theitsybits

Day 86 - Carpentry issues Today, the factory manager came over to look at our carpentry issues again. He was actually on time and was pretty nice. Luckily he was nice, otherwise he would have gotten it from the husband. The thing is, my carpenter and the people had pretty good attitude (apart from the relative during quotation and delays). I wouldn't say my carpenter is lazy or do not put effort in his work, but somehow the result was as such and the communication/coordination work was really poor. I wonder if it's because of different standards, that he really thinks it's acceptable? Or perhaps he was not trained enough to meet a certain standard? I was looking at my neighbor's carpentry photos, the carpentry were so neat and had no such things as splinters or rough sides even at the back when it's unseen.. Having said that, I still find their reasoning really unacceptable. And I left all the talking (almost) to the husband, otherwise I would have retorted every single thing he said.. (1) My special white internal door - he said that they used white instead of the wood-grained laminate because he suspected that the wood-grained laminate was of bad quality and might have caused the warping of the door due to the large surface area. so, to our interest, they used white internal laminate to avoid any warping issue. That cabinet door is about 1.5m x 0.5m, and it's a 18mm plywood..so he's telling me that the 0.8mm laminate is so horrible that it causes my 18mm wood to warp?! the plywood and laminate must be REALLY lousy for this to happen right? How can this sound reasonable? (2) My top cabinet to conceal the pipes is a ugly mess with exposed plywood inside..this was mainly caused by a lack of communication of our wants to the carpenter..relative did not tell carpenter that we wanted to conceal pipes with carpentry..it was added subsequently, causing my clothes rack to be against the carpentry (rack was moved now)..they said that's why it resulted in the ugly exposed plywood everywhere..husband asked them to change, as pipes are is damp, any leaking = corroded cabinet..factory manager say if change need to add money..well, they have to settle it since it was their internal communication problem.. (3) Factory manager and director both insisted that there's no wide-angle soft-closing hinge in the whole market..we found them from Blum and my neighbor is using it for all her kitchen carpentry..we've provided them with the brochures after visiting the showroom and trying it out for ourselves last Saturday, yet no action was taken till today.. no idea when they are going to get them installed.. (4) Backsplash is still not done after many weeks..not even clear if measurements were taken..factory manager says it should be through director, but will check for us. No idea when it will come. (5) We mentioned that the holes which were touched up looked very ugly, with obvious color tone difference..factory manager says that cannot expect touch-up to look really nice, and it can only be seen if you concentrate..i find it really obvious, and told him that they should not even use/install wood with holes in the first place!!! luckily he agreed with me..else (6) He will get the carpenter down to touch up some gaps and edges, and do another round of thorough checking plus adjust my overlapping drawers..we told him to get it done by next Wednesday - almost a week to do rectifications. He said that it might be tight, cannot promise. BUT!! I've been doing carpentry since late-June!!! *sigh* Whatever it is, we have arranged all our deliveries on the 8th Sept, Saturday. I've also arranged house cleaning on Thursday. It's time to finish renovations and move on. I've spent a third of this year being stressed and really frustrated over these. Can't help but have my mil words ringing in my head constantly - 'let them do carpentry, their carpentry workmanship good. give me face, i can help you monitor. other contractor out to make money only, after you pay they don't care one...they got internal laminate, your carpentry can last you whole lifetime.' yea right..haven't use already edges gone..now with such horrible workmanship and factory manager saying the laminates are of bad quality, i can only laminates, like hinges, like many other things and even people, are of different grade and quality.. i'm gonna learn this lesson, and learn it well. no more second time!

Day 86 Mr K has got his painter down to finish touch-up for painting and helped to fix some shelves and clocks..i think we're almost ready to hand over keys..finally..although there are still some carpentry touch-ups pending.. He sent a few pictures after they are done.. I think his photography skills have improved slightly..haha..i don't really ask him for pictures now that we've lights and I always drop over after work for one reason or another.. Here's my feature wall right in the middle of the living room..neighbors who have visited commented that my home looks like a cafe, i only lack a 'zhao pai', so i guess my signboard can come here! My kitchen shelvings..i intend to put a small toaster on the left, together with my tins of tea etc, while the right shelf can have some fresh herbs plants with my counter-top oven below.. I like how it looks.. these were from Ikea.. And this is my MBR wall, the ledge for photo frames..

