ID dilemma

[drumbeaterz 0]

Hi forummers,

We are in the process of buying a resale 5rm. The kitchen needs a full makeover. Having never done any reno before we are confused how to go about selecting an ID. Has anyone heard of ID Concept Elements? Any reviews?

The other ID we have been speaking to is from BMInteriors. I read they are good?

thanks for some suggestions.

Regards.

[bunnybluey 2]

I think you need to think through what's your needs first. Then research on the IDs, find out reviews & eventually shortlist a few that you're keen. When contacting the IDs, assess how forthcoming they are to meet you to find out your requirements, do they understand your requirements when you eventually get the quotes, ask what materials are they giving to you, assess how experience are they when talking to them, how do you feel about them as in do you think the chemistry will work out between you/your partner & the ID, etc. 

When meeting up the IDs, see if ID bothers to offer to go up to your place to assess & see the actual situation before quoting. When you got the quote, which IDs can understand your requirements best & quote what you're looking for. For example, if ID A quotes you 10k but it doesn't really match what you're looking for but more like what the ID wants to push it to you, then ID B also quotes you abt 10k but matches the closer to what you're looking for. There are some IDs who would try to convince you to go/do their way. Does the ID give you itemised quote? Personally, I prefer itemised quote so that I can review in details & know the amount that I could save if I decide to drop it. The danger of non itemised is that perhaps the item you want to drop may actually costs you $500 but ID only reduces your quote by $200, who knows since it's not itemised, so not transparent enough. Does the ID charge GST, as that would mean it adds 7% to your budget? Does your ID allow you to engage your own other contractors for windows/air-con/electrical/plumber & would work with them? Sounds ideal to have everything settled by ID but danger is you can't really control even if you feel like you're being carrot chopped.

Materials wise, e.g. internal carcass for the cabinets, is it coloured/wood grain or just leave it as white? My current cupboards internally are white, so some of them do turn yellowish or with yellow spots here & there, problem with white colour... Do you need soft closing hinges/drawers? Do you need more drawers type or okay with shelves? My current kitchen cabinet is shelves type & after so many years of using, I find it a hassle, always have problem trying to access the inner stuff, so I'm going to do mostly drawers for the bottom cabinets.

I didn't find many IDs, just a few enough for me to do some comparison & assess the IDs knowledge. Eventually I selected the 1st ID as the only one who came up to my place to understand my requirements, so naturally provided me with the quote that matches my requirements most, itemised quote, no GST, flexible to work with other contractors like window/grilles, electrician, plumber, air-con, impressed with the materials that he's using. This ID probably may not be the cheapest among many IDs out there but was relatively cheaper than other IDs, but besides the cost, I can feel this ID is the most keen & responsive among all, maybe cos he's the boss of the company, so lots more hardworking. Ultimately choose an ID that can provide you a reasonable quote that meets your needs & not what they try to push to you, & the x-factor.

 

 

[bunnybluey 2]

Btw, is the resale very old? If rather old, you may also want to think through if you want to rewire the house.

[drumbeaterz 0]

On 4/27/2016 at 5:37 AM, bunnybluey said:

I think you need to think through what's your needs first. Then research on the IDs, find out reviews & eventually shortlist a few that you're keen. When contacting the IDs, assess how forthcoming they are to meet you to find out your requirements, do they understand your requirements when you eventually get the quotes, ask what materials are they giving to you, assess how experience are they when talking to them, how do you feel about them as in do you think the chemistry will work out between you/your partner & the ID, etc. 

When meeting up the IDs, see if ID bothers to offer to go up to your place to assess & see the actual situation before quoting. When you got the quote, which IDs can understand your requirements best & quote what you're looking for. For example, if ID A quotes you 10k but it doesn't really match what you're looking for but more like what the ID wants to push it to you, then ID B also quotes you abt 10k but matches the closer to what you're looking for. There are some IDs who would try to convince you to go/do their way. Does the ID give you itemised quote? Personally, I prefer itemised quote so that I can review in details & know the amount that I could save if I decide to drop it. The danger of non itemised is that perhaps the item you want to drop may actually costs you $500 but ID only reduces your quote by $200, who knows since it's not itemised, so not transparent enough. Does the ID charge GST, as that would mean it adds 7% to your budget? Does your ID allow you to engage your own other contractors for windows/air-con/electrical/plumber & would work with them? Sounds ideal to have everything settled by ID but danger is you can't really control even if you feel like you're being carrot chopped.

Materials wise, e.g. internal carcass for the cabinets, is it coloured/wood grain or just leave it as white? My current cupboards internally are white, so some of them do turn yellowish or with yellow spots here & there, problem with white colour... Do you need soft closing hinges/drawers? Do you need more drawers type or okay with shelves? My current kitchen cabinet is shelves type & after so many years of using, I find it a hassle, always have problem trying to access the inner stuff, so I'm going to do mostly drawers for the bottom cabinets.

