My Humble Abode (Without Id)

[blue_diamond 0]

Hi Lucidacid,

Wonder if you can PM me you contractor ctc?

TIA

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi neighbour! Your kitchen is slightly longer than mine (I'm at 470a). I have also shortlisted J (has yet to contact him though) but I have also seen feedback elsewhere that he is quite tied up... mind sharing how much were you quoted and what are the works done? Thanks!

Wow! I kept looking out for our fellow neighbors renovations here but could not find them. Did not expect that there are many neighbours using this platform too! He is really tied up, and honestly, I do regret a little engaging his services.

You should only consider him if you are not in a rush to move in, and you have a lot of free time to manage the project yourself. Only then should you consider him.

Just a heads up, you will have to continuously chase him for things, and things are always not fully done to your request.

Personally, I feel that they are really really stretched too thin and are not ready for new projects. However, I know that they may be trying their best already. The project manager doesn't sleep until 1 am plus almost everyday, works 7 days a week, and is endlessly working.

[bsxk 0]

Hi Lucidacid,

Yeah i think so too. I called and whatsapp Mr J no reply,guess they have a lot of projects. So got to give them a miss, cause i need to move in urgently. Btw have ur reno started?

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi Lucidacid,

Yeah i think so too. I called and whatsapp Mr J no reply,guess they have a lot of projects. So got to give them a miss, cause i need to move in urgently. Btw have ur reno started?

Yes, they really have a lot of projects. Had to keep chasing them for my things and sometimes they get done wrongly. My renovation has just started. (:

[Lucidacid 4]

#2 Phase 2 - Cement Screeding

We decided to get the HDB to do our cement screeding instead of our contractors in order to save cost. Apparently, all home owners who booked their flat before last year (2014) November gets free cement screeding for their homes. Of course, there are a few terms and conditions:
1) It will take about 4-5 weeks (It only took us 3 weeks to wait)
2) You can't do tiling after engaging HDB's contractor to do cement screeding
3) It's a standard 40mm

4) You need to email them to appeal/apply for it

Since my husband and I planned to overlay our kitchen and toilet tiles, we needed them to do 50mm for us and so, we had to top up $550 for it. It still meant a lot of savings for us since our contractor quoted us $1400 (Before the need to use pre-pack cement). However, we regretted it so much. This was the cause of our renovation delay. We had them rectify the bumpy spots for 3 times already and it gets worse each time. My husband is a man with good temper and he almost never flares up. Well, this time, he slammed the door, punched his fist on the wall and scolded the guy so badly.

If you happen to get Ah Guang to do your HDB Cement Screeding, request for a change, and avoid him at all cost. He is dishonest and continuously insisted that our floor was already straight. He only measured the smooth areas and raised his voice. Our laminate tiler insisted that it was impossible to lay the tiles on the floor without us feeling the unevenness after laying it. So now we are so so stuck. No choice lor. Suck thumb.


#Phase 3 - Overlaying of Tiles + Hacking of Wall

YAY! We still believe that our house is going to look gorgeous. At the end of the day, it isn't our intention to make a show flat, but a place we can call home. A place that is warm and cosy, and we can totally see it happening already! (:

An advice: Do not go for laminate flooring if you plan to hack your wall and replace it with glass panels. You'll end up with hideous capping/profiling beside the glass panels like us. Boo hoo hoo.

[tbling 0]

Hi Lucidacid,

Can PM me the J&E contact details?

TQ..

Regards...

[jacqteresa 0]

Hello Lucidacid, could you PM me J&E's contact details?
Thank you in advance!

[McMoo 0]

Hi Lucidacid, nice theme it's something similar to what i want. I've also been to several IDs and prices are beyond my budget. Now sourcing for contractors instead. Is it ok to share with me the details of your contractors' details?

Thanks.

[hazellina07 3]

Hi dear, my contractor deals with the screeder.I don't have to get involved.You are so lucky to get j&e, I messages them once in April and once days ago but no response.but it is not fated so I won't pursue

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi dear, my contractor deals with the screeder.I don't have to get involved.You are so lucky to get j&e, I messages them once in April and once days ago but no response.but it is not fated so I won't pursue

Hi Hazellina07!

That's nice! E is too busy to deal with the screeder, especially so when our flooring is outsourced to wood culture ourselves. They don't reply messages or whatsapp messages! We had to call them in the end in order to engage their services. I believe your renovation will turn out well, or even better! (:

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi neighbour! Your kitchen is slightly longer than mine (I'm at 470a). I have also shortlisted J (has yet to contact him though) but I have also seen feedback elsewhere that he is quite tied up... mind sharing how much were you quoted and what are the works done? Thanks!

Sorry for the extremely late reply!

I was quoted $35,000 plus before discount, for hacking of the wall for my study room and replacing it with glass panels with aluminium frames + door, kitchen carpentry, bay window with pvc settee, brick wall, shoe cabinet, wardrobe in mbr, dressing table + side tables, vanity cabinet + glass panels/door for shower areas + overlaying of tiles for everything else apart from our bedrooms and living rooms wall and floor, and also plumbing and electrical works which come as a package. There are many miscellaneous stuff as well that other contractors/IDs would also include in the list.

