Frustrations of renovation

Last Friday, we officially moved back home. It feels great to come back to where we started. For 5 years, this apartment was someone else's home. Finally, we reclaim it as our own again.

Early last year, we decided completely renovate our apartment. We'd thought we would take this chance to give it an overhaul and have it done up the way we want it.

That was the ideal. Reality sometimes sucks.

Boxes waiting to be unpacked

By the time the movers came last Wednesday with our belongings (all 80 boxes of them), renovations were still incomplete. The kitchen wasn't ready, the children's wardrobe hadn't been fully installed and our bookshelves were also left undone.

Storage aside, other fittings like the kitchen countertop was not ready - without which we couldn't use the taps. Simple washing like mugs or hands and even brushing our teeth were done under a shower head.

As of today, we still lack a gate and to make matters worse, the lock on the main door is faulty.

"When are you coming to fix it?" I asked. "We are rushing it," was the answer: a response I've heard many times this past month.

Last month, there was an article in the Straits Times entitled "Dream house, renovation nightmare". Ours isn't exactly a nightmare but it's certainly no sweet dream.

As days go by, we detected more and more defects. Chips in the kitchen, a hole on the wooden laminate floor, scratches on the bathroom doors... There were some gooey patches on the kitchen floor and other parts of the kitchen. When we pointed this out to our designer/contractor, he suggested that we buy some Jif because Jif would clean it silicon binders. What a turnaround in attitude compared to the start of the project when they would take care of everything. A month ago, we'd probably get "don't worry, I'll take care of this" and they would sort the problem out.

Now that 90% of the costs have been paid - we felt we were hunted down by loansharks for the last 30%, perhaps less forthcoming help should be expected.

Today, a couple of men came to install locks on our kitchen windows and change the panelling on the bathroom doors. Not only did I have to clean up the mess they left behind, I noticed they also left hard-to-remove stains on the doors and wash basin.

How long does it take to fit in 5 wooden planks for my shelves? The carpenters take at least 6 days, and counting. The same guys are responsible for changing the hinge on one of the kitchen cabinets. I'm still waiting.

I have 20 more boxes to unload. A OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) seems to be developing as I sweep the floor 5 times a day, each time cleaning up more debris and dust. Frustration continues to build up.

So I wouldn't recommend Cartel Design if you are considering renovation works in Singapore. We chose the company through the reference of a friend. Renovation is a dodgy industry, at least in Singapore, so we had expected delays and shoddy workmanship. Other friends we asked say they would recommend their contractors only to their enemies.

While other aspects of our life seem to be getting on fine, this on-going renovations, especially the dribs and drabs in these last phases, is clouding up my nice outlook.