morningstar

hi all, i am back to this forum again as my QS trimmings came off (after 2 years plus) and i was thinking of contacting the sales person to come and look see. Was so surprised to see that the sales person, Andy, is a scammer! good thing i finished my reno with him back in 2010 but now there is no distributor for QS, there is no more guarantee on my floor laminate (and trimmings)..... anyone has recommendations to fix the laminate trimmings? It was glued down and now the glue came off which also damaged the original trimmings. Thanks in advance!

hi ecclesia, Actually i think all sales ppl like to badmouth other brands, just that some are more serious while some are milder. Anyway, I have finally moved into my house and enjoying my QS flooring! Its really nice and much easier to maintain compared to my homogenous tiles! And I think my sales person is quite good too, reasonably responsive even after the laminates are laid and $ paid. If you are still interested in QS, you can PM me and I'll pass you my salesperson contact.

hi guys, anyone bot PD door from http://www.swingslide.com.sg/contactus.html ? I paid a deposit for my PD door (installed at toliet) and on the day of installation, they actually realise that they manufacture it wrongly! And the installer told me that my sales guy would call me to reschedule. For two days, I tried to contact him but to no avail until I called his co number. And it feel as if he's just trying to brush me aside and he just tell me he'll schedule another installation date for me and would call me back, but i insisted on having a certain installation date. His after sales service is not very impressive. Sigh, I hope that this time round, the right door would arrive and installation is smooth.....very worried they burst my water pipes like what some shared here....

Hi all, Thanks for the advice! Yes, I got original trimmings but not the skirting. Anyway I have come to accept the tonal differences, since it can't be helped. We actually preferred titanax's type of consistent tone.... We wanted a light colour flooring... Turned out the one we chose is darker than we expected, should have opt for titanax's colour . But like what you guys say, its still very lovely! I like the long and big planks used....and the feel when stepping on it. As for the direction, I think their basis is ok lah, since it may be abit weird if they lay perpendicular to door entrance, and the planks will be all pointing out at whoever is looking into the room. Thanks all for sharing your advice.... really appreciate this forum!

Hi, Thanks for providing the thread. Here are my pics! Please comment if you think the laminate direction and toning is normal. I think the sales guy meant that they do not bring in the same skirting as my laminate so they used the next best matching (in terms of colour) skirting to install? Is this normal? Did you get the same skirting as the laminate you ordered? Thanks for the advice!

Hi manutd, I wanna post pictures but I do not know how to and I cannot find any instructions on the forum? Could you teach me? Sorry for being a noob. Anyway, the QS staff called back and explained that they have installed it based on the door entrance, as what you have said! And the running tone is indeed unavoidable, he is even willing to bring me to another customer's site to verify that. I suppose no customer wants it to be a consistent tone except us. And the skirting they provided are not original, is yours the same? They said that the original must be ordered especially and very expensive.

Hi hi, I got questions regarding the laying of laminates. Quickstep recently came to lay laminates at our place and we did not go down to supervise. Turned out to be an unpleasant surprise when we realise the following:- 1) The direction in laying of planks is not consistent for all rooms, not sure of their basis but we would prefer the planks to be laid along the length of the room and perpendicular to the windows (light source). 2) There are running tones in the laminates. Some dark some light across the entire room, like "parquet" style. We thought it would be a consistent tone/colour and so the lines wont be that obvious. Would like your advice 1) What direction do you lay your laminates and why? 2) Is it normal to have running tone? The QS staff told me its unavoidable, not sure how true. Thanks in advance!

Yes, its sliding windows... Our contractor came back and says he forgot to inform us that its 6 panels windows and he is ok to change it back to 4 panels for us if we dun like it. But I think we'll just stick to it since we get more wind from 6 panels. Thanks! =)

Hi all, need your advice urgently. Our contractor sourced sliding windows for us and installed it recently. To our horror, we realise that he has installed a 6 panels windows in our living room instead of 4. He had not asked for our preference and when I asked him if there is any decisions to make regarding windows, he say the designs are standard and no worries. I totally forgot that windows can have 6 panels n simply assume 4 panels like the rest of the bedrooms. Is it reasonable that we ask the contractor to change the windows to 4 panels? But we are also mentally prepared that he's not going to change it for us FOC. So my next question is what's the pros of 6 panels vs 4 panels? We like 4 panels cos the windows look nicer when it's bigger. Sigh, hope to hear some comments here. Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I am trying to create a shower seat in my master bedroom toliet but realised that its too small to accomodate one! So i am thinking of those foldable seat like in the site below....any one have any comments teak shower bench? And anyone know where I can find such benches in SG? Thanks for the help in advance! http://www.teakworks4u.com/products/benches/wm_benches.asp

