Love Nest @ Casa

[May_dream1 14]

Haiz.... Really pity you and your hubby. Totally speechless and can only lend you a listening ear.

[adidaem 6]

Speechless that your MIL is so unreasonable and sides with other people rather than with her son/DIL.

What does she get out of this whole transaction anyway? Just don't understand her motivation.

[innerlight 0]

Hi theitsybits, sorry to hear about the carpentry fiasco. But kudos to your patience! I'm the super fussy sort and will be tearing hair out by now.

Thanks for your offer of the tracks. I'm not sure if the tracks are universal though? Am still trawling through taobao on what's avail.

[theitsybits 0]

Haiz.... Really pity you and your hubby. Totally speechless and can only lend you a listening ear.

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.

Speechless that your MIL is so unreasonable and sides with other people rather than with her son/DIL.

What does she get out of this whole transaction anyway? Just don't understand her motivation.

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..

Hi theitsybits, sorry to hear about the carpentry fiasco. But kudos to your patience! I'm the super fussy sort and will be tearing hair out by now.

Thanks for your offer of the tracks. I'm not sure if the tracks are universal though? Am still trawling through taobao on what's avail.

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!!

[theitsybits 0]

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..

[theitsybits 0]

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!

Edited August 26, 2012 by theitsybits

[originalbread 0]

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!

Lovely kitchen! and your living hall looks big. have fun shopping.

[kelhy 2]

I like ur dining light.. May I chk where u purchased it? And how much?? Thank in advanced )

Day 74

i really miss working with Mr K..i told him to arrange for electrical guys to come down on Friday since carpentry is almost completed..he got the painter down and they painted the whole house including my doors and blackboard bomb shelter door today! Even painted my yellowish pendant light I got from Taobao..he's super on the ball..text him and he replies or calls back shortly..plus i will always know what is being done every single day..

carpentry is 95% done..they were fixing the final drawers for kitchen when we left in the evening..but he still needs to adjust the height of some shelves and do some rectifications..not even sure if he's coming tomorrow to finish it up since it's quite impossible to finish them tonight..

This is how the living room look like now..my shoe cabinet is up..and the wider planks look so much better..the wooden border made with plywood is pretty horrible, both sides weren't sanded properly even though I told him before installation..i've seen paloma's border or plywood features, but they were totally smooth to the touch while mine is really really rough.. i'm really going to make them sand it till it's smooth..and no news of my solid top yet..one whole week already..

Full height shoe cabinet..but i've decided to only put shoes in the lower shelves! will explain that in another post..

My makeup area when closed to hide the mirror.

And the pretty dining light that Mr K painted for me! so shiny and white now..

my haiku fan and lights will be installed tomorrow!! will go down with my dslr to take nicer pictures..

[baobeimamii 0]

hihi - i am keen on the white tracks if you are still letting go.

intend to use it for the walk in wardrobe

let me know via PM how much you letting go ya.

thanks!!

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..

[casa 0]

Wow congrats to u on completion of reno up 95%

Sis when your plc complete can I come take a look coz from the pics I c very nice

[BoBochacha 0]

Hi hi ,

tried to PM you but your Inbox is full. Did I reply you on the lounge chair topic?

[theitsybits 0]

W H A T-----T H E-----P H U C K?!?!?!?!?!? :jawdrop: :jawdrop:

tell me about it..let's say that this is only the tip of the ice-berg.

hihi - i am keen on the white tracks if you are still letting go.

intend to use it for the walk in wardrobe

let me know via PM how much you letting go ya.

thanks!!

hey! u can have it, but need to collect at my place..perhaps this sat or next sat?

Wow congrats to u on completion of reno up 95%

Sis when your plc complete can I come take a look coz from the pics I c very nice

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..

Hi hi ,

tried to PM you but your Inbox is full. Did I reply you on the lounge chair topic?

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..

[theitsybits 0]

Lovely kitchen! and your living hall looks big. have fun shopping.

thanks! abit headache cuz can't find a nice bed frame that both of us like and we're broke now!

I like ur dining light.. May I chk where u purchased it? And how much?? Thank in advanced )

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..

[theitsybits 0]

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..

[originalbread 0]

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..

they never stop amazing you right? The different laminate doors is ultimate. Die die must change. All those that you pointed out are really not acceptable.

very stressful to do renovation. I encountered a number of issues too. After seeing many nice pics of your house, I motivated to set up a blog on renotalk too. Feel free to drop by when you are less stressed. Though progress is slow, I already regretting choosing some materials