Full Renovation - Resale Condo

[GreenBoi 3]

Hi everyone, me and my wife have decided to share our renovation journey here. We have benefited a lot from all the wonderful t-blogs here.

We are in the midst of renovating our nearly 20 year old resale condo. The tiling work has just started. We will gradually update on the progress here.

We also did quite a bit of research on renovation and will share it here regularly.

PICTURES TAKEN BEFORE OUR RENOVATION STARTED:

Main door and shoe cabinet

Walkway to the rooms

Our tiny kitchen

Edited June 3, 2015 by GreenBoi

[GreenBoi 3]

Master bedroom:

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

MBR Bathroom

Common Bathroom

Edited May 29, 2015 by GreenBoi

[GreenBoi 3]

Our tiny Yard and Utility Room

Tiny Yard WC

I will ask my wife to upload the ID selection process in our next post (wife is more thorough in keeping track of the various IDs we met/emailed ).

Edited May 29, 2015 by GreenBoi

[shoe2015 0]

Hi GreenBoi,

I am a newbie. I may become your neighbor soon . Which tower is urs? Mine is Tower 5 and my unit smaller than yours.

Your unit looks nice and in good condition.

How is your renovation progress? What area and work did you cover? Mind sharing the ID selection and cost? Thanks in advance.

I haven't selected the ID and I haven't got the key yet.

[GreenBoi 3]

Hi shoe2015,

Thanks I'm still waiting for my wife to update the ID Selection Process. Hopefully it will be up soon. Heh

My renovation is a bit slow at the moment- Tiling is still ongoing. We are doing a full renovation. Hack everything and redo, full rewiring, replumbing. I will pm the cost to you soon.

Hope to hear the good news from you soon!

[shoe2015 0]

Hi GreenBoi,

Thanks, will be waiting for your pm. Wow...it must be a big renovation and it will look beautiful. Although the tile and parquet are in good condition, i admit that it's a bit outdated. I will only do the flooring for the bathrooms, kitchen and probably yard.

How long did it take for condo management to approve the renovation? do we need to look for PE? not sure what it is anyway

Will arrange few meetings with IDs these coming weekend.

Hope to hear from you soon on the progress. Have fun with your renovation!

[GreenGir 0]

ID Selection

Hi everyone, these are the IDs/contractors we approached, not listed in any particular order.

For those whom we sent email enquiry, we included in the email our floor plan that was not to scale, as well as our requirements with pictures of our ideas.

Hubby included ratings for those we met face-to-face.

We have refrained from stating any opinions which might invite defensive responses

Feel free to pm Greenboi if you need more info on any of the IDs.

Here goes......

Jason from 96 Degree Designers

Sent an email enquiry to the company. Jason replied promptly and went the extra mile by providing masonry calculations, as well as false ceiling and lighting layout. Really appreciated this (which no one else provided) as the masonry calculations were super helpful when it came to comparing itemised quotes.

Could not shortlist as quote was way above our budget. Quote included supplying and installing air-con and EZ Bella clothes hanger, as well as use of Blum hinges/runner.

Kenny from Summit Design

Rating: 2.5/5

Very thorough, took down our requirements meticulously. We heard a lot of good reviews about Kenny in renotalk.

Could not shortlist as quote was way above our budget. I would actually recommend him if you are not restricted by budget at all.

Rachel from 3D Innovations

Rating 3.5/5

The 1st ID we met! She has a great personality - cheerful and sincere. Guided us through the process and answered our questions patiently. Very prompt in revising the quote to meet our requirements as much as possible. Hubby and I were really keen to work with her. We would have shortlisted her further if her quote was lower and without GST.

Joy from Thom Signature

Rating: 3/5

A pleasant and pretty young lady who took down our requirements carefully and gave a relatively accurate quote. She did her best to revise the quote to meet our requirements. Quote was attractive compared to other ID companies. Almost shortlisted.

Javerson from Dots N Tots

Rating: 3/5

Well known in renotalk. Very professional and sent the quote super duper fast. However, the price was on the high side. Hence, not shortlisted.

Roy from IR Design

Rating: 4/5

A nice and humble person running a one man show. Very thorough quotation and answered my queries promptly. Well known for his workmanship and great personality. His price was one of the best. Highly recommended. Shortlisted!

Nicholas a.k.a Nick from Renoguyz

Rating: 4/5

Met him together with his assistant, CF a.k.a Benny.

Famous in renotalk and some say the second cheapest ID around. Not the typical ID, as he would declare. Meet him to find out and be awed by his philosophies! Known for good workmanship. Responsive over Whatsapp.

Quote was still over our budget but acceptable. Highly recommended. Shortlisted!

Jay from butterpaperstudio

Several nice projects done by this husband-wife team in renotalk. Hubby really liked their creativity. Unfortunately they were unable to commit at this time. Jay sent us a nice email explaining the reason.

Gary from Artisan Space

Rating: 1/5

We met him to explain our requirements. We have yet to receive his quote till this day.

