Ideal House Id

[kovankitty 0]

Hi

My hubby and I just went to Ideal House to request for a quotation for our (coming) new 5-rm HDB flat.

We received the quotation in about 3 days, but I was really surprised that on my quotation, it was stated

that carpentry works only carry 1 year warranty, compared to masonry and tiling works which carry 5 years

warranty.

Is this typical of Ideal House? So far all the ID companies we went to gave either 2 years or 5 years warranty

for ALL works.

Past clients of Ideal House who have done reno with them a few years back, how is their workmanship of their

carpentry now? Am just concerned with the 1 year warranty given on carpentry. Otherwise I personally feel ok

and comfortable with them.

Appreciate your advice. Thanks!

[Starrain 4]

Hi all, just to share my terrible experience with ideal house and to rant it out a little. After reading thru the threads, I called Ideal to look for Mr K. Peter Tan answered and told me that Mr K is not around.I checked out Peter in this forum and read that he is not bad even tho he is not in the top list like steven and Mr k. In the end I decided to meetup with him. He asked me to go down to his office to meet him.

Hubby and I drove all the way to serangoon. Upon meeting him, I showed him our floor plan. We wanted to do up our newly toped penthouse unit. We can feel his disappointment when he knew that ours is a new project as he commented that for new projects most of the things are already done up. We just need to do some carpentry. When we are discussing, he looked totally UNINTERESTED. Both me and hubby felt awkward. He asked if we wanted to do the store racks and wood decking for our roof and balcony, we told him we have direct contacts for these already. He looked pissed, but admitted that going direct is definitely cheaper. To us, these are things that not worth asking an ID to take over.

All we wanted to do is capentry, whole house false ceilings and repainting, We wanted alot of carpentry to be done. We even have our ideas ready, he don't even need to crack his head for ideas. All we want is a quotation and maybe some advise if our ideas are ok. Before he even proceeded, he asked us for our budget for a particular room, the study room. Both of us were stunned. Honestly speaking, since we bought an expensive penthouse, we wanted the everything the best and DO NOT want to compromise quality with cost. On the other hand, we do not want to be chop carrots. We didn't answer his question immediately becos budget is not a concern for us at all and as layman, we obviously do not have the technical-know-how to state our budget for a particular room. Reno cost is never a concern as we have ready cash from sale of another property at a huge profit.

While we were still pondering how to answer Peter's question on budget for our study room, Peter stood up and said he would ask someone else to handle the reno for us instead and he walked out of the firm leaving us behind feeling so awkward. 3 mins later, he returned and said no one was around to help me. He gave me sean and steven's namecard and asked us to go to them. I requested for Mr K, he said that Mr k is like him, very busy and not cheap, he said the other ids are cheaper and suggested that we go to them. We felt so insulted. They are all under the same company, shouldn't pricing policy be equal? We were quite nice thru out despite his hostility. He went on to elaborate that in Ideal House, different designers had different working styles. Ermm...what did he mean by that? I supposed he meant that some designers are not as "famous", will take up any client and will fight for lower pricings for them; on the other hand, some designers think they are "big shots", only work for high-rolling clients, and will chop them like carrots. It seems to me that Peter belongs to the latter category.

He also added that he was very busy with many other clients and had to rush some work. Well, in that case, why did he arrange to meet us in the first place? He made us went all the way to his office, to speak to him for less than 10 mins, and then he started to "brush us away". As customers, our time is definitely more precious than his. May I sarcastically suggest that he should have asked customers for their reno budget over the phone before deciding whether to meet them, instead of wasting customers' time?

We felt that we were being "shoved out" of the firm. We were so pissed. How can a service industry do this to their customers? I went down to intradsign to meet Irene after that, she is more sincere and they have a proper pricing system. I do not want to be carrots to those unethical id firms like ideal design.

Wow. What an experience with the big shot! Thanks for sharing!

[jaglim 0]

Frankly,this is a one-sided story.

I read many good review of this company before i approach them. True enough, i find the ID i talked to, very sincere.

I am not judging anyone here. Just my experience.

