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Very long winded post ahead on our reno requirements & our ID selection. After 3 years and 4 months of wait from BTO Sales Launch to key collection, we have finally stepped foot into our house with kosong $$ in our CPF accounts lol. I had benefitted from the sharing from this forum and thought I would share my simple reno too, although don't know will benefit anyone or not haha! Anyway, prior to key collection, we had decided on our ID, chosen our tiles and laminates and seen the 3D drawings liao. Cos we were also planning for our wedding and I didn't want everything to come together for us to make decisions, very overwhelming. First, let me start off with presenting our very typical floor plan: We had chosen this layout with the household shelter in the kitchen cos we didn't want to spend money on doing up a feature wall just to cover the household shelter's doors. Things we had decided that we want, prior to meeting IDs: 1. Most important - flooring (tiles in living/dining area & vinyl in bedrooms); 2. TV wall + suspended console; 3. L box in living room; 4. Ceiling fan in living room above sofa area; 5. Kitchen carpentry (top & bottom cabinets & drawers, sink, hob & hood on the long side; bottom carpentry on short side); 6. Glass door to separate kitchen from living/dining area; 7. Base for fridge & washing machine; 8. Full height wardrobe in MBR; 9. Full height wardrobe in BR 2; 10. Ceiling fan in BR 3; 11. Painting for whole house; 12. Windows in service balcony; 13. Window grills for whole house; 14. Electrical works; and 15. Plumbing works After meeting a few IDs, we added: 16. False ceiling in dining area/corridor. We didn't want cove lights despite it being recommended by a few IDs. In fact, we eliminated the ones who insisted that we do cove lights - if this also cannot then I foresee we may have disagreements in future so, eliminated! Once we had an idea of what we wanted to do, we met up with quite a few IDs to discuss. First, we went to a big company to see whether these can fit into our budget. The ID was kind of helpful but didn't give us a friendly feeling. He gave some good ideas and some nonsense ideas. Felt like he was trying to smoke us. Asked us for our budget and then the quotation was exactly our budget. Then keep pushing us to sign on the spot, despite us telling him that he was the first ID we met and we needed time to consider, plus key collection was still an unknown date of at least 3 to 4 months away. Plus the company was quite empty despite it being a big company with a few branches - on a Sunday afternoon! Second, we passed by this ID shop and saw the staff inside quite busy, decided to just approach them to ask for quotation so that we would have a better gauge of the market rate. The ID was friendly and after listening to our requirements, gave us some ideas and feedback. Like there would be a beam between the living area and the dining area, based on his experience and a few other suggestions (which I had forgotten now haha else I can share with you guys). We were impressed by him drawing out how he plan to do the TV area, the kitchen and the wardrobe. Gave us an rough estimate of the quotation on the spot, based on the stuff we wanted, and then emailed us the quotation. Anyway, his quotation was not the cheapest but also not the most expensive. Third, fourth, fifth etc, we went to quite a few more IDs and we rejected them mainly because: 1. Insist that we do cove lights; 2. Never get back to us; 3. Unbelievably cheap (lol humans - too cheap cannot, too expensive cannot); 4. Not so convincing, the ID sounded like he was unsure (scared he chut pattern then we all faint together); 5. Expensive!!!! Then it was decision making time. We couldn't find any reviews of the second ID online, despite the fact that the company had been around for 20+ years. No reviews nvm, as long as no negative reviews - our thinking is that, if really jialat sure got people complain online lah... Felt that we could click and got the feel, so we decided on him, after comparing the quotations, although I keep niam-ing my bf that some stuff a bit expensive, but still within our budget (which we didn't tell him). After deciding on him, we met up to sign the contract and he passed us the paint colours book for us to choose colours. We then decided to meet up another time to discuss on colours, laminates etc cos we were quite tired after work. So we met up and first, his partner brought us to the Lian Hin Seng at Balestier to choose tiles and being the fast decision makers that we are, decided on the tiles rather quickly. Returned to the shop to choose laminates, vinyl flooring and to confirm that the paint colours we had chosen can match the flooring. A week later, received our first draft of 3D drawings and had some amendments. To be honest, the amendments to 3D drawings were a bit slow but also maybe cos our key collection also donno when lah, not priority. After we informed him of our key collection date, the revisions came faster. Nonetheless, so far so good. Next post on key collection + open door.

For BTO from HDB, do we start with carpentry work or electrical and plumbing?

