Smallboy

Hi, nice meeting you and your wife. So nice of you to bring muffins. Aiyo... so 'ke-qi"........ appreciate your muffins. Give yourself time to contact ID or contractor. dont need to rush with the tiles yet. You can check out Halfary too. As long as you have an idea of the tiles, great. For kitchen, the height of my oven to the floor (from the floor, includ the skirting) is 135cm. I took this measurement from IKEA but prob cut a few cm here and there. My suggestion in planning out your kitchen is to go ikea - look see look see, touch here and there. Very fun. This will give you an idea of space planning for kitchen. Check out BLUM website too. Even Ikea website has space planning software. Try that out. That's how I planned my kitchen. As for Ah Soon, dont be quick to knock him off yet. There are many good things he did too. I am just being objective in stating the good and bad. Every reno works also face the same hussle. Now I am going to blog about the BAD, GOOD and FUNNY in the coming days. I had quite a few giggling moments when I noted how he speak to his workers. The BAD is a combination of project mgt, a new carpentry contractor(for my house and somemore, my house got so much carpentry work.....) communication bet him/Jason to his workers. The GOOD is legendary ........ like his price, his easy going nature, his commitment to quality. I hope he can iron out the current bottleneck of rectifications......... I heard he may be employing more site/projects managers. Hope this helps too.

Ashes, Cheer up! Press on...... With your wedding coming, both of you will build a beautiful home, building the right atmosphere in the home. Dont let the reno affect you so much! :)

I like the sofa!

wow.. congrats... looks like a HUGE space... hope to pop in with my sister when yours is done. She is getting a new house in July too.

From Wendy: I told hubby I WILL accept the door. Sian... no point changing.... it is not at the front. Aiya, wont see so much, behind closed doors. I can't stand things changing and changing........... I feel heartache for lost of money, lost of man hours... energy and time and $$$, though we am not paying. Cutting another tree to make this door perfect is not my cup of tea...... already I chop down many trees with many rectifications already. :) ....... give and take lor! And a word of fairness....... not every mistake is the carpentry guys fault. Sometimes it is instructions not communicated to them. Sometimes, Jason did not tell them.......... (like the handles part).........what in the world was he thinking? changed our design and really did not tell us. We got a shock when we first see it. Then we accept his 'theory' that his is better. But after 2 weeks, (our brains a bit slow)....we found the theory not right lei....... we questioned him and then he go and add 1 more long handle...... SIGH. The carpentry people sent 1 guy to do up the door swee swee....... they did great. So must credit to them a word of goodness and fairness too.

From Wendy: Hopefully next week, the progress will be chop chop swee swee for you. Press on! I think Uncle will wave his magic wand. Agree with you the examples given : lack of coordination and project mgt........ this is more than just bringing marker and masking tape problem. More than 'give and take' situation. hack and re-hack.... rectify and rectify... sian already. That's why I also sian liao.... mentally and phyiscally draining. Popping by (maybe 1 hr) can only help this much! I can't sit beside the guy when he is tiling or doing his carpentry, right?

