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bluewater
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Everything posted by bluewater
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Got a headache and looking for any good advise from members here. For item 33: Replace kitchen entrance existing sliding door to timber framed sliding glass door, I feel that it may not blend well with my new living room outlook. Tot of replacing with full frameless sliding tempered glass door to have a clean view effect, but the cost built up is holding me back a bit. Should I or should I not? Sigh...
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Day 3 (Hacking begins & ends today) Picture taken yesterday. Looks like hacking works on living hall will be done end yesterday & clearing of debris & hacking of new mtr bedroom door remaining for today. HDB permit only comes valid for 3 days being today the last. We got a contact (aka Jason) from Edmund for doing blinds and will be meeting Jason on Sat. Hopefully he can charge cheaper than MGL with similar fabric choice, who quoted us $1.6k last weekend. A sleepy Thursday... reno is a headache
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Hi LV, When do you intend to do your reno? Currently, though at my initial stage, so far so good with my contractor. (See my T-blog)... Price wise I feel is quite competitive but he has the sense of responsibility which I'm looking for. PM me if you keen to try or can just see how my progress Cheers!
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Day 2 (Hacking continues) Pics taken @ Day 1 morning - Messy sight Met up contractor, Edmund, yesterday. He had a appt earlier @ Strathmore till 9+pm and still persevered to reach my place later on. Quite surprising that he has already prepared some beautiful hand sketched pictures of our wardrobe & feature wall/TV console. Had also informed him that I din really like wrought iron gate and he recommended using iron bar gate instead, which can be customised to design I like. Very flexible of him to suggest something different & by far, good service rendered Left my place @ 1130pm. Pity him.
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Day 1 (Hacking) starts today. Went over to my unit during lunch hour to take a peep. 4 workers on site. Real messy sight. Will update pics later stage
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Not here to direct allegation or watsoever intentions. Just my personal experience with this Jason Goh #1. Had requested for quotation with him back then and I have to wait for 2 weeks before he emailed his quote. $ wise, it's not that attractive afterall. Very comparable to what others are offering too. Spoke to him once over the phone & he has boasted of able to handle 30 projects at one go. Worse still, he turned SIA pilot during our first appointment. Same case with that Ah Soon, never inform me when he can't make it. At that instant, I know he is not for me. Sure real time pilot during reno progress if he is going to single handle so many projects at one go. So what if he gives me 10k below outside market price. Such lapses will surely jeopardise the quality. I personally prefer more realistic and sincere contractor than those greedy and unethical contractor who uses a net to catch fishes. To those reno seekers, my advise is to open your eyes bigger to judge one and not follow the herd blindly. Normally, the pioneer batch benefits most. Furthermore, no free lunch in this world. Overly cheap is not always the best route to go. Trade-offs may get beyond what we can swallow. Just my 2c.
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Ah Soon
bluewater replied to juz_me's topic in Renovation Contractors, Interior Designers & Suppliers Reviews
Personally, I strongly recommend all existing Ah Soon customers to terminate the contract & find other contractors if their work is half dangling like this poor jess. With this kinda of intermittent work progress, I doubt its quality and consistency even when work is continued. We pay money must also have some minimum standard to our acceptance. No point paying peanuts and get monkeys' job. As for being strong and endure? Better think twice. How long you intend to wait till? This is serious bullsh*t! Frankly, Ah Soon should be banned from future recommendation in Renotalk. We should not let such contractors, who have no business ethics totally, retain the kind of mindset that he is still very welcomed in the local scene. -
ossify> We went with contractor as mentioned above. In fact, he discounted $1k less from finalised quote & that's provided I choose the tiles from one factory @ Defu Lane. However, we ended up choosing all @ H.K cos' nothing fancied @ Defu. Best still, he still gives us the discount. We got those homo tiles from China. Not any of premium kind. Design wise we are quite satisfied though. Happypie/CJREDDEVIL > Thanks peeps. Yea do agree that it is in shift-in condition but some areas are not really well accepted by us. However, we intend to stay long there & thus decided to go for a new full change plus the fact that we bought below val. for the unit. Similar to those freaks who want new car smell, no 2nd hand cars for them. haha. Will update next week
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Angel81, Mickey_M, kelvinkezz, necrosis, supersimon27,ossify & Goobii > Thanks so much for your heads up!!! Will update in due course ossify> I selected my tiles @ Hup Kiong. Goobii> Perhaps I took good pics on my lousy hp... haha... In person, the condition is not as good as shown & btw, the house is of 13yrs old. Ohhhhh, my apologies for overlooking. Bedroom flooring not hacking. haha. Replace laminated flooring instead. Moi type too fast. Too excited perhaps.
