Retrospectrum Meets Modernisation!

[mrspiglet 2]

just a quick update! i have met with uncle soon earlier last week and he came to my place to get an understanding and to hear what we have to say and want to do for our place. he said he will revert sometime this week. ytd i just called him to find out approx when to expect the quote and he told me, "where are you? you gonna be home? if so i come over now okay!"

haha ok he exceeds expectations! but also seem to be a little disorganized but i am not gonna fault him on that given his numerous projects.

his quote is really so competitive and of cos the freebies does help a lot to swing our favour in his way. things like we wanted to change our main gate to wrought iron gate but keep our wooden door cos we dont have the budget and its not very nice to get ppl to work with a low budget yet still insist on all things but he said its ok, he will change it to another new fire-rated door for us and its complimentary..

turns out that from his quote, we were about to squeeze in a tv console, study table and bookshelf at a very very good price. his quote came up to about $23,300. not sure if we can shave off anymore

also, just wondering, uncle soon's quote for tiles, he does not state the price, will we still have a good selection? also wonder if he will bring us to view his project so my mom can have a better understanding and piece of mind.

wow!! complimentary fire-rated door, expensive! He didnt offer me leh, somemore i chge both gate and grills + many carpentry

Lucky u!

[yokine9a 1]

hi yokine9a

we are changing to similar louvered windows meaning glass at the top and alu at the bottom instead of sliding as both myself and mom feels that sliding renders 1 side useless. we prefer louvered ones.

I dont think we can afford to squeeze in L-box and the lights and stuff with our budget..

and we cant hack the wall due to the existing altar at the wall between living and kitchen.

So what are you going to do to make your living room super bright??

[aubrey 0]

apples

ok la on the verge of being sold. its just my mom and the fact that she would like some actual samples of his carpentry work etc etc.but she has agreed tht uncle soon is by far the most competitive and matches our budget quite nicely with the least "sales talk" which gets tiring after u meet more than 5 IDs/contractors.

mrspiglet

hee actually there are more than just that freebie... when we finalize then i will reveal.. but that is what he said about the door. i understand its not cheap esp when its a fire rated door, very grateful for that.. aiya i think we are spiritually sold to him already. he said he will type the quote out in english and give it to us in 1~2 days time.

yokine9a

ok uncle soon said that he will do an L-box for us that runs along the pipings to hide it so maybe i can ask him if we are able to install lights. i thought that its cos our paint is almost 10 years old so its only natural that it looks dark. perhaps things might be better once there's a new coat of paint on. now just headache over color scheme.

[aubrey 0]

saw this set of tiles in the toilet of my school and thought its pretty funky but i dont think i want it to cover all the walls like the one in school..

something extra, my pet puffer fish! its hiding behind my desk calendar. too cute to not post.

Edited April 14, 2009 by aubrey

[mrspiglet 2]

i believe ur FOC list wun stop there of cos! My list was ever growing, little things here n there. Which i may say it could easily add up to $1k?

u sure have a diff pet from others.. Puffer fish!

[aubrey 0]

eh mrspiglet!! yr quote is lesser than mine! hahaha let me go check our yr tblog. i think may exceed 1k cos the fire rated door is already $500 and above. plus no funny cost from him too, its a flat fee.

[aubrey 0]

thinking of going to jalan besar this sat to walk walk see see toilets/sinks/hob/hood/oven etc since its convenient to walk over. shall ask uncle soon where he recommend buying from and just do market research. :]

[lawry 3]

Jalan Besar ah?

Remember to go early. Can't remember weekend what time close, but weekdays they close at 6pm.

There are quite a few along the whole stretch. Hom Tech, Royal Franco, Poh Joo, then Chuan Heng (opposite poh joo), if you walk all the way down towards lavender food centre, there will be a lot more on the way.

Target your hob/hood/oven brand and model and price first, compare and see which shop cheaper.

WC/basins/sinks/taps - very wide selection, see which ones you like, don't decide so fast.

Please skip Ho Kee at new world centre, a lot of bad comments about that place in this forum.

