sohck

You got mail!

My experience is similar: no GST but there is a charge for haulage.

Mine got quite a bit of hacking. Looks like it's going to take at least a few days.

If possible, get a breakdown on the quotation. With a breakdown, you can do more customization (take out things that are expensive, etc). I always insist my ID/contractors to do that. But I think $27K for 5rm quite good leh, mine a lot more 40K+

Wow, how did you do it? My 5rm reno is more than 40K+

Besides the showflat you should also ask to see one of their existing projects. I have encountered ID that has beautiful showflat but actual work is lousy. And I second h4happy, take your time to shop around and find the best ID/contractor. Being stressed now looking for an ID/contractor is better than later stressed with a renovation not well done.

We are almost ready to give Ideal our renovation job. My wife has informed them of our decision yesterday and we will drop by this evening after work to sign the agreement and hand over 20% downpayment. Ideal will then procced to apply for the HDB permit and hopefully we can start work next week. Anybody knows of anyway to accelerate the approval of the HDB permit? How about calling HDB everyday, does it work?

Bedroom 3 has the arc on the side just like the master bedroom. We will get the ID to construct a 6 feet wardrobe, and a smaller cabinet to cover the arc. Perhaps we will move in the single bed too for me to sleep as the master bedroom will be too crowded with my wife and the two kids.

Bedroom 2: This is the only bedroom in the house that does not have the funny arc. We intend to convert this to a study room for myself and my two kids. Thinking of buying desks from vHive and get the ID to construct full length (about 13 feet) cabinet along the side of the wall. Will be adding two additional books cabinets, also from vHive - one full length (2.4m) on the left wall and a short one at the wall where the window panes are.

Ah Soon already knows we are well connected on the forum. When I last spoke to him, he already said 你网上的朋友, 你网上的朋友

Currently all the bedrooms has laminate flooring installed (not sure what brand); will be replacing them with Supreme AC5.

My experience with Uncle Ah Soon very interesting. First we called him to ask for an initial meeting. He flew our aeroplane three times but finally appeared. After that we get tired and decided to look elsewhere. Then he called and met us to give us a Chinese quotation. We told him we needed an English and he told us he would get his son to type out the next day. We waited for a week but nothing happened. Then he called to ask when he could visit our house. We told him we needed his English quote first. It came the next day. Then he kept calling us to ask when he could visit our place. The morale of the story, you called him he won't come. You don't call him he will call you. LOL

You need to be prepared... If you want it by Tuesday (tomorrow) you will have to keep chasing him, starting from today.... :-)

The meeting with Ideal: There was an accident on PIE so we got to our meeting 10 minutes late, but the ID was still all smiles when we got there. The ID went through the proposed designs for the carpentry in (1) TV console and feature wall; (2) kitchen; (3) masterbed room wardrobe cum bed headrest; (4) bedroom 2 study table and cabinet; and (5) bedroom 3 wardrobe. But unlike Baroque, all the pictures were hand drawn and not coloured (black and white). 3D pictures are high-tech and hand drawn ones are impressive - I am weak in my arts and crafts and hand drawn pictures never fail to impress me. Comparing the quotes, Ideal's one is more pleasant. The ID removes the items that we didn't need (discover during the visit to our new flat) and added in new ones that we asked for. One the other hand, Baroque has added in a few items that were not in his initial quote, such as hacking and disposal of bedroom cabinet, etc. I can't stop but feel that Baroque is adding some items to make up for the removed items so as to keep his top line in tact. Ideal also told us to decide quickly because he could only do three projects simultaneously. Three projects? That is a big contrast to Uncle Ah Soon and also 40% lower than "nice shoe". So he will have a lot of time to look after our reno so we won't have to do it ourselves. At this juncture, we are very inclined to give the reno to Ideal. But I told him "Let me sleep with your quote for the night, if I don't get any nightmare, I will give you the deal tomorrow!" Sure enough, no nightmare last night - so he will get the good news from my wife later on in the day!

Rondy, That is very true. I have a friend who owns a renovation film. When I told him that I am shifting and need renovation, he promised to give me best price (everything at cost plus 10% for his project management) and best quality (claimed his project manager does commercial project and is one of the most demanding contractor in Singapore). I remember during a meeting at my office meeting room, the PM was criticizing the workmanship of my office and claimed he could do a lot better. He initially refused to quote us when my wife requested him, saying that he can give us the best price and we really should not be worried with the pricing. After repeated requests, the quotation came but pricing was on the high side. But my friend assured me that price can be negotiated after he takes physical measurement from the flat. But the biggest disappointment came when we inspected one of his existing projects: the tiles were not aligned properly, and there were many mis-drilled holes on the cabinets which are patched by white plaster. So in the end I have to tell my friend the truth. His pricing is not good enough, and so is his workmanship. I might have tarnished our friendship with this as he was not too happy hearing what I say, but I guess that is life. So Rondy I do agree with you, dealing with a pure stranger might be a lot easier than dealing with somebody you know in home renovation.

Decision Time! Decision is supposed to make today but was complicated with some recent developments: 1. Our property agent for the flat has a brother who owns a ID/contractor film. He has offered to do the renovation for us at a lower rate. Spoke to him, saw two of his projects this week (Wednesday and Saturday) and are now awaiting for his quotation (which is one day late, suppose to arrive yesterday). 2. When we told Uncle Ah Soon that his price is not much difference from the ID, he has given us a big discount. So now he is back in the running. On a separate note, We saw the design from Baroque on the TV console, feature wall and shoe rack, as well as the bedroom cabinet cum bed design. My wife didn't really like the design. Moreover, the ID has put in some additional cost for the hacking so although we have taken out the flooring, the cost remains only $2K difference. Will be dropping by Ideal's office in the afternoon to take a look at the design. We should be able to make some decisions after we see the design from them. The designer has been rushing out the design for us in the last few days. We appreciate the urgency they show.

Ah, thanks for the info.

About 7 years ago....

Thanks for the information. Does that mean I won't have to rewire the whole house? If that is the case I can save a few thousand dollars!

This is the current master bedroom. The built-in cabinet will be replaced with a new one [maybe] incorporating a king-size bed (for my wife and two kids - not sure where I will be sleeping yet). It will be a L-shape one extending all the way to the right to cover the ugly arc. The existing laminate floor will be replaced with Supreme AC5. Have not chosen the colour yet.

How ah?

Not an expert in washer but just sharing my experience here. My first washer is an Electrolux front load bought from Courts about 10 years ago. Didn't survive the extended warranty. Called Courts but service was delayed for an entire week because they could not decide which subcontractor to use for our servicing. After scolding the helpdesk for an entire week we gave up and bought an LG WF-T6517TC instead. The LG lasted us till today, still in pretty good condition. We recently bought a new house and have bought another LG, the WD-1250ERD from Harvey Norman, this time without extended warranty. Have not had a chance to use it yet but glad to say that our experience with LG is so far so good. Picture of WD-1250ERD:

$1,350? How long (big) is your table?

Ok, there is a DB Box in the store room. The previous owner might have rewired the place when they shifted in (first owner shifted in 25 years ago). If that is the case, we may not have to do the rewiring again. Anybody here understand DB box? Is there space for me to add in more electrical plugs? We have many computers at home so we need a lot more electrical plugs than what is currently available.

Hi Lawry, This is a very good and practical tip. I will wrap up the air with plastic sheets and take away the remote controls. Hopefully that will deter them from using the air-con.