Hello From The East!

Mummyoftwo · November 26, 2014

So, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and start my own T-blog- not only for the purpose of sharing, but also for my own 'momentos'.

This is it, my biggest debt ever possibly in our life- our house, a 5-roomBTO unit in the east. We opted for HDB's flooring and we are currently living with both regret and relief. Regret as the flooring and skirting are hopelessly ugly. Relieve as it was nice to know that we wont be forking humungous cash that comes with flooring.

Unlike many others, we started out sourcing for quotations really late. Really late = few days after keys collection. It was an ocean of choices out there. I ploughed through renotalk/FB/ random blogs to get things started. For the record, the husb was more inclined in engaging contractors. And so I started the ball rolling and made appointments.

1) ID 01- Quite popular on FB. Works are quite impressive. Managed to convinced the husb to at least meet up a few IDs as we should keep our options open! So this was our first. Met with a lady at their office in Ubi. At this point, being completely noobs, we didn't know what to expect. Let's call her R. She displayed lack of experience during our first appointment- kept having to ask questions from he colls , which we later found out that she was actually the Designer/ Sales Exec and will not be at the site. 2nd meeting, which was a week later, she surprised us with a FREE 3D drawing of the kitchen. But it wasn't a pleasant surprise? :unsure: If she took this as an opportunity to wow us, she failed miserably. Layout & color were all wrong! Position of sink and stove were in a mirrored position. It didn't help that I had provided her photos of how we want our cabinets fabricated and that I wanted a WHITE kitchen. The drawing, wasn't even remotely our kitchen. We strongly feel it was someone else's drawings - hoping this extra gesture would win us over. NOT. :rolleyes: Revised quotation came almost 2 weeks later. Just like Queen Elsa from Frozen, I have to "LET IT GO".

2) Contractor 01- We arranged for a meeting at the new house. The moment he arrived the doorstep, no introduction no formality, it was immediately down to business "OK what you want to do?" His whole disposition made me feel as though he was in a hurry. He advised that our kitchen's carpentry would cost us a bomb for the space we were bestowed with. He took down notes and measurements on his clipboard and only introduced himself at the end of the meeting. Amusing! :lol: We received his quote a week later and it was a mind blowing $42k. But to be fair to him, he got all the things we wanted- including overlay of tiles in the living room and bedrooms.

3) ID 02- Very knowledgeable guy, this Mr R. Was initially looking for someone else in the firm but due to his popularity here, had to cut back and pass our project to a coll. Mr R holds a very high post in the firm, hence, we felt we would be in good hands. First meeting was ok. Lots of suggestions and good ideas. We were looking forward to the 2nd meeting ONLY because he acknowledged our budget ($30-$33k) and even assured us that with some disciplines (of not adding things), we can even be at $27-28k. How can THAT not blow us away?? We developed a liking towards him! We then lived in high hopes, waiting for his quote.

2nd meeting, 2 weeks later, excitement were weaning off after we met Contractor 03 (our Mr Maybe). In fact, things began spiralling down when we first see the final figure. We knew it would inflate. I had prepared myself for $40k at worst. I almost had a seizure! $53k! FIFTY- FREAKING- THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. He addressed the high figures, knew it was welllll beyond our budget but it was an all-in quotation and I rarely would need to add in anything. Ok let's see. He had many unnecessary items factored in! things that I have never asked for- bookshelves per se (ok lah... call it initiative if you must) :angry2: . Things that we wish to be done, he deemed unnecessary. Things that we deem unnecessary, he was persistent. Kept on citing that it would be good for his portfolio. Self- centred much? Things got progressively ridiculous.. especially when he said there is a $3k design consulting fee atop this quotation that he was thinking of waiving off to aid our budget. :dunno:

Some checks with the friend who gave us this contact (for the first guy who couldn't take up our project), infuriated me further. She got so much more significant jobs at $44k! Overlaying of whole house, IQuartz for countertop (I got solid surface!), window grilles and many more! Which brings me to another point. Mr R couldn't relate why parents nowadays need grilles- "Children last time don't jump down what. Maybe kids nowadays jump down because see too much ipad lah". IS HE FOR REAL????? :curse:

Come what may, even if I can have only ONE thing done, it would be the grilles. My kids' safety can never be taken for granted! He'd better be kidding though.

4) Contractor 02- Met him at the void deck of my mom's place. First impression, very uninterested. Easily distracted. Spaced out many times to answer his calls/messages. Not a good start. He spoke with little confidence (ie softly) touching his lips whenever he speaks. But as time passes by, he loosened up a bit. I find him actually sincere and funny. We got a quotation right there and the which he scribbled on a piece of paper. We requested for a proper quotation which he said might be able to provide that night itself. "Depends on my mood lor. Sometimes I go back lazy already..actually very easy to type one..30 mins can finish", I like his candour! It isn't typically something you would say to a client but that's reality and I like such forthrightness. However, cant picture him being the one. Thankfully, the husb agreed! The quotation came that very same night. It was hovering comfortably at our budget. Btw, I got in touch with him through the strong recommendations here.

5) Contractor 03- Mr Maybe. I call him Mr Maybe because he may be The One. Still coordination and negotiating as we speak. Was recommended by husb's coll. Still stung by those 2 earlier contractors, Mr Maybe turned out to be a pleasant surprise. First meeting was at our place. We can feel that he is experienced. Provided us some suggestions. Quite young (late 30s?) and we could connect well. Seems honest and reliable. Quotation came 3 days later as promised. Very pleasing to the eyes. But the figures have since ballooned as we requested for more additions. We wanted to overlay toilets but he was so dead against it. Not secure and will have NO guarantee :no: