taiji

For those who are considering IDEAL HOUSE, here's my opinion... Responsible and caring ID. Mr K still occasionally SMS me to check things out eventhough the handover was more than 6 months ago. His nice and friendly gesture really leave us a very good impression. Below are some pics of my house handled by Mr K. I am not here to sell their service but just feel that they deserve a good mentioning for their after sales service and caring attitude. *You are welcome to read my blog as to find out why I landed up choosing IDEAL HOUSE to reno my house. Keep up the good work. Cheer to all.

Hi Hobbes187, Maybe it was just my style that I prefer to meet the IDs at their office. On the other hand, your suggestion is good too provided the IDs are willing to visit the house to have the "feel". Thanks for sharing

Hi, It's Ideal House Most of the IDs have very tight schedule and they usually do not entertain the idea of going to the prospect's house for viewing unless the person is a friend or relative. I suggest that you take some pics of the flooring / furnitures etc you want and bring along your house layout plan to the ID firms instead. Being an experience ID, I think the info + pics are more than enough for him to digest, imagine and work out a concept. Some ID offer 1st drawing (usually the concept drawing that show the LVR) but most will ask you for a $500 fee in which it will be return to u if you engage them. I personally will not go with this type as I don't see the logic. About whether they will charge higher for condo units? Well, it depends on your luck. Some IDs will judge you on the level of understanding towards reno process. If they feel you are newbie and knows only about barbie doll house, then chances are they will raise their price high so that they can get more commission. However, not all IDs are like that. Some IDs who are serious to build a career from reno will work hard and give you their best concept and most reasonable price. You can "feel" that when you have gained enough experience by talking to a few IDs. To be able to read the "pattern" of an ID, I suggest you take your time (if not in a rush) and talk to more IDs. Only good IDs will response in the most trueful and sincere manner cos they understand that they need referrals from you to continue their business. Reno is supposed to be a fun thing to go through with your love ones and definitely not a nightmare that burn your pocket and make your life miserable. Do not rush into committing to gimmicks from the IDs. Nothing comes free in this world. If you want good stuff you pay more. The basic principle has always been like this. If you always have this thinking that alert you all the time, you will probably be on your way finding the best ID to do up your lovely house. My house is handled by Mr k and I enjoy the whole very much. Not to be baised here, but a big thanks to Mr K. We are living in our "new" house for 6 months or more now. Nothing (like leaking, defects) happen, our dollars invested are well protected. Feel free to read my blog. It explains why and how I made my decision. My 2 cents piece of suggestion I hope this helps. Good luck to you

2 thumbs and 2 toes up from me. Good work Mr.K If anyone will comment you in this way like what cheerful did, this shows how good you really are. Keep up the good work.

Hi Ben, Spa and resort design can be difficult to do depending on the layout plan of the house. Are you planning for a heavily culture influenced resort /spa theme or just modern resort theme? Mine is a 4 rm as well but a resale flat. I got confused when I started out. I know I want to have the resort feeling. Water feature, wooden beams at the ceiling etc... there are just so many ideas coming into my mind at that time. What happen next was that I faced difficulties bringing in all the stuffs I like. For example, you can have nice looking teak wood furniture but no space for water feature due to its bulky size. In the end, what you originally plan may not happen and this my lead you to some damages if some thing your order cannot be used. For a 4 room, I recommend you to consider modern resort theme. It will make you feel spacious, light and relax. Resort theme that are heavily decorated or over designed may become less attractive over years as there are too little room for you to make changes. On the other hand, Modern resort theme is easier for any changes you may like to have over time. It is something that is fun for both the husband and wife to do together. My 2 cents. You may like to take a look at my blog. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...blogid=363& Good luck to you and enjoy the whole reno process.

