Summit Design Studio

[charsiewbao 0]

Anyone deal with Willam from Summit Design?
Any feedbacks and comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

[forzaitalia20 0]

A short post to share my reno experience with Summit.

Place : 1 bedroom unit near Pasir Ris, about 660 sqf

ID : Nicholas Leong

Original budget target : $30K or less

Actual spending : $29K+

Schedule : start work in Dec, end in Mar (2 weeks break in Feb CNY holidays)

Key masonry works :

- hack & relay floor and wall tiles in kitchen, bathroom and laundry yard

Key carpentry works ;

- wardrobe in bedroom

- kitchen cabinet (bottom only)

- vanity cabinet in bathroom

- tv console joined to a writing desk in living room (designed by Nicholas)

Other works :

- false ceiling with cove lights

My comments on ID Nicholas :

Overall, very good. As I’m a single working adult, I have very little time to visit site during reno, so I almost totally depended on him to monitor schedule and workmanship. In the end, most things are satisfactory. There are a few minor hiccups here and there, but all were corrected by quickly by Nicholas. I think his key strength is his patience and responsiveness. He’s fairly young (early 30s) so may not pack the same technical know-how like some old birds, but he more than make up with his enthusiasm, sincerity and strong sense of responsibility. He has really made the whole reno experience fairly hassle-free for me, which is a big plus considering my work schedule.

My comments on workmanship :

No major complaints. During hacking, a couple of doorframe trims came off but Nicholas got it repaired immediately. 1 chipped wall tile was found 1 week before handover but Nicholas also got it changed after we discovered it. Only minus point is that I felt the carpentry workmanship isn’t that good, especially the laminate trims. It’s not unacceptable, just that I think my folks’ place carpentry has better workmanship.

All said and done, I recommend Summit & Nicholas for whoever with a hands-off approach towards reno, or simply don’t have much time to spend on-site (like me). Or if you are looking for a non-pushy, good-tempered ID, Nicholas will be a good choice too.

[rtusr 0]

Hi All,

Does anyone have experience with Nicholas from Summit Dezingn? Mind to share?

Thank you

[prestealth 0]

Hi All,

Does anyone have experience with Nicholas from Summit Dezingn? Mind to share?

Thank you

Just sharing my reno experience with Summit Design and ID the we engaged, Nicholas.

We got to know Nicholas from the walk in at SDS office. We were deciding between another ID company but finally went with Summit because their quotes was reasonable and we were able to communicate with Nicholas who listens to our requirements and able to recommend what we like and yet practical.

Overall we are very pleased with his attitude, very punctual at every appointment, very prompt and efficient in his response(in quotation, new revision and getting HDB approval etc) and sincere (one of the few ID that was willing to come on site prior to signing of contract to discuss and take a look at the place) and accommodating (despite tight schedule he still set aside time to arrange on-site visit to another client's house upon our request) and patient (accommodating to my changes even when selection has been made to toilet tiles and iron gate design).

Having a reliable and responsible ID has definitely helped make our reovation a less hassle one as we can depend on him for to check on the progress of our renovation and quality of wormanship and ensure well coordination. We will recommend Nicholas for his excellent service and professionalism.

[Teochewleng 0]

Hi. Sandcastle,

Could you kindly PM me William's contact to me?

Beside, Any photos to share with us?

Thanks.

Hi all,

After reading through the many reviews here at RT, we are excited to share our experiences with you all too!

We are almost at about 70% completion, less the carpentry, electrical work, painting and touchup. Still remembered that we had met William from SDS when it was about Chinese New Year. With even the tight schedule then since everyone rushing for completion, he still managed to set aside sometime to show us a few places to view his workmanship. Can feel then that he is a very confident man of his works. That makes us choose him over others.

Straight after CNY, we started with the quotations and layout planning. Many changes before the quote was finalised as ideas kept flowing and Kudos to him for his kindness and patience everytime we had proposed some changes. Seems like this is a trademark for SDS designers . During the initial planning, he had also tried to propose cost effective ways and yet do not compromise on designs.

We are also very impressed with the schedule being kept on the dot. William will always update us with his sms once a major step has been taken. That is important to us as we are very busy with our work but we still like to take time to finalise the details by being there personally.

There was one incident that we remembered. We were finalising the details for the false ceiling and all parties agreed upon a certain detail. However, alas halfway through when I came in to check, it was different from discussed and the elec trunking was left outside at the curtain pelmet. Immediately I called William and this was rectified on the very same day!

Like many reno, there are bound to be some rough patches. William will discuss with us on it and proposed some new ideas to counter them. Still pending some problems now but we are positive William will take care of it! We also like the attitude of their guys too, esp Ah Soon, the electric guy who have been very accomodating. His guys also work with brains as they always think what is the best thing to do before action time.

On the whole, we are very happy with the works for SDS and William so far. Will be coming up with our own t-blog soon to share with all the pictures taken at every phase once everything is completed. Will post our final reviews about them then!**Stay Tune**

All the Best on your reno journey!

[Teochewleng 0]

Hi. There,

Can share ****** contact to me too?

