Lôft I'klektic

[inthechouse 8]

which plumbing team was that? from what i've seen, i know there were 2 batches - banglas & the malaysians. the malaysians did a way better job. i was quite disappointed with the earlier who did a not-so-decent job with my heater & the pipe behind the washing machine.

The Malaysians - Were you referring to Ah Jie (a young chap) and his partner, a chubby, older chap? They did my plumbing.

[retchlow 7]

didn't get their names.but looking at your censored photo, i think it's them.

[inthechouse 8]

didn't get their names.but looking at your censored photo, i think it's them.

I took down the names and numbers of the tilers, plumbers and electrician. LOL!

[retchlow 7]

take down the carpenter's one too

[alfredt 27]

Haiz... Just to share what happened....

I was actually at my house on the day they did the plumbling and some other works... it was the last day before they close shop for CNY and I believe they were in a rush to finish all outstanding works... I was standing around in my living room and I saw one worker clearing 'rubbish', but what was in his hands was a box containing my new purchases! I got a shock and ask for the worker to hand over the box to me. To my astonishment, there was really lots and lots of rubbish covering my set of new spotlights costing more than $300, taps and drain covers that I bought from taobao and spare parts for my Grohe taps and he actually ask the worker to throw all these away!! I was so angry (my blood is boiling as I type this)!!! When I confronted him, he still dare to argue back saying that I 'anyhow' leave my box lying around when in fact I had left it in a corner of my utility room!

As my Grohe tap connectors are also in the box that he wanted to throw away, I asked why didn't he use it and guess what. He said that he has already installed a china-made one for me already!! That connector was embedded in the concrete wall and there was no way to replace unless I hack that part away which would be massive work! I was really boiling!! My Grohe connector was made of brass and of a superior quality compared to the cheapskate steel connector that he installed! True enough, it was not compatible and 1-2 days later, it started leaking.. It was CNY period and Alan couldn't get anyone to come down.. He told us his workers only start work a few days later!! My tap dripped on for the next one week before someone came down to fix! The workers whom came to fix the leakage also can't change the connector but to add more tape and sand off part of my tap and connector to make it fit better. My heart broke as I saw what they did to my brand new Grohe shower set. :dunno:

and now its dripping again!!!

oh man ! this is so irresponsible

[simplehuman 1]

Seriously I cannot pinpoint exactly whom put in the connector to the wall. I didn't even notice that part until the problem arises... The plumbers came in at least twice on different days.. Halfway into the reno, a group of Indians came to fix the water pipes and at the final stage to completion, a Chinese (I tink Singaporean) came to fix the water taps etc.... I remember also seeing the Singaporean Chinese guy on the day the pipes were fixed... he was there and he put in a temporary tap for his workers to use... I believe it was him who did the connector... Didn't get his name but he is the only one who wears a pair of goggles while working...

Anyway, given a choice I would have done what OceanEleven have suggested to ask Alan to hack out the connector no matter what. However, it was the last working day prior to CNY and my furniture and appliances are coming in one by one... In fact, Alan missed and dragged my completion and some of my bulky furniture had already arrived while the house is still work-in-progress... Another of our major consideration is that our bathroom pipes run in from the other side of the shared wall with the kitchen and we can't hack without taking down the carpentry which involves my built-in oven which is too much of a hassle... We also needed to move in before CNY as we were being chased out of our previous place...

At the start when we signed the agreement, Alan had actually promised to handover in mid Jan. But somehow he screwed up our plan submission to HDB and our reno was delayed! I called up HDB and they said he did not do any submission at all. It was pretty obvious that he had forgotten about doing it! Subsequently he promised to deliver no later than 31 Jan and we took his word for it... We went ahead to make arrangements for our furniture delivery one by one as Alan sounded confident in his promise. Approaching 31 Jan, a lot of works are still outstanding and we even call and ask if he is going to miss the deadline again! And yes, he is going to delay again and I got to ring up the shops one by one again, begging for them to withhold delivery! All other furniture shops also needed to close for CNY and not just him!!

** This was last year when CNY was on 10 Feb..

Edited January 8, 2014 by simplehuman

[lme 0]

Hi guys

We are another one who engaged Alan as our contractor. We did not get our house by Xmas and now it does not look like we can get it completed before CNY too.

Edited January 8, 2014 by lme

[Makanology 29]

i will be having my plumbing done by alan's workers this week. will make sure I pay extra attention to the connections ... mind sharing any other stuff to look out for? I must admit i'm getting worried and maybe paranoid about his quality. sigh ...

Hi Jayque,

Mr E here. For electrical works, if there are ceiling fans, mark out the location of the fans and leave enough wiring, but don't get them to install cos they suck at it. Whereas the ceiling fans authorised service guys fix and install dozens of fans everyday. The subcon electricians were like going through a jigsaw puzzle and trying so hard to balance them. My electricians are the older workers, they are fast and forgetful(not sure if it's forgetful or bochup). I had written on the walls with markers and height/length lines, but still ended up wrong, bleh... They actually fixed the wrong power points at the wrong height and didn't leave enough wiring for extending, and I had to remove my bedside tables legs yet I didn't tell them off cos there's no way I could fit a multi plug for use.

