The Experience: Our First Home

[cleong 1]

9. Hack off existing wall between Bedroom 2 and 3 (to combine both bedrooms into one, creating new master bedroom)

10. Lay decking for balcony

11. Install timber bi-fold door at balcony

15. Install island unit

18. Lay parquet on steps

19. Install mild steel hand rail

24. Create new wall to change entrance to bathroom (so that the common bathroom can become the new master bedroom bathroom)

I reckon these items may drive your cost up. Timber bi-fold doors cost significantly more than equivalent aluminium framed bi-fold doors. Having a kitchen island may cost more if you have a sink there as it involves more plumbing work, not sure if the kitchen floor needs to be raised to accommodate the pipes running in and out below the floor. Reconfiguring your upstairs rooms also attracts cost in hacking and rebuilding - to be sure, you are customizing it to meet your needs, but it depends if your budget allows it. I did minimal modifications to my unit structure to keep these costs down, as hacking and building walls involves HDB approvals, and also to reduce cost. Its fine to have a wishlist but work with your ID on various scenarios and their cost implications to see what you can do without.

[summersann 6]

If u visit Maydream tblog, u will know what I mean. Actually, I don't see much diff between ID n contractor. The main contractor will do all the coordination.

Most impt, u must be comfortable with a 90k budget n u have good terms with ID.

Thanks for the recommendation! Will check it out

[summersann 6]

Hi there! I'm also an EM owner here. Considering your work scope, I guessed 80-90k is generally the "market price" from most of the "branded" ID firms. However, are the ceiling, electrical, plumbing works also included in the quotation? Do consider all these details as it can easily attribute another 4-5 figures cost given the extend of the works.

For myself, I engaged a contractor for wet works and a carpenter for wood works. There are also other works which i went direct like the windows and doors. That saved me quite a substantial sum as well. All in all excluding furnishing, I spent less around 60k for an overhaul. The condition of my place previously was quite bad, i could only keep the living room flooring and staircase. In turn, I used the savings i had to splurge on my dry and wet kitchen. The two kitchens amounted to more than a quarter of my reno cost.

The amount of time, money and effort spent on a reno can be really exhausting. However imo, I would still go to a contractor for my next reno. Given that I will be dictating how I want all to be done at the end of the day, so what's the point to pay a premium to get things done your way. The designers may be able to sorta put together a look for you basing on their short understanding of you, but you never know if it's a design from their other customers. There will certainly be some adaption or tweak from the existing designs. The extend of such can be dependable on your budget, hope you get what I mean .

Having said all, please do not misunderstand that I am condemning all IDs here, I am only relating my personal experience from the many reno projects i went through in the past. Perhaps the ones I worked with are not quite the right ones. It's a real learning curve, I would suggest that you do more research online to better prepare yourself.

Hope you have a smooth reno journey and lotsa of luck in identifying the right ID.

Thanks for sharing your experience! We're going to look into engaging a main contractor. But we still prefer having someone to help us coordinate everything because this is our first renovation. Don't know what to look out for and don't know the details well, so we don't feel very confident. But we'll research!

Can't wait to identify the right ID and get the process going!

[summersann 6]

I reckon these items may drive your cost up. Timber bi-fold doors cost significantly more than equivalent aluminium framed bi-fold doors. Having a kitchen island may cost more if you have a sink there as it involves more plumbing work, not sure if the kitchen floor needs to be raised to accommodate the pipes running in and out below the floor. Reconfiguring your upstairs rooms also attracts cost in hacking and rebuilding - to be sure, you are customizing it to meet your needs, but it depends if your budget allows it. I did minimal modifications to my unit structure to keep these costs down, as hacking and building walls involves HDB approvals, and also to reduce cost. Its fine to have a wishlist but work with your ID on various scenarios and their cost implications to see what you can do without.

