Adding a new kitchen.

[james.d]

Hello All,

We have removed a kitchen that was an extension to our home as it subsided and will build anew. This will be on the other side of the house and not in the original location and size will be 5 x 4 m2. Myself not being a civil engineer will try to see if the local Amphur has an engineer who could make the plans independently in his own time for a fee. This way we tell/follow the builder what we want and not get told what the builder wants to do.

I was hoping to get some helpful feedback on the following from you guys:

1. I was thinking that a separate structure may be best with only a light joining portion linking the kitchen to the house rather than the kitchen attached directly. This is incase of more subsidence which if happens then we only replace this and not rebuild the whole thing again.

2. I was planning to make payment in stages: piling and steel columns 25% upon completion. flooring and walls 25%, roof and linking passage 25% and electrics, internal ceiling, tiling, etc final 25%. Will I be going too far to have dates added to these and make a contract? How long would it be fair for these stages? Or I am going too far with this contract, dates, payment terms?

3. Regarding electrics, I am guessing we need to choose the internal kitchen layout prior to building works in order to have these in the correct position for microwave, hob and hood.

4. We shall provide the materials ourselves and order the piling.

Thank you in advance for any helpful advice,

Regards,

James.d

[oldgit]

James

I had a new kitchen extension built on my house, making sure beforehand, that any new earth I had laid on the site, was allowed to settle first. In my case it was six months. Obviously, you need a local builder who you can trust so, look around, investigate and go on recommendations from other expats who have had similar work done. A reputable builder will know all about the size and depth of the foundations. Personally, I found it fairly easy to design my own kitchen but I've got a mechanical services back round. so, if you're not sure, better to get some some external help, as you say. As a guide, make sure your sink is situated adjacent to your incoming water supply and waste disposal i.e septic tank, The same applies to your washing machine location. Refrigerator/ freezer, electric oven and cooker extract hood (?), toaster, microwave to be sited next to electrical sockets. Make sure the light switches and ceiling fans switches are located where you enter the kitchen. My kitchen was not conjoined to the existing house by the way.

Payment wise, I bought all the materials, keeping all the invoices and receipts and paid my builder in two stages, half way through and at the end. I didn't bother with any written contracts, relying on trust between me and the builder. I hope this is a bit of help to you.

[james.d]

James

I had a new kitchen extension built on my house, making sure beforehand, that any new earth I had laid on the site, was allowed to settle first. In my case it was six months. Obviously, you need a local builder who you can trust so, look around, investigate and go on recommendations from other expats who have had similar work done. A reputable builder will know all about the size and depth of the foundations. Personally, I found it fairly easy to design my own kitchen but I've got a mechanical services back round. so, if you're not sure, better to get some some external help, as you say. As a guide, make sure your sink is situated adjacent to your incoming water supply and waste disposal i.e septic tank, The same applies to your washing machine location. Refrigerator/ freezer, electric oven and cooker extract hood (?), toaster, microwave to be sited next to electrical sockets. Make sure the light switches and ceiling fans switches are located where you enter the kitchen. My kitchen was not conjoined to the existing house by the way.

Payment wise, I bought all the materials, keeping all the invoices and receipts and paid my builder in two stages, half way through and at the end. I didn't bother with any written contracts, relying on trust between me and the builder. I hope this is a bit of help to you.

Thank you for your feedback, I was thinking that having plans would be easier for someone to follow if I am working away. Also, a reputable builder may take on the job but being a smallish job may not be onsite and have a supervisor oversee which may lead to some corner cutting. Correctly you pointed out the water supply which will need to be newly connected as that side does not have any supply.

We were intending to have the kitchen supplied by IKEA so hopefully they can provide a design so sockets are in the correct place prior to the fitting of the kitchen.

In your opinion, how long should the build take may I ask?

Thanks again,

James.d

[oldgit]

James

I had a new kitchen extension built on my house, making sure beforehand, that any new earth I had laid on the site, was allowed to settle first. In my case it was six months. Obviously, you need a local builder who you can trust so, look around, investigate and go on recommendations from other expats who have had similar work done. A reputable builder will know all about the size and depth of the foundations. Personally, I found it fairly easy to design my own kitchen but I've got a mechanical services back round. so, if you're not sure, better to get some some external help, as you say. As a guide, make sure your sink is situated adjacent to your incoming water supply and waste disposal i.e septic tank, The same applies to your washing machine location. Refrigerator/ freezer, electric oven and cooker extract hood (?), toaster, microwave to be sited next to electrical sockets. Make sure the light switches and ceiling fans switches are located where you enter the kitchen. My kitchen was not conjoined to the existing house by the way.

