Kerio

Kitchen

MBR View from Corridor

Views of kitchen View of Study Room My Ikea Galant Table was supposed to be installed on the same day, but the Ikea sales woman forgot to add in a frame, which I had to purchase from the installers. However, when they reached, they found out 2 table legs were missing from the package (which was not purchased, and we didn't notice because the sales woman gave us all the parts to buy and we thought she knew what she was doing), so the table is still in pieces and I'll have to install it.. eventually.

View of Living room from Living Room Window

Updates! Finally, after an entire day of overseeing delivery of our barang barang, installation of furniture, cleaning, unpacking, checking for problems to rectify, we've managed to unload all our boxes.. so now to find out what goes where, which is the tough part. Here're some before and after pics of the apartment: View of the living room from the front door:

I've used both small cordless ones and small corded ones - in my experience, the cordless ones are good for tiny crumbs and so on, but their suction power is significantly weaker than the corded ones and aren't really that useful - I recall struggling to clean up dusty areas using a cordless one and eventually using a broom. Good for cleaning the insides of cars I guess, but not really for the home despite it being slightly more convenient

Hi Aron, I'm from Punggol Central and the installation was this morning Thanks for your promptness in handling the installation and do remind the installers to be more careful! :-)

My thoughts precisely! I'll be moving in tomorrow (still some outstanding things over the weekend, but should be no problem), so I'll take some pics at night to show you what I mean.. my iphone camera res might not be fantastic though

Hahaha, the pics are nice! And I think it's true, you have a lot of cove lights! Actually, after my house lights were installed, I realised that downlights produce very little actual lighting - I actually have to rely a lot on the cove lights to brighten the place up!

Updates! Went by during lunch to see how progress was going, and ID was already there, perspiring away, to oversee carpentry rectifications. She spotted a design fault in the bombshelter feature wall and was instructing the carpenters on how to rectify it. Some rectifications being done on the rest of the feature wall as well. False ceiling has been rectified for air-conditioning units - heard Aron's team gave her some trouble because they didn't come by to confirm the specs; and also communicated the wrong details to the installation team. This incident is a Massive thorn in my side, and hopefully it'll be installed with no problems this time round. Solid Surface, glass for the WIW will be up before Friday, Painting for the MBR will be done tomorrow, and curtains will be up on Saturday. Doors, presumably Thursday or tomorrow. In summary, work is progressing swiftly and I am glad. I think the ID has shown that she is definitely capable and able to make good decisions as well as manage time and her workers - I have to be honest and say that I was not particularly pleased with the initial progress, but things have improved substantially recently, especially in the past two weeks!

Haha I hope things will go spiffily too! She also mentioned she's going on leave, so post-Reno rectifications would be a cause of concern for us. The wife and I really don't like being nasty, and we're just not the type to scream and shout. Though since I'm the husband, I have to protect her, so I have to take the reluctant role of the complainant in order to have things corrected. To quote Metal Gear's Solid Snake, "it's one of those things that gets easier the more you do it". Looking forward to a smooth handover! Missus and I went by Best Denki to get our rice cooker, Air Port etc yesterday - and with this, all our purchases are more or less complete!

Haha, I always think it's a funny feeling - on the one hand you don't want your ID to rush and do a botched job, so you tell them to take their time. But deep down you're like going "hurry up hurry up wanna move in wanna move in!!" Yup, the diameter of an air-con water pipe is 16mm, and the Class "0" and Class "1" thing is actually the insulation - Class 1 is actually thinner insulation than Class 0, and what the insulation does is to pad the water pipes so that the water that flows out of the pipe (which is cold) doesn't cause condensation. I requested Class 0 because I'm hiding a lot of pipes in the false ceiling, so condensation would be a massive problem; hence the upgrade. You might want to consider a Gauge 22 copper pipe too, if you're intending to do a complete upgrade. It may not be necessary though, so just check with your air-con supplier first. Besides this, you might also want to look at this website, it's been invaluable for newbies like me: http://singapore-aircon.blogspot.com/ Good luck for your reno mae!