Yeah, you're right. The ID we're still considering did list out the difference between aluminum frame and wooden frame doors so that we can think about it. The price differential is quite significant. But it also affects the look we're going for, so we're going to have to see if there are other things we can cut first. Thanks for reminding us about the additional plumbing charges if we were to have a sink on our island! Think we're going to just keep our island as a working countertop and not have any electrical/plumbing things directed there. That would hopefully help a bit.

Thanks for your advice!

[summersann 6]

The boy and I decided to visit a furniture store today to get a rough gauge of what prices we'd be looking at for our dream house.

Wrong move. Air was having their 50% sale.

Spotted the desk that I've been sort of wanting for a while. Was so tempted to get it (especially because of the significant discount!) but managed to remain rational. It's really pretty, but just not big enough for us. If only it was wider.

Then, we spotted this. It was totally up our alley. The boy totally loved it. I was the one who tried to keep rational (how ironic ). Looked around at the other consoles, but at every other one, the boy would go, "That one was nicer." In the end, we decided to get this and sort of plan the living room around it

Been trying to find a bookshelf that looks like this. Completely fell in love with this one. Could. Not. Resist.

The pieces at Air are just like what we imagined them to be. Especially the wood ones. Very solid, very gorgeous.

We just bought two pieces of furniture. We don't even have our house yet. And haven't decided on an ID.

We're insane.

Edited October 7, 2012 by summersann

[Nexer 1]

The boy and I decided to visit a furniture store today to get a rough gauge of what prices we'd be looking at for our dream house.

Wrong move. Air was having their 50% sale.

Spotted the desk that I've been sort of wanting for a while. Was so tempted to get it (especially because of the significant discount!) but managed to remain rational. It's really pretty, but just not big enough for us. If only it was wider.

Then, we spotted this. It was totally up our alley. The boy totally loved it. I was the one who tried to keep rational (how ironic ). Looked around at the other consoles, but at every other one, the boy would go, "That one was nicer." In the end, we decided to get this and sort of plan the living room around it

Been trying to find a bookshelf that looks like this. Completely fell in love with this one. Could. Not. Resist.

The pieces at Air are just like what we imagined them to be. Especially the wood ones. Very solid, very gorgeous.

We just bought two pieces of furniture. We don't even have our house yet. And haven't decided on an ID.

We're insane.

When will their sale end? 50% storewide? I have always wanted to get their stuff but over my budget...

[adidaem 6]

Haha. I love nice furniture with nice wood finishing so I know what you mean about being unable to resist. I got a few Air pieces for my place too. Should be worth it if they last. You can try Grafunkt when they have sales too. Finishing isn't as smooth as Air, but design is by Nathan Yong who used to design for Air, so not too bad, tho Hubby much prefers Air for their smooth finishing.

Btw re your quote I find it a bit ex compared to mine simply cos I think I did more with the same range... Like glass wall for my bathroom, new main door, sliding door for my LEGO room and glass door n panel n wall for reconstructed study room. And my cost also includes full rewiring plus Cat whatever cable. But it has been a year and I guess inflation matters. Not sure if it helps, but we went to Three-D and didn't find them affordable. Anyway main factor was no chemistry with the ID that we met (not a lady ID).

[summersann 6]

When will their sale end? 50% storewide? I have always wanted to get their stuff but over my budget...

Not too sure about when the sale ends, but we did speak to the service staff and she mentioned that they have major sales twice a year, usually once near the beginning and once near the end. You can drop by and check it out!

[summersann 6]

Haha. I love nice furniture with nice wood finishing so I know what you mean about being unable to resist. I got a few Air pieces for my place too. Should be worth it if they last. You can try Grafunkt when they have sales too. Finishing isn't as smooth as Air, but design is by Nathan Yong who used to design for Air, so not too bad, tho Hubby much prefers Air for their smooth finishing.

