Defong Renovation Id

[redsulphur 0]

Hi there! For your info, we've just renovated our two bathrooms and installed a 7ft built in wardrobe with a 8ft plyboard behind it. This is our second time engaging with Defong Interior. The first time was with id Christopher, who is no longer with the company. The recent renovation, just bits and pieces left is with Bryan.

Bryan is still a greenhorn, so a word of advice - be wary. This time round, our experience with them is not really a good one compared to previous renovation 3 years back. The tilers really gave us a headache, doing a sloppy job. Bryan, is not pro active compared to our previous id Christopher. We'll need to chase and enquire with him regarding the materials used. For example, we ordered a laminated door for the common bathroom, if we have not asked him about the door handle, he would just have installed the door knob type, however we wanted a lever handle type.

He tainted the company, and we are having second thoughts now whether to engage them in future.

Edited April 21, 2014 by redsulphur

[Ashley Adam 3]

Hi Ray

Good luck with your renovation! I still have not decided! HAHA.

[jaydenmom 0]

I had posted positively about them after my reno was completed >3 years ago, but some time after that post my NIGHTMARE began....... I received letter from HDB informing that there were leakages in, not one, but BOTH the bathrooms. Jeremy then arranged his worker to overlay the tiles. When his worker came he was very rude and behaved like I owe him money. OK, just tolerate it and the problem will be over.... But NO! some time later, HDB again notified that there were still leakage! This time no choice, the workers had to hack the whole floor and I was so inconvenienced by the whole incident - having to take leave from work and had to spend the night in another room with my young child, not forgetting the mess that had to be cleaned up. Ok now the floor is fixed, but guess what, the dumb worker had misjudged the distance of the outlet and when the plumber came to install the pipes again, they couldn't do it!! The plumber had to come a few times in order to solve the problem and that meant not able to use the bathroom for a good number of days.

Couple of months later, I informed Jeremy that the worker had forgotten to patch up the big hole on the exterior wall where the outside pipes go into the unit (I have a picture but don't know how to put it here). He promised to have it fixed in a few weeks' time, and another few weeks' time and everytime it was the same thing. It is 2014 now and it is still not fixed! And he has not picked up my recent calls as well. Do you think he is avoiding my calls?

[gashapon05 3]

i heard IDs from Defong are slow to response to complains about problems with the reno.... is it true?

anybody knows whom from Defong would do a better job than the rest with good track records?

[babywakin81 0]

Hi everyone, I believe this is the case of one bad incident whereby we shouldn’t penalise the entire company for it. Let me share with you on our wonderful renovation journey with Kevin from Defong from Nov 2013 – April 2014.

We have signed up with Kevin from Defong ID in Nov 2013 after sourcing around several ID and contractor firms in late 2013. This is actually from a common friend referral (Michael76 on page 5 of this forum) I need to confess that we were pretty sceptical on his initial quotation as we consider it to be on the mid-range high side. However after doing some research, we gathered that most of the ID companies or contractor firms which we have been to did not have a proper breakdown of items. This was confirmed again as I noticed that most of their quotations received has costs either summed up together (ie ceiling, plumbing and masonry works for whole house) or essential items (electrical and installation works) missing in the quotations which I would consider them as ‘hidden cost’ after you have signed up the contract.

On the other hand, the quotation that was provided by Kevin from Defong was very ‘clean’ and easy to comprehend (for an amateur like us) with all the costs of the individual works clearly defined. The various electrical works and all other installation costs are all indicated in his quotation which explains the reason why it was on the mid-range high side. Working in a finance Industry, I was pretty impressed of the clarity of his quotation and decided to meet up with him in mid Nov 2013.

