Thaipete's build

[Thaipete]

We now have power in the house (and it ain't 'flower power' either! ). The power guys came today and got the remaining lights and sockets in place. They also connected the power to the main road - and there was a big "hurray!" as the lights went on. Mind you, they then spent ages scurrying around checking and fixing the lights that weren't working. The wife asked them where the connections for the (maybe) future air-cons were - and got the reply that they hadn't forgotten about them and they'd be appearing soon. Pretty much a lie, as I noticed a couple of the guys were totally taken aback by the question - and there were yet no cables put in anywhere, either, even though they'd insisted that all cables were in already place from their first visit, a while back.

Jeez, it was like a panic had suddenly set in and the guys were flying all around the house trying to get the air-con wires hung before it got dark. They eventually said they were finished, packed up and quite literally raced off into the sunset...

We were naturally pleased that the power was on - though they left behind one helluva mess.

A later control of points and lights showed that 2 of the outside lights were broken (though they still worked), the hob point inside the kitchen cupboard apparently hasn't been connected (or maybe there's just no cable at all) - and they managed to scar and/or crack several floor tiles. Besides that, they hadn't cemented around the outside lights - and some power points, too - real ugly work!

My stepbrother was a power guy - and I well remember him saying that it was pretty common for power guys to do real crap work - maybe the customer would notice, maybe not. If they DID notice, then the work would be made good - any defective items would then be used on another unsuspecting customer. In the end, they could get rid of all their bad-functioning stuff, as there'd always be a customer who wouldn't notice (or didn't bother to check).

The wife called the chang - who was definitely not happy, especially as he knows I'll be posting about this, here...

The lights are on!....

Bathroom water heaters are up (don't klnow if they work, though) ....

Bedroom wall lights - and with a central "dimmer" too! ......

[Thaipete]

Weeeellll, hey! The wife apparently took a photo or two. Here's one outside light "fixed" with a screw in the obvously broken metal tube, so the whole fixture doesn't wobble around in the breeze. Much the same is the outside light at the rear of the house - if you touch the glass dome, the the whole friggin' fixture, except the base, turns upside down! Yeah, right! Installation at its best

N-I-C-E !!!!!

Same fixture...

[pipoz]

Nice, how the lights on at dusk make a nice difference

pipoz

[Thaipete]

Nice, how the lights on at dusk make a nice difference

pipoz

Yep - sure does! Looks even better when the sun's gone down a bit more, too - after that (when it's completely dark) it's not that interesting, as it's pitch black out this way, so you can't really see anything more than a few yards away from the house.

Don't forget to check all your installations, too - just as a matter of course. Might be a pretty boring job to do, especially if everything is as it ought to be - but at least you'll have some peace of mind.


Cheers

[Thaipete]

The continuing story....

We stopped off at the chang's house early this morning, to air our power grievances - the chang said the power guys would be returning today at 9am, to "fix things". It turns out that the subcontractor didn't have the time to finish our power instalment, so he subcontracted it out to another company - which explains why we hadn't seen these power guys before.

We don't know for sure if the guys actually turned up, as we were away all day - others could just as easily have "fixed things". The wiring is still hanging out the walls and there have been attempts to fix the 2 light fixtures. In one case, the weird screw holding the thing together has been replaced with washers - but the fixture is still pretty wobbly - and pug-ugly! The other fixture still turns upsude down at a light touch. We don't want these fixtures - they're not as they should be.

If they're not replaced, then we'll be certain to make a point of informing any further people asking about, or wanting to view, the house - that we're not satisfied - and recommend that any viewers find an alternative builder at once.
BS can work both ways ....

I used a stepladder to check the other similar outside fixtures - all are OK, none loose or can move at all - pretty solid, in fact - just how they should be.

There were a few workers here, mainly filling holes and painting - but there's not the friendly atmosphere of before. We only got one syllable replies if we asked about anything...oh well, s**t happens.

Main bedroom wall - aircon wires.....

Bedrooms & Living Room aircon wires

Outside fixture at rear of the house .....

Unidentified (as yet) wires outside main bedroom ...

Front fixture now with washers (and free scratch marks?) ....

[Thaipete]

Doors & windows guys came again today - this time to put insect nets up. Nice work, quick and professional - and no complaints from us. I'm perhaps not happy about the style of sliding insect screens for the front of the house - I'd rather have swing doors, but that's a no-go in these parts. Still the sliding screen doors are pretty okay - and I can probably get used to them. Bathroom window screens are great - hinged and with locking pins - so they can be cleaned.

In the afternoon two guys came to install the outside water pipes. We discussed the drawing I'd made, changing a couple of things - placement of the pump and the tap points now placed outside the house apron, rather than up against the wall. It's no big deal as far as I'm converned - and it makes the work easier. Valves are to be put in at each house inlet pipe, so that the water can individually be turned on/off at each side of the house. The guys will build a low platform for the water tank to stand on and there will be a bypass inlet pipe, for when the power's out (so we can continue to use water).

