Day 27 - (31st May) Still no activity

Today was also a very busy day as we're continuing the unpacking of our stuffs .... never knew we accumulated so much stuffs throughout our 8 years until we really tried to pack the stuffs back into the cabinets.

Anyway, Jason didn't appear to remove the improvised jack. I also don't want to remove it ... lest they "accuse" me of removing it earlier if the stubborn piece refuse to sit in place again ... I think Uncle will be at my doorstep tomorrow to collect balance payment .... Should I pay him the full amt?? I think i'll let him remove the jack and we'll decide.

Last on the list is the wrough iron gate ... My gut feel tells me that Ah Hock would likely call me tomorrow as well .... Hope my gut feel don't fail me :)

Day 26 - (30th May) No activity

No activity today and we're basically busy cleaning and unpacking our stuffs back to the cabinets. Realised that almost all the orientation had changed and the storage space seemed to have shrunk due to the concrete support. Anyway, it's time to junk those unusable trash and start afresh :)

Also went to buy a spice rack and paper towel/aluminum foil/cling wrap holder from GR Link Marketing along Jalan Besar (beside Poh Joo) ... The spice rack costs about $41 while the 3-in-1 paper towel holder costs about $44. Total damage around $85.

Day 25 - (29th May) More Carpentry rectifications, rectification of stainless steel backing, polishing floor due to damage

Today was yet another chaotic day ... another 3 groups of people came ... doing various stuffs ....

Group 1 - Jason and his team ...

They had 3 tasks to complete ... (i) to rectify the bulging stainless steel backing which did not completely stick onto the wall because the supplier cut slightly taller; (ii) to clean off the stain left by the aircon man who used CIF to clean his trunkings on the floor; (iii) to paint a small area left untouched by the malay painters and to touch up some cement that had dropped off.

The indian painter was rather blur and I suspect that he was not even a painter ... probably one of the cleaners. Wifey and my maid had to point out to him the areas which he had missed and also how to correct apply white cement to touch up some flaking areas.

Jason tried all sorts and means to try to press the bulging stainless steel plate (left piece) onto the wall. He resorted to using the suction cups, styrofoam, hammer, wooden stick, etc ... and finally he had no choice but to ask his men to pry open the stainless steel plate to apply more glue and used an improvised jack to force the piece into its position. It was a frustrating episode for Jason because Wifey can see his mood changed from mild to almost blowing his top over the stubborn piece of stainless steel backing. It also didn't help when lots of people were calling him over the phone and asking him when he's coming.

While doing this, Jason was shuttling to and fro my master bedroom, trying to use his "special" cleaning agent to rub off the shadowy stain on my marble floor. It didn't work (as expected) but made it worse and they resorted to even CIF, which didn't work as well. The last resort was when wifey pointed out the area to Jason and asked him how? Jason finally relented and I believed he called Uncle for advice ... I think Uncle told Jason to get the marble polishers to polish the entire master bedroom. This got Jason really upset because he sort of replied to Uncle ... "Just doing a small job have to end up polishing the entire marble floor? What sort of business is this !!!" ... Anyway, Jason did call up the marble polishers and they appeared at around 4pm.

Back to the stainless steel plate ... Jason told Wifey that he would be back 2 days later to check (Sunday???) and hopefully the improvised jack would set the stainless steel backing in place. I'm sceptical but what to do ... haha ... just wait and see lor ...

Group 2 - Amax's carpenter Di Giah

This time around it didn't appear to be a rushed job as he went around to rectify the remaining 10% of the defects. He also tried his best to align all the doors when I pointed out that some still appeared funny and misaligned. Overall, I would say that it's a give and take situation ... we gain some, we lose some ... in the end, we decided to look the other way where the defect was not so glaring as we are quite tired about the carpentry rectifications ....

