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Dear Readers, Fairly new to RenoTalk as I merely just read and see pictures of other's T-Blogs, therefore decided to also share mine journey with everyone. Had friends and family whom encountered contractors/ID that ran away, ended up their money was cheated. Therefore, we were very careful in selecting our ID by ensuring that they are accredited with CaseTrust/RCMA. This is to prevent our money from dissapearing after hearing all those bad experiences... We wanted a home to display our Lego collection, as well as a cozy home to look forward to coming back everyday after work. As I do some baking as my hobby, i will need an open kitchen concept with lots of space to do my stuffs. Here are some details of my home: Location: Woodlands Type of Unit: HDB 4 Room Floor Size: 93m² Theme: Modern + Contemporary + Scandinavian + 15 Shades of Grey (not 50..) Floor Plan: HDB's Proposed Layout: Our Layout: Original's HDB layout is definitely not the layout i'm looking at as I have quite a number of Lego sets to display. These are some of the pictures/feels that I like when i first sourced for ideas/design/layout Moodboard Like all of you, selection of ID is the great headache of all. We were all hyped out and too excited, therefore started looking for ID as early as 2015-2016 after we booked our flat with HDB. FYI, our home is only going to be ready 2Q 2017. ID Selection 1) 3D I****** D****** - Strike Off Been hearing and seeing aloton them via Radio / Tv (RenoAid) as they are getting popular. Been to their showroom, didn't like the vibes of the company as the ID forgotten my appointment with them. Didn't bother to follow up after that, as they seems "too popular" or busy. 2) W**ken - Strike Off Visited them for fun at Tampines, didn't have much interesting ideas from them. Therefore decided to just drop them, as they are unable to think of anything out of the norm as all the proposed design/layout is what i found online. 3) Ciss**n Interior Design - Strike Off Also another ID that is frequently found at expo shows, quite like the home they did up for local celebrity - Judy, which was displayed at the showroom. Person we spoke to was very aggressive and pushy, therefore got quite turn off as during the point of time we were just looking out and finding out prices only. 4) i-Ch*pter - Strike Off Happen to chance upon them at one Star Living Furniture event, the ID we spoke to was quite knowledgeable and has lots of great, creative ideas. If you are looking for great ideas, you can look for him. We didn't select him because the company only offer 1 year warranty and the package is not enticing enough, furthermore hekeep calling me the wrong name ever since day 1. 5) Sk* Cr****** / Mus*e - Strike Off For those that visited the Musee Interior Design Resource Library would definitely come know them, as they are partners with Musee. It's an eye opener for a newbie like me to know about all about renovation and planning for my home, for those wanting to gain some knowledge can go visit them. We didn't eventually chose them because we felt that they want a share in every bit of every business, which makes them too "messy" and not specializing in what they are supposing to do. 6) U**** ID - Strike Off As the raves of the famous K** and Sa***** goes, we decided to also make an appointment with them to find out how good they are. On the 2nd meetup, you can tell that they are very sincere and serious in getting your business. They even do up a mood board and 3D for you to visualize, idont think i have come across any other ID that does this so far. Pretty amaze by what they can do to make you feel pressured. Their ideas are so-so in my opinion, quotation was super over-priced for the amount of work done. Furthermore, every hinges/drawer track provided were not even Excel or Blum. Didn't proceed with them as they only willing to offer 1 year warranty for that overprice quotation. 7) Rezt and Relax - [Selected] Always noticed their expo exhibition, visited them and quite like the vibes of their showroom/style. Made appointment with senior designer JJ and after a few meetup, we feel that the price is slightly on the high side. However, we were made to believe that it was because of the lifetime warranty. We decided to go with them as they are the only ID that offers lifetime warranty and is also backed by CaseTrust 8) Abs*l**k I******* D***** Saw alot of Facebook ads on this company, made appointment with them to just kaypoh kaypoh. The ideas and quotation were quite reasonable, we even manage to negotiate to a 5 years warranty coverage and free upgrade to blum for everything. The quotation were within our budget and best of all, it includes hacking of the 2nd Bedroom to cater my walk in wardrobe! However, we eventually didn't proceed with them because we have signed with R&R. Appliance/Equipment List: [Fridge, Aircon, Washing Machine, Heater, Basin] - Fridge: LG Door-in-Door Refrigerator 601L GS-J6011SB - AirCon: LG Artcool System 4 Mitsubishi Starmex System 4 5Ticks - Washer/Dryer: 12/8kg Inverter Direct Drive 6 Motion Front Loader WD1628RDS - Joven5035L Green Storage Heater: JH5035HE - Kitchen Basin: Blanco Metra 9 + Mida Sink MIxer [Hob, Hood, Oven, Microwave] - Hob/Hood: Brandt AT1490X + TG308XC1 + TI1000B package - Oven: Brandt 60cm Built-in Pyrolytic Oven FP1067XS - Microwave: Brandt 900w Built-in Microwave ME1030X i'm abit OCD and like things to be consistent, clean and neat. Therefore it has to be of the same brand/series... [Bathroom] - Rain Shower: Grohe Cosmopolitan 200 (Common) + Grohe Euphoria 180 (Master) - Basin Taps: Krisroz 43011C (Common) + Krizros KS35001 High Body (Master) - Toilet Bowl: American Standard AMS 2307 Acacia E Vortex - Bidet Spray: TBA - Accessories: TBA list to be updated, still looking around. Should be getting Grohe Rainshower and other stuffs... any recommendation? [Misc] - Eubiq Powertrack System - Evorich Flooring - Accessories: TBA - Deco Items: TBA Can you believe that we actually place deposit for Evorich Flooring back in early 2016, even way before anything else. We quite like the flexibility of Eubiq in the house (especially the kitchen), therefore we also went ahead to purchase the powertrack system and manage to negotiate a good deal to get additional stuffs. In the next post, will be posting details of the discussion of my 3D and pictures will be attached.

