Recommend good Thai house builder

[mpdkorat]

Can anyone recommend good Thai house builder for the Korat area, want to start building soon.

 

Thanks.

[1FinickyOne]

This is always sort of a crapshoot - I have seen builders do a great job at one place and a terrible job the next time out... you are best off to seek recommendations in your immediate area and see if you can get a few - - when you do eventually meet with a builder, visit other houses he has built in your area... 

 

good luck. 

[DILLIGAD]

Can anyone recommend good Thai house builder for the Korat area, want to start building soon.
 
Thanks.

If he's a good builder he will be busy and (possibly) not be able to start soon. Has the land been compacted/settled ready for a supposedly quick start?

Are you looking for a good builder of Thai style homes or a Thai who is a good builder?
Good luck!


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[mpdkorat]

Ground compacted not building a Thai style house.

 

[selftaopath]

I've found that most "builders" here have a typical "good enough" mentality. Some know how to use a level however. But like the saying goes "if you want something done right.... do it yourself." No joke, if possible worth considering.

 

Best of (much needed) luck.

[Tanlic]

I just finished designing one in Khao Yai which I will be building next summer. Be happy to help you out if you want to PM me

[meatboy]

On 4/10/2559 at 2:51 PM, mpdkorat said:

Ground compacted not building a Thai style house.

 

come and visit me,i will show you 2houses being built near me.

pm.me if you want.

[manxninja]

I like the old thai style wooden houses, smart.

 

Ive yet to see a concrete or block one, what would pass my standards.

 

But I suppose that's the difference between first and third world construction.

[David B in Thailand]

Mpdkorat: You might obtain references from the builder merchant you are going to buy the majority of your home building materials. See who speaks English at the builders merchants near your home. They are aware of who is buying better materials, who pays on time. The delivery department will know as well as the order department which builders have already built for Farang houses. A contract with 10 steps for payments, and consider you buying selected items, and not the builder buying those items. The builder gets jammed up on payment for wall blocks, roof tiles, sanitaryware. He might be tempted to cut corners in the hopes those broken roof tiles will work if he gets paid a flat fee INCLUDING all materials. He might use inferior materials if you do not supply a complete, very specific list of materials. Check the sample contract given in English at Thaiwatsadu for a template. Certainly meet face to face with previous customers of any builder you are considering. 

[Tanlic]

14 hours ago, manxninja said:

I like the old thai style wooden houses, smart.

 

Ive yet to see a concrete or block one, what would pass my standards.

 

But I suppose that's the difference between first and third world construction.

You jest.......You need to get out more there are some fantastic houses been built all over Thailand.

Not everyone throws up cheap block and plasters it hoping for the best

[meatboy]

15 hours ago, manxninja said:

I like the old thai style wooden houses, smart.

 

Ive yet to see a concrete or block one, what would pass my standards.

 

But I suppose that's the difference between first and third world construction.

have you not heard of TERMITE'S

[upside]

Bil of mine builds well and we'll priced. Lives about 100km from Korat. Here he is parked in the hallway of our village house and the other pic is of a customer's house he did everything. 

 

 

[Summerviking]

what is the cost to build a house in thailand in issan?

 

are there alot of farm land areas for sale rent?  price?

 

[DILLIGAD]

what is the cost to build a house in thailand in issan?
 
are there alot of farm land areas for sale rent?  price?
 

There is a lot of land to sell but a large percentage has either no legal title deeds or has money owing on it. Either way, the Thai National who can buy land should walk away for this IMO


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[Tanlic]

On 11/13/2016 at 8:32 AM, Summerviking said:

what is the cost to build a house in thailand in issan?

 

are there alot of farm land areas for sale rent?  price?

 

The question of how much does it cost to build a house in Issan crops up every day and answers vary from 8,000 Baht per sqm to 15,000 baht psm. To whatever. Obviously much depends on the build and quality of materials which is not often a priority up country

 

I just came back from a quick visit to Udon Thani doing a little bit of work on my own house and while there I was asked by a neighbour asked if I could have a look at a house he had just had built by some Thai people ....who have since vanished ;O(

 

It not a big house, it cost him only 1.4 million baht and at first glance it looks ok. On inspection I found the columns used were undersized for a tiled roof and the kitchen at the back was separating from the rest of the house.

The floor crack runs the full width of the house and the walls have separated from the columns.  You can see the slab crack at the front I hate to think what his foundations are like.

 

Hate to think where the back of his house would be in 6 months. He has resigned himself to the fact he needs to knock the back off redo the foundations and rebuild his kitchen and toilet.....

