Mrcontractor

Hi, for a 6 months beforehand, dont expect to receive very good service from all 10 salesperson. What they would like to do is to urge you to sign and place a deposit. What I can advise is that, 6 months before, you can source for an initial assessment, For an idea of what the price is like. at the 4th month, you should have slightly lesser shortlisted contractor/ID. and 3 months before the renovation, it should be time to get some serious screening of your shortlisted contractor.

Hi, To reveal a secret of this trade. It is because the profit that contractors make will be higher. Usually priced between 1.50-2 psf for homogenous tiles. and laminated flooring is usually 1-1.50psf. If he is lucky, he can earn up to $2psf. Of course, the feel between laminated floor and homogenous is largely diff. same goes to the characteristics. If say, you are a hardworking person and maintain your home well, it shouldnt posed a problem for laminated floor. Unless, you have small kids or cats/dogs then it is highly not recommended. Tiles is definitely much tougher, but take note that the grout lines in between will also turn black if not well maintained. Another point is that if you would like to change the laminate colour another 5-10years later, you will not require to move out. the flooring will have to suit your living style as well:)

Hi, sorry for the late reply. was busy preparing for CNY. actually what you can do is this. For the contractor who give you range for $1. Ask if there is any rebate when the tiles chosen is lesser than the max price. This is where your bargaining power comes in. Yes, $1 can make a huge diff psf. imagine a kitchen floor approx 150-200sqft. That would mean 150-200 just for a kitchen floor.

It is better for paint first then fix lights. after fixing lights do some touch up for the area affected due to installation of lights. reason is that the painter will not do a good job or rather difficult to paint the area around the lights area =D

I am not a fengshui expert but have talk to many fengshui masters before due to my customer's belief for renovation. Try not to commence your reno on the first few days of chinese new year. you can do an "commencement of work ritual" before chinese new year and then after that continuing is usually not a problem. Of course. Different FS masters talk diff things. its better to seek one professional for advices=D

Yours is a private housing? Private housing they charge slightly higher. dismantling works price is ok. Parquet 950 is a little too high. market rates ranging from 500-600. False ceiling cant comment as there is no measurement given. Same goes to the carpentry works. Clearing debris 450 is ridiculous. should range about 200 plus minus. and floor protection you can get it F.O.C if possible. wood flooring sounds ok. include varnishing as well?

Hi, 1 lighting pt refers to either 1 downlight pt, 1 ceiling light pt or 1 track light pt. Saying that you have a hanging lamp with 2 seperate light bulbs, usually it only need 1 lighting pts unless the light require 2 pts(which is rare). However, the electrician migght charge slightly higher than a ceiling/down light for installation. it should be about $5-10 more. Small light sources depending on whether you are using spotlight/downlight or tube aka cove lightings. if cove lightings, one tube is NOT equal to one pt. it is a looping pt so sometimes they charge as a lump sum instead of per pt based. As for full height cabinet. yes some market practice do charge like that. but of course usual cases it should be slightly cheaper than that. Eg. 100/ft run for top OR bottom. a full height might cost you somewhere around 250-280. Considering that, you actually save on the kitchen worktop cost. so it doesnt varies very far. Hope these helps!

Since granite is a natural stone, it is quite impt to get a good supplier as the stone varies( they will usually state a clause stating that natural stones come in variation so it is quite diff to reject like what you mentioned). Sales people have their own tatics. its not totally wrong but doesnt seem very nice to do small little tricks. If your hubby is objecting. Best is that you forego her services or perhaps change another sales person? Another issue is that if you engage your own granite supplier, do make sure your contractor will be ok with it as you would not want them to push the blame around when there is scratches or defects on your cabinet. Hope this helps!

