I, too, am building a house. They're doing the floor tiles now. Should be done in a couple of weeks. The builder has been great. His workmen have been building houses with him for 12 years. They know what they're doing. The price was excellent. Superblock, insulation, dual pane vinyl windows. etc.

Providing food, drink, and whiskey has been a cheap way to keep the workers happy and flexible. An inexpensive way to make people feel good.

It's on 160 talang wa just outside the ring road on the west side of the city; convenient and close to things.

My experience is positive, just as Mike and John. The builder is a civil engineer and knows his stuff. He doesn't speak English, but the wife takes care of the communication.

Looks nice, maybe start a new thread Udonexpat on your house build.
Building topics are always popular.
or if a mod wants to split it up....??


Mod Note:
Above post moved to create a New topic (under House & Land). The old thread moved to House & Land and closed/locked.

Udonexpat,looks nice and sounds interesting!How about some more details like costs and time to build?

also some contact info for the builder, for future use, in case i decide to build again, thanks

I have been looking at having a new house built in Nong Khai, and the builder/developer has said that the price of metal/steel is going crazy at the moment (up by 80%) - i.e. so decide quickly.

Does anyone know of any information to support that suggestion, or is he just using it as a pressurising tactic?

metal going up 80%....must be the chinese .

The price of iron ore exported from Australia and Brazil (about 70% of the world production) will rise by 65% this year, but this represents only about 15% of the cost of the final product (eg sheet steel).

No doubt there are other small cost increases eg oil/power.

I would suggest the builder is having a lend of you.

Can't blame the Chinese for this one BM

2 months ago my builder told me that steel he used to pay 180 for had increased to 235 on January 1; a 30% increase. Maybe others went up 80%, but probably that's more of an emotional response than a factual one.

The house is 180 sq meters (1937 sq ft)under roof and 140 sq meters (1506 sq ft) enclosed. We signed a contract in mid November and in January he told me that if he was bidding it then the price would be about 10% more because of price increases in nearly all building supplies, but especially steel.

There are 3 bedrooms, 2 toilets (1 w/automatic hot water), a small study, living room, dining area, inside kitchen, outside kitchen/utility room, carport for one car, and additional open parking for one car.

The foundation is 21 driven piles because the fill dirt had not been in place long enough to build on grade. The exterior walls are superblock and the interior walls are red brick. There is reflective insulation under the c-pac tile roof and 3" of stay cool fiberglass insulation on the ceiling.

All grey water runs underground. No open drainage. Excess rain water flows to the drainage system. A large portion of the roof drains to a flat carport that drains down the support posts to the underground drainage. It'll be interesting to see how well this system works during the rainy season. Hopefully, I'll have good drainage without standing water on the property.

We're connected to city water and will have a 2000 liter tank and pump for the house that is included. The builder offered to put in some plants for us, but I decided to hire a landscaper instead. He's taking care of the landscaping and irrigation system. 9 big tress and lots and lots of smaller stuff, even chilis, basil, mint, galang gal, etc.

The price for the house (not including appliances, window coverings, or any furniture) and wall will be under 2 million. I've made some improvements to our original deal and may make some more as we get towards the end of things. The land (160 talang wa), landscaping, and furnishings are additional.

Anyone interested in this builder can PM me.