Building A Small House In Isaan Village

[snoother]

Hello,

My girlfriend soon to be wife got recently rights of land and house where her family currently lives, in a village one hour away from Korat.

She always wanted to build something there, as the existing house is smallish and has been a bit damaged by the flood.

I figure now is a good time to help her to do that, because we are expecting a baby. Girlfriend is a bit freaked out and absolutly wants to be surrounded by family (mother and aunt are nurses and all have experience with kids), for the last months of pregnancy and probably for a year or two after birth, which I quite understand.

Existing house has 2 bedrooms, but her grandpa, grandma, mum, aunt and uncle are living there already. I don't know where I would fit in there. The land is quite big (26*20m) so there is room for another house.

We are living in phuket right now, and I figure having a bit of western comfort and privacy would help the transition. But I don't want to live there forever (I fear the boredom, and the village is too far from international schools anyway), so I don't want to tunnel big sum of money into this project, which I don't have anyway (=> keep it as cheap as possible).

Of course I have many questions for this project.

- Builder

Family contacted local builder who has been building houses around for a long time, at least dozens of them in the village. So he seems experienced, but my girlfriend starts to have bad feeling about him. He seems already very busy with four other houses, doesn't really understand her or try to when she explains him what she wants. He hasn't come yet to the site to check how is the land, make a few measurment, not showing a lot of interest on this basically. She suspects it is because he has taken care of many farangs houses, where the farang just handled some money to him, and that he will probably try to get the same margin on our house... I asked my gf to hide the fact there is a farang involved there but not sure it will work.

Is it ok to use another builder? Uncle who has already built a house somewhere else know another one. But local builder is using local workload, I don't know if it is advisable to go through another one...

- Design

Local builder seems a bit uptight about the construction : Posts HAVE to be planted every 3.5m (I don't know if it is standard practice or not). As I don't want a post in a middle of a room, it doesn't leave much choice for the house design.

Anyway I have came up with this rough design :

Covered parking area will be added later on the left side.

House will be on a 50cm high concrete slab, and the land has already been filled up since last flood, so the house will be something like 70-80cm high than old house, I hope that will be enough for next flood...

No western kitchen, thai kitchen outside on the right side will suffice.

Main bedroom a bit large, as I also want to put my home office there (I work on internet)... maybe i should place it somewhere else, not sure about that.

Extra bedroom is for the second aunt (and will be also used by mum) who can help for 150K. She says she doesn't need a room but I think it would not be nice to forget it in the design if she helps us build the house.

Large living room so we can have a western style area and a isaan sit-on-mat-style area.

Large terrasse, because this is what's great about living in a thai house!

What do you think about this design? I am completly new at this...

- Costs

Builder says such house (12 posts + 2 smallers for terasse) will cost 800K, using materials on the cheaper side

He says we can built cheaper for 500K, but the house will be 7*7m (9 posts) with small terrasse.

I'm guessing it's quite a bit expensive isn't it? What would be a good price for decently build house that size?

Thanks for reading this long post and sorry for english mistakes!

Edited February 18, 2012 by snoother

[necronx99]

5000 baht per sq meter is about the rate for a good Thai build.

At that rate you have 400k internal and 110k external. Seems a little high..

Various things can impact this, do you have single roof covering the entire area?

With this type of build you should probably get the specs and materials listing and buy the materials yourself. (My builder suggested we do this)

nice tidy house, I would put a sliding door from the main to the bath?

I have a bit more room than you, my soon to start nightmare is below!

Edited February 18, 2012 by necronx99

[bbradsby]

Hi Necro, I'm an architect so your plan raised a question or two:

1. Why all the steps in the Left bathroom? The floor structure at adjacent room should easily carry tile weight,

so dropping the floor 15mm and adding a floor drain will protect your house from plumbing mishaps.

2. Also, having the stairs start right behind the door may give a nasty surprise to guests. Just a thought.

3. What application did you use to draw the house up?

[bbradsby]

Allow about 12,000 per square meter for your house if you keep it simple. Build sooner rather than later, as cost escalation is occurring due to post-flood supply/demand curve and rising energy costs.

Think about your door swings - the doors should swing out of your way along the most predictable walking path into & out of each room. Also its best to swing them into circulation space and not impact room usability too much. Some of yours will become minor irritants each time the door is used, and its easy to fix now. Exterior doors are more secure from wether and hinge removal by theives if they swing inward.

[cardholder]

Allow about 12,000 per square meter for your house if you keep it simple. Build sooner rather than later, as cost escalation is occurring due to post-flood supply/demand curve and rising energy costs.

