Renovating an Executive Maisonette in Singapore: What Changes on Two Levels

If you own an executive maisonette, you have probably noticed that most renovation guides are written for a flat on one floor. Yours has an internal staircase, two levels and, usually, more than one bathroom to deal with. The question owners ask us is simple: is a maisonette just a big 5-room flat, or does it quote differently? The honest answer is that most of the price still comes from the same things, but a handful of items change how the job is planned, sequenced and priced, and those are the ones a quotation can quietly get wrong.

One thing to say up front. We do not publish a separate maisonette price list. The nearest figures on our 5-room and executive HDB renovation cost page are the executive flat rows, and everything below uses only those published figures. Where we say "ask", it is because the answer depends on your unit and only a site visit settles it.

The figures we do publish for an executive flat

These are inclusive of GST and come from our cost page, not from an estimate made for this article:

• Basic refresh: from $30,000.
• Standard renovation: $50,000 to $65,000.
• Full renovation: $65,000 to $80,000 and above. Premium finishes can push it higher.
• Timeline: about 8 to 10 weeks for a full 5-room or executive renovation.
• Hacking one non-structural wall: $800 to $1,500, with the HDB permit handled as part of the price. Structural walls can never be removed.
• Tiling: $5 to $15 per square foot, supply and installation.
• Bathroom: $4,000 to $12,000 per bathroom, including hacking, waterproofing with a 24-hour ponding test, re-tiling and new sanitary fittings.
• Kitchen as a standalone package: $8,000 to $25,000.
• Carpentry: a full kitchen cabinet set of around a 4-metre run is $3,500 to $8,000, and built-in wardrobes are $200 to $450 per running foot.

A maisonette does not have its own line in that list. What it has is more of some lines and a few new questions.

What actually changes on two levels

1. The staircase and the floor between the levels are not yours to move

The rule on our cost page is that structural walls can never be removed, and only non-structural partition walls can go, with HDB permission. In a maisonette, treat the floor slab between the two levels and the staircase opening the same way unless the HDB permit says otherwise. If a quotation includes anything that sounds like opening up the stairwell, moving the staircase or removing a wall that carries the upper floor, ask for the permit basis in writing before you compare prices. Our guide to which walls you can remove in an HDB flat explains how to find out what a given wall is.

2. Count the wet areas, because each one is its own job

This is where a maisonette quote moves most. Our bathroom figure is per bathroom, so it multiplies. As plain arithmetic from the published range: if your unit has three bathrooms and you redo all of them, that is $12,000 to $36,000 on bathrooms alone, before the kitchen. Two bathrooms is $8,000 to $24,000. Your unit may have fewer or more, so count them on both levels before you read any total.

The important part is not the price, it is the process. Every wet area needs its own waterproofing membrane and a 24-hour ponding test before tiling. On two levels that means separate sets of tests, possibly in different weeks, and the lower level sits under the upper one. If you want to know what a good test looks like, read the ponding test and what to ask before tiling before the site visit, and make sure the quotation shows a waterproofing and test line for every bathroom, not one line for "bathrooms".

3. Tiling area is the line to ask about

Our tiling range is $5 to $15 per square foot. The spread between those two numbers comes from the tile you choose, and the total comes from how many square feet get tiled. A two-level unit has more floor to cover, and it also has a staircase, which is a separate piece of work from a flat floor. As an illustration only, 1,000 square feet of tiling at the published range is $5,000 to $15,000. That is arithmetic to show how the rate scales, not a quote for your floor area.

On our 5-room page we note that many owners keep bedrooms on vinyl and reserve tiles for living areas and wet zones, because tiling is a bigger share of the total in the larger flat types. In a maisonette that choice is worth making room by room, and level by level, rather than for the whole unit.

