Sep 3 2012, 05:57 PM, updated 14y ago
Pre renovation: Started my research almost 5-6 months earlier.
Negotiation: I met up a few contractors in each field (like plaster ceiling, electric, wet works) that is recommended here or else where. This is to at least field finding of the actual price at the time since you cannot take the old thread price as the "current" market". But generally, the price doesn't wary too much then it should be pretty reasonable.
Tips #1 during negotiation: As shared by forumer, choose a contractor that accommodate to your request and "attitude" is an important criteria to select your main contractor. Price wise, you would not want to select the cheapest nor the most expensive, but by the bit of differences from market it is okay as long as you get a good contractor to work with. So the below contractor that I used is not "daaa....cheapest" of all....but a few of them stand out as "good contractor" to me.
Tips #2 during negotiation: Make your requirement clear up front, to every detail, including drawings, measurement, count, price per unit, lump sum and make sure its all written in black and white. Yes, even if the contractor seems friendly and accomodative doesn't mean you don't need this. This is a MUST and if your contractor don't budge on having one or feel you are too fussy, then probably he is not the right person to work with. I wrote my requirement spec to my contractor, he is fine to review and agree with me. Make copies for each party and have them sign on it. We don't have any issue later on at all on what is needed, what not and what is free and what is paid.
Tips #3 during negotiation: Payment should be progressive. Do not agree to pay all together at once. Ask for withold of final 10% of the agree contract amount for 2-3 months post completion of job to ensure if any defect from the job is found, that would make sure he will come back nicely and timely to pick up the sh*t with a smile on the face. But this apply to "big sum" contract, something like 10K above. I know some area they don't, they require full payment upon completion and checking...but you always get the chance to make your point before you agree to selecting the contractor. So the tips is make your requirement known as much as you can in negotiation stage. Once you agreed to it....you start to lose out on negotiation after that.
Tips #4 during negotiation: buy your own material if you can instead of asking contractor to "pow" it. If you are particular on quality of things, that should be the way.
That's my 2 cents of tips, though they are many more details to it. You want a person like me to be in charge for you it cost a lot I tell you, its real hardwork so a good planner, designer and site manager that is good, should really deserve their cut of earnings. I'm no expert, just sharing here, don't take my word 100%
Added on September 3, 2012, 6:01 pmHere is my negotiated contractor contacts, price quote and a bit of my review on them to give credit to whom did a great job but overall, i worked well with all of them and none really give me big trouble. Just some of them standout a bit that's all I need to highlight.
1) Wet work (Ah Leong -019 2222768) - he has his own indon work, chinese worker(site manager), chinese tiler. He start and finish my work promptly. Workmanship not the best but i can accept the quality. PLUMBING, PAINTING is also from him. Plumbing cost me 3k lum sum for whole house re-piping(no sewarage repipe but include installation of WC, sink, tap etc you name it....they install everything for me under that 3k lum sum. PAINTING also 3k lum sum, in and out for a 22x75 house. Top up another 2k for Skim coating whole house and sand paper to smooth(internal house). Paint on me.
2) Plaster ceiling (Ah Peong - 019 359 3398) - a nice guy with a easy going attitude, but he can be very busy at times to attend to you. But otherwise, his workmanship for my house is okay. Thing to note though I belief he sub con my work to another smaller sub con he knew but he manages the work and quality for me. Flat 2.5/sqft, L-box 12/ft, manhole 60/each, open d/l hole 2/each. As you can notice the price per sq ft isn't the cheapest you can find in forum, but he does give me a lump sum discount on top of total amount. This is recommended by my main con to me one.
3) Steel work (Kenment / Three Kim Metal work) - this is recommended in forum here and i find their price one of the most competitive - workmanship good and they can get very busy with their schedule - contact Ivy (012-214 9382)
4) Door (Kotadoor) - no research in this area simply walk in a shop that is nearby my area. No good point to highlight for this shop.
5) Aluminium - (Ah leong, diff guy from above - 012 790 8633) - young chap, workmanship ok but he has the thick type casement aluminium that cost very much less than outside shop I could find. I don't find any issue with his end product, reliable in work. 3x/sqft and the normal thin one at 2x/sqft
6) Unity kitchen, kajang (Erny, 012 805 2008) no introduction required, he ads himself around this forum too. I had the 3G door type and I think workmanship and price "very" reasonable. He, his staff and all are young but need not worry, they do a very well done job.
