Botannia Resale Condo- Minimal Reno

[aidygirl 0]

Hi everyone

I shall share my mini reno journey. Thanks to the helpful renotalk forummers, I gotten some contacts through this forum.

The resale condo is in quite move-in condition, hence, minimal reno is required. The main works are ceiling L-box, painting, marble and parquet floor polishing, carpentry, grilles.

We are truly blessed to have met very good contractors.

Main Contractor: ID Visuals (Heng, 8500 xxx)

Carpentry: Hongbee Furniture Co (Uncle Cheong, 9758 1xxx)

Aircon: G.Cool Air-Conditioning & Engineering (Yong, 9824 3xxx)

Curtains: Garvin Marting Services (Vincent, *). Highly raved in renotalk forum. For some strange reasons, Vincent's no is not showing and denoted by *. His number is nine384 ninexxx

Appliances: Parasilk @ Holland Village (Terry, 6466 64xxx). Bought Amasco ceiling fan, LG fridge and LG washer & dryer.

Storeroom Shelf: Yee Sin (6280 0518)

Movers: Gethsemane Care Ministry (Gary: 9337 2xxx)

We have used ID Visuals, Hongbee Furniture and G.Cool Air-Conditioning previously, hence we have decided to go with them again.

Edited October 1, 2015 by leyenda

[aidygirl 0]

Main Contractor: ID Visuals

We did not ask around for quotes as we are more or less sure we are going with Heng based on our very good experience with him previously. He renovated my hubby’s restaurant and he is very steady. He offered to change all the tables 2 rounds without us even asking as the table base were not stable and some of the tabletop warped (not level).

Heng is very patient, responsive and easy-going, my hubby is the main point of contact for Heng. Sometimes I feel bad for being too demanding on Heng, like a noob telling a pro what to do. Heng is still very patient and explain his stuff well eg for kitchen sliding door, I send him some pics of what I want, and I told him I want the sliding door track to be smooth. Hence, he propose erecting a L-pelmet to conceal the sliding glass track. I wanted sandblasting for the glass but Heng recommend clear glass as it make the kitchen more spacious. We decided to go with Heng’s recommendation.

For the cove lights, he recommended cool white as white lights is like kopitiam. I told him I don’t want orange lights and again, I send him some examples of what I wanted. He very patiently replied this is what he proposed. Think he would have rolled his eyes.

One of the afternoons, I went up to check the paint job and I took photo of the wall colour. The colour was 2 tone darker than what we wanted. Again, we send him the photo and asked him why like that. This is only the first coat and the colour will sure be darker once 2^nd coat is up. Heng apologized and mentioned he will go down personally to check. The next day, we saw Heng’s supervisor and the colour of the wall seem ok. Maybe I took it on a rainy day without lightings. Maloo to the max.

We sent Heng pics of the ceiling fan and dining lights (thanks to Kenoro's recommendation from <link removed> that we wanted to buy. As we have L-box and cove lightings, Heng personally went up to measure the distance/ length (so the lights will not flicker when the fan is turned on) and told us the 56" KDK fan we like is out as it's too big, max we can choose is 50". Being a noob, we also asked Heng what is the voltage of the dining lights that we should be getting. I did not read the website carefully, it already state that Singapore is using 220-240V. Heng also gave us advice on max length of sofa and dining set that we can get.

Heng knows that I will sure go up to check the parquet and marble polishing job over the long jubilee weekend, hence he called my hubby to go up after Saturday to check, coz must wait for varnish to dry first. One corner of the parquet refinishing was not well done, we send him the pic. He responded even on a public holiday. Thumbs up.

He is also ok that we use another contractor for the carpentry job and is very helpful eg he asked Uncle to call him 1 hr before going up so that he can open the door for him. When his electrician forgot to extend the wiring for the feature wall plugs, we called him and within half an hour, he arrived at the unit and rectified the work.

Being the yim chim person, I scrutinized every corner of the paint job and pasted gazillion post-it stickers on areas to be rectified eg patchy paint job, drip marks of paint, bubble, dents, cracks, excess paint to be wiped off. Heng mentioned he will get his guys to touch up this coming Sunday.

