When we collected the keys to the new house on 23 January 2008, we were given four months to complete the move as per HDB rules. As Chinese New Year was around the corner and most workers were having their holidays back home in Malaysia, we had to delay the commencement of the renovation.
More delay ensued due to several causes. One was my work commitment. Another was the difficulty of finding a contractor that suits my budget -- renovation business was thriving with multiple job offers. The third reason was an unexpected delay caused by the bank in approving my renovation loan application. And fourthly, never did I expect that having a kid who started primary one would upset my plans. In any case, renovation finally began in April, and was estimated to complete in 6 weeks. Just to ensure that they don't rush the work, I applied to HDB for a one-month extension of the deadline to 23 June 2008. The renovation eventually completed in end of May, and we surrendered our old house to HDB on 18 June, the date deliberately chosen to match our unit number: 618.
The house came with complete floor and wall tiling for the two bathrooms, and wall tiling for the kitchen. Planning to do minimal renovation with the intention to buy all ready-made furniture (mostly from Ikea), I set my original budget at $15k. Unachievable to many renovation companies, I managed to find one eventually -- Ko Hong Construction and Woodworks -- that is willing to take up the job, though they admitted that it was a challenge.
Later, on closer inspection, I realised that my original plan need to be reviewed owing to the odd shape of the kitchen and the position of the window in the master bedroom. This necessitated the inclusion of custom-made kitchen cabinets and wardrobes, and along with other additional items, pushed up the cost of renovation to $25k. After the renovation, we went on to install the window grilles and a shower screen, which cost $2,300. In total, renovation set us back by about $28k.
Why did we install the window grilles and shower screen separately? Blame it on the spiralling cost. In our original contract, these were optional in my plan so although we got a quotation, I didn't include the items. Mid-way through the renovation, we decided to include them, but when the new quotation came, I was shocked. The cost had gone up significantly, like more than 20%! I had no choice but to source for cheaper alternatives.
The industry was enjoying a swell time with their brisk business. Yan, the designer from Ko Hong, told me she had 5 concurrent projects on hand!
The renovation work went on quite smoothly and it was done to our satisfaction, much to the credit of Yan who coordinated the works. Although I engaged a designer, there wasn't much design work needed from Yan actually as I have done most of the designing myself, skimming through books and brochures many months before-hand. All I did was to show Yan my various drawings, and leave it to her to materialise it. Wherever appropriate, she would also give me suggestions on possible changes.
I assembled and fixed all the furniture (except those custom-made ones) all alone by myself, something I can't imagine even looking back now. After days of drilling holes on the walls, I have developed a phobia of drilling.
A few lessons I learned. First, arrange for the air-condition units to be installed before renovation starts. Secondly, HDB provides free floor screeding for laminated flooring, and it can take 4 to 6 weeks. The contractor would prefer that the screeding be done before they start work, to avoid any dispute. Thirdly, I took the dimensions of the new refrigerator from the description label at the door, without realising that there was a typo until the base was done. I had to instruct the contractor to redo the base. So, never assume what you read are accurate. Do the measurement yourself. (Which I did for everything except the refrigerator. Oh, Murphy's law!)
It was a blessing that my old house was just across the road from the new, and so I was ablt to pop by the new house frequently to monitor the progress of the work.
The floor plans are shown below. The figure on the left indicates the positions of the power sockets, while the one on the right indicates the planned positions of the furniture. (Click on them for enlarged figures.)
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| Hacking works | $1,500 |
| Wet works: 600x600mm homogeneous floor tiles at living/dining/entrance; 300x300mm homogeneous floor tiles at kitchen; 2-inch high base for kitchen cabinets, fridge, and washing machine. |
$6,000 |
| Laminate flooring at 3 bedrooms | $2,000 |
| Kitchen cabinets and worktop | $5,000 |
| Wardrobes in master bedroom | $3,400 |
| Feature wall with tic-tac door at bombshelter | $2,000 |
| Other carpentry works | $1,100 |
| Plumbing works | $400 |
| Electrical works | $1,000 |
| Painting, plastering and ceiling works | $2,200 |
| Other works | $500 |
