Reno @my Simei 4a Resale Flat

[Pretty99 0]

it almost come to the end of your reno -stated in your foot note completion date would be 7 May ...so far seems like more n more problem occur? Overally how much did u spend for your reno? r u happy with Henry service?i mean proffesional....pls advice..thxs!

[fencer 0]

it almost come to the end of your reno -stated in your foot note completion date would be 7 May ...so far seems like more n more problem occur? Overally how much did u spend for your reno? r u happy with Henry service?i mean proffesional....pls advice..thxs!

It is an end of the reno not because things are finished and rectified. It's coz my furniture is coming oledi and i dun have time to drag on any longer.

The cost of reno is also at the foot note. And additional cost for fixtures for lights, taps, sinks, heaters etc is abt $10k++.

If you read through the whole blog, you would get a pretty good idea on my situation and my personal comments about Henry and his quality of work. But then at the moment, i only know me and another guy kana the bad part. The rest is still ok.. so this you have to judge yourself bah...

Personally, he's professional in the beginning loh.. that's all. 1st haf of the reno at least.. 2nd haf is start of my nightmare..

[dannywmp 3]

It is an end of the reno not because things are finished and rectified. It's coz my furniture is coming oledi and i dun have time to drag on any longer.

The cost of reno is also at the foot note. And additional cost for fixtures for lights, taps, sinks, heaters etc is abt $10k++.

If you read through the whole blog, you would get a pretty good idea on my situation and my personal comments about Henry and his quality of work. But then at the moment, i only know me and another guy kana the bad part. The rest is still ok.. so this you have to judge yourself bah...

Personally, he's professional in the beginning loh.. that's all. 1st haf of the reno at least.. 2nd haf is start of my nightmare..

Fencer,

If you notice, I am also one of the pioneer Henner and is a happy customer...after spending 1.5 hrs reading your 8 pages and noted all the hip up between u and Henry...

May I know, how many times have you done renovation and coordinates contractors?

If this is your first time, then I will tell you that you are lucky that Henry is your contractor...why?

1) He is willing to work towards your handover date

2) He bother to walk-thru with you so many times to check the defects

3) He still bother to answer your call

From your t-blog, you really turning over the table very very fast...one moment you praise him high and the next moment you are nailing him...

You keep mentioning you payig $40K for the renovation and expecting high standard...but may I ask, did you request for other quotation before deciding to give the job to Henry?

so his pricing was reasonable tats why you choose him or you are paying a premium price to engage him...( ie. other quote you $30K but you decided to pay $40K to engage him). If the later is the case, I surely support you...Else, please read other renovator t-blog to see their encounter.

For sure, Henry dun proritize the importance of customer basing on the renovation amount else I think mine will be peanuts to him...total amount of work that I engage him to do was only around $20K but till today he still call me occasionally to chat with me...like a friend. As such, I can be sure that he will help me in rectification work in future if needed.

If you ask Henry about me, he will probably also tells you tat I am a demanding customer that request high quality of work...but me, I choose to call him to discuss the problem to arrange for rectification rather then spending my time posting on issues that probably able to rectify easily...

Sometimes, we should ask ourselve, those defects make up how many % of unsatisfactory work in the whole renovation work? 5%, 10% or 20% ?

Dun you think you are fair to Henry by painting such a bad image on him in the forum?

I sincerely hope you look back to see after so many rounds of talking with Henry, are you sure that the defect list still so long? Please paint the forumer the right picture...instead of merely fasting your anger...

I seldom log in nowadays, just drop by your blog to give my opinion of the matter to other forumer/reader...

[fencer 0]

Fencer,

If you notice, I am also one of the pioneer Henner and is a happy customer...after spending 1.5 hrs reading your 8 pages and noted all the hip up between u and Henry...

May I know, how many times have you done renovation and coordinates contractors?

If this is your first time, then I will tell you that you are lucky that Henry is your contractor...why?

1) He is willing to work towards your handover date

2) He bother to walk-thru with you so many times to check the defects

3) He still bother to answer your call

From your t-blog, you really turning over the table very very fast...one moment you praise him high and the next moment you are nailing him...

You keep mentioning you payig $40K for the renovation and expecting high standard...but may I ask, did you request for other quotation before deciding to give the job to Henry?

so his pricing was reasonable tats why you choose him or you are paying a premium price to engage him...( ie. other quote you $30K but you decided to pay $40K to engage him). If the later is the case, I surely support you...Else, please read other renovator t-blog to see their encounter.

For sure, Henry dun proritize the importance of customer basing on the renovation amount else I think mine will be peanuts to him...total amount of work that I engage him to do was only around $20K but till today he still call me occasionally to chat with me...like a friend. As such, I can be sure that he will help me in rectification work in future if needed.

