Did I overreact?

[Dean1953]

I just got back to the U.S. from 3 weeks of working on my house. I got done with everything that I wanted to finish. Except that I had a metal sign made that I was going to screw into the stone facade, using inserts that would go into the holes and the long screws would go securely into the inserts. Unfortunately, I only had wood drill bits for the Milwaukee cordless drill that I had brought with me from the U.S.  I bought a concrete drill bit but it’s diameter as too big to fit into my drill. With 4 days before leaving, I couldn’t find anyone that could spare 5 minutes of time to drill 4 holes. I explained what I wanted to the lady that takes care of my house ( and handling the supervision of teak window screen frames that I’m having made).  I even started the 4 holes in the facade, so there was no guesswork in where to drill the holes. I just got pictures of the finished work by the person making the teak frames.   Not exactly what I wanted and I don’t think that it looks nearly as good as it would have without the piece of wood. I told the lady that I wasn’t happy with it and would fix it when I returned in December I should have told her it was fine and just fixed it later. After having worked with Thais in construction for 20 years, I should’ve known better, leaving the completion to their devises but I thought that my instructions were clear. Now, I feel bad, telling the lady that I didn’t think it was beautiful. 
 

 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

So, you didn't want the wood? Heh. Many are going for exactly this rustic look, metal on wood. I thought it was intentional before I started reading. Just stain and seal it and call it a day.

[metisdead]

An offensive post has been removed.

[captainjackS]

What size holes did you want to drill into the wall?  Perhaps someone on this forum lives near your house and would have lent the proper tools to finish the job if we knew what you needed before end of your trip.

[billd766]

Most hardware shops in the villages sell concrete drilling bits. All you need to do is to take the insert to them and they will sell you the correct drill bit.

 

This is from Google Translate.

 

Concrete drilling bit =

 

ดอกเจาะคอนกรีต
Dxk ceāa khxnkrīt 

 

Take the old concrete drill bit along as an example.

 

Not every Thai shopkeeper knows how to speak English, but they do know their stock. If they don't have one they will point you out to a competitor who does.

 

They may even ask you to wait a few minutes and send a member of the shop staff to get it for you.

[Dean1953]

The wood would have been fine before I had the stone veneer installed last September. Now, other than taking the piece of wood off would be to prime then paint it black to match the numbers. I’d still prefer the numbers directly on the stone. 

[Dean1953]

The local shop sold me the concrete drill bit. When I took it back because it would not fit my U.S.drill, they said Thai drills allow bigger drill bits. I wasn’t going to argu with her. I’ll bring a set of concrete drill bits in December. 

[Dean1953]

A neighbor built my upstairs patio out of tile and concrete. He would have concrete drill bits but was too busy to spare 5 minutes to drill my holes. 

[steven100]

33 minutes ago, Dean1953 said:

A neighbor built my upstairs patio out of tile and concrete. He would have concrete drill bits but was too busy to spare 5 minutes to drill my holes. 

You come across as though you expect everyone to please you at the drop of a hat.  I can now see why the neighbor was too busy.  

Actually it doesn't look too bad ....   and its only a house number after all.

 

 

[Hummin]

33 minutes ago, captainjackS said:

What size holes did you want to drill into the wall?  Perhaps someone on this forum lives near your house and would have lent the proper tools to finish the job if we knew what you needed before end of your trip.

Yeah, thats a good idea ????

 

Could have been a lifetime friend

[Hummin]

If you want something done your way, you have to do it yourself, but you know that from 20 years experience, and yes, it can seems a bit harsh on her.

 

Not her foult

[NoDisplayName]

17 minutes ago, Dean1953 said:

The local shop sold me the concrete drill bit. When I took it back because it would not fit my U.S.drill, they said Thai drills allow bigger drill bits. I wasn’t going to argu with her. I’ll bring a set of concrete drill bits in December. 

You must have purchased a specialized bit for an industrial drill.  Or rather, the clerk sold you a specialized bit but couldn't admit the misteak.

 

Standard drill bits (metal, wood, concrete) are available at Global House, DoHome, Home Pro, Mr. DIY...............and of course local hardware shops.

