My second reno journey - Condo in Alexandra

[Yang Guo 7]

Hello everyone, 

After missing for so long in Renotalk, decided to come back with another blog. Had sold my previous home in Jalan Membina a few years ago and waited almost 4 years for this condo to complete. While waiting for the developer to build the condo, we have to temporary move to FIL house for almost 2 years in the west. We will be moving back to Alexandra soon.

Ok no picture no talk  , will be posting up lots of pictures to share the renovation process. Have set aside a budget of total $25k on this renovation including furniture, lighting, roller blinds, kitchen accessories etc. I think everyone is the same, you set aside a budget, your budget sure burst eventually after the whole process. lol, anyone budget not burst, I am going to  to you.

I always have a phobia of installing ceiling fan, it looks so scary...spin and spin  . This time, was convinced to install ceiling fan to save space and to most importantly to find a ceiling fan with energy saving, with LED lights, with DC motor, not too big type because nowadays condo rooms are too small.

Renovation start date : 28 Nov 2016.

Renovation completed date : 13 Dec 2016.

Things done during renovation : 1) TV feature wall and console 2) Dining feature wall 3) Painting 4) False ceiling in living and dining area 5) Electrical works only.

My t-blog begins as per below .... 

 

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Shortcut link of this blog :

1) Furniture we bought

2) Our silly and time saving method of choosing an ID 

3) Curtain / blinds recommendation, here !

4) Dining feature wall here ! 

5) TV console and feature wall here !

6) Foyer design here !

7) Movers recommendation, here !

8) Total cost spent, here !

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Edited January 14, 2017 by Yang Guo

[Yang Guo 7]

a 3 bedder condo, 93sqm size... love the mbr, it's huge isn't it? 

[niel85 1]

nice big mbr! how long is your target reno if i  may ask? 

[cancan83 0]

hi yang guo! welcome back! im still in search of a reputable ID/contractor, do you mind sharing yours pls?

[Yang Guo 7]

On 12/5/2016 at 1:26 PM, niel85 said:

nice big mbr! how long is your target reno if i  may ask? 

Hi Niel, targeted reno is 1 month, will complete my reno by end of December

 

On 12/5/2016 at 1:41 PM, cancan83 said:

hi yang guo! welcome back! im still in search of a reputable ID/contractor, do you mind sharing yours pls?

Hi Cancan, you can pm me if you want. Now it's still in the process of renovation, can't comment much either

Edited December 7, 2016 by Yang Guo

[Yang Guo 7]

For this reno, the theme is not to let any wall empty, so I have as many motivational quotes as possible. Some of you may believe in these quotes, some not, we like these quotes because this is a good reminder and teaching for my young children

Have bought 9 pictures in total, just to share some...:D

Szie : 420x594mm each

 

Edited December 5, 2016 by Yang Guo

[Yang Guo 7]

This is bigger..594mm x 841mm , a big reminder for our children to follow house rules

 

[Yang Guo 7]

Ok, ID searching starts in Sep16.

In my 1^st reno 8 years ago, we approached 10 ID companies and took the cheapest. Was happy with the ID work 8 years ago though.

This time, with my 2 young children around, running here and there while you are discussing with the ID makes your head becomes bigger . It’s not easy to approach 10 ID companies anymore. So we simply took 3 quotes and decide on one. This time, we didn’t chose the cheapest.

Our criterias for the search is :

1) The ID firm must have many “likes” in Facebook and as many reviews as possible.

2)  The ID firm must not be new. We are afraid of ID firm disappearing after collecting deposit.

3)  Referrals from friend. The referred ID must be reputable enough.

4) Quality and fast , we don't mind paying extra for this service.

 

 

Just some comments on how we decide the ID company, may not be the best way to decide though

1^st ID company, W***** : They are very reputable, extremely good marketing strategy, we like the quality of the flats they did. Just a little pushy. 

2^nd ID company, A****** : Top ID firm in Facebook, Very comfortable with this ID though, but one thing not so comfortable is they have too many sales person in the company. Every time i am seeing new "designers" posting pictures in FB , sometimes wondering if they are experience enough or not . 

3^rd ID company, W************* : Referral from wife’s friend. ID location is very far though , need to drive or take a cab there , quite inconvenient, but small issue , most importantly i want quality )

 

we have chosen the 3^rd one eventually.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by Yang Guo

[Yang Guo 7]

This condo comes with completed kitchen and bathroom with tiles, so this reno we will not do much. Will be spending all the $ on lighting and some carpentry works....

Some 3D drawings below

[fifteenmay 40]

nice! the second company is it starts with a?

[Yang Guo 7]

12 hours ago, fifteenmay said:

nice! the second company is it starts with a?

wow...

[Yang Guo 7]

Important considerations during quotation comparison :

 

1) Tell all the ID / Contractor the same requirement you want. To compare apple by apple.

Example if you want a "full height" tv feature wall, you need to highlight to them. If you want a feature wall with mirror or glass material, highlight to them to quote you the best material to be used too.

Reason being, if you don't specifically highlight this, they may charge you "additional cost" after you sign the dotted line if you want to use those types of mirror materials. The best is you can inform all your IDs to quote you according to full height to avoid additional charges on higher height later.

 

2) Ask your ID if you can shop for your lights yourself. If ID is going to bring you to lights shop, do your homework before going to the light shop.

 

3) Ask your ID if you can use your own sourced electrician.

 

4) Ask your ID if they can provide complementary drilling of nails on wall for paintings and pictures. This is a basic courtesy of ID to provide these service for you. If ID is going to charge you $5 per nail on wall, this is considered hidden charges for the renovation too . So it's better to ask first to avoid miscommunication later.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Yang Guo

[Yang Guo 7]

Painting decision and lighting floor plan

A few years back, our reno is full of brown colour,

this time we changed it completely (lots of dark grey)

Edited December 10, 2016 by Yang Guo

[Yang Guo 7]

Electrical works done in the 1st week of Dec 

[Yang Guo 7]

2nd December 2016, protection of the kitchen before painting starts 

Nowadays renovation is easier, create whatsApp group, and ID will keep you updated of all job done in the group. Pretty happy with this arrangement  

 

6th December 2016, most of the painting completed with false ceiling up.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Yang Guo