I've decided to document my journey of my carpentry work, some lessons learnt and things to watch out for. This is for information sharing to benefit the community and not to discredit any contractor/sub-contractor. Carpentry 1 - Sideboard and bookshelf at dining area The Design This is the initial design that we gave to Jason, very sketchy 2D drawing using MS Powerpoint. We did tried hard to visualise in my mind how the final build-up will look like. There are some risks that it may not turn out as expected but I think they are minor and therefore does not warrant a need for 3D design. The Outcome This is the outcome of the sideboard. The Journey These are some of my lesson learnt:- 1. Jason advised that the door is huge and may bend over time. Initially we agreed to his suggestion to have two doors for each panel instead, but he took his initiative to introduce a aluminum handle that could prevent the bend (Taiko guys doesn't agree with his assessment that it would help). We won't consulted on the new design and were surprised when the doors were first up. Our original intention is to have a small handle for each of the doors so that the mirrors will look flushed, but since the outcome wasn't too bad, we give in to the new design. However, due to Jason's oversight, only alternate doors came with the aluminum handle. Subsequently, Taiko were asked to replace the abs trimming with aluminum handle for the affected doors. 2. One of the door came with a chipped laminate. It is quite obvious since the wood colour contrast with the white laminate. We highlighted to Jason and the Taiko guys only touch-up the chipped laminate using white paint-pen. This is not acceptable to us and we told Ah Soon about it and he got Taiko to change the door. [sorry no photo] :yeah: 3. We want a flexible bookshelf, like Ikea, that allows us to change the height of the shelves. To meet this needs, the bookshelf comes with a "train track" which is quite useful. Outstanding issues We found a hairline dent on the inside of the door. Taiko patched it up with plaster but it is still quite obvious. The alternative is to ask them to change the entire door. We are thinking of accepting it (give in) as-it to save all the trouble. What would you do?

According to my mom's generation, things back then last longer. Like those cabinets in my house (more than 20 years), they are still in good condition. Except they look really retro. Nowadays, we (our generation), our things can't last. So this is a problem we gotta expect. Hope it can last 10 years. hahaha.. that's the life span I give to it. Like my good old TV, 12 years, still so good. Now those LCD TV, maybe 5 years.

Well, we did do our part with our daily inspection. I don't expect to put in so much effort - regardless of the price that I have to pay. It is the end product that matters and not the price. We should not give in when it matters with the quality of work. Hope you agree and this is the yardstick that you have used in the past. Most of us have read lawry post and agreed that workmanship problems should be highlighted. So we are being objective. This is a forum to share information and I think I'm responsible to share all the problems that I'm facing now. Pinkpetter and mrspiglet, your experience with Ah Soon was good but several things have changed e.g. overloading and new sub-contractor. So I'm not surprised that my experience may be different from yours. Nevertheless, it is how Ah Soon respond in the end that matters. Uncle has always been kind to rectify. But there are things that are beyond rectification. Not to steal ashes thread, I will continue to use my thread to discuss some problems that I'm facing....maybe next week. Cheers.

Very nice makeover.... really beautiful......... the dining light is very drama... very stunning! Love it.

Very nice tile!

I guess the price we pay is the time we need to give......... wa.. you also travel up and down to oversee the works. Wa... also got near 'miss'...... 'mistakes'..... good you are there. Aircon, I dont want to change at all... Uncle promised to re-route the trunking.......... but.... too late now to recitify. Well, I wont use someone who is so free too........ (there was a quote/contractor we almost want to use but judging the economic downturn... si-kar-lee.... his company collaspe) so we end up choosing Uncle. But on the other hand, too busy also not good. Too busy to take calls, too busy to remember many things... too busy to inspect the process....... So, tough choice.. tough balance. Well, reno coming to an end, then discover some errors... now worrying whether can handover or not. Just like apples. But I am not in a hurry... that's why I buffer more weeks... the buyer of my house only take over end May. At least I dont have a die-die must move dateline.........

sama- sama... reno blues too. Yesterday my hubby got to come down during lunch to iron out the design error on Jason part for my cabinets... I PM you the wall paper guy. Get your samples directly from him. His name is Robin. We got to do this ourselves if we want to fast fast. Dont wait for Uncle anymore. Countertop samples, I saw 1 book with Jason. O... the wallpaper samples, I just passed back to him. See if I can grab that for you when he comes over later. For cabinets, I heard that they are stopping your carpentry guy. Getting another one to do yours. Prob the delay. I think Uncle will perform his magic when he comes back next Monday. My handover next Wed....yippee.... hopefully!

