Jump to content
Find Professionals    Deals    Get Quotations   Portfolios
Sign in to follow this  
lachesis

Our Ea In Bishan

Recommended Posts

Looking for good contractors? Click here for your request
Thank you :)

At present we are only in the planning stage, so just collating ideas & putting together our budget. Once we get our key, then the updates here will be fast & furious ;)

Planning is very important in renovation. I am not good in planning and I think a lot of review on the planning and thinking is needed before you finalized the design. Would you be able to share your family size and how and why did you decide on the design? Hope to learn from you. Cheers!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Planning is very important in renovation. I am not good in planning and I think a lot of review on the planning and thinking is needed before you finalized the design. Would you be able to share your family size and how and why did you decide on the design? Hope to learn from you. Cheers!

I agree with you, it does take a lot of review on planning and thinking, but there is only so much one can plan. We do not want to make the same planning mistakes this time round as we did in our current home. We want more it more practical than to aesthetically appeasing. For example I intend to get the Fujioh MK2 as my hood - frankly speaking that hood is a design nightmare!! It is one of the most ugliest hood I ever came across, but it will serve our needs & our current chimney hood which looks nice cant do much, everytime we grill a steak, the entire kitchen has to be wiped down!

I guess that's how we started & then work in the things we want, get feedback off RT. Hopefully we all can learn from each other ;)

Edited by titanax
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

very big house leh Congrats!

How come no pebbles for the walk in area? My wife is requesting for that. Mind sharing?

Your first appt and mine is on the same mth. June. Mine is on the 21st. Getting key maybe around Sept period.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
very big house leh Congrats!

How come no pebbles for the walk in area? My wife is requesting for that. Mind sharing?

Your first appt and mine is on the same mth. June. Mine is on the 21st. Getting key maybe around Sept period.

Hi Dr. Anarchy

We have loose pebbles at the entrance in our current place (you can see it on our blog "Moments of OM"). It's nice to look at, but a maintenance NIGHTMARE!!!

i. Loose pebbles means dust, hair and fur gets trapped in the area

ii. My older cat likes to throw up his hairballs in the area, onto the pebbles. UGH.

iii. To give the area a thorough cleaning requires the removal of ALL the pebbles (no easy feat), giving them a thorough wash in the bathroom (that's a lot of pebbles to wash), scrubbing the granite slabs, then putting ALL the pebbles back.

For weekly maintenance we use a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the loose dust, hair and fur.

Think twice, thrice... four times before you decide on pebbles. A better option might be to go for pebble wash, as you still get the stone look and feel, but it's one solid piece so you don't get stuff trapped in between the pebbles. Tell the wifey.. loose pebbles = lots of vacuuming and cleaning. I learnt the hard way :curse:

Oh, our timing is very close. Our 1st appointment is on the 23rd Jun. Also getting the key in Sept. Can't wait. ;)

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

haha good good thanks. Must scrap the idea of having pebbles liao. Lazy people must choose less area cleaning items! :P

Cool! We will get to see one another t-blog liao lor

I wonder if we sign for the laminate floor together got discount bo... u confirm taking quick-step?

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
haha good good thanks. Must scrap the idea of having pebbles liao. Lazy people must choose less area cleaning items! :P

Cool! We will get to see one another t-blog liao lor

I wonder if we sign for the laminate floor together got discount bo... u confirm taking quick-step?

Hey hey,

Yeah, looking forward to seeing your t-blog :)

Oops, you're a bit too late. I signed for the Quickstep Largo already. I think the market price is around $7.00. I was at Singapore Expo. Expo price was $6.50. You can try going thru' your ID/Contractor for a better price. :good:

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi all,

Today marks the second milestone in our pursuit of our new place of Zen. Get ready for my longest post yet!

It's been an intense and tiring two months since we first started looking for an ID/Contractor. We weren't sure at first which to go for, but at long last the search is over. But first, here's a summary of who we've met:

Peggy, Orange.Cube - Peggy was the first ID we spoke to. Very friendly, sincere and extremely patient (our 2nd meeting with her was four hours long!) Orange.Cube has a nice showroom, which sparked off a few ideas. Was willing to do up simple floorplans. Casually mentioned putting a deposit so we can view 3D drawings, but the deposit could be used for say, painting if we didn't eventually choose the company. However, the quote was on the high side, out of our budget.

James, Image.Creative - The first ID of the three we contacted through Hdbay. Typical salesman pitch, which rubbed the hubby the wrong way. One salesman can smell another a mile away. Nice showroom, lots of pointers on workmanship, although we spotted a tear in the veneer door for one of the wardrobes. Mentioned that up to floorplans stage was 'free', which turned out to be a deposit that could be offset by buying things from shops in Balestier. Made it quite clear no further discussions/planning could be done without the deposit. The quote was one of the highest.

