Recommendation Of Toilet Renovation Contractor

[kuokht 0]

Dear all renovation guru,

I have purchased a 5 room resale flat and wish to do some renovation for my two toilet.

The work involve are

1) Hacking and replace floor and wall tiles,

2) install a cabinet below the vanity top,

3) install bathtub in master bed room,

4) replace the existing water piping and heater

5) some rewiring job,

6) replace the sinks and toilet bowls

Can any guru here come across any contractor that willing to do th e small renovation job like this? Due to budget constrain, wish to get the cheaper price to do the renovation. I have the vanity top and shower screen already installed in the toilet, anybody have the experiance of retaining the existing vanity top and shower screen for the renovation? this could save quite a lot of money if I can reuse it.

Thanks for the advice and recommendation.

[MTlot 0]

Dear all renovation guru,

I have purchased a 5 room resale flat and wish to do some renovation for my two toilet.

The work involve are

1) Hacking and replace floor and wall tiles,

2) install a cabinet below the vanity top,

3) install bathtub in master bed room,

4) replace the existing water piping and heater

5) some rewiring job,

6) replace the sinks and toilet bowls

Can any guru here come across any contractor that willing to do th e small renovation job like this? Due to budget constrain, wish to get the cheaper price to do the renovation. I have the vanity top and shower screen already installed in the toilet, anybody have the experiance of retaining the existing vanity top and shower screen for the renovation? this could save quite a lot of money if I can reuse it.

Thanks for the advice and recommendation.

I think it's better to ask the contractor if they can retain for you, and depends on your new layout and design if those items retain are to be reused.

[Summer Forever 0]

Hi,

For saying this, think the contractors & ID will hate me.

Just did my reno for condo recently, most things DIY.

Maybe due to my job (I'm in sales) so I understand that all things are cheaper if go direct. The contractors & IDs will sublet the jobs out to 3rd party and thus need to mark up prices.

My direct contacts & reno jobs

1)I engaged direct co. to hack my condo kitchen & 2 toilets (floor & wall tiles, kitchen cabinet, removal of sanitary wares in toilets & removal of debris) - for only $2K

I heard from the boss that the cost is lower for HDB as condo is strict with the reno timing so it would take them more days to complete as compared to HDB thus the higher cost for condo. ** The boss is so sweet to help hack wardrobe & other shelvings all at no extra cost.

The quotes that I get from contractors & IDs for just hacking (Kitchen & toilet wall & floor tiles) & removal of debris is - $2,600 - $2,800

** See the savings for going direct??

2) bi-fold doors, classic doors & iron gate - better to get direct from co. Source for quotes yourself & bargain a good price. The contractors would have earned 20-30% commission from your sales. If go direct, you may probably get 10-20% savings yourself. These co. can't offer 30% discount to direct customers as their main source of biz still come from IDs & contractors. Can't afford to offend them.

3) People know people in this trade. I got the contact for tiling job from my hacker. The tiler did my kitchen & toilet floor & wall tiles & I'm satisfied with the job done. I even went on site to see his workmanship & confirmed the job on the spot. I bought my own tiles though. Again, contractors will get 20-30% commission bringing you to choose tiles & you won't enjoy savings. I bought the tiles myself & got a discount for going direct (though the discount is not as much as the co. gives to contractor, but it's still savings)

The tiler charged me tiling job by per sqm, whereas the contractor charge me a lump sum. I heard from my tiler HDB toilet & kitchen tiling job is only $2+/sqm. The lowest quote I got from contractor is $3.50/sqm but my tiler only charges me $2.30/sqm. See the mark up? These contractors also find these tilers to do the job for them. The contractor get your deposit but will not pay these hacker & tilers, carpenters, plumbers etc so soon. So these people like to work direct with us, customers. Get paid on time.

4) For hacking of kitchen cabinet, the quote for direct is only $200-$300, but look, your quote is $600. All these savings here & there can get you new cutains, or whatever you like to buy.

5) I also engaged a worker for painting job (contact from my tiler). His pay is on daily basis. But same rules - I supply the paint etc. It's still cheaper than getting contractor. And contractor also earn commission from paint co.

6) I also engaged a co. to do my false ceiling in toilets (contact from my tiler). He quoted me $550 for 2 toilet false ceilings. My lowest quote from contractor is $780.

Enough said. Source direct will give you so much savings! : )

[kuokht 0]

Hi,

For saying this, think the contractors & ID will hate me.

