Hi! Alvin came recommended by a friend. We spoke to four Contractors (three of which were recommendations and one we got to know via fb advertisements), including him, before deciding on our contractor. We did much research to make sure we chose the right one because this is our first renovation and it involves a huge sum of money (at least to us it’s huge). So if you’re here reading this review, I guess you’re as anxious and concern as we were.
Our house was a run down old resale 3 room hdb that needed quite a bit of an overhaul. The last time this house was renovated was probably 20 years ago.
We expected him to be pricey when we first spoke to him, but his quote was reasonable and sometimes lower than those who were more inexperienced. We chose him in the end because it was evident that he knew his stuff and he was very experienced. We were going for a simple renovation and our main priority was that our contractor has to be reliable and able to do work independently.
We just completed the home renovations yesterday and I got to say that it was a relatively smooth journey, without much surprises or hiccups, thanks to Alvin. He helped us liase with the various stakeholders (aircon, floor polishing, hdb, electric, gas etc) and we never had to really worry about anything much (other than choosing colours and tiles ourselves, but that’s the fun part, right?). This is really helpful for us because the last thing you want to do at work is to be calling and chasing HDB/gas company etc and worrying about this and that.
He was also very prompt and patient in answering all of questions, which is very important to us as first-time homeowners. He gave us updates periodically and let us know what was going on. Prices of things were transparent throughout the entire process and there weren’t any “surprises”.
Alvin was able to give good advice on colour, position of things, material etc. In terms of design, I can’t really say much because we were going for functional and simple, so our house did not require thaaaat much creativity and design. But even so, the small things did require an eye for design (e.g. proportion of kitchen/living room, height of cupboards, window design, facing, kitchen cupboards). They may sound minor, but it actually makes a world of a difference if the ID/contractor does not have both aesthetics and functionality in mind. Alvin did well to balance these two important things in my opinion. We never had a situation, where something was nice but not functional or where something was functional and ugly as heck.
While he did advice us against certain things (and most of the time we took his advice because it made sense), he did not say no whenever we still insist upon it. He has always been respectful to us and our requests and has never forced us out of something we want. He was also very accommodating and travelled to meet us whenever we had to meet up to choose colours etc. He has also never once complained or given us “attitude”.
We have heard of horror stories of contractors, so we’re very thankful that we engaged Alvin because this renovation process has really been hassle-free and quick. We never had to be onsite at any point of time and we were always assured that Alvin would be taking care of things if anything cropped up (including pacifying disgruntled neighbours). Our friends and family have commented that the house looks so bright and spacious now. This is a total transformation from the house it was before. I was previously rather unenthusiastic about my house (Because of the state it was in), but after the renovations, I’m so excited to move in. We have only a few before and after photos but you may request for them if you like at xxx@gmail.com
Overall, we’re glad that we chose Alvin and will definitely recommend him to anyone.
