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Hi all, would like to recommend a contractor which recently renovated my 4 room flat at Punggol. We went around sourcing for a good contractor at North area until we chance upon this at Hougang Ave 1.. Boss was patient and totally understand our concept of what we want and what we need. I would say his price is reasonable and he make sure everything was done neatly with no loose ends. Best thing is the company is Non GST registered which help me to save total of $1000++++... Heard they been incorporated for almost 30 years? He is a very easy going person and accomodating to my needs as far as he could for our house renovation.. can pm for his contact if u want to get a quotation frm him..

hi all, I went to a few ids and quote price varies a lot from 63k to 72k for my resale 4rm whole house hack, i duno which is reasonable or overcharged. Therefore my friend recommended me his contractor. I find it reasonable and their quality is very good because i saw in my friends house. really nothing to complain at all even to such a fussy person like me. i dont mind paying a bit more on good quality and workmanship. Just wanted some people feedback on the price. Hacking of kitchen floor & wall tiles - 4500 Hacking of kitchen, fridge, washing base Hacking of living, 3 bedrooms floor tiles Hacking of 2 toilets wall n floor tiles Dismantle kitchen cabinet, window grills, cornices, wooden shelving Dismantle 2 toilet bowls, basins, accessories costs: tiles capped at $3psf. : labour, cement, tiles all included. Lay kitchen floor tiles - 1700 Lay kitchen wall tiles - 4500 Construct kitchen cabinet base, fridge, washing base - 470 Lay master toilet floors tiles - 780 Lay master toilet wall tiles - 2100 Lay common toilet floor tiles - 720 Lay common wall tiles - 2000 Lay living room floor tiles - 3500 Lay 3 bedrooms floor tiles - 3900 plumbling: labour costs - to change whole house pipes to stainless steel - 650 - to install 2 toilet bowls - 180 - to install 2 basins - 140 - to install 2 sets spray gun - 60 - to install 2 toilet accessories - 100 - to install kitchen sink & tap - 120 - to install 2 instant heater - 120 carpentry: kitchen : - 36ft kitchen top & bottom cabinet - 5040 > blum hinges & color pvc internal - quartz worktop 18ft - 1980 living room : - suspended tv console 7ft - 1050 - feature wall 7ft - 1400 - storage cabinet 4ft - 1400 - shoe casement cabinet with a opening 4ft - 1150 Master bedroom - sliding wardrobe 7ft - 1960 - make-up dresser with drawers 3ft - 420 - storage platform (3m x 2.8m) - 1800 Bedroom 2 : - study table with drawers 5ft - 700 - book shelf 5ft - 850 - casement wardrobe 5ft - 1300 Bedroom 3 - casement wardrobe 5ft - 1300 - make-up dresser with drawers 3ft - 420 Master bathroom - suspend cabinet 3ft - 390 - mirror vanity cabinet 3ft - 495 - quartz top 2ft - 220 Common bathroom - suspend cabinet 2ft - 260 - mirror vanity cabinet 2ft - 330 - quartz top 2ft - 220 Ceiling : - to construct Lbox, false ceiling in living room - 1320 Glass : - to install 10mm tempered glass shower screen in master bathroom - 500 - to install glass backing in kitchen wall - 700 Others : - hauledge - 950 - Supply 2 toilets doors swingslide - 600 - Painting of whole house (5 colors + 1 white) - 1250 - Cleaning whole house - 250 - Chemical washing - 200 - Protective paper - 180 - Hdb permit F.O.C Total : $54175. Moreover no GST. As for the workmanship, i have seen it, it is assured solid wood and very good workmanship especially the carpentry edges, very well laminated. He also showed me normal workmanship and prices too, its cheaper than this quote a bit more only. So i think its worth paying for the carpentry. Do let me know if the price is ok. feedback pls. greatly appreciated. thanks all!

