Building A 2 Bedroom Bungalow

[JASON THAI]

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

Edited January 1, 2006 by JASON THAI

[Thaipwriter]

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

Hi Jason

Please drop the capitals.....

Yep 500,000 will pay for the building you describe. best thing to do is do a search of this forum for keyword "building" you will learn lots.

A few quick pointers.....

Does the land in question have water and electricity nearby?

If you are present during construction, when you have chosen your contractor, get a quote for labour only. them go and buy the materials yourself. You can keep a better eye on the quality of items used, you also get to choose sanitary ware and tiles etc.pay particular attention to the quality of the timber and doors that is used.

Use aluminium framed windows.

Dont pay all in advance, draw up some kind of contract 20% when piles and slab are finished. another 20% when roof is on and the rest at turn key.

Be patient with the workers, dont go losing your rag with them. this will achive nothing.

Make sure that the electrical sytem is earthed.

this is just for starters...

good luck

[Rigger]

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Jason

Please drop the capitals.....

Yep 500,000 will pay for the building you describe. best thing to do is do a search of this forum for keyword "building" you will learn lots.

A few quick pointers.....

Does the land in question have water and electricity nearby?

If you are present during construction, when you have chosen your contractor, get a quote for labour only. them go and buy the materials yourself. You can keep a better eye on the quality of items used, you also get to choose sanitary ware and tiles etc.pay particular attention to the quality of the timber and doors that is used.

Use aluminium framed windows.

Dont pay all in advance, draw up some kind of contract 20% when piles and slab are finished. another 20% when roof is on and the rest at turn key.

Be patient with the workers, dont go losing your rag with them. this will achive nothing.

Make sure that the electrical sytem is earthed.

this is just for starters...

good luck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had some extentions put on to my house for 400,000 which included two more bath rooms large western kitchen and and pool room. Small house in its self

So Yes I dont think you will have much trouble building what you discribed for that amount of money. But do make sure the builder can show some happy past customers.

Also remeber that the person that puts you on to the builder will probably be getting a kick back from the builder so dont belive every thing they tell you

Do have someone watch the builders on a daily bases better if it is a Thai guy that is on your side that understands what you expect for your money.

Do use small bricks not the large besa blocks. And make sure elec cables and water lines are placed in the wall and not running on the outside

do as mentioned in the other post and hold back some money for a month or so in case you find a problem after moving in

Good luck

[Rigger]

Heres a few pictures sorry dont have any recent ones

Edited January 1, 2006 by Rigger

[Krub]

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes this is possible .The budget is enough for what you plan.

Make sure the land is raised above road level to stop the risk of flood during the heavy rain periods.

Also make sure you have them put some isolation under the roof.

[lopburi3]

Most land requires fill to get it above water level or that home be built on stilts so that may add to costs. Although it may look nice I am of the surface wire and water runs for cheap to moderate homes as they are so much easier to fix and much less likely to have troubles. When you have contractors putting wire together inside the ceiling or wall you are asking for troubles (they will use old cuts pieces when you are not looking and don't properly connect them). Remember to include an outside kitchen area for cooking and some kind of roof for it.

[chownah]

While surface runs for water and wire are easier to diagnose and maintain I used in wall and above ceiling runs. I think it looks nicer and my thinking was that if I had problems with the in wall or in ceiling runs and could not fix them then I could always make surface runs at any time to replace the hidden ones. So far I've had not problems with the hidden runs so I guess I'm just lucky.

[jayenram]

I think it looks nicer and my thinking was that if I had problems with the in wall or in ceiling runs and could not fix them then I could always make surface runs at any time to replace the hidden ones.  So far I've had not problems with the hidden runs so I guess I'm just lucky.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree here. I have had no problems with my hidden runs and the house is almost 6 years old. For sink/shower waste, I made sure all the runs were straight as far as possible. At any necessary changes of direction, I had manholes built and traps installed, and manholes at the final outlet to facilitate rodding if required.

When my house was built, I was advised by a local 'expert' that the cost for a single floor house should be in the region of Bht 5,500.00 per square metre. This will, of course, have increased by now so I would guess a maximum of Bht 7,000.00 per square metre will be sufficient, depending upon the quality of materials used.

