leechaorui

The quality of materials and workmanship is important. If the area covered is big or irregular in shape, there is a need to join a few pieces of the polycarbonate roof together. Over time, subject to the elements of the weather, there could be leakages on the joints. Hence, your selection criteria should not be solely on cost consideration. The experience and reputation of the contractors matter.

This is my personal opinion on what you can do. a. You will need to get an architect and engineer to help you in the A&A work. There is also the needed paper work to be submitted for approval by the various govt agencies. b. According to some homeowners, the appreciation in value for the A&A work tend to be less than the cost of construction. In addition, the value you spend on A&A generally depreciate over the years. On your question. 1. Depending on the complexity of the work, the materials you use, etc..., the work can cost you between $200K to $300K easily. The work will probably comprise of additional footing to reinforce the foundation. Demolishing part of the roof and supporting pillar may mean that you will have to reinforce part of the interior of the house. It may be challenging to construct an extension on the back of the house if you are sharing common back fence with your neigbhour or your back lane is very narrow. 2. There are many builders in the market. You have to consider whether you want to do a design and build or to work with an architect and then tender the work to contractors of which the architect or you will have to project manage. Sometimes, people go for a hybrid between the two methods. There are pros and cons between the methods. 3. The architect and contractors will be able to advise you on cleaning the double height ceiling/ wall when you invite them to your place to view the work required. For a start, you may want to invite an architect to your place and make an assessment of the extend of the construction and the probable cost.

Hi FengShui Master, my place is an end corner terrace, facing southeast. The front of my house is on higher ground, sloping downwards towards the back. On the southwest of the house, there is a small + road junction. Generally, the house is unblocked and there is a small (about 3.5 to 4 metres) linkway behind my house separating it from the neighbours. Sorry, I do not know how to download google map.

Dear Fengshui Masters, I am planning to rebuild my house sometime next year. My house is presently a single storey end corner terrace facing Southeast. On the southwest of my house, there is T-road junction. I think it is a Cat 5 road because the traffic is not heavy and the road is quite narrow. I plan to rebuild my place into a 3.5 storey house. I have just made some enquiries on erection cost, design and ideas. What would be the fengshui consideration in rebuilding the house and planning the layout of the place.

It is not exactly $30K because you still can less $5,400 from the fee $30,000. The website is here: https://concorde.asianconnect.com/esp/image...e.xls#'Sale & Purchase'!A1

I think the legal fees will include the search fee, printing cost, transport, etc.. but does NOT include stamp duty. Stamp duty is a 3% tax of the transacted price of property levied by the government when you purchase a property. If your purchase price of your new property is $1 million, the stamp duty is $30,000. This can be paid using your CPF monies.

From what reallove wrote, she looked like she has been very badly victimised. I empathise with her husband. He must have felt insulted by the security guard when he was told off in front of the children. Even if the children are not allowed to swim, at least the guards should tell the husband in private and not in the full view of the children. This is very ungracious. As for defects in the units, I think the neigbours could band together and hire a contractor to rectify the situation. Water proofing involves hacking and insulating the unit. It is not going to be cheap and there may be dispute in sharing the cost but better to discuss and settle the issue early. Otherwise, the residents have to live in the constant condition of leaking water. For Reallove, I think it is better to buy a landed house and construct a lap pool. Your husband and the children can swim freely. With the recession set in, landed properties have dropped in price and are more affordable now, especially in the suburban. I think better to forgive and move on from here rather than let this incident continue to trouble you. Cheers.

