Speed45

gd luck on getting a better deal from a contractor... u can try to negotiate the price if u going to hack many on ur floor plan, theres 3 storage area... you bringing alot of things from ur previous house ?

u can ask the sales ppl at the showroom for help... there are anti-slip tiles designed for toilet / wet areas... homogenous tiles also have rough surface.

How many tiles are u looking to get ? The total floor area ?

Hi dumdum, how old is ur resale flat ? Sometimes, alot of works are required just for a simple reno to have a problem free house to stay in. Just to share some other items u may wish to check. Electrical works (rewirings, extra sockets/switches, new circuit breaker(if existing is old, it can be a real headache if u do rewirings at a later stage) Air-con (if still new, cleaning n refill gas, check piping for leak) Plastering works if current condition is bad Re-run water pipe (hot & cold) The above listed including urs should be considered to do first before moving in as these works are going to be dirty/dusty n need space to work with. The below items can do after move in Door locks, window locks Curtains (best before furniture comes in) Water Heater As for carpentry works, i agree with what the rest has mentioned, go for custom make.

Hi blurrykid, glad you went to find contractor for quote. You can see how much the id mark up from the contractor quote & the ids are just talking abit more (sales talk) plus some designs n drawings. Nothing more than what a renovation contractor can do. Beware of electrical quotes. You need to plan properly what you need in advance because things like switches, sockets, tv points, lighting points, fan points etc may not be enough at the beginning or you may forget out some and the 2.5k quote will not cover further add ons. meaning the id will take that opportunity to charge you extra. This part you need to clarify with the id/contractor. Ya, hacking usually cost alot and the profit margin is quite high, try to negotiate the price. The price quoted is on the high side, does that include clearing of debris ? Hacking Kitchen normally will cost more because of wall tiles. Although hacking may seem to be expensive but its a good "investment". Read around other threads on overlay tiles, you will hear ppl complain about tiles popping, hollow tiles or worst, water leaking near wet areas. Can u imagine when those scenarios happen on your house ? The extra costs, time n dirtying the whole house if u need to do hacking to rectify those problems. Its going to be a nightmare.

U mentioned old ppl, r they staying in the MBR ? Its better not to get tiles for mbr toilet as ppl r more prone to slip on wet tiles than wet wood floor. Unless its kitchen's heavy duty floor tiles. One alternative u may consider is put one big rag just outside the bedroom toilet. Actually laminate floor not that easily wrap one if its just abit of water unless u r talking about standing water. Its just extra care has to be taken for laminate floor. Since u have a tight budget, go for laminate floor. You will save on hacking costs. Or you may consider parquet floor for the all natural feel n also the higher price. Plus point for parquet is you can grind/polish n choice of different varnishing.

sad to hear another one has become a fallen prey...proceed to case with the documents from the id, if your jobsite is HDB, u can go to them with the case report n get the company blacklisted. But sad to say, most of the time the authorities cannot do much except sending warning letters or fine. Worst case, the company close down n open another new one. Best way, avoid them n give them no business.

Since u are planning a long stay, homogenous floor tiles will be a better choice although it may cost more than laminate. Blurrykid's quotation for hacking n laying floor tiles in the living is already costing $3k. You may have to prepare another $8k+ for bedroom n kitchen. Actually bedroom is ok to use laminate floor, cozier feel n lesser movement than living room.

Usually ids will recommend to change everything new. The hacking n tiling works in your living room already costing u $3k. They never quote u for repolish ? Y they never quote u for electrical works ? Electrical works going to cost u roughly $2-3k exclude lightings which going to cost another $1k+ Both quotation are standard id pricing plus minus here n there. F.O.C for design consultation , design planning etc already gave away their id status. i.e. the prices are marked up higher for their id service . Do u really NEED those designer's carpentry works n ceilings ? Simple carpentry n ceiling works will cost lesser... You going to redo the kitchen entrance ?

From what u are going to do, find a renovation contractor is easier but not an ID. Since the contractor is going to do wet-works, they should be able to get for u the permit. This way will solve ur number 1 n 3. As for number 2, i believe the contractor should have contacts for an electrician. Even if u find individual workers for the different works, u still need to find some company whos willing to be responsible for your permit. As someone has mentioned, if u are not going to engage the id's services, high chance they are not willing to apply the permit for u unless for a high price which may not be worth it after all.

Pe is a professional engineer who calculate loads on a bldg and also they can submit drawings n apply permit. They are held responsible in the event of any structural failure. Huge responsibility for this profession. Huge responsibilities comes with a price, so do expect a fee. By right , there should not be any obstruction to the bomb shelter entrance... I believe theres a handout on bomb shelter given to new home owners regarding the use of bomb shelters. By left, u can still cover up but at your own risk. Theres another easier way, use wall paper. U can camouflage easily the entrance with some wallpapers without infringing the rules or compromising space. Example will be like, use red bricks or wooden planks designed wall paper to make ur shelter looks like a cottage or barn. There are many designs in the market now, shouldnt be too difficult to find one u like unless u dont like wall paper.

any pictures to post ? how about the price quoted ?

try to repost ?

This time i have to disagree with thread starter... A homeowner has the right to refuse an expensive quotation, so does a id/contractor to refuse a business that has no money to make...If theres money to make, which businessman would actually turn it down ? I suppose this is the main reason y many id/contractors turn u down or ignored you. Anyway its all about the services they provide, if the contractor goes to buy tiles for u, they expect to earn abit... do consider the fact that they take time n effort plus transport to go down to the supplier. You saved $60 when u went down urself , but u never consider ur time taken plus transport cost. The costs are definitely more than $60 for a contractor. Thats y u save when u do things urself. The contractor needs to cover overheads plus the fact that business opportunities maybe lost during the time taken to show u around. So please show some understanding that contractors do charge slight more for lesser work done. Materials n haulage ? This is where contractors earn their profit. Remember they dont earn much from the tiles n the labour. I agree $1200 is indeed on the high side which i believed the money is shared between the contractor n the haulage guy. Maybe the price can still be haggled. Labour, you dont expect a contractor to earn just from labour alone. Levies & labour costs are expensive nowadays unless u are talking about those freelance tilers. They will definitely be glad to earn just $780 without much overhead on their side. Summary, unless u have a lot of free time to go around scouting for the cheapest, that $500 u saved is just another "fee" to engage a contractor to do everything for you.

Thats what u get when you find the ID n he gets --> Contractor goes find a --> Sub-contractor goes source --> Freelancer (tiler) & the final price gets marked up alot since going through so many hands...

They should know since cement screed is the base foundation before doing tiles. y ID recommend tiles are more for aesthetic feel n also can charge more...