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HomeDecoding our $64K renovation costs for a 3-bedder
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Decoding our $64K renovation costs for a 3-bedder
794
- Minimalist
- Condo
- ~1,000 sqft
- 3 br
- Couple Living
Hello! We will decode our renovation costs in this post, and share with you a breakdown of how much we spend reworking our 6-year old resale EC! We will be sharing the top three key considerations we took into account during our renovation journey. Nothing complicated, just three pointers that we think are the most important for home owners to factor in when deciding and controlling your renovation budget. Read on to find out more! ☺️ 
This is a breakdown of our renovation quote by the type of works we needed for the house. Pretty standard format, although some IDs may do it differently by the rooms. Unsurprisingly, the highest costs are contributed by masonry and flooring works, followed by carpentry. I specifically mentioned that this was the quote rather than the final bill because we all know that the final costs will more likely than not exceed this estimated budget. Our final bill came up to $64K which was 8% higher than what we had signed up for. I consider that as a pretty good achievement given the completed final works coupled with what most home owners seem to suggest as 20% buffer. So let’s dive into the three factors which we consider as the most important! The first and most important factor is to ask ourselves what matters to us. A very simple question but may not necessarily be the most straightforward to answer if you do not have a clear idea what your priorities are. It will be ideal if you are crystal clear on what truly are important to you right at the beginning of your renovation journey. But if you are still a little uncertain, that’s fine too because you will find that clarity along the way. There are a lot of things you might want for your house. And the reality is that many of these are influenced by what other home owners have, and maybe even by your ID. For us, we think about what kind of interior design and furnitures give us the maximum and sustainable joy, versus what are good to have and perhaps only provide very incremental satisfaction. Having a very clear pathway on that has helped us decide the non-negotiable elements of the interior design and hence what we are willing to spend. Take for instance this foyer. This feature wall was not in existence when we bought the house. This was where the original kitchen entrance was located. We were very clear that having an open concept kitchen is critical for us. To achieve that, we had to hack down the walls on the other side and build up this new wall (now a fluted panel feature wall). Apart from the costs of hacking as well as erecting this new concrete full height wall, there were many other incidental costs which include engaging a Professional Engineer (PE) and most significantly rerouting gas pipes due to the kitchen remodeling. As our place is a private condo, it costs us $1K to engage a licensed gas worker. As expensive as it is, we knew that these were costs we had to incur because having an open kitchen is non-negotiable. With that, we then find other avenues to save costs to keep our costs within and around the ～$60K quote. 
Now, the second factor of our considerations is alternatives. What alternatives do we have if we were to forgo the design to keep some costs down? As we go through our renovation journey, there are certain designs we chose to forgo because of both costs and practical reasons. This is a 3D render photo of our living/dining area. Part of the original design includes this floating bench in the background. It’s gorgeous isn’t it?! However, after much considerations weighing the practicality of the bench and the carpentry costs ($1.8K), we decided to not go ahead with it. And the alternatives? We could purchase off-the-shelves bench or lounge chairs which provide us the flexibility to move these furnitures around, and costs much lower than having the built-in works. This is our actual living room now. Lime wash wall as the main feature but without the floating bench. We can already think of all the potential furnitures to fill up this space. 😎 
Another very good example is our master bathroom tiles. We wanted a feature wall with tiles that are different from the rest of the walls and floor. This was one of the render photos which featured this cute and pretty small rectangular tiles. These tiles however cost significantly more than the ones which are within the renovation quote (it was double the price), which means that we had to top up quite a fair bit if we were to go ahead with these tiles. We decided that we are not going to spend so much more for these tiles and started looking for alternative designs which could still achieve the look we want. 
This is the revised render with the new tile we chose! And honestly we love this squarish tiles and look more than the first one 😍 Although we ended up still having to top up for this choice of tile, it was incremental and honestly we love the final look when the bathroom came altogether! A closer look at the actual bathroom with these cute squarish textured tiles 💕 Weighing the alternatives is a key aspect when it comes to budgeting and controlling the renovation costs. Consider if the design or choice is really worth that additional buck, and if it does, happily go ahead to spend. Word of caution though, do yourselves a favour and don’t go crazy with excessive shopping because you will only end up with decision paralysis and most likely poor decisions made at the end of day. The third and last consideration factor is the quality of materials and workmanship. There may be limited to zero control when it comes to workmanship after you select your ID, but there is some extent of control in terms of the quality of materials and/or products. For instance, we wanted a condiments drawer for all those bottles and tubs. We were given two quotes - including one using Blum condiments system. Opting for the Blum drawer would cost an additional $300 but we decided to go ahead with it knowing that quality matters here due to the high touchpoint and it will save us all the headaches and costs down the road. Quality is an area that many may overlook when it comes to renovation budgeting. Of course homeowners can save a lot by choosing cheaper alternatives with little to zero considerations on quality. However, it is worth it to pay more for quality products and workmanship especially if you are renovating for a long stay. The benefits include not only costs savings in the long run but also subsequent time savings down the road. So choose wisely and have a longer term vision for your house; this will guide your decision making process. 🤓 That’s our 3 most important factors we would like to share with fellow homeowners! Hope you find them helpful in your renovation journey! Good luck! Follow us on IG @tanhoms for more home contents!
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