Cost To Build Bungalow 1.29M Baht

[ArranP]

Hello,

Thought I would seek your opinion.

Attached is a detailed quote and architect plans to build a bungalow in Nakhon Sawan. The internal area is 90sqm, land is not included, total cost is 1.29 million baht.

Do you think this is reasonable ? am I being ripped off ?

Thanks for your opinion.

Regards

Arran.

quote.doc

plans.pdf

[crazygreg44]

Hi, I have built a similar bungalow, but with help of the local boys instead of a contractor. My wife and me had to organize all the material by ourselves, it can be a bit of a pain, and the house ended up much more simple and smaller than the one you are planning. I used white , aereous brick and granite floors, keeps the house really cool even during the hot season, plus a ceiling. We do NOT need an aircon, fan is sufficient.

I don t see anything overpriced here in the quote for such an spacious project. The only item I had to frown about was the "land reclamation works fine ( fee??) area" , if this means a landfill, you might find a cheaper one than for the quoted 200,000. And keep in mind the fill has to settle over at least one rainy season and then bake dry, so you can start November / December as earliest date. The prices in Thailand tend to rise , inflation is gallooping . . .

Aluminum windows "natural" colors ? Non eloxated ? I would demand the brown elox toned ones, and with tinted glas, price just about the same.

I have seen a moo-ban house on a 100 sqm land, similar style yet much smaller ( around 6 m x 8 m ) for sale here in Kantharalak ( Sisaket area) , at 1,5 million Baht, unfurnished. Your quote is pretty good compared to this. If they can guarantee this price, I don t see anything wrong with it !

[Naam]

I don t see anything wrong with it !

except the 9mm thick gypsum ceiling boards. that's an "arse"itectural joke!

[Naam]

I don t see anything overpriced here in the quote for such an spacious project.

"spacious" is a relative expression

what i would like to know is "why the big difference between actual floor area of 88.25 m² and the priced total area of 129.00 m² ?"

[ArranP]

I don t see anything overpriced here in the quote for such an spacious project.

"spacious" is a relative expression

what i would like to know is "why the big difference between actual floor area of 88.25 m² and the priced total area of 129.00 m² ?"

I think its the terrace area outside and the roof space overhanging it, I'm guessing its attributed to that.

[rgs2001uk]

For an all inclusive cost of between 10,000-12,000 baht per square meter you can have the whole house built with nothing to buy.

That would range from 900,000 to just over 1 million baht.

Dont know what the land reclamation is, please explain?

I wouldnt be guessing I would want it hammered out exactly what I am paying for.

Can only assume you are paying about 8,000 baht per square meter for outside terrace etc, way overpriced IMHO.

Get at least another 2 or 3 quotes.

Looks like you are paying 10,000 baht per meter x 130 square meters = 1.3 million.

Can be done cheaper, but you get what you pay for, I have seen house start falling apart after 5 years or less, the foundations/piles will be of prime importance.

[ArranP]

For an all inclusive cost of between 10,000-12,000 baht per square meter you can have the whole house built with nothing to buy.

That would range from 900,000 to just over 1 million baht.

Dont know what the land reclamation is, please explain?

I wouldnt be guessing I would want it hammered out exactly what I am paying for.

Can only assume you are paying about 8,000 baht per square meter for outside terrace etc, way overpriced IMHO.

Get at least another 2 or 3 quotes.

Looks like you are paying 10,000 baht per meter x 130 square meters = 1.3 million.

Can be done cheaper, but you get what you pay for, I have seen house start falling apart after 5 years or less, the foundations/piles will be of prime importance.

I'm guessing the land reclamation is the raising of land by about .5 metre and laying over with concrete.

[dave111223]

Agreed that "land reclamation" seem overpriced.

I'm in the process of having a bit of land filled in Bangkok. Land size 200wah (800 sq.meters) requiring a total of 2 meters of dirt all over. Total cost: 340,000THB.

Edited January 19, 2011 by dave111223

[bbradsby]

The land fill work should be separated out & contracted directly to guys who do just this - and separate it from building cost per sq. meter to get an idea of building cost, as it's completely separate from the building. Don't pay a building general contractor's overhead & profit for land fill work, as he'll just sub it out to a dirt guy... and you'll pay double O&P.

Back to the building. conditioned space is about 90 sq. m. - figure exterior, under-roof space at half-price of conditioned space. I'd not pay to polish concrete floors - tile is cheap & very well done in LOS.