Hi , Im Michelle (Im using my fren account cos Im lazy to sign up a new account so nvm at here im calling Kelly ) Anyone this is our first home , and actually already finish renovation about 1 years ,now already free to do a write up .. hope write at here can be my good memory and records this 4 room bto is from 2014 Jan and when I take the key is at 2017 June and this home is design by me and my husband ( he is designer , and im 3d visualizer ) so design is me and him do together and taobao is I go choose all the things then he is doing jobsite manage July 2017 Start work and after September 2017 We already move in ... below is our home layout plan

Hello everyone~ After 3 long years, been through times living with both of ours parents, renting apartment overseas, Hubby and I finally bought our first home in Singapore! We've decided to go for resale instead of BTO because we do not wanna wait any longer, and we're very particular about location. Prefer walking distance to the MRT, have good variety of eateries, supermarkets etc.. And we're really happy and lucky that we manage to get one within our budget.. Here I will share my reno journey with you.. ID HUNTING Like many homeowners, we went through the tiring ID hunting process as well.. Especially when the cost of renovation works for resale flat seems to be higher than BTO, we want to ensure we don't bomb too much money into it. After all what we really want is just a cozy home, not a showroom. We asked around for friends and relative recommendation, before arranging for them to meet up and discuss the details, then follow by waiting for quotations and layout drawings (some didn't provide eventhough we specifically asked for it). ------------------------------------------- Initially we loved the 1st ID we met, Mr C. He is highly recommended by one of our good friend.. A honest looking man, not those sales man type. We saw his work in real life at our friend's place and its really good.. He gives us a lot of ideas during the meet up, hand draw really well, provided us with some knowledge.. but once his quotation is out, we were really disappointed because he is too expensive (GST company). So no choice but had to drop him. -------------------------------------------- Mr I. Very slow respond. Met up with him and he keep picking up calls in between our discussion. Quotation take forever to send us, no drawing. Price wise.. consider reasonable. But very turn off with the slow and bo chup attitude, so immediately out from my list. ------------------------------------------- Mr Z. He have some difficulty in trying to understand the concept I want for our house during the discussion. No ideas were generated at all during the meet up, he is basically just listening to what we want. His company is relatively new.. But he seems really passionate about his job, fast respond through whatsapp, and he also promise us he will give us a very good price. I asked him to give a rough figure on our renovation works, he said 30k. Turn out his quotation is alot more than the 30k he mentioned, but still is the lowest among the rest. So we continue with the details, but we later on found out that he missed out quite a number of details and then ended up adding a lot of money. He wasn't very apologetic about it too, we were quite sian with the keep-increasing-final-price. But he keep insisting that his price is very reasonable, and keep guilt trip us telling us he had to "bare" some of our cost as his contractor is charging him but he did not charge to us. -.-" Then there were also some miscommunication later on when we try to suggest some ideas to help save cost, he not only did not help, he also just turn my idea down and tell me that he had NEVER seen others do it like that before. I was quite affected, cos I thought the reasons we hire a ID is so that they can "customize" base on individual client's need? Many times I feel he just brush my questions off without actually answering the question. I can feel his eagerness to get our "sales" at that point.. but no.. I know I needed someone who can "solve my problems" and not one who just avoid them. So even though we went through so much time to "correct" his quotation, clarify details and take measurement already, we decided to hold him and continue searching..and eventually we did not sign him in the end. ---------------------------------------------------- We emailed a few other IDs after that to get quotation (without meeting up