aves

think you're mistaken. the enclosure is the whole kitchen itself. the area outside is the 'dining area' where the dining tables and chairs will be....

we need to have the separation as we are keeping dogs and we want to keep them in the kitchen when we are away from home instead of leaving them running around the living room with potential to destroy/dirty the sofa and other furniture. well my thought is that the kitchen tho not very big is big enough for around 4-6 pax imo cos my gf place also around the same size kitchen but is enough for daily meals prep for 4-5 ppl... shrug... maybe the maid is very good at keeping things? hehe... Anyway, my ID friend has finally sent me a quote but its actually pretty similar in terms of pricing of my 3 shortlisted 'candidates'.... sigh... i tot if much cheaper no need to think and ponder so much liao but i guess we're now back to square 1... in fact, we have to consider 4 instead of 3 now.... headache!

We dont forsee ourselves cooking much and even if we do. i dont think we need that much space. Therefore, we have come out with a new layout for the kitchen and dining as depicted below... Also, think i have not updated that I have found a new ID and is in the midst of arranging with him the quotation. Well is he actually my friend and I met him during one wedding dinner around last month. He told me he is doing ID now and I thought why not let him give me a quote and see how things goes... He will be emailing me the quote tonight... He mentioned that the stuff I need to do will cost around approx 26 or 27k... Well, If really 3k cheaper I think it's worth a shot... And of course I can click with him quite ok since he is my friend... The downside of course is that since he is my friend, may be difficult if there is anything I disagree on but the same goes on his side too I guess... And yea he has only done renovations for around 1-2yrs? Will see how the quote is then I shall decide...

very interesting and fun to read blog. keep it up

congrats. my completion already over but seller still staying there. cant even start anything. and haven even chosen ID... good luck to your reno!

1) HDB dont accept such arrangements. When you buy the flat, the agent should explain to you a clause in the checklist that no pte arrangements should be made other than those stated on OTP. So do this at your own risk. 2) No implications with tax but implications once again with HDB. by right not suppose to 'rent' out the flat and owner must stay there for a certain period before letting other ppl 'fully occupy' your flat. whether collect rent or not is not a concern hdb cos they can always say the 'rent' was already 'discounted or partially discounted' from the selling price of the flat (which is usually the case) 3) yes responsibility is on you. for eg the owner let illegal immigrants stay there, do bookmaking activities at your house, sell drugs, throw deadly litter etc. you will be implicated cos you are the owner and authorities will deal with you one way or another. seller will also be punished but you will definitely be implicated.

Did some planning for the kitchen. Think we kinda decided that a chimney hood is not very useful for us considering we don't even cook much except maggi mee. Also, its much more expensive than a slim hood and eats up our storage space. Some ID also told us the 'backing' part of the chimney hood will be counted as kitchen cabinet. so so so. I went ahead to make some 3D drawings of my kitchen. Its more or less just space planning since I have not much idea on how to render the 'textures' and stuff... one problem we have here is the fridge. you see my future MIL is giving us her fridge but its very small. we were planning on something bigger... so now, im not sure if i should leave a bigger space for a bigger fridge... if i leave a space now, it'll be ugly. if i don't i can't upgrade the fridge anymore. what do you guys think...

haha thats funny.... but come to think of it, i actually i will need someone who can sortof do 'room by room' in the sense i need my MBR and MBR toilet to be done ASAP so we can move in even when they are renovating.

Hehe... not yet chosen my ID leh but shortlisted a few. cant decide cos too fearful of things going wrong or turn out not to our expectations. some more too mafan to arrange for 3 parties (ourselves, ID and owner) for the ID to go up and view so I guess I'll just hold my horses till I officially get the key. Then I can go up whenever I want. Less trouble for everyone...

yea actually went through quite a few companies on the net. so far all must call/visit to quote but i also duno how much space i need... sigh... 200+ per month + all the logistic cost to arrange to move things in and out.... wonder if it's worth all the $$ and trouble...

