happylady 0 Report post Posted February 8, 2014 my curtains are also installed by a malaysian company. their prices are indeed 20% - 30% lower. got the recommendation from several renotalkers.Hi, Could you pm me the curtain company address and contact? Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 9, 2014 Good Sunday afternoon to everyone. Here are the pix as promised. If you've missed my previous post which details the issues, please scroll back to Pg 6.1) Wall paintHere's the room in question.Forgot to mention the serious miscomm between Alan, the paint supervisor and the workers. It was clear all along between Alan and us that the bedroom door frames will not be painted. Yesterday, we saw that the workers started painting one of it. We then bolted in and requested politely for them to stop. The workers insisted they were told to paint them. The supervisor had already left. So we had to call Alan. The supervisor returned and told the workers to clean off the paint with thinner or something, which they did, then proceeded to SHAVE DOWN some of the wood in order to finish off the job. Sigh. Anyway, here's the peeled off bits. Can you also see the water marks? They were probably leftovers from the washing before CNY. We dare not clean the marks anyway. As the supervisor put it rudely: "What paint do you think this is?? Washable paint ah? IT'S NOT OK??" Well, so it's our fault for not selecting Nippon Easy Wash for all walls. We are truly sorry we liked this colour from Dulux's 2014 selection. Please forgive us.P.S: Does this look like 3 layers of paint to you?2) SkirtingThe nicest man of the lot yesterday. Please note that with Alan's workers, you must tell them what you want and how you want it. There's no point telling Alan alone, when he's hardly onsite. Also, if you don't have your eyes on the work, they may just do it the "standard" (using the term loosely) way then pack up and leave. So, bring a stool and get down and dirty.This gentleman was rather accommodating to our requests, while the rest were simply.... (fill in your own adjective).This is how it looks after we DIY-ed. Was too bumped and missed out on snapping the crappy parts. Will probably do so when we return to continue scraping on our own.3) Storeroom wallDoes this look acceptable to you? We asked the painting team about this and they said they did not have light the first time they came so they just painted over everything. It's probably not their fault, because the plastering was not done properly after the pipes were changed. And obviously nobody noticed/cared. So we sent these pix to Alan and he said he would look into it. Fingers crossed yet again.What was the rush? They had plenty of time to do everything. Our reno started on 6 Dec and we were not rushing to move in before CNY. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 9, 2014 ON THE BRIGHT SIDE... Here are some of the stuff delivered yesterday. Reflections: It's less than 3 weeks to our move-in date. Alan seems pretty confident that there will be no delay. In our last Whatsapp exchange, he said "Cabinets are in progress". He seems milder during/after CNY, so it's a lil easier requesting for checks/rectification. Pity, his paint supervisor could use some chilling out too.Before you sign on with your contractor, do try to do as much research as you can, then take some time to determine if he/she and his/her workers are the kind of people/project managers/workers you would like to work with for the next 1-2 months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Almost forgot to update about the aircon. The Gain City guys came on Saturday and fixed the leak in less than 5 minutes. The cause? See photo below.Glad it was an installation problem rather than anything else. Edited February 9, 2014 by inthechouse Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mellenur 11 Report post Posted February 10, 2014 TP.S: Some friends here have posted about Alan's workers not painting the top of the doors. I asked them to do so today and they said it's a hollow door so if you paint the top, the paint will seep in and cause the door to die or whatever the heck he was saying.hey dearie, received your PM thanks.i'm sorry please don't think i'm laughing at your expense but the door dying is really too funny that i'm LOL-ing in the office! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Takaishi 44 Report post Posted February 10, 2014 hey dearie, received your PM thanks.i'm sorry please don't think i'm laughing at your expense but the door dying is really too funny that i'm LOL-ing in the office! LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 10, 2014 hey dearie, received your PM thanks.i'm sorry please don't think i'm laughing at your expense but the door dying is really too funny that i'm LOL-ing in the office!Well I can't remember what he said exactly, but I should probably compile a book of all the strange excuses and weird reasonings thrown at us thus far. It may be quite entertaining in future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 10, 2014 Updates:- Met with Ah Gui the carpenter to finalize the cabinetry. This was at a very short notice. He rang me at 11am and I said I would meet him onsite at 12.30pm.- Laminates finalized (Lamitak). We didn't have time to visit the factory at Sungei Kadut so we just whack. Anyway, it's mostly basic, staple options. Nothing fancy.- Ran into the workers who had moments ago installed the main door lock and replaced the bedroom door levers (all Yale). The supervisor was puffing away and, unfortunately for him, he blew out smoke while he was exiting the main door just as I was entering. He looked a little stunned. And I just told him to refrain from smoking in the flat. Anyway, they may not return. And the higher power only knows how many people have smoked in the flat during the course of the reno.- Iron gate will be installed early next week, after which Alan will get the tilers to lay the first tile (or last) and touch up all the grouting.Hope the electricians will come by end of next week to hook everything up... and then we're all set! Fingers crossed! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 11, 2014 Updates:- FINALLY... gate installation confirmed for Friday. Will be sad to part with the existing retro-like gate but oh well...- Doors will be painted for real today. They just laid the foundation on Sat while waiting for the locks to be changed. It will be the same paint team again. And I really don't fancy their attitude and workmanship. If you're planning to use Alan, please check if you can request for a different team. Please do.- Some issue/confusion with the sliding door between my 2 bedrooms. What was agreed and signed for in the quotation was a laminated ply wood door. Yesterday, Alan texted to say that he will be installing a classic door. I asked why and how much does it cost. Then there was no reply for a long time. In the evening, I asked him again and he still did not address my query. To give him the benefit of the doubt, he could be checking it out with his suppliers.This morning, I asked again, and he said he had already placed an order for a classic door. In his haste to get things done, no attention is paid to details. It appears that he IS willing to change the order, but he's just not keen to answer my queries on how much which door costs and what's typicaly required for that door (paint? varnish?). Since we're not door experts, we'll just have to anyhow whack. Again. We're close to the last hurdle so we shall just persevere. May the force be with us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Songz 132 Report post Posted February 11, 2014 Good luck to your last hurdle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 11, 2014 Good luck to your last hurdle. Thanks so much, Songz. Updates and photos to come. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tessina 9 Report post Posted February 11, 2014 From the sound of it, he isn't one of the better contractors around, despite his 'popularity' here on the boards... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 11, 2014 From the sound of it, he isn't one of the better contractors around, despite his 'popularity' here on the boards...The popular contractors seem to be very busy because they have taken on too many jobs than they can handle on their own. So with them, you don't have to be afraid of being conned (like having someone run off with your money), but you end up having to be very hands on and, dare I say, neglected. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Takaishi 44 Report post Posted February 12, 2014 i think alan used to be popular in the past... but of course as one gets bigger, **** might happen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inthechouse 8 Report post Posted February 12, 2014 i think alan used to be popular in the past... but of course as one gets bigger, **** might happenI think some of his sub-cons have really let him down. Sometimes we do wish we had engaged another main con instead. Nevertheless, he has been moving things quite fast after the CNY PH. And he's also agreeable to rectifying stuff - albeit after a lot of self-supervision for us and some tactful nudging or coaxing, depends on what you wanna call it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
