archenemy

i think more has to be done to protect consumer's interest. more often that not, we are at the mercy of such firms, especially when they have collected majority of the fees before they hand us the final product. yes we understand that they need the money to buy materials..but hey! doing business without sufficient capital, isnt it a joke? i think CASE should really look into setting up a guideline on the payment terms for renovation eg 5% deposit to be collected upon agreement of the contract...another 20% to be collected upon finalisation of design...the rest of the 75% upon satisfying all the benchmarks laid out in the contract. currently..a lot of things are not spelt out in the contract, including standard of works, and very importantly...the dates at which certain milestones have to be achieved, including the handing over of the house back to the owner. if the ID or contractor tell us boh pian..they got a lot of projects...we can only suck thumb and be at their mercy because most of the money is paid already. WTF?! when you know you have not collected your fair share of the money due to you, you will definitely put in your utmost to make sure the customer pays up. of course, the ID and contractors must also have some protection in the event that house owners play punk and not pay up...maybe a legal recourse for them if they are able to prove that they have delivered.

got to keep this thread going! great read! nothing beats experience... to summarise...nothing is cheap & good. haha.... except for food in sgp...and only in hawker centres and kopitiams..

yeap...i also use zippo lighter fluid...tried & tested to remove the sticky residue.. i even used it on the metal body of my car...so dont worry...nothing came out except the sticky residue..

no need to wate money... just surf through the T-blog section here! you can get lots of ideas! but if you wanna spend money..i think there is 1 local mag..cant remember where its square rooms or home & design..something like that...

thats interesting... any pics of it?

wah bro..very humble leh....3.5m walk in wardrobe still say your house pretty small..

no lah..dont say that...he has been a great help so far.... everyday we will group chat on whatsapp..haha... i think i have been very open with him..and we have mutual respect. that makes things easy. my wife has been a great help too! luckily our new place is very near her mum's place..so she can just drive by after work without much hassle...

thanks! great minds think alike!

yeah no problem with him..i am very open with him. i tell him how much i can get the stuff for. if he can equal or better the price..he gets it! (to save me headache).. if not then he told me to go ahead with whoever was cheaper..but of course cannot split until too jia lat lah.. things that i got different companies to do: 1. my master bedroom raised platform (systemind) this 1 no competition. systemind using solid rubber wood. ID only proposed plywood. 2. master bedroom pole system wardrobe. he also need to get another company to do, and cant beat the price i got. 3. air con. i gave him a hardcopy of the quote i got. if he can equal the price, its his! he couldnt. the rest of the reno was his job liao... ran out of budget for the bay windows..so not gonna do anything for now. i reckon that to add wooden planks at the bay wndow is not really troublesome..so i can do it again when i got more dough..

thats why i need a lot of help from my ID....my wardrobe, air con & master bedroom raised platform is not done by him..so he has to put in a little extra effort for me to co-ordinate with the different people.. so far he is doing a good job...hopefully he doesnt let me down! my wife will "check" on the works after work everyday lah..haha...thats where all these pictures come from...

no lah...this is the tap in the rented house im staying in.. im overseas now...

no bro...just a humidifier...

just dont pay lor.. see if they are thick-skinned enough to ask you for the balance or not.. if they are..ask them how they want to compensate you instead...

yesterday evening when my wife visited the house..she saw the false ceiling boards uninstalled... my ID say today & tomorrow to do...that means they must complete the installation and plastering by today...lets see if he can keep to his schedule...

this is exactly what i do not want to see! the plating of a tap coming off...

i have been using a novita humidifier...so far so good...

well bro...i also did my fair share of legwork walking down jalan besar from 10am to 5pm i day...walking into nearly every lighting shop..looking at all their downlights section (cos it will form the bulk of my light purchases)...and what i saw was quite disappointing to say the least.. those cheaper downlights just didnt feel as good..the finishing..the quality...right down to the wires...plastic light holders..sharp edges on the glass... granted that philips is not cheap..but i find that the build quality is good.. just like why people buy Louis Vuitton or Gucci handbags..it serves the same purpose..but it just looks & feels better... find it weird that you used wattage as a comparison though... peace.

well..only you will know how much things you have bro... or have you thought of alternatives? like a normal wardrobe in other parts of the house?

pretty depends on the habits of the owners...as well as space constraints... if they like to take long showers..then maybe they shld go for something bigger... got bathtub...definitely buy the bigger 1... if not..i think a 25L will suffice...

i think rolling the pineapple thing is not a fengshui belief..rather..it is more a chinese custom for good luck.... my feng shui master told me to do it if it fancies me... to me..it is the only time you dont look stupid when you roll a fruit instead of a ball... how much does a pineapple cost? just buy 1 & roll lor...

or area in sqft...just multiply the area by 60 and you get the BTU you need...

sorry to hear about the horrible experience...go all out to seek redress! we consumers have every right not to be treated this way!

usually people dont lah... people even stop reno during the 7th lunar month..depending on how superstitious you are... did you engage a feng shui master? maybe you can consult him/her?

maybe its the person that you come into contact with lah..that PRC guy who served me at adamas was pretty friendly & patient...thought a stainless steel cabinet with mirror,my kitchen sink and my storage heater from him..and oh of course, squeezed a stainless steel 2 tier rack from him...haha.. i also bought some from ikea...looks good i must say..but i heard that they will rust within a year...not sure how true... my ones in parents' home have been in service for 3 yrs..still ok..but the screws connecting it to the wall have indeed rusted..so i might get my ID to use better screws instead...

going by how they have let you down thus far..i think this sunday will be a better bet....and dont need to take leave...