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Started looking for contractors/IDs in mid-April. Had quotes from 2 IDs (1 more wanted us to go to his office b4 quoting...) but since we've a good idea of what we wanted, we are more comfortable looking for contractors and of course, trying to get quotes from the two 'superstars' here. A quick note about the IDs... told them our budget, but both quoted grossly overbudget, one $10k above and another $20k above... Went to Yeak with the nearly the same specs (with more things added), its just slightly above the budget. Choice is pretty clear. Met up with him earlier and we've added even more things, now hoping it'll won't eat too much into our furnishing budget;) Also faxed to Alan (from Ah Soon) today for a quote based on our earlier specs but anyone here tried him before?

Hi All, Found out about this section of Renotalk when a few 'squatters' went over to the 'hiding place' in the other forum recently:D Didn't realize that this section is so active and had found lots of renovation ideas visiting the various threads here. I'll try to document our experience here but main purposed would to to use this thread to ask questions, can't keep PMing some of you, PM system only allows 20 at a time... Thanks for Wendy (Smallboy), Pinkpetter, Rondy, Preciousjam and lots others for your feedback/answers to my earlier questions. We've just bought a resale 5rm flat mainly because we've been living on the 2nd floor and always knew that we'll move out as soon as it hit the 5 year MOP. Just hit the MOP in March 09, managed to buy at a good price and then sold our 4rm flat, also in Sembawang, in April.... Pretty good agent IMO and if anybody is interested, I'll gladly recommend him. (I think he specializes in AMK, Woodlands, Semabawang & Yishun) Anyway, attaching my floorplan to give a better overall view, when my questions start flowing in....

Hi Wendy, Thanks for showing us your place yesterday and your tip about using our own measurements for the cabinets. You guys have a very nice place and congrats on your (soon to end) renovation:) Been to Sin Lek yesterday and the boss was very nice to show us around even though it was near closing time and we've nearly finalised our tile choices even without getting a quotation yet. I'll try contacting Ah Soon when he's back but we may go with either Yeak or others (any other recommendations?) because don't really have the time to project manage. Personally for the defect, I'll get it changed, especially if you'll open the cabinet quite often. My current home, also had a few defects which I closed one eye to because I just wanted to settle the renovation quick but even after 5 years already, my eyes will naturally look at those spots and I'll sigh.... Cheers.

I have one ‘normal’ size and another desktop water feature. Very easy to maintain IMO, basically its just a water pump sending water through a rubber hose and sprouting out from a rock feature. What you’ll need is a lining (the plastic tub), rocks to cover the lining, a rock feature, a pump, rubber hose + lights and you are good to go. They’ll probably suggest the mist maker and other stuff, its up to your preference. You may like to have pebbles too but someone told me in fengshui, too many pebbles in the house is not good, can’t really remember the reason but I took mine out anyway… Anyway, my personal suggestion, get the pump, lights and hose from a fish shop if you know what you are looking for, usually cheaper and the same as the one you’ll find from the water feature seller. If your hands get itchy like mine…and you want to keep some small fishes, just added a simple filter and change the water once in awhile. Maintenance wise is very simple, just change the water once in a while (dust + dead insects), clean the plastic lining because of the algae and it should be enough. Also, depends on your preference, I suggest you don’t get a pump which is too strong, the water will splash out and you’ll get rushing water sound rather then a soft soothing stream type. Talk to the seller and highlight this. I’ve just sold mine cos don’t think it’ll suit our new place but will definitely buy another one once we’ve settled in. The water sound can be very calming. Let me know if you have other questions, will pop in here once in awhile, trying to follow quite a few threads, so many things to re-learn about renovation… Still waiting for Yeak’s quote.

Hi Angel, Am Ziggy from the other forum, you gave me Yeak's contact sometime back. Just called and sent him my floorplan today for his quotation. Noticed you are still looking for a water feature, can try these places which we also went before 2-3 years back. I got my from natureco in the end. http://www.gardenasia.com/20061/templates/products.php?id=2 http://www.fukai.com.sg/index.htm

Thanks for your generous offer Don't want to impose on you and I'll probably drop by one of the Home exhibitions to test and get some quotes too. Cheers.

Hi All, Am currently using Supreme laminate and while the look and feel is nice, it sounds very hollow when you walk on it. Worse if you drop stuff like aircon remote, etc and the sound can be quite loud due to the 'hollowness'.... But this was done 5 years ago and like to check if the newer laminates are much better in terms of the hollow sound and does it feel 'solid' when walking it. If its still almost the same, I may get timber flooring in the end but still prefer laminate for ease of maintainence. Please advise,thanks.