 

Obviously not all builds turn out like this one but a lot do because of lack of management So unless you can be there 24/7 or have someone you can trust be there I would give it a miss.

 

Working with Thais guarantees you will pull your hair out at some stage lol

 

As for land there are some great investments but if it's for building your own house :-

 

In a small village say outside Udon Thani eg. where water and electricity are easily accessible you are looking at 1.5 to 2 million per rai. You can get land a lot cheaper but you wouldn't want to have to walk to your nearest neighbour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2016 by Tanlic

[Hereinthailand]

Its not the builder so much as the workers, many people hire a builder thinking yeah he knows what to do, then the builder goes out to the local rice field and gets the cheapest labor he can find to cut costs. Then he will show up once a week to pay them and drop off more materials. Build quality suffers as a consequence. You have to be on the job every day and check the quality yourself and make them fix things. Buy materials yourself and dont give any more money than necessary to the builder to keep the job moving. If a builder needs money for materials it tells me he doesnt have credit at the store or any money of his own, bad sign. Land is stupid expensive in issan now, I cant understand how they can justify prices higher than my home country with bad water, no internet and iffy electricity.

[Summerviking]

Thank you guys!!!!

 

Surprised its so expensive.......I guess the easy route would be marry a thai who owns a home there?  LOl  is that a possibility?

 

 

[Sunak]

55 minutes ago, Summerviking said:

Thank you guys!!!!

 

Surprised its so expensive.......I guess the easy route would be marry a thai who owns a home there?  LOl  is that a possibility?

 

But the follow-up costs are unpredictable 

[DineshR]

I built a house outside of Korat a couple of years ago. I wouldn't recommend the contractor I used as the guy vanished just 2 weeks before the house was completed and never answered his phone. Yet he had the gall 2 years later to request being a friend of mine on Facebook. I was fortunate it was just 2 weeks shy of being completed and I was lucky there was a subcontractor who was a jack of all trades that was able to help me complete the house.

 

That said, if I were doing it all over again, I would do the following :

 

- have a detailed bill of material along with labor costs to build the house. I did this 2 ways. I had the architect that did all the drawings for the house do up a costing. I then had the contractor do a costing as well. Just to see if the numbers added up. Just make sure the contractor does not know the architect. I provided drawings to the contractor that did not have the architects name or contact details on it.

- plan on buying all the material. In my case, not knowing any better, I let the contractor buy the material. I caught him several times using sub standard material. Let the contractor manage only labor costs within his budget.

- plan on being on site every day if possible to view build quality. I was there not every day but often enough to catch the contractor taking shortcuts and using sub standard material.

 

I ended up building the house within budget but discovered all kinds of problems later on that needed to be fixed. Luckily no structural issues.

 

A few of the sub-contractors I used were excellent - the electrician, the windows guy, the ceiling guy and one general sub-contractor who is a jack of all trades. Happy to give you contact details if you are building in the Korat area. PM me for details if you need them. 

[Tanlic]

Most builders will help you out there. Show them what you want and they go to the gov offices and get a full set of drawing signed of by an engineer. Last one I did cost 7,000 baht

 

Architects are expensive and give you enough drawing to sink a battleship and cost you plenty. Then they recommend 3 builders to get quotes from and they're in their pockets so you're paying through the nose.

 

All that to find out your contractor is cheaper?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited November 21, 2016 by Tanlic

[Deepinthailand]

Ask around as family the may know someone in the extended family who is a builder. Get prepared plans ect. look around building supply yards steel yards roof shops. you will need an electrician  (most builders know someone they use) same with water and water storage. you will save by sourcing materials yourself and then at least you can look at the quality of materials. You need to be on site every day even I'd it's just to show your face. keep enough material on site so they can keep working ( good idea to ask them daily what they need so you can order it in for next day.) negotiate a price for labour only  be sure to include everything tiling of bathrooms floors and walls ect. They have a habit of suddenly saying oh no not included!!. rember the little things details trunking inside wall for switches/power sockets ect out side lights. Water pipes chased in. good luck

[upside]

Saying build prices start at 8000b a metre isn't true. Ours cost 3750b a metre and has 4 big bedrooms,  3 bathrooms (2 indoors, 1 Issan style outdoors) , large loungeroom,  3 metre ceilings and the list goes on. 

