Real and Outrageous Construction Fails
Have you ever looked at a giant skyscraper and wondered, “Who built that?”. It takes a team of architects with detailed blueprints to create every type of building, whether it’s an ordinary home or the Empire State Building. However, that doesn’t mean they’re immune to making mistakes, and when they do you’ll notice them! Construction mistakes are more common than you’d think, and some of them are so outrageous they’ll make you look twice.
These pictures will have you wondering how these projects ever made it past the drawing board. You would think anyone would be able to spot these errors a mile away, but somehow these construction fails went unnoticed…until now!
We bring you the greatest construction fails people caught on camera.
An Artistic Abstraction
Is this the inside of a building or an abstract art installation? Most likely this monstrosity was created because the architect forgot to put in an extra floor, but the end result is far from being aesthetically pleasing. Anyone walking around on this floor might feel uneasy as if the floor might fall from beneath their feet.
An Artistic Abstraction
Furthermore, how is anyone going to be able to reach the floor that the stairway was meant to lead to? Maybe the entire level is a ghost town now, only inhabited by cockroaches and spiders. If that’s the case, it might be for the best that you can’t go down there. Thank the architect for protecting you from a nightmare like that!
Telephone
The invention of the cellphone has made payphones like these more or less obsolete. But we think this particular phone was far from being usable, even before technical innovations became mainstream. This poor woman is struggling just to get the phone down from the receiver, and it doesn’t look like she’s made any progress. We think she’d be better off asking a stranger to use their cellphone.
Telephone
There’s always a chance that this payphone is purely ornamental, intended to be an obscure art installation as opposed to a functional tool. Maybe this woman just hasn’t realized it yet, but we hope she figures it out soon if she’s got an important call to make!
Oh The Irony
You’ve got to admit it’s pretty ironic that these engineering students are using such a shoddy bridge to get to their classes. Perhaps the people who built the campus never studied engineering themselves, or perhaps fixing the bride will be the final assignment of this class. If we had shown up to our first day of school having to walk across that thing we might start to reconsider our enrollment.
Oh The Irony
The construction team probably got the materials for this bridge from a junkyard. If one of those plastic blocks starts to shift then a whole bunch of students might end up toppling into that freezing lake. We think that would warrant an automatic A on all their final exams, don’t you agree?
Just One Blind
This window was clearly installed for the type of person who likes to let a little light into their room, but not TOO much light. Just enough to cast a single beam of sunlight across their living room, anything more would just be excessive. We have to admit it’s a funny sight to see a single blind hanging in a room.
Just One Blind
Despite what we wrote above, we have a hard time believing anyone would actually request to have a window like this installed in their house. What kind of miscommunication resulted in this abysmal mistake? Was a wall moved too far in? Were there not enough blinds to fill up a full window? We guess it will remain a mystery.
Security Ladder
Landlords will often put up security systems to prevent nonresidents from entering the building. Gates are commonly used in these situations, the kind that requires a key or number code to get in. The idea of this gated entrance is pointed in the right direction, but something was clearly off in the execution. Anyone who has the capability to climb a ladder would easily be able to get past this useless gate.
Security Ladder
Perhaps they thought this was a sleek, modern design that would add to the building’s aesthetic appeal. But the end result would keep any potential tenant from renting here unless they had absolutely zero security concerns. Either way, the gate is totally unnecessary, might as well remove it!
Meet Me Halfway… Or Don’t
The communication between the members of this construction team needs some work. We guess one group was working on one side of the bridge, while the other group was meant to meet them in the middle. They clearly didn’t keep a tab on the other group’s work, once they had made enough progress it was clear something had gone terribly wrong.
Meet Me Halfway… Or Don’t
We suppose they might be able to install some kind of slide to connect the two uneven ends of the bridge? That might be better than rebuilding one side and starting from scratch, which seems to be what these workers are discussing in the photo. They’re probably explaining to their boss why this screw up isn’t their fault!
Flying Car Garage
The house might look cute at first glance but, upon close inspection, it has a major flaw. You’d need a super strong car to jump into this garage. A monster truck would probably be able to clear that hurdle, but the door is too small for it to fit! We wonder what kind of car this was built for, perhaps the kind that can fly? Is a family from the year 3000 going to move into the neighborhood?
Flying Car Garage
The most likely explanation is that the people who built this garage weren’t paying close attention to the blueprints. Perhaps they accidentally got used as a napkin during a lunch break. The end result of this garage couldn’t have come out worse if they tried.
