Urgent Advice Needed On Id Choice

[1sttimeowner 0]

Hi Hanafi and ninabey, yes we have already decided on a firm to work with.

The list is long yes, but we thought it important to meet as many as we could in order to make an informed choice. Will update the list on our feedback later today.

While the list is long, its short when compared with the numerous firms out there. Hope that this will be useful for others as I realised that there is a dearth of feedback/reviews on many of these firms.

Anyway, this is just views formed after 1-4 meetings, doesn't mean they suck. But we based our choice off these meetings as that were all we had.

[1sttimeowner 0]

Sorry cant really comment on 9Lives.. I sent 2 emails, both if which were received with an auto reply saying they will follow up shortly but they never did.

[HanafiHansray 1]

Hope to know which id u have selected..cheers!!

[NingNing 28]

Since i also looking for ID now, I have seen some from your list.. i give you my feedback. Mine is a bto, getting in Dec or Jan. Our journey started in August/July.

Those i didnt see, i wont comment. but i D'Trenzo. I didnt see it from feedback here but i experience it myself. First a guy name chris approached me, then another called jimmy. It was so confusing. but end up i reject because i find jimmy not very professional and dun really know what he is doing.

9Lives Interior Design - met a ID from here. brought her colleague. was supposed to quote me. After meeting me, couldnt be bothered to quote me so i just dropped the firm. wasted my 1 hour. heng my hubby not there if not he ki siao.
Darwin Interior - Never approached them, but they did my fren's place. heard they were much better when they first started. made my fren very frustrated during reno.
Rezt and Relax - rejected. saw them during expo fair. was more interested in locking down our deposit then anything else. insulted us saying our budget too low. 3 room flat ask us for 40K. siao or what? tot i print money? was not interested in hearing what i want or need, but just rattled on about whats the trend now, what her customers did blah blah.. what the...
Thom Signature Design - he is one of my final shortlisted out of the final 3. The guy we liasing with is Allen Nah. Abit ah beng pattern but very responsive. He just gives us a good vibe. Price wise, i wont say he is the lowest. but what i like about him is that he is very upfront. A friend did reno with him recently. Told us end of the day, no hidden cost. everything needed to quote is quoted. not like some ID hide here hide there to match ur budget. Give practical advise but also listen to us.

[1sttimeowner 0]

Thanks NingNing for your contribution! Since u mentioned about Thom, Im writing my review on them as well!

Anyway, sorry to hear abt your experience with Rezt and Relax. We had a decent time with them (will elaborate more soon) but agree about your point on budget. Everyone has different budget and spending ability. What I can't stand is IDs being condescending on my budget. If I'm off budget, explain to me why and I will listen to your views, see if it makes sense. As 1st time owners, we started with 30k and eventually we shifted higher after being convinced that we had to.

I've just tidied up the list again. added more commentary on the firms and rearranged based on us turning them down due to

1) Price (cuz they maybe expensive for a reason, although I felt they could at least meet up and try to convince us why, which 1 firm did)

2) Other reasons (attitude, pushy, con-job, seemed scammy)

3) the 'No replies' OR 'say will quote/revert but didn't' firms (not sure if good but the lack of pro-activeness is telling. or maybe they really so popular and so busy.)

4) Narrowed list (firms we really gave due consideration. I know its two firms now but i will amend and shift more firms down into this list. Just that now very busy studying for an upcoming exam).

Hope this helps everyone!

Since i also looking for ID now, I have seen some from your list.. i give you my feedback. Mine is a bto, getting in Dec or Jan. Our journey started in August/July.

Those i didnt see, i wont comment. but i D'Trenzo. I didnt see it from feedback here but i experience it myself. First a guy name chris approached me, then another called jimmy. It was so confusing. but end up i reject because i find jimmy not very professional and dun really know what he is doing.

