Help! Process And Cost Of Renovation

[reisende 0]

hello all,

I've been lurking here for some months, but finally offered the OTP and now waiting for all paperwork to be sorted before I get keys next year. meanwhile, I want to find out as much as I can about renovation processes.

first, I don't have a floor plan of the house I am buying. should I draw one up myself?

what do I first do for renovation? do I just call around some IDs/contractors and ask for a quotation, or do I have to go to the office?

will the ID/contractor come down to my house before giving me a quote, etc?

I have an idea of what I want to renovate for my place. can anybody help me with an estimate of how much it will cost?

1. Hack two bathroom wall tiles, floor tiles, toilet, cabinet, sinks, bathtub.

2. Hack the (non-load bearing) wall separating these two bathrooms (so to combine the two bathrooms into one).

3. Buy and Install bathtub and taps

4. Buy and Install toilet

5. Buy and install mirror cabinet

6. Buy and Install two sinks

7. Buy and install taps (for sinks)

8. Buy and install shower head + shower taps

9. Install tiles

10. Install shower glass

Will the above cost me more than S$13,000? The two bathrooms combined will be about 4.5m x 2m. I think.

Does anybody have any idea how much a cement floor will cost? Currently, the living room and kitchen is tiled with homogenous tiles. can it be cemented over without hacking? The living room and kitchen floor area will be about 700sqf.

THanks so much if anybody can help!!!

[merryman 0]

  reisende said:

hello all,

I've been lurking here for some months, but finally offered the OTP and now waiting for all paperwork to be sorted before I get keys next year. meanwhile, I want to find out as much as I can about renovation processes.

first, I don't have a floor plan of the house I am buying. should I draw one up myself?

what do I first do for renovation? do I just call around some IDs/contractors and ask for a quotation, or do I have to go to the office?

will the ID/contractor come down to my house before giving me a quote, etc?

I have an idea of what I want to renovate for my place. can anybody help me with an estimate of how much it will cost?

1. Hack two bathroom wall tiles, floor tiles, toilet, cabinet, sinks, bathtub.

2. Hack the (non-load bearing) wall separating these two bathrooms (so to combine the two bathrooms into one).

3. Buy and Install bathtub and taps

4. Buy and Install toilet

5. Buy and install mirror cabinet

6. Buy and Install two sinks

7. Buy and install taps (for sinks)

8. Buy and install shower head + shower taps

9. Install tiles

10. Install shower glass

Will the above cost me more than S$13,000? The two bathrooms combined will be about 4.5m x 2m. I think.

Does anybody have any idea how much a cement floor will cost? Currently, the living room and kitchen is tiled with homogenous tiles. can it be cemented over without hacking? The living room and kitchen floor area will be about 700sqf.

THanks so much if anybody can help!!!

buy from HDB your floor plan

you can call them with your floor plan sent to them, asked them come to your house or go to their office with floorplan, up to you...

regarding costs, i'm a bit out of touch since 4-5months back so I can't share with you...

are you sure your living room and kitchen floor area is around 700sqf?!

Edited November 12, 2009 by merryman

[asoon88 0]

  reisende said:

hello all,

I've been lurking here for some months, but finally offered the OTP and now waiting for all paperwork to be sorted before I get keys next year. meanwhile, I want to find out as much as I can about renovation processes.

first, I don't have a floor plan of the house I am buying. should I draw one up myself?

what do I first do for renovation? do I just call around some IDs/contractors and ask for a quotation, or do I have to go to the office?

will the ID/contractor come down to my house before giving me a quote, etc?

I have an idea of what I want to renovate for my place. can anybody help me with an estimate of how much it will cost?

1. Hack two bathroom wall tiles, floor tiles, toilet, cabinet, sinks, bathtub.

2. Hack the (non-load bearing) wall separating these two bathrooms (so to combine the two bathrooms into one).

3. Buy and Install bathtub and taps

4. Buy and Install toilet

5. Buy and install mirror cabinet

6. Buy and Install two sinks

7. Buy and install taps (for sinks)

8. Buy and install shower head + shower taps

9. Install tiles

10. Install shower glass

Will the above cost me more than S$13,000? The two bathrooms combined will be about 4.5m x 2m. I think.

Does anybody have any idea how much a cement floor will cost? Currently, the living room and kitchen is tiled with homogenous tiles. can it be cemented over without hacking? The living room and kitchen floor area will be about 700sqf.

THanks so much if anybody can help!!!

Very strange that you are so budget conscious when you can afford to buy a private property !

I will recommend you a contractor who has been in business since the late '70s. His workmanship is good. He is a reliable and honest old man.

His company is Kim Bee Loon Interior Renovation. You can email Winnnie at kblreno@singnet.com.sg or call him at 90115987. He is a very practical guy. So provide him your ideas and let his guys do the physical work. Don't expect him to speak English to you because he can't or draw nice pictures....he can't. Show him your concept and get him to follow it.

His prices are by far the most reasonable that I have come across. He has brought me to see several units that were work-in-progress and I must say I am pretty satisfied. My mother-in-law's house was done by him 20 years ago, my sis-in-law in early 2000 and my own house soon.

