Basic Things To Know Abt Renovation

[mud3210 0]

Hi all

i just got my flat and would like to share wat i know with ppl who are also doing their renovation at this time.

(PLEASE correct me if i m wrong on the below info

1) For hacking of walls, ur contractor only need to get u to pay a 1 time payment ,

the contractor will have to go through someone called a PE (professional engineer) to do it for u.

after the PE apply the permit, the contractor only can do the hacking and smoothening of the wall.

wat i know is: NO MATTER HOW MANY WALLS U HACK THE PRICE IS THE SAME.

some hacking of wall no need apply for PE endorsement, only those walls with metal-bars inside will need, is usually for flats in new estates.

Price i know is fr $280 for applying the permit alone.

hacking + smoothening is ard S$250-300. for a door-size wall

2) Cost for permit to install window / window grills

*more info in the updated post below* Permit is FOC

3) False ceiling price is ard S$2 per sq feet / sq meter ???

L box is ard S$2 per foot run

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

4) Kitchen cabinets. Per-Foot-run price ranges from S$90.

USUALLY inclusive of free :

a) stainless steel dish rack,

b) fork and spoon tray (matching color with ur cabinets),

c) 2 top cabinet height frosted glass cabinets + 1 frosted glass cabinet for 2 rows stainless steel dish rack

(solid top with backsplash ard $70 per foot run)

5) Casement Shower screen for bathroom costs ard $400

usually casement shower screen cheaper than sliding by S$50-100

my house is a premium flat at buangkok only 90sqm. actually government has done up almost everything, so, no need major reno at all. so i planning to do only the following:

hack 1 kitchen wall (door-size)

kitchen cabinets,

bomb shelter tic-tac door with a mirror

Living room feature stone wall (like bricks kind)

master bedroom wardrobe,

master bedroom false ceiling

master bathroom shower screen

service yard sliding window (no grills)

and some other small stuffs that shouldnt be costing more than $200 each.

our last quote was actually ard S$7K, but becoz that ID firm die-die dun wan to allow me to hack the kitch wall, i decided i should just find a construction company willing to help me do it the way i want.

anybody living near me or budget is close to mine wan to further discuss. pls drop me a message thanks!

for list of Registered renovation contractors pls checks for urs at :

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/bn25/isos118p.nsf/BN...RCHome?openform

dont anyhow sign up with un registered companies and pay deposit with them!!

hope this helps.

Edited May 18, 2008 by mud3210

[Jliow 0]

Hi all

i just got my flat and would like to share wat i know with ppl who are also doing their renovation at this time.

(PLEASE correct me if i m wrong on the below info !!

1) For hacking of walls, ur contractor only need to get u to pay a 1 time payment ,

the contractor will have to go through someone called a PE (professional engineer) to do it for u.

after the PE apply the permit, the contractor only can do the hacking and smoothening of the wall.

wat i know is: NO MATTER HOW MANY WALLS U HACK THE PRICE IS THE SAME.

Price i know is ard $300 for applying the permit alone.

hacking + smoothening is ard S$250-300. for a wall that is a bit larger than door size.

2) Cost for permit to install window / window grills

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

3) False ceiling price is ard S$2 per sq feet / sq meter ???

L box is ard S$2 per foot run

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

4) Kitchen cabinets. Per-Foot-run price ranges from S$90.

USUALLY inclusive of free :

a) stainless steel dish rack,

b) fork and spoon tray (matching color with ur cabinets),

c) 2 or 3 transluscent glass cabinets.

5) Casement Shower screen for bathroom costs ard $400

usually casement shower screen cheaper than sliding by S$50-100

6) Aluminium Window Grill is ard $6 psf (or per foot run?)

