Looking for good contractor to build a 2-bedroom house near Phetchabun

[ascor]

GF wants to build a single-floor bungalow near Phetchabun.

We need to get quotes from contractors.

Any idea on cost of a standard 2-bedroom 80-100sqm house with good quality (but not luxury) fixtures, doors, windows, tiles, bathroom? (no need for covered garage)

Any info would be highly appreciated

[thrilled]

You mentioned good.There are plenty of contractors.But good can be A problem.try alanthebuilder

[Gonsalviz]

My suggestion is to get a quality Thai company to build it. I did the farang builder thing and to me, I paid a huge price for crap plumbing and electric and mediocre work in wall tile and flooring for a huge price. The contractor I had had a foreman that was second to none but he obviouslt could not do everything and what he did not do, shows.

I have drains that have been put together totally with silicone including the original pipes that came with the sinks and into the wall. (3 joints) It simply falls apart. I have ceiling fans all of the same type that turn at different speeds. 1 room that the c/b pops when nothing is on. An air conditioner that sometimes has power and sometimes not. The floor drains are a joke, The electric has never worked properly. paint peels, trim falls down. I bought all granite flooring and it was so poorly put down I would have to get most of it completely resurfaced and it would still not be really good. They sent people out for almost a year now and the electric still does not work.

You apparently are not looking for grand quality so I wouldn't get too wound up in thinking a farang builder will do better. I got a quote from the one mentioned. Never had to deal with the work he did but the price was well higher than I paid. Remember, Thais still do all the work.

Apparently Europeans can build structures or roofs or do flooring or do plumbing or do electrical or but only 1 thing. They apparently are not capable of doing an entire house to quality. This is the idea conveyed to me from the several people that showed up at my build site. Apparently you need 5 or 6 contractors to build 1 house.

[JaiLai]

1.5-2.0 M

[Cow San Load]

i want one of these rich orphan TGFs, where did you find her?

[ascor]

Oh she's not rich, I'm paying (although she got the land from her mother)

[Cow San Load]

Oh she's not rich, I'm paying (although she got the land from her mother)

OIC

[rhodie]

Here are 2 good threads about costs.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/621672-construction-costs-in-issan/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/716658-per-sqmetre-build-costs-2014/

I don't have any experience other than reading the forum, but I would work on 10-12k a square metre.

Good luck.

[ridge runner]

wouldn't even think of "alan the builder" less than 5 mil or close to home he won't do. told us to get local guy for a 2 mil 3 br. we did got nice home for 1.06 mil with very few problems. as said farlang not worth the baht.

[martinkb]

try housebuilderthailand.com, they build decent houses at sensible prices

[CharlieH]

If you go the builder route make sure YOU buy all the materials they supply on the labour.

I got a good builder guy and cost would be around 5000 m2 with you getting materials.

[shoeless1963]

Hi Ascor... you've already got some good steers on here but here is some additional information that might help. We are half-/three-quarters of the way through building something similar. We've done it ourselves... my wife's family have various links into the trade and my mother-in-law (!) is the project manager. Before I get flamed... she is an absolute star and no, I am not going to share her 'phone number (Plan B and all that).

Anyway, cost will depend a little on your location and final choices but here is some data to get you going:

- all you need materials-wise in here in Watsadu and HomePro BUT you can get most things cheaper outside in the town itself

- we have done the plans ourselves (new f-i-l is training as a civil and has drawn up full scale plans, layouts, etc)

- I got them to do me a bill of materials upfront to get a handle on costs. we're at about 150 m2 (three bed, two bath, reasonable fixtures and fittings but not fancy) and that is costing 10,000//m2 roughly

- obviously land is a separate matter but this was family so not an issue for us

- you can add at least a further 35% for stuff that I would deem essential but that doesn't tend to get put into any Thai style quote or design (air-con, a reasonable kitchen, electricals)

- when it comes to concrete, just stand back and let then pour... they know how to do that stuff backwards and really quick

- from first fix onwards it gets a little bit more complex: we've struggled with the electrics a little (we are out of town). A lot of research and a little bit of wasted money there so we are just about OK but on reflection I wish I'd known the limitations of the rellies here and tried to find someone locally.

- there is a really good parallel forum on here (see Electrics and listen to Crossy!) that can answer most questions and be prepared to spend a little money and time getting that right

- make sure your plumbing layout is done early too... they will throw blue PVC pipe at everything and fix it but I am not entirely sure that some of the flows are going to work!

- some stuff that would cost a fortune in the UK is so cheap its laughable. they set ours out (16m x 10m grid) and started the foundations and Mum asked for cash for the digger and a man to operate it. I expected to go to the bank... it was a wallet job in the end, 4,000 baht - about the same as the callout fee for a UK plumber!

- aside from m-i-l, we had the most excellent brickie... a lady! I told her I'd marry her and take her to England where she could earn £1,000 a day at that speed and quality... she just smiled.

My role has been largely to moan, whinge and buy the occasional box of Chang when something gets done. I was a civil engineer about a million years ago but have just stood back and watched, albeit I did do the initial layout for the house and that was fun. Its been an adventure but starting to look like a house now and hopefully we'll be in in a couple of months... we've been lucky that the rains are late and I am still having kittens about the gable ends of the roof though... mai pen rai!

