Nothing about technology here, but I thought I’d just share this for reference of people who may encounter the same issue.
Prelude:
Neighbour goes to HDB and complain that their ceiling is leaking. HDB comes to inspect their place and came knocking on my door. No one’s at home, so they called me a couple of days later to fix a day to come to my place to check the toilets.
HDB folks came, took a quick look at my toilets and started to tell me about procedures, how to repair and stuff. What makes them so sure it’s my toilet that’s leaking then? I asked them to do some conclusive tests before we start to arrange for repairs. Who knows the water might be leaking from some other places. So another couple of days later, they came to do a flood test.
Note: Other than flood test, there are 2 more kinds of tests.
First is the dry test, where they seal your toilet for a week to keep it dry and after that, if the leak continues then the origin is somewhere else other than the toilet.
Then there’s the dye test, where they flood the toilet and put a dye into the water. That would be very conclusive to show the origin of the water because your neighbor’s ceiling, walls, whatever, will be stained with the dye if the leak is indeed from your toilet. Not something that I want to do to my poor neighbors.
Anyway, after the flood test, we went down to our neighbor’s place and saw water leaking. Not the very severe kind, but the droplets were forming quite quickly. Not 100% conclusive but I went with the opinion of HDB that my toilets needed repair.
So, as responsible people, we arranged with HDB to send their contractor for an evaluation and make arrangements to start the repair. Another couple of days for this arrangement.
There were some unhappiness after this with my neighbor because they didn’t agree with the date that I chose to start work. Anyway, I don’t to talk about it here.
Repair starts 3 weeks later after a hectic rush to arrange the logistic for the repair. I had to arrange for my baby girl to stay at parents’ place, clear my work before going on leave etc etc.
Preparation:
The hacking of the floor is going to create a big mess. The whole house is going to be very dusty, based on experiences shared by friends who went through the same repairs. So make sure you get enough protection and covers for your furniture.
Day 1:
The workers came and hack down my toilet floor. Drilling is a pain. The noise is terrible!
End of the day, they coat the floor with this non-shrink grout thing to prepare for the cement and water proofing the next day. Dust was everywhere as expected. It’s very very dusty. Don’t underestimate the mess.
Day 2:
This is a fast one. One guy to finish the job in like half a day.
First they put apply the water proofing. The water proof layer dried very quickly with fans blowing, so lend them the fans if you can.
After that, the cement goes in. Very quickly done. The cement has to be dry before the tile can be laid on the next day.
Day 3:
The 3rd day is for tile laying.
Day 4:
The contractors come back to tie up lose ends, wash up the toilet.
Problem:
After washing, we inspected the place and discovered defects.
1. My tap was damaged.
2. The old tiles were badly chipped at some areas. I went to a friend’s place and look at their repair which was completed about 2 weeks before. Their’s was nicely done. No chips and cracks.
3. The toilet drainage was clogged after the washing.
We called up HDB to come and look at the defects and also inspect the site to make sure the repairs were in order. HDB didn’t turn up at the agreed timing. Wasted my time waiting for them. In fact, I don’t think the HDB people even had intention to come. They were pushing everything to their contractors, which I think is utterly irresponsible.
We are still pursuing this with HDB and the contractors. They are wasting a lot of time and energy. The last straw is bringing this to the media.