The building's geometrically simple, efficient (area of exterior wall to floor space ratio), so should be very cost effective. Price looks OK, even if bid detail is scarce. In a design-bid-build project delivery, I always recommend three min to five max hard bids/tenders from comparable, competent contractors. No Mercedes vs Yugo bids, as its useless & not fair to them. Construction cost varies by location - urban BKK, island location, rural upcountry... Where's your project?

Also, inflation is kicking up, so move fast and have a very good contract. And NEVER let the contractor get ahead of you on money vs scope of completed work as a percentage of total. They love to front-end load the payment schedule, then if something gets afoul they can just disappear and be all the richer. Withhold 10% from each payment - essentially his profit for a job Well Done - til final completion.

Edited January 23, 2011 by bbradsby

[Burgernev]

Hi Arran,

Can't add much re: costs that hasnt been said, and having to pay OTT per m2 in Hua Hin there's not a lot I can say really Not sure if any use, but have attached a list I did for a mate of things to check if the contractor has included in his price, should you want them that is. It's far from comprehensive and much of it I wouldnt expect them to neccessarily include in their basic rates. And on this general theme, it's vital imo to make a schedule of the material and finishes specs, types etc, and include it in the contract. Otherwise if they have a freehand with this, most of them will get the cheapest stuff going.

On the floor plan, if I read it right you got a nice large kitchen/dining room, but the master bedroom (I'm assuming bed no.1) isn't all that big at 4m x 3m. See attached pic of one of our bedrooms which is exactly that size, and it's a bit tight width wise. I don't know what you had in mind for the kitchen/diner, but personally I would steal a metre for the bedroom. Or, if that didn't work you could dog-leg the bedroom/kitchen wall and build-in recessed wardrobes, if it's kitchen cabinets going on that wall, then should be easy to hide/dress around. You could make the bathroom 0.5m longer then and put a door in from the bedroom so it's en-suite.

As bbradsby mentioned, structure the payments so they do not get much ahead cash-flow wise, the more, smaller stage payments the better, reduce your risk level here and you can be seen to be helpful elsewhere. The stage payments always overlap, and they always ask for payment early, which gets annoying, but to be fair if they've just delivered a stack of floor tiles and started that, then personally I'll pay them for the roof even though there's a 3 or 4 days work left on it, keeping a good rapport with the contractor should not be underestimated in the grand scheme of things.

Good luck,

Burgernev

Inclusions List.doc

Edited January 23, 2011 by Burgernev

[Naam]

I don t see anything overpriced here in the quote for such an spacious project.

"spacious" is a relative expression

what i would like to know is "why the big difference between actual floor area of 88.25 m² and the priced total area of 129.00 m² ?"

I think its the terrace area outside and the roof space overhanging it, I'm guessing its attributed to that.

then the unit price per m² is too high.

[Naam]

I don t see anything overpriced here in the quote for such an spacious project.

"spacious" is a relative expression

what i would like to know is "why the big difference between actual floor area of 88.25 m² and the priced total area of 129.00 m² ?"

I think its the terrace area outside and the roof space overhanging it, I'm guessing its attributed to that.

then the unit price per m² is too high. in my view a builder who mixes up living area with roof overhang, terraces and the like is a cheat!

[ArranP]

Hello,

I have a competitive estimate from Siam Consulting , I have no prior experience to speak of with this company, a few googles seem to report they are a reasonable outfit?

Due to my wife and I living in the UK, and having a limited time to do the build as, we are replacing a house my wifes sister lives in, I think I have few choices available other than to go with a turn-key solution due to me and my wife living remote to the build locaiton.

Arran

[Soboringtochooseaname]

Hello,

I would like to buid a house on a land i just bought, but for now i would like to build only a "box" that will be the bast of my future house.

Can you tell me how much it would cost to build only 1 room cement bungalow ? Just a square shape 40 sqm bungalow ? Only for wall and roof please.

If i wanted to build this bungalow with wood, would it be cheaper or more expensive ?

Thanks a lot for your help.

[PattayaPhom]

If you got time to oversee the project and know of local experienced guys that work for 200-300 Baht a day.....you should be able to do the same for 800-900k..so the contractor is only taking a 30% mark up..thats fair enough for the work they will need to do.....again though what is the reclaimation for