Budget Reno for 4 Rooms Resale Flat

[DreamyAsh 0]

I have been following this reno blog for 1-2 years to lookout for renovation ideas as well as ID recommendations and it’s finally my turn to start my own blog . In November last year, hubby and I placed deposit for a 4-room resale unit in Jurong West.

1.       Floor plan for our unit:

 

2.       ID Selection:

While awaiting for key collection which was scheduled in March 2017, we meetup with close to 15 IDs/contractors recommended by this reno blog/from other bloggers/ from friends/ from Reno road show. After 1^st meeting, we shortlisted 2 IDs and it was a tough decision on which one to select as both has their pros and cons.

ID 1: Could not remember where I got the contact of this ID, probably from some blog/forum. During our 1^st meeting, he provided us with some good space planning ideas and most importantly he also pointed out some technical issues which all other IDs did not spot. As my living room is in between bedroom 2 and main bedroom, there will be some air-con piping issues and if we insist to install air-con in bedroom 2, some modification (installation of false beam, piping going thru my main bedroom wardrobe thereby I might need to dismantle the wardrobe, dismantling bedroom 2’s door) will be needed which mean additional renovation cost.

He provided us a very comprehensive quotation within a week, included some optional items we mentioned we might be interested in, as well as some modification required if we were to install air-con in bedroom 2. Some of the items were priced higher as he prefers to use quality materials such as caesarstone tabletop and big frame toilet doors. He explained that he prefer to use more durable material since he provides longer warranty on workmanship so we would not need to keep looking for him haha

ID 2: Recommended in Facebook Group “Budget Reno”. Contacted this ID as we really like the design of his BTO project as posted in the Facebook Group. During our 1^st meeting, we were impressed by his strong design idea and good space planning. He promised to provide us with quotation in a week or so but we did not received it. Upon chasing for the quotation, he rushed it out the next few days and meet with us to explain the quotation personally.

During the meeting then only we realized that he was down with fever yet still took the effort to meet with us. However, the quotation was not  comprehensive and did not include costing for electrical works and aforementioned optional/modification works. In addition, as we would like to keep cost low by hacking bathroom floor tiles only, he is unable to do it. If want to hack must hack the whole bathroom.

Final decision: Even though our heart side ID 2 as we really like their design idea but our mind told us to play safe so we decided to engage ID 1, reason being  1) To keep cost low.  ID 1 is able to hack bathroom floor tiles only while keeping the wall tiles. Doing so would save us quite a lot. 2) We do not like bill shock. ID 1 quotation is quite detailed so that we know how much we are paying for every items. 3) We feel that ID 1 is more experience in resale projects. A lot of patching work needs to be done for resale house such as patching part of the false ceiling, hack away fridge & washing machine base to replace with similar tiles etc. Most ID specialize in BTO projects are not willing to take up patching work, some advised us to dismantle the whole false ceiling and rebuild new one which will cost double.  

We engaged ID 1 in early December which he provided us with 3D drawings about 3 weeks later. The 1^st draft was unsatisfactory but after 3 changes, he got what we want.

3.       Existing conditions/ Work to be done

a)      Kitchen (Top being 3D drawing, bottom being existing condition)

We would like to keep the wall and floor tiles of kitchen as it is still in good condition. To have a neater looking kitchen, our ID suggested to get a front load washer and slot it in beneath the bottom kitchen cabinet as shown in the 3D drawing.

Major works to be done include:

1) Hack off existing cabinet + fitting

2) Hack off fridge and washing machine base and replace with similar tiles. The existing kitchen has fridge base and washing machine base which we think is redundant. Imagine if we kick on the edge it’s gonna be really painful

3) Install kitchen cabinet with caesarstone work top and crystal white tempered glass backing between top and bottom cabinet

4) Our kitchen is quite small which we feel lack of storage space so we decided to install a low height cabinet next to fridge area

b)      Common Bathroom

Major works to be done include:

1)      Hack off existing floor tiles ,lay new homogenous floor tiles and construct shower kerb

2)      Dismantle existing sanitary, toilet accessories and install with new one

3)      Dismantle existing door and install new Big Frame Aluminium PD door

c)      Master Bathroom

Major works to be done include:

1)      Hack off existing floor tiles and lay new homogenous floor tiles

2)      Overlay wall with homogenous wall tiles

3)      Dismantle existing sanitary, toilet accessories and install with new one

4)      Dismantle existing door and install new Big Frame Aluminium PD door

5)      Construct shower kerb ,install shower screen with swing door

d)      Master Bedroom (Top being 3D drawing, bottom being existing condition)

Major works to be done include:

1)      Dismantle existing L-shape cabinet

2)      Install 3ft dressing table. As I do not like exposed mirror, I quite like the top part of this dressing table design with storage swing door and embedded mirror so requested ID to design a similar one

3)      Hack off existing wardrobe and install new 6ft wardrobe with full height mirror. 3D drawing for wardrobe:

e)      Bedroom 3-Study room (Top being 3D drawing, bottom being existing condition)

Major works to be done include:

1)      Hack off existing wardrobe and modify existing L-box. As the existing L-box is built in a way that is in line with the wardrobe, dismantling the wardrobe will make the L-box look odd. Therefore, modification on L-box is required to make it in line.

2)      Install 9ft study table with drawer and power point area finishing (hidden power point so looks neater)

f)      Living Room(Top being 3D drawing, bottom being existing condition)

We did not take much picture of the existing living room as it was quite empty, only has a feature wall & TV console. Major works to be done include:

1)      Hack off existing feature wall & console

2)      Install low, medium and full height shoe cabinet with full length mirror starting from kitchen door entrance

3)      Install low height TV console with storage (continue from the aforementioned shoe cabinet) 

g)      Air con

As our air con piping is a more complicated, we decided to engage air con contractor recommended by our ID so that he can coordinate closely with the contractor on installation. Price quoted for Mitsubishi Starmex (MXY4A28VA) system 4 was comparable to gain city pricing.

In addition to dismantling masterbed room wardrobe, some additional modifications needed to make way for air con piping as follows:

1)      Hack off existing door frame and door for bedroom 2 and install with a new door and door frame

2)      Construct false beam to box-up air-con piping in living room

 

[SyLing 0]

Hi, can share your ID details? I also buying 3 room resale soon. Thank you.

[Meha 0]

How much was your resale reno?