Hi UPP, I think you are setting your thinking right. I am not trying to put on defence for Ideal House but I guess it is a matter of timing. Maybe you are calling them at the peak of their business or hot period. Firstly, if IDEAL House keeps on taking projects in which they can't handle it. More negative secnarios may happen later. If this happen, it will be unfair for those who signed up ealier. I think IDEAL HOUSE thought of this and wants to be responsible for the work they deliver. Something like a FCFS (First come first serve) Thing. Secondly, It is clearly seen here that IDEAL HOUSE tries to take on more projects by recruiting more new staff but guess they still need to more practises. I was chatting with Mr K a few days ago and he told me that he feels bad for not being able to take up new projects and for rejecting the customers. I can hear that he is trying his best but guess he and some of the popular IDs on IDEAL HOUSE are human too and need some break sometime. I believe every interested members who posted their replies here are nice people. I hope you guys will not feel bad if IDEAL HOUSE can't provide you their services. It's a matter of timing. If you urgently need an ID. Check out in this forum as I believe there are still nice IDs around to provide their services to you. Cheer up as reno is supposed to be a fun thing for everyone

I thought Mr K is coming to take my house photos on his own. But it turned out that 2 professional photographers came knocking on my door. What the...? Anyway, they told me Mr K has sent them here to take my house pics. It was overall a nice experience. I also learn something from the pro. But it was kinda tiring as I have to move my stuff in and out to suit the angles. I was drained out at the end of the session. Looks like Mr K owe me something for doing this for him. Just kidding only, I have no problem at all giving him a hand. I think Mr K deserve it for the good service and care he provided to us. I hope that our humble house can help him score better in his business and he is always welcome. We are glad to have you as an ID turned family friend. Hmmm... am wondering what are the pics used for? Personal portfolio? Noooope I don't think so. He can save it by taking the pics himself. Anyone with good guesses???? Anyway, enjoyed the session today and it's a pleasure to us that our house is selected for shooting by pro. I'll try to get the copies from Mr K once done.

Hi WeiFang, Check your PM Good luck

Wowww... Looks like Mr K is very popular and I also see that he earn quite a number of good comments as well. Hi guys, went MIA for while and was shock to see that this thread had crossed over 17,000 hits. I feel really feel happy for Mr K. I think he really do a good job for all his clients. If an ID is lousy or irresponsible, this thread will have more negative comments posted than positive ones. However, this is not the case here and I see more interested members are asking for his contact number. I wonder how many hours he sleep a day now. Better take care Mr K. I seriously think that it is important to have a good renovation for our house. For us, our house which had been handed over since Feb 08 has been so far so good. I'm also have the feeling that lady luck has been on my side for my work eversince we moved in. Looking back, I really enjoy the whole process alot . Too bad I need to travel quite a bit these days for I really really want to spend more time at home. I think those who travel for work frequently will understand how I feel. I think to "enjoy" the fun from renovating your house really depend on the quality and attitude of the ID you will be working with. Cost is the main thing of course but it is really how the ID coordinate the whole thing for clients like us. Mr K's service is way beyond words can describe. Because of my recent heavy workload, I thought I am done with Mr K and IDEAL House from my last positive comments posted in my blog few months back until I received some sms from Mr K. It was really nice of him to check out things with us despite his "super" busy schedule. He told me that he will try his best to find some time to catch up with me for coffee. That's really really nice and I look forward to meet him soon. If you think that your quotation is reasonable and you feel comfortable with him, Mr K is the man who delivers and sometime even more than what you expect. For recent joined K club members, please give him your trust he will do a good job for you and also be patience with him more because not only he is busy handling his daily work but most importantly they are expecting to have a child soon. Mr K sms me yesterday again and ask me if he can come and take some photos of our house next week for his portfolio. My answer is always "yes" as he has become our family friend. I hope Mr K can keep up the good work and be successful.

Hi All, Mr K came to my place yesterday to do a follow up service. Basically, he is checking for defects as we have moved into our new house for a month already. I told him about Mrs Yu's recommendation which recently created some speculation in this thread. He told me that Mrs Yu reno was true and she spent quite a large amount of money doing her jumbo flat in the eastern part of Singapore. She wanted to post some pics of Peter's work but she is really don't know how to go about doing it. I didn't know Silver88 already gotten the news from Mr K. Anyway, Things are clear now. FYI, I don't know and have never met up with peter before and I certainly have no obligation to post this reply here to defence Mrs Yu. Just hope to clear up the misunderstanding if there is any. PS : Dun flame me too... and be nice to me

Read my blog to find out and judge for yourself. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...blogid=363& Happy reading:)

We just completed the reno for our house. Theme was modern resort. Combination of Siamese style with modern furnitures and layout. Check out my blog http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...blogid=363& Our ID is Kenneth from Ideal House who delivers good and reliable services.

