5rm @ Bedok North

[ahdon 0]

Just like everyone else, floorplan!

I bought the floorplan the moment we got the call saying we got the house back in late March 2010. =P No time should be wasted when it comes to planning for our first home! Thanks to the forum, I learned about Google SketchUp and spent 8 hours one Saturday drawing the entire floorplan out on it. but it definitely came to good use!

At that time we weren't sure if we wanted to consult an ID or a contractor. We already knew what we wanted for the flat, but don't know if what we wanted was feasible (i.e., HDB allows this?, is it safe to do so..?, where piping must run..etc). It was a steep learning curve but that's what make the entire process so enjoyable. Just keep going back to the drawing board.

Next, photos of the flat in its original condition.

[yuene 0]

Congrats on the start of your reno! Wishing you a smooth and pleasant reno journey!

[Banned 1]

Yoz! Welcome to t-blog!

how come you took 6 mths to get ur flat?

[ahdon 0]

@yuene thanks!! =)

@Banned 4 months to finalise all paperwork with HDB, plus seller wanted to stay extra 2 mths after completion of transaction. we weren't in much of a hurry, so used the extra waiting time to do our research and start sourcing for things.

--------------------------------------------

So finally we got the keys on 25 September, and the whole flat was emptied. Had this whole wide, white and spacious feeling to it! Here are some photos:

Living Room View 1 with Balcony

Living Room View 2 leading to Dining Room

[ahdon 0]

More photos:

Dining Room

Kitchen

[ahdon 0]

Last bit of photos: BEDROOMS

MBR (ensuite toilet on left of photo)

BDRM 2

BDRM 3

[headstomp 0]

welcome.that is a good layout you got there

[kaijia 0]

hihi!! Congrats on starting ur reno soon!!

im oso starting mine soon. counting down... 5 days more to go.

Edited October 12, 2010 by kaijia

[ahdon 0]

@headstomp thanks! I like the layout too! No odd corners, just squares/rectangles. haha =P

@kaijia enjoy your journey! it's exciting to keep watching the whole progress day by day. now i can't wait for the end result! hehe

[Banned 1]

Oh.. same as me den.. Guess you are lucky.. No problems from the seller.. Ur flooring all can keep.. can save alot of money sia.. unlike mine.. everything has to go..

[ahdon 0]

with a waiting time of about 6 months (4 mths for HDB and then 2 mths for the seller), we decided to start doing our homework. and alot of homework we did.

Weekends were spent at Changi Expo. First time we went, we were clueless about everything. Just talked to the first ID that we were approached by at a furniture/lifestyle living expo. We had a design in mind, but some areas we couldn't work around (i.e., hubby not keen on an open kitchen, and i don't want to have a door to keep the smell/oil from drift out of the kitchen cos i wanted an island hood..etc). So basically we knew what we want, and were hoping for an ID to go with our design and then make improvements on it, and tell us what is feasible and not.

We were looking for storage space solutions, practical and modern design, and heaps of natural light.

In total, we met up with 6 IDs and 2 contractors (all not going to be named till end of renovation). IDs were sourced by ourselves, with heaps of help from the Renotalk forum, and the 2 contractors were recommended by friends.

Of the 6 IDs, 2 were immediate write-offs, 1 never got back to us.

1 ID we were really keen on and he was **** patient with us, meeting us 4-5 times and making amendments. But with each amendments, it became more towards what he wants for us, and not what we want for us, and the price also kept going up ($72k after the 5 amendment!)

1 ID took a while to get back to us (which was fine cos we had the time), but didn't come up with anything that made us go "wow", and nothing constructive. I guess it also didn't help that I couldn't click with her.

1 ID came up with a really good idea, but again, hard to click with the fella.

Overall, my opinion of IDs: really have to find those that you can click with. of cos the pricing and design play a part in the selection. sometimes what the IDs design for you looks really gorgeous..but really boils down to what you want, and have to stand firm for it. 3D drawings are only drawings afterall. =P

Contractors. By the time we met them, we were so loaded up with information from meeting with IDs, that we knew what we wanted to do, and had more or less finalised the designs. We basically handed them some drawings done on Google Sketchup, and told them what we wanted.

At that point in time, it boiled down to prices. We had to break down all the quotations into one standard template. IDs seemed to have a tendency to itemize alot of things, whereas Contractors consolidated a few things together and gave us a lump sum. Both Contractors were kind enough to use our itemised template, and that really gave us an idea of what was costing us, and where we could compromise on in terms of design.

5 quotations. ranging from 36k to 72k. Madness right? We were also budgeting for other items. Our renovation costs did not include accessories and sanitary ware, electrical installation, furnishings, lights..etc. That was to be a separate budget. So we had to make sure that the cost of our renovation & other purchases would not exceed the budget.

It also didn't help that we were seeing quotations ranging from 20 - 30k on the forum. So which exactly was the correct price range??