I didn't find many IDs, just a few enough for me to do some comparison & assess the IDs knowledge. Eventually I selected the 1st ID as the only one who came up to my place to understand my requirements, so naturally provided me with the quote that matches my requirements most, itemised quote, no GST, flexible to work with other contractors like window/grilles, electrician, plumber, air-con, impressed with the materials that he's using. This ID probably may not be the cheapest among many IDs out there but was relatively cheaper than other IDs, but besides the cost, I can feel this ID is the most keen & responsive among all, maybe cos he's the boss of the company, so lots more hardworking. Ultimately choose an ID that can provide you a reasonable quote that meets your needs & not what they try to push to you, & the x-factor.

 

 

Thank you very much for taking time to respond. The resale unit is arnd 13 yr old. The current owner has kept it in very good condition, but the kitchen is not to my liking.

Of the few IDs I have interacted with, some clearly ignored the requirements (bulleted points ) mentioned in my email and sent me standard quotations. So I'm definitely ignoring those..

And then the road shows / expo event ones wanted me to make a deposit first before they would get into the details.. yeah right.. like I would fall for that...

After reading a few reviews, I have had conversations with one ID. I'm not sure this is the one, but like you mentioned, the ID suggested a site visit before he provides any quotation. So i'm going to give him a chance.

I have seen quotations ranging from 7-8k to 24k. And the quotes more or less look the same  how is that even possible? 

Would you kindly share your ID details. This forum is simply superb. I'll read more reviews and contact a few more IDs before finalising one.

Also if you don't mind sharing what materials your ID is using. I have no idea what the different materials are, don't want to agree to what the ID says without researching a bit more.

Thanks again.

 

[bunnybluey 2]

4 minutes ago, drumbeaterz said:

Thank you very much for taking time to respond. The resale unit is arnd 13 yr old. The current owner has kept it in very good condition, but the kitchen is not to my liking.

Of the few IDs I have interacted with, some clearly ignored the requirements (bulleted points ) mentioned in my email and sent me standard quotations. So I'm definitely ignoring those..

And then the road shows / expo event ones wanted me to make a deposit first before they would get into the details.. yeah right.. like I would fall for that...

After reading a few reviews, I have had conversations with one ID. I'm not sure this is the one, but like you mentioned, the ID suggested a site visit before he provides any quotation. So i'm going to give him a chance.

I have seen quotations ranging from 7-8k to 24k. And the quotes more or less look the same  how is that even possible? 

Would you kindly share your ID details. This forum is simply superb. I'll read more reviews and contact a few more IDs before finalising one.

Also if you don't mind sharing what materials your ID is using. I have no idea what the different materials are, don't want to agree to what the ID says without researching a bit more.

Thanks again.

 

I'll pm you the ID I'm working with, not sure if it's the same. I don't usually share cos firstly, we just signed contract with the ID & applied HDB permit, haven't really started any reno works, so I can't really comment if this ID is good enough to recommend cos what is good to me may not be the same for another person as our definition of good varies & also very much depends on the chemistry btwn ID & the couple. Secondly, I'm still quite a newbie in this forum, don't want any comment saying I'm self promoting, which I'm not.

During our 1st reno, my hub & I didn't really look into a lot of details as we were just a young couple then & our reno is done by hub's cousin. His cousin's company no longer doing residential as they moved on to doing commercial biz, so we're on our own this time. Tbh, I didn't really read much reviews on renotalk as some recommendations or reviews could be self promo, or competitors "attacking" each other. When I met up the 1st ID at my place, more for him to look at our place to understand our requirements. Then we requested a visit to his showroom as we want to know at least where his office is, that's where he showed us his materials. For the cabinets wood, most IDs are using solid-ply, pretty standard, only difference is the internal carcass. This ID quoted us with internal to have its own laminates, meaning not leaving it white. Another ID that we visited quoted us with internal as white. For the kitchen top, think many IDs now go for Quartz & usually recommend China made ones as relatively much cheaper than the European ones but quality wise not too bad. Soft closing hinges/drawers, this ID recommends Blum but he also has those "chiong" ones if u want something more affordable. Before I decided to work with that particular ID, I did find out more about what he proposed, but before mtg him, we didn't know much about the materials in this era as more than decade ago, mostly just internal carcass left as white with ABS trimming at the side, either solid/granite top, things hv changed quite a bit since then till now.

As for electrical wiring, do think if you want to change it b4 u move in. I didn't think of changing until a friend told me to consider since I don't intend to move out & probably still be staying here for at least another decade, she said electrical cables for 10 over years can consider changing during my major reno, else more difficult to change in future after the reno. If you're like me, plan to stay there for quite long time, maybe can consider, but it can be quite major thing especially if the hse has false ceiling/cornices/built in cupboards, etc.