Aluminium Sliding window is ard $10 psf (or per foot run?)

my house is a premium flat at buangkok only 90sqm. actually government has done up almost everything, so, no need major reno at all. so i planning to do only the following:

hack 1 kitchen wall.

kitchen cabinets,

bomb shelter tic-tac door with a mirror

Living room feature stone wall (like bricks kind)

master bedroom wardrobe,

master bedroom false ceiling

master bathroom shower screen

service yard sliding window (no grills)

and some other small stuffs that shouldnt be costing more than $200 each.

our last quote was actually ard S$7K, but becoz that ID firm die-die dun wan to allow me to hack the kitch wall, i decided i should just find a construction company willing to help me do it the way i want. the reviews from how bee is not bad, i am meeting up with patrick next week to take mesurements for my house. hopefully he can settle for me within my budget.

anybody living near me or budget is close to mine wan to further discuss. pls drop me a message thanks!

for list of Registered renovation contractors pls checks for urs at :

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/bn25/isos118p.nsf/BN...RCHome?openform

dont anyhow sign up with un registered companies and pay deposit with them!!

hope this helps.

I reviewed reently my colleague's quote who enagage Hoe Bee, to me I find Patrick has indeed clever ways of splitting up a single mjaor job into many different sub-components, thereby maximising his gains.

I know there are many HoeBee Fanatics who will probably refute what I say, but to me I also find his carpentership so-so only, nothing to brag abt, infact I give them only 2 out of 5 stars

Unless U know your stuff well and know how things are done in the industry, very hard to argue with this guy, who will be "very nice" coz what U ask for he will agree...why? already factored into the cost already mah

I don't know why pple here like kena his kong tao, keep saying he cheap and good, but to me after see his quote find them CMI, I don't know if my fren ask for further discount and other amendments, but I guess not much, the markup somewhat high sure park his margins somewhere

What I advise is, go talk to the contractors more, eg. Those who do windows only, those who do wet works only, electricians, understand how they charge then when u go to main con u wun be kena conned.

BTW to all the Hoe Bee fanatics, please dun flame me, coz I know the truth is sometimes to ugly and not nice to know.

[LGG 0]

I reviewed reently my colleague's quote who enagage Hoe Bee, to me I find Patrick has indeed clever ways of splitting up a single mjaor job into many different sub-components, thereby maximising his gains.

I know there are many HoeBee Fanatics who will probably refute what I say, but to me I also find his carpentership so-so only, nothing to brag abt, infact I give them only 2 out of 5 stars

Unless U know your stuff well and know how things are done in the industry, very hard to argue with this guy, who will be "very nice" coz what U ask for he will agree...why? already factored into the cost already mah

I don't know why pple here like kena his kong tao, keep saying he cheap and good, but to me after see his quote find them CMI, I don't know if my fren ask for further discount and other amendments, but I guess not much, the markup somewhat high sure park his margins somewhere

What I advise is, go talk to the contractors more, eg. Those who do windows only, those who do wet works only, electricians, understand how they charge then when u go to main con u wun be kena conned.

BTW to all the Hoe Bee fanatics, please dun flame me, coz I know the truth is sometimes to ugly and not nice to know.

Hi

Any recommendations on the contractors then?

[white77 0]

Hi all

i just got my flat and would like to share wat i know with ppl who are also doing their renovation at this time.

(PLEASE correct me if i m wrong on the below info

1) For hacking of walls, ur contractor only need to get u to pay a 1 time payment ,

the contractor will have to go through someone called a PE (professional engineer) to do it for u.

after the PE apply the permit, the contractor only can do the hacking and smoothening of the wall.

wat i know is: NO MATTER HOW MANY WALLS U HACK THE PRICE IS THE SAME.

Price i know is ard $300 for applying the permit alone.

hacking + smoothening is ard S$250-300. for a wall that is a bit larger than door size.

2) Cost for permit to install window / window grills

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

3) False ceiling price is ard S$2 per sq feet / sq meter ???

L box is ard S$2 per foot run

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

4) Kitchen cabinets. Per-Foot-run price ranges from S$90.

USUALLY inclusive of free :

a) stainless steel dish rack,

b) fork and spoon tray (matching color with ur cabinets),

c) 2 or 3 transluscent glass cabinets.

5) Casement Shower screen for bathroom costs ard $400

usually casement shower screen cheaper than sliding by S$50-100

6) Aluminium Window Grill is ard $6 psf (or per foot run?)

