Bishan, 4-room resale, built 1988
The kitchen moved to the window wall, so the cook can see the void deck. Parquet kept in both bedrooms. 92 m² · S$64,000 · 11 weeks
Older HDB flats, opened up
Goh & Daughter renovates HDB flats, BTOs and condos from Ang Mo Kio. This 1979 3-room was finished in May, with every number on the sheet.
| Flat | 3-room HDB resale, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 |
|---|---|
| Built | 1979 |
| Size | 67 m² |
| Budget | S$58,400 before GST |
| On site | 10 weeks, March to May 2026 |
| Hacked | Kitchen wall, store room, bath and WC partition |
| Kept | Terrazzo floor, both bedrooms, every window opening |
Roughly what S$55,000 buys, before GST
- 3-room resalebuilt in the 1970s or 80s
- Hacking, full rewiring, both wet areas and a new kitchen. Little room left for carpentry.
- 4-room BTOnew, keys just collected
- Carpentry in every room, vinyl floors, lighting and paint, with about S$8,000 to spare.
- 5-room resalebuilt before 1995
- Hacking, rewiring and both bathrooms. The bedroom carpentry waits for a second phase.
“We bought the flat for the terrazzo. Mr Goh was the only one who said to keep it.”
Recent flats
Hougang, 3-room resale, built 1985
Nothing hacked: the galley kitchen stayed, rebuilt with full-height cabinets. 64 m² · S$52,300 · 10 weeks
Every flat we finish gets a sheet like the one at the top of this page. It goes into the handover file with the keys.
Serangoon North, 5-room resale, built 1991
Both bathrooms hacked down to the screed, waterproofed and water-tested for 48 hours before a single tile went down. 121 m² · S$82,500 · 12 weeks
Yio Chu Kang condo, 2 bedrooms, built 2004
The kitchen partition came down with the management's approval; the marble floor stayed. 78 m² · S$41,000 · 7 weeks
Ang Mo Kio, 4-room BTO, keys 2025
A new flat, so no hacking: three wardrobes, vinyl and lighting. HDB's kitchen and bathroom tiles kept. 93 m² · S$44,800 · 8 weeks
Prices, before GST
Starting prices. After the flat walk each one becomes an itemised quote, fixed in writing unless you change the design.
You pay in stages as work is done: 10% to start, and the last 5% only after we have fixed everything on your defects list. Workmanship is guaranteed for 12 months, bathroom waterproofing for 5 years.
Saturday: the flat walk
Mr Goh walks the flat with you for an hour, knocks on the walls and marks your HDB floor plan in red pen: what can go, what stays.
Week one: the drawing
Pei Shan draws the after plan to the centimetre and prices it line by line. The quote is fixed unless you change the design.
Weeks two and three: hacking
Once the HDB permit is in, we tell your neighbours in writing, then hack on weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Debris goes down every day.
Weeks three to five: pipes and wiring
New pipes in the wet areas and full rewiring from a new DB box, chased into the walls, never stuck on top.
Weeks five to seven: wet works
Waterproofing, a 48-hour water test, then tiles. In a 1979 flat this is where old leaks are fixed for good.
Weeks seven to nine: carpentry
Cabinets are built at our Ang Mo Kio workshop and fitted in two or three days. Doors, frames and trims follow.
Week ten: paint, clean, keys
Two coats of paint and a deep clean. We walk every room with you, fix the defects list, then hand back the keys.
Since 1991, in Ang Mo Kio
Goh Kim Seng started as a tiler on HDB upgrading jobs in Ang Mo Kio and has worked inside these blocks ever since. His daughter Pei Shan trained as an interior designer and joined in 2016. He runs every site. She draws every plan.
- On site
- Goh Kim Seng, since 1991
- On paper
- Goh Pei Shan, since 2016
- Carpentry
- Rahman, 22 years with us
- Flats at a time
- Four, never more
We take four flats at a time, never more, so one of us is on your site every working day. Most jobs are within twenty minutes of the workshop.
Workshop and design room, Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2
Before you hack anything
How much does it cost to renovate an old 3-room HDB flat?
Most 1970s and 1980s 3-room flats we renovate cost S$50,000 to S$65,000 before GST. That covers hacking, full rewiring, both wet areas and a new kitchen. Carpentry is where budgets differ most, so we price it line by line after the flat walk, and the quote is fixed in writing.
Which walls in an HDB flat can be hacked?
Only non-structural walls, and only with an approved HDB renovation permit. Structural walls, columns and the household shelter must stay. Older flats often have more structural walls than people expect, so we check your flat's HDB floor plan and the walls themselves before we promise an open kitchen.
How long does a resale HDB renovation take?
About 10 weeks on site for a 3-room resale flat and 11 to 12 weeks for a 5-room, plus about two weeks before that for drawings and the HDB permit. A new BTO flat with no hacking usually takes 7 to 8 weeks from the day we start.
Can you keep my old terrazzo or parquet floor?
Often, yes. Terrazzo can be ground and polished, and parquet can be sanded and re-varnished, for far less than new flooring. We test a small patch during the flat walk and tell you plainly if a floor is too cracked or uneven to save.
When can noisy works like hacking happen in an HDB flat?
HDB allows noisy works such as hacking and drilling only on weekdays, between 9am and 5pm. We plan all hacking into about one week, tell your neighbours in writing beforehand, and clear debris every day so the common corridor stays clean.
Is the flat walk free?
Yes. The flat walk takes about an hour, on a Saturday morning or a weekday evening, and costs nothing. Bring your HDB floor plan if you have one. If you decide to go ahead, the measured drawing and itemised quote follow within a week.
Bought an older flat, or about to collect a new one? Tell us the block and the year it was built.
Rather talk first?
Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2. We reply within one working day.
Book a flat walk
Free, about an hour, in your flat. Saturday mornings or weekday evenings.
- Bring your HDB floor plan if you have one.
- Resale buyers: we can walk the flat before you complete.
- You get the drawing and quote within a week.