Our Second Reno Journey

[macuser77 1]

FLOOR PLAN

Hi all,

after 5 grueling months of ID hunting, we have more or less concluded that we'd rather get a contractor as most IDs we have met are more like sales man rather than the real McCoy true blue ID. Furthermore, the supposedly "IDs" generally charge 30% more than contractors. (this doesn't apply to the legitimate IDs we've met, and we'll elaborate below). So we thought why pay a premium for cut and paste designs, when we can do it ourselves ?

First and foremost, let us present our floor plan :

The master bedroom and kitchen will be hacked. (sorry as we're lazy to use the floor planner)

We'll briefly cover our ID/contractor hunt in our next post.

Edited April 20, 2013 by macuser77

[macuser77 1]

ID hunting:

The 5 months of ID hunting was fun, but mentally exhausting. Like what some forum members said, it can be addictive initially. However, in the long run, it'll just wear you out and thereafter losing interest in the reno.
We will actually eliminate those who don't initiate a site visit. This is a fundamental error for reno of resale flat as the ID/contractor will never get a feel of how the flat looks like, its present condition, and how the design will blend.
Furthermore, the quote will never be accurate.
Anyway, to say the least, our field report (in sequential order):

1) D*** Design (approached in expo):

As we stay near expo, we decided to make a trip down to some reno fair. Though we've heard (and even experienced) some horrific stories on some IDs exhibitors, we thought it was no harm giving it a try since we have gained some experience from our last reno.

Design: We were turned off by the space planning and design as it was not practical, and the "ID" actually said "Actually nice designs are never practical." Hello....I thought IDs are trained to make nice designs practical ???? And no site visit.

Price: After eliminating redundant items, price is acceptable. There was no GST as they claimed that it will be absorbed by the company. hmm...some gimmick ? Anyway we've eliminated them based on the bad space and design layout.

2) I*ag* (approached in expo) :

Design : Didn't get to see it as the "ID" kept changing the appointment date (not in advance, but changed on the date itself !). Well, she was only wasting her own time as she made a trip to our flat to take measurements, pictures etc.

Price : As above

3) **zt & *e*ax :

Our first reno was done by them. We were greenhorns then, thus easily convinced to sign. Carpentry was so so, only after numerous lashings on the "ID". As for loose items such as taps, sinks etc, they became loose within 1 month. Leakages in the MBR sink also started within a month. We called the "ID" and plumbers. They came, turned on the tap, and observed for about 20 seconds. No leakages spotted (hello...the leak is slow and gradual..cannot be seen within 20s), and left.

Anyway we have decided to take another shot, as we are familiar with their "way of doing business", and also hoping to get a good discount on the basis that we are recurring customers.

Design : Team of 3 came over to take pics and measurements, was kind of impressed then. However, design was very amateur, typical cut and paste, terrible space planning. To say the least, you see a R&R home, you see all.(Their design was much better when they were in Joo Chiat with their ex chief designer)
ID wasn't familiar with HDB's regulation :

Me: Can we install 2 aircon compressors ? (our flat doesn't come with the new aircon ledges)
"ID": Gotta check. Do the flats in your vicinity have 2 compressors ?
Me: Have, but only a small handful
"ID": Means can lor.

Enough said. I realised they can only impress by telling customers they use high tech system e.g Blum (even Mr. K uses Blum lor). No substance in my opinion.

Price : Ok after removing redundant items.


4) F*** *p*** I**ent :

"ID" is a nice chap, very meticulous.

Design: Space planning was ok. Wanted to engage his services. Unfortunately, he took the initiative to show us the 3D design of a small part, and we ran off immediately as it wasn't to our liking.

Price : Very expensive. ID not willing to give discounts as he assumed there will be variation works.

There were a few others, but we're too lazy to comment on them.

Edited April 20, 2013 by macuser77

[macuser77 1]

And we engaged Mr.K

In a nutshell, after months of tiring "ID" / contractor hunting, we have decided to engage the reputable Mr K. His quote was definitely on the high side, but we believe cheap and good don't co-exist.

Hacking works :

Pics:






It will be a major overhaul, where even the toilet windows will be replaced. Hacking works were surprisingly fast, and everyone who worked with Mr K can attest to his efficiency.

He is a no nonsense guy and a man of few words. Although he's not obliged to give any ideas (he's a contractor), he will still provide practical solutions. The only thing he joked about was the ease of removing the tiles due to the crappy work done by our previous ID firm, which has since been featured in lots of magazines, tv shows blah blah blah.

Ok thts all for now now. Will update the pics if there's progress.

Edited April 20, 2013 by macuser77

[macuser77 1]

Air-con discussion

Didn't expect any progress as we told mr k to take it slow.