Edited November 27, 2016 by upside
add

[Tanlic]

I'll take 2 when can you start?LOL..... here an example of one which is half done ..only 3 bedroom  all ensuite, plus a guest toilet, an office, a laundry, 3 store room (2 external) 4 x 4 kitchen 11 x 4 living room and a garage . Cpac monier roofing insulated, external walls aerated superblock internal breeze block forming a cavity and dry lining..3 phase electricals all grade a materials.finished it will cost me about 12k per sqm.......including a fully fitted kitchen 5 air cons 1 bath 3 shower cubicles and some furniture which will come in handy :)) Your estimate wouldn't even come close to building a decent 200 sq m shell with a good  roof IMO

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by Tanlic

[jerojero]

Thank you guys!!!!
 
Surprised its so expensive.......I guess the easy route would be marry a thai who owns a home there?  LOl  is that a possibility?
 
 

Sure. Find one who divorced another farang previously . Instant house! Then she can kick you out at any whim.

[Deepinthailand]

On 18/11/2016 at 11:58 AM, Hereinthailand said:

Its not the builder so much as the workers, many people hire a builder thinking yeah he knows what to do, then the builder goes out to the local rice field and gets the cheapest labor he can find to cut costs. Then he will show up once a week to pay them and drop off more materials. Build quality suffers as a consequence. You have to be on the job every day and check the quality yourself and make them fix things. Buy materials yourself and dont give any more money than necessary to the builder to keep the job moving. If a builder needs money for materials it tells me he doesnt have credit at the store or any money of his own, bad sign. Land is stupid expensive in issan now, I cant understand how they can justify prices higher than my home country with bad water, no internet and iffy electricity.

Then you have hired the wrong builder ours came with his own workforce mostly family they have worked together for years. labor only builder plus 7 others 115000 complete with electrics and water and tiling. I bought all material was on site every day. Gave them the plans and away they went in total for a two bed two bathroom UK style house with all fixtures and fittings 700000 including the labour charge.forgot to mention the  stand alone shop and car port was also included in that.

[manxninja]

lol dreamer. Yeah just get materials day by day, that will help the job run smoothly.

 

Dear me, do you actually think before you type deep. The fella is after constructive advice.

[thehelmsman]

On ‎11‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 4:38 PM, upside said:

Bil of mine builds well and we'll priced. Lives about 100km from Korat. Here he is parked in the hallway of our village house and the other pic is of a customer's house he did everything. 

 

 

 

 

Nice example of a cheaply built house. Pre-cast columns vs. larger hand built columns, steel headers vs. hand built concrete headers.  Quality houses are labor intensive.

 

Our house took 6 mos. to build and 6 yrs. later I can't find any cracks. Our house could have been built for half the cost if above construction was used. Nothing wrong with a cheap house as long as the price reflects it.

[Deepinthailand]

6 hours ago, manxninja said:

lol dreamer. Yeah just get materials day by day, that will help the job run smoothly.

 

Dear me, do you actually think before you type deep. The fella is after constructive advice.

I gave advise as I did it no point in having a site full of not needed building materials so getting them in the day before they are required makes perfect sense to most people!!!!. no dreaming here boy. I won't post pictures to prove and fall into your silly little games. Just be assured this is reality not like what's in your head.

SORRY op for going off topic but this poster is a troll and a stalker comes in with one post as he inveriably does. 

Edited November 28, 2016 by Deepinthailand

[upside]

11 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

 

 

Nice example of a cheaply built house. Pre-cast columns vs. larger hand built columns, steel headers vs. hand built concrete headers.  Quality houses are labor intensive.

 

Our house took 6 mos. to build and 6 yrs. later I can't find any cracks. Our house could have been built for half the cost if above construction was used. Nothing wrong with a cheap house as long as the price reflects it.

 

Yeah I mean it does depend on finishes. Our foundation is 100mm thick, tiles a grade 600x600mm, columns upgraded thickness, proper roof sheets not that coke can thin stuff,  5mm glass windows, decent security bars,  list goes on but it worked out at 3750b a metre for about 340sq/m living space. 1.2 million baht. 

[upside]

It's funny how the human brain works sometimes. Like the car salesman trying to sell a great bargain. 

 

It sits for weeks,  best deal around, truly just a great deal, but it doesn't sell. 

 

So he tries a new approach,  puts the price up,  bang,  sold! 

 

People will usually tend to think cheap means nasty. Similar to building in Thailand,  but all you gotta do if you're worried about cheap and nasty materials being used is pay a little bit extra for a better product. The labour cost usually remains the same. 

 

Main reason most of us go to Thailand is cause it's cheap,  but lots seem to forget that and spend like it's life back in London.