Hi, My house is done by Mr.K (just completed the handover on 27th Dec). Check out my blog if you missed out http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...blogid=363& We are pretty concerned using Ideal house in the begining. Because their quotation is the best we got ( abit too true to believe). As a newbie, we are worried about things screwed up (after reading some forumer going thru some bad experiences). However, we are wrong and feel very lucky that we engage them. Our ID is Mr K. Things quoted in the quotation are exactly what you'll get. No rubbish and hidden cost unless you want to add something along the way. His knowledge about the design concept make sense and look nice . (We went to many Ids bfore him and most of them so called "very daring concept" were rejected by HDB). Their quotation is the best and most reasonable which won our contract. Mr K's follow up work is superb. Too good to be true? You bet. We are not easy customer also. However, Mr K's patience truly worth our compliment. I think the whole process is a give and take thing. Like in our case, our unit is 29 years old and the workmanship at that time is not as good as today. So some of the beam alignment is out and very obvious to our eyes. We as the customer should be reasonable as the beam is not something that the ID can rework (HDB will not allow). However, Mr K's team tried his best to make our house look at its best. Overall experience is fantastic and we are very happy to know Mr K. There is never a heated moment. Mr K has become our family friend and he is always welcome to drop by at our house anytime.

Oh Boy. I was worried for you Babykoh because ideal house leave a very good impression to us. We believe that they are not that type that come out to cheat. They are indeed very pro and very good. Hope everything turns out well for you

Hi ppcc, I am no expert in term of reno at first. However, I will like to provide you my opinion and suggestion from my experience. Generally, I guess before you consult or engage any ID, you must first find out what kind of living concept or theme you like. This is easy by spending one afternoon at the bookshop or library by flipping through some home magazines. You'll will definitely find one or two themes that you fancy. Everything will look good in the mag but do not confuse yourself. Stay focus and choose the one you like. I personally think 2 themes are the max or you'll sway of track. Bring the magazine home so that you can show the ID what you like. Believe me that this save you and the ID lots of troubles and time later. Otherwise, the first appt will be just like a first appt with a surveyor and nothing will likely to take form because the either the ID is not fully sure of what you want at the end of the day or he is not confident to quote you then both you and the ID will be meeting many times or end up delaying your reno plan. This can be very tedious nd boring also. For me, how I started was I took some time to compile a file (soft or hardcopy) that I will either email or fax to the ID first before I meet them. The content is as follows. 1.) Put in your address 2.) Provide your layout floor plan of your house 3.) Tell the ID how many person will be living in the house 4.) What kind of theme you like. Best if you can scan a pic and attach together. Remember, max 2 themes if not you or the ID will be confuse as there is no direction fix. 5.) Scan some pics and provide dimensions of the furnitures or electrical stuff you want to bring over to your new house if there is any. This is important and the info will allow the ID to plan out things in advance. This may help some house owner to save some money as if their furnitures or electrical (eg. normal 29" CRT TV) is still very new or recently purchased. If this is not the case, then add in comment on how your preference for the TV size (eg. LCD TV wall mount or using stand). You can also inform the ID whether what aircon system you are going after. Basically, just throw in any info you feel the ID need to know. 6.) You can also create a paragraph to summarise by describing to the ID what living style or concept you want. For example, " We are a small family consist of 3 members. We want our house to look big and spacious and we prefer the house to have a warm feel. Wood lamination for the bedrooms flooring and tiles for the LVR and kitchen. The colour prefer are tobacca brown (usually for resort theme) or white for modern living theme." Again, just give your thoughts here as much as possible 7.) Put down also your budget (No need to feel pai seh just put down a reasonable figure. Usually if your house is a new HDB 4 to 5 room only need to touch up the flooring and carpentry. You may want to choose the standard package from the reno firm for about less than S$20K. If it is a resale house, prepare to pay more as more has to be done. I will say 30 to 40K for 4 to 5 room house.) 8.) Put down also your expected completion date (please buffer other completion date in case the ID cannot commit). This is very important so that the ID can check his schedule if not it will be a mess if everything are taking shape and last minute he tell you he can't do it due to crashes with other handover dates from his other on going projects) 8.) After you finish compiling the file, you can choose to email, fax or even bring the hardcopy to meet the ID. This method will help to let you stay focus in your discussion and believe me the ID will be able to stay focus with you as well and everything will go smoother (like getting faster quotation). 9.) You may also like to email or fax to other shortlisted IDs of your choice. This is more effective as you can listen to more IDs opinion or compare quotes. But be careful, some IDs "ToK' people because of the reputation of their company or when they see you are new bird so that they can get more commission for themselves. So, be steady. try out my method so that you are always taking control of the situation and your thinking will always be in an orderly manner. 10.) Quotated price can sometime meet your budget but mostly will come back (yeah... don't be surprised) with 10K or higher than your budget. At his point, don't rush and verify with the ID you feel comfortable with or want to give him a chance to check out what material he choose for your house or feedback to him that you got lower quote from other ID (if you manage to find one) with similar offer. Sometime, they will give in if the ID themselves like to work for you. Then the decision will all up to you now. (I approached 7 IDs. Only 2 met my budget. Ideal House won because Mr K quoted us with the most reasonable price and his concept (eg. hacking some wall etc will sure get approval from HDB) So ID will come to meet you while some need you to go to their company. I prefer to go to their office in this case because they got all the stuff (like colours, materials) ready to show or using graphic to show you how things will look like if you have a problem sometime to understand what the ID mean. Wah lau, a bit long winded. I hope my suggestion helps

