As I know the cost of renovation works can be very different. For example, you request a quotation from 2 contractors. 1 will give u a very high price while the other is much cheaper.

Which one would you choose?

And for those who had experience pls share with us anything to know about renovating a house. From the price to the service and so on. Thanks.

If materials are the same and both are reputable, why choose the expensive one?
The questions cannot be asked as you did. There's lots of scenario to take into account.
for eg.
-time of completion
-quality of work
etc...

ahha. as a matter of fact, there is a degree which is related to this. it is called quantity surveying. Quantity surveyor provide a standard documents for contractors to bid on so that the basis of pricing for all contractors are the same. so, if the works is being done properly, which is with drawings and proper documentations, u can gauge the pricing of each contractor. usually, for small renovation, it does not happen this way tho.

Yeah what I meant was small renovations to houses. Not those massive ones. I don't think these kinda of contractors accually employ quantity surveyors

Typical its very hard to gauge because your 2 contractors might go about doing things differently and with different materials.

Furthermore its an unregulated business so buyer beware...

My advice is get a quote with bill of materials (most likely you wont get a BOM ), then contact the contractors past customers to discover their pain points and judge the workmanship and quality of work for yourself.

My area Puchong Utama 10 most renovations are done by a particular group of contractors and they do good work from my observations. The only reason I went with another contractor is because I found someone who does the same for less money. The contractor renovated my friends house and I was impressed with the work done.

My renovations was simple extend master bedroom, install grill, install autogate, cement the back, install all the lighting, fans and water heater came up to roughly RM10k

Add another 2.4k for the polycarb awning (different contractor).

Since this thread is on renovation, want to tumpang, any of you know any good contractors in Penang? Mind to share?

My new house, 2nd floor one of the room extend to make a balcony for clothes drying. And the ground floor room, hack the wall down to connect to the toilet. All together around RM16K, there is a don't know what crap fee they charge, hacking and collecting RM1K. I think that is the cost they clean up the whole debris?

in these case, you can always find a friend who is a quantity surveyor to help you. hell, i have a degree in one so let me explain on few things they might charge you with. first, its the cost of labour the contractor pay for the hacking job. that include for hacking part and cleaning and other stuff part. next, its the fee for either they renting the equipment for hacking. for small contractors, there is no need for them to have this kind of equipments as they rarely deals with major hacking job, thus, they usually rent this type of things. and finally, on top of these two items, they will charge their profits and overhead cost. this depends on contractors, some can charge 15% on top of the two items and some can go up to 70%. thats why its a good thing to check with at least 3 contractors for a similar job before hiring one as they all have different costing. A contractor that own their own equipment might charge lower as they only need some fee for maintenance of the equipment.

Compared to my cost and scope of work, feels like getting conned... bloody expensive

can you go into detail aaronpang? I think all of us would like to know more.

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Added on October 1, 2007, 3:31 pmWell said namqul. It is always better to get a quotation from a few contractors. That unless you have a trustworthy contractor which you don't mind paying more as long as he does a good job.

This post has been edited by philyong: Oct 1 2007, 03:31 PM

todate, i've spent about rm20k for the extension of my kitchen 24'x5' and ceiling height tiling on 3 bathrooms & kitchen in sbn. The contractor job is neat i can say. No regret!

Did anyone knows whats the standard price (or range of price) for building a wall about 4.6 m in length? My future house is using an open concept (nothing separates the kitchen and living room), so thats why a wall is needed.

And what kind of "options" available for such wall (materials, design) ?

10k for your renovation !!! and with autogate !!!
Its a great deal you have there !!!

I filed away my bills at home, so I just give roughly what I can remember...

The design of the master bedroom was odd T shaped with a 4x6 ft ledge for the air-conditioner outdoor unit on the left and nothing but a brick wall on the right side...

So I extended the room from the left and right side and it no longer looks like a T shape but square.

Total 8X12 ft extension with additional concrete slab 4x6 ft (right side no floor so they had to add concrete slab. Also included is a concrete slab roof extension with 2 additional side windows and 2x2 ft tiles.

Room extension took up about RM4.5k...

The grill is hollow iron grill but made to look stylish and mimic those solid irons bar type grills ... no pics maybe I'll add some later use phone cam.

RM2.5k

To cement the backyard was 22x6 ft just cover with cement

RM600

The remainder was for the autogate installation plus hacking and wiring...

RM2k

Modify my main gate to include a small door...

RM100

Box up (cover up) the exposed piping at the back

RM80

Lighting and electrical fixtures install

RM400

* Just a reminder all the figures are agak agak from memory.

It also helps if you buddy buddy with your contractor and they will help you... my contractor really good I nag also he really cool and always everything can fix no problems

When the work finished I belanja him a bottle of Absinth 70% alcohol

This post has been edited by aaronpang: Oct 2 2007, 10:15 AM

You can either go for brickwall or drywall partition. Finishing can be whole lot of options depending on budget.

i was thinking of a wooden partition or even a piece of curtain if want to save cost.
Modern instead of normal cut off by walls.

If brickwall with both sides plaster exclude paint, RM1500.

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Added on October 2, 2007, 10:39 amLanded or Apartment?
If the latter, it's gonna be expensive.

The last time, a few contractors quoted me RM4000 (all inclusive) for replacing the floor tiles on a 200ft² living room of an apartment.
FINE! I brought some men up from Seremban, paid for their transport & food. 4 days work.
Total cost me about RM2k only.

This post has been edited by scorgio: Oct 2 2007, 10:39 AM

haha well, people have to make a living too right? Of course if it is possible and we are capable then the cost will be much cheaper.

I would say some wooden partition is way more expensive than drywall then again it varies depending on type of wood & finishes.
I've seen some using a piece of curtain to act as partition the result is not too bad, but it will only be aesthetic if you use those thick curtain which cost a bomb also.

haha....the cost part is actually referring to the latter i.e. curtains.
A normal 2 piece curtain, maybe slightly thinner with some dull lights and see through effects could have a lot of difference made towards the room.

Also when I said using woods or planks, it would be more costlier if based on my visualization. (Don't really know how to word it out)
I don't like the idea of a walled up partition between both the areas as it would make the whole space looks smaller. With woods and planks, one could basically create a partition with also see though effects i.e. spaces for peek-a-boo in between planks laid slantingly.

I prefer modern looks.

This post has been edited by b00n: Oct 2 2007, 06:18 PM