Renozilla Journey: Reviewing the IDs & Contractors

As promised! I shall reveal my reviews of the various IDs and contractors that I've met. =D

1. This was the first ID we met on a long day of meeting IDs so we managed to share quite a lot of our ideas with her. The fact that she's quite easy to talk to helps quite a bit too since we had a lot of queries about the renovation and she was quite professional about it. Not too pushy either and her first quote managed to match our budget, after our initial discussion via email.
2. I received the call from this ID first and while she was friendly and not too pushy, she almost exclusively spoke Mandarin. Since my Mandarin is a bit on the Private Limited end, I found it a little challenging to communicate my ideas. Her initial quote was more or less in our accepted range, but unfortunately no chemistry sia.
3. Very good salesman and smooth talker, but we didn't really get to discuss our ideas with him. He did recommend that we pay a certain amount to get 3D rendering so we can visualise the home and get a more accurate quote from there. It's good to get the 3D rendering of course, but I know the resulting design will tempt us to spend more. Hehe.
4. A Mandarin speaking contractor who was highly recommended by several homeowners on their blogs and forums, I had anticipated meeting him because I saw all the beautiful carpentry and was mightily impressed by his workmanship. So we met up with him and shared what we had in mind. The entire meeting was over in 15 minutes. After noting our ideas at the meeting, he emailed us his quotation a few days later. I was pretty interested in engaging D coz he understood what we needed, but unfortunately his response was quite slow. I think it's due to the fact that he's very popular so he couldn't be on the ball all the time.
5. Another friendly ID who was nice enough to meet me near my office. Before the meeting, she had already called to find out more about what we needed for the reno so the first impression was rather good. Unfortunately her initial quote was a bit on the high side, but I do like her proposal.
6. I found this company on FB and arranged for a meeting at their showroom near my SO's place. Before the meeting, I initially wanted to get the ID to quote me for the kitchen only but I eventually decided to get her to give me a more comprehensive quote that includes painting, plumbing services etc. Her initial quote more or less matched what I had in mind.

Conclusion: I'm rather happy to say that all the IDs I have met thus far have been rather pleasant and they do try their best to match their quotation to my limited budget. If there is something I learnt from interacting with these IDs, it's to state your budget upfront. Be very sure about your budget so you won't be tempted to spend more than you should. Do note that carpentry can be a major part of your expenses so the more built-ins you want, the more money you have to fork out lo.

The Final Choice:

After some consideration and discussion with my SO, we decided to go with Rachel Chew from 3D Innovations. Why did we choose her? Well, I feel that we have chemistry and it's rather pleasant speaking with someone who more or less shares the same life experiences as us. Moreover her final quote is very reasonable in our pov and she is always available for discussion, which is a definite plus point in her favour. So yup, hopefully our renovation will go off without a hitch once we get our keys! My final list of things to do:

• kitchen cabinet top and bottom on one side, bottom only on the other. Countertop to use Kompacplus.
• 6 ft wardrobe in the MBR
• painting for the entire house
• electrical & plumbing works
• kerb in 2 bathrooms
• flush walls to align in living room and MBR

  PS: I'm afraid I won't be able to share my quotation with you guys as everyone's wish list can be different. If you wish to get a quote, do contact the ID directly. =) Next Up: The Renozilla Shopping List Previously: The Renozilla Journey Begins