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TSmrstohchu
post Aug 6 2017, 01:14 PM, updated 6y ago

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Hi all,

I chanced across this forum when i was doing my research on home renovation. There have been a couple of helpful threads with good suggestions that i could explore.

So now, i am thinking to start my own thread to chronicle my personal home renovation journey. Hoping to receive advice and at the same contribute by sharing my experiences.

We are hoping to be able to open up the living & kitchen area so some hacking works will need to be done.

Original layout
Attached Image

What we want to achieve
Attached Image

Hoping for some expert advise on the feasibility of doing so and the cost involved.

TIA biggrin.gif

sonerin
post Aug 6 2017, 01:43 PM

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From just floor plan it look possible. As long as there is no supporting beam than is ok. Simply say that this cost within 10k to 15k.
TSmrstohchu
post Aug 6 2017, 03:34 PM

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QUOTE(sonerin @ Aug 6 2017, 01:43 PM)
From just floor plan it look possible. As long as there is no supporting beam than is ok. Simply say that this cost within 10k to 15k.
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This is my ground floor where i have 5ft side land. The plan is to move/build my utility room onto my additional 5ft to side land. Meaning that after hacking, need to build brick wall + Roof.

10k can get the job done?
sonerin
post Aug 6 2017, 03:37 PM

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QUOTE(mrstohchu @ Aug 6 2017, 03:34 PM)
This is my ground floor where i have 5ft side land. The plan is to move/build my utility room onto my additional 5ft to side land. Meaning that after hacking, need to build brick wall + Roof.

10k can get the job done?
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It is possible.
xtracooljustin
post Aug 6 2017, 05:04 PM

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Pls check if there is no concrete column at the area where you intend to hack between the kitchen and staircase. I suspect there is a small column.
TSmrstohchu
post Aug 6 2017, 05:22 PM

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QUOTE(xtracooljustin @ Aug 6 2017, 05:04 PM)
Pls check if there is no concrete column at the area where you intend to hack between the kitchen and staircase. I suspect there is a small column.
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How do you tell?
Reubs
post Aug 6 2017, 09:33 PM

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QUOTE(mrstohchu @ Aug 6 2017, 05:22 PM)
How do you tell?
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Your contractor should be able to advise you. I'm in the midst of planning my reno.

Plan is somewhat similar to yours. Will be breaking down the wall between the living area and kitchen. However, the contractor said it's not possible to remove the column that's beneath the beam. No choice but to leave the pillar there.
reggaejazz
post Aug 8 2017, 03:00 PM

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i did similar stuffs like yours (still in the midst of renovating), can say the cost of doing it might be more.

1. hacking
2. rewiring
3. new windows
4. tiles
5. doors
6. in the cast if there's column, more work (more cost)

10k.. very unlikely. unless you dont mind the quality.
TSmrstohchu
post Aug 8 2017, 03:20 PM

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QUOTE(reggaejazz @ Aug 8 2017, 03:00 PM)
i did similar stuffs like yours (still in the midst of renovating), can say the cost of doing it might be more.

1. hacking
2. rewiring
3. new windows
4. tiles
5. doors
6. in the cast if there's column, more work (more cost)

10k.. very unlikely. unless you dont mind the quality.
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If you don't mind me asking, how much did your reno cost?
reggaejazz
post Aug 10 2017, 11:16 AM

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QUOTE(mrstohchu @ Aug 8 2017, 03:20 PM)
If you don't mind me asking, how much did your reno cost?
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i am renovating other areas too. car porch, toilets and 1st floor extension. still in the midst of it biggrin.gif


adrianjc
post Aug 10 2017, 02:06 PM

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QUOTE(mrstohchu @ Aug 6 2017, 01:14 PM)
Hi all,

I chanced across this forum when i was doing my research on home renovation. There have been a couple of helpful threads with good suggestions that i could explore.

So now, i am thinking to start my own thread to chronicle my personal home renovation journey. Hoping to receive advice and at the same contribute by sharing my experiences.

We are hoping to be able to open up the living & kitchen area so some hacking works will need to be done.

Original layout
Attached Image

What we want to achieve
Attached Image



Hoping for some expert advise on the feasibility of doing so and the cost involved.

TIA  biggrin.gif
*
Can be done but definitely not within rm10k-rm15k.

