Red Flags When Choosing an Architect/Contractor

It took us a long time before we finally chose an architect for our home project. We learned a lot in the past few years since we had a lot of stuff fixed in our current home. Here's a list of red flags from our experience:

1. The over eager supplier who blinds you with drawings and lay-outs.

2. The one who promises the moon, but under delivers. 

3. The one who cannot stick to the costings and you end up paying 2x more than the proposed cost. 

4. The one who ghosts you when you discover errors with their work. 

5. The one who cannot produce a proper contract.

6. The one who uses substandard materials that puts your family in peril.

7. The one you have to report to the city building official for not doing things right. 

8. The one who does not provide the right materials for their workers to do their job properly.

9. The one who says they'll set a meeting and then you bump into them in the mall during the supposed meeting date and time.

10. The one who doesn't have reliable contacts. 

These are just a few of what we've experienced the past few years. I probably have more bad experiences at the back of my mind. Next week, I'll write about how we chose our architect. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Complain When You Need To

I see a lot of posts of homeowners on Home Buddies who ask if their contractor did the right thing. Oftentimes it's about tile work, stairs, windows, roof, walls etc. Most of those who comment say the work is unacceptable and should be fixed. I guess people ask because most of us are first time homeowners. It is indeed rare to go through building a house more than once (unless you're very rich!). 

Our supposedly simple renovations dragged on. We were told that the work would finish in just two weeks. It's been two months now and it's supposed to finally finish today. Well, it was supposed to be finished in early May. We found a couple of issues with the work mostly because the last set of workers hurriedly finished their task. 

We waited a few weeks before we allowed them to come. We had to get well and have the house disinfected even though the virus likely came from their group. The good thing about our contractor is they do back jobs if there are issues. Oftentimes though we had to wait since they quickly move on to other projects. 

Looks fine, but there were issues with the drawer and floor. 

The project would have finished in two weeks if they provided materials on time and if they did the work properly the first time. There are many horror stories with bad contractors. We've so far stuck it out with this one since they do get the job done with supervision. I think that's required anyway for any work that you have done. Among all the work they did for us the best one is the plumbing and the garden work. It was outsourced to another company (haha). 

I know a lot of us tend not to complain when you have work done. I learned to give proper feedback and complain after working for an international company for 15 years, haha. I don't bottle things inside anymore especially when I pay for it. Demand the worth of your hard earned money. Just a few more tweaks and we should be done.

#BeKind #StaySafe