it's not fair to ask K rectify ba..right from the start already agreed that it's better for him to stay out of carpentry work to avoid any conflicts..and we have not paid him the final installment after 3 months of renovation even though most of his works have been completed since end-June..things like touching up of painting and other minor details need to be settled after carpentry work is completed..i was worried that the carpenters will dirty my walls and he will have to touch-up again.. can already guess ba, the 'only' company that does internal laminate at pvc prices in the whole of Singapore and have a 'group' of companies..company name can be changed easily or close down open another..what's important is that people do their research, read or ask around for reviews and monitor performance before even choosing IDs/contractors..no matter how horrible these companies are, there are always people who take the sales talk, freebies, big showrooms etc..and these companies will still make a profit since you pay the at least 50% upfront and that would have almost covered their cost..at the end of the day, even if you take the effort to complain to CASE, HDB, it's time-consuming the you might still have to pay the full sum eventually..

yea..i keep telling myself to let it go and move on, but as i clean the carpentry up and see all the edges, i really get upset all over again.. this ID firm is a relative's company..mil was the one who made a very big scene and insisted we use them..the last clash was horrible..i'm still traumatized.. and yet now, even with rectifications, not everything can be rectified..they use crayons to touchup the edges, but the hole is still a hole and coloring it is still visible..drawers were dropping off and after rectifications, they overlap and hit each other when open..and there are so many edges, as you clean you can see, can't get them to change everything..no choice but to close one eye..it's been 8 long weeks, and very tiring.. i'm training myself to be zen and simply keep quiet let my husband settle it..he's having high blood pressure with these people..for everyone's good, i told myself i must try to swallow these..husband is more angry than him, he says even without cleaning the carpentry he's already very angry, no need to clean to be angry. anyway, his other customers seem to be having same problems - delays, wrong laminates used, teeth-mark designs, not having calls and sms replied, bad workmanship and wrong measurements etc..some have went to CASE..but sadly, they can easily close the company and open one with another name..it's so easy and they have done it before..i guess only god or whoever up there will give these people what they deserve.. got to believe that everything happens for a reason and what goes around comes around.. their soft-closing and drawers etc are imported from either india or china and branded by themselves..obviously can't be same standard as blum, although they insisted 'it's the same thing'..anyone can import anything and put their own brand..i can import some hinges and register a company, name it BLUME PARIS too, as long as it's not registered..

they are famous for using wrong laminates lei..i guess they might probably say the laminate was out of stock.. why is ur blog not at t-blog ar? tts y i was thinking didn't see ur blog.. okies pm-ed!

I emtpty le, shd be able to pm now! =)

Day 84 Went to my place to do some cleaning and get some ikea stuff for exchange.. it's when you start cleaning the carpentry insides that you start noticing even more horrible workmanship.. can only shake head..how can it be possible to go through every inch and get them to touch up everything? practically every single drawer or shelve needs some sort of touchup.. they changed the door because there's a huge gap between door and cabinet, can see through..he then said the door was warped and brought it to change..we checked the closing and gap..now that i open up to clean, i realized, the laminate used was different.. it wasn't badly done, but...lidat also can? WHY??? insides all wood-grained laminate suddenly one white one.. Our drawers are well, still not very smooth, definitely not like blum as they claim..we tested individual drawers but didn't open all fully to double-check..now that i open it up and clean them, leaving it to air-dry, we realize that some drawers overlap and hit each other..they are not flushed, carpenter say it's very difficult to flush all drawers and cabinets..but overlap and knock each other normal meh? Drawer insides either have visible gaps or more teeth-mark laminates..we saw the laminates he brought for pasting, the edges were all lined with similar teeth-marks..mil said that they won't use, will cut off the edges..but fact is, ALOT of our carpentry has such teeth-markes..i wonder if it's the storage problem or when they import, the quality was already bad like that and carpenter didn't have the sense to cut it off and use it anyway.. and the touch-up of the holes in carpentry looks like that..very visible and some aren't even fully filled.. the carpentry concealing our pipes have many exposed plywood inside too..husband took some pictures.. i only cleaned 1/2 of the kitchen carpentry..as i clean more and spot more bad workmanship, it makes me angry all over again..*sigh* i'm sure i'll spot more as i clean the rest of the carpentry.. how now? good workmanship guaranteed? now tell me, it's 'normal', people make mistakes and all contractors are like that..want to find one so jialat also not easy..

