Hi everyone, im approaching the end of my renovation at my 1400 sq ft condo and am seeking some help in understanding what the tolerance for workmanship / finishing is.

It hasnt been an enjoyable experience, the reno was originally scheduled for 3 months, but has run over by almost 2 months.

There have been numerous experiences with my contractor that has left a bad impression:

- the head contractor isnt hands on enough, and instead relies on his on-site pm to keep him updated and direct work flow - however there is clearly some organisation beef as they both are less than complimentary to each other. How this has manifested is we bought into the head contractors spiel about his good finishing etc, but this sentiment isnt shared by his pm - who is more of a ‘if it works, it works, doesnt have to look perfect’

- we had a disagreement with db box installation, where we were quoted rm180 for new plug points with new wiring throughout the unit, from all points back to the db box. However, we noticed they werent changed and instead were extensions. When we questioned this - he said he thought they were going to be new, but his team briefed the workers against it to meet the deadline. We were then told we would be charged rm150 for the plugpoints, but we couldnt wrap our heads round it because:
a) we only did most points because he said thered be new db wiring
b) they ended up being extensions in some places like 30cm, so couldn’t understand why the charge remained the same

- when subcons performed work ie plumbing, the pm and head con would approve the work without consulting us, then tell us after it was done and say ‘oh btw the plumbing is going to be RM500 more’. When we disputed this and questioned why we werent consulted, we would be told ‘oh this is how its done and I dont have time to educate you on every little thing’

- we were invoiced for pm and drawing services - but in the end ive had to do all technical drawings, wardrobe measurements, configurations, bathroom sketches, kitchen sketches and anything from a carpentry visual end. I sent these drawings to the head con, who didnt send it to his team or subcon, causing the carpentry to come in wrong multiple times, delaying the whole reno.

- re carpentry, it feels like weve been left out in the lurch with the considerations weve had to think of (drawer heights, mechanism measurements etc.). From above, we sent drawings through of the minimum heights we required in kitchen and wardrobe drawers (based off our belongings), but when the carcasses came - they were wrong and we were told the only way to achieve what we wanted was to make a concession by having handles rather than what we actually wanted (handleless).

- his pm has been incredibly rude to my wife when we pointed out some issues about our door frames - we’re obviously in an age where we can see how certain things could be done to rectify things, so when she pointed out something and suggested a way to fix something we were unhappy about - the pm got super defensive and talked incredibly aggressively

From my perspective, we are paying a lot of money for this whole process and it has been made unpleasant by a team who has talked down to us throughout, made little effort to help us get the things we wanted and also its put a massive strain on everything. The above is only a glimpse of some of the things that have gone wrong, and you could literally spot something wrong in every room of the unit.

I totally understand that there will be hiccups in reno, but its been so hard to accept because we are pretty much never told ‘sorry’ or felt like theyve held themselves accountable.

As i mentioned earlier, im thankfully coming to the end but am still due touchups - i need to know what the acceptable tolerances are for accepting poor finishing?

Things i am looking for them to fix
- patchy, lumpy paint
- incredibly poor laminated carpentry finishing - there are chips, cracks, wavy lines and patchwork pieces
- wrong switch order (which we provided months ago - and it was still done wrong)

Pls help

can share which contractor and how much the cost? where do you find it?

You as the owner, deal directly with the contractor?

Is it cheap? Like much cheaper than the others you have compared?

About the cabinet drawer height, yes most handleless design actually comes at the cost of lower available drawer height. The only way to not lose the height while still being handleless is with those push-to-open hardware, or have the handle integrated into the drawer face (e.g. cutting a groove, use aluminum G profile hardware etc).

share the cost and dimension to see whether u have overpriced or overstatement..

sometimes things goes cheap must be a reason behind of it.. i paid to contractor versus i paid to Interior Design, price are huge difference.. but output are totally different.. it really depend on how much u pay for the things..

My neighbour solo find all the contractors and deal with them.. find the cheapest.. in the end here got problem, quality & expectations are different.. worst wiring use thin wires.. i also dont dare to comment much after see on it..

https://steelowoodydesignmalaysia.my.canva.site/

Beware of this Streelwoody Design Malaysia. Terrible service and super rude communication.

Have you fully paid the contractor? suggest to hold some balance until they rectify it.

The contractor I had was recommended by a hardware shop owner for painting services. Initially only for painting but our friend came with a huge portfolio claiming he had done this and that.

His initial work, very charming demeanor and lower market rates got the calculation machine in my head all glistening with $$$ earned.

There were mishaps along the way which was overlooked due to time constraints. Bathroom grills rusting after a few months and toilet bow installation with ugly connections was overlooked.

However in the latest episode I got wiser to his ways of lack of transparency and dubious products. He refused to give invoices and when pushed reluctantly gave one.

He refused to give an official invoice for the autogate system. Instead he provided a set of figures from a blank invoice paper.

Sometimes trust gets overshadowed. I have no idea where he got the autogate system from as there was no paperwork at all.

Finally told him to dismantle the whole thing. At first did not want to respond but later a push from certain quarters left him no choice.

Now the door bell is not working and it is going to be another hassle to get hold of the electrician who did the work.

Moral of the long write-up is never trust these contractors, ask for all paperwork, follow up frequently and in detail and the biggest mistake I made is in paying up 100%.

sorry to hear TS experience.For me who recently went through and completed the reno (thank god) what has been shared is totally unacceptable. Tolerance level needs to be super high, not to mention the disrespectful and demeaning towards the paying customer. The list above perhaps is just the dicovery part during handover, not even moving in and start using every single switch, pipes and cabinet yet. The worst has yet to come, please get them to fix it as much as could, hold all the remaining payment until they repair it to your satisfactory level. Plumbing, pipping and electrical issues are the most headache part....my defects slowly surfacing up after 1-2 months of living in when everything start running in full gear. So wherever possible don't accept if you are unhappy with them, hold payment or get rid of them completely. Wishing you the best!

Renovation in Malaysia is almost always have bad experience unless you really go for high end renovations like design seeds. Is all lesson learn