Help In Decision Making - Id

[bentancm 0]

I have met 2 IDs...IdealHouse and Darwin. Both were prompt in giving me quotations but none gave me design principles or design ideas..sad.

Do you have any other IDs who are real designers to recommend? or should I go for freelance designer?

Interesting. Shouldnt they be providing some concepts to you by way of sketching or some form of visualisation?

[renoseeker 0]

Interesting. Shouldnt they be providing some concepts to you by way of sketching or some form of visualisation?

Thats why they are not real IDs.

[samsamwch 0]

Thats why they are not real IDs.

Yup, I realised in the end both are not real IDs. Nevertheless, I met 2 other firms. I think they are real IDs. Great ideas and sound in design theories, not expensive. Both can make my place turn into a 5star hotel setting. But in the end, I chose a hokkien contractor because we wanted a home rather than a hotel suite.

[keltan8 0]

hi,

a)so wat does it mean when i only recieved quotation after talking to them ?

b)if it is a real ID, wat should he provide to me after our meeting ? quote and drawings ?

wat type of drawing should i be expecting ?

thanks and forgive me ( bcos i am learning to renovate)

[Lauer 15]

hi,

a)so wat does it mean when i only recieved quotation after talking to them ?

b)if it is a real ID, wat should he provide to me after our meeting ? quote and drawings ?

wat type of drawing should i be expecting ?

thanks and forgive me ( bcos i am learning to renovate)

Dear Kel,

Frankly, real IDs or not, one should establish/practice good communication with IDs right from the first meetings.

Your questions should have been raised while "talking to them"? Although the common practice is for the ID to produce 3D drawings after the client has made a financial commitment, there are others who do things differently?

In my case, I didn't get a quote from my ID until maybe after the 7th meeting because I wanted him to see the spaces at the physical site, the natural lighting condition & ventilation, understand our habits at home, etc and incorporate these into the initial sketches.

Just my two-cents worth of thought.

Cheers!

[keltan8 0]

Dear Kel,

Frankly, real IDs or not, one should establish/practice good communication with IDs right from the first meetings.

Your questions should have been raised while "talking to them"? Although the common practice is for the ID to produce 3D drawings after the client has made a financial commitment, there are others who do things differently?

In my case, I didn't get a quote from my ID until maybe after the 7th meeting because I wanted him to see the spaces at the physical site, the natural lighting condition & ventilation, understand our habits at home, etc and incorporate these into the initial sketches.

Just my two-cents worth of thought.

Cheers!

Dear Lauer,

That is why i am asking ?

You said they must produced 3D drawing ( meaning after u hv sign contract with them ? right ?)

But i am asking what should i expect when i am looking for quotation ? should they produce 3D drawing too or just simple sketches ??

thanks !

[Lauer 15]

Dear Lauer,

That is why i am asking ?

You said they must produced 3D drawing ( meaning after u hv sign contract with them ? right ?)

But i am asking what should i expect when i am looking for quotation ? should they produce 3D drawing too or just simple sketches ??

thanks !

Dear Kel,

I said that normally, they would produce 3D drawings after a deposit.

My point was, every ID does things slightly differently, and every client does not necessarily expect the same things. Therefore, your expectation(s) should be made clear during the meetings. Do you want 3D drawings with the quote? If you do, then let this be known. How much details do you want to see in the quote? Let this be known to him as well.

For instance, I couldnt be bothered with 3D drawings because I found them good to look at but lacking in details (what is the internal usable height of a drawer? ). So, I didn't pay for these

3D drawings at all.

Hope these help.

Cheers!

Edited November 1, 2011 by Lauer

[keltan8 0]

Dear Kel,

I said that normally, they would produce 3D drawings after a deposit.

My point was, every ID does things slightly differently, and every client does not necessarily expect the same things. Therefore, your expectation(s) should be made clear during the meetings. Do you want 3D drawings with the quote? If you do, then let this be known. How much details do you want to see in the quote? Let this be known to him as well.

For instance, I couldnt be bothered with 3D drawings because I found them good to look at but lacking in details (what is the internal usable height of a drawer? ). So, I didn't pay for these

3D drawings at all.

Hope these help.

Cheers!

ok, under can stand liao ... xie xie !!!

[renoseeker 0]

Dear Kel,

Frankly, real IDs or not, one should establish/practice good communication with IDs right from the first meetings.