Hi, My house is near completion. Went up to check today and wowwwee.... Things are coming to the final phase now (about 75% done). Feature wall, cabinets for the toilets and kitchen were done up too. Handover is on the 22nd Dec. Will be updating my blog with new photos soon. Check out my blog if you are interested. We will to share our experience and feedback with Ideal house so far. Started off with visiting 7 IDs, only 2 IDS offer reasonable quotation of which one from Ideal House. We chose Ideal House because all the items listed in their quotation are really neccessary for your new home and not "Run Run Lai" (anyhow Hamtum) and the concept given during the presentation are logical and make sense. Why we say that was because the concept provided by another ID who was competing with Ideal house at that time was rejected by HDB after we went to check it out by ourselves. In short, Ideal House (Mr K in this case) is knowledgeable of his work and is confident of what he proposed will sure get the HDB approval. Imagine you confirm everything and the whole design has to change at the very last minute. Really dampen one's siprit if it really happen all because of the ID wanting to prove his concept is "special". Really not worth. We feel very lucky and happy to engage Mr K as our ID. Renovating your dream home can be exhausting, stressful and "dangerous" (if the ID wrap up and "Balik Kampong"). However, this is not the case for us. In fact, we enjoy the whole process very much. There is never a heated moment between us and Mr K. Things that screwed up will be fixed at the shortest time. Really thanks to Mr K who is committed to deliver the best for his customers. As for free gift, well... we are lucky cos we got a free basin and wooden frame mirror for our common toilet. We didn't expect that but guess it's a friendly gesture from Mr K. Honestly speaking, the material that Mr K chose for us are quality stuff. A dollar for a dollar, so "pai seh" if still ask for more. Congrats to anyone who has recently signed up with Mr K or commencing renovation soon. Rest assure that Ideal House will make your dream home not only come true but very very nice also. We went through it so can comment a bit lah. I'm the "Kan jeong" type.I check out the progress of our house about 3 days a week. As for the workmanship, the contractors he chose to do up your house all deliver quality works. We are not in favour to praise Mr K but these are just honest feedback and word of appreciation from us. Hope this help for those who are in the midst of considering Ideal house service.