Btw re your quote I find it a bit ex compared to mine simply cos I think I did more with the same range... Like glass wall for my bathroom, new main door, sliding door for my LEGO room and glass door n panel n wall for reconstructed study room. And my cost also includes full rewiring plus Cat whatever cable. But it has been a year and I guess inflation matters. Not sure if it helps, but we went to Three-D and didn't find them affordable. Anyway main factor was no chemistry with the ID that we met (not a lady ID).

Yup! Grafunkt is on our list. We were really only planning to drop by Air to have a casual look because it was accessible. The sale did it for us

Thanks for sharing! We're still deciding who to go with. It's currently a toss up between Artist Room or Three-D. The good thing is that we do have chemistry with the ID at Three-D. She was also willing to see what she can do with our budget. Guess we'll have a few more discussions to see what we can do. Their carpentry is really expensive. We may just decide to not have any carpentry done except for the kitchen and see if that fits our budget better. Otherwise, we may really have to take our business elsewhere.

[summersann 6]

Met up with the ID from The Carpenter's Workshop today. We weren't very sure about this firm, considering they took quite a while to answer to our enquiry. And even after responding, the ID stopped replying our email after a while when we were trying to fix a time to meet.

The ID called this evening, saying that she realised her email failed to send. Asked if we were available to meet. We were free, and decided, why not.

The meeting was quite pleasant. The ID asked us some good questions about our lifestyle, which was impressive. She also gave a few practical suggestions which, come to think of it, none of the designers we have met so far have mentioned.

Hmm... This is getting difficult!

Any one worked with them before? Any comments?

[summersann 6]

Overlaying tiles for bathrooms' walls and floors.

Not the most ideal, but after visiting the place yesterday night (the upgrading works are finally done!), we've decided to keep the tiles. Read too many bad reviews about overlaying bathroom tiles and decided against it. The color of the new tiles aren't the best, but at least I can stomach it.

If it really gets on our nerves, we'll overlay/hack it sometime down the road.

I also spotted this! I spot more details each time I pop by for a look

The home owner did it herself, with a small brush. Very pretty

[spiffysue 0]

Not sure if this will be of any help, but I went with Three-D. So far, its been quite disappointing. We are on our 14th week of reno and they just asked for another week of extension. It's getting really frustrating.

When we first met them, I was really pleased with everything. We could connect with the ID, the quote was lower than other firms, and they weren't giving us silly impractical designs. Problems only started after we signed the contract (as always). We realized they work in pairs (i'm not sure abt meiyi tho, my ID isnt her) and they brought on a Proj Manager to join in the discussions. This Proj Manager will be the one on-site and will be overlooking the project. ID only takes care of the designing elements like 3d drawings, recommendations for tiles, colours, etc.

What we found disappointing since works started .. 14 weeks ago ..

- proj manager does not go on-site much, only once in a while

- there were days that NO workers appeared at all

- instead of choosing all materials/finalizing details at the beginning, they did it step-by-step which we found very frustrating and caused alot of delay. for example, when it was time to do toilets, they would say "ok. lets choose toilet tiles at XXXXXX place." when we went there and didn't like anything, we would have to arrange another meeting at another place and all this whilst reno was already ongoing. so it means that if we can't find something we like, the entire reno would get delayed and no works would be done UNTIL we could find something we like. i find this really stupid. they should have ensured we chose all materials at the very beginning, so that works could run smoothly once started.

I'm not sure if its just this particular team.. because i know they have many other staff. Maybe the rest are ok, i'm honestly not sure. But just sharing my experience with you. Eveyrthing else about them is good tho.. they respond very fast, workmanship is good, willing to rectify errors, etc.

Just make sure you try and settle everything at the beginning so things don't drag like mine

14 weeks is reallly

[adidaem 6]

Not sure if this will be of any help, but I went with Three-D. So far, its been quite disappointing. We are on our 14th week of reno and they just asked for another week of extension. It's getting really frustrating.

14 weeks is reallly

Wow 14 weeks?? Mine took 8 weeks for complete overhaul... 14 weeks is too long man. Poor thing. What stage is your reno at now?