Just did my reno for condo recently, most things DIY.

Maybe due to my job (I'm in sales) so I understand that all things are cheaper if go direct. The contractors & IDs will sublet the jobs out to 3rd party and thus need to mark up prices.

My direct contacts & reno jobs

1)I engaged direct co. to hack my condo kitchen & 2 toilets (floor & wall tiles, kitchen cabinet, removal of sanitary wares in toilets & removal of debris) - for only $2K

I heard from the boss that the cost is lower for HDB as condo is strict with the reno timing so it would take them more days to complete as compared to HDB thus the higher cost for condo. ** The boss is so sweet to help hack wardrobe & other shelvings all at no extra cost.

The quotes that I get from contractors & IDs for just hacking (Kitchen & toilet wall & floor tiles) & removal of debris is - $2,600 - $2,800

** See the savings for going direct??

2) bi-fold doors, classic doors & iron gate - better to get direct from co. Source for quotes yourself & bargain a good price. The contractors would have earned 20-30% commission from your sales. If go direct, you may probably get 10-20% savings yourself. These co. can't offer 30% discount to direct customers as their main source of biz still come from IDs & contractors. Can't afford to offend them.

3) People know people in this trade. I got the contact for tiling job from my hacker. The tiler did my kitchen & toilet floor & wall tiles & I'm satisfied with the job done. I even went on site to see his workmanship & confirmed the job on the spot. I bought my own tiles though. Again, contractors will get 20-30% commission bringing you to choose tiles & you won't enjoy savings. I bought the tiles myself & got a discount for going direct (though the discount is not as much as the co. gives to contractor, but it's still savings)

The tiler charged me tiling job by per sqm, whereas the contractor charge me a lump sum. I heard from my tiler HDB toilet & kitchen tiling job is only $2+/sqm. The lowest quote I got from contractor is $3.50/sqm but my tiler only charges me $2.30/sqm. See the mark up? These contractors also find these tilers to do the job for them. The contractor get your deposit but will not pay these hacker & tilers, carpenters, plumbers etc so soon. So these people like to work direct with us, customers. Get paid on time.

4) For hacking of kitchen cabinet, the quote for direct is only $200-$300, but look, your quote is $600. All these savings here & there can get you new cutains, or whatever you like to buy.

5) I also engaged a worker for painting job (contact from my tiler). His pay is on daily basis. But same rules - I supply the paint etc. It's still cheaper than getting contractor. And contractor also earn commission from paint co.

6) I also engaged a co. to do my false ceiling in toilets (contact from my tiler). He quoted me $550 for 2 toilet false ceilings. My lowest quote from contractor is $780.

Enough said. Source direct will give you so much savings! : )

Hi thanks for the reply,

I also think of getting the tiler to do the tiling job but understand that the HDB must engage the licensed HDB renovator to do the renovation job so I am not sure if I can get the tiler to do the job. Mean time, can you please give me your contact for the contractor that do the hacking and tiling? I will try to contact them to get the quote. Thanks a lot for the help.

[wongapat 0]

Hi,

For saying this, think the contractors & ID will hate me.

Just did my reno for condo recently, most things DIY.

Maybe due to my job (I'm in sales) so I understand that all things are cheaper if go direct. The contractors & IDs will sublet the jobs out to 3rd party and thus need to mark up prices.

My direct contacts & reno jobs

1)I engaged direct co. to hack my condo kitchen & 2 toilets (floor & wall tiles, kitchen cabinet, removal of sanitary wares in toilets & removal of debris) - for only $2K

I heard from the boss that the cost is lower for HDB as condo is strict with the reno timing so it would take them more days to complete as compared to HDB thus the higher cost for condo. ** The boss is so sweet to help hack wardrobe & other shelvings all at no extra cost.

The quotes that I get from contractors & IDs for just hacking (Kitchen & toilet wall & floor tiles) & removal of debris is - $2,600 - $2,800

** See the savings for going direct??

2) bi-fold doors, classic doors & iron gate - better to get direct from co. Source for quotes yourself & bargain a good price. The contractors would have earned 20-30% commission from your sales. If go direct, you may probably get 10-20% savings yourself. These co. can't offer 30% discount to direct customers as their main source of biz still come from IDs & contractors. Can't afford to offend them.

