Ah Soon

[seashell 0]

hi vomit

i think u r likely to vomitblood if u engage ah soon!.. haha... just kidding..

so u got ur contractor yet??

[vomitblood 0]

NJD = No job done

HAHA NJD = no job done! Brilliant! Thanks!

I say NSIS= No Soon in Sight! So busy he is!

[seashell 0]

Hi Seashell

Thank you so much for your advice. I am grateful for your explanation. I am pretty much going to check each and every tile. Very good advice.

Yes! furniture must not be MDF!

Got to open my eyes BIGGER and do spot check at every stage!

But some things you would know until much later. My home is experiencing tile cracking after 10 years of renovation. The home came with kitchen tiles which are still working fine after living in for 20+years. We extended our kitchen 10 years ago, the new tiles have mostly cracked about 70%. We found out much later that the tiler skipped one step and that's why tiles are cracking. You cannot tell when you spot check...unless you are tiler you know specifically how to should be done.

My sister renovated her HDB flat in 2002. It was with an ID, it was really nice at first. But after living there for 7 years signs of real/lousy workmanship started to show. Her white room doors have cracked and her ceiling paint has started to crack/peel. Her yellow paint job has started to fade. Asked my dad he said the paint job was done badly i.e. the short cut way. You really can't tell until you live in the home long enough. My home paint job was done more than 10 years already but no sign of any cracking or peeling. It looks brand new.

The person doing the work usually likes to cut corners in areas you cannot tell and when no one is looking. So even if after 1 year you cannot tell the defects. Like waterproofing should lasts at least 10 years or forever if done properly not just 1 year or 6 months.

hi vomit

i understand... i cannot tolerate cracked tiles... so far ah soon done my house which i stayed in for 5yrs, no problem... sometimes contractors just to save a little, causes us so much problem later on.... really hate that..

for paint job, some areas u need to have 'sealer'.. my previous house, cus of HDB structure, alot of my neighbours have cracks lines on the wall and dampness... so contractors will tell u to put a layer of sealer before u paint the house.. it usually cost about $200-300 depends on how big is ur house... so sometimes, the building structure also matters...

for paint, easy, specify the brand of paint and be present to see if they are painting... best is, put a layer of sealer...

[seashell 0]

fyi, uncle must chase chase chase...

if not, he think u can wait one...

but must chase reasonably also ... my house started in august so now, 70% done so far..

left false ceiling n carpentry i think...

[ivy 0]

NJD = No job done

[vomitblood 0]

mine i just stay in like 3 weeks. so far the 3 weeks all my things are still ok except my clothes hanger 1 side drop off due to poor installation. uncle goh came to fix for me le.

As for my floor tiles, I detected 2 tiles with cut leg feeling, also replaced le. common toilet, gradient not right, water ponding - rectified before HO

Carpentry work got imperfection here and there but ah wei very steady, when i complain he told me : i will rectify until u are happy. and his guys came back painstakingly 1 day per week for 3-4 weeks and really rectify until i happy. But I did close one eye on a potion of laminate which i think wasn't joint really nicely. To redo that potion will be a nightmare to the carpenter and me cos i dun want to clean the whole place again!!! will try to post the pic in my blog when i post my conclusion.

TV feature wall kanna deep scratch due to carelessness of worker, ah wei used black glass to cover up the scratch and it became and improvise design for my tv console, pics will be up at my blog later.

whoever want to do just carpentry and keen to get ah wei can pm me for contact. this one i dare to recommend.

Eletrical works done by ah tan, that ah tan abit siao siao one, he will do things half way then decide to come another day to finish up. He will check with me where and at what ht i want my powerpts and switches to be. I told him "chin chai lah" then kanna scold cos he say cannot chin chai, if not fix liao i not happy very troublesome.... -_- at some areas the trunking not so nicely done cos they cut small pieces to fix together. I complained and it was rectified. the outstanding thing is he has yet to come back to fix my door bell... so now visitors press my dummy door bell until finger sprained i also dunno got people standing outside cos inside not connected

Plumbing works - before HO got a leaky joint at MBR handspray, rain shower not fix correctly rectified also before HO. The plumbing team so far so good.

