My Experience In Choosing Ids

[Yellowmeadow 0]

Hi, Can you kindly pm me your ID contact as well. Thanks so much in advance.

[aluka 32]

I have been reading up on reviews of iDs on this forum before I decided on the one for my EC.

Collecting keys next week and hope to share my experience with others.

Basically I only met up with 3 ID cos as follows :

1. Summit design

2. NID

3. Inside Living

Each of above co quoted within the range of 22k to 25k.

No follow up from summit design at all.

We were quite keen on NID as reviews is good. However as inside living were prompt in follow up, I requested to view one of their projects before making final decision.

After viewing, we opted for inside living for the following reasons:

1. Workmanship of the 8 months old flat we visited were good.

2. I like the idea suggested by the designer and its obvious he is a id designer and not just salesman or contactor.

3. Follow up is prompt. If designer is not interested in my business in the first place, I am not sure about entrusting my house to him.

Quote is not the cheapest but I hope I get gd quality finishing and workmanship. Designer will be coming along with us to inspect the house for defects before we could commence on renovation.

So far, he has been v proactive. Hope the reno process is going to be a smooth one and I will share more as we go along.

Hope the above sharing is useful.

I like what you mentioned "if designer is not interested in my business in the first place, I am not sure about entrusting my house to him". This is exactly my feeling after interacting with few designers. I must say I was able to find out a very Designer with lots of enthusiasm and one who understands my taste and also pushes me back when things are not doable. Thanks to the Renotalk forum, I could learn from so much and was careful in shortlisting the ID of my choice..

[Yellowmeadow 0]

Aluka, are you able to pm me your ID that you have selected? Thanks.

[aluka 32]

Aluka, are you able to pm me your ID that you have selected? Thanks.

Sent! Good luck.

[tycyan 0]

Hi, could you pm me yr ID? Thanks!

[9tails 2]

i will like to share this latest promotion from an id firm. basically come down for their consultation and get a $1200 gift pack, no idea whats in the pack though.

Can find out more here http://livinggaia.com.sg/news_detail.php?news_id=21

Any other promotions to share?

[aluka 32]

i will like to share this latest promotion from an id firm. basically come down for their consultation and get a $1200 gift pack, no idea whats in the pack though.

Can find out more here http://livinggaia.com.sg/news_detail.php?news_id=21

Any other promotions to share?

No harm trying it. My humble suggestion - don't get fooled by these promos and gift packs because devil is in the details. Especially in a reno - where myriad details matter. A small change can set you back by a few hundred dollars. So your $ 1200 can vanish in no time. Sorry to scare you - but just ensure you entrust your home reno to someone whom you can trust.

[bikermeow 3]

My experience with my recent home renovations.

I bought a condo and decided to hunt for a contractor. My last renovation was in 1990s when I got married and I found that things have changed. Back then, having a designer was a WOW factor, only the rich can afford. Now, the deal is that the ID is the main guy, and the rest of the sub-contractors are actually ancillary to the ID.

Fortunately for me, I have a friend who had an ID business which unfortunately went south. Being a close friend, he shared with me some knowledge of the ID industry. For example, some IDs associated with the bigger renovation business works on a percentage commission. They get a cut for their work from the owner of the business. Thus even if they are the ID for the project, they are not the contracting party with the owner. There is a pitfall in this, because the person that the owner liaise with is not the ultimate person responsible.

Back to my story ....

So I decide to call for like a tender. I drew up a list of the renovations that I wanted, and then gave the list to 3 parties. They are, (1) a friend of mine who is a builder, (2) an ID firm which cold called me after I posted something on the net and (3) another one which was a carpentry business which also claimed that it can do all-in-one renovations.

The method is not fool-proofed; 3 quotes came back with varying differences and some variations in descriptions. The differences for the items were like say $50 to $over $1,000 for the same items. I then learnt that while one may quote for a vanity top, then what top are we talking about? Marble? Granite? Caesarstone? Hard surface? There are many pitfalls and ways that the renovator can adjust to suit your budget; conversely, to enhance his margins.

I narrowed down to my builder friend P, and the ID firm's ID (let's call her K). They are different. P is more of an old school contractor, no fancy ID design etc. K is much younger and is full of ideas. Pros and Cons in both. I had frequent meetings with both and frankly it was a close call choosing either. I could have gone with either one, frankly. I chose P because he is a friend and I know him to be meticulous. He also does not cut corners. The downside is that he tend to be rather stubborn about his building methods and not so innovative as a designer.

Then a spanner in the works. I came to know another designer (S) who had been featured in a few Home & Decor articles through my work. We spoke and my commanding officer like his ideas. But I wanted P to carry out the work because I had some experience with him (he installed some false ceiling for me) and plus there was a friend factor. So we decided to engage S as designer and P as the builder. The idea is that we get good work and good design. Incidentally, P's carpentry works were on the high side and I decided to sub that out to S too, so that there will be supervision by S.

The downside is that I had to turn down K, which I felt quite bad because she had invested in much time sitting down and going through designs etc. Another downside is that S and P have to work together for the first time, which means much communication involving me as well.

