how much cost ?

How many rooms in the  800++  feet ?

Good day,

I have received my keys not long ago and now I'm in mids of getting the design finalized with an Interior designer. So the goal is to transform this to look expensive though being 850 sqft (3rooms) but still at a good price. Below is the layout plan for my unit for own stay purposes



And now attached is the Dreamhouse pictures that I would like to have :



Below is the Quotation received

 Quotation_Censored.pdf ( 2.73mb ) Number of downloads: 1185


Would like to know if you have done such similar renovation or know some knowledge about it, would that a good price to pay for such ?

I believe this quotation mostly has be lump sumped, I should bet a breakdown of labour and materials I believe and get another contractor to quote also.

Do share if you have any input, would be great if i can bring it down to 40 % maybe some things would have to go like it or not.
So my budget is RM 100 K la to be honest but i dont mind stretching a bit if it brings pleasure, aesthetics to things that i use and touch every day (others can go El-cheapo)

Will share the detailed drawing also for you to refer

The color scheme gets old after some time.

I also discourage any sort of fabric on the wall as it gathers dust and overtime will stain because of humidity.

If you are willing to spend some time to coordinate the work among a few contractor you can easily snip the cost down to less than 50k.

TS, can i humbly ask... How much did u bought ur unit for?
Spending over RM160K (as per quote) on renovation & fix fixture alone for a 850sqft unit, i suppose its almost 25% - 30% of ur unit price.
After including ur other electrical & bedding i suppose might even reach 40% of ur unit.

TS, can i humbly ask... How much did u bought ur unit for?
Spending over RM160K (as per quote) on renovation & fix fixture alone for a 850sqft unit, i suppose its almost 25% - 30% of ur unit price.
After including ur other electrical & bedding i suppose might even reach 40% of ur unit.

Looks like Lanai Bukit Jalil

With custom furnitures & design like these will cost u a lot
100k x lari

Looks like a lot of built-in which will be pretty pricey

TS, can i humbly ask... How much did u bought ur unit for?
Spending over RM160K (as per quote) on renovation & fix fixture alone for a 850sqft unit, i suppose its almost 25% - 30% of ur unit price.
After including ur other electrical & bedding i suppose might even reach 40% of ur unit.

wow.. 850 sqft normally around 50k++ reno already very nice.. no need 160k ==

Yup separate contractors can really save you on the buck but not  on  your time.  Finding the  right contractors will be  time consuming .

PLus you a need to give your house key to several contractors  and one more thing the timing of the  job done it needs to be in sync.  And  that also needs proper arrangement and time.

I’m out now, but I’ll try my best to reply since the topic has a lot quicker replies @.@ am using my phone for this, pardon me if there is a mistake on the format
Yes it seems so, but nevertheless that is what I requested and wanted as my dream house, now it’s time for reality and trim it down a bit, work my way backwards.
Yeap custom made stuff to suite the dimension and flow of the design language
I believe you know how much it is already. Though I wish it shouldn’t alter much the reason of the discussion.

Also I’ll add the point some furniture will be brought forward from my existing place, will edit my post later.

Some new built in dish washer, hood,hob and washing machine will be brand new.

Sofa, tv console table 1 bed frame 2 queen mattress will be brought forward
Id like to know if it can be nicer, and would want to see the options above that =]
Thank you for the suggestion, yes I am trying to get another contractor for the second quotation, shall post my findings again and see the difference of todays renovation price from 2 different contractor

I’m ready to run around a bit to choose my own materials (some of it) but only when it makes big difference.

For now I can’t do any calls and window shop due to MCO

I would recommend basic minimalist furnishing for a property priced at that range.

You won't be able to see it for +50% more in the future, bank value cannot get. Your appreciation is also limited.

You might say, hey look. This is my dream home. I will stay in it forever. But nothing is certain.

RM160K reno for a RM300K Rumahwip... really not worth despite its a dream house. Same as Zwean point, might be ur dreamhouse, but don't expect u will have dream facilities & management for rumahwip.

I believe after 10 years restriction, people will start selling and ur neighborhood will be more uncertainties. Except if u plan to stay till sayonara.

(Off topic) If u could fork out RM160K for renovation... u should have give rumahwip chances to others, and opt for a better unit, which suppose there r plenty in BJ.

You may use non inverter air cond if it is switch on for less than 8 hours. Dimming halogen light set limit to bedroom only.

Consider chipboard material for some of the carpentry work like wardrobe area. Study desk seems expensive, consider buying from else where?

Do you really need quartz stone table top for toilet? Toilet mirror cabinet expensive also.

