typhoonz

Congrats on your own apartment. So has the reno started?

We brought a contractor to the soon to be our house on sunday. Previously it was an ID we brought up. More about him later. We managed to get my agent to contact the owner but In the end, it the owner's father who came by. We brought this contractor up based on the recommendation of our current flat's agent. We visited her flat in Bedok South a few sundays ago and found it to be nicely done up and the design suits our taste. We liked the house especially the kitchen. We had a headache trying to plan our kitchen layout as we wanted to incorporate a dining area into it. My agent did a wet and dry kitchen which we liked very much. So much that we are more or less going to "copy" her design. He was rushed and had a little over a month to renovate her entire house as my agent was on the verge of giving birth. But the end product didn't give us the impression that it was hastily done. More importantly is the quality of the finished product was there. Overall we were pretty impressed. As we spoke and went around the house, we were also quite comfortable with this contractor as he gives us the feeling that he knows what he's doing and knows what we want. He was able to offer ideas and alternatives to areas that we had absolutely not idea of what to do. Unlike the previous ID we brought up, he seems to be quite inexperience with his stuff and he gave us, well at least for me the very "bad" feeling. Moreover he was more than half an hour late and I was pretty pissed about it as I confirmed and reconfirmed the timing with him a few days in advance. Right now we are waiting for this contractor to give us his quotation. His estimates are rather close to our budget so if everything goes well, most likely we are going to go with him. I'm sure most of you know the feeling of asking one quote after another. It can get rather tiring and you somewhat gets discouraged and sian. We don't want to get to that point where you just want to "get it over with". Once we sign on the dotted line for the renovation agreement, there's no turning back. We don't want to make the mistakes we made for our current flat. And also if it go on like this, we won't be able to start our renovation immediately after the 1st appointment. That's all for now. Hopefully more good news soon and if possible, I'll post some drawings if I have any. : )

So many procedures ah? I thought also must throw red and green beans in before steeping into the empty house? My mum did that for my old flat at Pandan Gardens. Think it's to chase out any "left-over" dirty things in the house...

The storage cost per month is about $430 so we plan to only store our things there max for 2 months. The other headache is how am I going to plan to position the stuff in the 100+ sqf store-room. I got 2 super single storage beds (add then together and you'll get a king size bed), 1 fridge, 1 washing machine, 1 L shaped sofa and 20+ boxes (misc stuff). Hopefully I can get it all in nicely...

A very nice house...

I see... Sorry again for my ignorance... How did you do your tong tu since your reno haven't started yet?

Be moving my big stuff to the warehouse at Eunos Link (Extra Space) and will be staying at my brother in law's place (Bedok North) for the moment. Renovation will start tentatively after my 1st appointment which is on the 6th of Sept. Aiming to have the house done latest by end of Oct. Don't want to rush my contractor as that's what I did the last time round. I ended up with a house that not very well done. Have to move house twice...

Is it? Maybe can go there and try after I'm done with my house. Initially was aiming for Bedok Reservoir View but after I see the prices... Way way over my budget liao. Will be homeless in about 32 days till about end Oct. Will be moving out on the 7th and handing over my keys on either the 8th or 9th of Sept.

Sorry for my ignorance but what is dong tu?

My wife is contemplating on getting an oven. She's just starting to bake so don't have to get such a good one. I guess an entry level one should do the trick. Anyone can please recommend?

So have you gotten your keys yet?

Thanks. I'm also dying to really update this T-Blog. So far I've just been updating it with my comments. I'm really looking forward to update this with pictures, drawings and my ideas... Hope it'll be soon... Wah... Then can organise a Bedok Reservoir "Clan"...

Hi retchlow thanks, that explain why no $$$ was indicated on the letter. I assume there will be another letter for the cash payment then i.e. 10 days before 2nd appt date?

Sigh... Not too sure what my ID is doing but so far no news, no calls and of course no drawings...

Did get a verbal quote from Allbest (IMM) on a Daikin System 4 (Non Inverter) at $2599.

Hi retchlow do let me know how much cash you are paying on first appointment. Like u, I am also downgrading and the first appointment letter never indicate how much cash I need to pay I am also taking bank loan and first appt is on 6th sep

Which brand? Legrand is at $4+ and MK is at $6+...

We all want the best bang for the buck but somehow things will go wrong here and there. It's how they solve it that matters. We also can give them some slack and let them do their job. Of course after this and they are still slack, then we must do something. Sometimes what's written here is only 1 part of the story. We don't know what they have done or perhaps it was just a misunderstanding.

Blk 23 Bendemeer Rd #01-527 , Singapore 330023. Tel : 62964111 Fax : 62983620

Still waiting for my current ID to get back to me with the drawings... Do these drawings take so long? It's been a week already and no sign of them... Sigh... Anyway, my weekend was spent researching on the accessory part like bathroom stuff, ventilation fan (finally convinced my Mrs to do it), electronic (Plasma or LCD? Lights...etc) and strangely we dwelled on my friend's new flat which we viewed on sunday. We liked her design so much that we decided to "borrow" parts of it and incorparate them into my plans. We like the idea of a wet and dry kitchen so we'll do something like that with a glass door dividing them both. We like the L box design but our idea is not as complacated as her's. Hope that my drawings will appear soon...

Got my 2 Daikin systems (Single and system 3) from them and their installation is good... It's been 4+ years now and no problems... Their workers are quite pro and friendly... I got mine at their IMM outlet (pre-renovated)... I guess there won't be such a thing where every customer of a particular service provider is okie with them... There are bound to be good and bad comments... There are always 2 sides to a story... Might have started with the customer side? We won't know... It's a heng sway thing...

Yup... Asked the lady and she said that same ting... Of course if your electrician or contractor went down and got it for you, he'll probably add another 50 cents to a dollar for every switch... I guess I'll go with Legrand... The lady at Choo Chiang told me they have ready stocks for Legrand (white and coloured). But as for MK (coloured) have to order and wait for 2 days or so...

Which brand of rocker switch did you friend use? I "tested" out the sample from Legrand and MK and felt it's well built. Didn't notice the sound so I guess it's not really audible.

$6 is the contractor price so I guess the rest all went to the misc fees (lunch, petrol, kopi...etc)... I'm going to just get a list of what to buy from my contractor and do my own shopping... This way I can save a few hundred dollars of middle man fees...

I'm still pending his drawings and itemised quote...