My First Renovation Experience

[Harriette 42]

Hi elin,

good to know that the irobot roomba 780 works well. I read that the new irobot 880 (launched in USA already, but not yet in Singapore) will be an improved version that do not use brushes. Hence, there will be no need to remove and clean the brushes. The irobot booth at the recent IT show at MBS told us that 880 could arrive in June this year. Hope it won't be too expensive though.

What do you think of the irobot scooba, which mops floor?

By the way, I love your jars of paints. They look so nice!

Edited March 5, 2014 by Harriette

[elin1029 23]

Oh my! For the very 1st time, i thou i was seeing my own house in renotalk! We had the same flooring, same subway tiles, and the same contractor! High five!

I must also commented that the contractor don't really care to protect the flooring well. I have paint and glue marks all over the floor too! And he mentioned that he gave the big roll of paper (where people use it to protect the flooring), out of goodwill!

I bought the toilet floor tiles by myself and there were some spare over. Hoping to overlay the service yard next time when i have the budget. But after the final cleaning, the tiles were all gone! In fact, everything was gone! Including the bricks on the wall. I asked him abt it and he said the workers left it outside the house and i should go and find it. No matter how hard i find, i just couldn't find it. I felt very disappointed. Who in the right mind, putting everything outside the house and not putting it back in the house after cleaning? Sigh!

High five! You have the same design too? Any pictures of your place to share?

Sorry to hear about the missing tiles. But the cleaning service is so efficient that anything placed outside the house is gone immediately? Hmm, then why did I carry all my rubbish downstairs, I should just put them outside the house and they'd be cleared!

Did they leave behind spare tiles for you like they always do?

[elin1029 23]

I must agree your jars of paint looks delicious too! Lol. Had considered teal color as well but dunno which wall to use it on; eventually gave it up. But might take up your offer of getting a small bit to color a picture frame or two; u think it can be applied to wooden ikea frames?

These two colours I have too much, so if you are interested, please feel free! For the yellow, I can give away one jar. For the teal, I can give away two jars.

When I was transferring the paint, there were still some leftover in the tin, but no more space in the jar, so I found an old ikea photo frame (the Ribba white frame) and dabbed on the colours using a napkin (no proper brush) just for fun. I think it would look much nicer if I had used a proper brush and done it more properly. I will be trying out on photo frames and rattan baskets when I have more time. Anyway the ikea photo frames are quite affordable

A friend shared this link for more ideas! http://www.marthastewart.com/274478/leftover-paint-projects/@center/276988/painting-ideas-and-projects?xsc=soc_fb_2014_3_2_Craft_cra__C

[alfredt 27]

LOL.. the jars look so delicious .. just like sauces

[elin1029 23]

I scheduled the iRobot to run at 6am this morning, but when I woke around 630am, it was stuck on the floor mat Must take note to clear the floor of clutter and floor mats for a smoother run of the iRobot! Before I left the house, I scheduled it to run at 330pm this afternoon. Will see how it goes this evening.

One thing about the scheduler is, it can only be set for once a day. I had wanted to set it to run once in the morning before we wake, and once in the afternoon before we come home. But I guess the manufacturers never imagined a typical house to be so dirty like mine! The dogs spend the longest time outside in the living room in the evening, and a shorter time in the morning before we leave the house, so I guess I can stick to cleaning just once in the morning.

I feel that one can feel the money well spent when one sees the amount of dirt/hair/rubbish in the iRobot bin, like in my case. I have to clean the floor every day, and it's so much time wasted when I still have so many other things to do. For homes without any shedding pets, you probably won't see the value of getting the iRobot. You can just sweep or vacuum the floor once a week!

I too Considered about getting the robotic cleaner (so convenient right!) but ultimately bot a dyson. Cos I dun have any frens that uses the robot who also own pets; so no honest reviews. Should have waited n see yours... Lol! Good to see that it works well!

Do u use it on wood floor too? AnyScratches huh?

So far it's used mainly on the laminate floor in the living room. No scratches as far as I can see. But my laminate floor is scratch-resistant. Tried also on the parquet in the rooms, didn't really pay attention to the floor after iRobot use. But do read Amazon reviews on this model, there were some negative reviews about iRobot knocking into furniture and damaging furniture legs. But I'm willing to take the risk for a cleaner floor!

elin1029, where can buy iRobot ah, and how much is it?

