Atrocious workmanship

[Chopinbkk]

It is not all bad news:

 

The contractors for AIS came to my place to lay the glass - fibre cable from the door to my router.
The guy did a terrible job, running the raw cable just above a light switch and failing to encase 1/3 of the way.

 

1 month (!) later having discussed the matter with Thai friends, who all advised me not to complain, I called AIS and told them about it.
The reaction was fabulous. Within 15 minutes I had a call back from a competent AIS guy, telling me that of course it was all inacceptable and they would rush to fix it at the first available slot. 
Bravo AIS!

 

[LarrySR]

I've noticed on many construction sites the sound of a jackhammer tearing out yesterdays work, then redo it a few more times, then finally settle for 80% right.

These same people are building skyscrapers. Imagine that.

[bbko]

2 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

surely there is the standard, legally required 12 month warranty on the construction.

????

[Bangkokhatter]

2 hours 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.

In this case i had taken pictures of the tiling before pulling it off again. When he turned up the next day i went through my issues with him, with the wife translating where necessary, albeit reluctantly.

I was shocked when i got back from work to see a much better job, not perfect but definitely acceptable.

So i asked the builder why he didn't do it like that the first time....just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

I have now bit the bullet, bought my own tools and do my own.

Anyone need any tiling doing ? this inflation is biting into my beer budget.

[Iamfalang]

I see this EVERYWHERE.   "resorts"......was in one last month.  I took pictures it was so comical.  

 

In my room now, I could count 100 mistakes if I wanted.   I don't.

 

only advice.   re-do it.....spend the money and make sure it is done right.  might sound bad, but maybe ask on Facebook if a foreigner can do it for you........

[Freddy42OZ]

6 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

It's you wife's house, what does your wife think about it and what does your wife want you to do? 

 

If my wife hired someone to do something, regardless of how it came out, if she were happy with it, I would do my best to bite my tongue and not start playing my tired, condescending chin-music and ruin it for her. 

 

If she's not happy with it, but does not want you starting a sh*t-storm, then why not just try to make her a little happier with it?

 

Are the workman finished and has she signed off? If not,  try suggesting she tells the workman my husband's an a-hole can you fix this...

 

If she has signed off and it's done, try to fix it. Start with something cheap and easy.  While it's painful to look at, it may not be as bad as it looks. 

 

First, get it all cleaned up and see what you have. If it's pretty much just the corners just try block-sanding them with wet-paper (start with #80) and get them rounded out nice and re-grout. A few hundred Baht in material and some labor and you might be surprised.

 

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

 

 

Could you live in a house that looks like it was built by peasants and to their low standards?  

I wouldn't be able to even be in a relationship with someone who's standards were that low.

[sometimewoodworker]

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

But are they available in Thailand ?

Probably, but finding them is a different matter.

[Mac Mickmanus]

 

   Use that as a place where to keep your toothbrush ?

[it is what it is]

 

my mate was having a house built in the uk, he made sure he was on site every day to answer innumerable questions, make decisions and quality check. i would absolutely not build a house in thailand unless i could do the same. 

[DJ54]

I was hoping it was temporary to get lines in place... A friend had house built ... . He loved to cook 

and one thing wasn’t as he wanted.  His wife said it’s not a big deal leave it as is. He said ok leave it 

like it is and every time I come home from work I’m going to bitch and complain to you... 

 

She called contractor and made them correct the problem.....

[rwill]

I had some work done on my home about 6 years ago.  I never really noticed these until reading your post, mostly because they are above head level in the bathroom.  The quality is close to yours.  One photo is the best joint and then a couple of the bad ones.  The seem to do ok where 2 pieces join but 3 way junctions give them a problem. (I've had about 10 different groups do work for me.  Not one of them would I call totally professional.  One of the people working on the land we just bought said, "I can do 80%.  Show me anyone that can do 100%.")

Thai construction is best viewed from a distance.  The closer you look the worse it gets.

Edited April 28, 2022 by rwill

[LetsGoJoe]

Over the years of living here I've acquired some DIY constructions skills, such as welding, woodworking, working with concrete and tiles, plumbing, electrical, ect... thanks to either not being able to find people to do small jobs or dissatisfaction with end result.

