mrsv

LLCC, what happened exactly?? this is the final week of our reno, so far it's been ok.. yes no doubt here and there we had to change plans because things are just different when you plan on paper vs the actual house because of things like wall being uneven, lighting coming into house..etc. But so far, I would say I'm very pleased with everything.. the speed, the colors etc.. yesterday our cabinets went up but i had to leave without taking pics becos I was not feeling well. pls tell us what to look out... THANKS!

Jessie - thanks, my EDD is around March - Apr next yr. I try not to exert myself unneccessarily... We were at the house to take a look at how the place is transforming and we're liking it more and more.. hope when it's all ready i can take a few pics and post it here. Im too lazy to create a T blog ..

angel81... my girl is 3 and my boy is in my womb..

Hiera same case for my seller too.. they didn't even want to pay rent. basically stay for free. But thank God they moved out 2 wks after conclusion of sale cos they got their place earlier than expected.. so not too bad. does anyone have any idea who i can go to to get my children's room painted? i dont want to use wallpaper... rather have ppl come n paint the kiddies room so it's nice and friendly looking for kids... pls share yr thots. I dont want any stick ons as I need the pic to cover entire wall...

Byr - same position as me. also sold condo n moved to mais. Also doing 100% overhaul! initially excited but now even more so except have been so bz no time to drop by. Going there later! my hubby says painting done and lights are up etc. so now looking like a hse! however, the amt we spend on appliances/fittings - we must get our money's worth by living there for at least a decade! Hiera - 10k COV v good. high flr, supermarket etc.. wow.. those were also my conditions. But i paid 25K COV. not high floor as highest is 12th. my advise is to start as early as poss cos' you will really really be rushed once reno works start. Whatever planning u can do, whatever reading up, checking online, getting contacts etc... do it before you meet contractor so that u know what they are talking abt and u dont kena cheated..

yes dark wood has a certain class abt it.. it's just that I already had several years with it.. we thought of moving away from that - now everything in our new home is more or less cream/ivory/beige color!

Angel81 - when I first set up my own home, i had a love affair with walnut (dark wood) color, everything is teak and dark stain. Then now im married and want to stay away from dark stain.. plus with baby n small kids, i care only about being child friendly.. haha! nothing in my hse is dark wood, the theme is earthy tones with a warm look. Slowly realising our dream. We made a good decision to downgrade from condo.. fortunatley!!! else i dare not imagine how to service the huge home loan.. plus sold at decent price so can't complain. But the profits went to renovations and furnishing new home! haha... back to sq 1! Right now staying with mom in her small 3 room flat.. plus maid plus kid v cramp, not to mention clash in opinion! so I can't wait to move out!

Angel81 - I went to parkmall. Cos' I find their display abit nicer. The unit is sitting nicely in one corner - you can check it out. I was there abt 2 or 3 wks ago n they mention sale period is Oct. regarding table, im still lost re the type of tabel top - glass or wood or stone.. so still shopping around! also another headache is sofa.. they all seem the same but i just can't find a perfect one!

Angel81 - you can try to go NATURAL LIVING. They have one set - going at sale of $1550, dark oak wood. v nice but only 4 chairs if u dont mind. jessie - yes yr sony 46" LCD is shockingly cheap! i got my samsung 42" Full HD for 2500. also sale weekend, $400 off and comes with blue ray DVD player. this mth is a good mth to start shopping ,a lot of sales.. even my aircon sysm 4 is below 4k. best buy so far is my simmons beautyrest for backcare.. below 2k!

Angel81 Hopefully your sellers are reasonable. We also had to come to an agreement with our sellers but things were always in their favour. We had to just wait for them to find a place and move out. Eventually they did which is good. Reno for our unit already halfway thro'.. by another 2-3 wks shld complete. Cant' wait. Sunsetway - have you moved yet? completed 1 st wk of Oct right? are you pleased with your reno so far? We still have alot of things to buy.. v tiring!

Hiera we will also have 2 attached bathrooms on the upper floor. We are giving original master b/r to our children and we are taking over the other 2 smaller rooms. We are hacking the wall so that it attaches to one room which will be converted to a master bedroom and we are sealing access from common pathway so guests can either use the toilet in kitchen or else they use my children's bathroom. The 3rd room is converted into study where bookcase/wardrobe are built in. HDB permit already obtained for std changes and hacking will start on monday. Now we're selecting tiles. very tiring process..

Hello - i've not been logging in for a while now. Sellers suddenly moved out so we got our keys on Monday. House is now empty and we're finalizing the details with a new contractor - his quote including fittings falls under 56k. So im happy - previous contractor exclude fittings was abt 72k! Tomrow we're taking new contractor to house to take a look. Then hopefully we can conclude the design and hopefully apply permit then can start on work.

