Condo Renovations Driving Me Crazy !

[frankpelagic]

I have taken a 6 month lease on a condo in Pattayatai. I have been here four weeks now, and a week after I moved in, the farang above me has started renovations on his condo. I don't have a problem with anyone needing to do work on their home, but this bloke is doing it on his own, slowly. I have been suffering constant daytime banging for the last three weeks. I complained to the condo manager, who just tells me it will go on for at least another two or three weeks. I have complained to the rental agency, who I will not name yet, and they seem fairly disinterested now they have two months deposit from me.

I am not in good health, and usually have a nap in the afternoon, which has been out of the question for three weeks, and for the next few weeks it seems. My health is starting to suffer, to the extent that I may have to just forfeit my deposit, lose my ADSL connection and phone line, and move.

I can't understand why this guy doesnt get a swarm of Thai tradesmen in, and just get it finished. As I type this, above me constant bang bang bang bang etc.

I'm at my wits end, can any body help?

[PattayaParent]

Maybe he can't afford a swarm of Thai tradesmen.

Maybe he can do a better job than a swarm of Thai tradesmen.

I've just had some in my place and the job took twice as long as it should have 'cos I made them do it right after each time they'd f@cked it up.

Buy some earplugs and have a large scotch and wait it out.

[cudaproject]

Swarms of Thai tradesman in Pattaya are the biggest rip off I have ever come across and on the whole they're usless as well.. So I don't blame the gent for doing it himself...

Why don't you go up there and have a word to see when he expects it to end...

[bratpack]

Technically does the guy need a work permit to do this work,just a thought.

[gymshark]

It happened to me too, not much you can do other than leave. Perks of condo living I'm afraid.

[cudaproject]

Technically does the guy need a work permit to do this work,just a thought.

No, because he's not working for anyone/company, not earning money and in his own home.

[bratpack]

you cant win here gymshark.i have a one story house and the dogs are a nuisence,shitting everywhere except on their own patch

[chivo]

normally construction is only permitted in condo bldg's from 9 am to 5 pm, mon-thru friday.

it shouldnt interfere with night sleep.

perhaps itd be good to get out in the day, to avoid it?

[cudaproject]

the dogs are a nuisence,shitting everywhere except on their own patch

You should scoop it up onto a spade and throw it back either to where they live or where they sleep..

[PattayaParent]

It happened to me too, not much you can do other than leave. Perks of condo living I'm afraid.

But then he moves to a new place and a neighbour there starts to renovate.

Better sit it out with a pair of earplugs and a large scotch.

Or maybe go help the guy upstairs to get it done quicker?

[Naam]

you cant win here gymshark.i have a one story house and the dogs are a nuisence,shitting everywhere except on their own patch

check whether the dogs have a sh∞tting permit. if not they are not allowed to sh∞t!

[midas]

I have taken a 6 month lease on a condo in Pattayatai. I have been here four weeks now, and a week after I moved in, the farang above me has started renovations on his condo. I don't have a problem with anyone needing to do work on their home, but this bloke is doing it on his own, slowly. I have been suffering constant daytime banging for the last three weeks. I complained to the condo manager, who just tells me it will go on for at least another two or three weeks. I have complained to the rental agency, who I will not name yet, and they seem fairly disinterested now they have two months deposit from me.

I am not in good health, and usually have a nap in the afternoon, which has been out of the question for three weeks, and for the next few weeks it seems. My health is starting to suffer, to the extent that I may have to just forfeit my deposit, lose my ADSL connection and phone line, and move.

I can't understand why this guy doesnt get a swarm of Thai tradesmen in, and just get it finished. As I type this, above me constant bang bang bang bang etc.

I'm at my wits end, can any body help?

Same thing has been happening with me frank. I am determined not to let this get me down and i bought

some " ear putty " from a pharmacy. Its not perfect but it certainly makes the noise less of an irritation.

Not the same as earplugs which go inside the ear- this stuff is a bit more expensive but you just press it into

the ear to cover the ear canal.

