andsoitgoes

we practically never saw leslie at all for design in person despite requesting for him to turn up. we were always told that he was overseas / busy etc. we were also informed by our sales person that all designs will be approved by leslie but as this was done 'behind the scenes' as claimed, we did not receive direct feedback or see any direct involvement frm him. we also asked repeatedly for written feedback on feasibility and suitability of the design from leslie since we never got to meet him for this aspect until reno has started, but we never got it.

cement screed HDB contractor did not do a good job on the cement screed but clc was nice enough to top up the 4mm and finish up the job on their own accord, out of their own pocket without consulting us at all until our laminate flooring have been completed. clc claimed that it was part of their service to their customers but we felt that clc could have informed us so that we could take it up to HDB contractor ourselves and saved them the cement screed top up. i understand that clc does not want to trouble us to liaise with hdb contractor and let this affect our renovation progress but we would prefer to be consulted as we could have reconsidered the timeline and resolved the matter with HDB on our own or pay the $200 to clc to do it.

I am currently half way through my home's renovations and it's my turn to give some comments: 1. poor project management and coordination confidently informed us to leave everything in their hands, including timing delivery, citygas installation, getting sand / cement from HDB haulage guys etc. so wrong. on the first day of my reno, they did half a day's work and happily left. we stayed behind to look around only to find people appearing at our doorstep - haulage men bringing truckloads of cement and sand and dumping it around us, and citygas ppl coming to install pipes. ended up we had to stay behind to wait for them to be done. they told me to give the citygas workers the lock for them to lock up. number locks work in such a way that you cannot lock it unless it is at the correct combination. isn't that giving 'outsiders' the password to access my place after i am gone? do i feel secure? no. so we stayed behind till everything was settled. did i just become my own project manager? why call for haulage and citygas only to leave everything and walk off? btw, i was again confidently told that no outsiders would have combination to our lock. wrong again. there were notices that state no eating, drinking, smoking etc. were these rules imposed? no. i was fine with workers eating or drinking inside the house because it is unreasonable to bar them from doing so. but guess what? i found a packet of half drunk kopi guni hanging in my kitchen with clumps of mould growing out of it. this evidently shows that it has been there for days on end. it is extremely unhygenic and unacceptable. what if there is pest infestation or the mould spreads to my tiles etc.? should the site manager take note of such things? maybe i had too high expectations. anyway, we had to dispose of it ourselves. yesterday, i found another leftover kopi guni packet and the color has already gone a bit weird. i was definitely not going to leave it lying around to grow mould like the first packet. so we threw it away, again. was filled with disgust by the mere sight of it. was informed by the project manager such things are commonplace. oh really? i told my site manager that obviously they do not have a vested interest because at the end of the day, we are the ones living in the house and having to deal with pest control if there was a problem that was not earlier identified and resolved. update: have informed leslie that we will 'fine' them as per their notices if there is a 3rd time as an assurance since he guaranteed there wont be because i've stressed again and again that such lack of hygiene is unacceptable. agree with Howth's review on the plumber. please do not depend on your project manager to accurately tell him what to install or where to install. while we were with our aircon guys in the house, the plumber suddenly walked in to install things, and our project manager wasnt there to communicate with him. normally, the plumber would look at the taping and install accordingly. however, should he not agree with the location, he will install in accordance to where he thinks it should be placed without consulting anyone. we were glad that we were there and then to discuss with him. after which, we went away for lunch, came back to find that the plumber was nice to extend a pipe out so that we can reach for the tap for the bidet easily. One real concern now is that this 20cm lone pipe is sticking out without any support.. which makes me wonder.. he could have put more effort and thought to bend the pipe so that it can run beside the wall such that u can use pipe holder to support this pipe sticking out instead of just one pipe sticking out but he did not do so. Update: was told that the lone pipe sticking out is a temporary thing. we will monitor if this is rectified. did not ensure that our doors and laminated flooring were well protected before the aircon guys came to drill holes and send rubbles flying directly and hitting my flooring. if damage was sustained, who is going to bear the cost to rectify it? most likely it's us. project manager claimed that he had informed the installers to lay out the protective covering. ultimately, whose responsibility is it to do so? people come and go without much communication with the project manager. each work in accordance with their individual schedule. sometimes it is advisable to drop by during reno to check that where things are installed are in accordance with what u want. 2. inconsistency constantly playing the who said this and that game. i would advise that during face to face meet up sessions with CLC, please write down what has been discussed and agreed upon and get them to acknowledge it. much frustrations were caused by them suddenly going back on their words and claiming certain things were not said, or suddenly we had to pay extra for what was earlier said to be included in the package. p/s: whatever mistakes made, they will attribute it all to miscommunication or that we misunderstood what they've have said. update: learnt our lesson. always always liaise with one person rather than two. 3. timeline potentially the one good thing that they've done is to not only keep to the timeline, they have gone ahead of schedule which we are very happy about. i can only hope that at the end of the day, it doesnt translate to sloppy work. update: was informed that they take absolute pride in their workmanship. anticipating to see the final product to find out the validity of their assurance. it has been 2 weeks of reno and all our flooring is up and painting half completed. the false ceiling with the recess in the centre as well as some trunking has been done. 4. weak design many designs proposed turned out to be deemed impractical or un-doable by their carpenter. e.g. most of my swing doors suddenly had to become sliding doors for my cabinets. i hated the outlook of sliding because of the grooves but no. i think there should be more communication with their carpenter rather than change things after we have already confirmed the design! prior to confirmation, everything was doable according to them! some design proposed were mediocre and rarely unconventional or different as claimed (except for my studyroom cabinet). sometimes i wonder, am i paying ID price to engage a contractor? apparently they will only propose colors + laminates prior to meeting you if you are doing a resorty theme. otherwise, be prepared to hear a lot of 'what you like' or 'what you want' sentences. we personally like to hear suggestions which is after all, the core reason why we engaged an ID to begin with. 5. patience / service willy has been a very patient sales person to work with. he has handled our frustrations well and this is something i must definitely comment on. of course, he will defend clc's honour but he will still admit to mistakes and try his best to rectify them. i believe he is suited for his role. but i think sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth n there are alot of mix-ups and inconsistencies. 6. 3Ds did not feel like our 3Ds were very personalized. the designs felt reused or repeated except for our studyroom cabinet. 3Ds produced did not look professional as we thought they would be. somehow the other 3Ds done for their other clients seem better than ours and we wonder why. will update more at the end of the month.

