An Experiement In Designing My New Home

[jaykr 0]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading the blogs and the various categories of Renotalk forum for about a few months now. Couple of months have been spent on getting HDB to rectify some of the defects in the flat.

It is time now to renovate my home and move in. Finally!!! I will explain later, why I called my blog, "An experiment in designing my new home" later.

I hope as I go in this journey, you will help me along the way,if you see something that I am really blur with or give me opinions, feedback, ideas etc..... I appreciate it.

So what have I been up to so far :

1) Reading...Reading...Reading...and more reading...and more reading.....

2) I have also getting various contractors / ID's etc... to my flat and asking them for a quote.

3) Msging a lot of renotalk bloggers to get their feedback on their contractors and their likes and dislikes as well as from friends, family etc...

4) I have also been visiting fairs, showrooms like Blum, interior affairs, lighting shops etc...

Hopefully, I will get the quotes soon for me to get an idea on the cost and then decide on the way forward.

Edited January 9, 2013 by jaykr

[multi888 1]

Welcome and all the best on your Reno...

[jaykr 0]

Let me share the HDB floorplan of my flat.

One of the key goals is to keep the renovation cost low. So lets see if I am able to keep to my goal.

Edited January 9, 2013 by jaykr

[multi888 1]

Overlaying of flooring is one of the way to keep cost low.

[Z3phy 2]

Agree. But overlay with what is the big question. =)

[multi888 1]

Agree. But overlay with what is the big question. =)

With tiles or Laminate is possible. You save on the hacking cost...how much depends on your ID quotes.

[Z3phy 2]

diference in cost might be a lot. if i overlay with the waterproofing excel (assuming it's very ex), i would probably end up spending more. so got to see what you want...

multi888, if i were to overlay with vinyl tiles, have u heard any cons abt this? cant seem to find much info on this tiles.

[multi888 1]

diference in cost might be a lot. if i overlay with the waterproofing excel (assuming it's very ex), i would probably end up spending more. so got to see what you want...

multi888, if i were to overlay with vinyl tiles, have u heard any cons abt this? cant seem to find much info on this tiles.

Heard that vinyl will gives out certain gases which is bad for health. Google or search this forum, there are some discussion some time back. That is one of the reason why I don't chose vinyl....

[jaykr 0]

Hi Multi888,

Thank you. I think I would need all the luck as I have a lot of decisions to make on what I want to keep and what I want to do .

As they say, cheapest isn't always the best, but then you want to get the best and then see how you can modify it so that it can done at the lowest cost....not cheapest...;p

I need to go read your blog also....

Thank you for welcoming me again and hope to get your wise inputs as I go in this journey.

Welcome and all the best on your Reno...

[jaykr 0]

Hi Multi888,

Thank you for the suggestion, got a question? Can I overlay any material or only certain materials? Any cons to overlaying? Bathroons walls floors can overlay? How about Kitchen?

Overlay over tiles?

Also what materials can you overlay with? all types of materials like tiles etc...or only certain types materials can be used to overlay?

Appreciate your input greatly!

Overlaying of flooring is one of the way to keep cost low.

[jaykr 0]

Hi Z3phy,

Interesting nick you have there, Welcome to my blog!

Same question, I have also plus a lot more...

Agree. But overlay with what is the big question. =)

[jaykr 0]

HI Multi888 & Z3phy,

If I overlay, then I don't need to hack as well as do waterproofing works etc correct? So in that case, then I don't need to get HDB permit also correct?

Appreciate your help!

Heard that vinyl will gives out certain gases which is bad for health. Google or search this forum, there are some discussion some time back. That is one of the reason why I don't chose vinyl....

Edited January 10, 2013 by jaykr

[jaykr 0]

I found the answer to my question. =)

You can read about it in this thread in renotalk.

Hacking or overlay? - http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14892

[jaykr 0]

Wow! I started this blog chat in January when I was getting the HDB to rectify all the issue in my flat. I didn't update up till now as I have not started on my renovation.

I learned so much over this period of time from books, websites, Reno talk blogs and bloggers who have been kind enough to respond to my multiple round of questions . Thank you to all the people who took the time to answer my questions, appreciate it a lot.

I also realized , that it is actually good to meet and talk to all the different contractors / ID's. When you talk to them face to face and show them your flat and ask for their opinion or tell them what you want to do... its good to see how they react , what they say etc...

I encountered the following type of people :

1) Everything cannot do or not nice : " This one huh, alamak difficult to do lar.. do this way better, looks more nice I guarantee , why do like this??? do this way lar.... I try to save you money you know.... Why you want to build this? waste money lar don't do. etc...etc..etc.. "

2) Sure can do! - The person came to visit my place and took down all the items to be done and promised to give us the quotes in 1 weeks time and I followed up with the person 1 week later, the person said I wil give you tonight and that was it. I called again ( a couple of times) and the person never responded to the phone call. I then called the person 1 month later and he picked up the person and apologized and blamed it on the phone not working properly or his email got hacked etc.. He said, he wants to work on my project and will send me the phone in 3 days time and that was it. The person completely disappeared. You might wondering, why I kept going to this person after all this, it was because this person was a very famous person in Renotalk and had a very very good reputation. But I guess that might have changed? Anyway, encountered similar people with different levels of disappearance..

3) Everything can do! - This person just agreed to everything we asked for. I even asked for some stupid things to see if he would agree and he agreed. It seems he was just there to take down what I wanted and then later after we sign contract say, this cannot do and that cannot do etc..

4) Everything also must do! - This person was very interesting, the moment he stepped into the home, he was like wahhhh...so big huh.... and when we were telling him our requirements, he was like your broken marble , don't polish lar.. waste only, see here got borken, there got stain, polish also look bad lar, why polish,, break everything and do nice new flooring, would look very nice. When I insist on polishing, he was like ok lar, but I confirm won't look nice one. You don't blame me if the polishing don't look good ok.... Throughout the house he basically wanted us to break everything and rebuilt everything. He was more like listening to himself then us. His quotation came up to 100,000 plus for things we didn't ask.

5) Everything I do is ex!! - This person is very famous in Renotalk and in big demand. He came to the flat and quickly started taking down everything we wants without any comments or suggestions. He said not a problem to do anything, even for things most of the contractors / ID's said might have a problem or HDB don't allow . When his quotation came , we were pretty surprised as his price was double that of most people who quoted us. The reason given was that he uses all quality materials and all his sub con are all top rated people!

I called and arrange meeting with a few more but they never followed up or didn't show interest when we told them to come to our place to look and then give quotation. They wanted us to go there and get a quotation. I felt it was best for them to view my flat and them give a quotation so never met them.

All the contractors / ID mentioned above are contacts I got from reading the blog or I msg and ask them for the contact.

I learned a lot about the pricing as well as how quotations can be given in so many formats. Example : Breaking the quotation into very small chunks and making it look as if there are so many things been done and thus the reason for the high cost. e.g. instead of quoting polishing for whole house and a price, they break into all the rooms, floors etc to make 1 item into 10 items. Wow! I am getting 10 items for that price!!!

All right, will update more as I go along. My renovation is going to start soon as I have found the ID/Contractor that I am comfortable with. I will provide all the details of what I am going to do ,y my drawings etc...

Hopefully it is helpful to others as well as for me to read at the end of my renovation journey. !!

Please wish me good luck in my reno coming soon! =)

[Makanology 29]

When are you aiming to start your renovation? Mind sharing who you have shortlisted?