Huntered

I disagree ! HDB license is only useful to cover HDB's own backside, i dont see how the license is helpful to a homeowner other than the strict regulations on the works done. Can you guarantee every HDB licensed holder is a good contractor ? I personally feel this license is over-hyped. After my bad experience, i still feel a good contractor is better to be referred and not judged by holding a hdb license. I dont quite understand your 2nd part on experience. Every contractors will have their own experience, isnt it ? A contractor's experience plays a big role in making a renovation work smooth going especially when problems occurs or when ideas on paper cannot be performed.

sorry for the late reply, i have pm'ed u Mr Ang's contact. Good luck in your reno

sorry for the late reply, i have replied all requests...

Based on your contactor, i guess you are also paying 50% once renovation works are started. Seems like that is a common practise.

I went to a few contractors and they are having similar payment option. I guess that is the market practise and consumers like us has to be extra careful.

Is it FU ? His shop already closed down plus hp no. also terminated, basically like vanished into thin air.

Hi everyone, i would like to share with you my experience with a bad contractor and a good contractor. Bad contractor John , I was a walk-in customer looking to renovate my 4 room flat in april this year. With a budget of 50k, i believe its quite a comfortable range to work with and i think John agrees with me because he was basically nodding his head all the way throughout our conversation. The final quotation came to around 54k with 7% gst. Paid 10% deposit the very next day after considering the other 3 quotations i had. Not the cheapest among the 4 quotations but i choose him because i thought cheap stuff does not mean good and good stuff doesn't come cheap and he seems experienced enough but i was wrong. Things started to go south after the first payment of 40% and some amendments i had in mind were turned down. I was asking myself what happened to all the nodding. John was asking a further 30% payment after hacking was completed and i straight away turn him down citing that the work done was not even 20%. John's face changed immediately. I further request for a kitchen wall to be hacked but was turned down by him. His reason was dangerous because not enough support and HDB won't approve. After clearing the debris and the materials were delivered, john continued to ask for the 2nd payment of 30% where i argued with him only cement and sand were delivered. He said tiles will arrive the following day where i told him i will only pay the next payment after all tiling works were done. I guess that was the last straw for him because the screeding work was taking forever to complete and the tiles never came at all. He seems to disappear into thin air as he was unreachable all the time. The company then closed down and John never came up again to work on my flat leaving screeding work half done. I went to HDB for help but was futile (until today, there's still no reply). I was getting worried then because i had to move out of my old place by end of may and i had only 4 weeks left. I was hoping to find another contractor to do the same renovation works with half the price and in 3 weeks time but that was mission impossible. New owner was unable to let my family extend because they have no place to stay so we were left with no other choice but to find a temporary place. I felt very unlucky and upset during that period and end up, i gave my focus to find a place to stay first while i put the renovation plan on hold. After settling down my family, i immediately continue my search for a contractor to complete my renovation and that took me more than 1 month to find one. Ironically, its my mother's friend who knew about our predicament introduced a freelance contractor who renovated her house. Good contractor Mr ang, I called him to make an appointment to visit my flat to discuss about the renovation works i wished to do. Mr ang then came down to survey and take measurements where the other contractors i went to only saw the floor plan i gave them. The quotation was around 30k and although Mr ang's quotation is the cheapest among the rest but at that point i still did not confirm him to do up my flat as i was feeling abit worried because he does not have a shop front. I told my mother my worries and was scolded by her, "even with a proper shop front and HDB licensed u still get cheated (referring to john), at least mr ang completed my friend's house without any problems". After rubbing salt on my wounds by my mother, i decided to engage Mr ang. This time round i became very cautious. I told Mr ang what had happened and he was quite understanding and explaining there are cheaters out there who made use of this industry's loopholes . Customers have to be very careful when making payments and avoid paying too much. He explained to me its very important for a contractor and his customer to build up trust and rapport to ensure the renovation works goes smoothly. Then he proceed to discuss the payment option 10% deposit, 40% progress payment for 1st half of contract, 40% progress payment for 2nd half and 10% for final payment when all works are completed. In my mind i was thinking, that's similar to what the bad contractor John proposed. But Mr ang continued to explain about the 40% progress payment by splitting 20% payment when materials arrive and 20% when works are completed for 1st half of contract. At any time i will only risk maximum 20% of my money which i feel is quite reasonable and assuring. Renovation works starts to get going and things were pretty standard and workmanship also acceptable. There were some hiccups along the way but Mr ang was able to solve them and im quite impressed. He did mentioned he has 30+ years of experience where i doubted at the beginning. Remember the kitchen wall i wanted to hack away initially with John ? Mr ang said that wall can hack away and we just need approval from HDB which he did it eventually without any problem. Finally, renovation works were completed on time within the 4 weeks period set by him. I personally feel that a good contractor is not just about good workmanship and good attitude but their responsibility and ability to solve and rectify when problems arises. I believe Mr ang fits the term, good contractor. I know Mr ang's works are all referral based and here i am trying to refer him as a way of saying thank you. Anyone who wishes to know his contact, please feel free to ask.

yes, total is 4 aircon. 18k for living room, 12k for master bedroom, 2 x 9k for common bedrooms. loving this daikin air-con especially at night because its really quiet and can sleep peacefully as im a light sleeper.

Imagine a few thousands cockroaches living in your house, that's scary

I have done up my 4 room recently and was satisfied with the contractor. My final choice was daikin and my quotation was Daikin inverter system 4 , 1 x 18k btu fancoil 1 x 12k btu " 2 x 9k btu " 1 x 29k btu compressor 1 x stainless steel bracket Warranty given , Fan coil 1 year Compressor 5 years Workmanship 3 months Servicing of air-con provided @ $40/unit (minimum 2 unit) - washing & cleaning + top-up of gas if required Total price came up to $4550. I have made comparison on my contractor's quote with some big electrical stores and the prices were quite competitive like a few hundred difference. The plus point is the contractor's quote does not include gst (because he is a freelance) unlike the big electrical store and i saved another few hundred. Initially i wanted to go for Mitsubishi because the quotation is cheaper ($4100) but after seeing my friend's air-con always having problems, i decided to go for daikin as advised by the contractor. Workmanship wise is still acceptable and everything were completed within a day. I cant comment much as i just started using.

How long have you been waiting ?

Thanks for your reply. 70' tv ? Abit off topic but how much did u pay for the tv ? 2 flights of stairs costs additional $10 ?

Is the rubbish chute located inside your unit ? I encountered many cockroaches climbing out when mosquito fogging are done.