Low Budget Village Build For In-Laws

[Doodoo]

Have PMed you
Thanks

[glalt]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

[deankham]

^ looks really useful I'd have been pleased with that. Better to have too much shade than too little in my humble opinion.

[thaiguzzi]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

shed_102655.jpg

Jesus wept.
"Huge project"....
A carport for a tractor and a pick up truck..........

[thaiguzzi]

^ looks really useful I'd have been pleased with that. Better to have too much shade than too little in my humble opinion.

Concur.
Difficult to please some people.
Lotta glass half empty types round here.

[glalt]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

shed_102655.jpg

Jesus wept.
"Huge project"....
A carport for a tractor and a pick up truck..........

I didn't know that she would have a hundred bags of rice stored in there.

[runrunshaw]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

shed_102655.jpg

Looks like they didn't skimp on the iron.

[dunroaming]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

shed_102655.jpg

looks like u will need another one for the tractor but agreed iron looks good and properly spaced. Wish I could build same for 9000

[runrunshaw]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

shed_102655.jpg

looks like u will need another one for the tractor but agreed iron looks good and properly spaced. Wish I could build same for 9000

The 9K was his, contribution, wife paid the rest, I think.
#1.. wish my wife had that kind of money.
#2. That car/tractor/bags of rice park had to cost 35K minimum, don't you think?

[vincemunday]

Never skimp on your carport, mine's only 8 x 4 and I wish I'd made it bigger, it will be a project for me when it cools down a bit.

[dunroaming]

My wife wanted to have a roofed place to park the tractor. I agreed. I was at my condo in Jomtien. When I got back home, I found that I now have 100 square meters under roof. I told her that I wan't going to pay for that huge project. I paid 9,000 baht and she paid the rest.

shed_102655.jpg

looks like u will need another one for the tractor but agreed iron looks good and properly spaced. Wish I could build same for 9000

The 9K was his, contribution, wife paid the rest, I think.
#1.. wish my wife had that kind of money.
#2. That car/tractor/bags of rice park had to cost 35K minimum, don't you think?

Yes me too agreed my one was 80K without the cement base that's getting done this week 12 cube of cement etc

[runrunshaw]

Okay, so after firing Jit, his brother, and the other derelict, my TW's uncles and their crew took over. These were mature, experienced men in their 40s and 50s who didn't drink on the job. Sometimes we had a few beers on site at the end of the day. Usually it was between four and seven guys. It was different every time I went to the site. Uncle Mak was running the show, and he was fairly meticulous--at least when he was around, that is.

I made a deal for 12K baht for them to move the cement posts into alignment, hang the roof, and pour the foundation. They got right to it, and actually had things such as real scaffolding, real ladders, and professional tools.

I had been buying all of the materials since Day One, but now I felt more secure that these guys weren't out to rip me off.

Things were rolling along. Mak predicted the house would be finished by the end of the year. I doubted that, but it sounded good to my wife.

I also decided to keep it a 12-pole structure with a 1 M roof overhang creating 140 SQM of roof. But I wasn't going to keep 96M as interior. Since my plan had been to build a 60 SQM house, but I'd been given a 96 SQM layout, I decided to keep 64 SQM as interior, and the other 32 SQM would constitute a Thai kitchen and a patio.

That meant the sliding glass front door would have to be placed on the north side of the house, leading onto what would now be a covered patio. It was a radical change from the photos of the house I had committed to build, but I knew I'd have to tighten up spending however I could. What is it the US Marines say? Adjust, adapt, overcome.

I now took the project as a challenge; could I build a decent house at a price? I didn't know, but decided to spend more time on site and pay a lot closer attention to developments.

[Barney]

Excellent story so far, from your original thoughts of no family and overtime your change of heart. Many of us have or will go through this exact same thing.
Having the ability to continually change one’s mind is the key here in Thailand with many things.
Shown by your negotiating a wY out and changing the construction team, plus modifying the plans etc.
You have an original budget so that is a good yardstick to aim for, don’t stress if you wander past that figure. Just spend what you need to keep peace especially in you and the wife’s mind.
Good work so far and will be interesting to see the finished product and all the smiling faces.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dunroaming]

These are the stories that are good to share and I for one enjoy reading them. The longer you live here the more horror stories you get to share but sometimes the opposite. I think any of us that have built something have these stories The police are still looking for our first builder!! and we have some useful contacts too

[runrunshaw]

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I have to go back to China for awhile and won't take my laptop there, so I'll try to get further along in the story before I leave.

The construction learning curve has been steep. I read a lot of the building threads and took notes, and did Internet research, but there's nothing like practical experience. I must say there is satisfaction in building something. We might build again---this time a house for ourselves---or we might not.

We've certainly gotten to know our building supply shops. We've bought from Thai Watsadu, Home Hub, Do Home, Big Lots, four different small shops within ten minutes of the build, a roofing shop on the Nong Kai highway, and two other building material shops. Wish I hadn't sold my pick-up truck a couple of years back. Not all places deliver for free.

Oh, and there's a scrap metal shop on the road to Sakon Nakon which has some really interesting finds. We bought some slightly bent iron to use for gate poles, and also sections that now constitute the gate. Here are some pics of that scrap metal shop:

The first time I went there, a farang and his TW were loading a used gate into a songteaw for the trip to their place in Nong Sam Rong. Wish I'd gotten there first---it was a nice gate.

Drive through a Thai village---no two gates are alike!

[runrunshaw]

Okay, it was now sometime in early to mid-December 2018, and issues with the build had settled down. The workers showed up every day and worked hard. The only thing that bugged me was that at the end of the day I'd ask what they needed for tomorrow, so I could buy it on my way home. Many times they said they didn't need anything, but by ten the next morning they would call, needing something ASAP! It created a lot of unnecessary running around and having to buy stuff at shops that sold at higher prices.

My wife's uncle Mak and I struck a deal that after the roof was finished and foundation poured, I would pay them 50,000 baht to complete the house, including plumbing, but not electrical or painting/tiling,drop down interior ceiling.

Mak agreed to throw in a couple of iron doors he had for the Thai kitchen, and to build a counter and some other extras. Not sure if that was a good price, but I agreed.

[maaka]

Like your written story and your build..
just as a yard stick, can I throw in some pics of a workshop / bungalow / shop / classroom I have just had built for 300k..
Maybe its over priced but thats how it comes..it the options its gives us, or the missus when I depart this mortal coil..
I left one bay as a carport just so the missus wouldnt have the family move in now and I would loose my man cave, but in the future we will pull the 4 windows out and block in the carport and the boy when he marries can live there..it has a toilet and shower attached..10m x 5m roughly..

[runrunshaw]

Looks like you got your money's worth to me. Congrats on building such a swank man cave--I should be so lucky to have one. Smart move to leave the one bay open as a carport, LOL!

[maaka]

Thanx Matey, yup well it was not much extra moola to extend the roof over the carport, and concrete the floor..now just needs walls in the future, and the carport becomes another room..I like plenty of concrete outside so you have options to work on, cook outside, entertain, etc etc..and it keeps the mud out in wet season..
yes good luck with your wee build..

[bluejets]

Wondering why most builds I see do not include guttering on the house running to water tanks.
Many reasons to support such a thing and few against as far as I can see.