My 1st Major Reno! Will I Survive This?

[summer rain 0]

hihi Merry Christmas everyone ! This is my first post as you can see.. as new as newbie can go! I have actually gotten my keys to my EM on Nov 10 and haven't even started on my reno. Kinda slow huh? My hacking will start Jan 3 -5 according to my ID, which I had engaged after consideration between her and another contractor which had pretty good workmanship. I found him to be expensive that was why I had wanted another option and I had seen write ups of their projects here as well and the pics looked nice. Sad to say, my current choice doesn't seem to save me any significant amount of money as well. On hindsight, after reading through some of the t-blogs here I am wondering if i have indeed made the right decison in hiring my current ID. Dont get me wrong, she's a real nice girl and she tried very hard initially, but I feel like I am overpaying somewhat. For example I had read Steelz blog (hi there! "wave") and that his budget was only $35k and he even got 3D drwaings, whereas I don't because I had "siamed" the design fee that my ID's company had wanted to charge. But I still have to pay GST eventually, so as you can see, this is where my misgivings set in. Also my blinking floor alone will cost $9k, and she won't tell me how much is per sq ft. I have afeeling it's about $6 per sq ft. My ideal was a $3 option but her advice is to use good laminates , which is highly recommended by her. She had also shown me some other brands (still not $3 though) but design wise not so happening. I had wanted another but she said her colleague had a bad experience and her company had forbade her from using that brand. If I insist, I would have to deal direct with them. Of course that scared the bejeezers outta me, so I took her suggested brand lor.. sigh...Anyway when i have the time I will upload pics of the house before reno. Seriously, it is in a really really bad condition, even the front door doesn't lock properly! I really wondered how the previous owner lived there. Anyway this is the floor plan of my house : ok I can't figure out how to copy my scan here, so have to do it later, I figured after 50 tries it ain't happening, might as well go eat first.. cheers!

Edited March 25, 2011 by summer rain

[gimz63251073 0]

hihi Merry Christmas everyone ! This is my first post as you can see.. as new as newbie can go! I have actually gotten my keys to my EM on Nov 10 and haven't even started on my reno. Kinda slow huh? My hacking will start Jan 3 -5 according to my ID, which I had engaged after consideration between her and another contractor which had pretty good workmanship. I found him to be expensive that was why I had wanted another option and I had seen write ups of their projects here as well and the pics looked nice. Sad to say, my current choice doesn't seem to save me any significant amount of money as well. On hindsight, after reading through some of the t-blogs here I am wondering if i have indeed made the right decison in hiring my current ID. Dont get me wrong, she's a real nice girl and she tried very hard initially, but I feel like I am overpaying somewhat. For example I had read Steelz blog (hi there! "wave") and that his budget was only $35k and he even got 3D drwaings, whereas I don't because I had "siamed" the design fee that my ID's company had wanted to charge. But I still have to pay GST eventually, so as you can see, this is where my misgivings set in. Also my blinking floor alone will cost $9k, and she won't tell me how much is per sq ft. I have afeeling it's about $6 per sq ft. My ideal was a $3 option but her advice is to use good laminates ie Berry, which is highly recommended by her. She had also shown me some other brands (still not $3 though) but design wise not so happening. I had wanted Quick Step but she said her colleague had a bad experience and her company had forbade her from using QS. If I insist, I would have to deal direct with QS. Of course that scared the bejeezers outta me, so I took Berry lor.. sigh...Anyway when i have the time I will upload pics of the house before reno. Seriously, it is in a really really bad condition, even the front door doesn't lock properly! I really wondered how the previous owner lived there. Anyway this is the floor plan of my house : ok I can't figure out how to copy my scan here, so have to do it later, I figured after 50 tries it ain't happening, might as well go eat first.. cheers!

hihi...welcome!

whats your blinking floor all about? u gotta save the floorplan as a picture file and upload it to imageshack or photobucket sites, then share the link here.