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Hi fellow members, Renotalk has been an enriching place for me to gather notes prior to renovation. Have been ups and downs even before the works got started cos' I was supposed to engage a highly recommended contractor (by many here), but bad experiences forced me to pull the handbrake and decided to settle for another (non internet based) whom was recommended by my colleague. Thank god, discussion with him was so much smoother with no hiccups and pleasant experience till date. For selection of tiles, the contractor has even gave me a lift to and fro. Finally now, I got bit of time to start a T-blog for my first home @ Holland area. My floor plan: Some before makeover Pics: Main Entrance Living hall - kitchen http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/6862/kitchenu.jpg Kitchen http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/3937/house6s.jpg Kitchen http://img200.imageshack.us/i/house3x.jpg/ Master toilet http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1069/house4.jpg Master bedroom * Sorry to direct link cos' I can't seem to link smoothly for the latter 4 pics... We'll be doing a full overhaul for my place as below: 1. To hack all required areas - living hall/kitchen & service yard/storeroom/2 toilets. *edited - no hacking on bedrooms* 2. To clear all debris 3. Supply & lay homo tiles for living hall, kitchen & storeroom w/ skirting (average $3.20/psf as I chosen tiles of different pricing) 4. Supply & lay laminated flooring (Krono-swiss Noblesse) at 3 bedrooms w/ silencer foam 5. Replace 1 set aluminium bifoldable door at common toilet 6. Replace 1 set tempered glass swing door at master bedroom 7. Replace existing main gate with customised iron bar gate 8. Labour to install cooker and hood 9. Replace 4 pcs veneer doors & main door (Outsourced to Yon Tat) 10. Supply and install 1 suspended vanity cabinet at master bedroom toilet c/w hard solid surface top 11. To supply and install 15.5ft kitchen cabinet c/w laminate finish and dish rack / full height storage unit 12. 1 pc breakfast table top with laminate finish 13. Black Galaxy Granite table top at kitchen cabinet 14. Supply and install 14ft TV console cabinet with laminate finish **** hall 15. Supply feature wall behind TV console with laminate finish **** hall 16. Supply 9ft sliding door built in wardrobe at master bedroom with laminate finish 17. Supply & install 1 set TV console w/ storage shelves at master bedroom 18. Supply 6ft sliding door built in wardrobe at bedroom 2 with laminate finish 19. Labour to install WC/basin etc 20. To plaster 4 rooms & kitchen rockstone ceiling + plaster touch up for whole house 21. To paint whole house using ICI 22. To install false ceiling w/ L-box **** hall 23. To install false ceiling at master bedroom 24. Wiring all required points 25. Replacing power sockets and switches from MK 26. Relocate master bedroom entrance c/w hollow block wall / new door frame 27. Install 4ft full height shoe cabinet at main entrance c/w laminate and glass finish 28. To replace existing window to alum. sliding windows 29. Lay floor & wall tiles for 2 toilets up to ceiling height 30. Water proofing for 2 toilets 31. 1 set shower screen at master toilet 32. Replace hot and cold s/s pipings at 2 toilets 33. Box up piping @ Master toilet & partial box up of upper piping @ common toilet 34. Replace kitchen entrance existing sliding door to frameless sliding glass door 35. Install TV shelving console @ Bedroom 2 36. Install dressing table w/ storage drawer & mirror @ Master Bedroom 37. Replace existing & supply window grille 38. Box up master bedroom aircon trunking 39. Install 3m study table w/ storage wall hung cabinet @ Bedroom 3 40. Install 8ft half height wall hung shoe cabinet @ living hall 41. Install 1m width long stretch mirror @ main entrance 42. Supply 6ft sliding door built in wardrobe at bedroom 3 with laminate finish 43. Install cornice for Bedroom 2 & 3 *Red=Newly added items ** Latest quote @ $40k Total quoted was $30+ k, which was the lowest from other ID's quotes & from 1-2 contractors who are quite popular at Renotalk but service is questionable based on their initial follow up. After some thought, we did not want to waste anymore time to source out for the cheapest (in the first place, is there one we can call cheapest???) and the experience with this contractor is by far the best. No alibaba time wasting and no aeroplanes running across our heads. Thus, we don't mind paying slight more, even if it turns out so, for his great service & follow up. Somemore, he draws himself on the designs he proposed. Swee~ General works will start coming Monday. Let's hope things progress as sweet. Wish me luck, guys!
