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littlecupabode
Cosy Japandi-inspired home with a touch of Mid-century Modern!
3 Hidden Reno Cost That Blew My Budget!
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Today, I’m diving into hidden renovation costs. While every homeowner’s experience is different, I’m sharing the ones that personally caught me off guard — the kind that are surprisingly common, yet easy to overlook. These added thousands to my original budget… and I wish someone had warned me earlier. 
HDB flats — especially older ones — are notorious for uneven walls and odd niches. This can make decorating and furnishing tricky, with furniture often not sitting flush against the wall. I decided to fix this by adding false walls throughout the entire flat. It wasn’t cheap, but the results were worth every cent. Now, guests often say my home looks more like a new BTO or even a condo — not a 40-year-old resale flat. 
One piece of advice I kept hearing from other homeowners? Don’t scrimp on sockets. 
While it’s a necessary cost, it can easily snowball into the thousands if you’re not careful. That’s why early and thorough planning is so important. For my three-room resale flat, the electrical works alone ended up costing over $7–8K — when I originally budgeted around $5K. Now that I’ve lived in my home for over a year, I’m mostly happy with the choices I made — though I definitely overdid it in some areas, and under-planned in others. Also, if you’re renovating an older flat, rewiring is essential — not just for convenience, but for safety, especially with ageing or outdated electrical systems. If there’s one lesson I took away from this? Proper planning, especially when it comes to electric works, is EVERYTHING. 
My flat is over 40 years old. When we started work on Day 1, we discovered that the original tiles (still under the previous owner’s vinyl) were hollow — meaning they had to be hacked. I was told on the spot that they couldn’t be kept, as hollow tiles can eventually pop and damage the new vinyl laid over them. It’s a cost I didn’t expect upfront, but one that was absolutely necessary. If you're renovating an older flat, don't skip the tile assessment — and always factor in potential hacking. I hope this article gives you a head start before your reno journey begins. If you’ve come across any unexpected costs of your own, I’d love to hear them — feel free to share in the comments below!
5 July 2025
