Is This Too Much?

[bridge]

Hi There,

I know this might be a really hard question to answer, as I appreciate that there are many variable involved, such as materials, building costs etc.

I want to extend a deck out from my existing balcony. Basically the dimensions for my proposed extension are as follows:

Depth: 4.5ft

Width: 10.5ft

Total Area is 47.25sq ft (not a large area by any measure).

Also it will in line with my current deck which is approximately 5 ft off the ground.

Attached is a photo of the kind of idea I am looking at. Note - this is just a pic from the net to give the general idea of what I am looking at doing.

I had a Thai builder come around yesterday. He told me that it would take 1 week and quoted me THB50,000.

Can you anyone give me a ball park figure as to what a project of this nature should cost.

Many thanks in advance

Bridge

[A. BOOZER]

Why not get another couple of builders to give a price?

[stiggy]

Many on here will cry to much...

seems about right to me as quality wood here in Thailand is not cheap. give or take 10k.

[bridge]

Why not get another couple of builders to give a price?

Good idea, but we have to use the 'owners' builder.

[stgrhe]

Why not get another couple of builders to give a price?

Good idea, but we have to use the 'owners' builder.

Are you saying that you or your wife do not own the house but you rent it?

[bridge]

Why not get another couple of builders to give a price?

Good idea, but we have to use the 'owners' builder.

Are you saying that you or your wife do not own the house but you rent it?

Correct.

[Abrak]

Why not get another couple of builders to give a price?

Good idea, but we have to use the 'owners' builder.

Well getting a couple of other quotes would at least ascertain whether it was a fair price by the builder you have to use. To be honest, the price sounds about right to me - Bt10k/sqm - for a raised balcony.

If you are renting why not ask the owner to pay half as the work will enhance the value of the property?

[craigt3365]

We are looking at having some work done to our house. I was actually quite surprised when the 3 bids we got were all pretty close to each other. From what I am having done, the cost seems pretty good. As previously mentioned, wood is not cheap. It will be a darn nice deck when you are done!

[lifeincnx]

Sure seems fair. Have you figured the cost of materials (wood, support brackets, cement, etc.) on your own so you can back in the labor figure?

Do agree with other posts as well - you should seek 1/2 cost from the owner as it ultimately benefits them and not you.

[bangkokeddy]

The deck in the picture is reinforced concrete painted brown with roof paint???? I would estimate not over:

Cement 3000

metal 4000

rock/sand 5000

labour (3 people) 9,000

To build the whole thing in Wood - about 10,000 more.

Cost not over 25,000 and you risk breaching your rental agreement by making modifications to a house you don't own. get the owners permission in writing if you wish to pay him to make enhancements to his own house. Why not just move and rent a house that meets your needs?

[chrgrims]

eddy,

how much work is this for your 9k baht? for example, if one pays 200 baht pr worker, 600 baht for one day, its 15 days. is this about correct, or is your calculation different?

i am about to build a porch too, i will let you guys know when i have more details.

[neverdie]

eddy,

how much work is this for your 9k baht? for example, if one pays 200 baht pr worker, 600 baht for one day, its 15 days. is this about correct, or is your calculation different?

i am about to build a porch too, i will let you guys know when i have more details.

200 baht per day will buy you a very basic labourer, you will probably find you need at least one of the people on the job to possess a half decent brain & that will cost you a bit more. I had some work done here to get a few things sorted out before I moved in, a guy that could check levels properly, cut timber & basically build was about double that of the 200 baht, then he had another 200 baht man work for him. Based on three, you could find your costs around the 800 baht per day, but there are many variables.

[Spoonman]

The deck in the picture is reinforced concrete painted brown with roof paint???? I would estimate not over:

Man you got good eyes, it looks like wood to me.

[Curt1591]

I find that, to a great extent, you get what you pay for, even in Thailand. Often, the cheap guys are "jacks of all trades, masters of none". Worse yet, the "contractor" typically hires 100 baht day workers to knock out the job.

The work we have had done will usually run 2 to 3 times what the neighbors pay for similar jobs. The difference is that when done, we're done. The neighbors keep having it redone, and redone. Funny thing is that they still say we pay too much!

[chrgrims]

yes, i agree. i payed 300 myself for a guy that could do masonry etc. right now we have a gardener that we pay 200 for. so i guess thats the ballpark.

bridge, are u sure u want to build in wood? i think i will use concrete for the foundation on our porch.

[VocalNeal]

This is a good point.

you risk breaching your rental agreement by making modifications to a house you don't own. get the owners permission in writing if you wish to pay him to make enhancements to his own house.

It is not unknown for owners to ask for money to return the property to it's original condition, even though it is better now than before.

Edited December 23, 2009 by VocalNeal

[bangkokeddy]

eddy,

how much work is this for your 9k baht? for example, if one pays 200 baht pr worker, 600 baht for one day, its 15 days. is this about correct, or is your calculation different?

i am about to build a porch too, i will let you guys know when i have more details.

I figured 10 days for a job like that, around 300-350 a day is a good wage - I don't think it's fair to pay much less and sometimes I pay more if they do a good job. I pay my electrician around 400-500. A deck is not rocket science, but a porch would take a bit more savvy if they are making modifications to the roof / adding doors and windows. I am assuming they'd have their own tools (inc. welder) and wood to make concrete forms - if not this would add to the expense. If you were to offer 10-15k up front sure they'd have the job done quicker!

I always hire my own labour and manage the job, buy the materials myself using my own tools. If you hire a firm I figure the head man would want to make about 40-50% profit on a small job like this - hence the 50k figure quoted. As it's a rental you'll just have to accept it.

[CWMcMurray]

I will not comment on whether or not it makes a whole lot of sense to make improvements to rental property, but...

Even if the owner has told you that you can only use her builder...what you can do is to get quotes from a few others to compare the price.

If the other builders are significanly cheaper you could always go back to the owner again and try to bargain to either use a different builder or to negociate with her chosen builder to get the price down to a competative price or make up the difference.