BoJangles Budget Bungalow in the Boonies

[mrbojangles]

Thai style Kitchen cupboards and worktop formwork going in. No Termite system in the house and it will be empty for several months on end, so pointless spending thousands of baht on wood/chipboard cabinets. I've already seen some decent plastic doors that come with a frame ready to fit. Don't know yet how I'll do the tops and sides. Maybe tiles and/or marble/granite. Never built one in this style before, so any ideas greatly received.

This is looking from the back door. A dining table will be on the left. Theyvé built the kickboards on the left and right of the "U" higher than I wanted, so they will get lowered. We told them to leave the ones under the window until we decide where the washing machine and fridge etc will go. For info, the length is about 3.5m to 4m and the two legs of the "U" are about 2m.

[toenail]

Good job if the cost is under 500,000 baht. That doesn't include cabnet for the western kitchen or the fixtures for the bathroom -one or two baths? (I think the plan showed one). Oh, what is the square meter in size again?

[mrbojangles]

Good job if the cost is under 500,000 baht. That doesn't include cabnet for the western kitchen or the fixtures for the bathroom -one or two baths? (I think the plan showed one). Oh, what is the square meter in size again?

Yeah, it's running at just under 500k at the moment. Going back next month to buy tiles and internal doors etc, so it won't be long before it's above that. I'd imagine it will finish at circa 700k but not going for western style kitchen cabinets. No point reall as it will be empty for a good portion of the year and with no termite system in, the cabinets would be dust in no time I'd imagine.

It's one bath at the moment but plenty space to add another later if required and the pipe work will be in before we concrete the path.

The size is about 157 sq m including the balcony and 138 sq m without

[PattayaPhom]

This is a really great thread and shows what can be achieved by building yourselfe rather than buying from developers etc. You get exactly what you want for a fraction of the cost..well done.

[mrbojangles]

This is a really great thread and shows what can be achieved by building yourselfe rather than buying from developers etc. You get exactly what you want for a fraction of the cost..well done.

Cheers PP.

I must admit that after hearing of other tales on housebuilding, I was a tad apprehensive, particularly in regards to not being there and me and the mrs co-ordinating it from Saudi. However, apart from a couple of minor issues that got lost in translation, fingers crossed it's been pretty much pain free.

I've got some more updates since the last ones I posted but not much has happened really and it's pretty much job stopped due to them waiting on us to choose finishings. The builders are busy on another job at the moment but on our next visit in june we will be buying all the tiles and finished exterior colours etc. So when they finish that job, they will have enough to get cracking on with.

[mrbojangles]

Just having a think about A/C and wonder if anyone could give some tips.

As we are not going to be using this house for several months at a time, I am thinking of just trying out the use of fans but in the event that it's too hot and we install A/C, can someone give any advise on the best way to maintain them. I'm mainly concerned with the risk of bacteria build up etc when not in use for several months. Is there a set process for this i.e. draining all the water out etc?

[PattayaPhom]

I have mine serviced every 12 months, cost 700 baht each and that includes oil in the unit....well worth it, they still work and sound like new after 5 years. Our spare room is rarely used and that is exactly the same.

[jambco984]

Absolutely brilliant thread with so many nice folk all chipping in 2 satangs worth to help you out. I have spent the best part of the evening reading this thread and have plenty of ideas now for myself, although I would be happy paying your BILs to build the exact same for me in the boonies of Sukhothai.

Hope when you get back you can smash all the final details and watch the final parts come together. What is your estimated finish date, I understand its bits and bobs whenever the lads are free but surely approx. 2 months and your all good?

Looking forward to reading the final chapters

[Naam]

I have mine serviced every 12 months, cost 700 baht each and that includes oil in the unit....well worth it, they still work and sound like new after 5 years. Our spare room is rarely used and that is exactly the same.

that includes oil in the unit...

[Naam]

Just having a think about A/C and wonder if anyone could give some tips.

As we are not going to be using this house for several months at a time, I am thinking of just trying out the use of fans but in the event that it's too hot and we install A/C, can someone give any advise on the best way to maintain them. I'm mainly concerned with the risk of bacteria build up etc when not in use for several months. Is there a set process for this i.e. draining all the water out etc?

nothing to worry about bacteria build up when the unit is not used. all water drains out automatically via the drain pipe. if you use house and unit only partially then any maintenance might be required in a couple years (which in my view is still overkill).

warning: do not believe any a/c contractor (or resident eggsburts) who tell you

-the oil in the rear axle has to be changed periodically, i.e. every six months,

-the automatic transmission needs to be adjusted once a year,

-the starting battery has to be topped up frequently with distilled water,

-the remote will break if you try to change channels on your TV with it,

-the tire thread depth should not be less than 3mm because otherwise the unit will skid during heavy rains,

now impatiently waiting for your first report after you've spent a week or two in your home! when will you get your next visa "khrouj wa ouda" stamped in your passport?

