Hi bleucheeze,

A first look at the 2 reno quotes show a stark contrast. Seems that one is very expensive and the other is quite cheap. FOr eg. if we look at the living room tiles, it's $4800 vs $2500. I doubt there should be such a big contrast for tiles. My hunch is one of them or even both of them misquoted? Otherwise, you are choosing really quite ex tiles for the 1st quote. For the craftstone/brick, it is $1.6k vs $480 for the labour. Again, big discrepancy unless it's different walls/measurements.

Other than these few items, the rest look pretty similar although no doubt the 1st ID/contractor is more ex. Like $300/ft vs $260/ft for carpentry. For kitchen, not an apple to apple comparison since it's quartz vs solid top and a total of 31 ft vs 25 ft.

I think you can approach a few more contractors/IDs (3 or 4 more) and then shortlist 2/3 to take a look at their workmanship. Think you still have some time since you will be getting keys only in Feb? Cos at the end of the day, like so many have said, the cheapest might not be the best deal while the most expensive will not guarantee the best job too. Must be satisfied with what you are getting and who you are hiring. "Value for money" is also really subjective.

Hi bleucheeze,

A first look at the 2 reno quotes show a stark contrast. Seems that one is very expensive and the other is quite cheap. FOr eg. if we look at the living room tiles, it's $4800 vs $2500. I doubt there should be such a big contrast for tiles. My hunch is one of them or even both of them misquoted? Otherwise, you are choosing really quite ex tiles for the 1st quote. For the craftstone/brick, it is $1.6k vs $480 for the labour. Again, big discrepancy unless it's different walls/measurements.

Other than these few items, the rest look pretty similar although no doubt the 1st ID/contractor is more ex. Like $300/ft vs $260/ft for carpentry. For kitchen, not an apple to apple comparison since it's quartz vs solid top and a total of 31 ft vs 25 ft.

I think you can approach a few more contractors/IDs (3 or 4 more) and then shortlist 2/3 to take a look at their workmanship. Think you still have some time since you will be getting keys only in Feb? Cos at the end of the day, like so many have said, the cheapest might not be the best deal while the most expensive will not guarantee the best job too. Must be satisfied with what you are getting and who you are hiring. "Value for money" is also really subjective.

Hey Jasdy, yeah, I agree that cheapest may not be the best. I'm concerned about workmanship too, after reading many horror stories here. Will be getting more quotation and will meet them to see how to cut down cost

Ditching the brick wall, will be focusing more on Mid century modern look.

Due to tight budget, I am re-considering the flooring options. Should I should keep this original beige marble flooring, and accentuate using colourful rugs? Appreciate your comments

My view is that if the tiles are still of good condition, you can save quite a bit on the hacking and tiles. Furthermore, it's marble, which is even more ex. Not very sure how it goes with your mid century modern look but from what I see, will not stick out like a sore thumb.

Do keep the marble if the condition is good. Laying new marble is really expensive, so it's quite a waste to hack away and use homogeneous tiles instead. Plus marble has a much smoother and cool feel (which I personally like). Just get your contractor to give the marble a good polish and it'll look much better. Goes with mid century mod too (but perhaps not so much an Industrial theme). But between homo tiles and marble, there is really no fight.

P.S. In case your contractor or ID had tried to convince you to get rid of the marble, do re-consider hiring them. No decent ID/contractor should convince their client to get rid of old marble flooring for homo tiles. Even my ID also asked us to retain our original broken marble flooring until they did a site visit and realised how awful it looked with the half parquet in the living room.

Edited December 10, 201213 yr by adidaem

i agreed.... marble flooring still looks wonderful and definitely worth keeping. i always wanted marble flooring but didnt manage to find a suitable unit with marble flooring. So, keep it.. not only save money but also having marble flooring really make the whole unit looks very high class!

Thanks May, adidaem and jasdy for your views

If you see from the pic I posted, the marble are small, longish pieces, not those big square ones I seen before, and my colleague commented that the grout lines are quite visible. As I'm not familiar with marble, wanna know if grout lines can be made less visible after polishing? Is there any way to make the marble appear lighter in colour?

Thanks May, adidaem and jasdy for your views

If you see from the pic I posted, the marble are small, longish pieces, not those big square ones I seen before, and my colleague commented that the grout lines are quite visible. As I'm not familiar with marble, wanna know if grout lines can be made less visible after polishing? Is there any way to make the marble appear lighter in colour?

it looks like 30cm x 60cm so its longish..... the grout lines appear visible cos its not so white? or against the beigh, it looks whiter? from pic, really cannot tell lah... you ask your contractor to see what can be done.

the marble color is not very imposing, should go fine with the type of Scandinavian look you want.

I think you can apply some epoxy treatment to the marble? Heard that it's possible to polish them and reduce grout lines. Some minor tweaks should be fine. On a separate note, think you should keep the marble as you have effectively paid for it through a higher valuation/purchase price? I would prefer marble too, but it's really over my budget.

I prefer solid wood flooring any time, but well, trying ways to cut down my reno cost

Having said that, just ordered bookshelves and bed frame today! Must thank jasdy for the lead, I managed to snag two teak bookshelves for the price of one!

nice shelves!

Hi Bleucheeze

What was the lead? Please share! Two teak bookshelves for the price of one is worth it!

Hi Bleucheeze

What was the lead? Please share! Two teak bookshelves for the price of one is worth it!

I bought it from Scanteak sale at Isetan. But I believe the sale there has ended. Maybe you can call other outlets to enquire

Check out my thread on the tiles selection. I think you can visit the tile shop first to get a gut feel of it.

We selected tiles from Soon Bee Huat, and the range of selection is quite good, just depend on the budget.

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=54770&st=0&p=763597entry763597

Actually if you just want standard modern looking tiles, $3psf should not be a problem. But if want more unique one, e.g. natural stone stone (slate, sandstone) or more nice textured surface, I think need to have budget like $4 above. The more expensive homogeneous tiles will not look so fake, color is better. For our case, we wanted a real pure white homogeneous tiles initially, also can't find one <=$3. Cheapest we can find is $3.5 and after GST $3.7. Out of budget, so we settle with one that not pure white (with hint of beige). So just some idea for you.

Edited December 15, 201213 yr by ashleyspace