A 5-room HDB renovation in Singapore typically costs $35,000 to $80,000 and above in 2026, with prices inclusive of GST. A basic refresh starts around $25,000, a standard renovation runs $45,000–$55,000, and a full overhaul with hacking, re-tiling and custom carpentry costs $55,000–$80,000. Executive flats sit slightly higher. Floor area, the amount of carpentry, and BTO-versus-resale condition drive the final price.
Larger flats need more materials and more labour, so 5-room and executive renovations naturally cost more than 3-room or 4-room projects. As a direct HDB-licensed contractor (Licence No: HB-09-5667H) with our own carpentry factory, we quote by scope with fully itemised pricing — and going direct typically saves you 15–30% compared with an interior designer, who adds commission on top of the actual renovation cost.
| Scope | 5-Room HDB (SGD, incl. GST) | Executive HDB (SGD, incl. GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic refresh | From $25,000 | From $30,000 |
| Standard renovation | $45,000 – $55,000 | $50,000 – $65,000 |
| Full renovation | $55,000 – $80,000 | $65,000 – $80,000+ |
Basic refresh covers painting, flooring (vinyl or tile overlay), light carpentry, minor electrical work, and basic kitchen and bathroom upgrades.
Full renovation covers hacking and demolition, full re-tiling, waterproofing, full electrical and plumbing rewiring, custom carpentry (kitchen cabinets, wardrobes, TV console, shoe cabinet, study desk), false ceiling, feature walls, painting and sanitary fittings. Premium finishes can push costs higher than the ranges shown.
Whether your 5-room flat is a new BTO or an older resale unit changes the quotation meaningfully, because it determines how much hacking, rewiring and waterproofing the flat needs.
| Flat condition | Effect on cost |
|---|---|
| 5-room BTO (new flat) | Less hacking needed — deduct roughly $5,000–$10,000 from the resale ranges above. |
| 5-room resale (with hacking) | Add $5,000–$15,000 versus the BTO equivalent. Older units need more electrical rewiring and waterproofing. |
With more rooms and more wall area, 5-room and executive flats often involve the most hacking of any HDB type — kitchen and bathroom tiles, old built-ins, and non-structural walls removed to open up the living and dining areas. Hacking one non-structural wall costs $800–$1,500, and we handle the HDB permit as part of the price. Structural walls can never be removed.
Masonry covers floor screed, kerbs and making good after hacking. Tiling runs $5–$15 per square foot for supply and installation. Because a 5-room flat has the largest floor area of the standard flat types, tiling and screed are a bigger share of the total here than in smaller flats — one reason many owners keep bedrooms on vinyl and reserve tiles for living areas and wet zones.
Carpentry is where a 5-room renovation budget is usually won or lost. All our carpentry is fabricated in our own Singapore factory: a full kitchen cabinet set (around a 4-metre run) costs $3,500–$8,000, and built-in wardrobes run $200–$450 per running foot depending on material and finish. With three bedrooms plus a larger living and dining area, 5-room owners typically order more wardrobe runs, a bigger kitchen set, and extra pieces such as a study desk or platform bed — each added piece moves the total.
A full-renovation scope includes complete rewiring, power point relocation, lighting installation and plumbing rerouting, all compliant with HDB standards and properly certified. Larger flats have more rooms to wire and more lighting points, and older resale units usually need more extensive rewiring — part of why resale renovations cost more.
As a standalone package, a kitchen renovation costs $8,000–$25,000 — basic ($8,000–$12,000) covers re-tiling, painting and replacing the hood and hob; standard ($12,000–$18,000) adds new laminate cabinets and a quartz countertop; premium ($18,000–$25,000) adds sintered stone, soft-close hardware and integrated appliances. Bathroom renovation costs $4,000–$12,000 per bathroom, including hacking, waterproofing with a 24-hour ponding test, re-tiling and new sanitary fittings — multiply by the number of bathrooms you are redoing.
Interior painting (two coats) costs $1.50–$3.50 per square foot including preparation — with more wall area, painting a 5-room flat sits at the higher end in absolute terms. A gypsum false ceiling with cove lighting runs $5–$10 per square foot, and a feature wall costs $1,500–$5,000. For flooring, vinyl overlay is the budget option, while full re-tiling falls under the tiling rates above.
A full 5-room or executive HDB renovation takes about 8–10 weeks — the longest of the HDB flat types, simply because there is more area to tile, more rooms to wire and more carpentry to install:
Weeks 1–2: Hacking and demolition — old tiles, fixtures and approved non-structural walls removed. HDB work hours apply: weekdays 9am–6pm, Saturdays 9am–1pm.
Weeks 3–4: Masonry, plumbing and electrical — new walls and floor screed, pipe rerouting, full rewiring across all rooms.
Weeks 5–6: Waterproofing, tiling and ceiling — wet-area waterproofing with the mandatory ponding test, floor and wall tiling, false ceiling and concealed aircon trunking.
Weeks 7–8: Carpentry installation — factory-built kitchen cabinets, wardrobe runs and consoles fitted room by room.
Weeks 9–10: Painting, doors and hardware, sanitary fittings, deep cleaning and handover walkthrough.
Every HDB renovation requires a renovation permit before work starts, and only an HDB-licensed contractor can legally hack walls, alter wiring or modify plumbing. Larry Contractors is licensed with HDB (Licence No: HB-09-5667H), and we handle the entire permit application — drawings, scope of work and declarations — which typically takes 1–2 weeks to process.
Work hours: Weekdays 9am–6pm and Saturdays 9am–1pm only. No work on Sundays or public holidays.
Renovation period: HDB allows a maximum renovation period of 3 months from the start date — worth noting for 5-room projects, since a full renovation already runs 8–10 weeks.
Structural walls: Structural walls cannot be hacked — only non-structural partition walls can be removed, with HDB permission.
Wet areas: Waterproofing must comply with HDB specifications, with a mandatory ponding test before tiling.
Comparing flat types or right-sizing? See our 3-room HDB renovation cost guide and 4-room HDB renovation cost guide, the full HDB renovation services page, our renovation cost calculator, or the renovation blog for more cost guides and tips.
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