[Monkeypants]

When my house was built, I was advised by a local 'expert' that the cost for a single floor house should be in the region of Bht 5,500.00 per square metre. This will, of course, have increased by now so I would guess a maximum of Bht 7,000.00 per square metre will be sufficient, depending upon the quality of materials used.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is the 7000 baht the price including finishings i.e, shower, doors,tiles, everything exluding furniture?

[excaliber]

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you have plans already? Although your house is small it would be advantageous to have detailed plans in Thai so the contractor and/or workers have a good understanding as well as eliminating a lot of confusion.

If you're outside of the city you probably won't need to run the plans through the government although if you are in or near the city you will need drawings signed by a Thai Engineer & Architect. (some may argue this and sometimes you can get by without them).

Building a small house using red brick has better insulting qualities compared to concrete block. Try not to use tin roof (songkasie) or corrugated panels of cement/asbestos as they don't keep the heat out; instead, if your budget allows use clay or concrete roof tiles, with clay you shouldn't need any insulation in the roof. Make sure to have at least two airways above the ceiling to allow air to pass through the roof area (above the ceiling). these are generally made of wood and can be purchased at most construction material shops.

As mentioned in an earlier reply to your post: most Thai contractor's/workers don't install P-traps under the sinks or shower drains. These are necessary if you don't want the smell/insects from the septic/grey water tanks coming back up through the pipes.

If you need drawings or other input that you can't find in this forum just pm me or post it.

good luck....

[blue eyes]

quote name='JASON THAI' date='2006-01-01 10:30:51' post='598916']

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

Sawasdee Jason Thai,

Here is an old chart of building cost around Bangkok Metro Area.I hope it gives you an idea.The wife and I just built a detached,house wooden, elevated 90 Sq.meter home 20 km north of Phi Mai for 385k THB.As you can see we built it for much less then the chart.But it is 300km away from BKK and the cost of labor and some materials are less.This may not be what you are thinking of,but it is a beautiful home for us.

Chok Dee, cost47_eng.pdf

[Carmine6]

...Do have someone watch the builders on a daily bases better if it is a Thai guy that is on your side that understands what you expect for your money.

...

What are others' experience with this?

My girlfriend monitored the construction of her family's house, since everyone else was out working on their farm. Lots of days I'd call her in the early afternoon and the foreman was at some meeting or something, so the workers hadn't even started working yet. They'd basically wait until the guy came. There also seemed to be lots of days off for festivals and town council meetings (the foreman was on it).

Nothing wrong with this as it wasn't my money, labor fee was fixed, and they finished on time.

I just think I would have gone crazy if I had watched all the downtime.

A side note: I offered to pay for a balcony off the second floor and it is so uncommon that the builder basically said no, by quoting something like 150,000 Baht.

[jayenram]

When my house was built, I was advised by a local 'expert' that the cost for a single floor house should be in the region of Bht 5,500.00 per square metre. This will, of course, have increased by now so I would guess a maximum of Bht 7,000.00 per square metre will be sufficient, depending upon the quality of materials used.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is the 7000 baht the price including finishings i.e, shower, doors,tiles, everything exluding furniture?

The bht 7,000 /sm would include for all fixed finishings excluding a European style kitchen and aircon units. Mine actually worked out to a total of bht 7,500.00 /sm (6 years ago) but this included European kitchen, tiles floor to ceiling in kitchen and bathrooms, two electric showers, curtains to all windows and wallpaper in the lounge, 35/100 Amp electric, twin and earth sockets, and a garden.

See pic at:

http://www.thaivisa.com/gallery/building-in-issan/27_5_46_2

[JASON THAI]

Nice house how much did you pay in the end

When my house was built, I was advised by a local 'expert' that the cost for a single floor house should be in the region of Bht 5,500.00 per square metre. This will, of course, have increased by now so I would guess a maximum of Bht 7,000.00 per square metre will be sufficient, depending upon the quality of materials used.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is the 7000 baht the price including finishings i.e, shower, doors,tiles, everything exluding furniture?