Think about your door swings - the doors should swing out of your way along the most predictable walking path into & out of each room. Also its best to swing them into circulation space and not impact room usability too much. Some of yours will become minor irritants each time the door is used, and its easy to fix now. Exterior doors are more secure from wether and hinge removal by theives if they swing inward.

The 12k psm sounds high for a village house.

I have been quoted 14k by a Farang builder

[bbradsby]

Builder

-You can assume the builder already knows youre there from the Village Khun Yai/Tha Network. And if he's already showing attitude problems, imagine building a house with him! It can only get worse. Go elsewhere.

"... the second aunt ... can help for 150K... build the house."

How shall I say this...? Your girlfriend must be extremely beautiful and talented, because you are clearly out of your mind. This is an extraordinarily bad move, as you'll be guaranteed to set up a conflict between your builder and your Auntie Builder as he's not paying her and she's a Thai woman - they tend to run the show, or else. And, her qualifications are what, that she's related to your girlfriend? Better to just burn 150 1000 Baht notes at a Chinese funeral to guarantee you'll be rich in the next life.

Design

Shade your exterior walls, weatherstrip doors & windows, and insulate your ceiling with at least 150mm thickness, and as much as you can afford... Period/Full Stop.

Post spacing is based on soil, concrete strength, concrete column & beam design, roof loads/geometry... thus, no simple answers. But the builder's number is about right for a typical Thai simple house.

Put a roof over your Kitchen, else you'll be made sorry by the cook.

Extend the shower across the entire width of the room, its not a birdbath :]

Think about window placement for cross ventilation and your bed location. And keep up-wind areas shaded and/or green-space as much as possible to keep from heating up the breezes before they come into your house.

Think about setting up your workspace outside your bedroom, in the Living Room. Else, spending too many hours in one room can make you go crazy.

Think about making the nanny suite much smaller and with a separate entrance from out of the house - will need an ensuite toilet too, but you'll be a MUCH happier man, believe me. This is so she doesn't become a permanent fixture in your family home. she's not your wife or your kid, you'll likely have no privacy, and things may well get too closed in for you as a westerner.

[snoother]

Thanks for the answers.

So price is going from 5K to 12K /m2 Should i count the covered terrasse in it as well? Hard to say if builder is ripping us off or not....

bbradsby> I agree that the builder seems a bit bitchy. But how to find another one? It seems he has build all the houses in the area.

Aunt can help for 150K. I really don't see what is the issue. Aunt has been live in nurse for an old and very rich thai lady in BKK. This lady is found of Aunt and likes my gf as well (she spent a few summers in her mansion when she was a kid, and old lady doesn't have any grand children). When she learned about our project, old lady agreed to loan the aunt this sum of money that she will repay it with part of her salary. Aunt doesn't want a room because she live full time in BKK, and will keep doing it until old lady passes away. I know there is no free money, but I fail to see potential issues with it.

Design : good tips for insulation and window/doors placement. Keep in mind that it was my first draft with this easy to use but limited online software (floorplanner). I used the only shower model option for example. For sure thai kitchen will have a roof!

[bbradsby]

oh, she's providing funds for the project... I interpreted your text to mean you would pay her 150k to help build the project!

[necronx99]

Hi Necro, I'm an architect so your plan raised a question or two:

1. Why all the steps in the Left bathroom? The floor structure at adjacent room should easily carry tile weight,

so dropping the floor 15mm and adding a floor drain will protect your house from plumbing mishaps.

2. Also, having the stairs start right behind the door may give a nasty surprise to guests. Just a thought.

3. What application did you use to draw the house up?

The whole house is on one meter stilts, the bathroom on that pod is ground level. It's there more as an outdoor accessible loo than for anything else. Thinking about it, it probably keeps it simpler to put it on the same level and give it external steps, not that i am concerned about guests, one bedroom for a reason Tnx.

The software is a website app called floorplanner, It's ok for quick sandbox layouts but is not really suited to complete plans as it doesn't handle levels, roofs etc very well and is limited in it's views e.g with a roof on you can no longer see the windows and sliding doors. But is is free and being cloud based is sometimes usefull. The OP used the same app, going by his dimension lines, I.e 10.49 meters, the inability to mouse to exact lengths is also a bother.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[sezze]

Difficult as you can see .

A what are you providing except money ? Nothing , well the price will be risen by at least 20% . Saving this is easy by buying the goods yourself and hand it over to the builder . You do need a "few"runs to here and there , but as you will be living there , it is a good thing to learn your enviroment and the prices of the goods .

b what kind of "luxury" are you adding . This can jack up the price by multiple 100000's .

