Amy Choon

hi ngunadi, HDB have their list of contractors doing this leh, you might wish to call your town council or HDB office to request for the contacts. But really don't know if it will cost more la.

Haha, I just emailed 30 items to the ID to clarify. I hoped I covered everything!

haha.. thanks samgalz! yes, I agree with you too. no friends. I had hubby's friend helped us with our first home, and a lot of things my hubby told me to close one eye leh. and i wasn't happy with the house. this house, i told him no way to close one eye le. and anyway, ID can quote cheaper than his so called contractor, so what does it means? btw, what are the things i need to check on the quote ah? any hidden costs that I have to take note of? just wana be sure... cos it's a lot of items on the quote, and i'm really worried that i might missed out something.

ngunadi, probably won't be using them la. met up with 1 contractor and 2 IDs over the weekend and received quote from 1 of the ID already, looks good lor. now i'm just waiting for the other 2 quotes to come in then I will finalised, it's been dragging too long..... hey patsy, ya.. better not to ruin the friendship because of home reno lor... the contractor is on professional relationship with hubby la, so it's not as bad as friends but still... hubby did tell the contractor that if anything done not to satisfactory, they have to redo which the contractor also agreed. now it's the price issues only. i can't even accept the price wor.

on the blog, the table was in darker colour wor.. that's why it still looks good. because the wood is almost black, so the padding on the white modern chair can match.. yours is a brown.. that's why i don't feel the dining will look really "together'... the caspians confirm match with the lights though. oh ya, you may consider jaskel's suggestion, tint it to a darker wood. i saw your blog as well. upholster the current chairs not too bad too. can consider. then you be saving money le. hehe.

when i look at the lights, i think of a table that is either glass or white.. dark wood with that lighting looks quite out leh.. those very very light kind of wood table also ok... but if you are keeping the table, then i think the zanzibar bench should be okay.. the chair is okay too, but white looks weird with the table don't you think? caspian is totally out, match the lights but not the table.

anyway, putting aside the issues of the contractors.. I had my FSM went up to my new place 2 weeks ago! my main door is directly facing my hall windows and most FMS would have said to build a divider to block right? But not mine wor, he told me if i look from the main door, having a divider is like having a blade cutting in the centre of the house, it's sha qi. so he told me not to have one. my main door actually facing the stairway. master said the ascending staircase bring a healthy flow in to my house... so nothing should block it. i even have to build a recess shoe cabinet wor. the other main issue is the current mirror in the dining hall. he told me not to put any. which caught me by surprise. i thought dining room should have mirror? he said the mirror will face my daughter's room and it's going to affect her, so i must not have any mirrors. Instead, i should have a painting which have the following elements: mountain, water, human being and house. where to find ah? can draw myself or not? kekeke. and he told us not to put the tv right in front of our bed, cos it will suck in all our qi. if we want to put it there, we must make sure the height of the wall mounted tv must be higher than the bed plus the 2 of us when lying down... and the tv console for the room should be lower than the bed height. i can't have red in my kitchen, but he also said if it's just red trimmings, then it's fine. wa, what for, might as well scrap the whole idea lor. he wanted us to put a live plant at the corner where my hall tv console gonna be, just next to the windows, cos that's the cai wei. then he said we should also put a picture of flowers in full bloom at the end of my hallway. peony is the best. then i tell him i stick decal can or not, he said sure, can! wa... good that he not so traditional and insist that i put chinese paintings man... i told him what i want to do with the house, the colours, the position of everything, wall decals of what kind of picture etc and he's very pleased. wa, heng ah, i don't have to crack my brain for any other ideas. what i love most is that he said my daughter's room is very good for her, studies and health.. being a mother, that's is very important wor. he also said the house is good for us.. that's a HUGE relief..

haha lilithefiend, yes you are right! i indeed feel obligated! but i'm steering myself the other way and looking at things in a more sensible approach. now i'm thinking of all the what ifs and indeed it's scary. so i'm not going to decide until the 2 IDs I meet this weekend gave me their quotes lor. really thank all of you here though. i would have gave in if not for you all.. haha.

actually they not considered friends la.. it's what the boss tell the ops people only.. just so the ops people won't luan luan lai. my hubby and the boss is biz associates nia. actually i don't want my house issue to ruin that relationship leh... previous house was really done by a friend though. and when things were done wrong, the friend offered to rectify but hubby said suan le, in the end close eyes on quite a few things lor. cannot be too niao too. that's why this time i was skeptical when hubby wana use someone he knows, again...... i'm cooling more than 1 or 2 days leh... cos i will only decide after the final quotes from 2 others come in next week... i also scared lor.

yes simon, i thought so too. this sat already arranged to meet 2 others which I have shortlisted previously. see how's the quote ba.