Kevin from DeFong Interior Design

Sent an email enquiry after calling him. He responded promptly but I was puzzled by the quote. Not sure if he mistook someone else's requirements for mine. I tried to clarify but don't remember receiving a further response.

Marcus from Renzz

Sent an email enquiry to the company.

Quite a few good reviews in renotalk. Quotation was reasonable, unfortunately it came just as we were about to confirm our ID. If only he had sent the quote 2 weeks earlier.

Triple S Interior

emailed but no reply till date

Jason from Cosyliving

Quote came back super cheap but realised it was not according to our specifications. I enquired further and Jason explained that he was helping us to lower the cost. Nice gesture.

Alan from Aian Furniture & Renovation

Rating: 3.5/5

Very famous in renotalk. He is one of the two contractors we approached. Hands down the best price. Came across as knowledgeable and confident with his work. Quote almost 100% matched our requirements as well.

In the end we decided that it would be difficult to do all the coordinating by ourselves and went with an ID.

Building Services Specialist

Rating: 2/5

Contractor recommended by a friend. The quote included installation of Daikin air conditioners and it helped that the contractor was very familiar with our condominium. However, we could not afford their service, hence not shortlisted.

Derrick from I-deal House

Sent an email enquiry and received quote within 2 weeks. Provided detailed sketch of the layout. Did not shortlist as quote was above our budget.

Chris from Ideal Design

Sent an email enquiry slightly late to the company and Chris replied with a reasonable quote 1 week later. He was prompt in answering my clarification questions. Would have met up with him to discuss further but we became busy with other commitments and ended up shortlisting those whom we approached earlier.

Oh boy, looking back I realised we approached so many IDs/contractors! It was initially tiring to meet them and explain our requirements, but it was also a learning process as we gained new knowledge every time we met someone.

Decided to engage Nick from Renoguyz for our home renovation!

Reno is currently in progress, albeit slower than expected. Stay tuned for updates!

Readers can expect the final review of Renoguyz once our reno is completed

Edited June 8, 2015 by GreenGir

[GreenBoi 3]

3D Sketches

These are the 3D sketches provided by our Renoguyz:

The kitchen is more or less accurate. Piano white laminate with kompacplus top.

This turn out to be different from what we wanted. I chose to fabricate a movable TV console as i was unable to find something that met my requirements. The console will be 7feet with 4 compartments. The top would be glass panes and the bottom would be wooden drawers.

The TV feature wall would look like the picture below:

Basically we will be adding grooves like in the picture. The laminate finish will be cement screed. And it will be full height feature wall.

We will be fabricating a full length and full height bookcase for our study room.

We are also fabricating 2 tables with the same laminate as the bookcase

Both I and wife decided to go for a rustic-scandi feel. We are aware that its going to be difficult to keep to this theme entirely

Edited June 10, 2015 by GreenBoi

[GreenBoi 3]

Our reno process started a month ago. The progress has been rather slow. Tiling is not completed yet. Carpentry measurements has been taken and are being manufactured in Malaysia now. Plumbing work was completed yesterday. Rewiring is not done yet (hopefully it would be done by this week ). Aircon trunking has been completed. As we need the place by early next month, Nic promised that our house would be more or less completed on time.

Some pics to share:

These pictures was from 1 month ago. Hacking took 4 days to complete.

Tiles arrived soon after the hacking work. Unfortunately the work slowed after this with only 1 tiler doing the tiling work in the bathrooms.

[GreenBoi 3]

TILE SELECTION

Before deciding to go with tiles. We did a bit of research on laminate and vinyl flooring.

We were especially impressed by the Evorich Vinyl flooring. Its looks great and is very durable. We are planning to keep a dog and worried of scratch marks. My previous dog loves to scratch the floor

Laminates look great as well. Unfortunately I heard its not-termite proof and was told its not as hardy as vinyl or tiles.

Nic and CF took us to Hafary for tile selection about 2 weeks prior to reno. Although I and wife have already decided on the kind of tiles we wanted, we were still spoiled for choice. There were so many options with different colour variations. CF was especially helpful in helping us to decide. Both Nic and CF were very patient ans spent 4hrs with us! Despite that, I and wife had to go to Hafary on another day before we settled on the tiles we like. So here goes.

For living room, bedrooms and kitchen:

For MBR bathroom. Wood-like tiles would be for the shower area:

For common bathroom:

For yard and utility room:

For yard bathroom:

Thats all for today folks. Next time I will upload the 3D renderings provided by our ID and recommended places to purchase various stuffs.

[GreenBoi 3]

3D Rendering

Nic told us that 3D rendering is by request. So we requested lor He usually gives 3 images but agreed to give us 4 images. We felt that its important to get a feel of the house in order to buy furnitures etc. He did caution us that 3D images are often very different from the actual end product due to different lighting, view angles and difficulty matching with the exact material etc. We appreciate his advice on this.

Overall the 3D is a hit and miss:

The kitchen is more or less accurate. The tiles should be wood-like though.

