So the appointments begins

We arranged to meet in total one contractor, one semi-ID (offered incomplete ID services, so a semi-ID) and 2 IDs. Also went to Darwin interior, but the guy handling us put us on a very low priority, so when he followed up with us one month, it was already passed the selection period, I guess they dont really care unless you are throwing money at them.

At the start of the jounrey, we were sincere in meeting our vendors, we were not there to waste their time or ours for that matter. We were thinking that in the end, we would hire one of these guys, a contractor more likely than an ID through as we heard that would be cheaper.

So when we met the first contractor, we ourselves were not fully sure what we wanted, we did go through all the basic things, like tiling, wardrobe, kitchen and few other stuff. He was ok, gave us tips on how we could save money, by not doing certain works and instead living with what HDB had given to us.

He also gave useful tips:

1. Get HBD to do cement screed with tile finish if you want to lay tiles, by right they don't do this, but if you do fill up the HDB Screed Appeal Form and put tile finish, they should be able to. After all, its just a "rough" finish and they use less cement than a vinyl or screed finish, so it means more cash in their pocket
2. Don't throw away any freebies. Our SOBF came with doors, and although they waste alot of space for toilets, he said to keep them and once spoil after a few years, then throw away and replace with what you want
3. Keep things where they are meant to be, eg in kitchen, where fridge and water points are, just follow. The more choices you have, the more you have to spend as well

So it was quite a good meeting with him and I did initially think we would go with him, but of course as we moved on we met with others. In the end he quoted us around $25k all in, including electrical which most IDs like to leave out, which was ok. He was also comprehensive in stating out all the works he was going to do.