Builder In Phuket

[cdmtdm]

I have recently sold my farm and rental properties in Australia and moved with my wife to Rawai in Phuket , we have in the past built and renovated on a large scale in West Aust with mostly good experiences and the obvious financial gains .

We have read and listened to all the reports on dodgy builders here in Phuket and took the time to research for ourselves who we would choose to build our home , we had meeting after meeting trying to decide who was telling us the truth , who was giving us a good price and who we could trust to build our home ( the house is around 300sqm).

What amazed us was the amount of businesses who are not actually builders , they are marketing companies tied to a construction or architects business who act as a go between , inflating the price at the same time.

Finally we came across a Thai man who is an engineer with his own building company , small scale but just what we were looking for , he came along at the point where we were about to put it in the too hard basket . He came recommended by a friend , we checked his previous work , his construction style and his prices, it was meant to be , we found a builder who was hands on , well priced , capable of quality work , quick and most importantly we were in a contract with him personally , complete with penalty clauses for late finishing.

The day after signing the contract they commenced work and have gone flat out since that day , the work is of excellent quality , in fact the house construction is superior to what i am used to in Australia , very impressed .Added to this he has changed some structural components of the build that he felt were in sufficiently specified by the architect firm we used, at no extra cost !!!

If anyone wants to fast track the whole research we did , please contact me i will personally put you in contact with my builder and vouch for him , i am not the sort of person who recommends people , but in this instance i joined Thai Visa and want to share the great experience we are having building our house , all you seem to read about is bad experiences during building , but for us its been fun and exciting.

[robertsonmartin]

Great Post, glad you found a good builder as there are, as you said, lots of "dodgy" ones around.

I'm thinking of a small house extention, I'd be very interested in his contact details. I'll PM you.

Thanks for the post.

[olsen]

Very smart self promotion, mate

Hope you at least get some interested parties before the mods deletes your thread

[cdmtdm]

Very smart self promotion, mate

Hope you at least get some interested parties before the mods deletes your thread

The last thing i need to do is self promote myself !!! this forum is about sharing good and bad experiences with other ex pats , which is exactly what i have done , if you read the thread it is all about a good building experience as opposed to all the bad building experiences that this forum has , can i ask are you a builder with no work ?? or have you had a bad building experience? , i have helped 5 people already get in contact with what i classify as a good and trusting builder , surely you have something better to do with your time than post rubbish like that...

[LivinginKata]

Very smart self promotion, mate

Hope you at least get some interested parties before the mods deletes your thread

This Mod is watching this topic and so far I see no reason to close it down.

[steelepulse]

I too had a good building experience with a very competent builder that had done high end work before. I spoke to his prior customers and visited the houses and was impressed. Through the whole construction we were kept updated every day when we visited the site, and we had bi monthly meetings with the architect, builder, and building supervisor to go over any problems, pay invoices, suggest changes etc.

So to sum up, a good experience can be had, but you have to be diligent in vetting out the job.

[katasyd]

Very smart self promotion, mate

Hope you at least get some interested parties before the mods deletes your thread

That's rich coming from you.

Your Sichon beach promoting is tiresome and been covered numerous times.

It's even in your sig.

[Lannatyne]

I too had a good building experience with a very competent builder that had done high end work before. I spoke to his prior customers and visited the houses and was impressed. Through the whole construction we were kept updated every day when we visited the site, and we had bi monthly meetings with the architect, builder, and building supervisor to go over any problems, pay invoices, suggest changes etc.

So to sum up, a good experience can be had, but you have to be diligent in vetting out the job.

Please moderator, be as tolerant as you can about this thread. it contains really valuable information that will assist many people here seeking a good builder.

For posters, don't go overboard, as we wouldn't want this good source "shutdown".

I also have had a super builder experience, and would be pleased to share his details. He built a 280 sq m living area villa for me, and then a 10 x 5 pool, and some landscaping. Outstanding, and people's jaw drop when they come to see our new place.

So, from ths thread, I reckon that anyone seeking to build has now access to about 3 quotes from builders with a great CV.

Now that's what ThaiVisa is really all about, isn't it??

[katabeachbum]

I have recently sold my farm and rental properties in Australia and moved with my wife to Rawai in Phuket , we have in the past built and renovated on a large scale in West Aust with mostly good experiences and the obvious financial gains .

We have read and listened to all the reports on dodgy builders here in Phuket and took the time to research for ourselves who we would choose to build our home , we had meeting after meeting trying to decide who was telling us the truth , who was giving us a good price and who we could trust to build our home ( the house is around 300sqm).

What amazed us was the amount of businesses who are not actually builders , they are marketing companies tied to a construction or architects business who act as a go between , inflating the price at the same time.