Seen again today, more west facing than I thought. Wife finds the kitchen too small and we'll probably look for alternatives again. If we still end up choosing this, agent asking for 1%, not willing to negotiate.... A close friend said she'll help for .5%. But I don't think it'll be fair to first agent right??? Its in the North area. Wait till secure then say out;)

Thanks for yr reply. Measuring cos my wife is worried that the MBR is too small, its one of those odd shape rooms, probably designed by someone high on caffeine…. Place has no furniture so hard to gauge the amount of space we’ll have for a bed and wardrobe. * facing, tilted a little more west if you know what I mean. Arranging to view again at 3-4pm type to see how hot it’ll be. Will using those V-kool stuff help? Good thing is the surface areas hitting the sun is fairly small, breath rather than length. Fairly confident that we can get the place, if we are willing to meet their price. We’ll see, not in a hurry and prices should fall a little in another Q but if can get it at the price we want, won’t complain

Have this question which i've posted on another forum. Will appreciate if you can share your advice. Thanks. I’ve been looking around the paper and the various online databases, had some viewings and saw one last week which we think is suitable. Going to call the agent who brought us there to arrange for a 2nd viewing. A few questions if you can help. 1. What should I look out for during this 2nd viewing? Unit was vacant when we visited, so some key things we’ll note are the sizes of the MBR & kitchen (is it ok if we take measurements??) and sun facing (was raining that day). Any tips or things we should take note? 2. We called this agent cos he advertised for another unit at the same block 2 weeks ago, and last weekend, he said there’s something similar and asked if we are interested. Does this mean that we have to pay the full 1% if asked or .5% like some other agents have asked before for doing the paperwork? 3. 5 room flat, going to try to press for $30k below valuation, seller first pricing is already $15k below, feasible? Agar agar, he/she has 4 months more to sell since they bought another HDB. Full renovation needed as the condition not very fantastic. Even at $30k below valuation, its still slightly above our budget but factoring the location, top up a little still can. Also factoring in the agent fees + stamp & other payments, it’ll be $20k above our budget… 4. Possibly a dumb qns but so what’s next, assuming after 2nd viewing, we are interested, what should I do? Thanks.

Share some of mine. 1. Height of sinks and kitchen cabinets, make it suit the taller person. I have to bend down slightly to wash the dishes and when there's lots of dishes to wash, can get uncomfortable after awhile. 2. Lesser windows the better... more windows, clean more... 3. Lights, some look very nice but if the wattage of the light is high, you'll incur larger bills and probably on them lesser. 4. Aircon the whole house if you can afford it, with our weather, you never know when it'll be needed.

What I did was to visit several IDs, get quotes and ideas from them, compiled and compared the prices. We also got a quote from a contractor that was recommended to us by a friend and asked him to quote based on our compiled specifications. Went with him in the end cos of the pricing and after seeing his work at a friend's place. Like Molly said, getting ideas from IDs will give you possible ideas that you'll never thought of. I'm going to start doing the same all over again since getting a resale flat soon. Have fun, its tedious at times but end of the day, when you smell the new house smell (abit dusty...) it's worth it:) Last thing about bargaining, while we always want to get the cheapest or press the contractor, remember to give and take a little, fellow still need to earn some $. Cheers.

Hi, The place I'm planning to get comes with a semi-circle balcony. Planning to get rid of the sliding doors and extend the LR. Not sure if its the right term, but can I have a semi-circle 'bay window' style seating platform? Can seat there and look out the windows, with storage below. Windows are half-height. Thanks. Hi, The place I'm planning to get comes with a semi-circle balcony. Planning to get rid of the sliding doors and extend the LR. Not sure if its the right term, but can I have a semi-circle 'bay window' style seating platform? Can seat there and look out the windows, with storage below. Windows are half-height. Thanks.

Hi, Had a similar problem as yours, what my contractor did (5 years ago…) was to design and make a simple panel, to cover the opening, using screws. The wardrobe was then built covering this panel. Only problem is, when need to do any servicing, we’ll need to remove the clothes and panel to allow access to the aircon ledge. Some tips if you’ll going to do this, make sure the wardrobe door is large enough, just in case they need to remove the aircon condenser, I have a sliding door, so no issue. Easily removable shelves or the hanging rod so you can remove them easily and you’ll also have to make sure the inside of the wardrobe can be cleaned easily… It can get pretty dirty if they need to repair the condenser. Hope this helps, rarely sign in here. There may be newer ideas now, check with the IDs/contractors.