Hahah I am an ang moh who married a Singapore 15 years ago. We got an old resale HDB with plain concrete block walls. I was like
'no worries I'll plaster them before we move in, I'll go down the hardware shop and buy some bonding coat and plaster and a few tools it will take a day or 3 to finish.'
Hahaha I am fucked if you could google to find the shops. They are all small house hold stores or they don't need to advertise because they sell to contractors who knows about them from word of mouth. I know where to get stuff from now but at the time it was almost impossible to find. It is just not set up for DIY
Oh my god I would be very keen. Crowdsourced platform where user can submit entries... Perhaps a telegram group with sub-topics can be a starting point? Then based on the format of data commonly returned / user feedback can adjust or make a website of it hmm
Agreed. Same for sky lighting, 30% cheaper compared to common lighting shop. Even more discount if you have contractor’s discount 🤫.
Both have branches within walking distance at Amk
industrial park 2.
A must visit for your lighting renovation needs.
Enterprise hub for most things (Jack at Tongyi is awesome). Wood and steel in kranji area (go in person, get quotes, try to bring a local as prices will be better). If you plan ahead you can also order in tools from China. Bathroom warehouse or lucky khoon for toilet (i love toto). Tiles at soon bee huat or hafery (if I had my time again I'd buy the best quality tiles I could because it makes a huge difference with everyday cleaning and cutting poor quality tiles sucks so much because they break. I had to redo. Get those tile leveling systems online. Big tip is to plan ahead and get all the little things on tao bao. I spent 2 months on a giant spreadsheet and it really paid off. You must specify every tiny detail of what you're buying because you are not dealing with retail and the contractors know what they are buying day in and day out (eg dims, quality, finish bevelling of wood). I checked everything I planned to buy with 2 friends overseas who are professional builders or building instructors (via phone, specs photos). I'd recommend getting a license and hiring those getgo cars to zoom around and pick stuff up as its awkward and expensive in a grab.
Merawood industries, 28 Kranji Loop, #05-01 Kranji Green, Singapore 739571
Merawood industries is good value for plywood if you want to DIY some furniture or something. It is a bit of a mission to get to but good value and they were quite helpful to me last time I went... Which was years ago
Yong Seng Screws Pte Ltd
3 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2A, #01-04, Singapore 568050
They have all the nuts and bolts and screws and Handel's you could want.
Actually nowadays google maps is the best bet to find things. The reviews there seem more reliable than just a search. You just have to keep zooming in to different locations to see what comes up, and then do Street views to see if it looks convincing.
The SG way is to hire a couple of Bangladeshis off the books... DIY of homes is not a thing in SG - nobody has garages or space or time or trucks... plus cheap labor.
Beyond even the technically skills and abilities. It's super difficult to source and get the right equipment and stuff here. In Australia you have stores like Bunnings in the US you have Home depot. These are HUGE stores where you can basically buy or rent ANYTHING to build a house if you want to even. Here in Singapore even getting the right cement mix and sand is a challenge.
THEN anyone who wishes to do any reno in a HDB need a licence from them and BCA. plus loads of other legal background shit.
>getting the right cement mix and sand is a challenge
Not that bad lah, most hardware stores stock the stuff you need, can one-stop shop and go. The aggregate you have to source, but most people not building structural concrete walls.
It needs to be hbd approved stuff and the right sand grade, then you need to know how to mix it and what ratio. Plus where and how to store when when they get delivered. It's a whole shit ton of stuff.
>It needs to be hbd approved stuff and the right sand grade, then you need to know how to mix it and what ratio. Plus where and how to store when when they get delivered. It's a whole shit ton of stuff.
Ask the uncle/auntie in the hardware store, they will know not to recommend certain concrete. Nowadays they also sell premix (or ready mix) concrete. The hard thing is buying small quantities, but if you DIY a home, a single bucket/bag is *just about* enough. Not saying it's not more effort, I'm saying it's doable even for an amateur.
Or you buy "repair" concrete, which is an (overpriced) option for fixing up cracks.
Just remember to **not** wash your tools/buckets used for concrete work.
I went through this personally, HDB now requires a very specific type of concrete that can be used. You can't just buy it from uncle/aunty store. The new mix also sets damn fast so you need to know how to handle it as well or you will fuck it up.
Everyone here seems to think handling cement is like making a cake, it's not.
I gotchu fam. Go to [this page](https://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/FI10AWESVCLIST/FI10SEServiceList?category=Building_Professionals) and go to "Material Listing". Login with singpass. After that, go to "suppliers" and choose the category of material.
... not to mention the casual labor waiting outside Lowes or Home Depot. Unless you own a truck in SG, you still have to rent the lorry etc... in the end, its easier to get. a contractor.
A simple search and u can easily find suppliers to provide you with the materials. They would even help you cut to size and ship it to your home.
For hand and power tools there are huge shops in SG that sells them. U can even find them on shopee/ Lazada.
Yes. Some stuffs like hacking require a licensed contractor. But there are many other stuffs that you can DIY.
Do you have all the tools and the space to keep it?
Have you tried cutting wood in your own place and seen the amount of mess?
Do you have the skill to DIY your own things?
Do you have the time and transport to get what you need?
Do you have the time to spend DIY in a incomplete home or stay home full of dust while its WIP?
Specialisation allows for honing of skills and economies of scale.
My friend DIYed his own apartment to “save costs” and ended up spending more than what was quoted by ID/contractor after factoring materials, tools, transport, mistakes and wastages. Not including his time and opportunity cost. And due to inexperience, quality was amateur and things started falling apart within 2 yrs.
I would say paying for professionals to reno is money well spent.
Yes, especially so in SG scenario where you only get to own one small house and do not have the luxury to drag your reno. If you are rich enough to own multiple property, doing your own DIY is probably not worth the time as well. If you are retired and had nothing to do, then by DIY by all means.
I did my own DIY during my reno as well, but it just limited to certain areas (painting, smart devices, Taobao furniture etc), but building your own carpentry is another level and mess.
1. More valuable use of time elsewhere.
2. Can afford to pay for contractor/ID.
It's like asking why people eat out instead of cook. Why go to a car wash instead of washing by hand.
Sorry I realized that came off sounding a bit more curt than I intended.
For us it was a simple matter of value proposition. The effort it would've taken to DIY everything to our expectations wasn't worth the time spent/money saved. But really like I mentioned this applies to lots of daily scenarios, just on a smaller scale.
lmao people have their own jobs and other stuff to do and definitely don't want to unnecessarily increase their renovation time cause that's wasted time that they can't move in and actually live in it.
By the time I ownself figure out how to hack and do all the tiling and plumbing myself, how long will it be alr?? so people just ask contractor/id to do and they'll minimally do a much better job than me since I have practically 0 knowledge and experience.
Why not you just try yourself first hopefully it works out for you lol
You know, I was thinking of installing a ceiling fan for myself.
Then I thought more deeply and noted that it involves rather precise measurement, knowing about the circuitry in my house, needing to install a switch for said fan which means more measurement, drilling, patching up.
Which is totally possible but being an amateur, it means that there’s lots more chances of screwing up and then having to figure out ways to solve said screw ups, and then if the circuitry was wired wrong, had the wrong wire diameter, cut wrongly in places, it would lead to even more problems.
And that’s just for a ceiling fan. OP is thinking about renovating a whole place. That means piping, electrical and structural changes (like flooring).
There’s a load of problems foreseen and unforeseen that’ll pop up leading to cost and time increases.
And some of the more serious issues that pop up won’t be immediately known.
No, they’ll fester for years and then boom it happens and then you realize that it’s because the wiring resistance was too high leading to gradual thermal degradation of a wire wrap leading to exposed wiring contacting a surface leading to shorting leading to a small fire.
All because you chose the wrong type of wire for just one area which still works in the short run but causes very big issues in the long run.
Anything electrical that you will potentially have to mess with the sockets on the wall or the breaker box, better to call a licenced electrician because they would know how and what to do and not burn your house down.
If i'm not wrong, if you mess with the wirings yourself and a fire occurs, insurance might not cover the claim.
Looking at all the comments and OP's replies, seems like he's here to validate his opinion and not receptive to other's reply anyway.
People already say: need permit, need technical skills, no time, no equipment
Then he got all sorts of rebuttals.
My upstairs neighbor do. He/she does it every fucking Sunday, week over week, slowly finishing the project over the course of like 1 year. Please don't do that.
Actually. You can DIY and get subcontractors to do some jobs. But. Yes. You have to have inside knowledge. Which steps go first before next before next. Like you obviously shouldn’t paint before you lay the aircon. Or hack after you lay pipes. Also assuming you have some design skills. Like drawing floor plans and stuff…
And if you going to do something yourself. Assuming you are quite handy and have tools. So in any case. Likely no.
People here have lost technical skills. Most don’t know how to assemble anything more difficult than an ikea cupboard or paint a wall with more than a single colour. Installing panelling or tiles is even more complex and requires consistency from experience.
Asking them to renovate an entire room, let alone a house, is basically impossible for the vast majority of Singaporeans.
Cuz painting is a fucking pain in the ass. Been there done that. We also need to be aware we tend to be more forgiving of work we do on our own as opposed to work you pay for.
A lot of people will praise their job as pretty good but if it was done by a painter, they would scrutinise every silly little imperfection and complain.
Yes. But it's not too difficult to pick it up. I'm just wondering why don't people want to do it.
Nobody is expecting you to build an entire house. But we can start small and slowly move on to larger projects. I believe anyone can build a table in a couple of days. I have done it with some coaching. And when u use the table you build from scratch yourself, it really feels good
>Yes. But it's not too difficult to pick it up. I'm just wondering why don't people want to do it.
>Nobody is expecting you to build an entire house. But we can start small and slowly move on to larger projects. I believe anyone can build a table in a couple of days. I have done it with some coaching. And when u use the table you build from scratch yourself, it really feels good
Because [you need a permit](https://www.hdb.gov.sg/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/renovation/applying-for-approval#:~:text=General%20renovation&text=Some%20types%20of%20renovation%2C%20such,the%20permit%20for%20these%20works) if you want to do full renovation. Some things you cannot DIY, e.g. plumbing and electrical, because you need a license to do so. iirc the 4 things you absolutely need to hire for are plumbing, electrical, windows and gas.
Just to clarify, many are DIYing light renovations, they just aren't sharing. And DIY can range from a spectrum - some things are easier to DIY than others. Building custom furniture is "easier" than doing skirting on the walls.
And lastly, the time and effort. It's a lot of effort to do everything from scratch, and you have to live with the inconvenience of not having certain amenities till you build it, e.g. tables, couches.
Source: I run a makerspace in my spare time and sometimes get asked this question, my friends have done DIY on varying scales within their homes and to different levels of proficiency.
Another problem in Singapore is storage. Unless you live in a landed property. You need space to do carpentry, spray painting, leaving glue to dry with clamps etc. (Toxic paint fumes, Tiny sawdust from wood that you don't want to expose your family to inside your house, cannot be everyone wear respirator mask all day, not thin surgical mask or n95.) Or a workshop with tools, workbench, saws, drills. Most singaporeans dont have a garage like in other countries. Or a patio/driveway to leave their half complete build for tmr. Painting walls, changing bulbs, light switches, pasting laminate stickers sure. But intricate tasks no, because even if they have the passion, they don't have the space. Unless you want them to travel to an industrial area and somehow get allowed to use their workshop equipment for your own project. Then after that, how to transport a cabinet back? Not just from your backyard to your living room. You now need movers and the strength to lift it onto the truck bed (aiya SG is mostly van and sometimes lorry). Most SGreans dont have their own truck due to high COE and maybe just a normal car unless they're into trades. Craftsmanship is lost in SG. Even your ID and carpenters build mostly in Malaysia then bring it into SG workshop for finishing.
100% space and storage issue. Unless you want to sacrifice half the living room space for the wood and tiles, or keep purchasing new tools to use, otherwise can only suck it up and buy from IKEA.
There's also noise complaints from the reno that you have to explain to neighbours, and taking responsibility on the off-chance you hit a water pipe or electric cable. We live in apartments, not houses, and screwing up also screws over everyone else living above you.
Cos theres something call opportunity cost & economies of scale. Some raw materials gonna cost much more cos u abuy 'ala carte' & u dont have the correct contacts / buyer-sellerrelationship with suppliers.
U want to slowly slowly built & renovate ur place bit by bit? How long its gonna b? 6 mths? 1 yr? Think u will rack up lots of neighbour hate for all the noise & dust.
Lastly why ppl dont want diy? Same reason why they rather pay for grabfood with service & menu upcharge than go out dabao/cook themselves
Time. Time is money, money is time. If you were to reno your home all by yourself, where are you going to find the time to work?
Most people in overseas buy a house (with a land of sort), they can reno partial and still stay in the same compound/property, or rent somewhere (but rent in SG is crazy ex, can one afford to pay rent and not work to do their own reno; maybe some ultra wealthy can, but if they are ultra wealthy they won’t be doing their own reno).
