Project Muji Home - of white, wood and chrome

[plady 0]

Hello, thanks for sharing your renovation journey. Loads for me to learn! Possible to share your contact of your contractor? And No. 7 of your shortlisted contractors? Thanks in advance!

[blubugs 2]

On 10/26/2017 at 10:27 PM, dietgalvon said:

 

ANYWAY, I will be doing a review with the good, the bad and relevant pictures so, I guess till then.

Hi dietgalvon, I have been following your blog and will definitely look forward to your review on CX.

Just so you know, with your detailed accounts and pictures of the problem areas, I find them unacceptable (to me) and I am quite convinced that CX has not been up to standard or value (that you had paid for) as compared to other renovations I have seen. Even if your experience should be considered as an isolated one (to the good experiences that others has attested to), it is not a good enough reason for me to consider them anymore simply because one case is far too many, meaning who knows if they may treat my reno the same as yours!!

[fingerscross 3]

On 26/10/2017 at 9:57 PM, dietgalvon said:

@justiceleague11120 Great to hear that you had an awesome experience with J&E. Like I mentioned in the previous post, what I shared here is based on my experience only, and others might feel differently. There were many good reviews of their carpentry in this forum, which was why I engaged them eventually. You can share your pleasant experience and recommend people to them if you like!

That said, on one glance, anything can look fine; it takes more than one glance to find a cracked tile. But workmanship is not based on ‘one glance’. In all honesty, J is very knowledgeable in carpentry and I’m not doubting that. That was why for my MBR wardrobe which I paid $4.4k for, other IDs quoted me only $3.3 to $3.5k but I still engaged them. It is no doubt that carpentry was one of the least problematic of the journey, but it is not perfect to the extent that it justifies the price difference and whatever we were made to go through.

Thank you for your attempt to ‘educate’ me; but I have done a fair bit of research to know enough. We trust(ed) their expertise in carpentry, hence we paid a premium for it. For the Kompacplus, it was two rectangle pieces, not 2 pieces which was cut in diagonally to the corner, hence it wouldn’t cost more. This much, I’m sure.

Thank you for letting me know what E said about our issues like the common toilet grouting and the aluminium window frames. Because he went totally radio silent on us.

We approached HDB after E (or his tilers) did a slipshod job in patching the grouts. HDB acknowledged that the job was poorly done. But I did mention that recently CX got the tilers back to redo it and it’s okay now. This shows that the tilers can do a proper job, but they chose to spoil things instead (that’s worse than simply not doing anything at all). As the project manager, he ought to manage his tilers. If I have to manage his tilers, I would have outsourced all the tiling works.

For the aluminium window frames, it is not possible I did not spot them before they came up to redo tiling works at the kitchen because I mentioned above I spent 5 hours cleaning the whole area scrapping off paint stains left by CX’s painters. If there were any defects, it would have been surfaced already. Also, when I sent the pictures to E, he did not respond at all. Instead he responded to you on my issue but did not rectify the obvious scratches and dents. I wonder why.

Regarding “items are not to be delivered before handover”, I trust he is referring to the glass top which was scratched. Handover was on 29 July, the glass was delivered on 8 Aug, how is that before handover? I’ve reminded him to ask his guys to be careful with our new glass top. All black and white – in our whatsapp chat.

Glad that your project was on time. Because unfortunately, ours took 11 weeks and 4 days for a “6 to 8 weeks” project which he estimated. Handover was supposed to be a week earlier but his reason for the delay was “having another handover on the same day”. In fact, even on handover day, the works are not completed and he told us to leave his padlock on so that his guys can complete the rest within the next few days (which they did not until weeks later). Ultimately, their rectification works (minus the common toilet grouting and the unaddressed defects) completed only in end September.

Well, I wasn’t done with the review I wanted to write on them but your reply prompted me to write part of it out already. Sorry that this sounds more negative than I hoped. Being someone who does tonnes of research before deciding on a vendor, I am very upset with my own choice because my fiance actually preferred the last ID we met. He gave in to me, but I caused him more trouble because he was always the one who took leave to take care of these.

Cool comeback!

Well, if u look on the bright side, at least u will be walking down the aisle with a guy who will stand beside u and not in front of u saying "i told u so" when thgs go wrong.

[teeteet 0]

On ‎14‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 9:30 PM, dietgalvon said:

RENOVATION IS (ALMOST) OVER!

Well, I'd consider it to be so. Contractor was only willing to rectify the affected tiles at the kitchen wall, we are just very exhausted to argue anymore. Because their guys are very careless (resulted in chips on our doors and windows), before rectification, I reminded E to ask his guys to be careful with our stuff, especially the glass top on our dining table.

Initially the fiance spotted that there are gaps between carpentry and wall/floor, but to save any contact with J&E, we decided to get the silicon from Home-fix to DIY. But again, Murphy's law: two deep scratches on our glass top, along with many smaller scratches. 

Texted them, message read, but no response at all (as usual). -__- Well, so be it. I'll get to the review on them soon, but in gist, I really regretted my choice. Argh, why did the fiance not insist on engaging the ID instead! 

