Uninvited Stress, Chaos and Change Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Monday, October 06, 2008

Last week ended with a note that Chiauw would bring us to the site this morning.  The objective was to decide for the placement of the towel hanger and toilet paper holder.  Chiauw just wanted us to decide where we would want to hang them in the two toilets.

We felt it would be a good idea to go down with Chiauw.  That we would be able, at the same time, to discuss some other issues and any other problems, if any.  In question, we also wanted to get a firm handover date.  When we first engaged Chiauw, early this year, she told us that renovation would normally finish within two months.  She was confident that we could move in early September.

Our renovation has stretched far too long.  It is into the fourth month.  An average renovation for a resale HDB would normally take about (maximum) three months.  Since we could not move in early September, we have actually re-scheduled it for today.  Obviously, we underestimated.

Chiauw told us, last week, that she will pick us at about 9 in the morning.  We waited.  By about 10, we decided to call her.  It was bad timing.  She was in the middle of a heated argument with Uncle Chong.  It seemed that Uncle Chong was angry that she changed some details for our kitchen.

Honestly, we felt that the tension was uncalled for.  We had already mentioned to Chiauw not to change any more drawings.  A change would, definitely, delay any progress.  We would accept technical variations as long as there are no large disparity.  We just wanted things to move on.

The arguments, which yet to come to any conclusion, were about our kitchen:

Problem Areas in Kitchen

Perfection Number One

Island Hood Area

Chiauw insists to rectify this area.  Though there is an ample space for a door between the cabinet and the island hood in the drawing, Uncle Chong mentions that it would not be possible.  We have agreed just to close the cabinet, or even boxed it up.

Chiauw feels it will be a wasted area.  But to us, it is just too small for anything and willing to forgo it.  She feels the aesthetic would not be right not to do anything there.  She suggests a rod where we can hang ladle, pots and pans but we strongly disagree.

Perfection Number Two

Kitchen Entrance (From Dining Room)

The right wall, from Dining to Kitchen area, is not even where there is a difference of 30 centimetres between the top and bottom.  Uncle Chong had mentioned this structural defect to us last week and the discrepancy can be obvious for a sliding wood framed glass door.

As this defect is only known now, we decided to go ahead with it.  To change to a full glass will require another system and it will take more time.  Chiauw, however, feels that Uncle Chong can do something about it.

Guess, for now, we just have to pray - as we are still not sure how they are going to be corrected.  As far as we are concerned, we have already told them what we wanted.

May Peace Be With Them!

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For The Record ... Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Sunday, September 28, 2008

I must have the vision to see my potential
and faith to believe what I see.
The courage to act with conviction
to become what God meant me to be.

Surely there must be something for the delay.  Surely there must be something for the hiccups.  For all that is to be, we can only put our focus, our desires and wants, as promised yesterday.  We want all jobs that were discussed yesterday to finish as scheduled:

29 September, 2008

-  Chiauw must contact Blum to enquire for Blum Aventosen system.  The size of our top hung kitchen cabinet, according to Uncle Chong and Daniel [from Formwell]  is too big.  As such, the Blum Aventosen may not be able to take the weight.

Until Chiauw can get the confirmation, the top hung kitchen cabinet project is temporarily suspended.

-  Uncle Chong must start with the rest of the kitchen cabinets.  He must submit measurements of drawers to Daniel of Formwell by 30 September, 2008.

30 September, 2008

Daniel should have received the measurements from Uncle Chong. 

03 October, 2008

Uncle Chong is to finish all the wood works in the Guest Room.

08 October 2008

-  The Master Toilet must finish.  The parquet guy must have installed the woods for Uncle Chong to erect the vanity top and drawers.

Master Toilet Floor

-  Daniel is to deliver all the glass kitchen drawers to the site.

10 October, 2008

Uncle Chong must complete all works including wardrobe at Dining Area.

As I advance confidently in the direction of my dreams
And endeavour to live the life I have imagined,
Success will come to me unexpectedly in common hours

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Fireworks Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Saturday, September 27, 2008

It started with the truth.

Yesterday, the first thing we did when we reached home after inspecting the site was to send an email to Chiauw.  Our intention, and for the very first time, was to express our disappointment.  We decided to express the truth.  That we didn't want the renovation progress to drag any further.  That we wanted Chiauw to commit to us a handover date. 

We felt by putting the pressure on Chiauw, it would cause a chain effect.  She would call Uncle Chong and to insist for his completion date.

On our part, and based on the earlier committed schedule, we have confirmed the deliveries for Thursday and Friday.  We have scheduled our move on 6th October and we are supposed to hand over Hertford on 8th October.

