# Shoddy workmanship from around the world. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225 "2013-10-14T16:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/21 "2013-10-15T10:33:02Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Some of these photos are just incredible. Who would install a play ground ride under a wall? šŸ˜• Or was the ride there first and they built a wall over it? Bizarre. It looks to me like the thing has just been tucked under there for storage - probably not in use. I suspect some of the other photos in that gallery arenā€™t exactly as captioned either. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/22 "2013-10-15T11:02:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Another example would the almost completed 47 story building in Spain where they [forgot](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/builders-forgot-elevator-shafts-finished-skyscrapper-article-1.1422685) to build any elevator shafts. > > As I recall, what happened was that the building was re-designed to be bigger than originally conceived, and the elevator shafts which were included in the original design were somehow not included in the _new_ design. Oopsā€¦ Except that wasnā€™t what happened at all. Just really bad reporting. [Previous thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=699114&highlight=elevators) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/23 "2013-10-15T11:55:44Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > The yellow lines over the car look like a photo gag, not something realā€¦ That was my guess as well. Actually, I assumed art, but either way, it wasnā€™t like someone was trying to paint the lines on the road. As for the merry go round. Iā€™m going to assume that itā€™s just where they pushed it when it was out of use, not that they use it under there. The three balconiesā€¦probably done for looks. Hand sanitizer, itā€™s probably broken. The treeā€¦they didnā€™t cut a hole and put wires through it, they trimmed the tree as it grew around the wires. A lot of these have decent explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/24 "2013-10-15T12:28:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The three balconiesā€¦probably done for looks. Or possibly a door from the loft space space has been bricked up and plastered over. > [@](#): > > Hand sanitizer, itā€™s probably broken. Yup - stopgap solution to stop people a)complaining that the dispenser is broken and b)walking off with the bottle, or leaving it where nobody will see it. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/25 "2013-10-15T12:32:51Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > The yellow lines over the car look like a photo gag, not something realā€¦ Possibly a lesson to the owner not to park where the are big signs telling him not to park there because they are going to paint yellow lines along the pavement. I have also seen a photo of yellow lines painted across a flattened cardboard box in the gutter and a dead badger in the middle of the road with a line painted across it. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/26 "2013-10-15T13:47:55Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > I have also seen a photo of yellow lines painted across a flattened cardboard box in the gutter and a dead badger in the middle of the road with a line painted across it. Yep, I saw a dead possum on the side of a road with a white strip painted across his body. ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/27 "2013-10-15T15:32:06Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Yep, I saw a dead possum on the side of a road with a white strip painted across his body. ā˜¹ Yeah. Google possum road stripe and you can see a bunch of those. The pictures where the old sign wasnā€™t removed or there are trees blocking a path or parking may represent projects that arenā€™t complete. In the case of a sign, if the condition is not as described in the contract (sign overgrown), the contractor will ask for a change order and more money. Sometimes they get it and sometimes they get told that the project description instructed them to inspect the actual conditions. Either way, they come back later and finish up. In the case of the blocking trees, it might be a different subcontractor taking them out and the scheduling got messed up. Or it could be a bad design. Or a decent design and a group successfully fought taking out the tree and now theyā€™re stuck. Or someone forgot to net the tree before nesting season and they canā€™t take it out until the baby birds have fledged. It can get complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/28 "2013-10-15T16:38:45Z")
Our building inspectors bring back photos of this kind of thing every so often. The one I remember best is the business that put the required handicap parking spot right in front of their roll-up garage door. Another was where the parking spot had the required concrete bumper at the end but laid it across a sewer manhole. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/29 "2013-10-15T16:49:25Z")
I was just reading about the British submarine ā€œThetisā€, which [sank during a test run](http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northwest/series7/thetis.shtml) in 1939. It seems that when crewmen opened a torpedo tube door, they didnā€™t realize it was open to the sea, a massive amount of water rushed in and caused the sub to sink to the bottom (very few survivors). It turned out that while painting the tube, someone had allowed enamel paint to drip into a test valve, clogging it and giving a false dry reading when they checked it. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/30 "2013-10-15T16:59:37Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The three balconiesā€¦probably done for looks. I live on the top floor (no. 16) of my apartment building in Moscow. There is still a balcony above mine, between it and the roof. It acts as an awning, giving some protection from the sun and bad weather. The same is true all around my block of high-rises. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/31 "2013-10-15T19:17:02Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This mistake has caused at least 20 falls. I canā€™t see that curb drop off either. What a dumb design > [Pontypridd 'crazy paving' left over 20 shoppers hospitalised | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2458553/Pontypridd-crazy-paving-left-20-shoppers-hospitalised.html) Holy crap! That curb is totally invisible! I would absolutely get tripped up on that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/32 "2013-10-15T20:02:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The three balconiesā€¦probably done for looks. I agree that there was probably access to the third balcony, which was subsequently walled off. All they need to do is remove the railing, and then the third balcony can serve only as a roof for the second. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/33 "2013-10-15T21:54:03Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > ā€¦Hand sanitizer, itā€™s probably brokenā€¦ Either that or they ran out of refill bags & just took normal hand soap off the shelf. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/34 "2013-10-15T23:31:06Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Thereā€™s a few in there that donā€™t seem so strange. > Specifically the one where someone has parked their car at a petrol station with the filler on the wrong size. Quite correctly they stretch the hose around to the other side (it is long enough for exactly this purpose). > > Is it just me or isnā€™t this perfectly common practice? if the only free spot by the pumps is the ā€œwrong sideā€ doesnā€™t everyone do this? Not really. You either turn around and pull in the other way or wait. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/35 "2013-10-15T23:37:22Z")
Those examples werenā€™t shoddy, they were well-made! Well-made but wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/36 "2013-10-16T02:37:54Z")
Some of these look like a work in progress and hardly any of them have anything to do with shoddy workmanship. They should have just titled it ā€œSome semi-funny photos we ripped off from much better sites with much better photosā€ Tree and power line - normal, albeit a rather pronounced example Asphalting around a car - They probably worked around it while they tracked down the owner, I seriously doubt they left it that way. Painting around a fallen branch - Iā€™ll accept, but I always wonder if the people driving the trucks canā€™t stop and get out to move things so they just paint it and someone comes back later to fix it. Merry-go-round - Obviously a storage space, or itā€™s been moved there. No one installed it like that. Tree in the parking space - Not shoddy workmanship, someone did a good job of painting the lines for the space but line painters donā€™t carry chain saws. The tree guy is probably coming the next day, or maybe the owner of the building forgot to call the tree guy. Or maybe heā€™s going to leave it for motorcycle parking or just because itā€™s funny. The yellow lines on the vehicle probably arenā€™t true, the paint appears to go up under the grille, but thereā€™s no paint on the grille. Ah, I found a [larger image](https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7715467520/hEE4DBD28/), it looks like yellow tape because the way it hangs off the bumper and goes under the wipers. So, this appears to be staged. The bike path with a tree in it isnā€™t really workmanship. The wheelchair ramp looks new, the railing guy is probably coming the next day to take out the old rail and put in a new one. Third balcony- I agree with the above comments. Door blocked by pavement - Not shoddy workmanship. The owner needs to stop being cheap and pay someone to remove the door and build a wall in itā€™s place but judging by the way the rectangular door was fit into an arched opening, I doubt he cares. Bike arrow into poles - Iā€™ll accept, but I bet the poles were added later and the paint guy hasnā€™t been back to redo it yet. I doubt someone painted the arrow pointing straight at the poles. 2 stop signs - Iā€™ll accept, though the old one appears to be buried solidly, they probably couldnā€™t get it out and forgot to come back and finish it. But hey, I see nothing wrong with leaving it for a stop sign thief to save on removal/disposal. Soap taped to dispenser - Obviously broken or out of soap. At work, our paper towel dispenser broke so we took a coat hanger and hung a roll of paper towels off it for a couple days until it was fixed. No newspapers accused us of shoddy workmanship for it though. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/37 "2013-10-16T20:35:54Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Not really. You either turn around and pull in the other way or wait. I confess in almost 25 years of driving Iā€™ve never seen anyone do that, The common practice is to pull slightly ahead of the hose point so that you donā€™t have it trail over the roof. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/38 "2013-10-16T20:40:49Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I confess in almost 25 years of driving Iā€™ve never seen anyone do that, The common practice is to pull slightly ahead of the hose point so that you donā€™t have it trail over the roof. I agree with **Novelty Bobble**. Thatā€™s the way my dad taught me to do it and the way I still do it today, when necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/39 "2013-10-16T21:29:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Another example would the almost completed 47 story building in Spain where they [forgot](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/builders-forgot-elevator-shafts-finished-skyscrapper-article-1.1422685) to build any elevator shafts. > > As I recall, what happened was that the building was re-designed to be bigger than originally conceived, and the elevator shafts which were included in the original design were somehow not included in the _new_ design. Oopsā€¦ 30-odd years ago, in my old hometown of Vancouver, WA, they built a huge new shopping mall. And somehow, nobody noticed until the work was complete that the only public restrooms in the entire mall were the pair inside the attached Sears store :smack: > [@Floater](#): > > I have also seen a photo of yellow lines painted across a flattened cardboard box in the gutter and a dead badger in the middle of the road with a line painted across it. Where I live, Iā€™ve always seen road stripe painting done very late at night/in the wee hours of the morning when there is very little traffic. I suspect itā€™s the same elsewhere. Since theyā€™re working in the dark, itā€™s not a stretch to suppose that a crew member might glance away at just the wrong moment and fail to notice the roadkill/trash before painting over it. Of course, that doesnā€™t excuse painting around that branch. That one looks too deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225/40 "2013-10-16T23:14:52Z")
Itā€™s the Daily Mail. Iā€™d be surprised if half the pictures werenā€™t photoshopped. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoddy-workmanship-from-around-the-world/671225.md?page=3)