Our Reno Journey Step 13 – Defects Check



Week 15 – Defects Check

Up to this point, our renovation was more or less done and we were left with the minor issues here and there.

Some of the defects highlighted include:

  • Wrong installation of the toilet roll holder. We had requested for it to be about x cm above the toilet bowl but his contractor drilled it at twice the height we asked for =.= This resulted in the ugly markings left behind after the rectification:
Step 13 Ugly patched holes near toilet roll holder
  • Wrong installation of water pipes between service yard and common toilet. We had informed L right from the start that we would be buying a dryer from City Gas and the placement of the dryer. However, his plumber still installed the water pipes right in the centre of our wall in the service yard. We only learnt about this when the installers from City Gas arrived at our place and we all realised that they were unable to install our dryer that day because the water pipes were in the way. Sunshine was pissed! First, L refused to coordinate the works for us whenever we engaged an external vendor (e.g. City Gas for dryer, Gain City for air con and our electrician, who took the initiative to liaise and understand the renovation plans from L). Sunshine already took leave on a weekday to open the door for City Gas and supervise the installation of our dryer though the carpenter from the ID company was at our place. Second, we had already told L that City Gas had recommended this position for our dryer and L’s plumber still installed the water pipes right in the middle of our wall instead of at the side. We are not sure whether L had informed his plumber who still made the mistake or that L totally forgot to inform his plumber of this. The water pipes had to be shifted, again leaving ugly markings of the previous drill holes, and we had to reschedule the installation of our dryer with City Gas, with Sunshine effectively wasting his leave on that day. *pissed!*
Step 13 Ugly patch holes post rectification
View from the common toilet. The original length of the water pipe is as indicated in orange.
Step 13 Rectified piping
Rectified water piping from the service yard, beside our dryer
  • Protruding nails in the TV console laminate. Like the rectification for the toilet roll holder, there were dots showing the previously drilled holes after rectification.
Step 13 Protruding nails
Can you see the protruding nails?! I cannot believe how these nails were missed after the contractor drilled the nails into the laminate!
  • Spoiling of our service yard door. Our service yard door was working perfectly well when we first took over our keys from HDB. This was also checked by L when he did the defects check after we obtained our keys from HDB and also confirmed by L when we asked him about it when this occurred. However, after the whole renovation, the alignment was totally off. We told him to rectify it but he mentioned that the only thing his contractor could do was to remove the whole door, cover up the original hole in the floor and drill a new one! After what we saw in our toilet for the toilet roll holder, water pipes and the TV console laminate, we decided against it and there was nothing else which was done. On hindsight, we should have asked for compensation for our spoilt door!
Step 13 Service yard
  • Gap between our quart tabletop and kitchen sink. We saw that there was no gap between the two when we went for a housewarming at a friend’s place. When we checked with L, he gave us some excuse that there would be some gap due to the thickness of the sink. Hello? We told him the measurements of our sink way before we bought it and definitely way before the quart tabletop was made! However, as he mentioned that it would be impossible to remove the tabletop without damaging the sink, we compromised on getting him to fill the gap with silicon to prevent seepage of water to the cupboards underneath the sink.
Step 13 Gap betw table top and sink
Even if we take extra care not to splash any water into the gap between the sink and our table top, who is to guarantee that insects would not build their nests in the gap?!
  • Incomplete closure of our cabinet door underneath our kitchen sink. This was because of a wrong measurement and cutting of the wooden cabinet to accommodate the water pipes behind it. In the end, as our parents advised us to have the normal casement door instead of the original drawer as shown for easier access to our water pipes in the event of leaks, we got L to change the whole doors for the cabinets underneath our sink. It was only through this that we saw the different sizes between the water pipe and drainage hole *facepalm* We asked if the pipe could be changed and his reply was no. Not sure if there was something wrong with his plumber’s eyes when he used a much smaller pipe to connect to the drainage hole! *roll eyes* Now, if we pour large amounts of water (e.g. from washing a big pot) into the sink at one go, our cupboard would be flooded. We had to pour in the dirty water slowly so that the pipe would not clog and be overwhelmed.
Step 13 Incomplete closing of cabinet door
Step 13 Mismatched size and poor patching
Is the plumber blind or does he just want to save costs by using a smaller pipe??
  • Cracked toilet wall tile caused by the installation of a towel rack. He managed to get his contractor to rectify this for us beautifully as the whole tile was replaced.
Step 13 Broken tile
  • Poor gluing of a stopper for our master bedroom toilet door. This was rectified as well.
Step 13 Missing stopper betw toilet door and tile
Step 13 Dropped stopper
  • No drainage hole in the shower kerb in our common toilet. We did not realise that this was missing and that it was a problem, until we moved in and started washing our toilet. Unlike our master bedroom toilet (see Step 7, last para), there was no drainage hole in the shower kerb in our common toilet. This resulted in a pooling of water whenever we wash our toilet. We would have to manually sweep the water out. If not, the water will take few days to evaporate and the dirt which we just scrubbed will continue to pool there and stick back onto the floor by the time the floor dries naturally. This was very irritating! We informed L but as we had already paid him by then, replies were at best, just placating us. Sunshine just gave up totally and wanted him out of our lives. Hence, I did not pursue this. Two years down the road, I regretted not chasing him for a rectification as it is very irritating every time the toilet is wet. Sigh.
Step 13 Pooled water
The floor was slanted towards the floor trap on the right of the picture (not pictured) but water could not flow there due to the shower kerb and we had to manually sweep it downwards as per the arrow.

Though it has been almost 2 years since our renovation was completed and we shifted in, writing this post still makes me boil as we are living in the mistakes made by our ID, L during the renovation process. I still remember I was so upset that our home was messed up by L that I cried angry tears. Sunshine still chided me then for allowing myself to feel negatively about our home because of someone else’s mistakes. Sigh. A reminder to all to please be careful when choosing your ID and perhaps, nag at him more to remind him about certain things when he seemed to be going in the wrong direction.

Read more about Step 12 on carpentry and electrical works here.
Read more about Step 14 on more buying here.


Spread the word:
Rainbow

A novice baker =)

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