My New Abode In Bt Batok

[Supersimon27 2]

last night's meeting was really... erm... how to say.... quite speechless la.

the boss was in the meeting, and he's really very straight to the point lor. it wasn't 2 against 1 hor, it's 4 against 1! The boss, the in-charge, and 2 ops. Half the time I was sitting there listening to their discussion on how to bring the costs lower.

I told them to take out the bamboo flooring, cos they quote at 19/sqft while hubby can get at 11/sqft and even I can get it at 13/sqft. Then they cut down the prices for some of the items. The final quote was $40k, of purely wet works, electrical, doors and glass for my kitchen/dining area.

I said 40k for all these super ridiculous, cos my house just a normal 5rm HDB size. 40k can do a lot of things! Then boss ask me what is my budget, I said 60k, which I realised almost immediately, I should have said lower, but well..

Then boss ask ops people, 20k can do carpentary and ops said depends on what I want to do. I told them I didn't want fanciful stuff in my house, meaning i don't need to do a chio chio feature wall with design extending all the way to ceiling and down the other side of the wall. I want basic carpentary for my house only. I don't need built in study desk either. I just want shoe cabinets, kitchen cabinets, vanity tops for all 3 toilets, TV console with simple feature wall and wardrobes. After working out with ops people, they said my carpentary wasn't much, 20k can do nice stuff.

Then I said, no, 60k is for EVERYTHING for the reno! Including my tiles which I'm buying my own, the bamboo flooring. Shower screen haven't even quoted in lor! 20k not just for carpentary.

Then ops people admitted that 40k for wet works is indeed high. And while I'm waiting for them to drop the price further, the boss cut in and gave me a 3k discount.

37k in total for wet works. If i keep strictly to my budget, that means I'm left with 23k for tiles, bamboo flooring, shower screen, and all the carpentary.

Boss told ops people that hubby is his good friend, so they must make sure that quality must be there, and done within the stipulated time. They even mobilized the team to start work next week, just waiting for me to nod my head nia.

Talked to hubby. He kinda felt I should just proceed. But I told him fear is there le. Then he assured me they will do a good job too..... Dilemma.

I still think u should look for a few more quote . jus my view

[Amy Choon 1]

Hack kitchen and 3 toilets floor and wall tiles.

Hack 3 bedroom floors.

Labour to tile kitchen and toilets.

Build hollow block for MBR/Bedroom. Cos now both rooms combined.

Copper pipes for 3 bathrooms and kitchen.

Half glass wall for kitchen dining. Plus build the other half solid wall.

Build hollow block for another bedroom. Now it's a 3 panel folding doors. Wana revert back to just one normal door.

7 semi solid nyatoh doors and 1 solid fire rated main door.

Hack divider in living room.

Electrical works.

L Box for all 3 rooms, hall & dining.

Screeding for all 3 bedrooms.

Polish existing marble flooring.

Supply and install moisture resistant ceiling at all 3 bathrooms.

Frameless tempered glass sliding door for kitchen entrance.

Project mgmt, site supervision, drawings, design, cleaning, protection.

Dismantle all exisiting carpentary and dispose all debris

[Amy Choon 1]

I still think u should look for a few more quote . jus my view

yes simon, i thought so too. this sat already arranged to meet 2 others which I have shortlisted previously. see how's the quote ba.

[gimz63251073 0]

Sorry to be frank, but good friend so what?

2 good friends of 10+ years (whom i constantly meet up with) quoted me very high for reno works. I simply took my business elsewhere.

Its also better, friendships get complicated with money issues.

In the first place, you are already not happy with them before reno start. If your hubby insist on getting them, then u should gently remind him that you are the one coordinating and liaising. The contractor is not confident. If he knows things at the back of his hand, would he need to bring in so many people for meeting?

Maybe take a day or two to cool off before deciding. Cheers!

[Amy Choon 1]

actually they not considered friends la.. it's what the boss tell the ops people only.. just so the ops people won't luan luan lai.

my hubby and the boss is biz associates nia. actually i don't want my house issue to ruin that relationship leh... previous house was really done by a friend though. and when things were done wrong, the friend offered to rectify but hubby said suan le, in the end close eyes on quite a few things lor. cannot be too niao too. that's why this time i was skeptical when hubby wana use someone he knows, again......

i'm cooling more than 1 or 2 days leh... cos i will only decide after the final quotes from 2 others come in next week... i also scared lor.

[lilithfiend 0]

hey merydith, you sound kinda obligated to them even before you sign anything..remember: there is no need to feel obligated!! you're talking about alot of money here. and i think you have enough people telling you that you are being taken for a ride when it comes to the price..i feel nervous for you! no point paying so much more for "goodwill" with that business associate right?