Haha.. I actually understand if completion is delayed over glitches like that - if something is deemed of bad quality by the ID and it has to be fixed, hence delaying completion, no worries - like I said, it saves me the heartache of frisking out all the problems after I settle in. Badly cut glass panel, for instance - I read kumikotamago's post about the glass shattering - man, those are horrible injuries to suffer for bad construction. I'd rather they do it properly and save us more grief. I've always maintained that as long as the work is done properly, delays here and there I can understand though. Ha, I'm not that optimistic; I'm actually quite realistic. The "next week" part is well, irritating, but as long as things are done and handed over to us based on our deadline, no worries. Updates, as promised: Wife received some updates and explanations from our ID this evening, and I have to say, I'm impressed by a few things. Thus far I've only been impressed by 2 things done by our ID company: the laminates and the carpentry, and as evident, we've had some unpleasant experiences with the quality of work and timeliness. So what exactly is there to be impressed about? 1) Service Recovery & Speed of Recovery I received a call some days back from someone, I had said, "claimed to be the Director". Turns out he was the Director of the company. Ok, I have to admit I was rather shocked when I received the boss' phonecall. After all, he was supposed to be my Last Resort, not my First. Apparently he (or someone he knows) read renotalk and chanced by my posts on our reno journey. His actions following his phonecall really made a big difference. Admittedly, some of the actions were rather drastic, and I do hope he doesn't come down too hard on our ID (ok, am I being soft here?), but I can say this for ArtXend now: They really value their reputation. After the phonecall, the boss started tracking the progress of our apartment - the plasterers and painters who have given us so much grief have been taken off the company's projects (it's renovation peak period. Painters and Plasterers are always in demand. They'll survive. Thanks for almost ruining my ceiling, my wall and my laminates), according to her update. Rectifications are speeding up in preparation for the handover, and our ID is moving things along at an unprecedented pace. Quality of work is being looked at closely, workers are marching along to our ID's beat, and things are, I must quite frankly say, moving along impeccably. Although this would have been nice beforeour irritation got tickled into a frustration, which boiled over into rage, I can say this at least: There have been incidences of IDs simply ignoring customers or not even caring what happens to their reputation even after explicit complaints to management, and I was dreading that this would be the case here, but it clearly is not. ArtXend clearly values their reputation enough to take drastic action to address customer's problems, and take swift and appropriate action to address the issues without getting defensive. In conclusion, Full Points for Service Recovery. 2) Customer Service When we realised our posts had been read by the ID and company, we were in two minds about how to react, but that was mainly in reaction to how the ID would react when she called us. Would she shout at us and call us names? Would we have to shout back at her and have it turn into a nasty screaming match with all of us saying nasty things about each others' parents? Or would our ID come up with defensive explanations for everything and pin the blame on us, on the air-con installer, on HDB, and eventually on those darned leprechauns who mess up our fengshui? Or would she just disappear mysteriously? Turns out, it was none of the above. The ID called up to clarify the finer points of renovation (some of which we actually were aware of, such as glass and carpentry being fabricated in the factory before being installed in the house), which was welcome, and then explained the reasons for the delays and some of the problems she had faced which may have inevitably led to delays. We were glad for the explanation, and that she was finally pushing things along. To be honest, we're just glad work is now going on smoothly, and we can get updates and see progress in the house. Naturally, things like HDB, air-con installer etc did come up in the discussion, but she did take personal responsibility, which we find admirable. One of the first things I learnt as a government employee is this - when something bad happens in your area of work, don't give excuses, don't try to explain - take corrective action and take responsibility. We do think she handled the situation very well, considering the exchange could have been significantly more awkward. And she talked to us nicely even though we were the direct cause for her boss coming down hard on her for our complaints. And like what we said from the very first few posts - we find her pleasant to work with. With these thoughts in mind, perhaps the key messages for this lengthy, wordy post are: a) I can't say ArtXend is highly recommended, but from this incident, we can tell that they value their reputation and take their customer's feedback seriously. The Director could easily have dismissed my complaints, and the ID could have easily disappeared, like all the horror stories we hear; but they didn't. They took swift corrective action, and did so responsibly. No threats of "I'll piss in your laminates you wanker" or "Horrible deeds shall be done unto your WIW, pisspot" - just a contrite explanation, and prompt action. Commendable, to say the least. I think this shows integrity. Worth considering if you're considering renovation works, though some pre-reno work would need to be done - setting up schedules, accounting for HDB rectifications, etc. b) We do hope the management of the company won't punish the ID - she probably had too much to handle, or the workers really played her out. In any case, she handled this case well, and we think she did well in improving the state of affairs and explaining things to us clearly. c) I hope my posts don't make me sound overbearing, because I really am a very nice person usually sometimes. More updates soon.