I don't know if my comment is ok. First, ask yourself this question. Which ID do you feel most comfortable with? You know you can't have both but you must die die pick one. If you pick the ID of your choice with the higher quotation, then try to negotiate with him. If the ID feel comfortable with you as well, I am sure he will support you and give in as well. Sometime, higher quotation doesn't mean the ID purposely quote more expensive. It is just like he is trying to buffer a bit more to standby to meet any "just in case" things. If the ID feel that you are very steady about what you want. His quotation will be probably be better. Having say this, it all depends on the ID judgement when he do the quotation. My 2 cents

Mine's a 4rm. They quoted us $42K (LVR flooring, toilet tile work, all Bedroom floor lamination, kitchen cabinet with island design, TV feature wall, sattee, wet work, ceiling - No wardrobe and bed frame) Check out my blog if you are interested http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...blogid=363&

Hi people, Check out my blog if you are interested. My house is handled by Mr K. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...blogid=363& Enjoy reading

We started off with Haier Living. Well, like the way they present their service. Their image is leaning more towards "ang mor pai" and you'll often see ang more checking out their shop at Amoy street. Most IDs dress like a fashion designer, look "stylo"and they speak well. Going to their shop is fun as they have many decorative items and they will show what are the suitable items that will go with your concept. Service is not bad and we are surprise that the ID actually hand drawn the perspective for our viewing even on our first visit. I have to be fair, it is very nice of them. We thought we can proceed with them but gave them up as the quotation turned out to be S$12K above our budget. We engaged another ID in the end (without paying the extra S$12K that we are suppose to pay Haier living if we engage them) and got similar concept, carpentry, flooring for LVR, kitchen, Toilets etc. If you have a good budget to spend on your house. Can consider Haier if not check out other IDs that can help you save more. My 2cents

Hi SherryT, IMO, before you engage any ID. It is always good that you have a theme in mind. It will be a whole lot easier and smoother when you talk to them. Since a direction has been set, the ID will be able to start fast and pour out their ideas and concept pertaining to your preference. So you have more choices of proposed design and concepts later to choose from and not swaying out of track since everything is still based on the theme you prefer. On the other hand, if you want to leave all the designing works and proposed concept to the ID. I honestly think that either you have to give more time and be super patience (as finding the right choice for a person can be time consuming. The process can be very boring and dry too if it drags on too long) or hardworking by visiting some of their existing projects (you can ask to visit those of the similar apartmant type or layout so as to save time) For me, How I started off was I draft out all the nice photos based on the theme I like (you can go for 2 themes concurrently if you wish) I saw from mags and compile them in a file (you can also add in your hse floorplan, any furnitiures that you wish to re-use etc). Then I just email out to all the IDs and follow up with them for replies. In my case, I got all the replies (including quotations) quite fast as the IDs is able to judge, think and provide quotation at one shot. Some even will invite you to view their 3D perspectives. This way, things will go in orderly manner as you have amber time to consider things along the way as your mind is clear and not missing out anything ue to impulsiveness and mad rush (we have to juggle between our daily work and the reno. if you know what I mean) Hope this answer to your question.

Congrats to you Prime. Before I signed up with Mr.K. I checked out 6 other IDs and 4 (which I kinda like their concept) came back with about $12K abve what Mr.K quoted me. Anyway, just completed my tiles selection with Mr.K yesterday. Talking about professionalism and service, I think Mr.K has it all. You see, everything were planned out well until we realise one of our bedroom door is facing directly at our main entrance door. My parents strongly objected to it as it was bad for fengshui. The renovation permit was already granted based on the first layout and we need to re-apply for a new reno permit for re-positioning the bedroom door. Fortunately, Mr.K who has always been patience and approachable told us that he will re-apply the permit again and will take care of our new request. I think this is really really nice and cool of him. Another nice thing was, during our tiles selection. We are supposed to choose the colour and type that we like which are priced at $2.80. Both me and my wife saw something that we like but cost slightly more. To our surprise, Mr.K came along and told us that it was ok as our toilets are pretty small so we can go for it if we like it. I mean he could have just keep quiet but he really goes all out to help his customers by maximising their money fully. At this point, I cannot comment further about the final results from the reno but both me and my wife feel very comfortable with Mr.K. We are especially appreciative for his kind gestures and attention given to us so far. I've taken many photos of my house showing its original condition before the "big" work. Hacking will commence very soon. I will create a blog soon and share with you guys the final results of my house. Cheers