3) People know people in this trade. I got the contact for tiling job from my hacker. The tiler did my kitchen & toilet floor & wall tiles & I'm satisfied with the job done. I even went on site to see his workmanship & confirmed the job on the spot. I bought my own tiles though. Again, contractors will get 20-30% commission bringing you to choose tiles & you won't enjoy savings. I bought the tiles myself & got a discount for going direct (though the discount is not as much as the co. gives to contractor, but it's still savings)

The tiler charged me tiling job by per sqm, whereas the contractor charge me a lump sum. I heard from my tiler HDB toilet & kitchen tiling job is only $2+/sqm. The lowest quote I got from contractor is $3.50/sqm but my tiler only charges me $2.30/sqm. See the mark up? These contractors also find these tilers to do the job for them. The contractor get your deposit but will not pay these hacker & tilers, carpenters, plumbers etc so soon. So these people like to work direct with us, customers. Get paid on time.

4) For hacking of kitchen cabinet, the quote for direct is only $200-$300, but look, your quote is $600. All these savings here & there can get you new cutains, or whatever you like to buy.

5) I also engaged a worker for painting job (contact from my tiler). His pay is on daily basis. But same rules - I supply the paint etc. It's still cheaper than getting contractor. And contractor also earn commission from paint co.

6) I also engaged a co. to do my false ceiling in toilets (contact from my tiler). He quoted me $550 for 2 toilet false ceilings. My lowest quote from contractor is $780.

Enough said. Source direct will give you so much savings! : )

From the research at this website, I dabbled into direct contracting for a landed which i recently purchase.

I thought I just share my view here so that would be 'renovators' can benefit as I did when I started researching here for my reno. My reno is abt to complete, which explains why i have time to write.

My terrace land area = 2,200 sq feet.

For my roof, i found a company to do it by google and asking a few to quote. The px I got was $2.9k b4 gst, incl fibreglass waterproofing of gutters, replacing broken tiles and painting tiles with sealer.

For painting interior and exterior I got this person who was painting a neighbour’s roof (Ah Chuan). $5k inc the ICI paints of my choice, indoors and outdoors, gates, patching cracks, sealer base + general cleanup (jetspray the tiles and walls)

Due to budget constraint, I was abt to respray the toilet tiles with acrylic paint until Ah Chuan offered to redo the tiles for me at a price slightly higher. But I have to buy the tiles and sand/cement which he will order for me but I have to pay.

Ah Chuan is basically a tradesmen without capital so he can offer good rates but not credit. He doesn't have a HDB licence nor a company (although he said that he is getting more referrals and have started to register for a company.

In the end, my 3 toilet cost abt $7.8k incl hacking, retiling, cost of tiles for the walls and floors. Workmanship is good. He did not do the tiling himself but uses a partner.

Then I decided to let him do my kitchen floor which incl hacking and retile ($1.3k).

I went on to let him repair and repaint all my room doors, toilet vanity cabinet, re-polishing my parquet, glass shower screen. Like what Summerforever said, they have their own networks. I have yet to see the quality of the parquet as that will be the last item.

I thing I have to highlight about using contractors like Ah Chuan is that you have to be reasonable with them, they don't have capital, so you shd not hold back your payment unreasonably. IF things turned ugly, it will be difficult for everyone. I was able to manage because I did extensive research so whenever we discuss abt how much each item will cost I have a basis to negotiate with him. So far, his price is lower than what i have. Furthermore our communications is clear as I can speak well in Hokkien so its quite easy to work with him. He can speak Chinese but he is more comfortable in Hokkien. English would be a challenge..

The other thing that you have to be prepared is that it may not turn out perfect, afterall you are taking risk on a lower cost. I took that path and so far everything is ok (thank Goodness). This is also partly because I go to the site every lunch time and I give constant feedback if I see something not right. On the upside, they sometimes throw in free stuff, I managed to get Ah Chuan to do my Kitchen False ceiling with waterproof board for $200, i checked with my false ceiling contractor that the material he gave me is the real stuff and the cost of the board alone is abt $350. He also promised to help me use some of the extra tiles to change the tiles of the garden area FOC.

Moving along to other items. For toilet doors, I use doors that uses swing and slide, its cheaper than sliding doors. For my light box I use the internet and googled a contractor who specialise in false ceiling and light box. His rate is fair and lower than the contractor introduced by my electrician, who wanted to charge me $1k, whereas this contractor charge me $770. 3 days from measurement to installation.

