Hi everyone,
5 years ago when we decided on a renovation contractor, we actually came to Renotalk to search for reviews and Idea House seemed to get quite a bit of positive reviews. When we went there to meet someone there were alot of other people who were there speaking with them so we were sorta convinced we made the right choice. Perhaps it is really due to which ID you are working with. Our guy was nice but apart from that, every step of the way he would tell us something cannot be done but later on when the workers he was with could do it he would change his tune again. Alot of "好像不可以。" or "不可以" 。 Im sure alot of people want to know what the results are after 3 to 5 years from paying 20k plus for renovations right? I can give you some examples. In the 1st month we completed renovations, we saw problems. We have one side of our wall that is cement skrid, so its not painted for the industrial look. Basically what they did is they hack the existing tiles, cement the wall to even it out then after that put a layer of coating. When we checked the wall there were dark patches. Basically some contractor came in and nicked the wall and so they had to patch it back to make sure it looks even. So our ID told us those wet patches would dry up. This us after the screed and coating had been layered over. We questioned him if he was sure it would dry. He said it would. Well its 5 years and the marks are still there.
Next, after abt 1.5 to 2 years i noticed the screws that were used for the cabinetry were starting to rust. Strange right? I thought he said the screws were stainless steel, and its not like we are staying near the seaside or in eastcoast area. But since we were still within 2 years warranty for carpentry he replaced all the screws that were rusted.
So i had a baby and i wanted to decorate the hall. This is 2 to 2.5 years after renovation. So we bought wall stickers from Ikea to stick on. When i removed them paint came off. I know some of you think, of course naturally paint would come off. But when the paint came off, i could see that its a very thin layer of paint. He told me when they paint the house, it would be 3 coats. Definately not 3 coats of paint because the layer that came off is so thin and right under is the cement wall , like there was only 1 coat applied. Also, under the paint the wall is rough. Im not sure if there was supposed to be priming or something but it just looks like some corners were cut.
So today i was going to put up some hooks and so i used the 3M TAPE for hooks and decided maybe on the cement screed wall would be better at least paint doesnt come off. Then when i took off the tape to realigned it ( i didnt press down very hard on it or for very long) a thin layer of cement came out! And underneath is powdery and rough.
I am very concerned there were alot of corners cut and you know we paid almost 25k for simple renovation. No fancy wall or capentry because we wanted minimalist feel. I can say the toilets were done really well ( the guys that did the toilets were the ones that help us to achieve something that my ID said couldnt be done)
So please do not engage Ideal House for your works unless you can get the same person that everyone sings praises abt in the forum. My take is that works are outsourced so perhaps each ID would have their own contacts and ours just didn't have good ones that did the painting or walls.