Disabled Parking Spot
It’s great that this parking lot has designated a spot for disabled parking, but we think they might’ve gotten a thing or two wrong. In fact, it looks like this spot was originally meant for some kind of plant, they simply chopped it down and put the disabled symbol into the dirt. We guess they tried their best, but we don’t think any cars are going to be able to park there.
Disabled Parking Spot
Guess they’ll be able to avoid people taking the disabled parking when they shouldn’t, but that also means people who need that particular space won’t be able to access it. Just put the tree back and designate a different spot for disabled parking.
Stairway to Heaven
It looks like these two sets of stairs were meant to connect with some kind of landing, but that’s not what ended up being built. Instead of a stairway that goes up another story, you have two sets of stairs that go absolutely nowhere. You’d have to be a master or parkour if you wanted to make it from one flight to another.
Stairway to Heaven
This building still appears to be in the very early stages, it’s too bad they already managed to make such a major misstep. This house isn’t going to be finished anytime soon, not while all these construction mistakes are being fixed! You know what they say, it’s better do it right the first time than doing it twice.
Not So Best Western
This is the type of thing that would irritate anyone looking at it, whether they have OCD or not. It looks like whoever installed these windows was perfectly capable of making several straight ones, we wonder what happened that threw them off on the last one. Perhaps they thought they’d take a break before finishing their workday and wandering into a nearby bar.
Not So Best Western
You’d have to be totally sauced to put in that window and think you did a good job. Though it’d be impressive to install anything at all while you’re boozed up, so we guess this is somewhat impressive? At the end of the day, he’ll still have to take it out and put in a new one.
So Close Yet So Far
This might not be as disastrous as the other fails on this sheet, but it’s still pretty bad. Imagine if you had to live in this house and see this teensy weensy flaw in the construction every single day. You wish you could just nudge the wall over just a fraction of a centimeter so it would line up, but unless you hired a contractor you wouldn’t be able to.
So Close Yet So Far
We don’t envy the real estate agent who needs to sell this property. Maybe you could distract from the construction mistake by painting the walls a bold color, or perhaps hanging some very loud posters. But at the end of the day, anyone who spots this error is going to walk right out the front door.
The Cursed Basement
You’re never going to get into that basement unless you’re a cat that always lands on its feet. We guess you could try and step over the railing at the bottom, but that’s got to be super inconvenient if you have things to move in or out of the room. Perhaps this stairwell was constructed this way on purpose as a way to keep people from entering the basement. Spooky!
The Cursed Basement
After all, everyone knows that ghosts and evil spirits love to hang out in basements. Maybe the people who built this house were instructed to make it difficult to enter. Sounds like a pretty good premise for a horror movie if you ask us.
Take Me Out to the Wall Game
Imagine a friend tells you that they’re treating you to game tickets. You get your gear on and make a sign to support your team, only to be greeted by this sorry sight when you get to the station. The very least they could do is drill some holes in the wall for people to watch, otherwise what good are the seats?
Take Me Out to the Wall Game
We know sports announcers are meant to describe the game in detail but they can’t be that good! Maybe these are the seats you reserve when you’re playing hooky from school or work and still want to catch the game, that way you don’t need to worry about getting your face broadcasted on the jumbotron!
The Least Accessible Accessibility Ramp
Accessibility ramps are important in all buildings with staircases or escalators. Unfortunately, some people don’t have the common sense to consider what a wheelchair can and cannot climb, this photo is the perfect example of that. You’d have to have herculean strength to wheel yourself up a ramp like this, that handrail is not going to be very much help.
The Least Accessible Accessibility Ramp
The woman at the bottom of the staircase is lucky that she can presumably walk up the regular stairs. We assume she’s standing there and marveling at the absolute fail of a wheelchair ramp in front of her. Hopefully, this building will have enough funds to get an elevator installed so no one has to attempt to use that death trap of a ramp!
Hard Day at the Office?
We all want to escape work every once in a while, but this is probably not the best way to do it. It’s easier to ask your boss to leave early than jump out your office window! If you used this door on the 3rd floor of your building you might end up getting the day off, or a few months off for that matter. The downside will be that you’ll have broken a few bones
Hard Day at the Office?
But we think several months of being bedridden, not to mention all the hospital bills, aren’t worth it. You’re better off just waiting for our shift to end. While you’re waiting, it might be a good idea to raise some concerns over the placement of that door!
Welcome to Your New Home!
