Mrs Yu

Well, I supposed one very very satisfied home owner who never got such good service from an ID - One who seldom goes into forums like this one. Thank you for your comment. I am really not bothered with nicknames here but just wanted to share my testimony and recommendation. Didn't expect to get so many comments from my postings but it's an learning process for me too.

Hi, Actually I was about to logout when I saw your message. Thank you for sharing your experience. I am happy that you also had a very satisfying reno experience. I supposed each reno is unique by itself so the cost element is really very subjective and cost may vary with time and requirements. In our case, besides the wood work for our specially designed library, rooms and kitchen, we also invested on special materials to soundproof the audio-visual room cum library so as not to disturb our immediate neighbours. There were also the reconstruction of several room walls and repositioning bathroom facing. As for our friend, there were nothing extraordinary about her reno except that she just left it to her ID to decide for her because he is from a renowned branded firm. She is quite brand conscious but regretted not using our ID after her bad experience. I don't care if people laugh at me for using my real name because I just want to share our very satisfying experience. As for pictures, I am only good at texting but not with the other IT stuff like put in pictures, images and funny faces. That is why I suggest actual viewing or ask my ID. Anyway, I am leaving this forum soon to get on with life.

Thank you for your kind note. Of course I can only talk about this one ID because I only had this one big renovation with such superb service from him. My friend who took our recommendation had a smaller renovation done by him (around same time as us) but had equally superb service from him so I am simply overwhelmed with his service. I only know how to do simple text in this forum but don't know how to put in pictures, images and those funny faces. Not IT savvy at all but do love to write. I did text my before and after reno on the other thread so you can check it out over there. That's the best I can do. Sorry to have bored all of you. I will be off this thread so I thank everyone for being so accommodating to hear me out.

I supposed that you can never be 100% sure. You just need to test your luck and learn from the experience. All the best to you! Our experience is only with this one ID so I cannot comment on the rest but can only vouch for this one One other reason why I can't share pictures or images on this forum is because I don't know how these things working on the computer. I don't know even how to get all those funny face pictures in here. My IT standard is limited to typing text only so I can only tell about the before and after reno in text form which I did on one of the threads. I thank everyone for their understanding and for hearing me out as I will not be on this thread after this message.

I know that it is every ID's dream to secure such a job but it is really about the quality and personalized service here rather than the cost. You can pay a lot for a reno but yet not get your two cents worth and experience much pain. Would you not want to tell other home owners about your great reno experience? I am actually overwhelmed with his meticulous service. My friend paid her ID about $70K to do her reno ( No major hacking done, kitchen cabinets and wardrobes not included). Much smaller flat than ours. Supposed to be an ID from a renowned branded firm but she seldom saw him at the work site and the ID not very committed nor patient with her after securing the job. he just left the job to his sub-contractors. Outdated work schedule, no constant update on progress, several jobs were incorrectly done, and the project did not even complete on time. In all, she paid as much us did but more for the Branding and got much less work done for her money's worth and having to bear much pain as well. Imagine having such an bad experience! In our case, we were careful to choose the right ID for the job. It is not about the cost because we are able to clearly justify the cost for every detailed work items done to ensure that we were not over-cost. Our work requirements were not the normal average type that most ID handles. The extensiveness of work justified the cost. We needed a very experienced ID who can handle large and semi large dwellings to be able to appreciate our unique requirements We visited several IDs with our specification but not happy with their approach. Most quotes were rather vaguely itemized as well. When we met Peter, he carefully explain to us on what can be done, what cannot, explain why and gave us several design alternatives to meet our requirements. Each time our family met him to discuss about the reno, he would come up with fresh ideas to enhance the design. This is what makes him different from the rest of the IDs and we knew that he knows his stuff and experienced enough in handling our case effectively. Most IDs would just secure the job first and talk later( like our friend's) but Peter cared enough to provide us with the best information even before we committed. No regrets to have chosen him as our ID as he lead our reno project efficiently and even help pro-actively iron out the difficult hurdles that we faced along the way. His is a personalized service with a difference.

We saw the advertisement in May/June 2007 period and checked it out. We started our reno in Aug 2007. They might have stop advertising after that. U can always ask Kenneth when he stopped advertising. Why all this talk back and doubt when we only wanted to share our experience here. We would have posted on this forum months ago had we knew about this forum earlier. Forums are for information sharing and not for debates. I am just overwhelmed about our reno experiences and really want to thank our ID for sharing his wisdom and the superb service. I am not praising my ID but just stating the deserving facts because it is not easy to find someone like that. Genuine home owners has the right to know and judge for themselves which ID to choose. How would they know if the word never got around that Ideal House has a newbie who is actually superb, diligent and very experienced? It is through the testimony of us home owners of course. Imagine that all this while nobody knew about our ID and didn't bothered to test him out. What a waste?? We did and were very glad that we had him to take care of our reno. It really made a great difference to us to have someone whom we can truly rely on to diligently check on the work quality and supervise through the whole renovation process. Yes, we did many ad-hoc spot checks on the works during our reno as we are really fussy. That's why we knew we got a no-nonsense gem ID.