Well I certainly coordinate MOST of the stuff myself......... those things you guys have mentioned. I even call the Wall paper guy myself. I am not working so I inspect everyday and literally do site management for him. Some 'mistakes' were averted in time because I was present. I have put in a lot of effort. And I fully understand the give n take part...... surely his price comes with a price. Yes, agreed his price is great..... but.... But things like air-con, running of trunking, which needs to be coordinate with other works...... etc. before false ceiling runs up and carpentry comes in....... now too late... can't possibly hack thru all these woods stuff and re-do. I just dont have the heart to ask to re-do. Now just live with some ugly trunking in 1 room. Is that a big deal? Not really.... just 1 area. give and take lor! But this part: really......... I remind him, call him every week to do up. Way before the stuff are done. Still, too late when all the others have set in place. Like what fannie said, some things are just not 'rectif-able'.... hee..hee...

Hi ashes... how is the reno coming along? Did Uncle rectify the dresser? We face simliar encounters with Jason recently. He changed the design handle for my books cabinet without consulting us. And when it came, we were like "Did we choose this?"........ though it is nice but still I hope to have my original design. When he explained the design away, more flaws came up. Now needing some rectifications. The same for my shoe cabinet too. SIGH........... Then my 2 kitchen hanging cabinets, I ask for the aluminium frame, glass top with silver handles. He said cannot be done. So I left it. When it came with his design, I found it ugly. I called Uncle to ask him. Told him the problem. He said he will give me the aluminium frame.It can be done. SIGH........ if he said YES earlier, then no need to waste resources to change and now the 2 ugly frames got to disamantle and throw. I hate such a process. Uncle also forgot somethings he promised. Now there are some things too late to do. We left it as it is. I think he is really too overload with projects. Though he has been very kind to rectify, I just feel it is a waste of time and resources to do. Also my energy to chase......... very tired already. From Wendy

Wow... so many people waiting for Uncle. I think he is really overload with projects. :)

from Wendy: Ivy: Sounds like a good combi too........ love the glossy black(glass top)........ and couple with Black Granite.. sure very outstanding. And a dash of steel.... very contemporary look. I like! I use this brand from Seng Lee (not sure, now)......... but it is Ultra White gloss........ and it says there is a layer of Anti Bacteria coating..... aiya.. my hubby said to BLUFF people like me...... how would we know if there is really a layer of that Anti Bacteria thingy. Jesp: The new gate is $400......I like the flowers. But now I find it a bit too dark cos my stairway very dark... cant see very well.

I am always blown away with your drawings. Amazing drawings. Mould build up is really a BIG concern. In our climate, it is already tough to avoid this problem. If your WIW faces the toilet, I think mould will surely come. I changed the entrance of my toilet somewhere so that my WIW does not have this problem. I read somewhere in someone's T-blog that toilet together with WIW is not a good idea. Just my suggestion........ really up to you.

From Wendy: Nice combi.. I saw grey high gloss before. Very nice..... alternatively there is something like steel colour.... metallic grey... also very nice! See the Laminate books... your eye will go BLUR BLUR...hee..hee.. My counter top is grey too.

PreciousJam, the fan is from Franco.... model is FF-3 56" Ivy, should be up by Mon. Fri to Sun, nobody working.... Fannie, how? Are you going for White Gloss?

more lights: Kitchen: Kitchen Counter Top (above my half island): Fans: O...i love this Gunmetal black in my living room Antique brass colour for MBR: And the Gate came in........ we totally missed this... we didn't even noticed the gate was up when we went to inspect the house today.

Lightings are up except for dining area(to be install next week) 1) Lights for Room 2 & 3 2) Lights for balcony 3) WIW 4) Toilet lights

I requested for wood skirting. Another top up... BROKE BROKE BROKE....... If using Homo tiles, usually it is the same tile skirting. If using Laminates, they will provide for wood skirting.

Here are more pics of each room colours: still waiting for 1 more final coat of paint. The Princess room: My mom's room....... I am loving the lime green... so refreshing and cheerful. Our room........ all browns, earth tone... I like the wood colours combined with these tones. Sorry, pics are a bit blur. Will take better pics when handover.

No problem. Settle your house more important. :)