A few years ago when I was renovating my house in Setia Alam, the reno information on LowYat.net was abundant & it really helped me a lot during the process. Now, back in my hometown Penang, when I want to renovate my apartment, I realize that there are very (very * 1,000,000 times) limited threads & discussion for renovation stories in Penang. Therefore to help other Penangites, I've decided to start this thread, hoping someone in need will find it useful & helpful to their journey.

Apartment Type: 900sqft walk-up apartment located in Bayan Lepas area.
History: The apartment was completed in 1999. Got it from the owner that bought directly from developer during launch.
Condition: I would say the condition is pretty good because previous owner bought it as a weekend/vacation house. However, the build-in wardrobe & kitchen cabinet is in "classical" design (by classical I mean old fashioned) because it was done in the 2000's. Latest modification by the owner was balcony expansion & wooden/vinyl flooring installation that completed about 3 years ago.

Here are the layout & current condition of the unit:

As any new house owner (although this is my second house) would do, I started listing my wish-list to transform this 20-year-old apartment into a home-sweet-home. The items are:

- Change DB Box & electrical wiring of whole apartment.
- Change water piping of whole apartment.
- Change tiles for room/bathroom/kitchen.
- Change kitchen cabinet.
- Change window frames, door frames & grills.
- Water pump & tank installation.

interested to know what is the projected cost of doing such a revamp in Penang

During the quotation process, I found out a good friend is trying to venture in ID/renovation industry. Basically, he is the coordinator, and he has some other partner/friend that will be in charge of wet work, plumbing, electrical work, etc. Therefore, I've decided to give him an opportunity (finger crossed) and hire him as my main contractor, even though his quote is not the cheapest, nor he was the most experienced. Hope I won't regret & lose our friendship upon completion

Some of the items quoted & confirmed:
Electrical Work @ RM8K+
20A socket x 9 Nos
13A socket x 34 Nos
Light point x 16 Nos
Fan point x 5 Nos
ELCB box (inclusive of Scheider ELCB)
Astro point x 1 Nos
Light installation + Fan installation
Copper wire running through pipe/corrugated tube + concealed in wall
Inclusive of Hager Stylea Switches

Remark: due to low ceiling height (9 ft) & cost restriction, there will be no plaster ceiling nor L-box. according to my friend, the price is a bit high because of drilling and concealing wire on the ceiling wall.

Plumbing & Wet Work @ RM38K+
New water piping (using Buteline PE100) from main water meter -> water tank -> kitchen/bathroom/wet area
Floor tiles removal & installation whole apartment, inclusive of bathroom 1 & 2
Bathroom 2 wall hacking & extension (currently, washing basin is outside bathroom 2. the wall will be hacked & whole bathroom extended)
Remove, supply & install new aluminium window & grill for second room, third room & bathroom 1 & 2
Removal existing wardrobe, hanging kitchen cabinet & other rubbish

Remark: price is not final because i plan to keep the living/dining broken marble flooring, which is currently covered by wooden/vinyl flooring.

Paint @ RM8K+
Wall surface smoothing & labour for painting
Exclude sealer and paint

Based on this, the initial startup cost is about RM55k. My friend assured me flexibility (eg. i can stop and remove any unwanted item if i feel regret or change my mind). With this in mind, I paid him 50% and the process begins

Living/Dining
Removal of wooden/vinyl flooring shows that the broken marble flooring is still usable js need some touch up & polishing. some money to save there




Bathroom 2
Bathroom 2 wall hacking & extension

Second/Third Room
Removal of parquet flooring



Kitchen/Wet Area
Removal of existing kitchen base, hanging cabinet & wet area






Master Room



This post has been edited by showcase: Jun 1 2018, 05:24 PM


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Penang contractors r notoriously charge expensive. If lucky & get more quotation, especially kulim contractor, mayb can meet some honest contractor. 😂
Reno house in KL is way cheaper than penang

Everything is still in progress & I will share the final cost upon completion. But I told my friend that RM55k is the max I’ll pay him, anything more he’ll hv to “eat himself”

Remember one thing, you pay peanuts you get monkey. if you know the cost of materials nowadays, labour cost + risk. 55k for whole apartment is reasonable if they are honest contractor using proper materials.

i wish all the best in your renovation project and within the budget and timeframe

cheers mate

archid studio
www.klarchid.blogspot.com

thanks for the encouragement. finger cross that the contract does wat they say, and say what they do. then everyone will be happy

thanks bro. cheers!

Visited Penfurnex @ sPICE over the weekend. Some might say exhibition is overrated (eg. they markup the RRP before discount). What I try to do is that I'll try to search for the same item over the Internet (Lazada/Lelong/11Street/ATKC) and if I cannot find it cheaper on the Internet, then I will go ahead and pay deposit.

Some of the items that I paid for:
Platinum Home Appliances @ Golden Triangle
- Mocha kitchen sink MKS8845 @ RM600/pc
- Vitally Bi-Fold King Air @ RM620/pc, incl. installation
- Vitally Bi-Fold King Pro & Bi-Fold One Air @ RM530/pc, incl. installation

Kitchenaid / Ban Hin Bee
- Fotile EMS9020 + GAG76202 @ RM2,900 (with some free gift that I cannot remember)
- Fotile EMS9020 + EEG75201 @ RM4,600 (with some free gift that I cannot remember)
*Paid RM1k to lock the price*

Mikea Lighting Centre @ Relau
- KDK K14X5-WT/GY @ RM268/pc
- OSRAM LED T8 + Casing * 10pcs @ RM130

Still pending some items such as water closet, basin with stainless steel cabinet, etc. Will continue to search in upcoming Mattress & Furniture Fair in July 2018.

Thanks for sharing. Hope everything goes smoothly with your renovation, but I find the RM8K+ for wall surface smoothing and painting rather expansive for a 900sqft unit, and that's not even including the sealer and paint

Any updates?

After going through house painting threads in lowyat forum, i really feel house paint cost in penang is 2x compare to kl/selangor. I dont understand the big difference.

can share you contractor details?

RM8k to paint a 900sqft apartment?? 😮 My 4300sqft house only cost 5000 to paint (internal). 🤔

You supply the paints or just let them use the el-chepo mattex wall paints?

Lol Mine is 3 1/2 floors with 6 rooms for 5000 ... Of course I provide the paint. ICI Dulux Pearl Glo. In your case even the paint like ICI Pearl Glo, Nippon Satin Glow or Jotun is included still expensive. 18L Pearl Glo is around RM333.

Unless your paint is sprinkled with gold dust 🤣

This post has been edited by blancpain4470: Nov 5 2019, 06:19 PM

Can you recommend your contractor? please pm. thanks.