My Private Resale Renovations

[erickoh75 0]

Hey guys,

Firstly, thanks everyone! This forum has been most helpful with my renovation research

So here's my little contribution back to the community, hopefully some of you may find it useful in your own renovation journey.

The Cast:

Myself, Mai Waifu, Our Boys ages 1 & 3, Domestic Helper

The Home:

~10yr old private resale apartment, 1270sqft.

Got the keys in early March, target to move in mid April.

---

Some pre-renovation photos

Floor Plan

Living/Dining

Edited April 6, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Kitchen

Corridor

Common Toilet

Master Bedroom

MBR Toilet

Edited April 5, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 1: Renovation Requirements

First step was to do our research and plan out our renovation requirements.

Research sources include renovation mags, online, browsing reno showrooms, talking to some IDs etc.

After some refinement and budgeting, here are the general list of reno works we are looking at

1. 3 bedrooms - new parquet floor, wardrobes & door

2. 2 bathrooms - new everything except windows and ceiling

3. kitchen - new everything + hacking to make open kitchen + dry kitchen counter

4. yard - change rubbish chute -_-

5. one mirror feature wall

6. polish existing marble floor

7. repaint whole house + re-varnish main door

8. cleaning, debris removal, paperwork etc

Our target budget is $30K for the above works (excluding electrical works, fittings for bathrooms & kitchens)

Also, our timeline is very ambitious, we only have 6 weeks or 30 working days from start till move-in.

Tips:

Watch out for hidden costs! Ask to see if things such as GST, paper work fees, haulage etc are already included in the quote.

Also, try to talk about and confirm on the specs of each item. For example, how many foot-run for your cabinets, wardrobes etc. What price range of tiles/laminates/paints/materials etc are you allowed to choose from.

Some useful links I found

Reno Cost Estimator

Gorilla & Shroom RenoBlog

And of course, the RenoTalk forum ^^

Edited April 4, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 2: Manhunt

Armed with the above specifications and our floorplan, we talked to a few ID firms in IMM and Tradehub 21. I also talked to a few "recommended" contractors from renotalk forums, some in person and on-site, some simply via phone/email.

Some important criteria I look out for in our renovation project manager:

- Must be able to meet our timeline

- Experienced in private apartment renovation

- "Chemistry" between ID and Us

- Responsive via phone/email/meeting in person

- Price

A few immediately said no to the timeline, which is great so we do not waste each others time.

Some listened to our requirements and promised to get back but we never heard from them again.

From those that reverted, we got quotations from 40K to 60K (note: remember to ask about GST!)

Then came the negotiations, some were not able to lower down to our acceptable levels, others were very slow in responding and we were getting quite desperate to confirm our contractor due to the tight timeline.

After which, the interesting twist is that we approached a small neighbourhood ID firm just 5-mins walk from our current house. The quote came back acceptably close to our target budget, and all other main criteria seem there as well. Plus, the close proximity to our current place makes it very easy for our coordination. And so that's how we got our main man.

Edited April 5, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 3: Lighting, Openings, Ventilation, Electrician

We had a few days while waiting for the renovation paper work to be approved, so we decided to tackle our lighting, doors, windows, fans and air-con requirements.

Regarding the windows, we had wanted to change them totally with some new configuration. However, it was an uphill battle, since doing so would change the facade of the building. The paperworks for such works supposedly would take a few thousand dollars, and will not be refunded even if the proposed changes are disapproved. We decided chances of approval are too low risk losing such a big deposit.

As for doors, again we wanted to replace them and the frames totally. However, it was then we found out that replacing door frames are very costly, perhaps even more than replacing the doors! We eventually settled for new doors but just revarnish and touchup of existing door frames. Selection is done from brochure, simple.

