Asking HDB to do cement screed

[sok leng]

Hi all,

I was talking to a designer and was told that HDB can actually provide services like doing up the cement screed to flats FREE OF CHARGE.

Is it true ????

I was thinking of putting timber parquet in the bedrroms and thus need to do a screed. Am trying to save some $$ here cos' outside contrcator is charging something like $750 for 3 rooms.

 

[tina]

Hi Sok Leng,

Yup, it's true - the cement screed for my 3 bedrms were done by HDB for free. You'll need to go to the nearest HDB branch office and fill up a form. They'll then make arrangements for it to be done.

 

[hi]

Hi Tina,

Is your flat new or resale ? Will they do it for the resale as well ?? Thanks in advance.

 

[honey]

For resale, if u wanna do parquet or laminate flooring, u can just overlay on the existing tiles. need not do any screeding.

 

[tina]

Hi Sok Leng,

Mine is a new flat. Dunno abt resale flat tho. Maybe you can check with your HDB branch office?

 

[kpo]

Sorry to interrupt and please pardon my ignorance...but what's screeding huh?

 

[sok leng]

Hi tina,

Is the workmanship good? as in, the floor level is flat enough to lay the parquet?
I have heard of ppl having uneven floors after they ask HDB to do it.

 

[dreamer]

Screeding is just a fancy-dandy word for laying cement on the ground

 

[tina]

Hi Sok Leng,

The workmanship so-so only (not very smooth) but flat enough to lay the parquet. Cannot expect much since it's free :>

 

[sugarcoated]

call me paranoid. but dun expect too much from the HDB contractors. I guess the laying of tiles, etc goes to show the amt of pride they put in their work. had mine dun by own contractors. u r paying so much already for the timber flooring, why not pay a little bit more to ensure that a good job is done. at the least u have peace of mind. heard that if the cement screeding is not flat enuff, timber strips may warp after some time.

 

[sok leng]

Hi sugarcoated,

Thanks for your advice. Think I'll ask my contractor to do it. On the same note, how much did u pay for your timber flooring (i.e. how much per sq ft)? and what wood did you use?

 

[sugar]

hi sok leng,

had mine done about 5-6 months back. can't really remember the cost per sq ft. anyway, had it done in burmese teak wood strips. i had a separate contractor doing this job, cos' our main contractor quote was a rip off. the contractor we had for the wood flooring is UPI, who deals only with burmese teak wood (furniture, flooring etc. things to look out for:let the contractor know u r pretty specific with how the wood grains flow. at least have some evenness in the colour tone of the wood. also, when they are doing the final polishing, ensure that the floor is free from particles. or else the floor feels grainy when u r walking on it. and be firm if u r not happy with the work of the contractor

good luck

 

[wendy]

Hi Sok Leng,
Tried to locate the UPI contractor from Yellow Pages but can't seem to find it. Wonder if you can provide the contact no. of the contractor?

Hi all,
Wonder if any one of you have got any recommendation for a good contractor who deals with Burmese parquet?

 

[sok leng]

Hi Wendy,

sorry, may I know what is UPI?

If you are thinking of doing timber flooring, can try this company Sin Kim Heng at IMM. They specialises in timber flooring and very good workmanship. But of course, price is also more expensive than the usual paraquet flooring.

 

[ckhoo]

Hi Sok Leng,

I've read that you had a seperate contractor do your flooring for you instead of your main contractor. I was just wondering how did you go about the co-ordination between the 2. Is it very difficult to co-ordinate all different contractors at one time? I was thinking of using seperate contractors for different things (eg kitchen cabinet, L-box for lighting, doors, etc all different contractors). What do you all think? Am I being very unrealistic about this?

 

[cautious]

Hi,

My contractor told me that the screeding done by HDB is acceptable if it's for laminate flooring cos they put something on top before they lay the laminate. So if uneven, they can put more of those pieces. If parquet, cannot so to play safe must be done by your own contractor rather than by HDB. Is this really true? Can anyone validate what I heard from the contractor??

 

[bubble]

Hi Cautious,
It is true that for parquet flooring the floor is uneven. I had problems buying off-the-rack furniture esp those with 4 legs/corner coz I have to slot something underneath to even them. I ended up customising my wardrobe after realising my off-the-rack wardrobe wobbles due to the uneveness of the flooring. The only consolation is my customise wardrobe turns out much nicer than the off-the-rack.

 

[shaohui]

I have not decide to use laminate or tiles for my living room. Can i ask HDB to do the cement screed first?