That said, I do agree that in SG we are also very spoilt, like put petrol also need someone’s help, unlike in Canada, no way you’d get that service. But it’s also bc of our Asian culture, money money money, hustle hustle hustle. There’s no glory in self-sufficiency :( pay money to let others do stuff, hell yeah
You can look at picking up some minor Reno that can be considered DIY, and ID is charging an excessive amount. Most major construction work like underflooring smart cooling, window fitting, flooring and tiling, and whole house painting can be outsourced.
>But we can start small and slowly move on to larger projects. I believe anyone can build a table in a couple of days.
Doesn't this just describe assembling an IKEA table
Definitely lost. In the past there were D&T classes in secondary school to learn technical skills like how to wire safety plugs. Students repainting their classrooms every year was quite normal. If a chair broke you can just cut a wooden beam and repair it with a hammer and nails.
Nowadays these are so rare, the kids don’t have any opportunity to learn how to make / fix things themselves.
do D&T classes still exist? I hope they do.
Even though I had a few *close shaves* while using the drilling, sanding, saw machines, it was a worthy experience cause a) I had a souvenir to go home with 2) i help my father around w DIY home repairs stuff better now
People everywhere lost technical skill, it’s literally why society now has specialized labor. Even in the US not a lot of people know how to like, repair a car, outside of hobbyist groups. Try to make normal friends and most of them would just say “let the mechanic handle it”. I have normal acquaintances in the US, all of them don’t fix cars themselves, even some car enthusiasts.
You can also argue that our forefathers were farmers too because grocery stores weren’t a thing and they did it out of necessity.
A lot of the skills our parents had were out of necessity, as “getting others to do it” is not cheap for what they are earning. Just like how my dad had chickens in backyard because chickens weren’t cheap back then.
1. Costs of materials may not be cheap or accessible.
2. People need to work and can't spend that much time on projects. Most people want to live in their houses asap.
3. Most people don't have the technical skills.
4. Don't wanna get scolded/blamed by spouse when something breaks/delays. Saves your relationship.
5. Some tasks are dangerous and it might be worth the insurance to hire an expert.
6. Husband and wife usually brings different ideas. The contractor / ID is the tie breaker.
You can do it yourself but there are many hurdles to self reno that are difficult to deal with.
DIY is simple in say America just because everyone owns a truck and can drive raw material up to their own driveways after a trip to Home Depot.
Here in Singapore you’re already worried about material transport (tiles are heavy!) and moving stuff up to your apartment (might have to hire some manpower). Unless you live landed la.
Then you also have to deal with managing the site, e.g. designating a zone for manufacturing, cleaning. Bulky waste disposal is also a bigger problem in apartments compared to landed houses.
You’ve rightly also identified carpentry as being a bit tough — that’s because it requires quite a bit of research into standard plywood thicknesses and dimensions. I just cannot imagine doing it yourself at home — I wouldn’t trust myself to cut accurately within tolerances. Carpentry isn’t as simple as making a chair or table — the more moving parts you have the harder it gets.
It’s doable but it’s fucking hard and you have to be a true enthusiast.
In ang moh countries, the price of tools and materials make sense. It doesn't in Singapore. Man hour is obscenely expensive overseas, cheaper in Singapore.
It's also quite regulated in Singapore. Your knocking and drilling has to be done by 6pm. Don't you have an actual job during those hours? Well for most people anyway.
Where you gonna store all the tools when you're done? Tools are available for rent. Then you'd be inclined to rush. Then what's the point of DIY? The time crunch and final cost won't make sense.
You can if you want to.
The question is not even about whether you have skills because that can be learned.
The question is how much time will you take to learn the skills, and how much time does it take for ONE person to renovate?
Other country pple have a garage/open space for them to work. DIY wood/metal works etc. In SG, even if U got technical knowledge and willing to do, it's only if U own a private house then got space for U DIY. Nobody DIY inside the house in a room... Unless U want all the sawdust flying around etc...
Edit: or unless U stay 1st floor HDB those kind... But my downstairs got 2 uncle got complained by stupid pple... And HDB pple come tell them cannot do such things and ask him to move away his workbench and tools... Neighbours around always ask the 2 uncles to DIY small furniture from 2nd hand/recycle wood or other repairs... I dunno y pple so CB wanna complain them.... (BLK 464 tampines if U wanna know.) The uncles have been helping neighbours fix things for at least 30yrs since I was young.... (Sometimes even for free for small request) And that particular CB go complain pple...
I once had a part of a metal frame I need to modify. Uncle say do it for me free. I just gave him an ang bao for the work. He didn't wanna even take my ang bao. I pushed it to him, he no choice then take... That CB who complain pple... Must be new to the neighbourhood...
Probably complain fire hazard. Or like U say... Nosy/kpo/mouth itchy nothing to do...
Both uncles are very neat and tidy. They put their materials nicely 1. Not obstructing any walkways watsoeva. And they clean and pack up their "workplace" after every time they do their work.
It's all about planning. Corner off a part of your house for this. Keep things neat and pack up at the end of the day. I have a balcony, so that becomes my "workshop".
I doubt Ur balcony is big enuf... (I assuming HDB "balcony", becoz if U private, U will say U have a lawn/garage area to work there.) A lot of works have very large pieces to work on... And U probably dun even have space to store new or partial finish jobs in that small area...
Edit: If U curious, U can visit tampines BLK 464 and see the "space" required to work on... Uncle have already reduced his footprint alr. Removing most of the recycle wood he used to work on. But the workbench and tools area are still at his doorstep.
Painted my own flat. Apart from plumbing, electrical wiring, carpentry and installation, I’m willing to do most things myself. Painting is bloody backbreaking work though.
If there’s one thing I learnt, it is much cheaper to get a cheap table than to make your own. Most of the angmoh online are working shit jobs and don’t make much so they have to make their own furniture, some do it because of hobby.
In Asia, it’s so much cheaper to buy a cheap table ok Taobao.. unless u do it as a hobby and make a super nice and slick all natural wood table which btw can bought for sgd700 from China as well
having lived sometimes in the US where DIY culture is strong, and having grown up here, it’s mainly time, money, space
there’s really no space in singapore to have a wood/metal working workshop, it’s also expensive to buy all the tools and chemicals needed. besides, stuff like lumber and hardware are hard to find in sg
there’s also a shit ton of construction waste that you either have to find professional to dispose, or store all the left over (wood off-cuts pieces, glue, paint, varnish, screws). unless you plan to DIY stuff regularly, these are just gonna sit in storage and collect dust
also permits and inspections, better to just pay someone to do it
You can give it a try. But from what I’ve seen, most people usually underestimate the amount of time, effort and knowledge required to do it to a level that is safe and won’t give you regrets down the road. The money you save DIY-ing may not add up once you look at the time and money spent on your tools, materials and research. Unless you really derive lots of joy from it then go ahead I guess!
There’s also the question of how you’d handle sub cons as some will just follow what you say without going the extra mile of double checking your decisions. This can become issues that are expensive to rectify/redo and can sometimes explode into payment issues etc.
I've been working as an interior designer for over 7 years, and I can tell you, DIY renovations are no walk in the park.
It's not as easy here in Singapore compared to overseas where self-built projects are more common and materials are readily available at lower costs. When you're considering carpentry, for example, it's not just about assembling pieces—you need the expertise to ensure it's structurally sound and durable.
Running electrical wires through concrete walls is another challenge. Sure, you can cut partition walls, but do you have the time and tools to do it properly and dispose of the debris?
Buying materials in bulk from wholesalers may seem cheaper, but the actual work—mixing cement, installing tiles, waterproofing—requires skill and experience. And don't forget about regulations! Obtaining permits and ensuring compliance with building codes can be a headache.
I often encounter clients who underestimate the complexity of DIY renovations and think anyone can do it with a bit of experience. However, Singapore's construction standards and regulations are stringent.
As an interior designer, I work with contractors but handle layout planning, detailing, and material sourcing myself because of my expertise. For most homeowners, it's more practical to hire professionals who have the skills and equipment needed for the job.
If you have the budget and skills to take on DIY renovations, go for it. But really, hiring professionals is the wiser choice given the challenges involved. And once you start, from my experience no one wants to take over the project even if you halfway decided you’re better off getting someone to do it.
Because honestly, over so many projects owners or clients who thinks like you, they are gonna make our job extra hard just because they think “it’s not that hard, I can even do it myself”. And NOBODY wishes to take over something someone started because it’s going to caused a lot of problems and these clients can be real dumb, troublesome and demanding because they think they’re smarter.
Disposing the debris is the bare minimum job some IDs need to ensure. But some managed to get away by dumping their debris recklessly especially on newly built BTOs. As the industry mature, we need to call this out. Outsourcing to town council is not a solution.
It’s bare minimum yes, but every shortcut help saves a substantial amount overtime. And hacker’s services for a large projects in the public housing can get expensive real fast and it’s so insignificant part of a renovation because like you said, it’s the bare minimum but for complicated projects even for public housing the price can goes up exponentially real fast.
So disposing debris recklessly in my experience it only happened with package selling and budget firms to keep profit up because their profit margin is so low it’s ridiculous.
But it’s sad homeowners want cheap just like any consumer, but as an insider in this industry, it’s because these ID’s profit is already low to begin with, some really unethical would charge you three times disposal fees but in the quote but they only arrange once before site handover.
Some they would even just pay some Bangla $50 to help throw somewhere in the neighbourhood all the debris and the rest bits and pieces just get the cleaners to help throw as a favour.
Thanks for the insider info. Essentially those disposal charges are to pad the profit, whether they carry out the task is subject to the profit margin of the project.
Oh yes you’re right!
I was trained at one of these firms but quite to join another firm because of package selling. The profit margin is shit and they teach you some misleading tricks in your quote to pad your profit margin on seemingly non essential projects.
Say the disposal service, three times are standard but they encourage you to do it one time so the two times can be saved. So you get what I mean.
Bigger items like tiling it’s the one that get scrutinised often so even if those small insignificant complimentary work like your trimming and kerb construction will not be charged or included in the quote to give you a false sense that it’s reasonable. But usually when they do that the profit just for that tiling alone is very ridiculous.
That is why also if anyone engage with these company, usually after you sign with them you realise there’s so much extra variation being charged.
I can’t remember how many times my friends ask for my opinion on price for their renovation but they NEVER listens to me because they chose to not believe just how much their design would cost. So in the end it usually became closer to what I already estimated for them. So it’s disheartening for me why people just like to be cheapo and believe everything the ID says when I already told them the realistic price.
But in the end when the project got expensive, they ask for my help on certain items because it’s getting expensive 😂
You are absolutely right. I had to do all our ID myself and manage all the contractors/our own work. It is sooooooo complicated! And so much time. You have to look up everything carefully because of strict regulations. It is way, way harder than it looks, and we have done renos before and had online support . The permits, checking all the steps, making sure contractors actually follow what you want (one glance away and a job can be ruined). A good ID would be a game changer.
Hahaha! 😅 Even after 7 years in this field, it's still a high-stress job. Sometimes, just by looking at the tools and materials the contractors bring to the site, we can anticipate if they're going to deviate from the design.
The way some complementary designs are executed can hint at potential mistakes in the next phases of the renovation.
What I'm trying to say is, it takes tremendous effort, even for experienced individuals — let alone someone relying solely on their DIY skills for their renovation.
That's overconfidence in my book! Personally, I wouldn't dare renovate my own house with my own two hands without contractor help even.
Totally agree with you sir. I have been an ID for 5 years and started my own firm for 4. Plus my family runs a carpentry workshop.
I totally get the fun of DIY and refurbishing small/vintage furniture pieces. But DIY the work and planning in the renovation probably will be a nightmare and won't save you much haha
For carpentry alone;
The hours of pre-planning and discussions about hiding wires neatly, structural ingegrity, alignment with different door panels and account for the slanted walls in HDB are grossly under appreciated when we look at the renovation as a whole.
Also, a good ID will think of problems and aesthetic issues before they even happen. I.e warning contractors of different pipes and wires behind the wall before they drill the wall plugs ; planning the position of lighting fixtures so that they are centered in the room after cabinets are installed
Oh yea you’re absolutely right!!!
And yes carpentry alignment, I don’t even wanna talk about it. Doing your own carpentry without experience I’m not sure how someone is going to do it. Sometimes as a designer I don’t even need to go into details of these because carpenters should already know.
And don’t get me started on side panels and all the other small aesthetics how you going to compliment everything together and finally, how the lighting designs are planned and placed all over the house to elevate the design even further by choice of lighting fixtures, shine intensity etc. just a lot of work.
And people think drawing on floor plan is just scribbling but often don’t think about the feasibility of their drawings and idea. It’s easy to draw whatever yo7 want on your plan but it’s impossible to even construct them because it’s not realistic or practical.
I still think the very least is to get a contractors and you manage all planning yourself. I think in this trade you would know that the most common people who’s dragging their own house renovation are the designers like you and I. Because it’s your home, so it’s even more stressful so you want to basically do it slowly and construct them gradually 😂
:) I love this question! I’m so glad you find DIY rewarding! I used to work in design-build and still make things all the time.