My hubs wanted one too, and I don't mind getting one if it can help me do housechore when we are out at work! hehehe..

My friend told me about the deal on Qoo10. She bought it too. Here's the link. https://my.qoo10.sg/g/414470380. Got it 700+.

Apparently they shipped from Korea. I was quite impressed with the speed of shipping. I got it within a week. The instruction manual was in Korean, but I managed to download a copy in English (just google). The iRobot spoke Korean too, so I changed it to an English-speaking one. Not that it talks a lot, but I have to understand it when it complains.

Hi elin,

good to know that the irobot roomba 780 works well. I read that the new irobot 880 (launched in USA already, but not yet in Singapore) will be an improved version that do not use brushes. Hence, there will be no need to remove and clean the brushes. The irobot booth at the recent IT show at MBS told us that 880 could arrive in June this year. Hope it won't be too expensive though.

What do you think of the irobot scooba, which mops floor?

When the 780 dies, which many on Amazon says is possible after 1 year plus of usage, I'll consider the 880!

Don't know much about the scooba, but I think I can live with mopping the floor once a week. It's the amount of dog hair I need to get rid of on a daily basis.

Let us know your reviews if you get the 880 and the scooba!

[alfredt 27]

oh.. i just remembered.

dogs and irobot needed special training. You don't want things like what the below youtube happening to you

[elin1029 23]

eewww!

my dog was very curious about the iRobot yesterday as it started to move around and kept following it as it moved around to pick up HIS hair. Well the dogs are confined to the yard when no one is home, so this won't happen

[elin1029 23]

Interestingly, came across this photo in FB:

[Songz 132]

Interestingly, came across this photo in FB:

OMG ! ! !

If its real I cannot imagine the cleaning that need to be done

[hojichalatte 21]

Hi! Do you mind to share how you hide aircon trunking? I see your house design is so neat and well-planned...

[alfredt 27]

Interestingly, came across this photo in FB:

LOL.. shaming the dog this way... hahah

[elin1029 23]

Hi! Do you mind to share how you hide aircon trunking? I see your house design is so neat and well-planned...

For the rooms, I kept the aircon units from previous owner, so nothing was done there. For the living room, the trunking travelled from aircon ledge through the false ceiling in the kitchen to the top of the hallway. Mostly concealed. Different houses have different layout, will have to rely on contractor to plan the best route. You got your aircon man already? I thought mine was quite good. If you want can pass you his contact.

[wawaming 1]

My first renovatiin experience is really bad with this contractor called Mr S recently. The guy appeared honest in our first few meetings and the quotation seemed reasonable after some comparison. We kicked start the work in August 2013 and he looked fine in early stage, giving VO on some hidden costs from time to time though. As I have been very busy at work, as long as he kept things going and he did not go too far I just closed one eye.

The main turning point came after we made the major payment and he failed the read correctly the color schemes on the designer’s drawing and pasted wrong laminate to our cabinet. He totally flared up and refused to admit his mistake or retify until the designer pointed out it was his mistake. BTW, the designer was hired by him on freelance base. Sine then his attitude became very bad and he worked slowly. There were many days in which nobody appeared on the site at all, or appeared only in late afternoon. Then he made another mistake on the glass backing in the kitchen and he kept blaming us for changing our minds again and again. Come on, his designer proposed it and we just accepted. it is so obvious that he is overwhelmed by the projects on hand and is not capable to follow the drawings properly. We had a big debate with him, stood firm and insisted that he must go retify the problem.Due to the delay in work, we had to accept delivery of new eletronic appliances to our unfinished apartment. And then one morning my husband found that his workers did not lock the door after work! Fortunately our valuables were still there.

At the end, in Dec he finally completed the work, although we were quite unsatisfied with the detail(eg, the wall surface is uneven even after platering and he has many excuses for poor work such as HDB has poor quality walls, etc). Overall instead of the calendar months as promised, it took him more than 3 and a half months to complete it and i had to keep messaging him asking for a deadline.He promised a one year warranty for the work done in the contract. We had found so many problems in the past few months after we moved in (switch failure, switch trip, laminate peeled off, floor tile gap, etc). He attended only to our first request one week after he collected full payment, to replace a failing switch, after which he refused to provide any further guarantee service ‘for free’. He even said just go ahead to complain me.How can we deal with such guys who doesn’t care about contact or reputation at all?

