Revamp Of A 40yo 3rm Pigeonhole...

[neubie 2]

Greetings all, have recently joined in the 3roomers den.... haaaaa, now it's my turn to put up some pics of my 3-shoebox resale HDB flat .

Here's the floorplan...

[Warrior88 0]

Yo... you are not new, so no need welcome.

By the way, got 40 years old flat ? Di mana ? Quite swee le, got utility some more How much you buy ?

[neubie 2]

As part of the reno journey, a lot of time spent on getting quotations from various IDs. As far as I can remember, have visited quite a few of them (at least 8-9), some of which are:

- contributing sponsors of this forum

- some are independent forummers

- some from IMM and other neighbourhood heartland shops

For the similar requirements, quotations can vary quite a lot, while some are relatively close. Some firms boh hiew, never got back at all, maybe thinking that the profit margin for 3roomers is razor-thin or they too busy with projects, i dunno....Unusually high and low quotes are usually ditched, only the average and below-average quotes are considered for further clarification. Some firms package their reno as new, basic, premium resale packages with freebies like cooker/hood/kitchen cabinet/aircon. While these might be good for some, but if a lot of changes involved in the reno, it maybe difficult to compare costings among various IDs.

Also thanks to the help of contributing forummers who share their ideas/info/lobangs, hopefully this has made me more informed of the choices I took.

Going thru some of the T-blogs here has been extremely helpful. really gotta spend lotsa time digging into the threads for gems....sometimes i oso log onto RT during office hours if can't finish those extra long threads at home....if boss come faster switch window to inbox.....hahaha....

Edited September 9, 2010 by neubie

[neubie 2]

Yo... you are not new, so no need welcome.

By the way, got 40 years old flat ? Di mana ? Quite swee le, got utility some more How much you buy ?

Toa Payoh lor, bot at a price of 280+.... mine is built in 1970, even older than me wor.... some of the 3rm in this estate got even more older one, if not wrong 1967/8 one oso hap...

Interestingly I received a copy of the birthcert aka title deed of this flat...whoa the document is so retro, titled "THE LAND TITLES ORDINANCE, 1956" with calligraphy typefaces... contains the following:

- topo map of the unit

- floorplan layout of the flat in imperial units

- endorsed licensed land surveyor

- memorandum of prior encumberances

- list of owners/lessees & the occupation period from the day it was built ( I'm the sixth owner of this flat)

it even identifies the name and IC of the first lessee who paid a humble S$7,800 for this flat in 1970....

Edited September 9, 2010 by neubie

[neubie 2]

Some pics of the existing condition...

Condition was left intact by 2 previous owner (at least); so it's at least ten years old...

Living Room

View from kitchen

Edited September 9, 2010 by neubie

[neubie 2]

MBR

Common room

[neubie 2]

Kitchen

Cabinet doors have been removed (in first few pics)

[neubie 2]

Bathroom

WC

Both bathroom/WC wall tiles will be retained, but floor tiles will be hacked to incorporate a floortrap drain at the partition wall between the 2 cubicles...another example of how screwup HDB's archi design... currently it's just a mousehole at the partition wall, so whenever finish using the toilet, water flows from the WC to the bathroom floortrap via this mousehole...

No changes will be done to the utility room as it will be used as a storeroom...

Edited September 9, 2010 by neubie

[neubie 2]

Hi!unique ceiling u have,haha...doubt nowsaday contractor can do such ceiling

U can actually turn your place to a Hip retro theme with minimum reno.can save some cost!

i see that everything is acceptable except the kitchen,maybe u need to hack and redo the kitchen cabinet.

The bedroom door can just paint it white or Multi colour to match your retro theme if u are into it.

u are right that the toilet needs to change the floor tiles only,not forgetting doing water-proofing since its an old flat.

acherly, the demolition guys even commented the ceiling suxx big time it's really too low liao... had the broken marble flooring colors been more whiter, I would've kept it and pay $500+ bucks to get it polish until kilat kilat.....

the bedroom doors are quite run down liao, with full of screw holes at the bottom (previous owner attached those rubber flaps to shut off dust), and worse still one of the door frames have been kicked open i asked my contractor if can just replace the door frame, he said can, but will need to alter the existing door to fit the new frame so LLST, change them out...

my contractor told me he will do triple layer waterproofing on the wet areas, as he is more worried than me if leakage occurs in such old flats... in retrospect, had i chosen another resale flat with nicer floorings, i wouldn't be bothered to teardown everything and redo (which of cos will have to pay more for COV)....