Don't bother abt asking them for LED bulbs advice such as brightness etc, they know nothing. Alan doesn't know either. Sometimes, I trust advice from forums and the Internet more than them. This has lead to me thinking that these people don't really care.

[Makanology 29]

take down the carpenter's one too

Mr E here,

depending on which carpenter though, throughout my experience with Ah Gui, tall and dark early 40ish fella, he is quite alright. He's quite precise with his work so he's a lil slow. Others I m not so sure. I have his number though, as I m planning to get him for custom work for my craft. However, it ll be good to list down the various carpenters so as to avoid using them.

[Makanology 29]

Haiz... Just to share what happened....

I was actually at my house on the day they did the plumbling and some other works... it was the last day before they close shop for CNY and I believe they were in a rush to finish all outstanding works... I was standing around in my living room and I saw one worker clearing 'rubbish', but what was in his hands was a box containing my new purchases! I got a shock and ask for the worker to hand over the box to me. To my astonishment, there was really lots and lots of rubbish covering my set of new spotlights costing more than $300, taps and drain covers that I bought from taobao and spare parts for my Grohe taps and he actually ask the worker to throw all these away!! I was so angry (my blood is boiling as I type this)!!! When I confronted him, he still dare to argue back saying that I 'anyhow' leave my box lying around when in fact I had left it in a corner of my utility room!

BS, bollocks IMHO. Basically this is pure laziness and simply bochup. For someone of his experience in the trade, how could he have not known and tell the difference between rubbish and stuff that's meant for the renovation? Clearly I m sure this MUST have been highlighted to him already.

As my Grohe tap connectors are also in the box that he wanted to throw away, I asked why didn't he use it and guess what. He said that he has already installed a china-made one for me already!! That connector was embedded in the concrete wall and there was no way to replace unless I hack that part away which would be massive work! I was really boiling!! My Grohe connector was made of brass and of a superior quality compared to the cheapskate steel connector that he installed! True enough, it was not compatible and 1-2 days later, it started leaking.. It was CNY period and Alan couldn't get anyone to come down.. He told us his workers only start work a few days later!! My tap dripped on for the next one week before someone came down to fix! The workers whom came to fix the leakage also can't change the connector but to add more tape and sand off part of my tap and connector to make it fit better. My heart broke as I saw what they did to my brand new Grohe shower set. :dunno:

And now its dripping again!!!

I feel for u man and I share ur anguish. Again, another dead-brain at work. Why act smart and use something of their own when apparently that item has already been provided? This is NOT being helpful, that's plain stupidity. It still seems that they are seriously unable to "learn" or "adapt" with using something different despite having countless of experiences in this trade as well as such common occurrences.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Makanology

[Songz 132]

I feel for u man and I share ur anguish. Again, another dead-brain at work. Why act smart and use something of their own when apparently that item has already been provided? This is NOT being helpful, that's plain stupidity. It still seems that they are seriously unable to "learn" or "adapt" with using something different despite having countless of experiences in this trade as well as such common occurrences.

This is what happen to my friend's house too previously, he bought a whole set but yet the person who fix it did not use those connector and etc, causing quite a lot of problems.

Best part about it when you check with them, they can tell you in the face like they are not in the wrong that he think its the same and been using those for a long time ...

[simplehuman 1]

Songz, u're right!

Tat's what the guy with googles told me straight in the face! He claims that every company makes their stuff in China whether branded or not and that its all the same! But hey, this is Grohe! Shall I exchange a taobao wallet with his Gucci (if he has one) and tell him its the same?

Edited January 10, 2014 by simplehuman

[jayque 0]

Hi Jayque,

Mr E here. For electrical works, if there are ceiling fans, mark out the location of the fans and leave enough wiring, but don't get them to install cos they suck at it. Whereas the ceiling fans authorised service guys fix and install dozens of fans everyday. The subcon electricians were like going through a jigsaw puzzle and trying so hard to balance them. My electricians are the older workers, they are fast and forgetful(not sure if it's forgetful or bochup). I had written on the walls with markers and height/length lines, but still ended up wrong, bleh... They actually fixed the wrong power points at the wrong height and didn't leave enough wiring for extending, and I had to remove my bedside tables legs yet I didn't tell them off cos there's no way I could fit a multi plug for use.

Don't bother abt asking them for LED bulbs advice such as brightness etc, they know nothing. Alan doesn't know either. Sometimes, I trust advice from forums and the Internet more than them. This has lead to me thinking that these people don't really care.

thanks for the advice =) My electrical was pretty straight forward and I was there when they did the work. So thankfully nothing went really wrong. One thing though, one of them had the cheek to ask me... whether to carry on installing the heater switch when the light for the heater switch was spoilt. The switch wasn't even installed and changing it simply means unscrewing the connectors and using a new one.

It was changed eventually, but I dont understand why he asked in the first place.

[Makanology 29]

The year of the Horse will be our first CNY at our place. To commerate it, we attempted to make gluten-free pineapple tarts (used gluten-free all purpose flour instead of the usual plain flour). Result = success yay!

Gluten-free pineapple tarts by Makanology, on Flickr

[Harriette 42]

Hi Makan,

I was unable to upload photos using flickr. Could you teach me how to do it? Thanks.