Journey to creating our home 4 room resale

[candywhite 1]

We were so busy last few months researching the ideas for our house.

The renovation involved hacking the entire house and rebuilding it new, everything from scratch.

We started sourcing for ideas 4 months before getting the keys to our house.

Because we were staring on a fresh slate, we wanted to make sure everything was what we wanted (although it may not be the case sometimes).

We poured through Dayre/ Pintrest/ Instagram/ Home Decor magazines etc for ideas from floor tiles, to cabinets to colour combinations.

For a house to look and feel nice, there are certain characteristics to look out for:

 

1. Material quality
2. Colour
3. Lights
4. Flow (Lines)
5. Space
6. Workmanship

 

We started with research at Hafary:

Everyone goes to Hafary to check tiles. They are a listed company ! 

 

Hafary had a huge selection of tiles.

We initially were looking at marble look tiles. 

specifically volakas.

We also went to Lian Seng Hin.

They had a very nice volakas big sized tiles

 

 

Then we did more research into marble.

Real marble. 

Real rock.

It had a difference. 

Harfary marble was more pricey.

I found a marble supplier. Santari.

We went to the warehouse.. 

The price was inclusive of dry lay. 

Dry lay is basically laying the tiles in the warehouse according to the floorplan, marking the tiles by number, so that the tileman can lay the tiles (with the design nicely) easily.

 

Many others charge for dry lay.

 

Santari sells marble by the slab. 

The beauty about buying marble by the slab is that the entire floor, or in some cases, the TV back wall, will have flow. The lines will flow one to the other and tis give the feeling of space.

They would need your floorplan. They will plan the optimal amount of marble slabs.

They do sell small pieces, but depends on stock as well.

 

The slab price was about $160/sqm to $215/sqm

 

The workers there were really friendly.

 

 

 

 

Marble was really exclusive.

it was really different. 

The touch felt cool. 

 

But installation and maintenance was expensive because marble, after installation, needs to have special polishing and sealant.

Overtime, when scratched, will need to be re-polished.

 

Well maybe our next landed house we will get that marble slab.

 

Then we went to Rice Labs at henderson.

Rice labs is a tile supplier and they stock italian porcelain tiles.

Its advisable to make an appointment before heading down.

But we did so without and they were every friendly.

 

The material specialist toured us around their showrooms starting from the top floor working downwards.

 

The tiles were more expensive than the normal china made 30x60 tiles.

But having said that, the tile quality was really nice.

The tiles were big slabs of 1200mm in length.

 

We liked what we saw and went for it.

 

went down couple of times and each time the material specialist Jocelyn assigned to us patiently helped us and gave us ideas.

The tile showroom had tile samples with QR codes. Scan the QR codes and up shows the sample pictures in the macs.

 

We went with marble look porcelain tiles. 

 

The tile sizes were bigger than normal. They came in packages of two to three in a carton.

There was discount as well. There are some tiles that are on sale up to 50% off a well.

Delivery was prompt.

 

This contributed to the double price of our tile installation.

(installer needed two person to help lay each tile instead of one)

Edited September 4, 2019 by candywhite
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[candywhite 1]

How we chose our ID

 

First we bought our floor plan online from HDB.
It costs $5
https://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BC31ISOP2/BC31SMain

Then we spent alot of time going around checking different Interior Designers as well as direct contractors.
We got recommendations from RenoTalk forum, from renotalk, from friends, from roadshows, from walking around the malls, from reno expo, from youtube...
Went to carousell to check hacking, tilers, window manufacturers, painting service etc. 

Engaged a part time painter to view the house and quote. Btw they quoted $1000 labour only. And this recommendation was from renotalk forum. After adding paint and accessories, it was about same price as ID. And i know painting labour is not that expensive because I do that myself before!

 

We had many quotes, maybe more than 10! 
Even made a spreadsheet, and itemised all.

 

At the start, we thought we could go with direct contractor for the renovation.

Went to a direct contractor and sat down to discuss at length on what we wanted. We actually decided on them, but in the end, they seemed to be not able to deliver what we wanted.

 

And after all the calculation, I found that the ID cost was only a little more than direct contractor. Which means, that the direct contractors in SG are actually charging high prices for the labour!

 

Engaging direct contractor also means we had to be hands on all the way. We had to be there 24/7 to ensure things go as planned or when deliveries are made.

 

We weighed the pros and cons and decided to go with a designer firm then.

 

There were many IDs to choose from and it was competitive. We spent time at each  sit down explaining what we wanted along with our floor plan.
 

We got quote after quote of renovation contracts.

Some of the itemised quotes were cheaper than the direct contractor.

 

I think it was good that we sought alot of IDs. Because different ID / contractors would recommend different ideas on how to utilise the space. Some would recommend stuff that was not advised earlier. Like unused piping can be closed off, or how piping can be re-run.