I trust the ID should be able to give us proper quality this time round, all things considered. Also, I think 2.5 months is acceptable as a time limit I guess? And in terms of quality, I think the ID has been scrutinising the quality recently, if it's not up to par, I trust she'll rectify asap! The reasons for which I'll explain in the following post!

Thanks porkypork! I hope so too! Wife and I are giving her the last opportunity right now, and we're not escalating things yet since there seem to be progress. Plus, she's taken the initiative to suggest fixing some of the carpentry because some of it was badly done. Moving in on the 10th is absolutely essential, since the wife's relatives have been telling us to hold a Christmas party/housewarming since we got the house in September. So from 10th to 20th, we can flag out rectifications, stress test the air con, carpentry, cooking equipment etc, and more importantly get used to the house so we won't be struggling to host a party of 30pax and not know where the spoons are. Thereafter we'll be hosting housewarmings for friends and my side of the relatives (after 49 days, due to my Grandmother's passing) and colleagues. So whether the ID's work is good or bad will literally be shown to hundreds of people, just in the first month after Handover. So good or bad, it'll be spread among hundreds of people (conceivably more, since we have friends and relatives who share reviews quite widely). Talk about word-of-mouth advertising!

Just dropped by quickly to take a look at progress; Aron and my ID's ceiling guys have apparently reached an accord, and they were working on the ceiling when I went by. Also saw two porcelain bowls waiting to be installed in the living room. Apart from that, there wasn't much going on. - laminates not fixed - carpentry not completed, bomb shelter feature wall not fixed - false ceiling @ L-box area not fixed, big hole not plastered yet. Presumably the second coat of paint will come after the plastering is done (would make sense), though still A LOT outstanding. Not sure if solid surface will come in on same day as glass, but hoping everything will fall nicely into place by thursday.

I agree! I think it's important that ID companies learn not to bite off more than they can chew. If they reject a business, the worst that can happen is they don't earn that money. If they take it up and are unable to deliver or commit properly, all the negative reviews come out, damaging their reputation and inadvertantly causing greater damage to them in the long run. So frankly, it's a win-win situation: "You don't screw with us,we don't screw with you." My first experience with French cuisine was delightful.. so was my first experience with a double quarter pounder *sulks* don't see why, hmph *grumble grumble*

Good grief, those wounds are horrendous!! I agree with January - legal action is definitely warranted. But do look after yourself first!

Sweet! I love the full length windows and high ceiling! And I see the renovators very conscientiously laid protection over all the floors, good job! The Fontana Arte Floor Lamp looks fantastic - really chic and elegant! How much are you expecting to pay for it?

Thanks Jan! I considered (very briefly) if I would still feel happy in the house after all this nonsense even if everything was done, but I decided that thought was foolish. I paid for it, so it's my right to demand things to be done properly! (though it's my first house! Couldn't this have been a happy experience?! ) This is the final week with a Handover date expected to be early next week, so I'm just gritting my teeth and bulldozing over the workers and company until things are done. I'm still hoping I can say something good about the company by the end of this entire fiasco!

