Low Budget Village Build For In-Laws

[runrunshaw]

So here are some photos of the house as of about three or four weeks ago. Rendering finished, plumbing finished, doors hung.

Yes, I told my wife to make sure to tell her uncle Mak to use only green PP-R water pipe, but of course, they didn't. I can only shake my head.

The house is solid, but sloppily built in places. Here are a couple of exterior shots:

It certainly didn't come out looking like the model we set out to build, which was only 10M X 6M. The layout was completely changed. The bedrooms are no longer kitty-corner, but share a common wall. I have a diagram somewhere of the layout and will post it if I can find it.

The Thai kitchen was last thing to get worked on. This looked sketchy to me, and indeed, the work to finish it was really sloppy. I think the crew's mindset was, "We're done, we've worked enough for the money." They left one guy to do the kitchen. I'll post photos later of what it looks like now.

Some other shots:

Before the crew bugged out, I had them build a roof over my containers. Labor was 3500 baht. I already had roof panels and some iron. Will post photos of that next.

I'll also present a tally of what this all cost, to give folks an idea of what can be accomplished on the cheap.

[runrunshaw]

FYI, the Thai man who built this house for a claimed 230,000 baht got a lot of interest from other Thais online.

He has been open in saying he did a lot of the work himself, and that the cost of materials varies. So he says there is no guarantee anyone else could build it for the same cost. He posted this budget breakdown, but it's in Thai. Hope this helps those who are interested.

[parrot]

1. roof truss, labor/materials
2. beams + earth + prepare the earth, labor/materials/earth
3. floor + cement, cpac + wire mesh, labor
4. plaster walls, labor, materials, coating
5. tiling, tiles/labor
6. doors
7. electrical, materials, labor
8. windows, all over house

[ajarnudon]

'John, When should the electrical be done. Our walls have been rendered so I figured now was the time. But we'll have conduit running down to light switches and sockets. Hate to see how a painter will edge around plastic conduit.'

The build is looking good RRS. I have chosen to respond to your PM here because my situation is far different from yours, and I beleive that others can probably add more relevant info. Here is a picture of the most common Thai electrician's installation, which is perfectly serviceable. If you want cleaner lines, they can chase in the vertical cabling all the way down the wall instead of just at the power outlet /switch.

Most of my walls are of cavity block construction, with concrete blocks on the outside and AAC blocks (block kaew) on the inside. This has the advantage of hiding most of the plumbing and cabling in the wall cavity. In this situation, the electrician keeps returning. The power outlets are supplied via conduit beneath the floor slab, while the lighting cable is run down from the roof. As the inner walls go up, cable is fed through the inner wall (by the blocklayer using a holesaw), before access is denied by building the outer wall. This is why I have made this post here as your situation is very different from my own, and I think others can give you more helpful advice. Just two points:
1. I would suggest using low-profile (flat) trunking. It has the advantages of being painted over with the wall paint making it almost invisible, as well as giving easy access if needed later (rather than chasing in under render).
2. Any cabling in the ceiling (or any loose horizontal cable) should be enclosed in conduit. Rats love to line their nests with the insulation.
Hope others can post more advice here.
Regards, John

[maaka]

yup, that was one thing that miffed me, was the ugly electric cable or plastic casing running down the middle of the walls..real eye sore..so I make them put the cables or plastic boxes down the corners or tuck them down beside the concrete pillars, ans then paint the same color as the wall behind..at least it lessen the eye sore effect...it means you got to think about location of switches and plugs...I made a new laundry and while away the electrican put in a wall plug that if I was to plug in the iron to iron on the work bench the ruddy thing would dangle from the wall, the socket is that high..will have to change it..

[bluejets]

Some of the numbers in the "budget breakdown" don't add up.
Whole thing is a bit of a "ball park" arrangement I guess.

[runrunshaw]

Some of the numbers in the "budget breakdown" don't add up.
Whole thing is a bit of a "ball park" arrangement I guess.

Yes, my wife said the same thing. For instance, the cost for electrical materials is 9000 baht, but apparently labor for the electrical is mixed in with labor for the drop-down ceiling---at least that's what she is guessing.

Other Thais have tried to replicate this man's house for the same cost, and have failed. Like I said, there has been a lot of back-and-forth on a Thai forum about this. But then, others contracted out labor costs that he performed himself.