Hi all, Thanks for the all the advice! Think I dun have patience to go brief every contractor on my specifications, view their worksite, and also see if I get along well with them! Really so many factors to consider when engaging contractor. I agree with all that price is not everything, must look at other factors too. Sigh, so I bargain and talk to the contractor and finally manage to cut by another 3K. But i will take out some carpentry works and futher reduce my costs. I am also thinking of outsourcing some works like windows, floorings, main door, carpentry etc. but not sure whether my current quote is on the high side or not. May have to do some research there. Anyway to be fair, my 5I is the old HDB flat type so its rather big at 137sqm. Maybe thats why my quotation is so high.

Hi Brownzukini, Thanks. I will go around to look for quotations. But actually we are pretty anxious to start the reno. Cos we actually waited very long for the flat (signed the OTP since Feb this year) but due to various reasons, we only got our keys in Aug. So we hope to start our reno asap. This whole contractor-sourcing exercise is really tiring.

Hi darth vader, After your post, I have read up on intradesign and saw the many good reviews. Do you think he could work within my budget? Does it help if I mention your post when we contact Dave? Thanks!

Hi Chronograph, Thanks for your kind words. We were wondering whether our budget is too low for contractors and $60K is certainly not small sum to us. And after adding on aircon, electrical wirings and other furnishing, it would at least come to another $15K. So its really very siong for us. Maybe we will go source for some recommended contractors in this forum and do more comparisons before deciding.

Hi JeanL, Thanks for your recommendation of Closet Design. We will check on that for our wardrobes but I'm sure it will not be cheaper though workmanship should be better

Hi JeanL, Thanks very much for ur advice. We hv filtered down our search to this contractor cos he is well recommended by friends and his co received positive reviews in this forum. We have visited one of his completed projects and the workmanship is acceptable. So far, we also communicate pretty well with him. So the only outstanding issue is the budget. As newly weds having our first home, there's really a lot of expenses to take care of and so we are trying to squeeze our budget as much as possible. Do you mind sharing how much you paid for ur reno? Hi neubie, Thanks for affirming our decision to cut our budget by reducing carpentry works. Though we feel that they'll make the home look more complete, but they are really wants rather than needs as you rightly says so. At the worst case, we are going to remove all the carpentry work for all rooms (except built in wardrobe for MBR) and the tv console, feature wall in the living. Then we will slowly acquire furniture as time goes by. Anyway, how much more discount do u think we're able to ask without "scaring" our contractor away? Any other comments from the experts here? Thanks!

