7 Tips On Renovating Your HDB Yourself

Most people in Singapore want to renovate their HDB themselves due to highly increasing costs of materials and labour which have made hiring a contractor for this purpose unaffordable for them. You can reduce the cost of renovation only by doing it yourself. But before starting to renovate your HDB yourself you will have to consider various factors to ensure its feasibility. These factors may include:

Your HDB contains all the basic accessories including tiling and doors so that you may not need to do any complicated and difficult renovation in it.

No hacking work is required in your home as to do such renovations you may require license, tools and technical skills which are not easy for a common homeowner.

The design of the reformation of your HDB should be simple as you can do only basic alterations yourself in your home as complicated changes can be difficult for you to accomplish.

You must have cash or credit card to make payments for the materials required for the changes in your home as you cannot get renovation loan unless you hire an interior designer or contractor.

DIY HDB renovation is a time taking process so you must have enough time to complete it properly.
You must at least have basic technical knowledge to complete renovation work yourself effectively.
You must be able to hire a sub-contractor who can guide you or help you in completing the job excellently as they have some professional knowledge of their trade.

You should renovate your HDB yourself only if you want to save your hard earned money. If you have enough resources and can afford to hire professional contractor then you should not do it yourself as it is not an easy process.

You can start renovation in your HDB yourself in 7 simple steps given here under only if you fulfil all the conditions discussed here above.


Installation of pipelines:
You should alteration work by installing piping for city gas, aircon and electrical wiring, if required. The reason behind this is to keep the walls ready for painting them nicely after installing all the casing, piping and wiring. You should focus only on installing piping, casing and wiring instead of fixing lighting, blowers and compressors as their installation can obstruct in finishing the painting work nicely around them. Moreover you may need technical help to install aircon blower and compressor to ensure their proper working later on. In order to complete the installation of piping properly you can arrange a meeting with a professional to discuss the changes you are planning to make in your HDB as there can be certain technical requirements on which you will have to focus while completing your job, especially in case of city gas piping. Before installing the city gas piping you should call the installer to know the location of your hob and hood so that you can tell about the pipe line to the installer later on.

Measure the window grills in the yard along with the entire house:
If you are going to install the windows in your yard and grills in the windows of rest of the house then you will have to apply for permission. Instead of this you can measure the size of your the windows and their grills of your entire house to save the time of the contractor who will manufacture them accordingly and install them perfectly later on. In this way you will be able to save time and money charged by the contractor for this purpose. You can choose the design of the grill from the catalogues available with the contractors to get them installed as per your requirements.

Buy the lighting and other accessories for your kitchen and bath:
Your next DIY renovation step should be to shop for the accessories and lighting for your kitchen and bathroom. You should know what you want to buy before going to the market. You should be ready with a carpenter to install these lightings and accessories properly as you can guide him to place the things at their right place.

Painting the work done initially:
After completing the work of installing electrical and city gas piping you should start painting an initial coat on those spots. The time taken in completing painting work depends upon the size of your HDB and the number of persons involved in it. You can select the colours of your choice and hire a sub-contractor to assist you in painting your house yourself.

Measurement of carpentry work:
You must know the changes you want to make in the carpentry work of your home before discussing it with a professional carpenter. The manufacturing, delivery and installation of carpentry can take time according to the number of renovations you want to make. You can save money by selecting the laminates of your choice as they are necessary to protect your carpentry work from changing weather conditions.

Measure kitchen top after completing carpentry work:
Normally granite top or the tops made of solid materials are used in the kitchens to provide proper workplace in it. You can choose the kitchen top of your choice to save money after completing the carpentry work in your HDB. You can give the size of your kitchen top to the contractor who may deliver it within few days of placing order.

Installation of aircon blowers, plumbing works and lightings:
After ensuring the delivery of all the aircon and lighting accessories you can call the electrician to install them properly at their right location.

Thus after installing everything your house will be ready for final painting and cleaning. In this way you can renovate your HDB yourself without hiring an interior designer or full time contractor and save lots of money. Though you will have to take the help of sub-contractors for completing certain technical requirements but still you are taking decisions on your own for the complete renovation of your home. Your sweet home is now ready to use after all the alterations done by you.