[wasabi]

This is my worst nightmare and something I have tried to escape my whole adult life whether it's in Thailand or Farangland. I can't stand people who make noise all day. Why? Why can't they be considerate. This is why it's my dream to own a home with no neighbors within a few hundred meters, until then it's Scotch and earplugs.

[Who, me ?]

you cant win here gymshark.i have a one story house and the dogs are a nuisence,shitting everywhere except on their own patch

check whether the dogs have a sh∞tting permit. if not they are not allowed to sh∞t!

post of the day !!

[NanLaew]

Technically does the guy need a work permit to do this work,just a thought.

No, because he's not working for anyone/company, not earning money and in his own home.

Wrong! The Department of Employment and Ministry of Labour has two very clear definitions:

1. Alien: a natural person who is not of Thai nationality.

2. Work: to engage in work by exerting energy or using knowledge whether or not in consideration of wages or other benefit.

Technically you can get done for cutting your own lawn or painting your own fence. You could be a total arse and dob him in to the local authorities as has been done in the past.

"Some years ago, I remember reading about a guy in the Pattaya area who was hassled by the labor department for cutting his own grass. Apparently he fired his lawn service and the service owner knew someone, who knew someone, and the farang was told if he continued cutting his own grass he'd be in trouble."

Now the guy upstairs may be deliberately circumventing this legal requirement by working very, very slowly, thereby not exerting energy so the authorities would then start barking up your tree for stirring <deleted>.

[plasticpig]

The guy talks about someone renovating his own condo and you start talking about cutting grass.

What you like.

Edited June 12, 2008 by plasticpig

[sotsira]

I have taken a 6 month lease on a condo in Pattayatai. I have been here four weeks now, and a week after I moved in, the farang above me has started renovations on his condo. I don't have a problem with anyone needing to do work on their home, but this bloke is doing it on his own, slowly. I have been suffering constant daytime banging for the last three weeks. I complained to the condo manager, who just tells me it will go on for at least another two or three weeks. I have complained to the rental agency, who I will not name yet, and they seem fairly disinterested now they have two months deposit from me.

I am not in good health, and usually have a nap in the afternoon, which has been out of the question for three weeks, and for the next few weeks it seems. My health is starting to suffer, to the extent that I may have to just forfeit my deposit, lose my ADSL connection and phone line, and move.

I can't understand why this guy doesnt get a swarm of Thai tradesmen in, and just get it finished. As I type this, above me constant bang bang bang bang etc.

I'm at my wits end, can any body help?

I've been living in my condo in Jomtien for the last 4 years and the noise only seems to stop periodically before someone else gets started, it never seems to stop altogether in the 4 years i've been here.

I suppose the more units and floors the building has the less likely you will ever get any peace.

[plasticpig]

Buy condo off plan, two years after original completion date move in

Then 5 years of building work, as rest of the units are sold off.

7 year plan for some peace and quite in Thailand.

Sod that been there done that.

A house is far better, even if you have to restock it now and again.

Oink Oink

[sotsira]

Buy condo off plan, two years after original completion date move in

Then 5 years of building work, as rest of the units are sold off.

7 year plan for some peace and quite in Thailand.

Sod that been there done that.

A house is far better, even if you have to restock it now and again.

Oink Oink

I,ve also heard from some that live in a house that you get dogs barking all night and shi..ing all over the place, also you've got the security issue to worry about too.

So whats better construction noise from 9-5pm or dogs barking all night?

[NanLaew]

Easy, just don't live here. No construction noise, no renovation noise, no dogs barking, no dog shit, no grass to cut, absolutely buggerall to whine on internet forums about...

"I have just bought a new place in paradise. It's great; fantastic weather, cheap food and beer, never too hot, not far from the sea but it's so quiet, I find it eerie. During the days, I can sometimes hear the tropical breeze from the shore but most nights, I wake with a start, scared by the absolute silence here. It's almost deafening. I think I will have to get a dog soon..."

[Meg_2003]

I live in a house, No barking dogs all night , no construction noise.. silence.. And I'm in the center of Pattaya... Just choose the location wisely...

