Mission (Almost) Impossible - 25K 4Rm Bto Renovation

[joejoeteng 0]

Hi Jez,

Could you pm me your contractor contact? I love your carpentry works.. workmanship very good! Enjoy reading your t-blog too

Thanks in advance.

[Takaishi 44]

i find it pretty interesting there's alot of accounts created on the same day, sending one post asking for quotations and never login ever since!

[mwerkz 0]

can u share ur contractor contacts with me please. thanks!

[jez2014 16]

T akaishi!
R eally?? Are there???
O h wow! You are really observant then.
L ooks like you spend lots of time on Renotalk.
L OL.


I've only noticed that suikoden asked twice for the contact and I replied twice - but he didn't respond. This despite me asking him to acknowledge receipt of my PM.

I suppose some people are either busy or less polite.

Either way, I'm not going to obsess about it. Wife and I have finalized our plans for this t-blog. We will be putting up exactly three more posts about the house, before we bid goodbye to Renotalk.

We had fun, thanks people!

Edited January 16, 2015 by jez2014

[RnB2014 0]

Hi Jez

Thank you SO MUCH for your quick reply and the great tips that you have shared!

You are such a nice person (sharing is caring!!) and I cannot wait for your next 2 posts!!

Have a lovely weekend!

[Guest Joyce Ling]

Hi Jen can share with me what's the contact of your contractor? If possible the quotation as well? I'm also looking for contractor for my new house. Thanks!

[rinde211 0]

Hi Jez, thanks for the contacts & tips shared.Looking forward to your next posts.

[Guest Patrick Lim]

Thank You Friend. Your advice is really greatly appreciated.

Now we learning how to buy things from Tao Bao. Sigh. Buying thing from TaoBao like very complicated. Any trustable agent to introduce?

God Bless U.

[jez2014 16]

Hi Patrick,

Taobao Agent

I can only read simple Chinese characters as I am not fluent in Mandarin. Never pay attention in Chinese lessons, what to do.

My wife does all the shopping on Taobao. She is very fluent in Mandarin as her work is related to bilingualism - so I guess when she does Taobao in the office it can be considered "research" ? (ha ha)

Agent wise, we use 65 Daigou, but I see in this thread that some people had bad experiences with 65 Daigou. Thankfully not us (so far)

If you are more fluent in English, you may wish to use AliExpress, but from what I understand, it is more expensive that most of the other agents.

General Advice

You sound like its your first time using Taobao.

If that is the case, I suggest you check carefully with your ID/contractor first! Some things may not be compatible with Singapore (e.g. I understand that for toilet sinks, the dimensions of the water outlets don't match).

You may end up wasting MORE money if you buy from Taobao without fully understanding what you are buying. So do be careful!

Lastly,

A blessed weekend to you and your family.

Edited January 16, 2015 by jez2014

[Flylips 0]

Hi Jez,

Thanks for all the advice. Could you pm me your contractor's contact?

[Flylips 0]

Thank you so much for the prompt reply and all the tips. Appreciate much.

[jez2014 16]

Hey flylips,

No worries. You're just lucky to catch us when we are still awake ha ha. We are going to bed soon - sign of old age.

Twenty years ago time can mambo till 2-3am. Still plenty of energy.

Ten years ago can night cycling till 2-3am. Still plenty of energy.

Now ah.

Now can't even play mahjong until midnight. Zzz.

Edited January 16, 2015 by jez2014

[Guest Shirley Tan]

Hi there, can I get the contact of your ID/contractor? Thanks for your help in advance!

[shiwei71 0]

Hi! Can you please share the contractor contact? Tyvm!

[jez2014 16]

Taobao – MUST buy, CAN buy, DON’T buy

(Guest Entry by the Spouse, with constant eyeball rolling from the wife)

How are newborn chicks like Singaporeans?

Whole day “cheep cheep cheep”.

Traffic and my MIL

We were stuck in slow traffic that day. (Actually, every day also). And the car behind must have been in a real hurry, because his horn like free one. The driver was the horniest driver I have ever seen.

The strangest part of the experience however, was that every time he angrily tooted his horn for the whole world to hear, I would smile. I wasn’t at all the least bit angry, mind you. Because I would be reminded of my mother-in-law at a sale.

Because all I could hear was… “Pi pi piiiiiiiiii” (Hokkien: meaning, cheap). So next time you encounter such drivers, smile lah. Even your mother-in-law queue move faster than his car. LOL.

“Pi”, or “cheap” also brings me to Taobao.

Taobao Purchases

This post is directed at Taobao newbies. We kept it intentionally simple, so here goes:

There are three types of purchases on Taobao:

1. MUST buy

Lasting And Nice. Just Immediately “Add Order”.