Some other guys have today been clearing the tons of wood the workers have used these last months. Most of it appears to be driven to the local dump, while the stuff I'd collected these last couple of months (in a pile) was torched. Unfortunately, the guys don't seem to be able to tell the difference between a compost heap and a wood heap, so they torched the compost heap as well.

Bathroom window insect screen ...

Water pipes being installed ....

Wood pile I'd collected over time ...

Until today, this was my compost heap, now it's mostly ashes ....

[gliffaes]

I love why they dont bury pipes deeper here, I asked my builder once ( I did my own plumbing) he said "when" it leaks................I laughed as he was expecting it to leak, theres me thinking " when someone sticks a fork or hoe thru that etc"
Mine are down about 50 cm and the electric too, at the very least if shallow id stick them inside another pipe of the 13,5 variety as extra protection ie 2 inch pipe.
I take it the red Thai notes say "what is that wire for" and for the lamp "did you forget your spirit level"

[Thaipete]

Agree - and this is why it's important to know exactly where the pipes (and cables, maybe) are placed. We visited a house we were interested in buying (a while back, now) and the owner didn't know where the water pipes were and we were told "there are some live cables in the ground, too - somewhere". Not sure I'd fancy being the gardener on that property .....

I take pics of the pipes and will make a drawing to keep with the house plans, etc. We don't have (or want) cables in the ground, so it's not a problem for us. Too, we don't plan on having any plants so close to the house, either. Even then, there's still the risk of hitting the pipes unintentionally ....

A few years back, new main water pipes were laid along the road outside the house. You can see the pipes here and there, as they're only put in shallow trenches, not buried properly. There has been a leakage from day one, which we reported two (or three) times, but no action was taken, so we gave up. We get free water from the leakage which waters our banana palms!

The lamp is now at an even more acute angle - and we're still waiting to hear what the bunch of wires are for. The wife is already spreading the information about these two problems to any people asking about the house. Word soon gets around in these parts .....

[Thaipete]

A couple of guys were working on the house when we came home in the late afternoon. The worker we'd originally talked to about the water pipes was gone, leaving an old guy to do the job. He'd installed the inlet valve to the bathroom way too low, so we asked him to bring it up to "apron" level, but thanked him otherwise for his work on the pipes. Unfortunately, the water pump has been placed on the cement apron - but not screwed down....yeah, right on...

The wife was definitely not happy = some !@#$% had spilled some oily liquid on the terrace floor tiles and hadn't cleaned it up. Too, the broken bathroom floor tiles had been replaced - but hadn't been aligned properly and were sticking up above the surrounding tiles.

One guy had been filling in the gaps under the side of the house, then saying he was finished. Yeah, then WTF are those long gaps for - free air conditioning?

A lot of stuff had been carted away, wood, bamboo, paint, tiles and whatever, leaving the area looking a lot cleaner.

Naturally, some areas outside the apron were again full of various forms of crap and garbage. Jeez, these guys are sure good at making a mess of things! Iknow they maybe ain't happy that we're finding fault with the work that's being done, but making even more mess sure don't improve things.

Well, it was their finishing time and they were already off, so that day was gone. We reckon the chang will soon be asking for the final payment - ain't no way I'm coming up with the full amount until things are rectified.

House looking neat and tidy .... at last....

Pump looking nice - but not screwed down ....

Ain't sure yet if these pipes are okay or not ....

[Sometimewoodworker]

Just FWIW from a function point of view the pump doesn't need to be screwed down. Ours hasn't been for the last 7 years.

From a security point of view it may need to be

[Thaipete]

The pump in our present house isn't screwed down, either - and as you say, they can function. Our pump is around 6 years old and there have only been a few minor problems along the way - broken pipes, mainly. Only twice I've had to dash out of the shower with soap everywhere, to shut off or fix the thing, so that's not too bad - for a 2600 Baht pump, too. Mind you, I cursed like a trooper the time it was pouring down and I was forced to stand there figuring out why the pump was behaving strangely ...

However, I must admit that I'd prefer the pump for the new house to be screwed down - I'd hate the bluddy thing to suddenly start rapidly vibrating (shaking) or even maybe moving, especially if a connected pipe decides to fracture or come loose. Anyway, we'll see how things go, eh ....

[Thaipete]

In the morning the power guys came again. We hadn't seen these guys before, so we just left them to get on with whatever work they had to do. After about 2 hours of working they called out to us and we went to look. Yay! The faulty lamp fixtures had been replaced and all the wires that had been hanging out of the room walls were now enclosed in boxes, rather ugly ones, perhaps, but at least it all looked a lot more tidy. They'd also replaced a noisy bedroom ceiling fan with another one, which was still noisy, but less so. The guy reckoned the motor was new and making the sound - after a while it'd probably be a lot quieter. I tested the replacement lamps, too and they worked just fine. It all looked good and the guys were happy and very polite - a big change from the last lot. They drove off to inform the chang that they were now finished.

Whahey! The chang rolled up during the early afternoon, all smiles and polite conversation. When we saw him arriving we were well aware of what he'd come after - money.

He said the all the remaining work on the house was now finished and we could all go take a look inside and outside the house to check. The wife and I just looked at each other and said "Great!".

