ESS Developments: the renovation company we recommend in Pattaya

The best-value property in Pattaya is often the one nobody else wants: the right house in the right street with a 1990s kitchen, tired bathrooms and a layout that made sense to somebody once. Buyers ask us all the time whether a place like that is worth taking on. My answer depends almost entirely on who is going to do the work. For a house renovation in Pattaya, the company I recommend is ESS Developments.

Three things you should know first

I am closer to this business than to any other in the series apart from my own, so I will set it all out before I say anything else.

Gavin Perfect, who founded ESS Developments, is my business partner. We own Hemingways Jomtien together. I have known him for over twenty years.

I am his customer. Gavin's team did the fit-out on all three Hemingways restaurants.

He is our client. ESS Developments build their own villa and condominium projects, and Alan Bolton Property Consultants sells them. We earn commission on those sales in the normal way. Last year we were named their top agency, largely through the work of our agent Irina.

What we do not earn is anything for recommending their renovation work. Nobody has paid for this article, and we take no commission or fee when a reader hires them to renovate a home.

With all that on the table, here is why I would recommend them anyway.

How I know their work

A restaurant is one of the hardest fit-outs there is. A commercial kitchen, extraction, drainage, gas, electrics that carry a real load, finishes that have to survive hundreds of people a day, and an opening date that cannot move because the staff are already hired.

Gavin's team has done that for me three times. I have been through the whole process with them from an empty shell to a full dining room, and I have then lived with the results for years. If the work had not lasted, I would know about it, because I would be the one paying to fix it.

They have also renovated the homes of a good number of our mutual friends. In a town this size, that is a real test. You do not keep being invited to dinner in houses you have renovated badly.

Why we recommend them

They are builders, not only renovators. ESS Developments design and build whole villa and condominium developments. A team that can take a project from bare land to finished homes understands structure, drainage, electrics and waterproofing, which are the things that go wrong in a renovation and the things you cannot see in the photographs afterwards.

Gavin is an engineer by background. He has more than twenty years in engineering, project and construction management. A renovation is mostly a management problem: the right trades in the right order, on the right day. That is where jobs run late and over budget, and it is what he is good at.

They are accountable. Gavin lives here, has his name on developments across the area and is not going anywhere. That matters when you find a small problem six months after the job is finished.

When a renovation makes sense

You have found the right location but the wrong interior. You can change almost everything about a house except where it is.
You are buying an older resale home. Many were built to a good standard and simply need bringing up to date.
You own a rental that has stopped competing. New kitchens and bathrooms are what move a property from hard to let to easy to let.
You are preparing to sell. A sensible refurbishment can change both the price and the time it takes.

It does not always make sense. If the budget for the work pushes the total above what similar finished homes sell for nearby, you are spending for your own enjoyment and not for value, which is fine as long as you know it. Ask us before you buy. We can tell you what renovated homes in that street actually sell for.

What to ask before you start

Can I have a written scope and a fixed price? And what is not included?
What is the payment schedule? Payments should follow completed stages.
Who is on site every day, and who do I speak to?
How long will it take, and what happens if it runs late?
What is guaranteed afterwards, and for how long?
Do I need permission? In a condominium, the juristic office has rules on working hours, lifts and what you may alter. In a village, there may be estate rules too.

How to reach them

ESS Developments
Phone: 098 978 5288
LINE: ESS Developments
Website: essdevelopments.com

Ask for Gavin, and tell him Shane sent you.

A note on our recommendations

We only write about businesses we would use ourselves or send our own clients to. If you use one of them and it does not go well, tell us. A recommendation is only worth something if we are prepared to hear that.

Looking for a home with potential? Browse our properties for sale, or get in touch and tell us what you would like to take on.