I'm glad my nightmare is ended.

The Indon contractor recommended to me by a close friend, that he did some good jobs. I trusted my friend's referral and hire the contractor.

In the early phase, things went well. You see progress every week. Work slowed down in second phase with occasional excuses not coming to work. Things get worst in the final phase. He do not turn up for work as if he come in as will. As a result, my reno took 5.5 months (without touch ups) to complete. They asked for payment fast.

I thought that sub labor is a good approach as one has the choice of building materials. Well, I do not think so any more simply you do not have control over them. They lure you with a good quotation and compound with every changes. In the end, there would be any savings. You get headache and tremendous risk. My hardware supplier told me that it is one in a million chances that you get a good Indon contractor. This has got nothing to do with
nationality or what.

Sub labor + risks + your time = Completed Project

The risks with sub labor are :
They might abandon the project and vanish in thin air.
They might use your materials for other projects.
They tend do things the way they feel right.
To my amazement, they throw the problems to you (especially with materials selected by you).
They played the blaming game.

I'm a reasonable guy with reasonable expectations. I did PR, spent them meal and even give ang pows for CNY. I tell you, they will exploit your kindness. You would not like to have confrontation with them as you do not know what is in their head. They might duplicate keys for future break in. So, taking precaution measures like changing lock is inevitable.

So speaking from experience, I rather engage a reno company than sub labor. Things will get even worst if you do not have time to supervise. Do the rich man do, pay for professionalism and save cost.

I'm sorry if my post upset you. I just feel glad that my reno is done and pay the contractor off because I do not like their attitude. I could do the touch ups on my own.

Grilling : ThreeKim. Contact Ivy 0122149382. Good price, above average workmanship, good installtion. Really good one are those apply putty at welding joint and sand off to give a smooth finishing. Much like car muggard. Harp Seng Alloy, Stephen Lee 0122313672. Specialises in wrought iron. Finer finishing, expect a steeper pricing. I visited their factory.

Kitchen cabinet : Crimson Enterprise. Contact Max Ong 0122823830. I used stainsteel steel kitchen. Double the price of standard MDF. Good workmanship, good build quality. Just don't get door for concrete kitchen table from them. RM180 per foot run. Your friendly glass shop can get for RM70 per foot run.

Wiring : Mr Chan. 0192757593. Standard price, flexible. I changed the location of switches many times. No extra charge for me.

Door : I get a Wangli China made door. The thing with chinese metal door is the lock. It is not that secure as people can still break in especially door with chinese lock. Wangli uses Abloy lock. For good quality Nyatoh wooden door for reasonable price, Winwood Ent Many Kwan 0122388981.

Alu window : Teamhouz Alu Glass work. Contact 0127908633. The popular one thick alu frame with light green glass, you can not find better price than him. RM30++psf, other quoted me RM50++. They came and touch up paint work.

Ceramic tile : Go to White Horse showroom in Selayang and Kimgress showroom in PJ. Otherwise, kena chop also do not know. For polish tile, visit Sing Mee in PJ 03-77810985. Good variety.

Carpet : Wait til they install on Tuesday. They are clearing some carpet, really really good deal.

Sofa : I bought leather sofa from Futuresofa. I pay attention to structural, padding, thickness and quality of leather and stiching. The guy almost wanted to hire me as I tried his sofas and give him my opinion. Haha! Other branded one, will not come near. Please go to Klang branch and mention my name Lim from Puchong.

I got some of the lead from this very forum and others from close contacts.

Cheers.

Agreed with Bishop, go for a local main con/ID (if you afford). I made a mistake of engaging them. You see, I planned structural changes without realising the beam locality. Get the main con/ID to the house and identify the beam and work out if the beam could be removed. And sometimes, the beam play hide and seek with you. The unexpected hidden beam right in a wall, not a the corner but half way the wall.

My Indon contractor started asking money the third day he worked and fly back home to Surabaya just a little more than 1 month of work. Came back 2 weeks later to continue work :-(

I have heard this "Do not mess with Maidura people."

Good to learn some construction knowledge. Go buy yourself a long water spirit and use them with every site inspection. They will know you are knowledgeable and would not be funny with you. Before painting, skim coat all the wall. People can tell if your house is of a good reno job.

Hold payment until your instruction is carried out.

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Added on May 1, 2011, 9:35 amYou are absolutely right about this.

This post has been edited by limch: May 1 2011, 09:38 AM

It is about right. All socket and switches of Clipsal were included. He helps me to install all electrical items incl. water heater, lighting, fan and etc. Go with the contractor you most comfortable with.

In my case, I asked my contractor for separate line for my home theatre room. My bill came up to RM7k+.

Alternately, he could charge you daily labor charges. You supply accessories. In my case, I trusted him. Funny thing is he will hack but your construction contractor to patch.

My advise to you, plan your socket. Probably every 10 ft per socket. Also plan your unifi wiring too.

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Added on May 4, 2011, 10:40 pmThe home owner must know what he wants first. Reading helps. Then throw the concept and budget to the ID.

In my case, I know what I want and there is little to do with ID.

However, there are many pantang for Chinese. I doubt that many ID know. However, Fengshui master can correct the wrong too. Modern designs ignore these pantang.

This post has been edited by limch: May 4 2011, 10:40 PM