The pricebracket given by other people in this is correct , somewhere between 5 and 12000 per sqm . At 12k i expect allready quite a lot , meaning q-con , decent fittings , not the cheapest doors and windows , quality paint etc etc . At 5k i expect a rather standard house , without luxuries but well finished with all amenities of a normal western house ( not Thai village standard as this is very substantially lower) .

c when you work with 1 builder for the complete house , you are stuck with him during the complete build and this might prove a absolute nightmare ( or opposite ) .

If you pm me i can send you pics of mine which is 7 by 12m and is finished ( the garden isn't ) which cost me around 650k near Udon ( 7700per sqm ) including everything so far .

[fredob43]

Builder

-You can assume the builder already knows youre there from the Village Khun Yai/Tha Network. And if he's already showing attitude problems, imagine building a house with him! It can only get worse. Go elsewhere.

"... the second aunt ... can help for 150K... build the house."

How shall I say this...? Your girlfriend must be extremely beautiful and talented, because you are clearly out of your mind. This is an extraordinarily bad move, as you'll be guaranteed to set up a conflict between your builder and your Auntie Builder as he's not paying her and she's a Thai woman - they tend to run the show, or else. And, her qualifications are what, that she's related to your girlfriend? Better to just burn 150 1000 Baht notes at a Chinese funeral to guarantee you'll be rich in the next life.

Design

Shade your exterior walls, weatherstrip doors & windows, and insulate your ceiling with at least 150mm thickness, and as much as you can afford... Period/Full Stop.

Post spacing is based on soil, concrete strength, concrete column & beam design, roof loads/geometry... thus, no simple answers. But the builder's number is about right for a typical Thai simple house.

Put a roof over your Kitchen, else you'll be made sorry by the cook.

Extend the shower across the entire width of the room, its not a birdbath :]

Think about window placement for cross ventilation and your bed location. And keep up-wind areas shaded and/or green-space as much as possible to keep from heating up the breezes before they come into your house.

Think about setting up your workspace outside your bedroom, in the Living Room. Else, spending too many hours in one room can make you go crazy.

Think about making the nanny suite much smaller and with a separate entrance from out of the house - will need an ensuite toilet too, but you'll be a MUCH happier man, believe me. This is so she doesn't become a permanent fixture in your family home. she's not your wife or your kid, you'll likely have no privacy, and things may well get too closed in for you as a westerner.

Not going into the why's and were fore's of the house, Just where you are situating it. In the middle of Isan. Surely to most boring place in the world.

Who own's the land aunty or some other part of the family if so it will never belong to you or you wife, so get the land bit sorted first. How is the Internet connection, as you said you work from it. 2. you are right next door to family and I don't know if you know but living within 300 mile's of family is a No No here. "I happen to think 500 is even better" There are lot's of reason's, but just a few. Money you will supply all, they the family will be in your house 24/7 and try and run your life, The G/L has already told you she want's help from them, and Family is No: one here and I'm sorry to say that mean's Thai family and your not Thai. The time I have heard oh it's Ok they are family so it's all right for them to clean out the fridge are to many to mention. I could go on and on, I'm not trying to be a party pooper just trying to advise before you lay out lot's of monies and end up going mad. Not an easy thing to do but maybe try and rent a place there for the duration till you can sort thing's out. Slowly slowly catch a Monkey as the saying go's. Best of luck.

[Colin Yai]

Builder

-You can assume the builder already knows youre there from the Village Khun Yai/Tha Network. And if he's already showing attitude problems, imagine building a house with him! It can only get worse. Go elsewhere.

"... the second aunt ... can help for 150K... build the house."

How shall I say this...? Your girlfriend must be extremely beautiful and talented, because you are clearly out of your mind. This is an extraordinarily bad move, as you'll be guaranteed to set up a conflict between your builder and your Auntie Builder as he's not paying her and she's a Thai woman - they tend to run the show, or else. And, her qualifications are what, that she's related to your girlfriend? Better to just burn 150 1000 Baht notes at a Chinese funeral to guarantee you'll be rich in the next life.

Design

Shade your exterior walls, weatherstrip doors & windows, and insulate your ceiling with at least 150mm thickness, and as much as you can afford... Period/Full Stop.

Post spacing is based on soil, concrete strength, concrete column & beam design, roof loads/geometry... thus, no simple answers. But the builder's number is about right for a typical Thai simple house.

Put a roof over your Kitchen, else you'll be made sorry by the cook.

Extend the shower across the entire width of the room, its not a birdbath :]

Think about window placement for cross ventilation and your bed location. And keep up-wind areas shaded and/or green-space as much as possible to keep from heating up the breezes before they come into your house.

