Building A House

[insertmembernamehere]

My friend built an INCREDIBLE house in Chonburi by flying in a few Mexicans home builders and an American buddy who worked in the construction business. With the help of only ONE Thai (his wife's brother), they built one of the highest quality homes I've ever seen in Thailand and it was hassle free.

How long does it take to build a house from nothing? Eight months? More? How much did you pay these Mexicans and the US guy? How did you organize their visas/work permits? Who did you get to do the actual physical work? Or are you saying that five people built the entire house themselves? Details please.

[PoodMaiDai]

How long does it take to build a house from nothing? Eight months? More? How much did you pay these Mexicans and the US guy? How did you organize their visas/work permits? Who did you get to do the actual physical work? Or are you saying that five people built the entire house themselves? Details please.

Not my house. I'm a renter.

I believe they did it in 5 months, but they busted tail doing it. Everyone involved was an experienced home builder except for his Thai brother-in-law who was not a builder but they taught him and gave him tasks to do along the way. Being taught the correct way to do things turned him into a pretty handy guy.

Not sure how much he paid them but I know from working in the US with Mexicans is they work dirty cheap and very hard. Many of them are a "jack of all trade" so to speak. Everyone involved did the actual actual physical work. That is their profession. I think the only time they did have outside help was when they poured the foundation. Everything else they did on their own.

Visas?

The house is incredible. But besides the fact that it's an amazing house, is that there was zero hassle, no one even tried to rip him off, everything went as planned and he got western standards.

[ARISTIDE]

I've seen a few quality Thai builder that did the job well provided the instruction is clear and done fairly cheap. But like you said most best Thai workers work commercial jobs for much higher wages.

My friend built an INCREDIBLE house in Chonburi by flying in a few Mexicans home builders and an American buddy who worked in the construction business. With the help of only ONE Thai (his wife's brother), they built one of the highest quality homes I've ever seen in Thailand and it was hassle free. Everything went as planned, finished quickly, and was done fairly cheap. It was off the road enough that no one noticed anything.

Literally, everyone else I personally know who used Thais to build their homes have been cheated, ripped off, or ended up with sub par quality. Those of you who have had positive Thai building experiences are in the minority and are lucky. From what I understand, the best Thai workers work commercial jobs for much higher wages.

[highonthai]

If you have ever built a home home in your own country, you would already know the problems of building a home anywhere. Let alone here in SEA.(Thailand) Most of the complainers here most likely have not built a home before.And don't have a clue.

As in everything "you get what you pay for" and if you want to build a house here on (the cheap) a budget you will get just that a buget (cheap) home.

[PoodMaiDai]

If you have ever built a home home in your own country, you would already know the problems of building a home anywhere. Let alone here in SEA.(Thailand) Most of the complainers here most likely have not built a home before.And don't have a clue.

As in everything "you get what you pay for" and if you want to build a house here on (the cheap) a budget you will get just that a buget (cheap) home.

Well said.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Except you get to choose yourself which things to spend on and which things aren't as crucial to you. The topic is 'building a house', so that implies you get to decide where to spend your money.

Simple example: Many Thai designs call for godzillion bathrooms in a house. Bathrooms cost money, because it implies plumbing, a sink, taps, drains and perhaps a shower, cabinets and so on. So you could cut down on the bathrooms, or have less bathrooms but bigger/better ones.

I didn't build my current house, but it has a grand total of 5 bathrooms. <deleted>, people!

When it comes to structural materials such as concrete (from a reputable company, that comes in a truck), rebar, size of the footings, size/number of the posts, bricks, roofing and so on I suggest not to skimp, but structural materials are pretty predictable relative to the size of the house you're building.

But you can skip, skimp or defer some costs for certain things and upgrade later, to help your cash flow. You don't really need that super fancy gate and sky-high wall around the property just now, or a stamped-concrete driveway. You can easily fit out that walk-in cabinet later. You can put the expensive insulating bricks in areas that get sun, and cheap-ass clay bricks in interior non-supporting walls. (Actually just about all walls in Thailand are non-supporting, that's why every structure is such a post & beam-fest.) You could even get really creative and defer on that fancy teak front door, put in something more ordinary which then gets moved to one of the rear doors (kitchen, back entrance, maid entrance) when you're ready to splurge on something.