thanks! abit headache cuz can't find a nice bed frame that both of us like and we're broke now! i bought it from taobao, but when it came it was slightly cream in color not pure white..my contractor Mr K painted it for me.. it cost abt $120 with shipping because the volumetric weight is very huge! Frac Frac has the exact same like for like $230? I also saw it at lightings.com for about $200..ay, this is a replica of the spinning light, and i suspect everyone imports from china ay..

tell me about it..let's say that this is only the tip of the ice-berg. hey! u can have it, but need to collect at my place..perhaps this sat or next sat? hello, u been to my place to collect the tiles le mah, that time was when carpentry was half done? we should be there sat afternoon and definitely on 8th.. never! i just saw a similar one at ikea but only saw navy blue..not sure if it'll be cheaper since it's at the revamping area, probably new product..

Day 83 cont The sink and hob/hood with ample working space..i usually let the garlic sautee while i rush to wash/cut up meat or veg to be stir-fried, so having this configuration saves me a lot of food preparation time..i can't imagine having my sink and hob at opposite sides.. View from service yard: Common toilet vanity Common toilet rain shower and toilet bowl against my mosaic wall.. The tiny MBR toilet..I might be showering in the common toilet instead, much more space!! They still need to change a few hinges and get the backsplash up..afterwhich the last touching up of paint, and Mr K can finally hand over the keys and conclude my project after 4 long months.. We've arranged delivery of fridge, washer/dryer, sofa and bench, dining table and sideboard to arrive on the 8th Sept.. But we have not bought our bed frame, the coffee table, side tables and tv console... Haven't had the time to look around this few weeks since we were heading to our place really often..guess it's time to do some shopping again!

Day 83 Carpentry touched-up was completed today..still not 100% as some drawers are still not flushed, some drawers still abit stiff, some gaps between the doors, some holes are not mended totally..but i guess i'm ready to close one eye and move on, start looking forward to cleaning up the place and delivering the furniture, decorating the space for our pre-wedding shoot.. They touched-up the book shelves edges with some sort of crayon or paint..it's still visible if you see closely..but oh well.. Some other parts are less obvious..MIL thinks this is 'normal' and all carpenters have such issues since they are human and makes mistakes..husband describes this as buying a car with scratches and have them mended with paint.. i just hope that, well, they get what they deserve..i really pity those customers who have family and need to vacate their old flats yet have renovation delayed with bad workmanship..imagine if you've kids and old people in the house and is forced to move into a half-renovated flat with very bad workmanship, yet have to chase them and endure the dust and dirt..despite everything, they still make money from screwing people's house and life, since people usually pay off their costs and a large proportion of total renovation cost..the last 10-20% does not matter much and they can take their time to finish up or rectify the job while taking on more jobs and $$..not everyone does their research online and many are still taken in by things like internal laminates with cheap prices, big showrooms and freebies.. i guess i'm already lucky since we weren't in such a hurry and was able to insist on rectifications even though it is still imperfect..time to move on and pray that he gets what he deserves.. On a happier note, our place is 95% completed and I really do love how it looks and feel comfortable in it..

that's good enough le.. thanks! but i guess both of us got closer after these, so it might not be an entirely bad thing after all. sigh, no idea..it was on her insistence that we had no choice but to go with her wishes..guess she's trying to tell us that this is 'normal' and every contractors' work is similar..otherwise it's not possible to admit that it was a mistake that caused us so much trouble.. haha if u're supper fussy sort, it's going to be difficult..i guess there's no 100% work, there's bound to be some issues here and there..i thought i'm quite easy-going le, but everything still drove me crazy, especially that few weeks not knowing when my carpentry will arrive after 5 whole weeks.. i think tracks are universal, just that the length/color is different..good luck!!