So many Thai men in the Villages are Somchais of all trades but really lack a work ethic that reflects an attention to detail and aesthetic value.  I'd trust them to build me a barn, that's about it.

 

If you are crying over the counter top.....yikes!...wait till they finish the house!!...you'll be suicidal! ????

[Yellowtail]

10 hours ago, Freddy42OZ said:

 

Could you live in a house that looks like it was built by peasants and to their low standards?  

I've lived in much worse. 

 

10 hours ago, Freddy42OZ said:

I wouldn't be able to even be in a relationship with someone who's standards were that low.

I bet.

[MadMuhammad]

My solution to continually poor workmanship and general unhappiness with the ‘well done’ stuff was YouTube and, mostly, cheap tools from Lazada. Pretty much anything can be learned easily with enough patience and commitment and I can almost guarantee your own work will be of a far higher standard than nearly all you will pay for here. YouTube is amazing for step by step, adult understandable guidance 

 

One bonus from taking this route I can now weld (mig & arc), remove and maintain my cars clutch, transmission and diff(older car), repair just about anything, reshape and respray my car body panels (pretty confident I’ll be able to fix crash damage as well), maintain and repair anything to do with my bore and constant pressure pumps, plumbing & electrical (A grade sparky anyway) and repair just about anything around the house. 
If you have the spare time and even basic tool knowledge give it a go, and delete the reliance on any of the jokers that pass themselves off as ‘tradesmen’ here 

[Yellowtail]

2 minutes ago, MadMuhammad said:

My solution to continually poor workmanship and general unhappiness with the ‘well done’ stuff was YouTube and, mostly, cheap tools from Lazada. Pretty much anything can be learned easily with enough patience and commitment and I can almost guarantee your own work will be of a far higher standard than nearly all you will pay for here. YouTube is amazing for step by step, adult understandable guidance 

 

One bonus from taking this route I can now weld (mig & arc), remove and maintain my cars clutch, transmission and diff(older car), repair just about anything, reshape and respray my car body panels (pretty confident I’ll be able to fix crash damage as well), maintain and repair anything to do with my bore and constant pressure pumps, plumbing & electrical (A grade sparky anyway) and repair just about anything around the house. 
If you have the spare time and even basic tool knowledge give it a go, and delete the reliance on any of the jokers that pass themselves off as ‘tradesmen’ here 

Yeah, I could do most of this stuff by the time I got out of high school, but I did not work 50 years to spend the last of them carrying bags of thin-set and boxes of tile upstairs before spending hours on my knees setting them. 

 

Setting tile is hard work.

[MadMuhammad]

1 hour ago, LetsGoJoe said:

Over the years of living here I've acquired some DIY constructions skills, such as welding, woodworking, working with concrete and tiles, plumbing, electrical, ect... thanks to either not being able to find people to do small jobs or dissatisfaction with end result.

So many Thai men in the Villages are Somchais of all trades but really lack a work ethic that reflects an attention to detail and aesthetic value.  I'd trust them to build me a barn, that's about it.

 

If you are crying over the counter top.....yikes!...wait till they finish the house!!...you'll be suicidal! ????

I think a big part of it is the thai sabai sabai attitude and acceptance of it is what it is. Very few expect a high standard of work and even fewer are capable of it. 
 

I just had my carport enclosed on two sides. The owner of the company is English private school educated and sone of the work I have seen in the picture gallery looked top notch. So I thought ‘hey, don’t supervise and put some trust in someone for once’. That lasted one day after I inspected the frame work haha.  
Luckily he’s a young guy trying to build a reputation and was very receptive to my critique so I became site foreman for 3 days, the ends result was actually something anyone could be proud of 

[MadMuhammad]

Just now, Yellowtail said:

Yeah, I could do most of this stuff by the time I got out of high school, but I did not work 50 years to spend the last of them carrying bags of thin-set and boxes of tile upstairs before spending hours on my knees setting them. 

 

Setting tile is hard work.

