Once the pile caps were finished, next job was to attach all the vertical rebar steel to the pile cap. This was to prepare the ground floor columns for shuttering and concreting once the plinth beam had been cast.
After a lot of time, all the rebar was placed and the construction site took on the appearance of a hedgehog!
With the piles placed and the pile cap cages ready to be concreted in, we had the first Buddhist blessing on the site. A monk came from the local temple, and gave the blessing for good luck. The day was pre-determined when PJ had gone to consult at the temple earlier in the year.
During the course of the blessing, money, ‘silver’ and ‘gold’ were placed in the excavations before the concrete was poured.
Other family and the members of the building team attended to make the day a fitting celebration and good luck for the build ahead. Of course food and refreshment was available on the day, too.
Piling
Now, at last…the real work could start! The camp was in use and the team was on site. The ground cleared and the footprint marked out. So now…piling!
Some builds in Thailand need minimal foundations. Basic footing, ‘spot’ piles, or…nothing depending on the size and construction of the build. Some provinces and areas seem more lax about getting to the build stage too.
We were not in one of those areas – full plans, drawn up by the architect, and with all calculations shown had to be submitted to the OrBorTor offices for consideration. A formal application to build was made, and once checked by the OrBorTor Engineer, and assuming all was well, a building permit was issued by the office.
A chat with the Engineer confirmed a softer layer on our plot, with a solid layer several meters down. That necessitated piling. We had already discussed this requirement with the builder and he had the equipment to do it so… no extra charge for the 54 piles we needed.
So on the day, K.Pot arrived with his crane and a pile boring attachment. He quickly got to work, boring down and pulling out the soil until the solid layer was reached. They varied in depth but on average were 5m.
The pile cages were already made (see Pile boring). With bored piles, there is a chance the earth can ‘fall in’ to the bore hole so getting the cage in quickly and concreting were necessary. As the boring progressed, the follow up team were placing the cages, complete with the spacers to keep the metal away from the edge, into the bore hole. Another team prepped the concrete and poured it into the hole to form the finished pile.
In a very short time, or at least it seemed so, all the piles had been bored, caged and concreted. Remember, the initial contract was for Zones 1 and 2 only BUT… we included the piling work for Zone 3 in the initial contract to save having the rig come back to do just the 3rd part of the house.
Pile Caps
The final part of the piling, once the concrete had ‘gone off’ was to construct the pile cap on the top of each one. This was a steel cage attached to the pile head, and set in a concrete pad.
This formed the base to start attaching the plinth beam which in turn formed the basis of the ground floor, once the soils and planks were placed.
Again, the cages were pre-constructed, and were placed and attached to the pile head, before being concreted in…it was during this part of the construction, that the first Buddhist ceremony took place to wish good luck for the construction.
We knew we needed piles, so the build team set about constructing the pile cages to put into the bored holes. With those bored holes being round, the obvious cage was cylindrical. K.pot used spiral steel at the correct diameter then tied the vertical rebar to that spiral to form a metal tube shaped cage – very clever!
It was amazing the speed at which the build team turned out the cages, but I guess they have been doing this work for a long time so it came naturally.
The finished cages were stacked up around the plot ready to be installed once the bore hole was finished.
After the ground clearance and marking out, described in the previous post, the next task was…. no not pile boring. The workers would be living on site throughout the build so they needed accommodation. Enter the travelling site camp accommodation for 15 people, lovingly referred to as the ‘Chonburi Hilton’.
Now that the building footprint was established the workforce knew where they could place their camp so as not to interfere with the construction timetable. The pre-fab camp – raised flooring, corrugated sides and roof, cooking facilities, toilet (to connect to a separate septic tank also brought along) and vehicle parking as delivered and the crew got to work erecting what would be their home for approximately 1 year.
Electric was hooked up to the temporary meter we had had installed, water was T’eed off an existing local supply to the neighbour, by agreement and there it was… all creature comforts and a cosy camp for the team, and of course, basic provision for the build itself.
The start of any build needs the agreed plans, in particular the building ‘footprint’ to be accurately marked on the plot as this will show where to dig the piles, place the plinth beam, and lay in the services.
K.Pot himself was on site to ensure the mark-out was accurate. Because the house is large, it has to be built at an angle to the road in front, so it was important to get this correctly marked out – once the build started there would be no going back.
The team took time to ensure the mark-out was accurate, before placing the markers that would guide the pile bore machine on site.
We were lucky in that K.Pot had most of the machinery and equipment needed to complete the build – see his pile bore attachment for the crane in the next post!
Once the plans had been approved and the builder engaged, it was time for land preparation on site.
The builder brought his team over to begin cutting back the new growth on the raised land. Literally, hand cutting (no machines) until the plot was cleaned up. Once the building work commenced, the foot fall and excavation would ensure the growth did not return during the construction.
A couple of hearty bonfires were had to get rid of the cut vegetation.
Once we had got the house idea firmed up, with my concept and sketches and floorplans being turned into CAD plans an elevations, it was time to start finding the builder.