I wouldn't say that they are extremely cheap, but reasonably priced compared to other contractors, and definitely cheap compared to IDs. We were quoted $44k - 50k and above for the works mentioned by IDs.

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi Lucidacid, nice theme it's something similar to what i want. I've also been to several IDs and prices are beyond my budget. Now sourcing for contractors instead. Is it ok to share with me the details of your contractors' details?

Thanks.

Hi, cld u pls PM the contact of the 3 contractors' u've met. Thanks a lot & hope u have a successful renovation.

Hi Lucidacid, could you pm me your contractor details?

Hi Lucidacid,

Wonder if you can PM me you contractor ctc?

TIA

Hi Lucidacid,

Can PM me the J&E contact details?

TQ..

Regards...

Hello Lucidacid, could you PM me J&E's contact details?

Thank you in advance!

Hi Lucidacid, nice theme it's something similar to what i want. I've also been to several IDs and prices are beyond my budget. Now sourcing for contractors instead. Is it ok to share with me the details of your contractors' details?

Thanks.

All replied to! Except for blue_diamond, I think your inbox is full!

[bsxk 0]

Hi Lucidacid,

Are you doing tiles or laminate for your living room + 3 bedrooms? Can share your quote if you are doing tiles.

[Lucidacid 4]

Phase #4 - Tiling + Wet Works

Okay, they called me down on a tuesday when Hubby was working. I went down happily not knowing what to expect but lo and behold, I was asked to make so many decisions. This was something all the other renotalk posts did not prepare me for.

Kitchen (Incomplete)

We had contacts from our bosses to get Italian tiles at heavily discounted rates.. Less than $3 psf!! So yes, all our tiles are italian tiles and I really love them. This tile was a tad longer than the usual subway tiles so initially Project Manager E (PM E) was very worried how it would look. But it turned out to be more than okay. I love this more than any subway tiles I saw in Hafary. The best thing? It's matt. Pardon the horrible lighting because the lights are not up yet. Sorry!

1) Tiling Kitchen Wall

• Do you want flushed? or '工' designed?
  We chose 工.
• Do you want white grout? black grout? or cement grout?
  We chose cement grout.

2) Tiling Kitchen Floor

• Do you want step ladder or flushed? vertical or horizontal?
  We allowed them to decide for us (because our tiles are 900mm, way longer than the usual 600mm so it might not be flat if we did it other ways). The 3D rendering actually showed the tiles to be done vertically, but again, it was done differently, it's horizontal now.
• Do you want tile drop or kerb?
  We chose kerb.

4) Tiling Toilet Wall

• Do you want horizontal or vertical?
  We chose horizontal.
  
• Where do you want the tiles to start?
  (At this point I had a headache already) We chose to start from the corner where our eyes could see clearly so the tile will appear longer. The hidden corners had shorter/cut tiles.
  
• Do you want white grout? black grout? or cement grout?
  We chose cement grout for the floor, and black grout for the wall.
  
  ***Take note that black grout will fade over time, while white grout is difficult to maintain. Cement grout is easier to maintain but when it's dry it's close to white. When it's wet, it dark grey.

MBR Toilet

My fiancé was a little upset with the way the wooden porcelain tiles were placed, but PM E explained that vertical placement allows water to flow to the train easily compared to placing it horizontally. In the end, we settled with this because I find this pretty too!

Wrong choice: I chose the black wall tiles because my current house has a very white toilet... and it peeves me off every time I step into it because dust and hair and all disgusting things can be seen on the tiles. However, black tiles also mean that soap scum may be easier to spot over time!

*Best combi, White walls, black floor. Never ever ever ever use black solid top for the surface of your vanity cabinet (My current house has this combi). All the soap scum.. oh my.

Common Toilet

We wanted the same combination for our common toilet but the wall tiles were sold out (meaning that they did not have the quantity we needed). So saddie. But it's okay! Though it's not my favorite corner of the house due to the size. It looks decent too!

4) Entrance

• Do you want them to sand it round or do a pvc to hide?
  We chose sanding it round.

Next Up: Aircon Ledge + Aircon Installation + Painting

Edited July 6, 2015 by Lucidacid

[Lucidacid 4]

Taobao Purchases

||1]

1) Door stopper (We don't need this anymore because we decided to install arm slider at $50) - Contact us if you want this. Giving it for free, but you have to pay for the registered postage hahaha!
2) Fake Ideaco Trashbins (I bought the real one too, and it's awesome because the plastic bag cannot be seen)

3) Kitchen Faucet
4) Dining Pendant Light

5) Directors' Lamp
6) Industrial Lights for toilets
7) Normal Lights with remote control and interchangeable light colors.

8) Bedside lamp <- This is so pretty, but PM E told us we should abandon this since our unit was a corner unit, meaning that the lighting points, if I were to add any extras, cannot be concealed. Thus they will be bulging out like a sore thumb. They cannot drill into outer walls for fear that it will compromise building safety. Letting this pair go at cost price. Do contact me if interested.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Lucidacid