First time building advice pls

[davo2212]

Its my girls land I know I can't own it.

I would like to not have to put my hand in my pocket each month for rent. If I own it will be cheaper in the long run

[georgemandm]

ok thanks. My land is in issan

I will give you some very good advice and you will remember me for ever ok get a usufruts agreement draw up you can have a look about them on google ok .

It will cover you bum if it all turns to s??t just helping you out because you can't own land in thailand.

[davo2212]

Had a quick look will do thanks

[MRH1959]

Extra advice, check the quality of products used being sure not to use 'cheap', especially with cement.

Also think where you use 2 point and 3 point power, as some imported appliances are 3 point.

[TheCruncher]

Make sure, then double sure, then triple sure, the quadruple sure.........that the wall you build around your house is entirely on your land and not even close to be scrutinized as perhaps, maybe, somewhat, possibly,a tad, a little bit, might be....encroaching on a Thai's land or you will get screwed at some point.

It happened to a friend of mine who had bought a house on Phuket. The title and deed were all in proper government stamped order. When he went to sell it, his neighbour and friend of many years checked the deed and found that my friend's wall was entirely on his (the Thai guy/friend) side of the property line. He demanded my friend tear down his wall. My friend said the entire wall is on your land, keep it, congrats you have a free wall.

The Thai guy just wanted to be a <deleted> and refused and demanded my friend tear the wall down. The stupidity of some of those people knows no bounds.

My friend managed to sell to a Thai couple and left back to Canada. He packed up, took his wife and kids and after 12 years of being a good neighbour - he had lots of cash and lived in a rural area surrounded by normal Thai folks: ie not a lot of money - they all turned on him. He treated them all to BBQ's and Christmas/weekend Parties etc etc for 12 freaking years and when he wanted to sell they all came out of the woodwork to show their true Thai colors.

So, my advice, make sure you get many documents of proof that your house and wall and property line are 100% legal and no problem. If you're wall is 1 millimeter on the neighbour's property they will dick you around. Count on it.

The same would happen in any country in the west, probably to the extend that you will be sued and pay damages, if you build on someone else land.

[georgemandm]

Had a quick look will do thanks

Pm me if you want some help I am a Aussie to and I did it 6 years ago the best thing I did

[Isee]

Thats why I'm asking, here in Australia there is so much red tape for everything its great to hear I can build a house without permits and surveyers and engineers and the oh&s mob showing up to check everything and also work cover

That's because you then have an avenue of recourse if something is not done right. Good luck with that with your local builder in Isaan.

Gone through the experience myself and the best advice that can be provided is to be there everyday to watch what is happening. As soon as you aren't there, I will guarantee a shortcut will be taken to the point that they may try to do specific work when you are out getting materials etc. The problem is that if you don't know what is required for construction, you really don't know if it is up to standard and pot luck if you experience problems later on. For example, it was 3+ months after finish that we realised the windows leaked when it rained. By that time, you are very unlikely to see the builder back without any incentive.

[davo2212]

But it is hard to supervise effectively if your not really sure how to build a house.

The only thing I can do competently is concreting

[chrisandsu]

But it is hard to supervise effectively if your not really sure how to build a house.

The only thing I can do competently is concreting

It's all Arse about face here mate . I built my house and then applied for the building permit and only because my wife had to register the address . Best advice would be don't bother building a farang castle that will stand for another hundred years as you may only see 30 of them ?Use that money to get outside and enjoy life

[davo2212]

Nothing fancy for me I just need aircon a comfy recliner/lounge and access to rugby league on tv and I'm a happy man and probably a vegie garden and bbq oh and plenty of sang som and cold beer

[chrisandsu]

Nothing fancy for me I just need aircon a comfy recliner/lounge and access to rugby league on tv and I'm a happy man and probably a vegie garden and bbq oh and plenty of sang som and cold beer

have yourself a nice outdoor shaded area and your good to go . Keep life simple . Being British we spend half our lives indoors with miserable weather!

