house build

[shaun72]

i'm looking for a crew of builders in the udon area does anyone have any reccomendations

[shaun72]

also can any one give me a rough idea on price for a single story house of 130 square meters

[bankruatsteve]

Having been-there-done-that in Udon (I live near Ban Dung) maybe I can give you some starters if you plan to build:

If you are looking for a "crew of builders", then you need to have a plan and know everything about putting up a house in Thailand before you look for that crew. Chances are, the crew will be family members or village folks if you will be living there.

If you will be living in one of the Ampurs or Udon, you may be better off looking for something to buy.

A 130 sq. m structure is too vague. "How many poles?" - is what you will be asked. Again, you need some type of architectural plan to even start the process.

This is after happy hour but can give you more of my experience if you want tomorrow. Or, go through every thread in this forum related and you will get the ideas/knowledge for what you might be contemplating.

[shaun72]

Having been-there-done-that in Udon (I live near Ban Dung) maybe I can give you some starters if you plan to build:

If you are looking for a "crew of builders", then you need to have a plan and know everything about putting up a house in Thailand before you look for that crew. Chances are, the crew will be family members or village folks if you will be living there.

If you will be living in one of the Ampurs or Udon, you may be better off looking for something to buy.

A 130 sq. m structure is too vague. "How many poles?" - is what you will be asked. Again, you need some type of architectural plan to even start the process.

This is after happy hour but can give you more of my experience if you want tomorrow. Or, go through every thread in this forum related and you will get the ideas/knowledge for what you might be contemplating.

thanks i would be gratefull of any help. i have only just bought the land in udon just south of the airport. i am back in the uk now but will be back in udon in march next year so there is no rush. i can only build in stages as live in the uk and have limited funds. thanks shaun

[sirineou]

there are many variables that will affect the cost,

the main three variables in my opinion would be, the quality, and extend of the finish required, how much or how little you would want to be involved in the building, and if involved, your ability to source material and labor at a reasonable price.

as a rule of thumb 10,000 a square meter, would be the average, some have done it for less, others have spend a lot more

[IMHO]

Generally speaking, Thai foremen work by the square meter, with price points for:

• Single storey, enclosed areas (rooms)
• Single storey, open areas (balconies)

• Two Storey - First floor enclosed areas
• Two Storey - First floor open areas
• Two Storey - Second floor enclosed areas
• Two Storey - Second floor open areas

All experienced foremen will already have their own prices for these, both including materials and labor only, and this is how they're going to price up beams, columns, walls, plumbing and wall smoothing.

They will still need to see your plans though, just in case it has in inordinate amount of posts, or is a single storey design that implements an upper ring beam (in which case it's charged like Two Story - First floor).

As noted, it's your call whether to let them buy materials, or whether you buy them.

If you let the builder buy, you can be sure you'll get the lowest grade, cheapest materials he can find, and that you'll be paying 20%++ more for it.

If you are going to be in Thailand for the construction I would always recommend buying yourself - that way you'll be able to control quality (e.g. insure that all steel is Mor Or Gor grade), and your construction won't go on hold several times as the builder needs to go work somewhere else for a while because he can't yet afford the materials to work on your house....

Note that the roof, electrical, ceilings, windows, doors, and floor & bathroom tiling are normally all separate from the main build, and are best done by contractors who actually specialize in them them.

[shaun72]

thanks all for your advice. also does anyone out there no how much roughly for a 2m high wall block and pillars and rendered finish @ 78 linnear meters.

[sirineou]

thanks all for your advice. also does anyone out there no how much roughly for a 2m high wall block and pillars and rendered finish @ 78 linnear meters.

I build a 2m high fence around my property in KKC last year,

I believe I started a thread in this forum but I cant find it, if some one knows how to find it perhaps we can have a link to it.