Meh, I didn't know that either!! Well, the upside is that all the nice silver kitchen cabinet handles have been magically de-selected, and now I have cabinets I need to open with claws. Also, I don't forsee the chrome stand for my bar counter/dining area will be up anytime this week, so no fear. It is highly likely I'll just tell their workers to not do the final cleaning (after this week's), because I'm pretty sure wife and I will be able to do a better job. Haha.. After reading your experience, I suddenly have this impression that all bad IDs are the same pattern. Work cannot work properly. Cannot manage time, over-commit, under-deliver; full of excuses and simply no sense of integrity. Mine doesn't even have very good quality of work, huh. The part about moving in first and things getting damaged is good advice, though part of why I do it is because: 1) the workers don't lay floor protection when they're working (particularly when painting), anyway; so I might as well be around to stare at them like a malicious spirit when they're painting. I'm under the impression their painters are imbeciles, right down to the very last man. And like all village fools, one needs to constantly supervise them in case they fall into the village well or decide to do a Picasso with my furniture. 2) since they cannot be trusted with their time management, let me do it for them. I might need to ask for a few hours leave here and there, but at least when the ID says "Friday glass will be up", I'll demand to know the exact time since I will NEED to be at home to unlock the door and oversee the Rno. If they're not in on Friday, wife and I will execute Plan C. We're keeping Plan C close to our hearts for now, but let's just say their company will become quite famous overnight. I think what we need is to make renotalk more popular so that potential home customers can take a closer look at all the experiences we're sharing so they can make a more informed decision when choosing their IDs. The alternative is a "Renogowhere", like the hungrygowhere site.

Ya, wife was suggesting postponing to Saturday (so she could help with the installation items as she was unable to get leave for Friday, so it's just me running around on the day), but I was adamant about Friday because: 1) judging by the way our ID has been working, one postponement will lead to more postponements. Recall the initial promise for handover was SIX WEEKS. It's been TEN WEEKS so far and the end is only barely in sight. If we give her the go ahead to delay some more, we'll be moving in on Christmas. 2011. 2) all the deliveries have been postponed one too many times. Even if the electronics shop, movers and Serta don't dulan, I also dulan already. In fact, I'm dam bloody dulan. Also, ikea charges $5 per trolley per day past 6 days storage, so pushing it to Sat will incur a $20 fee. NO. By this Thursday, the aircon will be up, so the electrical works and ceiling rectification and 2 coats of paint BETTER BE UP or it's straight to CASE, no passing boss, no negotiations, no payments until they bloody settle everything PROPERLY. I will be keeping a very close watch on them in the next 3 days.

Haha, you're actually quite fortunate number 4 never got back to you, really

Spent the whole day packing for Friday's moving, shag ah. Wife Emailed ID this morning to confirm that chemical wash would be completed by thursday for shifting in to officially start on Friday. We raised this to the ID last week and she informed us she would let us move in our items first and wait for glass to be done (see posts above). Apparently reminding her about it this morning was a good thing, because her email sounded as if she was taken off-guard by it. ID told us there would still be work going on (we hope it's just glass works as agreed previously) on Friday, so she could do cleaning first so we could move in, and that she could do cleaning again after that. Although a lot of action has been going on in the past week, it's been (expectedly) too short to do all the outstanding things. In addition to the rectifications to the ceilings, there's still plumbing, electric works, finishin up on carpentry, rectification of laminates, glassworks, carpentry arectification, cleaning, and not forgetting 1 coat of paint after plaster rectifications and one before air con can go up. That's a LOT to do in a week. Now watching Renovaid, seeing how the ID got the apartment done in 2 weeks just makes me feel even more livid.

Haha congrats!! Haiz, maybe we can consider a remodel in a few years and find a better ID to help us find a solution to install a rainshower