[reisende 0]

lol. first, thanks for your very quick reply.

there's a reason for everything. I'm budget conscious because we will be spending a lot of money buying a private property, not because of class or status consciousness, but because I have two large dogs and we want a garden for them. also, my private property is in geylang - I don't care that it's geylang, in fact, I find it a very interesting, and extremely underpriced neighbourhood. I believe we are getting this house for a steal!

so.. I'm not the typical extremely-loaded, wealthy person with a landed property!

thanks for the referral I will email him soon.

merryman: it's not a HDB.. and I'm quite sure living room + kitchen is about 700sqf, maybe 600sqf.

do you guys know whether you get a contractor/ID, and then have to choose all the tiles and materials from/through them, or can you still 'hunt' for your own tiles/bathtub etc?

thanks!!

  asoon88 said:

Very strange that you are so budget conscious when you can afford to buy a private property !

I will recommend you a contractor who has been in business since the late '70s. His workmanship is good. He is a reliable and honest old man.

His company is Kim Bee Loon Interior Renovation. You can email Winnnie at kblreno@singnet.com.sg or call him at 90115987. He is a very practical guy. So provide him your ideas and let his guys do the physical work. Don't expect him to speak English to you because he can't or draw nice pictures....he can't. Show him your concept and get him to follow it.

His prices are by far the most reasonable that I have come across. He has brought me to see several units that were work-in-progress and I must say I am pretty satisfied. My mother-in-law's house was done by him 20 years ago, my sis-in-law in early 2000 and my own house soon.

[charemme 0]

Helo there..

another dog lover in RT!! Welcome!!

Hehe , i also quickly get a house cause of my dogs.. but its HDB thou... no $$ to buy landed

You can get the tiles from your contractor.. usually they should include that in the quote.

as for bathtub and bathroom accessories, you can source on your own.

By the way, I think you should try a way to get a copy of floorplan, if not how the ID/contractor quote u??

they all quote based on floor plan de ley

[deljunks 0]

  reisende said:

hello all,

I've been lurking here for some months, but finally offered the OTP and now waiting for all paperwork to be sorted before I get keys next year. meanwhile, I want to find out as much as I can about renovation processes.

first, I don't have a floor plan of the house I am buying. should I draw one up myself?

what do I first do for renovation? do I just call around some IDs/contractors and ask for a quotation, or do I have to go to the office?

will the ID/contractor come down to my house before giving me a quote, etc?

I have an idea of what I want to renovate for my place. can anybody help me with an estimate of how much it will cost?

1. Hack two bathroom wall tiles, floor tiles, toilet, cabinet, sinks, bathtub.

2. Hack the (non-load bearing) wall separating these two bathrooms (so to combine the two bathrooms into one).

3. Buy and Install bathtub and taps

4. Buy and Install toilet

5. Buy and install mirror cabinet

6. Buy and Install two sinks

7. Buy and install taps (for sinks)

8. Buy and install shower head + shower taps

9. Install tiles

10. Install shower glass

Will the above cost me more than S$13,000? The two bathrooms combined will be about 4.5m x 2m. I think.

Does anybody have any idea how much a cement floor will cost? Currently, the living room and kitchen is tiled with homogenous tiles. can it be cemented over without hacking? The living room and kitchen floor area will be about 700sqf.

THanks so much if anybody can help!!!

hi,

i think you can go to

http://www.bca.gov.sg/legalsearchapp/legalsearchapp.aspx

and search for your project info.

they may have the plan for your unit but you need to pay for them.

i have pay them for the search but till now they have not get back to me yet for my request.

[vampree 0]

i believe your lawyer can request from seller the floor plan ... do try asking for it. Without the proper floor plan, it is very difficult for contractors/ID to do proper quote ....

alternatively, they can come down and take measurement ...

the cost will depends on the quality of bathroom accessories you buy ... but since they are to be used in a wet area and frequent changing will be very troublesome, I suggest go for good quality bathroom fittings and do not go for cheap wares ...

[powder blue 0]

If the house is very old, sometimes the owner might not even have the floor plans. The house that I bought is 40+yrs and the owner doesn't have the floor plans as the previous owner didn't pass it to him and even BCA doesn't have one .

So only way is to do our own floor plan by measuring it.

[lemongrazz 0]

  powder blue said:

If the house is very old, sometimes the owner might not even have the floor plans. The house that I bought is 40+yrs and the owner doesn't have the floor plans as the previous owner didn't pass it to him and even BCA doesn't have one .

So only way is to do our own floor plan by measuring it.

hmmm.. if im not wrong u can get someone to do for u also

[scenic98 0]

  vampree said:

i believe your lawyer can request from seller the floor plan ... do try asking for it. Without the proper floor plan, it is very difficult for contractors/ID to do proper quote ....

alternatively, they can come down and take measurement ...

the cost will depends on the quality of bathroom accessories you buy ... but since they are to be used in a wet area and frequent changing will be very troublesome, I suggest go for good quality bathroom fittings and do not go for cheap wares ...

once you have signed the OTP, you do not need the current owner's permission to buy a floor plan. Go to BCA's website and do the application. THey will then reply you once they have found the microfilms. Bring your OTP for them to verify you are the new owner. It's also good to have the floorplan to see if the current owners have made any non-approve changes to the house. But of course, anything within the house that is not load bearing and doesn't affect the intergrity of the structure is fine .... so don't go over zealous.

It's a good practice to spend within your budget. But things like walls and tiles, once done is very inconvenient to rectify. So I don;t suggest you stinge on that. Fittings like hanging mirrors, taps and maybe (just maybe) even basins, you can go for cheaper ones.

Good luck and have fun