Fann

DID ANYONE COME ACROSS THEM BEFOR

Wow, so much discussion about ID's and their work here wor. For me i believe price is not everything bah... I would rather pay a slight premium for a good contractor then one who saves on his promises but does not deliver... If i can click with the Id or contractor, then we shall proceed. If not i just tell them off nicely before i make them commit in doing something for me. Wait i kenna curse for nothing, hee. I got a bad experience myself before so hopefully Tropical and the rest understands consumers mind thoughs bah... Will the good ID please stand up?

Hi all, anyone engaged their services before? They are one of my last 2 shortlisted ID's and hopefully someone can give me some feedback's before i sign. Lastly, I wish everybody here a Merry Christmas and may your wishes come true!

Hi crispy, this is a quote from one of the Id i went to, yup these are the things that i roughly wanted to do.

Hi all, Let me share my quote for people to comment as well, Hacking works ----------------- 1. Hacking of whole unit floor tiles and skirting 2. Hacking of kitchen & 2 bathroom wall tiles 3. Hacking of kitchen & 2 bathroom floor tiles 4. Hacking of kitchen cabinet 5. Hacking of sink & stove support 6. Dismantling of fittings & fixtures 7. Uplifting of goods & sand -Lump sum $3,200 Masonry works ------------------ 8. Supply & lay 600mm x 600mm homogenous tiles **** and dining room - $3,150 (material price @ $2.80) 9. Supply & lay skirting (homogenous tiles) **** and dining - FOC 10. Supply & lay power dekor laminating floor at 3 bedroom and all skirting at 3 bedroom - $1,600 11. Supply & lay homo or ceramic at storeroom area - $350 12. Alteration of main gate - $70 13. Alteration of main door - $30 Kitchen area -------------- 14. Construct cement motar base for kitchen cabinet c/w side tiling $180 15. Construct fridge, washing machine base with tiles - $160 16. To supply & install inlet/outlet piping for kitchen & washing machine $120 17. To supply & lay homogeneous floor tiles at kitchen - $850 18. To apply waterproofing at kitchen floor - $120 Both toilet ------------ 19. To supply & lay wall tiles at 2 bathrooms - $2100 20. To supply & lay floor tiles at both toilets - $780 21. To apply waterproofing at both toilets floor K11 - $180 22. Supply & install 10mm tempered glass swing door shower screen at both toilet - $840 23. Custom made 4ft(L) vanity bottom cabinet, mirror wall to wall, display glass shelving c/w granite top - $900 Plumbing work ----------------- 24. Supply & install new stainless steel piping for whole house (cold pts only) - $600 25. Supply labour to install 2nos. of instant heater - $80 26. Supply labour to install toilets accessories - both toilets and kitchen - F.O.C. 27. Extension of piping for kitchen & washing machine - $100 Ceiling works ---------------- 28. Install L box light holder / false ceiling **** / dining and passage way as proposed - $1850 29. To supply & install L box light holder / false ceiling at master bedroom as proposed - $750 30. To supply & install simple cornies ceiling at 2 bedroom - $360 Painting works ----------------- 31. Painting of whole house using ICI / Nippon emulsion paint (unlimited color) - $1,300 32. Painting of all door / frame / gate / piping etc - $150 33. Re-varnishing of main door -$ 80 Door works ------------- 34. Supply & install 3 nos. of classic doors at all bedrooms- $480 Misc works -------------- 35. Supply & install W.P.C. window grille for whole unit - $950 36. Laying of corrugated paper for flooring - F.O.C. 37. General cleaning and chemical washing for whole house flooring incl polishing off wax (if any) - $380 Carpentry work ------------------- 38. Custom made Est. 31ft(L) kitchen cabinet using solid ply door with ABS trimming in laminate finishing -$2790 39. Supply & install Est. 12ft(L) black galaxy granite top at kitchen work top - $1440 40. Custom made tempered glass divider - $900 Living & dining ---------------- 41. Custom made Est. 14ft(L) full height feature wall with display cabinet, mirror as per design - $3,900 42. Custom made feature wall with mirror (shoe cabinet full height with door) 8 ft - $2080 Master bedroom ------------------ 43. Custom made Est.6ft(L) partition feature wall c/w bedhead design cushion as proposed- $2,600 44. Custom made sliding wardrobe c/w Aluminium trimmings 8 ft - $2000 45. Custom made platform bedbase for king size bed - $980 Bedroom 2 ------------- 46. Custom made Est. 5ft(L) study table top in laminate finishing - $650 47. Custom made Est. 5ft(L) sliding wardrobe c/w Aluminium trimmings - $1,250 Grand Total - $40300

