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Renovation budget · Sarawak

What does your budget actually design and build?

Renovation is one of the biggest things a household spends on — so the useful question isn't only what a budget buys, but what to solve first and what to leave for later. The rule that saves the most in Sarawak: don't spread the budget evenly. Fix the expensive-to-change things first — wet zones, layout, services — and leave the cheap-to-add layer (feature walls, styling, spare rooms) for a later phase. Each band below shows what to prioritise and what to hold. Not a quotation — the real figure is confirmed after a site measurement.

RM10k – 20k

One room, done right.

Band A — the terrace kitchen with plain base and wall cabinets, a louvre window, a basic hood and a four-seat dining table.
DESIGN REFERENCE — NOT A PRODUCT PHOTO

An illustration of scope, not a product photo and not a quotation.

A single high-value room — usually the kitchen — or targeted fixes across the home. You choose where the budget goes.

Finish tier

Essential tier, keeping sound existing work rather than replacing it.

Prioritise
  • Wet-zone materials.
  • Socket, switch and appliance positions, fixed before wiring.
  • Essential cooker extraction and ventilation.
Leave for now
  • The TV wall and feature joinery — cheap to add once the room works.
  • Secondary bedrooms and purely cosmetic ceilings.
  • Re-flooring where the existing floor is still sound.

Not everything is touched — the spend goes where getting it wrong costs the most to redo.

Design + Specification for the one room, or Style Adaptation on an ALUMAX order.
RM20k – 50k

The heart of the home.

Band B — the kitchen with under-cabinet lighting, two pendants over the table, a stone-look splashback and a slat-front sideboard.
DESIGN REFERENCE — NOT A PRODUCT PHOTO

An illustration of scope, not a product photo and not a quotation.

The kitchen plus one or two connected areas — a dry kitchen, a TV wall, a wardrobe — or the main rooms of a smaller home.

Finish tier

Essential throughout, with Signature on the surfaces you touch and see every day.

Prioritise
  • A coordinated wet + dry kitchen.
  • Layered lighting and a first air-conditioning zone.
  • Storage that fits how you actually cook and live.
Leave for now
  • Redoing every ceiling — keep the sound ones, spend on the wet/dry kitchen.
  • Wardrobes for every room at once — do the daily-use rooms first.
  • Decorative feature walls — the last, most replaceable layer.

Enough scope to coordinate several trades — which is where a documented specification starts to pay for itself.

Design + Specification, with Renovation Coordination if several trades run at once.
RM50k – 100k

Multi-room, cabinet-led upgrade.

Band C — the kitchen with the fridge housed in a tall cabinet run, handleless fronts, a perimeter cove and a lit display niche.
DESIGN REFERENCE — NOT A PRODUCT PHOTO

An illustration of scope, not a product photo and not a quotation.

Kitchen, wardrobes, living storage and selected key areas brought under one coordinated design direction. M&E planning covers the affected appointed scopes — not complete rewiring, replumbing or whole-property building services.

Finish tier

Signature across the board, with Bespoke on the feature moments that carry the room.

Prioritise
  • One design direction for the whole property.
  • Full M&E coordination — power, data, lighting and AC as one plan.
  • Feature ceilings, cove lighting and considered detailing.
Leave for now
  • The most bespoke feature moments — lock coordination and M&E first, add signature detail after.
  • Full FF&E and styling — furnishing follows the built work.
  • Anything you can phase without re-opening a wall or ceiling.

At this level, the whole property is held to one approved scope — coordination is what keeps the trades from clashing.

Not assumed in this band — structural work; complete electrical, plumbing or air-conditioning replacement; waterproofing and other major wet works; sanitaryware; appliances; loose furniture and styling; authority submissions; specialist consultants; or third-party work not separately quoted and appointed.

Design + Specification, with separately quoted Renovation Coordination for the appointed scopes.
RM100k+

Bespoke, fully coordinated.

Band D — the kitchen with a layered ceiling, slat panels, a linear pendant, a banquette bench and plinth lighting.
DESIGN REFERENCE — NOT A PRODUCT PHOTO

An illustration of scope, not a product photo and not a quotation.

A complete home, a high-spec renovation or a new build — every room and system in scope.

Finish tier

Bespoke — custom joinery, feature ceilings, motorised and smart systems, and full FF&E.

Prioritise
  • Every decision optimised, not only the visible ones.
  • Whole-home smart control, AC zoning and structured data.
  • Styling and FF&E to realise the render in full.
Leave for now
  • Chasing finishes before layout, structure and M&E are locked — the expensive-to-change decisions come first, even here.
  • Styling and FF&E before the built shell is signed off.

At this level the Managed Project Engagement caps the fee — one coordinated scope, with ELS accountable for its design and coordination and each appointed trade for its own work. The 8% covers coordination only; design fees are charged separately.

Managed Project Engagement — see the packages.
Where the money goes

A budget is not one figure — it's three.

Almost every renovation budget splits three ways: ALUMAX products, the third-party trades, and ELS's own design and coordination. Seeing the three lines up front helps avoid a surprise later. What each one comes to on your project is confirmed after a site measurement — product prices are ALUMAX's, and each trade quotes its own work.

RM20kSibu terrace

One terrace kitchen, done right.