I am finally going to get my keys from HDB tomorrow! Any ideas where should I start after key collection? This is my floor plan...

Hi all fellow new home owners! It has been almost 6 months since we settled into our new home in Punggol Topaz and finally had the time to sit down to document/recommend our contacts. Hubby and I have decided that we will not engage any ID as will look for our own individual contractors for each part of the home. We engaged only 2 parties for the entire house cos we have only very basic furnishings and fittings. 1) Electrical works for the entire house Electrical works are very important to start the reno of the house as it determines the positions of all your switches, lightings, ceiling fan, downlights etc. This will then affect the entire planning and layout of your home! Imagine you place a switch in the middle of your tv console...? not tally right.. and if you decide to position your dining table at a certain location but the dining lights are not in line...? Some progress pictures are below. Overall, we have 8 downlights are the main living room, 1 set of dining light, 1 set of industrial light outside the kitchen and 1 along the "corridor" of the rooms. It is bright enough for us. We also requested for switches at each end of the main living hall for convenience sake, one near the main door, toilets and 3 in each room. abit kiasu? Contact: Tony @ 8292 9848 Fast and reliable. We started our discussions with him in late last year and he manage to complete our requirements very quickly. He is also helpful enough to help us install the lightings after the false ceiling is up. Can look for him for quick and reasonable price menu

https://www.facebook.com/PaintingZ-workz-561592204032661/?pnref=story

Hello everyone, we just booked our new BTO 5room flat We managed to find a ID company with a good deal and a friendly, comfortable designer. We are very excited to work with too. This is our first flat hence we are so unsure about where to get most of the stuff for our home. We would be happy if we could get some recommendations for - 1) ceiling fans 2) blackout curtains 3) Aircon 4) Electricians 5) mosaic tiles thank you in advance.

I have met up with a few IDs and contractors. However, I am still unsure on whether they have really quoted me everything. Mine is a BTO flat with paid flooring provided by HDB, I didn't get the doors though. What do I have to look out for in my below requirements? Kitchen Cabinets - Workmanship - Type of wood - Type of top material - Mechanism Kitchen sink, stove, hood, - Labour and installation Fridge / Washing machine base - Labour - If tiles are included or not Master Bedroom wardrobe - Workmanship - Type of wood - Mechanism Toilets - Labour to install bathroom accessories Shower screen - Labour to install Shower kerb and if tiles is included or not - Labour to install Shower screen - Type of shower screen - Mechanism Bedroom / Toilet Doors - Type of material - Mechanism Hacking of Walls - HDB Permit - Hacking charge - Tiling and patching of walls and floors - If tiles are included or not Service Yard Windows - Only sliding (I was told that only sliding is permitted by HDB) Window Grilles - Pattern - Powder-coated or not Painting - Brand - Type (Odorless or not) - Number of colors that can be selected Lightings - Labour and installation I was told that a part of the cabinet is better to be made of stone if intend to stay long in the house, in case of water leakage from below the sink. Is that true? That's all, I guess. Did I miss out anything? Do let me know if there should be any extra cost of anything. Thanks all for your advice.

Hello everybody! I have been secretly reading this since I have applied for my SBF and now that my key collection is happening soon, I'm really nervous about it! I am intending to handle the design and reno on my own by engaging a contractor my friend intro to me but I am still kinda lost about the procedures and stuff like that. Hoping to get some inputs and ideas and also to document this journey down since I realised that this is the best part about getting a place of my own and I will miss this phase once it's over! For a start, here's my floor plan! Do feel free to interact fellow tbloggers

Time to start sourcing for IDs! Fellow home owners, got any recommendations?

