Comments on: What You Need to Know About Contractors

By: Lara

Lara — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:47:28 +0000

Renovations are sometimes frustrating. I agree with Anonymous to not push for discounts. My husband did that and the contractor is hesitant to push on to finish the job cause he spend too much time on sourcing for cheaper material (which is not many after the fuel price hike) and cheaper subcons.

By: FamilyFirst

FamilyFirst — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:47:04 +0000

Thanks for all the reminder & tips. And yes, avoiding peak period and rushing to finish for “auspicious” dates/months would not be a good idea … thanks for highlighting it to us, anonymous.

I am about to start searching for one .. so wish me all the luck man!

By: Asha

Asha — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:44:53 +0000

Thanks for sharing the tips, sad to say that all your points are so true about Malaysian contractors.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:20:20 +0000

I am almost at the end of a rennovation project.

Here are a few tips to add.

I engaged this contractor for a small extension project 2 years ago. And his workmanship was good, and the price was so so. I think its important not to puish too hard for a discount as they will cut corners in certain things. There was one case whereby, my brother in law pushed so hard for discount that his contractor almost gave up halfway due to lack of funds or because the margin was too small (when cost of material went up during the project).

Anway, I engaged my contractor for renovating whole house. The house was in a bad condition but structurally sound. The job involved complete re-tiling, repainting, a small extension, re-wiring, etc. My mistake was I did not realise he had taken up many other jobs (I heard 10 jobs). Apparently, people wanted to get houses rennovated in August – for 8th month of 2008. So here is another tip – ask the contractor how many jobs he has taken up. Needless to say, there was quite a delay in completion and the quality suffered a bit ( I think he had to subcontract out some work). But he did try his best to complete the job. Another sub-tip would be to avoid peak seasons like few months before new year, etc.

Anyway I am glad its over. after 3-4 months.