 

Different ideas will allow you to visualise how you would seggregate the space in your house.

 

We decided to engage AB+Design recommended by a friend.
We had got a quote from them 5 months before we even got the keys to the house.
In the quote, it was itemised along with a 3D proposal. I was impressed with the 3D proposal for that being no obligation and also they gave me a link to a 3d walk around of their previous completed project.

They were not pushy too after I told them I have not decided.

When we invited them over to view the empty house for a quote, they came prepared.

 

DS Au and Sofiah the project co-ordinator came ready to take exact notes on what we wanted. (other contractors and ID who came just came to view and give ideas but did not take notes) 
They also knew the HDB rules very clearly like minimum window ledge height, piping that can be made redundant, plastering advise and many others. We spent an hour in the house describing ideas on how we wanted to renovate.

 

They gave us a quote on the next day. And it was 99% of what we discussed in the house!

 

We had revisions here and there, pre agreement. Prices were itemised. 

 

Our tiling works was double the normal price because our tiles were big and required twice the manpower.

When choosing an ID always check:
1) Any reviews online
2) How comfortable you feel with their designs
3) Ask up front any hidden costs
4) Check all items carefully in quotation

We read alot of horror stories online.. so we were also worried.

After we went with AB+Design, immediately they created a whatsapp group chat.
In the chat, there were constant communications on progress of hacking approval, the start of hacking and pictures. Though i longed for more pictures each time they only sent one or two! haahaa

And they started hacking even before we paid first deposit. That was the level of trust they had

They helped to calculate our tile quantity to a minimal wastage. (this is unlike some ID/contractors that i read, they calculate up to 30% wastate etc)
They helped us to order the tiles and get us additional discount !

When tiles was not enough, Dasin went personally down to collect the tiles from RICE labs warehouse. I found out because i went down on that day asked the tiler and he said the additional tiles already delivered by Dasin and INSTALLED! 

Impressed!

We also went to their office at French road to select cabinet finishing.

When i arranged for delivery of items, I only needed to message in the. group chat when i arranged.

And for things like aircon, oven, all i needed was to send a picture of the receipt in the chat, Sofiah would arrange the delivery and installation!

For PUB installation, Sofiah would arrange with PUB on the gas pipe installation and flex tube installation.

And at the end of the whole reno, there was NO surprise cost! 
The additional cost or Variation charges were from our additional tiles ($500) and our switches ($700) which we asked them to get for us. They provided the receipt for the switches as well. 

Overall, we are quite impressed with the work of AB+Design. We had minimal touch ups - when we sent pictures of small defects like paint touch ups, parquet floor gaping after moving in, they sent someone down on the weekend to touch up.

The pricing was also comparable. And i say this given the fact that i have a spreadsheet of all the items. We even had FOC for the master room bed back board.
 

Edited September 4, 2019 by candywhite
.

[candywhite 1]

. reserved for updates

Edited September 10, 2019 by candywhite
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[candywhite 1]

Then we spent alot of time going around checking different Interior Designers as well as direct contractors.
We got recommendations from RenoTalk forum, from renotalk, from friends, from roadshows, from walking around the malls, from reno expo, from youtube...
Went to carousell to check hacking, tilers, window manufacturers, painting service etc. 
 

[candywhite 1]

Engaged a part time painter to view the house and quote. Btw they quoted $1000 labour only. And this recommendation was from renotalk forum. After adding paint and accessories, it was about same price as ID. And i know painting labour is not that expensive because I do that myself before!

 

We had many quotes, maybe more than 10! 
Even made a spreadsheet, and itemised all.

 

[candywhite 1]

At the start, we thought we could go with direct contractor for the renovation.

Went to a direct contractor and sat down to discuss at length on what we wanted. We actually decided on them, but in the end, they seemed to be not able to deliver what we wanted.

 

And after all the calculation, I found that the ID cost was only a little more than direct contractor. Which means, that the direct contractors in SG are actually charging high prices for the labour!

 

Engaging direct contractor also means we had to be hands on all the way. We had to be there 24/7 to ensure things go as planned or when deliveries are made.

 

We weighed the pros and cons and decided to go with a designer firm then.

 

There were many IDs to choose from and it was competitive. We spent time at each  sit down explaining what we wanted along with our floor plan.
 

We got quote after quote of renovation contracts.

Some of the itemised quotes were cheaper than the direct contractor.

 

I think it was good that we sought alot of IDs. Because different ID / contractors would recommend different ideas on how to utilise the space. Some would recommend stuff that was not advised earlier. Like unused piping can be closed off, or how piping can be re-run.

 

Different ideas will allow you to visualise how you would seggregate the space in your house.