I will highly recommend Heng as I think his margin is very slim given this is a minor reno job and he still need to co-ordinate all the jobs eg aircon, electrical, carpentry, polishing, grilles. He still need to deal with me every now & then bugging him.

Edited October 1, 2015 by leyenda

[aidygirl 0]

Before and After Photos for ID Visuals

The works done were:

1) to plaster smooth entrance wall to TV area and remove exising feature wall

2) install L-shaped partition wall and sliding glass door at kitchen entrance

3) install L-shaped plaster ceiling with light holder, L-box curtain pelmet **** area

4) Supply, wiring and install T5 cove lights

5) Supply 6 nos of LED spotlights with Integrated driver

6) install curtain pelmet at dining area

7) install aluminium window grilles at Bedroom 2

8) Sand and revarnish parquet flooring at 3 bedrooms

9) Polish marble flooring living area

10) Painting entire house

11) Hacking, supply and install 2 13amp double powerpoint.

12) Hacking, plastering and extension of dining light point

13) Dismantle living room lights and install ceiling fan

14) dismantle and removal of TV feature wall, bedroom platform, MBR full length mirror.

Some Before Photos:

Entrance:

Ceiling:

Dining area:

Open kitchen with existing glass wall:

Edited August 28, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

Carpentry: Hongbee Furniture Co

Uncle Cheong’s workmanship is very good as he has done up the carpentry for my in-law house. His quotes is quite competitive. There were additional things which I asked Uncle to do eg additional shelfing below sink, fix existing carpentry eg laminate curl up, the metal handle came off and he did not charge me extra.

Uncle Cheong is quite popular, hence, before our house paperwork completion, we specially arranged with agent for Heng and Uncle to go up to the house for list of works to be done.

Uncle Cheong went up again for 2^nd measurement after we have confirmed works to be done. On the 3^rd visit, he brought his guy and they did very precise measurement after we confirmed design and laminates. Uncle took 3 weeks to do up the carpentry.

[aidygirl 0]

The existing carpentry were still in good condition. Hence, the works done are:

1) install new TV feature wall with console

2) change existing dining hall cupboard doors.

We did not like the existing laminates. Previous owner has pasted the laminates across the hallway, flushed up till the MBR door (and inside- entire wall) and 2nd bedroom wall. We wanted to dismantle, plaster smooth and paint but there was a major problem. I've called several door vendors including the appointed door installer for the condo unit. The door is not of standard size and the previous owner has remove the door frame for the MBR.

As the condo is about 6years old, the authorised door installer do not have any more stock and the boss will not specially produce 1 piece for us. Which means we have to change all the doors if we are to custom make if we are to go with other vendors. Hence, we decide to keep the laminates but we will change the cupboard doors.

Previous owner has used coloured PVC instead of white PVC for the cabinet interior, hence we need to top up.

3) change existing MBR wardrobe door and install new drawers and shelves. The door was difficult to open as it was heavy and we noticed that the door is slightly warped. Hence, we have decided to replace with aluminium frame glass door with tracks.

The existing drawers were also not useful, it is too shallow to put anything. You cannot put accessories as it did not have compartments and I think everything will fall out/ shift out of place when you pull out the drawers.

4) change existing vanity cupboards for both toilets. The existing drawers were too small to put anything and the top shelf is fixed (cannot be opened). As toilet is of high moisture, we have chosen aluminium glass instead of usually wooden laminates.

5) replace all hinges for existing cabinets at kitchen and add additional shelves. The old cabinets were still in good condition but they slam loudly when closed.

Uncle brought 5 workers for installation and they took 2days to finish (10am-5pm). He was complaining that if we choose to make new cupboards, it will be faster. One of his workers spend the entire day pasting the laminates for the dining cupboard.

Some Before & After photos:

Vanity cupboards

MBR Wardrobe door:

MBR Wardrobe shelf:

Uncle pasted 3 new laminates on the extreme left cupboard, hence, there are no visible screw marks left from dismantling of the previous drawers, it look as good as new.