That just leaves the security issue, however a lot of condo's still have this problem!

I lived in Nirun Condo for a couple of years.. I also had the same construction noise sometimes.. That's the problem with condo's!

[cudaproject]

Technically does the guy need a work permit to do this work,just a thought.

No, because he's not working for anyone/company, not earning money and in his own home.

Wrong! The Department of Employment and Ministry of Labour has two very clear definitions:

1. Alien: a natural person who is not of Thai nationality.

2. Work: to engage in work by exerting energy or using knowledge whether or not in consideration of wages or other benefit.

Sorry, I was just speaking common sense there...

[Tyke]

Technically does the guy need a work permit to do this work,just a thought.

No, because he's not working for anyone/company, not earning money and in his own home.

Actually, not getting paid does not mean you are not doing work and hence need a work permit. Work permits are at least in principle needed even for voluntary and charity work. This is to overcome the possibility of being 'paid in kind'. Also 'in his own home' is also a bit of a grey area if you include a home office. So that leaves '..not working for anyone/company'. Mm...., well what about the self employed with no formal company set up?

[NanLaew]

So that leaves '..not working for anyone/company'. Mm...., well what about the self employed with no formal company set up?

You mean like teachers?

[bartender100]

Total sympathy with you, has happened to me twice, take your losses and move its not worth the money and hassle, dot pay your rent for as long as possible the move out when it gets ugly, you might just end 1 month out.

[bangkapiboy]

It's nobody's fault. It's out of the agency's control. Go upstairs and talk to the noisy guy.

[tuky]

I lived in an apartment in Azerbaijan for a while, the oil boom was just starting so most apartment owners were fixing them up to rent out to foreigners and make a killing. Fair enough.

However, they seemed to be doing it after their normal working hours, this meant hammering, drilling, banging etc would go on until 3am. I had one guy who kept drilling right through the wall into my apartment at times not that far away from my sleeping (trying to) head, other times these guys would be drilling or hammering etc and suddenly there would be a loud bang, a shout of pain and all the lights were out, obviously drilled right through the power cables.

One of the guys I was working with had the bloke underneath him renovate his ceiling, he came home from work one day to discover a huge hole in his own floor, he could look right down into the bloke belows apartment. It took months before that hole was fixed.

Anyway, I sympathise with the OP.

Sorry to spend so long with my story but I just wanted to illustrate that this happens all over the place and the OP should be glad that it doesn't happen at night...could be worse.

[Naam]

It's nobody's fault. It's out of the agency's control. Go upstairs and talk to the noisy guy.

and show him your Magnum.

[plasticpig]

It's nobody's fault. It's out of the agency's control. Go upstairs and talk to the noisy guy.

and show him your Magnum.

Would that be of Crusted Port or a Champagne?

[Kaojai]

Actually, not getting paid does not mean you are not doing work and hence need a work permit. Work permits are at least in principle needed even for voluntary and charity work. This is to overcome the possibility of being 'paid in kind'. Also 'in his own home' is also a bit of a grey area if you include a home office. So that leaves '..not working for anyone/company'. Mm...., well what about the self employed with no formal company set up?

In theory at least I think the issue is that work being done by you, either for pay or on a voluntary basis, precludes a Thai from doing the work for pay. So, even if you decide to pitch in and paint some classrooms at a local school as an act of kindness, some Thai house painter might otherwise have been paid to do the same thing.

Using that logic, doing do-it-yourself home construction work might be considered as depriving some Thai of paid employment. In the US you have to deal with building codes and union regulations and construction permits, etc

If the OP lives in the building I'm thinking of, at least during the "high season," I think from November to February, no construction is allowed. Apparently preferential treatment for the seasonal occupants compared to those of us who live here full time.

Construction noise used to drive me up the wall too, but I think I'm becoming more Thai in not allowing daily annoyances to bother me. You have to tune-it-out, which may initially seem impossible, but it's sort of like living near an airport or alongside train tracks ... after awhile you stop hearing the planes or trains... I guess.