Finally we came across a Thai man who is an engineer with his own building company , small scale but just what we were looking for , he came along at the point where we were about to put it in the too hard basket . He came recommended by a friend , we checked his previous work , his construction style and his prices, it was meant to be , we found a builder who was hands on , well priced , capable of quality work , quick and most importantly we were in a contract with him personally , complete with penalty clauses for late finishing.

The day after signing the contract they commenced work and have gone flat out since that day , the work is of excellent quality , in fact the house construction is superior to what i am used to in Australia , very impressed .Added to this he has changed some structural components of the build that he felt were in sufficiently specified by the architect firm we used, at no extra cost !!!

If anyone wants to fast track the whole research we did , please contact me i will personally put you in contact with my builder and vouch for him , i am not the sort of person who recommends people , but in this instance i joined Thai Visa and want to share the great experience we are having building our house , all you seem to read about is bad experiences during building , but for us its been fun and exciting.

Good builders can be found. May I ask what your sqm price was, and the general spec (central hotwater, electric capacity, floor sqm price, roof sqm price, single or double walls etc.

[Lannatyne]

Good builders can be found. May I ask what your sqm price was, and the general spec (central hotwater, electric capacity, floor sqm price, roof sqm price, single or double walls etc.

Now, that's something I'd be cautious of straightaway - a price per sq.m.. You're building (I presume) a home, not a bloody office block! Your "dream home in paradise" should be restricted by an overall budget for the structure, finishing and internals. Don't get carried away by a low 'per sq.m.' price. You should get the quote itemised, and then see how much of your budget the strucure element etc, take up.

As I said earlier, would be happy to help anyone. I'll take PM's about my builder, show you my place, and go through what you'd need to consider for a build project, if anyone wants.

[cdmtdm]

Good builders can be found. May I ask what your sqm price was, and the general spec (central hotwater, electric capacity, floor sqm price, roof sqm price, single or double walls etc.

Hi , i was not so interested in the sqm price , i asked and received an itemised bill of quantities for the build , i had my architect give me a budget figure for a top end quality build , i then proceeded to get quotes and went over the BOQ costings on each and compared, from this you can determine the real structural costs ie, concrete, steel etc and if they are in line with the market prices of the time. The items that change the price a lot are the personal choices , such as pool size, pool equipment , tile choices , kitchens,appliances etc , we excluded all the items that we felt we could supply at the same or better than the builder , that gave us the ability to make personal choices.However all the structural components of the build were the builders responsibilty , in our case we supplied the kitchen contractor , the appliances , the tiles , the a/cond units , the sanitary wear and the landscaping.

Hope this helps , i agree with the other post , the sqm price is not relevant when building a house in my opinion because of the above , also this is not a spec home it is our own house .

Cheers

[katabeachbum]

Now, that's something I'd be cautious of straightaway - a price per sq.m.. You're building (I presume) a home, not a bloody office block! Your "dream home in paradise" should be restricted by an overall budget for the structure, finishing and internals. Don't get carried away by a low 'per sq.m.' price. You should get the quote itemised, and then see how much of your budget the strucure element etc, take up.

As I said earlier, would be happy to help anyone. I'll take PM's about my builder, show you my place, and go through what you'd need to consider for a build project, if anyone wants.

I asked, because most owners do not complete a house with only one builder. But if you payed your builder much more than normal sqm price, he may have decided to complete your house rather than cheating you.

Since you are reluctant to share actual facts on request, it seems to me you are using this forum to promote your builder or your house. But I could be wrong

[cdmtdm]

I asked, because most owners do not complete a house with only one builder. But if you payed your builder much more than normal sqm price, he may have decided to complete your house rather than cheating you.

Since you are reluctant to share actual facts on request, it seems to me you are using this forum to promote your builder or your house. But I could be wrong

Hi katabeachbum, i think you are replying to the wrong person, i posted the initial post which is about a good building experience,lannatyne has also posted on this thread , i do not know this person i can only vouch for my experience , i am happy to answer any specific questions you may have , i have already helped 8 people get in touch with a decent builder , one who will complete the job and enter into a fair and decent contract , if you are basing your builder purely on sqm price then you are setting yourself up for a fall !! happy to help , drop me an email if you like to know more

Cheers

[steelepulse]

We actually built our house in 2 phases.  First phase was the concrete and steel, then when we were still happy with the work already completed, we signed a new contract with the same contractor to do all the finish work.  

The only way to fairly compare price per sqm would be on the structure itself as finishing materials can vary greatly depending on what you want. 