For lights I scouted between CH and LC as I had purchased from them before, their service needs improvement though. Electrician was the one who did my condo so I sort of trust him and his price is ok and he is easy to deal with, although pls note that from now to CNY, the electricians are fully booked. My project is delayed because my electrician had other committments. I tried to look for another electrician but some turned down due to their tight bookings while others charge at high rates.

For tiles, I went to Balestier road and found a smaller sized supplier who was able to offer a price lower than the 2 big boys in the market. They aren’t exactly that small either but they don’t have the massive showroom as the other 2. And I concur with SummerForever on getting discount if you buy directly. I managed to get discount from them.

For sink, taps, and shower items, I didn’t get from the 2 big suppliers in the mkt. Instead I was lucky to find a warehouse sale from a company that distributed Hansgrohe. I didn’t get the Hansgrohes but bought other brands they carry. The quality is much better than the 2 big players in the mkt for the same price. Again, I must emphasize its because I am lucky that it happen to be their annual sale.

The takeaway here is that Yes, you can save substantially if you do everything yourself (I calculate I saved abt $10-15k)…but u have to spend time on it (I calculate about 100hrs), and you have to do research, visit, see and ask the prices. And know exactly what you want out of the renovation. Actually looking back its quite fun and I learn a lot along the way.

Can’t wait till the house is fully done, should be within the nxt 2 weeks. Still debating with the wife whether we shd stay there or rent it out.

To those renovating, Good luck with your reno, and I will log-in again to update on the situation and hopefully Ah Chuan is a good bet and everything will turn out as he promise.

[natluver 0]

hi summer forever and wongapat!

could u pm me the contacts for your reno pls?

and pictures if possible? much apprec!

[rilakkuma 0]

From the research at this website, I dabbled into direct contracting for a landed which i recently purchase.

I thought I just share my view here so that would be 'renovators' can benefit as I did when I started researching here for my reno. My reno is abt to complete, which explains why i have time to write.

My terrace land area = 2,200 sq feet.

For my roof, i found a company to do it by google and asking a few to quote. The px I got was $2.9k b4 gst, incl fibreglass waterproofing of gutters, replacing broken tiles and painting tiles with sealer.

For painting interior and exterior I got this person who was painting a neighbour’s roof (Ah Chuan). $5k inc the ICI paints of my choice, indoors and outdoors, gates, patching cracks, sealer base + general cleanup (jetspray the tiles and walls)

Due to budget constraint, I was abt to respray the toilet tiles with acrylic paint until Ah Chuan offered to redo the tiles for me at a price slightly higher. But I have to buy the tiles and sand/cement which he will order for me but I have to pay.

Ah Chuan is basically a tradesmen without capital so he can offer good rates but not credit. He doesn't have a HDB licence nor a company (although he said that he is getting more referrals and have started to register for a company.

In the end, my 3 toilet cost abt $7.8k incl hacking, retiling, cost of tiles for the walls and floors. Workmanship is good. He did not do the tiling himself but uses a partner.

Then I decided to let him do my kitchen floor which incl hacking and retile ($1.3k).

I went on to let him repair and repaint all my room doors, toilet vanity cabinet, re-polishing my parquet, glass shower screen. Like what Summerforever said, they have their own networks. I have yet to see the quality of the parquet as that will be the last item.

I thing I have to highlight about using contractors like Ah Chuan is that you have to be reasonable with them, they don't have capital, so you shd not hold back your payment unreasonably. IF things turned ugly, it will be difficult for everyone. I was able to manage because I did extensive research so whenever we discuss abt how much each item will cost I have a basis to negotiate with him. So far, his price is lower than what i have. Furthermore our communications is clear as I can speak well in Hokkien so its quite easy to work with him. He can speak Chinese but he is more comfortable in Hokkien. English would be a challenge..

The other thing that you have to be prepared is that it may not turn out perfect, afterall you are taking risk on a lower cost. I took that path and so far everything is ok (thank Goodness). This is also partly because I go to the site every lunch time and I give constant feedback if I see something not right. On the upside, they sometimes throw in free stuff, I managed to get Ah Chuan to do my Kitchen False ceiling with waterproof board for $200, i checked with my false ceiling contractor that the material he gave me is the real stuff and the cost of the board alone is abt $350. He also promised to help me use some of the extra tiles to change the tiles of the garden area FOC.

