Couple's sewage disaster in new Punggol BTO flat

 

PUBLISHED ON MAY 12, 2015 6:23 PM

BY JOANNA SEOW & JALELAH ABU BAKER

Extracted from Straits Times 

SINGAPORE- Just a week before a young family was due to move into their new home in Punggol, they were shocked to hear from the Housing Board on Monday that there had been flooding in their unit.

When they arrived, they found it was not just water that covered the floor of the flat, but faeces as well.

Cement had choked the common sewage pipe shared by their seventh floor unit and those above it in Block 313C Sumang Link, causing a backflow into their home.

The owner, who gave her name as Ms Fadilah, 31, said she and her husband are "upset, stressed and angry".

"The dream house we have long waited to move into, which was complete with new furniture, was damaged just like that," she said. The renovations had been completed just a few months ago.

Photographs circulating online show faeces and murky water covering the floor of a toilet, hallway and living room.

It had even seeped into the children's bedroom and out of the front door. This was how a neighbour noticed something was amiss and called HDB last Friday, said another neighbour, Ms Fadhilah, 29.

A Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council spokesman said it was alerted by HDB on Monday morning. Town council and HDB staff went to the flat to help the family to clean up.

Confirming it was renovation debris that had caused the choke, he said: "We will be working with the HDB to find the culprit."

Ms Fadilah told evening daily Shin Min that when her husband turned up at their flat in Sumang Link, he was confronted with what she described as a "giant toilet bowl".

"My husband was so shocked that he just stood at the doorway crying. He couldn't believe what he was seeing," she said.

The family had spent some $50,000 on renovations alone, and intends to redo the whole house, including all the flooring which had stains between the tiles. A stench still lingered.

...............

joseow@sph.com.sg

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/couples-sewage-disaster-new-punggol-bto-flat-explodes-on#sthash.cFRbEwGZ.dpuf

There is a saying...."When shit hits the fan...". Well, perhaps new homeowners should be very scared of what happens "when shit floods their home!"

Well, I have blogged about the issue of clogged pipes way back in my 2008 HDB defect checking post. Let me repost the paragraph again..

* ATTENTION*
It was just brought to my attention that aside from the defect lists I have compiled, you should also unscrew the metal covers of all the pipes in the kitchen and bathrooms. This is because some have complained of finding used food containers and waste construction materials underneath these covers! Some workers have even poured cement into these pipes. So, remember to dig them out before it clogs your pipes later on and also, lodge a complaint to HDB about it. :(

Lessons Learnt?

There are a couple of lessons learnt from this shitty incident...first of all, check everything! Nonetheless, I understand that there are pipes or areas which are hard to reach or impossible to check. However, I believe after this smelly incident, you can seek help from the HDB technical officer in checking these pipes!


The same goes for the Condo owners la...this might happen to you also. Why? All pipes are the same, construction workers might commit the same mistake. I heard rumors that they throw rubbish etc on the floor before pouring on the cement during the construction of the floors, it saves time and effort to dispose the waste. But I stress that this is a rumor...but it makes perfect sense.


Finally, the last lesson learnt? Buy home insurance and keep all the receipts of your purchase! Ok, I need to find out whether if the home insurance covers such shitty disaster...but one thing is for sure, if you have NO receipts, it is very hard to seek compensation and claims. Yes, you have to SCAN all the receipts since some of the damn receipts fade away with time.

Do you have any ideas what we can do to prevent this from happening again? Do share! :)

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When things are not built to last

I was at my relative's place over the last weekend and in the middle of our dinner, there a loud distinctive water splashing sound emitting from his common bathroom; it sounded like someone is pouring a huge bucket of water right into the shower area.

Instinctively, we rushed over and lo and behold; we were shocked to see water streaming rapidly down from the false ceiling.

Upon further investigation at the manufacturer's website, we realized that apparently, the "aggressive"water (another word for acidic water) has corroded the pipes, leading to the water leakage from the storage heater.

We scrutinized the water heater's warranty card issued by the developer and realised that unfortunately, the 5 year warranty just lapsed a few weeks ago!

Similarly, the residents of The Peak @ Toa Payoh and newly TOP Vacanza private condominium face a host of defects after the liability period. Every now and then, the residents will post photos or accounts of defects that occurred right after the warranty period.

What do these mean for Homeowners?My relative could have preempt the situation by paying more attention to the water heater in the last few months. I guess one of the biggest lesson learnt is that gone is the era when things are built to last. We have to especially keep a vigilant watch over the appliances which are nearing their end of the warranty period.

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HDB Defect Checking Revisited

"Any defect checklist to share?"
"Hey babe, what should we look out for once we have gotten our keys?"
"Defects?! Do you mean new flats have defects meh?!"

Anyway, I have been getting quite a fair bit of requests from my friends asking for my defect checklist and hence decided to revisit this topic again. As most of them are 1st time HDB owners, they were clueless what, where and even why bother to check!?