I provided the material and paid 450 bht per linear Meter (LM) for labor,

When all was said and done with two 5m gates (my sister in law uses the other side of the property ) it cost about 1500 bht pel LM, but for the wall only it cost about 1,000 bht per LM

So for 78 LM expect to pay about 100,000 bht

[mrbojangles]

I believe I started a thread in this forum but I cant find it, if some one knows how to find it perhaps we can have a link to it.

I've just looked and can only find the following topics that you started:- Google Sketch Up, Dry Wall and Thai Citizenship (I think it was)

[mrbojangles]

also can any one give me a rough idea on price for a single story house of 130 square meters

There's a lot of variables to consider shaun, i.e. for starters do you want cavity wall, high density block etc, etc.

I'm not saying this is what you want but as an example, this is one we are just finishing http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/494413-bojangles-budget-bungalow-in-the-boonies/page-1

I didn't go down the cavity wall or high density block route and I built it in stages without any plans whatsoever. It was the wifes brothers who built it and it was a variation of houses that they had previously built. Every time we went back on holiday I checked I was happy with what they had done and then decided on the next stage for them to do.

As someone else mentioned, one of the first things to decide is how many concrete pillars you need and will they be pre-cast or made on site. Hope it helps a little.

[kannot]

there are many variables that will affect the cost,

the main three variables in my opinion would be, the quality, and extend of the finish required, how much or how little you would want to be involved in the building, and if involved, your ability to source material and labor at a reasonable price.

as a rule of thumb 10,000 a square meter, would be the average, some have done it for less, others have spend a lot more

pretty much spot on also look at CTH website www.coolhousethai.com

[shaun72]

Can anyone tell me how far apart the poles need to be. I see on cth someone says 4m grids. Is this right surely I can have a bigger room than 4m2 without poles intruding

[mrbojangles]

Can anyone tell me how far apart the poles need to be. I see on cth someone says 4m grids. Is this right surely I can have a bigger room than 4m2 without poles intruding

The usual is about 3.5m - 4m apart. If you go bigger the pillars will have to be bigger but more importantly the roof beams will have to be bigger to be strong enough to span the bigger gap. This starts to significantly add to construction costs.

[shaun72]

That's ok I probably only want to go 5m so shouldn't be to much more to the price. Thanks

[shaun72]

So with 16 poles and cavity walls would this mean more than 10,000bht per m2

[IMHO]

That's ok I probably only want to go 5m so shouldn't be to much more to the price. Thanks

If single storey, you can go to 5m x 4m using the standard 20cm posts - I've seen these dimensions used literally dozens of times.

If you want to go even bigger than that, I have seen 8m x 8m done with truss beams on top of standard posts.

There are options for getting out of the standard 3.0-4.0m grid - talk to your architect.

[sirineou]

That's ok I probably only want to go 5m so shouldn't be to much more to the price. Thanks

If single storey, you can go to 5m x 4m using the standard 20cm posts - I've seen these dimensions used literally dozens of times.

If you want to go even bigger than that, I have seen 8m x 8m done with truss beams on top of standard posts.

There are options for getting out of the standard 3.0-4.0m grid - talk to your architect.

On a single storey home one thing that will influence the column spacing distance would be the type of roofing material used,

a lightweight colorbond roof would require a lot less engineering than a heavy cement tile roof.

[shaun72]

Which is the better of the two roofs for price,insulation and value

[IMHO]

That's ok I probably only want to go 5m so shouldn't be to much more to the price. Thanks

If single storey, you can go to 5m x 4m using the standard 20cm posts - I've seen these dimensions used literally dozens of times.

If you want to go even bigger than that, I have seen 8m x 8m done with truss beams on top of standard posts.

There are options for getting out of the standard 3.0-4.0m grid - talk to your architect.

On a single storey home one thing that will influence the column spacing distance would be the type of roofing material used,

a lightweight colorbond roof would require a lot less engineering than a heavy cement tile roof.

Yep. In the cases I'm quoting all have Monier tile roofs - you could get away with much bigger spans / lighter truss beams if using steel or fibro..

