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tristesse

Mansionette Owner

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If you are really on a budget, just try to prioritise things that needs to be done at the start. I delayed some carpentry work in my study and spare room until about a year later. If you can afford it of course try to do it all at one go.

One of the SNAFUs I had was with the aircon. Initially I thought the AC was working fine (owner told us he changed 2 years ago) and we didn't change it, half a year later we started all sorts of problems with it. You can only imagine the nightmare of changing aircons when you have moved it and lived in a place for a while. So a word of advice would be to change all your ACs unless it is brand new. As for wiring, we did overhaul the place but on hindsight my parents place didn't have any wiring problems for 20+ years so probably not a must also.

I tend to agreed with argis0129 that the Aircon can be a nightmare.

My ex-owner too mentioned the Mitsubishi Starmex is just slightly above 2 years plus....

So thought not need to change and just $200 plus servicing to the 3 blowers and compressor will do.

Right after moving in, me and my wife are the heavy Aircon user that after 2 weeks usage the ELCB tripped.

Got the Aircon guy and they said is the circuit board faulty.

This board shall cost another $450 as they mentioned Mitsubishi parts are ex...

The next few days, the compressor outdoor unit starter to give out unusual sound.....

Another evaluation repair cost probably couple of hundred which decision to change complete a new Panasonic inverter system 3.

The next thing is the copper piping.... If don't replace may worry to have gas leak later on ....so decided to replace.

The problem face now is earlier the constructed WIW now covers the original Aircon piping...

No choice as to re-route the new copper pipings..... Ugly but with the trunking exposé and running outside the WIW...

Moreover the whole house is cover with dirt and dust again during the Aircon installation process....

Word of advise... Don't overlook the Aircon.....

 

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Hi EMlovers, nice to have u join the ranks of the exclusive EM owners.... since HDB announced they r not going to build anymore. I m also living in NE n we could be in the same neighbourhood. What is the age of ur EM? How much r u budgeting for ur reno?

RARE is the word all agents used when asking high COV for EM. Hehe

My EM is close to 30yo and it needs major overhaul. Our initial budget for reno when hunting for an EM was $80k but we now increased to $100k for this unit as there's basically nothing that we can keep in that unit. And we plan to do quite some layout changing as gen 1 kitchen is small and dun have proper laundry area which I think is essential. Heard that hacking and rebuilding walls cost quite a lot...

 

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Today the FSM came n we had the change the kitchen layout again! Thankfully the changes can be made.

All good now? Any other changes advised?

 

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Anyone can share their quote on em with me? Now I'm getting quote and my budget is superb miserable after paying for high cov..spl1t21@hotmail.com

 

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Anyone can share their quote on em with me? Now I'm getting quote and my budget is superb miserable after paying for high cov..spl1t21@hotmail.com

Hi split, care to share how much COV u paid? We are also in same situation lol.. Reno budget not alot now..

 

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Anyone can share their quote on em with me? Now I'm getting quote and my budget is superb miserable after paying for high cov..spl1t21@hotmail.com

Just to share, we've seen renovation quotes in this forum range from 30-ish k to over 100k depending on what is desired and naturally how much work needed to be done. I've also advised potential EM owners to keep in mind this figure as it comes out from the same pot of money that you have.

A selection of some of the notable budget renos:

Soichiro's 39k renovation of his 5 room EM in 2011: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39428&view=findpost&p=643740

Potatoes's 42k renovation of his EM in 2011: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?app=blog&module=display&section=blog&blogid=1172&showentry=7340

It is notable because they managed to do quite a lot on a fairly reasonable sum of money.

Now that you've already splashed out on COV the best you can do is bite the bullet and keep as much of the original structure that you have got instead of aiming for a full makeover. Keeping the flooring, staircase, windows/grilles will already net you between 10-20k in savings. Some people keep the existing airconditioning and that's a 4k savings right there (that you don't have to buy a new system 4 aircon). Avoid the temptation to go for cove lighting, spot lights, because electricians charge by the lighting point. Limit your carpentry to the essential. Make your design as simple and easy to build/implement as possible. Time = money. If its easy to build the contractor can do it faster and possibly charge you less. Costly ideas like building an island kitchen sink/cabinet, funny staircase glass designs (I am guilty of that), shifting entrances, knocking down or building walls are relatively speaking more complex and contractors who are unfamiliar would sometimes charge an additional "safety buffer" on the task. Big unit, many windows means more curtains, and you can try to source from Malaysia as it is supposed to be a lot cheaper.

There will be a myriad of materials that you can select, such as cabinet laminate, door hinges, new locks, more money of course buys you better and more attractive designs. Its relatively easier to slip into the mindset that a tile is only $1 more costly per tile, but when you realize you need quite a lot to tile up (in my case the kitchen, and all the bathrooms, etc) the price difference will be significant. It all adds up. Do a recce of the things required, from bathroom fittings to tiles, paints, lights and so on, establish a price range, choose the low/affordable end, and set a limit that will fit with everything else under your budget. Under, because with almost all renovations, variations occur and this will cost you money. Your mileage may vary, but I find 10-20% allocated for cost overruns will put you in a comfortable position.

A limited budget means you would have to do a lot of your own legwork to find cheap+good. Getting someone else to do it inevitably means directly or indirectly paying him for his troubles. I sourced my own items such as cabinet handles, door locks, curtains, taps/showers, air con system. Plan on being a regular customer of Ikea, I bought soft-close Rationell door dampers from there for all my cabinet doors instead of buying branded Blums. I did buy them for pull out drawers though.

 

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Condition of house quite with the slim budget we r only doing 3 toilets plus whole house piping, n remove some build in cabinets. Touch up and painting. Hoping to do all within 15k

 

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Condition of house quite with the slim budget we r only doing 3 toilets plus whole house piping, n remove some build in cabinets. Touch up and painting. Hoping to do all within 15k

If I recall and estimate correctly, each toilet including wetworks and plumbing and fittings ranged from 2-3k. Painting the whole unit is around 2k also. More difficult as scaffolding is needed to get at the stairwell and the balcony.

 

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