The bht 7,000 /sm would include for all fixed finishings excluding a European style kitchen and aircon units. Mine actually worked out to a total of bht 7,500.00 /sm (6 years ago) but this included European kitchen, tiles floor to ceiling in kitchen and bathrooms, two electric showers, curtains to all windows and wallpaper in the lounge, 35/100 Amp electric, twin and earth sockets, and a garden.

See pic at:

http://www.thaivisa.com/gallery/building-in-issan/27_5_46_2

[jayenram]

Nice house how much did you pay in the end

Bht 840,000.00. The house is 110 sm excluding the carport. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge and large (for Thai) kitchen.

[ShingDam]

My advise is

- read first 3 posts again and again and AGAIN !!!

- if you think about flooding a drainage could be of help

not more than 40 cm deep about 20-30 cm far, filled with shredder stones, or like i did

a blue pipe inside pinched with 3 to 5 mm holes will do a good job.

I have a celler (maybe the only one in isan area ) and i was worried about flooding, but

because of the earth characteristic (mostly granithard the deeper you go) the water will be flushed

out by the little drainage.

I never got one drop water inside of my celler and the walls a absolutly dry (although i was worried

it wouldnt work) now 3 Years without problems.

(ok ok one time my celler was flooded, but not by rainfall it was a leak in my watertank, and the pump

pumped and pumped, because the electricity circuit is connected to the swimmer and if the tank never

gots full ....... at least i found it out before the swimmer reached the top of the celler )

30 cm water, in a 130 sqm celler my buddha.)

[Falang56]

Hi Jayenram,

Your house looks good, nice style. Where do you live, maybe I like to contact the builder. We are planning to built in Surin, near Buriram. We have land, this was filled up, 1.60 meters, last years January. We are looking for a good team of builders, and to get some ideas, of what style we want. Who made the drawings of your house?

Best regards,

Falang56

[tyler2uk]

We had this done one year ago....total costs just under 800,000...

sourced all materials ourselves and saved an absolute fortune....

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bolty2uk/my_photos" target="_blank">home pics...captured from cam, so sorry for quality

[JASON THAI]

Hi thanks for the replies I have just talked to my GF, I would like to go with a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom (I will add a second later) 1 large kitchen (whats the differences between thai & european?) and 1 large mainroom, I don't want a carport, I would like a blue tiled roof like the ones you see in Korat, her mum is getting the land filled cost of 8,000 baht for the trucks & soil, she has also told me that it will cost 250 baht a day for each worker (about 10 in total) is this o.k or to much they said it will take about 2 months to finish is this true as I don't want to be paying workers 4 months later down the line, I have a budget of 600,000 will you think I will have any left over to build a wall around the house and maybe a small garden with lawn.

Cheers

Jason

[Carmine6]

Hi thanks for the replies I have just talked to my GF, I would like to go with a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom (I will add a second later) 1 large kitchen (whats the differences between thai & european?) and 1 large mainroom, I don't want a carport, I would like a blue tiled roof like the ones you see in Korat, her mum is getting the land filled cost of 8,000 baht for the trucks & soil, she has also told me that it will cost 250 baht a day for each worker (about 10 in total) is this o.k or to much they said it will take about 2 months to finish is this true as I don't want to be paying workers 4 months later down the line, I have a budget of 600,000 will you think I will have any left over to build a wall around the house and maybe a small garden with lawn.

Cheers

Jason

The house my girlfriend's family built is a 3 bedroom, 200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft) house in Chaiyaphum. It took from late Sept. to the first week of Nov. so about 8 weeks, but note there seemed to be a lot of downtime. For comparison, it is 2 story with a concrete first story and wood second story. The kitchen is on a porch out back so no extensive work required for that. The bathroom is their old outside bathroom and they just re-tiled and repainted it. Bring those inside and who knows how much time it would have added.

My girlfriend supervised every day, and for a Thai girl she's a fireball, so that may have kept them on schedule. They also were scheduled to start another house right after, and I believe they also had a fixed labor fee with a good portion of it on completion.

[phibunmike]

Nice house how much did you pay in the end

Bht 840,000.00. The house is 110 sm excluding the carport. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge and large (for Thai) kitchen.

