My Humble Abode (Without Id)

[Lucidacid 4]

It's finally my turn! After downloading multiple apps, surfing endless amount of websites, and saving hundreds of photos, it's time to get down to work.



This is my floorplan. Wet works will begin next week! Updated floorplan + 3D rendering will be available to us next week.

Can't wait!


These are the works that we planned to do:

Updated as of 2nd July

1) Blue being carpentry
2) Purple being glass works
3) Yellow being furniture that is loosely purchased

[Lucidacid 4]

Some photos of the flat (Before Renovation):

Living Room

 

Kitchen

 

Common Toilet

Bedroom 3

 

Bedroom 2



Master Bedroom (Pardon the blocked view. The room was really small, I couldn't talk a proper photo.)

[Lucidacid 4]

Moodboard

Theme: Scandinavian, Minimalist, Zen
A mishmash of all three? I've always loved the woody feel in a home. It makes the house feel very cosy and warm. Yet I have a compelling dislike for clutters and uncovered shelves. So I love clean lines and hidden storages. And zen because I like grey, beige, dark green. I know many of my friends or people of my age love pastel colors, but I really don't like it so...

 

 

 

 

 

 

My understanding of this theme is:
1) Brick wall / Brick wall effect is a must. - We decided to go for stucco brick wall effect because it's $1000+ cheaper than brick wall itself and maintenance for it is way easier.
2) Wood is the main color!
3) Spaciousness is the key!

[lilsatr 0]

Hi!

Your colour scheme is great!

From your title, you are not going to look for an id, so have you narrow down to the contractor that you are working with?

[Lucidacid 4]

Pre-Renovation Phase: Choosing of Contractors/IDs (This is updated on 2nd July)

Contractors

If you want to engage a contractor, be sure to know what you want and be able to visualize. They may offer design solutions but most of the times, it is functional, but may not look pretty. HAHAH.

1) Contractor A - He was really very prompt in replying and I really wanted to engage him. In the end, we tied down with another contractor before we could meet him. Based on my neighbours' review (3 - 4 of are engaging him for his work), he was really very prompt and he takes photo of every process in the house. This gives the owner assurance. This contractor's responsiveness and accountability really A*. We are not sure about the workmanship though, since our neighbors are still renovating their houses.

2) Contractor T - He was a contractor recommended by our designer friend. Our friend works as a furniture designer (read some magazines and you may even see him!) However, he was late for half an hour on the first meeting, and was only prompt to throw us his ideas (in an attempt to get us to change our lifestyle). He only stayed for 10 minutes. You can PM me to get his contact, but I wouldn't recommend since he isn't very cheap, and he is in semi-retirement, so he won't be very sincere in wanting to solve your problems nor sound interested to take up your job.

3) Contractor J - First impression: It's him for sure. He's the one . Since we kind of locked it in, we scrutinized his every move and the way he speak (I love to read people since I'm a teacher, and values are very important to me. If our values are different, no point working together)

Pros:

1) They were very sincere. Unlike many other IDs, money wasn't constantly on their lips. If possible, they will try to throw in things in order to match our lifestyles. Example, one of the projects he did, he threw in drawers since all the owner needed were drawers in the kitchen. But we didn't want that so we didn't ask. Even their contractors were very sincere. The electrician understood my monetary concerns and threw in some free power points. Even PM E was shocked at his generosity. (My husband was a little concerned and asked if it was because he wanted to get my attention since I was pretty <- Not true at all. LOL! But that made my day. )

Other Examples: They are overlaying our service yard for free, and doing up entrance kerbs for free. They even upgraded our solid top kitchen to iquartz without an additional charge as well. Oh yes. He is a contractor, but he gives and does 3D rendering for free. How awesome is that.

PM E even got sorta "scolded" by his boss for lowering so much for me and throwing in so so many things.

2) J+E really knew their stuff. Despite the fact that my husband and I got many impulsive purchases from taobao and even samsung, he thought quickly on the spot and solved the issues. It was like nothing was even impossible for him. LOL.

3) My husband actually lashed out at PM E thinking that they have laid the tiles wrongly (but we found out there were no mistakes and in fact, things were done with our lifestyle in mind, even better for us). Upon reading the message, despite it being Sunday night, he called both of us, eager to find out what had happened. He was really very sad and apologetic and wanted to make a trip down to our house the first thing on Monday. My silly husband made a mistake. Nothing was wrong. In fact, everything that they had done thus far showed how much they thought for us and our lifestyle.

When I met them yesterday, I was so afraid they will hate us from now onwards and blacklist us. Trust me, hubby wasn't exactly kind with his words. Think 'Disgusted' 'Utterly disappointed'. LOL I'm so embarrassed to even mention this

4) Their workmanship. This is the reason that made us hang on to them despite knowing that they are very busy and they may not be the cheapest contractor around. We've been to a few of their completed/near complete projects and it was like kids entering jurassic park for the first time (without the tragedy at the end of course). Imagine our eyes wide open, mouths agape and itchy hands touching everything we could get our hands on.

Oh yes. They are contractors, but he gives and does 3D rendering for free. Usually IDs get you to pay thousands for their design fee and only offer a few renderings. J + E did three times, 4 views for me. How awesome is that.


Cons:

1) They have more than 15 projects on hand with one project manager. At the start, we had to constantly chase him for things. Now it's a lot better after the renovations kickstarted. So they are not recommended for people rushing to move in. Now, with lunar 7th month drawing near, they are only accepting projects who are able to accept handover end August. They have never been on time for our meetings, almost an hour late kind. So, only take them if you are okay with this.