 

[laminate]

Dear Shaohui,

I've juz done laminates on my bedrms...

The cement screed was done FOC by HDB, but the screed was not too gd lor. Now, my 3 bed rooms r slightly lower than the living. Overall not that bad when the rms r done up but the results could be better. According to the technican dat did the installation of the laminate flooring, the cement screed dat I had is considered gd oredi. Some of the new flats dat he done has worse screeding & they r all done by HDB. Yes, u can asked HDB to redo 4 u if u find them not to ur satisfaction. But the problem will worsens as the screeding will get more uneven.

If I ere u, I'll rather spent silghtly more money & asked my ID or the contractor dat do the laminate flooring to do the screeding for me.

Hope this helps.

cheers

 

[cementor]

hi all,

a question from me:

after HDB has done cement screeding for u, if the results r not gd, can we engage our contractor to do it again?

juz curious...

cheers

 

[gin]

hi cementor,

i think you can.... depending on your contractor, they may charge a fee... some contractor will do some patch up for you at no charge though.

 

[cementor]

thx Gin,

if tat's the case, i would ask HDB to do it first....

cheers

 

[joe]

My ID charges $1.3K plus for 5rm cement screed. Is it worth it?

 

[cementor]

hey!!!!!!! ur ID overcharged man!!!!! i once enquired a contractor who charges only $300 for 3 bedrooms.... think better ask more ID instead....

cheers

 

[puzzled]

Hi All,
Actually, when I asked HDB, they said, if it is really so bad, we can get them to redo. It is quite acceptable. Afterall, HDB would not want to waste their money by doing such a bad job that they have to spend even more redoing for you. Mine was quite okay. It is the pre fab walls that are so irregular that gave us more problems.

 

[joe]

My contractor told me that HDB do screeding for free only for the rooms but exclude living, kitchen and bomb shelter.

Is it true?

 

[joe]

Sorry that $1.3K for kitchen and living rm screeding only(5 rm flat). He told me HDB will only do free for the rooms only.

 

[puzzled]

Joe,

I hope this will help

The bomb shelter flooring should be smooth flooring already. So no need to scree any more.

Are you going to lay laminate on your kitchen? I think the tiles have been done up for kitchen in most cases.

Living area - that is the tricky part. If you want to do Parquet or Laminate, you can get HDB to scree for you. However, if you change your mind after screeding, that you want to tile instead, HBD will NOT approve your reno plan.

This is because, in the case of tiling, your contractor is suppose to lay the cement for you.

Call your branch office, they are very helpful

 

[joe]

Thanks puzzled for the advise.

My is standard flat. So my guess is that there are no tiles in the kitchen.

Well, i doing laminate flooring for all the rooms except kitchen.

Well, i think i can save on the $1.3K. Thank god that i check with HDB first. Can save additional $$$.

Does anyone knows how long does HDB takes to screed the living rm and the 3 rooms?

 

[geri]

hi all~

i was just wondering if anyone did not laminate or lay any tiles on your cement floor. i was thinking of having my floors cemented, with no tiles etc. i remembered going to my aunt's house when i was young, and the cemented floor felt really cooling and smooth.. anyone know whats that called? how do we make the cement finishing smooth?

please advise. thanks!

 

[puzzled]

joe,
Standard comes with tiles in the kitchen. Have you gotten your keys? Mine is budget, also have tiles in the kitchen, toilets and actually, after a coat of paint ($300 if you DIY) and cement screeding for rooms and living area (FOC), fixing of lights, don't change pipes etc, it is already live-in condition. Will be spending around 13K for basic reno. heh heh

 

[joe]

Thanks for the advise puzzled.

I will be getting my keys ard Oct/Nov. Will be in jurong west, so really dun know how does it look like.

 

[cementor]

hey joe,

where in JW u r in?

cheers

 

[rebeccaloos]

wonder if any one knows if we can ask HDB to do the laying of cement based on our specified dates? As some of you may be aware that Chinese has a tradition of picking an "auspicious" date to start renovation... or we call it "dong tu"..

 

[xyz123]

hi, the day you perform "dong tu" ceremony does not necessary mean you need to start some work on that day. u can start work any time after the ceremony.

i had bad experience with HDB when trying to get them to meet their committed date. so, the last thing u want is having your plan gated by HDB.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[rebeccaloos]

Hi xyz123,

thanks for your advice. Do know what are the procedure involved during "dong tu" ceremony ;b ? Actually I don't really know how to go about doing it... would you mind giving some advice

 

[xyz123]

Hi Victoria, m not really expert. what i know also hear from here and there.