Good luck - Me

ps: I can't resist starting a war here though... I'm amused by the suggestion to look at the Isaan house build link but were I to suggest to my darling wife that Phetchabun was in Isaan, my privileges would be removed for a week .

[tjshannonigans]

Some great tips here. But the easiest thing for you to do is go and meet the farangs at toffee club in phetchabun city. They gather on Tuesdays and Fridays in the afternoon. They also gather at Homeland resort on the weekend, usually Sundays.

Most have lived in phetchabun for some time. They will steer you in the right direction.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lovelomsak]

My wifes nephew is in construction. He did work for me. I found him a bit expensive he only uses quality materials so they cost me more and builds things stronger than needed i feel. This usually means more materials too . But his labour costs are in line with everyone else.So if you can stand the extra cost for materials he would be ok.

He can also show you homes he has built already. So you can get the idea of his work standard.

[vazabi]

Dear Sir,

We are the contractor, our base office located in Cha Am , Petchburi province.

Our previous job e.g. Design & Build private house/ office & home renovation / built in furniture etc. at Hua Hin , Bangsapan, Cha Am also Bangkok.

For more information please visit our website: www.pham88construction.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/HomeBuilderandRenovation

Email: [email protected] or contact 086-344-6473 or 081-0055647 K.Boat

Hearing from you!

Thank you & best regards,

Pham88 Team (K.Boat)

[prestburypark]

Hi Ascor,

we had a house built near Phetchabun....towards Lom Sak way about 25km .( Nearly 2 yrs. now)

The builder is first class and lives locally. You are welcome to view our house and many others in the neighbourhood , all of which are still structurally sound ,some after many years.

Drop me a pm if your interested and we can arrange a meeting...I will have no financial gains to make purely very happy with our builder.

PP

[shoeless1963]

I replied a while back in this thread... we're actually in now and I'm overall pretty happy but as I alluded to earlier, we've had some issues with the electrics.

I'll not 'name names' as this is Thailand but the air-con installation in particular has proven somewhat fraught - we used a well-known chain who opened recently here in Phetchabun - and as a result, I have some retrospective works I want to do on the cabling (silly boy, I decided to go with the channelled/hidden cabling option for aesthetics and I can't even spell aesthetics).

So, does anyone know a GOOD electrician up these parts that I could get to come in and check the layout/provision here? As I said, it all works OK but I know there are some horrors in the roof now and at 115kgs I am not going to start wandering about up there.

Thanks in advance - Me

[bim]

Did you

[ascor]

Thanks for all the replies. I finally (reluctantly) had to trust tilak's infallible intuition and go with the local contractor suggested by her mother, no real plan, no real contract, no reliable estimate of the total cost, etc. We paid fixed amount for the works (which he managed to renegotiate upwards towards the end, because our choices of materials and finishings were considered non-orthodox) and bought the raw materials ourselves. Result is less than optimal. Quality is OK, but cost is, in my opinion, not commensurate with the final product.

Now she says: maybe you were right...

[tjshannonigans]

Why the duck did you not listen to us!

[krisb]

I'd like to see some pics?

Local builders are a nightmare, but I guess you know that now.

[Marcas]

Hi Ascor,

we had a house built near Phetchabun....towards Lom Sak way about 25km .( Nearly 2 yrs. now)

The builder is first class and lives locally. You are welcome to view our house and many others in the neighbourhood , all of which are still structurally sound ,some after many years.

Drop me a pm if your interested and we can arrange a meeting...I will have no financial gains to make purely very happy with our builder.

PP

I stumbled across this thread and its very interesting to me. I joined the forum to contact you, but not sure how to pm yet. I am English, in Lom Sak, but moving this week towards Phetchabun, Dong Moon Lek area, (not sure about spelling either). We bought land there and propose to build a house soon, approx 100m2. I would like to get a few quotes and see something the guys have built before going ahead, preferably labour only and we buy all materials. There is a bungalow being built there at the moment, so asked them already, quality of workmanship looks fine. If its not too much bother, could you help with your kind offer to Ascor?

[CharlieH]

Hi Ascor,

we had a house built near Phetchabun....towards Lom Sak way about 25km .( Nearly 2 yrs. now)

The builder is first class and lives locally. You are welcome to view our house and many others in the neighbourhood , all of which are still structurally sound ,some after many years.

Drop me a pm if your interested and we can arrange a meeting...I will have no financial gains to make purely very happy with our builder.

PP

I stumbled across this thread and its very interesting to me. I joined the forum to contact you, but not sure how to pm yet. I am English, in Lom Sak, but moving this week towards Phetchabun, Dong Moon Lek area, (not sure about spelling either). We bought land there and propose to build a house soon, approx 100m2. I would like to get a few quotes and see something the guys have built before going ahead, preferably labour only and we buy all materials. There is a bungalow being built there at the moment, so asked them already, quality of workmanship looks fine. If its not too much bother, could you help with your kind offer to Ascor?

Sending a PM......Just hover your mouse over the persons name and a small panel will open, bottom left is the option "send message".

Also, look top right of your screen near your username, a red sign will appear if you have messages, you can also access your messages from there too.

Hope this assists you.