For few reasons:

a. You're hacking away walls, you'll need to redo your flooring. Same goes with the extended area planned.

b. If there is a pillar there, you'll either have to build around it or build a load transfer pillar to the sides. It seems like a possibility there is a pillar in that area, could be one or two.

c. If you need to add or relayout wiring, charges go according to number of plug, light points needed. You'll need to add for the extended portion planned as well.

d. New doors, door frames and related accessories.

e. Painting after everything is completed.

f. Light fixtures and switches as required.

h. Raw materials such as concrete and

i. Cost of rubble disposal (it's about rm160 per trip about 3 years back)

When you think through each item you'll have a better idea of potential costs. Best to keep a buffer and go for a reliable contractor rather than one that quotes the cheapest.

That's what I think.
TheEvilMan
post Aug 12 2017, 02:30 PM

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Have to be vary of those vertical and horizontal supporting beams as they might be hindering ur future ceiling plan as well as the layout
TSmrstohchu
post Jun 9 2018, 03:28 PM

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Hi guys, just realise it's almost 1 year since i last posted. I got busy with work and then it took months to finally source for contractors and suppliers then sometime again before we could start work factoring in the fact that there were lots of hiccups on the way. 1st 2 contractors we were recommended didnt pass QC. 1st one came to view the house then say will quote. After that, said her car got broken in and she lost all her notes/measurements, sent me a whatsapp text showing a police report as proof, asked us to do a repeat site visit which we did. Then she MIA-ed. 2nd contractor just quoted crazy amount so we didnt even bother (3x the cost of the final contractor we went with).

So started to look for 2nd batch of contractors, 2 different parties and finally decided to go ahead with these 2 contractors by splitting the job between the 2 or them as they both have strengths in different areas.

Party A - Tiling & Painting
Party B - Rest of the works

Work finally started 28 Mar 2018 =)

Will slowly post the progress here as and when i have time. Hopefully, my post will contain information that may help future home owners just as how past post have helped me in my renovation journey.

This post has been edited by mrstohchu: Jun 9 2018, 05:37 PM
TSmrstohchu
post Jun 9 2018, 03:51 PM

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Scope of works:

Preliminaries
Site protection
Clearing debris
Area cleaning before handing over

Painting works
Supply & paint whole house internal walls & ceiling using NIPPON paint & sealer
Supply & paint whole house external walls (including gate & fence) using NIPPON paint & sealer
Skim coating for problematic walls

Electrical & Wiring works
Hacking & concealing exposed wires, where feasible, make good surface to receive paint
Reuse, relocate or provision electrical wiring as required for installation of aircons
To replace all light swiches with corresponding new light switches
To replace protruding electrical sockets with flush type sockets
To install lighting points / TV point / 13A power socket(s)
Touch up and make good existing DB box

Walls & Flooring works
To tear down existing and errect new wall for ground floor toilet
To dismantle existing tiles, waterproof, supply and replace piping works and install new floor and wall tiles for toilets
To install watercloset, sink, countertop and misc toilet fixtures for toilets
To install hidden water heater in false plaster ceiling and relevant piping works for toilets
To supply and install tile flooring for ground floor living room area
To tear down partition in masterbedroom and make good flooring
To extend wall at the rear of both common bedroom.
To grind and refurbish existing parquet flooring
To grind and refurbish existing parquet staircase
To flatten raised tiled platform area beside ground floor common toilet and make good with similar tiles
To open a new doorway from ground floor common room connecting to toilet and supply and install door
To dismantle built in cabinet in ground floor common room and make good flooring
To dismantle existing tiles, waterproof area and install new floor tiles for terrace area
To repair and clean existing tiles for car porch
To rebuild a new 2 meter brick wall fence
To provision new electronic gate

Ceiling works
Supply and install fibrous plasterboard false drop ceiling to receive paint finishing for ground floor living and dining room area
Supply and install fibrous plasterboard false drop ceiling to receive paint finishing for all grid fiberboard ceiling areas
Access panels

Fitting out works
To fabricate wallhung cabinets beneath toilet sink
To install quartz countertop for toilets
To supply sliding or swing glass partition for shower cubicle for 1st floor masterbedroom toilet

Miscellaneous
Solution to make good water leak at 1st floor master bedroom ceiling
Make good water leak at external gutter at front of house
Termite treatment
Make good postbox

This post has been edited by mrstohchu: Jun 9 2018, 05:38 PM
TSmrstohchu
post Jun 9 2018, 04:47 PM

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1st stage - Nothing much to show at the beginning because its all hacking works - tearing down of some existing walls and partition, running all the wiring & piping and then cementing/plastering it back.

