Paul & Karine Morris + Mayris
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The renovation nightmare

11/7/2017

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*I am sharing the review i had with my renovation company and pls note that i do not recommend the company at all after going through what i have been through. It has been 10 months since we shifted into my apartment. This review is based on my experience.* - PART 1 of the review as follows:-

The renovation journey for our new place started off with great anticipation as we have good communication and ideas discussion across both parties but sadly, it turn into a dreadful nightmare after we paid the 1
st deposit. The team - Smart home appeared to be confident with great ideas shared but the outcome was a total nightmare. First issue occurs after the next discussion on the requirement, we noticed the team do not record the requirements down but they reassured us that they can remember.


Thereafter, we chased numerous times for the 3D drawing to complete but were told that there is delay from the designer team. After almost 2-3 weeks later, we finally received some of the 3D drawings but there are plenty of mistake in the drawings. Amendment and re-sending of the 3D drawing takes forever again and in the end, we gave up chasing for it as there is no time to delay. They have engaged a 3rd party to draw the ID drawing and many requirement were missing from the drawing. We gave up after numerous exchange as it is very very frustrating. We wishes to have the renovation process to start in JUL since hacking permits needed time for application as well.

Told Boss J** that we are not rushing to get keys but we hope to hold our son’s birthday celebration at our place in NOV’16. They understood our intention and the work finally begins, hacking completed with some other works like electrician and switches planning.  The detailed drawing for the carpentry work is headache as it is only done after our false ceiling and partition are done up. For this delay, I can understand as some carpenters work requires the exact measurement and false ceiling are handmade sector which might have discrepancies.

One of the conversations I had with Boss J**where he boosted on the excellent wood materials – Melamine wood that they are already using in comparison to some other IDs firm where they are only at the introduction phase. Things seems still not too bad until we were told that order for the materials are placed and all we can do now is wait. Never do we expect that the wait took FOREVER. There is almost 6 weeks of EMPTY period where literally no work is done at all. The team did not even come over my place or provide initiatives to update us on the progression despite our unhappiness. We gave them the trust as they keep reassured us that the assembly is quick and things will be done by mid Nov’16.

Mid Nov’16 came by and the materials only start to arrive and to our horror, it comes in batches. First batch consist only the kitchen carpentry and nothing else was included in it. This differs from what Boss J** told us when he say shipment comes in one lot. Assembly of the kitchen carpentry ended up facing wrong colour board for the larder unit and missing drawer board from the 1st shipment. This time round, we show our unhappiness again and Boss J** said will complete all by 1st week of Dec’16. Keep explaining to us that it is shipment delay and there is nothing they can do which later on, we gave in as well.

Thinking back on the reason why I picked them is because of the strong recommendation from a friend on Boss J**’s reputation. We were told that he is responsive and responsible on the after service when she purchased items from him earlier on. Adding on, we had great renovation ideas as the main carpenter –in-charge. We have crazy ideas of putting wood laminates on ceiling and he supported our ideas while showing the confident. The actual seems to differ as the initial laminate ceiling created was bad. The joint lines were obvious and the ceiling was not balanced at all. Immediately we rejected the product and requested to redo. This matter dragged on for 2-3 weeks where the ball was thrown here and there thinking to use back the same panel to redo or to consider overlaying. Carpenter-in-charge T** told us that he even air-flown some new boards back to redo the matter and told us to wait. Till then, it is already end of Dec’16.

Next moment, the true nightmare happens. We were told by Carpenter-in-charge T** that he is having disputes with Boss J** and they are not on talking terms. Boss J** have looped in Carpenter LIM for the meet up and requested us to repeat our requirements once again. The NEW TEAM tried to reassure us that since materials are here, the assembly will be quick and by 07/JAN, the place should be ready to move in condition with some loose ends to tie.
We tried to hold our frustration as we just hope to have the matter resolved. Most importantly, we wish to shift in by Mid Jan so that we can start preparing for Chinese New Year. We have been buying electronic appliances and been storing them at Parents-in-laws place which is piling up. We stress to the NEW TEAM that we needed to shift and this drags on for 6 months which is totally UNACCEPTABLE.
​

Over the 2 weeks where NEW TEAM formed, we took the effort to head down daily so to monitor the progress and also to rectify any mistake (if needed). We even drafted the time line along with tasks needed for completion with Boss J** while he tell us by which date, what will be done. This effort by us wasn’t payoff as the progress was slow and things are not moving as per expected. Till today, we are still having a lot of pending items yet completed we are very sure that it is totally impossible to handover by 07/JAN.