[Dante99]

1 hour ago, Dean1953 said:

I thought that my instructions were clear.

Guess not.

 

The guy that made the steel number set also blew it.  The mounting brackets in their current position interfere with seeing the numbers clearly.  They are too big and in the wrong location.  Best to make them small as possible and located under the horizontal bar that the numbers sit on.  Then the numbers are clear.

 

You really should have given the lady a drawing of what you wanted, not just a bunch of words.

[Dean1953]

I think that it’s clear that I should have kept my mouth shut and fixed it when I come back in December.  From now on, any project that isn’t done before I leave gets shelved until I return because of the Thai losi face concern 

 

 

 

[DrCosmix]

I'm confused. "You just got back 'to' the US"...so all the the way through  this story I presumed it was happening in the States... er I guess it just goes  to show anyone can make mistakes...nice big job  though 

[Dante99]

 

1 hour ago, Dean1953 said:

I bought a concrete drill bit but it’s diameter as too big to fit into my drill. With 4 days before leaving, I couldn’t find anyone that could spare 5 minutes of time to drill 4 holes.

Why not just go back and get one with a smaller shaft.  They do make large diameter drills with small shafts just for people like you who have only drills with small chucks.

 

Can hardly wait to find out how the screen frames turn out since you have let folks know of your bad manners.

[billd766]

39 minutes ago, Dean1953 said:

The local shop sold me the concrete drill bit. When I took it back because it would not fit my U.S.drill, they said Thai drills allow bigger drill bits. I wasn’t going to argue with her. I’ll bring a set of concrete drill bits in December. 

The size of the drill bits that your drill will accept depends on the size of the chuck.

 

A 1/2 inch chuck will take about a 13 mm drill, a 3/4 inch chuck will take up to about 19 mm and a 1 inch chuck will take a 25 mm drill bit.

 

AFAIR there are small chucks that will accept oversize  drill bits but those drill bits have smaller ends to fit in the chucks, but are more expensive than the standard concrete drill bits.

 

A bigger and more powerful drill bought in Thailand is a better option than a smaller drill with less power, especially when drilling into concrete, and more likely to have a longer service life.

[Jerno]

Yes it looks like s.  Buy the right tools, do it yourself,  and save yourself stress and having to do it again.

[Dean1953]

Actually, the instructions were crystal clear.  I really micro managed this job to the smallest detail. My problem is that the lady asked the guy working on my wood window screens to put the letters up, instead of my neighbor who works with concrete every day. Of course, he is going to use wood. 
concerning the size of the letters and whether they are hard to see, that doesn’t bother me. I live on a dead end street in a rural area. No body would be relying on the letters to find the house. Anytime I have a delivery, they have my phone number and either call me or the lady that takes care of my house. And that isn’t very often 

I just talked with the lady. I convinced her that I should wait until December to decide to keep or fix. She wanted to paint the wood black but I felt that whoever painted it, except me, would get black paint all over the stone. In work on my house, I’ve always had to clean stain and paint off of floors and walls from other people’s work. I’d rather do it myself 

[Dean1953]

I have very few absolutes but I will only buy tools in Thailand as a last resort. The warranty is <deleted> and if they are imported, are much more expensive than tools in the U.S.  I’ll bring masonry drill bits next time for my impact drill. 

[OneMoreFarang]

Maybe there is a reason for that piece of wood. Maybe someone tried to put holes in the stones and ruined them. 

I tell you now so that you can familiarize yourself with that possibility. So when you remove the wood that you won't have a heart attack and you won't kill the housekeeper.

 

My personal experience with Thai construction guys is also getting worse. Until now I thought they did mostly a good job with my condominium renovation. Now I realize I should not only have asked them build a few new walls. I should have specifically asked them to build straight new wall. Because the walls which they built are not 100% straight and when I complain they look at me like: Really, you wanted straight walls? We didn't realize that... grrrrrrrr

[Dean1953]

I am curious why you consider my telling the lady that I didn’t like the way the letters were put on wood instead of the stone as bad manners? I guess that, 15 years ago, you would have considered me bad mannered when I fired the Thai that installed my sprinkler system with at least 7 major leaks?  
I have no doubt that the wood window frames will be fine. It’s only the upstairs windows that have metal frames that I’m replacing. The downstairs already have teak wooden window frames. That he did several years ago 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

Most hardware shops in the villages sell concrete drilling bits. All you need to do is to take the insert to them and they will sell you the correct drill bit.