[candywhite 1]

Next we bought appliances.
Not much because we already had fridge and washer.

 

Bought this oven and the matching hood from neighbourhood electronics store. 

La germania also gave grocery vouchers. Sometimes they have cooking classes.

We like the oven because the brand has been known to be reliable. 

And the colour - nice.

La Germania Oven - $2499
La Germania Hood $380
Aircon - we got mitsubishi starmex system 4 (33k compressor, 1x18000btu, 3x9000 btu) - $4465
(should have gotten Daikin! they got free dyson fan!  $%$#@%@#$)

 

Water heater - we got AO Smith.

Was researching water heater for quite long. My requirements were - safe, can set the timer.

 

So we went with AO smith digital water heater.

Comes with 3m data cable, and digital console to set timer and also to set temperature.

advisable to buy the longer 10m cable. 

Can set temperature - normal heater usually heat to 70 degrees. AO smith can set to 50 or 55 deg. use lesser energy!

 

The AO smith ambient air heater - too expensive. >$2000 but it uses so much lesser electricity. ALOT lesser!

We bought the AO Smith water heater from AOSBath online. 
Pay by paynow and there is additional discount.
They will call before delivery. hasslefree! 

Warranty for AO smith - they provide comprehensive warranty - no need to pay for transport!

[candywhite 1]

Next we bought appliances.
Not much because we already had fridge and washer.

Bought this oven and the matching hood from neighbourhood electronics store. 

La germania also gave grocery vouchers. Sometimes they have cooking classes.

We like the oven because the brand has been known to be reliable. 

And the colour - nice.

[candywhite 1]

Aircon - we got mitsubishi starmex system 4 (33k compressor, 1x18000btu, 3x9000 btu) - $4465
(should have gotten Daikin! they got free dyson fan!  $%$#@%@#$)

Water heater - we got AO Smith.

Was researching water heater for quite long. My requirements were - safe, can set the timer.

 

So we went with AO smith digital water heater.

Comes with 3m data cable, and digital console to set timer and also to set temperature.

advisable to buy the longer 10m cable. 

Can set temperature - normal heater usually heat to 70 degrees. AO smith can set to 50 or 55 deg. use lesser energy!

 

The AO smith ambient air heater - too expensive. >$2000 but it uses so much lesser electricity. ALOT lesser!

We bought the AO Smith water heater from AOSBath online. 
Pay by paynow and there is additional discount.
They will call before delivery. hasslefree! 

Warranty for AO smith - they provide comprehensive warranty - no need to pay for transport!

 

[candywhite 1]

Next, we went to Rowell Road to buy lights.

Lighting is very important in a cosy home. Too little lights would mean a drabby house.
Incorrect lights would render an area difficult to work at.

For lights, there are couple of brands, Osram, Philips and those China lights.
We didn't like track lights, they mostly came from china, exposed tracks was not our taste.
Track lights - some come with user changeable bulbs, others are built in, so if those bulbs blow out, the whole LED enclosure needs to be changed. 

We prefer Philips.
We decided on the bulbs first (GU10) then work backwards on the casing. haha!
 

[candywhite 1]

$26 with dimmable bulb

 

$43 with twin dimmable bulbs$55 with twin normal GU10 bulbs

[candywhite 1]

$43 with twin dimmable bulbs

[candywhite 1]

The price at Rowell Road is almost the same  as Tampoi lighting center. 

The spotlight casings cheaper in Rowell road Kim Tou Electric.
They are a family run shop I think. Very friendly, and allowed us to change even when we bought wrong casings.

 

$43 with twin dimmable bulbs$55 with twin normal GU10 bulbs

All the hype about tampoi and their lights....

Tampoi does sell a big variety of lights. we got the pendant light there. $50 sgd.

we got the triple spotlights casing from Tampoi JB.
Wanted the box quad lights but none found in sg Chan Huat. 

We wanted spotlights. specifically philips GU10 warm white for the house. Because we light the colour and the brightness.

For bedroom lights we got the philips LED.
Initially was looking at Xiaomi starry night, but in the end, i think for common bedrooms, any light is fine. we got these for $80

[candywhite 1]

Went to JB to buy TV.

65 inch. Sony. 

SG price $2400

JB price SGD$1400 - inclusive of GST. pay using the customs app when coming back to SG.
Even the customs officers were asking us where to buy. 

 

The TV fits in the car! Just nice! 

 

Bought from JB harvey norman. Can buy the additional international warranty that covers 2nd and 3rd year. We didnt. Note: 1st year is still local malaysia warranty. 

 

Bought the swivel mount as well. RM$428 for the mount. Cheaper than SG. Got ID to fix. 

 

The staff was friendly. Helped to test TV as well.

[candywhite 1]

The Start of hacking.