yet), and nothing really stands out.. so we went back to Dennis, who we feel is consider one of the best so far for us in terms of communication.. which we feel is the most important criteria in selecting a ID..especially for your 1st renovation. --------------------------------------------------- Dennis was introduced by my Husband's colleague. We approached him 1 day before CNY by email (at that time we were leaning towards Mr Z and did not really give him a fair chance). He asked us to send him our requirements details through email and say that he will send us his quotation asap. We were expecting to wait until after CNY for his quotation, and also expected to have a lot of missing details in his quotation since he is the only one who did not meet up with us for discussion..even those that meet up with us also miss out certain things on their quotation.. But not only he send us a very comprehensive quotation on the following day, he also send us a layout drawing to ensure his understanding of the requirements tally with ours. We were impressed by his prompt action and response, and his good understanding of what we want. But we were too blind folded by Mr Z at that time that we rejected his offer at first.. He gracefully wish us good luck on our renovation. After we decided that Mr Z may not be the best ID for us, we went back to Dennis and ask him out for discussion. Told him we want to give him a fair chance before making the final decision.. We invited him up to the house to take detailed measurements, and requested him to give us a more accurate quotation after that. He provided us with a number of cost-saving ideas (on his own without me asking) on site, telling us what can/cannot be done. He is also frank in telling me what are the additional cost going to be incurred which he cannot quote me yet as it depends on how much work needed to be done (electric works, boxing up of pipes, installation of gas pipe, connection of gas stove which will be reflected in PUB bill). And he again send his revised quotation to us in the next 2 days or so, and then patiently amended the quotation again and again as per our request because we are very "kiasi" want every details to be written black and white lol.. We went down to his show room to view samples, and eventually after tons of questions, we decided to sign the contract with him.. Both hubby and me feel very comfortable with him, as he always answer our (sometimes stupid) questions professionally. He also help to give suggestion when I cannot decide and then tell me why he suggest this and that (which often are quite convincing and reasonable). There are also times when we have different opinions, but he is also respectful enough to accept my point of view and doesn't make me feel bad about it. Fingers cross everything will work out well in the end...

Hi everyone!! Finally decided to start a t-blog after reading so much from Renotalk for the past 2 months! We only started planning for our renovation after we got our key in June 2014. Didnt realise that it really takes a lot of time and effort to plan for a reno and I strongly advise anyone who have not started planning to start at least 2-3 months before the key collection. We started off by deciding on the theme for our house. We browsed through many home design pictures on the internet which are of modern minimalist, scandinavian, industrial theme etc. They all look nice but none of the pics made us feel like.. OK! This is it! .... Therefore, we spent quite some time deciding on our theme. There were many changes to our initial ideas, themes and concepts along the way before we finally settled on Greek(Santorini) inspired beach theme. WX (my fiance) and I both fell in love with Greece after we had our holiday there in Dec 2013. I have always love the beach, the sea, etc... and WX proposed to me on a beach in Green Island, Cairns... so we both feel that a Greek-inspired beach home has a special meaning for both of us. There are also other reasons for choosing this theme, such as WX likes blue and I like green, and since we will be living together, our place will comprise of blue-green (turquoise), which also fits in our Greek inspired beach theme. Also, I love to have wooden furniture in the house and so beach theme is a good choice for us! In short, when this idea of Greek inspired beach theme came to our mind, both of us got very excited and we knew that Ok! This is it! This is the theme that we are looking for.

