Buying Building Materials (bis)

Hi all,

I bought a house on +/- 1000m² in the Suwannakuha region (with the girlfriend) 6 months ago ad it looks like the little concrete markers to mark the size of the land have grown little feet and started roaming a bit (into the land for sure), so I want to start an urgent project on building a wall around the land. I have searched the forum a bit already on that and it looks like I will be buying the materials and do everything with the brother in law who is a full time construction professional.

Can anyone help with the following questions:

1.) Is it worth going to Nam Som, Nong Bua Lamphu or Udon to buy: Cement blocks, sand, concrete, stones and reinforcement steel?

2.) Can anyone share with me some recent price information or tips where to buy in that region?

I called Global House and they didn't have cement blocks, sand or stone ....

Judging from my map, you're about 50km north of Nongbualamphu and probably 80++ from Udon. I'd guess you're going to have to bite it and buy your supplies in the area, maybe Ban Phue. Most sizeable villages make their own blocks, and you shouldn't have problems finding sand and bags of cement. Rebar will be more pricey, but I don't think Udon/NBLP would want to deliver that far. Good luck in your building.

I have just been driving around a bit with the following result:

Cement block 3.5 Baht (29x19x6)
A bag of TPI Cement 95 Baht
1 cube of sand 280 Baht
1 cube of stones 400 Baht
Reinforcement "2" 38 - 48 Baht
Reinforcement "3" 88 Baht

I know that the descriptions of the items won't be very helpful, but that was what I was told ...

If the GF goes to the land office she may be able to have them come out and verify the locations of the property markers. I believe they use a GPS device to verify the location, so no survey needed. The posts should have the GPS coordinates on them. A few baht under the table may get it done quickly.

the prices you mention on the items is ok....,when this is the local price do not come udon...

Ditto the prices you quote are common. Rather than build an entire wall, you may want to consider just encasing the markers in a concrete block and etch the same info on the surface. Quicker and cheaper.

On another note, beware family "construction experts". Even if they don't fleece you, they may screw up the job (deny responsibility) and cost you more than a 3rd party would have; and then you and the family are on bad terms. Just something to think about...

Thanks for all the help.

I am not too worried about the family experts as they have recently built a similar wall around the parental house which seems ok. I am sure they will deliver the same quality for this one.

I have ordered and paid in the mean while and the rebar was considerably more expensive as when we first went there as my "brother in law" decided on a better quality steel . I will give a full overview of costs once it is done, but it looks like I will be well under the numbers I have seen in other posts of 1000+ Baht/m of wall.

NedFlanders wrote:I have just been driving around a bit with the following result:

Cement block 3.5 Baht (29x19x6)
A bag of TPI Cement 95 Baht
1 cube of sand 280 Baht
1 cube of stones 400 Baht
Reinforcement "2" 38 - 48 Baht
Reinforcement "3" 88 Baht

I know that the descriptions of the items won't be very helpful, but that was what I was told ...

Ned those prices look Okily Dokily to me. We just started building a home in Amnat Charoen province and here is what I paid for the first go round:

Cement Block 5.30 baht (quoted 6.50 at one place but shopped around and this was the best price.)
Bag of Cement 135
Cube of Sand 400
Cube of Gravel 750
Steel reinforcement "2" 42
Steel reinforcement "3" 60

Those prices are all delivered to the job site. I think they are all highly dependent on the quantity. For example we only ordered two cubes of gravel and four cubes of sand. I think truckload quantities would be less expensive. This is a very small town with only a few material suppliers. The largest city nearby is Ubon Ratchathani, 75 km away and I didn't want to go to the trouble of traveling back and forth and paying delivery charges. Plus since we will be living there I wanted to get established with the local vendors. We did shop around in Udon and bought glass blocks for 45 baht each, compared to 65 baht at the local shops, but those we could easily carry there. Also will buy stuff in Udon like P traps for the sinks, bathroom vent fan and lighting.

Good luck with your project. See you in church.

just one observation,

Bag of Cement

there are different types for different purpose's, so you can't compare price, unless the same type.