If you ask Henry about me, he will probably also tells you tat I am a demanding customer that request high quality of work...but me, I choose to call him to discuss the problem to arrange for rectification rather then spending my time posting on issues that probably able to rectify easily...

Sometimes, we should ask ourselve, those defects make up how many % of unsatisfactory work in the whole renovation work? 5%, 10% or 20% ?

Dun you think you are fair to Henry by painting such a bad image on him in the forum?

I sincerely hope you look back to see after so many rounds of talking with Henry, are you sure that the defect list still so long? Please paint the forumer the right picture...instead of merely fasting your anger...

I seldom log in nowadays, just drop by your blog to give my opinion of the matter to other forumer/reader...

Sorry about your 1.5 hrs of reading. And thanks for your comments..

1) There is never mention of handover time nor is there a firm 1. I set 7 May myself coz my furniture is coming oledi and reno is already 2++ months. And last 3 weeks, dispite saying that my furniture is coming, things are done like 1 or 2 things in my hse.

2) He walk me through? I had done more checking then him and visit more often. And pls, is not he came over so many times. I already said i had a hard time meeting him up.

3) He answers my calls. Yes. BUt does mean things are being solved without constain reminder and my insistings.

And if you notice my blog was started during my reno and not after handover. So from good situation to bad .. isit hard to imagine? or isit impossible to happen?

And what is the defination of high standards? I merely want things fixed propoerly, not dragged on and telling me all sorts of excuses. Even my gf is grumbling about it. Some i already told her just to accept it.

And fyi. my initial quotation was only $30k. And we added on more and more coz we have confident in him.

And yes, i had read about ppl who got it worse from other contractors. Does it mean i shld just accept the condition of what my hse is now coz is better then other ppl?

And fyi, i did keep calling him to meet up. He is not free sometimes so i abid to his timing. And when meet up, he writes down the problems. Overtm, i had to remind him again and again for some unsolved problem. Some got solved, some don't. Not to mention my window which leaked for 4-5 days which no one tried to stop water from leaking to my cupboard at all. All Henry said is got warranty, no worry. Even for the crooked piping. It was solved by putting silicon on the rivet. I meet him on tue and he said rain then know would leak. What kind of explaination is that? And i'm not getting a latest technology wic no one used before. Is a rivet water tight? Need to rain then know?

Yes, i can say he can be alot better then other contractors out there which i was fortunate have not encountered. Some things were solved very very fast. Some dragged a while. Some never got to be solved. And i did say good things about Henry when he is good. But i would comment on bad things also since it is a forum for sharing good and bad. Don't tell me i can only comment bad things only if 50% of the ppl kana bad stuff..

Portion of the unsatisfactory work differs from different ppl.

I feedback what i think needs to be solved. But not with those lamn excuses and dragging over time until there is no more time for rectification.

And fyi. I did DIY alot coz things are not moving at all and i DIY coz i can, so why keep waiting when it is not going to be done. Even my gf scold me why i shld be doing it. HOw do i DIY the windows, the pipes and the cracked tiles?

[fencer 0]

Like to ask, does the fingerprints had removed? What cause the fingerprint marks to be there? If still ard, can post the pic for me thks. Relax fencer, alot of things are not as bad as you see.

Pics of the white stain.. not clear though..

This one previously was more white.. now changed color abot oledi.. Looks at the 2 brownish stain, 1 below the triangle, 1 on the right side.

This is the mirror wic tha painter used terapin or something, which is used to remove paint, to clean the whole mirror.

Any1 got suggestions on removing these?

[Pretty99 0]

we need sincere, honest and helpful contractor. After we spend so much money on our sweet home(especially first home) sure we want the outcome meet our expectation. If we need to DIY for so many defects it really dont come to the point why we need to engage their service. Is that mean that contractor is to do the hardwork coordinating the hacking, laying, installing, placing during the reno process and not include the final touch up like inspecting the minor defect? or this is solely ID job?...they will detect if we have ID? is that mean by dannywmp?not evry users hav DIY talent...if we hav then we can do like ossify...no need to pay more..

i'm glad that fencer share his story. He is a real forumer cos his story include pros n cons. This is what the reader want to know from top to toe regard one reno process in this forum.

[fencer 0]

we need sincere, honest and helpful contractor. After we spend so much money on our sweet home(especially first home) sure we want the outcome meet our expectation. If we need to DIY for so many defects it really dont come to the point why we need to engage their service. Is that mean that contractor is to do the hardwork coordinating the hacking, laying, installing, placing during the reno process and not include the final touch up like inspecting the minor defect? or this is solely ID job?...they will detect if we have ID? is that mean by dannywmp?not evry users hav DIY talent...if we hav then we can do like ossify...no need to pay more..

i'm glad that fencer share his story. He is a real forumer cos his story include pros n cons. This is what the reader want to know from top to toe regard one reno process in this forum.