Hi sundrops, sorry for my delayed reply.. i've been busy doing garage sale, moving in with my mom while working with contractor on quote and design.. VERY busy! Well, i just finished scrutinizing my contractor's quote - he reduced to 66k but still high. I realised his cabinetry is VERY expensive, while hacking and laying tiles etc are reasonable. Do u know, my shoe cabinet which acts as a divider between maid's room n dining is costing me more than 2000?! and it isnt even near 5ft long! and for wrought iron stairs he's charging 3800.. i definitely want to trim that one down.. my contractor says cannot box up water pipes in toilets..

I have already completed trnsaction but agent took key for us.. we'll be meeting up on friday with my contractor to inspect the place n decide on final quote for reno. However, I want to make sure that when sellers move out in mid Sep, they will dispose of all the furniture - how can I ensure that? Should I put it in writing? I dont want any of their furniture or appliances and I dont want to incur money to get it of them.... pls advise - thanks.

hi chrono - thans for yr PM. btw, how come yr move in date change to oct?

hi sunset way - i just PM u! pls check yr inbox. how are the renos so far? as i mentioned, tho' our transaction is completed, owners want to extend stay so we can't move in. Is there a need to inspect the place now? sigh.. The quote I got from my contractor alone is 72k so I really want to cut back.. It's too much for me. Was hoping to stay within 50k if poss.. Plus not inclusive of fittings and fixtures.. so u can imagine how much I may end up paying! unlike you, we have to do an overhaul - except for parquet flooring on 2nd floor. But as you said, this is my dream place - i am so pleased to have found a unit here. it's quiet and the place is being upgraded so we will have lift landing too. double blessing.

hi sunset way - i finally found a neighbour here.... Im collecting keys end of aug but owners want to extend their stay so I guess I will only start reno works on the house after they move out. When we first looked at sunset way in 2006, prices were around 430k... and there were v v few sellers! eventually by end 06, they were asking close to 500k so we started looking at condos.. Then we came back in 2007 and the prices were like 700k! gosh.. still, I managed to find a unit under 600k but we need to redo everything. The reno is 8 yrs old but not to our taste..

hi i'm back.. disappeard for a few days cos' travelling.. now logging from hotel.. i checked some online quotation on hdb web and they have diff prices for parquet. btween 9psf to 18psf.. assuming the floor area of 150sf per room - that works out to be btw 1400 and 2700. that's just one room. btw, im in a dilemna cos' the plc i bought comes w parquet flooring on stairs + bedroom but the look is abit dated. dont know how to post pic so need to describe. the parquet strips are lined in squares and the squares are lined horizontal alt w vertical. so one square horizontal, one square vertical.. these days longer strips are more popular.. But im reluctant to spend 10k to hack cos' the condition is v good.

ok - i know alot of work coming.. i've got recommendation from 2 friends. will check with them on quotation based on pics + floor plan - if need we go down to the hse - because sellers still living there, wont be very convenient to keep bringing contractor after contractor there right?? I have picked on the brains of a friend - I met him on another reno forum and he has given me very good designs.. except still pending kitchen n rooms.. but i've seen many good designs here.. so that's great!! I prefer to engage those with experience doing up mais...

thanks for replying, chronograph. my question is - is it too early to engage contractor given that i'm not done with design of flat? what actually happens in the 1st call w contractor? he would want to see my floor plan n pics of house perhaps? I hve those.. but i haven't really come up with kitchen and common bedroom designs - can contractor help to give ideas ..? my first time engaging a contractor, and my first HDB purchase.. all is new to me..

Hi, I'm mrs-V and this is my first entry in this forum. Before today, I had no clue maisonettes were so popular! I was initially against a double storey flat given that I have young kids, but we just bought a unit in Clementi - anyone here also owns a unit there? Our first appt is in Jul and keys handover 1 Oct.. So now i'm sourcing for design, ideas, contractor.. I do find it abit of a challenge to keep costs within boundaries.. but what I'm hearing and reading is that $50k is reasonable for an overhaul. This is what we will be doing : 1. changing orientation of maid's room (involves hacking and creating new door entrance) 2. creating built-in shoe cabinet and bench at entrance 3. changing windows and grilles (3 bedrooms + kitchen + dining + balcony) 4. changing all doors (bedroom doors 5. install sliding door for kitchen entrance 6. overhaul toilets (3 toilets) 7. overhaul kitchen 8. change all floor tiles (living - marble, bedroom - parquet) 9. installing folding doors in living hall (opens to balcony) 10. build in cabinets for bedrooms 11. false ceiling for lights 12. redoing the staircase railings 13. re-wiring/ plumbing I need to make sure that the reno is completed within 2 mths - anyone can give inputs on whether this can be done? thank you....