After the first meet up with him, the quotation list was revised several times (adding and removing items) over the two weeks. However, Kevin was always quick to send me the latest version via email within the next few hours. I was pretty amazed at his rapid response rate over email and on Whatapps on the various questions posted to him (He is always reachable even till today after handover). My wife and i have decided to follow my heart/instinct and sign up with him on the second session after observation of his qualities (knowledge, time management skills and fast response rate which I think are essential for an ID)

The renovation started in late February 2014. During the entire process, we were unable to monitor the renovation progress due to work commitment and the arrival of my first baby. However, Kevin was always constantly updating me on the progress with photos and text messages. There were many issues encountered during the renovation which he is always quick and able to resolve. Simply a call or message, he is super responsive to our additional requests and problems.

Overall, I am pleased with the workmanship and the design which he has done in our BTO unit at Yishun Greenwalk. To conclude, engaging Kevin from DeFong has indeed made our first renovation experience really a pleasant one. Do look for Kevin if you are interested in getting him as your ID.

Living Rm Picture 1

Living Rm Picture 2

Dining Area with Tiles wall 3

Display Cabinet in Living Rm

Living Rm Picture

Living Rm Picture

Shoe Rack

Kitchen Pic 1

Kitchen Pic 2

[babywakin81 0]

A nicer picture of the Dining Area. Will upload the photos of rm in the next 2 weeks

[gashapon05 3]

Hi everyone, I believe this is the case of one bad incident whereby we shouldn’t penalise the entire company for it. Let me share with you on our wonderful renovation journey with Kevin from Defong from Nov 2013 – April 2014.

We have signed up with Kevin from Defong ID in Nov 2013 after sourcing around several ID and contractor firms in late 2013. This is actually from a common friend referral (Michael76 on page 5 of this forum) I need to confess that we were pretty sceptical on his initial quotation as we consider it to be on the mid-range high side. However after doing some research, we gathered that most of the ID companies or contractor firms which we have been to did not have a proper breakdown of items. This was confirmed again as I noticed that most of their quotations received has costs either summed up together (ie ceiling, plumbing and masonry works for whole house) or essential items (electrical and installation works) missing in the quotations which I would consider them as ‘hidden cost’ after you have signed up the contract.

On the other hand, the quotation that was provided by Kevin from Defong was very ‘clean’ and easy to comprehend (for an amateur like us) with all the costs of the individual works clearly defined. The various electrical works and all other installation costs are all indicated in his quotation which explains the reason why it was on the mid-range high side. Working in a finance Industry, I was pretty impressed of the clarity of his quotation and decided to meet up with him in mid Nov 2013.

After the first meet up with him, the quotation list was revised several times (adding and removing items) over the two weeks. However, Kevin was always quick to send me the latest version via email within the next few hours. I was pretty amazed at his rapid response rate over email and on Whatapps on the various questions posted to him (He is always reachable even till today after handover). My wife and i have decided to follow my heart/instinct and sign up with him on the second session after observation of his qualities (knowledge, time management skills and fast response rate which I think are essential for an ID)

The renovation started in late February 2014. During the entire process, we were unable to monitor the renovation progress due to work commitment and the arrival of my first baby. However, Kevin was always constantly updating me on the progress with photos and text messages. There were many issues encountered during the renovation which he is always quick and able to resolve. Simply a call or message, he is super responsive to our additional requests and problems.

Overall, I am pleased with the workmanship and the design which he has done in our BTO unit at Yishun Greenwalk. To conclude, engaging Kevin from DeFong has indeed made our first renovation experience really a pleasant one. Do look for Kevin if you are interested in getting him as your ID.

Living Rm Picture 1

Living Rm Picture 2

Dining Area with Tiles wall 3

Display Cabinet in Living Rm

Living Rm Picture

Living Rm Picture

Shoe Rack

Kitchen Pic 1

Kitchen Pic 2

so only Kevin from DeFong worth engaging? how do i contact him?

[babywakin81 0]

his hp no is 90611135.

[fzxfactory 0]

Hi guys, I have just finished my renovation and I engaged Kevin as my id. Just to clarify, I am in no way affiliate to Defong or Kevin, I am writing this review purely because of the good service that was provided throughout the process.

