Ask Me Anything - Retired Interior Designer Here

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

There is a uploading of goods / debris removal fee of 400 + gst.in my quotation. My renovation only consist of carpentry work, painting etc. No tiles hacking. The id refuse to waive off the sum. I saw e id clearing the rubbish eg boxes from my unit to the basement for 1 time. How do I get him to.waive that sum?

hi intonewife

When i was an ID i really liked those dismantle/disposal quotations. very good money, very straight forward. anyhow hack this hack that dispose this dispose that free money already. somemore cost **** cheap. To hack and dispose one full height cabinet, $300. To hack and dispose one table - 50 dollars. etc etc

thing is you sign the contract already so no choice gotta pay.

not trying to doubt you or anything but sometimes people tell story like to tell halfway never say full story... so my question to you is - your renovation really ONLY consist of carpentry work, painting etc? did you miss out anything?

If your renovation really consist of that, and the ID really never throw anything, never hire lorry or put those container below your house dispose items, really totally never dispose rubbish expect for the boxes 1 time, then i guess the only way you can try is to ask him outright lo... " wah dispose 1 box need charge $400 ah?" see what his response is lor....

sometimes ID will refund back la... sometimes will come up with story say they got throw... up to you to judge.

but make sure you are correct first ah... dont anyhow make ID life difficult

actually if the quotation overcharge or got some items never do but got pay money sometimes ID will just close one eye pretend never see, wait until owner find out eh why i being charge for this but never do, then ID will refund. But if its the other way around ID got do but never charge in quotation, you can almost guarantee the VO sure will charge haha...

Hope i answer your question.

Meanwhile some shameless advertising here ah. Do check out my website thanks! website same as my name

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

One more question why some id do not check the defects rectified by contractors and let the owner check?

Hi again

Your question very short, no context. very hard to understand whats going on.

But based on that one sentence, i can come up with many reasons why ID dont go up to check.

You are the owner ultimately you need to accept it, I accept doesnt mean you will accept. Time is very precious if i stay at pasir ris and i need to go to jurong just to check 1 defect that the contractor say he already rectify it then my costing will be higher not worth the time. Its a simple rectification/problem in ID's eyes, not as serious to go down personally to check. keep going up till sian already so dont feel like going etc etc etc

One more thing I want to elaborate about is about ID's handling more than 2 projects.

It is very very very time consuming if the ID need to go down to 2 or more different places just to oversee the rectification of different small problems on the same day. For such things, just convey over on the phone to subcon, if they understand the problem and know how to fix, then there's actually no need for the ID to go down. because ulltimately as an ID its all about time management and coordinating.

but of course la from the point of view of owners this is not very good and responsible la.... by right no matter how small or what best is to come down show face a bit, owner see your face see you more responsible more happy abit.

last time i do many projects at the same time i also coordinate on phone....

hope i answered your questions

[shaowei14 0]

Hi, I'm intending to do up a 2m tall 1.6m width 12mm tempered sliding glass door for my kitchen...I got conflictng advice from my current ID (he say no problem) and my ID friend (he say door will be super heavy and not advisable). what's your thought? Thanks!

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

Hi, I'm intending to do up a 2m tall 1.6m width 12mm tempered sliding glass door for my kitchen...I got conflictng advice from my current ID (he say no problem) and my ID friend (he say door will be super heavy and not advisable). what's your thought? Thanks!

hi

Your friend is right ah... the door will be heavy.....

Im assuming your sliding glass door is the top hung with the sliding mechanism on the top, no need to install tracks one ah.

If im the ID, you got the money, i sure say can do la.... you want and you got money pay i got money earn i sure do for you.

side note - the more uncommon the item is, the more unique the item is, the more expensive it will be, cause you will be paying a premium over it.

if children run and bang straight on without noticing that its a door......

good thing can save space, look nice, looks brighter, wife cooking can spot check outside.

you take food with both hand how you want to open the door to go out?

everything also got good point got bad points la.... see if you really want it lo....

if me... i sure wont do.... cause im a simple man

[intonewlife 2]

hi intonewife

When i was an ID i really liked those dismantle/disposal quotations. very good money, very straight forward. anyhow hack this hack that dispose this dispose that free money already. somemore cost **** cheap. To hack and dispose one full height cabinet, $300. To hack and dispose one table - 50 dollars. etc etc

thing is you sign the contract already so no choice gotta pay.

not trying to doubt you or anything but sometimes people tell story like to tell halfway never say full story... so my question to you is - your renovation really ONLY consist of carpentry work, painting etc? did you miss out anything?

If your renovation really consist of that, and the ID really never throw anything, never hire lorry or put those container below your house dispose items, really totally never dispose rubbish expect for the boxes 1 time, then i guess the only way you can try is to ask him outright lo... " wah dispose 1 box need charge $400 ah?" see what his response is lor....

sometimes ID will refund back la... sometimes will come up with story say they got throw... up to you to judge.

but make sure you are correct first ah... dont anyhow make ID life difficult

actually if the quotation overcharge or got some items never do but got pay money sometimes ID will just close one eye pretend never see, wait until owner find out eh why i being charge for this but never do, then ID will refund. But if its the other way around ID got do but never charge in quotation, you can almost guarantee the VO sure will charge haha...

Hope i answer your question.

Meanwhile some shameless advertising here ah. Do check out my website thanks! website same as my name

I pose this qns and the id replied that $400 include transport carpentry work from jb to my hm and moving them to myunit and removing those remaining carpentry from the unit."