Painting - was given 3 malay painters... CMI... paint crooked lines and i suspect they only paint 1 coat... door frames nv paint properly... uncle goh came to repaint door frames and the crooked lines was done by mr zhong

Plastering - also must watch closely. the team dun seems to be quite skillful. can see uneven surface even after plastering. they did areas that are really obvious and for the remaining i gave up cos as they do i clean i clean until fed up... the rectification is really dusty!! and i have shifted in. so guys pls check ur plastering before HO hor?! so that u no need to clean and reclean like me.

I receive equal dosages of NJD (2 weeks) , uncle's aeroplanes and miss calls. for me I was warned of his pattern prior to engaging him so I am pretty cool abt it, I made a mistake by telling him he can take his time to do my unit cos I dun need the house urgently and he really take his time wor!!! whole project took 12 weeks. but it's my own doing lah. if u ask me, whole process was not hiccup free not stress free and he made me cry once! but at the end of the reno process plus 3 weeks live in, i am a satisfied customer who has grown naggier (u can see by the lengthe of my posts) due to all the chasing calls made to uncle.

probably i come to post another naggy post in here if this thread is still around after 1-2 years live in to see whether anything fell apart. ohh forget to add that i did check my carpentry and i was given all solid plywood as well. phew! laminate i chose from EDL and Jennings. Ah wei did warn me Jennings laminate quality not as good, but their laminates are really pretty so I can't resist.

I hope i didn't miss out any part of the work.

Go for ah soon only if u are not perturbed by the possible lengthy NJD/Miss calls/Aeroplanes/and the tomorrow that maybe weeks down the road. He is nice but he does have his weaknesses that we have highlighted time and again

Thank you so much Ivy for your detailed explanation. First and foremost what is NJD? I know what are missed calls and aeroplanes. Is NJD a local dialect or Chinese word?

I will take all your advice and ensure things don't go wrong.

Looks like Ah Soon need to hire better painters... a good paint job can lasts 10 years or more. if the painter skipped a step during the paint process... the paint will start peeling and cracking. Even worse if they are not trained properly... you will end up with cracked paint job everywhere years later.

[vomitblood 0]

hi,

me me! me ex house done by him in 2004. actually it depends on what kind of defects. for tiles, usually u can spot already once finished reno. eg. hollow tiles. which u got to check one by one. cus hollow tiles will in time warp and causes problems.

for carpentry, mus ensure he uses solid plywood and NOT mdf. which so far i saw some of the ah soon houses (i very kiasu, i seen 3 ah soon houses before i commit), the wood is solid ply... also must get to choose good laminate. those got brand like edl, etc...

what he did for me last time- my complaint is 2 hollow tiles. which i can't really blame him cus i didn't check n i was rushing to move in for cny... (being a newbie last time) ah soon told me that group of tilers already left him... so now my eyes are very sharp on the tiles... cus he changed the whole house homo tiles for me, workmanship he charge me only $XXX, tiles i take myself from my friend. even so, that time his installer install the mirror n toilet accessories not to my preference -cus he didn't ask me where to place, he hack away all the tiles affected n replace new ones--because of the drill hole on the tiles i told him i cannot accept. he did it without any hard feelings -n rectify on the spot for him. this is the reason i went back to him, cus at least i know anything i am not satisfied, he will rectify for me. if i have discovered the hollow tiles during then, i am sure he will change it for me.

(my hubby friend who did reno from ID company, also got hollow tiles -- REFUSED to change and only give discount). for me, no way. i dun want discount, i want the tiles to be changed.

other than that, he is ok. like now, i will ask him what brand of laminates is he giving me. cut corners, like if u go ID company, when they say kitchen wall tiles, do they do the whole area or only the exposed area? (ie.area that has kitchen cabinet will not have tiles)... don't be surprised, 95% of the ID company i approached, only do the wall tiles at exposed area. for uncle, he did the whole area for me....

defect is bound to have, what matters is, is the person responsible enough to rectify it..?

also, forumers like ivy, pinkpetter, etc had renovated with him.. i think they can share with alot...cus most of the defect can surface within a year! if more than that , have to take wear n tear into consideration also...