Design Works Space planning & Optimization Project planning, Supervision & Management All Necessary Authority permit Application A Living area 1 Demolition Works 1.1 Supply labour & tools to demolition built-in furnitures $ 450.00 2 Flooring Work . 2.1 Supply labour and materia to fill new grouting for floor tiles $ 600.00 B Kitchen area 1 Demolition Works 1.1 Supply labour & tools to hack off existing wall tiles, flooring & skirting $ 700.00 1.2 Supply labour & tools to dismantle existing kitchen top cabinet . $ 150.00 2 Flooring Work . 2.1 Supply labour and materials to lay selected designer homogeneous floor tiles $ 1,200.00 includes cement screeding, chemical adhesive cement w/ skirting . (Tiles @ $3.00) 2.2 Supply labour & materials to provide HDB regulated water proofing membrane $ 300.00 layer using quic-seal 104 chemical & non-shrink screed . 3 Wall Work . 3.1 Supply labour and materials to plaster smooth kitchen wall $ 1,000.00 4 Carpentry work. 4.1 Design, fabricate & install (01) unit top kitchen cabinet . $ 1,490.00 *3D computerized perspective drawing provided Top cabinet Measurement: L 3400mm x D 300mm x Ht 900mm Materials: Solid plywood c/w high pressure laminate finishes & ABS edging door internal carcass in white PVC finishes . 5 Glass work 5.1 Supply & install (01) unit 6mm thk tempered glass backing for kitchen $ 400.00 in spray paint finish Measurement: L 3400mm x Ht 600mm C COMMON BATHROOM 1 Demolition Works 1.1 Supply labour & tools to hack off existing wall & floor tiles. $ 500.00 2 Masonry Works 2.1 Supply labour & materials to provide HDB regulated water proofing membrane $ 400.00 layer using quic-seal 104 chemical & non-shrink screed . 2.2 Supply labour & materials to lay selected designer matt surfaced $ 500.00 homogeneous floor tiles including cement, chemical adhesive cement, chemical strengthened bonding(W1) & colour grouting for tiles gap. (Tiles @ $3.00) 3 Wall Work . 3.1 Supply and lay selected designer homogeneous wall tiles $ 2,500.00 includes cement screeding, chemical adhesive cement, chemical strengthened bonding membrane ( W.1 ), grouting for tiles gap. (Tiles @ $3.00) 4 Plumbing Works 4.1 Supply labour & materials to lay conceal PVC drainage piping for wash basin & $ 150.00 shower area. 4.2 Supply labour & materials to provide installation of:- - toilet bowl x 01 $ 110.00 - wash basin x 01 $ 60.00 - gallon heater x 01 $ 120.00 - toilet accessories x 01 set $ 50.00 5 Doors & Window Work 5.1 Supply & install (01) unit white powder coated aluminium Naco window $ 180.00 5.2 Design, fabricate & install (01) unit PD door for toilet $ 500.00 5.3 Design, fabricate & install (01) unit 10mm tempered glass frameless fix panel $ 240.00 to separate toilet bowl & shower Measurement: L 600mm x Ht 1900mm D MASTER BATHROOM 1 Demolition Works 1.1 Supply labour & tools to hack off existing wall & floor tiles. $ 500.00 2 Masonry Works 2.1 Supply labour & materials to provide HDB regulated water proofing membrane $ 400.00 layer using quic-seal 104 chemical & non-shrink screed . 2.2 Supply labour & materials to lay selected designer matt surfaced $ 500.00 homogeneous floor tiles including cement, chemical adhesive cement, chemical strengthened bonding(W1) & colour grouting for tiles gap. (Tiles @ $3.00) 3 Wall Work . 3.1 Supply and lay selected designer homogeneous wall tiles $ 2,500.00 includes cement screeding, chemical adhesive cement, chemical strengthened bonding membrane ( W.1 ), grouting for tiles gap. (Tiles @ $3.00) 3.2 Supply labour and materials to construct 2 inc shower kerb $ 200.00 4 Plumbing Works 4.1 Supply labour & materials to lay conceal PVC drainage piping for wash basin & $ 150.00 shower area. 4.2 Supply labour & materials to provide installation of:- - toilet bowl x 01 $ 110.00 - wash basin x 01 $ 60.00 - toilet accessories x 01 set $ 50.00 5 Carpentry Works 5.1 Design, fabricate & install suspendered vanity using solid plywood c/w high pressure $ 300.00 laminate finish, ABS edging doors & internal carcass in white PVC finishes Measurement: L 600mm x D 550mm Measurement : 5.2 Supply labour & material to install solid surface work-top $ 200.00 Measurement: L 550mm x D 550mm Model : 6 Doors & Window work 6.1 Design, fabricate & install (01) unit PD door for toilet $ 500.00 6.2 Design, fabricate & install (01) unit 10mm tempered glass sliding door w/ fix panel $ 650.00 shower screen Approx. Measurement: L 1300mm x Ht 1900mm 6.3 Supply & install (01) unit white powder coated aluminium lourve window $ 180.00 E Painting work 1 Supply labour & materials to paint whole house 4+1 colour $ 1,500.00 F Miscellaneous/ Other works 1 Supply haulage to building materials & renovations debris FOC 2 Supply labour to disposal of construction debris to dumping ground FOC 3 Supply labour & materials to Lay corrugated protective sheet to all affected area $ 800.00 4 Supply labour for washing for entire unit $ 800.00 Sub Total: $ 21,000.00