Hi, Just settled with Ideal House. ID is Mr.K. I hope to comment on but the reno still have not started yet. However, one thing to say is that. We feel very comforatable with Mr.K I tell you why. I went to a total of 7 IDs altogether. I respect their profession but some IDs simply don't work on customer's request. For example, I already know what I want (eg. theme, design, layout) and all I need from the IDs is their skill to to make the place look more presenting. I specify to them clearly that I will only consider taking up their service at a budget of $30K. The result was, 6 out of 7 came back to me with skyhigh quotation averaging about $42k. Ouch... that is $12K difference. Mr.K from Ideal house is the one and only ID that really listens to us - the customer. He patience is very much appreciated throughout and his follow up work is fantastic. He actually goes all out to update you of the latest status (eg. reno permit) according to the schedule. Most importantly, unlike other IDs, he will try his best to stick to your financial comfort zone. I think Mr.K has really proven at this point as a patience, creative and understanding ID. Other IDs quoted me $42K and Mr.K $30K. So, what is the difference is their quotation you may ask? Honestly speaking, the description inside both quotation is about the same. So where the price difference come from? I think most IDs nowadays instead of quoting reasonable price from their heart turn to quoting based on their egoistic design cost and based on the popularity of the name of their companies. The above comment is from me only and doesn't imply that all IDs are offering skyhigh quotation. My advice is that take your time and go around and talk to them and find your preferred ID that fit your request mostly. For me, it is resonable cost, quality and service. I intend to do a full review of my new house (work produced by Mr.K) once it is completed and give my comments again. Thanks

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. Thank you for dropping by. I bought a resale 4 room HDB and am looking for renovation service. I went to Singapore Expo yesterday to check things out. Below are the few companies I shortlisted 1.) Arts and thots 2.) Rests and relax 3.) ***** 4.) LS2 (not in the exhibition) My questions are as follows; 1.) All 3 companies has quoted about the same price at 40k or more. I read through some of the posts dated back in 2005 and the reno cost for a 4 room HDB was about 28k to 32k. Has the price increased over the past 2 years? Is the price quoted to me reasonable? I just hope to know what is the current market price. ****** look more attractive as their package include a wardrobe, toilet doors and System 3 aircon 2.) What are the usual standard procedures? For example, the ID ask for my floor plan so that they can do some planning and conceptual work to present to us. After that, what is the next step? Some companies threw free 3D perpsective drawing even at the very first stage of presentation. Is it some gimmick that was packaged in already? Will there be any complication if we decided not to proceed on? For those companies that don't provide free 3D drawing, if we enter into stage 2 with the ID, I believe most companies will expect some registration fee or deposit (whatever they call it). Same question, will there be any complication if we decided not to procced on? 3.) According to our preference, we may not choose to heck down or lay homogenous titles (we can go for other material instead) based on the ID's design. These are consider cost saving, however, the ID told us that the package chargeable main amount is fixed and that we cannot use the amount diference to offset the main amount. Is that true? If it is true, what are the other things we can usually opt for beside the those items like kitchen cabinet, wardrobe etc to subsitute in? 4.) Most package include plumbing works to heck toilet floor and re-piping. Mine is a 29 years property, I am curious how the ID re-route the ugly looking pipes to make it look better and spacious. 5.) Any good and affordable recommendation for solid surface worktop material? 6.) What are you comments and view for the above listed companies. Any advice and comments are welcome. Thank you very much for taking time to look at my post. Your comments and advice are greatly appreciated as it will help us to work out our plan easier.