Think about setting up your workspace outside your bedroom, in the Living Room. Else, spending too many hours in one room can make you go crazy.

Think about making the nanny suite much smaller and with a separate entrance from out of the house - will need an ensuite toilet too, but you'll be a MUCH happier man, believe me. This is so she doesn't become a permanent fixture in your family home. she's not your wife or your kid, you'll likely have no privacy, and things may well get too closed in for you as a westerner.

Not going into the why's and were fore's of the house, Just where you are situating it. In the middle of Isan. Surely to most boring place in the world.

Who own's the land aunty or some other part of the family if so it will never belong to you or you wife, so get the land bit sorted first. How is the Internet connection, as you said you work from it. 2. you are right next door to family and I don't know if you know but living within 300 mile's of family is a No No here. "I happen to think 500 is even better" There are lot's of reason's, but just a few. Money you will supply all, they the family will be in your house 24/7 and try and run your life, The G/L has already told you she want's help from them, and Family is No: one here and I'm sorry to say that mean's Thai family and your not Thai. The time I have heard oh it's Ok they are family so it's all right for them to clean out the fridge are to many to mention. I could go on and on, I'm not trying to be a party pooper just trying to advise before you lay out lot's of monies and end up going mad. Not an easy thing to do but maybe try and rent a place there for the duration till you can sort thing's out. Slowly slowly catch a Monkey as the saying go's. Best of luck.

Yeah you have it right no doubt about it, but you appear to have forgot the "padlocked" fridge as the "family" will regard everything inside it as "theirs" ,privacy? not a hope in hell , renting is a far better proposition, at least for a "trial" period until you are fully aware of "village life" Edited February 19, 2012 by Colin Yai

[necronx99]

Dont forget 1 or more fans on the deck as well as an outside powerpoint.

[fredob43]

Builder

-You can assume the builder already knows youre there from the Village Khun Yai/Tha Network. And if he's already showing attitude problems, imagine building a house with him! It can only get worse. Go elsewhere.

"... the second aunt ... can help for 150K... build the house."

How shall I say this...? Your girlfriend must be extremely beautiful and talented, because you are clearly out of your mind. This is an extraordinarily bad move, as you'll be guaranteed to set up a conflict between your builder and your Auntie Builder as he's not paying her and she's a Thai woman - they tend to run the show, or else. And, her qualifications are what, that she's related to your girlfriend? Better to just burn 150 1000 Baht notes at a Chinese funeral to guarantee you'll be rich in the next life.

Design

Shade your exterior walls, weatherstrip doors & windows, and insulate your ceiling with at least 150mm thickness, and as much as you can afford... Period/Full Stop.

Post spacing is based on soil, concrete strength, concrete column & beam design, roof loads/geometry... thus, no simple answers. But the builder's number is about right for a typical Thai simple house.

Put a roof over your Kitchen, else you'll be made sorry by the cook.

Extend the shower across the entire width of the room, its not a birdbath :]

Think about window placement for cross ventilation and your bed location. And keep up-wind areas shaded and/or green-space as much as possible to keep from heating up the breezes before they come into your house.

Think about setting up your workspace outside your bedroom, in the Living Room. Else, spending too many hours in one room can make you go crazy.

Think about making the nanny suite much smaller and with a separate entrance from out of the house - will need an ensuite toilet too, but you'll be a MUCH happier man, believe me. This is so she doesn't become a permanent fixture in your family home. she's not your wife or your kid, you'll likely have no privacy, and things may well get too closed in for you as a westerner.

Not going into the why's and were fore's of the house, Just where you are situating it. In the middle of Isan. Surely to most boring place in the world.

Who own's the land aunty or some other part of the family if so it will never belong to you or you wife, so get the land bit sorted first. How is the Internet connection, as you said you work from it. 2. you are right next door to family and I don't know if you know but living within 300 mile's of family is a No No here. "I happen to think 500 is even better" There are lot's of reason's, but just a few. Money you will supply all, they the family will be in your house 24/7 and try and run your life, The G/L has already told you she want's help from them, and Family is No: one here and I'm sorry to say that mean's Thai family and your not Thai. The time I have heard oh it's Ok they are family so it's all right for them to clean out the fridge are to many to mention. I could go on and on, I'm not trying to be a party pooper just trying to advise before you lay out lot's of monies and end up going mad. Not an easy thing to do but maybe try and rent a place there for the duration till you can sort thing's out. Slowly slowly catch a Monkey as the saying go's. Best of luck.

