Total Home Design

Khing has been one of the most knowledgeable people we could deal with when looking for suitable bathroom fixtures during the reno. She was extremely helpful, gave us the right advice and guided us honestly without trying to only buy from THM, highly recommend her service and products

I am very happy with the renovation work Joe and the team done to my house. Total Home design done my both bathrooms, kitchen, floor, windows, few new doors, painting and plantation shutters. I also got some partitions removed to open up bit of space in my living room. I can say only good things about Joe and the team. Workmanship is very good. They were careful, polite and friendly. I have no issues recommending them

We had our bathroom done a few years back and had troubles from the beginning. They put silicon over a cracked tile instead of replacing it when they damaged it, didnt know asbestos or how to deal with it, the cold water wasnt hooked up to the taps in the sinks or shower. They tried to turn the flick mixer upside down to fix it before they realised it was a pipe issue and had to redo it. The grouting was uneven and you can clearly see silicon around the twin sinks but we stopped calling them because we were sick of dealing with them. The quality of the products are also inferior and don't last. The mirrors are already disintegrating, the shower door handles that were silver have had the plastic come off leaving a very unattractive handle, the shower has a leak and the toilet also wobbles. We already feel like the bathroom needs a revamp. Kerry was friendly and informative.

Staff were very informative and pleasant. There is a good selection of bathroom products and the prices were most competitive.

I had a renovation done in December 2017 and it was ‘finished’ in January. It is still not finished now.
When I was told to move back in I saw that the exhaust fan in the ceiling was gone, leaving a hole in the ceiling. This seemed an odd oversight at the time, and I dismissed it as a small error where maybe Joe trusted his experienced team so much he felt he didn’t have to look too closely at their work, but it was a sign of more to come.
In the laundry we had paid for a custom bench and cupboard to tidy up the look and give access to the power without having to run the plug up the walls or behind the washer. When our joiner came to fit the bench he informed us that the stops and power point were installed above where the bench would be but that made no sense. He tried to explain to the guy who was working on it but he did not speak a word of English. He contacted me so I called joe and asked that he check this and ensure that the stops were under the sink in the bench and the power point on the back wall of the bench. He told me this was resolved. When we come home we saw that the power point was no longer above the bench but on the back wall of the tiles space behind the washer and not in the cupboard. This made no sense as it did not give us access to the power without pulling the heavy machine out. The resolution was to send another guy out to move the PowerPoint by adding another one to the inside side of the cupboard which was not really where we wanted it but seemed like the best solution we would get. Again, this should have raised flags as it is pretty obvious from a practical point of view no one would want their stops on the wall above a bench.
Another revelation was the toilet wall where we got a new holder installed. Again our joiner has flagged for us that the new holder was installed BEFORE the wall was sanded which again makes no sense- it is harder to sand a wall (from where the old toilet holder was) without a fixture to work behind. I wondered why no one hired by total home design seemed to work this out at the time.
The bath tub was scratched and thd guy who was sent to fix it said he buffed it out but couldn’t explain how he did that and why it would work (no English) but kept shining his torch away from the scratches onto a smooth bit of the plastic and telling me it was ok now. Which it wasn’t.
Anyway joe sent someone out to fix it and in a few days time I noticed still more issues and then more again etc.that I am still resolving. If I wrote a review for every time thd has come to my place it would take all night. Each ‘solution ‘ has been temporary and in some cases hard won.
If you like to closely supervise your own jobs this could be a good place for you, especially if you are very familiar with the Australian building code. This is tricky to do as lots of dust and noise will occur during renovation.
Otherwise I would not recommend this company. Be very careful to make sure everything from your end is well documented and above board as it has been a long process.
I have never been introduced to anyone who has come to the home under this company besides the owner, Joe. They just come and if they can’t answer a question (which is any question) they call Joe. Other companies might have better communication so if this is important to you, something to think about before you choose thd for a renovation. They all seemed pleasant but the job was not done well. Not sure if it is the labourer or the supervision to question in this situation.
On the plus side Kerry in the centre is really helpful to talk to and can give very good practical advice about installation, cleaning and maintenance. Individually, all employees are pleasant to speak to. I don’t like posting negative reviews as I feel it damages not just those who make mistakes but the whole company. In this case though I would hate for others to experience the stress of the endless issues I have faced. To prove I am not a robot I will now post good reviews for companies that I am happy to recommend.

I have not had a good experience with this company. When my taps were set they were not flush with the wall. I asked why not and was told that ya his they fit. The gap was filled with a porous foam. I asked if this would discolour and was told no. A month later the foam had discoloured.i had to stay home on the Saturday and get thd out to fix the foam that apparently would not discolour. There was also a hole in the shower grout on the wall. Thd solution was to squirt silicone over the discoloured foam and into the grout gap. Joe said that was ok. He did not check the rest of the grout even though there was a clear faulty patch. I asked again if the silicone would discolour being squirted over the discoloured foam but was told no it’s ok, asked me to finalise bill. A month after that the silicone had discoloured again and the grout was washing away. If you choose this company be prepared to spend a lot of time on follow up and make sure you know the Australian building standards- it was within my rights to expect taps flush to the wall the first time and not have to have repeated follow ups. I would have expected more pride in the workmanship and honesty in terms of the stability of the solutions- as if the silicone wouldn’t just discolour. They are polite to deal with but have no regard for the time it takes to keep chasing up repairs and the stress of finding issues months after the renovation. I think it is reasonable to expect a builder to see the poorly fitted taps and not want their company associated with this job, and to fix it properly straight away.even before the homeowner sees it. But apparently not, it’s ‘see what people will put up with’. Even after the initial concern he could have refitted properly without silicone, there was no need for that.

We are extremely pleased with the dedicated team who work there. Small shop but height quality stuff there, definitely will recommend. Well done, guys.