K's Reno Journey

[istel 0]

Thanks bro.. if anyone asks about Artrend, spread the word.

Have been following your blog for a while although I didn't post... Sorry to hear what've happened... My sympathies...

I hope you'll find some recourse with the incorrigible ID after your grandma's wake...

Edited November 25, 2010 by istel

[Kerio 2]

Have been following your blog for a while although I didn't post... Sorry to hear what've happened... My sympathies...

I hope you'll find some recourse with the incorrigible ID after your grandma's wake...

Thanks Istel.. Wife and I sent an angry email demanding her to do several things over the last week; the posts above and the email we sent her were rather harsh because our emotions were running high, but it does not mean they were not true.

In fact, wife and I are not prone to angry outbursts until we're pushed beyond our limits, and she was really pushing it when she :

1) lied to us about the paint being up, and

2) told us (when the hob, hood and oven were due for delivery) rather curtly that the hob and hood are ours, so she wouldn't be there, despite the fact that she would need to change the combination of the lock since quite a lot of people knew the combination number by then. It was unfortunate for her that the date of delivery and us seeing what wasn't done coincided with my grandmother's wake being held, and I had to be away from it just to oversee delivery, hence only adding to my (by then) already brimming fury. And she had the nerve to send me "just do what you need to do, I'll handle the necessary". Yeah, right.

Not to mention the fact that she was not present during both days of the air con piping installation, and didn't take notes when the air con man was there to tell her about the air con size etc. As it turns out, the ceiling height is wrong, and rectifications need to be made - and of course, now we need to sort out the messy business of who's going to pay for it (point: definitely not us, since we're not involved in any way in this affair).

In fact, I seem to realise that not taking notes seems to be a rather bad habit of hers, despite the fact that she rarely remembers the amendments we remind her about. The inverted floorplan, wrong color combinations and not telling us when items are due for delivery despite us constantly telling her to let us know at least 2 - 3 days before they're due for delivery, hence causing us to have to arrange for air-con installation within 2 days (not to mention make payment for $4k+ without any planning), which managed to be done only because Aron's team was incredibly accomodating. I originally thought she had a good memory or by experience knew what was to be rectified, but that is clearly not the case. In fact, she called me when painting was going to be done, to "confirm which room was the study room". For info, our guest room is aquamarine, and completely empty. Our study room is maroon, with a daybed and shelf constructed. This raised serious questions about whether or not she has her head in the right place, if she can't even remember which room is which.

It's like getting married, then forgetting who you're supposed to marry.

Went by today to see what progress had been made after the nasty exchanges:

1) trash has finally been cleared.

2) water stains on laminate floors not rectified yet. The floor laminate where the daybed is supposed to be installed in the Study Room also has a water stain in a ring shape (from the paint pail the workers left on the floor. Good Job, again.). Also, there're several paint and water stains on the laminate floors in the Guest and study room besides that one, which I will, of course, be confirming that they're fixed properly, since she doesn't go down to do site inspections frequently (which would explain why she didn't know the paint wasn't up and that most of the schedule wasn't being followed).

3) The kitchen cement base hasn't been rectified as of today, but I'll be going by on Monday to confirm it's properly fixed before carpentry is up.

4) Lights are up, though one is missing and the MBR toilet light is not working. Also, the lamp I bought from ikea is chipped. We checked the lamp before fixing it up, and we were very careful with the lamp glass precisely because we didn't want to chip it. In any case, the chip is quite minor, and no one really looks closely at lights, so we're just shrugging it off.

5) First coat of paint for all rooms are finally up, but painting on one wall is missing, though that could be the feature wall (i.e. It'd BETTER BE. I'm already cheesed off. Any more of this nonsense and I'm off to CASE.)

One thing of concern is that Aron's installers also gave me the wrong insulation for the living room air-conditioning unit. Maaaaan, my reno process is just a nightmare. Things would have been a lot easier with a responsible ID who oversaw everything... Sigh.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Kerio

[fifteenmay 40]

Oohh, i am sorry to hear about your bad experience : ( all the best!