My wife and I were recommended to Kevin through a friend who had also engaged him. Before the first meeting, he asked us to send him our requirements so that he can give us a rough quotation on the actual meetup. The price breakdown is very detailed and there are no hidden cost or whatsoever if you do not add any more requirements. The price quoted is very competitive as compared to the other companies that we have consulted. As the price is very competitive and there are some mixed reviews in this thread, we still have some doubts on handing our house to Kevin. So we arranged to visit my friend place and after viewing his house plus the strong recommendation from my friend, we contacted Kevin the next day to sign up with him.

Our experience with him has been very positive. He is always contactable and reply fast through whatsapp. He will also send us photos to update the progress of the reno so that we know what is going on. The reno for our house in fact finished earlier than the expected timeline, without any compromise in the workmanship and quality. Throughout the reno, we do not have to specially take leave from work, as most of the discussion is during the weekends, and Kevin will oversee the work during the weekdays. The end product of our house is excellent, got to say the workmanship did not disappoint us. Of course there will be some minor defects, but he is still contactable after handing over the house to us.

Overall we are quite pleased with the work done by Kevin, and the competitive price that he offered is what attracted us. What is most important is that you can always find him when you have any questions, and he is contactable most of the time if he is not meeting a client.

[mimirin 1]

Hi guys, our reno finally completed end of April. It started a week earlier than expected, which was on the last week of March. But before we begin, we would like to say "to each, his own." We are not related to Defong or to any of its staff. Our ID was Bryan.

What we did:

1. Hacked wall in between kitchen and living room

2. Hacked wall in between masterbedroom and bedroom 2

3. Installed 11ft tinted mirror in living room

4. Cove lights

5. False ceiling and downlights

6. Kitchen cabinet

We can safely say that very fortunately for us from beginning until the end, Bryan had been very responsive and always updated us on progress. Like most normal clients, we know that we can tend to be a bit fussy and meticulous on how things are done. Who isn't when we are the ones forking out the bucks? Anyway, whenever we informed Bryan on those little issues that mattered to us, he always bothered to check them out himself, then came back with explanation and suggested solutions for us to consider.

For reno, we already anticipated unforeseen hiccups to arise. 2 things cropped us for us:

1. Kitchen countertop. They wrongly delivered granite instead of quartz. Bryan corrected the situation on the spot and we got out quartz top a few days later. So actually not much of an issue.

2. Cleaning. SIGHHH. We scheduled it to be in the evening so we would be able to see the whole reno wrapping up. Surprisingly the one and only biggest headache! Handled by their subcon, which we were told is from a company called "Dido". 3 bangla workers came (please note: we have no issues with bangla/other foreign/local workers). 1 of them was outstandingly rude. We advised them to lower the tap pressure instead of full-blasting it and letting the water freely flowing. But that 1 attitude-problem worker told us to shut up. So shocked! We warned the foreman that if they did not adhere to us, we would not hesitate to switch off the water supply and they then have to find their own source of water that evening. Also, as it was a whole house cleaning, we had expected them to clean the bottom black wooden wall trimming (new BTO owners will know this, but the color varies for different projects) which had some spots of paints here and there. We did our own painting, fyi. But they said it was impossible to be cleaned off. We have NEVER heard that paint marks can never be removed. The fact is, we did it ourselves for our masterbedroom - just used clean cloth and tap water. No need thinner (which can also be used, if desired) or other special cleaning solution. To proof our case, we cleaned one spot in front of Bryan. The spots VANISHED! Pencil marks in the service yard also not removed but instead they created more marks! And they left a hand print spot on our toilet wall... as a "gift", maybe? We felt that if this team had agreed to handle a cleaning session in the evening after probably doing a whole day's work, they should be fully committed to it and not doing shoddily. If they wanna say "its already 930pm" etc etc, then they should have not commit to it in the first place. We would have perfectly understood.

Anyway thankfully Bryan was around with us during the entire cleaning process and thus witnessed everything. We have settled this issue and feedback to him that Defong should seriously reconsider this particular cleaning team. Otherwise, they will ruin Defong's reputation in no time.