[mrspiglet 2]

eh mrspiglet!! yr quote is lesser than mine! hahaha let me go check our yr tblog. i think may exceed 1k cos the fire rated door is already $500 and above. plus no funny cost from him too, its a flat fee.

cannot compare like that mah.. we did diff things, and i got 2 toilets

Fire-rated door very ex, that's why we didnt chge the door and just repainted it instead. I was quite worried how much diff will the final bill be, but in the end, uncle just say.. "ok... we just stick to this initial amt. anything else?"... super clean cut!

[pinkpetter 0]

Aubrey

Glad you liked him too. It'll be easy to see some of his projects since he has so many ongoing ones. I know how your mom feels since mine felt the same. and yes fire-rated door is very expensive wor.

I think the best thing about Uncle (that mrspiglet has pointed out) is his chin-cainess.

[aubrey 0]

lawry

yup jalan besar to poke around since they have all in one, lights/toilet/showers/hoods/hobs/kitchens. shld be time well spent. actually did ask uncle soon about it, he said just collect all the catalog of all i am interested in as well as model numbers then tell him and he will co-ordinate from there. good list of the shops to visit! shall just go along and whack all except for Ho Kee in that case.

mrspiglet

but 2 toilets is hefty after what i learned from sourcing for reno quotes and surfing on RT. luckily i only have 2 and not more. ya fire rated door is ex so i was quite surprised when he so "shuang kuai" and say nvm FOC for you. and u are right, there's more FOC stuff here and there.

pinkpetter

there's nothing to not like, he is rather responsive in my opinion and his lateness can be tolerated. i make sure to call him in advance to double check if he is turning up and when he is late i usually just let it be as i understand his situation and do not want to rush him. haha actually i am keen to see his works too. which u reminded me, i totally forgot to ask him if i could view his completed projects when i called him earlier.

would like to ask all ah soon supporters, for the kitchen cabinets that he did, what kind of track system does he use for the drawers? is it the norm or something like those anti-slam hinge? and how do u all plan for the shelves & drawers within your wardrobe?? by looking at catalog and then mix and match or???

[mrspiglet 2]

ya! i think since he's so shuang kuai, we shd be a little more lenient to him not to cut his price too horribly! hahah!

anyway, Uncle's carpentry comes with anti-slam, all the doors and drawers inclusive. Jason will come n design for u, but if u do have any special requirements, can let him know so that he can accommodate accordingly. (e.g. more drawers, deep drawers or more shelving...etc)

[pinkpetter 0]

pinkpetter

there's nothing to not like, he is rather responsive in my opinion and his lateness can be tolerated. i make sure to call him in advance to double check if he is turning up and when he is late i usually just let it be as i understand his situation and do not want to rush him. haha actually i am keen to see his works too. which u reminded me, i totally forgot to ask him if i could view his completed projects when i called him earlier.

would like to ask all ah soon supporters, for the kitchen cabinets that he did, what kind of track system does he use for the drawers? is it the norm or something like those anti-slam hinge? and how do u all plan for the shelves & drawers within your wardrobe?? by looking at catalog and then mix and match or???

Eh soft closing for all the cupboards and the drawers. no extra charge for those. I don't know if that's what you mean?

and in the wardrobe.. I think you should plan according to your needs... how much hanging space, how many drawers you need, etc.

[ivy 0]

he only give me the storeroom shelf free leh he charge me for the toilet window....

[aubrey 0]

piglet

yup never meant to cut too much, just a reasonable range.. the most we shave the cost by taking away certain items in our list that is not a must.. things like tempered glass door or cutting the full length wardrobe to a smaller one. i was kinda under the impression that the drawers are usual ones meaning no anti-slam unless i want to top up for anti-slam. kinda unsure how to design the insides of the wardrobe since its flexible and i am afraid with my lack of experience in planning it will turn out inadequate. shall go and scrutinize all ikea catalog and learn from it.

pinkpetter

ya that was what i meant since everyone will charge for anything outside of norm. aiya i think my mom is set on using him, she's going on nonstop abt him.