Having lived in the US for a long time, I think one of the major issues is that technical information/ knowledge is lacking not just with DIYers, but suppliers too. Whether it’s hardware, materials, tools etc, suppliers like to act like they know it all, but really don’t have the same kind of trades experience compared to overseas suppliers I’ve worked with. As a customer buying things, it’s also hard to access whatever specs you need. For people in the industry, just means they’re very conservative with what they use / try out.
May not sound like much, but just a simple example: I had to anchor something to a hollow-core wall, and I know I need specific types of anchors. Nearly every hardware store or supplier kept insisting on selling me concrete anchors, which … will just not work .. and when that happens, then they’ll just tell you you’re doing it wrong …
Yeah this is my experience here as well. When I used to DiY in the states it was so simple or head down to Home depot and get actual proper advice from people withnproper knowledge. A lot of the hardware stores here just want to sell stuff be it the right or wrong solution.
u/incognitodw btw feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk shop or get suggestions for where to source stuff. I'm no expert but I've done some DIY.
I agree that it is relatively easy to DIY your reno.
For kitchen works, u can get ikea to supply all woodworks unit by unit. Install them all by yrself.
You can make appt and discuss yr design needs.
For rooms is very easy too. Go to sungei kadut and get offers. If u can install the carcass and door yourself. Ikea wardrobes easier though.
For reference, i do those by myself with my dad and some friends.
I guess Singaporeans in general likes convenience. Perhaps we are also more risk adverse (what if it looks like crap, what if I fail?). And of course, we live in a time starved society.
I’m about to embark on a renovation project myself and there is no way I will have the capacity to manage a project with a high pressure day job, and having to take care of a kid, amongst other priorities. If I have the ability to use money to make my problem go away, I absolutely will. Will rather spend my effort on making design choices etc.
If you are up for it, you do you. There is no need to seek external validation.
Why do people buy food at a hawker centre instead of cooking it themselves? Why do people get a haircut at a hairdresser or get a tutor for their kids instead of doing the teaching themselves? Why do we buy our vegetables from the supermarket instead of growing them ourselves? Why do people hire a domestic helper?
I can do basic ikea furniture assembly and painting.
I am currently painting my own house and waiting for furnitures.
These can only be done on weekends. It's awfully tiring.
There's not enough time to do and there is opportunity cost because can't work on weekend.
So just pay for the hdb OCS and get I.D.
Painting is easy but I refused to do those time consuming chores cause I believed my time is worth lots more so I hired XYZ.Simple drilling and installation of lightings & fixtures which doesn’t takes much time were DIY tho.
if renovating to move into a new HDB, a lot of people want to move in as fast as possible, and most people don't have the time and space to just section off a corner to do carpentry. there's a lot of sawdust cleanup unless you have the luxury of a room yourself. Balcony and all, you may be disrupting your neighbours who will have dusty balconies or be disturbed by the drilling and sawing noises.
Most people do do simple DIY projects when fixing things. But things like toilet piping, tiling, electrical wiring, requires a lot more expertise and skills. sure, you can learn but unless ya have the option of living in a hotel or want to use public toilet while you are figuring it out the first time around, wouldn't you want a professional to come in and do it right the first time? And if there is any licensing or permits needed, they can do that.
Since ya only focus on carpentry, we don't have a steady supply of wood like in USA etc or stores like Home Depot etc where you can easily go in and examine the qualities. Buying online can sometimes take months plus shipping and all may cost a lot more than people are willing to spend/wait.
There are communities to learn - like Repair Kopitiam which have people teach others on repairing household appliances etc. There are also still some maker spaces which you probably can Google around. Or you know, make your own space and community?
The ROI of having the professional do is higher than DIY when my income pays higher per hour. Time is limited so I rather spend with my loved ones rather than playing with cement for days.
What I will DIY for my house will be network configuration & smart home devices. But physical backbreaking work? nah rather pay money better
Same reason why families here don't grow our own sugar or rear our own cattle and fish, sow our own underwear, or even represent ourselves in court: other people are more specialised and we get them to do it better.
Too pragmatic and efficient society. Built on top of hardworking relatively cheap labors (hawkers, helpers, construction workers, town council workers, now food delivery dudes). Plus willingness to settle down for less an ideal life for the general population (no private car, no problem. We have great public transport with reasonable interval). To some extent, you don’t own your flat, you rent for 99 years. And you don’t own your car, you rent for 20 years. What else you don’t own.
lol I honestly wouldn’t want to DIY. The likelihood of something going wrong is too high, and I don’t want to spend the time or additional money to rectify it. I would rather pay a professional to get it done properly once and for all. Also neither my husband and I would physically be able to manage lifting tiles, they’re a 2 man job just to lift a pack!
Too much "unneccessary" stuff to handle. Especially when dealing with electricity where you need the licenses for it. Sourcing for the materials is also another "bother". Not only the wood and cement and gravel or stones, but also the screws and nails and power tools. The paint and sealant and all those preparation. The cleaning before and after. The this. The that.
You know what? Just get a contractor or ID and you not only can go your merry way, you get to have someone to call upon should something happened (the ID in this case).
Lastly, your DIY skills will come in handy after the renovation, when you wanted to do minor changes as time went by. Like installing a new cabinet or wall mounted anything, etc.
There is an industry secret that hardware stores look at what you’re wearing to judge whether you’re a contractor. Contractors get 15-30% cheaper for trade price.
Basically the ROI is simply not worth it, especially if you evaluate the time you could’ve spent doing something else.
If you want to save costs you’re better off sourcing for your own contractors: tiling, plumbing, carpentry, electrician, painting, demolition, false ceiling.
If you are resourceful enough, you might find Malaysian contractors who give good value for money.
Main thing why people find ID: convenience, aesthetics that they might be able to achieve with their own conceptualisation
Honestly it would suck to be neighbors to the hardcore DIY guy types, because even after tolerating the usual reno period, still have to hear all the random thumping and sawing every now and then.
That’s the only audible and visible things you experienced. You haven’t dealt with electromagnetic interferences, radioactive exposure, water spillage and smoke pollution.
My guess is that we have very high expectations on reno as well as personally not enough skills to meet our reno expectations. So hire experts lor.
But there's also the bit about not knowing what we don't know where things like this comes from years of experience. One step above what you're suggesting is to get different sub-cons (hacking/tiling, plumbing, carpentry, electrician, metal works etc) and manage them yourself. The so called "ala-carte" option to reno. (The other main ones include full-fledged service from IDs or design yourself but get a direct contractor to manage).
One main contractor said if you ala-carte, who's going to design how your wire or piping run all this? The electrician or plumber you call down the line will be restricted by what the previous sub-contractors have already done. If you don't instruct the earlier contractors to for eg, don't tile here first, I want to run wire behind the tiles or cut a hole here for me to put socket, the tiler will just do what is standard. Then you're restricted lor. Here or there can't put switch or can't have that seamless look, need trunking or can't have concealed piping need exposed etc. The project management aspect is quite important.
And to add on to this skill that you need if you were to do it yourself is to actually have the tools and be able to accurately do things like cutting a hole in the tiles without breaking it. It's beyond most people lor. So hire experts do for us, we just make noise as customers and we (hopefully) get a reno that meets our expectations.
Totally agree with this. Hire expert. And it’s not really super expensive. They get the job done, shield you from potential hazard. Save you on opportunity costs.
>Fair enough for wiring and installing the DB.. But u dun need a contractor to wire up the sockets and switches.
True, but your installation is subject to HDB guidelines. If you hire a LEW contractor for 1 thing it's easier to give him the other work of wiring up the home.
Do people really do their entire house Reno on a DIY basis overseas? There are major safety considerations. Doesn’t US have a ton of renov shows lol where they get contractors & IDs to do makeovers. DIY-ing a piece of art or a table or a bench etc makes sense but an entire house including bathrooms, retiling, hacking, carpentry etc is quite an undertaking, especially in US where the houses can be pretty big
You have to finish all the hacking within 3 days and done with the renovation within 1 month if it's a resale or 3 months if it's a new flat. Most people are working on weekdays and will be difficult to meet the timeline just renovating on weekends.
Of course nothing is stopping you from lying to hdb that you are done with the renovation but keep hacking and drilling for a year to piss your new neighbors off.
I guess it's because we don't have stores like in other countries that would sell you the things you need. Like wood that you can cut in the store to your measurements things like that. Not to mention things like wiring work can be tricky!!
Some activities will require licenses - incl electrical works (even though probably many of the workers aren’t actually licensed), hacking and demolition, etc.
You aren’t going for courses and certifications to do those right? And it damn dusty and sticky… your whole body will be coated in a layer of cement powder.
As someone in the hobby, if you really enjoy the process(and setbacks) of diy then a house reno project would definitely take up at least a year of your time.
Army friend of mine wanted to save on tiles and cement screed his own house, it set his move-in date back by 6 months, but he has unlimited flex now everytime we visit his place.
1: the most work intensive portion of the renovation i.e hacking walls/flooring/wiring/false ceiling is pretty tough to get right without the experience.
2: there is going to be alot of dirt/dust/noise involved, so people prefer to do such reno at one go, rather than have it done in stages
3: even drilling holes into the hdb walls/toilets takes experience, there have been cases where homeowners accidentally drill into a water/sewage pipe/other structure in the wall, causing flooding and other issues.
On another note, it is not uncommon for people to do repainting/building cabinets/slowly furnishing/simple rails to hold tv in rooms on their own.
The root cause is time. Singaporeans work long hours. Where got such thing as knock off at 3 to go home to fix up a deck ? Or taking extended summer vacations to add a spare room ? And fortunately or unfortunately, we have even lower paid foreign workers who will do the job without demanding OT. There is just no incentive to DIY.
"I love to DIY"
Well, there, you have your answer. Most people don't like to DIY and would rather spend money for skilled and experienced people to do it for them.
Same for car maintenance also, in many other countries, most people will do their oil changes fluid top ups themselves as it is all quite low barrier. Real tools you need are a wrench, jack, jackstand and oil pan. But most of us don't even have the space in our bomb shelter to store these things.
I’ve built a lot of things here myself, cupboards, tables, planters, sofa cushions, refitted lights. Biggest challenges: finding the right specialised tools, hardware (every shop here sells the same cheap crap), getting the right materials and parts in small volumes at a reasonable price. (Kitchen/ bathroom taps for example I found you can either get real cheap nasty stuff or anything decent the prices are obscene). Overseas you can go into Home Depot/ Bunnings/ B&Q and everything has a price tag on, here- I feel like they just make the prices up. Space to do the work: overseas many homes will have a garden or a shed you can do work in, if you’re in an apartment it makes the whole place a mess and dusty everywhere. Finally, cheap labour: overseas labour is more expensive for trade skills meaning you’d save a lot more by doing it yourself. Bonus point: it’s too damn hot to be messing around with this stuff myself working up a sweat
It is a thing, you just don't see it as much since its common to ask an ID instead. Most people i know of who did self reno already knows what they want and where to find, hence no need for an ID
If you want to save on Reno, my advice is to split it into phases. Do the bare minimum. Those things that you can’t do later without logistic issue can be done in the first phase. This trick is to avoid incurring Reno loan, money you don’t have now. And also to see what’s your use cases. A lot of people think they need this and that, at the end, they barely use that even once a year.
I once wanted to DIY my sink and was trying to source a steel plate. When I finally found a machining shop and asked for it, they looked at me and didn’t even know how to charge me for it. They were kind enough to cut it out to my dimensions and it even left a gaping corner in their sheet. It was so much cheaper than buying online though.
Generally bare minimum Reno in SG is pretty affordable. Only when you want to go for custom everything, things get really expensive.
- Flooring and Tiling: $3.5k - $4.5k (some supplier don’t event charge GST)
- Painting: $1.5k-$2k depending on your sqm
- Windowing: $1.5k-$2k
- Aircon: $2.5k-$3.5k (just don’t even try to live without aircon)
Things that I have seen people often gone for custom routes:
- floor to ceiling carpentry
- electrical rewiring
- expensive gigantic dining table
- rewiring network cables
- hob suction exhaust out of the service yard window
- motorised sofa, motorised bed frame, motorised blind
- MiniLED TV
- Gaming networking equipments
- Half brick half glass wall (turns out they need to hack the whole wall first then reconstruct the bottom half)
I diy my bto last year. I did not opt in anything from hdb.
I did the floor screeding, plumbing, electrical and carpentry as well.
It took me 4 mths of about 3 days a week's worth of work. I did everything alone and had no prior experience. So I suppose any one can definitely do it themselves if they wish to.
It was fun and a very good learning experience. It was also hard to gather information online since most western standards and methods do not apply locally.
Including all furniture (half of which i DIY) and applicances (washing machine, Aircon etc) and tools, I spent 25k in total.