Apart from the above situations, all the other teams of workers were alright and quite accommodating. We have to say that having Bryan present at every progress stage was really a great thing as we were able to receive live updates and any issues were settled asap.

Overall, we are very happy with Bryan and our new house now. Just waiting for furnitures to come in and we'll move in officially.

Don't know why but having difficulties in uploading our pictures. However, please do PM us if you would like to have a look or have any enquiries. Will be glad to assist!

[Annabel Lee 0]

Hi everyone here. I recently engaged Defong to carry out the Reno on my resale flat, and the renovation was completed about 2 weeks ago. Just wanted to share my experience and commend Arthur Lim from Defong for the quality of work and overall experience.

We got our keys to our 3 room serangoon resale flat on the 9th of April 2014 and work started the next day. Work was completed by 23rd May, with some small touch up jobs running into the week after. We moved into our place on the 31st of May.

The Reno Proccess:

The work we needed done

1. Hacked wall in between kitchen and living room;

2. Hacked wall in between toilet and shower room (this is the old-style 3-room flat where the toilet and shower area was in separate rooms and the sink was outside)/ and combined toilet and shower area;

3. Hack and redo tiles in kitchen and whole bathroom (including walls);

4. Hack tiles on kitchen wall and re-plaster and paint (we didn't want tiles on the kitchen walls!)

5. Install laminate on top of tiles in living room and bedroom;

6. Hack and remove kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures;

7. Hack and remove bed room wardrobes;

8. Install L-Box lighting in living area;

9. Install kitchen cabinets, toilet accessories sinks etc;

10. Re-do electrics and plumbing;

11. Change all interior and exterior doors;

12. Paint whole flat.

Searching for an ID/Contractor

From the get go, we did a lot of research on IDs and contractors. I had a number of quotes and met with about 5 IDs. Of all the quotes Defong was the most reasonably priced. When we met with Arthur, he seemed very thorough and was able to highlight certain requests that would be problematic (i.e. against HDB regulations). When we spoke to other IDs, they all seemed to just say OK... even if the request was not possible and they were really oversell what they could do. But with Arthur he was always very sincere. And would recommend more cost effective options if they were available. He was also very clear and up front about all the costs, and true to his word, I can attest that from the initial quote, there we no hidden/additional costs.

Arthur was also very responsive. As part of the quoting process, replies were always prompt. .

The Reno Job

Overall, Defong was very efficient, completing most of the heavy work(hacking/tiling) within 1.5 weeks.The tiling jobs were flawless. When we got the flat, it was in pretty poor condition as it had been rented out previously and probably was not shown much TLC. So we knew that we would have to gut the place and start again. Throughout the Reno process Arthur always maintained a can do attitude and replied to all our WhatsApp messages within the hour. We had quite a lot of weird requests as my husband is from the UK, and hence used to having certain things a bit different (e.g. the bathroom sink a bit higher, no tiles on kitchen wall etc.), and Arthur was very accommodating, even if we did not make our preferences clear from the outset, he would still try and meet our requests at no extra charges.

He was also very helpful with providing suggestions, and never pressured us into making decisions. Another plus was that Arthur is very effectively bilingual, which was very important, as sometimes my husband had certain requests, and to be able to convey it in English to our ID was a huge benefit.

Some Strong Points

1. The plaster job on the kitchen walls was fantastic. We kind of wish that we had plastered the whole flat given the quality of the work.
2. Likewise, the tiling was also very well done, every detail was attended to, even the tiniest corner of skirting was attended to.
3. The electrician was every good too, providing advice on where to place power points and doing a good job of keeping the footprint of the trunking neat and to the minimum.
4. Finally, the carpentry work was finished to a high quality. Without even asking, all kitchen cabinet doors were provided with soft close hinges and drawers too.