Group 3 - Marble polishers who came on behalf of Ah Seng (the main marble polisher guy)

The first thing the uncle asked when he reached was whether I was going to repolish the entire unit. I told him that he just need to rectify the areas where the cleaning agent had left a stain and it was the stretch from the entrance of the master toilet to a small section of my living room, just outside the master bedroom entrance.

We don't believe in capitalising on another person's mishap / problem as we only wanted the damaged areas to be rectified. They did a very good job and removed the shadowy stained caused by the trunking and the special cleaning agent in less than 30 mins. Hope this won't cause a dent in Uncle's pocket and further reduce his profit from my job ....

Pics from Day 25 -

The CMI painter ...

Jason trying all means and way to force the bulging stainless steel backing to stick properly

No choice but to pry open the stubborn piece ...

To apply more glue (this time) ...

But not before scraping off the old glue on my wall tiles ...

The improvised jack ...

Jason trying his special cleaning agent on the floor

Last attempt in removing the stain using CIF ... (didn't work)

The "FOC" small toilet cabinet

Di Giah rectifying the remaining defects

The machine that was used to polish the stain off

Removing the stains

Final Carpentry

Realised that the hood was not mounted properly ... have to ask Jason to rectify when he's here to rectify the stainless steel backing ...
FOC small toilet cabinet (mounted)

Day 24 - (28th May) More Carpentry rectification ...

I told Amax that they can only come during noon because my small boy needs to sleep. They were very punctual and came at around 11.30am... However, the original 2 carpenters did not come ... it was 2 new ones - 1 old uncle and 1 young chap ... Wifey also told me that Amax was around almost the entire duration except for lunch from 12 - 2pm...

The rectification works was major ! I think they underestimated the works required when fabricating the frame and etc for a complete concrete structure ... Not only must the frames be aligned and flushed, they must be thick enough to ensure seamless joints between the "legs" of the structure ... What they did (I suspect) was just to fit the wooden frames to my concrete structure based on standard carpentry measurements ... and not to customise their frames to fit my concrete structure ! They ended up dismantling all the lower doors and upper doors to redo the entire bottom structure and to fix the damaged laminates on the top.

As for the larder, they had to scrape off the obstructing plywood and apply 1 piece of white laminate on the left side. As for the right side (that's full of holes), they ensured that they custom cut the plank to fit the interior structure seamlessly. There after, Amax personally measured the steel racks and ensured that the rails do not hit the hinges ...

Lastly, they attempted to seal up the gaps between each section of the concrete support which they did ... but during the last step to install the irex soft closing bumpers for one door, they realised that the strip that they added was right behind the hinge and they had to dismantle one of the wooden racks in order to adjust the strip ....

All in all, 4 person (including Amax) appeared. When we asked them why they didn't do it right the first round, they were totally lost for words ... and the entire rectification (only 90% complete) was up till 9pm+ ...

Up to this point at around 9pm, I think Uncle called Amax and asked whether he had completed the rectification and I think Amax sort of told Uncle that he damaged the rails and can only replace them tomorrow .... he sort of "got it from Uncle" again .... Amax asked me whether I can "overlook" some of the minor adjustments and as a token to give me a small cupboard FOC ... We consulted each other and we were also tired with all the rectifications .... and told Amax that what he need to do were the remaining items listed below. As for the FOC cupboard, we decided to ask Amax to fabricate a small toilet cabinet for my MIL.

The remaining works that they need to do are:
1) Replace a damaged door where the ABS trimming looked as if it was soaked in water as the laminate had wavey lines ...
2) Put another layer of white laminate on one side of the top cabinet because they misfired when installing the door and had to mount 1 additional screw in order to cover up the mistake ...
3) Realign some of the doors which looked wierd / slanted ...
4) Replace the rails for the bottom drawer which was damaged by Amax himself when he tried to hammer in some nails ...

Pics from Day 24 -

Trying to straighten the bottom frame
Removing the racks from the larder ...

