Finding a good contractor?

[monsieurhappy]

Well! After over 20 years of living here in own house, I am yet to find a contractor who can or will do the job I need doing!

Be it painting, brickwork, carpentry or plumbing I have NOT found anyone who can do a good job even though I have NEVER tried to tie them down to a lower price!

Do others have the same experience?

If not, where do you find a good contractor?

I have asked the people who have used them to do jobs and been told they are satisfactory!

I have asked at the local DIY shop for recommendations and still ended up with poor quality work!

Are people not bothered by poor quality work?

I realise a lot of Thai people cannot afford expensive work, but they usually talk the contractor down anyway!

I nearly always accept the price quoted.

If you have experience of this and have found a good contractor, please share this information!

Rant over!!

[flyingtlger]

If you want it done right, you have to be on site and watch over every single step of the job....

[Bill97]

Go to the building sites of the highest quality homes.  There you will find the best contractors and see their work.

 

Actually very simple.

[AlexRRR]

58 minutes ago, monsieurhappy said:

Well! After over 20 years of living here in own house, I am yet to find a contractor who can or will do the job I need doing!

Be it painting, brickwork, carpentry or plumbing I have NOT found anyone who can do a good job even though I have NEVER tried to tie them down to a lower price!

Do others have the same experience?

If not, where do you find a good contractor?

I have asked the people who have used them to do jobs and been told they are satisfactory!

I have asked at the local DIY shop for recommendations and still ended up with poor quality work!

Are people not bothered by poor quality work?

I realise a lot of Thai people cannot afford expensive work, but they usually talk the contractor down anyway!

I nearly always accept the price quoted.

If you have experience of this and have found a good contractor, please share this information!

Rant over!!

The big stores like Home pro if you buy there products will do even a full renovation, rather than go down the route of looking for contractors i went through HP, still get the guys cutting corners etc, but over all the quality in most cases was fine, i was in building in a past life so i knew what to look out for, yes they had to come back a few times, yes they cant problem solve anyway they have a supervisor running your job who inspects daily and no there not super cheap but hey fraction of what it costs in AU, thats my recomended route here in this country with all the shonks out there..

[proton]

13 minutes ago, AlexRRR said:

The big stores like Home pro if you buy there products will do even a full renovation, rather than go down the route of looking for contractors i went through HP, still get the guys cutting corners etc, but over all the quality in most cases was fine, i was in building in a past life so i knew what to look out for, yes they had to come back a few times, yes they cant problem solve anyway they have a supervisor running your job who inspects daily and no there not super cheap but hey fraction of what it costs in AU, thats my recomended route here in this country with all the shonks out there..

We bought a toilet there, paid for the contractor. When he turned up he was not happy with the job and refused to put it in, bit difficult for him, row with the mrs. Back to HP who gave us the install money back, got a Cambodian to do it who re tiled at the same time. Getting workers from large building sites rarely works, can't do or not interested.

[monsieurhappy]

49 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Go to the building sites of the highest quality homes.  There you will find the best contractors and see their work.

 

Actually very simple.

I am 76 and at one time done a lot of these jobs myself. Now I cannot manage to bend and squeeze into awkward places. As a lot of these jobs are small I don't suppose these contractors want the trouble 

[monsieurhappy]

5 minutes ago, proton said:

We bought a toilet there, paid for the contractor. When he turned up he was not happy with the job and refused to put it in, bit difficult for him, row with the mrs. Back to HP who gave us the install money back, got a Cambodian to do it who re tiled at the same time. Getting workers from large building sites rarely works, can't do or not interested.

Where do you find a Cambodian when you need one??

[proton]

1 minute ago, monsieurhappy said:

Where do you find a Cambodian when you need one??

Doing a job next door!

[TravelerEastWest]

1 hour ago, Bill97 said:

Go to the building sites of the highest quality homes.  There you will find the best contractors and see their work.

 

Actually very simple.

A good idea. I have heard that the best workers are in Bangkok working on jobs for large buildings - good welders etc.

 

But overall difficult to find good workers in small towns and teh advice of watching every step is a good one.

 

A friend had a nice home built in CM and hired an outside engineer to check the work of all the columns and they all had to be redone.

[Pumpuynarak]

9 minutes ago, proton said:

We bought a toilet there, paid for the contractor. When he turned up he was not happy with the job and refused to put it in, bit difficult for him, row with the mrs. Back to HP who gave us the install money back, got a Cambodian to do it who re tiled at the same time. Getting workers from large building sites rarely works, can't do or not interested.

Bingo, i had exactly the same scenario last night. Wifey accused me and ALL farangs of having expectations that were unreasonable when having work completed by Isaan tradesmen (joke), we just have to accept poor quality work.

My reply ''if you accept s*** work don't be surprised if thats ALL you ever get'' Thai workman have a belief that in the case of painting and decorating just because they can hold a paint brush they're fit for purpose lol

 

I've got no problem paying guys good money for good work but i'm just not interested in any guys who clearly are not up to the mark. I had a new shower water heater fitted not long ago and the pratt could'nt even attach the shower head holder vertical, it was out of line, all he needed was a spirit level if his eyesight was'nt up to it. Probaly did'nt have one but i have one so he could of borrowed mine, i find on numerous occasions they don't even have the correct tools to do the job, beggars belief.

 

I won't tell you my remaining comments to wifey lol

 

In conclusion i have to say i have had very good work carried out by very competent tradesmen but they are few and far between and when you get their contact details for future work, hey presto they've disappeared or relocated.

I could go on and on and on lol

[AlexRRR]

35 minutes ago, proton said:

We bought a toilet there, paid for the contractor. When he turned up he was not happy with the job and refused to put it in, bit difficult for him, row with the mrs. Back to HP who gave us the install money back, got a Cambodian to do it who re tiled at the same time. Getting workers from large building sites rarely works, can't do or not interested.