[Amy Choon 1]

haha lilithefiend, yes you are right! i indeed feel obligated! but i'm steering myself the other way and looking at things in a more sensible approach. now i'm thinking of all the what ifs and indeed it's scary. so i'm not going to decide until the 2 IDs I meet this weekend gave me their quotes lor.

really thank all of you here though. i would have gave in if not for you all.. haha.

[Amy Choon 1]

anyway, putting aside the issues of the contractors.. I had my FSM went up to my new place 2 weeks ago!

my main door is directly facing my hall windows and most FMS would have said to build a divider to block right? But not mine wor, he told me if i look from the main door, having a divider is like having a blade cutting in the centre of the house, it's sha qi. so he told me not to have one. my main door actually facing the stairway. master said the ascending staircase bring a healthy flow in to my house... so nothing should block it. i even have to build a recess shoe cabinet wor.

the other main issue is the current mirror in the dining hall. he told me not to put any. which caught me by surprise. i thought dining room should have mirror? he said the mirror will face my daughter's room and it's going to affect her, so i must not have any mirrors. Instead, i should have a painting which have the following elements: mountain, water, human being and house. where to find ah? can draw myself or not? kekeke.

and he told us not to put the tv right in front of our bed, cos it will suck in all our qi. if we want to put it there, we must make sure the height of the wall mounted tv must be higher than the bed plus the 2 of us when lying down... and the tv console for the room should be lower than the bed height.

i can't have red in my kitchen, but he also said if it's just red trimmings, then it's fine. wa, what for, might as well scrap the whole idea lor.

he wanted us to put a live plant at the corner where my hall tv console gonna be, just next to the windows, cos that's the cai wei. then he said we should also put a picture of flowers in full bloom at the end of my hallway. peony is the best. then i tell him i stick decal can or not, he said sure, can! wa... good that he not so traditional and insist that i put chinese paintings man...

i told him what i want to do with the house, the colours, the position of everything, wall decals of what kind of picture etc and he's very pleased. wa, heng ah, i don't have to crack my brain for any other ideas.

what i love most is that he said my daughter's room is very good for her, studies and health.. being a mother, that's is very important wor. he also said the house is good for us.. that's a HUGE relief..

[ngunadi 2]

So how do you settle your contractor/ID ?

[patsy_sg 1]

hi merydith, my best friend's hb is an ID with his own firm, but my best friend told me she will NOT let me go with her hb to use any of my renovations because they don't want our friendship to be affected. Imagine small thing want to claim from him also difficult, right?

Maybe it's best you think twice about it and talk to hb, especially since the boss is a biz associate, will there be issues after that?

just my 2 cents....

[Amy Choon 1]

ngunadi, probably won't be using them la. met up with 1 contractor and 2 IDs over the weekend and received quote from 1 of the ID already, looks good lor. now i'm just waiting for the other 2 quotes to come in then I will finalised, it's been dragging too long.....

hey patsy, ya.. better not to ruin the friendship because of home reno lor... the contractor is on professional relationship with hubby la, so it's not as bad as friends but still... hubby did tell the contractor that if anything done not to satisfactory, they have to redo which the contractor also agreed. now it's the price issues only. i can't even accept the price wor.

[samgalz 2]

hi merydith

ya, i agree with the rest...i hv a policy not to look for friends or ppl i know to do major works like reno. like the chinese saying "money hurts feelings"...even now, my hubby's friend who is also going to do his house reno, we are advising him think twice in getting someone he knows. cos whenever things go wrong, u cannot really blast the person cos u still hv to give face....

so even if u show them the other ID's quote and they willing to lower to match also got to worry on the reno process and hv to pray hard nothing goes wrong (which is unlikely lor cos for a reno journey sure go some hiccups)...very siong since u going to do it by yourself only leh....

Jia you! the whole RT is behind u!!!!!!!

Edited May 4, 2010 by samgalz

[Amy Choon 1]

haha.. thanks samgalz!

yes, I agree with you too. no friends. I had hubby's friend helped us with our first home, and a lot of things my hubby told me to close one eye leh. and i wasn't happy with the house. this house, i told him no way to close one eye le. and anyway, ID can quote cheaper than his so called contractor, so what does it means?

btw, what are the things i need to check on the quote ah? any hidden costs that I have to take note of? just wana be sure... cos it's a lot of items on the quote, and i'm really worried that i might missed out something.

[samgalz 2]

haha.. thanks samgalz!

yes, I agree with you too. no friends. I had hubby's friend helped us with our first home, and a lot of things my hubby told me to close one eye leh. and i wasn't happy with the house. this house, i told him no way to close one eye le. and anyway, ID can quote cheaper than his so called contractor, so what does it means?

btw, what are the things i need to check on the quote ah? any hidden costs that I have to take note of? just wana be sure... cos it's a lot of items on the quote, and i'm really worried that i might missed out something.

best is every item get the ID to itemized out and with details like brand or items included all listed out. this is to prevent future dispute.

[Amy Choon 1]

Haha, I just emailed 30 items to the ID to clarify. I hoped I covered everything!