In the meantime, I'll do a review of the other vendors I engaged for the home! The irony is that, I have less issues dealing with my vendors compared to my contractor.

FLOORING - EVORICH HERF VINYL
Liaison: Kenneth

Flooring, we love it. The platform constructed by them, was all good as well.

The main issue I had was the capping that they used. I was initially told that no capping would be used, so I was rather unhappy when I saw the ugly capping! And more so after the liaison person told me that Evorich doesn't carry the slim trimming I wanted so it cannot be changed.

But hey, he did change it in the end.  He did tell me to give him 2 weeks to see how he can help me but I wasn't optimistic. But one day ,he just told me that he managed to source for the metal trimming and fixed a date to come down to change. 

Next issue, the vinyl was rather uneven. We thought it was the uneven cement screed (it could be). 

Promptly, he arranged for someone to come down on a certain date. And viola! 

SERVICE YARD WINDOWS - JUN CONTRACTOR

I outsourced because IDs/contractors are charging about $500 to $600plus. I chanced upon his contact and contacted him.

Everything about this contractor was how I liked it to be. First meeting to sign some application form to install windows: 5 minutes. His guys came down to install windows: 45 minutes. Fast hand fast leg, and cleaned up the area after that. Showed us on the spot that the windows are smooth. Fuss-free!

BLINDS - U SERVICE

Initially, thought that they are a little weird for being pissed because we asked for a quote from another vendor. However, their pricing is very reasonable, and while choices of types of blinds is rather limited, the quality is good (venetian blinds better than the other vendor, roller blinds exactly the same as what the other vendor offers).

The fiance was there during the installation and he loved how good their workmanship was. The couple also taught the fiance how to maintain the blinds, how to open the windows when blinds are down, etc. Did saw a few reviews subsequently that their replies are curt, slow, etc. But our experience with them has been alright. (Better affinity with the fiance, though. Not sure why he likes them so much!)

GLASS WORKS - AH JIA

Actually, by the time I was sourcing for a glass top, I knew I didn't want to get J&E to assist even though I didn't have any contacts. Things weren't that bad between us yet;I was tolerating his non-response etc so I told the fiance I want to deal directly with the vendor whom I pay even if it's more troublesome (which isn't at all!).

This turned out to be my favourite vendor actually!

Liaising was a breeze: he would fix a date to take measurements, send a quote, fix a date to install, and that's that. Super fast and fuss-free!

You probably can't spot anything wrong with this photo. And initially, we didn't too. One day later, I realized that one side is not cut out to fit my table nicely. I texted him, feeling afraid he would not care because we have already paid him.

BUT his response was again prompt. No questions asked, he said he will change a new piece for us. Gave me a date, and his guy really came to install the new piece of glass. Actually his guy say that the glass is cut in a straight line, it is our carpentry that is not straight. But anyhow, they changed it for us immediately! 

The bonus is...

 

This piece of glass that was a cut out of my glass top due to the L-shape. I asked him to let us have it since technically we paid for it. My mum wanted it for her coffee table and I gave him the dimensions, asked him how much it costs to cut to that and to temper the sides of the glass. My mum thought it's not worth it so I told him to just give me the raw glass.

End up, my mum say it fits her coffee table perfectly, and the sides are tempered. She even asked me if I paid the vendor to give her what she wants lol. I don't know if he accidentally did it according to my dimensions or what, but this was a pleasant surprise.

We will be getting him to make a new piece of glass for our glass top that J&E damaged. Top-notch service! 

Till the next!

Hi,

May I know if your track lights in the hall is bright enough?  Also may I have the contact number of Ah Jia?

Thank you.

[joko 0]

hi @dietgalvon! Beautiful house! Must feel so happy that renovation has come to an end (more or less?)... I am currently starting the renovation for my own place and was wondering if you could PM me the contacts for the following suppliers:

SERVICE YARD WINDOWS - JUN CONTRACTOR

BLINDS - U SERVICE

GLASS WORKS - AH JIA

Thanks!

[dietgalvon 14]

On 10/27/2017 at 4:03 PM, plady said:

Hello, thanks for sharing your renovation journey. Loads for me to learn! Possible to share your contact of your contractor? And No. 7 of your shortlisted contractors? Thanks in advance!

@plady As mentioned, won't be sharing my contractor's details. On No. 7, PM-ed.

On 10/28/2017 at 12:45 PM, fingerscross said:

Cool comeback!

Well, if u look on the bright side, at least u will be walking down the aisle with a guy who will stand beside u and not in front of u saying "i told u so" when thgs go wrong.

@fingerscross Hahaha absolutely thankful for that!

On 10/29/2017 at 3:39 PM, teeteet said:

Hi,

May I know if your track lights in the hall is bright enough?  Also may I have the contact number of Ah Jia?

Thank you.

@teeteet Yup it is. PM-ed on Ah Jia's contact.

On 10/30/2017 at 1:41 AM, joko said:

hi @dietgalvon! Beautiful house! Must feel so happy that renovation has come to an end (more or less?)... I am currently starting the renovation for my own place and was wondering if you could PM me the contacts for the following suppliers:

SERVICE YARD WINDOWS - JUN CONTRACTOR

BLINDS - U SERVICE

GLASS WORKS - AH JIA

Thanks!

