed directly under your kitchen window. It should extend 1m beyond the eaves of your house and have a bird screen on it.

Check daily that the works are being built according to the drawings (always keep your own copy of the drawings as your builders won't have them on site!)

Check the slope of the floor tiling in the bathrooms and any horizontal tiling around the bath, most likely it will slope AWAY from the drain.

[eljeque]

I learned not to do it again.

[DrDave]

The local PEA, electric office is the place to go for electrical installation advise.

For example In order to get a new connection meter in our area(phetchabun) you MUST have earthed electrics, it is a requirement for a new meter. I know, I have just finished ours. And they will come out and check that everything is earthed, they also had a volt meter thingy and tested sockets etc.

Yup, we found this out the hard way. In a new small house we built for family, we had un-earthed plugs installed. Neither we or our builder knew that we had to have earthed outlets in order to have a new meter installed. The PEA guy came out prior to installing the new meter and said that we needed to have earth connections for all plugs. Actually, he was fishing for a bribe. Rather than pay him off, we decided to swap out all the recepticles with grounded ones. What really surprised me is that when the electricians installed the new plugs, they cut a channel in the wall under each plug, and ran a ground wire down to the slab. I suspect that the wire just ends in the floor slab somewhere. It would have been so easy to just fish a ground wire up the plastic conduit with the other wires, and then connect to the proper ground strap in the mains box, but they didn't do that. So - now there are 3-prong plugs, with a ground wire, but the outlets aren't really grounded by any stretch of the imagination.

The PEA guy came out a few days later to install the meter - never even looked inside the house to see if we had brought the outlets up to spec.

[katabeachbum]

Back to OP. This is how I will build my next house.

1. By all materials myself, yes all. Steel, concrete, sand, cement and of course the more exciting stuff like formwood, bricks, toilets blablabla. I get the quality I want.

2. Have a builder do the concretework only. Here in Phuket this is typical Burmese or Isarn work.

3. Electrical engineer does electric installation according to my spec, meaning no scotch tape and no wires joined by twisting them. Torex is good.

4. Pipeguys install the drainpipes in pvc. Since I buy the materials, its impossible to install 90 bend on the 4" toiletpipe, because I have only bought 45, so he installs double 45 to get 90. I check the slopes (1:200) before covered by concrete.

Pipe guy also installs ppr pipes for both hot and cold water, and is provided with a blue and a red paint to mark the hot from cold.

Every bathroom gets intake valves for hot and cold, to be able to close off this room only when later repairs/replacement of sanytaryware.

5. Have a wall team complete all the walls, sqm price incl rendering.

6. Separate roof team, using modern joining materials even if covered later by thaistyle wood and decorations

7. Carpenters for woodwork

8. Some guys can do tiles, some can not.

9. Have a poolcompany install the poolequipment

10. Forgot the concrete, should have been no 3 here. ALL concrete is readymix from CPAC, mixing nothing at site. To ensure quality

Let the trades move in

The most important issue of all. Make EXACTLY the architect plans you want to build. Every electric outlet/conduit/downlight marked where on the wall and hight over floor, tiles pattern, choise of materials. It takes months, but you save baht and headache.

And your next house will always be better than this one

Good luck. Its worth it

[JRinger]

Anyone willing to share any tips or tricks (or things to look out for) when building a home in Thailand? From construction to any shady deals the contractors or sell tried to pull.

may want to consider going back a bit to 'pre-construction', i.e., design, plans, certified structure.....then, make sure the water goes towards the drain....

[Nignoy]

This might not be allowed by the mods, but we had a house built in Huahin in 2001 of course there were a few problems, water pipes and drains were directly next to the bathroom door, gutters and downpipes not connected up , nothing that couldnt be sorted out, 9 months later we started another project at a different location, big mistake catastrophe from day 1, septic tank and drain layout and connections put in, all done professionally according to plan, we came back after 3 days to find the slab laid, slapbang on top of the septic tank and main drainage, building supplies started arriving, wall frames , roof trusses, all different sizes to plan , the builder explained half of the materials were for another building a couple of kms away, honest mistake we thought, wrong!! they were on the bill made out to me,we decided to pay more attention to what was going on,there always seemed to be a surplus of materials that evenings or early mornings just seem to vanish,there were so many faults! sliding glass doors built in upside down,insulation charged for but not installed, drains not connected to main drainage pipe , roof not sealed , first rainfall brought the ceilings down, no steel matting in the slab for thecar port and sockel for the rainwater tank , resulting in the rainwater tank splitting the sockel.We traced aall the missing material to the builders home which he was renovating at our cost it took us over 12 months to get our house sorted, and all our money back!! By the way all this happened in Australia near Bribie Island the construction was done buy a well known national builders, I can publish the the inspection reports and surveyors findings, they read like an episode from australias funny videos, I will never complain about thai builders ever again

[SMEEERE]

I learnt to NEVER build one again,.we had 3 different gangs, none would do what they were told, only what they wanted, as i CANT afford farang builderservices i will NEVER build /buy a house in thailand again,. but i wish you luck,.