Aluminium Sliding window is ard $10 psf (or per foot run?)

my house is a premium flat at buangkok only 90sqm. actually government has done up almost everything, so, no need major reno at all. so i planning to do only the following:

hack 1 kitchen wall.

kitchen cabinets,

bomb shelter tic-tac door with a mirror

Living room feature stone wall (like bricks kind)

master bedroom wardrobe,

master bedroom false ceiling

master bathroom shower screen

service yard sliding window (no grills)

and some other small stuffs that shouldnt be costing more than $200 each.

our last quote was actually ard S$7K, but becoz that ID firm die-die dun wan to allow me to hack the kitch wall, i decided i should just find a construction company willing to help me do it the way i want. the reviews from how bee is not bad, i am meeting up with patrick next week to take mesurements for my house. hopefully he can settle for me within my budget.

anybody living near me or budget is close to mine wan to further discuss. pls drop me a message thanks!

for list of Registered renovation contractors pls checks for urs at :

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/bn25/isos118p.nsf/BN...RCHome?openform

dont anyhow sign up with un registered companies and pay deposit with them!!

hope this helps.

Hi, mud3210,

Your quotation of $7K for those work that u indicated seems quite reasonable. Is it possible to PM me your quotation and which ID quote you? I interested to know more. Thanks alot.

[clementitalk.com 0]

Yeah 7k is indeed very reasonable. I am interested to know as well.

[Jliow 0]

Yeah 7k is indeed very reasonable. I am interested to know as well.

Never simply use $ as the deciding factor, more research required.

[tension_z 0]

yes, pls check for current project workmanship.

[mud3210 0]

I am in fact quite annoyed with my previous ID dun wan to help me knock down the wall.. somemore it is NOT a beam. so i dun think i am very keen to help him do any form of advertisment anywhere.

Anybody like to share how much they ard paying for permits and

how much their contractors/IDs are charging per foot run: for the false ceiling, L box, window/grills, kitchen, etc.

im sure it will be useful for many of us here. thanks

Edited May 11, 2008 by mud3210

[mud3210 0]

Just to share some of my experience on the ID/contractors i've been to, since beginning of 2008:

Ideal Hse

Young designer, inexperience, unable to give a rough quote even for the simplest thing. showflat's carpentry work is not bad look at all , but they wanted to charge me $1.2 K for a tempered glass casement door and 1K for applying permit for hacking wall.. the rest of the items priced in the quote feel somehow quite dubious after i noted those.

A and D

was recommanded by our friend coz their hse was using this one and workmanship was passable. but even b4 she recommand to us, we already went and we were served by this VERY ah beng young designer, in ard mid 20s, his drawings CMI, look like the design that my grandmother will like. quotation came back in a few days and was not of expected price for a very lousy design propasal . no matter hw good my frd say they are, we still scare scare... so decided to give this one a miss.. on top of that the quote is the HIGHEST I GOT till now ard 35K (now my quote only ard 12-13K, and im doing even more things!)

City design at IMM

served by this young looking malaysian gal in early-mid 20s. inexperience, unable to give a rough quote even for the simplest thing also. waited a few days for quote, came back with the 'floor-plan' drawing (those top view drawing) the space planning is RIDICULOUS! squeeze my sofa and dining table all at my living room, leaving my dining rm totally empty. (how wierd is that, u tell me.)

Baroque

me and my fiance stepped into this shop and not knowing who to approch, we walked over to the nearest guy sitting frm us. he didnt even greet us at all, he just sat there in an ah beng manner and and waived his finger to signal us to approach another person inside... (bad impression, he wasnt even doing any work and was just sitting there do nothing) we were then was served by this designer ard 30yo. quotation came back with 1hr and was not of acceptable price.

Weiken

served by this uncle 40-50 yo. never take down our requirements , but based on his 'super' memory. quote came back after 1 week with either A LOT missing items or items changed frm our original requirements.. even the most basic request has problem following liao, like tat hw caan lehh..

Hoe Bee

TOOOOO pricey for a contractor. i tot contractor is suppose to be cheaper than ID since they dun give 3D computerisd drawings? but hoe bee has proven me wrong. his kitchen granite top joints need to take special note, not very well done.