<!--quoteo(post=606422:date=Jan 23 2011, 11:18 PM:name=sn2002)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sn2002 @ Jan 23 2011, 11:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=606422"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hi all,

Just want to share our experience with Summit Design and the ID we engaged, ******. From the first moment we met him, he made an impression on us. He patiently listened all our requirements and noted down every little details before giving a quotation. He wasn't pushy and very willing to make all the nitty gritty adjustments we requested.

God knows how many times we asked him to revise the quotation, changing this and that. I believed we made the right decision picking him as our ID. He is the man of action, if we asked something, he made sure things get done promptly. Even after the hand-over, if we made a call to him and asked to fix something (like leaking water pipe) , he promptly arranged for the plumber.

We renovated our Exec flat, re-do almost everything, hack the bomb shelter, re-do living, dining, study area, whole kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms. There are a lot of work involved. ****** superbly did the coordination of plumber, cleaner, tilers, carpenter, electrician, painters and citygas officers for us. He is also considerate and conscious of the expenses we had to incur and try best to minimize the costs.

Along the way, both my husband and I kept changing our mind about adding this or removing that. ****** is most agreeable and not at all showed any impatience over our never-ending changes.

With the project this big, there were some hiccups and delays. The biggest trouble we had is our downstairs neighbor coming to our flat all the time complaining of the noise from renovation. She barged into our flat like she owned it and shout at the workers to stop working. She is the most unreasonable person I ever met. She even called HDB to complain. But we had the valid reno permit and there is nothing she can do. But she kept on coming to the flat, scold the workers, called ****** on his handphone everyday and complained. I don't know how Dennis has the willpower to withstand her and listen to her. I certainly don't.

We also had another problem with the air-con piping. We decided not to change the air-con and continue using the ones left behind by previous owner, because the units are in fairly good condition and we like to save a few bucks. Unfortunately the water piping is not properly done and water started leaking after parquet flooring was completely done in the master bedroom. As a result, part of the floor tiles in front of bathroom are ruined. Dennis arranged with the tilers to re-do the floor at no extra cost to us. Kudos to that!

To sum up, I must say we are extremely pleased with Summit Design and ****** for their excellent service. We will definitely use them again if we ever buy a condo a few years down the road <img src="http://www.renotalk.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif"style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" " border="0" alt="smile.gif" />)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Hi. sn2002,

Appreciate if you can kindly PM me his contact?
Looking for responsible id.

[dreamergal 0]

Kronos & Thom3z,
I also looking for ID firm.. N I write an email to ask for quote from summit design.. N James Chew get back to me an quote within a day.. He is fast!
Can u all share with me how is James Chew?? How the Reno? Workmanship gd Ma??
Wait for ur reply.. Thanks
Hopefully can see more pic.. I'm miting James tml sat at his joo Chiat office..

[dreamergal 0]

Can I ask does all ID firm provide warranty for workmanship Ma?? I see from summit quote it wrote 5 yes warranty workmanship...

[rtusr 0]

@prestealth: thanks for sharing. Would you mind sharing your quotation too? you can pm it to me if you feel that is more convenient.

All,

For total reno of the unit: 4 rooms hdb 103sqm. What is the average estimated total cost?

[SandCastle 0]

@ Teo Chew Leng!

You can contact William at 81786912.

Going to handover soon on Fri for me!!

Photos I still trying to figure how to upload..

If not, let me know your email and I can send it to u!

Edited June 1, 2011 by SandCastle

[duhzzz 0]

Kronos & Thom3z,

I also looking for ID firm.. N I write an email to ask for quote from summit design.. N James Chew get back to me an quote within a day.. He is fast!

Can u all share with me how is James?? How the Reno? Workmanship gd Ma??

Wait for ur reply.. Thanks

Hopefully can see more pic.. I'm miting James tml sat at his joo Chiat office..

Friendly guy, quite enthu in his work...

But...late for meet ups (30mins twice)

Very slow in response... 5days to a week for each reply after meet ups ... Almost a month now...

Maybe he is too preoccupied with other projects.... But confidence dropping

[Marc9 0]

Anyone deal with Willam from Summit Design?
Any feedbacks and comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

I engaged him as my id,patient and quite understanding..

[Synergy 0]

Anyone engage James Lee before? Quotation look good and response very promptly..

[jdmummy 0]