I want to spend every moment enjoying the outdoors having a few cold ones and not having to worry about a house I can't own . Build it cheap and comfortable mate .

[MaeJoMTB]

Its my girls land I know I can't own it.

I would like to not have to put my hand in my pocket each month for rent. If I own it will be cheaper in the long run

Rent is cheaper, then you can change gfs as often as you like with no capital loss.

Ask your gf how long her last relationship lasted, then you will have some idea of the probable length of your future with her.

I find most Thai girls can keep a guy for between 6 months and 4 years.

Back on topic,

You understand village houses have absolutely no resale value?

Check that wired internet is available before you build.

Edited February 2, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[davo2212]

I'm hearing ya, we are to be married at the end of the year.

Not interested in resale I want to live out my days quietly and not b bothered about anything

[MaeJoMTB]

I'm hearing ya, we are to be married at the end of the year.

Not interested in resale I want to live out my days quietly and not b bothered about anything

If you only have 4 years left to live ..... it's a decent bet.

But, I know dozens of guys that have done this (built in a rural village).

One is still living with his, 8 years later, but they hate each other and she is just waiting for him to die.

Out of the hundreds of posters on TV that have built in the village, only two seem to have succeeded (VillageFarang and PigeonJake).

Good Luck!

[davo2212]

Fair enough, hope I'm one of the lucky ones

[jacksam]

Its my girls land I know I can't own it.

I would like to not have to put my hand in my pocket each month for rent. If I own it will be cheaper in the long run

how much you intending to spend on the build

[davo2212]

Won't be 100% until I check out a few ideas, its gonna be a simple little 2 bedroom maybe around 60k au

[Crossy]

Won't be 100% until I check out a few ideas, its gonna be a simple little 2 bedroom maybe around 60k au

About 1.5 million Baht. Should be easily do-able so long as you don't go for the gold bathroom fittings.

150m² @ 10k Baht / m² doesn't seem excessive.

EDIT Plans 7 and 8 on the page I linked to would provide a good starting point. These are pre-approved so no need to pay out for an architect or engineer. These are also standard post-and-beam structures so moving internal walls around is no issue.

[AlQaholic]

Regarding soil conditions:

1. if the soil has never been touched before you are in luck, most probably the laterite ground is hard as hell and all you need is footing buried about 2m down.

2. if never touched and not laterite, you can probably follow point 1, but make sure with engineers after digging down about 2m it is ok to go for footing only.

2. if it is old farm land, you probably need piling and piling caps.

[bankruatsteve]

How many poles?

[sometimewoodworker]

Remember that the by-far biggest cost for building in Thailand in single house projects is the labor cost! why one might ask, even using Cambodians they work extremely slow and inefficient, especially the form work and rebar bending. That is what takes time and money. ...

Not correct. SWMBO designed and built a house for her Grandmother about 4 years ago total cost about 350,000 labor cost 60,000. She supplied materials they worked on a fixed price contract, time taken 5 weeks.

Too far from town for the OrBorTor or tetseban to want to have anything to do with plans.

The story is here if you want to take a look http://bit.ly/GMnewHouse

We built a sala, again no approval needed http://bit.ly/WaterhouseTimeLine

[sugarcane24]

Depends on where you live.

Many homes in Issan built without any formal permissions.

In the cities yes you need permission but in the sticks people just build.

Correct. We have a property in Prachuap Khirikhan, in pineapple country just south of Hua Hin, near Pranburi and erected a building without any permission being required. In the towns one does need to get a permit, but in the rural areas people go ahead and build, no approval required.

[thairay]

sort a good builder out so at least you know the land owner will have a nice building when you are done,

[kannot]

We rebuilt one house here in a small village in Isaan, and built extensions to two others. no permits, no chanotes (I built a wall to sort that problem out).

