Renovate in phases — without redoing your own work.
Many Sarawak families renovate a home over years, not in one go — and that's a sound way to do it. The affordability answer isn't a discount, it's ORDER: agree the whole plan once, then build it a phase at a time, in the right sequence. Get the order right and each phase protects the last; get it wrong and you pay to build the same thing twice.
Don't renovate in the wrong order.
Sequence by how hard a thing is to change later. The services and wet works that open the walls come first; the fixed joinery next; the feature construction after; the decoration last. Do it this way and no phase ever demolishes the one before it — you never pay to build the same thing twice.
- Phase 1
Services, wet zones & openings
Open the walls once — get everything that hides behind them right.
- The wet kitchen: layout, waterproofing, floor falls, drainage and traps.
- Plumbing and water points, moved to where you actually use them.
- Electrical rough-in — socket, switch, lighting and appliance positions.
- Cooker extraction ducted out of the house, and ventilation.
- Aluminium windows and insect screens.
Why nowThis is the work that opens walls, floors and ceilings — and everything else is built on top of it. Get the wet zones, the services and the openings right now, while they're exposed and cheap to change. Redo them once the finishes are on, and you're demolishing work you already paid for.
Hold for laterHold the decorative choices — feature walls, premium finishes, ceiling detailing and loose furniture. None of it depends on your taste yet; it depends on the services being in the right place.
Settles the decisions - Phase 2
Core cabinetry & storage
The fixed joinery your day actually runs on.
- The kitchen cabinet run, built against the phase-1 services.
- The wardrobes and storage you open every single day.
- The internals that make them usable — drawers, pull-outs, corner solutions.
Why nowThe biggest fixed joinery goes in once the services behind it are set, so nothing has to be cut open again. This is the working core of the home — get it in and daily life improves immediately, long before the finishing touches arrive.
Hold for laterHold the secondary-room cabinetry and the show-piece built-ins for a later phase. Settle the pieces you open every day first; the display joinery can wait for the feature phase.
Settles the decisions - Phase 3
Living & feature areas
The rooms guests see — coordinated to the core, not guessed at.
- The connected living and dining, and the TV or feature wall.
- Ceilings, cove and feature lighting, installed to the plan.
- Partitions, the staircase, and the surfaces that carry the look.
Why nowThe show-piece construction reads best once the working core is settled, so it can be coordinated to it rather than clashing with it. The lighting scheme and ceiling levels were decided in the masterplan up front and roughed-in with the phase-1 services — now they are finally built and finished.
Hold for laterHold the premium finishes and the styling. The room is nearly there; the very last layer is best chosen against a space you can finally stand in and see.
- Phase 4
Finishing & styling
The last layer — purely additive, and easily changed.
- Premium finishes and the details that complete the render.
- Final light fittings and the everyday hardware and fixtures.
- Loose furniture, soft furnishings and styling.
Why nowThis is the only work nothing else depends on, and the easiest to change — so it goes last, chosen against a finished space rather than a drawing. Spend here when the phases beneath it are done, or defer it with no penalty and add it over time.
Hold for laterNothing left to hold. This is the layer you can add to, swap and upgrade over years without ever opening a wall.
Settles the decisions
One masterplan, built in phases you can afford.
The masterplan is agreed once — one design direction, one set of decisions, one coordinated specification for the whole property. Then you build it in the right order, a phase at a time, and phase four never rips out phase one. That single plan is what ELS documents up front; each phase simply executes against it, so the work stays coherent however long it takes.
A phase plan is a way to sequence, not a quotation. What each phase costs depends on scope, materials and site condition, confirmed after a site measurement. The masterplan itself is ELS's design, specification and coordination (see Services); product prices are ALUMAX's. The order shown is the usual one — your own priorities and property can move a decision earlier or later.