The Crest

We were introduced to Vincent by a friend, who previously engaged him to renovate his HDB. It was also more reassuring that we got to see our friend's house after renovation. The design element, and quality of finishing impressed us so we decided to meet up with Vincent to discuss more and obtain a quotation. First meeting was pleasant. This was after encountering at least 4-5 other IDs. Vincent was genuinely interested in finding out more about what we wanted for our house, not forgetting functionality and practicality of implementation. He had suggestions which ultimately was still up to our decision to accept or not. More often than not, we accepted his ideas as we trusted his professional eye and experience. This was a vast difference from the other IDs, which mostly gave us the impression of wanting to look for areas to charge us more. One of them was strongly imposing his ideals onto us, which was quite the turn-off. Vincent embraces the term "different strokes for different folks". Subsequent meetings, we went through drawings and quotations. We were satisfied with the overall design: in particular how Vincent had helped us extend the Master Bedroom space to cater for a walk-in wardrobe. Vincent had also prepared a very nice mood board, which enabled us to visualize how the whole house would look like, and what type of furniture we are recommended to select. We also went into long discussions on certain material selection and the type of design and feel we would like to have for the whole house. There are 2 main things we love about Vincent: - Candidness. If something looks nice, he will tell you it looks nice. If something looks ugly, he will tell you it looks like crap. No sugar-coating, no patronizing, just calling a spade a spade. - Extreme attention to detail. This greatly reassures us as we could see that he is genuinely very interested in our project, as well as his passion for not only the design aspect, but the entire journey from first meeting to handover. Then came the quotation, which we were initially surprised. At first glance, the amount was 20-25% higher than all the other quotations. Eventually, we chose to go with Vincent anyway because of a few points: - Quotation amount was very transparent, and encompassed 100% what we had wanted (barring changes in requirements as the project progressed). We were aware that some items in Vincent's quotation were not mentioned to other IDs, and if we were to revisit them, the overall price would surely go up. - Vincent will only add items to the contract as per requirement. None of those shady "oh we have to do this and that and this will cause you more because blah blah" crap. If you do not request for additional items, what you see in the signed contract is what you will pay in the end. - The amount of attention Vincent invested in our project. We were very sure that the other IDs would not provide the same amount of attention that Vincent had given to us. This was also further supported by our friend, and the numerous good reviews he had already received before us. - The workmanship and finishing quality which we had already inspected from our friend's house. - The fact that after seeing hundreds and thousands of photos from IDs, Vincent's work was the only one that had elements of design, uniqueness and still being practical. - The post-sales service, which my friend highly recommended him for being extremely responsive to his problems, and getting his problems solved very quickly. - Chances of him running away with our money was very low. (Anything can happen, but we trust Vincent) After contract signing, we were given a folder with all designs, drawings, and a schedule for the renovation work. I'm not sure how other IDs do it, but this really impressed me, as I literally got everything served on a silver platter (or a transparent folder). Tile selection went smoothly, even though we shared a few ideas. Lightings selection went OK too, ended up going to 2 different places as the first place did not have some of the designs which we were looking for. Choosing of toilet and kitchen accessories were fine as well, if there are some accessories like oven/hob etc that we wanted to get from elsewhere, that was not a problem. Curtain selection was very good: he had his curtains guy go down to our place, midway through renovation when the walls were painted, so that we could do live color matching. Throughout the renovation, Vincent provided regular updates, photos and videos on the progress. It was very informative, that we hardly had to worry about going down to the site to inspect anything. There was a period of time where we were overseas, and Vincent took care of everything nonetheless. Everything was according to schedule. There were certain inevitable delays such as shipping of certain toilet accessory, which was out of anyone's control due to the lockdown situation overseas. Vincent was very receptive to our requests for certain changes, midway through the renovation. He always had a good solution or workaround for our concerns. From installing pull-out drawers in kitchen cabinets, to installing of wall mounts, everything was taken care of. Vincent was nothing short of patient, responsible and resourceful. Finally came handover day. We're not exaggerating when we say that the placed looked exactly like what we dreamed of. It looked better than the renders, and the whole place gave the feel that we wanted. Down to every single detail like the cabinet laminate, the color contrast between feature wall and common walls, the lightings, cabinet knobs: everything came together perfectly and harmoniously. Sometimes, when we see photos of the finished product on social media, and we look at the actual product, there is a disappointment in expectations not being met. We can safely say Vincent's final product exceeded expectations. Of course this is not the end: there are certain areas that need touching up etc, which is to be expected. There are also other small things to be done, but those are trivial. Post handover, Vincent is still easily contactable, and patiently answers all our questions, helps to arrange for things like touch-up work. We are very appreciative of his professionalism and being responsible even after handover. Quality of the workmanship is excellent as expected. As this is an honest review, as much as we would like to share an area Vincent can improve on, we have yet to find one. This is also because Vincent accepts faults that occur during the renovation and constantly improves. We do not think anything needs improvement, as customers should also have reasonable expectations and baselines. This doesn't mean that we do not have high standards, which Vincent certainly met. Overall, we would strongly recommend Vincent to anyone who is looking to materialize their dream house. He is truly passionate about his work, which is your project. He never complains, always responds within the day, and his attention to detail is second to none. They say "you get what you pay for", and we are certainly pleased with our decision in selecting Vincent for our project. For others who wish to renovate their homes, please engage a few other IDs first before coming to Vincent. You will then be able to see the vast differences between him and other IDs. p.s. Vincent, we can't express how much more thankful we are throughout this entire journey. We hope that this review, together with several others before will be able to bring you more projects and fun in working with many other different designs and concepts.