Ho Bee

[kunning 0]

Hi kunning,

Yeah, Patrick owns Ho Bee, so he applied the permit. The thing is cos i asked Patrick to wait for me as i waited for my reno loan application to be approved. Once it got approved the bank required that i bring down the reno permit for them to see b4 we can sign the letter of acceptance. Therefore i told patrick abt this & he immediately settle it by next day.

My reno will start next week

Hope this clears ur doubt

thanks Mel, bunbun for clarifying..for a moment I thought got hidden cost . Good luck to your reno Mel. Hope you will put up updates to share with everyone...

[Melissa Ng 1]

thanks Mel, bunbun for clarifying..for a moment I thought got hidden cost . Good luck to your reno Mel. Hope you will put up updates to share with everyone...

Thanks Kunning! Hope everything will be as smooth as possible. I'll try to set up a blog for my reno when i hv time...meanwhile all the best & keep us updated on your reno too

[BunBun 5]

Mel, when you start your blog, I go chop 'seat' there to over your reno process by Ho Bee. Ho Bee did the flooring for my kitchen & balcony. No problem with their tiling job. Haven't see their other reno works before also.

Thanks Kunning! Hope everything will be as smooth as possible. I'll try to set up a blog for my reno when i hv time...meanwhile all the best & keep us updated on your reno too

[hapimint 0]

Mel, when you start your blog, I go chop 'seat' there to over your reno process by Ho Bee. Ho Bee did the flooring for my kitchen & balcony. No problem with their tiling job. Haven't see their other reno works before also.

Hi BunBun,

realised from your information that you bought your furnitures from JB. I am considering to go JB to buy furnitures too. Is it cheaper? Where can we go to get furnitures and is there any installment plans?

[Prettibride 0]

I am interested to engage a contractor like Ho Bee to do my house reno since I already know what I need to do. Anyone here who has used Ho Bee for your house...can you tell me how much cost savings Ho Bee offers as compared to a ID? (can be any ID..not those big names company). Just wanna know if its really good value for money. Thanks!

[mud3210 0]

Hoe bee quoted me same price as a few popular ID (recommanded by the ppl in this forum) that i has visited.... their quote is definately not cheap for a contractor. wonder why the Hoo-Haa over them..

actually i was quite excited abt getting their quote, even thinking of engaging them, since so many ppl said they are good and cheap.

really NOT cheap lor.. A LOT of the things we dun really need one he also include in...

BUT BUT if i only doing kitchen cabinets, i seriously consider them, coz their price is only $95 pfr, INCLUSIVE of 2 or 3 frosted glass! (this is the 1 and ONLY chespest item i saw in their quote as compared to my other 10 quotes)

i requested solid top, but he din quote me.. he quoted me somehting else i dun wan--- Granite! $100 pfr (could he be order too much granite liao, trying to get rid ar ?!? )

that's all folks... guess im just gg to hunt for another ID/contractor again.. grr, meanwhile, im outta this thread... talk more i may get wack by hoe bee fans lol

[SmartFool 0]

Hi Mud

u got 10 quotes???

am also looking around for contractor

so far waiting for quotes

too high price way out of my budget

too low also scared quality no good

Haizz

[Prettibride 0]

I have the same feeling as you. Just received their quote yesterday and I was so excited to open it. But got a shock after I see the total amount at the end. Certain things were cheaper but certain things were more ex compared to an ID. Anyway I still decide to give Patrick a chance after seeing all these good reviews about him..hv made appt for him to come to my house to take a look next mon...hopefully can ask for a fat discount from him. Hehe..

[mud3210 0]

SmartFool: yeah i got 10 to 20 quotes, wat i did was pick out all the lowest price given for all items and merge all prices into 1 final quote for my own ref..

im considering proposing this lowest quoted price to my next contractor heehe

Preeti : yeah, remember to ask him to give u the frosted glass FOC. i remembered him wanting to quote me $80++ per glass, but then i told him, other ppl's kitchen pfr is also $90-95 with FREE frosted glass. so his new quote to me is FOC lol! but still, his other items pricing all canot make it lah...

e.g chemical washing also need for premium flat meh? i not doing any flooring wor... wat for i need the chemical washing?

a few IDs have even told me it will be clean after we clean it 2 or 3 rounds, just the usual cleaning.

And he quoted me revarnish parquet flooring for $600!! OMG!

why do i even need tat? issit i look like a carrot to him ar

BUT after u get his quotation, u more or less can learn to spec out ur own quote liao, coz all the "hidden" costs u never knew can exist is written down there... even the things they think u need BUT u know u won't need.

Edited May 6, 2008 by mud3210

[big orange 0]

What his email huh.?

Thanks

[candizhu 0]

yeah, remember to ask him to give u the frosted glass FOC. i remembered him wanting to quote me $80++ per glass, but then i told him, other ppl's kitchen pfr is also $90-95 with FREE frosted glass. so his new quote to me is FOC lol! but still, his other items pricing all canot make it lah...

e.g chemical washing also need for premium flat meh? i not doing any flooring wor... wat for i need the chemical washing?

a few IDs have even told me it will be clean after we clean it 2 or 3 rounds, just the usual cleaning.

And he quoted me revarnish parquet flooring for $600!! OMG!

why do i even need tat? issit i look like a carrot to him ar

BUT after u get his quotation, u more or less can learn to spec out ur own quote liao, coz all the "hidden" costs u never knew can exist is written down there... even the things they think u need BUT u know u won't need.

