We looked for IDs through Qanvast and arranged for a few visits with several IDs. Our requirements were simple – someone who can come up with an innovative solution to help us with the slanted wall in the living room, and fall within our budget of $60k, not including furnishing. Our resale was a 20+ year flat, so we were also weary about needing to do huge overhauls due to wear and tear and electrical wiring changes. We gave all the shortlisted IDs a simple deck of slides, with our selected colors and mood board, our desired outcome of the house, and what we hoped to achieve in our new home. Another silly consideration was that the ID firm had to be near all the electrical/sanitary shops (i.e. Balestier, Toh Guan), and best if it is near our house at Bukit Batok. So, we short-listed IDs near Trade hub 21.
Addy came well-prepared, showing us ideas from the very first meet-up on Zoom (covid period). He suggested a turn-around TV carpentry installation, where the current owner’s sofa was. This would allow us to minimize having to look at the slanted wall, and an attempt is made to ‘straighten’ the slanted wall using built-in carpentry. Armed with his iPad, he expertly took notes on our digital floor plan, hearing about our lifestyle needs and referencing the color themes we selected. We were very hesitant about his proposal, as we were concerned that the TV wires would be tangled, but he assured us that he had done it before, and showed photos as proof of his work.
Fineline was also CASE accredited, Qanvast Supertrust, HomeReno Guru Top 10, etc. That made us feel safe that our project wouldn’t be under a dubious company, after hearing about all the bad reviews out there about IDs that run away with the money. Also, Fineline’s warranty is 24 months, which is longer than the other IDs that we searched for. So far, we have activated some help – shall see if the defects will be rectified accordingly. (Side note – We would have hoped to pay by FAVE or credit card, but they were unable to do so… something which Fineline could work on).
A bonus was that Simin was attached to our project, which meant we got an extra pair of eyes and hands to help us with material picking, sample collection, color selection, etc. She was ever so helpful, sending us the samples we asked for and even suggesting the tabletop finishing for our kitchen island and kitchen countertop.
My wife and I were worried that the disruption of the supply chain due to covid would affect the shipment of tiles and materials, but Addy assured us that the timeline was comfortable and he would do his best to rush the work and hand the house over to us before hungry ghost festival. He was a bit slow in his replies sometimes due to his busy schedule, but never dropped the ball and always replied to us in due time.
No reno comes without hiccups – the hacker wrongly removed the toilet window (to the service yard), and was irresponsible, failing to cover drainage holes well, leading to loose rocks from the hacking choking the pipes. Addy readily took responsibility and got workers to fix these issues. When he realized that he was unable to produce a shower rack for our toilets using the remaining tiles, he volunteered to purchase a shower rack off the shelf and install it for us FOC.
An area of improvement could have been the fixing of the aircon trunking – we could have been informed a little earlier of when the aircon man should do the trunking before other works commenced, which would have made the whole process a lot smoother. What impressed my wife and I was how dedicated Addy was. Despite being out of action for 1.5-2 weeks due to a Covid infection, Addy made sure work continued and tried his best to meet our timeline.
All in all, we felt that we were blessed to have IDs that were innovative, sticking to our desired budget, and most importantly honest, in their dealings with us. A bonus was that we could go to Fineline at Toh Guan for our discussions, which was just a few bus stops away from our temporary home. We could also go to Fineline at Balestier if we needed to see lighting shops with our ID.
Great job Fineline 🙂 Keep up the good honest work.