(Potential) Defects In New Apartment - Report Or Not?

[shibumi 1]

Hi fellows. Recently I collected the keys to my apartment & observed some physical conditions which I ain't certain whether to pursue or not. Perhaps can provide some opinion whether you will classify the follow as defects?

1) Weird grey dots/materials along wooden wall skirting

I observed a lot of these dabs of grey colour material distributed somewhat-evenly along all the skirting of my bedrooms. May I know what they are, & should I report them as defects in the skirting?

2) hollow skirting

All the skirting in my bedrooms are hollow except for some minor regions where the skirting wraps around the edges of 2 walls. Should I expect solid skirting or is solid skirting a myth for public housing nowadays?

3) weak water flow from outlet beside toilet bowl

will try to update this with a video; but in the mean time, does weak water flow count as a defect?

4) erratic water flow from shower heads

will also try to update this with a video.

My shower head will have terribly weak water pressure for around half a minute after which the pressure will suddenly increase. Is this a defect?

5) Water always accumulated/observed in floor traps' drainage

Before the water supply is turned on for my unit, there is already water accumulated in the drainage pipes of all my floortraps. I don't think the drainage pipe is supposed to retain water, as that will invite those drain flies & of course, mosquito. Do I report this?

...to be continued...

[shibumi 1]

... continued from top...

6) Dents in engineered timber flooring

Do such dents count as defects?

7) Inadequate/incomplete "pointing"/"sealing" around the spot where the basin pipes is inserted into the wall

Do I report them as defects? I was expecting the sealant material to be even; not a dash here & there.

8) Gaps between switch faceplates & wall

Counted as defects?

...to be continued...

Edited November 6, 2014 by shibumi

[shibumi 1]

... continued from top...

9) Rust posts on new taps

The surface isn't smooth to touch & I observed the spots are reddish (can't really tell in this photo). I assume over time as the kitchen get used for longer periods, the (corrosion) spots will grow?

10) Scrapping/corrosion/tool markings on piping below basins

Are these acceptable? Will you report them?

11) Rust on windows hinges

Are these areas of rust acceptable on the hinges of push-out windows?

...to be continued...

[shibumi 1]

... continued from top...

12) Jammed internal shelves of cabinets

These internal shelves I assume can be (end-user-) configured to adapt to the height of the items we wish to store at the various compartment levels. But for some of them in my kitchen, I can rotate them only slightly here & there (which implies they are not fixed to the spot) but try as I might, I cannot extract them totally to adjust which height they are mounted at. My concern is, these actually further implies the vertical walls of the cabinet are warped already.

13) Screws not screw in, in a level manner

I noticed the 2 screws in my cistern are screwed in at an angle. Is it meant to be like that?

14) What's this weird weird thing in the (top sliding) tracks of my balcony sliding door?

15) Extremely-yellowish door stopper

16) Extremely dirty "new" floortraps

Is this still counted as acceptable? Or signs that something (costruction materials) was poured down the floortraps during work?

I'm quite a newbie home owner, & quite uncertain which are authentic defects versus which are "asking-for-too-much". Will very much appreciate the advise of the veterans home-makers here.

[shibumi 1]

some more examples of rusty window hinges & inadequate pointing (I hope I'm using the right term) between switch faceplate & wall:

[alant 4]

Pic 1: the grey dots are nail. Supposed to be sunken in and patch with putty over it.

Pic 2: the hollow sound means the skirting and wall has a gap.

Pic 5: the floor trap is supposed to have water at the "trap" section.

[shibumi 1]

Pic 1: the grey dots are nail. Supposed to be sunken in and patch with putty over it...

Really? I'm not too sure:

Pic 2: the hollow sound means the skirting and wall has a gap...

Is this...acceptable? Will I be expecting future issues with hollow skirtings?

Pic 5: the floor trap is supposed to have water at the "trap" section.

But wouldn't that invite mosquitoes (& those small small flies) to chill around that drainage area (actually I wish to emphasize: the floor trap area no water, but beyond the floor trap, i.e. inside the big pipe, that is where the water accumulates; which surprised me)?

Edited November 10, 2014 by shibumi

[shibumi 1]

17) How about this? The external corners of my window frames, the outer side that actually faces the elements:

[shibumi 1]

Is this considered al right water flowrate for bidets?

[shibumi 1]

May I know if it's acceptable/typical for the full water pressure to only kick-in after 30 seconds of running the bathroom shower head?:

The "VTEC-has-kick-in-yo" moment is around the 0:28sec mark of the video.

[shibumi 1]

Anyway, more rusty stuff (1st pic is a daytime shot of the supposedly-new kitchen faucet; the rest are mostly the hinges of the shelves inside my kitchen cabinet. The white boards are the shelves inside some of the kitchen cabinet; the crack is at a corner of my kitchen counter-top):

[shibumi 1]

More blum rusty kitchen hinges:

[That7days79 6]

So any actions taken on the above?

[ongal 0]

I just received my BTO keys.

There are so much stubborn stains on the floor. (can't be cleaned off using floor cleaner)

I opted for HDB flooring.

To me, it's unacceptable.

Should I ask the BTO contractor to do at least a round of cleaning?

As I do not know if some stains are permanent or temporary.

[byulie 0]

How are they going to abide to all of the above? How come these HDB contractors aren't always doing a proper job?