To start off, we have come a long way since getting ROMed in February 2013, my spouse applying for PR in April 2013, held our Customary Wedding in KL and then a dinner in Singapore for my family and friends during August - September 2013 and finally, PR approved in November 2013. We started looking out for resale 4-Rm HDB around Punggol/Sengkang area initially during October 2013 but unfortunately, our budget does not allow us to do so. In the end, we settled for a resale 4A HDB in Woodlands/Admiralty (near 888 Plaza) during November 2013 which is within our budget and considering the fact that there will be future developments that might increase the estate's value. Upon completion in February 2014, we went in search for our ID. To our dismay, none of them fits the bill within our budget and comfort. Our main concern is our renovation loan. Finally in April 2014, our renovation loan got approved! We confirmed our ID and gave the green light to start our renovation immediately. We believes in a Chinese sayings "Man Gong Chu Xi Huo" which means something like slow and steady works produce good workmanship. Thus, we told our ID that we are in no hurry to move in as we can still live off my mum. LOL! Below is my Floor Plan. Our Renovation works:- Living Room Hack Floor Tiles Lay Homogeneous tiles Construct TV feature wall Construct L-BoxDining Room Hack Floor tiles Lay Homogeneous Floor Tiles Construct Dining Mirror with feature wall and lights Construct False CeilingKitchen Hack Floor Tiles and concrete cabinets/ Dismantle Built in Cabinets Lay Homogeneous Floor Tiles Plastering over Wall Tiles Construct Built in Kitchen Cabinet and Island Install Glass panel backing in between Kitchen Cabinets / accessories Hack Kitchen/Dining Wall and construct full height Sliding Glass Door Construct Fridge base Common Toilet Seal Opening to Kitchen and hack toilet wall to recreate new opening to Service Yard Hack Floor/Wall Tiles/Old Toilet bowl & Basin Lay Floor and Wall Tiles Install Toilet Bowl/ Basin / AccessoriesService Yard Hack Floor Tiles Lay Floor Tiles Construct Washer cement baseMaster Bedroom Overlay HERF Flooring / Dismantle Wardrobe & Storage under Window Construct Built in Wardrobe 6 Ft Construct Study Table Construct Storage under window Construct L-BoxMaster Bedroom Toilet Hack Wall and Floor Tiles / Old Toilet bowl / old Vanity Lay Homogeneous Floor and Wall Tiles Construct Vanity with mirror and lights Install Toilet bowl, basin, accessoriesCommon Bedroom 1 Overlay HERF FlooringCommon Bedroom 2 Overlay HERF FlooringStoreroom Hack Floor Tiles Lay Homogeneous Floor TilesThis is the proposed Layout less out the shoe cabinet due to our budget.