We have just started our renovation recently, and decided that we should start a blog to document our Renovation Journey, so we could one day look back at our experience =) There are like so so so many tiny details that one should keep in mind during renovation. So many tricks, tips & pointers to look out for. Hopefully by sharing our humble experience, fellow renotalkers can also learn something from our renovation process as well. Nothing fanciful here, but I guess I shall start off with some pointers on ID/ Contractor Selection Process, my ideal steps as follow: 1) Get your floor plan (the above is ours). You can email HDB and they will send the hard copy to you by slow mail. Then photocopy a few copies of your floor plan, for future usage (e.g. to give to potential ids/contractors). When to start finding? It depends, we started like 3 or 2 months before we get our keys. However, if you know you are finding someone popular, then you might want to check his/her schedule earlier. 2) Brainstorm & write down in details what you would like to do for your house. Be specific. Don't just say Wardrobe in the Master Bedroom, say instead, 6ft length wardrobe in laminated finish, and whether you want casement or sliding doors. Number of drawers may matter too. Soft-closing and what brand also must say. Your ceiling height matters too (normally they do until 2.4m or 2.5m high only... extra height must top up). Whether you want the insides to be internal colour PVC finish or the standard white colour (which may turn yellow after many years..) also affects the price. Choice of external laminates matters too as some laminates can be more expensive than others. Sometimes even mirror or any fanciful design or material can affect the price, so be specific on your requirements. *EDITED ON 26 JUN 2016* 3) After having written down your specific requirements, do meet up with at least 5 Ids / Contractors to get your quotation (bring your floor plan too). Doing this will allow you to: a) compare the various quotations on the SAME job that is being done. b) observe the person to see if it's someone you can "click" with.. His/her attitude and design sense, etc. c) collect ideas. a good id/contractor may also point out impracticality of your design and explain stuffs to you why it's not good & propose better solutions. Do note that engaging ids will cost more than contractors (duh....the obvious), usually at least $2k to $5k+ more... it depends. You may consider getting an id if you have the budget + if you don't know what design you want, etc. If you already have a sense of direction what kind of design you want, then perhaps a contractor may suffice. Some contractors have designers to draw 3D drawings for them, so you can better conceptualise the design. The cheapest option, however, is to outsource EVERYTHING (e.g. find your own carpenter, tiler, electrician, etc). But that would require a lot of time & coordination on your side, and it could be quite stressful too.. *EDITED ON 26 JUN 2016* 4) Find out all the hidden costs, and also determine which items are worth outsourcing to make the overall renovation cost cheaper. Here are just some areas you can look into: a) Haulage & Debris Removal Service - Should you really pay $800-$1200 for haulage & debris removal service to your id/contractor? Or will it be cheaper if you call the HDB appointed Haulage Service contractor (his contact will be pasted near your BTO lift), and then ask your id/contractor to liaise with him instead? Haulage service is basically carrying the heavy stuffs for you, such as Tiles (if your flooring is not done yet), and debris removal is where they help you clear any debris from your renovation. I'm not sure if those who have no hacking & tiling works still need this service or not...as it may seem rather redundant unless you need to do kitchen mortar base, washing machine & fridge kerb then maybe need some labour need to carry the required materials such as prepacked cement, etc (this may probably cost you about $250?). For us, we have to hack some walls & do flooring... so we need this service. The amount of works done (hacking/flooring works) & the size of your flat (if do flooring) will determine the cost of this service. Some ids/contractors will ask you to get this service yourself and they will not include this in the quotation..., some may absorb this cost for you and provide it "free" (while jacking up the prices of other items maybe?), and some others will include this in the quotation as $800 to $1200++ and say it will be better if you engage from them as it is their own workers doing the service directly, so there will not be any miscommunication or delays. I later realised that this is kind of not true.. The HDB appointed Haulage Contractor for our BTO is "Mr Tan", and he says the service would cost $600 if got hacking + tiling works for 4 room (I'm not sure if other HDB appointed private contractors from other areas have different pricing or not..). I told my contractor (let's called him Uncle S) about it and he says he actually knows him coz they sometimes need to work together. He also remarked that he charge me cheaper than him too (Mr Tan charges Uncle S $700 for haulage/debris removal services)! So anyway, I passed Uncle S the money, he help me pay and get the receipt from Mr Tan. And from there onwards they work together no need me to call or arrange any appointments with Mr Tan at all. I never even met Mr Tan myself, only phoned & texted him to negotiate the cost of service only. Thus, it's not as troublesome as you may think if you engage Haulage service yourself, the point is whether your id/contractor is willing to help you liaise with the Haulage Contractor or not. So far everything seems okay. My walls have been hacked with debris cleared. Floor tiles are already in our house & tiling works are progressing, might be finishing by end of next week b) Window Grilles & Doors - It's usually cheaper to outsource these to those companies that do these works as their primary focus. I will update again the contacts once I am in that stage of installing these. It is better to install them at a later stage in the