Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by QCA5958

Renovation Contractor Problem.. need advice!

QCA5958 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:29:34 +0800

Back in May this year, we engaged a contractor (recommended by fren) to renovate our house, extend ground floor, kitchen, and car porch . At first, things all went very well, the workers worked fast, sometimes even on Sunday, made good progress.

Then, halfway through the renovation, the workers stoppped coming to work. The contractor claimed that his workers left and he has no workers at the moment, promised us will continue the work soon. Fine. Days turn to weeks, still the same empty promise. Whenever we chase him, he would send 1 or 2 workers to do some minor work just to get us off his back. But this guy is really a sweet talker, promise everything but never deliver.

Its a long story but the point is the guy is a cheater and makes his living off lies. He would looks for customers, promise them a good deal, do some work, get the money then leave the remaining work or do slowly until the the person gets fed up and decided to get someone else to finish the reno. He even writes us a letter, signed off, stating that if he did not finish his renovation work by 31st August he will compensate RM100 per day thereafter (another trick) and told us we can use the letter to report him to the police.

So, my question would be, is there anything we can do to him to make him finish his work as promised or refund our money. We have paid him about 2/3 of the money but he has done less than half of the work. Any advise would be much appreciated..!

Steel Roof Truss system (Roof Beam)

QCA5958 — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:19:43 +0800

Hi guys,

As you all may have noticed, more new houses nowadays are using steel roof truss instead of the conventional timber trusses. Can anyone share what's the pros & cons of this.

From what I can gather, Steel truss is lightweight, plus easy & fast installation. But i've also heard that steel trusses may be a bit noisy - metal to metal contact, especially during strong winds, or at during cold nights/ hot day due to thermal expansion??
Anyone can confirm this?

What about the costs of the timber vs. steel truss?

Property market in Miri, Sarawak - Advice Needed!

QCA5958 — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:17:22 +0800

Hello,

Newbie here trying to decide whether to buy, or not to buy. I'm not in a hurry to buy, but i'm worried that if i don't buy now, the prices will keep increasing and all the good locations will be developed already in the future. Construction not started yet, but its by a very reputable developer so I'm not worried about project being abandoned. In fact here, if you wait until the property is completed before you buy, you probably won't have much choice of houses left.

Anyone here familiar with the property market in Miri? It seems that people here are filthy rich. Prices of houses here are comparable to those in KL. For example, 2-storey semidetached can sell more than 600k, 2-storey terrace corner 500k, intermediate up to almost 400k., depending on location.

In fact i'm interested in this particular terrace corner (2-storey) which is about 480K. Built up area more than 2500sq.ft., land size >11 points, and nice deisgn. Purpose for own stay, but if capital appreciation is good can opt to sell also. So, my questions would be:
1) Is this a good time to buy now (i know this has been discussed a lot, specifically for my case??). Is there further room to appreciate? The developer even told me that they are going to increase the price 10-20K once construction start. Seems like nobody here is affected by recession??!
2) Is the house worth it? (480K for a terrace corner)
3) Anything else that I should know or watch out for..

Thanks in advance for all your comments & advice!