Atrocious workmanship

[Photoguy21]

My wife never liked me going to see a house we had built either. I did just the same. Some of the things they were going to do I was not happy with so I made them change them. Things such as having telephone and electrical cables in the same duct, not having a proper earth for the house.

I sorted it all out with the contractor and at the end of the day on that particular site we had I am sure the best built house.

[thailand49]

Without going into a deep conversation I fully understand your situation especially with the wife! 

Someone provided a photo for you as to how it should be done for me it is a head game I would pull the worker or his boss Aside and show him the photo with a big smile tell him " Dia Mai "  Picture his work go from there. 

[CLW]

Observe the workers all the time

Never pay something before the work is done

 

If you have the tools and time, in my experience it is better to do it by yourself and just hire a helping hand for some tasks the require two or more persons

[rwill]

It's the difference between 'light angle' and 'right angle'

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Just as an aside are spirit levels, plumb lines, chalk lines, measuring tapes actually illegal in Thailand?

Not illegal, they just don't come with full instructions. 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, Will B Good said:

A major underlying problem here is village politics and 'face'.

 

The builder is my father-in-law's boss in tessaban ...........negotiations are more delicate than in the Middle East.

Ask the builder to have another go, and you'll buy him a pet goat.

[Will B Good]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

 

It's your wife's, the important thing is that she's happy with it you. 

Does that ever happen?

 

Joking aside.....I think she was almost oblivious to a lot of what I see.....trees and woods come to mind.

 

I've just spoken to her and she has told/agreed with the builder the current team are to be pulled off the job and a new team (his No 1 team....55) are taking over the snag list......we shall see.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I understand that is not the way you want it but I guess you and she have to make up your minds of who is in charge.

He doesn't want to sleep on the sofa.

[Yellowtail]

48 minutes ago, rwill said:

It's the difference between 'light angle' and 'right angle'

Light angle is Chinese, yes? 

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Having tiling done here is one of my major pain points, just FxxxXXX useless. I once removed a complete wall that had just been tiled as it was probably worse than your pictures. Was funny to see the contractors face when he returned the next morning to a pile of cleaned tiles waiting to be refitted.

Depends. I had six workers in re-modelling my house, and the only thing done well was the tiling, which was done by the boss. Considering it included eight rooms and a hallway and involved thousands of tiles that was quite a feat. The electrician was the worst, pre-wiring where an aircon unit was going to go in a bedroom and then not connecting it to anywhere, as well as several other problems that revealed themselves over time.

The country and its work ethic was best summed up in just six words by a Korean tv producer I worked with on a broadcast. Her words - the standards here are so low.

[Sparktrader]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

If it's her money, who cares?

Her money is his money no doubt

[chilly07]

Normally tiling is one trade Thais are very good at. Whoever did yours is not a tiler and it should be hacked off and redone by someone who really knows what they are doing. The edge trim and grout should match the rest of the tiling including colour

[greenmonkey]

as bad as the work is you really should follow your wife's lead on this... I been here 10 years and still cannot get my head around the face saving thing... but your situation (i.e. the father in laws boss etc.) does sound like it needs to be treated very carefully. Good luck!

[Dancer57]

This can be fixed with 2 part epoxy and the resprayed with pvc paint.

Here is a link to a company I trained with to assist my Son, I have used some of the skills here in Thailand on my own house repairs.

Different grades of 2 part epoxy can be bought on lazada - its the type used for car repairs.

 

https://snagdoctor.com/gallery/

[TigerandDog]

surely there is the standard, legally required 12 month warranty on the construction.  I just finished having a new house built in March, and we've already had the builder back 3 times to fix/redo things that were not done as we required in the contract or done correctly. They will be coming back again as part of the contract stipulated that the roof/guttering must be 100% bird proof. Sparrows are nesting under the tiles and in the gutters, so they will be back next week to rectify that. If you don't put your foot down and get the builder to fix the issues at his expense then it will be you and your wife who will lose face in the village for allowing the builder to get away with the poor workmanship.  This is why it is necessary to be in attendance every day of the construction, so you can keep an eye on things. The problems we've encountered occurred on the 2 days we had to be elsewhere. Thai builders, regardless of how good a reputation they have, must be supervised 100% of the time by the people paying for the construction. Our builder's son is a senior executive at our local orbitor and tried to bluff his way out of having to do the fix ups, but my wife, at my insistence, kept referring to the terms of the signed contract and told them to either honour the contract or suffer the repercussions for not doing so. Hopefully you have a signed contract. 

Edited April 27, 2022 by TigerandDog

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Bad workmanship and frankly I wouldn't pay them until they put it right. 