i got to hand it to willy. he is really patient. clc making mistakes aside, willy really manages the situation well.

anyone else bought from Zero's shop? feedback? thanks!

i guess clc is pretty busy right now. not sure how many projects the company is handling altogether but i think willy himself is handling 4 (excluding potential clients whom he has to meet up with). i think it would be great to consciously chase them and drop reminder sms-es now and then as I feel it helps. i heard that leslie is very tied up now.

willy has informed us that we will be getting our toilet drawing after all, thanks to goldfisheye for mentioning it to clc. i guess as first time home owners, we're very frustrated when things keep messing up or we end up playing the who said what who said this or that game. also, as a layman, i find it extremely difficult to visualize how certain designs look hence it would be most helpful to have an accurate 3D portrayal hence i was very disappointed when told at first that no bathroom drawing would be provided. goldfisheye, i cannot comment on their workmanship yet becos my reno hasnt started but the sample home i saw had really nice bathrooms and bedrooms design.

walkingdead, clc simply sent me photos of other ppl's toilets and i pretty much had to visualize myself how the vanity top and cabinets would look like in my own bathroom. not very happy with that. was told it would look like that so i had to make do with samples from other homes. to be honest, i was very impressed with their service prior to formally engaging them (i.e. sign on the dotted line). however, many things happened along the way in such a short duration of time which made me a little disheartened and also lost some confidence. YKnPearl, i guess they're putting you on hold since you will not be commencing on your reno this year? i am supposed to start on the first week of Sept yet my 3Ds have not even been finalized, laminates and colors selection not even started on. i am even more gan chiong! they take pretty long to revise and the 'revised' product is only half of what i want.

in that case, CLC should tell me from the start that it will not be providing rather than tell me yes only to say no later when i ask why is this and that missing from my first set of 3D drawings. i've been upfront about not changing my toilet tiles right at the beginning.

i did not see all my drawings. things were missing. many things were wrong. toilet drawing at first clc say will provide. then later say that they wont be giving it to us becos we will not be changing our tiles.

met up with willy to view out first set of 3D draft drawings. i am very, very disappointed. they left out my wardrobe and toilet drawings. we also requested two drawings for the MBR (alternative designs for us to choose from) - one of it is entirely missing. color schemes wrong. cabinet design for our study room, they produced the exact one which i emphasized i DO NOT want (just one slab of horizontal line cabinet). are they even listening? today's meeting was a complete waste of my time. unproductive and it made me really angry. if i go into details i'd prob get pissed off all over again. update: claimed a few of my 3D drawings landed in spam folder. not sure how some images can land in inbox, some in spam. as for toilet drawing, at first say will provide for my vanity top, mirror n cabinet now will no longer provide becos i m not overlaying my tiles. instead, showed me photos of other ppl's toilets instead of a customized drawing of mine. i'll be ok if they are be upfront abt not providing rather than give false expectations.

we definitely understand! how to look upon the mess and not want to do something about it! plus, if you had left it, maybe the parquet would have been damaged too!

Thanks patsy for sharing with us. Much, much appreciated. I hope you are recovering well from the asthma attack that you had to endure! Also hope that your hubby is okay too!

Hi Patsy, do update us when you can

Hi goldfisheye, do update us on your progress! i too have just recently confirmed with CLC, last week in fact. just yesterday i went with the duo to select my living room tiles. next week i'm going to look at colours, wallpaper and first set of 3d drawings!