I think one major lesson is to hold back the payment until you are satisfied and sure. The sample contract on CASE‘s website provides a much slower timeline for payment than the contract he provided. Must check carefully on all quotation and cannot give in for the sake of time and convenience. Some people just try to test and push further your limit.

[enigma 3]

These two colours I have too much, so if you are interested, please feel free! For the yellow, I can give away one jar. For the teal, I can give away two jars.

When I was transferring the paint, there were still some leftover in the tin, but no more space in the jar, so I found an old ikea photo frame (the Ribba white frame) and dabbed on the colours using a napkin (no proper brush) just for fun. I think it would look much nicer if I had used a proper brush and done it more properly. I will be trying out on photo frames and rattan baskets when I have more time. Anyway the ikea photo frames are quite affordable

A friend shared this link for more ideas! http://www.marthastewart.com/274478/leftover-paint-projects/@center/276988/painting-ideas-and-projects?xsc=soc_fb_2014_3_2_Craft_cra__C

Hahahah yea, I let you know again if I need? I have grey, so if u wan, I can pass u too. Then u can have multi color frames! Lolll.. But my painting is not complete, first coat only. Did u use oil or water sealer? Been wanting to ask u, what color is your bathroom huh? Love it! Not that I can regret and choose it now, but It's the color I like and perhaps can use it after a few years..

Where did u use your teal color ahh? Color of the year..

Btw, your jar of yellow paint reminds me of condense milk u know.... Hahahhahaa

[elin1029 23]

My first renovatiin experience is really bad with this contractor called Mr S recently. The guy appeared honest in our first few meetings and the quotation seemed reasonable after some comparison. We kicked start the work in August 2013 and he looked fine in early stage, giving VO on some hidden costs from time to time though. As I have been very busy at work, as long as he kept things going and he did not go too far I just closed one eye.

The main turning point came after we made the major payment and he failed the read correctly the color schemes on the designer’s drawing and pasted wrong laminate to our cabinet. He totally flared up and refused to admit his mistake or retify until the designer pointed out it was his mistake. BTW, the designer was hired by him on freelance base. Sine then his attitude became very bad and he worked slowly. There were many days in which nobody appeared on the site at all, or appeared only in late afternoon. Then he made another mistake on the glass backing in the kitchen and he kept blaming us for changing our minds again and again. Come on, his designer proposed it and we just accepted. it is so obvious that he is overwhelmed by the projects on hand and is not capable to follow the drawings properly. We had a big debate with him, stood firm and insisted that he must go retify the problem.Due to the delay in work, we had to accept delivery of new eletronic appliances to our unfinished apartment. And then one morning my husband found that his workers did not lock the door after work! Fortunately our valuables were still there.

At the end, in Dec he finally completed the work, although we were quite unsatisfied with the detail(eg, the wall surface is uneven even after platering and he has many excuses for poor work such as HDB has poor quality walls, etc). Overall instead of the calendar months as promised, it took him more than 3 and a half months to complete it and i had to keep messaging him asking for a deadline.He promised a one year warranty for the work done in the contract. We had found so many problems in the past few months after we moved in (switch failure, switch trip, laminate peeled off, floor tile gap, etc). He attended only to our first request one week after he collected full payment, to replace a failing switch, after which he refused to provide any further guarantee service ‘for free’. He even said just go ahead to complain me.How can we deal with such guys who doesn’t care about contact or reputation at all?

I think one major lesson is to hold back the payment until you are satisfied and sure. The sample contract on CASE‘s website provides a much slower timeline for payment than the contract he provided. Must check carefully on all quotation and cannot give in for the sake of time and convenience. Some people just try to test and push further your limit.

I'm sorry to read about your unhappy experience with your contractor. Renovation should be an enjoyable process with the end result a dream home we can come back to after a tiring day at work. But unfortunately these irresponsible people turned it into such a stressful and unpleasant one. If Mr S is a contractor that is popular in the forum, you might want to be more explicit to warn his potential customers.

I may have complained and whined a bit about the speed of renovation, quality of work is not as fantastic as what I've read in other blogs, and I feel I've been short-changed on the Blum hinges and drawers in the kitchen, but overall renovation was quite smooth and the attitude of the contractor and his assistant were good. I think it's good Mr K cared about his reputation.