Our 4-Bedder Resale Condo Reno Journey 54.5k (excl electric works)

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Sourcing for ID

The most tiring part of the journey so far. We email IDs & carpenters with a detailed list cum floorplan, without any response. After sending out more request for quotations, 2 carpenters replied with a lot of items omitted from our list. Not sure if it was deliberate or carelessness, either way it doesn't reflect well so decided not to follow up.

Met up with total of 3 IDs.

1. ID B from Dxxxxx Ixxxxxxx
ID B did our house 6 years back & we liked her style. First quote came in at 70k, way over our budget of 50k. After removing items like TV console, feature wall & platform beds, it still came up to 56k. She did revise the quote to 52k with a few items added in when we informed her that 2 other IDs quoted a much lower price. However, we still didn't select her as her quote always have items omitted or with errors (eg wrong measurement).

2. Wayne Chan from Inspire ID Group - Selected ID
We did a walk-in & was impressed with their attitude. We were greeted by 2 guys, one told the other "pass to Wayne" & he took our floor plan & job list to make copies. Within a minute, Wayne came, introduced himself & showed us upstairs. He went through our floor plan area by area & drew neatly on it. We had initially wanted to do 2 separate 8ft wardrobes against 2 walls in our master bedroom. Wayne then proposed a walk-in wardrobe of 8ft by 8ft instead. For the junior suite, he pointed out a design space planning flaw in our initial design. Within a minute, he came out with an alternative so that my son wouldn't have to sleep facing the toilet door. By now, we were very impressed with him & the worry about having to deal with an "Ah Beng" ID was no longer there. Almost immediately, he went straight to the top of our ID list.

3. ID W from Cxxxxxx Ixxxx
The showroom/office was very impressive. The receptionist made about 6 calls to different IDs but none would entertain walk-ins. Finally we were attended to by a team manager. He scribbled on our floor plan & after about 20mins discussion, it was over.

 

Quotations

Quotes came in 1 day apart from the other.

Wayne from Inspire ID Group - 48k:
0 items omitted, 1 extra item included. We were told that for overlaying of toilet wall tiles, need to extend concealed piping.
Response to queries - almost immediate or if with client, will respond within 2hrs.

ID W from Cxxxxxx Ixxxx - 47k:
0 items omitted
Response to queries - few hours to a day. I remembered messaging him in the afternoon "Let me know when is a good time, I give you a call". He replied the next day afternoon "Ok". I just LOL.

After reviewing the quotes, we decided to adjust our budget to 56k since the renovation would have cost us 56k if we had signed with ID B. Met Wayne to add the following items:

• curved false ceiling with cove lightings
• 7ft TV console connected to a 10ft side buffet cabinet at dining area
• 4.5ft moveable buffet cabinet
• Tall boy in kitchen for oven
• other minor additions

 

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Contract signed & Design Phase

Signed the contract in July & were given 2 sets of laminate samples to bring home. For 3 days, we discussed (or argued) & slowly choose the laminates in the comfort & privacy of our home. First set of 3D drawings came out in 10 days. We were pleased with the designs, met up with Wayne to explain minor changes & also went for tiles selection. We went to Hafary & Soon Bee Huat. He didn't request for top-up though some of the tiles we selected exceeded the $3psf stated in the contract.

What we liked about Inspire ID:

• Competitive price with nice designs
• ID very detailed & dedicated
• Allow to bring laminate samples back home to select
• Not calculative - ID more concerned about pleasing client & ensure design looks nice. Some of the tiles we selected were in the range of $3.40psf to $3.60psf. Laminates were in the range of $50-$70 per roll.

What we don't like about Inspire ID:

• Payment terms - As the bulk of our renovation is carpentry, we are taking a big risk of non-delivery as 90% of renovation amount have to be paid upon measurement for carpentry. We would prefer if they split the amount into 2 - i.e. 1/2 upon measurement & 1/2 upon delivery of partial of the carpentry.

 

[edwintan 1]

Yes, I have worked with Wayne before on a smart home project. Although he is considered new but his dedication is worth commendation.

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Can't seem to upload my 3D drawings. Anyone can help?

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3D drawing - Living/ Dining

(The red/yellow art piece at dining, we plan to commission this from an online art gallery)

Edited August 19, 2017 by fingerscross

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3D drawing - Kitchen

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3D drawing - Master Bedroom / Bathroom

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3D drawing - Kids Bedrooms

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Carpentry work not shown in 3D drawing:

• 2ft seatie with storage outside main door
• 5ft sliding door wardrobe in 4th bedroom
• 3ft / 3.5ft mirror storage cabinets in 2 other bathrooms

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After reviewing the photos again last night, wife highlighted that the red & yellow art piece was a bit out of place. Made the dining look like a temple. In this household my wife is always right, sometimes I pretend she is right but this time she is right. We decided to just bring an existing painting from our current house there. This one still has the red I want for feng shui reasons, but not so loud. 

 

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Tips for a smooth reno

This would be our 4th reno project. I can still remember some 20yrs back when we bought our first house in TPY ... a modest 3-room resale HDB. Back then there were very few IDs & engaging one would have cost an arm & a leg. The whole house reno inclusive of hacking 2 walls & floor, tiling, rewiring, plumbing & carpentry cost less than $17k. Engaging an ID would have cost us at least double.

ID vs Contractor:
Today reno cost has risen in line with everything else. ID firms have sprung up like mushrooms after the monsoon. Even some old school contractors & carpenters provide design services. I feel ID firms provide greater value for money, reason being they have the volume. They are able to get better rates from suppliers & offer attractive packages. So far no package deals for resale condo

IDs have ego:
Designers tend to have big ego. A bit like the delusional hubby who thinks he packs an 8-incher. If a design is not to your taste, reject tactfully. If all else fails use feng shui as an excuse. Saying something is ugly is like the wife asking the delusional hubby "Is it in yet?". 
Thankfully my previous & current reno projects went through a smooth design phase & I didn't find myself having to say "Yah, this is nice but ..."