Yeah you have it right no doubt about it, but you appear to have forgot the "padlocked" fridge as the "family" will regard everything inside it as "theirs" ,privacy? not a hope in hell , renting is a far better proposition, at least for a "trial" period until you are fully aware of "village life"

I did mention the fridge. TV is another thing not easy to get unless you go for True and they are very expensive not to mention crap. I can see it now there's Mr Snoother sitting there at night, Just finished his hard day's slog on the Internet for the day and saying to himself I think I'll have a nice ice cold beer, Go's to the afore mentioned fridge and low and behold the three bears have been there before him and the cupboard was bear. He won't even have the empty's as even those would have been sold. Rent Rent Rent. If all go's pare shaped you can always get up and leave.

[fredob43]

Dont forget 1 or more fans on the deck as well as an outside powerpoint.

Forgot about that the electric thank's for reminding me. Had a friend who did just that and after a week he had taken it out, reason was that the brother in law that lives next door used to stick a plug + long wire in it to power all his electric bit's. So you just stick one outside as suggested maybe you can in time let the hole village have free power, They will treat you well though with a bit of luck they might leave you something in the fridge. Sorry if you think I'm hard but that's just the way it will be. It's a case of what's your's is their's and by the same token what's their's is your's. Just one small problem with that and that is they don't have anything. Edited February 19, 2012 by fredob43

[necronx99]

Dont forget 1 or more fans on the deck as well as an outside powerpoint.

Forgot about that the electric thank's for reminding me. Had a friend who did just that and after a week he had taken it out, reason was that the brother in law that lives next door used to stick a plug + long wire in it to power all his electric bit's. So you just stick one outside as suggested maybe you can in time let the hole village have free power, They will treat you well though with a bit of luck they might leave you something in the fridge. Sorry if you think I'm hard but that's just the way it will be. It's a case of what's your's is their's and by the same token what's their's is your's. Just one small problem with that and that is they don't have anything.

That's about the stupidest thing I've heard this week.

Deny himself the option and convenience rather than cut the wire, remove the breaker, lock the CU...

How does he stop them from tapping directly into the main? Land mines and machine gun posts?

What an insular and strange life your friend must lead.

Edited February 19, 2012 by necronx99

[fredob43]

Dont forget 1 or more fans on the deck as well as an outside powerpoint.

Forgot about that the electric thank's for reminding me. Had a friend who did just that and after a week he had taken it out, reason was that the brother in law that lives next door used to stick a plug + long wire in it to power all his electric bit's. So you just stick one outside as suggested maybe you can in time let the hole village have free power, They will treat you well though with a bit of luck they might leave you something in the fridge. Sorry if you think I'm hard but that's just the way it will be. It's a case of what's your's is their's and by the same token what's their's is your's. Just one small problem with that and that is they don't have anything.

That's about the stupidest thing I've heard this week.

Deny himself the option and convenience rather than cut the wire, remove the breaker, lock the CU...

How does he stop them from tapping directly into the main? Land mines and machine gun posts?

What an insular and strange life your friend must lead.

As Agatha Christie's Hercual Poirot would say The little grey cell's. Your not using them. The brother in law never did it while he was there only while he was out or after he had gone to sleep. Even if he would have known about it just to remove the breaker would have turned off thing's like the fridge it's called cutting your nose off to spite your face. All he did was take it out and use an extension lead for the fan. Didn't go down to well the B/I/Law wouldn't speak to him for several month's, as I tried to point out what's your's is there to share around and if you don't think I'm right may I just suggest that your being very insular. Re tapping directly into the main his main's box is in the house so couldn't do. Anyway that would defeat the object of taking it without peep's knowing. Thai's have got some sense they don't like being found out. Just not Cricket don't you know. If you have lived here for some time you should know that all Farang's are Millionaire's so won't miss the odd 10,000bt. You will also know that they will be round for the old loan from time to time. He got that sorted very quick the first one came and asked for a loan of 2,000 bt no problem he said and gave it to them. Three week's later another one of the family came and tried their luck again no problem of course you can have the monies just go to so and so he owes me 2,000bt and get it of of him. Do I have to explain. It's called living next to family and if you don't think I'm right try it.

[rgs2001uk]

Dont forget 1 or more fans on the deck as well as an outside powerpoint.

Forgot about that the electric thank's for reminding me. Had a friend who did just that and after a week he had taken it out, reason was that the brother in law that lives next door used to stick a plug + long wire in it to power all his electric bit's. So you just stick one outside as suggested maybe you can in time let the hole village have free power, They will treat you well though with a bit of luck they might leave you something in the fridge. Sorry if you think I'm hard but that's just the way it will be. It's a case of what's your's is their's and by the same token what's their's is your's. Just one small problem with that and that is they don't have anything.

That's about the stupidest thing I've heard this week.

