ZzzMonster

Hi GreenBoi, May I know does your Haiku fan comes with a warranty card?

When I met the IDs, they are surprised that my wife didn't come along. When I told them I will make the decision, some accepted it, some were skeptical. I think that explains why some IDs didn't come back to me. In fact, my ID was surprised that I signed the contract even though she didn't meet my wife in any of the discussion.

ID Selection: As mentioned in the first post, I've been lurking around the forum getting IDs and contractor contacts... I decided to go for ID because I don't have any design idea. Initially, I thought that my home will be ready by April. So if I thought if I start early to find an ID, I can sign up with one by December or January then no need to wait till last minute. So, arm with a long list, I started to contact them last November. Some IDs I called are too busy, they either no time to meet or no time to call me back to arrange a meet up. My wife doesn't want to get involved in this process, I went about meeting them myself. Because my time is flexible, I met them during office hours. After meeting them, my conclusion (I may be wrong, this is just my opinion after meeting with the IDs) of IDs are: 1. Some are actually contractors who call themselves IDs. At most they provide some advise, some didn't... They just email me the quote, 1 of them email me quote + space planning, or go through with me quote + space planning 2. Those that I consider IDs are those that put the effort to understand the theme I want, do some sketches to show me what they plan to do for me, then followed by the quote Because my work time is flexible, I met a total of 16 IDs. Below are a summary of the IDs I met... 1. W** C**** from 3D***** - recommended to me by my colleague. He asked me to email him my floor plan and requirements. When I met him, to my disappointment, he didn't look at my requirements. I need to go through with him what I want to do for every room (as I met up with more IDs, I realized all are the same). He told me he's going for a holiday and will come back to me in 2 to 3 weeks. But have not heard from him. I didn't want to follow up or chase people who have no interest, no point. - Drop 2. A*** L** from 9 C******n - got his contact from fellow renotalkers. Meeting was positive. After the meeting, I shortlisted him. But the manner he came back to me was not what I expected. He emailed me the quote and space planning. He didn't propose to meet to discuss further. So I do not know if he knows what I want or the theme that I am looking for. - Drop 3. N*** from R******z - a favorite from fellow renotalkers. He's not as laid back as described by others. Although we can click, it seems that we clicked so much that he tells me too much about his clients, etc... In the end, he emailed me 3-4 weeks later on the quote. Some stuff were missing from the quote as well. - Drop, because I need more than just a quote. I'm not sure if he understands my theme. 4. J******* from D***NT*** - another favorite from renotalk. After going through what I wanted, he said he'll get back to me in 2 weeks time. Didn't hear from him since. Drop 5. J**** from C**y L****g - got his contact from renotalk. Also didn't come back to me. Luckily, because got very negative review from a fellow forumer. But even if he comes back to me, I still will not get him because I met a few very impressive IDs. - Drop 6. S***** from T***e D C**********e - recommended by a fellow renotalker. This company has different IDs doing jobs for a few forumers. The first meet up was the same as other IDs. What impressed me was the second meeting. She showed me a mood board to see if the theme is what I'm looking for. And she got it right. She also showed me sketches of what she proposed for the various rooms that I want to do carpentry. She introduced to me stucco wall. And also shared with me the concept of space and explained to me why not to use all the walls in the room for carpentry, as it will be very tight. 7. J***** A** from A******k - called this company because initially I didn't get to meet much IDs. The company assign this ID to me. To cut the long story short, she didn't get back to me. - Drop 8. Hap Design - how can I not call them since I got the theme from them... The meeting was good. But they called me to say that they are swarmed with jobs. So they can't do the sketches and work out the quote. They said that if I don't have any options, give them more time, they'll do it. If I have, then they will forgo. But they say if need their advice, can ask them. I like their professionalism, better then those who didn't bother to get back. I asked them where they get the coffee tables and they shared with me. - a pity that I don't have chance to see their proposal 9. N** N*** from N*w N**w D***** - got contact from renotalk. First meeting same as others, she said will come back to me in 2 weeks. About 2-3 weeks later, she text me and said will get back to me in another week. But in the end, didn't come back. - Drop 10. K****** from T.A* D****** - recommended by ex-colleague. After meeting, he said will come back to me in 2-3 weeks. In the end, only come back to me 3 months later after I've signed up with my chosen ID. - Drop 11. J** C*** from T**m S*******e - got contact from renotalk. First meeting went well. In fact I shortlisted her as I think she understand what I wanted. But on the second meeting, she just showed me space planning and quote. So I don't know if she understand my theme and don't know how is her design. As the first meeting went well, I was hoping to see some sketches of the plan she had (if any) - Drop 12. I** from B**m - recommended by wifey's friend. We visited friend's house and like what we saw. Wifey's friend said ID is reliable throughout the reno process. We like the design of his house. So I arranged and met him. The first meeting was good, he shared with me some ideas and introduced me the idea of space. I was looking forward to the second meeting. When we met again, he showed me the sketches and design he planned for me. His design and ideas are very impressive. Unfortunately, it is not what I'm looking for. It's more of lifestyle design. If my home is bigger and has more space, I'll engage him. His quote is either the highest or second highest. 13. T**** L** from R***z - company is recommended by fellow renotalkers but ID assign by company. Had a good first meeting. He proposed a few things and said will do a nice ceiling design for me. I was hopful and looking forward to a second meeting... but didn't hear from him. - Drop 14. J**** Y* from P**s I******r D****n - recommended by uni friend. Have a good first meeting. Took longer to come back. On second meeting, she showed me sketches of what she planned for me. The design were impressive although it is off theme. The quotation came via email a few days later. 15. H***t L** - this company was casually mentioned by someone in renotalk. So I decided to check them out. The designers in this company work together on the projects. On the second meeting, they showed me the mood board and got my theme right. The design and sketches proposed were impressive. They showed me 2 options of design, and both are good. I must say, they are strong in design, though it can be quite daring. They also propose the use of an alternative to wall paper, which is refreshing to me. Their quote is either the highest or second highest. 16. V**** from O****e C**e - recommended by a colleague. Actually, she is the last ID I met. I actually didn't plan to meet any more ID. But during a lunch, my colleague showed me her 3D. I liked what I saw so I asked for the ID contact. First meeting was the usual. On the second meeting, I was disappointed as ID only showed me quotation and space planning. Then she showed me pics of past projects and said that my carpentry can be like this or like that or some of this and that. I had expected her to sketch something for me because she sold herself as an ID in the first meeting. - Drop So the verdict.... I chose S***** from T**** D C************. She is chosen because of her design. I'll say that if you compare their company price with the contractors I met that call themselves IDs, their price is above avenge. But if you compare them with actual IDs (i.e. IDs that show sketches of their design plan specially for your theme and home as part of their proposals, besides space planning), then their price is about the same. Though there are another 3 who are strong, a few things plays a part, such as price, chemistry, responsiveness... She scored the highest to me. I started my search in November and signed just after Christmas, about 2 months.

