~$30k Renovation Breakdown

125

Japandi
HDB (BTO)
~1,000 sqft
3 br
Couple Living

Let us share our ~$30k renovation breakdown! Finally sharing it now as we just received our final bill payment (yes, after a few months of already staying in the house!) For our self-designed home, we engaged an ID company that was able to provide main contractor services for us. Thus, the design drawing fee (which actually is just a few hundred dollars) was less out from our quote. In total, the main renovation contract totaled up to around $30k, bulk of which is for carpentry cost! The breakdown by general area is this! We saved on more $ by getting off-the shelves TV console, dry pantry cabinet, toilet vanity cabinets and cabinets for the study room area.
The most expensive part of our renovation went to the kitchen! Of which, $4k went into the sintered stone countertop and backsplash! We had researched the various materials for the countertop/backsplash, and ultimately decided that the sintered stone material will suit our lifestyle and cooking habits. Now, we need not worry about cooking stains eating into the countertop/backsplash if we accidentally splash our cooking ingredients while cooking. Cleaning up has been easy and effortless with this sintered stone!
Another part of masonry works that we had decided to do right from the start of reno researching, is to get a concrete sink support for our kitchen sink! This will help to waterproof the area under the sink and is durable.
One way that we saved on cost, is to compare third party vendor quotations with the ID/Main Contractor. As our home was part of a new BTO estate, there were quite a few group buy going on. Thus, we managed to secure better deals (through the group buy discounts) for part of the home. In comparison, the below is the prices if we have gotten it directly with the reno company: -Service Yard Window: 630 -Shower Screen: $775 -Kitchen Door: $1,800 In total we managed to save around $800+ by engaging third party vendors directly! But of course, the trade-off is that as the home owner, you will need to spend the time and effort to liaise with the vendors directly, and to be around personally for the installation as the main contractor will not be helping with these.
Also, besides engaging third party vendors, we further lowered costs by purchasing some items by ourselves directly from the distributor! For our toilet acrylic panel, we went to Dama Trading direct to get the Acrylic Panels by ourselves! The cost is ~$60 for one toilet (for two toilets it is ~$90). In comparison, our reno company was charging at ~$150 for 1 toilet, while groupbuy prices for third party vendor was ~$110 for 1 toilet. All you need to do is to measure the panel size required, provide your measurement and choose the acrylic panel colour you want (We got the PL422 Barley Acrylic Sheet as it was the brightest one). Transport it back home and just install it up by yourselves! (Of course if you required lights in the acrylic panel, you will still need the electrician to help install it for you.) Follow us on IG @ ourbtohome for more renovation tips!