1st photo shows my living room. Because we wanted to preserve as much of the ceiling height as possible, we opted for exposed downlights. However, lesson to learn is that you will still have to install false plaster ceiling, just that your false plaster ceiling can be of a shorter height from the concrete ceiling. Meaning that if one has to install concealed downlights, you might need a plaster ceiling of 30cm height from concrete ceiling but because we are doing external downlights, we only need to lower by about 15cm. Reason is, if you run wiring, they have to hack the concrete ceiling and the patching back wont be 100% smooth. Will still have some signs of bumpiness.

Lights aren't up yet so no after photos to show. Will update when lights are installed and operational =)


[/B]Working with 2 sets of contractors[/U]
It was a conscious decision to split the contract between 2 parties because it was obvious to us that one party (Party A) was strong in their tiling and painting but has not much experience with electrical and carpentry. The other party (Party B)was an all rounder but again, obviously more commercialised. Also, we figured they can keep an eye on each other. Husband and I are stationed overseas so cant monitor them as closely as we would like. There is also a downside to having 2 parties though... accountability... somehow, i lost a wooden bed and 2 fans. Both party will say they never take. And i dont know who i should go after sleep.gif .

Party A - 100% local chinese old school uncle workers. I gave them the tiling and painting part of the contract. Think grumpy old man, not very good with inventory management, cannot tell me beforehand not enough tiles, only till they tile halfway then tell me not enough tiles sleep.gif. But overall, so far handiwork very good. Very neat and tidy bunch. Boss own self on site working along his fellow workers/friends. I kind of like supporting our local people.

Party B - Main contractor is a very experience man, can tell from visiting our house where the foundation pillars are, what can be done in terms of hacking and drilling. However, his manpower is indo workers and unfortunately after we sealed the deal, the person in charge wasn't the main contractor but his subordinate ® whom is not as experienced. On quite a few occasions, R will say such and such cannot be done, i am the one having to do research and tell give him options / solutions. Also not as on the ball, doesn't supervise his indo workers closely. i suspect seldom on site. When i went to site inspect, i found the spacing of my downlights uneven. If you have 3 downlights in a row A-B-C, you will expect the spacing between AB and BC to be the same. When i measured, there was a difference of 10cm sleep.gif . I texted R and told him he needs to make good. Need to go down and inspect again. R also takes longer to respond - sometimes 24 hrs later. I suspect they are juggling too many projects. I suspect the main contractor and R are related but they said they are not when i ask. It almost feels as if the main con is teaching R who is in his early 30's the ropes and i am unfortunately the guinea pig.



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This post has been edited by mrstohchu: Jun 9 2018, 08:51 PM
TSmrstohchu
post Jun 9 2018, 06:29 PM

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2nd stage - Comes the Tiling stage.

I got my tiles from Feruni. Initially was served by a staff who MIA-ed halfway through. Let's just call him J. When i say MIA halfway through meaning that during our 1st visit (main branch). We just went with whichever staff who approached and served us. I believe as most customers, 1st visit is to survey - i checked out Feruni, Niro Granite and ? (can't remember the name of the shop). We eventually decided on Feruni because they are able to help you with the 'design' and provide rendering of how the tile design will look like in real life. Because i have no ID and am DIY-ing, i decided i am willing to pay more for tiles and take it take part of the additional cost as payment for their ID fees (providing me with advise and drawings).

So we contacted J via whatsapp and started the 'design' consultation process. Initially, J was very on the ball, replied very promptly. I was quite systematic (some would say mafan and nit picky but... it's my house and i want to get it done to my specification) and wanted to finalise design(s) for ALL 4 toilets / my living & dining area / upstairs open terrace area before making payment. But after providing me with the 1st draft of the 1st toilet design, J 'gently' nudged me to make payment first, say design can always fine tune. I told him that i rather finalise all design before making payment, then he kinda MIAed. Probably think i wasnt worth his time.

Anyways, because i already planned my toilet design (in my head) base on the available tiles type/size/shape that Feruni offered, and i did really like the tiles they had, i went to visit another branch, this time the Kota Damansara branch. This time i was attended to by Hafiz. I was planning to spend the whole afternoon there consulting them on the tile design but as luck would have it, their design system is 'under maintenance'. Hafiz couldnt help much coz he needed his system to design the tiles but he did tell me that he will get back to me after i passed him my floor layout and told him what i wanted for my toilets. Living room was simple - plain white tiles all the way. Open terrace was the wooden plank look tiles. Also very straight forward. It was the toilets where i kinda had ideas/designs that i wanted to execute but wanted to see drawings/renderings before i commit. Afterall, am not ID, worried that what i picture in my brain will look horrible in real life.