[dexufto 5]

acherly, the demolition guys even commented the ceiling suxx big time it's really too low liao... had the broken marble flooring colors been more whiter, I would've kept it and pay $500+ bucks to get it polish until kilat kilat.....

Hihi neubie..

Remembered seeing you posted somewhere in the forum before.

So nice to see fellow TPY 3-roomer neighbour

We share the identical layout!

Can't help to say this, but our toliets are sooo tiny.

The marble flooring looks so nice, really a pity if it's not able to retain

And what complicated ceiling you have..

Do you have a 3-D to share? Can't what to see your transformation

Edited September 10, 2010 by dexufto

[neubie 2]

Hihi neubie..

Remembered seeing you posted somewhere in the forum before.

So nice to see fellow TPY 3-roomer neighbour

We share the identical layout!

Can't help to say this, but our toliets are sooo tiny.

The marble flooring looks so nice, really a pity if it's not able to retain

And what complicated ceiling you have..

Do you have a 3-D to share? Can't what to see your transformation

paisay i dun tink my contractor will give any 3D. he has shown me the sketches of the kitchen cabinet there only, all pencil sketches, but that's good enuf for me, afterall, trying to match computer-rendered designs is easy, but trying to match the colors will be a big challenge...

my contractor is, well, a contractor, not ID. one man show. he has the hdb-endorsed license, with >10yrs experience, his registered company address is his home address ;p. he has done many 3rm before, so to him is sup sup suey.

in fact, he is one of the appointed reno contractor by the real-estate company who handled my flat purchase, so *shd* have the proficient skills and required standards mandated by the company. everything he does is going strictly by the books... powergrid testing for completed electrical wiring (this adds extra cost), certification of proper installation of high-current appliances like aircon and water heater (some skimp on this), etc. quotation-wise, his prices are quite good.

one thing good about hiring standalone contractors is, you dun need to pay GST to the ID/reno firm. imagine the additional GST of a 30k bill can easily buy me a fridge, TV, WM and spare cash left

in fact, initially i was a bit skeptical when the company contacted me as part of their value-added services to engage their in-house appointed reno contractor who can give pricing. his quote appeared reasonably attractive with the same exacting requirements set forth to other ID/contractors.

having said all this, am keeping my fingers crossed to see how he delivers the entire reno... still too early to say anything right now...

Edited September 10, 2010 by neubie

[neubie 2]

Tiles

[dexufto 5]

..my contractor is, well, a contractor, not ID. one man show. he has the hdb-endorsed license, with >10yrs experience, his registered company address is his home address ;p. he has done many 3rm before, so to him is sup sup suey.

in fact, he is one of the appointed reno contractor by the real-estate company who handled my flat purchase, so *shd* have the proficient skills and required standards mandated by the company. everything he does is going strictly by the books... powergrid testing for completed electrical wiring (this adds extra cost), certification of proper installation of high-current appliances like aircon and water heater (some skimp on this), etc. quotation-wise, his prices are quite good.

one thing good about hiring standalone contractors is, you dun need to pay GST to the ID/reno firm. imagine the additional GST of a 30k bill can easily buy me a fridge, TV, WM and spare cash left

having said all this, am keeping my fingers crossed to see how he delivers the entire reno... still too early to say anything right now...

Yea, the GST alone can get us a brand new Aircon system..

Oic, sounds like you are in good hands with your contractor.

Remembered you were saying that your renovation would start after the Hungry ghost festival. So I suppose hacking works is commencing anytime soon?

Wish you a smooth journey

[neubie 2]

Yea, the GST alone can get us a brand new Aircon system..

Oic, sounds like you are in good hands with your contractor.

Remembered you were saying that your renovation would start after the Hungry ghost festival. So I suppose hacking works is commencing anytime soon?

Wish you a smooth journey

thanks.....yupz, hacking is done and completed within one day, eve of HRP, now they are clearing the debris....

[neubie 2]

Warzone

Cornices and marble flooring hacked on both bedrooms

Targetted to clean out the unit by tomorrow....