Please help comment on my very basic 4-room BTO reno quote. :)

[jl75 0]

Basically just kitchen cabinets + wood design porcelain floor tiles for living room, dining, bedrooms and both toilets + solid doors for bedroom + PD doors for toilets + solid veneer for bedroom doors + glass pd door for kitchen + glass shower screen and door for master toilet only + grills for whole apartment.

No built-in wardrobes.  Painting excluded.

This is as basic as it can get, yet the price seems higher than other quotes posted here that do more, or has the reno price gone up so much in the last 6 months?  What do you guys think?

 

Item	Description		Amount
A	Masonry Works * All tiles base on retail price of $3.20 psf for floor & wall.
1	Supply & lay 600mm x 600mm polish homogeneous floor tiles c/w skirting **** & dining		$         3,220.00
2	Supply & lay 600mm x 600mm polish homogeneous floor tiles c/w skirting at 3 bedroom		$         4,340.00
3	Supply & overlay 300mm x 300mm non-slip homogeneous floor tiles at 2 toilets		$         1,600.00
4	Addition labour top up for wood texture floor tiles		$            750.00
5	Supply & construct 50mm cement motar bases with tile skirting /  finishes for kitchen cabinet, fridge, washing machine & 2  shower kerb		$            650.00
B	Window Works
1	Supply & install aluminium frame with tinted glass sliding windows @ balcony.		$            500.00
2	Supply & install aluminium grill @ whole house window		$            750.00
	( additional charge for W.P.C ( white powder coat ) for window and grills $180 )
C	Plumbing Works
1	Provide labour only to install 2 no. of instant water heater @ 2 toilets		$            120.00
2	Provide labour only to install 2 sets of bathroom & toilet accessories @ 2 toilets		$              80.00
3	Provide labour only to install 1 set of kitchen sink & tap		$            120.00
4	Provide labour only to install 1 set of spray gun at 2 toilets		$              80.00
D	Electrical Works
1	standard lighting points x $40 per point
2	13A Double Socket x $60 per point
3	13A Single Socket x $50 per point
4	Scv point x $120 per point
5	Data point ( cat6 )
6	Chemey hod x $80
7	Chemey hod installation x $80
8	Slim hob x $50
9	cooker hoob x $50
10	Oven point x $90 per point
11	Lighting installation x $12 per unit
12	Conceal 13A Double Socket c/w cover protector
13	Additional charge for conceal is $100 per unit.
14	Tel point x $80 per point
15	fan point x $40 per point
16	fan install x $50 per point
17	Connect heater point x $40 per point
E	Door Works
1	Supply & install 03 pcs of solid veneer doors with standard lockset & door stoppers at 03 bedrooms  ( L 3ft x H 7t )		$         1,560.00
2	Supply & install 01 Acrylic PD Door @ 2 toilet ( medium solid )		$            800.00
3	Supply and install 10mm tempered PD glass door at kitchen entrance		$            650.00
4	Supply and install 10mm tempered glass swing door shower screen at master bathroom		$            450.00
F	Carpentry Works *External-selected laminate finishing<$53,internal-white PVC finishing
	Solid plywood
	High Pressure laminate
	ABS Edging
	soft close hinges
	Kitchen
1	Design, fabricate and install  26ft solid ply laminate top and bottom kitchen cabinet with a dish rack & cooker hood compartments, s/steel dish rack, a colunm of drawer, cultery tray, ABS trimming & soft closing hinges for all doors and drawers		$         3,120.00
2	Fabricate and install 15ft Quartz top  surface kitchen work top with 50mm back splash and 38mm front profile for kitchen cabinet		$         1,800.00
G	Other Works
1	Chemical wash & general cleaning for whole house		$            300.00
2	Provide flooring protection using corrugated paper		$            150.00
3	Provision haulages loading of sand & goods, clearing of debris and material up		$            600.00
4	HDB Renovation Permit Application & Processing Fee		FOC
5	Provide labour to install some kitchen accessories		FOC
*	All fees & submission to relevent authority or government department not inclusive
	Total :		$       21,640.00

[ericlee09 1]

i think the price is quite alright, but the price could go lower!

[bunnybluey 2]

Think not easy to compare quotes with other people unless is similar layout in the same estate.

My hubby just signed contract with the ID that we selected. I'm renovating my current house after living for 16+yrs. Here's what I could share with you, not necessary pricing but more on durability/actual usage.

