Dissatisfied with contractor's work

[greenleaves 0]

Hello all,

I have recently a renovation for my apartment and there's been a few things we are really unhappy about but the contractor think it wasn't an issue and said I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. So far, we have with-held making the balance payment until we come to an agreement. I would like to gather your opinions on these issues and your recommendations. To give you some background, I did not go to a interior designer but a contractor directly but his rates are equivalent to the IDs.  The only reason why I went with him was because a family member recommended him as he could produce good and speedy work (her office engaged him for commercial projects. but he's also done residential projects as well). But unfortunately, I think this contractor took in too many jobs, he's a one-man show so everything goes through him alone.

So here goes -

1) He promised the project could finished within 30days, but it took him 46days. It meant we had to make a lot of last minute logistical changes as we did not have a clear idea when the reno will finish and had to make own guesstimates. There was only 1 sub-con working in the apartment for a week (wet-works), turns out he was very inexperienced and so the tiling works in the bathrooms and the kitchen island had to be redone, wasting time and resources. 

2) We moved into a very dusty home, contractor had engaged cleaning services but because our move-in date kept getting delayed due to slow renovation progress. My guess is he wants to save some money and didn't bother a final cleanup. We were promised a clean home to moved into though but after waiting for 16days, we had no choice but move in.

3) The apartment was only 75% completed at point of moved-in, meaning there were some other 10 to 12 occasions when groups of contractors (sometimes altogether same time 4 to 7pax) will come to install and fixed things. During this time, the apartment was again very dusty, we need about 3 buckets of water minimum to do a simple clean-up. The first 2 buckets were always black and I'm not exaggerating at all.

4) We live in a nice neighbourhood but unfortunately it has a reputation for house-breaking and we are always cautious. Unfortunately, our contractor did not exercise enough caution because one evening when we came by for checks, we realised that our front gates and main door were left open and unattended to. When I mean open, its really like wide-open. The lights were off but inside the apartment were new lightings stocks and accessories we had bought for installation. Water bottles and used cigarette butts littered the front entrance. I immediately contacted the contractor, he was caught unaware and said its likely there's still someone working, we waited for an hour and there was no one. So we locked up and left. Next morning, I demanded an explanation but the contractor took it very lightly, his response was 'Will meh? Sg so safe?' and proceeded to tell me how sometimes he leaves his main door open when he goes to bed. Not a word of apology. This is highly unacceptable to us. Has anyone encounter such things before? Nothing was lost but the fact he brushed off responsibility so lightly is disappointing. 

5) We ordered a set of steel balcony doors. I asked for a perspective drawing as I had previously sent him pinterest examples. He claimed its been ordered and not to worry, it will come out alright. It came without handlers and the only way you can open or close it is by pulling the small hinges (yes all 6 glass panels). The workmanship is also very poor. When I pointed it out, he shockingly said, "this is a special design, only you the owners will know how to open it'. At this point, I find absolutely disgusted by his response. Not professional at all. We asked that he removed this and replaced with a new and properly designed unit but was told if the unit fails within a year, he would then gladly replace.

7) We added stencil graphics on our spray-painted shoe cabinet, but because contractor wanted to save cost, he decided to do it himself. It was unsuccessful many times and as a result, the freshly painted doors were ruined, the paint came off. But each time it was repainted, he would insist on stencilling the graphics himself and each time he failed, so after multiple repaint jobs, my shoe cabinet now has multiple color tones, because they were repainted at different times by different workman.

8) There are many issues with the workmanship, I'm just citing some examples - I believe it all boils down to a lack of supervision from the contractor. After we moved in, we realised the cooking hob wasn't working because it was installed wrongly, dish dryer can't be removed because it was installed the wrong way, brand new aircon dripping bucket of water (he claims this is common), lighting in the living not working and kept flickering (he claimed it was because I added a 2-way switch, but had he informed me this would happen, I would never have requested it), powerpoint switches sinking into the wall so the light switches appear uneven on surface and you can see huge gapping holes beneath, brand new fire-rated door that was ordered too thick and doesn't fit into the existing door frame perfectly, lightings and fans that we placed haphazardly and I point this out, was told I was too particular.

9) As this is an old apartment, walls and floors are not straight, I highlighted it very clearly to him there are 2 particulars ones that need extra work done but the inexperienced wet-work subcon was not informed and so he started work on it, in the end, this had to be redone as well - time wasted.

It is a SGD96K project for a 1200sqft apartment, of course I am particular. But I believe I am very reasonable. I did not rush him when project was delayed as it is better to get a job well-done then a rushed job with poor quality. I understand sometimes when projects are hectic, things can get messy but what I cannot accept is my contractor's attitude. I simplified the work for him so its easy for his sub-con to understand but now he's turned the table to say, 'Can you afford to pay anot?' when I reminded him that I cancelled a more complicated design. He's now claimed I am picking fault with him because I owe him money. His language is seriously offensive.

Have you folks encounter anyone similar? Based on the above - can I deduct his cost?

GL