I had a terrible experience with a contractor because I wanted to save costs and thought I can design my own house. Afterall, it's not rocket science right? I was so wrong. Contractor wasn't the on the ball type to begin with, so I had to oversee all the works myself and there was delay after delay. Also realized if there is no one to oversee the project for you it's super time consuming and if you are not totally sure which work should come first and what the whole process should be like, you don't expect the contractor to plan all this for you. What you can only expect is deadlines for each separate section of the house that you want to get done and they will hopefully do it in the promised time, which they didn't (hoping for too much). In the end, gave up and went with a particular ID firm that my friend recommended to me. It's a much more different experience - almost like hands free, thank god I didn't kena one of those nightmare ones - as the consultant just took over all the works, and help me to clear up the loose ends as well as plan the layout in ways that I won't be able to do on my own. Moral of the story: clever can already, don't act clever! Don't try to save some money by trying to the work of professionals end up spending more, and also make myself stress and unhappy throughout the process. The consultant from the firm was very pleasant and kept me updated on the process and let me know when there were delays but also quickly assured me how it was being followed up on. Completed my reno just mid of last month and super happy with the results. Only regret is i didn't go with professional firm in the first place and try to "gey kiang". Most importantly is the consultant would keep me updated on the process and let me know if there were any delays but also quickly assure me what is being done about it and what problems there are but how they will solve it and by when, instead of just giving me problems (like the contractor did) and ask me what to do - which is like I am stunned, how should I know when I am not in the renovation industry?? I hire you to solve my problem but instead you tell just identify the problem and ask me how to solve?
Really recommend to find a good ID when doing reno. Saw some posts that also got good contractors. Unfortunately not the case for me, but the ID was great and will happily recommend them to anyone.
