Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

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ken.p
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by ken.p »

Still have developers in Hua Hin supplying a 3 bed 2 bath house for 14000TB, per meter square, that also includes a small kitchen. Makes isaan a little expensive.
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hhfarang
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by hhfarang »

I guess it depends on the builder and the quality of materials desired. I built a house nine years ago in Hua Hin and it cost me 24k+ per sq mt. I'm sure it would cost a lot more than that now.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by Nereus »

It must be something to do my training in engineering, but I have never been able to fathom out just how a house can be built on a sq metre basis. There are just too many variables.

Yes, maybe the actual labour, but even then it would have to be specified just what type of materials are going to used. Building a cement block wall to the usual common height is one thing, but to build a complete house of ANY material is something else altogether. And then we have Farangs complaining that the country is full of "cowboy" builders! :?
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hhfarang
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

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Nereus wrote:It must be something to do my training in engineering, but I have never been able to fathom out just how a house can be built on a sq metre basis. There are just too many variables.

Yes, maybe the actual labour, but even then it would have to be specified just what type of materials are going to used. Building a cement block wall to the usual common height is one thing, but to build a complete house of ANY material is something else altogether. And then we have Farangs complaining that the country is full of "cowboy" builders! :?
I agree with you Nereus. I was originally quoted a price of 12k per sq mt on the home I mentioned above and figured the actual cost per sq mt at the end at 24k+, hence my feelings for the cowboy builders here that you referenced... :guns:

I admit that part of that cost overrun was due to upgrades in poor or undesirable (to us) materials that the builder wanted to use, but only a small part, most was due to incompetence and disinterest on the part of the contractor and the incompetence of the Issan/Myanmar building crew that was hired by the contractor.

By the way, no builder can accurately predict the cost of a house without a BOM, which is a detailed bill of materials. Until the complete plans are drawn up and a complete list of materials with the cost and amount/numbers of each is listed, i.e., cubic meters of cement, number of cement blocks or bricks, number and brand of roof tiles, number and quality of floor materials, brand and amount of paint, etc. etc. etc., the accurate price cannot be determined. This bill of materials should be part of every quote then all you need to know is the cost of the labor and you should have a fairly accurate estimate. Good luck getting a BOM or even the true cost of labor from a builder here.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by Dannie Boy »

When I had my house built I agreed a labour cost only with the builder and paid direct for all the materials - obviously things like blocks, metal and concrete are a given price so it was just the variables that we chose to our own specification. It did mean that we couldn't accurately predict the final cost in advance, but gave me much greater control.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by Pacman »

For a very good builder I used to have him to build a house, he quoted me at 12,000 - 15,000 baht per sq. m. depends on the quality of the material i.e. tiles, sanitary, doors and windows, which it should be an option. He also used the foamed concrete blocks and very good finishing.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by STEVE G »

I had mine built for a base cost of 10,000 bt/m2 for a quite basic type of construction and then anything you wanted doing differently, you bought yourself and then the builder subtracted what he would have spent for that, this was mainly tiling and easily calculated by area.
The company I used had their own construction crews so you didn't have the problem of subcontractors which is where a lot of the problems with quality and inflated costs seems to come from.
I appreciate the comments above about how difficult it is to estimate the cost of as house before you've built it but the elderly Thai gent that owned that company has been building houses for decades and you could sit and discuss what you wanted over a plan and he would quote you a price based purely on experience which I suppose if you build enough houses will be reasonably accurate.
Incidentally, he told my partner one day that his biggest losses on house builds were from overly fussy farangs that kept changing their minds about how they wanted things!
I'm very happy with the quality considering the price and from what I've seen of other houses, particularly on developments, I wouldn't have got anything better without going up into the higher end of the market where you're paying 20,000 bt/m2 upwards.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by hhfarang »

Mine was about 15k per square meter (including porches, balconies, and separate garage in that calculation) but we had lots of marble and granite and top quality of nearly everything including solid teak doors and windows, inside and out, and beautiful hardwood flooring upstairs, but that was ten years ago and the cost of materials (and labor) have increased dramatically now I think. At that time I was quoted 12k by the builder but it went to 15k because of our quality upgrades.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by Clark Ling »

i would suggest building it yourself since you already have the plans, that is going to save you a huge amount of money, you can do some research on this matter, there's a site that can help you a lot with tips, have a look at it

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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

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I would think very carefully about this. What was your profession do you think an amateur could do it as well as you? However if you are determined to have a go I would advise using a quantity surveyor, he will save you much more than his fee. Good luck.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by hhfarang »

dundrillin wrote:I would think very carefully about this. What was your profession do you think an amateur could do it as well as you? However if you are determined to have a go I would advise using a quantity surveyor, he will save you much more than his fee. Good luck.
Many of the so called "professional" developers in Thailand are/were amateurs that just came here or were here during the "boom" and decided to become a developer. I have first hand experience with a couple of them.

