Raindrops are falling on my head - in bed! Belgian complains about shoddy new Pattaya house

[Don Chance]

Likely the OP had no roof.

 

Many building have flat roof with insufficient water proofing that leads to leaking.

 

Or a rood that is more like a yamaka and does not cover the whole structure.

 

Other problems are houses built too low with no vapor barrier, water will penetrate into the slab and create mold. Same with or balconies that catch water on higher floors, you will water infiltration under the tiles and mold.

 

One of the craziest practices in Thailand is putting septic tank under the living room!

[jacko45k]

It is a bit depressing that living in a house around town one can be faced with both rising water at ground level and falling water at roof level.

[StevieAus]

18 hours ago, giddyup said:

Not necessarily, could be in company name. Besides, not every relationship in Thailand is a disaster. I bought a house in my partners name 9 years ago, we're still going strong.

Haven’t you realized that you are not allowed to say anything positive on this site particularly in relation to Thai people and relationships, if it is not doom and gloom it’s not normal.

My wife and I have been together nearly 14 years and like you everything fine.

Had a couple of friends in Aus that ended up with terrible relationships that dragged on for years and cost them a lot of heartache and money.

[dallen52]

There used to be an English term,  Gerry Built.

You can replace Gerry with Thai.

Starting with the slab or foundation. 

18 or 21 slump porridge..

(28 is my minimum)

Reo non existent. 

You might get a 4 inch thick slab. 

Levels,  forget it. lol.

They build like they have seen others do it. 

No one is actually qualified or certified. 

Out of Bangkok the building codes don't apply the same.

I tried to oversee the village home rebuild and the family members basically laughed at me. 

Forget the laser level. 

Plastic tubes filled with water. 

Just pay for the materials and day wages..

Most, normally work with relatives. 

Depending on what tools each one owns.

If you are getting a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home, for say 1 million baht. 

Blind Freddy can work out that something is substandard. 

Either materials,  or workmanship. 

Always check the wiring and electrical.  It's a killer.

[Bob12345]

17 hours ago, gunderhill said:

How did he check rebar thickness and placement under the concrete?, come to that how did he test concrete strength?

The same way he checked the exact composition of the concrete, the origins of the wood used, the chemical composition of the roof tiles, and the country of origin of the paint used inside the water reservoir of the toilet bowl upstair.... he didn't.

 

I guess you hire 20 people to build a house, 20 people to oversee those construction workers every second, 5 supervisor, and a translator to report all back to you? 

 

Or you just walk around once during construction, pretend you know everything, and go back home again all happy about yourself?

 

Best to just hire a reputable contractor and have a guarantee. Its foolish to believe you can control everything all the time, even if you have the knowledge.

[Oxx]

57 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

There used to be an English term,  Gerry Built.

 

Just being pedantic, but no there wasn't.  The term is "jerry built".  It dates back to 1856, with "jerry" being Liverpool slang for "bad" or "detective - possibly derived from "Jeremy".  Nothing to do with Germans.

[Moouan]

20 hours ago, Pdavies99 said:

In many many cases one big issue is that they do not overlap the tiles correctly.

 

To explain: Most builders always overlap the tiles by a third and if rain penetration is a worry then over lap by half always. It is very easy to see Thai roofs that only have an overlap of say 1-2 inches, hence rain penetration. 

 

Of course unless you know this, then a Thai builder will effect a small overlap as the amount of tiles is reduced by about 40%.  Finally most hardware shops sell heavy duty plastic sheeting that can be laid under the tiles when being built or quite often retrospectively to fix this issue.

Typically most tile manufacturers issue a table with maximum and minimum pitches for the style of tile and the recommended lap and nailing patterns for that tile/pitch/detail. Of course most Thai builders will probably not be aware (or care) about that, so if you don't have experience hire a PM. Or get a qualified post inspection as the poster above did.

[Moouan]

I have a BSc Hons degree in Building Surveying and have worked in the Construction Industry for many years in the UK and Thailand, you would be surprised how many Farangs come to Thailand to build a house often worth tens of millions of baht and will not pay a Project Manager 25-50K a month to supervise the build. Often they think all will be OK, or think that as an ex-postman they are somehow qualified to do it themselves!