  • ALUMAX productsCabinets, aluminium windows & screens, composite panels, hardware and internals — supplied and installed by ALUMAX. The real figure is ALUMAX's.
  • Design, professional input and coordination allowanceA budgeting allowance, not an ELS quotation. It may include ELS fees, technical surveys, specialist consultants, submissions and additional project documentation. ELS's actual fee follows the published service rate or the Managed Project Engagement formula on Services.
  • Third-party trades allowanceElectrical, plumbing, tiling, ceiling, painting, air-conditioning and flooring — quoted and executed by appointed trades.
  • Indicative project totalRM20kYour own budget — not a quotation. Confirmed after a site measurement.

A single wet-and-dry kitchen — cabinets, worktop, a sink-and-hob run, a screened window, and the electrical and plumbing moved to where you actually cook. The rest of the house waits its turn.

RM50kSibu terrace

The heart of a terrace home.

  • ALUMAX productsCabinets, aluminium windows & screens, composite panels, hardware and internals — supplied and installed by ALUMAX. The real figure is ALUMAX's.
  • Design, professional input and coordination allowanceA budgeting allowance, not an ELS quotation. It may include ELS fees, technical surveys, specialist consultants, submissions and additional project documentation. ELS's actual fee follows the published service rate or the Managed Project Engagement formula on Services.
  • Third-party trades allowanceElectrical, plumbing, tiling, ceiling, painting, air-conditioning and flooring — quoted and executed by appointed trades.
  • Indicative project totalRM50kYour own budget — not a quotation. Confirmed after a site measurement.

The kitchen plus the living and dining it opens onto — a dry kitchen or feature wall, wardrobes in one bedroom, layered lighting and a first air-conditioning zone — all held to one design direction.

RM80kCondominium

A whole condominium, coordinated.

  • ALUMAX productsCabinets, aluminium windows & screens, composite panels, hardware and internals — supplied and installed by ALUMAX. The real figure is ALUMAX's.
  • Design, professional input and coordination allowanceA budgeting allowance, not an ELS quotation. It may include ELS fees, technical surveys, specialist consultants, submissions and additional project documentation. ELS's actual fee follows the published service rate or the Managed Project Engagement formula on Services.
  • Third-party trades allowanceElectrical, plumbing, tiling, ceiling, painting, air-conditioning and flooring — quoted and executed by appointed trades.
  • Indicative project totalRM80kYour own budget — not a quotation. Confirmed after a site measurement.

Most of an apartment — kitchen, wardrobes, a TV wall and the key wet areas — with more air-conditioning and finishes, each trade's information coordinated to one approved scope so clashes are found on paper, before they reach site.

RM120kSemi-detached

A semi-detached, room by room.

  • ALUMAX productsCabinets, aluminium windows & screens, composite panels, hardware and internals — supplied and installed by ALUMAX. The real figure is ALUMAX's.
  • Design, professional input and coordination allowanceA budgeting allowance, not an ELS quotation. It may include ELS fees, technical surveys, specialist consultants, submissions and additional project documentation. ELS's actual fee follows the published service rate or the Managed Project Engagement formula on Services.
  • Third-party trades allowanceElectrical, plumbing, tiling, ceiling, painting, air-conditioning and flooring — quoted and executed by appointed trades.
  • Indicative project totalRM120kYour own budget — not a quotation. Confirmed after a site measurement.

A larger home taken on in full — kitchen, wardrobes, living and dining, several bathrooms, feature ceilings and external aluminium — coordinated as one property so every room speaks the same language.

RM200kWhole property

A complete property or new build.

  • ALUMAX productsCabinets, aluminium windows & screens, composite panels, hardware and internals — supplied and installed by ALUMAX. The real figure is ALUMAX's.
  • Design, professional input and coordination allowanceA budgeting allowance, not an ELS quotation. It may include ELS fees, technical surveys, specialist consultants, submissions and additional project documentation. ELS's actual fee follows the published service rate or the Managed Project Engagement formula on Services.
  • Third-party trades allowanceElectrical, plumbing, tiling, ceiling, painting, air-conditioning and flooring — quoted and executed by appointed trades.
  • Indicative project totalRM200kYour own budget — not a quotation. Confirmed after a site measurement.

Every room and system in scope — custom joinery, feature ceilings, full air-conditioning zoning, structured data and smart control, and the FF&E to realise the render — all held to one approved scope.

These three lines split the planned spend. Keep any contingency reserve of your own apart from them — held by you, separate from ELS's fees and from the planned works.

What sits in each line

The split isn't a guess — it's these decisions.

Every one of the 64 room decisions carries a supply badge, so each falls to a payee. Here is which sits where — follow any domain into the decisions themselves.

Design, professional input and coordination allowanceall 64

Not a separate set of decisions — ELS specifies or coordinates every one above, which is what keeps the products and the trades working to one plan.

All decisions

Plus 1 you buy yourself (loose furniture and styling) — a fourth line, outside the three project payees and outside the split above.

Indicative budget bands, not a quotation. What each of the three lines comes to varies by project and is confirmed after a site measurement. Product prices are ALUMAX's; ELS prices its own design, specification and coordination (see Services). Use the free Pre-Check to see where your project routes.

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Your budget

See what your budget reaches — before you spend on a quote.