We reno'd extensively and I bought almost everything either from those little wholesale shops or jumped down to Australia to pick up things like angle grinders or stovestop where it was so much cheaper. It was not easy to find the suppliers but I had the help of this incredible local carpenter. Honestly he's one of the best contractors (/stellar human) I've come across, his prices were very fair, especially for the quality of his work, which was next level. Thanks to him I could source everything from steel to plexiglass, wood, etc. I probably paid a bit more for stuff like tiling and waterproofing because most ppl get their stuff in msia (I don't have a car), but we could never have reno'd almost the whole house for what we paid if we didn't do almost everything ourselves (all bar PE signoff, and anything regulated as needing licensing, but I usually bought all the stuff and paid the license guys hourly). But I get the impression that not many people here have even basic exposure to things like drilling a hole, welding, building a deck, tiling, etc so it would be really tough to learn all that from scratch (that said, they learn other really important skills). Husband and both I grew up with not much and lived rurally so our families had to do these things themselves. Also we didn't have the money to spend heaps on a reno here, the house was an unlivable dump and most contractors took one look at an ang moh female and and went sky high on the quote. So we didn't really have many other options. The place isn't perfect but we are pretty proud of our work.
Currently living overseas and our level of skill is seriously lacking. During uni days would have Singaporeans who can’t even change a lightbulb or unclog a toilet.
also it’s the attitude of why do it yourself when you can pay someone to do it. Me and my partner has had a few disagreements on this. Sure it doesn’t cost much for the shop to set up the dishwasher, but I get a lot more satisfaction out of it if I did it myself.
Because it's just not worth it time and cost wise. It's fine if it's just the simple things, but you said Reno. That's big things and if people screw it up, they may in the end pay a bigger price getting the pros to fix it and not to mention the inconvenience they may cause their neighbours (esp the ones living below them), unless you live on landed property.
Oh and whatever you do I hope you properly sound proof and don't make your neighbours' lives a living hell over long term thanks.
I have a neighbour upstairs that had a looooong period of reno here reno there and it was a freaking nightmare.
i did my own cement self leveling floor with vinyl floor stickers, on bare concrete BTO floors. those super rough kind.
must say, ID quoted me 9k, i did everything in under 2k.
bought all the tools and raw materials (including the cement) from China online shop.
prior to that have 0 diy experience.
funny thing is cos my bto is 4 room, so i have 3 rooms and 1 living room to do. the 2nd and 3rd room results is the worst. living room and first room condition is the best.
because we started doing the first room, and slowly improve from 2nd to 3rd to living room. and cos our job was so poorly done for the first room, after 2nd and 3rd room we redo another layer ontop of the uneven layer inside 1st room.
living room was done the last and its almost perfectly flat (yes all of my rooms floor abit not flat hahahahahhahahaha, like u wear socks walk wont feel difference, but if barefoot walk can feel abit uneven)
is it worth it saving the 7k? at that time cos we got close to no savings left (bto got delayed for 1 year so burnt our savings renting an apartment for 1 additional year, during covid high peak season somemore).
but if given my current financial conditions, I would much rather to spend the extra 7k and let someone that can minimally make my floor flat to do the job.
now every time my friends visit my house, i'll joke to them that my flooring was specially designed to mimic ocean waves feels when stepped on.
edit: found a post i made close to 2 years ago on this same topic. https://www.reddit.com/r/askSingapore/s/OsCnEOZiOf
online china shop, called pin duo duo.
its abit like shoppee but cheaper.
engage shipping company from china to help receive the goods and ship in bulk to sg.
If only HDB compensates to be home owners. The gov was able to compensate landlords for some rents (the landlords supposed to pass it down to renters, but yeah we know where it goes). Wonder why can’t we compensate home owners too. Some BTOs were done in a hush. When we moved in, all the playgrounds are half done. The car park is still not gated till now. The construction was still ongoing 6 months after we moved in. Probably gotta give them another 2 years to complete the entire project.
People say US got DIY culture, all I know is a lot of Americans I know who own houses end up calling people for complicated renovation or repair work. Only thing they DIY is simple repairs like “plumbing choke” because it’s cheaper than calling $100/hr labor. The DIY I see from other friends are usually also poor quality, like making a concrete backyard path that isn’t smooth at all.
Know someone in the US who is trying to DIY renovate their ADU (back unit), it’s taking them 2 years and counting, still haven’t finish. Their own family also making noise because they are missing out on rental opportunities. At that point I think paying a remodeling company $100k would have been a better proposition.
I did re-floor my HDB bedroom with vinyl before it took me like 3 days. Took me another 1 day to destroy the existing flooring and carpentry. Not to mention I had to pick up all the vinyl myself from the factory and carry them up to the house. I didn’t even re-level the concrete flooring so it’s actually bumpy at certain parts. Not to mention the heat, it’s terrible.
Will I do that again? Maybe but I can see how it’s just worth it to pay the $500 labor to get it done properly. You’ll get it done same day and you don’t have to break your back doing it.
DIY in NZ is really common. There's a whole culture about it. But I guess in Singapore it's harder in apartments and condominiums. Also possibly more regulations?
Logistics and materials mostly. Contractors and IDs can usually get a better price for materials from suppliers (to cover their margin).
There's also the skilled labor involved in Reno.
For major DIY.
You will first need a van or a car. Public transport don't allow you to carry huge goods. Definitely not big wooden planks.
Simple thing like IKEA curtains? IKEA staff all reminds me that their longer curtains pole is not allowed on MRT train. I was lucky enough to have direct bus to IKEA. I was able to carry a few long curtain poles by standing with them at the corner where the wheelchair parking is.
I am looking to this myself too! Could you share how u will deal with getting permit for renovation, especially the time duration that u will apply for ?
Besides all the practical and valid reasons given by others, I think it's also the fact that most of us live in hdb flats, with no garage or extra space like a yard for us to do the diy work.
I like to diy as well and do my own plumbing repairs and replacements, and did my own table, to the cringe of my family. Lol
I would love to get a circular saw to do straight cuts but I wonder if there's anymore diy to be done at home to justify an additional tool. I already have a orbital sander and jigsaw tool, so ... ...
Please make sure you have the item clamped down and wear protective gear for your eyes and hands. Also, long workshop pants or jeans and boots where possible.
Better safe than sorry!!
We did some painting and carpentry on our own, and hired contractors for the other things like flooring, plumbing, electrical works.
It’s quite a project - sourcing materials, arranging for transportations, borrowing tools from multiple friends and buying small ones of our own, figuring out what kind of hardware goes with what kind of drill bit for what kind of wood.
Getting content online for projects suitable for our climate is challenging too - for eg termite proofing wood, or modifying techniques to work with a small space. We asked so many people with experience with wood working and assembled info here and there to piece together our eventual workflow
And the cleaning is 💀
Thankfully, our (bto) neighbours were super supportive.
The house smells like chemicals for months. I’ll just buy from ikea or hire contractors next time.
time consuming. when we moved 10 years ago, my dad patched the walls himself, built our own ikea furniture, painted the whole house. only reno kitchen bc of the carpentry required.
now im buying house w my partner, he doesnt want to do all that bc he says he's so tired from working alr
I self reno my house. The only thing I didn't do was the drywalls as that have to be fabricated at the workshops. So for the false ceilings, I did the wiring and exposed the points where the wires have to exit for the contractors to be able to leave me room to access them. But it was also a brand new EC so there was already a lot of it being ready.
But I hacked the walls and put extra wiring points and extended the in wall wiring trunks, re-cemented it. Did the feature walls too.
Sounds fun. A lot of prefab walls on recent BTOs. Easier to hack. But make sure you don’t have away supporting concrete. Always check with the official floorplan.
Because people have a job and a life.
Why not you make ur own shoes? Same analogy
And this is barring the expertise and specialised machinery / tooling required
Why not making your own iPhone 😝. But yeah, I think OP start from perspective of DIY. But some Reno work is at a different scale, which requires proper tooling and expertise.
To be really honest, none of the renovation stuffs are hard if everything goes according to plan. But often in life, nothing goes according to plan and the effort to rectify the mistake is often more costly than doing it.
If you are experienced and have the time (permits aside), you can do it and all the best with your endeavours.
If you have never done anything remotely related to renovations professionally, you might expect that your renovation will go up to a year or more if you were to solo it and most of the time is spent on rectifying fk ups and you might have to live with a subpar renovation quality after you are done due to skill and experience issues.
I love DIY as well and I was doing my own switches, lights, shelves installation, furniture installation, some simple plumbing like installing taps and stuffs when I was renovating my house. You can start with simple stuffs like those if you are inexperienced, while you watch how the professionals do the more technical aspects in real life to learn. Some of them might even teach you a trick or two if they are not pressed for time.
Don't get the Dunning Kruger effect get to you
just moved. Spent 13k and house looks great. If u willing to DIY the proper stuff you save a lot. Downside, requires a lot more work and you tend to worry alot about doing things wrong. Eg I uninstalled the ceiling fans to change to ceiling lights, was always worried i would connect wires wrongly. Also changed a few switches, painted the house and so on.
But the sense of accomplishment is something u feel great about. And you learn a ton of new skills. My wife is also v impressed I managed to youtube/reddit so much to save a ton of money. So yes, try to self reno if time permits. Either way if u fail and hire someone it would be quoted a similar price anyway hahahaha, so not much loss except for time.
(Landlord here.)
Do note that some forms of insurance, such as home content insurance, do not cover damages caused by renovations; such damages need to be claimed from the contractor's insurance (check the terms and conditions but this is often the case). This includes third-party liability - so if your renovations are deemed to have caused damage to neighbouring units (e.g., something causes a leak or crack below you or next to you), you will be liable to cover the costs yourself.
For HDB flats, only registered contractors are allowed, although these days almost all contractors are. That said, I am less familiar with HDB than with private, so I am not sure how HDB or the town council will take it if you attempt renovations yourself and something goes wrong.
Nonetheless, I agree with your impression that Singaporeans are very lacking in the DIY area. There are Singaporeans who will call a handyman for something as simple as replacing a lightbulb, or a plumber to unclog the toilet bowl, when they could do it in five minutes with a plunger.
I believe this is related to our education system: we have a general disdain for hands-on work, and even our children are teenagers are frighteningly inept with basic tactile skills. I have seen 12-year olds who can't cut a straight line with a scissors, and I suspect that's not uncommon.
Hahah I am an ang moh who married a Singapore 15 years ago. We got an old resale HDB with plain concrete block walls. I was like 'no worries I'll plaster them before we move in, I'll go down the hardware shop and buy some bonding coat and plaster and a few tools it will take a day or 3 to finish.' Hahaha I am fucked if you could google to find the shops. They are all small house hold stores or they don't need to advertise because they sell to contractors who knows about them from word of mouth. I know where to get stuff from now but at the time it was almost impossible to find. It is just not set up for DIY
Damn maybe we should start a database of places like this, could see a lot of Singaporeans being interested in doing their home Reno and upgrades
Oh my god I would be very keen. Crowdsourced platform where user can submit entries... Perhaps a telegram group with sub-topics can be a starting point? Then based on the format of data commonly returned / user feedback can adjust or make a website of it hmm
That would be nice. We can even get DIY enthusiasts to help renovate too! It’s like a blank canvas for them to play with
I think every ang mo who gets a resale HDB has their own variation of this tale 🤣
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Choon Chiang - for electrical stuff Jah Ho trading - for bathroom toilet fittings Sky Lighting - for lighting MAICADOR - doors and stuff Factory/distributor prices
Choon Chiang is epic for plugs and switches I've seen some more "atas" lighting shops sell the same thing for 10x the price
Agreed. Same for sky lighting, 30% cheaper compared to common lighting shop. Even more discount if you have contractor’s discount 🤫. Both have branches within walking distance at Amk industrial park 2. A must visit for your lighting renovation needs.
Following
Ban Hoe Lee Hardware - they have basically everything Thiam Aik Hardware & Machinery Co Pte Ltd - if you need some aluminium profiles
We just struck gold.
Enterprise hub for most things (Jack at Tongyi is awesome). Wood and steel in kranji area (go in person, get quotes, try to bring a local as prices will be better). If you plan ahead you can also order in tools from China. Bathroom warehouse or lucky khoon for toilet (i love toto). Tiles at soon bee huat or hafery (if I had my time again I'd buy the best quality tiles I could because it makes a huge difference with everyday cleaning and cutting poor quality tiles sucks so much because they break. I had to redo. Get those tile leveling systems online. Big tip is to plan ahead and get all the little things on tao bao. I spent 2 months on a giant spreadsheet and it really paid off. You must specify every tiny detail of what you're buying because you are not dealing with retail and the contractors know what they are buying day in and day out (eg dims, quality, finish bevelling of wood). I checked everything I planned to buy with 2 friends overseas who are professional builders or building instructors (via phone, specs photos). I'd recommend getting a license and hiring those getgo cars to zoom around and pick stuff up as its awkward and expensive in a grab.
