Home improvements

[barry]

can anyone out there help me with advice on kitchen improvements and general home renovations in pattaya beach? i recently bought a 3br 2ba house 10 minutes from the water that needs a little work.  My concerns are centered on quality of work and being over charged

[lopburi3]

It's going to cost and the quality is not going to be what you want.  I have had half a dozen renovations/constructions done here in Bangkok over the years and it took very close supervision to even get it to reasonable quality, much less first class.  There just are very few workers with the ability/knowledge and those that are good are too busy making money doing three jobs at the same time.  You probably need to hire a contractor (perhaps the hardware store owner).  He will have contacts and arrange the workers but don't expect him to build to your standards.  You will almost have to check everything yourself.  You can also expect it to take much longer than you think or the contractor says.  Anything you want to be more than basement quality you should plan to buy yourself.  Probably best if you can find someone who has had good luck and use same people.  But the good are usually busy.  Good luck.

[poohbah]

I had a beautiful kitchen built by a real cabinet maker. A regular Somchai Chung does not know a nail from a screw. Be careful. Best thing to do is look around other people's (rich people's) houses for the stuff and get their recommendations.

Thailand is not a do-it-yourself type of place. A lot of people have problems figuring out why a lightbulb blew out much less replacing it. Most do not know quality when they see it either.

Chok dee

[barry]

I'd like to thank both expats for their speedy (if not pessimistic) answers...I suspect this will be some adventure-i just hope it doesn't turn out like the tom hanks movie from the 80's....B

[kayo]

bump;

in the hope that some of my friends (and fellow tv.com members) who are more local to your area might pay attention to this thread. you strike me as a decent bloke.

[chiang mai]

The problems in getting even half decent quality renovations done are huge. From my experience your best chance is to identify individual discrete tasks that need to be done and then contract them out to "specialists" one at a time. The trouble is that you may find a good electrician who will then claim he can do tile work, plumbing etc and that rarely turns out to be true. I had a small house built recently by a contractor who is excellent with concrete but hopeless at anything else. Similarly the guy who did my tile work was great but he sure couldn't paint. You get the idea.

[Rimmer]

I refuse to pay 15000 baht a meter for the poor quality teak look a like kitchen units made of ply on softwood frame on offer from all these so called furniture manufacturers in Pattaya.

A typical european quality kitchen manufactured by Starmark costs around 5000 baht for a 90cm double door unit from HomeWorks. Select what units you need and install them where you need them. Rip off the tops and fit granite, 1600 baht for a 60cm deep by one meter run. As the units are all module so you will need to screw them together.

Use the 1mm faced ply along the bottoms to cover the joins fixed with a nail gun. Result is a top quality kitchen that costs a lot less then the second rate ones that you have built. If you are interested in the idea see what I am talking about at http://www.flickr.com/photos/banjopicker/

Edited July 27, 2007 by Rimmer

[suiging]

Pattaya is no different to anywhere else in the world....You get what you pay for. Great advise already given. Actually see finished work at the houses of friends and then make your choice based on the quality available in your price range. NEVER buy anything here unseen. I will be in town from 06/08. You are welcome to PM me and you can look at mine and a friend of mine's in the area. ( one from Index, extremely expensive but well fitted, one locally made cheaper but still godd quality ).

PS: out by the lake so you will need a pal to drive you.