renovation (e.g. as doors may hinder movement or get scratched unless you protect them with cardboards and stuff). Uncle S says he will help me supervise the installation when the day comes (I hope ). c) Electrical, Plumbing Works & Aircon Works - These are usually not included in the quotation. You may choose to find your own electrician, plumber & aircon installer, or use the ones that your id/contractor works with. d) 3D Drawings - Do the 3D drawings come with unlimited edits? Or each re-draw/change of a 3D drawing (to see another design) will cost extra $$$? Stay away from those ids/contractors whereby 3D Drawings will cost exorbitant price like $500 each per change, as this will only limit/force you to proceed with the current design they proposed to you, which may not be what you really want. e) Internal Color PVC (example above) - As mentioned earlier, this is for the insides of the Cabinets/Drawers. The "default" is usually white color, but it may turn yellow after some years. If you want it to be internal Color PVC (non-white, there are a few colors & patterns to choose from..), then you have to top up. Do note that this is NOT the same as normal laminate, which is used for the OUTSIDE / EXTERNAL of the carpentry works. So, in terms of price, Internal White PVC < Internal Color PVC < Laminate. f) Full-height Carpentry works - If you are staying with higher ceiling height, full-height carpentry works will cost more. ** 5) Create an excel file to break-down and compare the quotations. Copy & paste the various jobs you have written in Step 2. Now, add in the quotations you have collected in Step 3. It may take awhile, but this step is very useful in helping you see the differences between the different ids/contractors quotation. It also allows you to calculate your costs easier as compared to writing these in word document. This means you will have 1 Column of Items, and X number of other Columns representing the X number of IDs/contractors you've seen. Additional Items & freebies can leave it to the last rows, do it in whatever format that you are comfortable with. Example, Requirements ID A ID B ID C Item 1: 7ft Brick Feature wall in Craftstone finish. $800 $1000 $900 Item 2: 6ft Wardrobe, sliding doors, height 2.6m, color internal PVC, with 1 mirror, 3 drawers, external laminates can choose $75 and below, etc (write whatever specific details) $1300 $1200 $1050 Item X: Window Grilles? (FREE = $0) $0 $900 $800 Basically you can use any method you want, no need to follow exactly the format here. The point is, to break up the quotations so you can weigh the pricing differences for the various works. 6) After comparing the quotes, and having a rough sense of who is more "reliable" or "comfortable" to you... you may then approach them again to further discuss & revise the quotes. Revise the quote? Well, remember the comparison you did in Step 5? You may approach the id/contractor you like and say so and so ID charged me cheaper for this item, do you think you can match his price? If you are lucky, the price can be matched, or a slight discount if the price difference is too big. 7) Ask to visit his current project sites to see the workmanship. Basically to see if the workmanship is good. Are the cabinet doors misaligned? Do they close properly? Is the floor grouting too wide? Etc. 8) Request for a site survey at your new house. The purpose is for a more accurate quotation... those with high ceiling height may have to top up more $$ on full-height carpentry works. It could also tell you how keen the person is in taking up your job (those not keen will say after sign contract then come...) 9) Ask lots & lots of questions if in doubt. Questions regarding the different materials, design solutions, costs, etc. Double check their facts. Do not take their answers for granted if possible. For example, recently TV got show some unfortunate couple got conned by a "contractor/ID" that claimed to be Case Trust & Radac. However, the CaseTrust website do not have the id/contractor company inside. The "contractor/id" has since disappeared and never to be found. You can also check Casetrust banned list here. If the company is not case trust, then do a google or search renotalk on their reviews. Sometimes you can find a lot of bad reviews about that company, and it may be safer if you avoid them. 10) Check check & check the contract before you sign. For example, on hindsight, it may be better for your contractor/id to charge you just for the labour for laying the tiles, instead of Labour + Price of tiles. Why do I say that? Think about it, say your id states that Bedroom tiles you can choose $2.50 to $4psf, before GST. If the Bedrooms are about 450 sqft in total, it would mean that a $2.50psf tile would cost 450 x $2.50 = $1,125. If you choose a $4psf tile, then it would be 450 x $4 = $1,800. That's a difference of $675 between the 2!! T_T And no... that will not be refunded if you have opted for the cheaper tiles. Thus, if we had taken out tiles prices in our quotation/contract, we will not have to worry about whether the tiles we are choosing is too cheap or too expensive. We could just choose based on the design. So this ideally should be discuss prior to signing the contract... unless your id/contractor is OKAY with refunding any extra $ if the tiles you choose are too cheap. *EDITED ON 26 JUN 2016* I suddenly remember something that Uncle S told me: If your house is still in initial building phase/not yet fully constructed, and you are absolutely sure that you want an open kitchen concept, you may request for them not to do up the wall that is partitioning the kitchen (if any). Also, if you don't like highlighting tiles, you may also request them not to include them in the toilets or kitchen. Although I'm not sure how true this is because I never personally tried it before (my unit was already constructed).... I suppose there is no harm giving it a try by asking your BTO/housing developer or something. If it works, then this could save you a few hundreds of dollars from wall hacking, wall tiles overlaying, etc. Not sure if I missed out any tips or pointers.. but feel free to comment ^_^

