what would you do differently?

[starryz 1]

Hi all, 

Been a silent reader for some time and finally my turn to start renovating soon.  Being a newbie and with tight budget constraint, likely to do most stuff on my own instead of using an ID. 

I will like to seek feedback/recommendations/info from everyone who has gone through renovation to share their experience on what they had missed, what to take note on and things that must be done. Hope that this thread will also benefit the rest of newbies ☺.

Thanks in advance!

[kakipo 0]

Is it your first time doing it? IDs are not that expensive if you can find a good one. I was lucky enough to have one and paid less than $2K for his service. Avoided a lot of mistakes and mishaps for me. Well worth it.

[upthetoon 1]

write a checklist. and list down what are the important things you want to do in your home and tell your ID to work around your requirements. give them a copy of your checklist as well when requesting for quotation.

[starryz 1]

On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 3:18 PM, kakipo said:

Is it your first time doing it? IDs are not that expensive if you can find a good one. I was lucky enough to have one and paid less than $2K for his service. Avoided a lot of mistakes and mishaps for me. Well worth it.

Hi Kakipo,

Thanks for your advice. Can pm me your ID?

[starryz 1]

On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 7:40 PM, upthetoon said:

write a checklist. and list down what are the important things you want to do in your home and tell your ID to work around your requirements. give them a copy of your checklist as well when requesting for quotation.

Hi Upthetoon,

Noted with thanks! 

[starryz 1]

On Wednesday, July 27, 2016 at 1:16 PM, bobstone said:

I used the partial ID + ala-carte style for my home. At that time, i was still in the teaching industry.. So, the entire 3-4 weeks of renovations was entirely done, 'supervised' and completed + carefully planned during the June holidays. So... time to hunt down your teacher friends for some holiday duties! 

I was on site every single day observing. Saw the ugly sights and positive ones as well. 

Here's some things we need to just remind our contractors - 

- Some will attempt to overnight at your place for free beer party. Lucky me, i'm there daily. So a big no no.. Make sure they leave your place after office hours. 

- Cigarettes whilst at work. I found cigarette butts thrown at random on the floor before they added in laminated flooring. It is going to be permanent if its going to be under our laminated flooring for decades. Told them to clean + clear all litter and cigarette butts. There are services out there that offer post-renovation cleaning.. Will share if i find mine.. 

- Watch where they throw their excess cement. I learnt this from a friend who got his entire toilet system choked cos of discarded cement in his toilet system. Be vigilant and watch for 'cement-litter'. Guard your toilet bowls, people! Throw all unused and discarded cement outside and do not let your contractors flush it down the toilet bowl. You can read the full coverage on how it happened here via Straits Times. (Right-click link and Open in New Tab) 

- Your ID will 'help' clear all of the flyers at your doorstep. This is for a good reason - these flyers are education. These flyers will tell you a rough gauge of the current competitive prices for misc. items for your home. Have a brief look at all of the flyers before your ID throws them away. I got good prices for curtain poles and other misc stuff from those flyers at huge percentage differences quoted from various IDs.

For example, my ID quoted me $400+ for a storeroom rack. I felt it was affordable but then from what i saw on the flyer i recovered after he crumpled, what the direct companies offer was HALF-PRICE! WTH.. almost fell for the ID's exorbitant 'offer'. same goes for air con.. Its always good to take a step back, get your data, compare and assess first. Got my storeroom rack at www.boltlessracksg.com  Got mine for $120. Free delivery, free installation and the guy even came down on site to measure my storeroom. 

Hope this helps.. 

Hi bobstone,

Thanks for the helpful info! Keeping track of where they throw the cement is a tough one unless u r there for the whole duration.....

[kakipo 0]

On 7/31/2016 at 4:13 PM, starryz said:

Hi Kakipo,

Thanks for your advice. Can pm me your ID?

Sure, check ur inbox