I have been covering what, where in many of my posts. As to WHY? I have to reiterate this again: 

Once your renovation starts, it is hard to justify to HDB that the defect is not caused by your renovation professionals! Furthermore, it will take a loooong time for HDB to entertain you. Why? In order to cater to Singaporean's calls for cheaper and cheap housing; HDB has been building non stop for the past with few years in order to get a tidal supply of HDB flats ready for owner occupation by 2016-2017. Fast construction is not good; it generally means sloppy jobs, poor inferior quality (due to escalating building costs and yet the pressure to keep things cheap) and MORE defects.

Therealsingapore - Terrible workmanship brand new BTO flats Tampines

Straitstimes - Residents turn to facebook to highlight BTO Defects
Construction crunch taking toll housing developments
The peak residents see red over defects

Enough of my rumblings; I will devote my time to outline what should you do to prepare yourself and what to look out for.

Here are the links to my older posts:

HDB defects checklist Part 1

HDB defect checklist Part 2
HDB defect checking tips

What Tools to Bring

Tapes and Markers 

Tapes and Markers are essential to mark out the defective areas. I prefer masking tapes since they are easy to remove without leaving sticky residue and permanent markers to write on these making tapes. I would recommend to get them in at least 2 colors; Red for the major defects and Yellow for the minor ones, so that the HDB technician will know what areas to focus on rectifying first. On top of this, I also wrongly advise numbering and scribbling notes on the description of the defects so that miscommunication can be minimized.

 Spirit Level 

 I used spirit level  to check if the walls, doors, windows are slated way too much so to determine as to see if there are any structural deviations with the room and wall measurements and that the doors and windows are properly aligned and upright.

 Torchlight and Stool or Ladder 

A torchlight is great for dark nooks. In addition, and stool or ladders for inspecting those high out of reach places. 

Coins or Marbles

I prefer marbles since they give off a distinct hollow sound when knocked against hallow tiles or timber strips.

Cameras

 I am sure most of us owns a camera smart phone and thus shouldn't be a problem. Unless you very kia su- you can consider using DSLR or SLR to take extreme closeups of the defects.  :)

Photos are meant to document the defects visually so that we can make a comparison whether anything has been done, they provide excellent evidence if there are any disputes. 

Parents or Helpful Friends

Ask them along to help to check out the defect. You will be surprised that it will take at least 2 days to check everything. But be sure to bring friends who have an excellent eye for details and not those who only want to kaypo only.

What and Were to Check

As to what to check for doors and floors, you can checkout these infographic

.

Let me add on a few more words for the following:

Parquet Floors

I know some would insist not to knock each and every of the parquet tiles for hollowness and that one should look out for are scratches and gaps in between the parquet tiles since parquet tiles do not popup. 

I have to disagree.

Hollowness is NOT okay because empty tiles means nesting grounds for insects like ants, spiders etc. And when you have to sand the parquet tiles to remove scratches in future, your hollow tiles will get even thinner...and more easily dent from knocks etc! 

Please lar, don't be lazy and yet them replaced!

And....please keep an eye on the parquet! Unfortunately for the DBSS residents from City View and The Peak, the developer seemed to use inappropriate material for the parquet flooring and results in the parquet turning dark with "moisture-like" stains...

Sinks, Water Pipes and so on.

Check ALL your drainage holes - sinks, toilets, etc for blockage.

*Update*
What happens if you skip this step? Well..shit happens? Unbelievable? Then, check out this shitty post!

Doors and Hinges

I realized that many homeowners have ditched the HDB quality, solid bathrooms for the plastic-bifold doors! These is because they felt that solid bathroom doors are bulky and take up space. Seriously, bifold doors don't last as long as the solid 1 leaf doors which HDB provide. In fact, all my relatives have sworn off bifold doors and stick with the traditional ones.

Water Leakage

Toilet bowls might leak if they are not installed properly and it is hard to detect such leaks with clear water. What you can do is to use those colored toilet cleaners such as Clorox. If there is any leak, you can see blue water forming around the toilet bowls.

Not checking every defects

You might be surprised that you shouldn't check every area in your place; IF only you have planned your renovation in advance. I mean, it doesn't make sense to waste time and energy to get the HDB to replace the hallow tiles in your bathroom when you already have plans to get them retiled with your renovation professional.

Neighbors

If you are lucky and your neighbors are also in the process of getting their HDB defects rectified as you, you should find out what kinds of defects they have. Lets say that you need your floors to be retiled and your neighbors too, the changes of getting this defect rectified earlier is higher due to economics of scales. ie. HDB will probably assign a team of tilers to perform the rectification work for you and your neighbors at the same time.

Locks!

Get a number lock to lock up your premises after you have complete your checks and have submitted the defect list to HDB. This is to deter any other intruders who may cause damage to your unit. Make sure that you only disclose the number lock combination to the technical officer in charge.

Ok...thats it for today.

Happy Deepavali everyone! 

