50 Unfortunate Construction Fails That Are Terrifying But Hilarious

The Facebook group, ‘Les Perles du Bâtiment,’ has quite a sizeable following on the social media platform. Nearly 247.6k internet users are members of this online community.

At its core, the group has a very clear focus: to share the “best of the worst” in building construction. And it’s all done for fun! Members are encouraged to enjoy themselves and to post construction fail photos for the sake of entertainment.

The group’s two administrators point out that the community should strive to create “a welcoming environment” and stress the fact that this is “everyone’s responsibility.”

Members should treat each other with the respect that they deserve. It’s important to remember that when opinions diverge. “It’s okay to have constructive debates, but it’s essential to be friendly,” the admins remind the group.

There are three main areas where things can go disastrously wrong when building a new property or renovating an older project. Ideally, you want to see a balance between the architect or designer’s vision, the needs and demands of the client, as well as the skills and performance of the contractors you employ to bring the entire idea to life.

But let’s be real—it’s a miracle if everyone’s on the same page throughout the entire project. It requires fantastic communication, great leadership, and quick thinking when things (inevitably) go wrong.

One thing that can derail the entire building project is an overly-ambitious or temperamental designer. Aside from technical skills and a wonderfully active imagination, architects and designers also have to have managerial skills. And that means being good leaders: supporting contracts, communicating clearly and often, dealing with conflicts in a calm and professional manner. Things can go disastrously wrong if those skills are lacking.

So designers who are unable to clearly express themselves to their contractors can indirectly cause mistakes as certain aspects of the project get misinterpreted. Meanwhile, overly-arrogant architects can focus too much on their artistic vision, entirely at the expense of functionality and practicality. Some builders might not be able to turn those imaginative ideas into reality due to a lack of skills or materials. While the people who end up living in the house or apartment may be confused by the designer’s artistic direction and a user-unfriendly interior.

Secondly, the clients themselves can end up harming the overall result. Something that many of you Pandas will probably agree with is just how distracting and annoying people who constantly change their opinions can be. Flip-floppers won’t win you any friends, no matter the industry, especially not construction and design.

So if you have a client who keeps changing their thoughts on what tiles should be used in the bathroom, how many lights they want in the living room, and what colors the walls should be, it’s a nightmare waiting to happen. This sort of flip-flopping is going to slow the entire building or renovation process down considerably, as the designer and contractors have to redo some parts. Meanwhile, the builders themselves are bound to get frustrated and demotivated. After all, why bother working hard and quickly if you might have to redo everything again and again (and again!)?

Last but certainly not least, the contractors, the boots on the ground, lie at the core of what will either become a testament to design greatness… or will end up being poked fun at on ‘Les Perles du Bâtiment.’ 

As we’ve covered before on Bored Panda, there’s a wide range of reasons why contractors might make unaesthetic mistakes or incredibly bizarre decisions. Some builders might run out of the materials they need and may not find the right alternatives. So instead, they have to settle for some cheaper substitutes. Others might realize that what’s demanded from them won’t be practical, so they opt for functionality over beauty.

However, it doesn’t mean that all mistakes are innocent. Contractors are as varied as any other group of experts. Inevitably, you’ll run into some who don’t care about being professional: they want to get paid the greatest amount of money for the least amount of work. So they’ll be slow and sloppy because they simply don’t care about design or the client. Others might intentionally choose to cut costs and go for cheap materials and shoddy work. Something that is likely to haunt the people living on the property for years to come.

So, tell us, dear Pandas, which of these construction fails terrified you the most? Have you ever seen anything as bad in real life? Why do you personally think mistakes like the ones featured in this list get made at all? Share your thoughts and experiences with contractors in the comments. We can't wait to hear from you.