Hi experts, Been a slient reader on this forum but really hope to have your help here. We have looked around for IDs/contractors the past few mths and have finally shortlisted two of them. One of the contractors provided us the quote of 60K (list below) and we tried to negotiate for a reduction of a $4-5K esp on the carpentry works (seem quite costly). However, my contractor's response was that my budget is too tight and they rather forego my biz. This is really discouraging to us cos it means that we may have to up our budget or go through the whole cycle of looking for other contractors. Are we asking for too much discount? We are thinking of removing all carpentry works on the guest/study/entertainment room to reduce costs as its only me and my husband now. My questions are: 1) Is there any areas in the quotation that I can reduce costs? 2) Any general renovation costs that are not captured in the quotation below? (trying to minimise VO) Would greatly appreciate your comments. Thanks! Item Description Amt (S$) Project Management * Design Conceptualization, Space Planning, Colour Scheme and Materials Proposal for the Whole House, Site Inspection and Whole House Cleaning. 1 Demolishing Works To supply labour and materials to hack and dismantle the existing following items: - a) Living/dining/ entertainment room floor tiles and skirting b) 3 bedrooms floor tiles and skirting c) Kitchen wall and floor tiles d) 2 bathrooms floor and wall tiles e) Existing kitchen cabinet f) Existing door and window frame between kitchen and service 2,380.00 yard g) Service yard floor tiles h) Wall panel between living and kitchen area i) Wall panel at master bedroom j) New door opening at common bathroom k) Existing false ceiling and cornices l) Existing wardrobe at 3 bedrooms m 2nos.of toilet bowl n) 2nos.of wash basin o) 1no.of rubbish chute Sub - Total (S$): 2,380.00 2 Masonry Works To supply labour and materials to a) Lay 600 x 600mm imported China homogenous floor tiles at 3,850.00 proposed storeroom, living/dining room and passageway to bedrooms c/w skirting (tiles up to $3.00 range) b) Lay imported ceramic/homogenous wall tiles up to ceiling height 2,500.00 for 2 bathrooms exclude border and décor tiles (tiles up to $2.50 range) c) Lay imported homogenous floor tiles at 2 bathrooms c/w 840.00 waterproofing membrane treatment (tiles up to $3.00 range) d) Lay imported 600 x 600mm homogenous floor tiles at proposed 480.00 wet kitchen area c/w waterproofing membrane treatment (tiles up to $3.00 range) e) Lay imported 600 x 600mm homogenous floor tiles at service 480.00 yard area c/w waterproofing membrane treatment (tiles up to $3.00 range) f) Construct 2" thick shower kerb at 2 bathrooms clad with tiles F.O.C. g) Construct 2" thick cement mortar base for fridge and washing 160.00 machine clad with tiles h) Construct 2" thick cement mortar base for kitchen cabinet clad 180.00 with verticle tiles i) Install 1no.of stainless steel flat rubbish chute 180.00 j) Seal up existing common bathroom entrance using HDB 250.00 approved 63mm thick hollow block c/w cement plaster k) Erect common bathroom wall using HDB approved 63mm 480.00 thick hollow block c/w cement plaster l) Lay cement plaster for proposed wet kitchen and sevice yard 200.00 wall m) Raise up existing kitchen floor to level up with living room floor 300.00 using HDB approved extruded polystrene foam (EPF) n) Patch up, make good area after hacking F.O.C. o) Lay cement screeding to 3 bedrooms and proposed 750.00 entertainment room p) Construct 14ft L hollow block wall up to ceiling for master toilet 640.00 entrance, store & kitchen entrance. q) Construct L shape kitchen cabinet base at dry kitchen 150.00 Sub - Total (S$): 11,440.00 3 Carpentry Works To supply labour and materials to a) Construct 3ft designed low height shoe cabinet cum storage 450.00 at proposed foyer area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing b) Construct 9ft designed full height feature wall c/w cushion and 2,000.00 tinted mirror **** room area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing c) Construct 9ft designed suspended TV console **** room 1,260.00 area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing d) Construct 12½ft x 5ft designed 4" raise up platform **** 1,000.00 room window area e) Construct 13ft designed full height book cabinet at proposed 3,120.00 study room area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing f) Construct 2nos. of 8ft L-shape designed study desk at 2,400.00 proposed study room area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing g) Construct 6ft designed full height sliding wardrobe at proposed 1,500.00 guest room area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing h) Construct 4ft designed full height book cabinet at proposed 960.00 entertainment room area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing i) Construct 16ft designed L-shape sliding wardrobe at porposed 4,000.00 master bedroom room area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing l) Construct 5ft designed suspended underneath vanity cabinet 900.00 c/w pop out mirror at master bathroom area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing m) Construct 5ft x 3ft designed island counter at proposed dry 900.00 kitchen area using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing n) Construct 34ft designed Top & Bottom kitchen cabinet