Monday came and he called us asking if we had made a decision on the air con. We were shocked to hear from him regarding the air con as hacking works only commenced last week. The conversation was :

K: 有找小弟(k's cousin) 谈冷气吗
Me: 还没有。下个礼拜可以吗。
K: 不可以
Me: ... ...(LL)

He's really on the ball and fierce, unlike my previous "everything also can" ID. At this point of time, we were really glad to hire him as he seems very responsible and pro. For a contractor, he seems to have a flair and taste for interior designing. Replies from him are very prompt, and he's really punctual. I remembered on our second meeting he informed us that he'll be 5 mins late as he needs to use the loo in a coffee shop (xiao di made us wait for an hour, and Jiawei (another contractor mentioned here) made us wait for 2 hrs). Nevertheless we will still be getting our air con from xiao di as he and k has 默契 ( he has k's eyes). For the uninitiated , he is k's cousin,

Anyway when we suggested buying our air on from Gain City, we could sense that k was quite apprehensive about it, as he mentioned that there were some hiccups for some of his previous jobs with gain city. Anyway here are some of the pics on the progress :

Hacking (Part 2) and toilet updates:

We got a pleasant surprise when we saw the toilet wall tiles had been partially done up. And we were worried that the white tiles that we chose will look boring plain and "hospital" feel. However, we were quite pleased with our choice.

On a side note, everyone says k is fierce. But wait till u experience his workers. The hackers were still ok. However the 师父 (whom xiaodi addresses) are no nonsense guys. We can see that they take pride in their work. I could tell that they were irritated with us and gave a "don't come and disturb us" face when I asked if they wanted cold 100plus. Just a fierce reply 不要.
We were very happy to work with such serious and no nonsense people

Edited April 20, 2013 by macuser77

[macuser77 1]

Mr.K's hardworking workers

it's the mrs here!

Am really amazed with the speed of how things are moving. Mr K is really on the ball and his workers work very hard - almost till 7pm everyday from monday to friday (It is embarassing but I actually knock off work way before them haha)

Though we have moved out of our flat, but as I live very very very near, I will still make an effort to drop by after work everyday and check on the progress (hubby told me to visit the flat only on weekends but i simply cannot wait till the weekend to see the progress!!). Everyday a pleasant surprise awaits me, be it a hacked wall or tiling of the toilets etc. I must admit Mr K works very very very fast though we have told him countless times to take it slow. I am definitely not complaining as this is such a refreshing change from the previous renovation where we had to handhold the "ID" on every aspect.

I am also beginning to realise that we have some misses (eg. way too big subway tiles etc) but I must stress this is no fault of Mr K, but more on lack of doing homework on our part.

Will leave it to hubby to post pictures of updates!

Edited April 20, 2013 by macuser77

[macuser77 1]

Glorious wood tiles !

So far so good. No complains. Very neat laying of tiles and we're very happy with the wood tiles that we have selected. (luckily we listened to K and went Hafary).

Enough said.

[macuser77 1]

Windows

I know not many will think much of this, but we love it. (by the way we left it to Mr.K to choose the windows). He told us it has a tinge of blue, as pure white will turn yellowish over time. To us, the tinge of blue makes it even nicer

[macuser77 1]

A pleasant surprise

We thought the wall tile will be plain and ugly. However, this came as a surprise



We actually changed to white honeycomb tiles specks of black. But luckily due to some miscommunication, the original black honeycomb tiles that we ordered were delivered instead.
And Mr. K was right ! The honeycomb tile were in his words "黑色 honeycomb 美".
The fierce tiler was scrutinising his masterpiece, and my Mrs saw him slowly and carefully wiping them.
And look at the edges. They were cut to perfection !
By the way, Mr K told us he will decide the grout colour for us.
And we were extremely pleased to see white grout !
He really understands what we want.
(the entire shower area will be black honeycomb)

Edited April 20, 2013 by macuser77

[macuser77 1]

The most common tiles used in renotalk : The Subway

My Mrs was fretting over this for the past few days as the subway tiles were bigger than those we saw.

I told her not to worry as we chose white grout, which will not emphasise its size.

And i was right (like what i said earlier, the tilers did a wonderful job)

[macuser77 1]

Our first purchase

We love sales.

Dining table:

Side board:

Chest of drawers for master bedroom:

Our colour theme is white white and more white, as my Mrs has lots of knick knacks (rubbish) to display.

[macuser77 1]

Boconcept

In case anyone is interested, BoConcept is having 20% off all purchases (excluding accessories) when you pay using DBS credit cards.

Offer ends today.

Savings can be quite significant, so it is a good opportunity not to be missed.

[macuser77 1]

Honeycomb tiles

It's the mrs here.

Hubby wanted a shower feature wall for the master toilet and we spent a good few days fretting over the mosaic tiles to be used..until I spotted the honeycomb tiles!

I must say, the honeycomb tiles is really a good choice! I love it for its understated beauty and more importantly, it is half the price of expensive mosaic tiles!

We recently spotted the same mosaic tiles on the pillars of my favourite hawker centre, Bedok BLK 85, and boy am i glad that I managed to dissuade the hubby from selecting them. If not, I would feel like I'm bathing in Blk 85....

[jessszeng 0]

Hello, would u mind telling what is the woodtile?

What material is it really made of? Thanks!!

Glorious wood tiles !

So far so good. No complains. Very neat laying of tiles and we're very happy with the wood tiles that we have selected. (luckily we listened to K and went Hafary).

Enough said.

[macuser77 1]

Hi Jess,

It's actually normal ceramic tiles. Hope this helps.

Hello, would u mind telling what is the woodtile?

What material is it really made of? Thanks!!

[jus4fun 4]

Hi Bro & Sis Macuser77, jus ventured upon ur blog. Congrats on a seemingly smooth-sailing reno! Was especially happy to see that u hv a team of very gd & serious tilers. The black honeycomb tiles, OMG so well-done! Envy envy! If only mine was as gd! Looking forward to more pics to come ya! Cheers!