Essential Renovation Works For Your First HDB Flat

Congratulations on your on getting your first home.

By now you would be holding on to about 15 to 20 quotations from different interior design companies offering a huge list of renovation services for your new home. But with so many services being listed and a cost attached to each of these services, a big question comes to mind.

    What renovation works do I need?

So a good place for us to begin this article would be to help you understand what are the basic services you really need to make your home liveable and what they entail.

The Essentials

The services that we are going to list here in this section are purely basic works you would need to be able to move in to your new home and live in it as is. It doesn’t take into account any design works or modification to the layout.
This list is essentially to help new home owners to recognise what’s really needed and save money on their renovation cost.   

A) Professional Works / Services

All services found here are needed as you’re unlikely to have the time to design your new home space and project manage all the works that will be going on.   

B) Masonry Works

-    Construction of kitchen cabinet base, fridge base and washing machine base
This is to ensure that during regular washing of your kitchen floors, your appliances and wood works would not be damaged by water and detergent
-    Construction of shower kerb in all bathrooms.

This would separate the wet and dry areas in your bathroom, making your bathroom a more pleasant place to be in.   

C) Plumbing Works

-    Extension of piping to sink position and laying of the drainage pipe to the sink position

This is usually for the kitchen sink since HDB would come with toilet sinks installed. And because you’re likely to shift the position of your kitchen sink depending on the design of your kitchen layout, you would need these services.

-    Connect water supply to washing machine and laying of drainage pipe to the washing machine

It’s important to decide where you’re going to place your washing machine so as to be able to set up the area with the necessary piping and drainage.

-    Heater installation (Labour cost)
Interior firms provide the service of installing your water heating system for you. A big benefit of having this service in this checklist is that the supervisory work of overseeing the installation is done by the interior firm.

D) Painting Works

-    Painting of internal walls and ceilings
-    Painting of door frames, main iron gate and household shelter door

Painting of your home is definitely an essential otherwise you would be presenting your guests with a very raw look of your home.
But be sure to ask your interior firm how many paint colors they would be providing in their painting works service.

E) Ceiling Works

-    Installation of false ceiling for all rooms
Installing a false ceiling would help you hide the wirings for your lights and fans. Otherwise they’re going to be exposed.

F) Electrical Works

-    Installation of power points
Its important to note that HDB flats come supplied with power points. But for some owners, the number of points may not be sufficient or the location of the points may not be ideal. Normally the installation of the power points are charged at a fixed unit rate.
-    Installation of lightings and fixtures
This is usually a labour cost for installing the light fixture/fittings to the ceiling electrical point provided by HDB.

G) Carpentry Works

-    Installation of custom kitchen cabinets and solutions

Interior firms provide custom designed kitchen cabinets measured to the dimensions of your kitchen for installation. This is definitely an essential since you need a functional kitchen in order to have a liveable home.
Even though places like Ikea may provide kitchen solutions, it may be cheaper to get from the interior firm itself since they would quote you a made to measure cost. However, if you have a lot of requirements for your kitchen (like additional appliances and cabinet fixtures) you need to let your interior firm know in advance so that they can add it into your cost and you can compare it with other kitchen solution providers.   

H) Miscellaneous Works

-    General cleaning / Acid Washing

General cleaning is self explanatory since you wouldn’t want to step into your home covered in saw dust and dirt.
Acid washing is needed to remove any cement stains that may have been left behind during renovation.

Final Considerations

The list provided above are just a general guideline to help first time owners to know what’s absolutely needed in renovating your first home.
Be sure to ask your interior firm to explain to you any additional services they are provided that you’re unsure about so that you wouldn’t be in for any surprises later on.