[jambco984]

Looks nice.

Can you let us know how the budget turned out for the various parts.

It's been harder than I thought it would be to keep track of individual costs, mainly cos we are here in Saudi but also because the brothers will order materials from the builders yard that are for various jobs. I then can't be bothered to disect each individual item on the bill into what job it was needed for.

I do however, have the total cost to date. As it stands in the pictures above, the total spend of materials and labour is 426,000 baht. The roof was obviously the biggest individual cost at just over 100,000 baht including fitting and foils underneath. The windows were 29,000 baht, again including fitting, glass and mozzie screens. The interior suspended ceiling was 31,000 baht fully fitted and filled ready to paint, including 2 trap doors and a step in height in the kitchen. The total cost for the electrics was about 27,000 baht.

Albeit we have bought the sinks for both kitchens and the toilet and the toilet itself, we have to do the bathroom and kitchen, fully tile inside and out and skirting boards etc. We have got all the pipework in but the rest of the water system is still needed i.e. Water tanks, pump, filtration and sceptic tanks.

As I said before, I didn't really have a budget but I don't think that is a bad price to pay for work done so far. Anybody wishing to do it cheaper could easily cut costs from we have done. i.e. making the roof design a lot simpler. If you want details of costs for something specific, let me know and I'll dig out the receipts.

How much was the foundations, concrete etc....

Great details in every post

[cdmtdm]

Just having a think about A/C and wonder if anyone could give some tips.

As we are not going to be using this house for several months at a time, I am thinking of just trying out the use of fans but in the event that it's too hot and we install A/C, can someone give any advise on the best way to maintain them. I'm mainly concerned with the risk of bacteria build up etc when not in use for several months. Is there a set process for this i.e. draining all the water out etc?

as asteroid head mentioned , no problems with bacteria build up , condensate drains as you use the unit , the indoor unit has filters which you can clean very easily , outdoor unit is virtually maint free other than cleaning the condensor every couple of years , when not in use just isolate the power to the units and walk away ..... no oil needed as mentioned earlier , get the gas charge checked every couple of years and thats it .....

[mrbojangles]

Thanks for all the info on the A/C chaps

[mrbojangles]

How much was the foundations, concrete etc....

Great details in every post

I think for the foundations etc the biggest expense was the pre-cast pillars (Sow's) and they were less than 800 baht each. We needed 16 of them. I think for concreting it was about 9,000 baht for the concrete pad.The rest was just day rate laying bricks, which a pretty cheap

[cardholder]

How much was the foundations, concrete etc....

Great details in every post

I think for the foundations etc the biggest expense was the pre-cast pillars (Sow's) and they were less than 800 baht each. We needed 16 of them. I think for concreting it was about 9,000 baht for the concrete pad.The rest was just day rate laying bricks, which a pretty cheap

I have just started on a smaller build for a 'holiday bungalow'. My budget is 450k so it has been fascinating reading your thread - thank you for taking time to post this chronology of events.

[mrbojangles]

Absolutely brilliant thread with so many nice folk all chipping in 2 satangs worth to help you out. I have spent the best part of the evening reading this thread and have plenty of ideas now for myself, although I would be happy paying your BILs to build the exact same for me in the boonies of Sukhothai.

Hope when you get back you can smash all the final details and watch the final parts come together. What is your estimated finish date, I understand its bits and bobs whenever the lads are free but surely approx. 2 months and your all good?

Looking forward to reading the final chapters

Cheers jambco. We are going over in june. The wife and daughter will be staying for summer hols and I am staying for 2 weeks or so and then going back mid august. Got a lot of shopping to do and it's gonna be a rush but I'll try and get enough for them to get cracking on with until i go back in Aug. If I wanted to leave the decisions to the wife, it would be finished in no time but I said from the off that I am in charge of decor and tiles etc, so it will just have to take as long as it takes for me to shop around and choose.

i sent Global House in KK an e-mail last week asking about delivery to Chaiyaphum and they replied telling me that they are opening one in Chaiyaphum at the end of june.