[Kerio 2]

Oohh, i am sorry to hear about your bad experience : ( all the best!

Thanks fifteenmay!

We're going by today to see if rectifications are going to be done, since carpentry is going to be up tomorrow. It wouldn't do to have water stains and bad tile work being covered by carpentry intentionally. Although we'd otherwise turn a blind eye, bad tile work and cementing would really hurt if we snubbed our toes on it, and water stains would, of course, affect resale value, considering they'd be permanent after 4-5 years.

We're still waiting for this to turn into a Interior Designer Fairytale story, where the ID suddenly and unexpectedly changes the manner and style of working and gets everything done efficiently and with high standards of work.

We originally picked this company because we thought it had a good reputation and high quality of work, though some online testimonials stated otherwise. I used to work in an Interior design company (for about a week or so, just as a temp staff to help clear some paperwork), and even though I know how the usual practice is to promise and assure (actual delivery of promise is sorted out afterwards) so that the contract can be signed, at least they delivered properly. The lady boss came down on her workers hard when they were skiving, and personally went down to oversee various projects everyday. They had a large gantt chart in the office with who was doing what projects, allocated workers properly and were highly effective. Last I heard, they had branched out into a different business. Pity. It was my hope that the company we picked would do things properly, not half-heartedly by postponing things then rushing to do a shoddy piece of work at the last minute.

We're still hoping this will turn out into a good testimonial for the company, and that they would buck up. Let's see what happens in the next 2 weeks.

[Kerio 2]

Here're the list of items requiring rectification:

Cabinet Base requires screeding - you can see how the tile I placed there appears to be lifted up in the front. The cement is actually concave in the corner. ID has indicated this will be done today.

Walk in Wardrobe laminates - there's a 1cm gap between the plaster wall and the laminates; this could be for the wardrobe, but I raised it to the ID's attention anyway, just in case.

Ring of water left by the painters' pails. It's at the exact location where our day bed will be constructed, so highlighted it to ID to rectify.

Also, splashes of paint water all over the precious laminates.

Big water stain in guest room, requires fixing.

ID has indicated that the laminates will be fixed tomorrow, at the same time as the carpentry; not sure how that will turn out. Hopefully she'll be there to oversee to avoid anymore unpleasantries. *fingers crossed that ID will change for the better*

The air-con/false ceiling fiasco hasn't been settled, but it seems the air-con company's not paying; which means ID may need to absorb the rectifications costs eventually. If she asks us to pay, we'll probably get her to bill the air-con company. For one, the aircon person and the ID were both discussing the details during the site survey, and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. I'm not sure who is in the right and who is in the wrong, but I sure as heck know it's not me, because my only contributions to the entire discussion were to give my inputs on where I wanted the units and to state my two requirements:

- "Reduce Trunking", and

- "Hide whatever you can in the false ceiling".

So we'd be very surprised if we're asked to foot the bill for a mistake caused by what is clearly a breakdown of communication between 2 parties we employ to work together.

To raise an example of this: Company A and Company B are hired by the Government to create a machine. A and B get together to discuss the specs, going their separate ways to get their respective work done. When they get back together to fit the machine together, they realise it doesn't fit together because one of them got the specs wrong. So, do they:

1) Go to the government to ask for money to fix the problem

2) fix the problem and one of the party has to absorb the costs or split the cost 50-50 if the fault is unclear

3) not do it at all since no one is paying to rectify, but still ask for money for the completed work from the government

I think it's quite clear that 2 is the correct answer here.

[porkypork 0]

Hi Kerio,

I'm sorry to hear the unpleasantness on your reno and my condolences to you..

