Our List of Reliable Contractors & Shops

Finding good reliable contractors in Johor is like looking for needle in haystack (at least from our perspective). Hence, I thought I'd share a number of contractors who we find are good and reliable.

Renovation contractor: Image ID & Furniture, Nick Pang, +60127282733. He's our master ID contractor for stage 2 & 3 renovation of our place. He's very responsible and reliable, we're very happy with his work.

Electrician: Afung +60127978839, subcontractor we knew from Nick. He did our electrical work and aircon servicing. Always friendly & reliable, but only speaks Mandarin and a bit of Malay.

Locksmith: Golden Key @ Bukit Indah Branch, +6072368012. Very good locksmith, fast response and good quality installation of door locks. 

Green Forest Plumbing Hardware Trading: Summer solar water heater, +60167788931. Fast response, installation went smoothly and we're still very happy with our solar water heater a year + on. 

I hope this helps, all the best with your house fitting/renov!

Have a great weekend, 

Erika

Belated Happy New Year & Lunar New Year

Good evening everyone. It's been almost 2 months since my last post. I apologise for being M.I.A so much.

I've returned to work (was on leave at the end of last year for renovation & travel) in January this year. We've moved back to our own house...YEAY after 4.5 months of intense internal renovation. Life has been very interesting now that we are expecting (currently going on 6 months + now). Apart from feeling exhausted pretty much every day, I am very grateful for all the blessing that we have. I'm also very grateful for the support that we've received from so many wonderful neighbours, THANK YOU to each one of you!!! We can't ask for any better neighborhood to be in and to have our first baby in.

I'm due at the end of May and I'll do my best to keep writing until then, after which I would probably take some time off from my blog to focus on our new family member :) for a little while, so please bear with me and thanks a lot for your continued readership and support.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some pictures from our now 95% completed renovation (internal).

Here we go:

Revamped kitchen:



Study room extension:



Courtyard:



and blue for baby's room:



Ian built most of the timber doors and I'm super proud of his work, so thanks to the hubby for doing awesome job! Maybe I can request for him to write about making doors :)

We still have a little bit to do internally and we have not had chance to complete internal decor (paintings etc) but we're extremely extremely happy to be back home and we're very happy and proud with the outcome of this renovation. Kudos to our contractors! We're looking to start stage 3 which is external soon, hopefully in time for housewarming before our baby is due. So stay tuned for more renovation updates in the next coming months :)

Last but not least, I just want to say BIG thank you to Barry & Jackie who's been so kind to host us during our messy renovation. Thanks for being such lifesaver.

Have a good evening everyone,
Erika

Consistent Leaks In The House

Just wanted to share some leaking problems that we are still facing in our house. We've reported it many times to the developer but all they have done was covered and painted over it. It's super annoying and I know that many neighbours are facing the same issues. Apart from continuously hassling the UEM customer service office, I'm wondering if anyone has successfully gotten UEM to fix these leak issues. Please do share your experience and thoughts.

Leaks on staircase landing wall


Leaks on guest bedroom's bathroom ceiling


Also, we found out that almost none of the windows are straight and the rendering on the walls are quite soft. Well, actually a lot of things in the house are not straight (from door frames, main entrance, etc) !!!!!!

We thought we could just drill and screw on timber blinds, but the rendering cracked so we had to screw in a length of aluminium angle to reinforce the top of the window opening which is anchored deep into the wall and then attach the Venetian timber blinds clip to the aluminium angle. The benefit of this is straight edge, less screws required to be counter sunk into the wall and we can attach any window finishing to the aluminium.

1 Week in Our House

Time flies, it's been a week since we moved into our house. We have officially terminated our rental agreement for the temporary housing...a 3 months rental which turned out to be a 9 months rental.

Moving and living in our house is a bittersweet experience. I'm very happy that we are finally living in our own house, which is the first house that I have ever owned in my life. However, I do get frustrated that things have progressed super slowly and there are still so much more to be completed. I spent this whole weekend cleaning as much as possible so that we don't feel like we are living in a warehouse (still do, but at least a bit better). At least, the big pile of rubbish outside is gone :)

Top 10 things that we've learned so far from our renovation exercise:
1. Lower your expectations, you would reduce the disappointment & heartache :)
2. Do detailed checks for defects & chase your developers to fix it. Developers here, (UEM included) tend to take shortcuts and things are often not up to the standards that we are used to, especially if compared to Australian standards etc.
3. Best to supervise all work done, unfortunately, micro-management is compulsory most of the time.
4. Some things are still cheaper in Singapore, e.g. electronics, top quality taps, LED lights.
5. Install water filter system for your house. We engaged a company to install and clean the water tank last week. You'd be surprised to see how dirty (I'm talking about dark brown) Malaysian water is...yuckie yuckie :)
6. Always compare multiple quotes.
7. Try to include some penalty clauses into your fit out contract if possible to help you recover from delays (in case).
8. Use stainless steel as much as possible, other iron/materials fall apart very quickly.
9. Whatever time frame you've given your renovation project, best to multiply that by two.
10. Most important point of all, never fully pay after a job is done, most of the time, you'll be calling the company to come back and redo something.

