Popping floors make condo owners hopping mad
For Priya Satiaceelan and Chan Kok Hong, owning their respective service apartments in Puchong's prestigious The Heron Residency was a dream come true.
But their dream turned into a nightmare when tiles literally popped out of the flooring turning the once smoothly polished surfaces into a collection of jagged cracks and uneven see-saws barely 18 months after building was completed.
Priya 28 (right), said that she received a call from her tenants on the morning of Aug 29 telling her that the floor of her unit was "popping up like a volcano."
When she arrived to inspect her unit, she found the whole house "was vibrating and moving."
Priya and Chan both own apartments in Block A at The Heron Residency.
The apartment complex was named after the Heron, a bird that in Malay is called 'Puchong'...a pun on the prestigious project's location.
Worried that the entire structure might collapse, she immediately filed a police report at the Bandar Bukit Puchong Police Station.
The police later referred her to the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (known by its Malay acronym of MPSJ)
For Chan, a restful evening at home watching television with his family turned scary when according to him, his floor tiles suddenly "popped up and cracked."
"Suddenly crack! The whole dining area tiles popped up," he said.
The incident which happened on the night of Sep 14, left a long jagged gash o hins apartment's floor.
Incident not isolated
According to Chan and Priya, they were not the only ones experiencing problems.
At least seven more apartment owners reported the same problems but according to them, theirs were by far worse.
They also reported cracks on the apartment floor as well as along the floor of the covered car park at Block A.
A site visit by Malaysiakini found long stretches of tar and plaster along the cracks, which appears to be an attempt to fix the damage.
The Trinity Group, which owns the apartment's developer Darul Dinasti and operates The Heron Residency, says its website that it prides itself in " the ability to take on large scale projects, to develop the projects at a fast pace and to create value."
A claim that may be disputed by residents of The Heron.
'An uncooperative management'
When asked about the management's reaction to their complaints Priya said that they "were of no help at all."
Priya went on to describe her fruitless crusade for help and support from building developer Darul Dinasti, it's architect Visage Architect and The Heron Residency's management.
"Nobody wants to take responsibility, not the architect, not the management, not the developer," said the frustrated home owner.
Priya claimed that she has been informed by the management that there is nothing that they can do to assist her as the default liability period was over.
According to her Sales and Purchase Agreement (S&P) with the developer, Priya was given 12 months from the handover date of Feb 2008 to report any defect at her apartment.
But the defects appeared eighteen months later.
However Priya said "I strongly feel that it should be fixed by the management or the architects as its outrageous for such an incident to happen to a new building unless it was due to poor architecture."
Both home owners said that they were only hoping for someone to take responsibility and help them. Coming to the press was a last resort.
Priya and Chan are not alone with problems with The Heron Residency's management.
Real estate online forums showed that other residents at The Heron have been complaining about similar problems.
'Fault lies in workmanship'
Priya further said that a representative from MPSJ which inspected her unit, said that the fault lies in the poor workmanship.
A private contractor, whom she has engaged to look at the damage to her apartment, agreed explaining that "the cement was not enough."
Gaps resulting from unevenly applied cement to the tiles to stick them to the floor seem to be the reason for the 'popping up'.
The MPSJ representative who inspected Priya's apartment has promised to issue her a letter confirming that poor workmanship.
Meanwhile Chan added, "We hope the developers can help to fix this, as soon as possible."
Management urge patience
When met at his office, property maintenance manager Clarence James, who claims to be a long time veteran in building management, admitted that there is a problem with floor tiles popping up, which he termed 'uplifting'.
He said that the problem is caused by "pressure and movements" in the building.
But he was quick to deny that it was "structural".
Instead he explained that buildings needs to be ventilated and aired out too.
He said that if closed up, the fittings in the apartment may 'move' because of compression.
Defect liability period extended
James also agreed that this may also be caused by the expansion and contraction of concrete and tiles because of temperature differences between night and day and weather effects.
When asked about reports that not enough cement were used in the installation of the tiles, he said that he will have to refer the mater to the relevant consultants and experts.
James (right) assured the affected residents that action will be taken to rectify the situation, despite the fact that the 12 month liability defect period as stipulated in their S&P agreements had expired.
He said, "we are giving them a eighteen months coverage. So anything within eighteen months will be covered."
The property maintenance manager urged all affected residents to be patient because the issue requires the intervention of consultants and experts which will take some time to arrange.
"Actually we are looking into it, but we are waiting for the architects and consultants. We are coming up with a quick solution" he said.
"Once there is an outcome we will call them and inform them the course of action," he added claiming that they have informed the resident affected of the delay in repair works and will get back to them soon.
http://malaysiakini.com/news/113181 
Sep 21 2009, 11:49 AM
Quote
0.0325sec
0.90
6 queries
GZIP Disabled