Jayenram, I like your lawn. Did you plant from seed ? Special soil first ? Any tips ?

Thanks,

Mike

[JASON THAI]

Hi I am having the land filled ready for my house to be built do you know how long after filling can you start building also anyone know how much it cost to how a wall put around your house

Cheers

Jason

[davidmurin]

HI I WOULD LIKE TO BILD A 2 BEDROOM BUNGALOW FOR MY SON AND GIRLFRIEND IN KORAT, HER MUM HAS ALREADY GIVEN US THE LAND SO WE SAVE MONEY THERE, DO YOU THINK WE COULD BUILD THIS FOR 500 THOUSAND BAHT, I DONT WANT A/C JUST FANS, SMALL BATHROOM ROOM WITH SHOWER (NOT BATHTUB) AND NO NEED FOR CARPORT

CHEERS

JASON

Hi Jason, I accepted a remodeling project about three years ago on the house I live in the village...And after reading the posts people are accurate in saying to remember the street elevation and drainage around the house. One other thing.... the interior wiring can be done with conduit (plastic or metal)and using insulated single stranded wire instead of insulated wires stapeled on the walls. Use ground faults in the wet areas (kitchen and baths) and a good ground rod to tie these internal grounds to the earth. The cost of this project was around the cost of a cemented house say around 500,000 but was built on a two story raised house and new tile and upstairs 3 bed rooms with screen added and windows and doors and tile both celing dropped and ceramic floors plus A/C plus outside wall and security gates and doors. Wood can be costly but it is nice if it is old hardwood but it will not warp so be careful on new softwood doors THEY WILL SHRINK AND CRACK !!!!! Here it is for what it is worth.

[LoveDaBlues]

Hi thanks for the replies I have just talked to my GF, I would like to go with a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom (I will add a second later) 1 large kitchen (whats the differences between thai & european?) and 1 large mainroom, I don't want a carport, I would like a blue tiled roof like the ones you see in Korat, her mum is getting the land filled cost of 8,000 baht for the trucks & soil, she has also told me that it will cost 250 baht a day for each worker (about 10 in total) is this o.k or to much they said it will take about 2 months to finish is this true as I don't want to be paying workers 4 months later down the line, I have a budget of 600,000 will you think I will have any left over to build a wall around the house and maybe a small garden with lawn.

Cheers

Jason

The house my girlfriend's family built is a 3 bedroom, 200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft) house in Chaiyaphum. It took from late Sept. to the first week of Nov. so about 8 weeks, but note there seemed to be a lot of downtime. For comparison, it is 2 story with a concrete first story and wood second story. The kitchen is on a porch out back so no extensive work required for that. The bathroom is their old outside bathroom and they just re-tiled and repainted it. Bring those inside and who knows how much time it would have added.

My girlfriend supervised every day, and for a Thai girl she's a fireball, so that may have kept them on schedule. They also were scheduled to start another house right after, and I believe they also had a fixed labor fee with a good portion of it on completion.

200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft)

http://www.onlineconversion.com/area.htm

[Carmine6]

Hi thanks for the replies I have just talked to my GF, I would like to go with a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom (I will add a second later) 1 large kitchen (whats the differences between thai & european?) and 1 large mainroom, I don't want a carport, I would like a blue tiled roof like the ones you see in Korat, her mum is getting the land filled cost of 8,000 baht for the trucks & soil, she has also told me that it will cost 250 baht a day for each worker (about 10 in total) is this o.k or to much they said it will take about 2 months to finish is this true as I don't want to be paying workers 4 months later down the line, I have a budget of 600,000 will you think I will have any left over to build a wall around the house and maybe a small garden with lawn.

Cheers

Jason

The house my girlfriend's family built is a 3 bedroom, 200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft) house in Chaiyaphum. It took from late Sept. to the first week of Nov. so about 8 weeks, but note there seemed to be a lot of downtime. For comparison, it is 2 story with a concrete first story and wood second story. The kitchen is on a porch out back so no extensive work required for that. The bathroom is their old outside bathroom and they just re-tiled and repainted it. Bring those inside and who knows how much time it would have added.

