CarrieOw 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2015 (edited) Being a silent reader (on and off) since 2011, when we first applied for our BTO, I guess it's time for me to make some worthy (I hope) contributions to this community! Having heard of how difficult it was for couples to apply for a BTO flat, we are indeed thankful to be able to secure a mid-level unit on our first try, given that our queue number has exceeded the total no. of units! Well, maybe I should thank those people who applied, but given up their chance. Fast forward to 4 years later in 2015, we finally collected the keys to our first nest in Jan' 2015. We didn't carry out rituals like rolling pineapple, sprinkling of salt in 4 corners or screaming "Huat ah, Huat ah" etc.. Instead, we were snapping away! Having seen my sister's BTO flat, I wasn't expecting much, but it came as a pleasant surprise that it's slightly bigger than what I expected! Hehe!Starting off with a mandatory picture, the Floor plan! In my opinion, it's a rather standard one in these days BTO.Upon entering, this is the view that greeted us.. Living Room. It's pretty Long-ish & square-rish.Up next is the Corridor, leading up to the bedrooms & bomb shelter (double up as storeroom). Okay, that's another standard thing.Realized that I do not have any pictures of the rooms. Actually all of these pictures are taken by the husband, and he said something like, there isn't a need to take as all the rooms looks the same! Hahah!We forgotten about the kitchen too! But I managed to find a saved pic of the kitchen in my gallery. I think it was my neighbour's, which I chanced upon in my project's facebook group. So, the credit of this picture is to him/ her!Being someone who enjoys cooking & baking, this kitchen came as a big disappointment! It's so tiny!! I think this would be a nightmare to people coming from my mums generation, their kitchen is easily 3x of this size? After looking around, we proceed to spend the next hour or so checking defects, but we were quite tired out by the bending up and down in such a warm weather.. All we wanted was a chilling can of drink! So we decided to call it a day, we shall come back another day to continue with the defect checking! Hiak Hiak Hiak! Edited May 2, 2015 by CarrieOw Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
infinity2015 1 Report post Posted April 13, 2015 nice. i have to wait for a few years to get my new home too, same 4 rm, different layout, about the same size as yours. A few question, can you advise when to look for contractors/ID? And also when to buy furniture and appliances ? Lastly, what other important things to check before doing renovations, e.g. Aircon piping first, then water heater ...and so on... thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarrieOw 0 Report post Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) Back from the Hiatus!After we have gotten our keys and defects rectified, we went on a Contractor/ ID hunting frenzy mode! Both husband and I started out by looking through those Big/ Small ID firm's completed project on Facebook. We "liked" and saved lots of pictures that gives us inspirations and ideas.. Soon we realized and that our "Downloads" album are filled with lots of pictures! Needless to say, Google became our next best friend, providing us insights into those foreign reno related terms!Those that we shortlisted to meet up with are sourced from Renotalk, Facebook, Word-of-mouth recommendations and Neighbors. I started out full of enthusiasm, and let's see who I have met up with!1) ABSOL***I'm am most hopeful of this, for those project pictures that I came across are totally-my-style! Never fails to awe me with the completed work! I made a mental note to myself (even before keys collection) that I must visit them, and I was actually anticipating the meeting.. Haha! However, it started a little on the negative side, as the ID we are supposed to meet, told us his previous appointment overrun and he would be late, when I actually saw him in the coffee shop on our way here? Of course, that's not the main deciding factor.. Throughout the meeting he gave us a lot of creative ideas, but somehow we felt that it wasn't what we are looking for, and he couldn't grasp what we want? Main drawback was when I heard the Craftstone wall I wanted cost a whopping $7k+! Before we ended the meeting, I shared that our budget is $20k++, "Should be no problem", and the quotation would be ready in 5 working days.Quotation received 16 working days later, and it's $37k+! Lets give a double jaw drop for that! So naturally, that's out for me **But after that I realized that Absol*** always tends to be on the higher side**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Mr K @ H20 Inter***I think Mr K needs no further introduction right? When he shows up at our place, we thought Phua Chu Kang is here! Looks really alike with the gold chain, albeit yellow boots.. Like what many Renotalkers pointed, Mr K is indeed a man of a few words, quietly noting down all the points mentioned and taking measurements when deemed fit. Approx 90% of the time we were the one talking. Quotation received 2 or 3 days later, a reasonable one I would say!