Hot Water
Hot Water
I am building a new house in one of the housing complexes in Hua Hin. The house should be finished late October. One thing I overlooked when negotiating the purchase was wether or not hot water heaters are supplied by the builder. My question is wether it is typical for the builder to supply the hot water heaters or is it usually an extra. I have not askeed my builder about it as yet.
I think it depends on how much you are paying for your house. If it is not being marketed as 'Western Standard' then I think the answer is no. Do you have a specification of fittings and fixtures? If not, then again the answer is probably no.
Small water heaters are relatively inexpensive and decent ones (e.g. Stiebel Eltron) can be purchased for between about 3500 and 8000 baht, depending on the number of hot water draw off points. I know from bitter experience that trying to co-ordinate this at a distance is a nightmare (especially if you want such exotic western niceties as a bath) because traditionally bathrooms and kitchens are not important places within a house for Thais. As you probably know, they are usually outside and fairly rudimentary. Building services (plumbing, electrics etc) seem to be the worst aspect of newly built Thai houses. The end result can be a right balls up unless you have someone overseeing the project who understands exactly what your Western aspirations are.
Thankfully, after much frustration, the Cabinet Company on Petchkasem Road came to my rescue and installed what my builder couldn't - and they did a really good job.
Despite my luck in eventually finding a reliable installer, my advice is; unless you want to risk the trauma of having bloody great chases and holes chopped out of tiled & finished internal and external walls with a home made chisel fashioned from a length of pipe and a slotted screwdriver then get yourself over to Hua Hin and be there to co-ordinate this aspect of the work yourself before the house is finished. Trust me, it will be worth it!
Small water heaters are relatively inexpensive and decent ones (e.g. Stiebel Eltron) can be purchased for between about 3500 and 8000 baht, depending on the number of hot water draw off points. I know from bitter experience that trying to co-ordinate this at a distance is a nightmare (especially if you want such exotic western niceties as a bath) because traditionally bathrooms and kitchens are not important places within a house for Thais. As you probably know, they are usually outside and fairly rudimentary. Building services (plumbing, electrics etc) seem to be the worst aspect of newly built Thai houses. The end result can be a right balls up unless you have someone overseeing the project who understands exactly what your Western aspirations are.
Thankfully, after much frustration, the Cabinet Company on Petchkasem Road came to my rescue and installed what my builder couldn't - and they did a really good job.
Despite my luck in eventually finding a reliable installer, my advice is; unless you want to risk the trauma of having bloody great chases and holes chopped out of tiled & finished internal and external walls with a home made chisel fashioned from a length of pipe and a slotted screwdriver then get yourself over to Hua Hin and be there to co-ordinate this aspect of the work yourself before the house is finished. Trust me, it will be worth it!