blueocean

Sounds like the seller's agent may not even have an exclusive agreement with the owner and that's why he is so worried that you may buy the flat directly from the owner through your own agent. And therefore even personally approached you to tell you off. Otherwise, he is not willing to forgo the extra 1% from the buyer's side on top of the 2% he is getting from the seller alreadie.

I was looking at your lighting plans. There are only 2 lights in the kitchen ? I have 2 x double 18W in my kitchen and mine kitchen is small than yours, and i find it quite dim already. Are you adding fluorescent lights over the counter top ? You got a huge fridge ! Your living room looks classy. Is that a storage TV cabinet or a feature wall where the TV is ?

fencer must be busy cleaning up his house or shifting ?

Some contractors i have seen just renovate "on the go" ... eg the design is fluid .. You never know what to expect till the renovation is completed.

Oh ... no wonder ! Cos when i cook, i sometimes use up to 3 o 4 burners at one time.

I missed this trend on the forum. I was reading from page 1 on how highly recommended Jason was, including various posts that support how nice and good he was. And as I proceeded on to the subsequently last few pages, i realised it took a while before everybody realised that he cheated a number of people. I wonder how common is this form of "stealth advertising" is, where there are numerous posts supporting various contractors especially when everybody uses anonymous nicknames. Anyway, some suggestions - 1. Do a ACRA search to check if his company is still "LIVE". You can also check if he is the boss of the company through this. The search will cost $5. 2. Do a search to check if the contractors are bankrupt or under some debt repayment scheme (else when you do obtain a Court judgement and if he is bankrupt, it is unlikely you will be successful in making a claim against them. 3. If he is employed by a company, the company still has vicariously liability for the employee's actions. You can still claim against the company. 4. Small Claims Tribunal may not be able to hear your claims if your renovation amount contracted is above a certain limit. In that case, you have to engage a lawyer to initial a civil suit in the magistrate or district court. Civil suit involves cost. Even if you obtain judgement against the party, and if he is bankrupt, it may not be worth the time and extra money. Your lawyer would be able to advise you on this. Good luck !

hahahah ... if my contractor gave me that, i would be really amazed ! Nice drawings ...

The hob looks nice ! I noticed that the hob only has 2 burners ?

I dont think i have ever seen a slanted air-con unit ... it is aesthetically wrong anyway. Anyway, "it is suppose to be like that" or "your wall or ceiling is slanted" is the most common excuses contractors will say My argument to them would be that any reasonable person will have noticed that it is slanted and aesthetically wrong, and if that is the way it should be, i should have been advised on this outcome before the installation work started. If the amount you paid is less than $10K and he does not want to rectify it, go to the Small Claims Tribunal to get a Work Order . It only cost $5.

Nice flooring ! I wonder how many sub-contractors actually measure the moisture content of the floor. It is always part of BCA's good standard practice. Maybe it is the same as asking, how many workers actually use a pipe/metal detector before they start drilling things into the wall.

I thought BCA's standard is that tiles need to be soaked with water so that they are well hydrated and will not draw more moisture from the cement ? Sounds like a cooking recipe for tiling But the contractors will always say that there is always more than one way of cooking or roasting something rite ?

I am always quite amused when the ID would say ... "err ... got to wait for the carpenter to come and do measurements and see can or cannot do". The true definition of an ID since they provide design work is that they should provide the plans for the carpenter to execute and they should know whether it is feasible or not. Else, i might as well take over and speak directly to the carpenter. When i did my cabinets, i asked for internal elevation plans for the cabinets. I dont know how one can do space planning if one doesnt have all the internal measurements for all the individual compartment spaces. eg how do i know if it can fit all my audio/video equipment, IT stuff, clothes, TV size ? I guess most would prefer if the clients dont ask for internal elevation plans - cos when the cabinet is build at the end, there are no plans to refer to on what was agreed on in the first place

hahahaha ... always check if the client has other agents servicing them. Else, you bring them to 20 places and driving them around, and they just close with another agent who only need to bring her to 2 place ... so that's why ... agents dont like to serve the "buyer" or "tenant" side. Most do it only when they dont have any other work ...

Check with HDB to confirm. Under the Public Scheme, it requires * your husband/wife and children (if any) or * your parents and siblings (if any) or * your children under your legal custody, care and control (if you are a widowed or divorced) So your SIL fulfils the Public Scheme criteria. She only needs to be above 21 years old (age of consent) and not 35 years old. The age 35 years and above refers to the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme. Unfortunately, all these matrimonial assets (housing etc) may only be settled after the completion of the divorce proceedings and final judgement has been obtained.

Why dont do those open concept lattice type where you can also put decorations. Also, would the partition reduce your living room area by a lot ? Ask your ID to give different views of your living room with and without the partition .... Also got to think of location of your SCV and electrical points for your TV set

relationships is a form of "soft sell" or "soft power". It doesnt always work

More time to clean the floors ? hee hee .... dust will accumulate everyday. No matter how thorough the cleaning is ... the next day will be dirty again It is so unfortunate that your furniture were dented. I'm glad that they will get a replacement and you spotted the damages during delivery ! What about your electrical stuff ? Will they be delivered soon ? I remembered spending a lot of time setting up the sound and TV system ... so many wires !

relationship ? hmm ... not really. sometimes clients will gravitate towards the cost side ... eg whichever agent can secure the lowest for the buyer and highest for the seller

My rooms are quite small and i have a storage cabinet that gives me only 40-50cm walking space - a bit tight. I wonder when most ID/contractors do 3Ds for the clients, do they actually scale the drawings to client's floor plan ? Sometimes i suspect that they just recycle the images. Anyway, mine certainly didnt and i had to generate my own 3D rendering.

And when you have some expat clients ... they expect you to fetch them from wher they are and some more late !

I bought my white goods from the big electrical stores. Although i am told that smaller shops give a better pricing ... how true is that ? I always find that the promotion for the goods vary week by week. And the salesman will always say that there is a delivery fee although it is delivered by the distributor .... Have you shortlisted the fridge and washing machine ? Must have all the measurements at hand though ...

hi thirdrockdweller ! i like your light switches and how you have transformed your house so far ! hmm ... i notice that you are installing a dish wisher ? have you used one before ? i have used it a couple of times when i lived overseas before. i remember once i added too much soap and the whole machine started foaming up

If cost is not an issue, i would always consider a customised TV console. I can customise it to the space i have and specify the shelving and arrangement to suit my internal space planning. Also, off the rack TV consoles cant maximise all the space you have especially if you are doing a TV cum storage cabinet.

What you say mirrors my sentiments about "pseudo-ID" around as they are actually general contractors with a retail storefront ... Very few consumers can afford to hire a designer as the design fees are prohibitive ... You seem to have a passion for design works ... Have you though of doing some formal education in that area ?

Your list of defects sounds like BCA's checklist for good tiling. Anyway, the various options are : 1. Speak to the company directly and see if they will rectify. If they are CaseTrust, they should have some form of system to address consumer complaints. 2. Lodge your complaint with the Small Claims Tribunal. If the contract amount is more than $10K, the company has to agree to mediate through SCT. If the amount is more than $20K, SCT cannot hear your case. 3. Seek advice from a lawyer and lodge a civil suit in the Magistrate Court. * Option 3 may not be viable if the amount you are claiming is less than the legal/court fees. You can complaint to the various organisations eg HDB, Case but they do not have the legal power to address the claim.