Post Key Collection

So we move forward, collected the key, went to see the bare unit (the original owners that dropped out opted for doors, so we had that), but no tiles, which was good, as HDB tiles are normally boring and generally designed to meet all needs.

So everyone came along, we are relatively modern, so our first visit did not involve any fruits, and we just went in to look see and congratulate ourselves. Baby was with us too, for her it must have been really boring with loads of grey and white to see and nothing else.

As with most other BTOs, the few areas completely done include the bomb shelter, kitchen, service yard and 2 toilets, which had sinks, shower heads, etc included.

So at this point we just had one contact for a contractor, whom we started our renovation purchasing actions with. This is basically to meet up with the contractor or interior designer and run through what you want and then try to get them to quote you so you can compare.

Before this we had decided to stick to a low budget (in relative terms) of $20k for our works. While the budget was low, we were not going to go for cheap cheap cheap also, instead we were going to concentrate our funds on the few basic works required and a few of our prefered finishings.

In short terms, our required job scope was (just giving you the final summary after changing here and there):

1. Tiling all untiled areas including common area, living room and 3 bed rooms
2. Carpentry work in Master Bed room for a 6 foot wardrobe
3. Kitchen Top and Bottom cabinets with Quartz top
4. Kitchen cabinets to have a 5cm base
5. A tall unit in kitchen that is 2 feet in length
6. Glass screen in Master Toilet to cover shower area
7. Overlay of tiles in shower area (appx 15 feet actual area) and build a 5 cm kerb
8. Basic Electrical Works including lights installation, ceiling fan, etc
9. Basic plumbing work including kitchen tap and sink and water heater installation
10. A 3+1 Air conditioning system for all 3 bedrooms running at 9000 BTU each unit

Optional Work:

1. A vanity cabinet in Master Toilet
2. A mirror with behind storage in master toilet
3. L-Box cove lights in Masterbed Room
4. L-Box running on longer wall in living area for Cove light
5. Extended utilities box into a shoe rack

So basically this was the list, we kind of created it after meeting the first contractor as we went to different areas to measure and talk about what work we needed to do.

The other thing I did was to apply for a cement screed with my HDB branch office, as mentioned by the contractor. He did say that you need to tell them to do a rough finish and in the form I submitted, I indicated tile finish on common areas and vinyl finish in bedrooms, which we later changed to 100% tiling for durability and long-lasting life of the tiles.