I do not know how to tell the IDs the theme I'm looking for so I ended showing them pics of what I want. This pics is taken from another website, the ID that did this is Hap Design.

Kitchen - nothing to be done here Yard area - getting rid of the toilet bowl in the toilet, then shift washing machine inside the toilet. A cabinet will be built at the washing machine area for more storage Master bedroom The other 2 rooms too small to take pic...

Some pics before reno Living area Dining area Hallway to bedrooms

Here's my floor plan

After procrastinating for a long time, I finally decided to start a thread to document and share my reno journey... My reno is in the mid stage now... I didn't do any reno for my first home, so now, willing to spend some of the money I didn't spend last time to renovate this new home. I've been lurking around since 2011, I first join renotalk to search for contractors and ideas to renovate my bathroom. But not many contractors willing to do a small job, those that do, charge very high price. I finally found one, a referral from a colleague, his price is reasonable. At that time, I also told him, I bought a new place, going to be TOP in 2015. So there is a chance for him to do my new place if renovation for my bathroom is done well. But unfortunately, he probably think it's a small job and gave it to his apprentice to manage. But his apprentice didn't do a good job. Thus, he effectively ruled himself out for my new home. So over the years, I've been reading fellow renotalkers tblogs for ideas and asking for IDs and contractors contact.

Wait till u see the lights from the lighting shop she will bring u to. U may change your mind also about buying from TB. Hahaha

As I read the tblogs, I read that some people bought from Gain City. Irregardless which company u buy from, it's important to be around on installation day to run through how to run the trunking. The installers will usually want to run the shortest or most efficient way for them, which may not be aesthetically pleasing.

Your carpentry looks good! This is the most exciting stage of the reno... I'm eagerly anticipating my carpentry installation...

I'll probably update after national day... carpentry should be ready by then

Your latest round of 3D looks good

I bought this to put it in the corner of one of the room....

The Matthews Diane fan is nice. How much does it cost?

Just saw in FB that Lush GSS - last 7 days

Yes, mine's a condo. Haha... We wanted downlights from the start. Overall, we wanted things that is practical and she helped us to plan and propose how to achieve it nicely.

Dining cabinet TV room... the final laminate is totally different from this. Study and wardrobe room Master bedroom... stucco wall behind the bed head. Final laminate also change

I think I got it... Here's the 3D Living TV console and shoe cabinet. The laminate we choose is not this but I kind of like this as well. But final laminate is different.

I need help... I uploaded into the gallery. After copying the link address, I can't paste the link... How to paste the link?

I don't know how to post photo. Trying to figure it out for the past 20 mins... Let me try harder. lol