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Mr J @ Chu* Xian* RenovationHappen to know of J through 2 T-blogs here, both of which have their crib nicely done up at a reasonable price! As this is a back-to-back meeting with the earlier Mr K, we practically hit the rewind button in us, repeating what we said to Mr K to J. Something that makes J stands out is his ability to grasp what we want! He listened and immediately drew out a kitchen layout on my wall for us to see, and we hit off rather well.. Totally at ease talking to him! Quotation received the next day is somewhere on par with Mr K. Both Husband & I really like J. I even went on to the stage of negotiating/ discussing the monetary portion with him. We settled on a good price, but notified him that we will confirm again if we are engaging them as we are meeting up with another 2.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Mr B @ Urban Habit**This was recommended to us through a family member. We were apprehensive of going to an ID firm after the looking at the $37k quotation from the first ID we met. Nonetheless, we felt that we should keep our options open, seeing more before committing ourselves. Now, this is a special case.. It started off by us sending him the measurements and things that we wanted for him to quote. Surprisingly, we felt that it's reasonable as it's not too far off from our comfortable amount, what's more is that they offered premium materials such as BLUM Aventos, aluminium glass door (kitchen cabinet) and Colored PVC internal finish etc.. With that, we arranged a meet up to discuss in detail, with B offering advice and showing us some of the materials in his showroom. We felt comfortable talking to B, a rather down to earth person and he recommend us things that's practical, not trying to psycho us into fanciful things that we have no need for. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Seven S*****Having seen this company's promotional pamphlets ALL over my BTO project, we decided to check him out . His quotation is ok, in fact attractive I would say, as he throws in the Hood, Hob, Sink & Tap into the package. But.. simply put across, we felt that we don't have any chemistry.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That pretty much sums up our ID/ Contractor hunting process! we are glad to have hit and crossed this milestone by handing our 1st nest to B from Urban Habitat! (Tough fight between J & B). We believe that we have made the right choice, placing faith in him, we trust that he will do a great job!Let the story of our renovation journey unfolds....~ Edited May 2, 2015 by CarrieOw Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarrieOw 0 Report post Posted May 2, 2015 (edited) nice. i have to wait for a few years to get my new home too, same 4 rm, different layout, about the same size as yours. A few question, can you advise when to look for contractors/ID? And also when to buy furniture and appliances ? Lastly, what other important things to check before doing renovations, e.g. Aircon piping first, then water heater ...and so on... thanks. Hi Infinity2015, Sorry for the late revert. Congrats on your new nest! I would suggest you to start looking for ID/ Contractors sometime before keys collection? I felt that it gives ample time for you to source around, but do note that some IDs are not very keen in those who have yet to collect their keys, as they felt that we are just looking around, and not exactly gonna commit ourselves. I personally felt that it's better to consult your ID/ Contractor when it comes to buying fixed appliances (such as Hob, Hood, Built in oven etc) as you will have to take into consideration of the dimensions etc. If you are buying lightings online (common nowadays), do take into consideration of the shipping time as you do not want to keep the electrician waiting for your lights, delaying your renovation process. Things to check before commencement of renovation work would be defects checking upon keys collection, check for tiles hollowness; crack lines on wall, chipped tiles etc etc.. Aircon piping etc is not a major concern as your ID/ Contractor would be able to guide you along by then.. Probably what you have to worry about would be which brand of A/C to get, which vendor delivers the most value out of the $ spent, and if you are going for Citygas heaters or storage heaters etc. Hope that helps! Edited May 4, 2015 by CarrieOw Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zngmybto 0 Report post Posted May 4, 2015 Congrats on your new home!Just a tip: don't worry too much about trends and getting the right look to fit a certain theme. Take what works and always plan storage, lights and allocate space for different functions. Be honest and upfront with what you like/don't like with your ID - don't let them force you into adding horrid fixtures just so it'll be good for their portfolio, but an eyesore for you. All the best!Fa,thisbtotrendmustdie.wordpress.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarrieOw 0 Report post Posted May 4, 2015 Congrats on your new home!Just a tip: don't worry too much about trends and getting the right look to fit a certain theme. Take what works and always plan storage, lights and allocate space for different functions. Be honest and upfront with what you like/don't like with your ID - don't let them force you into adding horrid fixtures just so it'll be good for their portfolio, but an eyesore for you. All the best!Fa,thisbtotrendmustdie.wordpress.comHi Fa, Thanks for dropping by! Certainly! The husband and I actually have in mind what we would like to have for our place- sort of like industrial Scandinavian style (Which happens to be the in-trend look now).Cheers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frenchiefries 0 Report post Posted May 8, 2015 Hello! We are neighbours in the same estate! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