We were not looking for any relative to do it. In my experience a family link can compromise what you want and family loyalties, plus how to be mates while at the same time being able to take the tough decisions that the family builder might not like!
Same applied to a family friend, or a workmate who was eying a main chance to make some money from the falang.
We had decided to look for a proper building company, rather than a one-man band with a gaggle of ‘builders’ (here read, ‘a bunch of farmers who also know how to stick blocks together and paint stuff’). Because of the size of the construction it needed to be a builder who had experience of projects of this size. We wanted someone one who we could work with, who had the team and the backup to carry the project through without literally being hand-to-mouth for the next block of cash.
The architect
The first person to ‘offer to do the build’ was…the architect. He had been setting himself up for this from the start. He gave a very good price to do the plans and elevations, and to do the calculations. He made a point of getting to know and dropped in comments about how he’d built this and that construction. He supplied the plans and we paid him.
He then sent a quote to build the house…12.6M THB!!! Lol unfortunately, in his excitement, he inadvertently included a comprehensive bill of quantities in his submission. I was able to pick it to pieces to see where he was marking up and where he was, quite simply, ripping off. We discussed with him where some err…savings could be made but he was adamant we would not get the house built for less than his quote.
He gave us another builder who might be interested. He sure was… for 20M! lol I think maybe the ‘mate’ (for that is what he was) gave a crazy price to make Mr. Architect look more reasonable.
The dreamers
So one at 12+, one at 20M. One more came along but at 18M. All of them seeing a chance to charge western building prices in the Land of Smiles. Using that BOQ from the architect, and my own calculations based on experience, cost of materials, cost/m2 etc. I KNEW these quotes were out of the ball park.
We pursued 2 more hopefuls who fitted the bill of being building companies. One was promising but wanted 10M, the other, nowhere near, at 16M. (Funny how the amounts are always an exact million!)
Temple Builder
While looking around the temple at Lat Krabang, we saw work being carried out on one of the ancillary buildings and it looked good. The crew was carrying out delicate architrave work, plus excellent painting finishes. We could see right there that the workmanship, and pride in the job was evident – this was a conscientious building company.
Let’s call this company the Temple Builder. We spoke to the site foreman, and arranged to meet with the project manager. The following day we sat down with him, armed with all the plans, elevations and the wish list.
To be fair, he was unfazed, and yes…they had carried out builds of this kind before.
K. Pot
We were looking for another choice at the same time as the ‘temple builder’ and my wife got to hear about a building company, local to the potential build site.
We made arrangements to meet with him and discuss the build project. I immediately got a good feeling about K.Pot. He listened and understood what we were trying to do. Hear read through the plans and was confident he could do it all. He also asked to meet at the site to get a feel for the land, the access and the services – he was not a guy who just said ‘’yes, yes’’ to everything, hoping to secure the contract. We met there on the same day.
He also asked to go over those plans and requirements more fully over a couple of days before saying for sure, and of course giving a price to complete the work.
The waiting
We were waiting for the Temple builder to come back with his price too so had nothing to lose when K.Pot also asked so that time to go through the figures.
We had by now pretty much discarded the other quotes and offers, though the guy who drew the plans came back with a reduced offer of 10M (2 6M was falang mark-up!?).
The temple builder came back first. His price was much, much nearer to what I had calculated – within 400,000 THB and his architrave work and attention to detail were really pushing me towards him. But PJ reminded me… we do not have much if any architrave work on our build.
Some examples of how K.Pot did painting to resemble wood finish.
Then came the quote from K.Pot. It was lower. Not by much but it was lower, nevertheless. We has seen examples of his work previously and one particular skill he had was in painting, specifically painting surfaces to look like wood. We were impressed.
The decision
Once we had considered everything – cost, ability, availability, and that sense that this person was ‘right’, there was really only one choice. We gave the building contract to Khun Pot and his building company.
PJ and K.Pot
That set the ball in motion, and the building of TD Towers would soon commence!!
Previously I told about our initial ideas and locations, but they came to nothing. That meant another think about where we were going to actually build the house! We had the ideas, we had the plans we had the will (and the money!)…just need terra firma to plant to all on!
One way of locating land is by word-of-mouth – someone you know knows someone who has a a friend who might be selling… you get the idea.
We looked in a lot of areas. We wanted rural, but within reasonable range for shops and entertainment, so we started looking South of BKK and East of Pattaya, which is how we came to look in Chonburi province.
And as it happened, we got a call…
Plot number 1
So it was that we came to hear of some plots in the ChonBuri area and my ‘chief negotiator’ enquired more. Yes, plots were for sale and different sizes and prices, so we discreetly looked at what there was, where it was, etc.
The land was in ChonBuri province, the same province housing ChonBuri town…and Pattaya. However, this location could not me more different to those seaside resorts. This land was over 80km inland, in the rural middle of nowhere. So it ticked the ‘peaceful’ box. It was over 100km from our current location in Lat Krabang, a suburb of Bangkok
We tried for one plot but it sold before we could finalise it, and so settled on a long rectangular- shaped piece of over 2.5 rai. After a bit of haggling, much to her amusement we secured the plot.