Good news is you dont have to pay them at all

 

Op..this really is your wifes issue to deal with. My wife would not tolerate such a mess

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

The problem is that they did not use a corner piece. It is impossible to make it look remotely OK if you can’t get a corner piece of the correct profile.

 

It is likely that correctly shaped pieces exist, it is also likely that nobody in the village believes that they do or would spend the time to discover them.

 

So the possible cure is to spend the time, maybe days, finding them for that (or any other) profile. Then using an oscillating tool with a diamond head to carefully cut out the required gaps.

But are they available in Thailand ?

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Having tiling done here is one of my major pain points, just FxxxXXX useless. I once removed a complete wall that had just been tiled as it was probably worse than your pictures. Was funny to see the contractors face when he returned the next morning to a pile of cleaned tiles waiting to be refitted.

And then? Did he do it again? Or refund your money?

I don't know if it takes a lot longer to do the tiling properly. I guess a little longer but not much longer. I think often when they do bad work then simply because they don't know how do to good work. So telling them to do it again won't change much because they still don't know how to do a good job.

[Yellowtail]

18 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And then? Did he do it again? Or refund your money?

I don't know if it takes a lot longer to do the tiling properly. I guess a little longer but not much longer. I think often when they do bad work then simply because they don't know how do to good work. So telling them to do it again won't change much because they still don't know how to do a good job.

All things the same, it takes significantly longer to do a gool job setting tile than to do a poor job. 

[david555]

4 hours ago, Will B Good said:

I do feel bad about having stepped back.....I didn't want this house, I was more than happy living in Bangkok.

 

As far as I am concerned she is just pouring money down the drain.

 

Having said that I have a sneaky suspicion that I am looking forward to correcting everything. I am an engineer by trade and qualification and have been twiddling my thumbs for sometime......I think there will be plenty to keep me going!!!!!!

"As far as I am concerned she is just pouring money down the drain.:

 

Pfft ! ...as long it is only her money ....????????

Edited April 27, 2022 by david555

[RocketDog]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

But keep in mind that if you do it yourself you have to make it perfect. Because otherwise there is a possibility that somebody will remind you for a long time that you wanted to do it yourself. And look what you did...

Yeah, but...

a polished turd is still better than a rough one.

[Colabamumbai]

5 hours ago, Will B Good said:

A major underlying problem here is village politics and 'face'.

 

The builder is my father-in-law's boss in tessaban ...........negotiations are more delicate than in the Middle East.

Then its time you let him know, you are the Boss. 

[lineofentry]

Should have warned them how fussy you are ????

Mai pen rai, have a beer mate, all gonna be dead in a few years and the world will still be spinning around.

 

Ps If you want a job doing properly etc

[MrJ2U]

Sorry to see that.  So unnecessary.

 

I've had some terrible builds also.  It costs a lot many times because it has to be torn out ans redone.

 

Many times the problem is because family gets involved with construction.

 

Good luck.  It'll work out eventually.

[LNKDES1]

5 hours ago, Will B Good said:

A major underlying problem here is village politics and 'face'.

 

The builder is my father-in-law's boss in tessaban ...........negotiations are more delicate than in the Middle East.

Get your FIL to come over and show him the shoddy workmanship. See if he can then have his boss, the builder, accompany him to view the work. Have your FIL then ask his boss if he would accept work like this if it were his home. This might get you what you want, After building many homes in the U.S., I personally would tear it out and start over.

[island coconut]

5 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Beginners!

 

Do u have insurance?

Insurance for this? ???? Get real. This is Thailand.

 

[petermik]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

If it's her money, who cares?

 

4 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Well I guess as her husband I should?

 

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

 

 

Op..this really is your wifes issue to deal with. My wife would not tolerate such a mess

If I were Will I would look for a new missus........

[recom273]

6 hours ago, Will B Good said:

.I have a tendency to be aggressive/aggressive

Love it!

 

I don't think plumb lines are illegal - I have seen the locals using them, but I hear that spirit levels are considered tools of the devil.

Edited April 27, 2022 by recom273

[Phil1964]

The more I see, hear and read the less inclined I am to move to Thailand to retire with my Thai wife, (mind you her psychosis is enough to put anyone off doing so anyway)!!

 

By the way that is poor work. Good luck at getting resolved. Take the poor work off and tell them to do it again and try tofind a tiktok video toshow them what level of expectation you have the quality of the job!

[Yellowtail]

15 minutes ago, Phil1964 said:

The more I see, hear and read the less inclined I am to move to Thailand to retire with my Thai wife, (mind you her psychosis is enough to put anyone off doing so anyway)!!

 

By the way that is poor work. Good luck at getting resolved. Take the poor work off and tell them to do it again and try tofind a tiktok video toshow them what level of expectation you have the quality of the job!

If you're wife is happy where you are, why would you move to Thailand?