Happy to report that Hafiz was fantastic. He was very patient and we did A LOT of to & fro because i kept wanting to try out different permutations. I myself am not sure if i would be that patient with me tongue.gif. So my to & fro-ing took another 1 month plus (yes that long) and Hafiz never 'gave up' on me. Finally, we did finalise the designs for all 4 toilets and i visited them again to make payment. This time Hafiz wasn't around (his off day) and i met his manager Suresh instead who helped process my payment.

So, i have been waxing lyrical about Hafiz (btw, i am in no way affiliated with Feruni) and in the spirit of full disclosure, i must say that there have been some hiccups. None of them i feel is really Hafiz's or Suresh's fault but rather Feruni's system issues - the first time i went down, their 'drawing system was down' and took weeks to get online again. Then there we another 2 incidences where the system was again down on the days that i asked my sister to help me go down and make payment. Kinda annoying at that point in time when you think about the number of errands one has to run when ownself DIYing a house renovation. Also, their delivery people/schedule needs improvement. Hafiz had trouble advising me when some of the tiles i wanted would become available because 'the information is not reflected in their system' sleep.gif. Anyways, i had no choice by this time because i have already made payment. Had to go along with Feruni.

Also, delivery guy can be gruff and rude (my sister feedback he was rather rude to her when trying to schedule a delivery, her name was listed as the person to contact because she went down to make payment for me) but that is expected and acceptable i guess.

So next surprise is, my contractor tells me not enough tiles (not sure whether Hafiz miscounted or contractor broke one too many tiles) and there was one type of tile delivered that was wrong. We needed a rough surface but a smooth surface tile was delivered. So i contacted Hafiz & Suresh, told them i needed to buy additional tiles and that they had to swap the smooth tiles with rough tiles. Hafiz was very apologetic and he said that he would come down and collect the wrong tiles on the same day from my house. I offered to pay for the additional tiles (these were custom cut to order i shape tiles) because i felt bad that he may have to top up out of his own pocket as he admitted it was his mistake. Hafiz rejected my offer and said he should bear the cost / consequence that it was his mistake. Both Suresh and Hafiz dropped by my house to pickup the wrong tiles that very evening. It was at this point that both of them gained my trust and confidence. My view is, everyone makes mistakes here and there. for them to admit it and make good, that is where they command respect and earn credibility.

This has been my tile journey so far.

So for those wanting to get Feruni tiles, please look for Hafiz & Suresh. I strongly recommend them and can say that they do the best they can given their constraints (system not working, company policy etc).

Lastly, some before and after photos.







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This post has been edited by mrstohchu: Jun 9 2018, 06:48 PM
TSmrstohchu
post Sep 1 2018, 03:01 PM

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House is 95% done as of today. Sharing some before/after photos biggrin.gif

Now pending touch-up/rectification works for areas that wasn't done well + installation of curtains + moving in furniture.

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chichichi
post Sep 2 2018, 01:09 AM

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QUOTE(mrstohchu @ Sep 1 2018, 03:01 PM)
House is 95% done as of today. Sharing some before/after photos  biggrin.gif

Now pending touch-up/rectification works for areas that wasn't done well + installation of curtains + moving in furniture.

Attached Image
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Looking good! Thanks for sharing
Christinalee778
post Sep 9 2018, 11:52 PM

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For those who look for interior designer and renovation firm, pls beware of a company called M&C Gallery/M&C Concept and Design, the owner is called Melvin and Candy. They are irresponsible company that promise you a lot of things which end up nothing eventually. Only able to perform renovation with poor workmanship and keep on delaying the timeline. If you check the price with other company, their price is much more higher. The so called good quality also is just a lie.
If you are looking for interior design, make sure you don’t look for them. When you have problem and look for them to help, they will shout at you like they are doing for free. In fact, you have paid a lot of money to them.
They only will treat you good when try to trap you to sign the contact and pay them. Don’t look for them, you will regret!

kayweng
post Sep 10 2018, 12:39 PM

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I want to know some from you since you do extension for your house.

I have look for few contractors for my house renovation (include hack walls, house extension, titles ..etc) and i would like to know the estimated cost of wet works.but they only can give me the costs about submit house architecture drawing fees (for MPSJ submission) & house design layout plan (for work man renovation), this cost me 5k-8k.

I more concern the total estimated cost of wet work such as 100k or 150k (i already told them about my ideas.). So i must pay one of them to submit house architecture plan to MPSJ first then only will know the actual cost?

or can you share more about how you find contractors ,deal with them ,submit house architecture plan to government.. TQ ~


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