And here's our plan for the lights, fans and aircons:

1. 5 x new aircons (living + dining + 3 rooms)

2. 2 x dining lights (dining table + kitchen counter)

3. 4 x fans with light (living + 3 rooms)

4. 35 x downlights (living, MBR, kitchen, bathrooms)

5. 3 x flourescent lights (yard, utility, storeroom)

I decided the aircon would be the most urgent, mainly due to the existing concealed R22 pipings. In case there was a need to re-lay the aircon pipings, I wanted it to be done together with the hacking works. After some research, I decided our best configuration will be to use an inverter system 3 for the 3 bedrooms (we normally have only 1 or 2 room aircons on at the same time), and a normal system 2 for the dining and living (we hardly use these but if we do, we turn both on together).

Some useful links for aircon research

General Info: http://singapore-aircon.blogspot.com/

Aircon Price Guide: http://www.coolserve.com.sg/

Aircon Showrooms => IMM Level 2

I ended up going for a promo package from BestTech. The guy they sent for my site-survey is nice and experienced. He was able to re-use my existing pipings thus avoiding some costly concealed re-piping.

Our lighting/fan planning are related to the electrician, since he is the one that does the downlight wiring and installations. We also needed to plan out the some wiring points before the tiling/carpentry comes in.

Our contractor's electrician quote was rather high, so I decided to source for my own electrician. I went for this company called "innovate engineering" which I found online. I liked that their prices are clearly listed online, and very reasonable.

Edited April 5, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 4: Hacked! Nude Photos Exposed!

Oh yah, before the hacking, we also did our floor and wall tiles selection. Went to both Soon Bee Huat (http://www.sbh.com.sg/) and White Horse Ceramics (http://www.whitehorse.com.sg) for research and selection.

A couple of obligatory hacked photos, looking ugly in the nude.

The tiling works began immediately after the hacking, and the electrician came in to prepare some electrical points.

The aircon guys also came and install the aircons around this time.

TIP: If you are doing tiling for bathrooms, kitchens etc, do pay a visit Soon Bee Huat and/or White Horse Ceramics. Their showrooms are definitely worth a visit.

Edited April 6, 2010 by erickoh75

[Honeygal 1]

Chapter 1: Renovation Requirements

First step was to do our research and plan out our renovation requirements.

Research sources include renovation mags, online, browsing reno showrooms, talking to some IDs etc.

After some refinement and budgeting, here are the general list of reno works we are looking at

1. 3 bedrooms - new parquet floor, wardrobes & door

2. 2 bathrooms - new everything except windows and ceiling

3. kitchen - new everything + hacking to make open kitchen + dry kitchen counter

4. yard - change rubbish chute -_-

5. one mirror feature wall

6. polish existing marble floor

7. repaint whole house + re-varnish main door

8. cleaning, debris removal, paperwork etc

Our target budget is $30K for the above works (excluding electrical works, fittings for bathrooms & kitchens)

Also, our timeline is very ambitious, we only have 6 weeks or 30 working days from start till move-in.

PS. Some useful links I found

Reno Cost Estimator

Gorilla & Shroom RenoBlog

And of course, the RenoTalk forum ^^

i will be following your post very closely as i have also just bought a 10-year old private unit and will be doing exactly the same stuff as you. i need to get reno completed in 4 weeks!!

can you breakdown the cost (eg polish marble floor, painting, hacking of kitchen & bathroom etc) so that i can make a comparison later?

if you can also advise how i can expedite reno process, let me know too! thank you and all the best!

[Honeygal 1]

Chapter 1: Renovation Requirements

First step was to do our research and plan out our renovation requirements.

Research sources include renovation mags, online, browsing reno showrooms, talking to some IDs etc.

After some refinement and budgeting, here are the general list of reno works we are looking at

1. 3 bedrooms - new parquet floor, wardrobes & door

2. 2 bathrooms - new everything except windows and ceiling

3. kitchen - new everything + hacking to make open kitchen + dry kitchen counter

4. yard - change rubbish chute -_-

5. one mirror feature wall

6. polish existing marble floor

7. repaint whole house + re-varnish main door

8. cleaning, debris removal, paperwork etc

Our target budget is $30K for the above works (excluding electrical works, fittings for bathrooms & kitchens)

Also, our timeline is very ambitious, we only have 6 weeks or 30 working days from start till move-in.