Also try to avoid painting wall with dark color. After sometime, it might have white patch on the wall which keep appearing.

Overpriced IMO. You can try getting a quote from my ID if you want.

Hi, I'm in the ID industry since 2013. Just my opinion, the price depends on the ID firm for their project management and quality of works. You should have a look at their previous project better to take a look yourself not by photo if possible. (After MCO of cuz)

I personally feel the design is kinda simple one. The drawings looks disorganized, it is difficult to trace the material to all items since it is in numbering.

For the top hung cabinet up to the ceiling on 2nd pic, is that TS preferences ?  cuz it looks kinda weird and difficult to access.

Budget part, I think this quotation you are going to fork out more than 160k as tiles are not included in the quotation. For the aircon part the concealed type is really expensive just to create the Hotel-ish look for the ventilation louvre at top of the ceiling at the living.

Maybe you can post some existing condition of the unit so maybe we can know the extent of the work to be done. Cheers.

why all people still think separate contractor will be cheaper? if you see the amount cost per job of course small amount, but if you combine all job together it will become bigger amount than package price.

i never go mcd see people purchase ala carte for burger, fries and coke. all people is purchase package which cheaper

Hi, I'm in the ID industry since 2013. Just my opinion, the price depends on the ID firm for their project management and quality of works. You should have a look at their previous project better to take a look yourself not by photo if possible. (After MCO of cuz)

I personally feel the design is kinda simple one. The drawings looks disorganized, it is difficult to trace the material to all items since it is in numbering.

For the top hung cabinet up to the ceiling on 2nd pic, is that TS preferences ?  cuz it looks kinda weird and difficult to access.

Budget part, I think this quotation you are going to fork out more than 160k as tiles are not included in the quotation. For the aircon part the concealed type is really expensive just to create the Hotel-ish look for the ventilation louvre at top of the ceiling at the living.

Maybe you can post some existing condition of the unit so maybe we can know the extent of the work to be done. Cheers.

why all people still think separate contractor will be cheaper? if you see the amount cost per job of course small amount, but if you combine all job together it will become bigger amount than package price.

i never go mcd see people purchase ala carte for burger, fries and coke. all people is purchase package which cheaper

Comparing managing your own renovation with different subcontractors with bundled deal from McD is just plain stupid and ridiculous.  I like u to show people how u can get cheaper deal with single main contractor ... quality and risk are a different discussion but we are talking about cost here

In one main contractor scenario, the main take the risk and responsibilities of all the works from all subcontractors and this has to be costing extra.  One can argue contractor can buy cheaper but they would typically add margin on top so it is cheaper for the owner to source the materials himself. 

McD bundled deals are cheaper because of the economy of scale and not much other costs for the bundling other than cost of the food itself.

I think the height of the top hung cabinet in the drawing is actually higher than those in the reference photo which is 2070mm from floor. Nevertheless I think you could omit some of the surplus furniture setting in the room and instead buy loose build like in IKEA or local furniture store. You may save some there. Aesthetically wise it will still works.

We doesn't have the right to change the design consultancy drawing format and system. They are using it for other project as well. It might worked for them and their sub-contractor. Just that I felt it could be better.

Hi there,

I went through the same progress as you 3 years back and I did all my design work and hire all the workers while managing it myself previously. well at first I hired a contractor and he overpromised a lot of stuff and ended up screwed up. I had to fire him and do myself.

Well, I am a project engineer always deal with tendering and have some experience with construction too.

First of all, I think since you are going to spend that kind of money you better hire a lawyer as a middle person who will be holding the payment and pass the designer company/ contractor, draft our agreement so that both sides are protected. Why do I say so? Most of the time irresponsible contractors will tend to delay your job or once they got a better opportunity, your project is gone haywire, you won't know when will they deliver the work. Delay is a cost, normal people tend to just let it be coz they don't know how to deal with it.

I went through most of the price list, it seems reasonable to me as per market rate now but I would suggest for electrical wiring must use Sirim & JKR approved cables, like southern/mega. if you don't spec it they will normally give you the cheaper grade which is 20-30% cheaper i will not use them if i were you. Cat 6 cables must check the cable label before install coz sometimes they just put cat 5 to save cost due to they are hidden behind wall panel / inside the wall you won't be able to check it then is too late. For these materials, i will suggest you go buy your self and let them install. LED lights, and strips lights, look for something that is more reliable like osram/philips.

Aircon i will buy myself and ask different contractors to install as they are cheaper but the risk is if they damage your renovation during installation you will be responsible for it. You had to judge yourself if it worth the risk.