Moving along to other items. For toilet doors, I use doors that uses swing and slide, its cheaper than sliding doors. For my light box I use the internet and googled a contractor who specialise in false ceiling and light box. His rate is fair and lower than the contractor introduced by my electrician, who wanted to charge me $1k, whereas this contractor charge me $770. 3 days from measurement to installation.

For lights I scouted between CH and LC as I had purchased from them before, their service needs improvement though. Electrician was the one who did my condo so I sort of trust him and his price is ok and he is easy to deal with, although pls note that from now to CNY, the electricians are fully booked. My project is delayed because my electrician had other committments. I tried to look for another electrician but some turned down due to their tight bookings while others charge at high rates.

For tiles, I went to Balestier road and found a smaller sized supplier who was able to offer a price lower than the 2 big boys in the market. They aren’t exactly that small either but they don’t have the massive showroom as the other 2. And I concur with SummerForever on getting discount if you buy directly. I managed to get discount from them.

For sink, taps, and shower items, I didn’t get from the 2 big suppliers in the mkt. Instead I was lucky to find a warehouse sale from a company that distributed Hansgrohe. I didn’t get the Hansgrohes but bought other brands they carry. The quality is much better than the 2 big players in the mkt for the same price. Again, I must emphasize its because I am lucky that it happen to be their annual sale.

The takeaway here is that Yes, you can save substantially if you do everything yourself (I calculate I saved abt $10-15k)…but u have to spend time on it (I calculate about 100hrs), and you have to do research, visit, see and ask the prices. And know exactly what you want out of the renovation. Actually looking back its quite fun and I learn a lot along the way.

Can’t wait till the house is fully done, should be within the nxt 2 weeks. Still debating with the wife whether we shd stay there or rent it out.

To those renovating, Good luck with your reno, and I will log-in again to update on the situation and hopefully Ah Chuan is a good bet and everything will turn out as he promise.

[kohkoh17 0]

hi summer forever and wongapat!

could u pm me the contacts for your reno pls?

Hacker

Plumber

Electrician

Tiler

Painter.

Mainly these few.

Much appreciated.

Thanks,

Kelvin

[monsieurlee 0]

hi summer forever and wongapat!

could u pm me the contacts for your reno pls?

Hacker

Plumber

Electrician

Tiler

Painter.

Mainly these few.

Much appreciated.

Thanks,

Kelvin

Reason why people engage contract is that - we don't have to coordinate ourselves. Save us the nightmare...

It is of course brilliant to do on ur own if u have luxury of time...

I want to do this.

[Alvingoh_80 0]

Hi,

For saying this, think the contractors & ID will hate me.

Just did my reno for condo recently, most things DIY.

Maybe due to my job (I'm in sales) so I understand that all things are cheaper if go direct. The contractors & IDs will sublet the jobs out to 3rd party and thus need to mark up prices.

My direct contacts & reno jobs

1)I engaged direct co. to hack my condo kitchen & 2 toilets (floor & wall tiles, kitchen cabinet, removal of sanitary wares in toilets & removal of debris) - for only $2K

I heard from the boss that the cost is lower for HDB as condo is strict with the reno timing so it would take them more days to complete as compared to HDB thus the higher cost for condo. ** The boss is so sweet to help hack wardrobe & other shelvings all at no extra cost.

The quotes that I get from contractors & IDs for just hacking (Kitchen & toilet wall & floor tiles) & removal of debris is - $2,600 - $2,800

** See the savings for going direct??

2) bi-fold doors, classic doors & iron gate - better to get direct from co. Source for quotes yourself & bargain a good price. The contractors would have earned 20-30% commission from your sales. If go direct, you may probably get 10-20% savings yourself. These co. can't offer 30% discount to direct customers as their main source of biz still come from IDs & contractors. Can't afford to offend them.

3) People know people in this trade. I got the contact for tiling job from my hacker. The tiler did my kitchen & toilet floor & wall tiles & I'm satisfied with the job done. I even went on site to see his workmanship & confirmed the job on the spot. I bought my own tiles though. Again, contractors will get 20-30% commission bringing you to choose tiles & you won't enjoy savings. I bought the tiles myself & got a discount for going direct (though the discount is not as much as the co. gives to contractor, but it's still savings)

The tiler charged me tiling job by per sqm, whereas the contractor charge me a lump sum. I heard from my tiler HDB toilet & kitchen tiling job is only $2+/sqm. The lowest quote I got from contractor is $3.50/sqm but my tiler only charges me $2.30/sqm. See the mark up? These contractors also find these tilers to do the job for them. The contractor get your deposit but will not pay these hacker & tilers, carpenters, plumbers etc so soon. So these people like to work direct with us, customers. Get paid on time.

