Reno For Tikihouse @ Tampines

[tikiman 0]

We started hunting for a HDB resale flat early this year and after a long process, we finally found a place that we love in Tampines. As we are starting our renovation, my husband (Tikiman) suggested that we should start a t-blog on renotalk. After all, we have gained a lot of information scouring through this forum, and it would be nice to share our own journey.

The reasons we chose to buy a resale HDB unit :
1) Older units are bigger in floor space.
2) We dislike the bomb shelter because it is located in the middle of the unit like a sore thumb.
3) New HDB are built so close, neighbours can share salt/sugar via the kitchen/yard.

In our search for a HDB apartment, we identified few requirements to fulfil:
1) Quiet and peaceful neighbourhood
2) Square layout without odd corners
3) No bomb shelter
4) Airy units with large windows / high ceiling
5) Corner unit
6) Last but not least, LOW COV haha...

Tampines is a mature estate and individual neighbourhoods show unique characteristics. In the course of our search, we have walked the different neighbourhoods of Tampines at nights, off-days and on weekends to have a sense of the surrounding and to shortlist the neighbourhood that we like. Afterall, we can renovate the internal space of our apartment to fit our taste/requirement, but we usually have little control over the outside surrounding.

Will share more details on our unit in the next post...

Tikimum

[tikiman 0]

Original Floor Plan

[tessina 9]

Have a very similar layout, also in Tampines!

Hope your reno goes smoothly - look forward to updates

[chrizz 0]

Beautiful spacious layout, looking forward to hearing your design ideas

Have a great time!

[tobehappy 0]

So envious of your space. Have fun.

[tikiman 0]

From the start, my husband & I did not want to have an ID to design our place as we already had an idea of what we want and only needed a contractor to execute the work. Hence, we asked several contractors to give us a quotation for the scope of work that we listed.

Contractor A

He is a true blue contractor, has a good knowledge on the works, reliable as he has done my brother's place, but zero design sense.

Contractor B

2 guys who did some measurement and gave me a very low quote, and said its still nego. We were worried when quotes are too low, as it usually means hidden cost later.

Contractor C

Introduced by my housing agent, came to see our place and turned out to be an ID. My hubby told her we do not need an ID, so she did not even send us a quotation.

Contract D

We showed him our place and listed our needs. All his replies were 没问题. In the end' he 没回复.

Naturally, we ended up engaging Contractor A, but only after several round of refining the quotations on the scope of work. We also did a lot of research on the cost of renovation to ensure that his costing are reasonable.

[Harriette 42]

Can you let me have your contact for contractor A? Judging from your brother's place, is his workmanship good?

[tikiman 0]

Here are some pics of the unit:

Original main entrance

Original Kitchen

Original Parquet Flooring in the bedrooms

[tikiman 0]

When we viewed the house, we liked the layout, but found the condition of the unit very run down.

1) The colors of the flooring was liver brown

2) The walls were painted orange and yellow, which made the whole place dark.

3) Wall switches were held with tapes.

4) The parquet floor in the master bedroom had signs of water damage.

5) The window grills were padlocked and ex-owner has lost the keys.

6) The toilets were very dirty, WC/basins were pink in color, and bifold doors were coming off the hinges.

7) Aircon unit was very old and defective.

8) Main fire-rated door cracked and gate rusted ( how one can cracked the door... my father-in-law 20yr old door is still in very good condition)

We saw the positive side that we can hack everything and rebuilt it according to our design

Our reno main scope:

1) redo flooring

2) redo toilets and plumbing

3) redo kitchen - open concept and new cabinets

4) total electrical rewiring

5) change lighting and aircon system

6) reposition store room

7) replace window grills, main door and gate

[tikiman 0]

hmmm ... I think we could be in the same neighbourhood

Have a very similar layout, also in Tampines!

Hope your reno goes smoothly - look forward to updates

thanks

Beautiful spacious layout, looking forward to hearing your design ideas

Have a great time!

thanks.

So envious of your space. Have fun.

[tikiman 0]

Can you let me have your contact for contractor A? Judging from your brother's place, is his workmanship good?

Actually, he did my brother-in-law's place. Based on his feedback, the workmanship was good and the fittings are still in good condition after 5 years.

My BIL is a very fussy person, and he just got the same contractor to do some minor reno improvement recently.

Will pm you the contact shortly.

[Khng 2]

Wow. The ceiling is very high.

How high is it?

[James N Joean 8]

Pls PM me contractor A's contact as well... Thanx!

[tikiman 0]

Wow. The ceiling is very high.

How high is it?

Ceiling is about 3m. It was the key buying point

Pls PM me contractor A's contact as well... Thanx!

will PM u

[jnashville 0]

Hi there! I will be renovating end of the year. Can you also PM me Contractor A's details as i am also looking for a contractor instead of an ID.

Thanks in advance!