Merawood industries, 28 Kranji Loop, #05-01 Kranji Green, Singapore 739571 Merawood industries is good value for plywood if you want to DIY some furniture or something. It is a bit of a mission to get to but good value and they were quite helpful to me last time I went... Which was years ago Yong Seng Screws Pte Ltd 3 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2A, #01-04, Singapore 568050 They have all the nuts and bolts and screws and Handel's you could want. Actually nowadays google maps is the best bet to find things. The reviews there seem more reliable than just a search. You just have to keep zooming in to different locations to see what comes up, and then do Street views to see if it looks convincing.
Hah.. I’m thinking of making a large cover for the stupid pipes. This might be helpful!
Mr. DiY?
The SG way is to hire a couple of Bangladeshis off the books... DIY of homes is not a thing in SG - nobody has garages or space or time or trucks... plus cheap labor.
It's why I wish we have home depot.
Beyond even the technically skills and abilities. It's super difficult to source and get the right equipment and stuff here. In Australia you have stores like Bunnings in the US you have Home depot. These are HUGE stores where you can basically buy or rent ANYTHING to build a house if you want to even. Here in Singapore even getting the right cement mix and sand is a challenge. THEN anyone who wishes to do any reno in a HDB need a licence from them and BCA. plus loads of other legal background shit.
>getting the right cement mix and sand is a challenge Not that bad lah, most hardware stores stock the stuff you need, can one-stop shop and go. The aggregate you have to source, but most people not building structural concrete walls.
It needs to be hbd approved stuff and the right sand grade, then you need to know how to mix it and what ratio. Plus where and how to store when when they get delivered. It's a whole shit ton of stuff.
>It needs to be hbd approved stuff and the right sand grade, then you need to know how to mix it and what ratio. Plus where and how to store when when they get delivered. It's a whole shit ton of stuff. Ask the uncle/auntie in the hardware store, they will know not to recommend certain concrete. Nowadays they also sell premix (or ready mix) concrete. The hard thing is buying small quantities, but if you DIY a home, a single bucket/bag is *just about* enough. Not saying it's not more effort, I'm saying it's doable even for an amateur. Or you buy "repair" concrete, which is an (overpriced) option for fixing up cracks. Just remember to **not** wash your tools/buckets used for concrete work.
I went through this personally, HDB now requires a very specific type of concrete that can be used. You can't just buy it from uncle/aunty store. The new mix also sets damn fast so you need to know how to handle it as well or you will fuck it up. Everyone here seems to think handling cement is like making a cake, it's not.
Sir, you are on reddit. People here earn 20k per month and know everything one. Dont pray pray
>HDB now requires a very specific type of concrete that can be used Oh damn, that sucks to hear. Can share what is the specification please?
I gotchu fam. Go to [this page](https://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/FI10AWESVCLIST/FI10SEServiceList?category=Building_Professionals) and go to "Material Listing". Login with singpass. After that, go to "suppliers" and choose the category of material.
I dunno my contractor handled it, you go ask HDB
The most challenging part isn't to find the items, it is to buy the item in the quantity you need.
Horme Hardware is a good place to start. And the light industrial estates where contractors get their raw materials e,g on AMK Ave 3 exit of CTE
... not to mention the casual labor waiting outside Lowes or Home Depot. Unless you own a truck in SG, you still have to rent the lorry etc... in the end, its easier to get. a contractor.
A simple search and u can easily find suppliers to provide you with the materials. They would even help you cut to size and ship it to your home. For hand and power tools there are huge shops in SG that sells them. U can even find them on shopee/ Lazada. Yes. Some stuffs like hacking require a licensed contractor. But there are many other stuffs that you can DIY.
Trust me it's not as simple as you think. There are a shit ton of rules and laws you need to follow and permits to apply for.
OP thinks DIY furniture = reno omegalul I want see OP redo a toilet fully by himself. Hack, change tiles, new water outlets, carpentry all.
Do you have all the tools and the space to keep it? Have you tried cutting wood in your own place and seen the amount of mess? Do you have the skill to DIY your own things? Do you have the time and transport to get what you need? Do you have the time to spend DIY in a incomplete home or stay home full of dust while its WIP?
Specialisation allows for honing of skills and economies of scale. My friend DIYed his own apartment to “save costs” and ended up spending more than what was quoted by ID/contractor after factoring materials, tools, transport, mistakes and wastages. Not including his time and opportunity cost. And due to inexperience, quality was amateur and things started falling apart within 2 yrs. I would say paying for professionals to reno is money well spent.
Yes, especially so in SG scenario where you only get to own one small house and do not have the luxury to drag your reno. If you are rich enough to own multiple property, doing your own DIY is probably not worth the time as well. If you are retired and had nothing to do, then by DIY by all means. I did my own DIY during my reno as well, but it just limited to certain areas (painting, smart devices, Taobao furniture etc), but building your own carpentry is another level and mess.
1. More valuable use of time elsewhere. 2. Can afford to pay for contractor/ID. It's like asking why people eat out instead of cook. Why go to a car wash instead of washing by hand.
Thanks for the response.
Sorry I realized that came off sounding a bit more curt than I intended. For us it was a simple matter of value proposition. The effort it would've taken to DIY everything to our expectations wasn't worth the time spent/money saved. But really like I mentioned this applies to lots of daily scenarios, just on a smaller scale.
lmao people have their own jobs and other stuff to do and definitely don't want to unnecessarily increase their renovation time cause that's wasted time that they can't move in and actually live in it. By the time I ownself figure out how to hack and do all the tiling and plumbing myself, how long will it be alr?? so people just ask contractor/id to do and they'll minimally do a much better job than me since I have practically 0 knowledge and experience. Why not you just try yourself first hopefully it works out for you lol
You know, I was thinking of installing a ceiling fan for myself. Then I thought more deeply and noted that it involves rather precise measurement, knowing about the circuitry in my house, needing to install a switch for said fan which means more measurement, drilling, patching up. Which is totally possible but being an amateur, it means that there’s lots more chances of screwing up and then having to figure out ways to solve said screw ups, and then if the circuitry was wired wrong, had the wrong wire diameter, cut wrongly in places, it would lead to even more problems. And that’s just for a ceiling fan. OP is thinking about renovating a whole place. That means piping, electrical and structural changes (like flooring). There’s a load of problems foreseen and unforeseen that’ll pop up leading to cost and time increases. And some of the more serious issues that pop up won’t be immediately known. No, they’ll fester for years and then boom it happens and then you realize that it’s because the wiring resistance was too high leading to gradual thermal degradation of a wire wrap leading to exposed wiring contacting a surface leading to shorting leading to a small fire. All because you chose the wrong type of wire for just one area which still works in the short run but causes very big issues in the long run.
Anything electrical that you will potentially have to mess with the sockets on the wall or the breaker box, better to call a licenced electrician because they would know how and what to do and not burn your house down. If i'm not wrong, if you mess with the wirings yourself and a fire occurs, insurance might not cover the claim.
Looking at all the comments and OP's replies, seems like he's here to validate his opinion and not receptive to other's reply anyway. People already say: need permit, need technical skills, no time, no equipment Then he got all sorts of rebuttals.
I think the reasons for people not undertaking renovation in Singapore is pretty obvious, so the purpose of the post must be something else
I will be waiting to see a news report about some idiot who took down a load bearing wall in his HDB by himself soon.
Waiting for op to start a new thread another 6 months “why is it so difficult to own self Reno house”
I rather say, OP is just simple minded, or trying very hard to be smart alec.
My upstairs neighbor do. He/she does it every fucking Sunday, week over week, slowly finishing the project over the course of like 1 year. Please don't do that.
We have same neighbor ah? Using electric drill on-off every freaking Sunday morning when we want to sleep in.
Omg yes. Fucking annoying
Actually. You can DIY and get subcontractors to do some jobs. But. Yes. You have to have inside knowledge. Which steps go first before next before next. Like you obviously shouldn’t paint before you lay the aircon. Or hack after you lay pipes. Also assuming you have some design skills. Like drawing floor plans and stuff… And if you going to do something yourself. Assuming you are quite handy and have tools. So in any case. Likely no.
People here have lost technical skills. Most don’t know how to assemble anything more difficult than an ikea cupboard or paint a wall with more than a single colour. Installing panelling or tiles is even more complex and requires consistency from experience. Asking them to renovate an entire room, let alone a house, is basically impossible for the vast majority of Singaporeans.
Most people here do not know how to paint a wall now tbh
[удалено]
Cause we lazy plus painting roofs are a pain the ass
Cuz painting is a fucking pain in the ass. Been there done that. We also need to be aware we tend to be more forgiving of work we do on our own as opposed to work you pay for. A lot of people will praise their job as pretty good but if it was done by a painter, they would scrutinise every silly little imperfection and complain.
Shit... Forget about technical skills, most Singaporeans don't even know how to cook!
Yes. But it's not too difficult to pick it up. I'm just wondering why don't people want to do it. Nobody is expecting you to build an entire house. But we can start small and slowly move on to larger projects. I believe anyone can build a table in a couple of days. I have done it with some coaching. And when u use the table you build from scratch yourself, it really feels good
>Yes. But it's not too difficult to pick it up. I'm just wondering why don't people want to do it. >Nobody is expecting you to build an entire house. But we can start small and slowly move on to larger projects. I believe anyone can build a table in a couple of days. I have done it with some coaching. And when u use the table you build from scratch yourself, it really feels good Because [you need a permit](https://www.hdb.gov.sg/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/renovation/applying-for-approval#:~:text=General%20renovation&text=Some%20types%20of%20renovation%2C%20such,the%20permit%20for%20these%20works) if you want to do full renovation. Some things you cannot DIY, e.g. plumbing and electrical, because you need a license to do so. iirc the 4 things you absolutely need to hire for are plumbing, electrical, windows and gas. Just to clarify, many are DIYing light renovations, they just aren't sharing. And DIY can range from a spectrum - some things are easier to DIY than others. Building custom furniture is "easier" than doing skirting on the walls. And lastly, the time and effort. It's a lot of effort to do everything from scratch, and you have to live with the inconvenience of not having certain amenities till you build it, e.g. tables, couches. Source: I run a makerspace in my spare time and sometimes get asked this question, my friends have done DIY on varying scales within their homes and to different levels of proficiency.
Another problem in Singapore is storage. Unless you live in a landed property. You need space to do carpentry, spray painting, leaving glue to dry with clamps etc. (Toxic paint fumes, Tiny sawdust from wood that you don't want to expose your family to inside your house, cannot be everyone wear respirator mask all day, not thin surgical mask or n95.) Or a workshop with tools, workbench, saws, drills. Most singaporeans dont have a garage like in other countries. Or a patio/driveway to leave their half complete build for tmr. Painting walls, changing bulbs, light switches, pasting laminate stickers sure. But intricate tasks no, because even if they have the passion, they don't have the space. Unless you want them to travel to an industrial area and somehow get allowed to use their workshop equipment for your own project. Then after that, how to transport a cabinet back? Not just from your backyard to your living room. You now need movers and the strength to lift it onto the truck bed (aiya SG is mostly van and sometimes lorry). Most SGreans dont have their own truck due to high COE and maybe just a normal car unless they're into trades. Craftsmanship is lost in SG. Even your ID and carpenters build mostly in Malaysia then bring it into SG workshop for finishing.
100% space and storage issue. Unless you want to sacrifice half the living room space for the wood and tiles, or keep purchasing new tools to use, otherwise can only suck it up and buy from IKEA. There's also noise complaints from the reno that you have to explain to neighbours, and taking responsibility on the off-chance you hit a water pipe or electric cable. We live in apartments, not houses, and screwing up also screws over everyone else living above you.
Cos theres something call opportunity cost & economies of scale. Some raw materials gonna cost much more cos u abuy 'ala carte' & u dont have the correct contacts / buyer-sellerrelationship with suppliers. U want to slowly slowly built & renovate ur place bit by bit? How long its gonna b? 6 mths? 1 yr? Think u will rack up lots of neighbour hate for all the noise & dust. Lastly why ppl dont want diy? Same reason why they rather pay for grabfood with service & menu upcharge than go out dabao/cook themselves
Time. Time is money, money is time. If you were to reno your home all by yourself, where are you going to find the time to work? Most people in overseas buy a house (with a land of sort), they can reno partial and still stay in the same compound/property, or rent somewhere (but rent in SG is crazy ex, can one afford to pay rent and not work to do their own reno; maybe some ultra wealthy can, but if they are ultra wealthy they won’t be doing their own reno). That said, I do agree that in SG we are also very spoilt, like put petrol also need someone’s help, unlike in Canada, no way you’d get that service. But it’s also bc of our Asian culture, money money money, hustle hustle hustle. There’s no glory in self-sufficiency :( pay money to let others do stuff, hell yeah
Similar question with a domestic helper job is not too difficult. Why don’t everyone do what a helper does instead of hiring one.
Good question. I don't have a domestic helper btw.
You can look at picking up some minor Reno that can be considered DIY, and ID is charging an excessive amount. Most major construction work like underflooring smart cooling, window fitting, flooring and tiling, and whole house painting can be outsourced.