4. Everything for the upper level goes up the stairs

This is a practical point rather than a published figure. Tiles, boards, wardrobe panels and sanitary fittings for the upper level have to be carried up the internal staircase or hoisted in some other way. Our carpentry is fabricated in our own Singapore factory and installed room by room, but on two levels the order matters: heavy items go in before the finishes that would be damaged by carrying them. Ask any contractor how they will protect the staircase and the finished floors while materials move through, and who is responsible if it is marked.

5. Neighbours on both levels, and the same work hours

HDB work hours do not change: weekdays 9am to 6pm and Saturdays 9am to 1pm, with no work on Sundays or public holidays. What changes is that a two-level unit has hacking, drilling and tiling happening above and below at different stages, so the noisy weeks affect more neighbours. Our note on renovation noise rules and neighbour complaints is worth reading before the permit goes in.

Timeline: 8 to 10 weeks, planned by level

Our published schedule for a full 5-room or executive renovation runs like this: hacking and demolition in weeks 1 and 2, masonry, plumbing and electrical in weeks 3 and 4, waterproofing, tiling and ceiling in weeks 5 and 6, carpentry installation in weeks 7 and 8, then painting, doors, sanitary fittings, cleaning and handover in weeks 9 and 10. The HDB permit typically takes 1 to 2 weeks to process before any of that starts.

HDB allows a maximum renovation period of 3 months from the start date. A 10-week job leaves some room under that ceiling, but not a lot if something goes wrong on the second level. That is why the sequence should be written by level, with dates. Ask for a schedule that says which level is hacked first, when each bathroom is waterproofed and tested, and when carpentry arrives on each floor. If the job does slip, what to do when a renovation runs late covers what to ask for.

How to compare two maisonette quotations

When two quotes for the same unit are thousands of dollars apart, the gap is usually in what has been left out, not in the unit rate. Lay them side by side and check these six things:

1. Is the work split by level? A single lump sum for "whole unit" hides where the money goes. Ask for the upper and lower levels separately.
2. How many bathrooms, and is each one priced? Compare against $4,000 to $12,000 per bathroom, and check that each has waterproofing and a ponding test.
3. How many walls are being hacked, and which? Each non-structural wall is $800 to $1,500 in our pricing, and each needs to be named so it can go on the permit.
4. What is the tiled area in square feet? A quote that says "tiling" with no area cannot be compared with one that gives it.
5. What happens to the staircase? Protection during works, any re-finishing of the treads and railing, and whether it is in the price or an extra.
6. What is carpentry counting? Wardrobe runs per room, kitchen length, and any staircase storage, each against the per-foot and per-set figures above.

If you are weighing quotes from a contractor against an interior design firm, the same structure applies. Our note on how to read and compare renovation quotations goes line by line.

What to prepare before the site visit

• A floor plan of both levels, or photos of each room, the staircase and the ceilings.
• The number of bathrooms and whether any are staying as they are.
• Which walls you are thinking of removing, so they can be checked against what is structural before anyone quotes.
• Whether you plan to live in the unit during works. It needs agreeing before the schedule is written.
• Your hard deadline, if you have one, such as a move-in date or a festive date.

The short version

A maisonette is priced from the same lines as an executive flat, with the total moving mainly on three things: how many wet areas you are redoing, how many square feet get tiled, and how many walls come out. The schedule is the same 8 to 10 weeks in principle, but it needs to be written by level with the waterproofing tests dated. And the staircase and the slab between the floors are the two places where a contractor should be showing you a permit, not a promise.

Want a maisonette quoted properly? WhatsApp us on 9107 2601 with the floor plan or photos of both levels, the number of bathrooms and the walls you are considering, and we will tell you plainly what it needs. Any price depends on a site visit. Larry Contractors is an HDB Licensed Renovation Contractor, HB-09-5667H. The published executive flat figures are on our 5-room and executive HDB renovation cost page, and how we work is on our HDB renovation contractor page.

Related reading: which walls you can remove · the ponding test · when a renovation runs late · renovation noise rules