Tiles cost around RM15-20 for each 2x2 and installation cost including level is RM4-5psf contractor price(Chinese installer) + supervisor cost 3-4 psf = 8-9psf only specific Chinese installer please or those you check their workmanship before. else you will be like me initially let some indo do it and mess up a lot of my tiles and I fire them and hired an experience Chinese installer, better if you monitor their work coz they also make mistake sometimes.

Plaster I am not sure how big or how many features so i can't comment, painting also depends on workmanship + paint quality, and do they prime it before they topcoat. how many coats.

Aluminum stuff also depends on the thickness and finishing I can't judge base on that.

plumbing i think is too expansive if just base on what they say since replacing fittings only, unless they are uisng highend fittings which they should spec it.

entrance i am not sure hows the design is i cant comment.

i wonder why they need 40mm thick, standard thickness is 18mm and 15mm plywood 40mm will be damn heavy and dangerous, each 4x8 18mm ply is around 100-130 depend on quality + finishing or laminations (100-200 per piece) + workmanship. this is some information i can give you as i am a parttime carpenter myself.

The kitchen if I am not sure how the design is but for your size of the house 40k is quite high investment unless you say you require custom design then is possible. a friend of mine spent 60k for cabinets in his 1400sqft house, but when I check his finishing, i won't pay for it. I would rather go buy Ikea one as they also provide 25 years warranty against defects but you need their contractor installed. their doors some are pu spray some are laminated many choices, you can replace the doors over the years if you want to renew the look, their system is more flexible.

The same is above for bedrooms.

Toilets depend on the design too not enough info to judge.

Hope the comments can help you make some decision if you have any question feel free to ask me again, I a lot of time to burn off haha.

I really hope the forumers can give some constructive informations but it turned our not that way most of the time.

Oh anyway since you are going to renovate why not consider investing in some smart devices to make a smart home, the investment won't but much higher but just need a lot of time to play around with it.

Best Regards
- Lowyat Forum member -

RM160K reno for a RM300K Rumahwip... really not worth despite its a dream house. Same as Zwean point, might be ur dreamhouse, but don't expect u will have dream facilities & management for rumahwip.

I believe after 10 years restriction, people will start selling and ur neighborhood will be more uncertainties. Except if u plan to stay till sayonara.

(Off topic) If u could fork out RM160K for renovation... u should have give rumahwip chances to others, and opt for a better unit, which suppose there r plenty in BJ.

Im more curious with the following:
1. Why TS think that this is the dream home? Is it the first house or ... ?
2. Do you need to take a loan for your 100k budget?
3. Understand that you will bring some items from your house, but what are the additional appliances not included here? even down to small things like plates and utensils to match your style? curtain? bedding stuff? Although small, but they adds up. You estimate how much it will add?
4. Considering that you need to work backwards from your ideal scenario, if you have a budget of 100k, it probably means that you should cap your reno quotation at around 80-90k, the rest is buffer.
5. What's your plan for next 10 years? understand that you planned to stay long, but some things to consider like, do you see yourself starting a family? is your parent staying over? you want kids? To be even curious, how old are you now?
6. Should you one day leave the house, which i'm pretty sure you will, 850sqft is really small. Unless you wanna single forever. So when you leave the house for a bigger nicer want, what you gonna do with the house?
- leave it as it is? as a holiday apartment?
- rent it? but are you willing to have people potentially f up your nicely done house? you definitely heard of tenant nightmare stories.
- If cannot rent out, is it a burden?
- sell it? again, given the location, the value of the house plus the so call value of the renovation, will it be easy to sell?
- If sell for loss, would you mind? or will it be a burden
- If buy property + any other loan on hand, roughly how many % of your income?

Agreed that worth or not, should do or not, should spend or not is really subjective. As long as your have it all planned out and you know that this is really what you want and can afford then why not?

1. First house that I bought. Thought of making it feel nice to reward myself =)
2. Not taking Loan for renovation. I will pay all with cash. (Should I have gone for a loan ?)
3. I shall list down Appliances and furniture that I will carry forward. am working hard with my ID to have it nicely tailored to the existing appliances
4. I think it went over my budget already, but i will have things like curtains or custom made cabinets to be reworked with cheaper alternatives.
5 & 6 don't really see how it'll contribute to the topic but .. UGPM



Update as of 12/6/2020 - Tiles have been hacked and Electrical lighting points have been added.

hot water copper pipe for whole apartment?