Seek credentials and referrals on any and all developers before hiring them, especially for a "one off" build.

I had to finish the last half of my own build here with no experience, and using that experience have now designed and built another higher quality home for family. If you know a little about construction, such as what I learned watching and finally participating in the build of my first house, you can probably do it better and certainly cheaper than a lot builders here as it is your own house you will watch details and expenditures more closely. It's a lot of work (full time job) and it's not easy but our second build is a 3 bedroom, two bath, twin kitchen (western and Thai), western style home and it took 14 weeks from beginning of tear down of the old existing structure to completion of the new home. Few developers can meet a schedule like that while maintaining top quality. I was fortunate enough to have my original design drawings formalized by a family member with an engineering degree and two other family members who acted as construction foreman and on-sight supervisor/developer which made mine easier and faster.

You will need the help of experts with the survey, foundation, and formal drawings unless you know about that stuff, but once that is settled the build can be done using sub contractors if you have some construction knowledge and a decent Thai foreman with construction experience.
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Scooter
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by Scooter »

Hi, new to this forum so not sure if I am posting this in the right section, but having just bought some land we are looking for advice for building a house from scratch, getting a design and plans and reliable builders, any info appreciated, thanx
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by JamesWest »

Scooter wrote:Hi, new to this forum so not sure if I am posting this in the right section, but having just bought some land we are looking for advice for building a house from scratch, getting a design and plans and reliable builders, any info appreciated, thanx
you can buy a book on basic house construction using USA building codes and then you can freak out as you watch nothing being done properly. :)

I would go to Thai Watsadu and get a idea of what kind of quality hardware that is available. Or other sources of materials. A recon of all of HH for building materials, quality and prices. Locks, window hardware, sliding glass door locks and hardware and door knobs can be of very poor quality here.

Thais will cut corners because it is the way they were raised. They will always pick the cheapest items. And take the easy way out with construction. Everything is a after thought. Even in big commercial construction. Common to see pipes not lined up, nothing square.

I would pay attention to electrical, making sure everything is 3 wires and grounded to a real earth ground.

i would learn how to test for proper wiring and grounding and check it yourself, not hard.

three words. flooding. termites. solar radiation. security. ok thats four words.

many house plans on the internet.

are you going to be building up off the ground? a small space under the house?

do you need to build up a pad to prevent flooding?

i just thought of something. I would love to watch a house construction project taking shape. Maybe other expats here with more construction experience than me who can't work in thailand might stop by to see how things are going. Maybe during concrete pouring and electrical wiring. Poke their noses into you fuse box. That sort of thing.
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
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malcolminthemiddle
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by malcolminthemiddle »

Dear Scooter,

In response to your request for advice for building a house from scratch.

1. Invest in a topographical survey.
2. Invest in a ground condition survey.
3. Establish the size and specification of the property you can afford, this will determine your budget.
4. Surf the internet to find a concept design you like.
5. Take your topographical survey, your ground condition survey, your concept design and your budget to an architect to produce a set of construction drawings and BOQ.
6. Use the BOQ to get prices from recommended contractors.
7. Use the BOQ to get prices from specialist suppliers/subcontractors/supplietrs who you will employ direct.
8. Contract a contractor and specialist suppliers/subcontractors to build your house.
9 . Employ a Project Manager.

Alternatively, send me a PM.
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Re: Looking for quality home builder in Hua Hin

Post by STEVE G »

Thais will cut corners because it is the way they were raised. They will always pick the cheapest items. And take the easy way out with construction. Everything is a after thought.
Things aren't as simple or as clear-cut as that. There are many houses that have been built around Hua Hin over the last ten years or so that are sub-standard because of the property developers, often Westerners, had a greater interest in maximizing profit over enforcing any construction standards. They sub-contracted out construction at prices below which it was possible to do anything else but "pick the cheapest items and take the easy way out".
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