I need to clarify this. Some defects had been rectified. Not say nothing is rectified.

And all these are only my personal views..

At the moment, i'm the only 1 with comments about Henry. Mayb i suay suay hit the most peak of his reno career which he super bz, mayb i suay suay kana all the bad workers.. alot more of mayb(s). But that does not explain the work done, excuses used, words coming out of his mouth.

And sure thing, Henry would call and scold me (2nd time) coz of my comments about him. But i don't tink i'm at any wrong at sharing my experince with other ppl. This forum is to share good and bad.

For those who know about AS, see how the good can fall from great heights.. The good is not god and certaining they had everything a human have like temper, ups and down times. Is how they do their best to maintain their standards no matter how bz they are, rectify the wrong, even at their cost..

[hcbing 0]

we need sincere, honest and helpful contractor. After we spend so much money on our sweet home(especially first home) sure we want the outcome meet our expectation. If we need to DIY for so many defects it really dont come to the point why we need to engage their service. Is that mean that contractor is to do the hardwork coordinating the hacking, laying, installing, placing during the reno process and not include the final touch up like inspecting the minor defect? or this is solely ID job?...they will detect if we have ID? is that mean by dannywmp?not evry users hav DIY talent...if we hav then we can do like ossify...no need to pay more..

i'm glad that fencer share his story. He is a real forumer cos his story include pros n cons. This is what the reader want to know from top to toe regard one reno process in this forum.

Every homeowner especially first-time homeowners would of course want to call their home "Mi Casa" at the end of the day. Sure, we have our expectations as to how it all should turn out...with our creativity and imaginations running wild before, during and even after the renovation's over.

But my question is how do you really gauge your own expectation really? How do you express your expectation in words as accurately as it can be in order to be fully understood by another? Isn't this subjective then?

Would the end result meet your expectation even when all items stated in the finalized and signed quotation have been fulfilled and delivered?

Yes, there would surely be defects here and there prior to handover. What I see as a defect might not matter to another. What if my ID tells me that he doesn't see it as a defect and it's all perfect to him/her. To me, the question that matters is...how tolerable would it be? i.e. would that hairline crack get bigger in the near future? would it be as bad as those hairline cracks, but nothing you can do about that I see on most HDB walls everywhere? if it's not gonna cause any injuries or a major catastrophe in my home in the future, would it really matter when I don't even notice it most of the time? Now I might begin to wonder if my guests would use a ladder to climb up and stare at that hairline crack I have on the wall.

Now, what happens if that expectation changes over time i.e. "Oh I've originally wanted to place my fridge on the left, but now I want it on the right. So could you please tear down my partition wall and build it again?"

I don't think fencer's wrong to share his story. Neither is it wrong to share the pros and cons or even the good and bad throughout the course of the renovation. But the nagging question at the back of my mind is if it's really true, really justified or critically matter...IF I'm in fencer's shoes. Again...the outcome and what would transpire in my own t-blog would perhaps paint a totally different picture altogether.

Do bear in mind, we've only heard one side of the story to make any intelligent judgement. Just my two cents worth.

Cheers!

Edited May 7, 2010 by hcbing

[hcbing 0]

...Is how they do their best to maintain their standards no matter how bz they are, rectify the wrong, even at their cost..

When you say cost...have you thanked Henry for the stuff he FOC-ed for you? Or did you not think that it has made your cost worth your while?

Edited May 7, 2010 by hcbing

[fencer 0]

When you say cost...have you thanked Henry for the stuff he FOC-ed for you? Or did you not think that it has made your cost worth your while?

Henry offered 2 toilet bowls for me to sign on the spot. That i know is FOC and does it comes with string attached? I hope not. Dun tell me got FOC things, I have to accept the faults in the hse although it is suppose to be rectified.

No, crack tile would not cause any1 to die, No one would get a ladder and climb up to see the tiles. But Henry had not once admit is the piping fault or offer to change it. And i did told him i discover it after cleaning the tile of a layer of plasters. If he had offered and takes another week or so, i would hv asked him to leave it.

My Washing machine base. i gave the measurement of the machine and henry gave the adjusted measurement for the base. Is coz i foruntunely checked and discover that the tap is protuding out and hence base is too small, so i asked henry to rectify it. Am i suppose to pay for this? Yes, henry FOC the addtional 1 or haf inch.

My fridge base. i told henry about the measurements and told him my fridge is opens to the right side. i re-measured after the base is made. fridge door canot open 90deg coz handle would bang on the wall and my trays canot take out. Sooo.. I Paid additional $90 to extend the fridge base and another $200+ to make a cabinate to cover the hole.

