Building New Home

Post by **fdimike** » August 19, 2005, 9:03 pm

Well we are now about 3 1/2 months into the building of our new home here in Udon Thani. I have posted progress notes twice before and promised to continue posting in order to provide as much information as possible about the contractor and the design engineer.

The engineer has continued to monitor the progress and quality of contruction to include inspecting the raw materials etc. She has been of great assistance to us in the sense of quality assurance and has been a font of knowledge regarding building materials and how much they should cost, where to purchase etc. She assisted us in negotiating a reasonable price with the manufacturers representative for a new model roofing tile just released to the market.

The builder for his part has been a true professional from the start and continues to operate the same way today. He is reliable and does exactly what he says he will do. He has provided us with needed imput regarding possible design changes along the way to improve the look of the house.

The engineer and the builder have continued to operate as a team insuring the construction progresses as scheduled and according to plan.

I am posting this information because I have read so many horror stories about unscruplous builders etc. I would be happy to recommend this team to anyone building a home in the Udon Thani area.

Please contact me by email for the name and contact information for both these individuals or if you would like to visit the construction site to see for yourself.

Regards to all
Mike

Post by **Paul** » August 19, 2005, 9:17 pm

Wow !
Reading that its almost as if I wasn't in Thailand

How refreshing to hear a good report instead of, as you say - the horror stories normally written about on here (many of them by myself

)

Almost restores faith (I said 'almost)

Paul

Post by **Dakoda** » August 19, 2005, 9:28 pm

Good to here. I am in the planning of adding three rooms to a house, so tomorrow when I am sober, might take you up on your offer.

Right now the person who built TG's house would do the work, so I have something to go by! Her house is the same age as the one I am renting, but in better shape as far as cracks go ...etc.

Post by **BangkokButcher** » August 19, 2005, 9:57 pm

Thats brilliant news fdimike,

How did their prices compare with other quotes you received for the work?

Post by **polehawk** » August 20, 2005, 4:17 am

Thanks for the positive update on your dream home, fdimike. It is good to hear that quality engineering/construction of a home is possible in LOS.

Would it be possible for you to post a pic or two in the Members Photo section once construction is completed for the overseas wannabe expats in this forum?

Post by **Thai_1_On** » August 20, 2005, 9:04 am

I with polehawk we want to see some pictures

Post by **businessman** » August 20, 2005, 11:38 am

I had to read through Mike's post a couple of times as it is very unusual for a building project to go so well.Excellent.Normally you have the Thai/farang clash over quality and quantity of work.Maybe Mike you have a relaxed "mai ben lai" attitude which i now try to adopt as otherwise you can drive yourself up the wall waiting for plumbers who turn up three weeks late and think nothing of it.

Post by **fdimike** » August 20, 2005, 11:42 am

I can send pics to anyone who would like them of the ongoing construction. Please realize that we are still in the structural phase of construction. The builder is preparing to pour the concrete for the second floor and the columns to the roof.

I'm not sure how to go about posting pics to this site but will em pics to those who have asked.

As for the pricing. My wife and I did not attempt to compare prices as we left that up to our engineer. We (wife & I, builder and engineer) have all agreed to proceed with this project in phases. By that I mean we have signed a contract stipulating what is to be done and at what price. So far we have signed two of these contracts. The inital one covered the underground footings and all work up the first floor along with the columns to the second floor. Also included as you might imagine was the plumbing drains for the first floor.

The second contract included all work associated with the second floor ( columns, beams, concrete floor, columns to roof and associated beams up there as well).

Mike

Post by **JimboPSM** » August 20, 2005, 7:29 pm

Mike, there is a thread in the old forum

Post by **fdimike** » August 20, 2005, 8:04 pm

Thanks for the heads up Jimbo. I'll check out the posting.

FYI: We are not at the electrical stage of construction as yet. However, I am well aware of the poor state of electrical work here in Thailand. I have expressed my concerns to both our engineer and the builder. I have explained that I intend to inspect the electrical and plumbing work very closely. Both the engineer and the builder have assured me that they are very much aware of the new electrical code in Thailand and will abide by it to the letter.

I am renting a house here in Udon Thani right now and was absolutely amazed by the piss poor electrical work and this house is only 1 year old. The most serious was the hot water heater which had an obvious ground line attached but NO ground rod outside. I enlisted the services of our builder's electrician to correct it along with several other nightmareish problems.

Regards
Mike

Post by **BobHelm** » September 10, 2005, 1:27 am

I know this has been posted for a while...but i only just joined, is my excuse...

I would really be interested to see some pics and listen to anything you have to say about 'the project'...thanks...
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned but I have had a real good look at
http://www.coolthaihouse.com/coolviews.htm
which is pretty dam detailed about his house project, but, the more information the fewer holes to fall through, which I guess is pretty important in a house...

Post by **Bandung_Dero** » September 10, 2005, 7:43 am

[quote="JimboPSM"]Mike, there is a thread in the old forum

laphanphon · Post by **laphanphon** » September 10, 2005, 9:36 am

not only is it good sense to have 3 prong and earth ground, it is now a requirement. just make sure the contractor actually grounds the 3rd wire to something that goes in the ground and not a screw in the concrete floor.

Post by **businessman** » September 10, 2005, 12:55 pm

It certainly pays to be around when they put in the earthing rod and make sure it comes in contact with something solid.

Post by **Dakoda** » September 10, 2005, 3:34 pm

I have been shopping prices of things. I looked in Homemart for electrical wire, was looking to price 3 wire - only seemed to have two wire! Has anyone found 3 wire

Where

Need to order

The above link (posted by BobHelm) has some good pictures, but nothing seems to be explained

What actually am I looking at/for

Post by **BobHelm** » September 10, 2005, 3:59 pm

If you click on the INFO link on the top of the page (it is the middle link of 5) then you go to a page where you can select the details of the house build - along with pics of the stages. From memory Electrical is near the botton of that page.
The actual link straight to electrical is
http://www.coolthaihouse.com/infoelectric.htm
but it is well worth looking at the rest.
Reading between the lines I get the feeling that the guy is actually building to sell (so the site is a bit like a large advert) but some of the stuf he says is pretty interesting..

Post by **fdimike** » September 10, 2005, 4:09 pm

Dakoda Global has 3 wire available. Home Mart also has 3 wire but I think you have to ask for it or it may be special ordered. I believe I also saw 3 wire in Tool Pro.

Post by **Dakoda** » September 10, 2005, 4:12 pm

Maybe it me or my Mac, but when I click on the above link I get a picture of an electrical plug, and when I click on it, it becomes bigger. So I see a two prong plug and a third hole. ah........

thanks mike, ment to look when at global, right after homemart, but dropped the ball!

Oh, just a comment between homemart and global. While looking for window prices, I found that homemart had brochures, while global did not. For some reason I found homemart more helpful.

Post by **BobHelm** » September 10, 2005, 4:40 pm

Sorry Dakoda, don;t know what that can be - I see the plug, yes, but many other pictures & words, but i am on a pc not a mac...suggest that you google search on coolthaihouse and see where that gets you

Bob

Post by **fdimike** » September 10, 2005, 8:01 pm

Dakoda you are looking at the base of a 3 prong plug used in France, Belguim, Poland a several other European countries.. The 3rd prong (ground) is replaced by a socket which contains the ground "prong" .

Thanks for the info re: windows. We are buying our windows (Windsor Vinyl Frame) through Home Mart. The engineer who did the design work for us works at Home Mart and has been especially helpful.