Deny himself the option and convenience rather than cut the wire, remove the breaker, lock the CU...

How does he stop them from tapping directly into the main? Land mines and machine gun posts?

What an insular and strange life your friend must lead.

As Agatha Christie's Hercual Poirot would say The little grey cell's. Your not using them. The brother in law never did it while he was there only while he was out or after he had gone to sleep. Even if he would have known about it just to remove the breaker would have turned off thing's like the fridge it's called cutting your nose off to spite your face. All he did was take it out and use an extension lead for the fan. Didn't go down to well the B/I/Law wouldn't speak to him for several month's, as I tried to point out what's your's is there to share around and if you don't think I'm right may I just suggest that your being very insular. Re tapping directly into the main his main's box is in the house so couldn't do. Anyway that would defeat the object of taking it without peep's knowing. Thai's have got some sense they don't like being found out. Just not Cricket don't you know. If you have lived here for some time you should know that all Farang's are Millionaire's so won't miss the odd 10,000bt. You will also know that they will be round for the old loan from time to time. He got that sorted very quick the first one came and asked for a loan of 2,000 bt no problem he said and gave it to them. Three week's later another one of the family came and tried their luck again no problem of course you can have the monies just go to so and so he owes me 2,000bt and get it of of him. Do I have to explain. It's called living next to family and if you don't think I'm right try it.

How refreshing to hear from a poster who actually lives here and knows the lay of the land.

I declined all requests for money, one day the BIL, what a total wanke_r and waste of space asked for a loan, I agreed.

Family speechless, mai kao jai, etc etc.

Too cut a long stort short, it was the best one thousand baht i have ever invested in this country, every request for money now, I refer them to the BIL, when he pays me back you can have it. The bast***s think I am cheating them (farang kee kong), love it.

The best advice i would give the OP, forget the house upcountry, fly a maid/caretaker down from the sticks and pay her 10k per month, 2 years total outlay 240k, way cheaper than building a house.

FB43. must buy you a beer or 8 next time you are in Bkk, a pleasure to meet a "fellow traveller".

[snoother]

Not going into the why's and were fore's of the house, Just where you are situating it. In the middle of Isan. Surely to most boring place in the world.

Who own's the land aunty or some other part of the family if so it will never belong to you or you wife, so get the land bit sorted first. How is the Internet connection, as you said you work from it. 2. you are right next door to family and I don't know if you know but living within 300 mile's of family is a No No here. "I happen to think 500 is even better" There are lot's of reason's, but just a few. Money you will supply all, they the family will be in your house 24/7 and try and run your life, The G/L has already told you she want's help from them, and Family is No: one here and I'm sorry to say that mean's Thai family and your not Thai. The time I have heard oh it's Ok they are family so it's all right for them to clean out the fridge are to many to mention. I could go on and on, I'm not trying to be a party pooper just trying to advise before you lay out lot's of monies and end up going mad. Not an easy thing to do but maybe try and rent a place there for the duration till you can sort thing's out. Slowly slowly catch a Monkey as the saying go's. Best of luck.

Yeah I get your point, the life within the extended family is my biggest fear. It was nice in phuket far from them! Plan is to stay there not too long and then move asap to a place like rayong, at a respectable distance from them. I trained my gf for 2 years to enjoy western concept like independance and having a cosy and quiet private home, I'm quite sure she will also want to get the hell out of there after a while (well at least I hope it will not be a big issue ) We will then use the house for the weekly or monthly visit to the family. I know I will not be able to escape those visits, so having our place would make them bearable.

Land already belongs to wife, has been donated recently by the grandfather. I figure that if I kill myself of boredom then at least my widow and son will have a decent roof on their head. Anyway this is not a life changing money, I'm going to spend more on a new car soon...

Renting something around would be a better idea, but nothing suitable seems available so far.

As for sharing the fridge issue, seems not so important as I will have free cook and dishwasher.

Internet is very important I agree. There is a cybercafe in the village so ADSL should be available there, I'm gonna double check that. I could also use my CDMA connection with an external antenna (we are 9 km away from the tower). But if no decent internet is available then it's clearly a NO GO for me.

Edited February 19, 2012 by snoother

[fredob43]

Not going into the why's and were fore's of the house, Just where you are situating it. In the middle of Isan. Surely to most boring place in the world.

