de_Pierre

hahaha, 2 hands up agreeing!

Aiyo, such a bad luck... let me do some summary here ar... KATHLAM has bought a D&B flat, i believe its from walk-in selection or those loose units availabe... Happens tad flooring got defects due to poor worksmanship, long term vacancy or no maintainence etc... He complained tis to HDB, n refer their previous contractor to rectify tis matter. Although tis unit is consider new, bcs no one occupy b4, but after yrs of vacancy, tis defects can be consider as wear n tear. Tad might be the reason y HDB willing to paid a sum to of money to contractors as compensate. Be it a big sum or small compensate the contractor by HDB, its their duty to rectify the flooring! (u bought tis D&B flat, the floorings r included in ur purchase!) Where got such things from contractor saying HDB give them the sum whereby enuf to hack the surface only??? Where got ppl hack surface only? We can determine tad tis contractor is cutting down on labour n material cost, bcs they dun wan lose money by buying sand, cement n do a proper job for flooring... Rem, u paid HDB for the floorings! How much the HDB compensate the contractor to rectify is not ur prob! Just tell them to get it done. Wif tis, u can tell the ethics of tis contractor by HDB. Y u pay them privately when HDB should settle tis bill... Ur 1st wrong step... Since the existing floor got defects, makin use of tis, u wanna change original ceramics from HDB to Homogenous tiles. So u purchase ur own tiles. In favor, u privately engaged tad particular contractors to do ur floorings. In form of gd will, its ok to pay them some coffee money to do tis job for u. But not such a big sum ma... Rem, they should lay the floorings even u din change materials, FOC 1! Ur 2nd wrong step... Contractors from HDB r usually handling major projects for HDB in bulk nos. Their workers r mainly Chinese, cheaper labours, their hands on skills also quite limited... They r laying ceramics, not homogenous tiles... Experienced n skills r vital for homogenous floorings... Tis is ur 3rd wrong step... Now everything is done, u engage the contractors from HDB in private. I doubt the HDB will bear any responsibilities... Polishing of Homogenous will cost u a bomb... Its the same method for polishing marble floorings... I doubt u will bear the cost... If u still wan the prob to be solve... U can try to ask the tiles supplier to compete wif the contractor. i'm sure ur supplier is knowledgable to determine whether the tiles got prob. Make tad contractor wordless abt the tiles. U can take tis chance to challenge tad contractor to redo everything in the proper way as he did short cuts for hacking, causing poor worksmanship indirectly. (No ppl do homogenous flooring in dry laying method) Tell him to face his music, if not u'll go direct to ur MPs then shoot up to HDB! (but tis will cont for weeks n maybe months to settle liao..) Erm, i think Case or any other susidary firms can't handle tis, Bcs HDB is involved... i also not sure... If u ain't rush to move in, then play with the contractor lor... kekeke (pls correct me if i'm wrong in any way...)