That would be my top 10 learning to date, I am sure that there would be more interesting experience that we will go through down the track. For now, here's to our 1st week anniversary in our new house.

Have a great Sunday evening & great week ahead everyone.

Moved into Our House Finally!

Finished or unfinished, furnished or unfurnished, we decided to take the plunge and forced ourselves (+ contractors of course) to move into the house on Saturday.

I engaged a cleaning company to clean 3 rooms, but I must say that I was not too impressed with the cleaning quality. The cleaning company I hired was Suria Supply & Cleaning services. They sent 4 people to clean, but still missed a lot of dirty spots, so I would not recommend engaging them. Looks like there'll be lots and lots of rounds of cleaning still to do.

After months of back and forth, our container has also arrived from Bali on Friday. Unfortunately, some items were incorrectly sized and a few items were damaged. We still need to go through all items and measurements in details, so I'll blog more about this episode down the track.

Overall, it's good to be finally in your own house. It's taken us 6 months since we started planning the interior design and we're far from being done. I can only hope and pray that we'll be able to get major items completed asap, reassess and reengage a new contractor (hopefully a very reliable one) for all remaining items.

Wish us luck!

If there's any word of advice that I can give based on my experience, that'd be lower your expectations and never pay fully after a job is done, most of the time, you'll be calling the company to come back and redo something (be it aircon fittings, painting, water filter, cleaning - you name it, we've experienced it all :)

Here's to all home-owners who are going through renovation headaches like most of us here :)
Erika

Frustration in dealing with Interior Designers & contractors

I guess this is not a surprise to anyone who's built/renovated houses in Malaysia. With things constantly falling behind schedule and many many many things not being done properly, I am very close to a point of despair and our dream house design seems soooooo far away. Please please be super careful when selecting your interior designer(s).

I'm glad that we've not recommended our Interior designers to anyone. In fact, I'd strongly suggest to never engage services of Ray Mak & Alien (partners).

I am considering finding another contractor to finish the job, so if you know of any trustworthy and reliable contractors, please drop me a note. Thanks in advance!

Frustrated,
Erika

Renovation renovation renovation - Quick update

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I did my last update and posting. Life has been very hectic with a couple of family emergencies to deal with. Hopefully things will be better for the 2nd half of 2011.

We've been progressing with our house renovation....slowly. Completion date has been postponed again due to some delays. Right now, we're aiming to move in between 3rd week of July to mid August. The house will nowhere be as completed as we hope to be, but by this time, we're just focusing on taking it to a stage at which we will be able to move in. Work will continue from there onwards.

Some of the major area being renovated are:

Ground floor living area

Yes, the wave ceiling :) A few of our neighbors have been following our progress. Thanks for all your encouragement and support :)

When we were brainstorming about the design of our living room, we decided to not split the room for now as we are still unsure about how we would like to use the space. We then decided to make our ceiling a feature in the ground floor area. We took an inspiration from one of my client's office in Bali (I love Balinese creativity & design). So the idea of the wave ceiling was born.

Since Ian's an ex engineer, he knew from start how he would build the ceiling, but communicating the idea to our interior designer and builders were never easy.

Big lesson learnt: interior designers & builders in Johor tend to have very narrow view and limited experience in designing/building something more than the usual Johor house designs. We've spent a ton of time explaining and taking on jobs by ourselves (esp. my husband) as our design concept is very specific and is definitely very different from local houses' interior designs. If you're after a more international/specific designs, best to design it yourself :)

Unfortunately, based on our experience, I definitely will not recommend our interior designer to any expats.

Framework of wave ceiling:



Boards being installed:



Ian has been busy working on the wave ceiling and we hope that it can be completed by next weekend. Fingers crossed! I cannot wait to see the completed ceiling, it would be super nice and cool.

Master bathroom:

We decided to redo our entire master bathroom and swap the toilet & shower areas.

The renovation is not completed yet, but at least the walls have been tiled. The bathroom should be 80% completed by end of this week. We're still waiting for our Bali furniture to arrive, hopefully that should arrive in about 3 weeks time.



These are the areas with the biggest work required. Once the bathroom is almost completed, we will be able to sand and darken the parquet floor. Once the wave ceiling is completed, TV and kitchen cabinets will be installed. With lights (mostly LEDs) and aircons installed, we will be able to move in...finally Yeay!

Please wish us luck for completing this renovation! If you're renovating your house, I wish you all the best too!

P/S: To my aunt who passed away this week, we love and miss you. I know that you're in a better place and your memories will always be cherished. Rest in peace auntie.

At Long Last, We've Kick-started Our Interior Fit Out

Sorry for being M.I.A again :) We've been super busy with work and at long last, renovating & fitting out our house (+ a small holiday in France 3 weeks ago).

After months of searching, reviewing & negotiating prices, we finally signed off on our interior design plan and started work in our house.