Payment wise, I bought all the materials, keeping all the invoices and receipts and paid my builder in two stages, half way through and at the end. I didn't bother with any written contracts, relying on trust between me and the builder. I hope this is a bit of help to you.

Thank you for your feedback, I was thinking that having plans would be easier for someone to follow if I am working away. Also, a reputable builder may take on the job but being a smallish job may not be onsite and have a supervisor oversee which may lead to some corner cutting. Correctly you pointed out the water supply which will need to be newly connected as that side does not have any supply.

We were intending to have the kitchen supplied by IKEA so hopefully they can provide a design so sockets are in the correct place prior to the fitting of the kitchen.

In your opinion, how long should the build take may I ask?

Thanks again,

James.d

A big company like IKEA would probably have a design dept. so you might be in luck. I agree, a plan drawing of the proposed kitchen plus elevation and side views are a must.

A couple of other things to take into account, when designing the kitchen, would be rainwater. When conjoining the original house with the new build, make sure you've got a suitable size box gutter, and windows, make sure you allow for as much natural light coming in as possible. Your new kitchen is about the same size as mine but I was having a lot of other stuff done on the house at the same time so, at a guess and depending on the labour at his disposal, including plasterers, tillers, electricians, plumbers, you might be looking at a month, maybe more, to complete. Good luck mate.

[james.d]

James

I had a new kitchen extension built on my house, making sure beforehand, that any new earth I had laid on the site, was allowed to settle first. In my case it was six months. Obviously, you need a local builder who you can trust so, look around, investigate and go on recommendations from other expats who have had similar work done. A reputable builder will know all about the size and depth of the foundations. Personally, I found it fairly easy to design my own kitchen but I've got a mechanical services back round. so, if you're not sure, better to get some some external help, as you say. As a guide, make sure your sink is situated adjacent to your incoming water supply and waste disposal i.e septic tank, The same applies to your washing machine location. Refrigerator/ freezer, electric oven and cooker extract hood (?), toaster, microwave to be sited next to electrical sockets. Make sure the light switches and ceiling fans switches are located where you enter the kitchen. My kitchen was not conjoined to the existing house by the way.

Payment wise, I bought all the materials, keeping all the invoices and receipts and paid my builder in two stages, half way through and at the end. I didn't bother with any written contracts, relying on trust between me and the builder. I hope this is a bit of help to you.

Thank you for your feedback, I was thinking that having plans would be easier for someone to follow if I am working away. Also, a reputable builder may take on the job but being a smallish job may not be onsite and have a supervisor oversee which may lead to some corner cutting. Correctly you pointed out the water supply which will need to be newly connected as that side does not have any supply.

We were intending to have the kitchen supplied by IKEA so hopefully they can provide a design so sockets are in the correct place prior to the fitting of the kitchen.

In your opinion, how long should the build take may I ask?

Thanks again,

James.d

A big company like IKEA would probably have a design dept. so you might be in luck. I agree, a plan drawing of the proposed kitchen plus elevation and side views are a must.

A couple of other things to take into account, when designing the kitchen, would be rainwater. When conjoining the original house with the new build, make sure you've got a suitable size box gutter, and windows, make sure you allow for as much natural light coming in as possible. Your new kitchen is about the same size as mine but I was having a lot of other stuff done on the house at the same time so, at a guess and depending on the labour at his disposal, including plasterers, tillers, electricians, plumbers, you might be looking at a month, maybe more, to complete. Good luck mate.

Cheers, I had never thought of the rain water issue and will take it into account. Re IKEA, we looked at the kitchens on show so I need to get plans for the electrics. I was wanting sliding doors into the garden for more natural light as you suggest but my wife prefers a door (probably correctly) as I do work out of Thailand on occasion. May I ask the cost of your kitchen build meaning the room and not the interior?

Thanks again,

James.