Hi Johnny, i would like to give some comments... 1) Its the Contractors fault for not putting up the Notice for Permit by HDB. Its not a mistake, he's too irresponsible n unprofessional! tis is the most simple knowledge n a must for all contractors. The sub-con for doing the hacking works also bear some fault here, they start hacking w/o checking the notice for renovations. 2) As u should know, Tiles r bought from suppliers. No doubt its a true fact tad tiles might be faulty in sense of uneveness or running tones... The tiles shop only show n sell their products, they dun even know know if theres any defaults in their goods, bcs they're packed in boxes... Only those workers who hands on the tiles can spot the faults.. Experienced n responsible tilers can tell whether the tiles is uneven or many running tones after laying a few boxes of tiles... The professional way is to sound off tis Faults to Contractors n owners immediately n get the tiles changed! Faulty products can be replaced anytime by suppliers. But if the tilers did it blindly, continue to lay the faulty tiles, then everything is too late! I've never heard of surface not hacked deep enuf leh... There's 2 ways of laying tiles, Wet laying n Dry laying... Wet lay - laying of tiles directly on bare surface with corect thickness of cement *not exceeding 50mm. (tilers will mark water level on walls b4 laying, as a guild line for floor measurements.) Tis method is usually used for Homogenous n natural stone floorings. Better leveling control. (not applicable to wall tiles) Dry lay - Firstly, tilers will mark water level on walls b4 laying, as a guild line for floor measurements (thickness of tiles is excluded). Then do cement screed on the bare surface, leaving it vacant to harden n dry up for abt 1 day. With tis harden even raw floor surface, the tilers then start laying of tiles on it. Apply purely cement evenly on tiles jus like applying jam on bread, then 'piak' onto the cement screed. Even the surface is not hacked deep enuf, tis will only cos the height of floor to be higher only. Is ur contractors trying to tell u indirectly tad the tilers did not see the 'hump' which protrutions of more than 50mm??? Wad is tis man? 3) Where got 'free lunch' in tis world? No doubts Supreme stated 'Free hacking of skirtings' for advertising additional services to end users. But all costs aldy is included in ur package liao. U can't blame ur Contractor for wanting u to pay for hacking the skirting bcs u ain't hacking the flooring ma. If u got hack flooring, sure he can waive the cost for hacking skirting bcs all can be done together de. In another way, He also need to ask hackers w/ tools to go ur hse just to hack the skirtings. Resonable hacking fees sure apply here ma, correct anot? Fair anot? Its ain't right to mention cheating here... 4) Same as wad i mentioned previously. U already mentioned "EXTRA". Extra works shouldn't be charged? Unforeseen/ Hidden costs? Which hse doing major reno works doesn't have it? Hidden cost can be used on those contractors whose mainly with low ethics. Eg. Contractor quoted whole hse re-piping works for resale flat, existing pipe is hidden behind some false ceilings. To do the right way, false ceiling needs to be dismantle partially to enable dismantling n re-piping to take place, then rectify the false ceilings again. R u going to blame the contractor for tis extra costs? Whereby contractors usually had only a chance to glance through ur place to deliver ur quotes. Only after confirmation of contract, then they can look into detailings. Which contractor will spend days in ur hse to oversee these 'hidden costs' before contract??? To add on, Most items r decided by u whether to do anot, u got the decision making ma. 5) Relocation of door entrance - No doubts u're a layman for construction works, let me advise on the works n costs needed for tis. Hack new door opening~$200, Install new nyatoh door frame w/ top concrete wall panels~$450, conceal existing door entrance wif hollow block wall panels c/w smooth plastering to receive paint~$350 (tis price may goes up if happens tad the walls beside doors r not straight, plastering works must be done repeatly to get a flat n nice surface), Make gd to flooring~$100-$400 (tis depends on how to rectify ur existing flooring) Apply permit~$??? Tis re-locating of door might seems easy n cheap for u b4 my explanations... I bet now u got a better view.. Water pipings - Pipings will only be done after all surface is properly done up. Unless u're concealing ur pipes, of cos the cost is totally different. Concealing pipes in HDB flats is not advisable, breeching of rules. Some IDs conceal pipe in bathroom to have its design appear in a more outstanding way, but its a 'left' way. Bcs HDB doesn't really focus on tis matter, so we can gamble wif lesser risk. If happens tad there's leakage in ur conceal pipe, causing water spalling from the unit below, U n ur contractor will face the music... Worst case, u only need to compensate n receive official warnings, ur contractor = License 'kan tong'! *My apologies if i've offened u in some ways. But my motive here is to let fellow forumers to gain more... Never view matter in a single way, everything can be worked out perfectly wif great gestures of understandings... Hard feelings is a 'Big mole'! Notin comes out gd with tis attitude de... Clear the 'Big mole'! Have a nice day! Omg! I'm writing essays again...

