Woman tried to cancel renovation but still being pursued for by contractor of $180,000, says work is very disappointing

26 May 2026, 16:33 · The Independent

SINGAPORE: Renovating a house costs lots of hard-earned money, and it shouldn’t be put to waste. However, this is not the case for a woman who complained that she paid a contractor $280,000 for renovation, but wants to cancel the work because of dissatisfied service.

However, the woman ended up being sued for over $180,000 by the contractor, stating that everything was done according to what they had planned, and the fees were transparent right from the very start.

Case details

As reported by Shin Min Daily News, the 53-year-old woman living on Bedok Road stated in an interview that she had bought the terraced house in 2013. The house has leaks, and she wanted to renovate it.

“Now that my children are grown up, I have more money and want to live here for a long time, so I decided to start the renovation.”

With this, she hired a contractor to renovate the house, but was later on disappointed with their work. She shared that she found the contractor through an introduction, and agreed with the renovation agreement for more than $620,000.

During the renovation process, she has always instructed the contractor to keep certain items, such as the air conditioner and fan. Unfortunately, the construction team damaged the air conditioner compressor and other items.

The woman remarked, “I am also dissatisfied with some of the charges, believing the prices are too high.” Alongside this, the woman also felt that the contractor’s attitude was poor, so she decided to cancel the renovation.

In January of this year, the contractor demanded that the woman settle the remaining payment even when she wished to terminate the service. The contractor unexpectedly continued finishing the roof and even asked for more than $180,000 for additional construction fees, which she found unacceptable.

By this time, the woman had already paid more than $280,000 and had doubts about the final payment, so she did not want to pay.

“I also invited a quality inspector to check the construction items. I feel that many things were not done, and the house is in this state. How can I possibly pay?” she claimed.

The contractor then explained in an interview that the renovation plan was finalised before construction even began, and all of their prices were transparent. They just started working after the homeowner signed off.

Furthermore, the contractor stated that some of the items that the homeowner wanted to keep were quite old, and the woman had also signed an invoice for a new air conditioner.

“If she disagrees with anything, we can sit down and talk it over; otherwise, how can we resolve the issue?,” the contractor stated.

Given that both parties were unable to make an agreement on how things would go, the renovation project has been suspended for months.

Other related news

In similar news related to construction, construction noises from a college in Singapore have been a nuisance for residents living nearby for nearly 10 months now.

The noises, which occur almost every single day, cause the residents to stay up late at night, causing great distress to many.