Plot 1, totally overgrown and currently hosting 121 rubber trees
Plot 1 (to the left, showing the access road to it from the main road
Plot 1 currently has about 120 well-spaced rubber trees on it, is thoroughly overgrown, and at the top of a shallow hill. There is no chance of flooding. It has water and power and road access.
And that was that…
Or was it?
Plot number 2
The plot we wanted first, with road frontage was previously ‘sold’ but then became available when the original purchaser dropped out. Some more haggling (again anonymously through my negotiator) and suddenly we owned 2 plots!
Plot 2: the overgrown plot in the distance with road frontage, to the left just in front of the mango trees
Plot 2 from the road, with those same mango trees to the left
Plot 2 is smaller at just over 1 rai, and v close to plot 1, with road frontage, power and water. Although a little bit lower, it drops v gently down to said road, and on the other side of the road is open farmland between 0.5 to 1.0M below the road, so I’m not expecting a flooding issue on this land either. The locals confirm there is no flooding.
There is further expansion potential though as to the right of this second plot there is a plot covered in mango trees and apparently abandoned, and to the left is a further plot which the original purchaser wants to sell as he too bought a second piece nearby.
This location is easily drivable to Pattaya, to Bangkok and south to Reyong. Although rural and quiet, it is within very easy striking distance to 3 or 4 big golf club complexes, and that got me thinking for the long term future for a resort on plot 1.
That’s for another day though!
Previously, I went into some detail on the sort of clauses one should include in the contract to build the house. (See The Contract part 1 and part 2)
Here is what we did with the contract for OUR build.
After the selection process, we had already chosen the builder (see choosing the builder), so our next meeting with him was to formalise the agreement
I set about drawing up the contract. I told him I was going to do that and to be fair, he did not jump in with an offer to do that for us!
Checking the contract
The build itself as going to produce a home with 4/5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 8 WC’s, gym, cinema and all over approximately 500m2 on 2 floors. Due to how we initially intended to build and live at the property, the build was sub-divided into 3 areas – zone 1, 2 & 3 and would be covered under 2 contracts
The first contract
This contract covered the building of zones 1 and 2, plus the foundation piling only for zone 3
I first broke the work down into achievable sections. Liaison with the builder is important and if we were going to develop a good working relationship with him, he had to be involved every step of the way. Those broken down sections were discussed and with a little tweaking we agreed the work in each section, and the money that would be paid on completion of each section. Then the contract was finalised
The opening section of the contract defined the parties involved in the build – the builder, the employer, the engineer, plus contact details.
Then came those work sections – piling, plinth beam / floor slab, ground-floor columns and first floor ring beam planking, ground-floor walling, roofing, first floor walling, plumbing, electrics, rendering, finishing, plus the retention for the snagging list completion. Each section had an amount to be paid once fully completed, and an indicated timescale to complete.. We stated that inspection and agreement would be completed before ‘signing off’ on each section.
Then came specific materials and finishing detailing, each requirement on a separate clause in the contract. This included particular external wall blockwork – Q-con block – 150mm on exterior wall, 100mm on internal walls, solid teak doors and windows, particular roof tiles, and where a definite material could not yet be defined, e.g. paint wall colour, it was specified as ‘to be agreed’ before applying. Same for the wall and floor tiles, and the lighting units, wall sockets and switches. This detailing extended for example, to measured location of sockets on the wall
To cover himself for this (the contract must be fair, remember) the builder allocated sums of money either as a per-unit cost or a M2 cost in the contract supporting document.
This part of the contract also detailed what was excluded – in our contract, this included the AC units, and the sanitary-ware.
It was stated in this contract that if we wished to have a particular finish that exceeded builders set budget we could simply pay the difference to acquire what we wanted.
The final section of the contract related to the various parties conduct throughout the contract – following the plans and contract exactly, changes by agreement with notice (on both sides), worker conduct, safety, clear up, security etc.
Over 56 separate clauses in the contract to build zone 1 and 2, but still I managed to miss one vital inclusion, and the resolution of this was a measure of the integrity of our builder.
So… the contracts were drawn up in Thai and English, and both the builder and I signed all copies. Our wives acted as the witnesses on the documents. One set of copies each and we were ‘’ready to start’’!
Signing the contract
Oh…for those interested, my missing contract clause related to, of all things… termite control!
It might seem like a small thing…’’little termites’’? What’s the problem? But…it’s a requirement to have termite control. I only realised my error after the build commenced and so got ready for an ‘extra’ charge as it was not in the contract. My fear was unfounded – our builder had included termite control in his costings and quote, and had already made the necessary arrangements without me having to request it.
The second contract
This was for the construction of zone 3. It basically followed all the clauses as laid out in contract 1. Of course there was no piling section as that was fully covered in contract 1, and no kitchen to construct, but there was a gym and cinema which required different finishes to what was built in zone 1 and 2.
So… pretty much the same contract detail as the first contract but yes… in this one I did include that termite control requirement!