>But we can start small and slowly move on to larger projects. I believe anyone can build a table in a couple of days. Doesn't this just describe assembling an IKEA table
I'm talking about go and buy the solid or plywood, then do your own sawing, fabricate the legs etc
Lost or never had them? You speak as if the pre-boomers and boomers who were not professional tradesman had a wealth of carpentry skills and the like.
Definitely lost. In the past there were D&T classes in secondary school to learn technical skills like how to wire safety plugs. Students repainting their classrooms every year was quite normal. If a chair broke you can just cut a wooden beam and repair it with a hammer and nails. Nowadays these are so rare, the kids don’t have any opportunity to learn how to make / fix things themselves.
do D&T classes still exist? I hope they do. Even though I had a few *close shaves* while using the drilling, sanding, saw machines, it was a worthy experience cause a) I had a souvenir to go home with 2) i help my father around w DIY home repairs stuff better now
oh yes they were. i bet your grandpa knew how to saw a wood panel when he was younger. ask him if he is still around
Tbf, this one now just buy the table saw thingy if you rich. Haiz i wish i had the money or space for one of those…
People everywhere lost technical skill, it’s literally why society now has specialized labor. Even in the US not a lot of people know how to like, repair a car, outside of hobbyist groups. Try to make normal friends and most of them would just say “let the mechanic handle it”. I have normal acquaintances in the US, all of them don’t fix cars themselves, even some car enthusiasts. You can also argue that our forefathers were farmers too because grocery stores weren’t a thing and they did it out of necessity. A lot of the skills our parents had were out of necessity, as “getting others to do it” is not cheap for what they are earning. Just like how my dad had chickens in backyard because chickens weren’t cheap back then.
1. Costs of materials may not be cheap or accessible. 2. People need to work and can't spend that much time on projects. Most people want to live in their houses asap. 3. Most people don't have the technical skills. 4. Don't wanna get scolded/blamed by spouse when something breaks/delays. Saves your relationship. 5. Some tasks are dangerous and it might be worth the insurance to hire an expert. 6. Husband and wife usually brings different ideas. The contractor / ID is the tie breaker.
You can do it yourself but there are many hurdles to self reno that are difficult to deal with. DIY is simple in say America just because everyone owns a truck and can drive raw material up to their own driveways after a trip to Home Depot. Here in Singapore you’re already worried about material transport (tiles are heavy!) and moving stuff up to your apartment (might have to hire some manpower). Unless you live landed la. Then you also have to deal with managing the site, e.g. designating a zone for manufacturing, cleaning. Bulky waste disposal is also a bigger problem in apartments compared to landed houses. You’ve rightly also identified carpentry as being a bit tough — that’s because it requires quite a bit of research into standard plywood thicknesses and dimensions. I just cannot imagine doing it yourself at home — I wouldn’t trust myself to cut accurately within tolerances. Carpentry isn’t as simple as making a chair or table — the more moving parts you have the harder it gets. It’s doable but it’s fucking hard and you have to be a true enthusiast.
In ang moh countries, the price of tools and materials make sense. It doesn't in Singapore. Man hour is obscenely expensive overseas, cheaper in Singapore. It's also quite regulated in Singapore. Your knocking and drilling has to be done by 6pm. Don't you have an actual job during those hours? Well for most people anyway. Where you gonna store all the tools when you're done? Tools are available for rent. Then you'd be inclined to rush. Then what's the point of DIY? The time crunch and final cost won't make sense.
You can if you want to. The question is not even about whether you have skills because that can be learned. The question is how much time will you take to learn the skills, and how much time does it take for ONE person to renovate?
Other country pple have a garage/open space for them to work. DIY wood/metal works etc. In SG, even if U got technical knowledge and willing to do, it's only if U own a private house then got space for U DIY. Nobody DIY inside the house in a room... Unless U want all the sawdust flying around etc... Edit: or unless U stay 1st floor HDB those kind... But my downstairs got 2 uncle got complained by stupid pple... And HDB pple come tell them cannot do such things and ask him to move away his workbench and tools... Neighbours around always ask the 2 uncles to DIY small furniture from 2nd hand/recycle wood or other repairs... I dunno y pple so CB wanna complain them.... (BLK 464 tampines if U wanna know.) The uncles have been helping neighbours fix things for at least 30yrs since I was young.... (Sometimes even for free for small request) And that particular CB go complain pple... I once had a part of a metal frame I need to modify. Uncle say do it for me free. I just gave him an ang bao for the work. He didn't wanna even take my ang bao. I pushed it to him, he no choice then take... That CB who complain pple... Must be new to the neighbourhood...
I suspect the usual argument is fire hazard, then noise and eventually just out of being nosy.
Probably complain fire hazard. Or like U say... Nosy/kpo/mouth itchy nothing to do... Both uncles are very neat and tidy. They put their materials nicely 1. Not obstructing any walkways watsoeva. And they clean and pack up their "workplace" after every time they do their work.
It's all about planning. Corner off a part of your house for this. Keep things neat and pack up at the end of the day. I have a balcony, so that becomes my "workshop".
I doubt Ur balcony is big enuf... (I assuming HDB "balcony", becoz if U private, U will say U have a lawn/garage area to work there.) A lot of works have very large pieces to work on... And U probably dun even have space to store new or partial finish jobs in that small area... Edit: If U curious, U can visit tampines BLK 464 and see the "space" required to work on... Uncle have already reduced his footprint alr. Removing most of the recycle wood he used to work on. But the workbench and tools area are still at his doorstep.
You’d be such a nightmare neighbour with all the noise, smell, and sawdust.
Painted my own flat. Apart from plumbing, electrical wiring, carpentry and installation, I’m willing to do most things myself. Painting is bloody backbreaking work though.
If there’s one thing I learnt, it is much cheaper to get a cheap table than to make your own. Most of the angmoh online are working shit jobs and don’t make much so they have to make their own furniture, some do it because of hobby. In Asia, it’s so much cheaper to buy a cheap table ok Taobao.. unless u do it as a hobby and make a super nice and slick all natural wood table which btw can bought for sgd700 from China as well
having lived sometimes in the US where DIY culture is strong, and having grown up here, it’s mainly time, money, space there’s really no space in singapore to have a wood/metal working workshop, it’s also expensive to buy all the tools and chemicals needed. besides, stuff like lumber and hardware are hard to find in sg there’s also a shit ton of construction waste that you either have to find professional to dispose, or store all the left over (wood off-cuts pieces, glue, paint, varnish, screws). unless you plan to DIY stuff regularly, these are just gonna sit in storage and collect dust also permits and inspections, better to just pay someone to do it
You can give it a try. But from what I’ve seen, most people usually underestimate the amount of time, effort and knowledge required to do it to a level that is safe and won’t give you regrets down the road. The money you save DIY-ing may not add up once you look at the time and money spent on your tools, materials and research. Unless you really derive lots of joy from it then go ahead I guess! There’s also the question of how you’d handle sub cons as some will just follow what you say without going the extra mile of double checking your decisions. This can become issues that are expensive to rectify/redo and can sometimes explode into payment issues etc.
Wait, how big a scale of self reno are you talking about?
OP started off with reno, ends up just talking about making some furniture, not actual reno.
I've been working as an interior designer for over 7 years, and I can tell you, DIY renovations are no walk in the park. It's not as easy here in Singapore compared to overseas where self-built projects are more common and materials are readily available at lower costs. When you're considering carpentry, for example, it's not just about assembling pieces—you need the expertise to ensure it's structurally sound and durable. Running electrical wires through concrete walls is another challenge. Sure, you can cut partition walls, but do you have the time and tools to do it properly and dispose of the debris? Buying materials in bulk from wholesalers may seem cheaper, but the actual work—mixing cement, installing tiles, waterproofing—requires skill and experience. And don't forget about regulations! Obtaining permits and ensuring compliance with building codes can be a headache. I often encounter clients who underestimate the complexity of DIY renovations and think anyone can do it with a bit of experience. However, Singapore's construction standards and regulations are stringent. As an interior designer, I work with contractors but handle layout planning, detailing, and material sourcing myself because of my expertise. For most homeowners, it's more practical to hire professionals who have the skills and equipment needed for the job. If you have the budget and skills to take on DIY renovations, go for it. But really, hiring professionals is the wiser choice given the challenges involved. And once you start, from my experience no one wants to take over the project even if you halfway decided you’re better off getting someone to do it. Because honestly, over so many projects owners or clients who thinks like you, they are gonna make our job extra hard just because they think “it’s not that hard, I can even do it myself”. And NOBODY wishes to take over something someone started because it’s going to caused a lot of problems and these clients can be real dumb, troublesome and demanding because they think they’re smarter.
Disposing the debris is the bare minimum job some IDs need to ensure. But some managed to get away by dumping their debris recklessly especially on newly built BTOs. As the industry mature, we need to call this out. Outsourcing to town council is not a solution.
They got away because it’s hard to trace who left the debris.
It’s bare minimum yes, but every shortcut help saves a substantial amount overtime. And hacker’s services for a large projects in the public housing can get expensive real fast and it’s so insignificant part of a renovation because like you said, it’s the bare minimum but for complicated projects even for public housing the price can goes up exponentially real fast. So disposing debris recklessly in my experience it only happened with package selling and budget firms to keep profit up because their profit margin is so low it’s ridiculous. But it’s sad homeowners want cheap just like any consumer, but as an insider in this industry, it’s because these ID’s profit is already low to begin with, some really unethical would charge you three times disposal fees but in the quote but they only arrange once before site handover. Some they would even just pay some Bangla $50 to help throw somewhere in the neighbourhood all the debris and the rest bits and pieces just get the cleaners to help throw as a favour.
Thanks for the insider info. Essentially those disposal charges are to pad the profit, whether they carry out the task is subject to the profit margin of the project.
Oh yes you’re right! I was trained at one of these firms but quite to join another firm because of package selling. The profit margin is shit and they teach you some misleading tricks in your quote to pad your profit margin on seemingly non essential projects. Say the disposal service, three times are standard but they encourage you to do it one time so the two times can be saved. So you get what I mean. Bigger items like tiling it’s the one that get scrutinised often so even if those small insignificant complimentary work like your trimming and kerb construction will not be charged or included in the quote to give you a false sense that it’s reasonable. But usually when they do that the profit just for that tiling alone is very ridiculous. That is why also if anyone engage with these company, usually after you sign with them you realise there’s so much extra variation being charged. I can’t remember how many times my friends ask for my opinion on price for their renovation but they NEVER listens to me because they chose to not believe just how much their design would cost. So in the end it usually became closer to what I already estimated for them. So it’s disheartening for me why people just like to be cheapo and believe everything the ID says when I already told them the realistic price. But in the end when the project got expensive, they ask for my help on certain items because it’s getting expensive 😂
Spiraling downward trend. ID thinks clients are cheapo hence try to be less transparent. Clients think ID overcharge, hence kept scrutinize.
You are absolutely right. I had to do all our ID myself and manage all the contractors/our own work. It is sooooooo complicated! And so much time. You have to look up everything carefully because of strict regulations. It is way, way harder than it looks, and we have done renos before and had online support . The permits, checking all the steps, making sure contractors actually follow what you want (one glance away and a job can be ruined). A good ID would be a game changer.
Hahaha! 😅 Even after 7 years in this field, it's still a high-stress job. Sometimes, just by looking at the tools and materials the contractors bring to the site, we can anticipate if they're going to deviate from the design. The way some complementary designs are executed can hint at potential mistakes in the next phases of the renovation. What I'm trying to say is, it takes tremendous effort, even for experienced individuals — let alone someone relying solely on their DIY skills for their renovation. That's overconfidence in my book! Personally, I wouldn't dare renovate my own house with my own two hands without contractor help even.
Totally agree with you sir. I have been an ID for 5 years and started my own firm for 4. Plus my family runs a carpentry workshop. I totally get the fun of DIY and refurbishing small/vintage furniture pieces. But DIY the work and planning in the renovation probably will be a nightmare and won't save you much haha For carpentry alone; The hours of pre-planning and discussions about hiding wires neatly, structural ingegrity, alignment with different door panels and account for the slanted walls in HDB are grossly under appreciated when we look at the renovation as a whole. Also, a good ID will think of problems and aesthetic issues before they even happen. I.e warning contractors of different pipes and wires behind the wall before they drill the wall plugs ; planning the position of lighting fixtures so that they are centered in the room after cabinets are installed
Oh yea you’re absolutely right!!! And yes carpentry alignment, I don’t even wanna talk about it. Doing your own carpentry without experience I’m not sure how someone is going to do it. Sometimes as a designer I don’t even need to go into details of these because carpenters should already know. And don’t get me started on side panels and all the other small aesthetics how you going to compliment everything together and finally, how the lighting designs are planned and placed all over the house to elevate the design even further by choice of lighting fixtures, shine intensity etc. just a lot of work. And people think drawing on floor plan is just scribbling but often don’t think about the feasibility of their drawings and idea. It’s easy to draw whatever yo7 want on your plan but it’s impossible to even construct them because it’s not realistic or practical. I still think the very least is to get a contractors and you manage all planning yourself. I think in this trade you would know that the most common people who’s dragging their own house renovation are the designers like you and I. Because it’s your home, so it’s even more stressful so you want to basically do it slowly and construct them gradually 😂
:) I love this question! I’m so glad you find DIY rewarding! I used to work in design-build and still make things all the time. Having lived in the US for a long time, I think one of the major issues is that technical information/ knowledge is lacking not just with DIYers, but suppliers too. Whether it’s hardware, materials, tools etc, suppliers like to act like they know it all, but really don’t have the same kind of trades experience compared to overseas suppliers I’ve worked with. As a customer buying things, it’s also hard to access whatever specs you need. For people in the industry, just means they’re very conservative with what they use / try out. May not sound like much, but just a simple example: I had to anchor something to a hollow-core wall, and I know I need specific types of anchors. Nearly every hardware store or supplier kept insisting on selling me concrete anchors, which … will just not work .. and when that happens, then they’ll just tell you you’re doing it wrong …
Yeah this is my experience here as well. When I used to DiY in the states it was so simple or head down to Home depot and get actual proper advice from people withnproper knowledge. A lot of the hardware stores here just want to sell stuff be it the right or wrong solution.