Hi everyone! Just wanted to recommend Teng Hong Renovate. I renovated my BTO 4-room flat last year with them. It is a small family run business and the owner is very down to earth and easygoing. Pricing wise is very competitive too. I did not engage an ID, so I told Mr Low (the contractor) what I want to do with my place and he advised us accordingly whether it is doable or not. Here's some photos of my humble abode. I demolished the wall between the kitchen and dining area, and the wall between my living room and bedroom 3 for a bigger space. I really love the outcome of the renovation! Highly recommend Mr Low! You can contact them via their facebook page and they will give you a quotation. Hope this helps!

Hi Due to unforeseen reasons, I'm letting go of a reno voucher by I'workz Design Pte Ltd. very reputable company. Can check their fb page. Value: sgd2,000 to be used by 31 dec 2016. PM me for quotations fast!!! I will definitely give a good deal to help you save cost.

Hi Due to unforeseen reasons, I'm letting go of a reno voucher by I'workz Design Pte Ltd. very reputable company. Can check their fb page. Value: sgd2,000 to be used by 31 dec 2016. PM me for quotations fast!!! I will definitely give a good deal to help you save cost.

This is our second HDB unit. As I recalled we were issued floorplan when we collected our keys many years ago, but this time round, it does not come as standard. Or am I missing something? Anyone? Can we request it or do we have pay HDB? And if I did managed to get the floorplan, is there anyone in Singapore that can convert it to a 3d model which I can edit with CAD software or something? Hope to find some answers or pointers here. Thanks!

Hi Friends, My wife and I are beginning our renovation soon and we will like to capture our experiences in a blog. We hope that we have learned will help others in the future who may be getting new homes, and also to invite people who may have different perspectives to share their thoughts with us. You may find the blog here: https://feelmyseams.wordpress.com/ It currently has only one entry, we will be updating our thoughts as we go. Thanks Guys! Gab & Ally

Hello fellow bloggers. Thank you for sharing all your stories here. They have helped others and I in one way or another so keep them coming! Just sharing our renovation journey because idk I find that the support here is awesome no matter what kind of home you guys are building. Lotsa positive vibes and that's what we need in tough times. It's a typical 5 room BTO floorplan but the new one though with the bomb shelter by itself instead of being attached to like the kitchen or the common bathroom. Booooooooring layout. I honestly have never ever ever thought of staying in a matchbox like this OR in this estate at all but he said he wanted to give it a try so yeah. Unhappy me but above all that crap that I have swallowed, I am thankful and grateful we have a roof over our heads and food on the table on a daily basis. Amen to that. Shall I skip the floorplan and move on to visually enticing things like the moodboard? YEASSSS. The rug, chairs. The bluuuuuue the rug with touches of gold here and there. The colour of the wall, the dining chairs, table, floor, display cabinet and everything in it, the collage. But...not the ceiling or wainscoting or pendant lamps. The colours and elements for masterbedroom! We chose a duck-egg blue for the playroom and we've yet to decide how exactly it'll look like but this is an inspiration for it. The vanity cabinet. We decided to stick with the existing HDB tiles and just make things work around them so this is an inspiration for the Master bathroom and the common bathroom shall be a wet bathroom. Nothing special The kitchen! It is where I will be spending most of my time at and it was so hard to have things MY way because well...he has his suggestions too but you see, I know how I work around my kitchen and I will make it easy for me. End of story. Shaker cabinets FTW! I have had my eyes on them for the longest time. We have an entrance walkway so yup Our home won't look exactly like these photos and I never wanted to copy and paste so it would be a little of this and a little of that. Interior designing is the very very very fine line between being tacky and being a copycat. Idk how to put it in words but it is challenging. Renovation has started and it's about halfway through so I will slowly try to add in more photos. I know bloggers here are experts at TB and i really salute you guys. The prices are so attractive but I just don't have the time to wait and cannot be bothered to go through it meaarrhghhghghh. Besides, we like to touch and feel things before purchasing muahaha. We've bought some pieces from THAT ONE PLACE (nope not at level 1 but the one above) at sime darby which totally wrecked our pockets and also some preloved classic and beautiful pieces from carousell. I have no idea how all this will come together but I know it will. Well I hope it will haha. This could be the messy-smudgey initial look that would magically end up warm and homely. This journey (like life) is an ocean of possibilities. There might be storms and 10-storey waves crashing around but you've got your compass set right so just... go with the flow? I now welcome you aboard our ship. LOL SO LAME.