Wow. What an experience with the big shot! Thanks for sharing!

[Sewoyt 0]

What is the full name of Mr K?

[laosu 0]

Hi,

I am a newbie here. Any advice on what I should look out for when asking for quotation? And how do I know if I should engage a particular ID?

Besides that, anyone who had engaged Ideal House ID and had positive experience with them, PM me your IDs contact?

Thanks alot in advance!

[jaglim 0]

There is no fast and right rules how to engage an ID. Recommendation and checking on their track records are probably your best bet.

before you request for a quotation, do ensure:-

* have your floor plan

* know your budget (that include Renovation, Electrical, Furniture, Accessories, etc)

* know what you want (include your theme and idea)

* Have patience as you should do some leg work like getting quote from at least 2 companies. Let them propose their design concept as it may open up some new ideas what you can do with your unit.

* last but not least, lots of luck!

[cervantesian 0]

Hi, has anyone signed up with ideal house recently? Like to check if their offer of free kitchen cabinet plus air con is still valid, or 1 item only? Thanks.

Edited April 13, 2013 by cervantesian

[heavy 0]

Is there such a deal?

IMO, all gimmicks are one way or another extracted from the quote. This applies to all ID firms. The best way is to get a set of competitive pricing from a good track record ID.

[macroguy 0]

Hi, anyone had their house done by ID Sean? Care to share your exp with Sean?

Just met with him recently, a nice chap and friendly. Have quite good idea on space planning, and seems quite experience. Waiting for his requote, hope it will be a good one which he promise to give us surprise. haha

Agree with Angteko that Sean Wong is nice & friendly. I just engaged him to be my IDeal-House ID last Sat (27 Apr). Because he could accommodate my modest project into his schedule, he brought me to choose tiles / toilet / kitchen accessories the next day, and actually started work on 30 Apr (Tue). So far, he has been able to design from the owners' perspectives with regards to design & cost. But it remains to be seen how the project will materialise over the next two weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed.

As I bought a 5 room resale flat that is 5 years old, the previous owners living room and general condition is ok. I'm just over-hauling the two toilets that were in original HDB condition, and some carpentry / minor works in the master bedroom & kitchen respectively. Overall, they quoted me S$15k (inclusive of the annoying GST).

Posting some pictures:

Original Master Toilet:

Edited May 5, 2013 by macroguy

[macroguy 0]

Original Common toilet:

3D Master Toilet:

3D Common Toilet

[monk8 1]

3D Master Toilet:

3D Common Toilet

very sleek looking bathrooms you have there...

[lucylee 0]

Hi, Just like to share my experiences with our ID from Ideal House, Kevin Yap. It has been a very pleasant renovation journey with him thus far. Myself and hubby have only praises for him, responsible and accommodating to our fickle mindedness, especially me. He is always responsive to my calls and queries and has been very patient with my ignorance pertaining to renovation matters.

My house is still under renovation, due for completion in early March due to CNY. Will keep posting.

[tayasn 0]

Hi friends, have joined RT for a while but have been a silent reader. Decided to post my first post, collecting keys to my house this Jan 14! Excited! Have been reading up on various IDs, came upon this thread. I contacted them via their website, was contacted by this guy Daniel Wong from Ideal House. Has anyone got any feedback about him yet?

[lucylee 0]

Hi everyone

Just a little update on my renovation journey. It is almost 40% complete, I think. Everything is going smoothly, no major hiccups, just some minor changes here and there. There is a little miscommunication pertaining to the toilets but Kevin is quick to make rectifications to our satisfaction. Throughout the entire process, Kevin has been most responsible and highlighting to us the pros and cons if we were to opt for either choice 1 or choice 2.

I must also add that his team of workers are a great bunch of people too, meticulous in their work. We are happy with their workmanship. So far, no complaints. Due to work commitments, I have no time to start a reno blog and as I am not so tech-savvy, uploading photos become a huge chore for me.

Will try to post some photos once I figured how.

[taiwee7 2]

Any kind soul can pm or email me Mr.K contact?

Email: taiwee7@hotmail.com

Thanks a million!