Which Aspect Of Renovation Give Us The Most Headache?

[Family 0]

which aspect of renovation give you the most headache?

• finding the right interior designer?
• finding the right electrician
• doing the flooring
• carpentry works
• design related issues
• budget

[ClearValley 0]

Not specifically in this order, but close to this:

- Installation of various fixtures. Seems like none of the subcontractors bothered to use their eyesight or a leveling tool. We had bathroom door handles which were askew, bath sinks which were lower at the front than at the back, light and fan switch boxes which looked like the were italicized because all were slanted, toilet seats which made you sit slightly to one side because it was askew, roller blinds which were higher on one end than the other, etc. Seriously, an obsessive-compulsive Project Manager would be a good thing to have. Too bad our project manager had to go to NS a couple of weeks into our renovation.

- Paint. The guy who painted our house had the skills of a 5-year old. Remember when you were young and you'd get scolded at school whenever you painted outside the lines? He never got that lesson.

- The bedroom doorknobs used (actually, levers) feel very low quality.

- We paid a premium because we believed that we'd have a virtually headache-free renovation, and that we'd end up with a home that was obviously high quality. We spent 50k for the renovation, not counting furniture. We don't really feel that we got our money's worth because of all the QC lapses. We might have gotten the same result with another contractor that quoted 15k less. We also got very little in terms of ID ideas. We have a white house, it's clean, and it has a few slightly expensive pieces of furniture, but those were mostly our choices and not the ID's. But if you ask me whether we needed and ID to tell us that white walls and ceilings would make our home look brighter, I would say NO.

Seems like one needs to spend 100k just to have a home that is magazine-worthy.

[lot286 1]

i was lucky to have an ID that i could work well with. From the start on, told my ID that i am cost conscious, and if i were to use him, i dont mind paying a premium over other IDs but he needs to work with me to reduce the cost overall on a best effort basis. So what hapened was i gave him a $ limit to work on 'fixed furnishings' (ie things that i cannot move outta the house after he makes them - like false ceilings, carpentry, decking, electricity and lights etc etc) and he worked within the limit, and i went out and get the cheapest deals, using my own connections on other things like furniture, loose items, wallpaper, curtains etc..

All in all, he controlled the schedule very well and lots of QC and lots of good ideas. Best was he even went above his normal responsbilkties and gave me good advice on furtnirue and soft furnishing color coordinations, and even help me choose my digital prints / paintings.

I think @ the end of the day, it really depends on whether the ID has a) Good taste b) ability to work with client c) ability to coordinate with main con+ subcontractors d) his main con + subcontractors are high quality people.

For more info, you can read my thread that i started on 'referrals on ID is the most important, etc'...

almost 90% done now and really happy and excited

[san20sg 1]

lot, are you using mr. k? who is your id contractor?