Finally we have settle down with our designer! And we are now waiting for our 1st 3d drawing which will be releasing next week! Cant wait to see what it turn out to be. Will be updating further if we have any good deal or direct deal.

Any comment for above price? Get it from a contractor recommended by friend, any idea for it?

Hi there, Could anyone explain to me how air-conditioning installation works for HDB? I'm waiting for my BTO T.O.P in 2018/2019 and I have no clue about the requirements for HDB regarding the air-conditioning. I want a really cold aircon but I know that there are some restrictions to installing certain air-conditioners in HDB. I'm considering on a total of 2 condensers and 3 air-con units in my flat, anyone can help? xx Sarah

Hello everyone ~ After years of waiting, finally I got my keys to our new home. We have chosen a 3 room BTO, it's small I know... but with 2 years of info gathering in this forums and other platforms, we believe we can make it into a comfy abode! Contents (To be updated soon) Shopping list a) TV b) Oven c) Cooker and Hoods d) Fridge e) Air-Con f) Bathroom accessories g) Laundry system h) Wifi remote controller i) Ergonomic furniture j) Other interesting stuff Completed Looks a) Living room b) Kitchen c) Bedroom 1 d) Master Bedroom e) Common bathroom f) Master bathroom As part of my job needs, I travelled quite abit and get in contact to many interesting home living concept that really helps make full use of space. I believe it is possible to enjoy comfortable living even with small area. Let's begin with the floor plan.

Hello everyone! My fiance and I are going to get the keys to our 4-room in 2Q 2016. So excited and we can't wait to start our new home after 4 years of long wait! We have been reading the forum to do our research diligently. Thank you everyone for sharing your experience with us! Now is our turn to journal down our renovation journey in this t-blog. Here goes our floor plan: This is our first time owning a house. We are very excited about our renovation for the new home. However, we can’t help but feel the pinch, especially we going to spend a hefty sum when our renovation and wedding falls in the same year. We just started working for 2-3 years and I don’t want to spend all our savings to splurge on the renovation. Hence, I will try my best to stick within our budget and spend wisely. We also set our budget below: Budget for Renovation: 30-35K Budget for Furnishing and Electrical appliances: 20k Renovation Requirement We will keep our carpentry work minimal and simple. Save money on carpentry by going for off shelf furnishings and online shopping of home decorations to achieve the look we want. Also, we chose Scandinavian style as this theme is easily executed and it will never fall our of style. As some of the requirement are optional, we will finalize our decision only after considering the cost and visiting the actual site. I also try to think of other alternatives to save the cost. Living Room 1.To supply materials & labour to lay Vinyl @ Living. Dining Room/ Bedroom 3/Bedroom 2/Master bedroom 2.Painting for the whole house 3.Chemical wash for whole house after renovation 4.Sliding window at the yard (optional) 5.To supply and install 3 bedroom doors / 2 bathroom doors LIVING ROOM 1.To construct false ceiling work @ Living/Dining Hall (optional) 2.To construct 16ft Craftstone wall / Brickwall stucco wall, whichever is more affordable (optional) 3.To box up 8ft gypsum partition wall 4.To construct half ht and 5ft shoe cabinet KITCHEN 1.To hack half partition wall between dining and kitchen 2.To install coated aluminum frame fixed window at partial wall and swing door 3.To construct 9ft Top cabinet 4.To construct 15ft Bottom cabinet 5.To construct 2ft Tall cabinet 6.To overlay Subway tiles on exposed wall on kitchen wall 7.To install 16ft Kompac plus/ iQuartz for kitchen cabinet surface top BATHROOM 1.To construct shower kerbs at Common /Master Bathroom 2.To supply and install 10mm Clear tempered glass shower screen @ Common Bathroom 3.To supply and install 10mm Clear tempered glass (1 fixed and 1 swing) shower screen @Master bathroom 4.To construct 3ft Vanity bottom finished @Master bathroom 5.Overlaying floor tiles for Common /Master Bathroom (optional) BEDROOMS 1.Full ht and 7ft casement wardrobe @Masterbedroom 2.Full ht and 5.5ft casement wardrobe @Bedroom 2 Table of Contents 1. Moodboard

