Time = money

I have just moved next door (from my previous bungalow) into a new bigger one, which is twice the size. 2 x bedrooms, 2 x bathrooms. Very happy the first two days but then.......
Water pressure was very low in the second bathroom so I got the landlord round to have a look. He sends a guy around (not the original plumber) this guy was the original Electrician. He carves out some of the wall and discovers that the P.V.C elbow joints are leaking. "No problem" he says, replaces a couple of elbow joints, and as at the time we had a power outage (no power to water pump) does not test, but goes on to re-render the wall.
I get back home from a week away and find water trickling down the wall in another room. "Fek" says me, even I know that you have to prepare the pipe and make clean before applying a generous amount of that blue glue. Seems like its just moving the problem to the next weakest link in the chain, so to speak.
I'm thinking who knows how mony of these shoddy joints the first guy who put his hand up to be the plumber arsed up, and how many walls they will have to tear apart. My question is, do Thais understand the importance of 'doing it right the first time' and do they supply a fair-dinkum P.V.C glue in Thailand?

no, they don't

I have been sold two tins of PVC solvent that didn't do the job.
I always clean the fittings and pipes first so I am confident it was the solvent

If you can get your hands on some neat - undiluted - carbon tetrachloride , use that instead of the poxy glue they sell you .
Some older drycleaners use it so you might be able to get a small quantity from one of those .

Thanks for the advice Happyman. I am going to suggest that they turn off the supply, drain the pipes and give 'em time to dry before moving to step #2 and gluing. Also will not give a shit about 'loss of face' while I hover around like a bad fart and supervise.

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Originally Posted by Happyman

If you can get your hands on some neat - undiluted - carbon tetrachloride , use that instead of the poxy glue they sell you .

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Thanks, will try my chemical supplier in Chaingmai.
Have you noticed that the price of PVC solvent has doubled recently?
I used to pay 25 baht for a small tin, last month I had to pay 50 baht for the same size.

I have recently done some plumbing around the house and the glue seemed to work very well.

I have done a lot of plumbing work on three houses here in Thailand, never had a problem with glue, you have to prepare the joints, file them, then emery\sandpaper then plenty glue, helps if you can rotate joints when you join.

(I hope I am not tempting fate writing this!)

^
Yep, I did all that.
I have done a reasonable amount of PVC plumbing but twice have had a day when the joints were fucked after a few weeks.

If you use a tin that has been opened some time, it can be useless

Carbon Tetrachloride is dangerous stuff

Don't breathe in the fumes as they can lead to liver damage, especially if you have had a drink or two

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

If you use a tin that has been opened some time, it can be useless

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I have had so many tins of the stuff turn to jelly that I now only buy the small tins and open it once and throw away what I don't use.

I have a feeling that the "joint glue" they sell in Thailand is not a solvent but a glue

If it is a solvent, then it is not a very good one!

anyway, rotating the joint is always a good idea, trouble is, the last joint is difficult!

As a former sparky, I have done a lot of work with joining PVC conduits. The same applies to PVC plumbing conduits;

a] both parts of the joining sections must be free of dirt &/or grease.
b] a "primer" must be used.
c] a final twist on complete insertion must happen.

It appears that yet again (I'm not amazed) that Thai "tradesmen" ( I don't believe there is such a thing) do not bother with the detail of the job.

Here's a good pictorial on how to join ALL PVC conduits.

Gluing PVC Pipe and Fittings - Connecting Plastic Pipe

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Originally Posted by mikehunt

It appears that yet again (I'm not amazed) that Thai "tradesmen" ( I don't believe there is such a thing) do not bother with the detail of the job.

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This is not the place for stupid remarks

Some of us would strongly disagree with that comment

I too have seen poor work but also excellent stuff

If you think you know better, then do it yourself

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Originally Posted by isdatu

My question is, do Thais understand the importance of 'doing it right the first time' and do they supply a fair-dinkum P.V.C glue in Thailand?

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In my experience, no ..... maipenrai means poor service, poor quality, wrong one, etc

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

This is not the place for stupid remarks Some of us would strongly disagree with that comment

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:confused:

You can get the glue in a tube which is much better than the stuff in a the tin which is rubbish and doesn't keep anyway.

good idea, I haven't seen it

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

This is not the place for stupid remarks

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Isn't it? :confused:

Remark:

Time = Money / Most stupid quote ever overused....

Time = not renewable, you have it once, you cannot buy time !

Money = renewable

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Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

This is not the place for stupid remarks

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Isn't it? :confused:

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no, they can go to "Issues"

bastards

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikehunt

It appears that yet again (I'm not amazed) that Thai "tradesmen" ( I don't believe there is such a thing) do not bother with the detail of the job.

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This is not the place for stupid remarks

Some of us would strongly disagree with that comment

I too have seen poor work but also excellent stuff

If you think you know better, then do it yourself

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There is nothing stupid about my comment:

a] in actual fact, there is no such thing as a tradesman in Thailand.
b] "some" would disagree but I'm sure that many wouldn't.
c] I have seen "good" work but this is largely the minority of cases.
d] I do know better & I therefore do it myself.

The "stupid" was referring to the generalisation that Thai tradesmen were inept

and a tradesman is

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a skilled worker, such as an electrician or painter

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and I have used many of them

In fact, your comment is meaningless in itself, as a tradesman is skilled and would be bothered with detail

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

The "stupid" was referring to the generalisation that Thai tradesmen were inept

and a tradesman is

Quote:

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a skilled worker, such as an electrician or painter

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and I have used many of them

In fact, your comment is meaningless in itself, as a tradesman is skilled and would be bothered with detail

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SORRY DOC, NO IDEA WHERE YOU'RE FROM. where i'm from a tradesman is someone one that has ex years apprenticeship , qualified , certified,and registered, now you wont find that in los mate so dont bother looking. even in farang land 90% of tradesmen are chancers. hence the cowboy lable.

It doesn't matter where I am from, the definition is not mine

There is not much difference between an apprenticeship and years on the job anyway, except the pay!

and, as you say, even in the West lots of qualified tradesmen are crap, so where does that lead us?

maybe, when you hire someone to do a job, you check out his previous work and not just take the first and/or cheapest; this may be Mikekunts problem