Ever felt bored living in a perfectly leveled house? If so, we have the home of your dreams right here! Every day of your life will be filled with all kinds of interesting and wacky shenanigans if you move in here. You’ll constantly be readjusting picture frames, furniture with wheels will never be able to stay put. You’ll never have another uneventful day again!
Welcome to Your New Home!
But seriously, we’re not sure if this house was started and never finished, or if the architect made a horrible mistake. We wonder how long it might take to fix something like this, until then it would be impossible to live in! It’s probably just an empty shell of a house inhabited by forest creatures now.
Nature Taking Its Course
It looks like this brave tree is taking a stand against gas polluting cars. It’s standing directly in front of the garage, making it impossible for any cars to go out and fill the roads with smog. But exactly how long has this giant tree been situated in this inconvenient spot? Surely it wasn’t planted there at full size overnight.
Nature Taking Its Course
Maybe this is an environmentally friendly family that has no use for cars in their garage. Instead of leaving their driveway empty, they decided to plant a natural oxygen making machine. Turning their driveway into a forest would also send a clear message to their neighbors. There’s no doubt that a green family lives there!
A Tight Squeeze
Using the urinals when other people are around can be awkward as is, but it looks like whoever designed this bathroom wanted to maximize everyone’s discomfort. It’s going to be a tight squeeze getting into that middle stall in the first place, but you’ll have to deal with the added embarrassment of staring right at the person peeing in the adjacent urinal.
A Tight Squeeze
Honestly, if you enter a bathroom designed like this you might want to consider doing your business in one of the stalls. Even if you’re dying to pee, you might want to consider holding it until the urinals have fully cleared out. Unless you’re bold enough to stare at a man while he’s taking a leak.
A Bumpy Ride
This bike path was clearly built by someone who doesn’t like cyclists. Poor bike riders have enough to deal with from people who don’t respect the boundaries of the bike lane, the last thing they need is a path as risky as this. The riders who still choose to use this path must be incredibly brave, or they just enjoy the thrill of a bumpy bike ride.
A Bumpy Ride
We certainly hope that anyone who chooses to take this path is wearing a helmet, you don’t want to take too much of a risk. In the future, the city might want to consider paving over this horribly uneven road, it’s both ugly and incredibly dangerous!
Reaching New Heights
The life of a construction crane is anything but interesting, it’s totally confined to the city streets and has nowhere else to go. But this piece of machinery is the exception, it dreams of reaching new heights that no crane had ever climbed before. And when we say “new heights” we mean that quite literally. Somehow this heavy piece of equipment made its way onto the top of a large building!
Reaching New Heights
You’ve got to be filled with ambition if you’re able to defy the laws of gravity to get to where you want to be. We have to wonder what the people watching this phenomenon were thinking, this definitely can’t be a common occurrence!
Double Purpose to Zero Purpose
We get the idea behind this sink and urinal combination but we’re not sure if it’s the ideal bathroom setup. Someone wanted to create something that used as little water as possible and decided to have the running water from the sink go down into the urinal. However, we don’t think it’s the best idea to have the place you wash your hands so close to where you pee.
Double Purpose to Zero Purpose
We don’t know if it’s a health hazard exactly, but it’s definitely not going to be pleasant for anyone who wants to go pee and wash their hands afterward. You’ll end up leaving the bathroom with a lingering smell of urine, even though your hands will still technically be clean. We think the cons far outweigh the pros here.
The Bridge to Nowhere…. Or the Same Place
Bridges can be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The Brooklyn Bridge might be a practical way for drivers to get from point A to point B, but the structure also serves as an iconic landmark for the city. However, we don’t know if we can say the same thing about the fixture that was put up here. We guess they wanted the look of a bridge with fancy white railing whether served any purpose or not.
The Bridge to Nowhere…. Or the Same Place
The bridge might look pretty but it has absolutely no function, that is unless you’re the type of person who just likes to be in high-up places. If you decide to stroll onto this structure you’ll have a delightful few of the hotel pools, but how enjoyable could that really be.
The Bathroom of Your Nightmares
Not all bathroom stalls go from ceiling to floor, but at the very least they should be able to give the person inside a little bit of privacy. If these doors were installed just a foot lower they might have worked perfectly fine, but as is they’re any bathroom goers nightmare. If you needed to go real bad you might consider holding it, unless you’re totally fine with doing your business in front of people.
The Bathroom of Your Nightmares
We think most people would rather go to the bathroom someplace that gives them full coverage, why the contractors didn’t think of that fact is astounding. Better call them back to fix the issue or else this bathroom is going to stay unused forever.