Floor tiles are quoted based on floor area. My 3 bedrooms ~42 sqm, my quote was ~5k, so it's ~$119 per sqm, & the quote is based on $3.50 psf tiles. I'm not sure if your total bedrooms floor area, but if you used your quote for the bedrooms divided by your total bedrooms floor area & it's more than my ~$119 per sqm by quite a bit, then maybe flooring is a bit exp. A friend told me that my flooring is already a bit exp, haha... as she did hers those maisonette type of hdb flat 2 storeys only $7k+.

For window grilles, if you intend to stay in your hse for >5yrs & want them to be lasting, please check with your ID what is the material quoted, i.e. hollow, double hollow or 2mm double hollow. What's being quoted in the market is usually hollow, which was what we did when we gotten our house back then, it's not lasting like in the past. We changed once to double hollow, & this time we're changing it again as we're changing to W.P.C windows & grilles.

My ID also quoted PD door for my toilets. I went to search on reviews for PD door with number of people complaining that it's not durable because you have to slide it to the centre pt before you swing, so if you don't slide it properly, it may tend to spoil faster. Also, have people commented that they have to teach their guests to use the door so that it can be more lasting. Of course, there are people who said their PD doors are quite lasting. For me, I decided not to do PD door as I have 2 children, 4 & 9yo, which I don't think they would handle the doors with care. Hence, you have to consider who will be using the doors, especially if you have any young children. I opt for bi-fold door instead but did not let my ID do, instead gotten my window/grille guy to do it.

For carpentry works, do you want to consider similar finishing for the internal just like the external instead of leaving it white? My ID quote is based on this for all my carpentry works, be it wardrobes, cupboards, kitchen cabinets, & I actually quite like them cos my current ones were left white & they turned yellowish over the years, some can be wiped off but some after wiping can still some kind of patches like you know white t-shirt turned yellowish or with yellow spots.

 

 

[jl75 0]

Hi bunnybluey,

Thanks for your detailed and frank opinion.  I don't have the size areas of the rooms other than total floor area.  So i calculated the size of the kitchen, toilets and shelter and ac ledge using the dimensions on my floor plan and deduct the sum from the total flat area and got 65 sq m.  Since the dimensions include walls, assuming the walls take up 2sqm, so I'm left with 63sqm.

My ID quoted me $8310 ($3220 living dining + $4340 bedrooms + $750 top up for wood texture tiles), so it's $131 per sqm.  My price is 10% more than yours, but if you deduct out the additional labor cost for wood texture floor tiles, it's $8310 and $120 per sqm.  By the way, this is not the first quote.  The additional top up for wood texture floor was only added after we requested for those plank wood-style porcelain tiles.  Note that the other IDs I talked to did not mention about additional charges for using wood style tiles.  The ID also verbally mentioned that the 600mm x 600mm can be changed but I think I need to get that into the quote as I'm looking at 150mm x 600mm plank tiles.
 

A	Masonry Works * All tiles base on retail price of $3.20 psf for floor & wall.
1	Supply & lay 600mm x 600mm polish homogeneous floor tiles c/w skirting **** & dining		$         3,220.00
2	Supply & lay 600mm x 600mm polish homogeneous floor tiles c/w skirting at 3 bedroom		$         4,340.00
3	Supply & overlay 300mm x 300mm non-slip homogeneous floor tiles at 2 toilets		$         1,600.00
4	Addition labour top up for wood texture floor tiles		$            750.00

9 hours ago, bunnybluey said:

Floor tiles are quoted based on floor area. My 3 bedrooms ~42 sqm, my quote was ~5k, so it's ~$119 per sqm, & the quote is based on $3.50 psf tiles. I'm not sure if your total bedrooms floor area, but if you used your quote for the bedrooms divided by your total bedrooms floor area & it's more than my ~$119 per sqm by quite a bit, then maybe flooring is a bit exp. A friend told me that my flooring is already a bit exp, haha... as she did hers those maisonette type of hdb flat 2 storeys only $7k+.

Thanks for pointing this out.  Yes, it's not indicated whether it is hollow or double hollow.  So far the other quotes I've seen don't mention this either.  By the way, the White Powder Coat thing, may I know why you're changing to WPC?

9 hours ago, bunnybluey said:

For window grilles, if you intend to stay in your hse for >5yrs & want them to be lasting, please check with your ID what is the material quoted, i.e. hollow, double hollow or 2mm double hollow. What's being quoted in the market is usually hollow, which was what we did when we gotten our house back then, it's not lasting like in the past. We changed once to double hollow, & this time we're changing it again as we're changing to W.P.C windows & grilles.

For some reason, almost all IDs I've seen recommend PD door.  For bi-fold door, did you use the one that is top hung without bottom tracks?