Hi Seashell

Thank you so much for your advice. I am grateful for your explanation. I am pretty much going to check each and every tile. Very good advice.

Yes! furniture must not be MDF!

Got to open my eyes BIGGER and do spot check at every stage!

But some things you would know until much later. My home is experiencing tile cracking after 10 years of renovation. The home came with kitchen tiles which are still working fine after living in for 20+years. We extended our kitchen 10 years ago, the new tiles have mostly cracked about 70%. We found out much later that the tiler skipped one step and that's why tiles are cracking. You cannot tell when you spot check...unless you are tiler you know specifically how to should be done.

My sister renovated her HDB flat in 2002. It was with an ID, it was really nice at first. But after living there for 7 years signs of real/lousy workmanship started to show. Her white room doors have cracked and her ceiling paint has started to crack/peel. Her yellow paint job has started to fade. Asked my dad he said the paint job was done badly i.e. the short cut way. You really can't tell until you live in the home long enough. My home paint job was done more than 10 years already but no sign of any cracking or peeling. It looks brand new.

The person doing the work usually likes to cut corners in areas you cannot tell and when no one is looking. So even if after 1 year you cannot tell the defects. Like waterproofing should lasts at least 10 years or forever if done properly not just 1 year or 6 months.

[checheang 0]

Hello... Can anyone PM me ah Soon's HP?? Thanks!!!!!!

[seashell 0]

Hi all

Many thanks to all who have shared their renovation knowledge,

and renovation experience with uncle soon.

Have been following "ah soon" threads & managed to contact and engage him as reno contractor. No work started yet.

Could anyone pls kindly provide more info on the workmanship of his crews? tiling?

electrical? painting? wood-furniture? repiping/plumbing?

Thanks in advance

hi fini

welcome!

actually he has alot of teams on tiling, so it is hard to comment?

[seashell 0]

hi black,

well noted on your pointers. i think after engaging ah soon, i also became so busy that i missed out reading some msgs in the thread..hahah....

for your carpentry design, it was a pity the people doing it for u didnt realize it...! any way to rectify?

is ace flooring that bad? cus i have a big laminate plattform in my master room...maybe i should opt for other brands?

the shower screen, i can ask for how high? i realize nowadays the shower heads esp.the rain shower all are very tall and hence u r rite, should ask for a higher showerscreen height, but how high should it be?

yes i am changing all my rooms door. i am going to ask ah soon is he quoting me hollow or solid.

For my carpentry if wanna redo, is quite major hence i live it. At times got to give and take lah!!!

Ace flooring, I found some plank shrunk and some slight uneveness. Not too sure whether is the workmanship or the quality of the wood. I was offer either Power Dekor or Ace Flooring only, the stoopid hometeam guy claims that Power Dekor got to pay GST for it. I know he is trying to pull a fast one, so i choose Ace Flooring instead which i regretted.

You can request the glass panel up to the ceiling height if you prefer. But u must make know to him during the time of quotation and not after. For my case, which i did, the stoopid hometeam guy didnt listen as usual. As for shower screen, we had a quite big arguement due to the delay which they can install only after my move in day and no confirmation date given for installation. Reason is that the shower screen guy is super busy, so i told them dont do lor, i m not interested to listen their tight schedule. Reason is simple, coz i had had reminded him to install one or weeks before of my moving day.

So i got really upset, I told them to fly kite and intend to source for my own contractors but they die die and came to install it during my shifting day. But the height is way below of my requirement, the moment i saw it i almost fainted.

Veneer wood door, my brand is Yontat. I did called them and ask for pricing bcos i was getting the hollow one which i find it super cheapo feeling. Yontat gal ask me for preference solid or hollow, i ask what the price different? She told me only $40 bucks or so, so she insisted to quote me the solid instead of hollow. I ask her why, she lose her cool. You mean u wan hollow instead of solid just for the couple of ten bucks??? How i wish she can bark at ah soon hometeam guy instead!!!!

