Future House Build,family,to Use Or Not To Use ?

[hgvneil]

Happy new year,

need advice please,bought land already,now last year of hard saving before coming from u.k to build house.My question is do i use brother in law x2 to help with house build,or find company to help design then build everything ? My in laws are builders by trade and they can help us buy materiels etc to stop us getting ripped off,could they work alongside company to see everything goes straight ? I really need to build this place at the right price as im not loaded and been saving for too long.Thanks.

[BKK90210]

My opinion:

Just because a person (your in-laws) is a builder by trade, doesn’t mean they are any good or can do it cheaper than others.

- If I were you I would want to see atleast a few of their previous works, and also current projects, to see if the works fit my standard of what I have in mind.

Of course this is Thailand and you have to be realistic in your expectation. Here - sometimes what you want and what you can have are not the same.

- Then I would still get at least 3 bids (their bid + other 2 construction companies) to see which one can come closet to my expectations, standards, and prices.

Many times it’s easier and more cost effective to look into their collection of plans of what they had already built previously and make any modifications from there.

-Lastly have everything in writing, including but not limit to – the project cost, payment schedules, quality expectation, unit cost on any future modifications & materials, completion time, and any penalties on the delayed (beside by the act of god) & under par on workmanship as agreed upon.

That should cover atleast 80% of the typical construction's problems

Best of luck

Edited January 5, 2007 by BKK90210

[loong]

I know of 2 Farangs have had house built by family and in my opinion both were ripped off! One paid 0ver 2 million to improve an existing teak house and house is now worth about 650,000!

Good advice in previous post.

It is a dilemma as the family will feel put out if you use another buider.

If you are unhappy about something as work progreesees, would you be able to speak your mind freely if you use family?

You haven't made it clear whetther you are planning to build a house locally to the family or far away. If far away, definitely do not use family.

If you are planning o live in a village and you haven't had the experience before. Take my advice, buid small but bear in mind that maybe enlarge later. Ther are many Farang built houses standing empty or now occupied by the family as the farang could not hack village life.

Family are number one at ripping off farang!

[chownah]

I think loong has hit upon a good approach....build small first and then enlarge......then if there are major construction dollar or quality problems you will find out more cheaply. Building in Thailand seems to be somewhat of a crap shoot. I supervised the construction of our house and hired individuals and paid them by the day. My brother-in-law was one of them. It worked out alright but was really a struggle especially at first since I didn't speak Thai and my wife who is Thai didn't know enough about construction to be able to translate. I think I got a very good product for the money spent but only because I have house construction experience and made all the decisions for the design and materials....but it was a struggle. We're building a kitchen now (seperate building) and its going much more smoothly since I learned alot the first time around....if you build really small first and get as involved as much as you can and learn as much as you can then maybe the enlargement will go easier.

If you want to save money then using the least amount of wood is probably the cheapest way to go.

Chownah

[pansted00]

Man , you're in trouble...

[hgvneil]

It isnt in family village but on island,my idea was to take them down with us and find local company and they work with them,sort of kill 2 birds.Whatever happens there is a small house already on the land so we are able to live on site,which i learned from forum to be essential.

I think as i have a year yet,i will just try to learn as much as i can from others on this site,as i have no construction experience,but i am careful with money and know to get contracts ,shedules etc.

And hope budda is on our side !

[HenryB]

Man , you're in trouble...

I agree. But please tell why Girl Friend will never want a nice used cheaper house.

And why all Thai Girls have familiy that are great builders but most of the time great builders have no money.

[MaiChai]

Most things are not easy in Thailand! Useful advise, but probably not much help? Use family or building company? Either one is fraught with problems. Company will fleece u (for sure); builder will want to make a good profit and you cannot be sure about build quality. Family will think they are building one of those cheap houses in the village made out of breeze block (and not much else!). My advice, tighly control things which ever way you go. I have built one house, and then added on two extensions. I always managed things myself (and I am not in the business). I prefer to build myself; cheaper and you can see everything that goes on. I would try and avoid a 'foreman' who will also try and fleece you. Try and find people who have the skills and experience, and pay them by the day. Go and buy your own building materials.

For anyone building a house in Thaland, I would highly recommend taking time out of work, and come over and supervise the whole project yourself.

Finally, if you are using family to help you, you may need to manage the relationship better than just hiring people. This will probably cost you more in terms of bying beer, giving them money bonus's, etc. They will expect something from you, and if you don't provide, it may make things sour with the family and your gf/wife. Consider this a Thai thing that you have to manage.

[hgvneil]

To Henryb,,its my wife not a girlfriend and i want to build a new house as the one on our land is not suitable for our family.

To Maichai,,Yeah its going to be a big headeache,just like buying the land was,but will be worth it in the end.As i said,i will be on site the whole time and i want to buy materials,thats why i think having brothers to help get the stuff will get me best price.I intended to reward them as i have a good relationship with family and have visited many times.

I think a good idea is to find a locally built house we like and ask them who built it price etc and contact builders,i still think having my brothers can only help in the end.

