hi all,

i wanna ask for opinions regarding a small toilet renovation - whether price reasonable or not. my parents got quoted almost 9k for it. i don't know whether i should list out all, but here are the major ones:

install new piping work c/w floor outlet pipe - 950
supply & install new floor pipe line at toilet c/w install of toilet bowl - 1250
supply & install plaster ceiling & cones (4' x 7') - 450
supply & install wall tiling (152 sq ft) - 1450
supply & install floor tiling (4' x 7') - 336
shower screen 4' x 6' - 980
supply & install new piping work and install water heater c/w wiring work - 860
painting - 360

honestly i can't really figure out how this works. i asked abt buying own supplies n look around for toilet bowl price n all n told my mum abt it to cut cost as much as possible, but the contractor said if we buy our own they wont be responsible afterwards if anything happens for things like water heater etc. my parents still want to do renovation for other part of the house, so if this price is reasonable i guess we could proceed with this contractor. is this quotation reasonable?

thank you in advance.

This post has been edited by gerl: Jul 5 2011, 03:25 PM

i thought of that, but the guy told us to go to this shop n pick the tiles instead because he said he will be taking from that shop anyways.

is the price really very much different from buying our own? we picked tiles that cost abt 2+ or 3+ from the shop.

the shop's name is kimgress. googled for it so i guess it's kimgress brand.


yes, i thought of this too actually, ours is terrace house. we wondered though if the contractor might be able to get a better price than the one displayed by the shop since he says he frequents the shop.


yah i kinda feel the contractor is abit like trying to scare us like this..but my parents in the end scared that it will be troublesome if the contractor dun wan to handle anything afterwards if we buy our own stuffs so agreed with him.


thank you for the info...i will try to read up on it, but i suppose for most of it we have to rely on how things look like at the end.

i just hope we're not wayyy overcharged for things since he said it's the best price already and my parents didn't try to negotiate after he said so. never thought it will be that expensive to re-do a small toilet though.

we went to this shop because the contractor told us to actually. yes i think we will definitely look around for the next 2 toilets. i don't really know how efficient they are, coz there's one day where the contractor come n scold them for doing things wrong and end up doing the work with them n work extra hour one. one question though - if we go find other indo workers to do just the tiling won't this be risky in terms of we can't exactly be sure that the workmanship will be good, and if it didn't turn out ok later we can't find them back right?


yeah its a small toilet. i'm guessing no water proofing done coz i read ground floor no need water proofing
hmm our toilet bowl is kinda old so we can't reuse it, but yea i would have thought a small toilet with a budget of 5k is quite alright which is why when we get quoted 9k i thought it was expensive for a small toilet.



do you guys normally negotiate/ask for discount when you guys get quoted? do you find out how many tiles needed n all, to see how much ur getting charged for one etc? if yes, how do we find out?

my parents think having a good relationship with the contractor is rather necessary..tt makes it kinda hard to know the limit on what is normally done or cannot be done when it comes to these things.

he only say will install panasonic one coz he said that's good. this contractor actually recommend alot of things since he done alot of houses before(that's what he said la so my parents v fast trust him ><)
ok by now i guess it is a bit too late to get quotation from other contractor, but i guess it should be ok for the next toilets.

wah the plaster ceiling really? that's like 3 times more..



yes you are right, i also take into consideration that they might charge higher due to workmanship and also alot of work since alot of things they have to do manually n all..

i'm not sure what you mean, but with this toilet we re-do the septic tank too behind the house..this one quoted 13k+ and since we dont know much about this we just have to go through with it since the septic tank alrdy not good and gases came out n we can smell it..
i suppose we do re-route coz i can see they make 4 new longkang for toilet, washing machine etc..since the toilet change new i guess piping all new also coz can see the toilet bowl change place alrdy.


thank you all for the help and info

i would give u one but when i got home just now they oredy cement the back part of my house.
and about the septic tank i think the price no need to comment edi since work has alrdy been done
but thanks! are u a contractor or something? you seem to know lots


wah i tot the one we chosen edi cheap cheap u noe..ok maybe medium cheap but definitely not expensive range lei..ceramic tiles i think? let me check back my mum's fone to see if got keep the tile picture and the price n name later k.