"dong tu" is actually a ceremony to inform "tu di gong" that you going to start work on the house and ask for his blessing that everything is smooth.

u pick a auspicious date and time (can check for tong shu or chinese calender). the so called auspicious should not clash with your chinese Zodiac signs of you and hubby.

few methods that i heard of (all need a hammer), on the day and time:
1) most simple, say prayer to du ti gong, go and knock on each corners of the rooms.
2) a bit tedious, buy joss-sticks, fruits, etc and pray. after that knock at each corners of the the rooms.
3) heard this from contractor, after praying, you only need to knock one point but must break or chip the point. e.g. crack the tiles (if resale flat).

for me, i use the 2nd method. Got mother around to help so can afford a bit more elaborate. if not, i also blur blur.

after the dong tu, you can go ahead with renovation any time. after renovation, usually there should be a ceremony for moving in. remember to say thank you to tu di gong. basic courtesy lah: ask help from deity but also say thank you.

hope that's helps. Quite a few people here practised dong tu, thot i saw it in another thread. u might want to check around and see whether others practise otherwise, or even easier method.

 

[rebeccaloos]

thanks xyz123

 

[pixel]

revisiting geri(jollyjolie)'s post, i also intend to just cement screed and leave it as is, w/o any laminates. will HDB smoothen the floor after screeding to something like those old flats' flooring of grey & black patterns? i kinda like the raw feel of this flooring as my concept is of modern industrial theme...

 

[pink_ice]

Hi, geri(jollyjolie) & Digital(pixel)

Me also like the smooth cement scree but what actually is that called hur? Does anyone knows whether HDB does that for free? =?

 

[estee]

FYI. I just got HDB to do cement screed for my house. It was really a bad experience! I requested for cement screed on the 6th Aug and was suppossed to be done on the 11th Aug but it delayed till 15 Aug. But guess what! I requested them to do the modern industrial look using only cement without tiles and they wrecked my whole kitchen. I have since lodged a complaint and am waiting for compensation from them now. The whole thing is really frustrating and now bcos of phobia, I have decided to switch back to tiles. If you are planning on doing cement screed, better make sure it is communication properly with your officer in charge.

 

[pinko19]

Hi all,

For your HDB screeding, do you really hand over a set of your house keys to the branch office as stated on the hdb screeding request form? Need your advice as I don't feel very safe to hand my keys to unknown contractors..

 

[jimmyl]

Hi May,

I asked HDB to do cement screeding too. They just need someone to open the door. So if you or your contractor is around on the day they do cement screeding, then you don't have to hand over the keys.

 

[pharme]

hihi, I'll be doing just pure cement screeding without tiles or laminatings. HDB will be doing it FOC but I am contemplating if they'll do it with pride or should I approach contractor whom might do a better job since i am paying. And if so, how much would it cost for a 5 room flat (excluding kitchen and toilets) HDB will be hacking away the current tiles. Have yet to hear if anyone has done this in their homes.

THanks.

pharme
anxious little home owner

 

[liando]

Hi Sawn,

I'm renovating my house now n gotten HDB to do cement screeding for me. If you want to get HDB to do, my contractor said be around when they are doing. give the workers $50 before they start for drinking coffe and tell them to do a good job.

HDB came to do my screeding twice but were quite bad. maybe becos we weren't there to give the workers $$$ and so they anyhow do.

 

[pharme]

(liando), didnt know such practise ($50 angpow) still exist, but if it works, why not.
One question, why did HDB come twice for the screeding for your house? What was quite bad after the 1st screeding?
I am quite fine with some areas rougher than the other, but I am very particular if the ground (after screeding) is not flat and levelled. You reckon HDB can meet these requirements?

 

[cha_alex]

just my experience, I wrote in to HDB to tell them specifically what quality of work i want before their contractor start the works..... i mentioned clearly to them that if my requirement is not achieved, i want it to be re-done....
Lucky the final result quite good altough there are some spots of unflatness

 

[pharme]

thanks alex, i will do that and good for you that the job is satisfactory.

 

[arizona]

I asked HDB to do the screeding for me by just faxing over the standard application form. I didn't do anything otherwise, and no $50 angbao.

The job was very well done.

 

[magic_alz]

hello!
can i just check how long will it take for hdb to finish the job from day of application?
thanks!