bluedusk

Hi all! Finally got down to writing a t-blog here so as to get advice from others and also hopefully to help other people who will have the same need or face the same problems. So far, I have been greatly educated by reading loads of posts from this forum and hopefully you peeps will continue to help and give great advice! Some general info about me and my new home - Its our first home! (getting married in Oct this year) - Uno Haven means: One Sancturary, our place of rest - We engaged Danny from Ideal House (so far so good!) - Quote: ~$31k+ (not including electrical, furniture and air-con) The Floor Plan Some pictures of my new home BEFORE renovation

hi tommy, i already confirm on taking this ID, even though i can change my mind now, but i will prefer not to... so do help to comment on the present quotation as much as possible.. the measurement will get from the ID soon... thanks

hi applefreak, thanks for your reply... i understand that nothing can be FOC la... but i juz feel comparing my quotation to other forumers, mine seems to be overpriced... this ID is not established yet, so cant say because of branding

Hi Devilaz... I did get more quotes but all varies tremendously. In the end, I decided to take this ID as I know the boss and can trust them to do a good job in workmanship sense and the fact I know who to look for if I experience any problems with the renovation. But, I personally find this quotation a bit on the high side and there are many details not indicated on the quotations and so will like to find out from you guys what are the things I will need to get my ID to include so that there won't be any hidden costs or unhappiness with my friend in the future. What is the price I can bargain for without being disrespectful? That is what I want to know as I already confirm verbally that I will take them up and they have already given me a drawing of the house which I like.

Hi all! I need help with the following quotation. As I only have budget for 30-35k max, what are the things I can "bargain" or remove in order to achieve my budget? My flat is a 4Rm with 107ft2 Priority for us is as follows: 1) Hacking Bedroom 3 Walls linking to Living Area 2) Featured Wardrobe in Master Bedroom 3) Flooring of Living, 2 toilets and 3 Bedrooms 4) False Ceiling in Living Low Priority: Kitchen Also I feel that the quotation is not very complete or detailed... what other things should I ask the ID to add into the quotation? A) Demolition Works 1 Master/Bedrooms 2/3/Study room and Common Toilets 1.1 To remove existing sanitary sets at toilets $120 1.2 To hack 02 bathroom existing flooring $280 1.3 To hack 02 bathroom existing wall $280 Sub Total: $680 2 Living Room/3 Bedroom/Kitchen 2.1 To dismantle existing kitchen cabinet $380 2.2 To hack kitchen existing floor tiles $330 2.3 To hack kitchen existing wall tiles $330 2.4 To hack existing terrazzo for living,dining and Balcony $1200 2.5 To demolish the main master bedroom wall and extend the main door $450 2.6 To demolish the entire kitchen wall FOC 2.7 To demolish wall between bedroom 3 and living room $180 2.8 To dismantle the wall and door between yard and kitchen $180 Sub Total: $3050 B) General Works 1 To remove all electrical points and pipes $200 2 Debris and haulage fees $1200 Sub Total: $1400 C) Wet Works 1 Living Room/3 Bedroom/Kitchen 1.1 To lay new homogeneous floor tiles with waterproofing membrane $1150 1.2 To construct kitchen cabinet base $300 1.3 To construct a washing machine base $80 1.4 To lay 600 x 600 mm polished homogeneous tiles for Living,dining and balcony $3480 1.5 To lay 600 x 600 mm polished homogeneous tiles for 3 bedrooms $3250 Sub Total: $8260 2 Common Toilet 2.1 To re-lay new homogeneous floor tiles with water-proofing membrane $600 2.2 To relay new selected wall tiles $1800 2.3 To construct shower kerb $80 2.4 To supply and install a tempered glass door $650 2.5 To install a fixed glass panel FOC Sub Total: $3130 2 MasterToilet 3.1 To re-lay new homogeneous floor tiles with water-proofing membrane $600 3.2 To lay new wall tiles including wall feature tiles $1800 3.3 To construct shower kerb $80 3.4 Design and build a vanity top with suspended cainet $950 3.5 To supply and install a tempered glass door $650 3.6 To supply and install a shower screen $750 Sub Total: $4830 D) General Works 1 Electrical works including fixing and shifting of new switches & power-points, installation of lighting fittings & 02 TV point -Est $2700 2 Plumber works to install stainless-steel piping for kitchen & 02 -$1350 3 Painting works with sealer coating, including ceiling touch-up bathrooms including installation of 02 bowls,02 sinks,02 shower mixer, kitchen sink $1800 4 For washing and cleaning up the whole house FOC 5 To supply and install a sliding door for balcony $1200 Sub Total: 7050 E) Carpentry Works 1 Kitchen 1.1 Design and build kitchen cabinet in laminated & doors with ABS trimmings $4,300 1.2 Supply and install solid-surface top $1,800 Sub Total: $6100 2 Master-Bedroom/Living 2.1 Design and build 01 wardrobe with laminated finish and open door $3,600 2.2 Design and build 01 mirror panel **** room as feature wall FOC Sub Total: $3600 Grand Total: $38,100 Less Discount: $37,500 Option: 1 Install and supply a 3-system Mitshibishi inverter air-con $2,800 2 Design and build 01 TV feature-wall with suspended TV cabinets in glass panel $2,800 3 Design and build a shoe cabinet (3.5 ft length) $800 --------------------------------------------------------- Personally I noticed the following quotations are missing from what I have discussed with the ID: Required Quotations 1 Design and build false ceiling - Living 2 Featured pillar with wall lights - Living 3 Design and Build 01 Work Top with Day Bed - Bedroom 2 4 Featured area with Otto Mun If include some of the options plus the missing details, I am afraid the quotation will come up to be about 45k, which is way over the budget for us. PLS ADVISE! Thanks!

