Renosotong

I just replied to your post on the other thread. About the acid, it could be the chemical wash that they usually do when cleaning up the place. The grouting is usually damaged by that process but touch ups are possible after that. Be sure you take photos and documents these cases accordingly. As for your next step, you can give a call to a lawyer or drop them an email. Usually if they entertain you on the phone, you can get some good advice. They might entice you to meet them up and that would be $$$! Good luck and keep us posted!

Many thanks for your replies. Things are much better now and thanks all for your support in agreeing that this tiling job was really poor! Hi Niie, I just saw your other post on this forum about your contractor. Really sorry to hear about that. We also had our fair share of headaches and sleepless nights with our contractor and that is why we decided to drop the guy off and did the remaining works on our own by getting the direct, real and honest people doing the actual jobs ourselves. In your case (from your other post), i think it is a bit too late to get somebody else to do the works because you have already moved in and probably have paid up for 95% of the whole reno costs. Do you have a retention fee left from the contract? I don't think that CASE will be able to offer much help and assistance really. What I can help you here is to give you some personal advice (which could or could not help in your situation but however did help in our case): 1) Document each and every issue that you had with the contractor (photos, conversations, emails, phone calls he did not pick up, etc.). 2) Work out a proper timeline of events. 3) Seek legal advice (you can call a lawyer and some of them might be able to give you some suggestions and pointers whether you have a strong case or not). FYI, there are some CCs that provide a free legal advice but you probably have to call and make an appointment...we didn't try that btw since we were lucky to have a friend to help us in that). 4) What we did for the poor workmanship of the tile works, is that we engaged an outside person (tiler in our case) to come and assess the works. Be warned that their opinion is to be taken with a pinch of salt - since obviously they also would like to get your business. For us, it was useful because we got a better understanding of why the works were done so poorly (due to overlay of tiles and why our contractor did not want to rectify - because it would damage the waterproofing seals and void our warranty). With the above, you will be better prepared and equipped when you will eventually talk to your contractor (especially after he gets a lawyer's letter on his desk). The other alternative, is to just forget about your contractor (that will cost you a lot of time wasted in pursuing this matter and you just have to ask yourself whether it would be worth your time and effort really). You can get a tiler/plumber/carpenter to rectify these poor jobs wherever possible but of course this would entail more costs.... so therefore, it is really whether you have the time to fight your case (which can drag for months) or to move on from that bad experience. We did both but for us we were at the half way through our contract. Hope this helps, if you have any questions, pm me and i'll try to help as much as i can. Our home reno has also been delayed but we are very much happier the way things are going now really. Be strong! Reno Sotong

I was also quite keen to do this type of lighting fixtures. Decided not too because of maintenance issue...it gets dusty and dirty quite easily and not sure how to go about to replace the fluo tubes. You can go to 313 and see some of those lights (i mean in the shopping centre...not shops) and you can there see that some of them have collected dust and is quite an eye sore. Hope this does not dampen you too much...just to give you a heads up since we wanted to do this type of lighting as well. Happy reno!

Hello Fellow reno mates, Just wanted to seek your opinion and advice on the following tiling job done by our contractor. We are unhappy with the quality of the works. Please see for yourself. Are we too demanding or is it really acceptable? If not acceptable, what can we do? a) I would think the flooring would have to be hacked again? Not sure whether patching up will be ok? b) Ask the contractor to redo FOC? Is that possible? c) Accept and swallow the bitter pill? Or is there anything else we can do?...We feel a bit cornered with not much option on this since the tiling and reno contract have been "carved in stone".... Thank you very much for your help, Reno sotong

Hello Reno friends, We are currently doing our wardrobe and we saw this cool pull down clothes rail system which is inside the wardrobe. It is like this: http://www.organizeit.com/pull-down-closet-rod-48-inch-handle.asp Does anybody know where we can get this in Singapore? They are charging us $350 for 1 set. Just wondering whether there is anything cheaper and perhaps better quality. thanks in advance. Any help is well appreciated Sotong

Dear reno mates, I really like the armchair from Herman Miller and the Aeron office chair as well. However, I just find the price really steep. Anybody knows of any good lobangs for sale or a "cheaper alternative"? many thanks in advance, reno sotong

Sorry abt that!...i didn't know which brands to include! haha i just added Hitachi and Panasonic brands. Seems like mitsubishi and F&P are a bit more popular than the rest. Where did u buy ur Hitachi fridge btw? We are shopping for fridges - just not sure whether is it good to buy from Courts/Best Denki/Harvey Norman...

We've got a 60% discount off the official retail price. I think it was left overs for condo projects. if u are interested, let me know...can link u up with the sales lady which gave us the discount. In hindsight, i think we rush too fast into it cos we didn't consider looking around first!!

Thanks Shuying, oh gosh, i've already bought a Gaggenau combi oven! Didn't check out the Miele counterpart though...what a waste!! Do you have any experience/knowledge of Gaggenau? Is it any good too? I bought a model that is phased out and came at a heavy discount...so it was an impulse buy!

I've been searching the forums for polls on popular (read: trusted) brands but couldn't come across any. Hope this would be useful (not just for me) but for other people as well. Your 2 cents are very much appreciated and will go a long way

Thanks for this useful info. Btw, how does Gaggenau ovens compare to Bosch ovens? I understand Gaggenau ovens come from Bosch as well - BUT the price difference is really big though!!

Thanks spikyfur! Ya lor, i think i was cheated big time by the chap in Balestier. I'll check out the sim lim tower on the weekend. Btw, what is the power rating of your LED ribbon? IIRC, the one i saw was 45W - which was the most powerful i've seen so far. Very bright white lights! All the best for your home reno!

Hello fellow reno mates, I've been trying to source for LED "down lights". They are basically strips of LED lights on a ribbon and are really quite bright. I thought of using them for inside wardrobes and in the kitchen (below the top cabinets). Anybody has some lobangs where to get them? Are they really worth the extra price? (what I look forward to is the low energy consumption and no heat generated) I was quoted $45/metre and with something like $110 for the transformer. Dimmer was another $45. That was in Balestier. I was wondering is it cheaper in Sim Lim? All in all, for about 20 metres, it comes to like $1,200. This is versus $300 for fluorescent tube lights.... Any feedback is much appreciated...thanks!! Reno sotong

sorry to hear abt that ltang. hope nobody got injured.. Btw, i heard Fujioh is a good brand...from my in-laws and relatives...they have been using for the past 3 years...mild to heavy cooking and the "fire" is good.. Any feedback from the rest? we should be getting ours in 1-2 months time for our new home.

This is so cool! ...that link to making your own furniture is so cool!! thanks a lot marshmallow & gimz for your quick replies! I'll check it out IKEA this weekend too. Btw, do u have other interesting websites for home reno? especially on ideas and reviews of appliances? Not sure what are good and trusted brands in the market...(i.e; fridge, tv, gas hobs, etc.)