SINGAPORE- Residents of Senja Gateway in Bukit Panjang have been having a slew of problems with the living room tiles in their Build-To-Order (BTO) flats.
Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported on Wednesday that residents have complained that tiles are too rough, and are easily stained.
A civil servant who wanted to be known only as Mr Lu, said that shoe prints cannot be removed easily from the tiles and that the ceramic tiles are rough and not supposed to be that way. Even though his home renovation contractors used chemicals to remove shoe prints, the stains remained.
When he sought help, the Housing Board sent workers to check on the situation.
The workers were able to remove the stains after leaving chemical agents on the stains for three minutes, then washing twice, he said.
He added he only discovered later that many of his neighbours were also dissatisfied with the state of their tiles.
In fact, the residents are so disgruntled that they have set up a closed group on Facebook called "Senja Gateway Building Issues".
The paper also reported that the HDB has sent workers to homes with rough tile problems to smoothen them out.
However, one resident said that the tiles were smoothened to the point of being slippery. Many residents have had their tiles polished and waxed after seeking help on their rough tiles.
The flats were launched by the HDB in July 2010. HDB - in a reply to media queries from Shin Min - said that the tiles used in the building of this BTO project were tested for their quality, including anti-stain properties.
A spokesman added that they had been receiving feedback since January, over tiles that have been easily stained and difficult to clean.
The spokesman added HDB has offered polishing and waxing services usually used in private projects.