Very valid point and duly noted. I’m quite a bit younger than you obviously, but I’m also disabled. But sadly, doing it ourselves is the only way it’ll ever be done to any sort of acceptable standard. I guess it’s that or walk around with our eyes closed and our heads up our butts haha 

 

All the best mate, hoping you can find at least a half acceptable solution to the problem ????????

[Yellowtail]

25 minutes ago, MadMuhammad said:

Very valid point and duly noted. I’m quite a bit younger than you obviously, but I’m also disabled. But sadly, doing it ourselves is the only way it’ll ever be done to any sort of acceptable standard. I guess it’s that or walk around with our eyes closed and our heads up our butts haha 

 

All the best mate, hoping you can find at least a half acceptable solution to the problem ????????

I've been here over twenty years and between my home and the factory I have contracted at least fifty projects, most of which came out great. The last tile work I had done was the floor of my pump-room and it came out perfect. 

 

People spend twenty minutes talking to a contractor (that has no idea what they are saying) that nods and says okay every now and again. Then when they come back the next day, they are surprised when their instructions were not carried out completely. Been there, done that, and I'm too fat to wear that old worn out tee-shirt. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Yellowtail
clarity

[Yellowtail]

27 minutes ago, MadMuhammad said:

Very valid point and duly noted. I’m quite a bit younger than you obviously, but I’m also disabled.

My right foot was severed as a result of riding in the back-seat with my feet sticking out the window of a crew-cab, what's wrong with you? 

[Roy Batty]

I would consider teaching yourself how to do the work. I do all the work at my house except for electrical work. Finding solid workers here is like trying to find the Arc of the Covenant. It takes time to learn, but there are many instructional videos of how to online. I find it rewarding just knowing it will be done right.

[Will B Good]

16 hours ago, petermik said:

 

 

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

Keeping my eye out......555

[Will B Good]

18 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

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. 

New team in at the minute!!! Let's see how that goes.

[Will B Good]

18 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Her money is his money no doubt

To be fair...it is all hers....she worked for the British Army as a supervisor in the Officers Mess for 12(?) years

[Will B Good]

18 hours ago, Dancer57 said:

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/

Brill....thanks for that.

[Yellowtail]

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Keeping my eye out......555

I have one too many...

[Yellowtail]

58 minutes ago, Roy Batty said:

I would consider teaching yourself how to do the work. I do all the work at my house except for electrical work. Finding solid workers here is like trying to find the Arc of the Covenant. It takes time to learn, but there are many instructional videos of how to online. I find it rewarding just knowing it will be done right.

I would consider teaching yourself how to do the electrical work. I do all the electrical work at my house. Finding solid workers here is like trying to find the Arc of the Covenant. It takes time to learn, but there are many instructional videos of how to online. I find it rewarding just knowing it will be done right.

[Will B Good]

16 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

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

She always had her heart set on moving back.......and I am just one big softy (most of the time)

[Will B Good]

15 hours ago, Chopinbkk said:

It is not all bad news:

 

The contractors for AIS came to my place to lay the glass - fibre cable from the door to my router.
The guy did a terrible job, running the raw cable just above a light switch and failing to encase 1/3 of the way.

 

1 month (!) later having discussed the matter with Thai friends, who all advised me not to complain, I called AIS and told them about it.
The reaction was fabulous. Within 15 minutes I had a call back from a competent AIS guy, telling me that of course it was all inacceptable and they would rush to fix it at the first available slot. 
Bravo AIS!

 

Odd one......had 3BB in yesterday....they refused to wire in a router because there was a special offer on....TV box......but we don't have a TV......so they went???????????

[petermik]

16 hours ago, petermik said:

 

 

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

 

9 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Keeping my eye out......555

Coward......

[Will B Good]

15 hours ago, LarrySR said:

I've noticed on many construction sites the sound of a jackhammer tearing out yesterdays work, then redo it a few more times, then finally settle for 80% right.

These same people are building skyscrapers. Imagine that.

We suffered for three months..............jack hammer, as the moron above ripped out brand new, perfectly good, white marble tiles. 

 

The noise started up again two weeks after completion........went to juristic......the builder had put the wrong coloured tiles in!!!!!!!!!!