Inside the house the wife showed the chang the misaligned bathroom floor tiles. Whoa - that certainly didn't look good, they'd be changed - but that would only take a short while to do.

Yep - and here's the big granito tile in the living room that someone hit with something heavy. Yeah, that ain't
good - it'll have to be changed, it's too damaged to be repaired.

Into the bathrooms - these taps lying on the floor, they're supposed to be hanging on the wall. Yeah, looks like someone forgot all about them.

Into a bedroom - see here, this wall ain't been painted. Yeah, that's not good. The door needs some more stain here.
OK, it'll be done.

The kitchen wall cabinets haven't been put up. No, they're too difficult for the guys to do - and I'm not
obliged to put them up. Gee, thanks.

There are chips in the cement around the windows. They'll have to be fixed.

Outside, you can still see the wires in the carport lamps. Oh, sorry, somebody forgot to cement them over.

Around the house there's a dozen or more other things that still ain't finished - and the guy still wants money. I only
had two words for him "mai dai!" (no way!). When the work's finished we'll be there with the money, not before. Yeah, but he's got people screaming at him for unpaid bills. Maybe you shoulda turned up a week ago with your guys and got the job finished - you'da had your money already.

In that case, he'd send some guys around this afternoon and get things finished. Sure. After another hour some guys do turn up and things start rolling. The chang turns up later and joins in the fight to finish. Unfortunately, they're still at it long after the banks have closed - and surprise, surprise at the end of the day they're nowhere finished. They leave for the day and we take a look at what they're doing. The bathroom tiles have been changed - and they look satisfactory.

The big granito tile has been changed but not cemented in place yet. I dread the wife looking at it, as it's not the exact same shade as the surrounding tiles. However, she apparently can't see the difference, which I'm surprised about, as she can almost always spot anything remotely out of place.

We're not happy, as we feel the chang's trying to take us for a ride. At the same time the build is generally of excellent quality - and it's just these last few details getting us down. We're more than happy to pay for everything - but we're sure we need to be strict and pay only when things are done and finished.

Wonder what tomorrow wil bring.......

[Roger Ramjet]

The guy reckoned the motor was new and making the sound - after a while it'd probably be a lot quieter.

Don't believe a word of it. If it's noisy now it will get worse later.
I have a spare ceiling fan sitting doing nothing so if you're down this way just give me a call and you can have it. Good quality and the motor has a ten year warranty if I remember.

[gliffaes]

A couple of guys were working on the house when we came home in the late afternoon. The worker we'd originally talked to about the water pipes was gone, leaving an old guy to do the job. He'd installed the inlet valve to the bathroom way too low, so we asked him to bring it up to "apron" level, but thanked him otherwise for his work on the pipes. Unfortunately, the water pump has been placed on the cement apron - but not screwed down....yeah, right on...

The wife was definitely not happy = some !@#$% had spilled some oily liquid on the terrace floor tiles and hadn't cleaned it up. Too, the broken bathroom floor tiles had been replaced - but hadn't been aligned properly and were sticking up above the surrounding tiles.

One guy had been filling in the gaps under the side of the house, then saying he was finished. Yeah, then WTF are those long gaps for - free air conditioning?

A lot of stuff had been carted away, wood, bamboo, paint, tiles and whatever, leaving the area looking a lot cleaner.

Naturally, some areas outside the apron were again full of various forms of crap and garbage. Jeez, these guys are sure good at making a mess of things! Iknow they maybe ain't happy that we're finding fault with the work that's being done, but making even more mess sure don't improve things.

Well, it was their finishing time and they were already off, so that day was gone. We reckon the chang will soon be asking for the final payment - ain't no way I'm coming up with the full amount until things are rectified.

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Id stick a few blocks with cemnet round those valves and a top on to protect them. Pipes too shallowly laid for my liking.
One thing i learnt is to really "not care" about what the builders think at all as they REALLY dont care about you 9 times outta 10..............of course you decline anything they ask for with a long winded excuse and smile.

[Thaipete]

The guy reckoned the motor was new and making the sound - after a while it'd probably be a lot quieter.

Don't believe a word of it. If it's noisy now it will get worse later.
I have a spare ceiling fan sitting doing nothing so if you're down this way just give me a call and you can have it. Good quality and the motor has a ten year warranty if I remember.

Thanks for your very kind offer, RR - very generous of you, but hopefully not needed...

We've had the fan turning while we work in the house now and then. It seems to be quieter now - but that could just be our imagination - or perhaps it's the lull before the storm, so to speak. It's not in the bedroom that we'll be using, so it's not really that important. We don't really use fans that much, anyway - mostly just in the hot season - in the afternoons. The wife will also use a fan (floor fan) at night when it's very hot - but she has to keep the thing from blowing all over me - I won't tolerate trying to sleep in a storm.

Still that's all in our present house, which has absolutely no roof insulation of any kind and can get very hot at times. We're hoping that the insulation in the new house will cut down a lot of need for any use of fans. Only time will tell, of course ....

Thanks, again and cheers