If buying our house has cost us our kidneys, renovating it has cost our arms & legs .
For context, our house is a 31 year-old 103-sqm 4-room resale flat, which meant that a lot of work had to be done for sanitary, safety, and aesthetic reasons.
We spoke to a few different ID firms and ended up going not with the cheapest firm, but the most expensive one. The main reason was that we felt the most comfortable with Urban Home Design, and they were the only ones who gave us full confidence that they (a) understood what we were looking for and (b) were able to deliver quality work on time.
The top 4 areas that we spent on were carpentry, masonry, electrical works, and demolition. These are commonly the most expensive parts of renovation in Singapore, especially for resale HDB flats.
We wanted to share an itemised breakdown of costs so that it’s easier to do an apple to apple comparison. It also encourages transparency in renovation costings, especially when not all ID firms itemise their costs.
Do note that we did our renovation in 2023 where prices started to inflate after COVID, and when GST was at 8%. We also count ourselves lucky that we started renovation during the ghost month (lol) so labour was not as scarce, otherwise our costs may also be much higher.
Carpentry: S$25,721.28
Our carpentry cost was undoubtedly quite mind-boggling, considering that some other home owners spent the exact same amount on their WHOLE house renovation.
Carpentry was very expensive for us due to the extensive built-in furniture, especially our platform, feature wall, kitchen cabinets, and wardrobe.
We had opted for built-in for a seamless look across the house and also because certain items just can’t be bought loose. However, if on a tight budget, do buy off-the-rack instead!
Also note that all carpentry came with Blum Soft closure hinges, which are quite a substantial (but worthwhile!) investment.
Fabrication & installation of:
- Settee with top cabinet
- Full height shoe cabinet
- Full height display cabinet
- Platform with storage cabinet & drawers
- Feature wall with 2 hidden doors
- 30ft kitchen cabinets
- 1 tall unit for built-in oven
- 8 ft full height sliding wardrobe
- 11.5 ft KompacPlus kitchen table top & backer
Masonry: S$17,037
Masonry was also a substantial cost as our resale flat is relatively bigger than the newer BTO units. We also spent some money building back a new wall after knocking down the existing one so that we could create space for a dining area.
Laying of:
- 746 sqft wall & floor tiles
- 433 sqft cement screed wall
- 2 shower ramps & toilet door kerbs (S$270 each before GST)
- 1 new wall (S$1,144 for 9.5 ft, before GST)
- 1 new door frame (S$306 before GST)
Electrical Works: S$6,507
Installation of:
- 11 track light points
- 9 lighting points
- 4 13AMP single power points
- 15 13AMP double power points
- 6 20AMP single gang switches
- 1 double gang switch
- 3 triple gang switches
- 1 quadruple gang switch
- 1 LAN point
- 2 water heater point
- 1 smart door bell point
- 5 LED strips, strip points, drivers
Demolition: S$6,636.60
Note: Our ID quoted this as a lump-sum so we’re unable to fully break this down. However, this covers the following rooms: kitchen, living room, study room, 2 toilets.
Hacking & demolition of:
- 4 walls
- 2 existing sliding doors
- Main door kerb
- Kitchen (floor, wall tiles, carpentry)
- 2 toilets (floor, wall tiles, carpentry)
- False ceiling
- Whole house skirting
- Window grilles
Professional Fees: S$2,000
We couldn’t run away from this and frankly, we didn’t really understand why this was included. This is especially because all their design work is done in-house.
- Space Planning with Layout and Material
- Ceiling and Lighting Work Drawing
- Construction / Detail Drawing
- 3D Perspective Model
- Turn-key Project Management
- Site Coordination
Our initial quotation was actually higher than this but we managed to negotiate it down and also gave up on certain ‘nice-to-have’s, which we’ll elaborate more on in our future posts!
We understand from other home accounts and fellow peers that this is still on the higher end. However, we are quite assured by the quality of work delivered and so far have no major complaints, especially with the extensive carpentry.
Paying more upfront for quality work beats paying lots afterwards for repair work!
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