House Renovation - designers or ala-carte?
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We considered ourselves very fortunate when we wanted to renovate our house about 1 1/2 years ago that we found a very reliable contractor. We obtained his contact from our new neighbour who just finished renovating his place with this contractor within 2 months (also somebody recommended to him).
Since we can see our new neighbour's house and our renovation requirement were quite similar ie. quite major over-haul like knocking down walls, build new walls, doorways, staircase, build toilets and over-all painting & touching up etc. and that this contractor managed to finished all these in 2 months, we decided to call him in to give us a quotation. This contractor is not cheap and when going through his detailed quotes, most items seems reasonable but couple of items seems exceptionally expensive. However, I kept forgetting that the prices have GST built into it which he did not show us but he is a GST registered company. I think some contractors, fearing that they will loose out on deals because of GST, chose not to disclose the amount in the quotation.
We just liaised with the boss and he had his own workers, electrician and contractors to do the carpentry, toilet/sink works, air-con, painting etc. We had very clear ideas of what renovation we wanted to do and told him all our requirements and he was able to give us very good feedback on what is do-able or not do-able. We shopped for all the toilet tiles and bathroom equipment ourselves, buy, get the shop to deliver to our house and the contractor will install. Even fanciful items like railway station clocks and paintings the workers can install. We also selected all the paint colours ourselves using the ICI / Nippon paint catalogs & cupboard materials and samples the contractor provided. By the way, \"Desertwind\" was the name of the ICI paint colour I chose to paint my house! Ke....ke...ke!
Overall my hubby & myself had a lot of fun and satisfaction during the renovation and saw our dream came true since we decided everything ourselves! (The amazing thing was that we hardly quarreled and had almost similar ideas of what should be done!) There was only one wall which was not done according to our requirement and till today felt quite bad about not insisting they redo.
We consulted another commercial designer at IMM before the renovation and was really having a headache whether to go to this interior design company or directly to neighbour's contractor. Asked my friend's hubby who worked in the construction industry for his opinion and he advised us not to go for the seemingly cheaper looking quotations but go for reliability. Very important since we do not want unexpected cost over-runs or schedule overrun! He said since my neighbour's contractor mentioned things like \"lintel\" over the doorway and the young interior designer did not and left out quite a number of things not quoted, we should go for the more reliable contractor!
After our place, we recommended our parents-in-law to use this contractor for their 4-room HDB flat and they were very satisfied with his service and work quality as well! Then I get him to do up my parent's 4-room HDB flat - re-paint, clean up, touch-up etc. at a reasonable price!
Recently, our roof was leaking and we managed to contact the contractor (whom my father-in-law called the 3-Brothers) who did the house extension for him almost 20 years ago. The 3-Brothers are still around doing renovation, painting and roofing work but no longer handling major overhaul due to their age. Their reliability is without question! They came & did a good cleaning of the roof for us and put up a panel of sky-light really well. We also did not have to worry due to their track record.
Therefore from our experience, one do not need an interior designer if you have very clear ideas of what you want and can find a very reliable contractor.
Happy renovating!
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Hi XYZ1,
I have replied to your PM!
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I am planning to repaint my house. So, can anyone tell me where i can get unique wall stickers to decorate kids room.
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kutty:
I am planning to repaint my house. So, can anyone tell me where i can get unique wall stickers to decorate kids room.
Hi kutty, u can try http://www.winkplay.com & http://www.decorettestore.com ...I purchased some decals fm them b4 & they r easy to paste... -
Desertwind, sounds like we have the same contractor.
I am a DIY designer for both my humble abode. After my first house, many friends and relatives copied my design. My second design was more elaborate but both ended up like show flats. So like desert wind, I recommend DIY with a good contractor. Bear in mind you must be strong in conceptualizing an outcome if you want to take this route otherwise can be stressful. -
For all our 3 houses we went with a designer. Definitely more expensive but neither of us have the time, energy nor patience to go hunting around for stuff and co-ordinating with various parties. We wanted 1 stop shop. There were a few rounds of meetings and discussions to work out what we really want and thereafter, a few more times just to choose materials which the designer has already shortlisted for us.
We knew we were working with a good designer on our 3rd house as he made his electrician strip off everything that he has done and redo the wiring because it was not done systematically enough the 1st time. The designer explained to us that a lot of times, because the wirings will be concealed by the false ceilings or walls, the contractors do not bother with being neat or systematic. But in the long run, the owner will suffer as there will definitely be need for maintenance and such and imagine if all the wires are all over the place. -
ksi:
Hi KSI,Desertwind, sounds like we have the same contractor.
I am a DIY designer for both my humble abode. After my first house, many friends and relatives copied my design. My second design was more elaborate but both ended up like show flats. So like desert wind, I recommend DIY with a good contractor. Bear in mind you must be strong in conceptualizing an outcome if you want to take this route otherwise can be stressful.
Wah! You must have really good taste and talent then!
Our place is nothing like show-flat at all, but just that we saw the old house and knew exactly what should be done to update it and to get rid of all those old fashioned stuff like patterned aluminium window and door grills!
I like your new avatar too!
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Funz:
We knew we were working with a good designer on our 3rd house as he made his electrician strip off everything that he has done and redo the wiring because it was not done systematically enough the 1st time. The designer explained to us that a lot of times, because the wirings will be concealed by the false ceilings or walls, the contractors do not bother with being neat or systematic. But in the long run, the owner will suffer as there will definitely be need for maintenance and such and imagine if all the wires are all over the place.
Hi Funz,
Sounds like this is a good designer indeed!
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pinky88:
Thank you pinky88 for your informationkutty:
I am planning to repaint my house. So, can anyone tell me where i can get unique wall stickers to decorate kids room.
Hi kutty, u can try http://www.winkplay.com & http://www.decorettestore.com ...I purchased some decals fm them b4 & they r easy to paste... -
DesertWind:
Thanks desertwind... pai sey...actually showflat is what people say...even my MIL said so albeit she did not mean it in a positive way with respect to herself cos she was so afraid to touch anything in my house like showflats she had been to....hahaha... :lol: Incidentally my house currently has lost its showflat lustre...you will probably laugh at its current state now...time for another renovation I suppose.
Hi KSI,ksi:
Desertwind, sounds like we have the same contractor.
I am a DIY designer for both my humble abode. After my first house, many friends and relatives copied my design. My second design was more elaborate but both ended up like show flats. So like desert wind, I recommend DIY with a good contractor. Bear in mind you must be strong in conceptualizing an outcome if you want to take this route otherwise can be stressful.
Wah! You must have really good taste and talent then!
Our place is nothing like show-flat at all, but just that we saw the old house and knew exactly what should be done to update it and to get rid of all those old fashioned stuff like patterned aluminium window and door grills!
I like your new avatar too!
:celebrate:
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