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My ideal Fridge - Hitachi Multidoor RF 6200S

7/22/2016

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The first time i see it, i know i want to own it. The multi-door fridge is just so sexy. Love the fact on the multiple compartment where i can fill the fridge up with tons of food. But all along, it was difficult for me to justify to PapaTan that we MUST grab this Fridge as it cost twice as much as the normal 2 door fridge by Hitachi. Aside from Hitachi, there is Panasonic which is also manufacturing the Multi-door fridge. Spoken to a couple salesperson and all suggested to buy Hitachi as they are the pioneer in the market for Multi-door and is Made in Japan.

We decided to temporarily drop the idea of this sexy fridge while we work on our financial to see if these extra cash can be allocated to buy my ideal fridge. Who knows today, papaTan said "ok, lets go buy your multi-door fridge since Audio House is having an electronic fair @ EXPO"*EXCLAIMED* .

SERIOUSLY, I WAS LIKE SOOOOO EXCITED ABOUT IT!


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Height: 1,833 mm
Width: 750 mm
Depth: 738 mm
Capacity: 479 Litres
R-F6200S 
​Made in Japan - Hitachi's Original Vacuum 
  • Net Capacity 479 Litres
  • Hitachi Original Vacuum Compartment with new Platinum Photocatalyst
  • Aero-Care Vegetable Compartment with Platinum Photocatalyst
  • Hitachi Original Frost Recycling Cooling Technology with Hybrid Defrost
  • Hitachi Original Flexible Vacuum Insulation Panel (VIP)
  • Touch Screen Controller
  • Hitachi Original Auto Drawers
  • Triple Power Deodorization
  • Scratch-Resistant Crystal Glass Doors
  • Crystal Black & Crystal White 



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It is KEY COLLECTION TIME!

7/21/2016

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During this tough period to fight against Morris Tan's HFMD, we are glad to receive this booster email that brightens us up. After waiting for almost 4 years (1 more day to be exact), we are finally going to take the keys for our home sweet home. Nothing beats this excitement when the KEYS ARE ACTUALLY READY FOR COLLECTION!
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So near YET so far

7/11/2016

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Just received news from fellow neighbors who managed to chat with the Site supervisor for my BTO project where all units are to be lock up with keys submission to HDB by TODAY!!! And yes, today!

Well, we heard that 661C which is the 2nd last block is collecting their keys during 3rd Week of JULY. We are pinning the last bit of hope that we will receive SMS by this week that keys collection will be during last week of JULY! Too many things yet settled but we do hope that keys come in by end of JUL as 3rd AUG will be the kick-start of Lunar 7th month. It was advisable not to step into new house or conduct any renovation. That will likely means 1 month time wasted as nothing could be done. (Hate this and pray hard that it is not happening to us!)

Anyway, alot of things yet settled:
1. ID / Contractor yet decided
2. Color theme yet decided
3. Fridge  (bought!)
4. Washer / Dryer
5. Ceiling fan
6. Wall mount fan
7. Defects check list not done up yet
8. New house ceremony requirement, I only know needs to bring pineapple (for now)
9. To overlay my tiles for living room and Kitchen (Or not?)
10. Gas heater models

Gosh, so little time, so much to do!

​*EXCITED&
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Bosch bundle package

6/11/2016

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Headed down to Harvey Norman's sale @ Expo for a walk and ended up buying things for our new house again. This time round we saw a good promotion from Bosch where there is a bundle promotion for the oven & microwave oven package. FOC Harvey Norman $50 in additional to the special price of $1370 which makes this bundle cost at $1320 instead. The even better deal about this package is that we are able to pay by Interest free credit card installment payment. This will allow us to stretch our overall funding to the maximum it possibly able to.

We actually wanna buy other brands like elba which will likely cost us about $1.2K from Mega discount store but papaTan felt more comfortable in buying Bosch because of its established branding and the price difference is not much. Sounds like i do need to cook and bake more often after we shift house. :)
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House visiting.

5/8/2016

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Our view from living room
Have been hearing fellow neighbors who have managed to barge into their apartment and we decided to try out on Sunday 6pm to see if its possible to get to our flat. The security on a Sunday is less strict as many of the Foreign workers are back to their dorm to rest for the day. To our surprise, we managed to sneak into our block and i told papaTan to climb up to our unit which is located at the #17 floor. (He thought i was joking when i told him to climb the stairs up)
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The whole place looks very raw. No doors and tiles yet.
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Captured while standing at the corner of where my TV will be.
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Gonna hack away this kitchen wall for open concept.
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Tiles are lying on the living room flat.
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Our kitchen
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Service yard view
To be honest, i did not really like my kitchen layout as the bomb shelter takes up space in my kitchen (near to the service yard) which means i am unable to create kitchen cabinet and worktop space on both sides. After much thoughts, we decided to hack away the wall and build an island. This is the only possibility that i could fully utilize the kitchen. If i knew of such constraints during the start of flat selection, i would have choose other units based on our awesome queue #80 but oh well, 4 years ago we are still quite noob in this area.
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Common toilet
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Master bedroom toilet
The next limitation we faced is that i am unable to build full length mirror in the toilet as there is only 1 ventilation point in the master bedroom toilet and its located right on-top of the toilet so we are only able to build a simple mirror with storage cabinet only.