Sorry, I am really offended. You don't need to engage my ID just to view my house. You just need to visit him to ask for the viewing before deciding to engage him if you want to look at the design and workmanship. Don't most people prefer that! I would prefer to see the workmanship personally for myself if I am picky about standards instead of just looking at still photographs. In fact, my hubby and I spent quite a lot of time looking for the right ID for our extensive home renovation but were not impressed with just still photographs alone. We actually interview our ID to learn more about him and his reno experiences before engaging him. Maybe a little extreme but that is our style. Anyway, the reno quote is non-obligatory so what is your problem!

Actual viewing is better! I don't believe in sharing my home pictures on-line for other IDs to copy the designs as I happened to know of some unethical IDs may use the pictures to claim as their job when they show their potential customers. I am only interested to share with genuine home owners about my experience. If a genuine home owner is really interested, they just need to check with my ID to find out more since they are looking for a suitable ID anyway. I told my ID that he is welcome to let his potential customers view our flat by appointment. Interested, just check him out!

Ours is a 20 year old multi-generation flat and very run down. The previous owner had kitchen cabinets with built-in concrete structure and wooden doors. The cost included quite extensive hacking of walls and built-in carpentry work and cabinets using quality wood. We also bought over the access balcony from HDB so the front door had to be reconstructed. We wanted a dream home and specially designed rooms for our comfort but totally unhappy with the original design. We changed the entire internal structure to suit our own needs. Changed all the internal wiring and pipes with the best materials. Replaced almost all our flooring. It was not easy for our ID to accommodate us because we changed our minds many times about the interior design and room structure and asked for redraft new floor plans and drawings. Our ID was very patient to accommodate us and very flexible in redrafting our work schedule with each change. Every item on our quote were clearly accounted for so we know the actual cost of every addition and subtraction so we are very clear on the cost element. Our ID did a great job and it was worth every cent. We are very happy with the results as the project was well-supervised and completed on time with no major issues. Interior changes: Original - 3 bedrooms, one studio with kitchenette, kitchen, living room and dining room Current - 4 bedrooms (3 with attached bathrooms), 1 audio-visual room cum library, kitchen, living room, dining room. work area, service area with bathroom access, balcony area and walkway. Our flat still look very spacious.

Our ID's designs are quite special. It is worth the time to paying him a visit to view the photographs of our completed flat for your renovation needs. Of course I am proud of my newly renovated flat but you can make an appointment with our ID to view the photographs of the completed work if you are interested.

Don't know about your neighbour's situation with that ID We have made a number of enquiries with several IDs before deciding on our choice of ID. Most quotes provided were lump sum and vaguely with itemized. One of our friends chose an ID from a renowned superbrand firm and end up paying more for her reno. Because the quote was vaguely itemized, she was unable to verify the actual refund due. We chose Peter because he was honest with his quote and itemizes every item in detail. We did not face any issue on short refund when we decided to cancel some of the items along the way because each items were clearly stated. So it is good to choose an ID with such honesty and clarity. Of course, you have to give reasonable cancellation notice and before the materials are ordered and committed. Otherwise they will be doing a "loss" job as it is hard to find someone else to take over the material ordered.

You can ask for Peter Tan of Ideal House. He was our ID and did a great job to our multi-generation flat. Very reliable, honest and trustworthy. No hidden cost and he will see through the whole renovation project meticulously. We are happy with his design works, ideas and his superb service. I would say an experienced class ID and contractor with the patience and caring touch.

Standard packages are more reasonable but limited choice of materials. Our ID (Peter Tan from Ideal House - mobile 93216453) gave us itemized quotation and we can choose to add or subtract the items to suit our budget. He is honest with the quote (no hidden costs) and experienced enough to be able to suggest alternatives to help you save cost if you have a tight budget. You may have to compromise on some of the renovation works if you want to keep within your budget. Why not try him?

Hi Mei Ling, I am also a newbie and we got Peter Tan of Ideal House (93216453) to do our renovation. He did some drawings for us before we signed. This guy is experienced in home design, reliable, honest and a diligent project manager as well. Just need to tell him specifically what you want. He will give creative ideas to enhance your design if you are opened to suggestions. We are very pleased with his work and glad to recommend him.

I recommend Peter Tan. Though new to Ideal House, he is very experienced and has flair for good home designs. Great as a project manager as he will meticulously see through your whole renovation process. You can trust him. There were no hidden cost in his quote and I like also his honesty and pro-activeness.