Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SPINOZA]

This pic is taken from my apartment window:



As you can see, a new officetel is about to be built.

It makes a bloody noise sometimes and gets on my nerves, but it's necessary and I try not to let it bother me too much unless it wakes me up at some silly hour.

What annoys me most is the fact that nothing is being built and all the noise is in vain. The scene in the pic has been the state of affairs for 2 months now and these guys, assuming they're building an officetel and not just digging and hitting things for some other purpose, have progressed about as far as an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping. I HATE things that don't make sense.

* people have told me that - due to the bally-bally mentality - the building will be done in no time. Ain't happening.

* look at the gentleman on the right above the metal things. He'd just finished hitting the metal things with a hammer. WHY? That's not gonna build you a nice officetel guys! The guys, all day long, seem to be welding these metal things too, scorching them all over and then moving them to another location. WHY? What's that intended to achieve? I'm genuinely curious - why are these builders walking around hitting, welding metal things all day when surely they should be putting one brick on top of another until they have a big, tall officetel?

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE MORONS DOING?? Is it normal practise in Korea to spend months whacking things before building something?

[Njord]

Well, I really don't know anything about construction, but I have watched a few tall buildings go up over the years. Usually, the loudest part is when the drive metal into the ground to support the rest of the building. This doesn't look like much - just a huge amount of noise. Then the steel frame and outside walls tend to go up very fast. Finally, it takes forever to complete the inside since they need to do plumbing, interior walls, electricity, etc. But yeah, it isn't too great to live next to one of these projects.

[VanIslander]

What the heck is an "officetel"?

Sounds like a brand name. Office with telephone? some old Brit term? Konglish? what?

[Privateer]

You might find they spend a lot of time on the foundations and setting everything up but once they start erecting the tower blocks they'll shoot up in no time. Well that's how it was when they put up apartment buildings outside my old hagwon.

[mindmetoo]

[HapKi]

I think the first step, the step they're on, in your case, is digging the basement. All buildings in Korea have basements, you know, and building a building does not start by going up, but by going down. Thus they are setting long foundation poles into the ground. That would be the pile driver machine left of the man you were talking about. This makes the neighborhood permeating "DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN" sound/vibration. Once they plant a lot of poles that will be the outline of the building, they'll connect those poles with walls. Then they'll dig. You can't just dig first cause all the dirt would just fall in on the void. When that stage is done, you'll have a great view of the size and depth of the B1, B2, B3, and so on, and the sheer drop sides of the walls. Earth displacement truly is an amazing thing. Then they'll dump in a sh*t load of cement. Then, they'll wire and frame that all in, and start moving up. I'd say now is the noisiest time, but don't quote me on that.

An officetel is a small (very small) studio apartment that non-clastrophobic types live in to be close to their work place or school.

[VanIslander]

[antoniothegreat]

no no no, this is a perfect example of Korean mentality. someone decided to build something here. they made plans, but forgot to check something, get a permit, pay someone off, or just forgot they have to add bathrooms. so the building sight was started, but now they need to change things.
but Koreans are not allowed to no tlook busy, so the construction guys, wanting to keep their jobs, find something to do, like pound metal things, so it APPEARS something is actually happening.
then the big boss decided he wanted the bathroom away from his office, since bathrooms stink due to all the toilet paper sitting around that no one cleans up. plans change and they need to move these metal things because of the new bathroom.
so now construction guys move the big metal things and are happy they dont have to invent ways to look busy.
but then the big boss guy is told by peon "Samsung Alpha 6" who is in charge of plumbing, that the city piping wont work and the bathrooms need to be moved back.
again, construction guys move piping.
Finally, big boss guy learns from Peon "Kim I will kiss your rear for a promotion" that the bribe paid to City Permit Peon wont go through because his secretary got mad at him grabbing her rear and stole it.
Now big boss guy has to pay another bribe to avoid installing proper safety measures, but he is running out of money. what does he do? of course he takes out his boys for some soju at the business club to figure things out.
meanwhile, construction peons continue to find ways to look busy....

I figured you guys would have figured out what is going on here, it isnt too complex...

[kangnam mafioso]

i feel your pain, spinoza. i lived in 3 apartments during my 2 years in korea and like clockwork, not long after moving in, a perfectly good building directly next door to each apartment was demolished and a new project would go up for the duration of my stay there. they don't call it land of the morning jackhammer for nothing.

[SPINOZA]

[cypher]

[SPINOZA]

Very worrying is the fact that (so a K-friend who's in real estate tells me) it's the law here to build and make an appalling noise from sunrise to sunset.....so in summer it's gonna be "DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN" (thanks, HapKi, btw, for that immitation - very accurate!) from 5am to 10pm. Anyone experienced this?

HEAVEN KNOWS what it must be like for people who work nights and sleep during the day!

Dreadful shower.

[ulsanchris]

I don't think they are allowed to be noisy until 8 or 9 in the morning. I lived next to a constrution site. before they could start building they had to remove a hill first. they did that with the small excavators with the hydraulic jack hammers. so every morning at 8:00 i could hear DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN. I tell you that isn't nice when you are hung over.

[SPINOZA]

[nautilus]