Hack kitchen and 3 toilets floor and wall tiles. Hack 3 bedroom floors. Labour to tile kitchen and toilets. Build hollow block for MBR/Bedroom. Cos now both rooms combined. Copper pipes for 3 bathrooms and kitchen. Half glass wall for kitchen dining. Plus build the other half solid wall. Build hollow block for another bedroom. Now it's a 3 panel folding doors. Wana revert back to just one normal door. 7 semi solid nyatoh doors and 1 solid fire rated main door. Hack divider in living room. Electrical works. L Box for all 3 rooms, hall & dining. Screeding for all 3 bedrooms. Polish existing marble flooring. Supply and install moisture resistant ceiling at all 3 bathrooms. Frameless tempered glass sliding door for kitchen entrance. Project mgmt, site supervision, drawings, design, cleaning, protection. Dismantle all exisiting carpentary and dispose all debris

last night's meeting was really... erm... how to say.... quite speechless la. the boss was in the meeting, and he's really very straight to the point lor. it wasn't 2 against 1 hor, it's 4 against 1! The boss, the in-charge, and 2 ops. Half the time I was sitting there listening to their discussion on how to bring the costs lower. I told them to take out the bamboo flooring, cos they quote at 19/sqft while hubby can get at 11/sqft and even I can get it at 13/sqft. Then they cut down the prices for some of the items. The final quote was $40k, of purely wet works, electrical, doors and glass for my kitchen/dining area. I said 40k for all these super ridiculous, cos my house just a normal 5rm HDB size. 40k can do a lot of things! Then boss ask me what is my budget, I said 60k, which I realised almost immediately, I should have said lower, but well.. Then boss ask ops people, 20k can do carpentary and ops said depends on what I want to do. I told them I didn't want fanciful stuff in my house, meaning i don't need to do a chio chio feature wall with design extending all the way to ceiling and down the other side of the wall. I want basic carpentary for my house only. I don't need built in study desk either. I just want shoe cabinets, kitchen cabinets, vanity tops for all 3 toilets, TV console with simple feature wall and wardrobes. After working out with ops people, they said my carpentary wasn't much, 20k can do nice stuff. Then I said, no, 60k is for EVERYTHING for the reno! Including my tiles which I'm buying my own, the bamboo flooring. Shower screen haven't even quoted in lor! 20k not just for carpentary. Then ops people admitted that 40k for wet works is indeed high. And while I'm waiting for them to drop the price further, the boss cut in and gave me a 3k discount. 37k in total for wet works. If i keep strictly to my budget, that means I'm left with 23k for tiles, bamboo flooring, shower screen, and all the carpentary. Boss told ops people that hubby is his good friend, so they must make sure that quality must be there, and done within the stipulated time. They even mobilized the team to start work next week, just waiting for me to nod my head nia. Talked to hubby. He kinda felt I should just proceed. But I told him fear is there le. Then he assured me they will do a good job too..... Dilemma.

yes, you are right. the trust is not there also. but i will still meet them, just to see what the boss say. in a way, i need to answer to my hubby if i'm not using them. hubby will back my decision, but i have to give these people a last chance, just for my hubby's sake. i'm now waiting for the other ID/contractors to confirm meet up for final quotes discussion. actually, is it ok for the ID/contractors to do a full site measurement even though i haven't confirm them yet? i thought it's better that they do that, so that i know the quotes will be more accurate. i do have a couple which i have shortlisted before i decided to go with this leech.

hey ngunadi, still have to give face to my hubby, that's why meeting them tonight, and if it's a bad meeting, then probably the last time already. I did ask for other quotes concurrently but then as you know, everyone quoted differently so it's really hard to tell which is cheaper, so i told hubby if he wants to go with this contractor, it's okay. anyway, hubby is also very pissed and called them up to scold them le.. and when my hubby scold, he really don't care his tone lor. tonight i'm meeting the boss too, all the while dealing with his staff.. so let's see how it goes. actually i'm just **** glad i didn't sign on anything yet. it's really 2x more lor... sickening leh.

