Chrislim

I also totally agree that Candy's postings stay. That way, we will have a rare chance to see things from the complete point of view . It is good that Candy is so pro-active in this discussions . If more IDs come forward and present their opinions , this forum would have taken an even bigger step in helping forumers arrive at a more informed decision.

Well LGG and all who read my posts, Glad to have been in contact with you . Guess can't really be that forthcoming in here. I am still opening up my place for you guys to come see if you like. You know how to contact me. Gd luck with your renovations and I hope my tips and experience helped . You guys know best whether I was out to berate somebody or I was out to help others. Be careful what u post here. Mine was the best example of honesty repaid. Signed , Chris

I seriously hope that this is a place for honest sharing and helping everybody out with real life accounts . With the sudden removal of the thread with no apparent explanation, it just makes the company involved even more dubious. It also throws serious doubt on the integrity of this forum. If what I say is true and someone up there is from TIP, I will be removed soon. If that happens, well, some of you know how to contact me ..... While writing this , I just realised that Candy posted last on the forum before the thread was removed. I had a really entertaining time reading the posts. Well, I am sure all who read my thread would agree that I was objective in my comments and the clear objective I had in mind was to share my experience , hoping it would help someone else. I have not used any insults in it at all. I have even opened myself up by posting under my real name and inviting people to my house . If there is no truth to my statements , why was the entire thread removed ? Well, at least how things work around here.... go luck , guys. All I can say is bring back the thread and let everyone be the judge if there was badmouthing or slandering . Everyone , be careful what you post . Honesty , it seems, is repaid with legal action . Must be an " act of God " .

Hi all, Something strange just happened. Maybe it's just me but why was the entire TIP thread removed ? Could one of the moderators be from TIP ? If so, how can we expect any honesty in this forum ?

Hi all, Well, my purpose of sharing my experience is not to smear my contractor . It's just to hopefully help anyone about to start renovations . The feeling of getting shortchanged because we are newbies is horrible. Ya, realise she never gives a clear answer to many things but based on what you said, she basically will not compensate u should there be damage to the tiles. Sorry but after this renovation process, I got a little jaded with contractors. I hate having my good faith in people taken advantage of . Another tip I just remembered. Always keep all smses sent by yourself to her or from her to you. I realised she can have a very bad memory when it comes to timing so it helps to have evidence of correspondences in such or similar events. Remember that all tips are not just subjected to this company but to all contractors. I do believe there are worse ones out there .

Hi all, Just got home and thought I probably should add this while I remember. Do beware if you guys are using floor laminates . They use a company called Supreme. The workmanship the first time round was pretty disappointing. Uneven finishing on both the floor and skirting was obvious. Got them down and they re-did the whole thing but after a month , due to contractions, gaps are beginning to show. They promise to come down and re-do it again but all I wanted is for it to be done right the first time. Keeping my fingers crossed on that. I had some hacking and changing of door position for the master bedroom. The finishing on the new wall isn't satisfactory as well with obvious bumps showing even more clearly after painting. At first , I thought it probably is impossible to get a perfectly flat finish but after viewing another flat done by another contractor, I realised it is totally possible . So if it is possible , then it must be the quality of her workers that is lacking. We had an instant heater installed in our master bathroom . The wall is a dark chocolate color . The plumber used white colored plaster to finish up after the piping was done. To us , it was unacceptable finishing and we managed to rectify that. I think the main thing is that she will always tell us that something can't be done but we will later find out that it can and has been done by other contractors .