  

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Tips: Let's Talk about Ceilings - False Ceilings

Let's Talk about Ceilings - False Ceilings

Okay, I know what are you guys thinking - home owners like you do not need to know about the technicalities - or should you?

Why do Home Owners need to do some Homework?

I always advocate that home owners should do a little homework before approaching any Interior Designers or Contractors. Why? Simply because when you are armed with some knowledge, this allows you get to:

• Access their competence by the way they answer your questions;
• Let them know that that you are not someone who depends entirely on their judgement, and that you do expect a certain quality of work. They probably be more careful when they realise that you will scrutinise their quality of work closely.

Why is the Quality of Ceiling Important?

The quality of ceiling should be checked particularly when false ceilings are involved. This is because problems might surface if they are not checked throughly during installation.

What are the types of Ceiling Finishes?

The 3 main finishes for ceilings are:-

• False Ceilings (very common and popular with home owners right now);
• Skim Coats;
• Moulded Plaster Decorative Fittings (used to be very popular in the past).
• False Ceilings

For today's post, we are looking at False Ceilings. :)

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Drawer Organiser

How to organize a messy drawer?

1)  Customize

You can get your contractor or ID to plan and build customized "tou-fu cubes" or drawer dividers for your drawers. It is definably a more elegant option but is much more expensive. I did mine with a see-through-glass on top and the effect is awesome; so much so that subsequent clients of my ID asked for the exact same design.

2) Purchase ready made drawer dividers

Ikea sells very affordable drawer dividers. Besides Ikea, you can also find the following drawer organizers  as suggested by apartmenttherapy.com (prices in USD).

• Extendables Drawer Organizers from Neatnix, $12
• Bamboo Drawer Organizers from the Container Store, $9.99 - $24.99
• Tweed Drawer Organizers from the Container Store, $14.99 - $19.99
• Komplement Boxes and Baskets from IKEA, starting at $5
• Drawer Organizer Combo from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, $9.99
• Diamond Drawer Organizer from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, $7.99
• Wicker/Willow Basket Set from The Storage Store, $30
• Cedar Sweater Box from Amazon, $17.99
• Interlocking Deep Drawer Organizers from Space Savers, $1.79 - $2.99
• Instructions for Making Your Own Drawer Dividers from Martha Stewart

However, if you only want to organize small items like belts, scarves, ties and so on, honeycomb drawer divider is also an excellent alternative too.

3) DIY
If you do not mind spending sometime to DIY the drawer dividers, this is a very good step by step instruction on how you can make one yourself! You can get all your materials from Art Friend. :)

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What are the things to do once you have received your keys from HDB?

What are the things to do once you have received your keys?

1) Perform "Dong Tu" rituals (mostly for the Chinese Homeowners)

2) Check for Defects [you may make use of the Defect Checklist from this post and do check out the latest defects checking tips compiled in 2014 here]

Tips: Mark down the defects using masking tapes and number them down. Attach photographs of the defects along with the defect list for easier tracking. :) Remember to keep a copy for yourself too!

After listing down the defects, you should fill up the defect feedback form and submit it to HDB within 7 days after the key collection.

Ok, you might wonder what are the available channels for Reporting Defects?

Alternatively, you can report the defects in online through this eService: e-Maintenance Feedback

Tips: The Feedback Form for New Flats is also available in the welcome package given to new flat owners.

So what happens next after you have reported the defects?

The HDB Branch Office staff will arrange to inspect the flat with you (remember to bring the defect list with you) and they will then liaise with contractor(s) to carry out rectification work.

Note: Remember to check out the Home Renovation Checklist and many more!

Happy Reno! :)

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HDB defects checking tips

This is a brand new year for 2009! I know that proud homeowners of Tampines DBSS are collecting their keys this month!

Nevertheless, other than ticking off the check lists provided, some extra tips:

1. Bring a colored tape (light colored), black marker and camera with you.

Its easier to tag each defect with the colored tape and number it so that you can keep track at the number of defects being reported. Camera comes in handy so you can remember how the defects looks like before its being rectified (to your satisfaction).

2. Check for defects on a dry and wet day! Look out for damp walls & floors to see if water proofing have been adequately done!

3. Bring some marbles/coins to check for hollow tiles! Hollow tiles should ALL be rectified to prevent cracked tiles in future.

4. Run water across all the tiled floors (not parquet flooring) to check that all the grout have been properly filled up.

Note: If the floor tiles are not grouted properly and you wish to DIY, here are the steps taken from hammerzone.com: http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/flooring/tile/grout1/sanded.htm

5. Run water across the kitchen floor to see if there any stagnant water (water should flow smoothly to the floor trap)

6. Open up all the drainage holes in the kitchen and toilets to see if they are clogged (some construction workers are known to dump cement into the drainage holes)

Here are somemore updated tips posted in 2014.

Lastly...congrats and enjoy the renovation journey ahead! :)

Note: The next step is to report the defects; the steps are covered in this post. :)

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