[kenio]

Happy new year,

need advice please,bought land already,now last year of hard saving before coming from u.k to build house.My question is do i use brother in law x2 to help with house build,or find company to help design then build everything ? My in laws are builders by trade and they can help us buy materiels etc to stop us getting ripped off,could they work alongside company to see everything goes straight ? I really need to build this place at the right price as im not loaded and been saving for too long.Thanks.

I wish you a happy new year to, I give you the same reply as I gave in an other topic about building house in LOS. My girlfriend are building a beautiful house in her village, she is extremely handy so she have done a lot of work herself. She had the land from her late father. It´s built in typically thaistyle, not farangthaistyle but the way they built houses in the villages. It´s really good locking, big livingroom with aircond. one bedroom big bath for wc shower and washingmachine, thaistyle kitchen.

Many people at least in my country have fancy kitchen but can´t cook, in this kitchen she make the most delicious meals. One bedroom because we have no kids, and if we have visitors we can use a house other side of the street that is owned and built by an farrang relative.

Most of the money she spend on the house she earn by hard work when she was in my country, actually we worked together.We haven´t the intention to live there 12 month a year, but at least 2-4 month when it´s to cold in my country.

Now the best part of it, the price is less than 300.000 bath, she is very toughskinned, nobody cheat her, and by the way she´s 155cm very beautiful, not like an russian female wrestler if somebody think that after my description.

The moral is that it don´t need to cost millions to build a house in Thailand, hope you can read my schoolenglish.

[The Skipper]

No matter who you choose to do the building, be prepared to tear it out and do it 2, 3 or 4 times before they get it half right.

Be prepared for cheaper concrete, thinned out paint, loose screws, faulty wiring, bad drainage, leaky roof, sloppy work, all taking waaay too long .....

With building standards being so poor (crappy is good enough) and the "rip off the Farang" factor, you are in for an adventure.

[paulsmithson]

Build it.As long as you are there and if your wife is spending her own money then you will not go far wrong. I bet she is gorgeous and a grafter too, my heart goes out to all the genuine Thai women.

I was so very lucky with my own wife who refuses to let family rip us off. She understands that I am her family now and if your wife is the same you are very lucky

[Gary A]

You definitely need a double pronged approach besides yourself watching. Skipper touched on it. NEVER allow the builders to buy the material. They will get a kickback from the supplier plus they will short material, IE three bags of cement rather than four in a mix. Cheap watered paint, undersized wire etc. Your wife should be able to negotiate decent prices for you. You STAY away from the supplier. It's not good if they know a farang is buying material. The labor will normally be OK but if you don't keep an eye on them, nothing will be straight or plumb. They eyeball nearly everything. Insist on measuring corner to corner for square or rectangular areas. Don't be afraid to hang a plumb bob yourself to check. They normally use a small diameter water filled hose to check for level and that works fine. Make it clear that you want everything nice and straight. Learn to use the work "Ao Trong". That means you DO want it straight and level. Finally, learn that some of the work will look pretty crude and accept it. It usually finishes out to look pretty good. Good luck.

[ballbreaker]

Happy new year,

need advice please,bought land already,now last year of hard saving before coming from u.k to build house.My question is do i use brother in law x2 to help with house build,or find company to help design then build everything ? My in laws are builders by trade and they can help us buy materiels etc to stop us getting ripped off,could they work alongside company to see everything goes straight ? I really need to build this place at the right price as im not loaded and been saving for too long.Thanks.

My number one rule in life is never go into business or lend money to family. Building a house fits that rule. Using a family member to help you monitor construction and quality would be okay though.

I would not custom design a house but rather use one of the existing Thai house plans found in any book store. I learned the hard way but in the end all turned out okay. Builder was always complaining about plan not being standard Thai.

Get bids from a couple companies giving you a price for them providing everything and one if you provide the material. Make sure any constract includes time lines and payment schedules. No money should be paid up front because you could get ripped off. Many Thais get ripped off by builders who want money up front so be careful.

Also make sure you specify grade of material you want used. Items like doors, windows etc come in different qualities and price.

Although I designed the house, my wife was in charge of getting it constructed while I was in the USA. She ended up using a local who was building skills teacher at trade school. The contract called for him providing all the building materials and her the fixtures, lighting, bathroom, ceiling fans, etc. Payment was made in four seperate payments in different amounts. First payment was made after foundation and slab were done. Second after walls and roof were done. Third after finish work like painting, tile, etc. were complete and house ready to move in. Four was a small amount just so could get builder back if problems came up like roof leaking or whatever.

She thought most of the workers were students from school putting in practice what they learned in school. I thought the worst when I heard this but she said all would be okay. She had looked at a number of houses done by this contractor and people were happy. Most of all he was local and it would kill his business if he built a turkey. The other contractors were not local she had talked with.

Wife said it was a nightmare of a job but she had the help of in-law who keep an eye on construction. We also spent lots of time on phone as house progressed. She lived on site in existing small house on property and never left site without an in-law being on site. House was completed in less than 4 months and to my surprise was okay. A few things I would have done different but she did a great job in my opinion for someone who didn't know a thing about building. She did say never again.

Best of all it came in 200,000 THB less than I was willing to spend.

Best of luck.