[katabeachbum]

Hi katabeachbum, i think you are replying to the wrong person, i posted the initial post which is about a good building experience,lannatyne has also posted on this thread , i do not know this person i can only vouch for my experience , i am happy to answer any specific questions you may have , i have already helped 8 people get in touch with a decent builder , one who will complete the job and enter into a fair and decent contract , if you are basing your builder purely on sqm price then you are setting yourself up for a fall !! happy to help , drop me an email if you like to know more

Cheers

Sorry, cdmtdm, I did reply to the wrong post. I agree sqm price is not everything. But having build some villas totalling 2500 sqm past few years I know from personal experience the finishing doesnt change the price more than 30%. Some pay 15k/sqm and some pay 60k/sqm. If the builder recieves 60 k/sqm theres a good chance his profit is enough to cover his Fortuner, mia noi and parties then no need to leave or cheat.

so the question remains, what was your sqm price and at what spec?

[Lannatyne]

Sorry, cdmtdm, I did reply to the wrong post. I agree sqm price is not everything. But having build some villas totalling 2500 sqm past few years I know from personal experience the finishing doesnt change the price more than 30%. Some pay 15k/sqm and some pay 60k/sqm. If the builder recieves 60 k/sqm theres a good chance his profit is enough to cover his Fortuner, mia noi and parties then no need to leave or cheat.

so the question remains, what was your sqm price and at what spec?

Too right, cdmtdm, thank you. Katabeachbum should be apologising to me!

Hey, no problem. Let's just keep this thread focused on the job in hand - good source for a couple of good builders.

[cdmtdm]

Sorry, cdmtdm, I did reply to the wrong post. I agree sqm price is not everything. But having build some villas totalling 2500 sqm past few years I know from personal experience the finishing doesnt change the price more than 30%. Some pay 15k/sqm and some pay 60k/sqm. If the builder recieves 60 k/sqm theres a good chance his profit is enough to cover his Fortuner, mia noi and parties then no need to leave or cheat.

so the question remains, what was your sqm price and at what spec?

20k, top end spec , will that help you sleep ??

[cdmtdm]

We actually built our house in 2 phases.  First phase was the concrete and steel, then when we were still happy with the work already completed, we signed a new contract with the same contractor to do all the finish work.  

The only way to fairly compare price per sqm would be on the structure itself as finishing materials can vary greatly depending on what you want. 

Very good point !!! that is probably the only way to get a close comparison ...............

[Valentine]

20k, top end spec , will that help you sleep ??

Can you please clarify some of your top end specs & your finished product such as what type of blocks, single or double layer, roof truss steel or otherwise, insulation, roof tiles, interior finish, type of paint etc.

[katabeachbum]

Can you please clarify some of your top end specs & your finished product such as what type of blocks, single or double layer, roof truss steel or otherwise, insulation, roof tiles, interior finish, type of paint etc.

and hotwatersystem, piping pvc or high grade, electrical system, ceilings, flooring, kitchenprice, number of bathrooms and tileprice, faucets and sanitaryware, quality of wood and varnish, piling or plain footings, grade of concrete from which supplyer, etc

[katabeachbum]

Sorry, cdmtdm, I did reply to the wrong post. I agree sqm price is not everything. But having build some villas totalling 2500 sqm past few years I know from personal experience the finishing doesnt change the price more than 30%. Some pay 15k/sqm and some pay 60k/sqm. If the builder recieves 60 k/sqm theres a good chance his profit is enough to cover his Fortuner, mia noi and parties then no need to leave or cheat.

so the question remains, what was your sqm price and at what spec?

Too right, cdmtdm, thank you. Katabeachbum should be apologising to me!

Hey, no problem. Let's just keep this thread focused on the job in hand - good source for a couple of good builders.

Lannatyne, sorry, I replyed to the wrong post.

[steelepulse]

There's a nice thread over in the housing section where all of this info can be placed along with others from all over Thailand. I posted over in that thread and for those of you asking OP specs, feel free to post your specs .

Here's that thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Finished-Hou...rd-t257672.html

[cdmtdm]

Can you please clarify some of your top end specs & your finished product such as what type of blocks, single or double layer, roof truss steel or otherwise, insulation, roof tiles, interior finish, type of paint etc.

Hi Valentine , firstly this is not the reason i made this post to"" justify my top end spec "", it was purely to state that i had a a good building experience , with a Thai builder on a top end build , all the materials and workmanship in my opinion were exactly as i expected and as per the spec provided by myself and my architect , good quality at a good price. As per my original post , i have had a lot of experience prior to this in Aust building and renovating , so i am not wet around the ears i was aware of what to look for ...... i do not have the time or inclination to list my whole spec on this post as it is not about my house , it is about putting peoples mind at rest that not all builders are going to rip you off !!

Cheers