Hi johnnyong, 1) Delay the work schedule , trying to find excuses say their workers today have to rush here and there. Schedules n timming can't be fixed dead. Eg. Tml is ur installation of toilet accessories sets, then suddenly these plumbers receive a call from other customer stating got burst pipes? Where shall they heed 1st? 2) Add unforeseen / hidden COSTS during the work. I believed everyone had encountered this whereby they have to add in this, add in that. Ask them to do some extra like fixing lightning, they will say need to charge. U already mentioned "EXTRA". Extra works shouldn't be charged? Unforeseen/ Hidden costs? Which hse doing major reno works doesn't have it? Hidden cost can be used on those contractors whose mainly with low ethics. Eg. Contractor quoted whole hse re-piping works for resale flat, existing pipe is hidden behind some false ceilings. To do the right way, false ceiling needs to be dismantle partially to enable dismantling n re-piping to take place, then rectify the false ceilings again. R u going to blame the contractor for tis extra costs? Whereby contractors usually had only a chance to glance through ur place to deliver ur quotes. Only after confirmation of contract, then they can look into detailings. Which contractor will spend days in ur hse to oversee these 'hidden costs' before contract??? 3) Select lower costs materials, and sometimes what you select is not what you get. May sure you follow them closely when you in the tiles factory/shop, or get the sales person to explain the tiles what is the different, how you tell. E.g. Laminated Flooring, supposed to be AC5 but they quietly install AC3 Well, all these materials is usually got from suppliers. Wad u chose is wad u get. If u dun trust ur contractors, then y engage them? U afraid of cheatings, black n white is always available before arrival of materials. 4) Get payment first and always requested you to pay first for that and this. Make sure, when go hardware/lightning shop, do not give them any money in advance. No Such thing to help you buy first. Felt not comfortable by placing minor cash wif contractors? U can do the payments or purchasing urself by making the trips to these shops. But r u prompt enuf to do all these? Wat if u delay the works indirectly? Well, ur contractor offers his service by helping u! No doubts u had bad experiences wif ur contractors, he/she might had done something not right... I'm sorry for u... But ur comments here will greatly affect those 'true' contractors whose willing to present their upmost services... To compare wif these small cash wif ur reno budgets, which is more optimistic for cheats? U might have mislead our fellow forumers who's a layman in reno... 不要为了一个人而打翻阵艘船的人。。。 (i just wan to reason out here, pardon me for my straight comments)

So long u find it worthwhile, u happy, then Gd for u!!! ^^ (U r unable to compare ur prices for itemised items if u got more quantities of works done...) eg. hse no.1(4rm) - Only do minor structural works like overlaying of tiles, painting for whole hse, minor electrical works... eg. hse no.2(4rm) - Whole hse hacking n laying of tiles, re-wiring for whole hse, painting for whole hse... u can't possibly compare prices for painting works between hse no.1 n no.2 bcs there might be 'give n takes' in hse no.2's quotations... Lets take it tad the contractor quote the hse no.2 for painting works @ $700 (usually cost abt 1k), whereas he can marked up the lost of $300 at other items seperately in the same quote. Wad if u jus engage him to do just the cheap $700 painting for whole hse, u see wad he reply u lor... PS. No hard feelings ar, just wan fellow forumers know how to compare prices fairly...

SGBrides is totally different from here man... RenoTalk is more tactful... SgBrides is more to secure its customers... If u're contractor, they dun allow u to post 1... They're more to advertisement types... Who will advertise @ SgBrides if there's competitors making awful n false remarks?? (bcs in early 2000s, got many companies suffered bad reputations from SgBrides forum. Some remarks might be true, but some is from pranksters. Unhealthy competitions n warfare.) RenoTalk is totally different wor, so long no breached rules, we contractors/IDs also can post comments de... MODs here r very reasonable, won't delete any threads or posts anyhow de... I believe MODs also welcome us to clear the doubts of reno layman... Indirectly, we're assisting in boosting the forum... ^^ By educating the laymans, lesser Con cases, lesser conflicts, better knowledge can be gain from RenoTalks etc = We're building our society better ma... (^^,) 何乐而不为呢？ (I really detest 'UFOs', no ethics at all)

Check wif the HDB regarding of previous renovation permits of ur new unit... U'll get the answer whether its being officially approved...

If those appliances r still serviceable for yrs, u may ask ur contractors to get them dismantled n safe kip b4 the 'Black Destroyers' commence WAR in ur hse! hahaha

Miss Design will never go in love with Mr Practical... Mr Design will never go in love with Miss Practical too... kekeke

U may wan to go Blum's factory at Defu lane 10 (along hougang ave 3)... They got a showroom there...

Is urs a HDB 4rm???? Kitchen 350sqft + toilets 200sqft + Living/Dining, 3 bdrms n store 1323sqft = 1873sqft Ur 4rm flat is 1873sqft = 170 square metres!!!! There's too many 'give n take' in ur quote... Some seems unbelievable cheap, some is sky high wor... COMPLICATED!!! (maybe its a quotation from a 'newbie')

Haha, so wise of u making full 'Goodness' of rain showers! Can feel the natural rain in an un-natural sky... ^^

Erm, i never heard of plumbers carry licenses de... Got PUB license meh??? The plumber tad monsieurlee engaged is not professional at all... Whoever did plumbing in a concealed pipe toilet, sure need to use the 'metal detector' to confirm conceal pipes location before drilling the wall... Pro n responsible plumbers sure scare 'kena' the conceal pipe... Rather than to gamble, taking the risk... Bcs drill 1 wrong hole, will cost them abt $200 to rectify the mess... Who create the mess, get him rectify! U cant blame poh joo de, they recommend plumbers only.. N these plumbers r poh joo's supporters, everytime buy from poh joo, so its like u help me, i help u lor..