Regardless, at the end of the day, I think I'll be able to show that perfectly decent structures can be built for a lot less than many farangs have assumed.

[runrunshaw]

yup, that was one thing that miffed me, was the ugly electric cable or plastic casing running down the middle of the walls..real eye sore..so I make them put the cables or plastic boxes down the corners or tuck them down beside the concrete pillars, ans then paint the same color as the wall behind..at least it lessen the eye sore effect...it means you got to think about location of switches and plugs...I made a new laundry and while away the electrician put in a wall plug that if I was to plug in the iron to iron on the work bench the ruddy thing would dangle from the wall, the socket is that high..will have to change it..

Every house I've lived in in Thailand had the electrical sockets at 120 cm height. It's a visual eyesore and seems kooky to me, but...when in Rome? Not sure what the logic is, except maybe saving a few baht in cable and chase costs? (That is, if you're dropping the cable down from above and not going through the inner wall, as John and other sane folks do.

Could it be they do this to keep the sockets out of the reach of children? Nah, that makes too much sense.

Anyway, we hired an electrician today, and he immediately suggested the 120 cm height for the light switches and outlets. I just went along with it. There will be a very curious one-year-old boy living in that house soon, so maybe having them up high is a good thing.

[runrunshaw]

1. I would suggest using low-profile (flat) trunking. It has the advantages of being painted over with the wall paint making it almost invisible, as well as giving easy access if needed later (rather than chasing in under render).
2. Any cabling in the ceiling (or any loose horizontal cable) should be enclosed in conduit. Rats love to line their nests with the insulation.

John, thanks for responding. Hired an electrician today and already purchased all the chase/conduit. 30 amp throughout and a good earth ground. He came recommended by dunroaming, and so far seems terrific. His fee is in line with a quote we got from a village electrician and he's just a super nice guy.

Small potatoes compared to the builds of yourself and others who are building to high standards, but that's part of the beauty of the comparison to your high-end build.

[parrot]

In Thailand, where there doesn't appear to be any building inspections (at least not in the house/guest house we've built), you could cut cost any hundreds of ways.......thinner electrical wires, hollow doors, door hinges that cost 100 baht rather than 300, no electrical conduit in the ceilings, no insulation under the thinnest of thin steel roofs, irrigation-grade pvc vs. the thicker grade, the cheaper grade of steel for your roof trusses rather than the more expensive (standard) grade, the cheapest grade kitchen sink vs. a thicker one that doesn't rust. Oh, the list goes on. I'm not knocking the cheap way.....for many village folks, the cheap way is way better than what they have lived in. They're not the least bit concerned if the corners aren't exactly 90 degrees or if the electric wires are exposed on the walls or if there's a 3" gap between the bottom of the outside door.
I'll be interested in runrunshaw's itemized list as we have a Thai friend who's considering building a small house in the countryside.

I'm betting the 120cm socket height is a holdover from the days when houses routinely flooded.

[runrunshaw]

Okay, so after completing the lion's share of work on the house, Mak's crew took two days to build the roof over my storage containers. Labor was 3500 baht.

I designed it so that when I want to move the containers, they can be pulled forward using straps without hitting any of the iron. I'll place timber adjacent to the slab for them to slide onto. A crane can then lift them onto a truck. Once I move them out--at least a year or more from now--I will wall-in the space and have a brand-new structure.

Here's what it looks like now.

I'm right now placing inexpensive insulation under the roof panels over the containers--an idea I got from Jerome a.k.a. sometimewoodworker. Thanks, Jerome.

Here's a photo from one of Jerome's threads that got me going on this little side project.

foil under roof3.jpg (41.93 KiB) Viewed 3611 times

[runrunshaw]

In Thailand, where there doesn't appear to be any building inspections (at least not in the house/guest house we've built), you could cut cost any hundreds of ways.......thinner electrical wires, hollow doors, door hinges that cost 100 baht rather than 300, no electrical conduit in the ceilings, no insulation under the thinnest of thin steel roofs, irrigation-grade pvc vs. the thicker grade, the cheaper grade of steel for your roof trusses rather than the more expensive (standard) grade, the cheapest grade kitchen sink vs. a thicker one that doesn't rust. Oh, the list goes on. I'm not knocking the cheap way.....for many village folks, the cheap way is way better than what they have lived in. They're not the least bit concerned if the corners aren't exactly 90 degrees or if the electric wires are exposed on the walls or if there's a 3" gap between the bottom of the outside door.
I'll be interested in runrunshaw's itemized list as we have a Thai friend who's considering building a small house in the countryside.