Hi, now is actually my 3rd home, i just want to share wad happen to my 1st and 2nd renovation, (based on a true story) my 1st reno was actually a 3room flat in ang mo kio, at that time my husband and me just started out a family and we did not have much savings so we just called a contractor from the papers. those contractors who would just put a 4 line ads saying they are cheap and reliable so we just met one of the contractors and discussed about the reno at my 1st house. my husband did much of the reno discussion as i dun have any ideas about it and i just did the price bargaining as usual. the sub con made alot of promises like can here can there and f.o.c. alot of things just to close the deal. along the way when the reno started, the sub son already started to delay my hacking date telling us his workers got into an accident and whatsoever but nevermind i thought. later on i found out there were lots of hidden charges as alot of things we missed out like removing the door frames, only 1 colour for my paint, cornices etc etc... and when the carpentry works were up, i found alot of chips off here and there, and they were as big as 50cent coins. the workmanship was poor and my door hinges came off just a month later. Last but not least, he dragged our reno to 6months and 3months to do the rectification works. my 2nd reno was when i shifted to a 5room E.A. in woodlands. it was a move in condition with the last reno done in less than 2yrs. so after a couple of years, we decided to do some carpentry works to the kitchen and wardrobes as it was getting a bit old. this time round we called a different contractor from those papers again who claims they are specialist in carpentry works with 15yrs experience. this time it was a malaysian chinese which was dressed in shirt and short pants came with some photos of his previous projects and a formica laminate sample. after 2hrs of discussing of my carpentry works, we decided to engage his services as he seemed quite honest. he asked for a 20% deposit ($2,000/=) so he can buy the materials and start work, and we being so stupid and naive blindly gave it to him with asking for any receipts. After a week or so, i decided to check up on the progress and you know what? His line was simply out of service, we tried calling him for the next whole month but no avail. I guess we made a appt with a Con-man instead of a contractor. Well we decided to postpone our reno when we shift, what a nightmare. Thats why i've decided to get a designer this time round from recommendations instead.

Hi all, actually i have gone to a few recommended ones already, 1) Unimax creative (recommended from agent) 2) Titan (drop by and saw so just went in for a quote) 3) Vogue design (recommended from friends as i saw workmanship) 4) ideal house (recommended from forumers) 5) gplan (strongly recommended from forumers but didn't approach kelvin) im still waiting for quotes from them, other than gplan's good comments. anyone has any other comments from no. 1 - 4? I warmly and appreciate all comments before committing to anyone of them. Thank you. With regards Fann

My husband and I have yet to decide on the budget for these items. We were actually thinking of going to Courts to obtain a quotation for our renovations. But one of our friends was against it. They had gone to Courts earlier and their budget was S$70k for a 5-rm e/m. Courts quoted them $50k+,close to $60k just for materials and this is not inclusive of labour. Is the usual practice? Is S$50k for materials possible for a 5-rm? Their unit is around the Sin Ming area. Are Courts/ Ikea cheaper or more expensive than the usual ID firms? I was always under the impression tat they would be cheaper since they purchase in bulk

Hi all, 1stly i would like to thank you guys for providing me the contacts of the recommended ID firms I will seriously consider them. And thanks doglived, i appreciate your services and i will consider it too. I was invited to my husband's friend house warming party this afternoon and i realised most of his carpentry works were made with leather finishing and the design was something i had in mind, workmanship wise have nothing to complained about. He strongly recommended this ID firm vogue something. I only know vogue's magazine from UK, and it doesn't seem popular here. Anybody here heard of them before? Anyway i will drop by their showroom when i have the time this week. Last sat i went searching for ID's at balestier and it seems most of them were in the expo too so i didn't drop by just in case pressure again from them. i think my next big modification project will be on my new house. I visited over 30 lighting studios and 6 bathroom accessories shops on saturday, my husband was complaining about the shopping trip but i just can't seem to stop... hahaha. It was really an eye opener to see so much home decorations stuff and things which i have lost touch with since i went to IKEA a year ago.

I went down to the exhibition at expo today, a bit disappointed with most of them as they were more of hard selling. asking me to put deposits to grab their offer b4 it's gone. i had the longest chat with Johnson from I-bridge, 2hrs !! non stop begging me to give him a chance to "perform" on my house. told me 8yrs in this line, referrals keep coming back to him, blah blah blah. If u r so good, why do u still need to come to expo to grab clients??? Turn off by him. Image's showroom is large and nice, but the salesperson who attended to me was more like a student, had a short chat and left my number. When i bypassed unimax's showroom, they were more like fighting with the opposite's stall by trying to grab us in. Wow, is this standard practise in today's interior designing? I remembered when i was in the U.S. for studies 4-5yrs back, i visited one of their interior exhibitions with my aunt and the ang moh designers wasn't behaving like this. they were more professional !! in wad they were doing instead of asking me to place deposits while stocks last. Anyway, i dun believe in their business gimmicks of free gifts nor am i going to engage this group of people at the expo to design my house, disappointed am I. I think i shall stick to recommendations from this forum and dear friends and i hope there are people kind enough to recommend me some. What a big headache i have with so little time.

Hi Jliow, thanks for the comments and advice, material wise in general i know what we want but i just need the designs and someone who does it without giving me any problems. of course we must like the designs before we start anything. i have already set aside a amount for my furniture and fittings already. 40k just for my reno. Who did you engage anyway? Mind if u can share?

Hi phoenix, thanks for the reply, i have already got my floorplan and im going down to expo to take a look at the exhibitions. Confirmed i'm getting keys before christmas already and hopefully by then i'm able to settle down with one and proceed with my reno. my unit is 15years old. the renovation was done by the 1st owner and im the third owner already, so i guess currently all the existing stuff have to go. how much does one usually spends on their reno on a 5room? i just want to know the market rate.

Hi all, I've just bought a 5room at bishan, but after reading so many "HORROR" stories on contractors and designers. I would most probably need !! recommendation from fellow friends here. I will be getting my keys in late December. Is it too early to look for one now and is my budget of 40k enough for a 5room resale? !! Comments and recommendations are welcomed... !! !!