ezyryder 0 Report post Posted April 26, 2008 Hi all, I'm getting a resale 5rm flat and it's around 12 years old. Got a few questions to ask... 1) Is it advisable not to do any floor/wall hacking and juz overlay the existing tiles with homogeneous/ceramic for the living/dining and kitchen? Will there be any complications in future? Our reason to do this is to save cost due to our tight budget. 2) Is it necessary to do re-wiring for the whole house considering the flat is already more than 10 years old? Was quoted >$2k to re-wire the whole house. Is it cost effective? 3) Comparing copper to stainless steel, which one has better quality? Are there any grades to stainless steel? If yes, what type of s/s grade highly recommended? How much is the cost? 4) For reasonable homogeneous and wall tiles, what is the price range? Was told that under reno package, the homo tiles cost around $2.40psf. Is this considered as mid-range or hi-range tiles? Any particular brands to recommend for homo tiles? 5) Thinking of laying laminates to our bedrooms. But there are a lot brands to choose from. Any recommended laminates? And what should I look for when selecting laminates? Pls help... Thanks in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
delirious_jeff 0 Report post Posted April 26, 2008 (edited) Hi all, I'm getting a resale 5rm flat and it's around 12 years old. Got a few questions to ask... 1) Is it advisable not to do any floor/wall hacking and juz overlay the existing tiles with homogeneous/ceramic for the living/dining and kitchen? Will there be any complications in future? Our reason to do this is to save cost due to our tight budget. 2) Is it necessary to do re-wiring for the whole house considering the flat is already more than 10 years old? Was quoted >$2k to re-wire the whole house. Is it cost effective? 3) Comparing copper to stainless steel, which one has better quality? Are there any grades to stainless steel? If yes, what type of s/s grade highly recommended? How much is the cost? 4) For reasonable homogeneous and wall tiles, what is the price range? Was told that under reno package, the homo tiles cost around $2.40psf. Is this considered as mid-range or hi-range tiles? Any particular brands to recommend for homo tiles? 5) Thinking of laying laminates to our bedrooms. But there are a lot brands to choose from. Any recommended laminates? And what should I look for when selecting laminates? Pls help... Thanks in advance. 1) Yes, there will be complication. The top tiles may crack in the future. They are like a ticking time-bomb. You won't know when they will just give way. I think it is better to hack existing and re-lay the tiles. 2) Are you going to plaster the wall? If you are, then you have to re-wire the entire house. 3) Stainless steel is better. 4) Your ID/contractor will most probably bring you to a place to choose the tiles. Contractor brought me to Hafary. I think it is S$2++ per sq ft???, i think... I cannot remember? 5) Have you walk across a floor laid with laminates with your bare feet? You may not like that feel. I wanted to overlay laminates at first but chose to have homo tiles later because we did not like that laminate feel. We gave up having a built-in wardrobe so that we can use that money to hack off the floors in the bedrooms for laying of homo tiles later. Edited April 26, 2008 by delirious_jeff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
applefreak 1 Report post Posted April 27, 2008 for floor tiles, think you'd be hard pressed to find anything lower than $2++psf most of the more popular ones are around $3++psf for $2++, think you can only choose those matt, 60 x 60 and without protective coat copper vs stainless steel, i went for copper as the material have no bearing on the water quality however, steel is harder thus more difficult to bend around the corner given a less skilled plumber, you'll face leakage problems in the future and yes there are grades to stainless steel i believe the usual is 18/8 (304) which is used for pipes, toilet accessories etc 18/10 (316) is a higher grade but will set you back maybe double the cost rewiring a 10yr old flat is really optional if you are a heavy user i.e. LOTS of appliances switched on together, it's better to rewire as the loading might further shorten the life span of the wires personally i'd go for hacking instead of overlaying esp since you don't know who laid the tiles before and what is the workmanship like ceramic tiles are known to pop after 20 years, i've experienced it first-hand as for laminate, it's really a personal choice so far the brands in the market are more or less the same the difference is only the colours available and the workmanship of the workers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starscream 0 Report post Posted April 27, 2008 Same for the Copper vs Stainless Steel piping. Stainless Steel unless they be high grade and extremely resistant to the harsh local climate, could still rust somewhat in the long run (just that it isn't as visible). I'm sticking to copper for now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tofler 0 Report post Posted April 27, 2008 for floor tiles, think you'd be hard pressed to find anything lower than $2++psf most of the more popular ones are around $3++psf for $2++, think you can only choose those matt, 60 x 60 and without protective coat copper vs stainless steel, i went for copper as the material have no bearing on the water quality however, steel is harder thus more difficult to bend around the corner given a less skilled plumber, you'll face leakage problems in the future and yes there are grades to stainless steel i believe the usual is 18/8 (304) which is used for pipes, toilet accessories etc 18/10 (316) is a higher grade but will set you back maybe double the cost rewiring a 10yr old flat is really optional if you are a heavy user i.e. LOTS of appliances switched on together, it's better to rewire as the loading might further shorten the life span of the wires personally i'd go for hacking instead of overlaying esp since you don't know who laid the tiles before and what is the workmanship like ceramic tiles are known to pop after 20 years, i've experienced it first-hand as for laminate, it's really a personal choice so far the brands in the market are more or less the same the difference is only the colours available and the workmanship of the workers Hi Applefreak, My ID quote me for the rewiring for the whole place for about $6000. Personally, i feel that that the electrician is out to kill... Can you please help me to see if they overcharge? $24/Lighting Point $60/13amp double power point $45/13amp single power point and he also advise me to change the DB & MCB, is it really necessary? becos i heard from my HDB Technical Officer that there is no need to change that, but some mercenary electrician often suggest home owner to change it to make money... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ezyryder 0 Report post Posted April 27, 2008 thank you all for the reply. based on the comments i gather, it's a big NO NO to overlay the existing ceramic tiles. really worries me to noe tat the tiles might pop-up in future. will forego the re-wiring too cos i dun think tat i'm a heavy user... besides the questions i asked earlier, are there any other important things tat i shld be aware of? really appreciate the feedbacks here cos i can get first hand advice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
delirious_jeff 0 Report post Posted April 27, 2008 (edited) FYI: Here is how I was charged... $26 / Light point $8 / Light installation $45 / Single Socket point $55 / Single Socket point $90 / TV point $45 / Telephone point $90 / Heater installation $280 / DB I had my entire unit re-wired because I did wall plastering and decided to have false ceiling, etc. I need to re-route the inlet and outlet for the kitchen sink and washing machine and add hot and cold water piping for both bathrooms. So, we might as well replace the pipe from the living room to the kitchen. I chose stainless steel water pipes cos I was told they cost the same. Are you doing any carpentry? If you are, make sure you make the ID/contractor declare everything... what kind of doors are used. where if the door is sliding or with hinges, or the number of drawers, etc. Those are hidden costs that I failed to see! Edited April 27, 2008 by delirious_jeff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmartFool 0 Report post Posted April 27, 2008 Hi i am facing the same situation as u but mine is 10 years old 1) I am being advised to hack the existing tiles to prevent complications to make it worse the previous owner put a layer of laminate (as in like wallpper) over some existing parts of the parquet because they were scratched by the dog 2) Rewiring will depend on the design of the house eg if u need to add false ceiling etc 3) for homo tiles u can go to Hafary or Lian Seng Hin as advised by many of the forumers laminates u can go for Kronotex, Pergo, Supreme Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yokine9a 1 Report post Posted April 28, 2008 1) Should not overlay on existing tiles cos they tend to warp/chip/opo up after 20 years, and this is going to affect your newly laid tiles. You can't save this else you may have to pay more in future to fix. 2) This depends, some say should rewire after 20 yrs only. If you want to be on the safe side, then rewire. If you think it is not necessary, then maybe rewire it 10 yrs later. Provided you have not sold this flat 3) I used copper in my house. My dad insisted I got to use copper. My contractor told me s/s is harder to bend at corners. So you must engage a skillful guy to do the installation work for you, else will have problem in future. 4) I don't think you can find anything < $2.40 psf now. A low-range is around $3 nowadays. High-range can easily be $6-$8. Homo tiles are either made in China or Italy. As usual, China made ones are cheaper. No particular brand to follow, it all depends on the colour and design you want. 5) Supreme and Kronotex are the 2 most commonly used brands here. Go for Pergo if you have the budget. Take note on the AC type, warranty and country made when making your choice. Supreme is made in Msia for their AC5 with life-time warrranty. Kronotex is made in Germany for their AC3 with 15 yrs warranty. For better scratch-resistant, I think Kronotex wins over Supreme. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
applefreak 1 Report post Posted April 28, 2008 Hi Applefreak, My ID quote me for the rewiring for the whole place for about $6000. Personally, i feel that that the electrician is out to kill... Can you please help me to see if they overcharge? $24/Lighting Point $60/13amp double power point $45/13amp single power point and he also advise me to change the DB & MCB, is it really necessary? becos i heard from my HDB Technical Officer that there is no need to change that, but some mercenary electrician often suggest home owner to change it to make money... hmm the pricing looks reasonable but how come total become $6000??? how many points are you getting??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlueFly 0 Report post Posted April 28, 2008 as this is your first renovation i suggest you search for topics (use the search function) that you're interested in on this forum to read waht the experience of other forumers has been, coz there are many issues to consider. sometimes one answer by a forumer may not give u the whole pciture... so u need to read responses from other forumers too to get a better handle on the subject u r interested in... better yet, checkout the renovation blogs of many forumers; they give their exeperience and you can learnt a lot from there too. most of all, be careful of shady contractors or ids, some hv lost money bec they were cheated...those cases are also related on this forum. all the best for yr reno. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmartFool 0 Report post Posted April 28, 2008 as this is your first renovation i suggest you search for topics (use the search function) that you're interested in on this forum to read waht the experience of other forumers has been, coz there are many issues to consider. sometimes one answer by a forumer may not give u the whole pciture... so u need to read responses from other forumers too to get a better handle on the subject u r interested in... better yet, checkout the renovation blogs of many forumers; they give their exeperience and you can learnt a lot from there too. most of all, be careful of shady contractors or ids, some hv lost money bec they were cheated...those cases are also related on this forum. all the best for yr reno. Words of wisdom indeed agreed and thats why i having headache sourcing for prices Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
