After months of reading this forum and getting valuable lessons from my friends in renotalk.com, I decided to jot down my journey from house-hunting to house-renovating and the final products (which will be later).

I viewed a total of 8 houses around Woodlands area and instructed my agent that I wanted jumbo only. No EM as parents are old and can't climb stairs. Well... me too coz I will eventually get old... therefore we went house-hunting for a jumbo... the total number of residents in my jumbo will be 7 family members and the number might increase over time... if govt decides to give more baby bonus, i might have more babies? Currently it is 5 adults and 2 children...

interestingly, during house-hunting, one seller actually wanted $100k COV for a 160+ sqm flat... Not much reno done as well... if the house is well renovated, i might consider coz i could save some money... I walked off but the seller's agent pulled my family saying that the COV can be discussed. I laughed and said i can't afford even $50k COV... but i still view the house and luckily i am definitely not interested in the house... why? i will not answer this in open forum coz the house is still in the open market... haha... don't wan to spoil people's chance of selling...

finally found a place my family likes at Marsiling area... the new house sits nicely on a hilltop and i like the scenery and the fresh air every morning... to be kiasu abit, i actually returned to the place after the first viewing to scout the place... thrice in the morning, thrice in the afternoon and twice in the night... went every floor to see if got ah long problem... talked to the old folks at the void deck about the surroundings and the security of the place...

final verdict... nice place, good security and quiet surroundings... best of all, friendly neighbours...

told my agent i am interested in the place... lucky not sold off yet... seller wanted $65k and the agent claimed that the last offer was $55k... i was like sh*t... my agent told me to try la... i offered $45k initially... but was rejected... i told the seller my final offer is $47k and that's it... the two agents had a long conversation with the seller... and the seller relented... paid $1k immediately... signed all documents and eagerly waited for the deal to close...

cut the story short... i got the keys in Aug 2011 but the seller requested for a month extension... i agreed after confirming the rental... finally got the keys in Sept 2011...

this is my floor plan...

next few posts... lots of photos of the house before reno... and some personal opinions of IDs, main contractors and individual contractors...

Edited September 23, 201115 yr by yaolong

my personal opinion and this does not represent the views of any moderators, IDs, contractors and whoever...

IDs

Expensive contractors... sorry... they are not contractors but middlemen or project coordinators... BUT some are experienced project coordinators and they can really give good advices on space designs and some can really offer an excellent concept of the house that THEY want it to be... you are in control of some but still not in total control...

Main contractors

Mid range pricing... if u have a lot of woodworks, it is best to look for a main con who specialized in woodworks so u sure get good quotes on woodwork and it is best that the main con has his own factory... however, they also look for sub-con to do the wetworks, electricity wiring, windows and hacking etc... some main con has no idea of designs or whatsoever, so u have to tell them what u wanna do... u r in control of the designs but not in control of the pricing... to a certain extent...

Individual contractors

Low range pricing... u have to source for several quotes for contractors who do the same thing e.g 3-4 quotes from contractors who do cornices or L-box, 3-4 quotes from contractors who do woodworks... then u compare quotes and get the best price... BUT remember cheapest doesn't mean best... the better way is to ask fellow forumers about their experiences with the contractors... i read n read n come to my own conclusion for the selection of the best contractors for the jobs... am i in total control? frankly, also to a certain extent... prices? yes i am in control... design? yes i am in control... quality? no i am not... work schedule? yes i am in control but still if one contractor delays his work, the schedule will go haywire...

Edited September 23, 201115 yr by yaolong

My balcony

View from the main door

The door at the end of the balcony is the entrance to the maid's room

Side Hall and Dining Hall

Closer view of the Dining Hall

Another view of the Side Hall

Kitchen

Living Hall

Wife is surfing renotalk to get ideas and recommendations on contractors...

House with lots of windows = windy? airy? bright? I think I got the package... Windy, Airy and Bright...

BUT changing windows is going to eat up my budget... and I need to have grills coz I have two small kids at home... Blocked view...

My balcony windows

My Living Hall windows

Edited September 23, 201115 yr by yaolong

Your place is so big. Is the floor marble?