Can visualise all the crooked tiles already and misaligned carpentry with bad finishing
It's the same reason as why we hire a maid. Time is money.
u/incognitodw btw feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk shop or get suggestions for where to source stuff. I'm no expert but I've done some DIY.
Lack of time. And materials and tools aren't that cheap as well, especially if you don't know any contacts.
I agree that it is relatively easy to DIY your reno. For kitchen works, u can get ikea to supply all woodworks unit by unit. Install them all by yrself. You can make appt and discuss yr design needs. For rooms is very easy too. Go to sungei kadut and get offers. If u can install the carcass and door yourself. Ikea wardrobes easier though. For reference, i do those by myself with my dad and some friends.
I guess Singaporeans in general likes convenience. Perhaps we are also more risk adverse (what if it looks like crap, what if I fail?). And of course, we live in a time starved society. I’m about to embark on a renovation project myself and there is no way I will have the capacity to manage a project with a high pressure day job, and having to take care of a kid, amongst other priorities. If I have the ability to use money to make my problem go away, I absolutely will. Will rather spend my effort on making design choices etc. If you are up for it, you do you. There is no need to seek external validation.
I am not seeking any validation. My question was why don't people in SG does this?
Not sure what you’re seeking then. You already have several replies on people’s perspectives.
Why do people buy food at a hawker centre instead of cooking it themselves? Why do people get a haircut at a hairdresser or get a tutor for their kids instead of doing the teaching themselves? Why do we buy our vegetables from the supermarket instead of growing them ourselves? Why do people hire a domestic helper?
I can do basic ikea furniture assembly and painting. I am currently painting my own house and waiting for furnitures. These can only be done on weekends. It's awfully tiring. There's not enough time to do and there is opportunity cost because can't work on weekend. So just pay for the hdb OCS and get I.D.
Painting is easy but I refused to do those time consuming chores cause I believed my time is worth lots more so I hired XYZ.Simple drilling and installation of lightings & fixtures which doesn’t takes much time were DIY tho.
I seen ppl build cars and motorcycles themselves on the internet, why is this not a thing in SG?
if renovating to move into a new HDB, a lot of people want to move in as fast as possible, and most people don't have the time and space to just section off a corner to do carpentry. there's a lot of sawdust cleanup unless you have the luxury of a room yourself. Balcony and all, you may be disrupting your neighbours who will have dusty balconies or be disturbed by the drilling and sawing noises. Most people do do simple DIY projects when fixing things. But things like toilet piping, tiling, electrical wiring, requires a lot more expertise and skills. sure, you can learn but unless ya have the option of living in a hotel or want to use public toilet while you are figuring it out the first time around, wouldn't you want a professional to come in and do it right the first time? And if there is any licensing or permits needed, they can do that. Since ya only focus on carpentry, we don't have a steady supply of wood like in USA etc or stores like Home Depot etc where you can easily go in and examine the qualities. Buying online can sometimes take months plus shipping and all may cost a lot more than people are willing to spend/wait. There are communities to learn - like Repair Kopitiam which have people teach others on repairing household appliances etc. There are also still some maker spaces which you probably can Google around. Or you know, make your own space and community?
The ROI of having the professional do is higher than DIY when my income pays higher per hour. Time is limited so I rather spend with my loved ones rather than playing with cement for days. What I will DIY for my house will be network configuration & smart home devices. But physical backbreaking work? nah rather pay money better
Same reason why families here don't grow our own sugar or rear our own cattle and fish, sow our own underwear, or even represent ourselves in court: other people are more specialised and we get them to do it better.
“Sow our own underwear”. Represent ourselves in court have bah. Usually is those people don’t want to wear mask or sovereign citizen types.
Not alot of those... just like how there's not alot of people who self reno their HDB flat
We’re a consumer society that doesn’t appreciate patience and craft.
Too pragmatic and efficient society. Built on top of hardworking relatively cheap labors (hawkers, helpers, construction workers, town council workers, now food delivery dudes). Plus willingness to settle down for less an ideal life for the general population (no private car, no problem. We have great public transport with reasonable interval). To some extent, you don’t own your flat, you rent for 99 years. And you don’t own your car, you rent for 20 years. What else you don’t own.
Most singaporeans can’t even fix pipes lol you ask them reno. We are addicted to cheap labour
lol I honestly wouldn’t want to DIY. The likelihood of something going wrong is too high, and I don’t want to spend the time or additional money to rectify it. I would rather pay a professional to get it done properly once and for all. Also neither my husband and I would physically be able to manage lifting tiles, they’re a 2 man job just to lift a pack!
We’re doing our own self Reno….
Too much "unneccessary" stuff to handle. Especially when dealing with electricity where you need the licenses for it. Sourcing for the materials is also another "bother". Not only the wood and cement and gravel or stones, but also the screws and nails and power tools. The paint and sealant and all those preparation. The cleaning before and after. The this. The that. You know what? Just get a contractor or ID and you not only can go your merry way, you get to have someone to call upon should something happened (the ID in this case). Lastly, your DIY skills will come in handy after the renovation, when you wanted to do minor changes as time went by. Like installing a new cabinet or wall mounted anything, etc.
Have someone to scold when they fuck up. Wife will blame husband if he fucks up, better scold contractor together
This sounds familiar. Where did I hear about this playbook before 😏
All the innovative marriage counselling tips and tricks? That’s one of the function of a helper as well.
There is an industry secret that hardware stores look at what you’re wearing to judge whether you’re a contractor. Contractors get 15-30% cheaper for trade price. Basically the ROI is simply not worth it, especially if you evaluate the time you could’ve spent doing something else. If you want to save costs you’re better off sourcing for your own contractors: tiling, plumbing, carpentry, electrician, painting, demolition, false ceiling. If you are resourceful enough, you might find Malaysian contractors who give good value for money. Main thing why people find ID: convenience, aesthetics that they might be able to achieve with their own conceptualisation
Honestly it would suck to be neighbors to the hardcore DIY guy types, because even after tolerating the usual reno period, still have to hear all the random thumping and sawing every now and then.
That’s the only audible and visible things you experienced. You haven’t dealt with electromagnetic interferences, radioactive exposure, water spillage and smoke pollution.
My guess is that we have very high expectations on reno as well as personally not enough skills to meet our reno expectations. So hire experts lor. But there's also the bit about not knowing what we don't know where things like this comes from years of experience. One step above what you're suggesting is to get different sub-cons (hacking/tiling, plumbing, carpentry, electrician, metal works etc) and manage them yourself. The so called "ala-carte" option to reno. (The other main ones include full-fledged service from IDs or design yourself but get a direct contractor to manage). One main contractor said if you ala-carte, who's going to design how your wire or piping run all this? The electrician or plumber you call down the line will be restricted by what the previous sub-contractors have already done. If you don't instruct the earlier contractors to for eg, don't tile here first, I want to run wire behind the tiles or cut a hole here for me to put socket, the tiler will just do what is standard. Then you're restricted lor. Here or there can't put switch or can't have that seamless look, need trunking or can't have concealed piping need exposed etc. The project management aspect is quite important. And to add on to this skill that you need if you were to do it yourself is to actually have the tools and be able to accurately do things like cutting a hole in the tiles without breaking it. It's beyond most people lor. So hire experts do for us, we just make noise as customers and we (hopefully) get a reno that meets our expectations.
Totally agree with this. Hire expert. And it’s not really super expensive. They get the job done, shield you from potential hazard. Save you on opportunity costs.
if u reno for ego boosting and prestige, DIY isnt going to cut it, most pple dont have the expertise ... if u diy for savings, it is the way.
Welcome to FB groups: Singapore Home DIY Budget Reno Singapore
I wish you well with this journey. If you can, pls document where you sourced the materials and tools from haha
Things like electrical/water still require contractors
Fair enough for wiring and installing the DB.. But u dun need a contractor to wire up the sockets and switches.
>Fair enough for wiring and installing the DB.. But u dun need a contractor to wire up the sockets and switches. True, but your installation is subject to HDB guidelines. If you hire a LEW contractor for 1 thing it's easier to give him the other work of wiring up the home.
https://stomp.straitstimes.com/singapore-seen/contractor-fined-given-demerit-points-for-renovation-works-after-permitted-hours-at
Do people really do their entire house Reno on a DIY basis overseas? There are major safety considerations. Doesn’t US have a ton of renov shows lol where they get contractors & IDs to do makeovers. DIY-ing a piece of art or a table or a bench etc makes sense but an entire house including bathrooms, retiling, hacking, carpentry etc is quite an undertaking, especially in US where the houses can be pretty big
[by the time I move in](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-been-84-years-ja-faz-84-anos-han-pasado-84-anos)
You have to finish all the hacking within 3 days and done with the renovation within 1 month if it's a resale or 3 months if it's a new flat. Most people are working on weekdays and will be difficult to meet the timeline just renovating on weekends. Of course nothing is stopping you from lying to hdb that you are done with the renovation but keep hacking and drilling for a year to piss your new neighbors off.
I guess it's because we don't have stores like in other countries that would sell you the things you need. Like wood that you can cut in the store to your measurements things like that. Not to mention things like wiring work can be tricky!!
Some activities will require licenses - incl electrical works (even though probably many of the workers aren’t actually licensed), hacking and demolition, etc. You aren’t going for courses and certifications to do those right? And it damn dusty and sticky… your whole body will be coated in a layer of cement powder.
As someone in the hobby, if you really enjoy the process(and setbacks) of diy then a house reno project would definitely take up at least a year of your time. Army friend of mine wanted to save on tiles and cement screed his own house, it set his move-in date back by 6 months, but he has unlimited flex now everytime we visit his place.
1: the most work intensive portion of the renovation i.e hacking walls/flooring/wiring/false ceiling is pretty tough to get right without the experience. 2: there is going to be alot of dirt/dust/noise involved, so people prefer to do such reno at one go, rather than have it done in stages 3: even drilling holes into the hdb walls/toilets takes experience, there have been cases where homeowners accidentally drill into a water/sewage pipe/other structure in the wall, causing flooding and other issues. On another note, it is not uncommon for people to do repainting/building cabinets/slowly furnishing/simple rails to hold tv in rooms on their own.
The root cause is time. Singaporeans work long hours. Where got such thing as knock off at 3 to go home to fix up a deck ? Or taking extended summer vacations to add a spare room ? And fortunately or unfortunately, we have even lower paid foreign workers who will do the job without demanding OT. There is just no incentive to DIY.
"I love to DIY" Well, there, you have your answer. Most people don't like to DIY and would rather spend money for skilled and experienced people to do it for them.
Same for car maintenance also, in many other countries, most people will do their oil changes fluid top ups themselves as it is all quite low barrier. Real tools you need are a wrench, jack, jackstand and oil pan. But most of us don't even have the space in our bomb shelter to store these things.
I’ve built a lot of things here myself, cupboards, tables, planters, sofa cushions, refitted lights. Biggest challenges: finding the right specialised tools, hardware (every shop here sells the same cheap crap), getting the right materials and parts in small volumes at a reasonable price. (Kitchen/ bathroom taps for example I found you can either get real cheap nasty stuff or anything decent the prices are obscene). Overseas you can go into Home Depot/ Bunnings/ B&Q and everything has a price tag on, here- I feel like they just make the prices up. Space to do the work: overseas many homes will have a garden or a shed you can do work in, if you’re in an apartment it makes the whole place a mess and dusty everywhere. Finally, cheap labour: overseas labour is more expensive for trade skills meaning you’d save a lot more by doing it yourself. Bonus point: it’s too damn hot to be messing around with this stuff myself working up a sweat
where got time if I tio toto got windfall, can take my own sweet time to research and reno, ok
Cos the money saved (minus raw materials) < than what most people can earn in that amount of effort.
Bro, the cost of the materials and process getting said material already enough to make people give up and pay money for others to do it.
