Cut the old silicone out. Do not paint over mould
Mouldy silicone is cut out and replaced, not smeared over. One zone in the defect calculator is S$80 to S$150. A full bathroom is quote on inspection unless it is the tile page’s regrout. Window silicone is a different row.
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Photo: Whoisjohngalt, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
How it works
- 1
Send one photo per task on WhatsApp, with the block and whether the home is HDB, condo, or landed.
- 2
We match each task to a published band, or we say quote on inspection.
- 3
You confirm the scope before anyone comes. Licensed work and permit work are named, not folded into the hour.
- 4
The fitting is repaired and tested. Parts that a row does not include stay off the invoice.
What this job actually is
Silicone in a Singapore bathroom turns black because it is damp, not because the colour was a choice. Painting or tooling new silicone over the old bead traps the mould. The bead has to be cut out, the gap dried, and a sanitary silicone tooled back. The defect-report calculator prices a mouldy silicone zone, cut out and resealed, at S$80 to S$150. A zone is the sentence. A whole bathroom of joints, a kitchen, and a window are not one zone. If your photo is the whole room, the answer is quote on inspection rather than three times S$80 invented in chat.
The tile page’s regrout of a typical HDB bathroom is S$400 to S$900. That is grout, not silicone. People say silicone when they mean both. Send a photo that shows whether the black is the joint between tiles or the joint at the bath. A cracked tile is S$80 to S$180 if a spare exists. Silicone over a crack is the cover we will not sell. Hollow tiles are injection, S$350 to S$750 for four to ten, not a bead.
Windows have their own silicone. Interior silicone or PU reseal is S$180 to S$380 a window on the window page, described there as BCA-exempt. Exterior rivets and stays stay with an approved window contractor. Do not ask a bathroom-joint visit to reseal an elevation. Showers that leak into the room below may be a membrane, which is waterproofing and sometimes a hack. A pretty bead on a failed membrane is how the ceiling downstairs is painted twice. The hairline repaint is S$150 to S$400 only after the leak has stopped.
Cure time is part of the job. The shower should stay dry until the bead skins. We will say so. A condo that needs the bathroom tonight is the booking to move, not a reason to use the shower early. HDB work of this kind is quiet. It does not need a drilling day unless we are also fixing a bar. Landed wet rooms on timber need the leak found before the bead, because the timber will not forgive a cosmetic joint.
Send daylight photos of each black joint and say how many rooms. If you already smeared a second product over the first, say which. We will cut both out. The zone price assumes a zone we can finish, not a flat of experimental tubes.
Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, invoices the permit-exempt visit. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, invoices hacking, a new layout, windows that are not exempt, and the household shelter. Homey Furnishing is not a MOM-licensed employment agency and does not place helpers, nannies or caregivers.
What to do first
- Photo each mouldy joint in daylight.
- Say bathroom, kitchen or window.
- Do not cover the old bead with a new one while you wait.
- Use S$80 to S$150 only when it is one zone as the calculator describes.
- Use the window or regrout row if that is the real material.
| What you see | Safe check | Stop |
|---|---|---|
| One shower joint is black | Cut out and reseal | S$80 to S$150 if it is that zone |
| Every joint in the bathroom | Not one zone | Quote on inspection, or regrout if it is grout |
| Window is the leak | Window reseal row | S$180 to S$380 interior. Exterior hardware is an approved contractor |
| Ceiling below is wet | Find the leak first | A bead is not a membrane |
HDB, condo and landed
The building changes permission. It does not change a band that already has a sentence, and it does not fill a blank.
| Question | HDB | Condo | Landed |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDB | A joint is not a permit. A leak behind the tile may be. | Town council for common property. Weekday drilling. | No town surcharge. |
| Condo | The neighbour below cares. Stop the leak before you tool a pretty joint. | MCST for noise, water shutdowns and deposits. | Deposit is not our fee. |
| Landed | Exterior window joints may be an approved window contractor. Interior joints are the window page’s reseal. | No HDB permit. PUB and EMA still apply. | No house hourly rate. |
How you're charged
How you're charged
These four lines are the published handyman charges. A job that already has its own band uses that band. The hour is not added on top of a band unless the written scope says so. There is no fuel surcharge.
| Charge | What it covers | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Per hour | Permit-exempt handyman time | S$45/hr |
| Minimum charge | One task on one visit | S$55 |
| Call-out | The same single-task visit. No separate trip fee | S$55 |
| Materials | Parts, unless a job row says they are included | quote on inspection |
Small, medium, and large visits
Times are planning estimates for the work itself. They are not a promise of when someone arrives.
| Size | Example tasks | Planning time |
|---|---|---|
| Small | One generic hinge, tap labour on the existing outlet, or a socket on an existing circuit | Often under an hour |
| Medium | An exposed cistern siphon, one silicone zone, or two or three small tasks on the same visit | About 1 to 3 hours |
| Large | A typical HDB bathroom regrout, a dishwasher bay, or an exposed storage-heater labour visit | Half a day or longer |
What a handyman can't do
What a handyman can't do
Permit-exempt fittings stay on the Homey Furnishing invoice. These do not:
- A new cable, a new circuit, or a consumer unit. That is an EMA licensed electrician. A socket on an existing circuit is the S$55 row. A dedicated appliance circuit stays S$220 to S$450.
- A new or relocated water point, or a hacked chase. That is a PUB licensed plumber. Tap labour on the existing outlet is S$55.
- Piped gas. That is a Licensed Gas Service Worker.
- Hacking, a new layout, or the household shelter. That is an HDB renovation permit through V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H.
- A hole in a fire-rated door that the fire detail does not allow.
- Common-corridor lights, stacks, and letterbox banks. Those follow the town council on the S&CC bill, or the MCST in a condo.
Handyman vs licensed contractor
| Work | Who does it | What this site prices |
|---|---|---|
| Existing fitting, no new cable or pipe | Handyman visit | S$45/hr, or the job band |
| One small task | Handyman visit | S$55 call-out |
| New circuit or DB | EMA licensed electrician | S$220 to S$450 for a dedicated circuit, or the DB bands |
| New water point | PUB licensed plumber | quote on inspection |
| Hacking or a new layout | HDB permit, V On Construction | quote on inspection |
Ways to keep the bill smaller
Ways to keep the bill smaller
- Put several tasks on one visit. The S$55 call-out is one task. Extra permit-exempt time is S$45 an hour, not a second trip.
- Buy the part when the row is labour only. Tap labour is S$55. Toilet-bowl labour is S$168. Instant-heater labour is S$108 to S$260. Exposed storage-heater labour is S$188 to S$380.
- Send the photos first, so the reply can use a published band instead of a vague hour.
WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.
Price, or quote on inspection
Published rows only. A missing row is quote on inspection, not a rounded guess.
| Scope already published | 2026 band in the repo | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Mouldy silicone zone, cut out and reseal | S$80 to S$150 | Defect-report calculator |
| Regrouting a typical HDB bathroom | S$400 to S$900 | Grout, not silicone |
| Interior window silicone or PU reseal | S$180 to S$380 | Window repair |
| Whole-bathroom silicone | quote on inspection | Not the single-zone row |
Anything not in that table is quote on inspection. A second trade, when the law requires one, is named. It is not folded into a handyman hour.
WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630. The reply uses a band already printed on HomeySG, or it says quote on inspection. It does not invent a third number in the chat.
Related pages
Frequently Asked Questions
How much to replace silicone?
One mouldy zone is S$80 to S$150 in the defect calculator. A whole bathroom is quote on inspection unless another published sentence matches.
Can I silicone over the mould?
No. The old bead is cut out. Covering it traps the mould.
Is window silicone the same?
Interior window reseal is S$180 to S$380 a window. Exterior stays and rivets are an approved window contractor.
Will silicone stop a leak downstairs?
Only if the joint was the path. A failed membrane or a collar is a different repair. Do not tool a bead over an active leak and call it done.