Sammie, ID Emboss - The second ID thru Hdbay. Very enthusiastic, and was sincere. Came across strongly in terms of 'holistic' planning - i.e. making sure customers choose the 'right' curtains, furniture etc to complete the look. The second meeting was a bit strange though. Despite providing a furnished layout (thanks to Floorplanner), placement of some carpentry was wrong, so the quote was wrong too, which rendered the entire meeting 'useless'. The quote, which was e-mailed over shortly after, was on the high side, out of our budget.

Kelvin, Renozone - The last ID thru Hdbay. Warm and down to earth. Unfortunately, had no chemistry. Felt more like a contractor than an ID, but quote was also on the high side.

Angeline, Intra Design - Very professional and efficient. She knew we were fishing for quotes. She gave us hers, advised us to narrow the list down to two, and call her if we wanted to discuss her quote further.

At this point, we were asking ourselves if we wanted to go with an ID. All the IDs we'd spoken to gave us quotes that were quite similar (couple of thousand give or take), and were outside our budget. None of them gave us any new revelations, just a mix-and-match design, largely based on our own ideas. Since we knew what we wanted, we decided to approach contractors. But not just any contractors - those who could do perspective and detailed drawings. 3D drawings were not a top priority, but definitely good to have.

KK, Zara Interior - We'd initially contacted Dennis, but spent more time with KK. KK was very friendly, detailed, and understood what we wanted immediately with minimal explanation. The quote was within budget. The chemistry was right. Very responsive and accommodating when we made changes to items in the quote. Zara was shortlisted, and we were almost going to sign with them. At the 11th hour, the hubby decided to get one more quote from a contractor he was monitoring.

Jason, Sincerity - During the first meeting, the first half hour was a bit awkward, as we'd given him a 'template' for pricing which he wasn't comfortable with. When we decided to start from scratch and walk through our requirements his way, immediately the chemistry sparked and it felt right. Not only could he understand what we wanted almost instinctively, he backed it up with sound technical knowledge. He put us at ease, and one of the main things that won us over was that he would step up and take ownership of all coordination work, even those outside his area (for e.g. he would oversee the installation of the aircon, down to the laying of trunking, instead of leaving it the aircon guys or to the home owner). Most of the other firms had said they were not comfortable to coordinate with outside parties. The follow-up meeting was equally fruitful, the chemistry was still spot on. He came across as a confident, down to earth and humble, and genuine in his wanting to protect home owner's interests (time will tell, haha).

VERDICT - Jason from Sincerity is our choice.

Edited by lachesis
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I would like to add that, all the IDs we met were sincere in wanting to do right by us. But none of them gave us any mind-blowingly new concepts. They were all based on existing show-room designs which everyone has seen before - change the number of drawers, change laminate color - there you have it, this is the design for your house & it will cost you this much. Some might say well the designs are based on the budget limitation. Is it really? We decided to standardize - our requirements so that we can compare apple to apple.

The resulting quotations were quite astounding from one end of the spectrum to the other. For that price you'd think a certified Architect was involved or a PMP certified PM with a Green Belt Six Sigma is co-coordinating my renovation. Other than the fact that I am paying a lucrative profit margin to all the layers of "fat". I don't see where the extra value is for my "mula".

If I know what I want, which I definitely do, its more sensible that I deal with 1 person & cut-out all the unnecessary middle-men than I would be paying for. I would rather put my money on good quality build than fluff design which I believe are a dime a dozen but unfortunately are uplifted to more than their actual worth.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The people that you met were companies offering "design" and "build" contracts. I think the term "interior design" or "interior designer" is very loosely used. It seems that the profession is not willing to regulate the use of the term. For example, the use of the term "financial adviser" is defined in law. Same for the terms lawyers, dentists, doctors etc

Most "ID" firms are actually general contractors with a retail storefront and provide project supervision and basic designs and 3D rendering.

How often do we as consumers ask for their qualifications and a portfolio of their actual work done (not 3D CAD designs) ? Interior designer would charge a design fee for their work done and may not necessary execute the "build" part.

I would like to add that, all the IDs we met were sincere in wanting to do right by us. But none of them gave us any mind-blowingly new concepts. They were all based on existing show-room designs which everyone has seen before - change the number of drawers, change laminate color - there you have it, this is the design for your house & it will cost you this much. Some might say well the designs are based on the budget limitation. Is it really? We decided to standardize - our requirements so that we can compare apple to apple.

