Be Very Very Careful When Getting A Building Contractor.

[StevenHeidbriderSr]

I paid a supposed friend of the family too much money in full to do a small renovation on my home in a small village outside Nong khai. I am very UNhappy with the the mess this guy left.

The workmanship is so poor its as if he never heard of a measuring tape or a square. Not to mention the mess in my yard from left over hunks of concrete to piles of sand and gravel and plain old trash.

If you are considering any contractor BE SURE to get references from at least three former clients. And be sure they are Xpats!!!

[ShopBoy]

how much money you paid the contractor and what renovation did he do ?

[bergen]

So you're new in town??

[sezzo]

If you pay upfront then its like winning the lottery to them. The wife learnt after a couple of events if you pay them first then only half the job is done and they disappear. Lesson learnt is never pay them the full amount until the job is done. I have found thais never clean up after a job. Anything ie. building materials, drink containers, cigarette butts, that is discarded, cut off or not used will be just left lying on the ground next to the job.

[blue eyes]

If you pay upfront then its like winning the lottery to them. The wife learnt after a couple of events if you pay them first then only half the job is done and they disappear. Lesson learnt is never pay them the full amount until the job is done. I have found thais never clean up after a job. Anything ie. building materials, drink containers, cigarette butts, that is discarded, cut off or not used will be just left lying on the ground next to the job.

About right.

[Boyce]

Would you pay upfront to a builder , in your own country ? No i think is the awnser , so why pay upfront in thailand where a farang cannot own land of a house 100%, only 49%, it's the one% that makes all the difference.

Don't pay untill the job is done to your satisfaction, only pay for the materials needed to keep the job going.

[DJH77]

Would you pay upfront to a builder , in your own country ? No i think is the awnser , so why pay upfront in thailand where a farang cannot own land of a house 100%, only 49%, it's the one% that makes all the difference.

Don't pay untill the job is done to your satisfaction, only pay for the materials needed to keep the job going.

You cannot own the land BUT you can OWN the HOUSE.

[jamescollister]

Done a fair amount of building out my way and all work is per job, say 100 Baht per meter for concrete. You pay the the material, builder pours the concrete. When done you pay, next he qoutes to lay tiles, so on.

DJH, you may well own the house but unless you can move some else there is no guarantee you will be allowed to live there. Jim

[Boyce]

Would you pay upfront to a builder , in your own country ? No i think is the awnser , so why pay upfront in thailand where a farang cannot own land of a house 100%, only 49%, it's the one% that makes all the difference.

Don't pay untill the job is done to your satisfaction, only pay for the materials needed to keep the job going.

You cannot own the land BUT you can OWN the HOUSE.

Only on a lease, i have had friends in the same situation , and it's not a comfortable one to be in if the family dont want you there.

[Boyce]

No land ownership worries with this idea.

Click the photo..

[Sharp]

That's funny.... Air tax though

[MobileContent]

Pay the builder a small down-payment to get motivated to start but make sure you buy all the materials. Also try to be onsite when he does the work.

[ubonrthai]

Regularly being on site is the only way to get something completed close to what you hope for. We had quite a few "changs" do a variety of house work the last few years. I have 5,000 baht sitting in a jar and the first chang who finishes on time and cleans up his mess gets it. None have done either of those things yet.

[maturebrit]

Pay the builder a small down-payment to get motivated to start but make sure you buy all the materials. Also try to be onsite when he does the work.

bang on mate....also if hiring an electrician make sure he comes recommended... one I talked to didnt even know what a breaker box was let alone installing it

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MobileContent]

Pay the builder a small down-payment to get motivated to start but make sure you buy all the materials. Also try to be onsite when he does the work.

bang on mate....also if hiring an electrician make sure he comes recommended... one I talked to didnt even know what a breaker box was let alone installing it

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

This is a very valid point. Some builders have no idea what a circuit breaker is and a third cable (ground cable). I had luck that my FIL does know about this and he build my house the exact way I wanted it. I even asked him to fire some of the workers when I noted that they did a pure job, when they came drunk for work in the morning or when they didn't came at all.

[jamescollister]

Pay the builder a small down-payment to get motivated to start but make sure you buy all the materials. Also try to be onsite when he does the work.

bang on mate....also if hiring an electrician make sure he comes recommended... one I talked to didnt even know what a breaker box was let alone installing it

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Electrician, no such thing where I live, village idiot does most of the wiring round here.

We have a small factory, 32 kw transformer in site, village idiot would have been toast. We went to the power companies line yard and hired them to do the work on weekends. Jim

[krisb]

Pay the builder a small down-payment to get motivated to start but make sure you buy all the materials. Also try to be onsite when he does the work.

bang on mate....also if hiring an electrician make sure he comes recommended... one I talked to didnt even know what a breaker box was let alone installing it

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Electrician, no such thing where I live, village idiot does most of the wiring round here.

