Keep the HDB bathroom floor for three years. Overlay, do not hack.

The sentence people skip is on HDB’s important information for renovation, under the three-year restriction on removal of toilet wall and floor finishes. A waterproofing membrane sits on the screed before the floor finish. It is there so water does not reach the ceiling of the flat below. HDB says those toilet floor and wall finishes must not be replaced for 3 years from the completion date of the block. The same paragraph says you can lay new toilet floor finishes over the existing finishes using adhesives. “Replaced” and “laid over” are different jobs. Replaced means the original finish comes off. Laid over means it stays, and a new finish is stuck to it.

The date is the completion date of the block, which is not always the morning you collected keys. A stack that received its temporary occupation permit months before your appointment is already using that clock. If you do not know the date, do not guess it from a forum thread about another town. Ask HDB, or read the papers that came with the flat, before anyone lifts a tile. This page does not publish a waterproofing lifespan in years beyond that restriction. “How long does waterproofing last?” is a product question. HDB’s published rule is about when the finishes may be replaced, not a guarantee that a membrane fails on day 1,096.

Hollow tiles are the job that gets hacked by mistake. A dull tap on a tile that is still flat and intact can be filled from the grout line. Four to ten intact tiles are S$350 to S$750 on the tile page. The screed stays, so the visit is not the replacement HDB restricted. A tented tile, a cracked tile, or a leak into the flat below is a different sentence. One cracked tile with a spare is S$80 to S$180 when that is truly one tile. A typical HDB bathroom regrout, when the tiles stay, is S$400 to S$900. None of those rows is permission to chip the floor back to concrete inside the three years.

If the membrane has failed, covering it with a new vinyl skin hides the leak and charges the neighbour. Stop. A hack, a new membrane and a new finish are renovation. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H is the company on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors that invoices that permit path. The price is quote on inspection. Homey Furnishing does not issue a “waterproof without removing tiles” kit price, because no such kit price exists in the catalogue. Adhesive overlay that is only a finish, with the original tiles left in place, is discussed from photos. If the photos show a chase, a hack, or a raised floor thicker than the doorway can take, the reply says quote on inspection and names the permit.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, invoices permit-exempt maintenance. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, invoices hacking, a new layout, and other work that needs an HDB renovation permit. Homey Furnishing is not a Council for Estate Agencies licensed estate agent and does not sell, rent or market flats. It is not a Ministry of Manpower licensed employment agency and does not place helpers.

Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking. This page also does not sell or rent the home, and it does not place a domestic worker.

Confirm the block completion date before you accept a quote that starts with a jackhammer. HDB’s page is the rule. A contractor’s brochure is not.

1. Find the completion date of the block, not only your key-collection date.
2. Tap the tiles. Photograph any tent, crack, or stain on the ceiling below.
3. If the tile is intact and hollow, ask about injection before you ask about hacking.
4. If you want a new look inside the three years, ask whether it can be laid over with adhesive.
5. If someone must remove the original finish, stop and route that scope through the permit company.

The three-year sentence is an HDB flat rule. A condo and a landed house do not inherit it. They have their own permission problems.

When the three years have passed and the finishes really are being replaced, HDB’s same page sets technical conditions. You and the contractor must water-test the bathroom after the new floor finishes. An UPVC floor-trap grating with a long collar is specified when floor finishes are replaced. Pre-packed waterproofing screed and a membrane are required in bathrooms before the new finish, with the membrane upturned at least 150mm against walls, kerbs and pipes. Those sentences are for the replacement job. They are not a shopping list we turn into a package price. Read them on HDB’s page. The permit application itself is described on applying for approval.

This visit will not raise the bathroom floor with a concrete screed just to hide the old tiles if that thickness breaks HDB’s limit on raising floors. The important-information materials also discuss pre-packed screed. A thick build-up that stops the door closing is a design problem, not a favour. Send the door clearance in the photos. If the overlay cannot stay inside the existing door, we say so before anyone buys tiles.

How you're charged

A job that already has a sentence on HomeySG uses that sentence. The hour is not added on top of a band unless the written scope says so. There is no fuel surcharge. A whole-flat repaint, a private defect-scan fee, and a litre of a named paint brand are not in the catalogue.

Who is allowed to do the work

HDB’s important information on renovation says renovation in a flat, including some work that does not need a permit, is carried out by a contractor from the Directory of Renovation Contractors. The same page says failing to use a listed contractor for renovations, or breaching the renovation rules, can lead to a fine of up to $5,000. That sentence is HDB’s. It is not a ruling on your flat. Read the page before you treat a handyman visit as a renovation.

• Permit-exempt maintenance that already has a band, such as a hinge, a silicone joint or a small hole patch, stays on the Homey Furnishing invoice.
• Hacking, a new layout, and replacement of toilet finishes inside HDB’s restriction period move to V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H. The price of that permit scope is quote on inspection.
• A new cable or a consumer unit is an EMA licensed electrician. A new water point is a PUB licensed plumber. Piped gas is a licensed gas worker.
• Window installation and replacement on an HDB flat is a BCA approved window contractor on HDB’s directory, with a renovation permit first. BCA describes workhead RW01. Homey Furnishing is not that contractor.
• Selling, renting or marketing the flat is estate agency work. CEA registers property agents. We do not do that work.
• A weekly cleaner on this site is not a migrant domestic worker placement. We do not hire out helpers.
• Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking.

Ways to keep the bill smaller

• Photograph every mark before you book a full repaint. A hole that matches the S$150 to S$280 sentence does not need a whole-flat price.
• Put several permit-exempt tasks on one visit. The S$55 call-out is one task. Further permit-exempt time is S$45 an hour, not a second trip.
• Report a new-flat defect to HDB, or the developer if the contract says so, before you pay anyone to cover it.
• Do not hack a bathroom floor to “save” a later leak. HDB’s three-year restriction exists so the flat below stays dry.
• If the tile only sounds hollow and is still flat, the injection band is the smaller job. Do not book a hack to answer a tap test.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.

The dollar rows below are already printed elsewhere on HomeySG. The hack is deliberately not given a new number.

Anything not in that table is quote on inspection.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630. The reply uses a band already printed on HomeySG, or it says quote on inspection.

• Tile repair and injection
• Injection without hacking
• Permit versus no-permit jobs
• HDB renovation guidelines
• Waterproofing