Who own's the land aunty or some other part of the family if so it will never belong to you or you wife, so get the land bit sorted first. How is the Internet connection, as you said you work from it. 2. you are right next door to family and I don't know if you know but living within 300 mile's of family is a No No here. "I happen to think 500 is even better" There are lot's of reason's, but just a few. Money you will supply all, they the family will be in your house 24/7 and try and run your life, The G/L has already told you she want's help from them, and Family is No: one here and I'm sorry to say that mean's Thai family and your not Thai. The time I have heard oh it's Ok they are family so it's all right for them to clean out the fridge are to many to mention. I could go on and on, I'm not trying to be a party pooper just trying to advise before you lay out lot's of monies and end up going mad. Not an easy thing to do but maybe try and rent a place there for the duration till you can sort thing's out. Slowly slowly catch a Monkey as the saying go's. Best of luck.

Yeah I get your point, the life within the extended family is my biggest fear. It was nice in phuket far from them! Plan is to stay there not too long and then move asap to a place like rayong, at a respectable distance from them. I trained my gf for 2 years to enjoy western concept like independance and having a cosy and quiet private home, I'm quite sure she will also want to get the hell out of there after a while (well at least I hope it will not be a big issue ) We will then use the house for the weekly or monthly visit to the family. I know I will not be able to escape those visits, so having our place would make them bearable.

Land already belongs to wife, has been donated recently by the grandfather. I figure that if I kill myself of boredom then at least my widow and son will have a decent roof on their head. Anyway this is not a life changing money, I'm going to spend more on a new car soon...

Renting something around would be a better idea, but nothing suitable seems available so far.

As for sharing the fridge issue, seems not so important as I will have free cook and dishwasher.

Internet is very important I agree. There is a cybercafe in the village so ADSL should be available there, I'm gonna double check that. I could also use my CDMA connection with an external antenna (we are 9 km away from the tower). But if no decent internet is available then it's clearly a NO GO for me.

I glad you see my point's. I just thought you might like some advice before you get to carried away. Rose tinted glasses and all that. They're must be lot's of Farang that don't get any problem's but so far I've never found one, well that would admit to it anyway. Look's like you have got yourself together house wise, Once a month might be a bit to often to my mind but some ware between that and once a year seem's ok. Little story when I thought of getting a place over here I asked the G/L her advice on area, her reply well if we don't want to many problems from her family a long way away we decide on K.P.Phet as that's 350km from BKK where he family live. Do they come yes but in over 6 year's only twice. That I can live with. Everyday we both wake up smiling. I hope all go's well for you and your G/L (Wife) and soon to have monster, Enjoy. Oh must not forget the new car.

Right now the important bit RGS as I wont be in BKK for some time any chance of you sending a case of Tiger you can do it by bus I wont mind picking it up from the bus station. Many thank's I await in hopeful anticipation. Your latest chum Fred.

Edited February 20, 2012 by fredob43

[haveaniceday]

5m between pillars is it? make sure he uses some decent steel.

Note, those ceiling fans, the have these hanging ceilings here, the 4 by 8 foot gyprock seems to hold up ok hanging off it, but your fans wont. You have to make a bracket from steel for the fans to be supported.

An alternative is to have some fans mounted on the walls, they do tend to need cleaning often though or just air con the whole house.

Edited February 20, 2012 by haveaniceday

[splitlid]

Note, those ceiling fans, the have these hanging ceilings here, the 4 by 8 foot gyprock seems to hold up ok hanging off it, but your fans wont. You have to make a bracket from steel for the fans to be supported.

An alternative is to have some fans mounted on the walls, they do tend to need cleaning often though or just air con the whole house.

yes and i wouldnt use blue sheets either as they attract mossies.

[sezze]

The fans itself look like stuck on the ceiling but if they do the job properly they use a sling wire/chain to attach the ceiling fan to the metal structure of the roof . The ceiling itself is only holding the base of the fan and nothing of weight ( as it cannot hold it ) .

[Farma]

Just an observation. Is there any reason for 3.5 metres between uprights? The standard spacing for shophouses and village built houses upcountry is 4 metres. You might find it easier to redesign giving more space.

As for pricing, 5 years ago the FIL built a village house with the same layout 8 x 8 metres with another 8 x 4 metre double open carport area where your verandah is for 450k. That included concrete slab, coloured roof sheets, tiled floor inside and out plus bathroom wall, aluminium windows and doors, fitted bathroom and an additional 4 x 12 metre covered area out back for a kitchen.

The work was done by family with buiilding experience (they work as builders in the area). Electrical installation done by an electrician in the family.

[snoother]

Builder said it was 3.5m and nothing else, I also would like more spacing between posts, as the living room will be too narrow as it is.

We contacted another one because this one seems to asking way too much and not accomodating at all.

[David48]

5m between pillars is it? make sure he uses some decent steel.

Note, those ceiling fans, the have these hanging ceilings here, the 4 by 8 foot gyprock seems to hold up ok hanging off it, but your fans wont. You have to make a bracket from steel for the fans to be supported.