We will be collecting our keys to our EM on 25th April 2013, so we thought this might be the best time to start our t-blog to provide a bit of background to our home purchase; Granted HDB (private was out of the question for us) has a few options through which we can buy houses, mainly the BTO, SBF and resale schemes. We were getting married in Jan 2013 and our search for a house was only beginning in Sept 2012, so the earlier we got a house to call our own, the better. As such, our best bet was either the SBF or resale. Of course there was the EC but small space for a high cost pitch really wasn't too attractive to house. My mentality when the house search began was, "Anything also can la; Near MRT, not near MRT also can." I was just excited at the thought of getting a place! Any place would have been exciting to me. But my husband had a very very specific criteria; He wanted an EM. Spaciousness offered by the EM was very attractive to him (Jumbo was just too big for 2 people and thank God we agreed on that) so with all his hopes pinned on getting an EM, we applied for the Sept 2012 SBF. We went for Woodlands because both of us grew up here and were very comfortable with the place but by the end of the exercise, we were disheartened with the final ratio ( 21 flats, out of which 1 was an EM and 6 other were immediately available with the rest ready 2013 onwards, and almost 500 applications) I even started looking for resale flats immediately after the final tally was out because it looked like we had a very high chance of not getting an immediately available flat, much less an EM. Resale was just too expensive and we silently kept hoping we would get a number at least within 100 so we might just be able to get our hands on 1 of the 21 flats. Results day drew near and I finally got a call from my husband-to-be then and I only remember hearing a soft panting amidst which i heard him keep repeating, "oh my gosh, i can't believe it, guess our number" And so I said, "Ok wow, 30??(Or something like that)" It was a number less than 2. From that day, we were faced with a different kind of dilemma; Which flat to choose?! To my husband it was very straightforward; the EM and nothing but the EM whereas I was very convinced it was anything but the EM for the reason that I found it just too big for us (and we all know who does the cleaning in the end). What followed were days of reasoning on why the EM, why not the EM until finally, yes it was the EM. Another blessing since our search for a house began was that our first appointment was a scheduled for a day immediately after a day we returned from our wedding. Talk about the perfect wedding gift If selecting the house was a problem, finding a contractor/ID was just as much of a headache. But of course, we had been following Renotalk dutifully from Sept last year so the comments and recommendations for IDs/contractors really helped. After speaking with a lot of them, we decided to give Mr Yeak, once again highly recommended by Renotalk forumers from what I understand, a call although we heard it's very difficult to get him. I am happy to say that it has been a wonderful experience so far speaking with him so long story short, we will be engaging him as our contractor for the renovation of our home. I must add that a super long starting post is no indication of future post lengths I will update more once we get pictures of our place (actually got already la from first viewing but we shall try to take prettier ones after getting the keys next week) It has been a truly blessed journey so far and we hope to have an equally smooth reno journey or at least take the hiccups in our stride Last but not least, here's the floor plan! Ok nvm; It was clearly too ambitious of me to think I could upload a floor plan with my first attempt at creating a t-blog I'll figure this out and share it with y'all soon! Thanks for reading and peace out!

*Please note that owners are living in the house and due to religion, no beef to be consumed in the house* We are a young decent Chinese couple (Legal Secretary in a law firm / Senior Accounts Exec) owners looking to rent out 2 of our common rooms to eligible tenants. The house is currently under renovation till end of May. (Earliest move in date is 13 June) BLOCK 614 WOODLANDS AVE 4 Details are as follows:- - Newly renovated / very Modern design - Aircon - Viewqwest Fiber Broadband (Internet) - Light cooking is allowed if you can maintain cleanliness - Non-smoker only / Or smoke outside the house - High Floor - Single or Queen size bed + Wardrobe + Choice of Study table or Makeup table - 10 to 15 mins walking distance to Admiralty MRT or 3 bus-stops away from Woodlands Causeway Point/ Woodlands Civic Plaza - 5 mins walking distance from 888 Plaza (Food / amendities) - 3 bus stops away from Woodlands Sports Hall & Woodlands Community Club (Swimming / Gym / etc) - A small Mandai Tekong Park is just across the road - Library is available in Woodlands Civic Plaza - Rental period : min. Six months to 1 year - Neat & Clean people only Single Rental $750/mth per room (female preferred) *Slightly Negotiable* Min. 1 month Deposit + 1st month rental (usual practice) *NO AGENT FEES*

Selling my hdb as below: Area: 114 SM (5 room design plus) Floor: 10 of 12 Walking distance to Admiralty MRT Corner unit,Unblock and windy unit with fantastic view.Near wet market,childcares and schoolsMove in condition Come with simple renovation,aircon etc Asking : $510K (Negotiable) Only direct buyer will be entertain. Alan 96551206 __________________

Hi all, I have a commercial unit at Primz @ Woodlands for sale. 1260+ sqft, 60 year lease. Perfect location for commerical usage. I'm not a agent. I own this unit. Please PM me if you are keen

~5 Mins To Admiralty MRT ~Near Amenities (Giant Express Supermarket, Prime Supermarket, UOB Bank, MacDonalds, KFC, FoodCourt, 24 Hours CoffeeShop & etc) ~Big Spacious Room ~Fully Furnished ~With Aircon ~Utilities Included ~Friendly Chinese Landlord ~Move In 1st July 1 Pax $650 / 2 Pax Or Couple $750 Call Landlord Cindy @ 91448099 For Viewing Now!