Looking at the situation in Reiki Sanctuary, there is no way we can achieve the deadline.  There is no way that the deliveries can be done as there would just be no clean area to place all the bulky items.  Even the Master Bedroom, which was supposed to be completed by 20th Spetember, was in a big mess.  The parquet floor was still covered and dusty.  There are still no lights inside the room.  There are still no proper vanity and sanitary.  The wardrobes are with no doors.  The sliding door separating the Master Bedroom and Study area is not fixed.  And the study top cabinet is, conveniently, forgotten.

The Female Fireworks

Within half an hour after sending the email, Chiauw called us.  We accepted her apologies.  She admitted that she forgot about the study top cabinet and there was no drawing given to Uncle Chong to construct it. Next, she shared with us her working problem with Uncle Chong.  She told us that she could not get any other trades to do anything until Uncle Chong completes his part.

On our part, that issue had settled in the previous meeting.  What is important is the question of responsibility - who should shoulder what?  We suggested that that she should call Uncle Chong and passed him about our concerns.

The Male Fireworks

Next, we had to handle Uncle Chong.  Chiauw had called him after her conversation with us.  She must had mentioned for a meeting.  He called us to refuse a tripartite meeting and insisted that it would be best for him to contact us directly. 

Perhaps, it was a better choice.  There were just too many unpleasant remarks made about Chiauw's modus operandi.  Before we could get him to commit the completion date, we had to listen to all his disappointments with Chiauw.  Not to aggravate the situation, we just listened.

Guessed Uncle Chong just needed to let off his steam too.  At the end of it, we managed to get him to verbally commit us the completion date.  Though we were not fully happy, we told him that we just have to accept the few dates.

The Aftermath

Other than getting some dates, our problems are not solved.  We are still back to guessing game.  For now, we are targetting 20th October.

We need to re-schedule the deliveries.  However, we are just wary if the mover can accommodate us on the 20th.

We wonder if both Chiauw and Uncle Chong understand our problems - that the longer we are to stay in Hertford, the more rent we have to pay.  This is an unnecessary expense and we could actually use it to get better things.  How about Reiki Sanctuary's neighbours?  How long more must they endure the noise, the dust?  How about our other plans?

A thought did cross our mind.  Should we get compensation should the project is delayed again?  Perhaps.

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Walk With Me Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Monday, September 22, 2008

Dear Uncle Chong,

Please walk with us again and, please please give us more reassurances. 

We were a little shocked when we went down to the site yesterday.  We are not complaining about the quality of your works but we observed that the joinery works in the Master Bedroom / Study Area and the Living Room TV Console were far from completed.  Our heart dropped and the next thing that popped in our mind was the big question if we can move in as planned.

Didn't we agree that the works should finish on Saturday, 20th September? 

What happened, Uncle Chong?  Yes, you deployed most of your workers and we saw eight of them working at the site on Thursday last week.  Yes, we also agreed with you that there is a huge amount of joinery works.  However, you had been briefed and agreed to undertake the project.  Plus, we had made 70 percent payment.

This week, you should be doing our kitchen cabinet and the joinery works for the Guest Room and the Dining area.  We hope that works at the site can start as soon as possible, preferably on Wednesday.  That will give you ample time to finish by the following Tuesday, the latest.  It is also the date that you had promised us where all the joinery works in the house should be completed.

You see, Uncle Chong, we are getting very worried - again.  We must admit that we are rather new to all these joinery works and, pardon us, if we sound rather apprehensive.  At the look of it, just for the works at the Master Bedroom and Study area, we figure that it will take more than two days to complete.  There seems to be a lot more works not done yet.

Can all the joinery works in the house be completed by 30th September as promised earlier?

These are the changes that need to be rectified:

01.  The entrance to the Master Toilet

We decided to do away with the double panel.  The Recycled Wardrobe will stay but the wood panel at the vanity area need to be taken off.  It is just ugly! We want it to be replaced with a half length, from floor to top of vanity, with a 12 mm clear glass.

MBR Toilet

02.  Master Wardrobe

We need more space for hanging our clothes.  There should be another hanging pole at where the drawers are.  You need to cover the existing holes.

MBR Master Wardrobe

03.  Suspended TV Consoles at Living Room and Master Bedroom

Just for the record, we just feel that the consoles are too low from the floor and they don't look 'suspended'.  However, after you had explained to us about the 'hollow' wall, we will accept them.

Living Room TV Console

Uncle Chong, you need to know that there are still few outstanding works that need to be carried out after your completion.  Chiauw needs few days for other trades to commence works.  These are other works waiting till you are done:

01.  The granite guys to install the granite for the vanity tops at Master and Guest Toilets.
02.  The plumber to install the tap mixers.
03.  The ceiling guys to fix the false ceiling at the entrance of the study area.  This is an extra work as you needed to open the false ceiling to lay tracks for the sliding door.
04.  The electrician to lay socket points at where you have created the flushed walls.
05.  The painters to give the final coat.
06.  The last vanishing to the chengal wood.
07.  The installation of the main gate.
08.  The installation of the kitchen sink, kitchen hob and island hood.
09.  General clean-up before Chiauw can finally hand us the house.

