The other 2 we had minimum interaction with

In the earlier post, I mentioned we met with 5 IDs, contractors, etc, before we started any works, so this post is about 2 others we met once and no more, mostly as they were too expensive.

The first guy we met was at his house, which was in a neighbouring block, he is an ID and he had some good ideas, like a partitioned walk in wardrobe in the MBR, and he put a mirror to block his aircon ledge access window getting rid of that ugly window. He also merged his kitchen with his service yard, making the kitchen longer and more functional, which was an interesting idea. We also first heard of the word "Blum" and saw it in action, which we now know sets the industry benchmark for drawers and casement doors. In the end, as we did our spreadsheet and compared the competitors side by side, we struck off this guy as he was too expensive in the itemized breakdown and did not shine in terms of quality of his works, he was average.

The other man my wife met, was a project coordinator, so he was not really an ID or contractor, but some guy who just outsourced everything except his profit. He was recommended by her colleague, but ended up he was the most expensive. My wife met him just once at our unit, and after his over priced quotation, we never bothered to contact him again.

So the moral this post is to create a spreadsheet with all your requirements for work, compare the contractors side-by-side. Even if you do not choose them, you can see how many thousands you have saved by not picking them. Also it is important to note that you need to compare apples with apples, as renovation has alot of variables, so try to compare them on same terms, eg. if for tiles one guy gives you price with $3 per sq foot of tiles, and another guy charges for $3.50, you will need to bring the $3 guy up, by adding $0.50 x your estimated floor area.

Few other things I learnt includes that some contractors will want you to pay more for using tiles other than the "standard" 60cmx60cm tiles. Throw away these guys if you want to use wood inspired tiles like us. Although they claim that workmanship costs most and takes longer, there are competitors who can offer the same price, perhaps as their tilers are more skilled.

Another open lie by these guys is that HDB does not do screed for tiles. When you fill up the form, you can choose your floor finish and their are like 4-5 options including tiles, vinyl, marble, screed finish, etc. So you can submit an appeal for tile finish, but of course it is up to HDB to accept or reject your application. Especially if you want a full tile finish, some contractors / IDs may want to earn more from you and tell you that you need to do a cement screed together with the tile laying (not true), so just be wise when they tell you nonsense.