herehere:Topic 2 Finding/ Comparing Quotes This is the part where the first major decision and the most important decision to be made during the renovation. And usually it is always tiring and time-consuming. - It is best to compare both ID and contractor price to have a feel of what the price difference is like - The number of quotes you are going to find solely depends on your personal preference. What I reccomend is that, eg, you are going for an ID, do look for 3-5 quotes for comparison. Try not to go beyond 10 as it will usually make you confused over their suggestions on materials design. And at the end of the day you dont know which is more exp or which is cheaper. - Different companies have different ways to type out a quote. Usually we(contractors) will try to make the quote differently as it will make you difficult to compare. - This first step of all the quotes comparison is to have all of them carries similar items at least 85%. This will make your comparing much much easier Topic 3 Going through a quote Alot of people asked about quotes like eg. Is this quote detailed enough? Is there anything missing on the quote? is this quote expensive? To have a detailed quote, there are so many things to look out for. During my days as a contractor, ive heard of same-trade friends trying to play with words or leave out some details to make more profits when they ask customer to top up when they ask for this or that. I will extract a quote which i find in RT through here as an example: (This should be a HDB new house as there is no hacking involved) 1. Supply labor & tiles to lay 641sqft homogenous tiles for 3 bedrooms, Passageway, suggestion study, Living & Dining (Not more than $3.20 tiles) 641sqft x $8.00 per sqft $5128.00 - Does the $3.20 includes GST? So to mean if i choose a tile priced at $3.20 before gst is it within the quote? - 641 sqft will be fixed or subject to changes? (Usually no changes but since the quote is real exact better to play safe) - Size of the tiles? 60x60cm or can go any bigger? - Are we able to choose tiles from any supplier or only specific ones? (please take note that tiles supplier give rebates to contractor) - In any case if you choose another kind of tile for any of the areas will there be extra charges? 2. Supply labor & tiles to run 260ft homogenous tiles skirting 3 bedrooms, Passageway, suggestion study, Living & Dining 260ft x $6.00 per ft $1560.00 -Same thing, is 260ft fixed or still subject to changes? (Maybe if there is some calculation mistake or if the designer forgot to count in one part meaning pr ft is $6?. therefore is better to check) 3. Supply haulage, clear debris, cement, sand, W1 and delivery of material $850.00 - Usually you can check this price when you call the debris hotline at the notice on the lift area. so the price is usually more or less there 4. Supply labor to construct kitchen base, washing machine base $450.00 -Tiles is it included? will you get the tiles directly from the developer or building management? 5. Supply labor to construct L-box @ Living area 48.5ft x $13/- per ft $630.50 - how wide is the Lbox? The common sizes are 12", 16" or 18". The wider it gets, the more exp it goes. So better to check for the size quoted 6. Supply labor to construct false ceiling @ Dining area & suggestion study 214sqft x $4/- per sqft $856.00 - False ceiling is quite straight forward. In this case it is only the sqft whether it is fixed or etc. 7. Supply labor to install 2 units of instant water heater @ 2 toilets $60/- per unit x 2 unit $120.00 - Does it include the heater pt as well?(usually the common bathroom does not have any heater pt as new HDB comes in hot and cold pipes). - If there is existing heater pt, Does it include the connection of the wiring? 8. Supply labor to install 2 sets spray gun @ 2 toilets $50/- per set x 2 sets $100.00 - Nil 9. Supply labor to connect kitchen sink tap $90.00 - Nil 10. Supply labor to dismantle the existing sink & connect install sink & tap @ common toilet $120.00 -Nil 11. Supply & install 10mm thick clear glass temper glass divider @ Master toilet $250.00 - Length of it? 12. Supply & install L-shape power coated aluminum Acrylic sliding door @ common toilet $580.00 - Can we have designs or plain colour only? - Do take a look at the samples first for the colours provided 13. Supply & install L6ft x 8ft clear mirror @ Dining area wall (with false ceiling) $960.00 48sqft x $20/- per sqft = $960.00 (option 1) - how many piece does it cut into? - Framed or framless? 14. Supply & install L6ft x 8.5ft clear mirror @ Dining area wall (w/o false ceiling) 51sqft x $20/- per sqft = $1020.00 (option 2) $1020.00 - As above 15. Supply & install L6ft x 8ft grey mirror @ Dining area wall (with false ceiling) 48sqft x $28/- per sqft = $1344.00 (option 1) $1344.00 - As above 16. Supply & install L6ft x 8.5ft grey mirror @ Dining area wall (w/o false ceiling) 51sqft x $28/- per sqft = $1428.00 (option 2) $1428.00 - As above 17. Supply & install L4ft suspended carpentry vanity cabinet @ Master toilet Using plywood, internal with white pvc, external with laminate finish Swing door with soft close hinges & ABS edging $120/- per ft x 4ft $480.00 - Top included? - Is it solid plywood? - Soft closing hinges brand? ( of course blum is the better ones) - What is the laminate brand given? 