$35K Massive Overhaul - Single Lady 1st Abode

[bipps 4]

Hey guys! Since my reno started slightly more than a week ago, I decide to get in the radar and hope that sharing my fortnightly reno experience will be beneficial for home owners attempting to DIY without ID. 

I will be skipping the selection process details as my decision was made up towards pricing. 3*, R&R, and a few others were throwing out quotes ranging from $50-70K and the same time throwing themselves out even after being informed of my $35K budget. 

After comparing quotes from 4 IDs, 3 Contractors, I decided on my current contractor with NO reviews on RT, it was a long discussion spanning 2 months and 4-5 meetings and countless of amendments (removal of items usually) from the quote. All within $35K inclusive of GST. Yet I know it was a huge risk for someone with no online presence. 

 

Branded firm with poor project manager = . Humble company with good project manager = . Branded firm good project manager =  $$$$$$ 

Here is the original floorplan, and I will be doing massive hacking and erecting of walls due to some fengshui beliefs. 

 

[bipps 4]

Final Quote after 3-4 amendments and some negotiation power 

To protect the interests of my contractor, let's call him JL I have omitted the unit pricing. 

DENG DENG DENG DENGGGG................. a little more than $35K...looking good with everything I need from him covered! 

Will be recycling the solid doors and painting them over, if you are wondering where my toilet doors and shower screens went, I had them outsourced to factory price wholesalers and calculated a substantial savings of close to $400 compared to JL pricing. He didn't seem to mind in fact I think he might be more relief he don't have to source out all these for me and focus on what he does best. 

[bipps 4]

BEFORE RENOVATION WORKS AKA ROLL PINEAPPLE HUATHUAT DAY

 

Living Room 

Dining Area

Master Bed Room

Bed Room 1

 

Bed Room 2

Aiya cannot find image...

Kitchen

Common Toilet

Master Toilet

[bipps 4]

As agreed before JL went on a month long vacation, that works will start on 25th February, a day after I got my keys. Well things didn't go according to plan and only started getting permits from HDB to start work from 7 March. I learnt that HDB will send an SMS notifying owner once contractor raised an application and contractors will be notified by HDB when that gets approved, it's the onus of contractor to inform owner once that is approve. As the ganjeong owner I tried contacting JL to pass him the initial deposit and chase reno but he wasn't  responsive for couple of days and the next moment I went up to the flat... This is what happened

8th March -  hacked floor and wall tiles, fixtures

 

11th March - demolish walls and removal of cornice

 

19th March - erecting false ceiling structure

 

 

Best part of the deal, I never get to see JL at all, busy man don't even have time to collect deposit, but the next time I saw him I had to provide more than the initial deposit as more works was being done done.  

 

Edited March 24, 2016 by bipps
wrong dates

[bipps 4]

23rd March - False ceiling using fibreglass boards - is this better than gypsum boards or are these 2 boards the same thing with different terms?

Anyways, saw several errors in false ceiling layout throughout the house, Thank goodness I hardworking enough to make it there this morning to spot those errors

 

Here is how false ceiling before finishing actually looks like...it looks like it made the rooms smaller.... Boooo!!!!  But die die need to have the look of downlights at home and bought 28 pieces from JB already.... Hope I won't regret this

 

 

Edited March 24, 2016 by bipps

[Aeqmal Huat 1]

4 hours ago, bipps said:

As agreed before JL went on a month long vacation, that works will start on 25th March, a day after I got my keys. Well things didn't go according to plan and only started getting permits from HDB to start work from 7 April. I learnt that HDB will send an SMS notifying owner once contractor raised an application and contractors will be notified by HDB when that gets approved, it's the onus of contractor to inform owner once that is approve. As the ganjeong owner I tried contacting JL to pass him the initial deposit and chase reno but he wasn't  responsive for couple of days and the next moment I went up to the flat... This is what happened

8th April -  hacked floor and wall tiles, fixtures

 

11th April - demolish walls and removal of cornice

 

19th April - erecting false ceiling structure

 

 

Best part of the deal, I never get to see JL at all, busy man don't even have time to collect deposit, but the next time I saw him I had to provide more than the initial deposit as more works was being done done.  

 

Err?? ur reno just started a week ago on 25th March, a day after you got your keys? but it's  today is only 23rd March.. i dont get your timeline.

 

[bipps 4]

39 minutes ago, Aeqmal Huat said:

Err?? ur reno just started a week ago on 25th March, a day after you got your keys? but it's  today is only 23rd March.. i dont get your timeline.

 

Sorry for the confusion in dates! All the moving and packing made me muddle headed. Got my keys on 24th feb! Reno was planned to start a day after but due to delays from contractor it started on 7th march. The first week was good progress but now things are slowing down and JL have been hard to reach these days 

[kingandbin 13]

Your timeline is making me a little muddle headed too! Haha. But it's great that everything is progressing quickly!  keep us posted on your updates! 

[xhomesweethomex 7]

Your masterbed room look huge!!

 

[laknock 0]

Hi

your WC 2 entrance layout exactly same as mine. i relocate the entrance to balcony. 

rgds

laks

[bipps 4]

11 hours ago, xhomesweethomex said:

Your masterbed room look huge!!

 

I love the layout of the mbr, its elongated enough to squeeze in a walk in wardrobe. Perfecto~

[bipps 4]

10 hours ago, laknock said:

Hi

your WC 2 entrance layout exactly same as mine. i relocate the entrance to balcony. 

rgds

laks

Hi laknock, that's a smart move to create more cabinetry space in the kitchen. And also more hygienic as the toilet is away from kitchen.  I'm in a dilemma for a long time to reposition that door but had to sadly drop the idea in order to still be in line with my budget. 

[laknock 0]

On 24 March 2016 at 10:21 PM, bipps said:

Hi laknock, that's a smart move to create more cabinetry space in the kitchen. And also more hygienic as the toilet is away from kitchen.  I'm in a dilemma for a long time to reposition that door but had to sadly drop the idea in order to still be in line with my budget. 

Yah cost of hacking and opening a new entrance cost quite abit. I'm also in the process of renovating. Shd be completed in mid May I guess . 

Enjoy the process! 

 

Cheers

[Jtkp 0]

congrats on getting your flat. look forward to seeing your progress on the reno.

 

I am getting my keys for my resale end april and my budget is roughly 35k too as im also single and not willing to spend too much. hope to see more updates from u and maybe can recommend me your company in the future.

[bipps 4]

On 27 March 2016 at 9:52 PM, Jtkp said:

congrats on getting your flat. look forward to seeing your progress on the reno.

 

I am getting my keys for my resale end april and my budget is roughly 35k too as im also single and not willing to spend too much. hope to see more updates from u and maybe can recommend me your company in the future.

$35k is a very tight budget for resale especially due to alot of retiling works. My costing does not include living and 3 bedroom flooring as it costs additional $15k, just need to live with the existing yellowish marble tiles. It's going to be a fun process! Don't be shy to compare quotes!