Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chungbukdo]

Both a job and lifestyle question

So for any of you who get outside Seoul, and even outside small towns, drive alongside the countryside roads and see large American style houses that look to be all softwood, even wood framing, sometimes they have vinyl siding, I imagine they have drywall etc. Usually they're on a large piece of property rather than packed into a village, like the traditional practice of concentrating every house together and having no yard even when in the country.

I've heard that the companies who have these houses done (usually for individual, rich Korean clients) bring in American or Canadian contractors with experience building this type of thing since Koreans don't really know how to work with wood. Apparently they clean up, making over 6 figures in several months.

Is there any way to get these jobs where they bring us in? What companies must be hiring the American contractors?

Also, does anyone know of the price range to build this kinda house in Korea? If I stay long term, I don't want to live in rinky dink crap that most Koreans, even multi-millionaires, call a home. Single mothers in North America live in bigger places than Korean business owners with 30 employees (don't include some city-folk in that figure though). It would be cool to have a nice big place in Jindo.

[viciousdinosaur]

If possible, I would like to live at the top of Mt. Bukhan on a floating rainbow, because frankly living on the ground with other people is gross. If anyone has gotten a permit for doing this please let me know. I know it'll cost a lot, but all I need is some job where I make millions of dollars a year. Does anyone know where I can find one of those. I'm not talking too much, just $4-5 million a year would suffice.

[OneWayTraffic]

Lol at the above.

A house in Seoul will cost you 1-2 mil. That's for a basic no frills concrete box with a small yard.

A house out of the city will still cost you a million, by the time you've got the land and organised architects and builders, imported materials etc.

Or you could buy a Korean style house out of the city for a lot less. But then what would you do for a living.

Good luck.

[YTMND]

[luckylady]

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[shostahoosier]

I live in the country and my best (Korean) friend just got married and had a house built for him and his new wife.

He said the most expensive thing was the land which luckily his family gave to him. The house, which is " American style" only cost about a year's (or two depending on how much you make) salary to have designed and made though.

The labor was either all Korean or from Southeast Asia and the architect was Korean.

The government is doing a big project in my area so they're relocating a lot of people and giving them land and money for a new house. I've seen a lot of beautiful western style houses get built in the last 2 years but no western help from my recollection.

[rkc76sf]

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[atwood]

There were a couple of Canadian firms building homes here a few years back, but I don't know if they're still around.

There's a Korean company building and selling "affordable" townhouses outside of Seoul. They were written up in the newspaper a year or two ago.

I know someone renting and living in one of the prefab vinyl clad homes. It;s pretty nice inside, but they say it's really cold in the winter.

[rkc76sf]

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[viciousdinosaur]

Ok here's what I know. My father owns a contracting company. I worked for him from the age of 10 to graduation of university. Home construction in North America is highly standardized and specialized for that market. The contractors who build homes back home are usually highly experienced with skill sets specific to their trade and that's why they produce a high quality product. Having a history of wood carving does not make Koreans good home builders or wood. If you don't have experience directly related with wood frame construction or dry-walling or copper plumbing, and have been trained by an experience journeyman, then you are not going to produce the same quality of house that an American contractor would.

The other thing is the availability of materials specific to American-style homes. There just isn't the kind of selection of materials or the quality that you would find back home. You either work with what you can find or import a lot of the house.

From what I've seen in the construction of officetels, apartments, roads, sidewalks, etc...Koreans lack proper training. Molding is sloppy, carpentry is crooked, there's gaps in walls, ...ugh....my father would never have let me get away with the kind of work that is done here. It's just amateurish. Someone who's work in construction can spot that right away. There are some good crews out there, but they're building the higher-end stuff.

And the "western" houses I've seen in the countryside. They look like the real deal from far away. But once you get up close you realize it's been compromised to the point where its really just a Korean interpretation of an American home.

[shostahoosier]