[mrbojangles]

How much was the foundations, concrete etc....

Great details in every post

I think for the foundations etc the biggest expense was the pre-cast pillars (Sow's) and they were less than 800 baht each. We needed 16 of them. I think for concreting it was about 9,000 baht for the concrete pad.The rest was just day rate laying bricks, which a pretty cheap

I have just started on a smaller build for a 'holiday bungalow'. My budget is 450k so it has been fascinating reading your thread - thank you for taking time to post this chronology of events.

Thanks CH. It's always difficult knowing what to post and what not to as I could be boring the pants off people.

[mrbojangles]

Here's one for you. Talk about lost in translation. I mentioned to the Mrs a few months ago that I wanted a Khwai's head, with the huge horns. Like the one in the Tawandang logo and I want to put it on the porch. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago the wifes family said they had not only found one but two from a friend and they had painted them for us. I was over the moon until I got the piccies.

It was a nice thought but not what I wanted and now I'll have to find somewhere to put these.

[mrbojangles]

now impatiently waiting for your first report after you've spent a week or two in your home! when will you get your next visa "khrouj wa ouda" stamped in your passport?

What's that mean Naam? My Arabic isn't that good.

[Naam]

now impatiently waiting for your first report after you've spent a week or two in your home! when will you get your next visa "khrouj wa ouda" stamped in your passport?

What's that mean Naam? My Arabic isn't that good.

exit and reentry

[mrbojangles]

now impatiently waiting for your first report after you've spent a week or two in your home! when will you get your next visa "khrouj wa ouda" stamped in your passport?

What's that mean Naam? My Arabic isn't that good.

exit and reentry

Ah. Do you know that we are now permitted multi entry exits

[necronx99]

Here's one for you. Talk about lost in translation. I mentioned to the Mrs a few months ago that I wanted a Khwai's head, with the huge horns. Like the one in the Tawandang logo and I want to put it on the porch. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago the wifes family said they had not only found one but two from a friend and they had painted them for us. I was over the moon until I got the piccies.

It was a nice thought but not what I wanted and now I'll have to find somewhere to put these.

Ha!. Just get some old barrels and a wagon wheel or two and go with the whole old west theme.

[wpcoe]

It was a nice thought but not what I wanted and now I'll have to find somewhere to put these.

Thanks for the belly laugh! What on earth possessed them to paint the skulls chrome silver?

[Naam]

now impatiently waiting for your first report after you've spent a week or two in your home! when will you get your next visa "khrouj wa ouda" stamped in your passport?

What's that mean Naam? My Arabic isn't that good.

exit and reentry

Ah. Do you know that we are now permitted multi entry exits

interesting! i had no idea.

[mrbojangles]

Well it's been a while but just got some piccies back. The job had stopped until we made some design decisions. The Mrs went back a couple of weeks ago and I'm going next week for a quick 10 days. Lots of tiles to buy this trip and hopefully they will be laid for when I go back in August for 3 weeks.

Anyway, gave the wife the colours of the outside and left her to take charge of that and levelling the land ready for a concrete path. I didn't like all white outside so opted for this magnolia(ish) colour. What do you reckon/ Better than the white?

Front left. I told the Mrs I didn't like the original step and now they have made it bigger (without my input on the size) !!

The right side.

[mrbojangles]

At the back

The outside Thai kitchen

[mrbojangles]

Another view of the front.

The concrete shelf in the bathroom with the hole for the sink. I sized this up and drawn it up over here, so I hope it's ok.

[rgs2001uk]

Looking good there Mr BJ.

What do you intend doing here, thinking about putting in a downpipe?

[mrbojangles]

Looking good there Mr BJ.

What do you intend doing here, thinking about putting in a downpipe?

The downpipe is already inside the pillar rgs. I posted a picture a couple of pages back. We put the downpipe in and then built the pillar around it.

[mrbojangles]

Back in Thailand for a quick 10 days and have loads of stuff to buy so that they can continue. Get to Chaiyaphum in a couple of days, so will post some piccies after.

Quick question for any plumbers out there. We will have rain water storage tanks and village water supply (which sometimes goes really brown or dries up) so we will then switch to the rain water. These will be solely for toilet, showering etc and not drinking. These will then fill a not too big storage tank that will supply the house. Would you suggest a filter before the storage tank or after but before the pump? Any advice greatly received as plumbing really ain't my speciality.