Things I learned after renovating my flat

I have been living in my flat for 4 years now. It was brand new when we bought it and we did a full renovation before we moved in. In these 4 years, I have realized and observed several things that are good learning points from a renovation in Singapore.

Checking tiles

After the tiling works are completed, do a thorough check on all the tiles that have been installed. Check for stains, chips, scratches. I found a tile right in the middle of my flat which has a huge grey stain against the sandy colour of the tile itself. We did not notice this during defect checking and are now just living with it. If we had found out right after they did the tiling, before the cement had cured completely, it could have been removed and replaced.

Quality of products used

Be watchful of the type of paint and wall putty that the contractors use on the walls. They might try to cut cost by diluting paint or using low quality wall putty, while charging for the more expensive stuff. Also check on the type of adhesives and silicone used.

Quality of work

The electrical contractors that were engaged by our interior design company were quite incompetent. They only knew how to supply and install their own electrical circuitry and LED light strips. Since we had bought our own and given it to them to install, it was different from the ones they were used to. So, the workers did not know how to install them properly. Even their skill in soldering work was bad. Luckily, my husband who is electrically trained, realized this, and stepped in to show them how the work is done. He basically became their supervisor for the work. It was also fortunate that we decided to stop by when the electrical workers were in.

Installation of appliances

After moving in, we realized that our kitchen appliances, oven and cooker hood, were installed poorly. We found the oven wall seal in its box during our clean up. They had not installed it! Upon closer inspection of the oven, we saw that it was tilted. In order to install the wall seal, we had to removed the oven out of the carpentry work anyway, and that’s when we saw that they had used screws of two different lengths to haphazardly attach the oven in place. This could have led to accidents, food and grime getting stuck in between the wall and oven, and poor circulation of heat, possibly leading to fire. I dread to think something bad might have happened if we had not seen this in time.

Similarly, the cooker hood was installed without filters and its cover was carelessly screwed on.

The hot water heater for the shower also almost caused a fire in the house a couple of months later due to loose wiring work. The power point melted through one day. These were all fixed by my husband and I. If we were not handy enough to do the works ourselves, this would have led to more time and money wastage.

Claiming warranties

We had 3 years of warranty after the renovation works, during which time, we informed the interior designer of the above poor installations. She offered to call in her electrician to fix the problems, but we had no confidence in the same people coming in to fix a problem that they caused in the first place.

However, we did claim warranty to do reworks on the shower kerbs that were leaking water out and a few patch ups in the floor skirting. The tiler had left ugly gaps between the floor skirting and floor. Perhaps he just applied cement to the wall and indiscriminately placed the tiles over, without filling in gaps. The gaps could have led to insects nesting in there or become dust collection points.

In conclusion, it is always best to be as involved as possible with home renovations(without being a nuisance). Especially when it comes to checking the quality of products used and works done. Cosmetic changes can be handled later, functional and safety matters are of the utmost importance. Contractors usually try to get away with cheap work by using cheap un/semi-skilled workers, thus users need to fill the skill gap by identifying defects early.