So did I 600metres of the blooming thing.

ok OP

LISTEN REAL HARD

1 do you have any construction experience

2 buy ALL the materials and get somewhere to lock them up at night

3 If possible LIVE on site for the duration

4 make sure you have a good water supply, if not you will need a borehole, you WILL regret it later if you dont do it now when the "local" water (a) runs out ( turns off for a week at a time in drought season © is on but dirty BLACK colour

5 Make sure electric is fairly close

6 you MUST be onsite ALL day form before they come to after they go, make yourself some temporary hut to live in

7 CHECK everything they do NEVER believe ANYTHING they tell you they will cover anything they can in concrete to hide errors

8 do your own plumbing if you can, they wont clean pipes before gluing or forget the glue and its too late when its gushing out under 4 inch of concrete

9 USE CPAC for readymix concrete and always ask for a slump test and KNOW how it should look ( google)

10 most if not ALL Thai finsihing work is CRAP do that but yourself if you can

11 depending on budget lay double block walls insulate between if u plan using aircon double cinder block is CHEAP to do and with insulation better than AAC blocks or if budget allows AAC blocks again double up or use the thick one

12 DONT TRUST THE BUILDER AT ALL HAVE NO SYMPATHY HE REALLY IS B?SHITTING U WITH ANY STORY

13 expect the builder to run off at some point especially when youve told him its crap

Unlike most people who say "I built a house myself" but then you find out all they did was "supervise" I actually did build two ALONE laying every block mixing all the cement laying tiles (properly) plasterboard ceilings insulated wiring etc

By me 3km from a main road needs NO permission there is absolutely no need to bother with that at all.

Heres some of my block laying all nicely pointed up as Thais dont bother with that and often not much cement between perps either, it took me 1 year to build this from scratch and the only thing I didnt do was the render, this is single block for the maid main house is double block cost me about 150-175k all done 50m2

[sometimewoodworker]

Very nice work kannot. And good advice.

The one point that may not be correct now is 11) because AAC has become mainstream so prices have dropped to the point where the blocks themselves can be under 120 baht per square meter and since the glue to fix them goes a long way this means that it is often cheaper to use AAC than cinder blocks.

It is always faster and easier to use AAC.

We rebuilt one house here in a small village in Isaan, and built extensions to two others. no permits, no chanotes (I built a wall to sort that problem out).

So did I 600metres of the blooming thing.

ok OP

LISTEN REAL HARD

1 do you have any construction experience

2 buy ALL the materials and get somewhere to lock them up at night

3 If possible LIVE on site for the duration

4 make sure you have a good water supply, if not you will need a borehole, you WILL regret it later if you dont do it now when the "local" water (a) runs out ( turns off for a week at a time in drought season © is on but dirty BLACK colour

5 Make sure electric is fairly close

6 you MUST be onsite ALL day form before they come to after they go, make yourself some temporary hut to live in

7 CHECK everything they do NEVER believe ANYTHING they tell you they will cover anything they can in concrete to hide errors

8 do your own plumbing if you can, they wont clean pipes before gluing or forget the glue and its too late when its gushing out under 4 inch of concrete

9 USE CPAC for readymix concrete and always ask for a slump test and KNOW how it should look ( google)

10 most if not ALL Thai finsihing work is CRAP do that but yourself if you can

11 depending on budget lay double block walls insulate between if u plan using aircon double cinder block is CHEAP to do and with insulation better than AAC blocks or if budget allows AAC blocks again double up or use the thick one

12 DONT TRUST THE BUILDER AT ALL HAVE NO SYMPATHY HE REALLY IS B?SHITTING U WITH ANY STORY

13 expect the builder to run off at some point especially when youve told him its crap

Unlike most people who say "I built a house myself" but then you find out all they did was "supervise" I actually did build two ALONE laying every block mixing all the cement laying tiles (properly) plasterboard ceilings insulated wiring etc

By me 3km from a main road needs NO permission there is absolutely no need to bother with that at all.

Heres some of my block laying all nicely pointed up as Thais dont bother with that and often not much cement between perps either, it took me 1 year to build this from scratch and the only thing I didnt do was the render, this is single block for the maid main house is double block cost me about 150-175k all done 50m2

[cooked]

Yesterday I saw 7cm blocks for sale at ฿5.0 !