Day 23 - (27th May) Amax came to inpsect the works and to answer to Uncle, PD Doors rectification and Shower screen installed

Today was a day of chaos as there were 3 groups coming over to do various stuffs ... and a day of reckoning for the carpenters because Amax (Ah Meh) was literally S*r*w*ed by Uncle over the phone the previous night for fumbling over a simple job...

Jason who was supposed to be here to rectify the stainless steel backing did not appear ... my guess was that he's busy fighting fire again ....

1st group that appeared were the guys from Eastplan to rectify the creaking and squeaking PD doors in my master toilet and kitchen ... Wifey also complained that the bottom track for the common toilet appeared to be slanted but they said that it's due to the tiles ... so they have no choice .... For all PD door wannabes, you may want to reconsider and use the common bi-fold doors instead. If you don't need to have the 180 degree swing, it's cheaper and less agonising to use bi-fold doors instead ....

2nd group that appeared was Amax (Ah Meh) and an old uncle (maybe his backup carpenter???) ... Anyway, wifey told them things that has to be rectified and they appeared to be reluctant on some areas... I even spoke to them over the phone and told Ah Meh off that the quality was not acceptable for most areas. I even told him that he can use the 水平尺to check the alignment as they don't tell lies ... The ultimate thing was that they attempted to cover up scratches and dents in the white laminates by using liquid paper ????? What sort of quality is this ???? really Su(ks sia ..... The ultimatum was when Wifey asked both of them whether they will accept such quality if it's their own home??? It was when they had nothing to say and dismantle the poor quality works .... I also rushed home and met Amax ... and pointed out the defects to him ... and made sure he took down the sub-standard works ...

He didn't dismantle the larder though ... but he said that he would remove the unsightly interior panel, fix a full board panel on the right and then cover up the holes using white laminte (which was supposedly thicker than formica) ... I don't really care how they do it ... so long as they rectify all the defects ... This is one carpentry company to black list ... For all Uncle's prospective customers, please do not use him!

Amax said that he would rectify all the defects by tomorrow (thursday) ... We Shall See .......

3rd Group came simultaneously after Amax arrived. They were Ah Hock's workers who came to install the shower screen. I've no complaints other than that they dirtied my newly painted wall with their dirty hands due to the installation. The shower screen was very well done and they even took the effort to place a plastic strip at the side and below the movable panel to prevent water from seeping out. Very good job [other than dirtying my wall] :)

Pics from Day 23 (only 1 because it was very chaotic !) -

Shower screen installer

Ah Mei (Amax) attempting to rectify the unsatisfactory carpentry

Day 22 - (26th May) Citygas connection done and Electrical works follow-up :)

It seems that when it's time for things to be done, it would be done almost at the same time !

First to appear today was the Citygas authorised gas technician who came to turn-on our gas. It appeared to be successful but the EF hob didn't worked as promised ... because the inner-ring flame could not be activated on a stand-alone basis ! As well, one of the burners seemed to take a long time to stabalise because upon ignition, we must press the nob slightly longer before we can release it ... We have asked EF to send their guys down to check .... and they would do so on Thursday ...

Ah Tan and gang appeared there after to follow-up with the remaining electrical works... They were quite good but as usual, Ah Seng would complain and rant when doing the installation... One hiccup was that Ah Tan forgot the cover for the washing machine point as this was required ... He ended up rushing down to buy the cover (which was of another brand - not MK) ....

At night, Uncle dropped by to collect payment for the carpentry. He also shared with me that the reason why he was able to offer a very cheap price was because he paid cash upfront for all the works - hackers, tiles, tilers, painters, electrician, plumbing, carpentry .... basically everything ... This was because he will earn rebates from paying by cash (ranged between 3-5%) which would be settled at year-end ... Thus his cashflow is usually back-to-back.... and timely payment by us would help to alleviate his cashflow ... I told Uncle that such info should be shared with his clients so that we know what to do ... However, I also told Uncle that doing so has risks because if his sub-contractors give sub-standard work, he would suffer because he had already paid in full upfront ...