9Lives Interior Design - met a ID from here. brought her colleague. was supposed to quote me. After meeting me, couldnt be bothered to quote me so i just dropped the firm. wasted my 1 hour. heng my hubby not there if not he ki siao.
Darwin Interior - Never approached them, but they did my fren's place. heard they were much better when they first started. made my fren very frustrated during reno.
Rezt and Relax - rejected. saw them during expo fair. was more interested in locking down our deposit then anything else. insulted us saying our budget too low. 3 room flat ask us for 40K. siao or what? tot i print money? was not interested in hearing what i want or need, but just rattled on about whats the trend now, what her customers did blah blah.. what the...
Thom Signature Design - he is one of my final shortlisted out of the final 3. The guy we liasing with is Allen Nah. Abit ah beng pattern but very responsive. He just gives us a good vibe. Price wise, i wont say he is the lowest. but what i like about him is that he is very upfront. A friend did reno with him recently. Told us end of the day, no hidden cost. everything needed to quote is quoted. not like some ID hide here hide there to match ur budget. Give practical advise but also listen to us.

Edited November 26, 2013 by 1sttimeowner

[1sttimeowner 0]

BTW, since starting this thread, I've received a number of enquiries from various firms who asked for the chance to quote.

I apologise for my silence as most of you came to me towards the late stage where we didn't want to drag the process any longer (rushing for CNY completion). The guys include:

Koukii (freelance)

Wong Y K from Wong Consultants & Building Services

Dean1984 (referred his contractor elvin@tyasdesign.com)

Dave Sim from NeuKonceptz

Hope one day will have the chance to work together in future

Edited November 26, 2013 by 1sttimeowner

[Charisluv 0]

Since i also looking for ID now, I have seen some from your list.. i give you my feedback. Mine is a bto, getting in Dec or Jan. Our journey started in August/July.

Those i didnt see, i wont comment. but i D'Trenzo. I didnt see it from feedback here but i experience it myself. First a guy name chris approached me, then another called jimmy. It was so confusing. but end up i reject because i find jimmy not very professional and dun really know what he is doing.

9Lives Interior Design - met a ID from here. brought her colleague. was supposed to quote me. After meeting me, couldnt be bothered to quote me so i just dropped the firm. wasted my 1 hour. heng my hubby not there if not he ki siao.

Darwin Interior - Never approached them, but they did my fren's place. heard they were much better when they first started. made my fren very frustrated during reno.

Rezt and Relax - rejected. saw them during expo fair. was more interested in locking down our deposit then anything else. insulted us saying our budget too low. 3 room flat ask us for 40K. siao or what? tot i print money? was not interested in hearing what i want or need, but just rattled on about whats the trend now, what her customers did blah blah.. what the...

Thom Signature Design - he is one of my final shortlisted out of the final 3. The guy we liasing with is Allen Nah. Abit ah beng pattern but very responsive. He just gives us a good vibe. Price wise, i wont say he is the lowest. but what i like about him is that he is very upfront. A friend did reno with him recently. Told us end of the day, no hidden cost. everything needed to quote is quoted. not like some ID hide here hide there to match ur budget. Give practical advise but also listen to us.

Hi Ningning

May i know how much did Thom Signature quoted you for your 3 room flat renovation?or you can PM me and let me know. Thanks!

Edited November 27, 2013 by Charisluv

[NingNing 28]

Hi Ningning

May i know how much did Thom Signature quoted you for your 3 room flat renovation?or you can PM me and let me know. Thanks!

Hi charisluv,

I am doing many many things for my house, so I dunno if my quotes will apply to you anot. but i what i can tell u is, out of all the ID firms ive met (about 10?), Thom's final quote is mid pricing. the range Ive gotten so far is 20-25K. his is around 22K-23K. ( I have no floors and no doors tts why the quotes are high)

Thanks NingNing for your contribution! Since u mentioned about Thom, Im writing my review on them as well!

Anyway, sorry to hear abt your experience with Rezt and Relax. We had a decent time with them (will elaborate more soon) but agree about your point on budget. Everyone has different budget and spending ability. What I can't stand is IDs being condescending on my budget. If I'm off budget, explain to me why and I will listen to your views, see if it makes sense. As 1st time owners, we started with 30k and eventually we shifted higher after being convinced that we had to.

I've just tidied up the list again. added more commentary on the firms and rearranged based on us turning them down due to

1) Price (cuz they maybe expensive for a reason, although I felt they could at least meet up and try to convince us why, which 1 firm did)

2) Other reasons (attitude, pushy, con-job, seemed scammy)

3) the 'No replies' OR 'say will quote/revert but didn't' firms (not sure if good but the lack of pro-activeness is telling. or maybe they really so popular and so busy.)

