Building a House buy by a Novice.

[Thongkorn]

Hi for a start this is the first time i have posted on this Forum,

My Thai wife has some land On the outskirts of Bangkok. Sahmut Prakan .The plot of land is about 40 ft wide by 60 ft, Long, it has a wooden house on it.

While we where there Just before Christmas, We watched some Thai builders, Building a house for My wife's Uncle who lives next door, I was not impressed with their work

skills to say the least, I did not say anything, as its not my place to. But after seeing the way they Build I know i can do a better job, all-though i have never built anything larger

than a wall. The question is Am i being unrealistic, I can do all the foundations myself and lay the base, I can lay the Breeze blocks. I have priced them up and know the best

place to get all my materials., So i have a rough estimate of the cost, Can any one give me any ideas as to any pitfalls, or am i over simplifying it. I will be

designing my own house to, thinking of a two story building. any advice would be welcome. thanks in advance.

[rucus7]

Building a house in Thailand is a life experience. Go for it.

[BigBadGeordie]

40ft wide and 60ft long, best option IMHO A TENT

[Mr Somtam]

Just do it, and stuff you don't understand or want to do hire someone to do it!

[rgs2001uk]

Sounds as if its a typical Thai plot of land about 70t/w.

In that part of Bkk, you will need piling that will easily add 200k + to your costs.

Best you get your self to a proper company such as Landy (do a google search) or you will be left with the rice farmer come builder types.

Work on at least 10k per s/m for the house, upgrading to different tiles. stainless stell, windows and doors, do you want, wood, aluminium or UPVC, the cash register keeps going ching ching ching.

Am i being unrealistic, I can do all the foundations myself and lay the base,

Yeah sure DIY, how many meters in length will your piles be, bank on about 18-22 meteres in length, with an average cost of about 13k per pile, you will probably need at least 16.

Edited January 9, 2015 by rgs2001uk

[rgs2001uk]

House up my way built a few years ago.

[Rdrokit]

A lot of Thai builders can do better but many people just want it cheap. I find the best way is to buy the materials, hire the builders and then supervise the build. I was on site everyday when they built my house. My house is now 7 years old and I have no cracking walls, paint pealing, electrical or plumbing problems. I have just re-grouted the master bathroom shower but that's the only repair so far.

[trogers]

Samut Prakarn is at the edge of the ancient river delta. Very poor soil conditions. Piles need to be 25-26m down to reach bearing strata.

[glassdude007]

www.coolthaihouse.com

Great web sight for home builders in Thailand

[Robert24]

Samut Prakarn is at the edge of the ancient river delta. Very poor soil conditions. Piles need to be 25-26m down to reach bearing strata.

I guess you are referring to a multistory building?

[Robert24]

40ft wide and 60ft long, best option IMHO A TENT

this is about 55 sqw. Not big but big enough to build a decent house with some small land around it incl a parking lot for your car.

[Crossy]

Samut Prakarn is at the edge of the ancient river delta. Very poor soil conditions. Piles need to be 25-26m down to reach bearing strata.

I guess you are referring to a multistory building?

We are a regular two floor home on northern Bangkok clay, the piles are 16m or thereabouts. Nearer the sea things get softer, longer, much longer piles required

[Rdrokit]

40ft wide and 60ft long, best option IMHO A TENT

this is about 55 sqw. Not big but big enough to build a decent house with some small land around it incl a parking lot for your car.

Depends on how much of a yard you want. I have this house on 58sqw. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, western kitchen. A two story house has a smaller foot print than a one story house of the same sqm.

[trogers]

Samut Prakarn is at the edge of the ancient river delta. Very poor soil conditions. Piles need to be 25-26m down to reach bearing strata.

I guess you are referring to a multistory building?

We are a regular two floor home on northern Bangkok clay, the piles are 16m or thereabouts. Nearer the sea things get softer, longer, much longer piles required

Two to four storey structures around 26m. Condo of 8 storeys and higher may need 28m or deeper.

Profile of bearing strata for Bangkok is 14m deep at Wangnoi and gets deeper towards Samut Prakarn at 26m.

[Thongkorn]

Thanks for the input, there are some things for me to think about,

[eeeya]

Sounds as if its a typical Thai plot of land about 70t/w.

In that part of Bkk, you will need piling that will easily add 200k + to your costs.

Best you get your self to a proper company such as Landy (do a google search) or you will be left with the rice farmer come builder types.

Work on at least 10k per s/m for the house, upgrading to different tiles. stainless stell, windows and doors, do you want, wood, aluminium or UPVC, the cash register keeps going ching ching ching.

Am i being unrealistic, I can do all the foundations myself and lay the base,

Yeah sure DIY, how many meters in length will your piles be, bank on about 18-22 meteres in length, with an average cost of about 13k per pile, you will probably need at least 16.

Landy..Awesome! thanks for the link. There goes half my night shift tonight searching those projects

[xylophone]

Not sure about this, hence the reason I am posing this question.............

When I bought a house here some years ago and was working on it, I was warned by many people to keep a low profile because, "I was working in a job which could be done by Thais", or words to that effect, so it was illegal to do so.

What is the situation with regards to building one's own house? I noticed that Rdrokit mentioned that he had supervised the building and I could see that working (sorry about the pun) but as regards doing the building oneself, exactly what is the situation here?

[Rdrokit]

Not sure about this, hence the reason I am posing this question.............

When I bought a house here some years ago and was working on it, I was warned by many people to keep a low profile because, "I was working in a job which could be done by Thais", or words to that effect, so it was illegal to do so.

What is the situation with regards to building one's own house? I noticed that Rdrokit mentioned that he had supervised the building and I could see that working (sorry about the pun) but as regards doing the building oneself, exactly what is the situation here?

Good question but I think and say think that since it is your own house you have the right to do work on it. I would never do any manual labor as help is so cheap here it doesn't pay to do it yourself.

[dddave]

Doesn't the local administration require professionally certified plans to be submitted? When I had a house built in a Udon Moo Ban 10 years ago, a building permit was required and an inspector came by at several stages of construction.

[JaiLai]

Doesn't the local administration require professionally certified plans to be submitted? When I had a house built in a Udon Moo Ban 10 years ago, a building permit was required and an inspector came by at several stages of construction.

I think it depends on where it is, I built in central Thailand in the middle of nowhere, no permit, no drawings, no approvals from anyone.

Basically built of a excel line drawing.