Some of the hiccups, i got to be blame too. I trusted ah soon even without really bother to look into the individual item that he quoted. I just took a glance at it, as long as he meet my cheapo budget and give me the stuffs that i want, we closed the deal. I met ah soon only 3 times, the third times i pass my hse key to him and ask him to starts hacking. He is kinda taken back too, huh u mean u give me the project ah? I havent go thru with u the items and the costing leh. I told him, no need lah, as long as within the budget and you guys understood wat my requirements can liao. He nod his head and the rest is history.

Frankly, i trusted him and didnt bother to check on everything that he stated in the quotation. But not on the day to day work, coz the worker and the hometeam guy is not that committed. In fact some of the job quoted was not done and some item over price which i didnt deduct it out during the last payment. I think, at times we take and also must learn how to give lah. If not ah soon cannot continue doing business if everyones starts to take and dont give rite?

hi black, i asked ah soon about the GST, he said he is not aware and it shouldnt have! i will ask again when it is my turn to talk about laminate...cus i prefer brands like supreme actually...

i can tell that u trust uncle alot.. hence resulting all the misunderstandings later...but i think he is not intentional to quote u the wrong items... he is like quoting u the standard stuff...

actually i told uncle, every renovation he does is a advertisement for him... he agrees...

[blue_diamond 0]

I receive equal dosages of NJD (2 weeks) , uncle's aeroplanes and miss calls. for me I was warned of his pattern prior to engaging him so I am pretty cool abt it, I made a mistake by telling him he can take his time to do my unit cos I dun need the house urgently and he really take his time wor!!! whole project took 12 weeks. but it's my own doing lah. if u ask me, whole process was not hiccup free not stress free and he made me cry once! but at the end of the reno process plus 3 weeks live in, i am a satisfied customer who has grown naggier (u can see by the lengthe of my posts) due to all the chasing calls made to uncle.

probably i come to post another naggy post in here if this thread is still around after 1-2 years live in to see whether anything fell apart. ohh forget to add that i did check my carpentry and i was given all solid plywood as well. phew! laminate i chose from EDL and Jennings. Ah wei did warn me Jennings laminate quality not as good, but their laminates are really pretty so I can't resist.

I hope i didn't miss out any part of the work.

Go for ah soon only if u are not perturbed by the possible lengthy NJD/Miss calls/Aeroplanes/and the tomorrow that maybe weeks down the road. He is nice but he does have his weaknesses that we have highlighted time and again

[fini 1]

Hi all

Many thanks to all who have shared their renovation knowledge,

and renovation experience with uncle soon.

Have been following "ah soon" threads & managed to contact and engage him as reno contractor. No work started yet.

Could anyone pls kindly provide more info on the workmanship of his crews? tiling?

electrical? painting? wood-furniture? repiping/plumbing?

Thanks in advance

[ivy 0]

mine i just stay in like 3 weeks. so far the 3 weeks all my things are still ok except my clothes hanger 1 side drop off due to poor installation. uncle goh came to fix for me le.

As for my floor tiles, I detected 2 tiles with cut leg feeling, also replaced le. common toilet, gradient not right, water ponding - rectified before HO

Carpentry work got imperfection here and there but ah wei very steady, when i complain he told me : i will rectify until u are happy. and his guys came back painstakingly 1 day per week for 3-4 weeks and really rectify until i happy. But I did close one eye on a potion of laminate which i think wasn't joint really nicely. To redo that potion will be a nightmare to the carpenter and me cos i dun want to clean the whole place again!!! will try to post the pic in my blog when i post my conclusion.

TV feature wall kanna deep scratch due to carelessness of worker, ah wei used black glass to cover up the scratch and it became and improvise design for my tv console, pics will be up at my blog later.

whoever want to do just carpentry and keen to get ah wei can pm me for contact. this one i dare to recommend.