Not my experiance had hp do a full reno of a condo...but....yes sure a few had very basic knowledge hence the supervisor running the job is whos ear i got into...

 

Problems now i look back were both toilets 20mm off the wall like really? becasue they were to lazy to go get an off centre collar, they fixed that, skirting not complete idiot thought he could leave the return out against the door arch, they stripped the the place and ended up taking the door locks away one brand new, expected me to re supply, i refused, they came out of the supervisors pocket, break down of comunication when orfering the job over a few things, thought they included but aparentlly not, somethings you wear somethings you push.

 

Like i said i was in building back home, also was aware about the suspect quality i could get, taking all things into concideration it was fine, could not give this to an Australian client..heaven forbid but really it turned out fine...

[Pitak Chirachat]

We sponsor work permit for a Cambodian couple. They do a better job. Even their previous Thai boss and construction business owner says so. We pay them better than average and have savings by buying material together with them. Basically I supervise and talk to them daily.

????

[monsieurhappy]

27 minutes ago, Pitak Chirachat said:

We sponsor work permit for a Cambodian couple. They do a better job. Even their previous Thai boss and construction business owner says so. We pay them better than average and have savings by buying material together with them. Basically I supervise and talk to them daily.

????

Does that mean they only do work for you or are they able to do work for others?

I'm having my house painted at the moment, on the roof right now, but it's very doubtful I'll let them do anymore after! I would appreciate the ph. of your Cambo. friends to use in future

Thanks.

[recom273]

13 minutes ago, AlexRRR said:

they stripped the the place and ended up taking the door locks away

I am going through this at the moment .. tradesmen in general have no respect for others work and don't ask.

 

I know this is a small issue, but related. I put up a 3x3 metal post outside my wall, the power crosses the road from a PEA pole across the road to the 3x3. When the contractor was up the post installing the insulators, I got him to put a conduit for the internet fibre, and a conduit and boxes for CCTV cameras on the side of the post. He slung up some temporary power, terminating in a box on the post. He took all afternoon, but he built footings out of rebar and cemented the post in, did a good job, considering it was just a stop-gap job to keep him busy.

 

Roll on 6 months, the electrical contractor comes to install the permanent mains, we went out to get some supplies, 15 mins tops. When I returned they had needlessly taken all the conduit and CCTV mounts down. Why? "Well, there was nothing in it" .. that's because we only just run the underground conduits in yesterday, do you remember doing it? But not only that, they had thrown the "C" clips and screws into the neighbors hedge. They got told to re-instate everything. In the end I had 2 clips holding each conduit, and a plastic bag of clips in the tall grass next to the post. 

 

They shot themselves in the foot, we planned all the installation with him, he spent time and money coming site, discussing the job on two occasions - then when it came to run the mains as we had a digger onsite. He turned up 2 days late, left early, "oh, I have another job" leaving some technical college kids to do the job. After this display he got told to do one, and we got another contractor.

[Rimmer]

2 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Go to the building sites of the highest quality homes.  There you will find the best contractors and see their work.

 

Actually very simple.

 

For smaller jobs my wife always does that, they are happy to come on their day off and make some extra cash.

 

She found a very good agile girl one day like that, who was happy to crawl all over the roof looking for cracked tiles and gaps where water might get in, we have all the ladders and frames and such but roofs are too much for me.

[Road Warrior]

good luck !!!!

[monsieurhappy]

On 7/26/2023 at 10:59 AM, Rimmer said:

 

For smaller jobs my wife always does that, they are happy to come on their day off and make some extra cash.

 

She found a very good agile girl one day like that, who was happy to crawl all over the roof looking for cracked tiles and gaps where water might get in, we have all the ladders and frames and such but roofs are too much for me.

Looks like you've got more kit than the average contractor has!!

[Rimmer]

5 hours ago, monsieurhappy said:

Looks like you've got more kit than the average contractor has!!

 

Yes I think we have,  it includes climbing frames, extensible ladders, compressor, spray guns, nail guns, a dozen angle grinders and power drills, hammer drills  even a  Lawn tractor, enough even to start a tool hire company ???? 

[The Theory]

On 7/26/2023 at 7:42 AM, monsieurhappy said:

If not, where do you find a good contractor?

I have asked the people who have used them to do jobs and been told they are satisfactory!

Most people have no idea what is a quality work. One of them even had no clue about wiring a 2way switch ????. 
I've dealt with many different contractors during my house construction. Amazing experience ????????. They all say yes and they can do the work ????????. If you have no idea about construction (mostly don't) then you will be surprised when the job is done. 
I believe it is just a matter of luck if you find the right one. 

[Mark Nothing]

I threw in the towel about 10 years ago on hiring workers.  My experience matches yours. 

 

I learn to live with the problems.  But if the work is really necessary I learn how to do it myself by watching tutorials and buy the tools, materials and do it myself.  

 

The straw that broke the camels back for me was a hiring a worker to redo my wooden front doors with sun damage.  A simple sanding off old stain and redoing was all he had to do.  During transport in his pickup truck the doors were thrown off making gouges in corners and edges.  The old stain was not completely removed prior to restaining.  Then he broke out the mirrors and lights in the elevator when returning the "completed" door causing hassle and expense repairing lifts, which he angrily denied.

 

 

[jacko45k]

15 hours ago, Mark Nothing said:

I threw in the towel about 10 years ago on hiring workers.  My experience matches yours. 

Yes many do seem to be clumsy and lacking in experience.... thinking they might know their job is an error. From the bug sprayer who poisoned my fish and another who sprayed the liquid into electrical sockets, and a gardener who sliced up my water pipes with his strimmer.......to the pool servicers that sprayed water on the pump to clean it!