7) Alarm & Autogate (Winson - 012 206 0138) - he is in this field for a long time I think, he knew his product well and could do my work under speficied time. I got Paradox SP6000 and an MAG arm autogate from him. So far so good. Swift deal guy. But had to negotiate what you want up front with him before agree, once agree the deal...hard to get anything out of him already
8) Electrician (Tai 016 650 2769) not so much recommended due to I had to persuade him to accommodate me at times. Not so flexible but still he did a great job for me. Price quite ok, this is recommended by my main con to me one. Light point 45/p (loop/no loop), 13A switch 70/p, 15A point aircond/water heater/oven 170/p, astro 130/p, phone 60/p, autogate armour cable 750 lum sum, switch box max-guard 650 lum sum. Install fan 20/pc, light of all shape n size 8/pc
9) Tile - I bought majority of mine NIRO, found their tile to be the best quality but price wise, they are one of the most expensive in every range. I got my house SEASON grey dry and wet kitchen floor, INSIDE OUT grey for whole house floor, WAVE grey & baige(toilet wall), CEMENTUM for toilet floor. Outside porch use MML tile. NIRO normally can get 28% or 25% minimum if you buy in big quantity.
10) Toilet ware from Builders hardware, kepong (zhielwane "Zean" 016 6680362) - also recommend in this forum one, you can find him very active in a few thread. Mainly johnson swisse product he specialize in, I got everything from him for JS, Sorento is another he mainly sell, I got all Sorento taps of all kind from him, didn't buy any FOTILE from him cause I prefer some other brand product. Of all these 3 range, i think he offered best price you can't find out there.
***Not all price will be shared here. Cause some of them told me not to share this quotation in public so I had to respect and will share in private message if requested. But do expect slow response.
Added on September 3, 2012, 6:03 pmCombo recommendation: It is recommended that some work is better to have one main contractor to handle the sub-con of it rather than opt for another person, putting yourself into a coordination headache. WET WORK + PLUMBING + ELECTRIC + PAINTING. I don't redo Roof but if you do, its good to Combo them in together. Other work above should be flexible to take single contractor or combo, they don't pose much coordination issue as they are pretty independent. For my case, my main con handle this combo WET WORK + PLUMBING + PAINTING. Indirect combo PLASTER CEILING(his recommended contact) + ELECTRIC(his recommended contact). So though I directly deal with the sub con, since he recommended and they work together before, it sort of give me that little less coordination headache.
During renovation:
- visit site as often as you can(very tiring) but you have to or else you will find your ready house not according to requirement. Cause this people, when they pass message from you -> contractor -> worker -> assistant. A "1" can come back as "10"! you know what i mean....
- if any addition to requirement is needed, make sure you refer back to tips#2 above. Don't forget the black and white again, even if its free, put on paper and counter sign again.
That's what I do with them. If the contractor is not trying to "con" you, they would have no problem doing that I can assure you. Tell them nicely, you may forget what is require and what is not so we better put them on paper so that I remember to "pay you" - prepare to take a lot of leave during this period, cause you may be required to be on site for important decision that you can't make from phone call.
- if you reno toilet that require water proofing, piping etc, make sure you come to "test run" that thing as much as you can while work is still being carried out. Also "stress test" it by open up all water tap, flood the place, flush it with big water etc. This is really important because if you test it "gently" you might find yourself in awkward position when you move in, you find leakage here n there....you will b dead
That apply to electrical point testing too but unfortunately, you can only test when all lights are installed.Post Renovation
- remember to include "cleaning" as part of your wet work item. This aren't normal cleaning that we can use our house hold cleaner to do. It require mild acid, thinner, tools, etc so you might not want to get yourself into this mess. At least have them clean to "move in condition". Still you will find yourself needing to wipe X times before you can move in, that's how bad it is post renovation. Wet work contractor "should" normally take up this without charges if you negotiated for it.
- before the last tong sampah got sent off, make sure you have your contractor man to clear up all the rubbish in the drain. I forgot my drain and I end up digging plenty of sh*t out from the drain and don't know where to send them to.
- run through your sign contract/checklist, tick them in front of him and finally make payment promptly. I am sure you will get back a big smile happy face from him
- moving house - i heard a few and I got it myself - mover are real A**hole.....you called the lorry man on the roadside advertiser, very likely you will need to pay 2-3 times the amount agreed, this idiot job is to "con" you outright with light "force" and "pressure" if you say it politely, else you can say they are just "bully" / "extort". Professional mover cost a lot, but if you don't like to experience what I did, getting the costliest mover seems to avoid this unhappy epic. Can share more on this if you want to hear the mother story.
This post has been edited by bteoh: Sep 3 2012, 10:46 PM
Quote
Our reno process is also somewhat like yours, but less "segregated". 
0.0386sec
0.71
6 queries
GZIP Disabled