wongapat

From the research at this website, I dabbled into direct contracting for a landed which i recently purchase. I thought I just share my view here so that would be 'renovators' can benefit as I did when I started researching here for my reno. My reno is abt to complete, which explains why i have time to write. My terrace land area = 2,200 sq feet. For my roof, i found a company to do it by google and asking a few to quote. The px I got was $2.9k b4 gst, incl fibreglass waterproofing of gutters, replacing broken tiles and painting tiles with sealer. For painting interior and exterior I got this person who was painting a neighbour’s roof (Ah Chuan). $5k inc the ICI paints of my choice, indoors and outdoors, gates, patching cracks, sealer base + general cleanup (jetspray the tiles and walls) Due to budget constraint, I was abt to respray the toilet tiles with acrylic paint until Ah Chuan offered to redo the tiles for me at a price slightly higher. But I have to buy the tiles and sand/cement which he will order for me but I have to pay. Ah Chuan is basically a tradesmen without capital so he can offer good rates but not credit. He doesn't have a HDB licence nor a company (although he said that he is getting more referrals and have started to register for a company. In the end, my 3 toilet cost abt $7.8k incl hacking, retiling, cost of tiles for the walls and floors. Workmanship is good. He did not do the tiling himself but uses a partner. Then I decided to let him do my kitchen floor which incl hacking and retile ($1.3k). I went on to let him repair and repaint all my room doors, toilet vanity cabinet, re-polishing my parquet, glass shower screen. Like what Summerforever said, they have their own networks. I have yet to see the quality of the parquet as that will be the last item. I thing I have to highlight about using contractors like Ah Chuan is that you have to be reasonable with them, they don't have capital, so you shd not hold back your payment unreasonably. IF things turned ugly, it will be difficult for everyone. I was able to manage because I did extensive research so whenever we discuss abt how much each item will cost I have a basis to negotiate with him. So far, his price is lower than what i have. Furthermore our communications is clear as I can speak well in Hokkien so its quite easy to work with him. He can speak Chinese but he is more comfortable in Hokkien. English would be a challenge.. The other thing that you have to be prepared is that it may not turn out perfect, afterall you are taking risk on a lower cost. I took that path and so far everything is ok (thank Goodness). This is also partly because I go to the site every lunch time and I give constant feedback if I see something not right. On the upside, they sometimes throw in free stuff, I managed to get Ah Chuan to do my Kitchen False ceiling with waterproof board for $200, i checked with my false ceiling contractor that the material he gave me is the real stuff and the cost of the board alone is abt $350. He also promised to help me use some of the extra tiles to change the tiles of the garden area FOC. Moving along to other items. For toilet doors, I use doors that uses swing and slide, its cheaper than sliding doors. For my light box I use the internet and googled a contractor who specialise in false ceiling and light box. His rate is fair and lower than the contractor introduced by my electrician, who wanted to charge me $1k, whereas this contractor charge me $770. 3 days from measurement to installation. For lights I scouted between CH and LC as I had purchased from them before, their service needs improvement though. Electrician was the one who did my condo so I sort of trust him and his price is ok and he is easy to deal with, although pls note that from now to CNY, the electricians are fully booked. My project is delayed because my electrician had other committments. I tried to look for another electrician but some turned down due to their tight bookings while others charge at high rates. For tiles, I went to Balestier road and found a smaller sized supplier who was able to offer a price lower than the 2 big boys in the market. They aren’t exactly that small either but they don’t have the massive showroom as the other 2. And I concur with SummerForever on getting discount if you buy directly. I managed to get discount from them. For sink, taps, and shower items, I didn’t get from the 2 big suppliers in the mkt. Instead I was lucky to find a warehouse sale from a company that distributed Hansgrohe. I didn’t get the Hansgrohes but bought other brands they carry. The quality is much better than the 2 big players in the mkt for the same price. Again, I must emphasize its because I am lucky that it happen to be their annual sale. The takeaway here is that Yes, you can save substantially if you do everything yourself (I calculate I saved abt $10-15k)…but u have to spend time on it (I calculate about 100hrs), and you have to do research, visit, see and ask the prices. And know exactly what you want out of the renovation. Actually looking back its quite fun and I learn a lot along the way. Can’t wait till the house is fully done, should be within the nxt 2 weeks. Still debating with the wife whether we shd stay there or rent it out. To those renovating, Good luck with your reno, and I will log-in again to update on the situation and hopefully Ah Chuan is a good bet and everything will turn out as he promise.