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Would like to have some recommendation for a good ID for my place. Have tried contacting a number of them but those recommended in Renotalk are just too busy to meet up. Met up 2 so far and received a quotation......disappointing! Asked to see their drawings and plans for our place but was told that they dun reveal their plans and designs for our place until after afew rounds of meeting with us! Yet, they have been to our place twice to see and take measurements? Is this the normal practice?? Another thing is that we only get to talk to the kah kia, so far they talk to the ID. And 1st quote came in, in excess of 100K Pls help.

Here are some of my random thoughts, in no particular logical sequence....... I don't know whether you guys have this problem, but every time you engage a painter and pay for ICI Dulux or Nippon paint, you wonder if they actually used the type of paint you paid for, or that they simply used a cheaper equivalent, Super Maxilite or Matex paint, which they buy in big containers. You see these containers and you ask them, they will tell you oh, they had to mix your ICI or Nippon paint, and they need to use these big containers. True or not, we do not know. Unless you go and buy the paint yourself and have them delivered to site. Anyway, I am so fed up with all these painters that for this new place, I decided not to use my ID's painter. Instead, I decided to engage directly my team of auntie painters. I found it quite hard to believe at first, but they are true. According to the auntie boss painter, she only employ auntie painters because they are more conscientious. I hope so. There were still places where I think they could have done a better job but overall, I think they were ok.

There are a couple of lessons I learnt from my experience. 1. Monitor, monitor, monitor - No matter how renowed or expensive your ID or subcontractor, the level of competency and common sense is at the level of their lowest sub-contractor. We engaged a reputable ID company. But of course, you deal with the young designer who gives instructions to some supervisor, who in turn instructs a foreman, but finally the worker who does the job is a guy who turns up on a Malaysian motorbike. Don't get me wrong. Many malaysian workers in this trade are very skilled. But due to many reasons including different expectations or ideas, changes in the message after being passed through too many people, the final product may not be what you envisaged. You have got to be there to monitor, monitor, monitor. 2. Trust your instinct & do not follow blindly - Often, we think something should be done in a certain way, but the ID or contractor tells us that is not the way things are done. Don't just accept it. Your instinct is already trying to tell you something. Check with others. Ask. Maybe you are right. There were many such instances in my case. LIke when I wanted to put a spare power point in the false ceiling and both my ID and contractor thought I was mad. At that time, I had no idea of the potential use but now that I am thinking of mounting an IP camera on the ceiling, where to get the power source? Like what Steve Jobs said, you cannot connect dots moving forwards, but often you can connect them backwards. 3. Lay network points from your OpenNet TP to every room - This is important. In the near future, many services (internet, TV etc) will be delivered via this network. WiFi does not work for everything. 4. Protection, protection, protection - This is very important yet many IDs and contractors do not seem to understand. So, in my case (as in many cases), they just put a simple cardboard. What a joke! With hacking, sand, tiles, marble etc etc passing though, what do they expect but to spoil the marble and wooden floor? Then they have to rectify. But it is never the same. 5. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Don't sign a contract with your ID or contractor for everything in one lump sum. Breakdown into different parts of the work e.g. hacking, flooring, painting, kitchen etc. Have a clause that allows you to omit any part of the work. This was how my wife engaged specialist subcontractors directly for parts of the work. 6. When buying expensive equipment (refrigerator, TV, washing machine, dryer etc), buy 5 year extended warranty if possible. In the past, such equipment lasts a long time (more than 10 years). But if you noticed, most of these companies have gone out of business as the consumers do not need to buy replacements. These days, most consumer items are build to last only just past the standard 1 or 2 year warranty period, so that they can sell you another replacement. Assume a fridge sells at $1,399 at Best Denki but $200 cheaper at the neighbourhood shop, I will still buy from Best Denki because for another $97.93, I can extend the warranty from 1 to 5 years. For just under $1,500 (or $299 per year), I get to use the fridge for a minimum of 5 years. Without the extended warranty, for $1,199 I get to use the fridge for a minimum of only 1 to 2 years. Based on my claims experience (fridge, washing machine, dryer, TV, oven), I can confirm that extended warranty is definitely worth buying. Some machines do come with 3 or 5 years warranty on certain parts but these are normally not the parts that will fail.