Dear Cookcpu, In your earlier quote, you mentioned that your neighbour bore the cost of building the shared boundary wall (quoted in bold) but in your latest reply, you wrote about your neighbour doing a boundary wall using piling and expecting you to share the cost (underline). I am not sure what is your situation. Did your neighbour told you that they pay for the cost of shared boundary wall which one of your family members had earlier agreed (based on what you wrote) and then suddenly use piling to construct the wall and expect you to pay for a share of it? BTW, when I was walking around my estate and looking at building undergoing construction, a lot of them had canvass to cover it up. I think this may be a standard practice. I thimk the purpose is to avoid noise and dust from affecting neighbouring house. I don't think it is conclusive to correlate that your neighbour is using the canvas to cover up their act, though this could be a possibility. However, I take your point that as good neighbours, they should inform you that they are doing piling work. This is because piling work can quite often adversely affect surrounding properties, causing cracks, etc. While I advocate give and take, I do not tolerate bullying especially excessive bullying by others. Anyway, I am not clear of the actual situation that you wrote about. There could be more issues in your mind that you did not articulate in the forum. If you feel that you need to get this off your chest, I would suggest that have a conversation on the issues you feel with your family and your neighbour. At least it can put some closure to your feelings and suspicions. I will end here with a note that I do not mean any offence to you. Just sharing my thoughts since you wrote about the issue in the forum. If you wish to speak with me, we can communiate via pm. Cheers.

I do not know how abnormal his boundary wall is. My view is give and take is a better way to solve issues. I know of neigbours who build boundary wall on the common area, so both sides stand to gain. If the neigbour build the wall entirely on his side, you will have the full use of the space in your land and at the same time enjoy the privacy of a wall. Though the difference is not very big, I think sharing is a good way forward, unless there are specific reasons like abnormal boundary wall that you had mentioned. Since your neighbour is doing construction work, it is common to have public liability insurance. If there is damage to your property, the contractors will have to compensate you and carry out the necessary repairs. Generally, contractors are careful not to damage the neighbour's house and the engineers that plan the piling work are also qualified. I don't think you should worry too much, though accidents sometimes do happen. As long as care is taken in the construction, this is about the best your neighbour can do. I think as long as your neighbour inform you and seek your understanding in building his house, I think give and take is still a good way forward. In future, when you rebuild your house, you will have a supportive neighbour. Hope you don't find my comments offensive. Cheers.

What about the singnet TV point? Is it a better alternative?

Thanks. PM replied.

I have communicated with Bro Wuga98. He is a friendly guy and very helpful and willing to share too. He has created a wonderful house. Believe his family is enjoying the fruits of his labour now.

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Thank you for your advice in the forum and by pm. Just saw your blog on house construction. It was very informative and I believe you enjoyed the process of building the house. Yup, $500K for 4 storey properly build house is not easy at this time. There are quotes which my neighbours got, $300K for a 2 storey and it is considered very cheap. The same contractor quoted me $500K for a nice 2.5 storey house. I think once the demand for houses is reduced due to the recession, there may be opportunities for contractors to do the job just to occupy spare capacity and keep their workers employed. If you know of geniune contractors who can deliver at my budget, you could introduce to me.

Buy a piece of land that you like. After that, you can build your house on it and you can decide on the facing of the door, the window, the rooms, etc.. As long as the piece of land is something that you feel is suitable, other things can be adjusted. The only setback is the high cost involved when you take this course of action. I heard from a FS master that almost any house can be a good house and give you good fs, provided you are a good person with plentiful of good deeds and good thoughts. In this way, the fs will adjust to you though you may suffer some minor setbacks initially. If a person has a bad heart and commit bad deeds, he cannot find security from a good fs place because over time, the fs will turn against him. The FS master said that this is the general rule but there are exceptions to it. Hope this help, for those who are thinking about FS and house purchase.

I am aware that the lowest quote may not be the lowest amount I have to pay. I will need to learn from experience bros like you. Notwithstanding the need to learn and take valuable lessons from learned bros, I would prefer that the job be given to someone who is reliable and has some spare capacity to do the construction. Some contractors are able to charge lower because they have lower overheads or spare capacity or they can get materials at lower price because of special contacts, etc... I think it is difficult for contractors to lower their prices now as jobs are plentiful. I suspect that once the IRs are more or less done and if the economy is still gloomy, there will be opportunities for contractors to charge lower. Although my budget is low in building a house, the amount is very substantial to me and I will need to get a bank loan by mortgaging my house. Wanted to rebuild much later but looking at the health of my parents, I thought I should let them enjoy while they can. Cheers.