Eletrical works done by ah tan, that ah tan abit siao siao one, he will do things half way then decide to come another day to finish up. He will check with me where and at what ht i want my powerpts and switches to be. I told him "chin chai lah" then kanna scold cos he say cannot chin chai, if not fix liao i not happy very troublesome.... -_- at some areas the trunking not so nicely done cos they cut small pieces to fix together. I complained and it was rectified. the outstanding thing is he has yet to come back to fix my door bell... so now visitors press my dummy door bell until finger sprained i also dunno got people standing outside cos inside not connected

Plumbing works - before HO got a leaky joint at MBR handspray, rain shower not fix correctly rectified also before HO. The plumbing team so far so good.

Painting - was given 3 malay painters... CMI... paint crooked lines and i suspect they only paint 1 coat... door frames nv paint properly... uncle goh came to repaint door frames and the crooked lines was done by mr zhong

Plastering - also must watch closely. the team dun seems to be quite skillful. can see uneven surface even after plastering. they did areas that are really obvious and for the remaining i gave up cos as they do i clean i clean until fed up... the rectification is really dusty!! and i have shifted in. so guys pls check ur plastering before HO hor?! so that u no need to clean and reclean like me.

I receive equal dosages of NJD (2 weeks) , uncle's aeroplanes and miss calls. for me I was warned of his pattern prior to engaging him so I am pretty cool abt it, I made a mistake by telling him he can take his time to do my unit cos I dun need the house urgently and he really take his time wor!!! whole project took 12 weeks. but it's my own doing lah. if u ask me, whole process was not hiccup free not stress free and he made me cry once! but at the end of the reno process plus 3 weeks live in, i am a satisfied customer who has grown naggier (u can see by the lengthe of my posts) due to all the chasing calls made to uncle.

probably i come to post another naggy post in here if this thread is still around after 1-2 years live in to see whether anything fell apart. ohh forget to add that i did check my carpentry and i was given all solid plywood as well. phew! laminate i chose from EDL and Jennings. Ah wei did warn me Jennings laminate quality not as good, but their laminates are really pretty so I can't resist.

I hope i didn't miss out any part of the work.

Go for ah soon only if u are not perturbed by the possible lengthy NJD/Miss calls/Aeroplanes/and the tomorrow that maybe weeks down the road. He is nice but he does have his weaknesses that we have highlighted time and again

Edited August 26, 2009 by ivy

[seashell 0]

Hi there

Has anyone of you had Uncle Soon renovate your home more than 3 years back. I understand from my parents that defects of renovation work can only be detected after owner has moved in the house for a couple of years. They are talking based on experience since they have had renovated our home many times and problems sets in couple of years later.

And expensive defects would only be detected much later and not within the final payment window period. Defects that aren't detectable by looking at the finished product. But are 'hidden' under tiles/walls that is when the contractor cut corners to save operating costs in order to quote at such a low price.

Anyone care to share? I want Ah Soon to renovate my house cos we all know from this blog that he price is so much cheaper than others. Obviously he is under-staffed and over-worked. But, could the cheap price comes with a price owner has to pay... i.e. the owner would only know years down the road.

I am big fan of Uncle Soon...but I really need to talk to someone who has had his house renovated not just recently. I just find that since he is unable to project manage his team, that is when quality is compromised and we as home owners do not have the technical background to supervise and ensure things are done properly.

Thanks and appreciate your reply.

hi,

me me! me ex house done by him in 2004. actually it depends on what kind of defects. for tiles, usually u can spot already once finished reno. eg. hollow tiles. which u got to check one by one. cus hollow tiles will in time warp and causes problems.

for carpentry, mus ensure he uses solid plywood and NOT mdf. which so far i saw some of the ah soon houses (i very kiasu, i seen 3 ah soon houses before i commit), the wood is solid ply... also must get to choose good laminate. those got brand like edl, etc...

what he did for me last time- my complaint is 2 hollow tiles. which i can't really blame him cus i didn't check n i was rushing to move in for cny... (being a newbie last time) ah soon told me that group of tilers already left him... so now my eyes are very sharp on the tiles... cus he changed the whole house homo tiles for me, workmanship he charge me only $XXX, tiles i take myself from my friend. even so, that time his installer install the mirror n toilet accessories not to my preference -cus he didn't ask me where to place, he hack away all the tiles affected n replace new ones--because of the drill hole on the tiles i told him i cannot accept. he did it without any hard feelings -n rectify on the spot for him. this is the reason i went back to him, cus at least i know anything i am not satisfied, he will rectify for me. if i have discovered the hollow tiles during then, i am sure he will change it for me.

