How much shd i bid for COV

bedokboy

New Member
fun, your whole house is how big? mine only 92sqm. the quotation you got, is it someone u know already or u managed to find the cheapest one around?

doll, my kitchen cab really don't need much. very simple one will do. in fact just mostly shelves also can.

thomas, probably no feature wall for me, will find some way to hide wires if need to. customised built-in cab probably the walk-in wardrobe there.

but i want sliding doors in my house! it will be doorless! how ah? haha
 


tink mine is 110+sqm..those old type of 5-rm..got the quotation from someone recommended by fren..the others we got, they try to push package to us altho we say we got tight budget..this is the only one that came back with much deduction to fit to our budget..gave us quite a bit of discount...

You interested? I can pm you the contact...no harm getting one more quotation to compare.
 

thommy

New Member
tell them what you want lor, they quote only mah.

honestly you need to readjust your budget if that's what you wanna do cos 15k definitely not enough. Reno nowadays really not cheap, you can ask Doll.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
Bedokboy, don't just go straight for the cheapest quotation or one that is recommended by your real estate agent (they like to push this because they can earn some fees for recommendation). Say, if you like your friend's reno and if they have a positive experience, can consider using their contractor.

For kitchen cabinets, I'd rather you do it when you have more cash because open shelves means much more cleaning to do. Unless your hobby is house cleaning, else, think practicality.

Sliding dolls are definitely more expensive than swing open type, because of the mechanics. Do you have wall space for sliding doors?

I wanted a glass sliding door for my kitchen but after aircon installation, I can't have sliding door due to space constraint.
 

bedokboy

New Member
ok fun. thanks!

ok thom. will take note.

just for fun i share what i wanna do:

- hack floor (or if cheap classy alternative can be found, then do it)
- paint walls all
- hack bathroom walls to combine 2 into 1
- redo bathroom no need designer tiles, simple and nice and spacious can already
- hack adjoining wall b/w MBR and BR to become 1
- rewiring
- false ceiling
- kitchen cab minimal
- kitchen counter
- new sink, cooker, etc
- built in wardrobe
- built in shoe cab
- windows if possible for all

sounds like a lot hor?
 

bedokboy

New Member
saw a quotation online and they charge for removal of the old stuff. was thinking if i help them along with the physical stuff of removal whether can reduce price further or not. haha.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
For flooring, have you considered overlaying? PVC or laminated wood flooring is cheaper. Can be done within $3K I think. $2K plus for materials and installation. Maybe another $800 plus for matching skirting.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
- hack floor (or if cheap classy alternative can be found, then do it) - $3K

- paint walls all - $1.5K

- hack bathroom walls to combine 2 into 1 - If you have those large pipes in between the WC and bathroom, may be best to leave them as separate units.

- redo bathroom no need designer tiles, simple and nice and spacious can already - A few thousands cos the pipes, heater, basin, toilet bowl have to be replaced.

- hack adjoining wall b/w MBR and BR to become 1 - Should be $1K plus. But have you considered airconditioning challenges with such a big room?

- rewiring - Less than $2K

- false ceiling $600-800 (without lightings)

- kitchen cab minimal + kitchen counter - $5K

- new sink, cooker, etc - sink about $300-400 to buy. Cooker - $450 for hobs and hood for light cooking. But don't forget to buy tap, as well as installation costs for all these.

- built in wardrobe - less than $2K

- built in shoe cab - less than $1K
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
for renovation, agree with doll. Need to go to a reliable one. Even if it costs more. No renovation is ever perfect. You need someone that is responsible to drive, ensure QC and make good whatever minor issues they are

IDs will smoke you. They are selling design, u need to be sure its someone hands-on and willing to personally coordinate things. Workers attitude mostly one kind one. If the ID or main contract do not supervise, then quality will be a major problem. When they don't do things swee swee 1st time, u have to wait a long time before they return to rectify.

Doll, about the kitchen door, instead of sliding door, u can consider a glass swing door without door frame. Visually, it gives similar effect.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
Yes, Milo, I have ordered a glass swing door.

A lot of unforeseen changes doing reno. Eg, my aircon fan coils units are all installed at a different spot as I had originally imagined haha
 

thommy

New Member
told u liao bedok hahaha...

doll gave you a very conservative estimate, just let you know first. there are a lot of other hidden costs as well, you will know as you go along. How you wanna your lights to turn on also will have different costs as wiring will be different.

important thing like what they mentioned is not to go with the cheapest one cos usually these will have hidden costs inside, you need to be very careful and ask if in doubt. Common tactic employed by them lah.

my ID followed up closely with his workers so any complaints or defects, they rectified it on the spot for me. even now when I find defects, he still entertains me. that's quality aftersales service to me.

just to share my ID wasn't the cheapest but I went with him cos I felt more at ease when talking to him and other contractors.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
i spent around 35k for reno of my 4 rm. This excludes expenditure to purchase fixtures and furnitures. And that was back in 2004.