Cheers!

[mae29 2]

What?? Engage ID firm and no 3D drawings?

I saw from my original quotation that 3D drawings and Project Management are included in the package I signed up with them. If they charged me for the 3D drawings, I guess they also 'liao lui' (lose $$) because I have already made so many changes to the 3D drawings.

Edited December 25, 2010 by mae29

[summer rain 0]

hihi...welcome!

whats your blinking floor all about? u gotta save the floorplan as a picture file and upload it to imageshack or photobucket sites, then share the link here.

Cheers!

hihi the slacker is back! sorry been uber busy, and you can't believe how stupid I am, still dunno how to attach pics, can't I just cut and paste pics here directly instead of using links? You know it took me so long just to find my original post, dumb huh? I really suck at these things.

My floor is a nightmare because I am spending so much on it and I will not be getting what I want. The living area not what I expected but I picked it so can't complain there. The upper level's laminate had no stock and I had to pick another, overall effect not nice because of the more visible white grains. On top of that the installation was not done properly and I had to fight heaven and **** to get it done the way I wanted. I will have to wait and see if it could be rectified. Right now, I am being stone-walled and I sometimes wonder if I was being too particular or is this really the standard of laminate installation in Singapore. From what I had researched it is not like that overseas, but I am told Singapore is like that. I can't accept this so I am still fighting.

[Ely1 0]

Hi Summer Rain,

Welcome to RT! What do you mean the installation wasn't done properly? Tiles are not levelled? The grouting too thick? Not sure what you mean by "blinking floor" either! Definitely need pics!

Create an account with Photobucket, or Flickr - then Upload photos. I'll use Flickr as an example because that's what I use.

Pick the files you want, can choose multiple, just hold down ctrl and click selections. Click Upload.

Go to the picture you want or select from your Photostream anytime clicking on "You" tab. Click on the image you want to host:

Click "Share This":

You can choose sizes under "Actions" drop down menu beside "Share This". Select "View All Sizes", pick the size - "Square", "Thumbnail", "Small", "Medium 500", "Medium 640", "Original", "Large". Right-click on the sized image and select "Properties".

Copy URL.

On the forum, simply click on the icon above the text box that has a picture on it:

- A pop up will appear, then just paste the link in it. Easy-peasy!

-Ely

[summer rain 0]

Thanks Ely1 and Gimz for your photo tips - I shall try again (you know I had actually crafted a reply and everything was gone because of some error so now I just do testing 1st..)

fingers crossed!

ps: i keeep getting this error :

You are not allowed to use that image extension on this board. A valid format is: http://www.domain.com/picture.gif, an invalid format is: http://www.domain.com/picture.one.gif

Edited March 25, 2011 by summer rain

[summer rain 0]

yeah!!! it works! thanks again guys!

so! as you can see, the state of the room was rather deplorable, it's the same for the whole house, meaning I have to gut the whole house, NOTHING can be salvaged, even the staircase. The whole house as basically cemented with the exception of kitchen (tiled) and 1 bedroom (carpetted). We have decided to use laminates for the whole house (except kitchen) thinking it would be easier and cheaper. Bad Mistake.

Selected this for level 1

and this for level 2 which was out of stock just before installation and then we had to scramble to select another colour which was close but with more white grains - effect not so great. And then after installation there were all these horrid expansion strips at the entrances of each room

which could have been avoidable if the 3 rooms and stair landing had been treated as 1 space rather than 4 separate spaces. Did my research and showed proof that it can be done (gorgeous floors done overseas) and was told this is the standard in S'pore and that I can't compare. Duh????? Why not? It is not rocket science and its not the "how", its the "want to or not" - I find that unacceptable. After much sweat and tears (mine of course), managed to eprsuade them to reinstall. I am waiting with heart palpitations and fingers crossed. If this works, half my nightmare will be solved. The other half is my staircase ... akan datang...

Edited March 25, 2011 by summer rain