Hi, i need help in sourcing for reliable and good ID or contractors recommendations and decide if i should use a ID or just a contractor for my renovation. I am open to just having a good contractor to do a good reno if the price and workmanship is good. I am very new to this any form of help is much appreciated. From electric works to design to any ideas. i am more inclined towards engaging a Contractor for cheaper cost etc. Thanks

Hi fellow forummers, In our search for a responsible and honest contractor and/or ID firm to entrust the renovation of our dream home to, I would like to share my 2 cents worth on some often overlooked checks that we should absolutely be conducting: Lawsuits against the ID/contractor - Google the company name and add the word “singapore law” (try many different combinations of the company name, e.g. XYZ ID singapore law, XYZ singapore law etc). If the company is currently and/or previously have been involved in a lawsuit, its name will show up in either the Supreme Court /State Court’s website and/or the Singapore Law website. From these websites, you will be able to read about the facts and/or judgement of the lawsuit. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire, the plaintiff must have been sufficiently aggrieved for them to decide to pursue a costly and lengthy lawsuit against the ID/contractor. Some lawsuits may get dropped along the way (NOT due to the lack of merits of the case) but because of how easy it is for some black sheep contractors to evade responsibility and liability by setting up and transfering assets to a new company (refer to the next point) ACRA search - do an ACRA search to find out who the shareholders and/or directors of the company are, and which other companies he/she might previously have been a shareholder and/or director of. Check out if these companies have been involved in any lawsuits or had any writs of summons issued against it (refer to the earlier point) during the director's tenure. For small and medium sized companies, the shareholders/directors are usually the ones running the day to day business and the person you might be liaising with. Extend the ACRA search out to the key decision makers in the company. This check with ACRA is essential due to the rampant practice of contractors/ID getting their spouse/bf/gf/close relatives to just start up a new company when the company gets into trouble and they shut down or leave the troubled company as an empty shell while they move assets and projects to the new company. These new companies may use a totally different name, or use a name similar to the troubled company. In my humble opinion, if a particular person is and/or has been involved in companies with seemingly similar type of business and operations, it is something to take note of. Any legal firm (regardless big or small) will be able to conduct the above-mentioned searches. Admittedly, there will be some small additional cost incurred but I believe this is a small fee to pay if it can help us to avoid inadvertently hiring an irresponsible and dishonest contractor/ID company. Good luck! Anyone with any other tips, kindly share!

Hi fellow forummers, In our search for a responsible and honest contractor and/or ID firm to entrust the renovation of our dream home to, I would like to share my 2 cents worth on some often overlooked checks that we should absolutely be conducting:- Lawsuits against the ID/contractor - Google the company name and add the word “singapore law” (try many different combinations of the company name, e.g. XYZ ID singapore law, XYZ singapore law etc). If the company is currently and/or previously have been involved in a lawsuit, its name will show up in either the Supreme Court /State Court’s website and/or the Singapore Law website. From these websites, you will be able to read about the facts and/or judgement of the lawsuit. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire, the plaintiff must have been sufficiently aggrieved for them to decide to pursue a costly and lengthy lawsuit against the ID/contractor. Some lawsuits may get dropped along the way (NOT due to the lack of merits of the case) but because of how easy it is for some black sheep contractors to evade responsibility and liability by setting up and transfering assets to a new company (refer to the next point) ACRA search - do an ACRA search to find out who the shareholders and/or directors of the company are, and which other companies he/she might previously have been a shareholder and/or director of. Check out if these companies have been involved in any lawsuits or had any writs of summons issued against it (refer to the earlier point) during the director's tenure. For small and medium sized companies, the shareholders/directors are usually the ones running the day to day business and the person you might be liaising with. Extend the ACRA search out to the key decision makers in the company. This check with ACRA is essential due to the rampant practice of contractors/ID getting their spouse/bf/gf/close relatives to just start up a new company when the company gets into trouble and they shut down or leave the troubled company as an empty shell while they move assets and projects to the new company. These new companies may use a totally different name, or use a name similar to the troubled company. In my humble opinion, if a particular person is and/or has been involved in companies with seemingly similar type of business and operations, it is something to take note of. Any legal firm (regardless big or small) will be able to conduct the above-mentioned searches. Admittedly, there will be some small additional cost incurred but I believe this is a small fee to pay if it can help us to avoid inadvertently hiring an irresponsible and dishonest contractor/ID company. Good luck! Anyone with any other tips, kindly share!