[IMHO]

Which is the better of the two roofs for price,insulation and value

For price vs lifespan, cosmetics, insulation (especially noise!) you can't beat the single and two-tone Monier Elebana tiles at 10-17 Baht/piece (~11 pcs per sqm) IMHO..

[shaun72]

So with these tiles I will be alright with my poles (some) being 5 meters apart? Also will it be possible to get 2meter eaves detail?? Thanks for the help.

[IMHO]

So with these tiles I will be alright with my poles (some) being 5 meters apart? Also will it be possible to get 2meter eaves detail?? Thanks for the help.

As already noted, we have built several houses with 5x4M spans, and all of them have CPAC Monier roof tiles. 2 meter eaves is very unusual for a cement tile roof though - that would very likely require additional support. Nothing's impossible though - again, speak to your architect.

[shaun72]

What is the maximum eaves you have used or seen.

I was thinking of trying to keep the sun off the walls plus shelter over the verander.

[IMHO]

What is the maximum eaves you have used or seen.

I was thinking of trying to keep the sun off the walls plus shelter over the verander.

The standard is a 1M overhang, measured horizontally from the wall. I have seen several plans with cement roof tiles that went up to 1.2M overhang, and have seen one architect that uses 1.5M overhangs in some of their designs (Ban Ob Un), but never anything bigger than that with cement tiles.

There are other ways to keep things cool BTW, such as using autoclaved blocks on walls that will get lots of sun, double-brick cavity walls, wall cladding, strategically positioned trees, and just smart placement on the land..

[kannot]

Which is the better of the two roofs for price,insulation and value

For price vs lifespan, cosmetics, insulation (especially noise!) you can't beat the single and two-tone Monier Elebana tiles at 10-17 Baht/piece (~11 pcs per sqm) IMHO..

Metal roofs will heat up and cool down faster whereas concrete roof tiles are gonna hold that heat in for hours after sun down radiating it back into your house.

YOUR BEST BET BY FAR................read the coolhouse Thai website it will tell you the pros and cons of various methods

[IMHO]

Which is the better of the two roofs for price,insulation and value

For price vs lifespan, cosmetics, insulation (especially noise!) you can't beat the single and two-tone Monier Elebana tiles at 10-17 Baht/piece (~11 pcs per sqm) IMHO..

Metal roofs will heat up and cool down faster whereas concrete roof tiles are gonna hold that heat in for hours after sun down radiating it back into your house.

YOUR BEST BET BY FAR................read the coolhouse Thai website it will tell you the pros and cons of various methods

I'm sure Isaan farmers would all agree

[shaun72]

with my house design the front room i want will be 6m x 5m so i was thinking could i use steel rsj's which i think will span further distance, also this could mean useing throughout the buildig cutting the amount of poles and time considerably so cutting the cost,, or is steel that expensive? what other options are there?????

[IMHO]

with my house design the front room i want will be 6m x 5m so i was thinking could i use steel rsj's which i think will span further distance, also this could mean useing throughout the buildig cutting the amount of poles and time considerably so cutting the cost,, or is steel that expensive? what other options are there?????

Steel trusses will cost you more than standard posts, but you're only talking about a few thousand extra..

Note that this type of construction is only suitable for single storey, or top-floor. Note that it may also mean that you other normal posts need to be taller, or the celling in the rooms with the truss beams needs to be lower and/or stepped - in short, it's something your architect should design in to insure it'll work in with ceilings and roof lines..

[klikster]

Which is the better of the two roofs for price,insulation and value

For price vs lifespan, cosmetics, insulation (especially noise!) you can't beat the single and two-tone Monier Elebana tiles at 10-17 Baht/piece (~11 pcs per sqm) IMHO..

Metal roofs will heat up and cool down faster whereas concrete roof tiles are gonna hold that heat in for hours after sun down radiating it back into your house.

YOUR BEST BET BY FAR................read the coolhouse Thai website it will tell you the pros and cons of various methods

Have you ever tried to convince a Thai woman that metal roofing is better?