Last yr, we renovated 2 toilets at my inlaws place, it costed us a total of $15k. Same contractor. The pricing has gone up quite a bit. And this yr, we can expect to be even more.
 

powder

Active Member
well bedok,

just to inspire u... my fren did it for under 6k... 2 toilets, kitchen and painting... 4rm resale. she liase everything directly thru different contractors and was her own ID... of cos, it helps tat she's very pretty too. so i guess she just say "uncle can u help me..." and some of the stuff were done FOC.
 

thommy

New Member
of cos, if you have the time to coordinate everything by yourself, you can save quite a lot. but honestly, how many of us can spare that time to do all the following up? almost impossible as that would mean having to keep on taking leave to go monitor them.

powder, 2 toilets hacking and laying of new tiles? kitchen hacking also? painting unless can DIY otherwise minimum also 1k+ for painting of 4rm.

the pretty part I don't doubt lah haha. it helps really.
 

powder

Active Member
harlow... u trying to snooker me into saying i have been to her house several times isit?? basket... trick question... u might as well track my iPhone...

haha, kidding. i just wanted to bring in the iPhone tracking thing...

the toilets i know are tiling, the kitchen if not wrong was just to change the laminates cos the cupboards are in pretty good shape. all-in-all, her work would have cost 11-12k going by my usual pricing, but she managed super low. i know she met this handyman contractor uncle who did a few things without charging her... those little little things that normally the others will add and charge u.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
If only do minimal things at kitchen and 2 toilets, anyone can coordinate the work themselves. No need ID or main contractor. Yes, sure can save quite a bit.
 

powder

Active Member
ya basically those 3 were sub-out. then rest were just ikea stuff... i can't rem how much but below 5k i'm sure.
 

simpleman

Active Member
Painting is something that I always in-source - unless it is a external (house) that will require special ladder and/or equipment.

Very fun to paint your house.. quite a good activity for bonding. And it saves money too..
 

powder

Active Member
it's just to let u know u can manage on shoestring... u just need to put more time n effort into it. like if u flip the classifieds daily, u will see alot of 'budget' prices... if u co-ordinate the things, u should be fine.

if i was in your position, this is what i would do (of cos i do not know the full condition of the house u bought)

1) toilet - epoxy painting, do up in grey or black... choose just ONE colour for both wall n flooring. slightly more for 'sparkles'. looks expensive but cost abt 1k each. If current table-top is there, epoxy paint it also. if no table top, u might need to build one or see if Ikea has something cheap. buy those sink/toilet bowl package - cost abt $700-800. Note - for epoxy painting, crucial to give ample time for the paint to cure... no rushing of the work. there are other forms of treatment too, nowadays u can paint your toilet to look like those Stoney/Gravel-look... zen-ish. to have an idea, Goto Home-fix or Self-fix and look for this spray paint that gives a 'stone' look... AGAIN i repeat - u Cannot rush this becos after it is thick, so u need time to dry. also if u decide on tiles - Do Not tile the walls, it's fcuking expensive and u can't do half-way else look oldish.

2) kitchen flooring + washer/dryer area - i WOULD consider the same as above. but the job has to be very very good. to me, it's a cheap alternative to tiles which i dun like, i like cement/industrial/stone look... it's personal. and being bachelor, the usage and walking in these areas are minimal... the epoxy painting and stuff also has a 'softer' feel to it. Cabinets - if old types with good solid wood, consider just changing laminates and having a decent cleaning... most ID will convince u to change. it's up to u.

3) Living/Rooms - laminates, cost me like 1.4k for my 4rm whole house excl kitchen of cos.. i believe slightly more expensive now but under 2k can do. i would go Grey/Ashen Wood colour... problem with tiles is that u may see 2.8k, but when u choose and change tiles, u may end up at 4k becos of better tiles/preferred design/not enough tiles to cover the whole area.

4) TV cabinets - no built-in pls! overpriced. buy something u can move around... u are a bachelor, u might wanna have that ability to move around things to accomodate new things. ALSO - if u have 2 walls suitable for the tv thingie... then make sure both walls are well equipped to take on a full set of tv/dvd player/scv etc.

5) If living room/MBR are 'sharing' the same wall, consider a swivel feature so that u can use just ONE tv to flip to your MBR, or flip to your Living room... u can be surprised how much u can save on equipment just by doing that. that hole in the wall cost u at most $800. if u do a swivel, make sure SPeakers and all equipment are on that swivel so that u dun need any re-connections. u are a bachelor, go for innovation/minimalist.