Dining Area Cabinet:

TV Feature Wall:

Edited August 14, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

The stripes are not very visible from the above pic. We wanted deep drawers for storage purposes. One thing we need to mention is that Uncle gave us rounded edges and the 2nd drawer to the left is actually flip-up for us to put players, SCV box etc.

Our main con, Heng advise us not to choose white laminates coz will see waves (if this is the correct way to explain) if it is not well made especially under the lights. Heng advise us to choose thicker laminate, which Uncle help us choose when we told him we wanted white colour.

The TV feature wall is adapted from these 2 pics. Similarity to what we wanted: 100%.

Edited August 13, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

Aircon: G.Cool Air-Conditioning & Engineering

Right from the start, our main con Heng recommended us to change the aircon as the units are already 6yrs and aircon shelf life is about there. The aircon were still in good working condition (Mitsubishi Starmex) , it has 5units and 3 compressors of which 3 units are of 22000BTU (2 in hall and MBR) as my unit face west. We did not budget in this cost and we wanted to save some money as we were quite stretched from the house purchase.

Heng say we might need to cough out more money if the aircon breaks down and who is going to help patch and cover up the holes and paint job. Hence, might as well change now.

Hence, we went around scouting for aircon vendors and we learnt that condos are concealed piping through false ceiling, hence the installation/ labour cost will be higher. We also have another dilemma, whether to reuse existing pipes as suggested by some contractors we spoke to if we want to save money. As we are not doing any major hacking works to floor tiles/ ceiling, there is no need to change piping and they mentioned the condo is about 6 yrs old and usually condo use very good materials. However, there is no warranty on old piping. The piping could choke in long run.

We chose G.Cool as their quotes is the cheapest and they are non-GST registered. As we cannot make up our mind if we want to change aircon and piping, Yong recommend that we do aircon chemical overhaul first. Yong is also very patient with all the watapps exchanges eg aircon option combinations & price, advice on changing pipes and aircon.

We consulted Heng again and he recommend might as well change everything (pipes and aircon), don’t do half half. Hence, we took Heng’s advice. Yong provided job schedule of works done eg his guys will remove existing aircon on Day 1, they will re-lay the piping the next day. They will fix back the aircon when the paint job is complete.

Tip: stainless steel brackets is additional cost. Hence, try to ask the vendor to throw in but Yong say we don’t need bracket (probably ours is replacement unit).

Update: (some have PMed me about my aircon cost). I've listed my aircon combination fy reference. Price may differ based on the aircon units and compressor size.

My new Starmex combination is:
1) MXY-4A38VA Compressor,MSY-GE24VA x2 for Living Room and MBR
2) MXY-43A28VA Compressor,MSY-GE13VA x2 for Bedroom 2 & 3.

Managed to bargain down to $6800.

Edited September 22, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

I did not manage to take before photos of the aircon and after they re-lay the pipes coz Yong was supposed to fix back the aircon units this coming Monday after Heng touched up the paint works. However, his guys completed the installation yesterday.

The workers seem young but they were fast and work independently. They lay cupboard protection on the flooring and also the sink cabinet (when installing the compressor). They clean up after the job and wrap the aircon units with plastic bag, probably they were informed there will be paint rectification work.

Edited August 14, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

Curtains: Garvin Marting Services

Thanks to the many recommendations in renotalk forum, we have engaged Vincent for the curtains. We did not even go to other vendors for quotes comparison.

I called Vincent to fix an onsite appointment. He is really popular and we have to wait up to 2weeks. On that day, Vincent was punctual and he brought all the curtain materials for us to choose. He provided his expert advice eg different types of materials, blockage. Vincent is really thoughtful too. As our MBR windows is huge, he recommend a 4 piece instead of 2 piece curtains so that it is easier to wash in washing machine.

Vincent mentioned that the other highly raved about Mr Chew and him are partners, hence look for either one of them is fine. Shall review his workmanship when the curtains are up.