PS. Some useful links I found

Reno Cost Estimator

Gorilla & Shroom RenoBlog

And of course, the RenoTalk forum ^^

i am very keen to know how your open & dry kitchen concept works out, given the space contraints. pls share pics or layout, thanks!

oh, separately, is there no way to salvage the bedroom parquet flooring instead of doing new ones?

[erickoh75 0]

i will be following your post very closely as i have also just bought a 10-year old private unit and will be doing exactly the same stuff as you. i need to get reno completed in 4 weeks!!

can you breakdown the cost (eg polish marble floor, painting, hacking of kitchen & bathroom etc) so that i can make a comparison later?

if you can also advise how i can expedite reno process, let me know too! thank you and all the best!

Thanks Honeygal! If you PM me your email address I can send u any info you need..

The kitchen door and connecting wall is hacked away to make space for the dry counter. The counter itself extends a little into dining space. Also, some kitchen countertop space can be saved by building a full height cabinet to store the microwave and oven. As for the existing flooring, it is laminated and not parquet, otherwise we could definitely regrind and revarnish instead of replace.

4 weeks will be super tight. Best is you can ask the seller to let you bring your ID/contractors to survey the place and take measurements.Then you can confirm your ID/Contrator early, perhaps 1-2 weeks before you get keys, so that he can start organising all the subcontractors and get the design and paperwork started. You can also start your shopping and tile selection etc earlier. I guess as long as the masonry, carpentry and painting are done you can move in already... If no choice, things like grilles, curtains, light fittings, furniture etc can come in a bit later.

Edited April 4, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 4: Bathroom & Kitchen Fittings

And then comes the shopping for our bathrooms and kitchens. For us, it was most helpful to browse and get a rough price indication of the bathroom & kitchen stuff in IMM, there are plenty of showrooms there. Of course, megastores like Courts, Harvey Norman, Best Denki etc are very useful for getting prices as well (tip: bargaining actually works if you buy from these places)! For me, I found Asia Excel in IMM to have friendly staff and they can give quite competitive quotes for anything bathroom and kitchen if you have decided on the models. We got our induction hob and hood from them.

As for bathroom fittings, I never shopped for these before, and never thought they could be so sexy and expensive. I guess the super polished chrome and rich handling of some of the faucets really got to me. The sleek smooth curves of some WCs are very attractive as well. (Wives beware, budgets may be busted if you let your men walk into high-end bathroom showrooms)

So after some basic research, our contractor brought us to Royal Fanco at Jalan Besar to do the actual shopping. I must say they give excellent customer service. Prices wise, I know our contractor would get a cut, but then I think it is worth it since he will then have the responsibility to make sure everything fits and works. Other than bathroom and kitchen fittings, you could shop for your lights and fans from a number of such shops along Jalan Besar as well.

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 5: Sofa So Good

And then my wife got the wind about the International Furniture Fair event held at Singapore Expo from Mar 9-12. She had this seemingly crazy idea that we could perhaps get some furniture from there. The reasoning is that it would not make sense for the international exhibitors to ship their bulky wares back to their countries. Nevermind that the event was only meant for trade visitors, or that we had no idea how the logistics of such a scheme would work (how to move the furniture out after the event? where to store? etc).

At any rate, we decided to head down and take a look, if only to get some inspiration on the latest furniture trends and ideas.

To our surprise, there were a few exhibitors who are actually selling their wares to the trade visitors. Mainly soft furnishing like cushions and rugs etc. We enquired about the larger furniture pieces like sofa sets and cabinets, and found that they too are for sale, but they can only be taken away after the event has closed on the final day.

Looking around, we saw quite a few pieces of furniture and sofa sets that could work for us. The design & build quality for most of the furniture are top-notch, since they were made for display in an international trade show. Quite excited, my wife decided to head down again on the last day of the event.