Hi Homeowners, We recently renovated our family home (a landed property) and it was a nightmarish experience. We appointed a contractor who was introduced to us, but ultimately turned out to most unscrupulous, keeps dragging on work delivery and even told us he wouldn't want to do the job after taking 50% of deposit. Ultimately we overpaid him, had to hire a lawyer to terminate so another contractor could take over to finish the project that was 90% completed. My advice is to get a proper legal contract done up as the common contract or proposals given will hardly cover the owner should something go wrong. Engage a professional to oversee the project with proper build schedule and money disbursement schedule. It may seem expensive at the onset but I think it is all worth it. We went over budget by a lot of money due to the appointment of a wrong contractor. Happy to share the name of this company as I hope no one else would meet with the same unfortunate situation like us.

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

Hi, Upton interior at bedok. anyone used them? Please share your experience with me. Thanks. Finn Tan

It's been a good 10 years since I last log in to RT; the last time I did, it was for my first home - a 4 room HDB. Reno was done through a recommended ID through my friend (who had her home done by him) and I have to say, it was a 8/10 experience except for minor hiccups then but nothing serious. Workmanship was impt to me and I am glad i got past that part since all the carpentry was still holding up well by time I sold my place. I learned plenty back then and from many masters hidden around the forum but how things had changed; now, it's all about TB shopping =) Time flies, a home for 2 evolved and went to 5 by 2013; needless to say and with every Singaporean's dream, I have to upgrade. I started calculating budget, monitor the property market and worked on convincing my in laws to let us move in with them. Luckily for me, it all worked out. I managed to convince the in laws, got what I want for my place from the 2nd viewer and hit on my choice unit for my new home; all within 2013. Fast forward to Jan 2016, I got updated that my new place will most likely TOP by this year and somehow, the most natural thing to do was to login to RT AGAIN. Going through all the blogs one by one for the past few months was tiring - especially so when i see so many wonderful new homes being done up; just watching the photos and reading lobangs shared is enough to make me drool with envy (you know that feeling of wanting to get things started immediately). Reading blogs after blogs do have it's benefits: 1) Taobao lobangs and links and "How to buy" 2) All reliable and updated ID/ Contractors contact I have since bookmarked quite a fair bit of TMall and TB links, as well as contractor/ IDs contact. To be honest, I am not the patient sort and will not have the time to go ID sourcing every weekend around Balestier, Ubi etc hence getting reliable feedback and truthful sharing from members here are impt. Having spend the last 3 weeks reading, I have narrowed and will work on getting quotations with the below 4: 1) J&E 2) Mr F 3) K 4) Renoguyz I will be sharing my experience once I meet them all soon. My floor plan below

For those considering direct Contractors vs ID, you may want to consider my contractor who has done a great job for me at very good contractor prices. The designs as shown which I asked a few IDs and they say it cannot be done. I was a bit hesitant at first, even at the last moment till I saw his other job sites. Look at the pictures for my house and his other job sites. Wow!

Hi All, As you can see in the picture, the glass door of my bathroom (bathing cubicle) has come out. I don't see any visible hinges that I can attach the door back to. The bottom support looks broken. Does anyone know any good repair person who can help on this? Door Image 1 Door Image 2 Thank you!

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.

