https://www.scmp.com/rss/15400/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com We've all heard about nightmare contractors but what about clients from hell? With my home renovation a spit and varnish from completion it was time to ask my architects and contractor how I performed as a customer. 'Be brutal,' I urged. 'I can handle it.' During the time it took them to e-mail me their thoughts, I queried several designer friends about their experiences with difficult clientele. 'You're expected not only to select fabrics for cushions but also be their pal, psychologist and... https://www.scmp.com/article/658362/diary-renovator-how-was-it-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/658362/diary-renovator-how-was-it-you?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:00 +0000 It's strange how you can be thrifty all your life but, when it comes to home renovation, spending big seems second nature. I put it down, in part, to unfamiliarity with what's involved. I mean who, unless they're in the trade or a Lockhart Road junkie, knows how much a toilet, window or wooden floor is worth? Seasoned renovators may have a better sense of the fees contractors, architects and designers are likely to charge. And handymen will have a gut feeling about what a basic task should... https://www.scmp.com/article/657465/diary-renovator-selective-profligacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/657465/diary-renovator-selective-profligacy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:00:00 +0000 It's strange how home renovations can trundle along for months, barely registering progress, then suddenly zoom to a close. That's how it felt last week with the end peeping at me from around the corner instead of cocking a snook from afar. I realised how close we were to completion when my workers started multitasking instead of sticking to their roles: Ah Gok (electrics) put up art and Ah Ming (the muscle-man) took up cleaning. They were obviously under orders to wrap up the project, which... https://www.scmp.com/article/656586/diary-renovator-low-wire-act?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/656586/diary-renovator-low-wire-act?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:00:00 +0000 I don't know how it is for other renovators but now that my project is coming to an end one thing has become clear: planning can be a waste of time. About a month before my contractor and his men started demolishing walls, I spent weekends fine-tuning ideas for the house. Keith and Will, my patient architects, helped put on paper a staircase, rooms, tile patterns, lights, furniture, electrical sockets and more. They even asked whether I needed a plug beneath my dining table for hot-pot... https://www.scmp.com/article/655666/diary-renovator-best-laid-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/655666/diary-renovator-best-laid-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:00:00 +0000 My contractor announced recently that my village house would be complete in several weeks. I knew he was being optimistic but still my day brightened as I pictured life returning to normal. Apart from having the place to myself it would be my music playing in the background instead of the 1930s Mando-pop one of the workers prefers. He particularly likes Gei Wo Yige Wen (Give Me a Kiss), which I heard him singing along to while making wet smacking noises. He was painting the bedroom wall. I... https://www.scmp.com/article/654839/diary-renovator-flogging-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/654839/diary-renovator-flogging-it?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Wealthy homeowners planning renovations have architects and contractors bid for the job. They also conduct interviews and draw up shortlists of likely candidates. I went through no such process. My contractor was recommended by a friend and my young architects belonged to a design company whose work I had long admired. Crucially, though, I hired them because they were trustworthy, affordable and likeable. That doesn't mean we haven't come to blows, but the scraps have not resembled those I had... https://www.scmp.com/article/654033/diary-renovator-my-al-mighty-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/654033/diary-renovator-my-al-mighty-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000 I have never consulted a therapist. Not that I haven't needed the help some must offer, but pride, embarrassment and an unshakeable (but probably mistaken) belief that only weak people resolve conflicts this way has kept me from going to shrinks, life coaches, relationship mentors, spiritual counsellors, communication experts and the like. Then I heard of renovation coaches. No, I didn't see an ad for one in HK magazine (although I did spot something about an 'emotional freedom technique... https://www.scmp.com/article/653207/diary-renovator-bleat-your-heart-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/653207/diary-renovator-bleat-your-heart-out?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000 If designing my kitchen was tricky, choosing appliances to kindle creativity was humbling. I craved tools that would allow me to put away childish things and push me to provide adult fare. No more instant noodles, mushroom omelettes or curry-in-a-hurry. I was destined to become Delia, Julia, possibly even Nigella. However, technology mixed with stupidity and stirred by anger made me a demented goat instead of a domestic goddess. One week after my oven was installed, I stopped photographing it... https://www.scmp.com/article/652314/diary-renovator-cold-comfort?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/652314/diary-renovator-cold-comfort?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Ask most people how long their home renovation took and the answer is likely to be about three months. Mine seems to have taken longer for several reasons: my contractor is in such demand that only two men work on my house on most days; bad weather, which has held up progress and added to the work; and my staying put. Of course, I would have preferred to have moved out for the duration, but a serviced apartment proved too pricey. Then there was the dog. Who would have the space and time for... https://www.scmp.com/article/651395/diary-renovator-stuck-middle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/651395/diary-renovator-stuck-middle?