4) For hacking of kitchen cabinet, the quote for direct is only $200-$300, but look, your quote is $600. All these savings here & there can get you new cutains, or whatever you like to buy.

5) I also engaged a worker for painting job (contact from my tiler). His pay is on daily basis. But same rules - I supply the paint etc. It's still cheaper than getting contractor. And contractor also earn commission from paint co.

6) I also engaged a co. to do my false ceiling in toilets (contact from my tiler). He quoted me $550 for 2 toilet false ceilings. My lowest quote from contractor is $780.

Enough said. Source direct will give you so much savings! : )

hi summer forever

could u pm me the contacts for your reno pls?

[Alvingoh_80 0]

From the research at this website, I dabbled into direct contracting for a landed which i recently purchase.

I thought I just share my view here so that would be 'renovators' can benefit as I did when I started researching here for my reno. My reno is abt to complete, which explains why i have time to write.

My terrace land area = 2,200 sq feet.

For my roof, i found a company to do it by google and asking a few to quote. The px I got was $2.9k b4 gst, incl fibreglass waterproofing of gutters, replacing broken tiles and painting tiles with sealer.

For painting interior and exterior I got this person who was painting a neighbour’s roof (Ah Chuan). $5k inc the ICI paints of my choice, indoors and outdoors, gates, patching cracks, sealer base + general cleanup (jetspray the tiles and walls)

Due to budget constraint, I was abt to respray the toilet tiles with acrylic paint until Ah Chuan offered to redo the tiles for me at a price slightly higher. But I have to buy the tiles and sand/cement which he will order for me but I have to pay.

Ah Chuan is basically a tradesmen without capital so he can offer good rates but not credit. He doesn't have a HDB licence nor a company (although he said that he is getting more referrals and have started to register for a company.

In the end, my 3 toilet cost abt $7.8k incl hacking, retiling, cost of tiles for the walls and floors. Workmanship is good. He did not do the tiling himself but uses a partner.

Then I decided to let him do my kitchen floor which incl hacking and retile ($1.3k).

I went on to let him repair and repaint all my room doors, toilet vanity cabinet, re-polishing my parquet, glass shower screen. Like what Summerforever said, they have their own networks. I have yet to see the quality of the parquet as that will be the last item.

I thing I have to highlight about using contractors like Ah Chuan is that you have to be reasonable with them, they don't have capital, so you shd not hold back your payment unreasonably. IF things turned ugly, it will be difficult for everyone. I was able to manage because I did extensive research so whenever we discuss abt how much each item will cost I have a basis to negotiate with him. So far, his price is lower than what i have. Furthermore our communications is clear as I can speak well in Hokkien so its quite easy to work with him. He can speak Chinese but he is more comfortable in Hokkien. English would be a challenge..

The other thing that you have to be prepared is that it may not turn out perfect, afterall you are taking risk on a lower cost. I took that path and so far everything is ok (thank Goodness). This is also partly because I go to the site every lunch time and I give constant feedback if I see something not right. On the upside, they sometimes throw in free stuff, I managed to get Ah Chuan to do my Kitchen False ceiling with waterproof board for $200, i checked with my false ceiling contractor that the material he gave me is the real stuff and the cost of the board alone is abt $350. He also promised to help me use some of the extra tiles to change the tiles of the garden area FOC.

Moving along to other items. For toilet doors, I use doors that uses swing and slide, its cheaper than sliding doors. For my light box I use the internet and googled a contractor who specialise in false ceiling and light box. His rate is fair and lower than the contractor introduced by my electrician, who wanted to charge me $1k, whereas this contractor charge me $770. 3 days from measurement to installation.

For lights I scouted between CH and LC as I had purchased from them before, their service needs improvement though. Electrician was the one who did my condo so I sort of trust him and his price is ok and he is easy to deal with, although pls note that from now to CNY, the electricians are fully booked. My project is delayed because my electrician had other committments. I tried to look for another electrician but some turned down due to their tight bookings while others charge at high rates.