Summit Design

2 'consultants' have to come to serve me instead of one. i dun like it this way. makes me feel as if i have to be paying more nw since there are 2 ppl serving me. and why is the initial guy i approached not able to answer my simple questions at all and always giving me this 'i dunno' look and directing me to his colleague?

this new guy even indirectly tell me if we want any discounts, they will give us the lower-class carpenters, coz they got many groups of carpenters serving ppl with different kinds of budget. quotation came back with 50% missing items that i initially asked for. even after the many missing items, total quote still exceed another company by 2 to 3K who quoted us EVERY SINGLE item we want. on top of that, there are a lot of flaws found in the carpentary work in their new showflat.

Square Room

viewed their showflat, workmanship is not bad (all except for the bombshelter feature wall carpentary not good), responsive on quotation, definately one of my shorlisted.

Kitchen Space

din manage to view their showflats, but their quote is one of my shorlisted, (you get the point)

Jade Land (aka Souls Living)

view showflat, carpentary standard for wardrobes is not passable, but kitchen is okay. quoted price is okay.

Design Channel

din want to proceed with them after getting the quotation, coz full of MISSING items, 50% of items i requested are not in quote.

X-cel (/Excel design?)

never manage to view showflat, quotation came more than 2 weeks late, did not list prices for 30% of my required stuff.

other than that, the quote should also be one of my shortlisted (i never got to view the showflat tho. as he reverted a tad too late.)

Seng cheong alum. & reno. contractor

uncle contractor do not knw hw to email, can receive fax only

Fine Supplies & Services

reverted email and did not want to quote, cannot handle.

Fuse Concept

VERY LONG WINDED with no intention of emailing back with any quote, but keep asking u to go to his office instead. (this one got GST!)

Intra Design

reverted email nd did not want to quote, cannot handle.

Home Guide design $ contracts

female ID Reverted with the most ridiculous quote, price is higher than all the rest who reverted by 200%!!

Jinsoon Design

female rep. got communication problem, makes me feel like cannot listen to customer and want ppl to listen to her.

we never bothered to proceed with them after the 1st conversation.

Lego-house

finnaly got back with a quote after almost 20 days, almost forgotten about them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ID / Construstion companies that never bother to reply email for request for quotation:

Red Dot Inter Design

Midas Design & Contracts

The *****

Inn-Place Design

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

some other good ones i will update when i can recall more information..

my latest one is the best so far, but, im not telling who he is untill i confirm him and my hse finish reno then i can give more accurate comments

so he better do me a good job, or else... hehehe *laughs evily*

Edited May 28, 2008 by mud3210

[miracle7700 0]

Hi all

i just got my flat and would like to share wat i know with ppl who are also doing their renovation at this time.

(PLEASE correct me if i m wrong on the below info

1) For hacking of walls, ur contractor only need to get u to pay a 1 time payment ,

the contractor will have to go through someone called a PE (professional engineer) to do it for u.

after the PE apply the permit, the contractor only can do the hacking and smoothening of the wall.

wat i know is: NO MATTER HOW MANY WALLS U HACK THE PRICE IS THE SAME.

Price i know is ard $300 for applying the permit alone.

hacking + smoothening is ard S$250-300. for a wall that is a bit larger than door size.

PE endorsement and fees only applies to flats built with concrete non load-bearing wall in Sengkang and Toa Payoh. Fees ranges from $300 ~$500 for any amount of walls to demolish, but actual hacking cost will depend on how many walls needs to be demolished. I think most walk-in selection flats DOES NOT require PE endorsements.

2) Cost for permit to install window / window grillsWindow permit carry no xtra cost for owner.

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

3) False ceiling price is ard S$2 per sq feet / sq meter ???

L box is ard S$2 per foot run

(im trying to find out more, can someone advise me? thks.)

False ceiling cost of $2psf are direct contractor's cost, dun think u can get these prices from ID, unless it/s direct from the ceiling contractors.

4) Kitchen cabinets. Per-Foot-run price ranges from S$90.

USUALLY inclusive of free :

a) stainless steel dish rack,

b) fork and spoon tray (matching color with ur cabinets),

c) 2 or 3 transluscent glass cabinets.

(solid top with backsplash ard $80 per foot run)

5) Casement Shower screen for bathroom costs ard $400

usually casement shower screen cheaper than sliding by S$50-100

6) Aluminium Window Grill is ard $6 psf (or per foot run?)