She got there around noon, but everything was already completely sold out. Apparently, the local furniture retailers would usually snap up everything in such trade shows to resell them in their own stores. Unfazed, she hunted down the local retailer who bought our shortlisted sofa set (turned out to be Castila) and asked to buy the furniture from them. And guess what, the deal really went through, at a very reasonable price. Our logistics problems are also solved because the Castila could deliver the sofa set to our place when we are ready, and even slap on a warranty on the item.

And that's how we got our very first piece of furniture, a luxurious sofa set wrapped fully in top quality italian cowhide. It is of significance because it set the design and colour tone for all our following living room furniture (ie. modern, white with metal).

La pièce de résistance

In other news, my cute wife also snagged another full-leather reading chair.

Ok, so the two items don't really match, but what the heck, the price was right. It could go into the study room.

Edited April 4, 2010 by erickoh75

[purecat 0]

Chapter 5: Sofa So Good

La pièce de résistance

In other news, my cute wife also snagged another full-leather reading chair.

Ok, so the two items don't really match, but what the heck, the price was right. It could go into the study room.

Hi Eric,

I like the way you present this blog. Very organised hence very easy to read. Will definitely follow thru yours.

Your sofa is very nice ! How much did you pay for it ?

[erickoh75 0]

Hi Eric,

I like the way you present this blog. Very organised hence very easy to read. Will definitely follow thru yours.

Your sofa is very nice ! How much did you pay for it ?

Thanks, it is $2400 nett for both the sofa and armchair

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 6: Table Consoles Chairs

"You may need to kiss asses everyday, but at least you don't get peesai stuck under you..."

Next comes the buying of other furniture. This is of some urgency as well because some pieces may take 3-4 weeks or even longer to arrive after order confirmation.

Our hunt for matching Modern themed furniture takes us to IMM, Park Mall, Furniture Mall, TradeHub 21, International Furniture Center and others in Sungei Kadut. With exception of a few shops, they all look pretty similar after a while.

We eventually settled on a coordinated set of furniture from Mode Studio in Sungei Kadut.

The main selling points are

1) Good workmanship

2) They allow customisation to the designs

3) The salesperson gives good customer service

4) Got a good package discount and for paying in full upfront

These are the items we got (all in high gloss white, SS legs and black glass top)

1) Dining Table + 4 Chairs + 1 Bench

2) Dining Console

3) TV Console

4) Entrance Console

5) Coffee Table

Table, bench and chairs, changed the table stand to another design

Dining console, changed the configuration of drawers

TV console, made it slimmer, changed to groveless drawers, wire hole moved to back

Entrance console, changed to high gloss white, SS legs and made taller

Coffee table, I'm sure we customised something...

Damage $3880

Edited April 5, 2010 by erickoh75

[erickoh75 0]

Chapter 7: You Led Up My Life

I'm a geek, and I just love LEDs.. they are efficient, long lasting and totally cool...

It was a no brainer for me to get LED downlights for the new house, and then I found out how ridiculously expensive home LED lightings are.

But as usual, the internet comes to the rescue. Some searching led me to a led supplier in china who gave me an excellent quote.

High Power LEDs: 5W, 7W, 12W, tiltable, comes in daylight and warmwhite

For the quantity I ordered, each 5W LED downlight cost me around $30 nett. That's even cheaper than some PLC downlight holders!

I also got a 5meter reel of flexible LED which I intend to use for our kitchens under cabinet lighting, and perhaps for my wife's dressing mirror as well...

Note: I am hesistant to list the contact whom I bought the LEDs from. I do not really know him, and will not endorse any internet sellers, since many things can go wrong when dealing with online transactions. Problems with shipping, product quality, after-sales service, even non-receipt of items bought after paying in full. If you have to know, I found my seller on ebay, just search for 'recessed led downlights' and browse. I negotiated with him outside of the ebay system to get a better price.

Edited April 6, 2010 by erickoh75