SGK

MBR Feature Wall: MBR Wardrobe: MBR Bathroom: The workers have broken the seal of the MBR toilet bowl and used it! We will have to speak to our ID about this...

Wet Kitchen 1: Wet Kitchen 2: The colour scheme follows Supersimon's one. And to our relief, the wavy effects of the white laminates that we were warned of can only be seen when you search very hard for it and looking at the 'correct angle'. Common Bathroom:

Dining Room: Dry Kitchen: The dry kitchen is built on a raised platform to conceal water pipes. Living Room Feature Wall and TV console: Balcony:

It has been a long while since I last posted here. The main reason is because between tiling and installation of carpentries, there is nothing much to show. But yesterday when I went down to the house, most of the carpentries have been installed. I took quite a few pics to share with everyone. Here they are: Shoes Cabinet: Study Room Pic 1: Study Room Pic 2:

I have PMed a few of you Alex's contact. If anyone still need his contact, can PM me directly.

That's sounds like a very long cabinet and it will cost a lot. More importantly, some IDs, including mine, say that glossy white laminates will give a wavy effects no matter how good the workmanship is. But some forumers who have use such laminates don't seem to have a serious problem. I am hoping that my kitchen cabinets which are using glossy white laminates will turn out well.

Perhaps all of you should read this thread first.

Hi coldflamez, welcome! you have finally started your t-blog . Reno already done ? Then must post more pics. It seems that you have a good ID, so you should share your reno experience with everyone.

Yes, agree that there is nothing much to show at the earlier stage of the reno. In fact, after the tiling is done, there is nothing much to show until the carpentry is up, which means at the end stage of the renovation. So you need to be patient to see the end results .

Hi tigertgr, welcome to reno t-blog . Believe it or not, I think i have viewed this unit when I was looking for my house. It has a partial seaview (though a very small one) if I am not wrong. I think the owner was asking for quite a lot so I did not make an offer.

If GST is already included, the quote is quite comparable to mine, maybe very slightly higher in the carpentry. You may want to ask for a goodwill discount, say round off to 22k (a bit too much but no harm trying). For windows grilles, you can ask them to quote you, but you can also source for your own and let your ID coordinate the installation. This is what I did. The window contractor I used quoted me more than $1500 cheaper than my ID for changing all the windows and installing the grilles. Even my ID admitted that it is cheap. PM me if you need his contact.

I met up with all the IDs to tell them my requirements so that they can quote for the same things. If not, it is difficult to compare the quotes. I was inexperienced in renovation when I first started talking to IDs and I invited some of them to go down to the house I bought, which was then still ocupied by the owners, to take measurements. In the end, the two who went both did not get the deal, so I felt quite bad about it. Not to mention I also caused some inconvenience to the owners. So unless the ID request to take measurements first I won't suggest that. Since you say all the ten quotes are of similar pricing, I agree with wcseow that the main factor should be the designs proposed by the IDs, and may be the reputation of the companies. However, in my case, I was 'luckier' in the sense that among all the IDs whom I have met, the one I picked in the end has the best reputation, cheapest quote, and the best proposed layout. So it was an easy decision.

Saving up to 10k is certainly very significant. But if there are any damages caused to your house (touch wood), then the workers may push the blame to the other party so you have to be prepared for this. But the 10k savings should be more than sufficient to repair any damages i think . I have heard of people getting an ID to do the drawings and then find aother contractor to do the renovation. For example, some IDs work freelance and do not have a team of workers whom he/she work with. There are also some ID companies who ask for $1500 and they will give you the 3D drawings. After that, you need not sign the reno contract with them. One such company is ****.

Hi, I have PMed both of you.

Actually he did advise us to plaster the whole house initially but because the quotation was already quite high he said maybe we can take it out. Now after all the new walls are erected and old walls hacked, we can see a quite obvious differences in the texture. So no choice have to plaster.So he quoted us the following: plaster whole house: $2500 display cabinet and box up to conceal large toilet pipes outside common toilet (can see in my t-blog) : $850 raising the floor of dry kitchen to conceal water drainage pipes : $1000 two parallel glass panels (45cm height) on dry kitchen walls to prevent stains : $700 This adds up to a hefty $5050. After some bargaining it is reduced to $4500 plus free box-up of the master bedroom wall below windows. Not sure if the price is fair but it is definitely quite a big sum .

I have PMed both of you.

Hi Butter, so we are neighbours. Saw your reno pics in your personal blog. Really nice .

Hi kopi, glad to see your posts again because I was worried by your silence recently. Hope your reno will take off again soon once the issues are resolved. And like what rondy says, hold the payments until works are completed. My reno started before CNY and after all the hackings immediately problems arise : unexpected water pipes well concealed by previous owners, how to conceal water pipes in the open kitchen region that was converted from the original kitchen, mismatch of new and old walls etc. There are solutions, but they come with an unfriendly price-tag .

Sorry to hear that. It is best that you don't go to any lightings or furniture shops recommended by ID, and don't bring them along for shopping trips, because many shops will overcharge to pay the ID commision. This is what the owner of one of the lightings shops I visited told me. He told me not to bring along my ID or he will not be able to give me the same discount. Some forumers strongly recommended lightings.com.sg at Balestier Point for its fair pricing and I bought most of my lights there. Personally I found the lady who served me a bit rude but in the end the pricing is most important.

Hi Umaisarah, welcome to t-blog . I like the many full-height windows of your new place. They make the whole place look very classy. And your place is very near to MRT right? So very convenient too. Only problem is that there is a new condo being built on the plot of land next to yours. Hope your window view won't be blocked by it.

It has been a long time since I last posted anything here. This is partly due to the CNY break. Renovation works have resumed for about a week and I managed to take some pictures this morning. As you can see, there isn't much to show yet. Master Bathroom tiling almost done: Common Bathroom tiling almost done: Quite happy with the workmanship so far, but the quotation keep revising upward due to unforeseen problems. For example, we have been advised to plaster the whole house so that the old walls will look similar to the new walls. We also have to raise the floor of the dry kitchen to conceal the water pipes, and construct extra cabinets to conceal the large pipes outside the common toilets. All these add up to a very big sum so I hope that there will be no further increase .

Hi noble04, welcome to reno t-blog. I think your flat's layout is almost the same as butterfingerzz's. Hers is also at Pasir Ris. Maybe you can get some reno ideas from her blog . I see from your orginal plan that you are 'giving up' the master bedroom toilet. I find that's sacrificing quite a bit of convenience. And changing the original MBR to living room and reconstructing a bedroom 4 in the original living area may be a little wasteful of money and time unless there are good reasons. But I think converting the empty space between the two bedrooms into a maid's room/store room is a good idea. Wish you a smooth reno ahead .

I am surprised to hear that Species and Furniture Club are the same company because I went to both before and their staff badmouth each other. Furthermore the price range of Species' products is certainly lower than that of Furniture Club.

hi madcat, welcome to reno t-blog, and happy CNY. Mine is also an EA. Since you are redoing the study room wall, then maybe you want to consider doing glass walls, very classy. That's what I am doing. Wish you a smooth reno ahead .

I got my Tampines EA, 10th floor at $25k COV. At the point of purchase we were quite happy because all other EAs that we have viewed are asking for more COV, some as high as >$100k. But after the purchase we found from HDB website that we paid the most for the EA flats in the neighbourhood . 5 days ago, we went for the 2nd appointment. The agent told us he just sold two units in the same block as ours and both were more expensive than what we have paid. There is also a 2nd floor Tampines EM just sold at $88k COV. So I think while I could have paid less have I started flat-hunting earlier, I am probably still luckier than the people looking for flats now.