Simon - my hubby overseas leh, tight travelling schedule for the next 1 - 2 weeks, so it's me alone facing these people. haha.... i think i bring my own kid also can right? El Nino - haiz... i really imagine my head is a carrot leh.. VERY BIG ONE somemore. oh, it's such a good idea... then conf webcam all of you, then i put it in front of the contractor, let him see many pairs of eyes looking at him, tell him don't play play lor.... coldflamez - ya. i told my hubby the same. i said you know them, but they treat you like that, how can i even trust them!! i already making arrangement with 3 other ID/contractor to go up my place and do full site measurement plus discuss further on the actual things i wana do. haiz... gotta waste more time le, waiting for final quotes and stuff... sianz...

haha.. thanks simon... later it's 2 men vs 1 lady leh... i don't know if i can win or not lor......

El Nino, I just used the prices you gave and calculated my electrical based on the no. of points they quoted. TOTAL ONLY $3.47k NIA!!! You don't have price for installation of ceiling fans so i don't have that, but it's only 4 nos of ceiling fans also won't cost me another 3.4k right?? KAOZ! pardon me, but I cannot tolerate being bullied like that leh........

El Nino - thanks for the electrical prices. They quote me in lump sum.. i gotta work it out.. Oh ya man, i will post tonight after meeting them... my blood boiling since morning leh..... GRRRRRRR!!! the extra 2m2 ah? haha.. don't know leh.... probably the extra toilet? i got total 4 toilets ma.

simon - ya lor... if without you all, i probably be the carrot head and these leeches will be laughing their way to the bank le. 51k... what a joke.... mickey - haiz, i only decide to go with them based on my hubby words leh. just now told hubby i'm getting another 2 sets of people up to give me a full quote cos i don't trust the contractor already. if based on the full quote and they cheaper than these guys, why should i go with them? i keep the money in the bank lagi better... if not buy myself 4 branded bags also better than paying these leeches.

ya.. i've been in this forum for 8 months already and i've seen what other people can do with a 5 room and how much it cost.. i told hubby maybe less than 50k can settle. but i didn't know the 50k only wet works!! we already tell them the price is so much higher than outside, and they are just contractor and not ID! i got so pissed when i saw the quote this morning. hubby was so angry he called up the guy and literally "wash" him upside down. we wanted to go with them becos my hubby said can full trust them and they won't charge sky high, but apparently we are wrong.... tonight i'm gonna meet them again. see what they say. simon - electrical only 3k? arrgggghhh.... super rip off liao like that. gimz - ya, switches we will supply lor. they only quoting the wiring etc and still short of some points leh. el nino - ya la... my old HDB 5 room is 110m2, this unit is only 112m2 lor... extra 2m2 nia!! rasfene - no leh, no design.... so angry!!

Yes, there's a breakdown, but quite many to type down leh. basically, they quoted me hacking and laying of wall and floor tiles for kitchen and 3 bathrooms, hacking and laying bamboo flooring for 3 bedrooms & 1 study, construct half wall with glass for kitchen/dining area, construct hollow block for 2 walls, install all the necessary wares like sanitary and kitchen stuff, electrical, copper pipes, 7 solid nyatoh doors, L box for all rooms and hall.. and it already cost me $51k. $6.9k for electrical works, switches i gotta supply. $9.8k for all 7 doors plus main door. this one i did tell them i want semi solid for the room and bathroom doors, so that might change. $3.45k for copper pipes and install sanitary wares and kitchen sink. $8.67k for bamboo flooring. $1.1k for tempered swing door with floor spring (for kitchen) $1.72k for labour to install wall and floor tiles for kitchen (include screeding) $5.06k for labour to install wall and floor tiles for 3 bathrooms. $4k to hack and remove flooring for all rooms including hall and dining (supposed to be rooms only, living only to polish, and this might change) and some others small small items lor. is it very ex? my current place is only 112m2, teeny bit more than a normal 5 room HDB. 51k for all these wet works is it even normal??

we have shortlisted our contractor. Not because they are the cheapest we have received, but because they are my hubby's contact. It's quite stressful talking to them, because the things that we want in the quote just didn't go in.. so till now we haven't sign. Today, i received their revised quote with just the wet works, no carpentary quoted yet because they said they will quote after i confirm the design. i'm supplying the tiles, not breaking down walls, and it's already costing me $51k.... am i being ripped off??? so frustrating!

I saw this type of stove in Audiohouse wor. You might wana check it out.

Welcome to RT, professor. You really a professor ah? kekek

wow Mickey! Your reno is really going on well! I love the mickey and minnie outline wor... you been to disneyland? you should play those magical music whenever someone visits your place.. give them this disney feel... hearing those music now just bring me back to the magical disneyland feel i got from the HK disney.. hahaha.. and i love it so much.... i'm sure your home will be featured on decor mags... it's so special! very adventurous, nice job!