Hi all! We are nearing the end of our house renovation and we have finally decided to share our experience so far Our new house is a 5-room BTO in Waterway Brooks, and here's our floor plan for a start: Both of us prefer a simple and clean house, along the line of minimalistic and nordic feel kinda. We surfed extensively on (it's really quite a useful app!), renotalk (of cuz ;p) and various interior design company websites initially to gather our ideas on how we want our house to be. Being super fickle-minded, it took us quite awhile to come to a decision on the interior design we are both comfortable with. Here's our mood board: Living Room Kitchen Random ideas That's all for now!

Finally! After applying for our flat in 2013, we now have a chance to share our renovation experience here. Been a silent lurker, love your ideas, etc etc, let’s just get down to business. We got a 5-room flat in the north-eastern part of Singapore (Seriously...take a guess. You’re probably right.) and PCD is scheduled end of this month. I’m not kidding when I say we began our research the moment we applied 2 - 3 years ago. Thankfully, my husband and I have very similar tastes, so agreeing to things came easily and without much hair tugging/crying. Here’s the standard floorplan. A rough introduction of our style: NON-industrial and NON-Scandinavian. I know this site has a huge following for the two “themes”, but that’s just not us, heh. Also another reason for contributing to renotalk – I thought it’d be a nice change to see something different for the rest of you who are looking for new inspiration!Warm, earthy, and a little bohemian. We travel quite a bit and have collected some strange and quirky items over the years. I’m a huge fan of Apartment Therapy, and am thoroughly inspired by the homes there.Plenty of dark wood accented with hints of brass and rose gold. And pops of colour. We plan to warm the place up with lots of plants and ethnic rugs.Next up - our experience speaking to a few IDs.

Dear all, I'd greatly appreciate some advice.. I'm a new BTO homeowner and currently in midst of renovation. However, my contractor pointed out that this is a problem with the already painted walls. For info - my BTO comes painted with flooring. Technical specs for internal walls is skim-coated / plastered and painted white. So my contractor painted 1 portion of the unit, and noticed that the paint was peeling. He highlighted that he is unable to continue to paint because sealant wasn't applied UNDER the top white coat. To do a good and proper job, the top white coat has to be sanded off, plastered to make the surface even, apply sealant, then paint. He had however advised to find out from HDB if the technical specs was as-is, or did they leave out the sealant coat. I did so and the HDB officer confirmed that there is no sealant. It was as per specs- plastered walls, and emulsion paint. Now here are my qns: - is this normal wall painting specs for HDB projects? - shouldn't sealant be applied before any form of paint goes on? - is it Ok to put sealant over current HDB-ready emulsion paint? Will it peel again? Any issues if i did so? Help! Advise, anyone? My renos out on hold until this painting is resolved.