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Ah Soon
bluewater replied to juz_me's topic in Renovation Contractors, Interior Designers & Suppliers Reviews
For my case, it was a blessing in disguise that Ah Soon turned to a professional pilot on me. Must thank him for that as I have went for another contractor, who was highly recommended by my colleague as a reliable and reasonably priced one (non-internet based), and his quote is very much comparable to Ah Soon's based on similar requirement. So far, no aeroplane from him on our meet-ups & all calls answered. In fact, I was late for the last meet up. haha. I have to really agree with some of the above comments made on this Ah Soon... Will put up a T blog once progress is on. *Don't ask/PM me for contacts... let me try first... If progress is good, I'll recommend to reno seekers here cos' I know how headache it is to locate a good & reliable one. -
Ah Soon
bluewater replied to juz_me's topic in Renovation Contractors, Interior Designers & Suppliers Reviews
Thanks bros. I'll rest my case. -
Ah Soon
bluewater replied to juz_me's topic in Renovation Contractors, Interior Designers & Suppliers Reviews
Hi blackcar, Yeah do agree with you that he has done good jobs for fellow forummers here. True enough, he gives a good deal else he wouldn't have been so popular at renotalk. This is reality. That explains why I had spent so much time liaising with him & ironically, I already told him I will engage him to be my contractor. However, he still piloted me time and time again. Or should I say, countless times. What I wish to point out in my previous posts is his lacklustre treatment towards his potential customers. This is what this forum is for right? To point out the complaints and cons abt any ID or contractor. At times, I felt that if such attitudes and encounters are complained by someone here on a neutral ID, that ID is going to get flamed like mad, but not Ah Soon here. Just my 2c. Hi seashell, Yeah, I find it equally puzzled too why a contractor can take so long a time to give me a final quotation.... I met Ah Soon 1-2 times to discuss abt the quote. After making some slight changes, he is supposed to give me a final quote, which I told him I'll engage him once keys is collected. However, calls are intentionally avoided (if one wishes to noe how I noe this, can PM me) & aeroplanes are flying all around my head at countless occasions. Anyway, if you think I'm a competitor to Ah Soon & trying to cook up stories here, you can PM me cos' I don't like being falsely alleged. I'm most delighted to meet you up. And yeah, I even went to few Ah Soon's supporters, one of which is @ Clementi area. Met all the owners there & they were nice to show us around. Guess one of them is Ivy if not wrong. -
Ah Soon
bluewater replied to juz_me's topic in Renovation Contractors, Interior Designers & Suppliers Reviews
Actually, I don't quite agree with "if u are on a tight schedule, uncle is not the right person for u"... For myself, I do not have a tight schedule. Time is not critcal for me. But yet... he really cannot make it! My wife had decided to give him 1 more chance & arranged to meet him yesterday evening. As I expected, he din turn up and w/o any call to inform his absence. I guess, as of everyone, we seriously need someone who can show that minimal bit of sincerity to take up our task. Personally, I don't see it in this Ah Soon. And, the biggest problem with him is his hack care attitude towards his potential customers despite numerous calls. I guess his ratings, or should I call it over-ratings...I'm not sure, at renotalk is part of the contributing factor towards his attitude. To me, it is sheer irresponsibility. After spending 2-3mths of my time liaising with him, I've enough of his kind & he is off my list now. Totally a waste of my time & effort To those who still wish to persist interest to try Ah Soon out, do it at your own peril, sad to say Just my honest experience with this so-called "superstar" -
Ah Soon
bluewater replied to juz_me's topic in Renovation Contractors, Interior Designers & Suppliers Reviews
Hi guys, I'm new here. After getting Ah Soon's contact, we have been following up with Ah soon for the past 3 months. But seriously, he leaves one very exhausted locating him. I'm trying to get my quotation redone & have been "pilot" by him for 4-5 times, not taking into account the countless occasions of him not taking up my calls. Feel really at a loss now & my wife is now asking me to source out for others instead. Felt real mad at him now. 1st time say vehicle broke down, 2nd to 3rd time say can't make it cos' he is having appt far away, 4th time say his license suspended, etc.... I'm really beginning to lose faith in him. I gotta cancel all my appts during each occasion in order to meet him & yet he chose to pilot me! Can't imagine when the reno process has any hiccups?! Do I need to when I can't locate him?!?!?! My auntie is also sourcing for contractor on her new flat... But after my experience, I don't think I will want to intro Ah Soon to her or any other friends now. Otherwise, I get flamed everyday for being kind. Can any good soul help or advise me on any other good contractors around? TIA.