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looking good. like the wall tiles.

i dont have anyone to recommend yet since i've yet to collect my keys. but i have confirmed one, an ID. i wouldnt recommend him as of now since i dont know what working with him or the workmanship is like so maybe after my reno lol. most would be willing to meet and give you a quote without them coming to your place. i only have come across 1 contractor whom i would say is inflexible because they insist on quoting at my house. honestly i wouldnt bother looking for these contractors (who insist on looking for them only when i've collected my keys) because first of all, i want to meet them first to see what the quotation is like, and also to see if we have the chemistry. so only the shortlisted ones get to come to my new place. i would recommend reading tblogs, not from this section but from the tblog subforum, genuine homeowners who documented their journey from beginning to end. if you like what you're seeing you could ask them for their contractors/IDs contact. else maybe look through contact the firms there.

i have been in this industries for 20 yearsss, recently i've heard some bad experience my new clients faced before they found me, and i would like to share some thoughts with you for those who are still looking around for the right contractor & ID to work with. Rule number one: Do not get someone who has No Office for meeting, the chances for running away your money is high. 2: Do not engage someone who has less than 5 years of on-site experience, the chances of Job screw up is high. 3: Do not sign up any "attractive Renovation Package", i do not believes in Package myself, so please do not falls onto the same trap, the chances of paying much higher price after that is high. 4: There are alot of fake "Good Comments" about these particular ID Reno Company, don't feel shy to ask a contact number of one that look most "Fake" to you from this company forum, call this owner who left this "good comment", talk to them and see how Real they are That's all for today, i've to go to work already...hope you found the right ID contractor for your hard earned money! and don't stop just because you feel shy after the sales talk by these people. Getting feed back from the previous owner could be the best way to understand what you will be facing next. add on 5: Do not engage non-HDB-licensed contractor company to renovate your HDB flat, nor matter what they BS you, the chances of getting yourself into trouble is super high!

Do I really need Structured Network Cabling? If you are doing renovations now, you should do it or you will regret later. What is Structured Network Cabling? Basically, this means laying computer cables to every room, ending with a faceplate like this in one of my rooms: This is very common in offices, where you can plug your desktop PC into the faceplate and be connected to the office network. In the faceplate shown above, the network point (RJ47) is on the right while the telephone point (RJ11) is on the left. Why would I need Structured Network Cabling at home when I can use WiFi to access the internet? While internet access is the most common use, structured network cabling serves many other present and future purposes. Under Singapore's Next Generation NBN (Nationwide Broadband Network), not just internet data but voice, video, TV, gaming, education, health and all kinds of services will be delivered via the NBN. Many of these services cannot be carried via WiFi. For example, your fibre broadband connection reaches your hall. If you want Mio TV in your room, it is not possible unless you had laid structured network cabling from your hall to your room. In the future, if you need video conferencing in your bedroom for medical video-conferencing or your child needs to have a video lesson with his teacher from the study, it will not be possible.

There are a couple of lessons I learnt from my experience. 1. Monitor, monitor, monitor - No matter how renowed or expensive your ID or subcontractor, the level of competency and common sense is at the level of their lowest sub-contractor. We engaged a reputable ID company. But of course, you deal with the young designer who gives instructions to some supervisor, who in turn instructs a foreman, but finally the worker who does the job is a guy who turns up on a Malaysian motorbike. Don't get me wrong. Many malaysian workers in this trade are very skilled. But due to many reasons including different expectations or ideas, changes in the message after being passed through too many people, the final product may not be what you envisaged. You have got to be there to monitor, monitor, monitor. 2. Trust your instinct & do not follow blindly - Often, we think something should be done in a certain way, but the ID or contractor tells us that is not the way things are done. Don't just accept it. Your instinct is already trying to tell you something. Check with others. Ask. Maybe you are right. There were many such instances in my case. LIke when I wanted to put a spare power point in the false ceiling and both my ID and contractor thought I was mad. At that time, I had no idea of the potential use but now that I am thinking of mounting an IP camera on the ceiling, where to get the power source? Like what Steve Jobs said, you cannot connect dots moving forwards, but often you can connect them backwards. 3. Lay network points from your OpenNet TP to every room - This is important. In the near future, many services (internet, TV etc) will be delivered via this network. WiFi does not work for everything. 4. Protection, protection, protection - This is very important yet many IDs and contractors do not seem to understand. So, in my case (as in many cases), they just put a simple cardboard. What a joke! With hacking, sand, tiles, marble etc etc passing though, what do they expect but to spoil the marble and wooden floor? Then they have to rectify. But it is never the same. 5. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Don't sign a contract with your ID or contractor for everything in one lump sum. Breakdown into different parts of the work e.g. hacking, flooring, painting, kitchen etc. Have a clause that allows you to omit any part of the work. This was how my wife engaged specialist subcontractors directly for parts of the work. 6. When buying expensive equipment (refrigerator, TV, washing machine, dryer etc), buy 5 year extended warranty if possible. In the past, such equipment lasts a long time (more than 10 years). But if you noticed, most of these companies have gone out of business as the consumers do not need to buy replacements. These days, most consumer items are build to last only just past the standard 1 or 2 year warranty period, so that they can sell you another replacement. Assume a fridge sells at $1,399 at Best Denki but $200 cheaper at the neighbourhood shop, I will still buy from Best Denki because for another $97.93, I can extend the warranty from 1 to 5 years. For just under $1,500 (or $299 per year), I get to use the fridge for a minimum of 5 years. Without the extended warranty, for $1,199 I get to use the fridge for a minimum of only 1 to 2 years. Based on my claims experience (fridge, washing machine, dryer, TV, oven), I can confirm that extended warranty is definitely worth buying. Some machines do come with 3 or 5 years warranty on certain parts but these are normally not the parts that will fail.