Ask here about the pleasures and pitfalls of buying, selling or renting property and real estate in Hua Hin. Building, design and construction topics welcome. Commercial or promotional posts for real estate companies or private properties are forbidden.
Hi Everyone,
This is the first time I am using the forum so please be gentle with me.
I currently looking at moving out to Hua Hin in the next few years, I am looking at starting a small company up out there, supplying,installing and maintaining guttering.
My house has just been finished and guttering seems to be a rarity on Thai Houses, do you guy's think it would be worthwhile pursuing!!!
There used to be (probably still are) very cheap guttering services that just go up and down sois in a pickup and make gutters on the fly. When we finished building our house several years ago one of these trucks came by while I was watering the garden and negotiated a very good deal to gutter our home and garage. They did an excellent and quick job for a low price considering the size of the house and garage and the height (8 meters) from the ground to the edge of the roof.
If these type of roving "gutterers" are still around you may find them hard to compete with.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
Thanks!! never heard of "roving" Gutters the type I am thinking are supplying are the stainless steel type you see on normally high end villas.
I have made some enquires in Hua Hin, nobody seems to specialise in these type and they seem expensive,,the ones I am looking at getting for my house are not dirt cheap!!
As a falang you are not allowed to work with installing gutters.
Move here and open a business doing money in thailand in baht, just enough to live, is probably a million % more difficult than make a huge fortune in your home country..
No disrespect, I don't really want to know about the employment laws yet in Thailand,,I just wanted to know whether guttering would be called for out there, as they seems to be hardly non existent on houses, being a builder for 35 years, without no guttering this is the easiest way for you to undermined any foundations and possible for collapse.
The Rascal wrote:Thanks!! never heard of "roving" Gutters the type I am thinking are supplying are the stainless steel type you see on normally high end villas.
I have made some enquires in Hua Hin, nobody seems to specialise in these type and they seem expensive,,the ones I am looking at getting for my house are not dirt cheap!!
Maybe Roving Gutters are a different type!
Cheers
The normal type of guttering you can get in Thailand is fabricated out of galvanised sheet steel and is pretty cheap as mentioned above. There are quite a few places in town who'll make you anything out of welded stainless steel but it's quite an expensive business.
There are many houses in Hua Hin without guttering, especially on the bali style houses (e.g. Banyan Resort) where builders/developers explain it would spoil the aesthetic of the roof/house. I was always looking for a kind of guttering which would match this kind of houses. There is a nice guttering though on the McFarland house at the Hyatt Regency (built in the 19th century, restored as an authentic Thai pavilion) which in my opinion looks perfect but I guess this will be outrageously expensive. If a company could provide this kind of special guttering for a reasonable price I am sure it could be a successful business.
perfectswing wrote:If a company could provide this kind of special guttering for a reasonable price I am sure it could be a successful business.
I'm not convinced about long term success. Yes, there might be some business initially, but many people have been living without guttering for many years - I'm sure if they thought they needed it, many would already have installed the cheaper variety as I did.
I've also seen some people install the cheaper variety, and then tart it up with expensive paints. So I guess a lot of potential Farang customers will have already have done something about it. Most Thais won't bother, because they just don't.
I had the galvanised steel guttering installed when our house was built, each to themselves, but I don't think it looks too bad and price-wise it was very competitive. No idea how much SS guttering would be, but I would guess at least 4 times as expensive if not more, might look a bit better and last longer, but given the choice, I'm sure I'd still opt for the galvanised version, so as a business proposition I dont think it will be a winner.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for your prompt and positive responses, I think the ones I have seen look like stainless steel, when they are new, but are Galvanized steel gutters,they are the ones I am thinking of.
I would also look at the same gutters but powder coat them,instead of galvanised, these would come in various colours to match the facia boards and colours of roof tiles therefore making the gutters disappear in the roof line and being powder coated they would last the integrity of time, powder coating is the same process of painting with Aluminum windows so they must do Powder coating in thailand.
On the Pala U Rd..over the hill heading out of town..next to the petrol-station on your left is
'Hua Hin Gutter'..a small father & son business (both are under 5ft 5".. )...
...DO NOT HIRE THEM..they are so crap it's like watching Laurel & Hardy..they are beyond belief!
We only wanted one gutter that had a downspout in the middle & 3-4m each side..er both sides sloping towards the central d/pipe..took them 2 visits & about 4hours to complete this simple task..
... I was looking round for cameras filming my reaction...I REALLY did think it was a set-up!!
^^ Sounds like the first crew to tackle my guttering. Watching them try to solder a joint was one of the funniest experiences in my life. Mr Bean would have been proud. Fortunately the next crew were really good and did a fantastic job.
Beware!! Guttering is a great idea to
channel the water from the roof and save the building foundations. Perfect!! But where is the excess water channelled!?
There needs to be capacity for the rainy season. How do you channel the incredible volume of water that a monsoon storm produces? Not easy... Unless you think in advance. Most European guttering doesn't stand a chance under the most extreme storms. Think BIG
"'The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." - Mark Twain
The Rascal wrote:Thanks,,I understand you cannot work with installation, but you can have a business in thailand!
I am not looking at making a fortune,there just having an interest in something that makes a some small money!!
Your problem will be that after paying salary to your workers and other expenses there will be 0 left for you.
There is no business for gutters in Hua Hin coz it´s already enough of Thais doing it for those who want gutters.
Longstayers who only come and live in their house in high season when it´s not raining don´t bother about gutters, that´s why you see a lot of houses without.
If you want to have a business here and make some money it has to be one where you can do some work yourself and not give away all the profit in salaries..
)...