[summersann 6]

Not sure if this will be of any help, but I went with Three-D. So far, its been quite disappointing. We are on our 14th week of reno and they just asked for another week of extension. It's getting really frustrating.

When we first met them, I was really pleased with everything. We could connect with the ID, the quote was lower than other firms, and they weren't giving us silly impractical designs. Problems only started after we signed the contract (as always). We realized they work in pairs (i'm not sure abt meiyi tho, my ID isnt her) and they brought on a Proj Manager to join in the discussions. This Proj Manager will be the one on-site and will be overlooking the project. ID only takes care of the designing elements like 3d drawings, recommendations for tiles, colours, etc.

What we found disappointing since works started .. 14 weeks ago ..

- proj manager does not go on-site much, only once in a while

- there were days that NO workers appeared at all

- instead of choosing all materials/finalizing details at the beginning, they did it step-by-step which we found very frustrating and caused alot of delay. for example, when it was time to do toilets, they would say "ok. lets choose toilet tiles at XXXXXX place." when we went there and didn't like anything, we would have to arrange another meeting at another place and all this whilst reno was already ongoing. so it means that if we can't find something we like, the entire reno would get delayed and no works would be done UNTIL we could find something we like. i find this really stupid. they should have ensured we chose all materials at the very beginning, so that works could run smoothly once started.

I'm not sure if its just this particular team.. because i know they have many other staff. Maybe the rest are ok, i'm honestly not sure. But just sharing my experience with you. Eveyrthing else about them is good tho.. they respond very fast, workmanship is good, willing to rectify errors, etc.

Just make sure you try and settle everything at the beginning so things don't drag like mine

14 weeks is reallly

Wow.. thanks for sharing your experience! I'll need to verify these points with her before I sign with them (if I do select them eventually).

How's your renovation coming along? Is it just the carpentry left now? What could have happened to delay it by 14 weeks though..

[ultimax 2]

Wow.. thanks for sharing your experience! I'll need to verify these points with her before I sign with them (if I do select them eventually).

How's your renovation coming along? Is it just the carpentry left now? What could have happened to delay it by 14 weeks though..

I think agreeing on a schedule is important. We didn't do this, partly because we're pretty trusting and had given our IDs a generous amount of time for the work required. But in hindsight, as clients, this was pretty stupid. I guess we were lucky nothing bad went wrong. Some inonvenience, but nothing major. The next time, we'll insist on something black and white if we renovate again because this is still a business contract. One needs to protect one's own interest. If you have chemistry with the ID, it's easy to be friendly with them. But they aren't your friends.

I would highly recommend you ensure your ID gives you a week by week schedule of everything. He will definitely give you a payment schedule. You in turn should demand a completion of works schedule.

This way he knows you have something to measure his progress by. Otherwise, it can often be initial slow progress, then a mad rush to finish in the end. Corners may be cut. Think of it this way. If all you agree upon is 3 months to completion, all he's responsible for is that single deadline. He's not accountable to you for how he gets there.

I see a schedule as a way of getting value for time.Just like how you want value for money with your ID budget, you also want value for time with the time set aside for renovations. If the ID doesn't tell you how he's spending the 3 months renovating your place, perhaps you're actually getting the raw end of the deal.

I was quite hands off when it came to project management etc. and monitoring site progress. I don't think my IDs consciously did this, but they may have assumed I was more "chin chye" and took their feet off the pedal a bit. They delivered in the end, but I think it's human nature to be more "flexible" with people whom you are friendly with. This is especially so when they have multiple projects to do with limited resources.

My advice in general is to go into your renos seeing this as a 100% busienss transaction. Make sure you have Terms & Conditions for your IDs, because they surely will have them for you! Don't fall into the "I think I better treat my IDs nicely or they may drag their feet and sabo my renos" trap and overcompensate by being too generous and always leaving the ball in their court! This is one lesson I learnt as a newbie.