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spicedsteward
93 sqm Mid-century modern inspired x TaoBao 4 room HDB
First-timer HDB 4 room hacking costs breakdown
58
The first step of home renovation begins with hacking! Here's the breakdown of our hacking scope of work and their costs. 
The biggest and most expensive part for price to effort ratio was dismantling/hacking door + door frame. To put this in perspective, I just need a screwdriver to dismantle the doors. The door frame is a bit harder (needs a crowbar) but not impossible for a layman. End up it costs about $80 per door frame :| 
We are hacking our walls and it's measured per foot run. So it's about 24 foot run (approximate from floor plan since main contractor didn't take a tape and measure anyway) Per foot run the cost might vary. I would say about $40-45. It costs about 1k for our walls. 
Hacking the service yard includes demolishing the wall + dismantling the windows/doors. I tried to DIY dismantling but the service yard door is very hard to remove. Hence, I've decided to leave it to the pros! About $440 damage here.. 
We also hacked our kitchen floor tiles because we wanted to lay the same tiles in our living to dining and kitchen. This includes hacking of the service yard tiles as well. Last but not least, we were advised to hack the entryway to keep it level with the room. Not sure why but we will take it. 
Total costs about $2.6k! I think the price is quite reasonable but excludes the costs of making good, haulage & disposal. My main contractor promises will dispose the stuff so fingers crossed. For making good, my main contractor didn't want to do that scope as he claims it's the tiler job. Since our tiling is with another contractor, he ask us to ask the tiler to make good instead.
29 August 2025