My renovation indeed carpentry work, mirror, painting and no hacking of anything.

Anyway, I found his story about ridiculous and full of qns. I did told him shouldn't that be included in carpentry work why split transportation cost. Of coz he continue old grandma story which I dun buy it.

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

I pose this qns and the id replied that $400 include transport carpentry work from jb to my hm and moving them to myunit and removing those remaining carpentry from the unit."

My renovation indeed carpentry work, mirror, painting and no hacking of anything.

Anyway, I found his story about ridiculous and full of qns. I did told him shouldn't that be included in carpentry work why split transportation cost. Of coz he continue old grandma story which I dun buy it.

Honestly ah.... i salute that guy for his creativity. can think of this reason transport carpentry work from JB to singapore.

very sure you walk into other ID firms ask them if they got charge this or not they sure say wont have such thing.

removal of remaining carpentry - by right will charge, so he's correct for quoting. because like example you want to dispose cabinet need proper disposal.... or you can call town council dispose FOC. like those table or what can la... but dont go overboard ask them dismantle and dispose kitchen cabinet etc HAHA

you sign already, then no choice liao....

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

Apparently my website server crashed, my post and everything are gone. Apparently im not the only one.... oh well...

Meanwhile if you have any questions feel free to ask me

[shal789 0]

i m overlaying my whole hall and bedrooms with homogenous tiles. the question is do i need a skirting.. i dont like it but apparently its compulsory. do i really need it?

[burgerkingtastebetter 0]

Hi Retired ID,

I hacked my kitchen wall to half height n planning to install a Chinese lattice panel on the half height wall. Is the installation complicated?

Thanks & cheers

[mitsuhide1983 0]

Hello guys

Retired interior designer of over 20 years here.... so feel free to ask me anything you guys wanna know about this industry and all...

Cheers

Sorry ah uncle find these emoticons very cute...

Hi boss, i need your advice and expertise on the work that has been done on my house, care to pass me ur email so i can show with the pics?

[Zio 1]

I started my own thread to ask but nonetheless will copy it here.

Here goes:

I am expecting to take keys during year end. My upcoming house is a premium BTO, which comes with flooring and bathroom accessories and tiles all done.

Therefore with this said, actually I have nothing much left to do except for painting and carpentry work.

Luckily for me, I have direct source/lobang for the following below, so therefore I can save quite abit already.

1) painting

2) carpentry work

3) electrician/electrical work

However, here is the problem. As I am poor with designs and color matching, I would still need someone who is able to design a layout in drawing and measurements for me so that I can get my sources to do their work.

Questions:

1) What are my options here ? I do not want to be chopped carrot by IDs, premium price. How much to pay for a freelancer designer to consider reasonable ?

2) What possible potential issues that I may encounter if I don't engage a contractor or IDs ? I know I will then have to fork in time and effort to coordinate the project myself. Besides this general problem.

Which area of the reno process will I be possibly hit with a problem ?

[Clar06 0]

Hi Retired ID, my carpenter quote me $110 for Quartz kitchen top, but never mention any particuar brand, could it be some cheapo china quartz that I should avoid?

When I called up IQuartz, they mentioned that their basic I Series start from $150psf but yet I saw most forummer here mentioned that they are being quote at $120 psf, why is the difference?

I also called up Hanstone quartz from Korea, their basic is starting at $180 psf. But I'm wondering why is it more expensive than IQuartz when they are only 85% quartz and 15% resin? IQuartz is suppose to be 93% quartz and 7% resin..

I am so confused reading about quartz counter top that now I am wondering if I should just stick to indian granite instead.

Appreciate your enlightenment. Thanks!

[Samuel Koh 0]

Will there be any safety issues if I were to install a full height mirror wall for a 4.5m high wall? Will it have any risk of suddenly detaching from the wall?

And likely i can't get a huge slab of mirror at one go, so what is the best dimension piece to recommend?

Thank you in advance!

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

Will there be any safety issues if I were to install a full height mirror wall for a 4.5m high wall? Will it have any risk of suddenly detaching from the wall?

And likely i can't get a huge slab of mirror at one go, so what is the best dimension piece to recommend?

Thank you in advance!

the company you are getting the mirror from will recommend you the best dimension. if the thing drop, you can call the company that install for you to complain lo.....

[RetiredInteriorDesigner 0]

Hi Retired ID, my carpenter quote me $110 for Quartz kitchen top, but never mention any particuar brand, could it be some cheapo china quartz that I should avoid?

When I called up IQuartz, they mentioned that their basic I Series start from $150psf but yet I saw most forummer here mentioned that they are being quote at $120 psf, why is the difference?

I also called up Hanstone quartz from Korea, their basic is starting at $180 psf. But I'm wondering why is it more expensive than IQuartz when they are only 85% quartz and 15% resin? IQuartz is suppose to be 93% quartz and 7% resin..

I am so confused reading about quartz counter top that now I am wondering if I should just stick to indian granite instead.

Appreciate your enlightenment. Thanks!

hi

hopefully not to late to reply you

your carpenter from where one. you like that say maybe is those pirated ones.....

you call as end consumer of course they charge you expensive ma... the $120, is what date, what series, all the details. your kitchen top what design their kitchen top what design etc.....

they say their one better so sell more expensive lo.... why rolec more exp than citizen watch...