Wow!! 2 shower guns in a bathroom!! U really know to enjoy life man!!!

Can bargain more on the homo floor... With $4.50 for lami floor, depends on wad material they giving u liao...

wow, the masonry works seems quite high man... The rest still ok...

They wan u to get bank loans bcs they also will get some commission ma... But tads a small money.. Max is $100 for coffee

Most laminates isn't scratch proof de... But TAK got some scratch proof series... Use fine sand paper on it also no probs... But quite limited lor... But some laminates tends to 'crispy'... easy to get chipped off or bended... Bcs its too dry like biscuits... Carpenters also headache when the laminates r like tad... e.g Some laminates shippment got delay, or place under hot sun will cause tis... Blame no ones...

Laying of 600x600mm homogenous floor tiles, take ur quotes divide by ur total areas in square feet... (eg. $2640 divide by 480sqft = $5.50) Pricing below $5.50psf is consider reasonable liao... (selection of tiles pricing is abt $3.00psf) Same method applies in all floorings but not kitchen n toilets... Do ur own calculations then judge urself ba... (wat u waiting for?? Go do ur homework in calculations!) kekekeke (ps. dun compare too much, later got high blood... ^^ Get all items in, then compare the whole sum)

Since olden days, carpenters has the same teachings of doing carpentry works... A raw plank of plywood usually comes in size of 4ft x 8ft exactly. To make use of tis size, its being cut into 2 (2ft x 8ft). Bcs of its bulky size, although using machine to cut, slantings might occur. (imagine 1 person working on a 4ft x 8ft plywood) Usually, the side of the plywoods r damaged during transportation or mishandling... After cutting/trim the sides abt 2inch, left 2 x(22inch x 8ft).. As our clothes hangers is abt 18inch to 20inch, 21inch is the standard carcass depth for wadrobes (agreed n practiced by older carpenters) So do kitchen cabinets(bottom) as well... Depth of wardrobe carcass is 21inch (min), 23inch (max), depends on the material n cuttings by carpenter... Imagine u need a wardrobe wif depth more than 23 inch, how many amount of raw materials needed? The cost can reach to 40% more than wad its quoted.... There's always a reason for carpenter's measurements n doings... Its more on technical...

In those shops selling 'Marbles or Granite'... Approach them, they have their own 'marble specialists' who is knowledgeable in clearing all probs... Even they dun have 1 in their shops, they will refer u to their sub-cons who does marble works...

Hi Kewin, dun mind i edit something ar... Timber flooring & Parquet flooring is actually same bear the characteristics.... Bcs both r natural wood... Parquet is a contractor terms in local market, whereby timber flooring is the correct naming in 'Ang Moh'! kekeke 'Parquet flooring' usually comes in short strips (only teak), 'timber flooring' usually comes in planks, bigger strips (many varieties, can do wood staining)... The diff is tad the origins of the wood... Different type of wood (maple, nyatoh, teak, chengal etc) have diff textures n density... [resilient, no floating feel. Can sand and polished but depend. And is lastable, but poor scratch resistant, had to maintainence. Not hollow And is lastable. Can Overlay] - Kewin U're right! But comes to water resistance, timber is better... Bcs (parquet) shorter strips got more gaps... With gd maintainence, timber can last very long...

hahaha, i wanna gain additional knowledge through Cyber ma... Its really a good stop in RenoTalks whereby i can sit down, relax n learn more abt other products, as well as knowing the present/latest trends of renovation laymans... I also can be KPO, hope all my comments r right n useful for fellow forumers... Share share lor... 人人为我， 我为人人! Help here help there, helping myself indirectly also... kekeke

Actually there's 2 ways to rectify ur probs... The economical way - Consult marble specialist to apply "Marble Tex" (sounds alike, unsure of its spelling) Tis product when used, hardens like stone... Used to cover cracks n chip offs for all natural stones, but is still visible... The professional way - Consult marble specialist, check the availablities of ur existing stones, hack off the faulty n replace wif new 1s. Job is very tidious...

T_T dun repeat same mistakes ar... All the best!