Hi guys! So we got the keys to our 5rm BTO flat in October, waaaaaaay ahead of expectation. Both of us are the rather chillax kind, so we did not really do any research on reno stuff beforehand. We are in our BTO FB group and were quite amazed that people actually signed reno packages even before they got their keys . For me, I need to have a feel of the physical space before deciding anything. So, we only started reading up on renovation stuff one month before we got our keys. Our theme for the house was unanimously decided long ago: Scandinavian with essentials of wood, grey and white. Despite being an overly-done theme, it is something that we both hold dear, and one that works for us. This is our floor plan: Living room Floor--at first I had decided on vinyl/HERF because of the nice woody look. But she was concerned whether there will be a smell from the plastic in the long run, and also whether it is truly waterproof (since they are assembled using the clicking system). A valid concern; so we decided to go for wood-grain tiles instead for the whole house (incld bedrooms). Sofa/TV console/Feature wall-- We had a long discussion about this and finally decided to put our TV along the wall adjacent to Bedroom 3. There will be a feature wall of long vertical woodgrain tiles (1.8m high each) that look like wood planks. And on top of that line of tiles, we will install a thin ledge for us to place photo frames or posters. Something different from the usual brick walls. Something like this for the feature wall, just that it doesn't go all the way to the ceiling: Example of photo ledge: Dining table-- It will be placed along the wall opposite the TV console. She wants a really biggggg dining table, so we are prolly getting a 1.8m long one, with a bench to match. Planning to place a bar table against the household shelter wall as well. Built-in storage/display cabinets-- I personally hate having storage/display cabinets in the living room, period. The HDB living room is already too small for my liking (heng we chose a 5rm), having any sort of gigantic cabinets in the living room will just make it look even more cramped. So there will be none. Except for a shoe cabinet that we are planning to build into that recess to the right of the main door. False ceiling/L-box-- None of this too. It will just lower the height of the ceiling even further. Lighting-- Planning for track lights above the feature wall area. And a black ceiling fan. Hanging "spider" lights above the dining table. Track lights along room corridor. LED near the main entrance. Kitchen We are going to hack away the whole wall facing Bedroom 3, and build a kitchen island in the middle . Both of us like to cook, and can't stand claustrophobic kitchens haha. The island will be 1.8m x 1.2m, and the side nearer to Bedroom 3 will feature a counter with stools. There will not be any glass partitions or doors between the kitchen and living room. Yes it will be open but we are not worried about the smell! We don't do heavy frying anyway. There will be kitchen cabinets on both top and bottom on the other wall, and we are planning to get either Kompacplus or Pacnel countertops. Leaning towards Pacnel tops because as of now, they have more colour choices! As for the cabinets, we prefer the surface to be less "flat", contrary to the usual sleek, contemporary laminate surface. After Googling, we found out there's actually a name for this kind of design: it is called Shaker style. An example below: We are leaning towards dark grey cabinets with light grey Pacnel countertop. Along the wall adjacent to the toilet until the service yard window, we are going to build a bottom side-board cabinet; on top we are going to put stuff like my Nespresso Pixie, toaster oven, Hurom etc. Bedroom 3 We are hacking away the whole wall facing the kitchen and replacing it with a black aluminium-framed glass wall/door, to make the whole house feel even more spacious. This will be the gaming/study room! Going to put my PS4, a 40inch UHD TV with a Yamaha soundbar in there. Master Bedroom Making a L-shaped full height wardrobe! Was contemplating the idea of a platform bed, but decided it was too expensive and the ceiling will be too low (planning to put a ceiling fan). Going to put the usual queen-sized bed frame! Toilets Going to install a vanity top with mirror box cabinet for both toilets! Prolly going to use black Pacnel top for the vainty. For the MBR toilet, there will be a glass shower panel (not door), separating the shower area from the toilet bowl. Cos I feel having a sliding door is too claustrophobic. For the common toilet, there will be a shower kerb with IKEA's shower curtain rod (no shower panel, to save costs). Panel only: Contractor We met a grand total of one contractor and one ID. We invited the contractor to our new house and told him about our plans and ideas, and to give a quote. The moment I spoke to him, I knew I could trust this guy. There was rapport, we could click, and he was clearly experienced in his field. He suggested alternatives when our ideas were not feasible. We were very comfortable with him and were eagerly awaiting his quotation. It came back to be around $48K! At first it was shocking. But after calming ourselves down and looking at the things we wanted, we concluded that it was a reasonable (though not cheapest) pricing. (We later changed some stuff and the price dropped to $46k.) On the other hand, the meeting with the ID was unplanned. I chanced upon this FB post of a so-called renovation "open-house", where various companies will be there to showcase their reno materials (kitchen tops, cabinets, tiles, lights etc), so that we can have a better idea of what materials to choose for our reno. So I thought to myself, why not? Upon reaching the place, there was a group of young people smoking in the stairwell right outside the entrance to the openhouse. Impression down We walked in, one young guy approached us, and introduced himself as an ID from ___ company, and offered to bring us around. At this point, we knew it was not such a simple affair. He brought us to see all the materials, tiles, tops etc. Along the way, he kept emphasizing on how credible and accredited his company was (rolling eyes at this moment ). At the end of the tour, he made us sit down and listen to him intro his company's reno packages. Upon first glance, the pricing looks reasonable. But upon closer scrutiny, we realised the package was super basic (plain white tiles @ $3 per sq feet etc). So if we add on the things we wanted, it will prolly add up to a substantial amount. Then he suddenly whispered to us: if we sign today and give the deposit, his boss will waive the 7% GST. Ermigawd. Are you freaking kidding me. That's like the lamest sales pitch ever. Everybody knows you have already factored in the GST into your pricing right?! We walked out without signing anything. The silver lining was that our time was not totally wasted; we learnt quite a fair bit about the materials TL:DR version : Not impressed with ID company, signed with contractor.