I pointed out to Uncle on the unsatisfactory carpentry works, especially the larder. He sort of flew into a rage and called up Amax to give him a earful ... Uncle promised that he would rectify all the carpentry defects and handover the carpentry works to me in our desired condition and design. He told Amax in Hokkien ... "I want you to dismantle the larder and make a new one .... I will even pay you in cash if you are going to charge me for it ... You can throw and burn the old one and I will throw and burn each one that is not in a satisfied condition .... This is a simple job ... why can't you do it ??? If you don't know how to do it, I will teach you how to do it ... "

Bottom Line - While Uncle may err on the side of Project Management, he will always insist on the quality, regardless whether he will lose money due to his sub-standard subcontractors. This is one of the key virtues which I feel that Uncle has over alot of contractors, especially my previous one. [You may want to flame me over the 2nd sentence, but this is my personal opinion.]

Pics from Day 22 -

Connecting the flexible hose

Installing the accessories

Testing the hob

Ah Tan and Ah Seng installing the switches

Rewiring the connection for the hood

Day 21 - (25th May) Stainless steel backing installed and Wrought Iron Gate measurements taken ...

I called Jason in the morning asking him about the laminates for the cabinets and the painting. Ended up, Jason and 肥子 came to install the stainless steel backing themselves. The only grouse we had was that the gap for 1 joint was rather huge ... which Jason said he will level up using Silicone ... I also noticed that Jason only applied glue along the 4 sides of the stainless steel plates unlike my previous installer who would apply lots of glue even in the centre... As a result, when i tried to test the stainless steel plates, it wobbled .... Uncle has called Jason to rectify ...

Jason also said that the remaining electrical works and touch up of the painting would be done on thursday. The surprise is that he would do the painting himself ... as his workers are all tied up at various locations !

Ah Hock's worker also dropped by to take measurements for our new wrought iron gate as our old aluminum gate was more than 21 years old now .... haha ...

Pics from Day 21 -

Stainless steel backings to be installed ...

Applying the glue (notice that it's not on the entire surface?)

Jason fitting the stainless steel backing on the wall ...

Taking measurements for the gate

Pictures of the new gate ...

From Wan Sern

Day 20 - (24th May) Sunday ... No Activity

Was hoping someone would turn-up to do something but no one came. Jason's busy wrapping dumplings at home and would not be answering phone calls :)

Day 19 - (23rd May) Relocation of water purifier, inspection and rectification of carpentry and rectification of tiles

I thought that today would not have much activity except for the relocation of the water purifier and some minor rectification works by the carpenter. Ended up, the rectification works by the carpenters were not done because there's really too much to be done ... and Jason managed to get a tiler to help me with the rectification / patching up of the toilet tiles.

The uncles doing the relocation of my water purifier was very careful and didn't damage any of my wall tiles. The hole that they drilled was also just nice for the tubings.

Jason came at around 10.15am and the carpenters arrived at the same time. I went through with him on the list of carpentry deficiencies / defects and he shook his head ... He told the carpenters that they should use some common sense and experience when doing the work. When in doubt, they should have informed him or ask me. At the back of my mind I was thinking ... even if they asked me and I've informed them, they only do 50% of what I told them ... Anyway, the carpenters have gone back to Malaysia and would only be back to complete the rectification works by Friday...

Jason also asked a tiler to come to my place to replace the damaged tiles. He's very careful and the areas that were damaged were patched up nicely.

Lastly, I called up Ah Hock to have my current aluminum gate replaced ...

Pics from Day 19 -

The Uncles from BioTech relocating our water purifier

Relocation completed !

The tiler who came to replace the damaged tiles and patch up the cracked groutings

Day 18 - (22nd May) Installation of cabinets and PD doors

Today was a very eventful day. The first to arrive were the PD doors installers who were very early because the owner of the first unit that they were supposed to do the installation was not present to open the doors for them.