I'm betting the 120cm socket height is a holdover from the days when houses routinely flooded.

You're probably right with your socket-height theory. Good point.

I would have a much better house for the same cost if I'd been on site for the entire build, even though I don't know much about construction.

I'm certainly not advocating building on the cheap, or cutting corners, or using the cheapest of materials. The roof panels are Bluescope, all electrical will be in conduit. The walls are plumb. I had to make decisions based on a target budget.

Other than the electrician saying his work would be inspected when he was finished, I'm not aware of any follow-up inspections at all. I'm sure you are more well-versed in that area than I am.

I could build the in-laws a ten-million-baht house, and I'd bet that within a year it would look like a dump. That's not a put-down, it's just that they don't know how to take care of things and don't seem to have a desire to learn.

Funny you should mention door hinges. I just found an expensive set still in the packaging that didn't get used, but cheaper ones did get used. The best laid plans....

[parrot]

Funny you should mention door hinges. I just found an expensive set still in the packaging that didn't get used, but cheaper ones did get used. The best laid plans....

I forgot to mention......you can 'save' lots by cutting your paint with 50% water. It makes it easier to apply, as well. You'd be hard pressed to know the difference for the first few months.....and then the paint turns to dust or flakes off.

[runrunshaw]

Funny you should mention door hinges. I just found an expensive set still in the packaging that didn't get used, but cheaper ones did get used. The best laid plans....

I forgot to mention......you can 'save' lots by cutting your paint with 50% water. It makes it easier to apply, as well. You'd be hard pressed to know the difference for the first few months.....and then the paint turns to dust or flakes off.

Am buying another 20 liters of primer tomorrow because I don't like the coverage we've gotten. Not a drop of anything added to what we applied. Same will be true for the paint. That's only because my wife and I--upon threat of death to others!--are doing it all ourselves.

[bluejets]

1200 seems a bit high for outlets.
General height for us is 1250 to 1300mm for light switches BUT there is a reason behind it in Aus (to do with noggins)

Nothing worse than having to get down on ones hands and knees to try to plug things in.
Even worse trying to fit off those at B****dy skirting board height.
My idea height is around 900mm, just adjacent to where my hand swings to the side.
Then one can just " shove it in right there".

[skinner]

1200 seems a bit high for outlets.
General height for us is 1250 to 1300mm for light switches BUT there is a reason behind it in Aus (to do with noggins)

Nothing worse than having to get down on ones hands and knees to try to plug things in.
Even worse trying to fit off those at B****dy skirting board height.
My idea height is around 900mm, just adjacent to where my hand swings to the side.
Then one can just " shove it in right there".

Noggins are easy enough to put in at any height to provide fixing.
I definately agree plugs at skirting board height can be completely stupid. In a new build , most people will know where there electrical appliances will be . A bit of thought beforehand can make a big difference.

[Barney]

With the high tech world we live in no matter how old or young, buy some power outlets with the USB port incorporated I the outlet plate.
I ended up changing quite a few in my house in bedroom and the kitchen instead of having extra pieces of kit and additional leads and outlets.
Some one is always charging phones.
Didn’t cost much.


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[Barney]

Also if you don’t want to chase the walls you could use metal conduit down the walls that looks the place instead of plastic.




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[ajarnudon]

'I forgot to mention......you can 'save' lots by cutting your paint with 50% water. It makes it easier to apply, as well. You'd be hard pressed to know the difference for the first few months.....and then the paint turns to dust or flakes off.'
Right on Parrot. The guy I had painting primer on the inside block walls did just that - two coats of primer and you could still see through it - then I twigged why. So, under all sorts of threats - no added water! This leads me into other issues with paint and render, but I will post these (mistakes I have made) in my own build blog.

[runrunshaw]

With the high tech world we live in no matter how old or young, buy some power outlets with the USB port incorporated I the outlet plate.
I ended up changing quite a few in my house in bedroom and the kitchen instead of having extra pieces of kit and additional leads and outlets.
Some one is always charging phones.
Didn’t cost much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great idea; I'll try to incorporate that ASAP.