Some Learning Points

As complete noobs to renovation, we knew that there would be some hiccups along the way that we couldn't anticipate. For us there was nothing major, another kudos to Defong and Arthur for the good job done. There was just one minor mis-communication/ over toilet fittings: We didn't think to discuss with Arthur initially on where we wanted certain items (e.g. the toilet sink height/ the positioning of the shower heater etc.), so Arthur went ahead with installing the fittings, without telling us when, and assuming that it would be standard height etc. The only real problem was the the sink height was a bit low for my husband, so we asked if it could be moved a bit higher. Arthur was very accommodating and understanding and tried his best and managed to move the sink higher. After that, we were a bit more pro-active telling him ahead of time if we had a particular preference for something.

Another problem we had, which has nothing to do with our ID was that the aircon man from Gain City who did our aircon installation, really messed up the installation (making it very ugly with trunking running in the middle of the wall on 3 out of 4 of the walls in the bedrooms. Luckily Arthur was very understanding and organised for work to be halted for a few days while we got our aircon problem rectified.

Concluding Points:

Overall, we are very happy with Arthur and Defong, the renovation process was as smooth as we could have hoped for and came in on schedule (we asked for it to be completed in 6 weeks), despite the delays. Arthur was always polite, and was upfront and responsive if there were any problems. He has a very can-do attitude and no request is too small.

Having trouble uploading pictures. So please PM me if you would like to see some.

[Caredy 0]

We engaged Kevin from defong as our id for our new house. Was intro by my colleague. He is very responsible person and always response to our queries very fast like within 5mins. We was in super hurry situation to move in to new house and actually kept pressurizing him to get things done. He managed to complete my project in a short period and the quality of his workmanship was good. Thumps up for his hardwork! His after Reno service is good too as he stills attend to our queries and give us his professional advice.

Overall, Kevin is good, responsible and value for money.

[babywakin81 0]

Hi everyone, my wife and i have finally settled down at our new place in Jun 2014 .

Once again, we would like to thank Kevin in helping us on the entire reno process, especially in the selection of our furniture to match our theme.

Attaching some pictures below of our flat completed with furnishing.

[babywakin81 0]

[CandyAu 0]

Hello all, I have just finished my reno about 3 weeks ago and same thing, I'm not in any way affiliated to Defong. My renovation process has been quite smooth and I'm preety happy with the results!

I signed up wth Defong cos I felt their quotation was on the "ok" side after comparing with other companies. Thus, decided to go ahead with them. My ID from DeFong is Dax as he's the one who sent us the quotations. Initially was hesitating cos I did not see his name in this forum, so wasnt really sure if he is the right person to do our reno. But we still decided to go ahead, at least meet him in person then we decide further.

So we met up in May at our new BTO (4Rm). Dax went through everything in the quotation with us, and explained whatever term which we did not understand. Honestly, my hubby & I had no idea what we want/what kind of concept for our house. We just wanted simple/basic and cozy. So we depended alot on Dax's guidance and his professional views. He gave alot of suggestions and helped us in cost savings as well. He would mentioned like: if you think you do not need this, then dont waste the money. Thus, he isnt pushy in his sales which I like. He would listen to wat we want and suggest alternatives if it doesnt look good.

During the renovation process, everything went quite smoothly. Dax will update us on and off abt the progress of the house via watsapp (I'm pregnant and I can't go to my new house while renovating).

Dax was very very helpful and patient throughout the reno process. One of the incident: My hubby & I bought a sink from Ikea but somehow the connector doesnt work on HDB connectors. It needed a special size which normal hardware shop doesnt sell. So Dax brought the tap to a special engineering company and found the correct size. Totally appreciate for his help! If not for him, we wouldnt have known where to get the connector. He would also patiently reply any questions that we ask.

Anyway here are the images!

Overall it's quite basic and simple. No false ceiling/no built in wardrobe etc. We're definately happy with Dax's service and all his help! No regrets engaging Defong

Kitchen glass door

Super Love my Pink kitchen!! Soft-closing drawers were given free by Dax

Service yard

Living room with platform

Built-in display cabinets beside TV console

Masterbed room's

Suspended study table