The installers (1 PRC and 1 Malaysian) were not bad. When they dismantled my common toilet door, they were quite careful and ensured that cracks in the walls and tiles were minimised. The PRC installer was rather patient and meticulous. He would check each part of the door and open/close the door several times, making adjustments and applying grease at the joings before he's satisfied of the installation. The Malaysian installer was also very careful when applying the silicone around the doors. I would say that they did a decent job :)
[Afternote: We noticed some scratches on the doors and the master bedroom toilet door started creaking.... time to call them for rectification ...]

The carpenters came at around the same time as the PD Doors installers. There were 3 carpenters that came. Generally, their carpentry works were quite good. The only deficiency is their installation. The rectifications that I would require them to do are as follows:

1) Scratches in the interior laminates of 2 doors of my top cabinets
2) Bad installation of the pull-out rack. They didn't measure the racks properly even though I've already given them a sample. They had to fabricate another piece of side-backing which was a few mm shorter. As a result, the interior looked very ugly. They also didn't install the pull-out racks properly and there was no allowance at the bottom-most rack.
3) Huge gaps inbetween doors to the extent I can see the racks
4) Wierd joining of the bottom interior panels.
5) Odd opening/ closing of the 2 doors beside my hood. Basically, the doors when opened will knock against the tempered glass. The correct method is for the doors to open away from the hood. (No common sense)
6) Imperfect abs trimmings
7) Odd design of the dish rack. The side panel attached to the disk-rack stopped mid-way and did not run all the way down to my tiles top. As a result, there's an odd corner.
8) Bad application of silicone at some areas because the carpenter forgot to smoothen the silicone.
9) Warped door
10) One interior panel was badly laminated to the extend I can see bubbles
11) The doors for the rubbish chute were fabricated wrongly
12) They didn't attempt to seal up the gap separating the sink and my hob.

I have informed Jason that I need to speak to him. He said will drop by tomorrow morning to check the quality.

One surprise of the day was the appearance of Uncle at around 3.30pm. He made a surprise check but unfortunately he did not pick up those flaws. Good thing was that he arranged for the air-con man to install the trunkings for my master toilet to be installed. However, the aircon man damaged by marble flooring... the worker cleaned the trunking on my marble flooring and in the end, there were streaks along the floor which cannot be cleaned away !

He also called Ah Di from SL to deliver a small piece of marble skirting because it was damaged by the tiler while hacking away the tiles.

Pics from Day 18 -

1) PD Doors

PD Door delivery truck

PD Doors delivered

Installation of the PD Doors

Completed installation
(i) Master bedroom toilet
(ii) Kitchen entrance
(iii) Common toilet

2) Carpentry

Arrival of carpentry lorry

Carpentry unloaded

iREX soft closing attachment and butterfly hinges

Installing the carpentry (like lego block) ...

Surprise visit by Uncle ...

End of day carpentry deficiency report :
(a) Lowest pull-out rack no allowance below

(b) Top pull-out rack too much allowance although I told the carpenter to divide the space equally for the top 3 racks ...

(c) Notice the odd distribution of the pull-out racks?

(d) Didn't look at the hood drawing before installing the brackets ... Ended up the hood was too short ...

(d) The cabinet doors opening and knocking the hood. They should open the other way !

(e) Gaps between the hob and sink

(f) Notice the legs of the internal shelvings? Some are inside, some are flushed ...

(g) The warped door in the middle (which had been removed)

(h) Notice the huge gap between the shelving and the concrete support?

(i) There was also 1 chipped ABS trimmings on the door - to replace

(j) The laminate for 1 door chipped - to replace

3) Installation of air-con trunking in master toilet

Measuring the trunking required

Cutting and installing the trunking ...

Damaging my floor in the process ....
[look at the way they clean the trunking ...]

Completed trunking job that took them more than an hour ...