[sandyf]

Heres some of my block laying all nicely pointed up as Thais dont bother with that and often not much cement between perps either,

All depends on the builder.

Edited February 4, 2016 by sandyf

[eyecatcher]

If you have the land togrther with the chanotes identifying the boundaries then you need to get someone to draft out your building plans and get them approved at the local Or Tor Bor ??

Our approval was only for 12 months so had to seek aproval yet again a month after we started!

I think if your approval is only for 12 months, that mean you have to start within that period, no need to have it completed.

You think....i also thought....but both wrong.

I remember arguing a uk pkanning permission of 5yrs and telling the wife to stop panicking we can get the foundations in a month before permission expires.

A month later with just the ground floor on the local tessabaan were on our backs to resubmit.

That was another 80bt ontop of the 80bt last year.

Reluctantly we paid....but i still had a bit of a moan.

[TheCruncher]

If you have the land togrther with the chanotes identifying the boundaries then you need to get someone to draft out your building plans and get them approved at the local Or Tor Bor ??

Our approval was only for 12 months so had to seek aproval yet again a month after we started!

I think if your approval is only for 12 months, that mean you have to start within that period, no need to have it completed.

You think....i also thought....but both wrong.

I remember arguing a uk pkanning permission of 5yrs and telling the wife to stop panicking we can get the foundations in a month before permission expires.

A month later with just the ground floor on the local tessabaan were on our backs to resubmit.

That was another 80bt ontop of the 80bt last year.

Reluctantly we paid....but i still had a bit of a moan.

Praise yourself lucky, it could have been a hundred Baht instead of only eighty.

[kannot]

Very nice work kannot. And good advice.

The one point that may not be correct now is 11) because AAC has become mainstream so prices have dropped to the point where the blocks themselves can be under 120 baht per square meter and since the glue to fix them goes a long way this means that it is often cheaper to use AAC than cinder blocks.

It is always faster and easier to use AAC.

We rebuilt one house here in a small village in Isaan, and built extensions to two others. no permits, no chanotes (I built a wall to sort that problem out).

So did I 600metres of the blooming thing.

ok OP

LISTEN REAL HARD

1 do you have any construction experience

2 buy ALL the materials and get somewhere to lock them up at night

3 If possible LIVE on site for the duration

4 make sure you have a good water supply, if not you will need a borehole, you WILL regret it later if you dont do it now when the "local" water (a) runs out ( turns off for a week at a time in drought season © is on but dirty BLACK colour

5 Make sure electric is fairly close

6 you MUST be onsite ALL day form before they come to after they go, make yourself some temporary hut to live in

7 CHECK everything they do NEVER believe ANYTHING they tell you they will cover anything they can in concrete to hide errors

8 do your own plumbing if you can, they wont clean pipes before gluing or forget the glue and its too late when its gushing out under 4 inch of concrete

9 USE CPAC for readymix concrete and always ask for a slump test and KNOW how it should look ( google)

10 most if not ALL Thai finsihing work is CRAP do that but yourself if you can

11 depending on budget lay double block walls insulate between if u plan using aircon double cinder block is CHEAP to do and with insulation better than AAC blocks or if budget allows AAC blocks again double up or use the thick one

12 DONT TRUST THE BUILDER AT ALL HAVE NO SYMPATHY HE REALLY IS B?SHITTING U WITH ANY STORY

13 expect the builder to run off at some point especially when youve told him its crap

Unlike most people who say "I built a house myself" but then you find out all they did was "supervise" I actually did build two ALONE laying every block mixing all the cement laying tiles (properly) plasterboard ceilings insulated wiring etc

By me 3km from a main road needs NO permission there is absolutely no need to bother with that at all.

Heres some of my block laying all nicely pointed up as Thais dont bother with that and often not much cement between perps either, it took me 1 year to build this from scratch and the only thing I didnt do was the render, this is single block for the maid main house is double block cost me about 150-175k all done 50m2

Good point with the AAc