The work is in progress now, and while I must say that I have to provide input, the experience of both P and S help a long way. We set up a Whatsapp chat and kept everyone in the loop. All in all, I am quite satisfied with the work and feedback, but do appreciate that builders and IDs are human after all and they have their own quirks and mannerisms.

Fingers crossed, another month to go and hopefully can share some nice pictures of my new place here.

My advice is to try and see works already completed by the IDs / builders if possible. There is also another advantage in this; if they had a fall-out with the owners, then this would not be possible. You can also get feedback from these owners.

Cheers

Edited September 30, 2014 by bikermeow

[aluka 32]

My experience with my recent home renovations.

I bought a condo and decided to hunt for a contractor. My last renovation was in 1990s when I got married and I found that things have changed. Back then, having a designer was a WOW factor, only the rich can afford. Now, the deal is that the ID is the main guy, and the rest of the sub-contractors are actually ancillary to the ID.

Fortunately for me, I have a friend who had an ID business which unfortunately went south. Being a close friend, he shared with me some knowledge of the ID industry. For example, some IDs associated with the bigger renovation business works on a percentage commission. They get a cut for their work from the owner of the business. Thus even if they are the ID for the project, they are not the contracting party with the owner. There is a pitfall in this, because the person that the owner liaise with is not the ultimate person responsible.

Back to my story ....

So I decide to call for like a tender. I drew up a list of the renovations that I wanted, and then gave the list to 3 parties. They are, (1) a friend of mine who is a builder, (2) an ID firm which cold called me after I posted something on the net and (3) another one which was a carpentry business which also claimed that it can do all-in-one renovations.

The method is not fool-proofed; 3 quotes came back with varying differences and some variations in descriptions. The differences for the items were like say $50 to $over $1,000 for the same items. I then learnt that while one may quote for a vanity top, then what top are we talking about? Marble? Granite? Caesarstone? Hard surface? There are many pitfalls and ways that the renovator can adjust to suit your budget; conversely, to enhance his margins.

I narrowed down to my builder friend P, and the ID firm's ID (let's call her K). They are different. P is more of an old school contractor, no fancy ID design etc. K is much younger and is full of ideas. Pros and Cons in both. I had frequent meetings with both and frankly it was a close call choosing either. I could have gone with either one, frankly. I chose P because he is a friend and I know him to be meticulous. He also does not cut corners. The downside is that he tend to be rather stubborn about his building methods and not so innovative as a designer.

Then a spanner in the works. I came to know another designer (S) who had been featured in a few Home & Decor articles through my work. We spoke and my commanding officer like his ideas. But I wanted P to carry out the work because I had some experience with him (he installed some false ceiling for me) and plus there was a friend factor. So we decided to engage S as designer and P as the builder. The idea is that we get good work and good design. Incidentally, P's carpentry works were on the high side and I decided to sub that out to S too, so that there will be supervision by S.

The downside is that I had to turn down K, which I felt quite bad because she had invested in much time sitting down and going through designs etc. Another downside is that S and P have to work together for the first time, which means much communication involving me as well.

The work is in progress now, and while I must say that I have to provide input, the experience of both P and S help a long way. We set up a Whatsapp chat and kept everyone in the loop. All in all, I am quite satisfied with the work and feedback, but do appreciate that builders and IDs are human after all and they have their own quirks and mannerisms.

Fingers crossed, another month to go and hopefully can share some nice pictures of my new place here.

My advice is to try and see works already completed by the IDs / builders if possible. There is also another advantage in this; if they had a fall-out with the owners, then this would not be possible. You can also get feedback from these owners.

Cheers

Good luck on your reno.. Share your updates on the progress. Have you started a t-blog?

[VVV 3]

Sometime those ID are at the mercy of subcontractors...then problems will arise more...and ID will take the blame by owners...

[NickTan 0]

Yes, the way you explained is right. Because in the past, unfortunate cases of unfinished jobs after paying money happened. Even though my mum's place wasn't renovated for a lot of money, just so happened that my ID was under CaseTrust. If anyone of you would like to know, I'll be more than glad to share their contacts. Good things are meant to be shared. Their worksmanship is pretty good and they were efficient in their co-ordination and following up.

Can i have the contact too?

Cheers

[Wyorie 1]

Can i have the contact too?

Cheers

Will PM you!

Good luck!

Edited October 3, 2014 by Wyorie

[bluemoon 0]

Yes, the way you explained is right. Because in the past, unfortunate cases of unfinished jobs after paying money happened. Even though my mum's place wasn't renovated for a lot of money, just so happened that my ID was under CaseTrust. If anyone of you would like to know, I'll be more than glad to share their contacts. Good things are meant to be shared. Their worksmanship is pretty good and they were efficient in their co-ordination and following up.

Hi, I also started my search from CaseTrust and through recommendations from friends, could you PM me your ID contact too? Thanks!

[Wyorie 1]

Hi, I also started my search from CaseTrust and through recommendations from friends, could you PM me your ID contact too? Thanks!

Will PM you!

Good luck!

[MelanieTan 2]

Hi! Please pm me your mom's ID too!