My girlfriend supervised every day, and for a Thai girl she's a fireball, so that may have kept them on schedule. They also were scheduled to start another house right after, and I believe they also had a fixed labor fee with a good portion of it on completion.

200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft)

http://www.onlineconversion.com/area.htm

Ok, approx. 167 sq meters as I estimated it in feet from tiles and ceiling tiles. I had mentally roughed into the sq. meter calc but never went back to check the actual conversion. Didn't realize it was almost 11 sq ft to a sq meter.

[jayenram]

Jayenram, I like your lawn. Did you plant from seed ? Special soil first ? Any tips ?

The original garden was laid by the builders; just a flat lawn with a few bushes. However, prior to importing clay they spread burnt rice husk over the area telling me it would be good for the grass (I am not a gardener). They then laid turf. After one year it became apparent that I was growing rice through the grass. I contacted a local garden contractor who removed all of the turf, the clay and burnt rice husk and re-imported 'decent' clay to form the garden as it is now. The grass was again turf.

[ChiefBEM]

Hi thanks for the replies I have just talked to my GF, I would like to go with a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom (I will add a second later) 1 large kitchen (whats the differences between thai & european?) and 1 large mainroom, I don't want a carport, I would like a blue tiled roof like the ones you see in Korat, her mum is getting the land filled cost of 8,000 baht for the trucks & soil, she has also told me that it will cost 250 baht a day for each worker (about 10 in total) is this o.k or to much they said it will take about 2 months to finish is this true as I don't want to be paying workers 4 months later down the line, I have a budget of 600,000 will you think I will have any left over to build a wall around the house and maybe a small garden with lawn.

Cheers

Jason

The house my girlfriend's family built is a 3 bedroom, 200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft) house in Chaiyaphum. It took from late Sept. to the first week of Nov. so about 8 weeks, but note there seemed to be a lot of downtime. For comparison, it is 2 story with a concrete first story and wood second story. The kitchen is on a porch out back so no extensive work required for that. The bathroom is their old outside bathroom and they just re-tiled and repainted it. Bring those inside and who knows how much time it would have added.

My girlfriend supervised every day, and for a Thai girl she's a fireball, so that may have kept them on schedule. They also were scheduled to start another house right after, and I believe they also had a fixed labor fee with a good portion of it on completion.

200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft)

http://www.onlineconversion.com/area.htm

Formula to convert sq ft to sq m

sq ft X 0.09290304

[blue eyes]

Hi I am having the land filled ready for my house to be built do you know how long after filling can you start building also anyone know how much it cost to how a wall put around your house

Cheers

Jason

Cherrs Jason Thai,

Here is a building site that may be of help to anyone.It has photos and a forum also.It seems that most of the people are building around Chon Buri but some in other areas also.

[jayenram]

Hi Jayenram,

Your house looks good, nice style. Where do you live, maybe I like to contact the builder. We are planning to built in Surin, near Buriram. We have land, this was filled up, 1.60 meters, last years January. We are looking for a good team of builders, and to get some ideas, of what style we want. Who made the drawings of your house?

Best regards,

Falang56

Sorry, I missed your post until now.

We live just outside Surin. I employed a relative of my wife as foreman and he recruted the tradesmen and labour. He also found an architect who had drawings already produced and I just made certain amendments, generally re-sizing. All personel were paid by the day and I supervised the construction myself. PM me if you wish further info.

Cheers

[phibunmike]

Hi I am having the land filled ready for my house to be built do you know how long after filling can you start building also anyone know how much it cost to how a wall put around your house

Cheers

Jason

I left mine for about 8 months - I think the important thing is that you leave it though one wet season, but I am not a soil engineer or a builder. I have two hair line cracks in rendering near windows, but otherwise seems ok - time will tell

A relative had a wall around a "standard village plot", "standard Thai wall" (concrete posts cast in situ, blocks between (rendered), then fancy fencing on top (at the front) and barbed wire on top (at the sides and back). Cost about 30,000 complete (labour and materials).

Edited February 12, 2006 by phibunmike