18. Supply & install 5mm L4ft x H5ft clear mirror sitting on top the solid table @ Master toilet $20/- per sqft x 20sqft $400.00 - Nil 19. Supply & install L3ft suspended carpentry vanity cabinet @ common toilet Using plywood, internal with white pvc, external with laminate finish Swing door with soft close hinges & ABS edging $120/- per ft x 3ft $360.00 - As above 20. Supply & install L3ft solid surface top for vanity @ common toilet $75/- per ft x 3ft $225.00 - Brand of the solid surafce? - Any backsplash given? - What front profiles are available within the quoted amount? 21. Supply & install L3ft x H5ft 5mm clear mirror @ common toilet 15sqft x $20/- per sqft $300.00 -Nil 22. Supply & install L6.5ft x L6ft L-shape modular system closet @ Master room C/w partition frame, internal using melamine board with free configuration, Aluminum glass sliding door 1st 5ft - $1500/- Additional ft - $250/- 12.5ft – 1ft @ corner = 11.5ft – 5ft = 6.5ft x $250/- per ft = $1625/- $1500/- + $1625/- = $3125/- $3125.00 - Melamine info can be found here ( I prefer plywood though) - Check the number of drawerrs given as usually the drawers are the more exp stuff to fabricate 23. Supply & install L6ft modular system closet @ Bedroom 2 C/w partition frame, internal using melamine board with free configuration, Aluminum glass sliding door 1st 5ft - $1500/- Additional ft - $250/- 6ft – 5ft = 1ft x $250/- = $250/- + $1500/- = $1750/- $1750.00 -As above 24. Supply & install L6ft modular system closet @ Bedroom 3 C/w partition frame, internal using melamine board with free configuration, Aluminum glass sliding door 1st 5ft - $1500/- Additional ft - $250/- 6ft – 5ft = 1ft x $250/- = $250/- + $1500/- = $1750/- $1750.00 - As above 25. Supply & install L6.5ft modular system closet @ Suggestion Study C/w partition frame, internal using melamine board with free configuration, Aluminum glass biford door 1st 5ft - $1500/- Additional ft - $250/- 6.5ft – 5ft = 1.5ft x $250/- = $375/- + $1500/- = $1875/- $1875.00 - As above 26. Supply & install L6ft x H6ft (36sqft) feature wall for TV console @ Living Using plywood, laminate finish $22/- per sqft x 36sqft = $792/- Supply & install L8ft suspended carpentry TV console @ Living Using plywood, internal pvc white, external laminate finish $120/- per ft x 8ft = $960/- $1752.00 - Solid ply? - Any glass or design on the TV console? - Drawers or flip down doors? Glass on the console door? ( take note that you need to have glass at your Tv console door surface as the remote sensor cannot get through thick woods) 27. Supply & install L7ft wooden plank @ Bedroom 2 & 3 Using plywood, laminate finish 7ft x $35/- per ft x 2 bedrooms $490.00 - any support bracket? Whats the max depth? 28. Supply & install 10mm thick frosted swing door temper glass @ kitchen entrance $580.00 - can we design the frosted film? Any add charges? 29. Supply & install L22ft Top & bottom kitchen cabinet, using plywood, internal pvc white, External laminate finish. C/w 1 cutlrey tray, 1 s/steel dish rack, all swing doors with soft Close hinges & ABS edging Top Cabinet - $120/- per ft x 7.5ft = $900/- Bottom cabinet - $120/- per ft x 14.5ft = $1740/- Supply & install 14.5ft Quatz table top - $120/- per ft x 14.5ft = $1740/- Supply & install 2 sets of BLUM drawer track runner 30kg - $60/- per set x 2 sets = $120/- $4500.00 - As above 30. Supply & install L3.5ft x H8ft Full height carpentry shoe cabinet @ infront of foyer Using plywood, internal pvc white, external laminate finish. $280/- per ft x 3.5ft $980.00 - Any adjustable shelvings? If yes, how many shelvings are we entitled to? 31. Supply labor to acid wash floor after renovation $300.00 - How many times is the washing (2 times is prefered. Once after the tiling and partition works, once after all works) Optional Items • The bath room accessories installation per items - $8.00 - Nil. Other questions: -gst? -warranty? I will touch more on various item and the prices of it. Stay tuned! Ps: feel free to PM me if you have any question on renovation. I will try to help as much as I can. Do take note that there is no business selling or product selling over here. Thanks=D

Hi everyone out there, a short introduction of myself. I am a contractor for many years and retired recently. I will like to share my experiences and knowledge to help our fellow renovators as I have plentiful of time but need to keep myself occupied topic 1 ID or contractor? - ID and contractor do things very differently. basically, ID will "bao ga liao" to buy lightings, fixtures, furniture etc. contractor will only provide you with a rough idea but not nice nice 3D pictures - If you are someone who are tied up with work, cant take leave whenever you want. you should go for an ID for more time-saving. - Contractor is usually cheaper (But that doesnt mean all, as some ID charge real cheap) however more time-consuming and usually you will need to do some research and have some ideas on the things you want. During the renovation process, both ID and contractor basically do the same things like supervising, arranging works etc. The major difference is when deciding on the design etc. Whichever chosen, the most important is that you have to be comfortable talking to the ID/contractor.