Haha i was at pet paradise too a few weeks back. I think the bulldogs you saw were the same that me and my gf saw. There were 3 of them then... Got 1 smaller sized one always kana bitten by the other 2 bulldogs but think they are just playfighting.... but it drew lotsa crowd cos they were very active, funny and interesting to watch compare to the lone/sleeping dogs.

congrats on your house and thanks for posting ur blog. gives me more confidence in Tau now

Completion is over. Owner said they will move out after their nephew has completed PSLE which means OCT 8 they will start moving or something like that. Hopefully, can finish by OCT 11 and handover? Hehe... Anyway, we have a problem now. My MIL wants to give us some furniture ie sofa, coffee table, dining tables + chairs, tv console, washing machine and fridge to use in our new house. The thing is, she needs to have the items out of her house by 22 Oct cos that unit will be rented out and the tenants don't want the items. Wonder if the ID will be able to work with those items in the house? Anyone with experience on this? Or should I find a storage company to store those items? Any recommendations for storage space/company?

got agent? my agent helped us call the officer. next day i got the appt date in sms liao. and my 1st appt and 2nd appt only like 5weeks apart

ur house is direct mirror image of mine. actually nothing done is good. save $$ on hacking! hehe

hello strawclare. welcome to simei. my 2nd appt coming in 2 days.

Completion date is out. 18 Sep 08. So owner should hand over to us around mid Oct. hehe

Been long since there was any update. Basically we're now just waiting for completion then we will start bringing the final IDs up to view and give us a final quote + ideas. Don't want to 'trouble' the owners now cos we are still officially owners but after completion and during the extension, i think i will feel more comfortable going up to 'my own' house even tho they are staying there. Anyway, CPF money have been emptied but completion date still not confirmed. Already more than 2 weeks from 1st appt liao. Wondering when we can get the actual completion date... Wait wait wait...

congrats. good luck with everything. FYI, ur pics are either too big or too small. lol

heh plenty of contacts in this forum for u to explore. cant recommend any as i myself have yet to select my ID

1) Aircon - System 4 - 4k 2) Rerun all electrical wires (12 yrs flat) 3.5k 3) Pipping - 1k 4) Toilet Bowl - 2 Toilets - 500 5) Flooring for 2 Toilets & service balcony - 2.5k 6) Lightings -2k 7) Hob & Sink - 1k 8) Box up ceiling for living hall & MBR - 1.5k 9) Shower Screen for 2 toilets - 1.5k 10) Sliding glass door for Kitchen - 1k I put my estimates based on my own experiences. you do the maths yourself. hehe disclaimer: some prices may vary alot depending on what brands and models u choose.

nope. they will inform u by post. or u can check the myhdb thingy regularly to see if they update the appt date. Mine now on myhdbpage it states Estimated completion date: 2nd half of September

we also same lor. think we will have a totally empty living and dining room when we move in. slowly then buy tv, sofa, dining table, coffetables etc. even bedframe also maybe not getting first. just sleep on mattress laid on the floor. lol those die die must get one then we get like hob and hood, aircon, fridge, etc. the rest can slowly buy when we find something we like and at a good bargain.

First appt finally over. Wasn't a very pleasant experience thanks to a grouchy and fierce HDB officer. She was 'banging' her pen and files and paper down on the table throughout the whole process and seem very impatient for us to decide on our 'financial plan'. Though she still spoke 'politely', you can sense her impatient tone and actions... According to agent she is quite fierce normally but was super duper bad mood when serving us that day. Tough luck for us I guess. Hopefully she'll be in a better mood during our 2nd appt...

hehe my keys also dunno when then can collect cos we allow for extension stay up to 4weeks for the seller to move out. So if 2nd appt is 4 weeks later. Then get keys is around 8 weeks later liao lor.... if worse, 2nd appt 8 weeks, then get keys is around 12 weeks leh... still so loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong and some more reno also dunno will take how long.... wait wait wait