If the quotations states the crooked pipes, cracked tile, and windows made this way, i would happily paid the FOC items tp ensure the existing problems would not exist. And i certainly would not make a big fuss if the grill guys waterproof the rivets themselves, instead of having me to discover the leak which leak for 4-5 days continuously without any1 stopping it from reaching my newly installed cupboards. Henry said rain then would know can leak. If i tell any1, would they get piss off? I ask Henry abt water reaching my cupboards, He said got warranty, can replace. And a few other things he also said got warranty when i feedback. Is the warranty lifetime? Things naturally spoil after warranty is ok leh.. Things spoil coz kana rain water soaked, crooked pipes solved by pushing at joint part, all these would contribute to possible future problems.

And Just for info, quotations states what needs to be hacked, removed, changed etc. It does not state schedule (although i asked for 1 and was forgotten), how things are replaced, put up etc. Do i nd to advice the tilder how to put the tiles, wic 1 1st?

I have my responsibility as the hse owner and Henry being a contractor who is paid to do my hse. He is suppose to advice me more since i have zero knowledge on reno. I need to ask my friend to come over and help out.

[hcbing 0]

I have my responsibility as the hse owner and Henry being a contractor who is paid to do my hse. He is suppose to advice me more since i have zero knowledge on reno. I need to ask my friend to come over and help out.

Yes, you're right. You're the houseowner.

You're the one who's gotta know what goes on in the house and how things are gonna turn out. You're the one who has to find out what's the allowance to provide on the left/right/top/back side of the fridge. You're the one who has to imagine how exactly it would look like when you open that fridge door and hence tell Henry how big the base should be. Yes, you could say that you could have imagined this better if there were some 3D drawings or something, but you didn't engage an ID.

I joined renotalk.com and read through countless t-blogs and posts with one reason in mind. To know exactly what to and not to buy, who to engage and who I should avoid, what software to help me design my floorplan, furniture arrangements etc. It's gonna be my house. I'm the one who's gonna live in it. I don't want any surprises.

At the end of the day, when it comes to the renovation, I constantly tell myself to be at least a few steps ahead of Henry.

May I know, how many times have you done renovation and coordinates contractors?

If this is your first time, then I will tell you that you are lucky that Henry is your contractor...why?

1) He is willing to work towards your handover date

2) He bother to walk-thru with you so many times to check the defects

3) He still bother to answer your call.

I'd like to refer back to danny's post. The two words..."coordinates contractors". Do ponder on this point when you've got the time.

Anyway, I bid you the best of luck. Cheers!

[scenium 0]

There have been positive feedback & good review on Henry.

When there is one real customer posting pictures with good & bad review, some are trying to protect Henry's work.

We should be open to good & bad review.

If someone has gone through good renovation work years ago, doesn't mean good works will guarantee for the future.

For any good reviews, take it as a possible positive outcome.

For any bad review, take it as a possible negative outcome.

When you have decided to engage an ID....whatever outcome is your choice..

Cheers!

[fencer 0]

Yes, you're right. You're the houseowner.

You're the one who's gotta know what goes on in the house and how things are gonna turn out. You're the one who has to find out what's the allowance to provide on the left/right/top/back side of the fridge. You're the one who has to imagine how exactly it would look like when you open that fridge door and hence tell Henry how big the base should be. Yes, you could say that you could have imagined this better if there were some 3D drawings or something, but you didn't engage an ID.

I joined renotalk.com and read through countless t-blogs and posts with one reason in mind. To know exactly what to and not to buy, who to engage and who I should avoid, what software to help me design my floorplan, furniture arrangements etc. It's gonna be my house. I'm the one who's gonna live in it. I don't want any surprises.

At the end of the day, when it comes to the renovation, I constantly tell myself to be at least a few steps ahead of Henry.

I'd like to refer back to danny's post. The two words..."coordinates contractors". Do ponder on this point when you've got the time.

Anyway, I bid you the best of luck. Cheers!

Thanks.. I'll tink about the defination for "coordinates contractors".

[fencer 0]

There have been positive feedback & good review on Henry.

When there is one real customer posting pictures with good & bad review, some are trying to protect Henry's work.

We should be open to good & bad review.

If someone has gone through good renovation work years ago, doesn't mean good works will guarantee for the future.

For any good reviews, take it as a possible positive outcome.

For any bad review, take it as a possible negative outcome.

When you have decided to engage an ID....whatever outcome is your choice..

Cheers!

Thanks scenium..

[fencer 0]

Day 1 after deadline..

Spent 1 whole day to clean the hse again.. Must rem to buy white shiny paint to DIY for painting not finished.