Love Nest @ Casa

[Lanzs 0]

Hi,

Love how ur house look and feel. Can you send me the cost of your renovation and your contractor contact to my email?

Thanks a lot!!

lanzshot@hotmail.com

[RedSioux 0]

Hi there, can i trouble you to share with me K's contact please? Thanks in advance!

[Dancinfairy 0]

Hey itsybits, I love ur brick wall and its the exact same look I have in mind.

Can you please PM me K's contact and his breakdown if you don't mind.love your toilet doors too!!! I'm deciding between wood laminate and your tiles tempted me so much to overlay my kitchen n toilet tiles!

Am tryin to achieve a modern country look and it's really demoralizing that IDs are tryin to dissuade me from that .

Am inspired by u to be my own ID too!

[cookie2013 0]

Hi itsybits,

I likes your house design.

Can you share your contractor's contact with me?

My email : meiibao@yahoo.com

Cheers

[Kay 0]

Hi,

You have lovely home.

Can u share ur contractor Mr K contact?

Pls do PM me.

Thanks

[kelhy 2]

Can check where you got the green mat under the TV?

Home now looks like this:

[theitsybits 0]

Kelhy it's from ikea for $79..we got the cheapest one we can find cuz we were worried if the dog might mistaken it for grass and pee on it =p

Sry guys, been busy with wedding and honeymoon-ing in Europe now..will try to share contacts or pm me if I've missed out.. =)

[kelhy 2]

No no, i mean the one on your console.

Oh, njoy ur honeymoon........

Kelhy it's from ikea for $79..we got the cheapest one we can find cuz we were worried if the dog might mistaken it for grass and pee on it =p

Sry guys, been busy with wedding and honeymoon-ing in Europe now..will try to share contacts or pm me if I've missed out.. =)

[theitsybits 0]

On console? It's a light blue mat from ikea too..can't really remember how much though..

[kelhy 2]

I try to find something similar at ikea.. but no luck..

On console? It's a light blue mat from ikea too..can't really remember how much though..

[regularJoe 0]

Hi itsybits,

Your home is beautifully done. Mind sharing K's contacts and quotes for my reference? My thanks in advance!

[nickguthe 30]

Hi itsybits,

My wife and I love your Scandinavian design theme house. Do you mind sharing K's contact?

Thanks!

Nick

[kelhy 2]

itsybits, wonder how u manage the wires behind the console? Mine is so messy and unsightful. Thinking how to manage it! argh.. can give me a snapshot on your?

[jojojo0209 0]

Hihi,

Nice house. I'm doing major overhaul of my unit. Would like to find a responsible contractor. Can you PM me Mr K contact please? I will like to ask him for a quote.

Thank you so much.

[misfits 0]

We are really coming to the end of our renovation as chemical cleaning was done, with toilet doors and windows installed too. There's nothing much K could do till carpentry comes in, so that he can install lights and plumbing works.

About my contractor, Mr K:

Many people are asking me, how's K and his workmanship? I shall attempt to share my experience with him and try to include the questions I get from others.

Honestly, I have no complaints. Working with him was a breeze for us and he didn't need any chasing. In fact, we worked faster than we could get our things ready and he's the one who keep calling us up.

Pre-renovation

We met up with him mid-May, after meeting with countless IDs and a few contractors. He was early for our appointment (I like that). He came with a measuring tape and a small notebook but never did open it nor wrote anything down. We went around the house and went through all the works we wanted to be done. It took about an hour and it was apparent that he was very experienced. He was quick and gave us some suggestions, told us what could and could not be done. He left and promised to give a rough quotation soon with a detailed quotation later, in about a week.

We got a rough quotation within a few days. It wasn't that cheap, slightly above budget but reasonable. IDs quoted about 45-60k, some excluding electrical and hacking while his all-in quote was alot cheaper. We met up with him again about 2 weeks later and made some amendments to the works required in an attempt to cut cost but end up adding a few things too. Initial quote included carpentry which we later took out and let a relative do it instead. He was really understanding about it and we met up to finalize the contract again last week of May. He met us at our place and went through all the works again before signing the contract.

Renovation Process

We signed the contract on a Saturday, and got the permit by Wednesday. Renovations started officially on the following Monday. Meanwhile we have confirmed tiles (same wooden-grain tiles for the whole house). Hacking was done on Monday, with all sand and materials arriving in my house.

I've been updating the progress almost daily initially, so it's apparent that things were pretty quick and smooth. All major works were completed by Week 4, painting in week 5, doors and windows up in week 6.

Working style

He's chinese/malay speaking. He's a contractor, not ID. He does give suggestions after you let him know what you want done, but don't expect him to do space planning and services which IDs provide. We had no 3D drawings (you can probably pay for it), and there was no written schedule. All I knew was that my renovation will take 6-8 weeks, starting with hacking and electrical. He updates progress with pictures through wadsapp whenever something is done. He also visits our site almost daily and is very responsive with wadsapp. We do ask him what will be done next often, and he lets us know what works follows.

Workmanship

I would say that the workmanship is generally pretty good. He works with a good network of sub-contractors and seemed close with them. My tiling were all done neatly, and some who visited our place commented that we have very neat flooring with small grouts (as requested). The only complaint is the edges and corners, which wasn't done as well. My husband checked the ceiling and floor corner of the mosaic and last piece weren't as straight. I was alright with that since it's an half-inch mosaic and I don't really go see the corners. Plastering, false-ceiling and other works were done nicely too.

HDB License

K's company is not HDB approved, and there are a few who were concerned about this. I did a quick check before signing the contract, but still went ahead with him despite knowing that he does not have a HDB license. My renovation permit is under the hacking contractor permit, whom he works with closely. I did ask him about it, but he felt that it was not necessary and troublesome. He said that he has done hundreds of homes and there were no problems. And if people don't trust them with their homes, it doesn't matter that he has a permit or not. Most of his jobs are all through word of mouth, no advertising and I guess he has enough projects to make a living. I'm not very sure what additional benefits does HDB Licensed contractors have, only heard about the waterproofing. I suppose that new flats do not even have to worry about this.

Anyway, on hindsight, it obviously wasn't a problem since everything was done smoothly. And even HDB licensed contractors can have bad workmanship or drag your renovation, yet nothing much can be done. I hate it when I have to pay people to do things, yet have to keep chasing them. So, communication and being able to trust the contractor to do a good job to achieve our dream home took precedence over this. We felt that he's trustable, on-the-ball, and able to achieve the look we want. But for people who are worried, perhaps it's better to go to licensed firms.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the whole renovation process, which was really smooth. It makes me really thankful when I hear/read horror stories about how contractors/IDs delay jobs or do a horrible job. I don't think K is that cheap, but the price is really reasonable given that he delivers everything nicely on time without having to chase him at all..

I can't say the same for my carpentry though. still, no confirmation about when carpentry can be up. it's been a month since we informed them to come take measurement for carpentry.

Can you share Mr K's contact with me? wongboonhwa@hotmail.com