The Sims or Real Life?
This looks like the kind of design some kid would make with building blocks, or in a virtual city video game. The fact that this construction fail exist in real life is truly mind-boggling, we can’t imagine who gave the approval to go through with such an invasive project. These buildings are now taking three lanes out of the road, no doubt causing endless traffic jams throughout the day.
The Sims or Real Life?
Who would want to live or work someplace that constantly had beeping cars backed up on the nearby road? This stretch of asphalt has got to be the noisiest street in the entire city, all because some architects couldn’t find the space for two giant buildings.
Welcome Home Intruders
Gates can be a pretty useful fixture to keep out people, even animals, who shouldn’t be wandering around on the premises. But a gate alone is not enough, you’ve got to install it between two walls that separate the place from the public. It looks like these architects got half of the equation right, but neglected to take care of the other side of the issue.
Welcome Home Intruders
You don’t need a key to get past this gate, you can simply walk around it! This isn’t going to keep out any living creatures, whether they’re human beings or stray cats. If the people of this building are serious about security then they’d better put up the other half of that wall ASAP!
Platform 9¾
Better choose the stairs or the elevator because this escalator isn’t going to take you anywhere. Whoever built this thing wasn’t paying very close attention when they began construction in front of a wall. Now you’ve got an escalator that goes up but nowhere else, you’d have to jump over the railing if you wanted access to the second floor.
Platform 9¾
Or maybe this is like platform nine and three-quarters in the Harry Potter series, and the wall will only give way to wizards who have the proper ticket. As it is, it looks like these three people don’t have the magical powers it takes to break through the wall, they’ll just have to find a way to get back down.
ATM for Giants
This is certainly one way to get people from withdrawing more cash than they can afford. You’re going to have to borrow a step ladder from someone if you ever want to use this ATM. Maybe this was designed especially for people who are exceptionally tall, the ATM for people of average height must be located somewhere else.
ATM for Giants
We might also guess that the person who installed this ATM was unclear on how tall the average person is. Maybe they thought this would be the appropriate height for something like this. We wonder if this bank would be willing to put in a permanent stepping stool to try and fix this construction mishap.
ATM for Ants
We’ve seen what happens when an ATM is placed too high up, but what would the reverse situation look like. You don’t need to use your imagination, there’s a photo right here! If you’re tired and want to rest your legs then using this machine might be a welcome break, just as long as you don’t mind sitting on a city sidewalk.
ATM for Ants
You can always wash those jeans at the end of the day, no harm right? Then again, anyone standing above you would easily be able to see you entering your PIN and completing your transaction. We think that might be a security concern that someone should address. Until then, we would steer clear of making any withdrawals here!
Too Close for Comfort
Forget about peeing behind a tree or a bush, this situation right here is a much worse place to go! Maybe the people designing this bathroom ended up with an excess shipment of urinals that they didn’t want to waste, but we don’t think this was the best solution to that problem. Maybe they thought that more urinals meant more space for people to go?
Too Close for Comfort
But how is anyone supposed to use a room that’s absolutely packed with urinals? There’s no way you’d be able to pee here comfortably. You can only imagine the confusion written on this man’s face as he’s trying to navigate the situation. This is definitely a problem with an easy solution; hold it in or find a less crowded bathroom!
A Scaley Situation
The construction on this site was started a long, long time ago. Since then it would appear that most of the workers have quit and never returned, the project has been paused indefinitely. The only things that remain are some machinery and a whole lot of dirt. Of course, an empty lot like this with a shallow pool of water is bound to attract visitors.
A Scaley Situation
This construction site might be totally vacant of any workers, but it’s become the home of one happy little crocodile. He’s probably thrilled to have this giant space to swim around in and explore. He no longer needs to share a marsh with a bunch of other critters, he’s got his own permanent bachelor pad!
A Ramp Without a Purpose
We’re guessing that these are the remnants of an unfinished building. Whoever was working on it was only able to make the entrance but gave up before they could complete anything else. As a result, you have a short set of stairs that go absolutely nowhere, and a ramp that would be useless for anyone in a wheelchair to try and access.
A Ramp Without a Purpose
The abandoned lot it’s situated in doesn’t give us much hope for further construction. Skateboarders would be the only people who would find a lone structure like this interesting. We imagine that you could do a whole lot of fun tricks with the ramp and the railing, at least it can be used for something!