Edited August 13, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

After Photos for Garvin Marting Services

Living Room:

Bedroom:

Nice tassel:

The curtains were neatly sewn and the edge fold is thick (I think at least 5inch).

Vincent came with his wife and they were very neat and careful, they covered the floor with cloth. As my bedrooms have existing curtain tracks, they informed me installation will take about 1.5hours. I went for lunch and by the time I came back, they have finished installing and have cleaned up the place.

Vincent and the wife explained that the living room's curtains is drawn more smoothly as it has pelmet so they can hang the curtains lower. There are no pelmets in the bedrooms,hence, they have to hang the curtains higher to cover the tracks. The friction make the tracks less smooth.

It was nice and fuss-free dealing with Vincent, no wonder he is highly raved about. A set of curtains can last a few years and people usually only buy 1 set or until their existing curtains are worn off/ they move new house. Hence, I think it is a worthy investment. Would highly recommend Vincent.

Edited August 28, 2015 by aidygirl

[aidygirl 0]

Appliances: Parasilk @ Holland Village

I have compared the quotes among Best Denki, Courts, Mega Discount Store, Kong Tai and Parasilk. Parasilk is the cheapest and there is free delivery for the fridge and washer. It is cash and carry for the Amasco ceiling fan. There is also no additional charge for use of credit cards compared to other smaller electronics store.

Edited August 13, 2015 by aidygirl

[ZzzMonster 7]

Curtains: Garvin Marting Services

Vincent mentioned that the other highly raved about Mr Chew and him are partners, hence look for either one of them is fine. Shall review his workmanship when the curtains are up.

Really???? But from what I heard, their rates are different...

Btw, congrats on your new home!

Edited August 12, 2015 by ZzzMonster

[aidygirl 0]

Procedure for First Time Entering House

http://www.fengshuimastersingapore.sg/key-collection/

Auspicious Renovation & Move In Date Selection

http://www.geomancy.net/reports/free-report/freerpt-dateboth.htm

[SaltedCaramel 0]

Congrats on your new home aidygirl!

[YCKAMK 0]

Aircon: G.Cool Air-Conditioning & Engineering

Right from the start, our main con Heng recommended us to change the aircon as the units are already 6yrs and aircon shelf life is about there. The aircon were still in good working condition (Mitsubishi Starmex) , it has 5units and 3 compressors of which 3 units are of 22000BTU (2 hall and MBR). We did not budget in this cost and we wanted to save some money as we were quite stretched from the house purchase.

Heng say we might need to cough out more money if the aircon breaks down and who is going to help patch and cover up the holes and paint job. Hence, might as well change now.

Hence, we went around scouting for aircon vendors and we learnt that condos are concealed piping through false ceiling, hence the installation/ labour cost will be higher. We also have another dilemma, whether to reuse existing pipes as suggested by some contractors we spoke to if we want to save money. As we are not doing any major hacking works to floor tiles/ ceiling, there is no need to change piping and they mentioned the condo is about 6 yrs old and usually condo use very good materials. However, there is no warranty on old piping. The piping could choke in long run.

We chose G.Cool as their quotes is the cheapest and they are non-GST registered. As we cannot make up our mind if we want to change aircon and piping, Yong recommend that we do aircon chemical overhaul first. Yong is also very patient with all the watapps exchanges eg aircon option combinations & price, advice on changing pipes and aircon.

We consulted Heng again and he recommend might as well change everything (pipes and aircon), don’t do half half. Hence, we took Heng’s advice. Yong provided job schedule of works done eg his guys will remove existing aircon on Day 1, they will re-lay the piping the next day. They will fix back the aircon when the paint job is complete.

Tip: stainless steel brackets is additional cost. Hence, try to ask the vendor to throw in but Yong say we don’t need bracket (probably ours is replacement unit).

Hi,

I am thinking of also changing the air conditioning in my resale condo. And the piping is also concealed. Interested to know how much it cost you for the ac system.

Would greatly appreciate it if you can pm me.

Thanks