Hello,

 

I'm looking for a company to renovate a house with western quality work.

 

Any recommendation ? 175 m2, everything needs to be done.

 

Also how much would this cost me to get a high quality work ? I absolutely want a foreigner to take care of this work as Thai people don't understand what high quality work means.

 

Best regards,

If you find a western contractor, you will probably find that they use Thai laborers.

I just did a renovation with such a contractor in Pattaya, and wouldn't you know it, their tile guy botched my floor (uneven tiles and a terrible grout job) and, even though they've used him for 8 years, when they approached him about re-doing the grout work because it's so sloppy, he had a hissy fit, went home to Isaan and refuses to do any more work for them.  That is exactly the type of thing I thought I would avoid by using a western contractor.

 

I'm not slagging Thai laborers as being lazy, unskilled or unprofessional, but there are some things they just don't easily relate to.  A prime example was a friend (in Hua Hin) who did a complete, and high end, renovation of his condo with a foreigner contractor.  He had an expensive bathtub installed where there had previously only been a shower.  He came to check on progress one day, and found the bathtub installed sloping toward the drain and practically had a meltdown.  Most Thais did not grow up with bathtubs in their home, so don't know that the bottom of the tub itself slants toward the drain.  Just something we take for granted, but they simply don't know unless/until you teach them.  His tub got trashed when they removed it, so reinstalling it level was not an option.

 

I hope you're extremely lucky and do find a westerner who actually does the work himself (herself?) to western standards, but am skeptical, especially since "everything needs to be done."

 

Again, chok dii!

Use a Thai contractor which will have some examples of his work. A foreigner contractor will just use the same sloppy Thai workers as anyone else. Expect all the good ones to be very busy, leaving only the crappy ones available.

You would probably stand in line and wait about 3-6 months before a good contractor has time.

 

I have the same problem at the moment with renovating some condo's in Bangkok. Had three tries on getting a good tile job done (no full payment of course as i wrote down the requirements that had to be fulfilled,) the fourth try is currently in progress. It seems to work better when you are around all the time, but many workers will not be able to perform under observation and will quit. Just keep trying until you find one.

 

Good luck.

 

ps. I am slowly getting better at electricity, plumbing, tiling, woodworking etc. :)

As far as cost goes it really will depend on the quality of materials you use. Price out everything you want to use like tiles, flooring, ceiling gypsum, piping, air cons, paint and any other thing then check labour rates. For instance I'm paying 200 baht per square meter for tiling and i supply the tiles, cement and grout. For ceiling gypsum there is a store across the road from halfale or a little further north they charge 220 or 240 per meter fully installed. Other things ask around on this forum or the Hua Hin forum. A foreign project manager will cost 100k + per month.

I need a full service (3d design of the final rendering and the full work).

 

We want to transform a very awful home into a 5 stars home.