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After lurking for about 2 years in this forum, I finally had the chance to finally start a topic for our new home. Lets start off the 1st post with the floor plan, nothing special, typical 4 room BTO floor plan (I am sure that you guys have seen this floor plan couple of times in this forum). We will be getting the keys soon from HDB in approx end Feb 14. The search for contractors / ID started end 3rd Q 2013 and I must say this is a very tedious process. I am not going into details much on this as I am sure a lot of you guys know that its pretty standard or should i say pure common sense to get a few quotes and compare. In the end, we have shortlisted 2 candidates. On what factors that makes us decide on Renzz, it all comes down to the overall package & pricing (of course), good chemistry with the ID, and most importantly good communication (I for one am particular about fast response & attention to details and our ID Marcus has managed to response all our endless queries in a short time so kudos to him on this). We look forward to updating this blog and beginning our renovation journey with Marcus & Renzz.

Can! as vct's signature says - everything is made in china. And so 'everything' can be found in china.... hahaha....

1 cbm is length 1m, width 1m and height 1m

according to my records, there are 3 separate packages for this vanity table. sizes are 0.07, 0.08 and 0.25. this adds up to 0.4 cubic metres. 0.4 x SGD130 = SGD52 for shipping. Taxes and GST, i estimate to be ard SGD10. Item cost price RMB1491. Overall, approximately SGD368

hi, i believe the carpets would be rolled up and boxed for shipment. If its so, it would most likely be under 1 cubic metre. Anything that is less than 1 cubic metre would be charged as 1 cubic metre. Therefore, perhaps you wanna source for more items to bring up your package size to 1 cubic metre or ask ard if there are others intending to buy stuff so that you guys can combine package. This would be more economical. Otherwise, there is international air freight option available on taobao. this takes 3-5 days to reach. Cheapest cost is RMB35 for 1st 1kg and subsequently RMB24 for every 1kg weight. Usually i would use 4PX (air freight forwarder) for this.

hmmm....the cost is 29RMB. The package is about 0.17 cubic metres, 0.17 x SGD130 = SGD22 (with a total of 11 units of downlights) which makes out SGD2 shipping for each. Taxes & GST is about SGD0.80 overall, approximately SGD8.80 per unit

Hi hojichalatte, I was told that the shades of white from wash and wear range is touch-up able hence the choice of lilac white for our wall, maybe you can check with K on this.