Yeap supplies hot water to 2 bathrooms and kitchen tap

My dishwasher as its own built-in hot water already 

I wonder if TS is crying at corner regretting his decision now? 1 month no update dy

For other future dreamers like TS, spending 160k on a 850sqft/300k rumahwip is not a good idea at all

I wonder if TS is crying at corner regretting his decision now? 1 month no update dy

For other future dreamers like TS, spending 160k on a 850sqft/300k rumahwip is not a good idea at all

If u see the TS's last post in Property Forum, he claimed to receive his keys for Stoner 3!  I m just wondering how anyone can afford such property and can still buy rumahwip??  Whatever it is I am also curious to see the results here.

If u see the TS's last post in Property Forum, he claimed to receive his keys for Stoner 3!  I m just wondering how anyone can afford such property and can still buy rumahwip??  Whatever it is I am also curious to see the results here.

Great to see! Care to share the est. cost for the ducted air conditioning? That looks cool!

Hi ts,

Currently ur reno is expected to be 100k or 160k? Or been revised to other amount?

Really nicely executed job. I'm looking for inspirations for my 2.5 k sqft home ID. Can learn some from your pics. Thanks!

Hope you'll update us on this. I'm in the process of buying my first house andhoping to finalize it then renovate it. I learned a lot through your journal. It'a nice of you to explain the process. On the tile. I wouldn't even think of waiting and checking it, I'll keep that in mind when I buy mine. Good luck weh. I hope everything run smoothly for you.

Thank you Trifty for the support !

For these Past 2 weeks progress has been slow, I wouldn't deny that there is some hiccups due to site constrain and also limited materials in stock post-corona. As construction work begun in the country, a lot of materials im looking at are running low or not even in stock anymore. I've experience it myself singlehandedly



Work for Plaster Ceiling has begun, but the challange was to get the right air conditioner specialist (not from my main contractor people) to come and install the desired air conditioner (Ceiling Ducted), also needed it to be a smart long ducting aircond (Control Via App). Manage to finalize Samsung as for the aircond selection.

Below are the Ceiling Ducted catalog for you guys to refer in the future :

 _CAC__Ceiling_Ducted_2017_Specification_Catalogue__JNM_Series___1_.pdf ( 2.29mb ) Number of downloads: 128


Normal Site Problems (Nothing too serious but hope you'll observe and take note) :



Miscommunication with "DNS" (Not Real company name) could even still have mistakes on tiles delivery.
Have the tiles delivery man wait for you together when you check the tiles even if he is in a rush.
Have them be punctual on tiles delivery slot. Not everyone has the time and manpower to wait the whole day.

Fenuni (Not Real company name) have sent some tiles but almost half of them were defect.
Takes another round for them to pick it up and also to send another batch in.
Because the 2nd batch tiles are slightly different in the color tone so they would have to send a whole new tiles again.

Will edit the post a bit more later and share you some small problems at site that you can take note of it !

Hi there, could you please share some details with regard to that duct air conditioner?

Is it a single compressor system?

How much will this set up cost?

I did not know there was another alternative to Daikin that did residential as well.

very bad choice in colour.

Hi KaLs, Thank you for your feedback.

Could you share an example of a good drawing system If you dont mind ? I could show my ID and have it done to follow a better drawing system as you reckoned


The cabinet design was inspired form these pictures, because its a small apartment so i think i'd need some more cabinet spacing for stuff, things that you might not access daily basis

I requested to have the concealed air cond Type to have a cleaner look to the living room. Now that i know the unit price and installation, i am having my second thought. it would be too much for me, not at that price.

Price is without the tiles, i will buy the 800x800 tiles myself and they install them, similar to the style below (not the intended size and price)


I'd be happier to engage main contractor that has all the menpower under one roof. It would minimize the problems that could occur and yes for extra cost on top for ease of mind. If problem does, occur you would deal with one entity/party only.

Hi Ts, can you share the pricing details of your selected tiles and where did you got them? Btw, congrats on your almost completed reno journey!

Hi @tony_mw Thank You ! I hope it'll turn out great !

 Tiles_Information_with_price.pdf ( 1.86mb ) Number of downloads: 111


I got them from 2 places, BMS and Feruni
These are the only places with more options with polished tiles.
Hope this PDF attachment helps. Do get back to me if you need further clarification 

Thanks for the detailed pdf bro! Wondering those seller doesn’t giving out discount?
I’m asking this because of I am sorting out dealers so I have a better picture on market price when I start my Reno.

Hi, curious which brand/contractor you went with for your spc flooring.

Thanks for the detailed pdf bro! Wondering those seller doesn’t give out discount?
I’m asking this because of I am sorting out dealers so I have a better picture of the market price when I start my Reno.

hi may i know how to do the ledge in the photo? how is it secured to the wall? and what is the purpose for it ..since it is quite low..planning to do one to put soap/shampoo etc