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Don't think I will install an air well as it is a corner terrace and 3 sides of the house can be open up. It is quite windy and airy as my place is unblock. Will probably install a fan on top of the lift, but I supposed the lift installer would know how to do it. Probably when the piling work for the IRs are completed, there will be some spare capacity for piling to be distributed elsewhere. $200 psf for a 4 storey house is beyond my budget. I prefer to work on lump sum basis, design and build because I think project cost will certainly overrun. If you have good lobang, do pm me. Thanks.

Bro, I need a lift to help my aged parents get around the house. If I get a lift, then I probably will build up to 4 storey with high ceiling. Heard that the maintenance of the lift is $1K for 4 servicing per year and can last between 20 to 25 years. Granny room can be on higher floor when there is lift. Maid can sleep next to baby. The dog can sleep on the ground floor. The dry kitchen in the house can be small and the wet kitchen can be more spacious. I think it will be quite a good experience to see a bit of garden while cooking at the back of the house. Planning to buy the remnant land beside my house from the govt too. I think it is between 250 to 300 sq ft. If govt sells me, the land would be expanded and not look too cramp when the house is build up. I noticed that some houses looked very cramp when it is built up. Yes, I think $500K is tight but this is about the best I can do. I am looking for value for money builders with some spare capacity to do this work and is not in a hurry. Maybe, this is not a good time to rebuild and next year when the recession is more full blown may offer better opportunities.

Sorry to interrupt into this thread. I think I have posted about rebuilding in other threads but will give more details on my requirements here. I have a corner terrace and is planning to rebuild it to the max capacity and adding a small lift. Saw from the newspaper that a small lift would cost $45K. I think those that accomodate 3 to 4 persons type. Saw my neighbour build up to 4 storey with roof terrace. My house is sitting on a small land of 2500 sq ft. I think each level about 900 sq ft will be good enough. Would $500K be enough to do a design and build, including professional fees/ piling/ etc if required. My specs are quite simple: a. Preferably nice red brick wall (ie no need to do painting) for fencing and exterior of the house. b. exposed water pipes and electricity trunking (no need conceal type) c. I pay for the materials such as sink/ WC/ Shower Heads/ taps/ water heater but contractor has to install them d. Homogeneous tiles except for living room which I prefer to be granite (the granite will be paid for, supplied and chosen by me, contractor needs to install them) e. No need to install kitchen or bedroom cabinet but to install the necessary drainage pipes and water pipes. f. Stairs will have to be 1 metre wide and the steps sufficiently big (notice that some places have stairs that are very narrow and steps that are very small) g. water proofing has to be provided at all necessary areas.

How much is your building cost, inclusive of professional fees. I am also thinking of rebuilding my corner terrace. Plan to build to the max capacity with high ceiling and install a small lift in the house. Now, I am studying more about rebuilding work, get some ideas on cost and the design of the house. For your house, I think it may be a case of miscommunication. I am sure when the authorities gave the approval for the building of your house, the set back is known. Probably, the contractor forgot to inform you until it was quite late.

I think better to give and take in life. Since your neigbour build a wall shared by both sides, I think you also got the benefit. At least your neigbour didn't ask you to share the cost of building the wall. When your neigbour do drilling, you can also do drilling. After that, patch up the wall on the other side. Like that, you good to him, he good to you, both of you are good neighbours. Living at home becomes easier and nicer when you have good neighbours.

I am also thinking of tearing down and rebuilding my corner terrace. There are some remnant land at the side of my house. I wish to buy them and at the same time, rebuild to the max area of my house and build a small lift inside the house. My land area is 2500 sq ft and the remnant land is about 200+ sq ft. Any idea on the procedure to buy remnant land and how much it cost? My house is very old and there is no building plan or floor plan. Checked with BCA and yield no results. Do it mean that I will have to engage a quantity surveyor to do the calculation of the exact remnant land to purchase?