My premium flat was recently renovated by Ho Bee and yes, he quoted me $580/- to re-varnish my timber flooring too. My suggestion is that you think twice about not varnishing the flooring 'cos after all the renovation works are done, the timber flooring was so dusty, grainy and rough. Ho Bee's quote including sanding down the flooring and its skirting and cleaning it up before coating it in semi-gloss varnish. It's alot of work really..

As for chemical washing, I had Ho Bee to wash 2 times.. once after all carpentry, electrical and 1 round of painting works are completed, the 2nd round is after the accessories and final coat of painting are up. Makes our cleaning works easier and not to mention that we are one of the very few occupiers at Atrina and the fact that the HDB construction works are still going on in our estate.

[mud3210 0]

My premium flat ... we are one of the very few occupiers at Atrina and the fact that the HDB construction works are still going on in our estate.

Candizhu: Haaa... so he quote u $20 cheaper than me for the floor ar.. but i still dun think their "a lot of work" for revarnishing my flooring is worth that price.. afterall, i can live with not having a shiny floor hehe, besides, i have a really tight budget.. cant afford to spend this kind of $$$ . ;on the otehr hand, if i got the money, i probably wont be gg to sign with justta contractor .liao. oter IDs also same price, some even cheaper than him.

additional $600 i can buy a bigger plasma liao... why spend it on the floor leh?

so, hw much was ur quote? (i noticed he tend to quote ppl ard 15K for premiums)

btw, my next appt is with Impress21 and Summit Design heheh.. i'll see if their price is reasonable enough... will post here if got any furter comments (or complains hehee). Taa~

Edited May 6, 2008 by mud3210

[Melissa Ng 1]

I have the same feeling as you. Just received their quote yesterday and I was so excited to open it. But got a shock after I see the total amount at the end. Certain things were cheaper but certain things were more ex compared to an ID. Anyway I still decide to give Patrick a chance after seeing all these good reviews about him..hv made appt for him to come to my house to take a look next mon...hopefully can ask for a fat discount from him. Hehe..

Actually if you read thru the threads here, not many would say Ho Bee's quote is the cheapest. However the thing is that there's no hidden cost. And i oso heard their after sales service is superb. For my 1st quotation I expected to be higher, then when meet up with him, slowly minus out whatever not necessary ( he was the one suggested i no need do windows 'cos still look new). I personally choose patrick 'cos i feel he's honest, responsible, not petty, easy to talk to. Even when my fickle-minded husband keep changing his mind (even to last min), he's still like 'ok, can can, no problem'

They say when you ask for 1st quotation, include everything, then when meet up with ID/ contractor, minus out whatever you dun need. This way u should get lower revised quotation & it's unreasonable for them to charge u more expensive ( unless it's HIDDEN COST)

it's not for me to say ho bee's the best or u 'die die' must choose ho bee. No contractor / id is perfect, even for ho bee ba... Maybe u'll meet someone whom u'll feel is even better or more trustable to put your future home in his hand Anyways, Good Luck & all the best

Edited May 6, 2008 by mel

[candizhu 0]

Actually if you read thru the threads here, not many would say Ho Bee's quote is the cheapest. However the thing is that there's no hidden cost. And i oso heard their after sales service is superb. For my 1st quotation I expected to be higher, then when meet up with him, slowly minus out whatever not necessary ( he was the one suggested i no need do windows 'cos still look new). I personally choose patrick 'cos i feel he's honest, responsible, not petty, easy to talk to. Even when my fickle-minded husband keep changing his mind (even to last min), he's still like 'ok, can can, no problem'

They say when you ask for 1st quotation, include everything, then when meet up with ID/ contractor, minus out whatever you dun need. This way u should get lower revised quotation & it's unreasonable for them to charge u more expensive ( unless it's HIDDEN COST)

it's not for me to say ho bee's the best or u 'die die' must choose ho bee. No contractor / id is perfect, even for ho bee ba... Maybe u'll meet someone whom u'll feel is even better or more trustable to put your future home in his hand Anyways, Good Luck & all the best

Fully agreed with u

Ho Bee was definitely not the cheapest quote among the 5 quotes I had sourced. At least for the extra $$$ I paid.. I get a peace of mind knowing that Patrick will not "run away" half way thru the renovations and doing things the way I want it.

During the entire reno process, I changed my mind abt some things and then add abit of stuff here & there. Patrick was quite accomodating, adjusting the quote accordingly. At the end of the day, the final quote did not stray from the original quote despite the revisions. I admitted that there were minor problems popping up too but which reno works doesn't? Be'cos Patrick is easy to talk to, things resolve amicably and quickly and often without me having to pay extra costs.

Plus, my opinion is that when you haggled too much for the "best deal", you might not be getting value-for-money after you have signed on the dotted line and may even invite reno woes after that...

U may just end up penny wise but pound foolish...

[Prettibride 0]

From the comments here seems like Patrick really has a lot of happy customers. After my first reno experience, I am really looking for a contractor/ID who is easy to talk to and reliable...I metup with Home Concept for a site visit at my place..but the revised quote is 8K more than the initial quote..hopefully Patrick's one would be reducing costs instead of increasing after his site visit.

So far do you gals have any comments on his work? I read here that his tilers are good..but electrician not so...thinking if i shld jus engage him to do the tiling work and engage someone else for electrical etc.