Surprisingly, both Contractors actually gave us similar quotations. A difference of about 1-2k (slightly varying designs). For that, we were slightly assured that we were in the right price range. In the end, we chose the Contractor that we were most comfortable with. I mean, both of them we were just as comfortable, just that we felt that the chosen Contractor could better project manage the entire renovation. =)

For people who are going to source for Contractors or IDs, if you've got some spare time, don't be afraid to source for direct suppliers for some of your renovation. It may turn out to be cheaper. However, this is only if your Contractor is willing to help you liase with the supplier during the renovation. We went to the direct supplier for the following items:

1) Walk-in-wardrobe

2) Quartz Kitchen Countertop

3) Air Conditioning System 4

4) Soft closing hinges for doors (Blum system designed for Ikea, we saw the logo on the system!)

5) Soft closing system for drawers (Ikea brand)

Both hubby and I had a lot of time (6 months!) to look at suppliers and get pricing and take our time to decide what we really want for our place. It is our first home and we really wanted it to be our dream home, just like everyone here. We took our time to understand what materials we wanted to use (e.g., quartz for durability and scratch resistant, less porous), look through heaps of magazines to see how we can increase storage space.

So, soon-to-be new homeowners, do your homework!

[ahdon 0]

Oh.. same as me den.. Guess you are lucky.. No problems from the seller.. Ur flooring all can keep.. can save alot of money sia.. unlike mine.. everything has to go..

actually that's what we thought when we saw the house, can save money cos the flooring still looked good. In the end..we hacked everything. new house, must new everything mah hehe

[ahdon 0]

Sourcing of Materials

This was the most tedious process. We started off knowing nothing, and ended up knowing WAY too many things.

We attended so many Expos that some of the suppliers actually recognised us. One of the supplier was also kind enough to recommend us to another supplier as his friends and get a really decent discount. Talk about awesome service! =P We checked out expos for lifestyle furnishing, expos for electrical appliances, expos for air conditioning units.

Countertops: Solid Surface / Granite / Quartz

We chose quartz because it was partially manmade, and still had stone qualities to it. Manmade meant that it could be strengthened, durable, made less porous (won't be stained so easily) and it was scratch resistant. Having stone qualities also meant that, like granite, it could be chipped off and there would be joint lines.

Wood Furniture: Teak / Mahogany / Hevea / Nyatoh / Rosewood

Teak, Mahogany, Rosewood and Nyatoh we've heard before. But Hevea? When I saw my dream dining table, that was what the tag said it was made off. According to the salesperson, it belonged to the Maple Tree family, but our research showed that it was the wood from a rubber tree. Apart from that, we didn't get much more information about it.

Nyatoh. Good old Nyatoh doors. We also selected this wood for our bed. We bought those beds with hydraulic pumps to lift the plank up and store things underneath it. We chose a bed from Maxcoil, which was highly recommended by a few suppliers. Hubby was a bit fussy about not being able to clean the floor beneath the bed..and actually got a price reduction for not wanting the nyatoh base. Less material used, should be lesser price right?

Will include more things that we considered in the next post!

Edited October 13, 2010 by ahdon

[nitrolil 0]

Sourcing of Materials

This was the most tedious process. We started off knowing nothing, and ended up knowing WAY too many things.

We attended so many Expos that some of the suppliers actually recognised us. One of the supplier was also kind enough to recommend us to another supplier as his friends and get a really decent discount. Talk about awesome service! =P We checked out expos for lifestyle furnishing, expos for electrical appliances, expos for air conditioning units.

Countertops: Solid Surface / Granite / Quartz

We chose quartz because it was partially manmade, and still had stone qualities to it. Manmade meant that it could be strengthened, durable, made less porous (won't be stained so easily) and it was scratch resistant. Having stone qualities also meant that, like granite, it could be chipped off and there would be joint lines.

Wood Furniture: Teak / Mahogany / Hevea / Nyatoh / Rosewood

Teak, Mahogany, Rosewood and Nyatoh we've heard before. But Hevea? When I saw my dream dining table, that was what the tag said it was made off. According to the salesperson, it belonged to the Maple Tree family, but our research showed that it was the wood from a rubber tree. Apart from that, we didn't get much more information about it.

Nyatoh. Good old Nyatoh doors. We also selected this wood for our bed. We bought those beds with hydraulic pumps to lift the plank up and store things underneath it. We chose a bed from Maxcoil, which was highly recommended by a few suppliers. Hubby was a bit fussy about not being able to clean the floor beneath the bed..and actually got a price reduction for not wanting the nyatoh base. Less material used, should be lesser price right?

Will include more things that we considered in the next post!

hi ahdon

sounds like you are having fun! i also did so much research until info overload...

enjoy your reno process

[leechaorui 2]

Welcome to RT. Hope you have an enjoyable reno process. Cheers!