Edited June 1, 2019 by Moouan

[Oxx]

4 minutes ago, Moouan said:

you would be surprised how many Farangs come to Thailand to build a house often worth tens of millions of baht

 

Indeed I would.  I thought they were all living in penury and now being forced to leave the country because Immigration requires them to keep some small change in the bank.

[Moouan]

9 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Indeed I would.  I thought they were all living in penury and now being forced to leave the country because Immigration requires them to keep some small change in the bank.

Still quite a lot of building going on in the Southern Islands, e.g Samui, not nearly as much as 10 years ago mind. Also the quality has improved, many of the western 'barrow boy' developers are long since gone and the Thai builders have also improved dramatically possibly due to market forces.

[thaiguzzi]

On 5/31/2019 at 10:59 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Sorry, but I have zero sympathy for any farang that buys property in LOS. The problems are well known and have been for many, many years. One only has to have a read of TVF to see what has happened in the past.

I can only surmise that the people that bought those houses did no inspections during building and didn't even have a look in the roof space before shelling out millions.

Caveat emptor, and even more so in LOS, the land of shoddy workmanship.

Mmm.

Strange that, innit?

Our two storey house was built in 2005.

Had zero problems.

Subsidence, plumbing, electrics, windows, Nada.

Getting a bit tatty round the edges now - could do with a coat of paint.

Built by the local rice farmers in Nakon Nowhere on its own built up red soil patch with no neighbors.

Mmm.

Strange that, innit?

 

But i think i remember a bunch of your posts before.

Been burned, bitter, glass half empty type.

[dallen52]

4 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

Just being pedantic, but no there wasn't.  The term is "jerry built".  It dates back to 1856, with "jerry" being Liverpool slang for "bad" or "detective - possibly derived from "Jeremy".  Nothing to do with Germans.

Didn't mention the Germans..

Yes it's an English term.

 

I concur with you that its possibly a scouse slang for inferior work.

They could not relate it to any actual builder called Jerry.

From liverpool..

[Pdavies99]

4 hours ago, Moouan said:

I have a BSc Hons degree in Building Surveying and have worked in the Construction Industry for many years in the UK and Thailand, you would be surprised how many Farangs come to Thailand to build a house often worth tens of millions of baht and will not pay a Project Manager 25-50K a month to supervise the build. Often they think all will be OK, or think that as an ex-postman they are somehow qualified to do it themselves!

The possibility of getting a qualified, interested Project Manager are less than Zero! We are talking about small estates or one off builds, the only person you will get as a Project Manager is the retired builder swigging his beer!

[Hanuman2547]

On 5/30/2019 at 11:14 PM, Vacuum said:

I can agree with this. But I think most buyers don't have any experience with construction or house building, what can they supervise?

For one thing, you should buy all the materials to be used in construction.  Thai contractors are notorious for selecting quality materials.  When it comes to building it they use the cheaper materials and pocket the difference from the lower cost materials they used.  

 

The other thing you can do is hire an independent contractor/inspector to check the work that is being done and if it conforms to the standards that you want.

[5633572526]

On 5/31/2019 at 2:32 PM, giddyup said:

Not necessarily, could be in company name. Besides, not every relationship in Thailand is a disaster. I bought a house in my partners name 9 years ago, we're still going strong.

So your missus has a nice house also 

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, 5633572526 said:

So your missus has a nice house also 

She will when my 30 year lease runs out. Or I die, whichever comes first.

Edited June 2, 2019 by giddyup

[Moouan]

40 minutes ago, giddyup said:

She will when my 30 year lease runs out. Or I die, whichever comes first.

For those of you worried about putting your property in the name of your wife consider a 'Usufruct' this is a right to enjoy, occupy and use the property as you see fit until your death. It is registered at the Land Office on the Land Title so protects your occupancy and prevents the Owner from selling the property or borrowing against it.

Of course if you really married into the wrong family the 'until your death' may come sooner than you planned!

[giddyup]

11 minutes ago, Moouan said:

For those of you worried about putting your property in the name of your wife consider a 'Usufruct' this is a right to enjoy, occupy and use the property as you see fit until your death. It is registered at the Land Office on the Land Title so protects your occupancy and prevents the Owner from selling the property or borrowing against it.

Of course if you really married into the wrong family the 'until your death' may come sooner than you planned!