yea..quite hard to be worse than mine! it's really smooth! bua his face on mine think no need go see ppl liao.. not sure how smooth or rough his backside is lei..but later he rather bua and spoil his butt than make my wood smooth how..backside nobody see wor.. yar lor, the 'best' carpenter in the ID firm.. sigh...! i've no clue how they are going to box it up or something.. still got a long road ahead lei..just have to look at the big picture lor..what i'm worried is rectified still bad or become worse.. hmm think all wood after sawing will not be totally smooth and will need to be sanded somehow to make it smooth..either by hand or machine..mine lazy never do lot Thank you all for the concern, it's good to know that there are normal people out there and we're not too demanding nor unreasonable.. Carpentry work worse than mine is quite difficult to achieve..many other things are not obvious from photos and you need to touch and see to realize how bad all the details are..my heart aches when I look or think of my carpentry..yet I really don’t think I can take any more of their rubbish and prolong this anymore.. The husband wanted to confirm if touch-up for laminate edges is permanent, otherwise he wants to request to change the whole piece of bookshelf..they told us that touching up the ugly black lines on the sides is not permanent but they can do it if we insist..using the same logic, my bookshelf edges will not be permanent too, especially if I keep sliding the books out..MIL called my husband unreasonable and asked him to pay up, and the husband is really furious..i’ve never seen him so angry before the past 8 years..he says he’s not going to pay 15k for such work..even when everyone can see how bad the workmanship is, MIL is still siding relative and pointing fingers at us, like we are the ones at fault and being difficult.. Another issue is the internal laminates..his current wardrobe are internal laminates too, including the edges..but ours are internal laminates but ABS trimming, which is PVC..he’s not happy about it, since they made us use relative due to full laminates finish wo poisonous PVC, yet PVC was still used..so it totally defeats the 'no pvc no poison' and good workmanship they promised right from the start..pvc was still used and workmanship is as what you see.. *shakes head* after the last clash, I’ve come to learnt that trying to reason with unreasonable people brings you nowhere and only makes you shiver with anger..while I’m unhappy with such work, I’m resistant to getting them change everything..many of his customers have similar problems, bad workmanship and delays and some have brought complaints to CASE against him and refused to pay (according to renotalk posts)..at this rate, I’ve no idea how long it will take for them to redo and deliver..or who knows how long they can last..some also feedback that making them redo does not improve anything, still the same bad workmanship..unless they are agreeable to remove existing carpentry and let us get someone else to do it without paying..but that would mean a lot more trouble and prolonged misery.. carpenter will be coming down to rectify tomorrow..the least he can do is sand my plywood really smooth..

There's so many defects and ridiculous work by my carpenter that I can't decide which is worst out of all..it's incredible how they do things and i'm beginning to find humor in the whole situation..it's, simply, really, utterly unbelievable, WTF-how-can-such-things-happen situation..although i knew they had bad reviews online, i never expected them to do such a bad job for us after all the commotion.. And i decided that the most funny part is how he left his 'signature' on my carpentry..scribblings are visible on my feature wall, apart from one whole row of holes.. it's like...having your tailor draw on the undersides of your shirt.. And I dropped by The good things @ Clementi Mall today..they are using these raw plywood shelves too..and it's really smooth to the touch, like really smooth, like paloma's and pinkwhale's beautiful plywood carpentry that shows the many different layers and grains..bua your face on top also not scared.. the husband suggested that we bring our carpenter here to touch and feel..so he knows what is expected..so if our edges are still rough, i'm going to bring him here..if still cannot, i sand one for him ask him follow exactly..

Day 80 Mr K got the plumber down to fix my sinks and rain showers and heater today.. Our place is already fully functional and 90% completed..only pending carpentry rectifications, and we have zero update about when they are coming to get it all done..as usual.. Whatever it is, I told the husband that I want the place ready for delivery of furniture by 8th, just before he travels for work again..so it has to be ready by next weekend for cleaning..surely 10 days for rectification is ample time? Rainshower on my mosaic wall.. Sink and tap. I honestly think that my common toilet is lacking something, it looks....normal..it didn't turn out like how I expected it to be..and I honestly think it's the laminates which made the difference..my ideal was cement-screed like laminate to gel the kitchen and toilet floor tiles..but this laminate is somewhat, boring, old-fashioned, normal.. hopefully some nice toiletries will make it look nicer.. Guess which hole was cut by my carpenter and which hole is cut by Mr K's plumber? there's a cabinet door, yes, but still....... Kitchen sink and matt tap..