(my hubby friend who did reno from ID company, also got hollow tiles -- REFUSED to change and only give discount). for me, no way. i dun want discount, i want the tiles to be changed.

other than that, he is ok. like now, i will ask him what brand of laminates is he giving me. cut corners, like if u go ID company, when they say kitchen wall tiles, do they do the whole area or only the exposed area? (ie.area that has kitchen cabinet will not have tiles)... don't be surprised, 95% of the ID company i approached, only do the wall tiles at exposed area. for uncle, he did the whole area for me....

defect is bound to have, what matters is, is the person responsible enough to rectify it..?

also, forumers like ivy, pinkpetter, etc had renovated with him.. i think they can share with alot...cus most of the defect can surface within a year! if more than that , have to take wear n tear into consideration also...

[blackcar 0]

hi black,

well noted on your pointers. i think after engaging ah soon, i also became so busy that i missed out reading some msgs in the thread..hahah....

for your carpentry design, it was a pity the people doing it for u didnt realize it...! any way to rectify?

is ace flooring that bad? cus i have a big laminate plattform in my master room...maybe i should opt for other brands?

the shower screen, i can ask for how high? i realize nowadays the shower heads esp.the rain shower all are very tall and hence u r rite, should ask for a higher showerscreen height, but how high should it be?

yes i am changing all my rooms door. i am going to ask ah soon is he quoting me hollow or solid.

For my carpentry if wanna redo, is quite major hence i live it. At times got to give and take lah!!!

Ace flooring, I found some plank shrunk and some slight uneveness. Not too sure whether is the workmanship or the quality of the wood. I was offer either Power Dekor or Ace Flooring only, the stoopid hometeam guy claims that Power Dekor got to pay GST for it. I know he is trying to pull a fast one, so i choose Ace Flooring instead which i regretted.

You can request the glass panel up to the ceiling height if you prefer. But u must make know to him during the time of quotation and not after. For my case, which i did, the stoopid hometeam guy didnt listen as usual. As for shower screen, we had a quite big arguement due to the delay which they can install only after my move in day and no confirmation date given for installation. Reason is that the shower screen guy is super busy, so i told them dont do lor, i m not interested to listen their tight schedule. Reason is simple, coz i had had reminded him to install one or weeks before of my moving day.

So i got really upset, I told them to fly kite and intend to source for my own contractors but they die die and came to install it during my shifting day. But the height is way below of my requirement, the moment i saw it i almost fainted.

Veneer wood door, my brand is Yontat. I did called them and ask for pricing bcos i was getting the hollow one which i find it super cheapo feeling. Yontat gal ask me for preference solid or hollow, i ask what the price different? She told me only $40 bucks or so, so she insisted to quote me the solid instead of hollow. I ask her why, she lose her cool. You mean u wan hollow instead of solid just for the couple of ten bucks??? How i wish she can bark at ah soon hometeam guy instead!!!!

Some of the hiccups, i got to be blame too. I trusted ah soon even without really bother to look into the individual item that he quoted. I just took a glance at it, as long as he meet my cheapo budget and give me the stuffs that i want, we closed the deal. I met ah soon only 3 times, the third times i pass my hse key to him and ask him to starts hacking. He is kinda taken back too, huh u mean u give me the project ah? I havent go thru with u the items and the costing leh. I told him, no need lah, as long as within the budget and you guys understood wat my requirements can liao. He nod his head and the rest is history.

Frankly, i trusted him and didnt bother to check on everything that he stated in the quotation. But not on the day to day work, coz the worker and the hometeam guy is not that committed. In fact some of the job quoted was not done and some item over price which i didnt deduct it out during the last payment. I think, at times we take and also must learn how to give lah. If not ah soon cannot continue doing business if everyones starts to take and dont give rite?