A Home For Us... Finally

[MoreOrLess007 0]

Hi wywy219,

Your layout is exactly like mine. I'm in Tampines too. Where are you located at? Anyway, all the best for your reno, hope you'll find the right ID for your renovation :)

[wywy219 0]

Hi wywy219,

Your layout is exactly like mine. I'm in Tampines too. Where are you located at? Anyway, all the best for your reno, hope you'll find the right ID for your renovation :)

Mine is near Tampines east CC.

[momo13 0]

perhaps u can try asking for quotes from some of the contractors that had done some of the flats here...

Edited October 9, 2009 by momo13

[coffee_o 1]

Hi future tampines neighbour

anyway yes I would suggest you get some quotes and engaged the one you find most comfortable working with.

No doubt the quote might be slightly more ex for the others but at least you felt more comfortable and have more trust in them

Seriously from the way he told you, i will not even consider talking to him any further cos what you said is correct, what if after confirming with him, his attitude 360 degree change ? then you will be stuck with him throughout your reno le

Edited October 9, 2009 by coffee_o

[MoreOrLess007 0]

Mine is near Tampines east CC.

I see. Great location. Anyway, do you have a concept or design/theme in mind for your new place? If so, maybe you can engage contractor instead of ID? Maybe can save a little of your money if you know exactly how you want your house to be like.

[sherwinsm 1]

nice layout..

future neighbor!

i think i know which block is this. i have viewed one unit before that have exactly same layout... really like the place that time but price quite expensive...

[HARAM98 0]

Just some updates.

We met up with Tau interior for a second time for discussion and sort of decided to use them. Until.....they sent us the agreement and we are somewhat not really happy with the pricing because he conveniently forgot the discount (round off to nearest lower 1000) he promised us during the first meet-up.When we questioned, he kepted saying the first quote did not include the wardrobe hence it's cheaper.

Sigh...i donno what to say bcoz i'm quite sure his claim is not true. (as the number won't add up if what he say is true.) We were just too blur the first time that we did not make him write down the rounded off value in the quotation. Stupid side of me.

We are quite torn now as we still like this company as a whole....but this quotation pricing thingy makes me uncomfortable. Yes, it's only a few hundred dollars but money is money is money right? Plus the way he reply us in denial..... Like that if we signed agreement already then he pull more stunt and eat up his promise how?

hi there

if you are not really rushing for the major things maybe you can do things partially. me too have the same issue and i have engaged to do partially. check this id Living Art Design. they do have some promotional packages but dont engage everything to the same person. you can give the laminate directly to the supplier and get a cheaper price. I got Tarkett do it for me and i got a very good deal signing up frm the ekspo. it is dependant on what you want to change and then go into the design how it shld be done with the ID. Just my opinion.

[Rasp 0]

Just some updates.

We met up with Tau interior for a second time for discussion and sort of decided to use them. Until.....they sent us the agreement and we are somewhat not really happy with the pricing because he conveniently forgot the discount (round off to nearest lower 1000) he promised us during the first meet-up.When we questioned, he kepted saying the first quote did not include the wardrobe hence it's cheaper.

Sigh...i donno what to say bcoz i'm quite sure his claim is not true. (as the number won't add up if what he say is true.) We were just too blur the first time that we did not make him write down the rounded off value in the quotation. Stupid side of me.

We are quite torn now as we still like this company as a whole....but this quotation pricing thingy makes me uncomfortable. Yes, it's only a few hundred dollars but money is money is money right? Plus the way he reply us in denial..... Like that if we signed agreement already then he pull more stunt and eat up his promise how?

Hi wywy219,

I concur with the rest. You might want to look around for more quotes first.

Because during the reno, there is usually alot of grey areas which might not be stated very clearcut in the contract. It can be quite worrisome if this contractor/id continue to work in such manner (eg. asking you to top up for all those grey areas in future as there is no black&white).

[worldangel 0]

Just some updates.

We met up with Tau interior for a second time for discussion and sort of decided to use them. Until.....they sent us the agreement and we are somewhat not really happy with the pricing because he conveniently forgot the discount (round off to nearest lower 1000) he promised us during the first meet-up.When we questioned, he kepted saying the first quote did not include the wardrobe hence it's cheaper.

Sigh...i donno what to say bcoz i'm quite sure his claim is not true. (as the number won't add up if what he say is true.) We were just too blur the first time that we did not make him write down the rounded off value in the quotation. Stupid side of me.

We are quite torn now as we still like this company as a whole....but this quotation pricing thingy makes me uncomfortable. Yes, it's only a few hundred dollars but money is money is money right? Plus the way he reply us in denial..... Like that if we signed agreement already then he pull more stunt and eat up his promise how?

Hmm if me I would feel uncomfortable also...don't just decide based on one quotation, do shop around for me. For me, I went for 3 quotations by IDs and 2 quotations by contractors before I finally made a decision. And so far, we have not regretted our decision

[wywy219 0]

We did ask for many quotes.....abt 8-10 then shortlisted 3.... Very tiring.....

thinking of going to another one in the shortlisted list lo....some of the quotes we get are from contractors too...but their price not very much less.... maybe bcoz we are doing all the basic things only... ID and contractor won't make much difference?

from the shortlisted ID/ contractor, their quotation are all around the same region. Now we only choose whose design is better and who is easier to work with.

Edited October 10, 2009 by wywy219

[Pinklady 0]

We did ask for many quotes.....abt 8-10 then shortlisted 3.... Very tiring.....

thinking of going to another one in the shortlisted list lo....some of the quotes we get are from contractors too...but their price not very much less.... maybe bcoz we are doing all the basic things only... ID and contractor won't make much difference?

from the shortlisted ID/ contractor, their quotation are all around the same region. Now we only choose whose design is better and who is easier to work with.

Actually most of the time, you would have to liaise to contractors directly, be it arranging for payment, tiles or toilet accessories, choosing of tiles. for ID you get him/her to liaise with them. so its your call. contractor won't provide for designs, but ID will provide, including 3D, colour co-ordination, space planning etc.

So you have a better idea to choose ID or contactor?

[Nekorin 0]

Actually most of the time, you would have to liaise to contractors directly, be it arranging for payment, tiles or toilet accessories, choosing of tiles. for ID you get him/her to liaise with them. so its your call. contractor won't provide for designs, but ID will provide, including 3D, colour co-ordination, space planning etc.

So you have a better idea to choose ID or contactor?

Some points to add on services the ID provides on top of contractors.

1) Space planning - Usually IDs will help to plan for efficient use of space. Like where is the place the occupants operate at most of the time. How many storage units they need etc.

2) Ergonomic/Convenience planning - Not sure whether all IDs will do this, this usually covers stuff like consideration of average height of house occupants for carpentry, placement/height of light switches, position and location of common items (eg, if the occupants read alot of magazines and have lots of gadgets connected to TV, IDs will suggest a double layer coffe table or a good place to put remote controls).

3) Style planning - Color co-ordination, furniture looks to go with the occupants' tastes

4) Visualisation before commencement of renovation - Usually 3D drawings.

5) Project management - Managing of contractors, furniture/appliance/lights/air-con/etc deliveries, keep the project on schedule and hassle-free for the client etc. (like a 1-stop service centre)

For contractors like what Pinklady said, most of the time will be the house owner liase with the contractors. Everything have to plan, like delivery dates, placement of lights/switches, type and color of paint to use, routing of water piping, design of custom-made furnitures (can just provide overall idea but a rough dimension will be good).

Hence the reason why IDs cost so much more than contractors.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Nekorin

[wywy219 0]

We talked to the 2nd ID on our shortlisted list. This uncle sounds better. He used to be a contractor and now own an ID firmwith 2 designers helping him. His quotation was at the same range as the other 2 shortlisted candidates.

What i feel confortable is when we ask for additional things that is considered "small", eg: a 2 ft vanity in MBR toilet, he say he can do for free, unlike the rest who immediately bring out calculator to add cost to the quote. He also offered to give us a rounded off figure and throw in electrical work with rewiring for us.

But he also admitted that they won't use branded stuf like BLUM or Legrand. They use "in-house" brand aka made in China. IF we want to upgrade to blum or legrand must top up accordingly. We calculated if we want to top up to Legrand for the main switches in the house it's about $200 more?

OK. Digress, actually i want to ask, if rewiring the house, normally what is the line quoted in the quotation? This one says something like install new switches and electrical distribution board. Does that mean rewiring? or he just change to DB for us only?

[worldangel 0]

We talked to the 2nd ID on our shortlisted list. This uncle sounds better. He used to be a contractor and now own an ID firmwith 2 designers helping him. His quotation was at the same range as the other 2 shortlisted candidates.

What i feel confortable is when we ask for additional things that is considered "small", eg: a 2 ft vanity in MBR toilet, he say he can do for free, unlike the rest who immediately bring out calculator to add cost to the quote. He also offered to give us a rounded off figure and throw in electrical work with rewiring for us.

But he also admitted that they won't use branded stuf like BLUM or Legrand. They use "in-house" brand aka made in China. IF we want to upgrade to blum or legrand must top up accordingly. We calculated if we want to top up to Legrand for the main switches in the house it's about $200 more?

OK. Digress, actually i want to ask, if rewiring the house, normally what is the line quoted in the quotation? This one says something like install new switches and electrical distribution board. Does that mean rewiring? or he just change to DB for us only?

Yup, my contractor bought legrand switches for all the switches in my hse and it costs ard 100+ for the entire thing...

Install new switches mean install at the old position, no rewiring involved i think.

[wywy219 0]

Hi, hope someone with experience can help.

What is the exact statement in your quotation when you ID quote for re-wiring?

My quote says sth like this: Labor & material to install new electrical distribution board complete with ELCB, MCB & circuit breaker.(Ht 1800mm)

Does this mean re-wiring already? Or he only wants to change the DB but not intending to re-run all the wires?