leechaorui

I heard of horror stories of sub contractor not taking the plywood out after the cement is dried. The sub contractor simply plaster over the plywood. In the end, the whole house leaked badly. The owner has just re-teared down many of the walls to extract the wood and re-plaster the place. Very jialat. Another story that I heard was the sub contractor use cloth/ sponge to paint over the grills. This resulted in very quick depreciation of the paint work on the grills as the paint is very thin. This one not so bad, just need to clear out the existing paint and re-do the paint work. Those contractor that don't pay their sub-contractor fairly or don't pay their sub contractor is doing their customer a dis-service. Imagine owner pay contractor to build the house for $800K and the main contractor sub-contract out and the sub-contractor further sub-contract out again of which the tail end guy gets only $400K, I can't imagine the quality of the house construction. I met one such contractor and found his work to be extremely shoddy. He even boasted that as long as owner is happy, nothing will happen. I told him off that the quality of his work was unacceptable and he was basically trying to rip the owner.

Hi Jane, The quotations for rebuilding houses have a range of prices. It depends on the complexity of the work, the construction materials used, the furnishing, the margins of the contractor and also the extent of the architect's involvement. The following are some examples of cost differentials in construction (usually owners don't notice these differences): (a) has areas protruding outwards supported by cantilever as opposed to supporting by a pillar, (b) use solid bricks as opposed to hollow bricks, water proof the whole house as opposed to water proofing only wet areas (eg. balcony, toilets), © use materials that allow for much higher weight loading compared with the minimum requirements, (4) use STO weather proof paint (stops seepage of water into the paint) as opposed to ICI/ Nippon weather bond paint, (5) use larger copper pipes as opposed to the minimum standard (allows for better water flow even when everyone turns on the tap) (6) use higher quality cat 6 cables (eg. Belden brand and AMP faceplates) as opposed to not installing cat6 cabling or using average quality cables and faceplates (7) use Singapore cement (has properties that help to prevent water seepage and cracking) as opposed to other types of cement (not good to mentioned brand here) (8) use higher quality water proofing materials as opposed to using ordinary type of water proofing materials (9) use piling to build foundation as opposed to doing only rough foundation (according to some professionals, after many many years, there could be some settlements effect) (10) use solid bricks to help bond the cement and rebar when doing foundation instead of wood (wood tend to have gaps and allow for dust and dirt to get in between pillars' joints (I think this is not a major problem although some claimed that it would slightly weaken the pillars). (11) use of solid thick aluminum galvanized frames/ Fascina brand instead of those filmsy aluminium windows and frame. (12) use double glazed windows to prevent heat from entering the house as opposed to using ordinary glass for the windows. (13) use wall bracket to secure large size feature wall stones as opposed to using cement to stick the stones to the wall (stones can dropped off after some time). The following are some cost differentials in furnishing: (1) use of higher end bathroom taps, WC, basins, water-heater system (eg. Gohe, TOTO, 707) that are made in higher cost countries as opposed to generic brands that are made in China, Indonesia or M'sia (2) use of higher end parquet such as those longer timber strips from Burma as opposed to smaller strips parquet from Indonesia, (3) use of chengai wood from mature trees as opposed to using marbau wood for decking. (4) use of high quality marble selected and cut from large piece as opposed to using granite, smaller marble cuts, homogenous tiles, etc... However, some pple are able to get good quality marbles at very competitive prices. (5) use of LED lighting system in the house as opposed to normal energy saving lights. (6) use of high end Legrand, Clipsal, MK switches with LED lights compared to using those simpler ones. (7) use of inverter air-con system (eg. Panasonic, Mitsubishi Heavy Ind, Toshiba) as opposed to using non inverter air-con system. The different types of air-con system also attract different pricing. (8) use of KDK fans as opposed to generic brands (9) use of custom made curtain using high quality materials as opposed to buying off the shelf in supermarkets (can also get good quality customed made curtains from M'sia at lower cost). (10) install more power points, TV points and telephone points as opposed to trying to plan very carefully on the number of points needed. Also install power points that can take higher energy consuming equipment (eg. oven) around the house instead of the standard types. (11) install one DB on each floor instead of one DB for the whole house. Use of higher quality brand DB (eg. Hagar) instead of generic brands. (12) install designer wardrobe and other carpentry work instead of simpler ones. The following are some cost differentials in architect selection: (1) use of architect that is helpful and support you in managing the project all the way (ie higher fees) as opposed to one that basically sign off and you hardly get a chance to meet him (lower fees). A good architect will also help you manage the contractor and ensure the quality that you deserve is given to you. Based on your requirement of 5 bedrooms, 1800 sqft land and inter-terrace (I presume re-development to 3.5 storey), my estimate is between $670K to $800K depending on your requirements. I am assuming that you use higher end construction materials with piling, LED lights, Cat6 cabling for the whole house, custom made curtains, no constraint on number of power points/ TV points but not using super high end marble, toilet furnishing, etc... If you are looking for really simple design, using lower quality construction materials, I think $550K is a doable sum. You can check it out with contractors and architects for a quotation based on what you want. The higher the demands, the higher the cost. If you want to find strong builders and more renowned architects, cost would also be higher because these people do not compromise on the quality. No point approaching them if you do not have a good budget to work on. Hence, you need to know what you want/ need before you start speaking to builders/ architects. There are builders who can do low cost and I feel you should not approach them if you have good budget. In the end, you may pay high price for low quality. After all, I think these contractors may be quite used to cutting corners (my guess). The best case scenario is to get high quality with low budget and the bad scenario is to pay high price to get poor quality. Cheers!