Hi Bubblepearl, yoiur quote looks very good! i'm looking for a ID now as well... Can pm me ur ID & contacts pls... thanks!

can PM me also the contact and ID info? Thanks!

Air, wow... can i visit your setup??? =P I wanted Opulent Desire, but father opposed strongly to it *SOBS* So will go and see other setup before I decide bah... mine will be this yr Oct

Hey Air, I am also an Intercontinental Bride for Oct 2008. When is yours??

Hi.... my BS is Bridal Veil, www.bridalveil.com I love their range of gowns and mensuits but it is quite ex. $4000++ without photography and car I have narrowed down all the reputable and good AD Photographers in these catogaries. (based on experience and research) PM me and let me know which catogary you will want to find out more. Cat A: $800-$1000 Cat B: $1000-$1500 Cat C: $1500-$2500 Pricing based on standard DVD with prints. Those below $800 honestly do not have any quality ones IMO.

3) Grand Hyatt Hotel There are many ballrooms in Grand Hyatt Hotel. * Appearance Grand Ballroom (6.5/10): Low ceiling and looks quite dull/gloomy. But it is still quite nice. (Sound/lighting system sucks though) The other function rooms/ballrooms are ordinary and average looking (5.5/10) Hibiscous Room (under reno til May 08) is expected to be very beautiful * Price (weekend) ~ $868-$900++ (exclud tax/svc) * Service 7.5/10 Quite prompt during the actual wedding dinner. Nothing outstanding though to highlight. * Food 6/10 Nothing special. Taste alright though some people in my table complain a bit about the food. Conclusion: Reasons to choose Grand Hyatt 1. Location 2. Hibiscus Room (before reno it looks 8/10, hopefully aft reno much better?) My Honest Opinion?? I won't recommend this because it is quite expensive and there is nothing that is particularly outstanding about the hotel. 4) Oriental Mandarin There are a few ballrooms in Oriental Hotel * Appearance The Grand Ballroom is fan-shaped and you may not like the march in effect. (7/10) The other ballrooms are kinda plain and average looking. (6/10) (The pictures in the internet are kinda deceiving actually but it is true the nice themes do push up the rating to 7.5/10) * Price (weekend) ~ $1088++ (exclud tax/svc) * Service 9.5/10 Best in Singapore. * Food 8/10 Heard raves about the food. People are generally positive about their food Conclusion: Reasons to choose Oriental 1. Service 2. Nice Themes 3. If you can afford 4. Food 5. Prestigue My Honest Opinion?? I really love their service. And really wanted to book the place just based on that. but....... ambience is still more impt to me. 5) Marina Mandarin * Appearance (Grand Ballroom) 7.5/10 - Pros: Pillarless, nice set up, good lighting/sound - Cons: Short March in, Low Ceiling * Price (weekend) ~ $958++ (exclud tax/svc) * Service 5.5/10 For such a pretigious hotel, the service is surprisingly lousy. Throughout the night, my drink was not refilled. (half filled, 1/3 filled, and was empty for quite sometime) Hard to get their attention whenever I want something. The waiters are hardly trained to serve properly. * Food 8/10 Despite the mediocre service, the food was good. Conclusion: Reasons to choose Mandarin 1. Food 2. Location 3. If you can afford My Honest Opinion?? For that price, I rather choose Oriental or Intercontinental for better service. Stay Tune for reviews on: - Humble House - One Rochester Park * - Shangri-La - Raffles Hotel - Swissotel - Park Royal Hotel * - Asian Civilization Museum * - Pioneer Springs * - Hilltop Garden * - Ritz Carlton * - Furama Waterfront - Grand Corpor * - Holiday Inn Atrium * - Raffles Town Club * * denoting I have attended the wedding dinner (otherwise reviews are based on visit and hearsay.)