i buay tahan, driving me crazy but also bo bian..can only shake head..really looking forward to the nightmare ending and doll up the place soon.. yea..totally driving me nuts.. given their workmanship and bad reviews, i really don't expect that much from them anymore.. yar lor..i saw paloma's and your plywood, come see mine all rough and edges cut bluntly really want to cry.. i still cannot understand why they can never sand, all so rough still come install.. now only can close one eye, better if can close both eyes.. it's a horrible experience..i've been mad since a long time ago till only have strength to shake head now..rejecting entire batch may mean another 8 more weeks of waiting and no guarantee it will be better or if they will even deliver them..after all that trouble and anguish the past 4 months, i really just want my house ready.. no point being upset now, they can see for themselves and hopefully reflect on themselves..time to move on, 4 whole months of anguish is enough.. i guess, not many people is as lucky as me..seldom see so horrible work too..so can't be worst than mine! good luck! my sentiments too i got A for D&T in Sec 1 and i sanded my wood really straight and smooth on this belt that moves..i still do not understand why my carpenter can deliver carpentry without even sanding it with blunt cuts..

Day 78 An army of people came to my place to inspect my carpentry yesterday..at least they had slightly better attitude and were generally willing to rectify most of the issues..heng never tell me don't be so calculative, won't die.. 1. The drawers dropping out or very stiff - they said they will grease the rollers and fix them. Funny thing is that the carpenter actually claimed that perhaps the solid top people took out the drawers, that's why it was dropping out. BUT, my wardrobe drawers were also dropping out and I did not fix solid top in wardrobe.. 2. The chips on edges of my bookshelf and many other pieces of carpentry, they say they will touch up with 'crayons'. I'm not sure how they can do that and make it look good. Reason behind chips edges is that the laminate is textured, that's why it's difficult to cut it straight. Really? I use my paper cutter to cut textured paper thicker than laminates for scrapbooking and my paper still turns out straight..there are so many textured laminates in the market like rough or crocodile skin ones, cannot be all can't be cut straight right? Many of my edges including smooth laminate was done badly and had 'teeth marks'. 3. The holes on the feature wall can't be explained, carpenter simply did not notice or think it's a problem. There's even visible scribblings in between the gaps. We've decided not to change the whole feature wall due to wrong sized planks used, since it may affect the partition and it's a lot of work. They will fix the holes and get rid of the scribblings. There's a whole row of holes!! 4. They will sand all edges of my plywood. I can't understand how they can fix such rough plywood up despite having me tell him to sand it before installation. Isn't it a lot harder to sand it after installation and having to reach to the ceiling? The plywood has holes and are really rough. Mr K's carpentry was absolutely smooth to the touch and the plywood layers were so beautiful while mine has uneven colors and holes in between the layers. I suppose it's different grade of plywood? Really disappointing. 5. These holes at the underside of all wardrobe drawers - carpenter said that he thought that it was for our convenience so our hand can reach in to pull out drawers easily. Otherwise the door of drawers has to be 10mm longer and eats into hanging space. He cut holes of all different sizes because it's underside and can't be seen, so he didn't think that it was a problem too. husband made him mend that hole back since changing anything now would result in many holes in the carpentry and changing the whole carpentry seem impossible. They will cut the semi-circle and mend it back, paste both top and bottom with laminate. I really suspect how they can cut exactly the odd-shaped semi-circles. 6. There's a thin strip of raw plywood under our kitchen sink since the tray was slightly smaller than carpentry. Thin strip of RAW PLYWOOD under my sink where there's most moisture! They will laminate that thin strip to prevent any rotting. There still many issues everywhere - we pasted 55 different post-it pads with defects. Lastly, they insisted that there is no wide soft-closing in the entire market when the husband has found some online. Anyone familiar with Blum products who could advise if they have soft-closing hinges for 150-170 wide? My drawers are also so stiff when they claim 'it's the same as blum'. I've tried blum drawers and they definitely do not feel like mine. Can only wait and see what they can do, but I'm really sick of these and want to get this over ASAP. it's unbelievable how they can claim that they've good workmanship..internal laminates at cheap prices yes, but with many holes and uneven edges and much more with weeks of delays and more for rectifications (8 weeks so far and counting)..moreover, we're using the best carpenter they have, and he's obviously pressurized to perform since we're relatives too.. still such work To everyone still choosing ID/Contractor/Carpenter - please choose wisely and do your homework, use someone recommended by friends or see for yourselves their actual completed works. Do not be swayed by huge showrooms, nice pictures, good sales talk and promises, freebies. Apart from delays, bad workmanship, even if they are willing to rectify everything for you, there are still some things which cannot be changed due to cost or time constraints. It really gives you a lot of grief and waste a lot of precious time.

