LIST OF REFERENCES; CONTRACTORS

lee wrote:I found an electrician in the end, fair price and good work. Tel. 042-325460 or 089-276-2503 He installs air-con's too!

Lee, Is this guy still around (and have a name) before the wife starts cold calling people she don't know?

I am looking for a good house painter. Anybody know one and can give me a phone/ mobile number..

Buying about 2 rai just outside ring road NW of the city. I have my own plans already. @260 sqm American-style 2-story house with attached garage. "May" start late Q1 2010 (yes, I know...rainy season...) or start 8/2010.

http://details.coolhouseplans.com/detai ... 2&sid=chp2

I am looking for references for building contractors who can BUILD TO PLAN as it is a little different from the grid-style plans common in Thailand (has basement, too). Builder should have a good reputation and relationship with local authorities (will be verified).

NYJ House has a nice ad on Udonmap and probably the most professional website presentation I have ever seen in Thailand. Anyone have any experience with them? Are they professional or profe$$ional?

Prefer local to Udon. Post or PM references appreciated in advance. If you are a builder, sending/posting rough quote would also give you quick response points.

Thanks! Cheers!

Any one stop shop building supplier i n UD? just wanting to know what are available to support the industry.
e.g. 6mm cement sheets, acrylic rendering, metal angles and joints, self tap galv. screws, panels etc.

In Udon itself the "big boys" are certainly Global House and Home Pro. There are other places but they tend to be a bit more of a section of the building trade with the possibility of less selection. Nearly every small town in Issan has probably a couple of 'local' equivalents - as does Udon as well - but they tend not to be heavily advertised by signs etc. All the 'locals' just know where they are.

lee can u please put a name to the sparky you used thanks.

Build to Plan Experience.

Khondahm: I just got to inspect the house I had built to plan using a small, local team (Sin & Khummoon). The deal was they built to plan, my wife supplied the land, I paid for all materials against invoices that my wife went through (which was an interesting lesson in family dynamics as Khummoon is my wife's father, but she showed him no quarter on the receipts).

Labor was estimated in advance and I paid them progress draws on the labor as the project progressed. Materials were paid for when purchased (these guys are small time remember).

I have to admit, was the house was a stunning success. Workmanship was top drawer, colours were my wife's doing so we can't blame the builders for that. Sin & Khummoon are basically hands on General Contractors. They and their wives (along with various laborers they employ) do the bulk of the work (laying the foundations, columns, bricking the walls, tilings, plumbing, roofing, walls. However they generally contract out the windows, doors, electrical, steel welding in the roofs, railings on the decks etc.

One example of their work is the custom house on the North West Corner of the left turn on route downtown from the airport right after the Relax Steak House. That was a 3 million baht project excluding land costs. That one convinced me it was a reasonable bet to go with these guys.

The downside, Sin and Khummoon don't speak English. So you have to deal with them through your significant other. You can contact them via Khummoon's daughter Eve @ 0833532513 who speaks English very well. Also they are small time; one project at a time (as they are doing the work 55555). They generally work for Thai clients building custom houses.

The upside: very honest, hard working, build to high quality with medium quality materials to your drawings, you see all the costs of materials (you are paying for them) and know the labor costs in advance. You can pick all your appliances, air conditioning units, kitchen and bathroom fittings yourself (and pay for them directly to Global, Home Pro etc) and they will have them installed....correctly).

I've attached some pictures of the house I had built...which isn't landscaped you but gives you an idea of the result these guys can put together.

Graham

Hi All,

I got some PM's asking for more details on the house I had built and some interior pictures. So I thought I would provide this once by posting the info here:

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This house measures 16 x 16 meters but that includes the outside deck and carport. I am not sure how they measure the sq meters of houses in Thailand but I can imagine the Moo Baans measure them that way. So it would be 256 sq meters that way. Deducting the outside deck and carport gives a footprint of 9 x 16 = 144 sq meters for interior rooms.

The inside has 3 good sized (1 huge master) bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (shared bathroom I had split into a separate shower room and wash closet room; other bathroom is en suite to the master bedroom and is huge). There is a big kitchen and living/dining room also.

My costs, including filling the lot 1 meter up with soil (that cost me 83,000 and you might not need to do that depending on how you land is situated vis a vis water in the rainy season) was 1.65 million baht including the 3 air conditioners, stove, fridge, sinks, 2 shower heaters, one walk in plexi-glass shower unit, granite kitchen tops, all window coverings etc etc. So more finished that what would be turned over to you in a Moo Baan for about 2.5 -3 million for a comparable house. I used all medium to top grade finishing (i.e. Panasonic AC's and shower units, all plumbing, toilets and sinks from HomePro rather than cheapo's from Global etc etc) also...you could get by with less and save money if that is your objective/budget

I think it is a good deal if you have land in a specific place that you want to build on.

However, the Moo Baans can buy their materials in such huge quantities that they can trim their construction costs to the bone and offer a club-house with pool etc (i.e. Chonrada, Private Park and the very inexpensive one whose name escapes me just south of Big C on the ring road). The land component in a Moo Baan is very small, but they are putting in all the roads etc which is another expense built into the costs of buying a house that way.

Construction time was about 3.5 months. Also, these fellows only build one house at a time, so what their order book looks like when you want to build is a consideration.

I'll post on the UdonMap thread a few pictures of the interior of the house I had built. As you pick (and pay for) your finishing materials, you can do it any way you want going the "custom house" route with Sin and khumood.

If you want to be put in touch with them so they can look at the land you intend to build on give Khumood's daugther Eve a call (08 3353 2513) and she can help you. You definitely want to have a Thai speaking better half to build a custom house....so many color, tile and appliance choices that you need to make etc.

Cheers - Graham

A few more pictures of Custom House by Sin & Khumood - kitchen, bedroom and front door detail.

Graham

Here's a helpful landfill company - prices depend on location and size of project.
Udon Land Fill company: 087-0088134 (Thai)