Brick and Tech

The 10% Trap: How "Fake" Engineers Use Stolen Photos to Hook Investors Building a home is one of the biggest financial commitments most of us will ever make. It’s a journey of trust, but as I recently discovered on my own site, there are people out there looking to exploit that trust by stealing the hard work of others to build a fake reputation. The Encounter: A "Site Engineer" Who Didn't Know the Owner or Anyone On-site A few days ago, I was at my construction site—a project being professionally managed by Brick & Bolt . I noticed a well-dressed stranger meticulously taking "inch-by-inch" photos of the entire site, inside and out. When I approached him after a few minutes and asked what he was doing, he didn't miss a beat. He claimed he was a "site engineer" from a different construction firm and stated he was there to conduct a "project audit." The red flags went up immediately: The Denial: He actually argued with me whe...

After the online ibo.com tile ordering experience , the next phase of our journey was offline tile shopping. Tile shopping for our home has been one of the most unexpectedly long journeys in our construction experience. Unlike ordering tiles online or quickly picking something off a website, this time the search was real — footwork, endless showrooms, and the hope of finally finding tiles that feel right. For the past 2~3 months during weekends, we’ve been visiting multiple tile/ ceramics showrooms around the city — each time with the hope that this visit would be the one. But honestly, it felt like walking into the same maze again and again. Some stores had limited styles/pattern, others had colours that didn’t quite match what we wante/imagined, and most of all we struggled to find tiles that really resonated with our taste and vision — something that looked right not just in photos, but in real life under real light. We went into every visit with an open mind — no referrals, no ex...

I recently placed multiple orders for home building materials on IBO.com, including tiles. While the website promises delivery within 4 hours, my experience turned out quite different. After placing the order, the delivery took nearly 10 days — far from what was advertised. When the tiles finally arrived, two boxes were damaged even before unloading. I immediately informed the IBO team and the assigned SPOC. They assured me that a refund would be processed, but to date, nothing has been received. A few other boxes also had damaged edges, yet there was no proactive support or compensation from IBO’s end. Poor Customer Support Experience The website and WhatsApp support experience have been disappointing. Their WhatsApp bot routes issues to an agent, who typically says someone will call back — but the issue never gets resolved. After a few hours, I receive a WhatsApp message stating that the ticket has been “resolved and closed”, even though n...

Plastering work is currently in progress, and the site is shaping up beautifully. Each wall is being checked and finished with precision to ensure a clean, even surface ready for the next stage of work. 🎥 I’ll be sharing short video clip of the ongoing plastering below: https://youtube.com/shorts/OrLusIYV-ko?si=v79QVsu8L2kvUE6a To maintain quality, here’s the Plastering QC (Quality Control) Checklist being followed on-site: ✅ Proper surface preparation cleaning and wetting before plastering (blind trust) ✅ Correct mortar mix ratio as per specification (Blind trust) ✅ Uniform thickness of plaster layer (QC todo) ✅ Smoothness and evenness of finish (WIP) ✅ Right curing process for durability (WIP) ✅ Corner edges and grooves finished neatly(TBD) ✅ No cracks, bulges, or hollowness after drying(TBD) Each step is inspected to ensure long-lasting quality and a fine finish. Stay tuned — more progress updates and on-site visuals coming soon!