Actually why didn't your ID put those floor protection covers during the reno? Has it been taken off already? You should request them to put it there to protect the flooring especially laminates... if it is homogenous tiles at least there is the chemical wash... but laminates, if I'm not wrong, cannot be chemical washed.

anyway... hope your reno will progress smoothly.. btw I'm oso from punggol forum (future residence of Damai Grove)... now researching stuff on renovation

Edited November 29, 2010 by porkypork

[Kerio 2]

Hi Kerio,

I'm sorry to hear the unpleasantness on your reno and my condolences to you..

Actually why didn't your ID put those floor protection covers during the reno? Has it been taken off already? You should request them to put it there to protect the flooring especially laminates... if it is homogenous tiles at least there is the chemical wash... but laminates, if I'm not wrong, cannot be chemical washed.

anyway... hope your reno will progress smoothly.. btw I'm oso from punggol forum (future residence of Damai Grove)... now researching stuff on renovation

Thanks porkypork! Actually, that point about floor protection covers was in the nasty email we sent to her. My wife demanded that the ID replaced all the damaged floorings from the dirt, water and sharp objects. A part of the living room was virtually unprotected when we dropped by, and since the debris wasn't cleared, the sand, nails, construction materials were all over our tiles. In fact, when we brought our friend from Treelodge over, they almost stepped on a plank with a rusty nail in it, doing a scritchy-scratchy all over our tiles.

The laminates, when they were initially laid, were beautiful (except for the WIW one). We even mentioned to the ID that we loved the laminates. Then of course, she had to scr*w it all up by not laying proper protection, and damaging the laminates in the course of painting, and I'm sure, during carpentry.

And you're right; laminates can't go through chemical wash, only tiles can, which is why we're hopping mad. And the ID doesn't even seem to really care that her workers have, since day 1, dutifully scr*wed things up on a routine basis. To top it all off, she seems really angry that we were nasty with her. I ask you. Her workers (and by default, the company):

- Can't tile or cement properly.

- Spill drinks over our laminates.

- Forget to lay protection over our tiles and laminates.

- Lie about paint being complete and still swear vulgarities during the course of painting about how the boss is complaining they're not doing work.

- Have had dismal progress since 28 Sep, when reno officially started. Even if I take out a week for aircon installation (2 days) and additional HDB rectification (3 - 4 working days), it's still close to 2 months already.

- Almost forgot: Can't even patch a wall straight after it's been hacked

And carpentry or glassworks aren't even up, yet, too. I wonder what surprises those will bring.

And She's angry with Us?? SIGH.

Good luck for your reno Porkypork! And remember, when in doubt, go for Word of Mouth. Ask around to see if anyone has gone through a satisfactory renovation and specifically go for that person in that company. Our learning point so far is that experienced or expensive companies doesn't mean better companies. It's entirely possible they've just made mistakes for a very long time without learning anything in the process.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Kerio

[porkypork 0]

Thanks for the pointers Kerio... yup I agree to your point on word of mouth recommendation and see the ongoing process and if possible by the owner, pay a visit to see the worksmanship and get the chance to meet the contractor on the spot.

looking through your postings... I think probably your ID is not in control of the sub-cons...the workers probably simply bo chup her? Sometimes it could be the case... ID and sub-cons needs to work hand in hand together... if the scales is tipped to one side...then there will be managing problem...

Edited November 29, 2010 by porkypork

[porkypork 0]

Hi Kerio... just send you a PM... but not sure if it goes through your inbox or not?

[Kerio 2]

Yup, got it

[BlurRhino 0]

Wah the scarring of your laminates are really bad.. hmm.. initially dun know why my ID dun want to do my laminate flooring together with the tiling, now i know y he want to have laminate flooring to come in last.. guess even with protection, with so many works going on confirm will get some damage here and there?

anyway really hope everything eventually will turn out good for u!