Aluminium Sliding window is ard $10 psf (or per foot run?)

my house is a premium flat at buangkok only 90sqm. actually government has done up almost everything, so, no need major reno at all. so i planning to do only the following:

hack 1 kitchen wall.

kitchen cabinets,

bomb shelter tic-tac door with a mirror

Living room feature stone wall (like bricks kind)

master bedroom wardrobe,

master bedroom false ceiling

master bathroom shower screen

service yard sliding window (no grills)

and some other small stuffs that shouldnt be costing more than $200 each.

our last quote was actually ard S$7K, but becoz that ID firm die-die dun wan to allow me to hack the kitch wall, i decided i should just find a construction company willing to help me do it the way i want. the reviews from how bee is not bad, i am meeting up with patrick next week to take mesurements for my house. hopefully he can settle for me within my budget.

anybody living near me or budget is close to mine wan to further discuss. pls drop me a message thanks!

for list of Registered renovation contractors pls checks for urs at :

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/bn25/isos118p.nsf/BN...RCHome?openform

dont anyhow sign up with un registered companies and pay deposit with them!!

hope this helps.

These info i got from my friend who is an ID.

[wusha 0]

These info i got from my friend who is an ID.

Hi, my id quoted me hacking 2 walls at $500, very cheap. And i tink that if the id did not make a profit in the project , he may not doing a good job.

[mud3210 0]

...And i tink that if the id did not make a profit in the project , he may not doing a good job.

thats why i think all customer's policy should be:

give a reasonable offer and do not force a price on ur ID if he keep saying cannot.

Let your ID suggest a price he feels okay with and if it suit you then good, if not dun force them to give u discount la.. just move on..

surely nobody wans their ID to be "buey gum wan" when renovating their hse right? if he really cannot meet ur price then too bad lah... why risk getting an ID who will not give his best when doing his job, right?

[miracle7700 0]

Hi, my id quoted me hacking 2 walls at $500, very cheap. And i tink that if the id did not make a profit in the project , he may not doing a good job.

He may quote u cheap on the hacking works, but i'm sure he's doing other things so he may leverage his profit else where. Some unscrupulous ID or contractor quote very cheaply on the FIRST few items, just to get u off guard, then as the list goes down, the price maybe get more expensive, but that's not all the case. Compare thoroughly the prices among the quotes u get or just select the ID or contractor u feel more comfortable with and bargain abit on the price. Getting the cheapest is not always the best choice.

[wusha 0]

He may quote u cheap on the hacking works, but i'm sure he's doing other things so he may leverage his profit else where. Some unscrupulous ID or contractor quote very cheaply on the FIRST few items, just to get u off guard, then as the list goes down, the price maybe get more expensive, but that's not all the case. Compare thoroughly the prices among the quotes u get or just select the ID or contractor u feel more comfortable with and bargain abit on the price. Getting the cheapest is not always the best choice.

Yeh, totally agree with you that cheapest is not always the best. Good service, quality and importantly responsibility are also needed to take into consideration when selecting the id. So far, my renovation still in good progress and updated.

[mud3210 0]

for the benefit of all forummers, these are my research on the window grilles (portion info is quoted frm another forum):

Genaral type of grilles (pls feel free to add on) :

1) bronze ??

2) silver aluminium

3) powder coat color (e.g. grey/white/black) aluminium

wrought iron grilles is the type whereby you can see patterns/designs on the grille kind.

Non-galvanized wrought iron normally feels smoother while galvanized ones feels rougher.

Other than tat, theres no other visual indication to tell between the two.

Get the ID/contractor to show the difference by comparing put them side by side.

Heard some ID/contractor actually get the grilles galvanised twice for better protection

During the installation of the windows,

your contractors must use stainless steels screws to secure the windows.

and ur window grille have to use same look as hbd installed windows to match the exterior design of ur apartment (need to check)

Price by psf:

Powder Coat Grille (2mm aluminium, double hollow) : ard $6.50

Powder Coat Grille (0.7mm aluminium, double hollow) ard $5

Powder Coat Sliding window ard $11

Non Powder Coat Sliding window ard $9.50

double hollow is suppose to be more "solid" than single hollow

Non-powder coat grille and window is cheaper than powder-coat by $2 psf

anything else we should watch out for? can someone advise pls thanks

Edited May 19, 2008 by mud3210