We hope you can understand our problem.  We have to vacate our place by 6th October.  Definitely, it will cause great inconvenience to move in when the house is still in a big mess.  We also don't wish other renovation works to be carried out when we are staying there.

Yours Sincerely,

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Renovation - Week 09A - "Boxing Day" Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Monday, September 15, 2008

Christmas comes early here in Reiki Sanctuary.  And it is already the Boxing Day!

Contrary to the real Boxing Day, Reiki Sanctuary is not about the opening of Christmas Box to share the contents with the poor.  No, it is not even Christmas in Reiki Sanctuary.

Rather, Reiki Sanctuary is doing just the opposite.  It is about closing the box to hide away the common HDB water sanitary pipes.  We just feel that they are intrusive and err errr ugly.  And the purpose is about achieving a neater bathroom with pleasing sight.  This week, we got Uncle Chong - the joiner, to conceal all the common pipes in the house.  We want the pipes in the two toilets and at the balcony boxed up. 

To us, it is an exercise in minimalism by covering the pipes in the toilet.  The less we see the pipes, the less cluttered feeling we get. We also need to study how to go about boxing up these pipes.  There will be 'opening' for easy future maintenance but flushed.

Boxed-up works in progress:

Balcony

Before

Balcony - HDB Common Water Pipe

After - The Boxed-Up

Balcony - Boxed Up

Guest Toilet

Before

Guest Toilet - HDB Common Toilet Pipes

After - The Boxed-Up

Guest Toilet - Boxed Up
1

Master Bedroom Toilet

Before

Master Toilet - HDB Common Toilet Pipes

After - The Boxed-Up
The Recycled Wardrobe

Master Toilet - Boxed Up / Recycled Wardrobe

We are expecting Uncle Chong to finish all the joinery works in the Master Bedroom and Study area by end of this week.  The works include:

01.  Vanity Top drawers in Master Toilet
02.  Doors for Recycled Wardrobe
03.  Suspended 2 feet long TV Console
04.  King size Bed frame and 2 Side Tables
05.  Wood Slate/Divider
06.  Double back-to-back Wardrobe
07.  Sliding Door between Master Bedroom and Study area
08.  Wardrobe in Study area
09.  Study Table and Wall-hung cabinet
10.  Window Bench
11.  Master Bedroom Door

Hopefully, he can finish them so that he can move on with our kitchen cabinet, Guest Room and Dining Room wood works. 

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.. and The Joins Stained .. and The Big Sacrifice Awaits Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Thursday, August 07, 2008

We almost lost Uncle Chong - the principal joiner of Reiki Sanctuary.  To us, and also Chiauw, Uncle Chong is a meticulous joiner.  We have seen his works and he takes extreme care about details and kinda fussy to technicalities.

Wardrobe done by Uncle Chong in another project:

Wardrobe n Drawers Done By Uncle Chong

Ah, it sounds almost like Chiauw!  And, indeed, when we put the two of them together, they often engage in friendly arguements - always!  Uncle Chong is the practical guy who needs a detailed drawing so that he can exercise precision with the final products.  Chiauw, on the other hand, is very architectural and she needs exact measurement before she can lay the final products into a drawing. 

As the renovation is slowly taking shape, and new ideas or site technical problems cropped out, Chiauw feels the joinery drawings can only be finalised when all the wetworks are completely done.  But Uncle Chong insists on a drawing now so that he can start with all the wood works. 

And so, the drifts have started *sad*.

Uncle Chong has been awarded with our joinery works right from the very beginning of our renovation project and had been briefed on layouts for the whole house - the location, the type of wood and wood finishes.  We have a lot of joinery works in this house, even the TV consoles and bed frame and its side tables are to be customed made by Uncle Chong.  Simply, Uncle Chong understands our basic requirements.

We like both of them.  We strongly believe that each one of them will give us the best for Reiki Sanctuary.  But, right now, we are smacked in between.  Uncle Chong wants to quit and Chiauw is not going to heed.  As long as Chiauw is not going to give him the final drawings, Uncle Chong cannot deliver the goods by early September.

Chiauw, however, strongly feels that she can only finalise the drawing by end of this week when all the false ceilings and tiles/teakwoods are completely installed.  She feels that Uncle Chong can already start with the small parts based on the earlier drawings for the doors, kitchen cabinet drawers, study area etc.  But Uncle Chong has a different work style - he prefers to focus on one project and complete it before he takes on another one.

We have no choice but to interfere in their differences now.  As much as we want to move in by the first week of September, we are now making big sacrifice to move in on the third week [earliest] or end of September [latest].  We hope this will give them back their many years of business relationship.  We feel that the only way not to stress the two of them anymore, we have to extend our deadline.

Definitely, we will suffer some inconveniences especially when many things have been arranged for early September.  Now we wonder, will we be compensated?

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