9 hours ago, bunnybluey said:

My ID also quoted PD door for my toilets. I went to search on reviews for PD door with number of people complaining that it's not durable because you have to slide it to the centre pt before you swing, so if you don't slide it properly, it may tend to spoil faster. Also, have people commented that they have to teach their guests to use the door so that it can be more lasting. Of course, there are people who said their PD doors are quite lasting. For me, I decided not to do PD door as I have 2 children, 4 & 9yo, which I don't think they would handle the doors with care. Hence, you have to consider who will be using the doors, especially if you have any young children. I opt for bi-fold door instead but did not let my ID do, instead gotten my window/grille guy to do it.

For Kitchen cabinet, I only requested that it must be solid ply.  I saw this new finishing that uses same laminate design for both interior and exterior at some of the ID showrooms, but it is not usually indicated in the quote.  Need to ask.

9 hours ago, bunnybluey said:

For carpentry works, do you want to consider similar finishing for the internal just like the external instead of leaving it white? My ID quote is based on this for all my carpentry works, be it wardrobes, cupboards, kitchen cabinets, & I actually quite like them cos my current ones were left white & they turned yellowish over the years, some can be wiped off but some after wiping can still some kind of patches like you know white t-shirt turned yellowish or with yellow spots.

 

[bunnybluey 2]

ID would usually charge for consultancy/pm works, but I see your quote didn't include these, so probably the ID had already factored the cost into the other items. Hence if you're okay with the ID & satisfied with the quality of works provided by ID & the company, then leave some "room" for the ID to earn. No one works for free, so I do believe in give & take. Most importantly is do you think if the ID is someone whom you could trust to hand over your house to renovate it & complete the reno for you within your expectation. If you feel you cannot trust the ID, then perhaps source for more before you decide.

My own house quotation may not be low or perhaps even premium on certain items but this ID was the only one who came down to my place to view the actual condition & I think that's important for an "old" flat. He also managed to capture most of my requirements as compared to other quotes that I've gotten. Among the few IDs we spoke to, we find him more knowledgeable as compared to others. Hence, we decided to go with him. We did ask for some discounts but I didn't try my luck to squeeze him dry cos we depend on him to keep the schedule on time, we prefer to start the work happily.

For window works, perhaps you can get a windows contractor to go to your flat to view & give a quote. From there, then you can really compare apple to apple. I changed to WPC more of my own preference/liking, wanted it WPC since we gotten our house keys back then but the default provided by HDB was normal alum & we didn't change it, so gotten similar for grilles. Since we changing windows this time round, might as well go for what I like, like finally, haha...

For the PD doors, many IDs go for aesthetic, probably why most of them quoted PD doors instead but there are some who still recommend bi-fold door. To me, PD doors do look nicer than bi-fold doors but I'm concerned if they last, especially I have young children who bang stuff & they can be rough type. For now, I told my window guy whose doing the doors for me too to just put top roller only but I still can add in the bottom roller at no extra charge before he placed order. He did advise me to install bottom roller so that it's more lasting.

[bunnybluey 2]

Btw, just to add on that if you intend to overlay flooring for your toilets, do check that the contractor does the overlay at a gradient so that the water will flow towards the drainage hole. This may sound common sense but depends on the contractor's workers, if they're just banga/PRC, they may just overlay as instructed but don't care if the water will flow properly.

[jl75 0]

On 4/14/2016 at 11:13 PM, bunnybluey said:

Btw, just to add on that if you intend to overlay flooring for your toilets, do check that the contractor does the overlay at a gradient so that the water will flow towards the drainage hole. This may sound common sense but depends on the contractor's workers, if they're just banga/PRC, they may just overlay as instructed but don't care if the water will flow properly.

Yes, this is a very useful tip.  Most of the toilets I've seen don't have a gradient.  Not sure if bangla or PRC workers are able to lay that way.

[MissySoniaLin 4]

the constructed floor already got the gradient if i not wrong. the most worries is water seepage in between old tiles n your new lay tiles. do ensure the contractor dont save on the material to build instead to prevent fungus growing or smell coming out from the seepage which i feel more annoying

[adeline264 0]

Hi jl75, 

1. I read that chemical wash should be FOC from the forums.
2. Haulage and clearing of debris charges are too high! I read that most town councils charges around $250 depending on the town council you are in.
3. There is an alternative system door instead of using PD door. The ID that I met introduced it to me. The door can slide and open as well but they do not need to slide all the way to the center in order to open the door so its much better. Not sure what is the brand tho.
4. "All fees & submission to relevent authority or government department not inclusive" <- You should check what is this to prevent hidden costs.

Edited May 11, 2016 by adeline264