Jester28

The reason for a Forum, is for discussion to get the job done. Having PMs stop the discussions. There are no rights or wrong in construction, but better management will help a long way. Ps. I'm curious to know those bad eggs too.

Hi , can pm me quote for small job. I need to relay master bathroom floor tiles only. (2x3sqm) To include hacking and relay of waterproofing, removal of tempered glass screen. Thanks

Suggest you take pictures showing the defects. Comparision of before and after is best with close-up shot. Then send to Small Claim Tribunal. CASE and RADAC cant do much though. They have no powers unlike SCT which is by appointment of court. Anyway, I suggest you : 1) DIY. Get some paint/ Lacquer and DIY. 2) Cracks are common. Even new units have. Unless otherwise proven that it is due to poor workmanship, else cant see why it a 20yo flat have no cracks and a new wall does. I constructed a new wall. It have cracks too. Its proby due to work method and materials in my opinion. Unless they redo and add fibre mesh in-betw, I dun see how more ppl can avoid this prob. 3) Water seepage is best left to TC. Ask HDB oso will be directed to TC. It is best to deal seepage from outside. Usual practice anyway for HDB to TC. Agree with Kewin. 4) I have a CERTIFICATE OF WARRANTY FOR WORKMANSHIP from my ID. It is nothing more than a pc of paper when they dun even pick up ur calls or follow-up as initial agreement. All verbal. NATO. Hope it helps.

Pls delete.. Duplicate

To be honest, I myself find it hard to ascertain quality of tiles. Have inspected tiles with variations coming from 4 sides. The norm for deviation of tiles are 2 sides < 3mm.. I recall 1 HDB project used indonesian tiles, had 3 or 4 sides deviates by 3mm... (297 x 298 x 301 x 303) It is due diligence of the tiler/contractor to inspect, sort and dry lay to see how best/worse the effect will be. Before the actual. In the end, change the whole batch of tiles. But in the case of ID industry... do liao chase for $. Take and go. Anything, later will take time to rectify. IMHO, alignment, consistency of gaps, evenness on the whole and chamfered edges are to look out for. Reflection of tiles can clearly tell u if the tiles are even and aligned. Hope that helps.

Freelance cost under $500. Subcons take $800 per project. Paint cost slightly more than $100 (depends on how many coats n type). I would have DIY if not becos my contractor kbkp abt good quality. End up still same lah.. tears at edges, paint over laminate cos no protection. DIY is recommended if wana cut cost as well as have a good workout (arms and neck). But first plan and schedule how to start. Use roller and dilute base and 1st coat. Leave the final coat when all defects/reno done. if not, u'll be adding bit here n there diff tone/coat to cover up the defects rectifications.

Seriously speaking, I dunno if I shld be listing my woes here as well. But since I'm free at the moment and reading this, I shall highlight some situations I had. Situations 1) Sketches in pencil by the carpenter for WIW, kitchen cabinet. I had to provided drawings from another customised closet designer to give him an idea what we want and need. Still ... without doubt, he used his own idea of stable, good solid wood. Ply is still ply when u use laminates. I give up talking to him after the first installation mentioned in (3). It was juzt not what we wanted. I told him we pay him comm to get our carpenter to come in. He just shrugged off 'can la, sure same.' I don't mind paying higher for wat I want. 2) Rush job, demands of payment and pushing for handover. Laminate flooring not done, WIW done on hard cement screed. End up dismantled and left outside till laminates done and REINSTALL again. 3) Cement screed not levelled properly, hollow and creaking sounds heard with every step. No joke. I wasnt the only one who commented. This probably the worst defect I had. After i did the cleaning up, I saw scratches and really big gaps at the skirtings. Offered to reimbursed the cement screed he said he FOC for me as long he redo the whole laminate flooring again and he goes, "nevermind, can la. Bear with it. You put heavy items such as your bed and bookshelf, 1 - 2 weeks no sound for sure." If got heavy stuff, how to walk. No one walk, of course no sound la. 4) Homogenous flooring through his expert recommendation, 600 x 600. I asked for his recommendation coz I thgt he could give better suggestions based on supplier and make. This is to prevent quality issues since he should noe or experienced b4 in previous jobs. Still there was uneven issues and jagged edges. He commented that the China quality is such. His tiler did a good job liao to minimised. If supplier got problem, get it changed. Simple as it is. I doubt if I get the best tiles as in marble from italy oso will have prob. If you dun do a good job in pegging 'waterlines' ur screed is nvr levelled. Worse when u start levelling with cheap cement sand screed. At conservative estimation, I have 30% affected tiles which is either uneven, misaligned, scratched and sharp edges. (figure based on affected portion / total square area) 5) If any ID/contractor forumer can comment that flooring are subjective and quality differs, then wonder if any1 will accept water backflow from kitchen to living room. I realised it when I washed the flooring as the so called 'acid washing aka unit cleaning' was not done in my presence. I did a water test b4 and told him during initial stages. He say no prob. Water time to flow. I flooded my living room to see it flow the other direction. I only stated what I thgt was major. If really need to highlight all defects, no end liao. I wasnt even prepared to go further till kana provoked by the ID aka contractor.

Thank you very much. It was that simple. Np, bro.. We see from different POV, thats all. At worst, its just misinterpretation at its best.

Sorry. Feels better? Good. Feeling appeased? Better. Sorry I am not in ID/renovation industry. With design and layout management, is it ID or contractor firm? wahahaha .. dun think i'm confused. but unfortunately its true that some contractors do slice carrot head. Maybe I shld put it in a more tactful manner. Just wana put some cautionary remark to those who read up, that some blah blah black sheep in the industry (which industry doesnt?) uses ways and means to boost up sales. Few ppl oredi did post remarks regarding that. I appreciate those IDs who are true to their works, but what i am referring to are those act act sales talk NATO kind. I am not so fussy to the extent that i dun let ppl earn. Its nvr abt cost for me. If you cant do it, just say. dun say can and end up doing something else and salestalk / argue your way around with V.Os. This is an informative forum i believe. For all to see and compare. Anyway, dun wana start a fire since its nvr gona end. My answers are politically correct as of publishing. My choices of materials and wateva stuff i use are my own preferences. dun think its urs, so dun start such comparison and cheers at the end. Ps. I believe in my QS's costings and suppliers' quotes. Only economy of scale is different. (read main contractor). Nvr sore abt costs, nvr abt cheap n stuff. I do quote astronomic % profit b4, but to overseas clients. You shld noe beta lah if u are in this industry. I do, how come you dun? just join ah? Jester jesting~! Merry Xmas~!

Which is better, Laminate / Timber flooring / Parquet? Will there be hollow or noise when walk on the planks?

sounds like ppl who made such comments are too rich or are ID themsleves who wana make a living. But pls.. a decent living. Not one that see who can chop carrot and does it.

Soaking is done in all HDB works and for ceramic tiles. Have not seen homogenous or other tiles being soak. Very unlikely for tilers to do so for resale units. for popping to last 20 yrs very good liao.. time for a change

there is no tiling works for the living and bedrooms? which contractor or ID.. i oso need to find a quote as cheap as yours. .. can pm me?

my bad ... hard not to notice he's everywhere. anyway, i agree every industry has its black sheeps. we as consumers have to do our due diligence to filter them. As for design and service, its still subjective at the end of the day. Its the attititude and commitment we want.

I starting to love this Tropical guy... too stress i guess. This forum is just short of the 'flamming' I used to see a decade ago. Now I wonder wher I can get cheap good reno contractors.... definitely not from Tropical.. coz he is an ID guy himself..