For tiles, I went to Balestier road and found a smaller sized supplier who was able to offer a price lower than the 2 big boys in the market. They aren’t exactly that small either but they don’t have the massive showroom as the other 2. And I concur with SummerForever on getting discount if you buy directly. I managed to get discount from them.

For sink, taps, and shower items, I didn’t get from the 2 big suppliers in the mkt. Instead I was lucky to find a warehouse sale from a company that distributed Hansgrohe. I didn’t get the Hansgrohes but bought other brands they carry. The quality is much better than the 2 big players in the mkt for the same price. Again, I must emphasize its because I am lucky that it happen to be their annual sale.

The takeaway here is that Yes, you can save substantially if you do everything yourself (I calculate I saved abt $10-15k)…but u have to spend time on it (I calculate about 100hrs), and you have to do research, visit, see and ask the prices. And know exactly what you want out of the renovation. Actually looking back its quite fun and I learn a lot along the way.

Can’t wait till the house is fully done, should be within the nxt 2 weeks. Still debating with the wife whether we shd stay there or rent it out.

To those renovating, Good luck with your reno, and I will log-in again to update on the situation and hopefully Ah Chuan is a good bet and everything will turn out as he promise.

hi wongapat!

could u pm me the contacts for your reno pls?

tks

[khan 0]

can give me the contractor telephone numbers

[patlori9 0]

can give me the contractor telephone numbers

Can you please give me the contractor numbers.

Thanks

Ramu

[mummy_min 0]

hi, any chance dat u can pm me the contact no for the direct company.

thanks!

[Reno_Foo 0]

Reason why people engage contract is that - we don't have to coordinate ourselves. Save us the nightmare...

It is of course brilliant to do on ur own if u have luxury of time...

I want to do this.

Hi Monsieur,

Very much agreed to your statement. The differences between getting direct and from contractors is the luxury of time we home owner have to manage the whole project on our own. A contractor's job are to provide their expertise in the whole process of renovation and manage it to complete in time for the home owner to move in.

Therefore, it is not wrong that we home owner may save up some amount by managing the project on our own (Because we take the cut on the job, time & effort spent of a contractor for ourselves). But we have to planned the whole process well with good discipline in monitoring the different jobs too. I have heard cases whereby the home owners go direct, which means taking over as a contractor herself. However, due to her tight commitment in her own office work, her planning goes haywire. Furthermore, with the lack of discipline the jobs are completed in a mess.

This friend of mine, for example planned for the carpenter to install the cabinets before the electrician to lay their electrical points (though she has planned out the electrical points). She instructed the carpenter to leave spaces for the electric socket and the carpenter did so. To her horror, the electrician complaint that the wiring suppose to run behind the cabinet as a conceal wiring so that it will be as per her design. When she confronted the carpenter, the carpenter claim that he knows that usually people run their wiring behind but since she have asked him (carpenter) to install first, he would assume that she want to run the wiring outside (Alot of time people only care about their own scope of work and care less of what others job scope, thus we must know the process well to make sure things are running smooth).

Another issue of this same friend of mine was with her false ceiling and air-con piping. she planned a route for her air-con piping to run. However she install her false ceiling before installing her piping. The issue here is that her route of piping actually clashes with the main beam which cannot drill a whole through. Therefore she needs to cut the her false ceiling out and re-run another route for her air-con piping. The false ceiling installer actually was aware of the beam but did not know that her air-con piping route.

I must say that she is quite capable to have manage so far with her work commitment. I would say due to her lack of experience & knowledge, she suffered an extra cost incurred.

She later give up and engage us to take over the project which causes her to incur more costs than she initially planned and catered for. She was a friend of mine, therefore it was done at a utter low workmanship charges for all the amendment (not worth the $ earned if you asked me for the amount of work we take over due to the mess she created. Thus if she is looking for other contractor, I will definitely say she'll be charged quite a high fees to fix up the mess).

Therefore, if we intend to go direct, it is advisable for us to check out each procedures in details first. Example, which processes should go first etc. Secondly do take the time out to monitor the process. A lot of time when the fixtures are installed, dismantling or amendment would have cost even more. Thus, it is definitely worth the time taken to make sure things are according to your planning. Last but not least, a good direct company is a blessing, becoz they will help to advise you.

Hope my sharing is beneficial to all. May everyone's dream house be built with a smile.

Cheers,

Arthur

万里之行，始于足下！