It's still very early stage as you can see from the pictures below. We have divided work into 3 phases. In phase I, we will only focus on hacking, structural changes and a few main rooms (Master bed and bathroom, study room and kitchen).

The theme of our house will be Balinese, so we are also off to Bali soon to source furniture such as dining table, bath tub and more.

We also spent a lot of time in the past 2 weekends sourcing for tap fittings, basins, cooktop and range hood.

Here is a few shops which we found interesting (and bought items from):

Sim Siang Choon Hardware (S) Pte Ltd
Phone: 62666632
Address: SIM SIANG CHOON BUILDING, 21 Changi South Avenue 2, Singapore 486630

We have visited above 20 bathroom products shops both in Johor and Singapore. I found this shop through internet. It is almost like an IKEA for bathroom and kitchen products. This place carries the largest low-mid range bathroom and kitchen products. Some items were surprisingly cheap as compared to the Hansgrohe range (though similar material and similar looking).



SaniQuo Pte Ltd
568 Sims Avenue Singapore 387598

We bought some Hansgrohe taps and bath mixer from this shop. All except the bath mixer has been delivered. I'm a bit disappointed with this shop as we were told that there is stock for the item we wanted and it would be delivered on Monday, but now we have to wait for another week as the item's actually out of stock.



Best Light Electrical Sdn Bhd

No: 15-17 Jalan Ros Merah 2/10, Taman Johor Jaya, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor.

We also visited lots of shops when we were looking for cooktop and range hood (from Harvey Norman, Best Denki & more in Singapore to lots of local shops). We narrowed our selection on the Electrolux Ultra Clean Hood and Gas Hob with 3 Burners. Best Light shop had the best price offer, so that's where we bought these items from.



Brilliant Supplies Sdn Bhd
No 6, Jalan Indah 1, Taman Bukit Indah, 79100 Bandar Nusajaya Johor

This place had the best price offer for stone sinks which we were looking for our bathroom.



There's still a longgggg way to go before Phase I renovation is complete, but I cannot wait to get things done and to be able to move into our own house. I will continue posting updates and learnings from this renovation, so please stay tuned.

Have a great Sunday!

For renovators: House renovation materials manufacturers in Skudai

Hi Everyone, sorry for being M.I.A for a while.

Yesterday we went to research on construction materials prices and availability. Through internet, we found the Taman Perindustrian JB Perdana and Taman Industri Jaya areas in Skudai. In these areas, you will see warehouses, glass manufacturers, timber manufacturers & more (including noodles & other food manufacturers).

We did not purchase any items yesterday, so I can't vouch for the quality of these items.

Here are some of the places we went to:

Yi Hong Tiling Sdn. Bhd.
No 10, 12 & 14, Jalan Satria 10

This shop has quite a selection of tiles. We asked about the Bali design stones and the prices given range from RM25 (for smallest piece) to RM250 for the bigger rectangle piece.



J.B Glass & Aluminium Sdn. Bhd
No 46, Jalan Satria 6

The quote we received for tempered glass (2 x 6 ft) for shower screen (incl installation) was RM 336. The price we've been quoted by an interior designer was RM1,100 per piece!



Seawin Trading S/B
This place sells reconstituted veneer sheets and teak sheet.
I forgot the actual street number :)

Estimated prices given:
Teak sheet RM63/sheet (natural finish)
Reconstituted veneer - RM70 to RM88
Moulding Teak - RM2.16/feet
Moulding Nyatoh - RM0.84/feet



Parkettmall
No 18, 19, 20, 21, Jalan Satria 7

Solid Wood flooring - Burmese teak est. RM70/psf for supply only and RM82/psf for supply & installation
Engineered Flooring Collection - Burmese teak est. RM26/psf + RM5/sf for installation

This company seems to be quite an established timber flooring specialist but prices are quite steep.



Hwa Yeap Hardware Sdn. Bhd
No 23, Jalan Satria 6

Dealer of furniture, hardware accessories and customized plastic moulding.

I like some of the kitchen cabinet accessories I saw, especially the one shown in the middle picture below, but the price is very expensive (est. RM8K) as cabinet system is a German imported product.



There were a few more warehouses we went into but we were not able to speak to the sales office assistants as they had left for the day.

Google Maps for Taman Perindustrian JB Perdana:


View Larger Map

1 last place that we visited was Taman Industri Jaya which was super difficult to find on our Garmin system.

We visited a stainless steel manufacturer, Wei Tat Stainless Industries who is located at No 4, Jalan Silat Harimau 21, Taman Industri Jaya. There is no logic to the streets numbering in this area, so I've tried to locate it in Google Maps here

We were not able to get any price estimation as the person hardly speaks English and could only quote based on estimated design. They fabricate many stainless steel items, ranging from gates to restaurants' conveyer belts.



Overall, it was a very productive trip and we now have a much better idea of materials costs which would allow us to prioritise and negotiate with interior designers better.

Good luck if you're planning to or are renovating too!