Hi All, Just a average joe sharing my renovation journey. My 4rm HDB renovation is already near completion and i will post pictures from the start to the end at my pininterest webby. At the start of my renovation, i did alot of research on the internet and here in renotalk. Went for several meetings with IDs and contractors. Finally some good soul sent me a pm with a contact of a certain contractor. Why did i go for contractor and not a ID, mainly because i have my own design and also on a certain budget. Why did i finally settle for this contractor? His sincerity and honesty. He is of a certain age, so i will call him uncle contractor. He is your plain o uncle contractor that don't speak english and only mandarin. Through my many interaction with him, he is not hard selling, he is truly genuine and that is enough for me. He brought me to see his carpenter workmanship just to clear my doubts too. Anyway i actually got much more complete pictures as of now, but i rushing out to attend to my renovation evorich floor, so i will leave it as this. DISCLAMER: i am not a poser, i am just a average joe that fate bring me to this contractor, i feel its "just" for me to post his works. look even my papa is on the pictures pictures below, for now, i only manage to upload the starting portion of the reno as i am rushing out. https://www.pinterest.com/mmonz/ideas-for-the-house/ Rgds, Vayen

Hello all! I have been a silent reader and follower of this forum since my fiance and I received our keys in May 2015 - we have been kinda chill about this so the process only started proper last month haha. Before I begin, I would really like to give my biggest heartfelt thank you to all the bloggers here who have shared their experiences because it has helped me so much, if not entirely in my own process. We are halfway through the renovation process now and I thought I would start writing about our renovation journey and hopefully, our experience would help all of you in your own exciting experience. The initials of our names form WHAT - hence the title ahha. We are both easties at heart so imagine our joy when we successfully applied for a sales of balance BTO in the Bedok area. It is about 10 mins walk to Bedok MRT, and we ain't got a good view (unless you count having a free show of watching your neighbours go about their business as one) but I gladly sacrificed that so that we could still be in an environment we grew up in. So here is our very humble home layout - a 4 room unit. I guess you could call our theme scandustrial (are you bored of this already?) but I love the woody warm feel, mixed with a little bit of industrial (black framed glass and wirings), and marble-tops - I will just let the photos do the talking for the inspirations. I guess you can say I am into a lot of white, grey and brown shades heh.

Dear all, I wanted to ask for more feedback on design and build contractors who specialized in landed property. This is not about general contractors. Just in case some people are not sure, here are some notes about D&B contractors - Only contract with 1 company to do the whole package of A&A/recon/rebuild for you from consultation, design, construction etc. - They usually also work with limited number of templates for the house - Cost is cheaper than doing the other route which is having separate contracts with the Architect, general contractor, PE, QS etc - Time from start to finish is also faster - Still does offer some level of customization within the templates. - Biggest cons are limited designs and no truly competitive tender system I have looked through this website and searched online. I so far can find only 2 names. The rest do not have design and build construction for landed housing as their main business hence i didn't mention them. - Meridian Homes - Nic& Wes Builders Appreciate any other names and feedback and experience if possible. Would appreciate if i can get response only from actual home owners and not marketeers of the company so as to keep the discussion authentic. Thx

Just to share my experience. I've just moved into my newly renovated (resale) flat 3 months ago. The ID I engaged is very responsible & knowledgeable on the renovation details. As we've no idea on the theme we wanted, he provided us the ideas & recommendation that make our house very cozy & nice-looking, and meet our preference & requirement. He's also able to point out the concerns & provide better alternatives for some of our ideas which we thought it's better. At the end of the renovation, it's proven that his ideas are much better than our original thinking. Glad that we chose to listen to his advices. And, because of false promise from the flat seller (promised early move out for us to start renovation earlier), we ran short of time for the renovation. Also, we've made last-minute decision on the scale of the renovation (at first worried about budget but finally decided to do everything at one go). All these problems were resolved by my ID & we managed to move in according to our original scheduled time. Best of all, quality of the renovation is not compromised. And even now, 3 months after renovation completed & moved in, my ID is still very helpful whenever I met some minor problems & solve the problems free of charge. Do let me know if anyone is interested. I can pass you his contact & you can get the consultation & quotation from him free of charge.

Hi all, currently looking for a contractor who is reliable to change my ceiling in my house (SemiD) hoping to find a good but cheap contractor to help me with this ! Please recommend if there is anyone you know who can do this for me at a reasonable price Would really appreciate your help ! Thank you

Hi Guys, i would be interested to hire a contractor just for a simple double platform bed with a few drawers storage. Would not need an ID because it's quite straightforward. Appreciate any help i can get, thanks! Jamie

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.