Renovations require thorough and meticulous planning. Before you start, it is crucial to identify the features and additions that you require. Careful planning will help develop a realistic understanding of the work to be done and the costs involved.
Interior renovations do not require approvals. However, for renovations that involve changes to the existing structures (eg. extensions), approvals are required from architects and/or engineers and the local town council.
Depending on the scope of work and design, you might need to hire qualified professionals such as architects, interior designers and contractors to help you design a plan to best meet your existing and future needs.
The duration of renovations will vary depending on the types of work. Building using conventional methods like brick and block tend to take longer than dry construction methods. For example, a wall made of brick and block will take double the time to complete compared to one that is made of gypsum boards.
If speed and surface finishing are the critical factors, we recommend dry construction materials, for example gypsum boards. Conventional building materials (bricks, cement, etc.) and methods tend to be wet, messy and dirty as they need to be fabricated on site.
In most cases, the contractors will supply the materials as per your request. However, there are instances where the owners make the purchase themselves. We highly recommend allocating some time to monitor the quality of materials supplied by the contractor.
This will depend on your budget and time frame. The ideal scenario is to complete all renovations prior to moving in. Should budget be an issue, we recommend doing the basic necessities and attempting the others at a later stage. If you are considering putting in an additional room or changing floor layouts, we recommend opting for the lightweight drywall system, which is up to 7 times lighter than conventional brick and block to avoid any structural modifications.
Work involving wet construction, structural modifications and wiring/piping should be done first as they will affect the overall layout and design. Once those are completed, you can proceed with the decorating work.
It will be courtesy to inform your neighbours about your renovations, especially if the work involves common sharing of walls, roof, grilles, etc.
For interior renovation, it is usually the responsibility of the appointed contractor to dispose scraps or unused materials. For renovation involving structures, the local town council's approval is required whereby a container will need to be rented and placed at the construction site for waste disposal.