@joko PM-ed

[dietgalvon 14]

On 10/28/2017 at 1:32 AM, blubugs said:

Hi dietgalvon, I have been following your blog and will definitely look forward to your review on CX.

Just so you know, with your detailed accounts and pictures of the problem areas, I find them unacceptable (to me) and I am quite convinced that CX has not been up to standard or value (that you had paid for) as compared to other renovations I have seen. Even if your experience should be considered as an isolated one (to the good experiences that others has attested to), it is not a good enough reason for me to consider them anymore simply because one case is far too many, meaning who knows if they may treat my reno the same as yours!!

@blubugs Thank you for standing on my side!  I started a thread here hoping people can benefit from my experience because I benefited from others who shared. I share both good and bad issues I encountered. I try to be as factual as I can but it's up to everyone here to judge.  

[dietgalvon 14]

Well, I've decided to do a full grandmother story of our journey with CX instead of a brief review. So it'd be in parts and I'll be writing on it when I feel like taking a break from wedding prep. 

WHY WE CHOSE CX

I got to know of them through renotalk and many raved about their carpentry workmanship. We went to them, and J gives a good vibe probably due to his years of experience. Yup, till today, I do think he is very experienced and surely knows his carpentry works well.

The determining factors eventually were:

• We could tell that J was very experienced
• Hearsay* of their carpentry workmanship 

*Hearsay because we were told that there ain't 'almost completed' projects for us to view. We decided to go with them still as I told the fiance with the amount of raves, we don't need to view their projects lah.

What we were prepared for:

• Slow response (from others' reviews); I thought with popularity = more business = busy = slow response, and it's a good thing that they are busy because it means we are in good hands!
• No inputs on designs, no service (i.e. coordinating our own vendors which we outsourced)
• Higher costs (surely, their carpentry and overlaying are on the high side); even more expensive than some IDs I met

Fiance is someone who values service (i.e. ID) more while I am okay with working harder on my own but I value quality more. My argument at that point was, that CX has a carpentry firm right below his office and it is no doubt that J has the right expertise. I convinced the fiance to go for quality, instead of service because simply put, "service we can do ourselves but quality we certainly need someone with the right expertise".

As such, I expect nothing except QUALITY for the price I paid (let's not mention the amount of things we have to take on ourselves due to the lack of their involvement, which we do not blame at all, as after all, they are not IDs).
 

BEFORE WORKS COMMENCED

• Slow response: Yes, even after confirming that we are engaging them, they took 2 weeks to contact us. We let them take their time because we believe that they are busy.
• E followed up on getting us to choose laminates and he requested the samples that we wanted. We didn't like how the laminates turned out but instead of getting them to request for us again, we decided to go to Lamintak ourselves because we believe they are busy and feel bad if we ask them to request for laminates again for us. (Yes it was hard having to decide on our own but we asked for it because we chose not to engage an ID lol.)
• And then there was a little lag in progress - so we requested for a meetup to discuss electrical plans.
• Some old school drawings were given to us and updated with laminates of our choice for generating the 3D drawings.
• E brought us to choose tiles
• Took some time to get back to us on the project schedule (which was not accurate anyway)

Honestly, at this stage there was nothing I couldn’t stand about E because we gave them leeway knowing that they can be overwhelmed with projects. As you can tell, we are also very paisei to ask them to help us further because we know they are busy. So we took it upon ourselves in many aspects of this journey, even in the later parts of the journey. Most importantly, we practically free up ALL our weekends and change plans to fit their schedule so as not to cause delay on our end.

[orihs2015 0]

Hi, 

May i have the contact for jun contractor and U service? 

 

Thank you so much!

[bykaraanne 30]

Don’t let others discount your experience. You did right to share it! Why do others want to negate other people’s experience... I don’t understand. 

Hopefully everything goes we for you from here.  

[papermotif 0]

I second the above sentiment. I don't understand why others would question your experience, after all it was your experience and not theirs. You have standards and you want them to be met, that's all. Other people may have different (lower?) standards, but that's their business and they shouldn't impose it on you!

[Rooney3 0]

Can PM your contractor/ID contact pls? Really much appreciated.

Thank you!

[Ando Tadao 8]

4 hours ago, Rooney3 said:

Can PM your contractor/ID contact pls? Really much appreciated.

Thank you!

TS has made it clear that she wouldn’t recommend the contractor hence she will not share the contact.

Nevertheless, a short search for edmund j&e in google would do the job.

[nystul 0]

Thanks for sharing your renovation journey.

 

Can PM U Service Blinds contact ?

 

[fang84 0]

I feel angry and upset reading the bad encounters you faced with j&e, I can fully understand how you feel as first time home owner and of course hope the Reno process is smooth sailing and entrust this big project to someone who is reputable and seemingly trustworthy, but yet it turned out not what you expected it to be. They can come here and speak for themselves but they know in their heart what they have done. The truth will always prevail. Anyway, I appreciate that you share your incidents here. Hope to see your completed home!