A homeowner at Yishun Emerald asked us for a condo kitchen cabinet replacement: out with the old cabinets, in with new aluminium ones. The kitchen is tight, and new cabinets were only half the job: the plumbing, LED lighting and cooker gas supply all had to be redone around them. We handled every part ourselves: dismantling and disposal, aluminium kitchen cabinets built at our own workshop, plumbing, LED electrical works, gas installation, and a sintered stone countertop and backsplash.
| Project facts | |
|---|---|
| Property | Condominium unit, Yishun Emerald, Canberra Drive, Yishun |
| Kitchen | Two walls: top and bottom cabinets on one side, a top cabinet with an aluminium glass display on the other. Total 12 ft, inclusive of top and bottom cabinets on both sides. |
| Our scope | Dismantling and disposal, aluminium cabinets, plumbing, LED electrical, cooker gas, sintered stone countertop and backsplash |
| Cabinet finish | Our in-house PET-G surface finish, light wood-grain |
| Countertop | Sintered stone countertop, with matching backsplash |
| On site | 7 days, 4 installers |
| Completed | October 2026 |
Yishun Emerald was completed in 2002 and has 436 units along Canberra Drive. The homeowner still had the original cabinets from the developer, with no renovation since 2002. The main reason the whole renovation started was the tiles behind the cooker: they were starting to fall off, and the homeowner was using tape to hold them in place.
The old cabinets had reached the end of their life and had to come out completely. The problems included swollen base panels at the sink, doors that no longer closed tightly, rusting hinges, a musky under-sink smell, and bugs reaching tight places.
The bigger constraint was space. With cabinets on both walls and a narrow walkway between them, every centimetre of storage had to be easy to reach. A deep cabinet you have to kneel down and empty to find one pot isn’t much use in a kitchen this size. That’s why the brief centred on drawers with organisers, not more cupboard doors.
What mattered most to the homeowner: easy cleaning, easy storage, easy access to woks and pans, and no formaldehyde, since this is the kitchen where food is prepared.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Bottom cabinets | Aluminium body, PET-G wood-grain doors, deep drawers with sufficient space for pots and pans |
| Top cabinets | Same finish, under-cabinet LED lighting |
| Glass display top cabinet | Aluminium frame with glass doors, on the opposite wall |
| Countertop and backsplash | Sintered stone with vein lines |
| Plumbing | New connections to the sink, as the position moved. |
| Electrical | Under-cabinet LED strips, with 3 power points relocated. |
| Gas | Gas supply reconnected to the cooker |
| Hardware | Soft-close hinges and drawer runners; Hi Gold Z basket; Hi Gold condiment sauce rack. |
Why the glass display cabinet sits on the opposite wall. A shallow top cabinet on the second wall adds storage without making the walkway feel narrower, because it sits above head height, and the glass doors keep it from looking heavy in a small room.
Replacing a kitchen in a condo usually means five or six trades: someone to remove the old carpentry, a plumber, an electrician, a gas worker, a cabinet maker and a countertop fabricator. When each is a separate contractor, the homeowner ends up managing the order of works, and a delay in one trade holds up the next.
On this job, we ran all of them as one professional kitchen renovation contractor. That mattered most at the points where trades meet:
| Part | What we used | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet body | Aluminium, 18 mm minimum thickness | Doesn’t swell or rot when water gets underneath, and termites don’t affect it. Matters most under the sink. Heavy knocks can dent it. |
| Door finish | T Se7en Alucraft in-house PET-G, light wood-grain | Wipes clean with a damp cloth and mild detergent. |
| Countertop and backsplash | Sintered stone | Handles hot pots and resists stains, so the cooking zone is easy to keep clean. Very scratch-resistant, but edges and corners can chip under a heavy knock. |
| Drawers | Deep drawers with organiser, BLUM soft-close runners | Pots and utensils are lifted out from above, not dug out from the back of a cupboard. |
Choosing between sintered stone, quartz and stainless steel? Our kitchen countertop materials guide compares them for Singapore kitchens.
| Stage | Time | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Site measurement | 1 day | Kitchen measured, and water, waste, power and gas points checked |
| Design and quotation | 3 days | Layout, finish, drawers and accessories confirmed |
| Condo approval | 1 week | Yishun Emerald management requires us to state what scope of work is involved, and only light, quiet works are allowed over the weekend. |
| Fabrication | 2 weeks | Aluminium cabinets built and checked at our own workshop |
| Dismantling and disposal | 1 day | Old cabinets removed and taken away |
| Plumbing, electrical and gas | 1 day | First-fix works done before the new cabinets went in |
| Cabinet installation | 2 days | Top and bottom cabinets and glass display cabinet fixed |
| Countertop and backsplash | 1 day | Sintered stone installed |
| Testing and handover | 1 day | Sink, tap and waste tested for leaks; drawers and doors adjusted; cooker gas checked |
The biggest problem on site was the unexpected falling of tiles. When we were dismantling the old kitchen, the owner wanted to retain the side tiles and other tiles not affected by the cabinets. However, because the tiles were so old, many of them detached from the wall with light knocks.
The video shows the old cabinets coming out, the new aluminium frames going in, and the finished kitchen over 7 days.
The homeowner now has a kitchen that works in the space it has: deep drawers that keep pots and utensils in reach, a glass display cabinet on the second wall, LED lighting over the counter and a sintered stone top that takes hot pans and wipes clean.
These points come from this job and apply to most older condo kitchens.
At Yishun Emerald, work on site took 7 days, including dismantling, plumbing, electrical, gas, cabinets and the countertop. Fabrication at our workshop took 2 weeks before that. Across our jobs, fabrication usually takes 2 to 6 weeks and installation 1 to 10 days. Your condo’s permitted work hours can stretch the total.
Usually yes. Most condos require a renovation application before works start, so check with your management office early.
Generally not advisable, as there’s a chance of breaking the countertop.
Yes. On this job we handled plumbing, LED electrical works and the cooker gas connection alongside the cabinets and countertop. The gas works were carried out by a licensed gas service worker.
Aluminium cabinets don’t swell or rot when water gets under them, and termites don’t affect them. That matters most at the sink, where cabinets in older kitchens usually fail first.
We don’t publish the price of this job, and the total cost depends mainly on cabinet length, drawers and accessories, the countertop and how many trades are involved. See aluminium kitchen cabinets price in Singapore for our rates and how to compare quotes.
Planning to replace an old condo kitchen? Send us your kitchen photos and floor plan, or request a site measurement. As a cabinet maker with our own workshop, we build the aluminium cabinets ourselves and handle the other trades on site.
Speak to a professional now and get personalized consultation and guidance for your next renovation. Work with a team you can trust!
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