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Any flat flipper will know that handsome kitchens add value to homes. I don't intend to sell my place in the near future but as a typical Hongkonger I can't help but consider my return on investment. That was before I checked out the options. Without considering what appliances I'd need to be a gourmet chef, I debated the layout with my friends. 'I want an open, sociable kitchen,' I told Susan. 'Why not have an enclosed room for Chinese cooking and one of those open Poggenpohl kitchens for... https://www.scmp.com/article/650630/diary-renovator-sink-or-swim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/650630/diary-renovator-sink-or-swim?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 There are two types of people in the world: hoarders and purgers. I fall into the second category, although recent acts of reckless disposal have made me wary of clearing clutter with abandon. The first inkling of trouble arrived when the men renovating my home started peering into boxes they'd already examined and surveying dark corners with narrowed eyes. 'Lost something,' I asked, hoping to magic whatever it was from a shoe or flower pot. They shot each other a 'we'll have to tell her' look ... https://www.scmp.com/article/649888/diary-renovator-rubble-trouble?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/649888/diary-renovator-rubble-trouble?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 The Art of War has been used in business management, political campaigns and sport. Former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan insisted his players read the 6th century BC Chinese military classic before their 2001 Ashes tour of England. I decided to seek wisdom from its author, Sun Tzu, before my own battle. Unfortunately, it was too late to use his 'winning without fighting' strategy against my adversaries - termites. The interlopers were already sumptuously entrenched because... https://www.scmp.com/article/649089/diary-renovator-chemical-warfare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/649089/diary-renovator-chemical-warfare?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Some things you cannot scrimp on. Long before renovation started on my village house I determined where I could 'save' money and what was worth a splurge, time- and money-wise. After waterproofing and drainage came flooring. So started my obsession with everything underfoot, from wood to laminate to tiles to cork. Carpet was out because of my housemate, who sheds hair and regurgitates kibbles. Most of the tile and plank shops in Wan Chai and Mong Kok doled out samples. But visualising how a... https://www.scmp.com/article/648257/diary-renovator-held-check?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/648257/diary-renovator-held-check?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Ever wonder why construction workers often seem on the verge of killing each other? In the past week I have been ready to race downstairs, hose in hand, to separate the half-naked men labouring to turn my dingy ground floor into a bright open-plan room linked to my office upstairs. My nerves have been frayed by their raised voices interspersed with aggressive exhortations and the odd thump delivered, I imagine, for emphasis. But then a friend said that they were probably just discussing what to... https://www.scmp.com/article/647426/diary-renovator-unplugged?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/647426/diary-renovator-unplugged?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Labels given to emotional ups and downs can determine how you feel. That is a contention of The Loss of Sadness, whose authors explore how psychiatry has transformed normal sorrow into depression. Although I wasn't after a name for my dark mood, I picked up the book after figuring I had come down with a bad case of SAD. Perhaps the rain was to blame for my Seasonal Affective Disorder. It had dampened my spirits by sabotaging my renovation schedule and bloating my budget. I was lucky not to... https://www.scmp.com/article/646460/diary-renovator-weathering-storm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/646460/diary-renovator-weathering-storm?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000 I hate Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall - not because non-Brits put on a ludicrous English accent while singing along to it or that it has become a cliche. The song darkens my mood because it reminds me of the vertical structure in the middle of my floor. It all started when I was waiting to hear whether my termite-damaged home was worth renovating. I saw little reason for work to continue before an engineer had checked it. But there was no telling my contractor, Joe, who was determined... https://www.scmp.com/article/645704/diary-renovator-backs-against-wall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/645704/diary-renovator-backs-against-wall?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000 The academic Ziauddin Sardar is a Star Trek aficionado who once said the Borg represent 'the American fear of Japan writ large'. His recent visit to Hong Kong flushed out memories of my first encounter with his work, an introduction to the supposed Japanese 'hive mind'. So it was perhaps apt that I would confront a real example of collective will: termites - those scary monsters whose mandibles can saw through a building. As I gazed at their years of work, gnawing through the wooden beams of my... https://www.scmp.com/article/644827/diary-renovator-attack-within?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/644827/diary-renovator-attack-within?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000