arknuss

Thanks for the info. My EM is 20 years old. I am doing the waterproofing for all the toilets, kitchen and balcony so there is a possibility there. Am going down today to check it out. Have also arranged for HDB to come down on Monday morning to take a look at it.

HI all, My contractor just informed me that the big sewer pipes in my kitchen and ground floor toilet are leaking and that the cost to get them replaced is about 1.2K. Has anyone encountered this before and how did you get it fixed? Would HDB do it for you (i doubt it) or can it be fixed for cheaper?

yay starting my reno tomorrow. Doing everything except 1st floor tiles and staircase. haiz, still got so many things to do.

at first i wanted to, but the quotes i got in Jan 08 were like 55K for a basic overhaul (ie without a lot of carpentry work). In the end, prioritised needs and wants vs budget and trimmed the renow down to about 35K for a semi overhaul. I suspect that prices would have increased by about 10-20% now. Good thing i signed contract early coz reno only starting in June 2008. can see my blog for the breakdown of the quote.

was offered power dekor. Did some research on it and it seems ok. At least it is tested according to PSB standards and it seems to be of at least AC 3 quality. compared it to supreme and kronotex (no hyphen) and it seemed almost similar. supreme seemed a little more solid though. was offered wi parquet by another contractor. really felt that the quality was better. but ex.

Thanks. Well it excludes all toilet fittings and the kitchen accessories. We are also not using expensive materials. Perhaps I will upload my quote on my blog for a better analysis.

Depends on neighbourhood actually, if you are near the lift landing, facing a road or just sway and have noisy neighbours. My masterbed room faces a road so I am installing double-glazed windows to help lower the noise. I also bought a corner unit for privacy which also minimises the noise of people walking past your unit. Just to share that I finally settled on my contractor (after searching since December!) Overhauling all three toilets and the kitchen Changing all windows and grilles Changing all doors and the main gate Rewiring the whole house Retiling the balcony Laminating the second floor Building a storeroom under the stairs Changing the plumbing Painting the house Damage about $35K.

I am paying $78 per month for my EM. Belong to the Minister of MND aka Minister of HDB

Been out of the forum for quite a while but almost done selecting a contractor, I hope Think prices are going crazy especially with the COVs. If I were looking for a flat now, I would probably just save money and wait. I pity the newlyweds who are trying to get a place though. We exercised option in October 2006 for our resale EM. Corner unit with recess area purchased for $360k which was the evaluation. Got the $40K grant from govt in return for my two and half years of NS. Think our timing was good as our incomes surpassed the ceiling only a few months later. From quotes I have gotten so far, revamping EM is not that bad if you do not use alot of expensive materials and do a lot of carpentry. A total revamp for us (excluding staircase) came up to about $45K. However, we are reducing this to save cost so in the end should be less than $40K. Think must be realistic lah, spending tons of cash on reno on a property that has 80 years left with very little significant upside does not make a lot of sense to me. I rather spend in furnishings which I know I can reuse.

xiao liao lah........looks like my reno budget buay gao !!

Congratulations! 60K above valuation...is it in move in condition?

Hi elaine1205 Could you share where this ID is located? I have a place in Tampines and I would probably want to avoid him. Not convenient can PM. Thanks. Sorry for thread owner for hijacking the thread.

Hi Fishpond, I tried sketchup as well but as it isn't a dedicated ID software, your options and flexibility are limited. I used Better Home and Gardens ID software. I cost me less than a 100 sing but gives me a lot more options, pre built furniture and designs. Its still a fair bit of work to get to furnish a house but I think the process is rather enjoyable if you can afford the time. Just a sample of my work in progress

Hi fishpond, I know how you feel. I am in exactly the same boat as you are in. My budget for total reno, including constructing balcony awning is 40-45K. I also budgeted 15 to 20k for furnishings. Some ID firms have quoted me a min of 60K for the scope of works that I want to do. I figured that going with a contractor would be best. I too was worried that the design may end up mismatched or some critical space planning consideration was not taken into account. Thats why I invested some $ to buy an ID software. It helps me with the space planning at the very least. If I have the patience, it will help with the colour coordination as well. It also allows me and my wife to have a meaningful discussion on what we want for our house as we can see what we are talking about.

Best way is to find a good reliable agent I think. Ours was a kind uncle who was a recommended contact. Although he operated in Yishun, he was willing to serve us in Tampines. Did not charge us GST too. Now with the market booming, more people are becoming agents. Hard to tell the fly by night operations from the real deals.

got off the phone from arts and thots double glazed window for MBR quoting us $36 per sf when supplier quoted us $24 50% markup leh. they want to meet up to discuss quote. so lets see......

Since there were a few photos of the views, i thot I'd share mine. One of the reasons we chose the place. Taken from MBR window

yeah i know. so this is my plan bathrooms: only put wall tiles in the bath area. The rest of the wall just plaster and paint. Kitchen: only put wall tiles at the "wet" areas, the rest of the wall just plaster and paint. hope this will save some $.

Thanks. I wish I could do it for 21k. with wiring, windows, grilles, redo 3 toilets, level balcony, build awning, retile whole of 2nd level........maybe 21K times 2?

Hi, My first post in this forum and I guess this would be the best place to make it. Got an EM in Tampines too since 1 Jan 07 but now saving up for the renovation. About the only things I can reuse are the staircase and 1st floor tiles. The rest must go....along with lots of $..... I just came back from the exhibition in Singapore Expo, think IDs would be out of my budget...sigh.... Anyways, hope to learn lots from you guys as I try to create a dream home on a earthly budget