After seeing the many recommendations online for summit I engaged SDS as my id. Here’s my experience with them so far. The good and not so good.
My ID is indeed a patient and friendly id as many has mentioned before. He is not pushy and will try to help you think up ways to save $ which we really appreciated. He will respond to messages at night even if hubby messages him (I have asked hubby not to but hubby says if he does it the next day he might forget).
We were quite hands off in that we didn’t visit the site very often during the renovation. The initial phase of the renovation was quite smooth. Hacking commenced very soon after we signed. The tiling work was neat and the concrete screeding on the kitchen wall was smooth and even.
We thought we had it good till 3 quarters way into the renovation.
He was still as affable as ever but he seemed to be really overstretched. We arranged to meet him twice at our new place and the first time he was half hr late. The second time he was one hr late. He told us the handover would be on 13 Jul 2011 when we were selecting the tiles but when we tried to confirm the handover date towards the end he forgot about what he committed. We could only allow a slight delay as we needed to move out of the rental and we moved in on the 21st. In the end we had to forgo the touch up regrouting after chemical wash as our furniture had to be moved in.
The real nightmare was their hardware supplier and plumbing contractor Lucky Khoon. We bought all our toilet supplies from Lucky Khoon as well the hob and hood on his recommendation. I would prefer to buy from elsewhere as the range at Lucky Khoon was quite limited but he said that they were his supplier and if for any reason we need to exchange then they would honour. So we took his advice and bought from Lucky Khoon as we didn’t want any unnecessary hassle.
We bought a hansgrohe tap and mixer set and storage heater to be used in the master toilet immediately after we signed the contract. He was the one who suggested that the storage heater be placed in the common toilet for asthetic reasons and to run the piping into the master bathroom. We agreed.
They had a big group of plumbers and they would send them in teams of 2s or 3s at a time. There is very little accountability as each team just complete part of the work and the next team carried on.
The piping was put in placed by a team when I wasn’t around. Then the next team came along and realised the previous team just ran cold water piping only. So the next team of plumbers came, realised that the hole in the wall is already there, and ask me if the mixer can be installed to the left instead of in the middle of the shower stall wall. I was really pissed cause we bought everything from them way before any piping was ran and if only they had just looked at the order before running the piping then it could have been avoided. So I told them to it is not ok with me that they install it like that and referred the matter back to him. He got them to redo the piping, and the tiler had to come and replaced that piece of tile because the hole was drilled incorrectly. When finally the tile has set, the next group of plumber came to install the mixer. Somehow the soldering wasn’t done properly and the mixer was gushing water that night. We had to off the water supply and they came to rectify next day. Was kinda about to throw up blood but we told ourselves it was a minor hiccup. Boy were we wrong.
The electrician came to connect electricity to the heater and that’s when we realised they have installed the piping wrongly again. The hot and cold piping were reversed and when we twisted the mixer to cold, hot water came out and vice versa. Had to call him again.
In the midst of all this, we realised that there was a bad sewage smell in the toilet periodically but especially in the morning. Little do I know about plumbing so when the plumber was here I asked him. He checked the back of the toilet bowl and said it was holes at the grouting where the toilet seat. He regrouted but the bad smell persisted. We told him again, regrouted again. Bad smell still persisted. It has been two weeks and 3 regrouts later and the smell is still coming from the toilet bowl despite bleaching and washing. Googled and realised that most of the time there is a seal inside where the toilet meets the piping and if it is not done properly then sewage smells can escape. Finally we couldn’t take it and told him he really have to settle it. He admitted that it could be a seal issue and the plumber will come again. So he’s coming later today and probably have to take out the whole toilet bowl to change the seal and I am really not thrilled about the mess but I have no choice. I am just so sick of seeing the plumbers come and go and having to clean the mess after they are done.
Lucky Khoon also installed our hob and hood and guess what.. problems again. The EF hob that we bought, the gas outlets was wrong and the burner that was supposed to be for simmering had too much gas burning. Hubby got a shock when City gas came to connect the gas and when they tested, that burner for simmering was shooting flames. EF guy came, changed something and the burner was ok. But he told hubby that the hood installed like that the suction will have problems. Ours is a chimney hood but the kitchen has a beam near the ceiling and so Lucky Khoon cut away part off the metal covering to accommodate the beam and half of the holes for the air to come out off is also cut away. The EF guy was like air cannot come out so how can air go in. Told him and he talked to Lucky Khoon about it. Lucky Khoon got EF to call hubby and both EF and hubby agreed that Lucky Khoon should fix it cuz it’s an installation problem and not a hardware issue. So still pending their follow up but from our experiences so far we don’t have high hopes.
I feedbacked to him about Lucky Khoon and he was like you guys didn’t get it so bad. Told us they sold another client of his heaters despite knowing it’s out of stock and delivery is after their handover date. I was like… That’s bad service but worse meh? Seems like there is nothing much he can do except keep telling them to follow up. I am just so sick of all these messaging and calling and Lucky Khoon people trooping in and out of my house and the smelly toilet.

[ideologi22 0]

Hi Everyone!

I would like to share my new home experience with all of you.

My husband and I decided to engage *** from Summit Design Studio

after narrowing our choices. It was an impromptu meet up with *** at

first as we decided to drop by Summit Design to see the showroom.

And I received a quotation from *** just after we discuss with him our

plans for our new home. On our first visit that is! His willingness &

friendly service made us decide, he's our ID!

*** listens to all our ideas and we work together to finalize our renovation.

Renovation process was efficient and according to schedule. We highlighted

to Ken on a few hiccups and he got it fix right away! He was easily contactable

almost any time of the day even though he is overseas. *** guide us through the

renovations process until its completed despite us being busy with our work

schedules.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Summit Design Studio for the

great service in renovation our beautiful home. We truly appreciate the excellence

service you have provided us with. We will definitely recommend Summit Design Studio

to our family & friends! THANK YOU!