I believe my lease does the same thing. As far as my partner inheriting the house, why not? She deserves every satang it cost just for putting up with me all these years. Other than a charity, no one else to leave it to anyway.

[ChipButty]

1 hour ago, Moouan said:

For those of you worried about putting your property in the name of your wife consider a 'Usufruct' this is a right to enjoy, occupy and use the property as you see fit until your death. It is registered at the Land Office on the Land Title so protects your occupancy and prevents the Owner from selling the property or borrowing against it.

Of course if you really married into the wrong family the 'until your death' may come sooner than you planned!

I dont think you can do a Usufruct no more correct me if Im wrong

[Oxx]

18 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I dont think you can do a Usufruct no more correct me if Im wrong

 

You're wrong.

 

And one of the advantages of an usufruct over a lease is that it can be for life - not just for 30 years.

[Rimmer]

Story is about:

Raindrops are falling on my head - in bed! Belgian complains about shoddy new Pattaya house

[Moouan]

34 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

You're wrong.

 

And one of the advantages of an usufruct over a lease is that it can be for life - not just for 30 years.

Exactly, I had one a couple of years ago, so I think you can still do it.

[anon7854]

Ahhh the quality of construction in Thailand. 

 

I could write 5 books and I only stayed for 3 years.

[Just Weird]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 11:10 AM, asiaexpat said:

Never buy a building unless you  supervise the construction. Subcontractors take liberties with materials and workmanship than disappear. Watch every step if you intend to buy. 

How exactly does a purchaser supervise the construction of a building being built by a construction company not contracted by the purchaser on private land?

[Golden Triangle]

23 hours ago, dallen52 said:

Didn't mention the Germans..

Yes it's an English term.

 

I concur with you that its possibly a scouse slang for inferior work.

They could not relate it to any actual builder called Jerry.

From liverpool..

 

23 hours ago, dallen52 said:

Just being pedantic, but no there wasn't.  The term is "jerry built".  It dates back to 1856, with "jerry" being Liverpool slang for "bad" or "detective - possibly derived from "Jeremy".  Nothing to do with Germans.

Check this out, might fill in the gaps ???? 

 

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jerry-built.html

[Golden Triangle]

I have to say that I do have a little sympathy for these people, as it includes Thais as well as foreigners, the problem is that people don't use due diligence in what is not a cheap purchase, cheaper than many parts of the world but still not cheap. My usual sceptical view is that even if they used a RICS qualified person to check it out prior to purchase would a Thai surveyor say that a Thai built property is sub standard ? Given face and loss there of by the Thai developer/builder?

 

I don't actually know if a Thai surveyor can actually be a RICS member ?? Anyone know ?

[smutcakes]

3 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I have to say that I do have a little sympathy for these people, as it includes Thais as well as foreigners, the problem is that people don't use due diligence in what is not a cheap purchase, cheaper than many parts of the world but still not cheap. My usual sceptical view is that even if they used a RICS qualified person to check it out prior to purchase would a Thai surveyor say that a Thai built property is sub standard ? Given face and loss there of by the Thai developer/builder?

 

I don't actually know if a Thai surveyor can actually be a RICS member ?? Anyone know ?

Yes they can, there are a number of RICS qualified Thais. RICS these days have dropped their ease of entrance so far in an effort to boost membership and fees. Not saying some Thai members are not qualified, but the requirement for qualification are certainly a lot easier than 10-15 years ago.

[Golden Triangle]

36 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

Yes they can, there are a number of RICS qualified Thais. RICS these days have dropped their ease of entrance so far in an effort to boost membership and fees. Not saying some Thai members are not qualified, but the requirement for qualification are certainly a lot easier than 10-15 years ago.

What about the face thing ? any thoughts ?

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 9:06 AM, Seth1a2a said:

the tile layers had unsuccessfully tried to get rid of their excess work materials by using the drain. It had simply hardened inside the pipe.

Not the first time such has been reported in TVF and will not be the last.

While living in the family house I investigated why a sink was not draining from the outside bathroom. Turned out the pipe didn't end in the drain, but half way to the drain in the dirt!

Edited June 3, 2019 by thaibeachlovers

[balo]

For 2-3 million baht you can buy a nice condo instead, any problems will be dealt with by the condo management. Much safer than any town house built here. And you can own it in your name. Waste of money for the Belgian. 

Edited June 3, 2019 by balo