from my aunt..i think he did some stuffs for her sch..well i would get LYN to quote me but i'm in kuching so tt's not rly possible
well i guess don't really mind if he take abit commission, its business after all right? just that abit worry if rly cut throat, so check with u guys here lor..


hmm no ppl answer me yet..normally u guys will negotiate price or not? is it do-able or it's a no no later contractor give black face?

i suppose tt's how it works...


yes i am
okay good to know. i'll pop some noobie questions to u someday

hope evrything went well here for you.
okay thanks

urm he didn't threaten us or anything la..just that he's got quite a strong opinion since i guess he knows what he's doing from the yearss of experience?
it might be a good thing too la for clueless people like us but since info is available here n abit of google i guess we can try our best to get whatever's worth our money lor..
he might tink i'm being such a kpo girl tho for questioning this n that when my parents nvr even say much haha

alrighty will do..we only selected the tiles and the shower screen color though so far..the rest we didn't pick anything at all. he pretty much recommend what look nice etc.

was very busy packing up last night since the kitchen is going to be hacked down.
this was a quick decision i guess coz the pipes were right on top of the kitchen and the water's leaking so badly into the cabinet n i guess my parents just ask to fix it asap..
i think i might have to go around looking for kitchen cabinets now.

er really? i thought ppl have to come down to ur house to give u a quotation. or at least have some sort of sketch or something right? otherwise how to quote

hmm ok.. i tink the one we chosen was ceramic n its alrdy delivered to the house. will consider this for the next 2 bathrooms. however u mention cheaper ceramic tiles have this high water pass thru rate, how do i know if its cheaper type or what? by the cost of it or..?

yes we are tiling all the way up, and the guy say need to plaster before putting the tiles - tt was why the price was tt high when i asked him abt it.

we have the sink right outside the bathroom - due to space limitation and his suggestion which my parents agreed to already. i dont think have ventilator fan though, prolly coz there's a window?


urm yes, ur right and furthermore for people like me we also wont know what to look at to see if its done right, at most if it looks alright we'll take it as ok already...

alright, thanks

alil too late for that edi..hopefully it'll be ok.

anyways here's the picture of the tiles..




progress pictures - i only managed to snap one pic from before, after that they cement everything already. i have no idea what people normally wanna see so here goes:



then here's after they tiled everything..



i guess for bathroom what's left is the shower screen toilet and all that. kitchen is currently in progress too, but since this thread was for asking about bathrooms..


anyways really thanks for all your inputs...will post summore when i got more questions.

toilet roll holder have, but i dont see soap holder n towel rail in the quotation.

normally how do we know if those towel rail/soap holder which looks like steel will rust or not if kena water?
i heard those high end ones wont rust coz they r stainless steel or sumthing, but what are the cheaper options?

i'm thinking of searching for them oursleves and getting the contractor to install them, but i'm not sure if this can be done since tilings are all done nicely..wont they break if u try to knock things into it?

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Added on July 1, 2011, 2:11 amLOL ish..the house looks like its not for ppl live one right now especially the kitchen

try to see how since its all covered up in canvas since we're doing the ceiling first i think..

This post has been edited by gerl: Jul 1 2011, 02:11 AM

excuse the noobie question but is there any significant difference? as in if all is labelled stainless steel is there any way i would be able to tell the original stainless steel against the cheapo stainless steels?

can see this just by naked eyes? i rly have no idea how chrome coated stuff is supposed to look like actually..

ha i rly wish i can drop by ur showroom right now

alright..currently according to the contractor the stuffs shd be wont rust. i noticed he does check for small details when he's ard, and get his workers to fix it which is good.
he actually list out the items he's charging for when i said that renovating toilet is so expensive haha
redoing tiling, cementing, new toilet bowl, new sink, waterproofing, piping.. just the basics - cost at least 5k



This post has been edited by gerl: Jul 5 2011, 12:06 AM

hi again,

another question. we had done plaster ceiling to cover up the pipes. however when they were doing the upstairs toilet my mum said it leaked and the new plaster ceiling has marks over it. the question is, will water damage the plaster ceiling? if yes, what are the concerns if there's any, or the plaster ceiling will dry off and be as good as new?

i'm abit worried if it will be damaged because of the water leak and then will fall off or something within a few years and then we have to spend more money to redo it again.

i'd appreciate comments thanks!