c/w 4,080.00 set of drawer, PVC hard edging, 'Blum' system soft closing for all doors, stainlees steel dish rack and shelving using solid plywood with selected laminate finishing Sub - Total (S$): 22,570.00 4 Solid Surface Material Works To supply labour and materials to a) Install 14ft selected solid surface material kitchen counter top 980.00 c/w profile and backsplash b) Install 8ft L-shape selected solid surface material island 750.00 counter top c/w integrated wash basin, profile and backsplash c) Install 5ft selected solid surface material vanity counter top 350.00 at master bathroom c/w profile and backsplash 5 Partition Works To supply labour and materials to a) Construct partition false wall at proposed master bedroom 750.00 sliding wardrobe area b) Construct partition false wall between proposed wet & dry 200.00 kitchen area c) Construct 2ft partition false wall at propposed guest room area 100.00 d) Construct 5ft low height parttion false wall between master bedroom and proposed master bathroom area 120.00 e) Box up of exposed PVC big pipe with master board & lay wall 800.00 tiles at 2 toilets 6 False Ceiling/ L-Box Works To supply labour and materials to a) L-box/false ceiling/cove lighting **** and passageway to 800.00 bedrooms b) False ceiling at proposed dry kitchen area 350.00 c) False ceiling at proposed study room area 380.00 d) L-box/false ceiling at proposed guest room area 330.00 e) False ceiling at proposed entertainment room area 350.00 f) False ceiling/cove lighting at master bedroom area 600.00 g) False ceiling at proposed walk-in wardrobe area 200.00 h) False ceiling at proposed wet kitchen area 180.00 i) False ceiling at service yard area 150.00 j) False ceiling at common bathroom area 130.00 k) False ceiling at master bathroom area 100.00 7 Aluminum Works To supply labour and materials to a) Install anodized aluminum sliding window for whole house 3,550.00 c/w normal tinted glass (does not include top hung window) (up to 4ft high)(include yrad area) b) Install 2nos.of anodized aluminum adjustable lourve window at 550.00 2 bathrooms c/w laminated glass (laminated glass or wired mesh glass) Sub - Total (S$): 11,720.00 8 Laminate Flooring Material Works To supply labour and materials to lay laminate flooring material to 3 bedrooms and proposed entertainment room area c/w skirting 2,600.00 and whole life warranty against manufacturers' defects. (Ace, Power Dekor, Vista) 9 Glass/Mirror/Shower Screen Works To supply labour and materials to a) Install 10mm thick clear glass top hung sliding door between 780.00 proposed wet and dry area area (7ft high) b) Install 10mm thick frameless clear glass swing door c/w 450.00 standard handle at proposed entertainment room area c) Install 10mm thick frameless frosted glass swing door c/w 550.00 standard handle at master bathroom area d) Install 10mm thick frameless tempered clear glass swing door 450.00 shower screen c/w standard handle at common bathroom (up to 6ft high) e) Install 10mm thick tempered clear glass sliding door shower 580.00 screen at master bathroom (up to 6ft high) f) Install 12ft(L) 8mm thick coloured glass backing between Top & 600.00 Bottom kitchen cabinet area g) Install 4ft x 5ft 10mm thick clear glass fixed panel at master 300.00 bathroom area h) Install 4ft x 5ft 10mm thick clear glass fixed panel at foyer area 300.00 10 Plumbing Works To supply labour and materials to a) Lay new cold water pipes for whole house 680.00 b) Lay 2nos.of hot water pipes for 2 bathrooms shower area 160.00 c) Labour to install 2nos.of shower mixer tap c/w shower set 100.00 d) Labour to install 2nos.of sit toilet bowl 220.00 e) Labour to install 2nos.of wash basin c/w drainage system 200.00 f) Labour to install 1no.of central tank heater c/w heater wire 100.00 g) Labour to install 1no.of washing machine tap c/w in/outlet 80.00 system h) Labour to install 2nos.of kitchen sink c/w drainage system 240.00 i) Labour to install 2nos.of spray jet c/w mini-valve at 2 80.00 bathrooms j) Labour to install 2 sets of toilet accessories F.O.C. * Install rain shower additional $80. Sub - Total (S$): 8,470.00 11 Door Works To supply labour and materials to a) Install 4nos.of solid nyatoh wooden door for 3 bedrooms and 1,120.00 storeroom c/w standard lockset b) Install 4nos.of wooden frame for 3 bedrooms and storeroom 800.00 c) Install 1no. of 'BesGlas' Ezi door c/w acrylic panel at common 300.00 bathroom area d) Supply & install 4ft L X 7ft H solid design main door 650.00 e) Supply & install 4ft L X 7ft H wrought iron main gate 500.00 13 Painting Works To supply labour and materials to paint whole house using 1,650.00 ICI/Nippon emulsion paint include dry/wet kitchen wall, service yard wall and all exposed piping c/w 1 under coat. (max. 8 colours including white) 14 Plastering Works To supply labour and materials to plaster whole house wall and 2,580.00 ceiling area c/w angle guard. (include dry/wet kitchen area) 15 Other Works To supply labour and materials to a) Apply HDB permit F.O.C. b) Lay corrugated paper protection during renovation period F.O.C. c) Acid wash and general cleaning upon completion F.O.C. d) Labour to install of hood & hob and oven F.O.C. e) Haulage, provide sand and hoisting of materials to site 1,200.00 f) Clearing of whole house debris. Sub - Total (S$): 8,800.00 Total (S$): 63,380.00 Less Special Discount (S$): 3,000.00 Grand - Total (S$): 60,380.00