idealistic 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) Hi all To start with, wishing all an advance HAPPY RABBIT YEAR! whew.. It's indeed a long tiring journey. And from the title of my tblog, it reveals the lessons i have learnt and of cos lessons come with a price. First of all, thank you to all fellow sincere advisors with genuine experience and recommendations. In fact, my renovation is nearing to the end now and i guess it's beneficial to start a blog for sharing the process. When time permits, i will be sharing in details each and every stages i have experienced. You make the judgement yourself especially for those who are searching for ID/contractors. Like most people, I have sourced around, spending time to talk to id/contractors before finalizing one. There are also some who never revert back to us. It's either they are too busy or only eye on big projects with high revenue. House search: April to Jun 2010 (resale market after fruitless ballot from yr 2007-09) ID search: July to Oct 2010 Reno company: Baroque D'zign Reno start date: 12 Nov 2010 (self-hacking), 15 Nov 2010 for reno company ID: Sunny Giam Boss: Jaesonn Tan Read on for my renovation process and disputes. And i will slowly upload some picture too. Edited January 20, 2011 by idealistic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steelze 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 hi there! your activities in 2010 almost same as me. hahaha... House search: April to May 2010 (resale market after fruitless ballot from yr 2007-10) ID search: Sep to Nov 2010 Other major milestones: Switch job in Sep 2010; Arrival of 1st child in Nov 2010 Reno company: Summit Design Studio Reno start date: 29 Nov 2010 my reno is coming to an end soon. sat will be handover, but not 100% complete status. i also have several lessons to share. kekeke. anyway, Baroque D'zign was my first ID hunting stop. Andy served me then. Being to first time seeing reno quote, i gotta say he did very badly in educating us the reno procedures. we shared with him what we want, but he is relatively rigid in his own way. my colleague proceeded with him eventually, and true enough, his rigidness turns out to be his weakest link. hope ur house will be 100% complete on ur handover date. share ur photos here too. eager to see! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idealistic 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) Reason why Sunny is chosen is mainly due to his experience which is one of the criteria set while searching. And because we need to have a two sided feature wall, we require someone who can propose designs. Have visited homes done by him and find them accepted. He is actually recommended by a fellow mate here (there is referral fee for successful referral). These are all done and decided within a day, ie on the first appointment we have with him. Do not find comfortable to confirm just based on one meetup. Nonetheless, we signed up with him as there is a 5% discount on the grand total for confirming on first appointment and most importantly, he has the expertise and not a green-horn and price at that moment is reasonable. Noticed that this clause "5% discount on the grand total" is highlighted. *BEWARE* Usually, there will be revision on the contract along the way, either additional items or some items removed. We have removed some items due to pricing since the price gap as compared to market price is simply too large. And we have informed him during the first meeting that we will remove some of the items. Also, some items are added while renovation is in progress e.g. top-up the difference for tiles, kitchen ledge etc However, for all the additional items that are added after the contract we signed on the first meetup, no 5% is granted. This is ridiculous when it is stated in black and white that the 5% entitlement is on the grand total. Reason being is not enough margin!~! Edited January 20, 2011 by idealistic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idealistic 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 hi there! your activities in 2010 almost same as me. hahaha... House search: April to May 2010 (resale market after fruitless ballot from yr 2007-10) ID search: Sep to Nov 2010 Other major milestones: Switch job in Sep 2010; Arrival of 1st child in Nov 2010 Reno company: Summit Design Studio Reno start date: 29 Nov 2010 my reno is coming to an end soon. sat will be handover, but not 100% complete status. i also have several lessons to share. kekeke. anyway, Baroque D'zign was my first ID hunting stop. Andy served me then. Being to first time seeing reno quote, i gotta say he did very badly in educating us the reno procedures. we shared with him what we want, but he is relatively rigid in his own way. my colleague proceeded with him eventually, and true enough, his rigidness turns out to be his weakest link. hope ur house will be 100% complete on ur handover date. share ur photos here too. eager to see! Really, thats almost similar I have met Summit before too, but drop them as the one serving us is not very well-versed. But i must say he is very patient heehee, nice chap Ya.. my reno is now more than 2 months and these 2 months seems so draggy keke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Hi idealistic, seem like you have a lot of info for us to learn from. Can't wait for your updates cos i am going to start my reno soon. Hopefully that i will be able to learn from you and the rest for my reno so that minimum problems for me. Look forward to the good side! your reno coming to an end then you can take this experience with you for next reno. Thanks and waiting for your updates! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idealistic 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Hi idealistic, seem like you have a lot of info for us to learn from. Can't wait for your updates cos i am going to start my reno soon. Hopefully that i will be able to learn from you and the rest for my reno so that minimum problems for me. Look forward to the good side! your reno coming to an end then you can take this experience with you for next reno. Thanks and waiting for your updates! Ya, true. Joyous mood with festive season around the corner so dun wanna think too much Wish you a smooth sailing upcoming renovation! You can prepare a tblog too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Ya, true. Joyous mood with festive season around the corner so dun wanna think too much Wish you a smooth sailing upcoming renovation! You can prepare a tblog too! I have a t-blog! you can read it, the link is in my signature. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 anyway, Baroque D'zign was my first ID hunting stop. Andy served me then. Being to first time seeing reno quote, i gotta say he did very badly in educating us the reno procedures. we shared with him what we want, but he is relatively rigid in his own way. my colleague proceeded with him eventually, and true enough, his rigidness turns out to be his weakest link. hope ur house will be 100% complete on ur handover date. share ur photos here too. eager to see! Woah... I was still thinking of shortlisting Andy from Baroque... I didn't meet up with him but sent him my floor plan and my requirements. He came back with a floorplan which pretty much matches my preferred layout (actually.. a lot of the inputs were from my requirements doc to the IDs... ). and his quotation was cheaper... abt $10K cheaper than most of the IDs i've spoken to. But seems like they are not very gd eh... I've PM-ed idealistic abt his views on Baroque.. and he has also informed me that he would not recommend them... hmmm.... I must rethink my shortlisted choices again... sigh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Woah... I was still thinking of shortlisting Andy from Baroque... I didn't meet up with him but sent him my floor plan and my requirements. He came back with a floorplan which pretty much matches my preferred layout (actually.. a lot of the inputs were from my requirements doc to the IDs... ). and his quotation was cheaper... abt $10K cheaper than most of the IDs i've spoken to. But seems like they are not very gd eh... I've PM-ed idealistic abt his views on Baroque.. and he has also informed me that he would not recommend them... hmmm.... I must rethink my shortlisted choices again... sigh. 10k is quite a lot leh!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 10k is quite a lot leh!!! Ya... that's why he's one of my shortlisted one.... LOL... In fact, even without meeting him, i was like half-intending to get him le... was still thinking of arranging to meet up with him this weekend... now, maybe need to reconsider.... maybe really have to go back to contractor uncle from Joo Guan Huat (JGH)... But i feel no pt cheap but problematic leh... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Ya... that's why he's one of my shortlisted one.... LOL... In fact, even without meeting him, i was like half-intending to get him le... was still thinking of arranging to meet up with him this weekend... now, maybe need to reconsider.... maybe really have to go back to contractor uncle from Joo Guan Huat (JGH)... But i feel no pt cheap but problematic leh... Don't choose without meeting up. Even meet up also at least twice. Really cannot find any others?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Don't choose without meeting up. Even meet up also at least twice. Really cannot find any others?? Need to spend the time lor... but tired of meeting more leh... coz feel.. the price won't be any cheaper also... was thinking of visiting ID Note. seems like a lot of renotalk forummers use them. hmmm... Let's not hijack idealistic's thread anymore.. his thread going to be our private conversation channel liao.. LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idealistic 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Need to spend the time lor... but tired of meeting more leh... coz feel.. the price won't be any cheaper also... was thinking of visiting ID Note. seems like a lot of renotalk forummers use them. hmmm... Let's not hijack idealistic's thread anymore.. his thread going to be our private conversation channel liao.. LOL No problem csingeu! We are all here to share and to get info. I have been through the process and understand how you feel. Treat it as a learning process. But your 10k difference is really alot wor... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 No problem csingeu! We are all here to share and to get info. I have been through the process and understand how you feel. Treat it as a learning process. But your 10k difference is really alot wor... yah... but like what i've mentioned in some other posts before... too cheap i also scared... 1. hidden costs? 2. low quality materials? 3. lousy workmanship/ workers? i got feeling that sometimes, contractors/IDs charge cheaply (or "competitively") so that those who are cash-strapped will be enticed to sign up with them... and once signed, their "horns" start to appear... if they don't earn much profit margins from your project, it's hard to imagine that they will be giving 100% etc (even if they are earning a lot from your project, also doesn't guarantee they will give 110%)... human nature... customer - wants cheap, fast, gd quality and do more for free provider - wants to do less and maximize profits... so sometimes, "squeezing" them too dry (yes... we've seen this a lot in IT projects...), the contractor will be unwilling to do more... will charge VOs for every minor things and uncooperative or sloppy work... so i decided to be forthcoming with my estimated budget (and ended up as "carrot")... coz everyone will quote to my proposed budget.... no matter how much or how little they are going to do for me... and some more "atas" IDs will charge exorbitant prices design fees, etc... so i'm not too sure how realistic the 10K difference is... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 yah... but like what i've mentioned in some other posts before... too cheap i also scared... 1. hidden costs? 2. low quality materials? 3. lousy workmanship/ workers? i got feeling that sometimes, contractors/IDs charge cheaply (or "competitively") so that those who are cash-strapped will be enticed to sign up with them... and once signed, their "horns" start to appear... if they don't earn much profit margins from your project, it's hard to imagine that they will be giving 100% etc (even if they are earning a lot from your project, also doesn't guarantee they will give 110%)... human nature... customer - wants cheap, fast, gd quality and do more for free provider - wants to do less and maximize profits... so sometimes, "squeezing" them too dry (yes... we've seen this a lot in IT projects...), the contractor will be unwilling to do more... will charge VOs for every minor things and uncooperative or sloppy work... so i decided to be forthcoming with my estimated budget (and ended up as "carrot")... coz everyone will quote to my proposed budget.... no matter how much or how little they are going to do for me... and some more "atas" IDs will charge exorbitant prices design fees, etc... so i'm not too sure how realistic the 10K difference is... That's why ppl says, pay peanuts, you get monkeys. I rather have it done nicely and on time than cheap and lots of problems especially I plan to stay long in this flat. It's all based on how much u can trust your ID to make everything easy for u. Of course I think still need to go see as often as possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