Hi Brightred, She did change in the end when she realised all I wanted to change was the base wood. But her argument was funny and illogical. To continue my encounter. I must say it is not in chronological order. I will put down what I remember. My wife has more on this cos she dealt with her more. On wallpaper, she quoted me $1500 for a small wall. We paid . It wasn't very well done though with the sides popping out . She got the guys to rectify but same thing happened. We approached one of the companies she engaged and they quoted us $450 for the same thing. The company she used charged $650. Now I recognise she must earn from it too. It is business after all. But seeing her profit margin and the level of work done, I must say it is pretty frustrating. So my advise, go to the wallpaper company straight. She charged very high for electric works as well so we got our own. Anybody will know that the wiring should be done first before the false ceiling goes up but her guys went ahead and put up the false ceiling before we even did the wiring for lights. So she had to remove it and put it up again. We did requested for changes which she obliged , of course, with appropriate additional charges. Now I also recognise she must have many worksites to go to so I don't expect her to check on my house everyday ( though I have known of contractors who do that ), but as the work went on, you can tell she doesn't really seem to know what is going on . If she did come to check, the above-mentioned wouldn't have happened. There are ways to save on renovations though. 1) Do you own painting if possible. A tin of sealant costs about $75 and a tin of 5l paint is about $50-$60. For my place, we used about 2 tins of sealant and 3 5l paint and 2 1l paint. So it was about $300-$400. Think a contractor charges $1100 at least . Doing your own painting also helps you to spot defects in the work. 2) Go to the wallpaper company on your own. I have contacts if you need. 3) Go the carpenter on your own. Again, got the contact of a great guy who did my kitchen and who I am now engaging to do my wardrobe and other carpentry stuff. Contractors are basically also middlemen who engages those companies and tell them what they do. They will hike up the prices for their own profit. It might take more work and time but you can save quite a bit. I have already given her the last payment which i regret. She promises great customer after-sales service but I can tell you that once you paid her 100%, your priority drops. At least, that's how I felt. Think my wife took some pics of the defects. I will check with her. Will input more as I remember , guys. Later...

Hi guys, First of all, this might take a while cos got quite a lot to say. Candy is friendly and approachable during the negotiations and discussions. Her office and showroom is impressive . So after a little deliberation , we decided to choose her. Went through the usual shopping for tiles . Nothing much there. Though I must add a word of caution . Try to get really involved with the whole renovation process and don't be afraid to ask questions , sometimes repeatedly , if you don't get the answer you want. They will try to smoke u . With regards to the tiling costs , try to measure the exact area you are getting tiled. My wife went through the pain-staking process of that and found some doubts but we already paid her in full already so don't think got hope there. We were supposed to have a briefing with the plumber but when we got there, he was already there starting work . So we didn't have a chance to know what he was doing or to say what we want. if yours is a new flat and u want to change the things in the bathrooms, remember that the toilet belongs to you. They will say they hacked it off, it was damaged when in actual fact, it could be taken away and re-used, or sold elsewhere, all at your cost and their benefit. After the installation of the master bathroom vanity top, the plumber installed the piping inside the cabinet below the sink before Chinese New Year. When we checked on the house during the holidays , we realised there was a crack in the valve connecting the pipe and the whole interior was wet. The wood was new and the silicone hadn't even dry . By then ,we knew the water would have already seeped into the wood and there would be potential damage there. we had to wait 2 weeks before the plumber came down to change the thing but granted it was Chinese New Yr, so give some chance there. By the time the pipe was finally fixed, the water had been sitting for close to 4 weeks. Any layman will tell you the wood will be damaged. We then requested that the base wood be changed as there was bound to be damage (if not now, then in the future) but Candy said they would at the most change the laminate . When the guy came down to rectify the mistake, he said that he could just change the laminate but my wife insisted he peel it off and lo and behold, it was wet underneath. We have photos to show for that. Candy said the valve crack was an Act of God and we should compromise. We then met her at her office. We then realised that she thought we wanted to change the entire vanity top when we only wanted to change the base piece. Although this was a misunderstanding, I felt that it was wrong to say that the valve , installed by her own plumber, cracking was an act of God and not her fault. Would love to hear all your input on this. Gotta go makan but there is more to come. Btw, you are all welcome to come see my place if you like . Just PM me . Later....

Hi LGG, I am totally new to this forum. I have just finished my house renovations , well, at least the floor, walls & kitchen cabinet . Now putting in wardrobe and stuff. I think I might be able to share my experience with you as TIP did my place . But it will be a long story. You ready ? I will just start with the intro. I was introduced to this place by my father's real estate agent. Candy was doing his place in Sengkang too. I was also shopping around for a contractor. I found that I was impressed by the work she had done and she seemed approachable and flexible and so I chose her. All i can say is that this has been a learning experience. i am the kind of guy who is easy-going but who does not like being taken for a ride. My father-in-law is also very experienced with stuff around the house like pipings , lighting and a lot of very practical issues with regards to renovation. He tends to be very straight and strict with contractors. This is my first house so I went into it knowing absolutely nothing, hoping I can trust Candy . After this experience, i learnt one should never be too trusting, especially with contractors ! Throughout the whole process, i am always the one who felt we should just let Candy do her stuff and trust her though my wife and father-in-law thinks otherwise. In the end, even I got pissed off. i can show u photos and give u a detailed , non-biased account and let you decide .