[Kerio 2]

Wah the scarring of your laminates are really bad.. hmm.. initially dun know why my ID dun want to do my laminate flooring together with the tiling, now i know y he want to have laminate flooring to come in last.. guess even with protection, with so many works going on confirm will get some damage here and there?

anyway really hope everything eventually will turn out good for u!

Your ID sounds like a very experienced person

Laminates are always more fragile because they're prone to damage from just about everything - water, sharp objects, even strong sunlight over extended periods of time (I hear they warp, but then just about everything does under strong sunlight), which is why either protection is needed or it comes last if no carpentry is installed.

We, on the other hand, are being charged $180 for floor protection that is, quite literally, non-existent. SIGH.

Going down to confirm rectifications done later in the evening. I'm almost certain that the iD would forget some of the rectifications to be made, because she has a dam* bad memory and doesn't take notes.

Good luck for your Reno too!)

[Kerio 2]

Updates!

Just checked with Aron and he has confirmed the insulation in the living room is Class "0"; he's also arranging for a Monday installation, since air con is supposed to be installed after the final coat of paint.

They've come by for 2 additional trips to date FOC, and I have to say I'm very impressed with his responsiveness and experience. Besides the issue of the false ceiling, I must say I'm quite happy with their service. During the piping, his workers very conscientiously piled all their barang barang in a heap in the centre of the living room, and when they needed to drink water, they'd walk over to the heap, drink from their water bottle, screw it close and walk back to work. None of them were smoking, and all 4 of them were working at once. Progress was extremely smooth throughout. The only gripe i have is that they sort of threw their extra unneeded items all over the living room, but I suppose that's because it was full of large heaps of debris anyway.

Wife also smsed ID yesterday to confirm when the handover date would be, and ID replied that it would be next week. To play safe, I've arranged for all our deliveries to arrive on Friday, 10th Dec, the final day in the next week.

We had originally arranged for our boxes to be moved into the guest room (which would then be locked) on the 26th November (last Friday). ID had suggested that date, we assume, because the doors would be up. Since the doors we chose were out of stock, we had to re-order and hence we had to postpone the moving of boxes. To avoid any more complications, we arranged it to be on the 10th as well. Doors are supposed to be up this week, together with carpentry and rectifications to our laminates. Glassworks and solid surface as well, if not next week.

So on 10th December, I'd need to receive my :

- Boxes (really early, like 7-8am) [postponed twice]

- Mattress (in the afternoon) [postponed 4 times to date]

- Electronics and Installation (to confirm) [we told them mid November. Surprise! ]

and do a lot of cleaning.

That's if handover isn't delayed again. If it is, I'm still sending everything in, because I'm honestly sick and tired of calling so many people to postpone things.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Kerio

[porkypork 0]

Hi Kerio, I would suggest you now need to constantly monitor your ID's progress on the rectifications now since it is only less then 2week to handover. Make sure the major ones like flooring are rectified, otherwise when your stuff starts coming in and it is still not rectified....it will be very inconvienent and messy to shift things around.

I would guess it will be better to get stress out for this 2wks to make sure everything is done properly than to stretch the agony if things get delayed further... especially when your stuffs comes in .... and our HDB 4rooms are so small... more headache...

btw you got your aircon from gain city or...?

[Kerio 2]

Hi Kerio, I would suggest you now need to constantly monitor your ID's progress on the rectifications now since it is only less then 2week to handover. Make sure the major ones like flooring are rectified, otherwise when your stuff starts coming in and it is still not rectified....it will be very inconvienent and messy to shift things around.

I would guess it will be better to get stress out for this 2wks to make sure everything is done properly than to stretch the agony if things get delayed further... especially when your stuffs comes in .... and our HDB 4rooms are so small... more headache...

btw you got your aircon from gain city or...?

I completely agree porkypork! I'll probably be dropping by every other day henceforth to ensure the rectifications are done. In particular, I want to ensure the rectifications are done for my floor before they decide to lay the carpentry on top of the defects.

I got my air con from Imperial; I'll PM you the details