So it's not a yes/no choice between skimping or splurging. You skimp on what you care less about, and splurge on the stuff that gives you value.

[LivinLOS]

Also whatever she tells you - you as a farang can not get any money from a Thai bank!

Actually there are companies who offer farangs mortgages on property (not only condos). However its at pretty harsh rates and conditions.

[insertmembernamehere]

Sorry, but this imported Mexican labor thing sounds fishy to me. When I see crews building a house, there are more than 5 people doing things, and they change according to their craft. I am well aware of the nature of Mexican labor, trust me, and if you are talking about laborers, they are not supermen compared to Thais. Even if they were somewhat amazing, having the knowledge to design and oversee a site, and have only five people to do it -- including every aspect that goes into construction of a house -- would be a daunting task. Add having to go to suppliers in Thailand for needed materials and apparently having no problems at all is another achievement.

It seems that there must be more to this story than meets the eye. If not, build another one and film it for the Discovery Channel. Three illegal Mexican aliens, an out of work Yankee construction worker, a guy wanting a house and his wife's Thai brother (who knows nothing about construction) go to THAILAND to build a house outside of zoning regulations or building codes, let alone legal construction workers? Shit, I would watch that show!

What would you call the reality show? HAMMERING THAILAND

[PoodMaiDai]

Sorry, but this imported Mexican labor thing sounds fishy to me. When I see crews building a house, there are more than 5 people doing things, and they change according to their craft. I am well aware of the nature of Mexican labor, trust me, and if you are talking about laborers, they are not supermen compared to Thais. Even if they were somewhat amazing, having the knowledge to design and oversee a site, and have only five people to do it -- including every aspect that goes into construction of a house -- would be a daunting task. Add having to go to suppliers in Thailand for needed materials and apparently having no problems at all is another achievement.

It seems that there must be more to this story than meets the eye. If not, build another one and film it for the Discovery Channel. Three illegal Mexican aliens, an out of work Yankee construction worker, a guy wanting a house and his wife's Thai brother (who knows nothing about construction) go to THAILAND to build a house outside of zoning regulations or building codes, let alone legal construction workers? Shit, I would watch that show!

What would you call the reality show? HAMMERING THAILAND

Well, he pulled it off. If I got to know you some I'd put you in touch with him and he could lay it all out for you in detail. I'm sure he's not the first person to work or have workers in Thailand without a proper visa. Many of the workers on large projects these days are Burmese, all working illegally.

Not sure where you come from but I've seen 3 - 4 man teams build good homes in the USA. A lot of small building companies only have a few guys and these days most of them are Mexicans with an American foreman. My personal experience with Mexicans from a rehab project in the States several years ago is they are incredibly talented and hard working. The one time I did own a condo in Thailand and tried to rehab it, I went through 5 crews to get something I was still not 100% happy with. The difference between Thai workmanship and Mexican workmanship is that Mexicans generally take pride in their work. I've yet to see a Thai who takes real pride in his work and stays until the job is done correctly. They don't have phrases like "mai pen rai" and "a-rai gor dai" for nothing. There is also a reason you have to be there EVERY DAY when Thais are building your home or fixing your condo. They will short cut and do the wrong thing 9 times out of 10 if someone is not there to catch it. I'm sure there are plenty of Mexicans who will do the same, but that has not been my experience and the guys my buddy brought over are seasoned builders. Not some guys picked up from a parking lot in LA.

I think in his case is they ALL (minus the brother-in-law) knew how to do every step and what they needed to buy. If you know how to do that, not even a supply store is going to short you.

[highonthai]

I'd have to disagree with you on many of your statements and on so many levels.

But in fear of dis-ing my foreign neighbors from south of the border and saying something non PC,I will just have to disagree with you.