The resulting quotations were quite astounding from one end of the spectrum to the other. For that price you'd think a certified Architect was involved or a PMP certified PM with a Green Belt Six Sigma is co-coordinating my renovation. Other than the fact that I am paying a lucrative profit margin to all the layers of "fat". I don't see where the extra value is for my "mula".

If I know what I want, which I definitely do, its more sensible that I deal with 1 person & cut-out all the unnecessary middle-men than I would be paying for. I would rather put my money on good quality build than fluff design which I believe are a dime a dozen but unfortunately are uplifted to more than their actual worth.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Now that we've confirmed our contractor, it's on to the next big 'headache' - doing up our wishlist for appliances! We have been doing a LOT of research, and after many extensive discussions, pouring over technical sheets, trips to various shops, here's our 'dream' combo:

Fridge: Bosch KAN62V00 Side by Side

Oven: Bosch HBA43B450A with Ecoclean

Washing Machine: Bosch WAS2444ME Logixx 8

Hob: Rinnai RB3CG

Hood: Fujioh MK II

Aircon: Mitsubishi Starmex MXY-4A28VA System 4 Inverter

Flooring: Quickstep Largo

MBR Closet: Closet Design Pole System (17 ft)

Still searching for:

Ceiling Fans (shortlisted Crestar)

Lighting

Sanitary Ware

Sinks, taps

Sofa

Coffee Table

Curtains

Laundry System

Balcony items:

Outdoor furniture

BBQ grill

Outdoor decking

The kitchen appliances are the scariest - been keeping track of the cost - instant heart attack. :jawdrop: But hubby says wifey deserves the best in her kitchen... so that wifey can bake/cook yummy stuff. LOL. Good thing I love to bake and cook, almost as much as he loves eating. :bleah:

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Now that we've confirmed our contractor, it's on to the next big 'headache' - doing up our wishlist for appliances! We have been doing a LOT of research, and after many extensive discussions, pouring over technical sheets, trips to various shops, here's our 'dream' combo:

Fridge: Bosch KAN62V00 Side by Side

Oven: Bosch HBA43B450A with Ecoclean

Washing Machine: Bosch WAS2444ME Logixx 8

Hob: Rinnai RB3CG

Hood: Fujioh MK II

Aircon: Mitsubishi Starmex MXY-4A28VA System 4 Inverter

Flooring: Quickstep Largo

MBR Closet: Closet Design Pole System (17 ft)

Still searching for:

Ceiling Fans (shortlisted Crestar)

Lighting

Sanitary Ware

Sinks, taps

Sofa

Coffee Table

Curtains

Laundry System

Balcony items:

Outdoor furniture

BBQ grill

Outdoor decking

The kitchen appliances are the scariest - been keeping track of the cost - instant heart attack. :jawdrop: But hubby says wifey deserves the best in her kitchen... so that wifey can bake/cook yummy stuff. LOL. Good thing I love to bake and cook, almost as much as he loves eating. :bleah:

Ceiling fans can go for KDK, crestar or fanco.

Sinks - Song cho, Rubine, etc...

Laundry system - www.ezziliving.biz, http://www.orlant.com.sg/, etc..

Outdoor furniture - need to go sungei kadut ave to see, cheaper there.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Now that we've confirmed our contractor, it's on to the next big 'headache' - doing up our wishlist for appliances! We have been doing a LOT of research, and after many extensive discussions, pouring over technical sheets, trips to various shops, here's our 'dream' combo:

Fridge: Bosch KAN62V00 Side by Side

Oven: Bosch HBA43B450A with Ecoclean

Washing Machine: Bosch WAS2444ME Logixx 8

Hob: Rinnai RB3CG

Hood: Fujioh MK II

Aircon: Mitsubishi Starmex MXY-4A28VA System 4 Inverter

Flooring: Quickstep Largo

MBR Closet: Closet Design Pole System (17 ft)

Still searching for:

Ceiling Fans (shortlisted Crestar)

Lighting

Sanitary Ware

Sinks, taps

Sofa

Coffee Table

Curtains

Laundry System

Balcony items:

Outdoor furniture

BBQ grill

Outdoor decking

The kitchen appliances are the scariest - been keeping track of the cost - instant heart attack. :jawdrop: But hubby says wifey deserves the best in her kitchen... so that wifey can bake/cook yummy stuff. LOL. Good thing I love to bake and cook, almost as much as he loves eating. :bleah:

cant help but comment on yr selection for hob and hood.

fujioh and rinnai quite a deadly combination huh? is like best of both worlds! ha!

am shopping for the house appliances and furnitures while wife is busy busy with wedding preparations

very exciting and expensive times ahead eh!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×