Happy Couple Decorates: A House, Not Yet A Home

[ProjectH 0]

Anyway jay and mrs e, i do hope ur rectification have been done. Am worried u guys get repercussion becoz of yr honest advice on alan.

[simplehuman 1]

I was told that Alan did 100+ houses in 2012. Assuming a conservative figure of 120 houses for 2012, that means 10 houses completed every month and one handover in every 3 days!! We further assume that each house takes 3 months to complete, that will mean that at any one point he has at least 30 customers on hand! This has not included new customers asking for quotations and enquiries! How much attention do u think he can spare you?

With the above said, everything else that he can't manage is left to you in the end cos ultimately this is your house anyway. When you are already halfway thru the reno, do you think you still have a choice? I have almost all the contacts of Alan's subcons. Why? Cos he doesn't manage the project and everything is thrown to us. We paid him as a main con. Even though the design comes from us, our minimum expectation is to at least have someone to manage the day to day running of the site and that the work conforms to what we want.

Looking back, we do appreciate the IDs or other main-cons who rejected us due to their busy schedules (it was peak period when we sign up). They are the ones whom are truly fair to the customers that signed up prior to us. At least they reject new business to ensure their existing customers are given the necessary attention required of every renovation work and they dun benefit themselves at their customer's expense. Conversely, Alan attention on our house is extremely minimal and forgetfulness is a commonly used word on him. I see it as his good excuse for not putting his heart at it. I also realized his 'forgetfulness' grows with the % of monies paid.

Like most others here, my husband and I are both working. Initially, we just go over to visit the house with a torch light at night and it is only during weekends that we can have a good look of the house. However, as work progresses, we discover more and more serious mistakes and we realize that we need to spend more time on the house. I ended up having to take leave to monitor the site myself. After sometime, Alan seems to take things for granted and I ended up at my house almost everyday just to coordinate everything for him! This definitely wasn't what we had expected!

[robustoes 0]

My project with Alan is finishing. He is accomodating to changes but he would do the wrong design or materials initially. Rather frustrating in the beginning and almost wanted to change him.

Then I started to talk to his sub-contractors directly. That's when there are lesser problems because Alan always gets the measurements wrong or other stuff wrong. No problems when giving instructions to the sub-con directly. As a result my reno process takes longer because I do no have many leaves to take. I think he also dun mind we speak to his sub-contractors. That means lesser job and responsibility for him. I wished he could ask me more questions because an experienced guy like him should help to guide us by highlighting the blind spots.

Good to tell him specifically how you wish to do it otherwise very likely the outcome could be slightly different from what u expect. Alternatively you could choose not to be picky and accept whatever he produce

[June 13]

Hi missy, hope you are not feeling too stressed over reno...keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you! Im sure yours will turn out okay.

[ProjectH 0]

Hi missy, hope you are not feeling too stressed over reno...keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you! Im sure yours will turn out okay.

Thanks June. Lots of negative review but I have already engaged him so can only hope for the best. Thanks for the encouragement.

[ProjectH 0]

Got this home lamp from Salt & Pepper

We first saw this lamp during Tangs Sales in March but did not get it then. Tried looking around for a better lamp but this still stands out. And when we wanted to get, we couldn't find it.

Finally found the co web and there was a Sg agent and call them to check which place carry the stock. Esther was the contact person and picked up my call. I described the item to her and told me she will check. They only brought in 5 pieces and there just might be just be one last one in the warehouse. 30mins later she called back and I was the lucky 5th!

I offered to pick up from their office but they were only open during office hours. To my surprise, Esther offered to deliver to my place foc because she was staying in the west. It was just a $139 item and didn’t expect her to step up and offer this lovely gesture. Felt really blessed to have met such a great merchandiser.

Appreciating the little things in life. Slowly and surely we will build a home.

Home lamp by Vi&Seb, on Flickr

[retchlow 7]

wooooah..seems like alot of anti-Alan here...

luckily mine was ok (altho there are hiccups still along the way) as my reno was really simple.

JIA YOU ProjectH! And yes, there's one thing i definitely agree with the rest - talk to the sub-cons directly.

[Makanology 29]

Salt & Pepper has nice stuff but without the prices listed, I am guessing that they may not come cheap! Will slowly go though the website & shortlist those that I can't resist at all. Thanks for sharing, Vi!

[ProjectH 0]

Salt & Pepper has nice stuff but without the prices listed, I am guessing that they may not come cheap! Will slowly go though the website & shortlist those that I can't resist at all. Thanks for sharing, Vi!

Oh, they have their stuff in taka, robinsons.. . Just that the lamp was not displayed so i gave them a call...

Hv u look thru the uk vintage shop fb page? Thk there r some stuff u may like .

[ProjectH 0]

wooooah..seems like alot of anti-Alan here...

luckily mine was ok (altho there are hiccups still along the way) as my reno was really simple.

JIA YOU ProjectH! And yes, there's one thing i definitely agree with the rest - talk to the sub-cons directly.

Thanks retchlow for the encouragement! Our design is simpler than urs so hopefully not much headache. Unfortunately we cant take leave and be on-site... But if desperate, i guess we will juz hv to do that n supervise ourself.. Really thanks all the advice here! Overwhelming but much apreciated! Edited September 19, 2013 by ProjectH

[retchlow 7]

no worries. if i can do it all alone, i'm sure you can manage it even better. most importantly is to remain calm at all times! LOL

[Makanology 29]

Hv u look thru the uk vintage shop fb page? Thk there r some stuff u may like .

Just went through and I like it! All the crochet, floral prints, lace etc... Nice! I like the quilt but it will cost a bomb to ship that over also saw this cute mint green French chair but ... Haiz!

[ProjectH 0]

Just went through and I like it! All the crochet, floral prints, lace etc... Nice! I like the quilt but it will cost a bomb to ship that over also saw this cute mint green French chair but ... Haiz!

Yah the quilt is lovely! I asked them to take out the stuff from the bolster so its cheaper to ship over! Their china is to die for but i think those will really cost a bomb. Boo

[zihui 7]

Don't worry Vi! I'm sure you can do it. Just take the advice of those who have contracted the services of Alan previously, be more hands on and deal directly with his subcons in order to minimize errors. Like you said, slowly but surely, you're going to build a home!

By the way, remember to post more photos of the reno process hor.

[vanessa 12]

Hey... stay positive...think of it this way...with all the helpful forumers..there is a support system! The ones that have used alan can share what you need to look out for....if there is a hiccup...heaps of forumers to assist with the problem solving and bouncing of ideas...