I have talked to several IDs firms both at IMM and those exhibitions at Expo... quotations ranging from $65k to $80k and that is before the rewiring costs, purchase of air-con, bathroom accessories and lightings

as I have limited budget, i actually asked them to reduce prices... 1 ID told me if i have no money, don't buy jumbo and waste his/her time doing the sale talk... i was shocked... lucky i didn't engage him/her... (don't ask me name coz i won't reveal. why? i believe in letting people 'tan jiak' but if u need to know, he/she is not in IMM but near IMM...) some ID did not get back to me after hearing my limited budget...

next step, search forum for contractors... and a few got back to me... came to my house for measurements and quotation came back fast... range between $38k to $50k (before the rewiring costs, purchase of air-con, bathroom accessories and lightings) actually shortlisted one contractor and ready to engage him... after calculating the total costs... hmm...

talked/bitched to a few colleagues about the 'high' cost of renovating... then i was informed by them that they actually engaged the same contractors for renovating their house... went up to their places to look at the workmanship... nice... and the best part is cheap!!

i also have total control of who to engage to do the rewiring, windows installer and woodworks...

Verdict

Masonary, Plumbing, Tiling, Painting, L-box done by Ting Ting, Homemaster Interior Design & Furnishing

Electricity and Rewiring done by Sebastian, JAE Electrical and Renovation

Air-con done by Aron, Imperial Distributors Pte Ltd

Windows, grills, shower screens and all doors done by Alex, City Aluminium & Contractors

Kitchen cabinets, TV console and feature wall, Built-in wardrobe done by Mr Ng, Peng Design and Wood Works

Designs of my house done by myself

everything inclusive of bathroom accessories and lightings... only $55k

My house layout after renovation

1) hacked the wall between the kitchen and the dining hall to have an open concept kitchen.

2) hacked away the glass sliding between the dining hall and the service balcony to have an unblocked view of the service balcony.

3) hacked away the glass sliding door at the study room, make a hollow block wall and a new door.

4) hacked away the ugly floor tiles (colour) at the balcony and the maid's room and have new tiles.

5) hacked away the floor tiles at the service balcony and have new tiles.

6) 'flushed' up the area from the dining hall to the half of the service balcony with broken marbles flooring.

7) redo both the toilets.

8) redo the kitchen.

9) change all windows (including toilet louvre windows), window grills, bedrooms' doors, bi-fold door for common toilet, glass door for master bedroom toilet, two glass shower screens, main door and grills.

10) new air-con

11) rewiring and LAN6 cabling for master bedroom, bedroom 2, study room and Living Hall.

12) kitchen cabinets with granite top, wardrobes for bedroom 3 and master bedroom, TV console and feature wall, box up of all pipes in toilets.

Edited September 23, 201115 yr by yaolong

Your place is so big. Is the floor marble?

Yes the flooring is marble, i think they call that 'broken marble'

Work started on 16 Sept 10am

The hammer

I have to openly thank Sebastian, the electrician. Not only he understood my limited budget and gave me a very very very good price (in my opinion), he did something extra. To cut the story short, i didn't know that i have to get my contractor to take down the cornices so that he can 'tear' down the wiring hidden in the cornices. I was surprised when Sebastian said he will do it but he won't do the haulage. I agreed and left my house in his good hand. I returned after 2 hours later and saw the house in a mess. I actually got my family on standby to do the clean up after Sebastian and his workers left. To my surprise when i returned about 4 hours later, the house is locked up and the place is CLEAN!! Sebastian and his workers packed the debris into gunny sacks and put them nicely at the balcony. He also took great care to ensure my broken marble flooring is not damaged or scratched.

Sebastian, thank you!

Removing the wiring

Let the hacking begins!

The workers came up on 20 Sept to remove the old built-in wardrobes in the rooms and the kitchen cabinets. They also did the hacking of the tiles in the balcony, toilets, kitchen and the service balcony. Exremely messy!

Cleanup after the hacking

My tiles are here too

Big house you got there, looking forward to final product.

Not intending to hack any bedroom wall??

Big house you got there, looking forward to final product.

Not intending to hack any bedroom wall??

No coz I have a big family and the rooms are just nice to accommodate everyone. I 'transform' the study room into my kids' playroom and my mini 'server' room. :lol

I just love jambo house! Congrats on your purchase yaolong. Happy Reno!

I just love jambo house! Congrats on your purchase yaolong. Happy Reno!

Thanks!