Toothbrush Waterslide
We all have that lingering fear of accidentally dropping something important in the toilet. You may have had the misfortune of your cellphone plopping into the water, and remember the defeated feeling that comes with it. Whoever created this bathroom must get off on other people’s misery, because it’s practically designed to make anything and everything falls into the toilet.
Toothbrush Waterslide
You might as well call it a waterslide for your toothbrush, which is definitely the last thing you want touching the inside of your toilet bowl. We’re guessing that whoever lives in this house goes through toothbrushes like crazy, they’ve probably got an entire drawer dedicated to backups in case their usual brush decides to jump ship.
Try Stuffing Me Into My Locker Now!
You’ve probably seen the cliche in a million teen movies; some nerdy kid gets stuffed into a school locker by a bunch of bullies. Maybe the idea behind this new design is to prevent that sort of thing from happening, but we can spot more than one downside here. The most obvious problem would be the fact that you can’t possibly fit a backpack inside!
Try Stuffing Me Into My Locker Now!
We guess there’s enough shelving to store all your schoolbooks, but who wants to walk around the school hallways with their backpack all day? Your locker is supposed to be the place you store your stuff, and this one just isn’t practical enough to function the way it should be.
Door in the Face
This setup is enough to make anyone avoid taking an elevator for the rest of their life. Imagine getting off on your floor only to be greeted by a door smacking you right in the face. Someone really should have put a little more thought into whether this door needed to be opened that way, they probably could’ve prevented a lot of injuries.
Door in the Face
This safety hazard had better be dealt with soon before someone sues the management of the building. We imagine a class-action lawsuit could be easily won if all the plaintiffs had black eyes from getting hit with a door. Better close off the elevator until this is all dealt with!
Fire Hazard
As you might’ve guessed, the translation of this sign is “break the window in case of fire”. There’s just one itty bitty problem with this picture, have you figured out what it is yet? Well, in the case of a fire you’re going to need a key to unlock the door to the fire extinguisher. Talk about a major fire hazard!
Fire Hazard
Maybe the fire extinguisher was stolen enough times that the building administrator thought it needed to be locked up? It’s not going to be a whole lot of help in case a fire breaks out. They should probably just stick to those glass cases you find in almost every building. Someone call the fire marshall and have them fix this problem!
The Playground of Death
Whoever decided to put this playground on the roof must really hate kids. Not only would it be incredibly dangerous, but it looks like a huge pain to get it up there in the first place. Why not leave it on the ground where it can be safely played on? Perhaps the playground is in some sort of a time out.
The Playground of Death
“If you’re gonna misbehave we’re taking your playground and putting it up on the roof!” We guess that’s the warning that was given to several misbehaving children. They should’ve listened to their teacher because this was no idle threat! You better think twice before you text in class, if this is what they’ll do to the playground just think of how they’d treat your cellphone!
The Door Above the Stairs
This door was clearly not meant for human beings to enter, it was specifically built for ghost access only. Maybe this room was made in anticipation of a future with hoverboards, or maybe the person who put it in didn’t pay close enough attention to the blueprints. Imagine opening this door and seeing that you’re floating three feet above a staircase.
The Door Above the Stairs
That’s got to be a major safety hazard. Still, we have to wonder if there’s anything on the other side of that door, maybe there’s an alternative entrance that will allow you to see what’s inside. Then again, do you really want to go poking around in abandoned rooms with floating doors? We didn’t think so.
Garage for a Flying Car
This house must have grown like a tree or some other organic structure. There’s simply no other explanation for how that garage door ended up on the third floor. Maybe this is the home of a secret billionaire who needed a place to park his flying car at night. But that still doesn’t account for all the randomly placed windows.
Garage for a Flying Car
Clearly, the person who had this house built was very eclectic and has an eccentric taste, which only adds to our secret billionaire theory. Could this be the actual residence of Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos? There’s no way to know, but it’s a much more interesting theory than a poorly constructed house!
Setting Yourself up for Failure
Here’s a pro tip for anyone getting into construction; you might want to put up the building sign AFTER you’ve finished the project. Or at least put the word “future” before “student success center” if the building looks like a run-down haunted house. I don’t think anyone’s going to sign up for this university if this is the future they have to look forward to.
Setting Yourself up for Failure
Perhaps once they’re finished with the Student Success Center it will look fantastic, but until then they might want to keep the sign off the premises. The only exception would be if this was a university that had a specialization in demolitions, and this was a place for them to practice!