2. CAN buy

Cry Or Not Depends On Merchandise

3. DON’T buy

Buy And Lose Lots. Sian.

Type 1. Lasting And Nice. Just Immediately "Add Order"

The act smart ones would've seen the acronym. You see, Type 1 L.A.N.J.I.A.O. happen to have the following attributes:

a. Hard

The harder the better. Unbreakable is best.

b. Ugly but useful

Design is not important. Who cares how it looks like.

c. Not consumable

Not likely to put into mouth or insert into body. Naughty naughty!

Some examples of items fulfilling the above criteria would be

- clothes hangers/pegs

- stainless steel trays for kitchen

- stainless steel bathroom racks

- dustbins

I know none of them sound like potential “WOW” – how much can you save on clothes hangers or dustbins, right?

Clothes hangers

We bought 1,000 clothes hangers. One thousand. Each at 36 cents, after shipping. That’s a total of $360 – and a lifetime’s supply. These are the non-slip type, mind you. When the wife’s clothes are on the hanger, I don’t want them to slip off. When they are on her however…

In Singapore, we see them retailing at about $1 each. That would be $1000. We saved $640. Small amounts add up in this case. Of course, we don’t seriously expect to use ALL 1,000 hangers. We bought with some friends lah. Sharing is caring.

Stainless steel stuff is another good buy. At popular shops like “Hoe Kee”, we saw a stainless steel towel rack retail for $30. That’s ONE single rack.

This is our guest toilet:

On Taobao, we bought a complete toilet set for $90, shipping inclusive. As you can see from the photograph, our set included a towel rack, a toilet roll holder, a towel bar (top left of photo, can see a small part of it), a cup holder (not yet installed), a corner rack (not yet installed),and the clothes hooks bar (next photo)

 

The door has the clothes hooks:

Because they’re not likely to break, and designs are so blah anyway, Taobao is definitely the way to go here.

Type 2. (Cry Or Not Depends On Merchandise)

A good C.O.N.D.O.M. should be

1. Flexible

There are always substitutes, and you can go without one.

2. Simple to use

Limited/simple electrical components.

3. Maximum Protection

Insurance! Protection!

Some examples of items fulfilling the above criteria would be

- Shelf ornaments

- T-5 lights, bomb shelter lights, toilet lights (the more “standard” lights)

- Sofa (not for everybody though!)

Because you’re taking a risk, you want the savings to be significant! I cannot emphasize enough the importance of “significant” when it comes to cost savings!

No point finding an item that’s $500 in Singapore and $450 on Taobao. If the Taobao item turns out badly, you have to buy it in Singapore and fork out an additional $500. You’re taking a $450 risk for only $50 in savings. Do your sums people! Don’t be blinded by greed.

As a general rule, I aim for a savings of at least 30%.

Lastly check that any fragile items are insured! Your agent (who handles shipping) will usually offer it to you for free. Better still, if they are cheap enough, buy EXTRAS. Most electricians would recommend you buy extra, if buying from Taobao.

We bought extra T-5 lights, but forgot to buy extra toilet lights. The former all worked, the latter were spoilt.

Murphy’s Law lah.

Type 3. Buy And Lose Lots. Sian.

Last acronym, you should understand how things work by now. B.A.L.L.S. are:

1. Very fragile items

Handle with care.

2. Things that cause spurting

Toilet sinks/vanity tops, all problematic!

3. Work best in pairs

If not matching, then how? Hoho.

Toilet sinks deserve a mention because they seem quite popular in Renotalk t-blogs/forums. They were so frequently mentioned that we took a huge risk ourselves, and bought the vanity tops from Taobao.

This was a bad buy, for FOUR reasons:

a. Plumber informed me that the pipes in China have different diameters from those in Singapore.

If you purchase, a lot of sealant(?) has to be used, and may still have leakages.

If leakage really occurs, water damage to the house is going to cost more than ANY savings you achieve. Two days after installation, ours really leaked, but thankfully the leak was minor. We got it repaired immediately by the plumber. More sealant lor.

b. Fragile.

We ordered two vanity tops for both toilets in the house.

One of them ended up cracked during shipping – we are trying to see what our agent insurance can do.

c. We bought a pair.

Since one of them cracked and the other didn't, we ended up with non-matching toilet vanity tops.

LUCKILY for us, we were able redo the decor of the two toilets to match the vanity tops.

d. The savings wasn't significant enough to justify the risk.

In the end, we went to a hardware shop to buy a vanity top. It cost us $399 in Singapore whereas the Taobao one cost us $300.

We tried to save only $99 and ended up $400 poorer.

Seriously. B.A.L.L.S. lar.

Edited October 4, 2017 by jez2014