i very jealous of your white toilet and subway tiles..and black haiku and i realized you chose matt taps too!

haha no problem..i'm hoping my place will be done by then too.. very fast de la..Aug already ending..by that time your place should be waiting for carpentry le ba..

no problem, pm-ed hee, yea, i love how it turned out.. my bomb shelter door is blackboard, so is my mosaic and vanity in toilet, i thought the black lights can transit into the darker toilet and room! your place is looking really great too! i think black haiku looks nicer but a black one will look really weird for us.. prices has gone up yet again!!!

Congrats! I'm sure it will turn out really great! I want visit!! =D

yea, it's super big! waste my space lei..smtimes it feels like so near yet so far, still must get rectifications done! thank you! yea, so near...yet so far.. haha don't think so la! and magazines usually prefer ID projects? they can't feature my place and say it's done by a contractor who has no hdb license right? hmm nope..taobao is abit different, because it seems like they only accept china credit cards and i'm not sure if they ship overseas..so most buy using a middleman..i heard it's possible using some chinese paypal-like system, but i'm not trying because it's a hassle liaising with the seller and settling shipment issues..not sure if anyone has done it or can advise? basically i search taobao for items i want to buy..then I look out for things like comments and ratings..after deciding on the item, I copy that link to daigou65 page, and add details like quantities and color and comments i.e. check volume weight with seller before buying.. after that, the daigou65 people will liase with the seller and get back to you (in english!)..so you can ask them to check details or ask questions..once you give the green light to buy, you pay using a pre-paid account with daigou65..you transfer $ to their account..then they will arrange the shipping to Singapore..you can check the status of your buys on their website.. not sure if it's clear but you can check out instructions and shipping rates/commission rates on their site.. Do you want white tracks? I have 2 extra, cuz i kiasu bought 4 when i wasn't sure if i wanted track lights for kitchen and corridor..they are 1.5m long..u can have it if u like, it should be able to fit all kinds of track lights.. taobao has LED track lights too, but the effects of LED spot lights are somewhat different to me..i got the E27 spotlights and bought the bulbs here..so it depends on how bright you want them to be.. http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=16850760408 http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=13938812502 The spotlights were really cheap because they packed all 6 in a small box with plastic wrapped around each..they were really light too so shipping was cheap while each one was less than $2. whether or not things are worth it generally depends on the size and weight, since shipping is almost always more expensive than the actual product.. e.g. my tom dixon lights cost $30 but shipping was almost $70 due to the volumetric weight..my spinning lights cost a lot to ship because it's really big too, but it's still more than half-price from Fran Franc/Lightings.com for the same thing.. hee thanks!! yes, i did spend many nights envisioning the feel of the whole place, drawing 3D drawings in my head since we had no 3D drawings.. i'm glad it turned out fine, though my husband thinks the tom dixon lights does not really fit our theme or the corridor.. my idea was that the living room and kitchen is really white but as you move inside the house, it eventually transits to a darker tone as my toilet has black mosaic and black granite..and my MBR is in grey, and probably perpetually dark..

Day 76 cont Dining area. Dining table will be horizontally below the big spinning light. Living area, with the haiku up. MBR down lights. MBR toilet.

Day 76 We are almost there!! Lights and my hood/hob are all installed. We are only left with plumbing and rectifications for carpentry and touchups for painting.. The entrance. We went up to see our lights in full glory tonight, after having steamboat at neighbor's place.. Kitchen. I do realize that one light bulb was the wrong color.. Corridor. Common toilet.

thanks! i guess white goes with everything.. most of the holes are underside..not THAT obvious unless you look closely..just the the bookshelf edges are pretty obvious because they are at eye level.. let's see how they can touch up oh man, no problem, we are usually there every Sat.. jiayou!