Your questions should have been raised while "talking to them"? Although the common practice is for the ID to produce 3D drawings after the client has made a financial commitment, there are others who do things differently?

In my case, I didn't get a quote from my ID until maybe after the 7th meeting because I wanted him to see the spaces at the physical site, the natural lighting condition & ventilation, understand our habits at home, etc and incorporate these into the initial sketches.

Just my two-cents worth of thought.

Cheers!

Hm...7th meeting?

At that stage, you are pretty much confirmed with the guy already right? In that case, then is it right to say that the quote doesn't really matter that much by then, since you more or less know you are going to hire him already?

Or do you still have contenders in your mind at that stage?

[Lauer 15]

Hm...7th meeting?

At that stage, you are pretty much confirmed with the guy already right? In that case, then is it right to say that the quote doesn't really matter that much by then, since you more or less know you are going to hire him already?

Or do you still have contenders in your mind at that stage?

Dear Renoseeker,

More like other contenders fell along the way; the one that last the miles is the one still standing. The process (I could agree that it won't work in most cases) resulted in having someone I trust, know what I wanted, and someone who could stand me, LOL...

Regarding quote, my thought is that one couldn't really compare quote from quote equitably. This or that cabinet quotes, comparing by per feet run, this or that is cheaper? But what kind of material is used for the structure? Quality of laminates? Workmanship (carpenter's skill). To me, difficult to compare just based on the quotes on paper.

Also, there are various scenarios. Say you bought a condo apartment at $1 million, renovation cost at $100K, that's 10% of the investment sunk for the condo. Do you want to split hair to find a 'cheaper' quote, say at $80K? The difference is 2%. Yet the 2% difference could make a whole lot of difference to how the furnished condo would look?

Just my two-cents worth.

Cheers!

[samsamwch 0]

Dear Renoseeker,

More like other contenders fell along the way; the one that last the miles is the one still standing. The process (I could agree that it won't work in most cases) resulted in having someone I trust, know what I wanted, and someone who could stand me, LOL...

Regarding quote, my thought is that one couldn't really compare quote from quote equitably. This or that cabinet quotes, comparing by per feet run, this or that is cheaper? But what kind of material is used for the structure? Quality of laminates? Workmanship (carpenter's skill). To me, difficult to compare just based on the quotes on paper.

Also, there are various scenarios. Say you bought a condo apartment at $1 million, renovation cost at $100K, that's 10% of the investment sunk for the condo. Do you want to split hair to find a 'cheaper' quote, say at $80K? The difference is 2%. Yet the 2% difference could make a whole lot of difference to how the furnished condo would look?

Just my two-cents worth.

Cheers!

I spoke to 8 IDs before coming to a decision. There is really a difference between a real ID and a regular contractor. I can give you the contact on one real ID and a regular contractor who says he is ID...meet them and you can immediately tell the difference. Both can provide 3D diagrams. Psf price for carpentry and mansory works are about the same. But the ideas and concepts are significantly different.

[musicbox 0]

An ID do the design for you, thus their cost will definitely be higher than contractor. I do not like to use ID, not only the cost, I don't like my house look like a show room whereby many items are good to see but not practical and lasting.

I also do not recommend hiring different contractor to do different works for you, although you can save cost by doing this, you'll end up exhausted with all the co-ordination work.

For me I hire a main contractor, who recommend his friends in the same line for other necessary works. As my main contractor will need to be on site most of the time, he's the one help me to co-ordinate and receive my purchases. I only visited my renovation site 2 times for the whole renovation process, and I got my house nicely renovated in 1 mth.

Btw I design my house by copying from magazine here and there and let my contractor see, he help me to amend the design to be more workable.

[IcescorpIo 0]

no, not experienced. just sharing frm wat i myself encountered. if it can help a fellow home-owner, den good.

thr r a few good IDs/contractors on this forum tt u might wanna consider.

Hi manutd1972,could u share the contacts?I'm a newbie just bought a 2nd hand house small unit,7yrs old pretty good and well maintained conditioned.so looking to do

1-2 toilets(chg toilets , maybe remove one of the standing shower glass screen so can extend my basin)

2-,kitchen cabinets(still very good condition but just Wana do new as can last longer)

3- do a wardrobe using one of the rooms

4-paint job whole house

5- marble floor polishing and parquet in the rooms to varnish

Any estimates for this kind of job?appreciate if u can help?

Thxs