Beware: Hdb building structures might have serious problem!

[Scrooball (clone)]

Dear The Real Singapore,

My friend Terence Quek was at a friend's 15-year-old HDB flat for Christmas gathering and all of a sudden, the tiles on the floor started sizzling and then burst apart (see picture above). One of us got a minor cut by a flying piece. Now waiting for someone from Town Council to call back... Better check your floors and see if there are any irregularities. Another friend said his flat of 10 years just encountered the same thing, and HDB is giving them a goodwill renovation for their entire flooring.

I remember there is also another complaint last month by another of your reader Arman Mohd. Below is his story:

Last Saturday morning my family was frightened by loud noises coming from the floor and the tiles popping up! The floor tiles are original, HDB laid tiles.

There were terrible cracks all around the living room and even at the front door until the front door could not open properly.

We called the town council but they referred us to HDB. HDB's response was very slow and they told us that they don't work on Saturday so they will send someone on Monday.

I told them that wasn't ok as we couldn't open our door properly!

They sent a worker (bangla) to temporarily "fix" the issue so that we could at least open our door.

On Monday, a HDB officer came and just took photos and told us that they would arrange for a contractor to come and work on it in 1 week's time.

Again I had to argue with them to take it up immediately. Only on Thursday did they start hacking the floor and yet, they are still not finished.

Instead of doing anything properly, they just made it worse and didn't even clean up after themselves:

My house is so messy and dusty. My whole family suffers "haze" in the house, especially my wife who has an allergy to dust and is having diffulty breathing.

I am still stuck waiting and am VERY disappointed.

 

[johnny333]

For this kind of problems one really has to ask who did he vote for

 

[Leongsam]

The same thing happened at "Hotel New World" the day before the whole building crumbled to dust.

 

[PrinceCharming]

The person who wrote to The Real Singapore didn't specify the number of the block of flats and the name of the road.

 

[Singapore]

The same thing happened at "Hotel New World" the day before the whole building crumbled to dust.

stop spreading fears lah Leongsam.

this is due to improperly laid tiles or that the tiles were not soak with water before laying.

 

[po2wq]

... was at a friend's 15-year-old HDB flat for Christmas gathering and all of a sudden, the tiles on the floor started sizzling and then burst apart ...

datz wat u get wen u squizzed 2 many ppl in a pigeon hole ... it wasnt designed 2 carry dat massif load ...

 

[johnny333]

With all the man made problems we have been seeing e.g. mrt breakdowns, man made flooding, mosquito,.... I wouldn't be surprised if we have a building collapsing in Spore. Especially now that they are building them taller where quality & design becomes more critical.

 

[BuiKia]

The owner still using the 15-years old HDB tile?

 

[escher]

stop spreading fears lah Leongsam.

this is due to improperly laid tiles or that the tiles were not soak with water before laying.

What the fuck do you know?

You not there and not seen the structure?
You talk with your arsehole and shit through your mouth?

Like all the fucking PAP bastards?

 

[enterprise2]

The owner still using the 15-years old HDB tile?

Warranty over!!

 

[laksaboy]

Flats built in the 1970s are the best: solid, reliable and most importantly spacious.

As years go by, HDB outsource every little damn thing, and probably used inferior materials to construct HDB flats. Consequently, such things happen.

My friend got a new flat in the Yishun area, and the list of noticeable defects exceeded two pages.

How do you like paying through your nose for home 'ownership' now, Sinkies?

 

[Leongsam]

Flats built in the 1970s are the best: solid, reliable and most importantly spacious.

Soon to be demolished as part of the SERS upgrading program.

 

[Area51]

The same thing happened at "Hotel New World" the day before the whole building crumbled to dust.

I was there.....

 

[laksaboy]

Soon to be demolished as part of the SERS upgrading program.

Nope. Mine was spared in the recent SERS exercise.

 

[singveld]

you get bangla to do the work. you get shit job.

 

[Reddog]

stop spreading fears lah Leongsam.

this is due to improperly laid tiles or that the tiles were not soak with water before laying.

You are either ignorant or telling lies to protect your masters. For the past 2 decades, tiles used in sinkapore need not be soaked in water prior to laying. You are a twit.

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

serious ah...............after 10 years, tiles pop open can get it repaired free by HDB ?

 

[cowbellc]

stop spreading fears lah Leongsam.

this is due to improperly laid tiles or that the tiles were not soak with water before laying.

Soaking ceramic building materials in water is a common practice. This is a necessity when laying tile that is very soft, like Saltillo tile, or low-fired, unglazed terracotta. When a tile (or a brick for that matter) is too porous, it will suck the water out of the mortar without allowing it to set properly, leaving weak bonds between mortar and tile.

Another concern is the gap between tiles (grout line).
Some may leave too thin or narrow causing tiles to expand during hot weather to crack.

That is to say, floor tiles don't need to soak in water, but wall tiles is a common practice.

 

[halsey02]

you get bangla to do the work. you get shit job.

You cannot really blame the Bangla or the ah neh who does the work, you blame the contractor & HDB. The licensed contractor uses unlicensed contractor from Malaysia, you can see those Johor registered mini van at the car parks. The Bangla work under the supervision of the Malaysian contractor, but they are the LICENSED contractor workers..

Can you blame the Bangla or....??

 

[Equalisation]

Light bulbs also ada problems tak Joe ?