How is your reno coming along?

Have you made the alterations?

Very nice reno.

I think besides difference in profit margin, the prices also differ based on design, quality of materials and place of manufacture (ie made in Singapore vs made in M'sia and then sent to S'pore)

Welcome to RT. Have you selected your ID and started your reno?

Very impressive design and 3D pictures. I like the dinning table. Its very modern looking.

From my interaction with more than 10 builders, I realised that different builders have different strengths. Some are low cost builders who offer basic design. Even with basic design and simple construction materials, some are quality concious while others were not so concern about quality. Some builders offer designer kind of house. Very unique and beautiful. However, the price is usually higher as a lot more thinking and planning needs to go into the design of the house. A more uniquely designed house also typically call for more sophisticated construction methods. I think it is better for you to share about your budget, the type of design that you have in mind and how quality concious are you. When forumers are aware of your needs and expectations, they will be able to better recommend someone that meet your needs.

Feel that you have selected very nice tiles for your house. Look forward to more reno pictures!

Very nice and neat design.

Very nice 3D pictures. Wish you a smooth reno journey.

Agree with you. Prices of construction is always rising. Somehow, I still hear of people who said that they rebuild their houses for very small sum in the forum. Not sure if there are lots of hidden cost or the construction is very shoddy. Maybe, some builders have lobang to get very cheap labour, very low cost sub-contractors, very cheap materials and is willing to accept very low profit margin.

Welcome to RT. Hope you have an enjoyable reno process. Cheers!

Welcome to RT. Very nice 3D pictures and design

Welcome to RT. Nice pics

Welcome to RT. Hope to see your pics soon.

Welcome to RT. Hope to see your pics soon.

Hi GG, Congras. See that your bamboo fencing is very well done. Gives you privacy and at the same time, provide a very natural look.

Wow... that's quite a princely sum to spend on redevelopment of your house.

When property prices and rental returns rise, having a few apartments and collecting rental revenue and enjoying capital appreciation are very good outcomes. People around you will praise you for the wisdom in buying a few apartments and taking the maximum loan to max your returns. When property prices and rental fall, having a few apartments and collecting miserable rental revenue and suffering from capital depreciation would become very negative outcomes. People will scold you for the stupidity of over committing, taking excessive risks and chewing more than you could swallow. Looks like wisdom or stupidity depend on the outcome of your action. Even don't take any action is also an action in itself (construed as missed opportunities to become richer or a lucky situation of not falling into bad times). Just my personal views. Cheers!

I doubt that rebuilding of the house cost $100K to $200K.

Hi Terrace, it depends on what type of roof waterproofing you are thinking of. If your roof is concrete, the water-proofing method is quite different from tile roof. Hence, you may want to give more details of your roof (with pictures preferably) and describe how bad is the leakage. Cheers!

Hi Lohjp, I think the easiest is to ask the current owner if the construction of shelters on the roof terraces has proper authorization? The next question is to ask yourself whether you wish to keep the shelters? If yes, then just let the status quo remain. If you check with the MCST, they may ask you to tear it down if it is constructed without authorization. Unless there is a complain or an accident (eg. shelter collapsed, injuring third parties or damage their property), I don't think BCA/URA/IRAS bother to inspect your unit. If you plan to keep the shelter, it is important to inspect the shelter to check whether it is strong and properly constructed. To save yourself from all the troubles, you can ask the owner to remove the shelter or remove them yourself when you are doing renovation for your unit, if the shelter is illegal. Cheers!

I did my re-roofing (about 1000 sqft) for $8500 using German tiles that comes with 50 years warranty. However, prices may have increase now due to increase in worker's levy, additional safety requirements, etc...