nightmare renovation contractor

[deslene]

Oh man, looks like the quality/workmanship of contractors in Singapore are really getting bad nowadays. My colleague told me abt his too. Used back the same old one but workmanship not good the second time... I'll be getting my new flat next June(hopefully), so quite worried that i'll find one that is bad.

[Watcha]

hope all is well.

hard to get decent contractor. no consistency and most have the kill max today mentality. even though the make so much margin. yet trying to minimize cost.

those in the trade will know, gosh so much. it may be due to the inconsistent income. they cannot guarantee when the next fish will come. also the non recurrent nature of customers. adding to it is the way people can flip company easily in singapore.

just look at timeshare, just keep changing the $1 company and business as usual.

Quality inconsistent as there are no proper training for contractors. it is not considered a professional job unlike overseas. they are not so organised.

I do not know if there is a web that can check on quality of contractors.

Until now I can only tikam tikam.

[newbie09]

Y not we compost a list of Hall Of Fame to those contractor that did a good job?? With that, ppl here can have additional choice of choosing when doing renov for their hse. Its just my 2 cents idea....

[seiko.citizen]

...

Quality inconsistent as there are no proper training for contractors. it is not considered a professional job unlike overseas. they are not so organised.
...

quality job is based on the individual and work experience. in oz, painting a house requires you to have a license; but the quality of paint workmanship still sucks despite having to go thru some stage of "certification".

training or not, doesnt matter; most important is experience. when i got my timber flooring done, it was done by a father and son team. (the son was only 14yo), and just by looking at the way the kid handled the timber and tools; makes me look like idiot .

another one is when *experienced* tradies, start to take short cuts. one of them was when i did the "smart wiring" in my house. the guy who came to take out the brick for the cabling to go thru, just bought a hammer and chisel. when he shouldve been bringing a brick cutter and conduit for a proper job.

[fallraen]

hey guys, there's a reno-talk forum for discussions on interior designers and contractors. i was just checking it out, trying to plan for the future.

the forum is local filled with mostly young couples who are first time home owners, looking for good deals. there's not much on condo's and apartments but mainly on hdb's but i guess thats where most of us stay when we get our first property right? i know, cause i'm going to be one of them HAHA.

but i have my eyes set of this interior design firm called, Collective Designs they seem to do a good job and even has a sister company that does custom furniture. but the price is $$$$$$$$.

anyways i still have quite afew years to go before i get my first property so... maybe if i stop buying watches..................

[triton]

if u need ideas for concept theme house. then u have to choose them with hdb approval. but not 100% safe. if u have something in mind, then can consider using my contractor. he is reliable. his team of workers have good workmanship by my standard. though can be 20-30% more than what u get. this one won't chute pattern.

[ben9823]

if u need ideas for concept theme house. then u have to choose them with hdb approval. but not 100% safe. if u have something in mind, then can consider using my contractor. he is reliable. his team of workers have good workmanship by my standard. though can be 20-30% more than what u get. this one won't chute pattern.

hi Triton,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I didn't see any link on the renovation contractor that you indicated in your initial post and the attachment (webpage) that you shared in your 7th post can’t be found anymore. Can you please share the renovation contractor's info so that I can stay away from them.

Can I have the two reliable contractors that you have been using?


Thanks & Regards

[ben9823]

Sorry to learn of your plight bro. Sometimes these kinda' issues sucks.. . I've had almost similar situation when I did renovation for my house years back. But the obstacle I had that is different from you, is the renovation contractor being my relative ! Very sticky situation I had. Best is to settle it amicably. You did right to lodge a police report first. See how it goes. Keep us updated if possible.

hi Oceanklassik,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Can you please share the renovation contractor's info so that I can stay away from them.


Thanks & Regards.

[ben9823]

Sorry to learn of your plight bro. Sometimes these kinda' issues sucks.. . I've had almost similar situation when I did renovation for my house years back. But the obstacle I had that is different from you, is the renovation contractor being my relative ! Very sticky situation I had. Best is to settle it amicably. You did right to lodge a police report first. See how it goes. Keep us updated if possible.

hi Oceanklassik,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Can you please share the renovation contractor's info so that I can stay away from them.


Thanks & Regards.

[ben9823]

thanks, noted the company name and contractor name. lucky not the one my dad is signing with phew..

anyway, my last reno last year wasnt very smooth sailing too..haiz..sometimes I feel that contractors have become sales man. know how to talk and persuade but know little when it comes to work.

hi Exxondus,

Can you please share the name of the contractor that contractor that you engaged so that I can stay away from them.


Thanks & Regards.

[ben9823]

Actually it seems very common for renovation contractors to chut pattern, although sometimes customers also make life abit difficult for these contractors. But most of the times its the contractor that is giving problems.

I just renovated my new place early this year and lucky for me, I met a very chin chai contractor, his workmanship may not be the best but I had to keep calling or sms, eh boss when U wan to collect cheque huh? work started 2 weeks liao but u have taken any payment yet. I had to chase him to take my money hahaha.

But my fellow neighbours encountered contractors that looked very professional, talk very professional but when it came to doing the job, very bad, didnt follow to specification, 40% payment before they even started on the job, then do different things than was agreed earlier, lousy workmanship, etc. Then halfway say oh u wan this must top up money la, etc.

Made life very difficult for my fellow neighbours, so in the end they had a big quarrel then the contractor said no remaining 60% payment then he will stop work, etc. Police called in la, big hoo ha, in the end everything still got done but everyone was unhappy la, then workmanship and finishing also not up to par.

Moral of story is better to use a contractor U had used before or referred to U by someone trustworthy. It is not 100% foolproof but still its better than just trying your luck with someone U do not know in the first place.




Bro Triton, paiseh for my long post, so in the end, did everything get completed properly? If not U can complain to HDB, etc to make a black mark.

hi TseTse,

Can you share the name of the ‘chin chai’ contractor that you engaged?


Thanks & Regards

[ben9823]

bro,

i had similar bad experience wh i did reno abt 3 yrs ago...

engaged my ID cos liked their showcases in design mags, thot pay abit more nmind - in exchange for peace of mind so we can focus on career n wedding preps... how wrong we were...

cut the story short. an initial estimate of 4 mths eventually dragged to 12 mths... parties involved included debtcollectors (sent by them to harrass us), policemen, CASE, partner at a distinguished law firm (we engaged them)...

morale of da story - they know how to play the GAME, how much they can stretch u and push u... sometimes just gotta accept there're ppl w no integrity watsoever who'll resort to despicable options for abit of moolah...

my opinion of ppl in the industry has changed for the worst since...

hi Bono,

Can you share the name of contractor so that I can stay away from them.


Thanks & Regards

[Cray]

not all contractors are like that though haha. at least for me so far so good =x

[triton]

it is link to the police report filed. in that image, i masked out the contractor name as well.

hi Triton,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I didn't see any link on the renovation contractor that you indicated in your initial post and the attachment (webpage) that you shared in your 7th post can’t be found anymore. Can you please share the renovation contractor's info so that I can stay away from them.

Can I have the two reliable contractors that you have been using?


Thanks & Regards

[albertchan659]

you can check out customer reviews at hometrust.sg before engaging an ID or contractor.