6) Furnishings. rem this WELL... u dun need chair to be chairs, u dun need tables to be tables. u could turn furniture upside-down, sideways to be serve another function.
a. for chairs - u can use Car-Rims, put an Audi cap, put a Cork board on the side sitting on the floor... get a used Round table, saw off the legs to comfortable height, and u've got something for under 1k but looks Cool. round it off with ONE of those japanese comfort chairs (which says that it's for the master of the house - u!). the height is good for reading, eating, surfing your laptop. throw a book on greek mythology on it and it looks cool.
b. side-tables dun need to be side-tables... use OLD leather suitcases to store old things u dun need but wanna keep, stack them up on both or 1 side of your bed and u've got a totally usable side table... (3 stacks to a decent height. if u dun have a bed then 1 is enough. i used to sleep on a matrress that is placed on a Carpet).
c. buy a used sewing machine and use it as a decor table if u want.
d. buy 2-3 low shoe cabinets (prob cost less than $100 each) from those neighbourhood furniture shops, lay them in a straight manner, and use them as your tv cabinet. or as a table for placing your decor.
e. (saw this on mags) buy those industrial lockers we have in school or construction workplaces, spray it some bright colour, and use it as a standalone piece for storage. makes for good retro look.
f. comb thru your parents' storeroom for things u can use becos it's old n looks like an item that can stand alone.

7) FORGET false ceilings. cement-skreet your ceiling, build just 1 straight block of false ceiling instead where all your lights come from. u dun need to cover the WHOLE ceiling just for some lights, when a diagonal running block, or a straight thru block can do the trick.


there's alot of things u can do. and alot of it is Fun. some pple wanna decorate straight away, but building a home is abt slowly finding the right things, coming across the right things, rather than forcing things Into the house to complete it.

need more tips can check with me...
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
hi powder, about epoxy painting, does it last? I'm thinking of doing up the kitchen for my MIL without a major rework, just changing the look and replacing the tiled top with a stone one.

And if epoxy painting is heavy duty enough, I might want to consider that. Also, how is the overall appearance after painting. Nice?
 

powder

Active Member
if u want heavy duty, then it's the smooth type u find in the factory floors... but the type for our houses we prefer that stone-ish look. i used it on my patio in previous house, grey look... 1 made the mistake of stepping onto it that same nite n 1 tiny portion stuck to my slipper...

overall - i Highly suggest give it time to cure/dry. it feels abit rubbery so i like the feeling, but i think there's various types...

kitchen - most 'pple' i speak to, do not suggest IF the kitchen is heavy usage - ie alot of cooking, big household type. personally i think that it is possible if u do alot dragging...
 

powder

Active Member
bedok, actually i think u n her make a good match... i was thinking of that, but i dun play matchmaker...
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
Milo, I can take some pictures of my "epoxy floorings and walls" at the kitchen, WC and bathroom to show you. This weekend OK. The flat is being given a fresh coat of paint now.
 

powder

Active Member
my 11.58 reply was to milo. on the epoxy painting.

oh was in a rush, correction to last paragraph...

kitchen - most 'pple' i speak to, do not suggest IF the kitchen is heavy usage - ie alot of cooking, big household type. personally i think that it is possible if u DO NOT do alot dragging...
 

powder

Active Member
sorry bedok, i thought if i intro, u can move in and be roomies with her... perhaps see your skill how soon u can stop paying rent. but since u die die buy your own place liao... then no need for such introductions to be made.

i'll look for other guys who need to rent... why waste on a person who has his own house liao? it's my national duty to help pple find housing.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
"kitchen - most 'pple' i speak to, do not suggest IF the kitchen is heavy usage - ie alot of cooking, big household type. personally i think that it is possible if u DO NOT do alot dragging..."

I agree with this. I chose this for kitchen flooring because everything there are fixtures that cannot be shifted moved or dragged.
 

bedokboy

New Member
thot if she hot enough to get contractors to give her free stuff then she can consider widening her network to have new friends too... heehee...
 

powder

Active Member
solid.... i totally couldn't see the difference!!! thomas, i think u can find something that rewards u for your observation... it is your strength... i'm not being sarcastic, but it's cool.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
Thomas is very sharp and Powder has a great sense of humour.

Thomas - I am sure you play spot-the-difference games very fast.
 

powder

Active Member
that becos thomas got more $1 coin than me... when that game was popular, i was broke and owe 70k to the banks... how to spend so much on spot-the-difference games?
 

powder

Active Member
oh i was thinking of that game u find in arcade or at some pubs... u have 2 pictures then u have to spot 3 differences.. or isit 5?
 



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