We have a small factory, 32 kw transformer in site, village idiot would have been toast. We went to the power companies line yard and hired them to do the work on weekends. Jim

Thats a great idea Jim.

Note to self,visit power company, find good sparky.

[krisb]

Hi op, can you put some pics up please? We like to see these examples of what not to do.

[jamescollister]

Pay the builder a small down-payment to get motivated to start but make sure you buy all the materials. Also try to be onsite when he does the work.

bang on mate....also if hiring an electrician make sure he comes recommended... one I talked to didnt even know what a breaker box was let alone installing it

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Electrician, no such thing where I live, village idiot does most of the wiring round here.

We have a small factory, 32 kw transformer in site, village idiot would have been toast. We went to the power companies line yard and hired them to do the work on weekends. Jim

Thats a great idea Jim.

Note to self,visit power company, find good sparky.

Like many things here, think outside the square. We used the local council, their trucks,and diggers to do work on the weekends. Mate of mine got the fire department to fill his pool, wheels within wheels. Jim

[endure]

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[dantilley]

Links to external sites are against forum rules

Really? No external links are allowed at all? When was this new rule introduced?

[endure]

Sorry - that should have read 'links to member's own sites' etc. You can stick your URL in your profile.

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[klikster]

"Be Very Very Careful When Getting A Building Contractor:

.. especially a farang ..

[manxninja]

Il give you a tip as a bricklayer / builder myself.

The majority of builders are decent people . Ive never gone into a job thinking il rip someone off but:

You get the occasional asshol_e that messes the builder around thinking they are clever. Trust me these people always end up paying more for a shit job.

Its like payback for the bad manners they have. Always treat a good builder with respect and the occasional cuppa and you wont go wrong.

There are bad builders but also bad customers .

[jamescollister]

Can't complain about price or finish with my builders. They are hard at it right now, Chinese New year coming up and they need money to party. If it's not party time it's rice planting or harvesting, then there is cassava planting and harvesting time etc etc.

They have been here 4 years on and off, more off than on, but time runs at a different speed here, figure they have another 4 years work ahead.

OK in my book, don't have the money to do it all at once, they just come and go as they feel and I pay for each job as it is done. As each bit, tiling say done, time to party and kick back until the money has gone. Jim

[maturebrit]

smart move Jim

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[StevenHeidbriderSr]

_{UPDATE... It seems the builder will finish the job for a few thousand baht more which is fine with me as most things that are poorly done are easily rectified by me with the purchase of a few tools. But since we agreed to a finish amount that wasnt in the contract i havent seen or heard from the contractor.}

[StevenHeidbriderSr]

I have pretty much decided to DROP the matter entirely and sooth my Ego after traveling several thousand miles to be cheated. I will write this off as a lesson learned and move on.

I have nothing but praise for the contractors supplied by tesco and Global as they have been both professional and reasonable.

[jamescollister]

Got to love the place, builder and his 2 guys doing some tiling, not been paid yet. They disappear, ask where have they gone. Farang about 40 km away needs his roof fixed and is paying 5 times what I pay.

Ask how did they get there, builder has no pickup truck, he hired FIL to drive them there in our pickup.

After 3 days work they are back, but not to work.

Builder, who can not drive is off to buy his own secondhand pickup truck. Ask how he can afford a car.

No problem, have rice, cassava and building work, If things slow will come here and work, been working on your house for over 3 years, maybe another 3 or 4 years to finish.

He is right, have a bridge on one of the rubber plantations, a new hot air rubber shed to build and more as we expand. He may work for us, more off than on for the rest of his life. Jim

[maturebrit]

Got to love the place, builder and his 2 guys doing some tiling, not been paid yet. They disappear, ask where have they gone. Farang about 40 km away needs his roof fixed and is paying 5 times what I pay.

Ask how did they get there, builder has no pickup truck, he hired FIL to drive them there in our pickup.

After 3 days work they are back, but not to work.

Builder, who can not drive is off to buy his own secondhand pickup truck. Ask how he can afford a car.

No problem, have rice, cassava and building work, If things slow will come here and work, been working on your house for over 3 years, maybe another 3 or 4 years to finish.

He is right, have a bridge on one of the rubber plantations, a new hot air rubber shed to build and more as we expand. He may work for us, more off than on for the rest of his life. Jim

yup thats how it goes.... time means nothing.... just for a giggle I used to give engineering drawings to a few guys working for us and they had no idea what they were looking at.....its all done by the rule of thumb heheheheheh