A masonry drill bit only works properly in a hammer. Putting it in a little electric drill won't do the job.

 

[Dean1953]

Yeah, the possibility that they ruined the stone underneath the wood has crossed my mind. In that case, I have 2 options. My neighbor, the concrete guy, did the veneer and can replace damaged stone   Or, I can just paint the wood black and hope it takes 15 years to rot. That’s beyond my expiration date 

[Dean1953]

I’ll bet that I can get my impact drill to drill through 4 holes that were partially started with wood drill bits 

[jaiyenyen]

Black numbers against black wood? Won't that make it difficult to read?

[OneMoreFarang]

32 minutes ago, billd766 said:

The size of the drill bits that your drill will accept depends on the size of the chuck.

 

A 1/2 inch chuck will take about a 13 mm drill, a 3/4 inch chuck will take up to about 19 mm and a 1 inch chuck will take a 25 mm drill bit.

 

AFAIR there are small chucks that will accept oversize  drill bits but those drill bits have smaller ends to fit in the chucks, but are more expensive than the standard concrete drill bits.

 

A bigger and more powerful drill bought in Thailand is a better option than a smaller drill with less power, especially when drilling into concrete, and more likely to have a longer service life.

And then there are SDS masonry drill bits.

They all have the same size SDS shaft. 

 

[Dan O]

38 minutes ago, Dean1953 said:

Actually, the instructions were crystal clear.  I really micro managed this job to the smallest detail. My problem is that the lady asked the guy working on my wood window screens to put the letters up, instead of my neighbor who works with concrete every day. Of course, he is going to use wood. 
concerning the size of the letters and whether they are hard to see, that doesn’t bother me. I live on a dead end street in a rural area. No body would be relying on the letters to find the house. Anytime I have a delivery, they have my phone number and either call me or the lady that takes care of my house. And that isn’t very often 

I just talked with the lady. I convinced her that I should wait until December to decide to keep or fix. She wanted to paint the wood black but I felt that whoever painted it, except me, would get black paint all over the stone. In work on my house, I’ve always had to clean stain and paint off of floors and walls from other people’s work. I’d rather do it myself 

It is amazing how some tasks that should be clear based on instructions or average thinking can go in the opposite direction. Logic isn't always available in country. I've had several similar situations that baffle me on how the project went so wrong for a simple  task. 

 

I think if you paint the wood black you'll not see the number very well.  I would just remove the wood and take it off and remount the numbers directly to the stone as you wanted. They have cement caulking that works very good on holes and cracks in cement. if the color is a little off you can grind up some stone dust from you wall

and add it to the surface of the caulk and you'll blend it right in. 

 

As for overreacting to the lady, yeah thai's have very thin skin if you point out an error, even if it's not caused by the person you're talking too. I have the same problem with the wife, so I've learned to just not comment to her if there's a mistake and just deal with it myself. 

[simon43]

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

...

This is from Google Translate.

 

Concrete drilling bit =

 

ดอกเจาะคอนกรีต
Dxk ceāa khxnkrīt 

 

.....

Just ask for 'dork boon' (actually 'bpoon'), which means drill bit for concrete.  Or 'dork sawan boon' ) (power drill bit for concrete).

[chickenslegs]

5 hours ago, Dean1953 said:

The wood would have been fine before I had the stone veneer installed last September. Now, other than taking the piece of wood off would be to prime then paint it black to match the numbers. I’d still prefer the numbers directly on the stone. 

The metal numbers would (IMO) have looked really nice against the stone tiles. The wood panel ruins the effect.

I hope you have saved some of those stone tiles because, when you remove the wood panel, there will be some nasty looking holes which will be hard to disguise. It would be better to replace the damaged stone tiles before installing the metal numbers (again, IMO).

On the plus side, looks like the guy who installed the wood panel owned a spirit level.