They are extremely busy. Extremely. If you need help contacting them, you can PM me. I meet them every week so I can pass your contact to them as well. I can AND WILL also fight for some extra perks for you. I hate the fact that I felt so helpless while finding a contractor and all and hope you won't have to go through this...

I brought calculator whenever I met them, and constantly calculated every single cent and dollar, every feet and square metre. They scared already. But they still laughed it off and understood my pain (I'm their youngest customer so they won't bully xiao mei mei)

2) Some IDs may be cheaper. PM me if you wanna know who.

But just a heads up. IDs charge design fee. $1000 minimum I think. Louvre charges $2000. Rezt and Relax I heard even more.

IDs

1) Voila - I was okay with their design, solutions offered. The boss served us and he seemed to know his stuff. Don't know whether I'll be sued for saying this but the boss wasn't sincere at all? He kept ordering his ka kia (assistant) around. He was very arrogant and we felt as if our project didn't matter to him. Quotation came in full of mistakes and seemingly marked up quite high. Anyway just an advice, don't look for bosses. They are usually not very sincere or hard up for your job, and based on my experience, they charge more and are less flexible.

2) Louvre - LOL don't even know why I considered them when they did such a horrible job with my current house that I'm living in. All ideas were given by me and my dad paid $60k or so... The quotation given to my husband and I made us laugh. She added many things that we didn't say we want, and did not add in anything that we wanted. Oh but she did Alfred Sim and Tay Ke Wei's house. They showed them photos of our current house to clinch the job when it was my idea and my design? Angst. PM me for the designer's name. Other designers may be good but she is definitely blacklisted in my life.

3) Aartboxx - Getting them to do our stucco brick wall effect. (Will do up a post comparing the difference between Stucco brick wall effect VS Craftstone brick wall when it's complete) Boss was very sincere though it may not have been the cheapest I could find. He came down all the way to my workplace for discussion and it's just stucco wall that I'm getting him to do. He even offered to take a look at our house as and when he is nearby to check when he can start work.

Oh yes, one last thing. Do take note that quotations are free. If any contractors or IDs tell you that they can give your free quotation as one of the perks, don't be extremely grateful. It's expected of them.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Lucidacid

[Lucidacid 4]

Renovation Journey

#Phase 1 - 3D Renderings

So the 3D rendering is out, and it is so different from what we wanted. I almost cried while telling my husband how upset I was. Hahahahah! All is well now. Turned out the project manager misunderstood our requirements and theme. Looking forward to the new 3D rendering in a week's time!

Updated:

YAY PM E decided to give us another rendering for freeeeee! Will be out probably by next week! The previous two renderings are 80% not alike to the feel we are looking for by the way.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Lucidacid

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi!

Your colour scheme is great!

From your title, you are not going to look for an id, so have you narrow down to the contractor that you are working with?

Thanks ((: Yes! It was a headache!

Edited June 4, 2015 by Lucidacid

[bsxk 0]

Hi,

Is ur place at fernvale rivergrove? It sure looks like it. I still waiting for my keys there. I like ur living rm and mbr concept. My plan for mbr is something like urs too.

Is ur contractor the famous Mr J and E highly recommended here?

[Lucidacid 4]

Hi,

Is ur place at fernvale rivergrove? It sure looks like it. I still waiting for my keys there. I like ur living rm and mbr concept. My plan for mbr is something like urs too.

Is ur contractor the famous Mr J and E highly recommended here?

Hi bsxk! Yes! (: Hello neighbour! Which block are you from? And another yes, we have engaged the famous J and E after reading about their reviews here... hahahah! Edited June 4, 2015 by Lucidacid

[bsxk 0]

Hi bsxk! Yes! (: Hello neighbour! Which block are you from? And another yes, we have engaged the famous J and E after reading about their reviews here... hahahah!

I'm from 470B. How abt u? I compared ur floor plan with mine, seems like some of ur measurements are longer than mine. Btw r u doing anything to ur kitchen entrance cause i find it so near the main entrance.

[Auckerian 0]

I like the style of the collection of pictures that you have gathered. So clean and sleek. Could you PM me the contacts of the three contractors that you have shortlisted? Thanks!

[Lucidacid 4]

I'm from 470B. How abt u? I compared ur floor plan with mine, seems like some of ur measurements are longer than mine. Btw r u doing anything to ur kitchen entrance cause i find it so near the main entrance.

472A (: It is? I thought all 4 rooms for this project should be the same. I agree that the kitchen entrance is very near the main entrance. Which is very annoying especially when I'm planning where my shoe cabinet should be. My neighbors are planning to change the kitchen entrance by building up a wall and hacking down the other due to feng shui concerns, but I'm keeping it due to budgetary limits. If I change the entrance I might have to sacrifice my see-through study room, which is a must-have for me.

[shiwei71 0]

Hi neighbour! Your kitchen is slightly longer than mine (I'm at 470a). I have also shortlisted J (has yet to contact him though) but I have also seen feedback elsewhere that he is quite tied up... mind sharing how much were you quoted and what are the works done? Thanks!

[Grizzlybear 0]

Hi, cld u pls PM the contact of the 3 contractors' u've met. Thanks a lot & hope u have a successful renovation.

[pinkdude 0]

Hi Lucidacid, could you pm me your contractor details?