Anyway, we are still discussing whether to remove the sink provided by HDB as i understand some of the basin's quality is inferior and not lasting. But there again, all these are actually paid for with our hard earned money. I guess we need some further discussion on this to finalize what to do with the bathroom. 
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The bedroom
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Master bedroom
Hoping keys will come really soon!
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Bedroom bed: Simmons

4/24/2016

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We decided to head to Singapore Expo as there is Baby Fair. Needed to grab some stock for the Pureen Baby clothes detergent as it is much cheaper to buy in fair. After the trip to the baby fair, we decided to walk to the Big Furniture Fair 2016 to have a look around for the Sofa as well as bed.

Date:23/04/2016 - 02/05/2016 12:00PM-10:00PM
Admission: Public - Free Admission
Venue: Singapore EXPO Hall 7
The Big Furniture Fair 2016
Name: The Big Furniture Fair 2016
Venue: Singapore EXPO Hall 7
Date: 23 April – 2 May 2016
Time: 12noon to 10pm
Cost: Public - Free Admission
Organiser: Full House Communications Pte Ltd
Telephone: +65 6842 7266
Website: www.myhomeinternational.com.sg
The Big Furniture Fair 2016 promises to have many new ideas and products from more than 100 international brands. Starting with 15 of the top interior design firms, visitors are in for a treat as there are many completed projects for references and special packages only available at the show. There is plenty of high quality furniture both imported and locally made and they come in various styles such as contemporary, modern, French, outdoor and more! 23 of the most popular international mattress brands will also display their bestsellers and new models for visitors to try. Don’t miss home essentials like curtains, flooring, wallpaper, door locks and invisible grilles. Visit www.myhomeinternational.com.sgfor more details.

We walked around and spotted the sofa company by the name of Cosimo Gallery. Was told that they are the manufacturer for many of the sofas retailers are selling. They are proud of their products and they only do full genuine leather sofa. As the price is kind of high (around 5k), we decided to sleep on it first despite the sofa being soooooo comfortable.

We continue to walk around and headed to Simmons to check out the bed promotion. Was recommended by Jane that the Simmons bed is good and it is value for money. We are lucky that they are running a promotion of 50% + additional 10% off which is pretty attractive pricing. We actually did the sleep test as we lie on several mattress to see which is our preferred ones. Ended up, we picked the most expensive one in the fair. Somehow, the rest of the models lose out to it though.

With the promotion, it sums up to $3850 include of bed frame for our queen size bed. Imagine before discount, it is almost $8k odd. Kinda crazy, ain't it?

Picked the frame that has lower base and pretty headrest. This means i can remove carpentry cost to build headrest on my platform. Reason we picked Queen size as the BTO room is really small, refuse to give up side cabinet space for a bigger bed as we need space to keep stuff in the room as well.

I hope with the new bed, it gives me better backcare support and i can drool in my lalaland daily ;) Excited for the arrival of the new house as well as sleeping on this luxurious bed. :p

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KitchenAid - Mayer's Warehouse Sale!

4/22/2016

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With the news of receiving their HLE as well as keys from our neighbors, it makes us extremely excited about ours to come by. Slowly bit by bit we started researching on the home design that we preferred. Checking out fairs as well as deals to buy stuff for our future home-to-be. 

I am lucky to have awesome friends around me who share good deals. Just today where Eunice was sharing with me on the Mayer's sale and she found out that KitchenAid is going for at a Ridiculously good price!!!! To be honest, i longed for my own KitchenAid as i love to bake and cook. The KitchenAid seems to be like the Transformers. Able to make tons of things with just this kitchen appliances but the price is really SUCH A MAJOR TURN OFF! United States actually sells this at a much cheaper price but unfortunately the voltage usage is difficult thus it is not advisable to buy from there.

Live streaming from Eunice as i received the promotion price and she is so nice to even help me to purchase it and bring it home first while i am in office!  As she was there very early, we managed to grab "almost brand new" display pieces at the price of $499 only!!!! How awesome friend i have :)))
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Product description for the KSM150 model. And YES! i got myself a RED kitchenAid :D
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    Mr & Mrs Tan.

    Awaiting our haven in Punggol.

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