[Sophon]

If you are thinking of installing a western type kitchen like the ones from IKEA, it might be worth it having a look at Kvik kitchens. They generally tend to be quite a bit cheaper than most of their competitors.

Sophon

[bankruatsteve]

If you posted where you live, I didn't see it. If you're in the "upcountry", then drawings and plans may get a dead stare. Like some have said, you should check around for a builder and see what he has done. Almost anybody in the local work force should be able to set in some footings and do a proper foundation. If you don't know, then you need to find somebody that does know to make sure that gets done proper. You can get the design kitchen for about 3x what you could do DYI. Whatever. It doesn't take much to instruct your builders to put in cabinets, etc. But, if you can't handle that then you will need luck to get what you want. Cheers.

[james.d]

Bankruatsteve: We are in Sai Mai, North East of BKK, and yes I agree the showing of prior building work would be nice however if available it may/will show works done recently not after a year or two.. Re the design kitchen, I maybe not be here and my wife will oversee the interior hence why we shall have a company do it, so hopefully she can "handle it". We intend also hopefully to find more than one builder to quote if possible.

Sophon: thanks for that and we shall look into that area.

Regards,

James.

[Rhys]

Aloha

We had our kitchen added on a while back.. it is nothing special the appliances came from the Home pro folks.

However, I would just like to add my caveat..my Thai wife took care of all the arrangement, she knew the designer for kitchen.. Now the constructor workers are sadly a bit off.. so keep on this.. The construction guys were trying to switch inferior quality doors and materials.. my wife caught it.

Next, picking a construction team even with a good recommendation is still a crap shot.

Best of luck.

[oldgit]

James

I had a new kitchen extension built on my house, making sure beforehand, that any new earth I had laid on the site, was allowed to settle first. In my case it was six months. Obviously, you need a local builder who you can trust so, look around, investigate and go on recommendations from other expats who have had similar work done. A reputable builder will know all about the size and depth of the foundations. Personally, I found it fairly easy to design my own kitchen but I've got a mechanical services back round. so, if you're not sure, better to get some some external help, as you say. As a guide, make sure your sink is situated adjacent to your incoming water supply and waste disposal i.e septic tank, The same applies to your washing machine location. Refrigerator/ freezer, electric oven and cooker extract hood (?), toaster, microwave to be sited next to electrical sockets. Make sure the light switches and ceiling fans switches are located where you enter the kitchen. My kitchen was not conjoined to the existing house by the way.

Payment wise, I bought all the materials, keeping all the invoices and receipts and paid my builder in two stages, half way through and at the end. I didn't bother with any written contracts, relying on trust between me and the builder. I hope this is a bit of help to you.

Thank you for your feedback, I was thinking that having plans would be easier for someone to follow if I am working away. Also, a reputable builder may take on the job but being a smallish job may not be onsite and have a supervisor oversee which may lead to some corner cutting. Correctly you pointed out the water supply which will need to be newly connected as that side does not have any supply.

We were intending to have the kitchen supplied by IKEA so hopefully they can provide a design so sockets are in the correct place prior to the fitting of the kitchen.

In your opinion, how long should the build take may I ask?

Thanks again,

James.d

A big company like IKEA would probably have a design dept. so you might be in luck. I agree, a plan drawing of the proposed kitchen plus elevation and side views are a must.

A couple of other things to take into account, when designing the kitchen, would be rainwater. When conjoining the original house with the new build, make sure you've got a suitable size box gutter, and windows, make sure you allow for as much natural light coming in as possible. Your new kitchen is about the same size as mine but I was having a lot of other stuff done on the house at the same time so, at a guess and depending on the labour at his disposal, including plasterers, tillers, electricians, plumbers, you might be looking at a month, maybe more, to complete. Good luck mate.

Cheers, I had never thought of the rain water issue and will take it into account. Re IKEA, we looked at the kitchens on show so I need to get plans for the electrics. I was wanting sliding doors into the garden for more natural light as you suggest but my wife prefers a door (probably correctly) as I do work out of Thailand on occasion. May I ask the cost of your kitchen build meaning the room and not the interior?

Thanks again,

James.

The cost of building the kitchen plus an exterior perimeter wall came to 314,000 baht so, the kitchen was probably arouind 250,000 baht. Mind you, that was all taking place 7 years ago James!