The study room is rather off from what we wanted. The floor tiles we chose was lighter colour and more towards grey than brown. This was our initial laminate selection for the carpentry but decided to change it to something lighter-coloured. The bookcase would have more shelves. The tables would be slightly bigger.

This is not accurate as well. We will be going for more of a scandinavian feel. 3D turned out to be modern! Our wardrobe will be all white in colour with wooden borders.

The living room was completely off as well. It is again rendered as modern concept. Our TV console would be mainly white. The TV feature wall should have more grooves. Sofa would be more scandi. The tiles would be completely different.

Edited June 11, 2015 by GreenBoi

[GreenBoi 3]

AIRCON:

We did a bit of research on this. Mitsubishi, Daikin and Panasonic are often quoted as the best. I'm really not sure about this. My sister-in-law is using LG and its working well. I used Mitsubishi Starmex before and had problems. My wife had good experience with Mitsubishi. Our current place is using Panasonic and it seems to be working well. In the end we decided to go with Daikin system 3+2. This decision was purely on good reviews from people we know and the fact that we have never used it before. haha so we decided to give it a go

We obtained quotations from a few people. In the end we went with Tim Wong from Imperial Distributors Pte Ltd. He gave the best quotation. Tim was also very responsive over SMS. He did a thorough site survey for free. He went through my old aircon trunking, looked into the false ceilings. He discussed with me carefully how the pipings etc would be run. His men came and completed the work nicely. There will be a 3rd visit for the installation of the blower and compressors. Tim is highly recommended for the attractive quotation, responsiveness, after-care service and humble personality.

Now for some pics:

There will not be any visible trunking as it will all be hidden in the false ceiling and L-Box

Edited June 11, 2015 by GreenBoi

[GreenBoi 3]

HEATER:

I like taking nice hot shower after a busy day at work. Wife on the other hand is not so much into this. As usual we did some research on the heating options we have:

1. Gas Heater

Gas heating is cheaper than the other 2 options. Hot water may take 10-20s to reach you (depending on the length of the piping). But it will be constant supply of hot water. You don't have to worry of running out of hot water. Every time you close your tap, you will have to wait 10-20s for the hot water. A single heating unit is enough to supply multiple bathrooms. When it comes to laying the pipes you are at the mercy of the city-gas installer though.

This was my first choice. I was super disappointed when I was told my condo does not have Citygas access

2. Instant Heater

Slightly more costly than gas heating. Shorter wait for the hot water. However, the water pressure may not be so good. Not recommended if you are going for rain-shower. Multipoint instant heaters are available for more than one bathroom.

Wife actually preferred Instant Heating. I was thankful that she agreed to go with the 3rd option as I prefer to hide everything in the false ceiling.

3. Storage Heater

This will cost more, if you are like me and dont switch off once the water has heated. However if you are diligent in switching it off, the cost should be the same as instant heater. A single storage heater can easily supply multiple bathrooms. However, the pressure may be lower the farther it is from the main storage unit. Hence, it is generally recommended to have one storage heater per bathroom. You will have to wait 10-15 minutes for hot water if there is no existing hot water in the tank. Some people use timer switch with storage heater (in case you forget to switch it off).

In the end we went with the following 2 storage heaters:

AO Smith 40L Digital Storage Heater

Joven 25L Storage Heater

This AO Smith heater is quite interesting. It comes with a blue diamond storage tank which was apparently supposed to keep the water hot longer than a stainless steel heater. It is both an instant heater and a storage heater. It only takes 2 minutes for the hot water to heat up. You also have the option to use the instant heater for a quick shower. There is a nice digital control panel. You will be able to set the water temperature and timer for water heating. Lastly its supposed to be very energy efficient. We have installed it for our MBR bathroom

The Joven 25L is highly recommended by many users in renotalk. Its supposed to be energy efficient. Hence our decision to use this for the common bathroom.

Now for some more pictures:

It was professionally installed by the AO Smith technician. He taught us how to use the digital panel as well.

I covered up the digital panel for protection during the reno process.

Joven was nicely installed by Nic's plumber

Thats all for now guys.

Edited June 11, 2015 by GreenBoi

[vj528 0]

Hi, can pm me your id contact and reno quotation? Thanks.

[GreenGir 0]

Hi GreenBoi,

Thanks, will be waiting for your pm. Wow...it must be a big renovation and it will look beautiful. Although the tile and parquet are in good condition, i admit that it's a bit outdated. I will only do the flooring for the bathrooms, kitchen and probably yard.

How long did it take for condo management to approve the renovation? do we need to look for PE? not sure what it is anyway

Will arrange few meetings with IDs these coming weekend.

Hope to hear from you soon on the progress. Have fun with your renovation!

Hi shoe2015,

Thank you!

Condo management told us it would take 3 working days for approval, but they eventually took one week and only after we chased them for it

We didn't need PE as we are not hacking walls.

All the best for your ID selection!