Our ID hunt was not a smooth sail.. Started our hunt quite early. About nearly 1 year earlier. We made rash decision and in the end wasted some money.. ID #1 Met him at one of the expo sales. Pretty nice chap. He was rather fast in replying messages.. Met him 2 weeks later from the first meeting with quotation, proposed floor plan, lighting plan & sketched design of our living room. But his quotation is not within our stated budget. He is rather pushy and keep asking us to pay a small amount of deposit $500 so that he can show us his 3D sketch. I find it is too early to commit anything and he was the first ID we've met. As time passes, our requirements changed along the way. Asked for a re-quote based on different items, promised to re-quote but no news from him since. So we dropped him. ID#2 This one is also thru expo sales. A young pretty lady. Not very experienced. Kept asking for what kind of ideas we have in mind. Then I only know that I want something modern but I am looking someone who can impress me with their designs. As I feel if I know exactly what I want, I wont be sourcing for IDs. I will be looking for contractors already. Didnt feel comfortable & safe to let her handle our project. Pushy lady. So we dropped her as well. ID#3 This ID was recommended by my colleague. Provided him with our requirements through email, whatapps & phone calls. During our first meeting, he showed us his quotation and is within our budget. Rather cheap.. I was running on fever that day and he was very pushy. When I stepped out of his office to buy something to drink, he immediately asked my hubby to sign the contract. Sadly for him, my hubby isn’t the decision maker. But I don’t like his yaya papaya attitude. I feel he is more of contractor than ID. His ideas are not impressive & boring. So dropped him too. ID#4 We walked into Ci****n during expo. This ID, Z** Z**g, approached us when we are browsing thru their showroom. Both of us fell in love with their carpentry. Woodgrain PVC internal carcass. Sat down and discuss. He introduced us with their package and pretty good deal if anyone is not changing any items in their package. Free OM sofa or dining table & Courts Vouchers in return for paying GST. There are alot of items that we had to change and some other VO. He promised that it will not be very expensive. And we had to pay a sum of deposit ($1288) to secure the package. We made a very rash decision to pay the deposit without doing any research on them. We are soooooo out of our minds. Totally regretted it. Everytime i asked something, he would say “Dont worry. I will make nice nice for you.” The full quotation amount is on higher side, slightly more than our budget but still manageable. Asked for discounts, and he say it’s already very cheap. =.= After rounds of discussion & meeting at our new place, I find that he is not listening to my requirements and he tends to make us accept this way. For example: I want glass backsplash on both sides of my kitchen and he keeps insisting that it will be very ugly due to the switches & powerpoints. I find it worse if one side is glass and the other is HDB tiles. And many other things that we don’t agree on. Everyone is saying that we must find ID/Contractor that you feel most comfortable with. He is definitely not the one. I have yet to reply him to tell him that I’m going to forfeit my deposit. ID#5 He is my sis colleague cum best friend’s relative. Friendly guy. I provided him with my floor plan & an edited floor plan to show him what layout I prefer. (After meeting so many IDs, I have clearer idea of what I want for my home) I intend to integrate my hubby’s bedside table into the wardrobe. I also sent him this drawing to show him. During our 1st meeting at his “showroom”, he don’t seem well prepared and he just simply print out my edited floor plan & the wardrobe which my hubby drew and used them to explain his quotation. Less professional I would say. And he is the only one that tells me that it would be better if we can buy BLUM products ourselves and they install it for us. In his quotation, he is charging us $1,200 for each room (Master bedroom, Living Room & Kitchen), so total of $3,600 just on blum. He did throw in mirror for dining area wall & some wallpapers. We shortlisted him cuz thinking since he’s my sis best friend’s bro-in-law, 肥水不流外人田。Haha.. ID#6 Also introduced by my sis friend. Highly recommended by her. And she said a lot of positive things about this ID. So I sent him my floor plan (empty one this time). I called him to tell him my requirements and arranged a meeting a week later. To my surprise, he is the only one that did not miss out anything in his quotation. The kitchen layout is correct and our thoughts are in the same track. I told him to design something for my ceiling as I don’t want L Box but I can accept cove lightings. Hence his floorplan includes all the layout of the carpentry work etc and the lightings as well. He goes through the quotation item by item, showing us where it will be in our house, what kind of materials and concept he had in mind and showing us samples. He is very patient, detailed & experienced. I can be very longwinded and he slowly answered all my questions. He did tell us that his company don’t do advertising like regular companies do. They only through word of mouth. This company is newly set up, less than a year. Kinda worries me if they will run away with my money not. Haha. He says it’s up to us whether we can trust & feel comfortable not. I told him that we collected our keys 3 weeks ago and we have not completed checking our house and straightaway he ask whether we are free that coming Sunday. He came down to help us check the house even though we did not say we will be confirming him. Very nice of him right? My hubby and I feel very comfortable and no troubles conveying our thoughts & wants. He will advise & improve them. And its like TADA! He’s the one I want to engage to build our home sweet home. Currently negotiating on the price then we will go ahead to sign the contract. God bless us. Updated: Received this revised quotation and given us some discount. Happy that at least he's willing to give some discount. Will be signing the contract this week. ID#7 Recommended by neighbour from same project. Li***l & Ri***e (partners) from Abs****k. Mr. L inform us 12 mins before appt time that he will be late for meeting for 20mins. We already on the way to their showroom in yishun. We reached there on time and waited for 1 hour but he’s not here yet. So I whatapps him that we will be leaving and we left. His partner Mr. R called me to apologise and ask to meet him anywhere we prefer. So we agree to meet him at our new place. Keep apologising to us, very polite young man. 2-3 years experience in this field. Quite disappointed with their design and their ceiling is just false ceiling & L box at tv area. Miscommunication between Mr. L & Mr. R as Mr. L didn’t convey my requirements fully & correctly. My kitchen layout was wrong and many things are not included in the quotation. Mr. R asked us how we feel about their work, and I replied honestly that I don’t like how they design my ceiling. I feel its too simple and someone is doing L box. I want something special. Straightaway he just ask what kind of design I want. (If I know, I will be hiring contractor instead. Sorry for being so picky XD) Waiting for ppl to impress me I guess. I received their revised quotation yesterday. Due to their lateness, they gave us a $120 discount as compensation. Pricing wise, not very expensive. Acceptable range, cheaper than ID#6. Sadly I am more interested in ID#6’s design. And many other IDs… Sorry for being so long winded. And bear with my broken English.

First TaoBao deal with domestic and you need your agent to handle everything for you. Aliexpress might be more expensive, but when you encountered any problems with the products or shipment, you will always get an instant answer by the sellers. Aliexpress hold the payment until buyers click item received satisfactory, then the money will release to sellers. Like buying from Tao bao, any damage your agent also negotiate for you, but very slim chance you will get a free replacement, or 50% refund. Aliexpress did this But another note is, buying online always a risk. Read reviews and look for reputable sellers is most important............ My experience and 2 cents.

hi fellow renotalkers. we are new here and have been trying to create our t-blog but we keep failing when it comes to posting our pictures. we have an odd living room shape and would like some advice. we tried reading the how to post page but it does not work??? any shi fu's out there can help with a step by step walk through on how to do this please! our reno is starting in a months time so really want to get it up asap. thanks all!

Ya, My electrician says he charge the same price. So I scold my ID why never tell me so important information. lol Lidat of course do all double mah. lol

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It from lush lush. Go take a look.