2) Intercontinental Hotel * Appearance 9.5/10 Pros: Big, Pillarless, High Ceiling, Beautiful Chandeliars (Swaroski Crystals), Big Stage.. the Ballroom is gorgeous! Cons: Small Reception, not so impressive front desk area * Price - min30tables for weekday, 32 for weekend... max 40-42tables - weekend price is ~$1040 includ tax/svc - Rating: 6/10 The price is steep with little perks and hotel is relatively unknown to most people despite being a 5-star hotel. * Service (7/10) - We were quite impressed when the wedding coordinator brought us to their nice cafe and we can order anything on the menu for free. (even though we only express interest on the hotel and not even confirm taking up the hotel....for fullerton, we need to pay ourselves..lol) - Cons: The wedding coordinators are very busy, I feel that they are understaffed. Hope they will rectify this problem so that we will have 100% quality service. Now is still alright though. * Food 8/10 Most will say the portion is generous and the food is very good. * Unique features - Four Themes to choose - Easily accessable by MRT (Bugis) Conclusion: Reasons to choose Intercontinental (which we did) 1. The Gorgeous Ballroom 2. Long and Grand March in 3. You are not worried about the cost Frankly speaking, me and my htb literally choose our wedding venue just based on the beautiful and grand ballroom. And once you see the ballroom in real, it is very hard to forget about it unless you really do not have the budget.

Wedding Venues Review by bluedusk 2008 Hi all, the below review and comments are purely my opinion and taste and so you may or may not agree with it. As me and my htb has literally visited all the recommended hotels in Singapore, I feel that I'll be able to give a fairly accurate description and comparison overall. To give you guys a background, I started my wedding venue search with the top priority as "ambience looks good" from pictures from the internet and so those not mentioned below are probably "not good enough" in my opinion. I will also include comments for venues which I have been for actual weddings in 2007 (recent) Let's start with The Fullerton Hotel 1) Fullerton Hotel There are 2 Ballrooms in Fullerton Hotel: Grand Ballroom and the Straits Room * Appearance Grand Ballroom: It is grand, with stairs for march in (if you are into this kind of thing). But overall look is not super fantastic in my opinion. 7/10 Straits Room: A beautiful white room with Colonian/Victorian setting. Has beautiful chandeliars, high ceiling pillarless... perfect for small weddings. 9/10 * Price (weekend) Grand Ballroom's pricing differs from the Straits Room - Grand Ballroom (min 30tables mon-thurs, min40tables sat, min 35 for sun and public holidays): ~$1000/table - Straits Room (min 8tables, max 12 tables): ~$1600+ includ tax&svc - Rating: 7/10 (The price is steep with little perks, but overall it is worth it and you will be guaranteed a pleasant and smooth wedding) * Service 9/10 Fulleton Hotel's service is unquestionable. Every staff is well trained and their service never fail to impress at weddings. (as they dun hire those ah bengs or ah lians part-timers that are untrained) * Food 6/10 Very subjective. Some people says good, others say not so good. But the majority will feel that their food is not very fanstatic. * Unique features - Nice vintage limo for rental - Super nice Bridal Suite (2 storeys) with Bubble Bath - Elegant reception Conclusion: Reasons to choose Fullerton 1. You like to a special march-in via stairs 2. Prestigue is important to you 3. Service is more important than food 4. You are not worried about the cost (esp the Straits Room) 5. You are in love with the gorgeous white setting of the Straits Room

sigh ..stupid market... my 4R Bedok Reservoir View (7 yrs old), 5th floor (nia) and 5mins walking distance to the bus stop (about 2-3 stops to Bedok Interchange) cost us 38K COV. it is live in condition, but..... who doesnt want to reno? i hope reno price will drop.. plsssss