Don't leave everything to the ID:
As the home owner, we are only handling 1 reno project & we already find it overwhelming. Now imagine the ID who is handling 2 to 5 reno projects at various stages of progress, & another maybe 10 to 15 projects at various stages of negotiations. Add to that equation that each project has gone through 3 rounds of changes in design & color selection, that is a whole lot of information to process & remember. Let your ID know you have got his back & you see him as a partner. He/She is someone who will work closely with you & not for you.

Hiccups are bound to happen:
All 3 previous projects of ours had hiccups here & there. Keep cool & remember that all problems can be solved. Always opt for modifying/changing designs & work around the problem rather than asking ID to redo everything. The cheapest solution is the best solution. 

[Clarence Lye 10]

13 hours ago, fingerscrosssaid:

Tips for a smooth reno

This would be our 4th reno project. I can still remember some 20yrs back when we bought our first house in TPY ... a modest 3-room resale HDB. Back then there were very few IDs & engaging one would have cost an arm & a leg. The whole house reno inclusive of hacking 2 walls & floor, tiling, rewiring, plumbing & carpentry cost less than $17k. Engaging an ID would have cost us at least double.

ID vs Contractor:
Today reno cost has risen in line with everything else. ID firms have sprung up like mushrooms after the monsoon. Even some old school contractors & carpenters provide design services. I feel ID firms provide greater value for money, reason being they have the volume. They are able to get better rates from suppliers & offer attractive packages. So far no package deals for resale condo

IDs have ego:
Designers tend to have big ego. A bit like the delusional hubby who thinks he packs an 8-incher. If a design is not to your taste, reject tactfully. If all else fails usefengshui as an excuse. Saying something is ugly is like the wife asking the delusional hubby "Is it in yet?". 
Thankfully my previous & current reno projects went through a smooth design phase & I didn't find myself having to say "Yah, this is nice but ..."

Don't leave everything to the ID:
As the home owner, we are only handling 1 reno project & we already find it overwhelming. Now imagine the ID who is handling 2 to 5 reno projects at various stages of progress, & another maybe 10 to 15 projects at various stages of negotiations. Add to that equation that each project has gone through 3 rounds of changes in design & color selection, that is a whole lot of information to process & remember. Let your ID know you have got his back & you see him as a partner. He/She is someone who will work closely with you & not for you.

Hiccups are bound to happen:
All 3 previous projects of ours had hiccups here & there. Keep cool & remember that all problems can be solved. Always opt for modifying/changing designs & work around the problem rather than asking ID to redo everything. The cheapest solution is the best solution. 

great tip! 

eventhou I signed up with ID, I am still very much involved in every bit of everything, as I don't fully trust them. I always believe that it's always better to be hands on, since it's our own home afterall rather than the ID/contractor's home.

 

LOL on the ego part. 

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Hi Clarence, thks for dropping by. Glad to know you enjoyed my post.

As for trust, i do trust my current ID. My project will only commence in Oct. So i am glad he has everthing down in black and white. Right down to the smallest FOC item like window handles, so there wont be any argument then.

I know what most are thinking....project start in Oct but everything finalised by mid Aug, this guy must be very kiasu. Actually i am. Truth be told, we aldy bought our sofa, coffee table and dinning set from Cellini in July, the weekend after we confirmed ID. We have also bought a fridge from Harvey Norman. Wife has asked me to stay home during weekends and watch Netflix. She feels everytime we go out  i end up doing stupid things.

Honestly i didn't expect the design phase to be a breeze. Partly because he actually bothered asking how old my kids were. My 2 teenage boys love the whole feel of their new room. My youngest, who is in pri3 is not fussy, he just wants his fav colour- green.

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Had an eventful day ystd. Had lunch at IMM cos we arranged to meet ID at tradehub (First hiccup of reno, explain more of this later). 

After lunch thought we walk arnd since still early. Went to Song Choo, Sim Siang Choon and Hoe Kee. At Hoe Kee, saw that the grohe rain shower with thermostat was selling at $888. Told wifey it was a good deal since Sims brand one at Sims Siang Choon was aldy $6++. We didnt buy but walked arnd somemore....went in another shop same rain shower set selling for 1.6k....think they forgot to disc. We went back to Hoe Kee. After confirmed with the salesman that they can hold it for us till arnd mid Oct to Nov, one shot bought 3 sets of grohe rain shower and 3 sets of Roz toilet bowl. Was happy with my loot and silently proud that for once we got a good buy.

Now on the ID part....Wayne was his usual friendly self. Explained to him that i dont want shower kerb in the toilet. I remembered my current hse first round of reno we did shower kerb....it was a tedious job trying to clean it cos dirt seeps into the side of the tile. Gave him his first headache

After brainstorming, we came up with a gentle slope idea which his boss thinks might be feasible. Need to chk on site when we collect keys thou. Cos there is a constructed vanity that i want to keep and will just change the doors.....keeping fingers crossed.

We went to kaki bukit Home Niche. Wife saw on facebook a sink on offer in the size we want. Salesman said less than 20 left and they cannot help us hold.....bot the Lizens sink at $298, korean made 1mm thick stainless steel. (Now i have a box with a sink inside laying arnd in my living room). While walking arnd realise they were also selling the grohe rainshower at $888. Sales guy said whole Singapore selling $888, if i buy more he can give further discount somemore 

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by fingerscross

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This is the sink...84cm in length. Comes with 2 stainless steel trays, has a hole for sponge. What i like most is the stainless steel waste trap.