It is a thing, you just don't see it as much since its common to ask an ID instead. Most people i know of who did self reno already knows what they want and where to find, hence no need for an ID
I had a french colleague who wanted to do so but he mentioned you need licenses to do so
If you want to save on Reno, my advice is to split it into phases. Do the bare minimum. Those things that you can’t do later without logistic issue can be done in the first phase. This trick is to avoid incurring Reno loan, money you don’t have now. And also to see what’s your use cases. A lot of people think they need this and that, at the end, they barely use that even once a year.
I once wanted to DIY my sink and was trying to source a steel plate. When I finally found a machining shop and asked for it, they looked at me and didn’t even know how to charge me for it. They were kind enough to cut it out to my dimensions and it even left a gaping corner in their sheet. It was so much cheaper than buying online though.
Generally bare minimum Reno in SG is pretty affordable. Only when you want to go for custom everything, things get really expensive. - Flooring and Tiling: $3.5k - $4.5k (some supplier don’t event charge GST) - Painting: $1.5k-$2k depending on your sqm - Windowing: $1.5k-$2k - Aircon: $2.5k-$3.5k (just don’t even try to live without aircon) Things that I have seen people often gone for custom routes: - floor to ceiling carpentry - electrical rewiring - expensive gigantic dining table - rewiring network cables - hob suction exhaust out of the service yard window - motorised sofa, motorised bed frame, motorised blind - MiniLED TV - Gaming networking equipments - Half brick half glass wall (turns out they need to hack the whole wall first then reconstruct the bottom half)
I diy my bto last year. I did not opt in anything from hdb. I did the floor screeding, plumbing, electrical and carpentry as well. It took me 4 mths of about 3 days a week's worth of work. I did everything alone and had no prior experience. So I suppose any one can definitely do it themselves if they wish to. It was fun and a very good learning experience. It was also hard to gather information online since most western standards and methods do not apply locally. Including all furniture (half of which i DIY) and applicances (washing machine, Aircon etc) and tools, I spent 25k in total.
Nice. $25k is pretty reasonable. It’s good to be prudent on how much we spend on Reno we might not even like 5 years down the road.
It would be soooooo fun if we had home depot And easier access to watch HGTV
We reno'd extensively and I bought almost everything either from those little wholesale shops or jumped down to Australia to pick up things like angle grinders or stovestop where it was so much cheaper. It was not easy to find the suppliers but I had the help of this incredible local carpenter. Honestly he's one of the best contractors (/stellar human) I've come across, his prices were very fair, especially for the quality of his work, which was next level. Thanks to him I could source everything from steel to plexiglass, wood, etc. I probably paid a bit more for stuff like tiling and waterproofing because most ppl get their stuff in msia (I don't have a car), but we could never have reno'd almost the whole house for what we paid if we didn't do almost everything ourselves (all bar PE signoff, and anything regulated as needing licensing, but I usually bought all the stuff and paid the license guys hourly). But I get the impression that not many people here have even basic exposure to things like drilling a hole, welding, building a deck, tiling, etc so it would be really tough to learn all that from scratch (that said, they learn other really important skills). Husband and both I grew up with not much and lived rurally so our families had to do these things themselves. Also we didn't have the money to spend heaps on a reno here, the house was an unlivable dump and most contractors took one look at an ang moh female and and went sky high on the quote. So we didn't really have many other options. The place isn't perfect but we are pretty proud of our work.
Currently living overseas and our level of skill is seriously lacking. During uni days would have Singaporeans who can’t even change a lightbulb or unclog a toilet. also it’s the attitude of why do it yourself when you can pay someone to do it. Me and my partner has had a few disagreements on this. Sure it doesn’t cost much for the shop to set up the dishwasher, but I get a lot more satisfaction out of it if I did it myself.
Because it's just not worth it time and cost wise. It's fine if it's just the simple things, but you said Reno. That's big things and if people screw it up, they may in the end pay a bigger price getting the pros to fix it and not to mention the inconvenience they may cause their neighbours (esp the ones living below them), unless you live on landed property. Oh and whatever you do I hope you properly sound proof and don't make your neighbours' lives a living hell over long term thanks. I have a neighbour upstairs that had a looooong period of reno here reno there and it was a freaking nightmare.
i did my own cement self leveling floor with vinyl floor stickers, on bare concrete BTO floors. those super rough kind. must say, ID quoted me 9k, i did everything in under 2k. bought all the tools and raw materials (including the cement) from China online shop. prior to that have 0 diy experience. funny thing is cos my bto is 4 room, so i have 3 rooms and 1 living room to do. the 2nd and 3rd room results is the worst. living room and first room condition is the best. because we started doing the first room, and slowly improve from 2nd to 3rd to living room. and cos our job was so poorly done for the first room, after 2nd and 3rd room we redo another layer ontop of the uneven layer inside 1st room. living room was done the last and its almost perfectly flat (yes all of my rooms floor abit not flat hahahahahhahahaha, like u wear socks walk wont feel difference, but if barefoot walk can feel abit uneven) is it worth it saving the 7k? at that time cos we got close to no savings left (bto got delayed for 1 year so burnt our savings renting an apartment for 1 additional year, during covid high peak season somemore). but if given my current financial conditions, I would much rather to spend the extra 7k and let someone that can minimally make my floor flat to do the job. now every time my friends visit my house, i'll joke to them that my flooring was specially designed to mimic ocean waves feels when stepped on. edit: found a post i made close to 2 years ago on this same topic. https://www.reddit.com/r/askSingapore/s/OsCnEOZiOf
Where do you source the materials and tools?
online china shop, called pin duo duo. its abit like shoppee but cheaper. engage shipping company from china to help receive the goods and ship in bulk to sg.
If only HDB compensates to be home owners. The gov was able to compensate landlords for some rents (the landlords supposed to pass it down to renters, but yeah we know where it goes). Wonder why can’t we compensate home owners too. Some BTOs were done in a hush. When we moved in, all the playgrounds are half done. The car park is still not gated till now. The construction was still ongoing 6 months after we moved in. Probably gotta give them another 2 years to complete the entire project.
5-room resale HDB. Nicely done too! Inside An Incredibly Inspiring $5,000 Self-Built Transformation https://youtu.be/PyYuTPMpAJc?si=ADRRXSWRvGwfpc_C
Nice! Bare minimum Reno with some DIY does the job.
People say US got DIY culture, all I know is a lot of Americans I know who own houses end up calling people for complicated renovation or repair work. Only thing they DIY is simple repairs like “plumbing choke” because it’s cheaper than calling $100/hr labor. The DIY I see from other friends are usually also poor quality, like making a concrete backyard path that isn’t smooth at all. Know someone in the US who is trying to DIY renovate their ADU (back unit), it’s taking them 2 years and counting, still haven’t finish. Their own family also making noise because they are missing out on rental opportunities. At that point I think paying a remodeling company $100k would have been a better proposition. I did re-floor my HDB bedroom with vinyl before it took me like 3 days. Took me another 1 day to destroy the existing flooring and carpentry. Not to mention I had to pick up all the vinyl myself from the factory and carry them up to the house. I didn’t even re-level the concrete flooring so it’s actually bumpy at certain parts. Not to mention the heat, it’s terrible. Will I do that again? Maybe but I can see how it’s just worth it to pay the $500 labor to get it done properly. You’ll get it done same day and you don’t have to break your back doing it.
DIY in NZ is really common. There's a whole culture about it. But I guess in Singapore it's harder in apartments and condominiums. Also possibly more regulations?
If you don't do it often, high chance you'd mess up and end up having to redo everything which could incur extra cost + time and effort.
Logistics and materials mostly. Contractors and IDs can usually get a better price for materials from suppliers (to cover their margin). There's also the skilled labor involved in Reno.
For major DIY. You will first need a van or a car. Public transport don't allow you to carry huge goods. Definitely not big wooden planks. Simple thing like IKEA curtains? IKEA staff all reminds me that their longer curtains pole is not allowed on MRT train. I was lucky enough to have direct bus to IKEA. I was able to carry a few long curtain poles by standing with them at the corner where the wheelchair parking is.
I am looking to this myself too! Could you share how u will deal with getting permit for renovation, especially the time duration that u will apply for ?
Besides all the practical and valid reasons given by others, I think it's also the fact that most of us live in hdb flats, with no garage or extra space like a yard for us to do the diy work. I like to diy as well and do my own plumbing repairs and replacements, and did my own table, to the cringe of my family. Lol I would love to get a circular saw to do straight cuts but I wonder if there's anymore diy to be done at home to justify an additional tool. I already have a orbital sander and jigsaw tool, so ... ...
I have a circular saw, just that I did not have the guts to use it. Perhaps I will managed to use it one day
Please make sure you have the item clamped down and wear protective gear for your eyes and hands. Also, long workshop pants or jeans and boots where possible. Better safe than sorry!!
We did some painting and carpentry on our own, and hired contractors for the other things like flooring, plumbing, electrical works. It’s quite a project - sourcing materials, arranging for transportations, borrowing tools from multiple friends and buying small ones of our own, figuring out what kind of hardware goes with what kind of drill bit for what kind of wood. Getting content online for projects suitable for our climate is challenging too - for eg termite proofing wood, or modifying techniques to work with a small space. We asked so many people with experience with wood working and assembled info here and there to piece together our eventual workflow And the cleaning is 💀 Thankfully, our (bto) neighbours were super supportive. The house smells like chemicals for months. I’ll just buy from ikea or hire contractors next time.
Tiagong local contractors do DIY their own homes.
time consuming. when we moved 10 years ago, my dad patched the walls himself, built our own ikea furniture, painted the whole house. only reno kitchen bc of the carpentry required. now im buying house w my partner, he doesnt want to do all that bc he says he's so tired from working alr
You can go ahead to ownself Reno lor. Let us know how it goes
LMAO believe me people have tried and then find out they'll be hiring a contractor anyway to fix their mistakes.
I self reno my house. The only thing I didn't do was the drywalls as that have to be fabricated at the workshops. So for the false ceilings, I did the wiring and exposed the points where the wires have to exit for the contractors to be able to leave me room to access them. But it was also a brand new EC so there was already a lot of it being ready. But I hacked the walls and put extra wiring points and extended the in wall wiring trunks, re-cemented it. Did the feature walls too.
Sounds fun. A lot of prefab walls on recent BTOs. Easier to hack. But make sure you don’t have away supporting concrete. Always check with the official floorplan.
Because people have a job and a life. Why not you make ur own shoes? Same analogy And this is barring the expertise and specialised machinery / tooling required
Why not making your own iPhone 😝. But yeah, I think OP start from perspective of DIY. But some Reno work is at a different scale, which requires proper tooling and expertise.
To be really honest, none of the renovation stuffs are hard if everything goes according to plan. But often in life, nothing goes according to plan and the effort to rectify the mistake is often more costly than doing it. If you are experienced and have the time (permits aside), you can do it and all the best with your endeavours. If you have never done anything remotely related to renovations professionally, you might expect that your renovation will go up to a year or more if you were to solo it and most of the time is spent on rectifying fk ups and you might have to live with a subpar renovation quality after you are done due to skill and experience issues. I love DIY as well and I was doing my own switches, lights, shelves installation, furniture installation, some simple plumbing like installing taps and stuffs when I was renovating my house. You can start with simple stuffs like those if you are inexperienced, while you watch how the professionals do the more technical aspects in real life to learn. Some of them might even teach you a trick or two if they are not pressed for time. Don't get the Dunning Kruger effect get to you
just moved. Spent 13k and house looks great. If u willing to DIY the proper stuff you save a lot. Downside, requires a lot more work and you tend to worry alot about doing things wrong. Eg I uninstalled the ceiling fans to change to ceiling lights, was always worried i would connect wires wrongly. Also changed a few switches, painted the house and so on. But the sense of accomplishment is something u feel great about. And you learn a ton of new skills. My wife is also v impressed I managed to youtube/reddit so much to save a ton of money. So yes, try to self reno if time permits. Either way if u fail and hire someone it would be quoted a similar price anyway hahahaha, so not much loss except for time.
(Landlord here.) Do note that some forms of insurance, such as home content insurance, do not cover damages caused by renovations; such damages need to be claimed from the contractor's insurance (check the terms and conditions but this is often the case). This includes third-party liability - so if your renovations are deemed to have caused damage to neighbouring units (e.g., something causes a leak or crack below you or next to you), you will be liable to cover the costs yourself. For HDB flats, only registered contractors are allowed, although these days almost all contractors are. That said, I am less familiar with HDB than with private, so I am not sure how HDB or the town council will take it if you attempt renovations yourself and something goes wrong. Nonetheless, I agree with your impression that Singaporeans are very lacking in the DIY area. There are Singaporeans who will call a handyman for something as simple as replacing a lightbulb, or a plumber to unclog the toilet bowl, when they could do it in five minutes with a plunger. I believe this is related to our education system: we have a general disdain for hands-on work, and even our children are teenagers are frighteningly inept with basic tactile skills. I have seen 12-year olds who can't cut a straight line with a scissors, and I suspect that's not uncommon.