4) Narrowed list (firms we really gave due consideration. I know its two firms now but i will amend and shift more firms down into this list. Just that now very busy studying for an upcoming exam).

Hope this helps everyone!

Actually i honestly, genuinely like Allen from Thom Signature very much and i really want to award the sale to him. Not pushy. i don't feel pressure from him to give him an answer soon or right away or anything unlike other firms. One good thing about him, i told him we have a budget although we want to do so many things, he cut down the prices for me. I am in the line whereby i oversee reno for my clients doing commercial and I agar agar know the market rate. from what i see, he is cutting on his commission to give me the price which i am very grateful. Easy to talk to and gives constructive feedback about the feasibility of some things tt i want to do.

an example is the L shape cabinet. He pointed out something that NO ONE cautioned me about. The space in the L will be hard to reach and will be a waste of space; wasting my money to make and also will make the room very cramped. I never thought about it until he pointed it out. but seeing that i REALLY wanted it, he stared at it for about 10 mins before coming out with a solution and I loved that solution very much. ( im not going to share tt solution because I feel tt the solution belongs to him and his creativity). Dont get me wrong, Im not trying to promote Thom, im just very impressed by the way they have "brought up" their designers and project managers.

And I agree with you that they are understated. In fact, I feel that they dont do any marketing at all which may not help very much..but at least we know we are not paying to fund their marketing like the bigger names like weiken.com.

Since yesterday, while we are still in midst of deciding and the 3 has finally dropped down to 2. Its between Allen and another ID who has abit more experience in the design department.

Edited November 28, 2013 by NingNing

[serendipity24 0]

Hi, am newbie to this forum..Anyone has engaged services from ** Pte Ltd? Not much reviews on this ID thou.

[abing 0]

BTW, since starting this thread, I've received a number of enquiries from various firms who asked for the chance to quote.

I apologise for my silence as most of you came to me towards the late stage where we didn't want to drag the process any longer (rushing for CNY completion). The guys include:

Koukii (freelance)

Wong Y K from Wong Consultants & Building Services

Dean1984 (referred his contractor elvin@tyasdesign.com)

Dave Sim from NeuKonceptz

Hope one day will have the chance to work together in future

Hi

do you have contacts of koukii? thanks!

[shorty 1]

Does Id or reno company charge for 3D proposal?

[1sttimeowner 0]

Hi abing, unfortunately nope..but his name is Nick and you can pm him, just search for koukii.

Shorty, usually they charge abt 1-2k for it. Or they may say it's FOC (ie.. It's somehow added to other parts of the quotation)

[shorty 1]

Hi abing, unfortunately nope..but his name is Nick and you can pm him, just search for koukii.

Shorty, usually they charge abt 1-2k for it. Or they may say it's FOC (ie.. It's somehow added to other parts of the quotation)

Hi thanks

But before I sign with them, some will space plan and propose a 3D drawing..... must I have to pay them ?

[newlife 1]

Hi

Thank you for sharing, very well written information. I am also currently placing my first step in sourcing for ID and contractor, my target period of renovation is suppose to be in late March 2014 so I am getting a early start on this. So far I have contacted a few ID who had positive review here

Designer house- Got back to me with a estimated quote, responsive with email

Ideal House- Got a SMS text from Daniel, suppose to be expecting his quote within a week time

HoongFattHeng contractor- email and follow up with SMS since 27 Dec, heard nothing yet

Matrix Concept- just email

Home Concept- just email

So far I am generally comfortable with what I see from Designer house but I have not meet up with them yet. The only concern I have is with the term and condition that are very subjective

I am actually thinking of going direct for teak flooring looking at the estimated quote provided so far. From the labour and material costing i realise I could save about 1K plus on it.

Edited December 31, 2013 by newlife

[1sttimeowner 0]

Sorry guys been abit tardy in updating my reviews of the various IDs here..been away on annual leave holiday n all and of cuz busy w reno...will try to post an update later tonight, past midnight bah! Happy new year all!