Old New Flat On A Shoestring Budget

[momiji 0]

Yes, he talks very fast indeed and always seems to be entertaining calls for new business.

To give you further insight, his main trade is in making sofas, so he actually subcontracts the rest of the carpentry work. Somehow, he's able to still keep his overheads low and thus quotes very reasonable prices. So he pretty much is the supervisor and QCs the work his subcontractor does. You will deal primarily with him for any requests or rectifications.

Decline if his subcontractor is an uncle named Ah Song. The chap is a one-man show, very accommodating but requires constant attention. He gets the job done but takes too much effort on our part! That's why I mentioned that you get what you paid for, in my case, I paid low in monetary terms but high in terms of time and attention. If you mentioned that the owner of the Upp Boon Keng flat with the Ash strips kitchen warned you about his experience, he'll take heed and reassign another subcon to you. I think it was a greater nightmare for him than me, lol!

Back to the wardrobe... I wasn't too happy with it initially as there were some alignment issues and the sliding doors were too stiff. The sliding doors are still stiff but I'm living with it... Initially wanted to buy my own soft closing tracks from Hettich/Hafele for them to install, but they cost in excess of $200 not including top up for workmanship, so opted to save money and skip that.

As my carpentry does not involve laminates, I can only vouch for their woodwork. Exterior wise is fine. Functionally ok, not great. Internally, as wood can be patched up, they patched holes that were incorrectly drilled with wood putty, sanded and re-lacquered the surface instead of changing out the entire piece to keep the cost down. Obviously, you can't do this with internals with PVC... in any case, if you're not fussy about it, it's pretty ok.

So bottom line is, he's great if your budget is low and require labour intensive work as he doesn't quibble with manual labour. The job gets done and he has a lot of pride in his work. But engage him with your eyes open.

Thank you so much for the details. He has given me a quote ($16k for 22 items) but I am not sure if its considered low or not. I am concerned about workmanship. I have not confirmed with him as I am still undecided on some items. (somehow, ideas keep changing even after meeting the various contractors).

I like what he did for your kitchen and TV console and thinking of something like that...

Thanks again for your advise.

Anyway, I like your Japanese concept, esp those internet pics that you clipped for your blog. I have saved most of them for reference.

[kooky 2]

I applaud you for the DIY working with a small budget . Nice ideas and it's harder to eventualise them and yet you have done it.

Thumbs-up

Edited January 31, 2013 by kooky

[Khairy 0]

Hi Kirin,

How do you maintain your white door? Does it get stain easily? What treatment do you use if there is any?

For your advice.

Thanks!

[Harriette 42]

Hi Kirin,

How do you find the quality of works done by ID Home Plus? I'm sourcing for renovators for my new resale flat. Would you recommend that I hire them? How do you find their sub-contractors eg. electrician, etc? Thanks in advance.

[Tengfamily 1]

Nice and beautiful house

[Sooddlydreamlike 0]

I love the genkan idea! But still not very sure how it was done, can you show more pictures? Thank you very much

[cookingbaker 0]

Hi @kirinshibori 

Not sure if you are still active on renotalk, but would like to check with you if you are still using EF Power Slim 90? I was introduced this model recently about its 1000 m3/hr suction (can't believe this model is still in the market). Can you please share with me your review of this hood?

Thank you so much!