An alternative is to have some fans mounted on the walls, they do tend to need cleaning often though or just air con the whole house.

Just a thought on the ceiling fans ...

I'm an Aussie and a qualified electrician and ceiling fans to me are as natural as a cold beer on a hot day.

Naturally I assumed that Thai's would really go the traditional ceiling fan as you have displayed on your home drawings but ...

Two close friends won't have a bar of them.

One sweltering night, lying on her bed and having those annoying pedestal fans blowing over you, I looked up to the ceiling wishing for the gentle cooling breeze of a ceiling fan.

I offered the next day to buy and install one ... offer flatly rejected.

She said that she was scared that during the night the fan would fall and cut her up.

While you are contemplating that weird thought ... my current gf was eating in a restaurant and exactly that did happen to her ... the ceiling fan fell, smacking her across the head on it's path to the floor.

What they do use a lot and a compromise to a ceiling fan is this style.

Rotating on it's axis and with a fan protector, a reasonable compromise.

So just a thought to ask 'she who must be obeyed' what sort of fans would be desired.

Let me know what you guys decide to install.

.

[bbradsby]

Yikes, the buzzsaw to the head trick... no surprise if you've sen the ceiling 'framing' in LoS. They cheat on everything here - fake steel reinforcing, watered-down concrete. Well, at least the girls are hot and the beer's cold.

[mack01]

Im currently building a thai/farang house at 8.5 x 8.5 for the main inside space and extras outside so not too much difference from what you have here. Its a self build between me and dad with work bought in at 250 a day. Budget currently running at 420k including 75k +15k land fix for the 1/2 rai. I still have the outside to plaster and a 4x8.5 pourch to add with roof. I think ill be around 500k by the time im finnished. I have found most of the village helpful and they dont take the piss, except for a few so called profesional quotes that gave european prices so i bined them and did it mysellf. I decided what I wanted, including 4m between posts which only needs stronger steel for the roof and good rebar for the foundations and tie ins. I have had to deal with some strange local belifes like cant have more than 5 amps, have to buy electric meter, cant have wires in wall in Khon Khan, cant put pipes in wall, cannot have earth wire in electric, cant have phone or internet in village and farang toilet needs big water tank to work. As I have read many of the forum articals and I'm an engineer, I have managed to show them that they are not always right and our western magic works too. So the overall biggest problem is if they dont understand then you cant have. Just be patient and read read read all the advice on this forum.

[necronx99]

Im currently building a thai/farang house at 8.5 x 8.5 for the main inside space and extras outside so not too much difference from what you have here. Its a self build between me and dad with work bought in at 250 a day. Budget currently running at 420k including 75k +15k land fix for the 1/2 rai. I still have the outside to plaster and a 4x8.5 pourch to add with roof. I think ill be around 500k by the time im finnished. I have found most of the village helpful and they dont take the piss, except for a few so called profesional quotes that gave european prices so i bined them and did it mysellf. I decided what I wanted, including 4m between posts which only needs stronger steel for the roof and good rebar for the foundations and tie ins. I have had to deal with some strange local belifes like cant have more than 5 amps, have to buy electric meter, cant have wires in wall in Khon Khan, cant put pipes in wall, cannot have earth wire in electric, cant have phone or internet in village and farang toilet needs big water tank to work. As I have read many of the forum articals and I'm an engineer, I have managed to show them that they are not always right and our western magic works too. So the overall biggest problem is if they dont understand then you cant have. Just be patient and read read read all the advice on this forum.

pics?

[mack01]

Im currently building a thai/farang house at 8.5 x 8.5 for the main inside space and extras outside so not too much difference from what you have here. Its a self build between me and dad with work bought in at 250 a day. Budget currently running at 420k including 75k +15k land fix for the 1/2 rai. I still have the outside to plaster and a 4x8.5 pourch to add with roof. I think ill be around 500k by the time im finnished. I have found most of the village helpful and they dont take the piss, except for a few so called profesional quotes that gave european prices so i bined them and did it mysellf. I decided what I wanted, including 4m between posts which only needs stronger steel for the roof and good rebar for the foundations and tie ins. I have had to deal with some strange local belifes like cant have more than 5 amps, have to buy electric meter, cant have wires in wall in Khon Khan, cant put pipes in wall, cannot have earth wire in electric, cant have phone or internet in village and farang toilet needs big water tank to work. As I have read many of the forum articals and I'm an engineer, I have managed to show them that they are not always right and our western magic works too. So the overall biggest problem is if they dont understand then you cant have. Just be patient and read read read all the advice on this forum.

pics?

Drawing3.pdf