leechaorui

For old houses, best to rewire and redo the piping as well. When you rewire, you can add in CAT6 cables for faster internet connection.

To speed up the process, you can try to pay in full for the repair work rather than split half half with your neighbour. I paid the full price when my neighbour below requested for it. Didn't want to drag for too long as I can sense that she is reluctant. In addition, you can try engaging NTUC for the renovation and plumbing work. The website is here: http://www.income.com.sg/homeservices/

Actually many water pump can be quite noisy. To shut the noise substantially, homeowners can dedicate a sound proof room to house it, though it is not space efficient. For windows installation, there are techniques that reduce the risk of leakage that the contractor may not be very cognizant of as they tend ot outsource the work to the aluminium window sub contractor. The same goes for fixing the air-con piping system. There is a way to work around these problems and this should preferably form part of the M&E plan. On the issue of cracked walls, it is quite inevitable that the surface walls will crack after about 6 months to a year. There are pre construction solutions in terms of material used and process taken to reduce cracks. All of this add to the cost and many first time house developers are not quite aware. If the materials and processes are respectable, there will be very few cracks and most can be nicely covered up without much problem through another coat of paint.

To share some of my thoughts with you on your questions. 1. Weekends construction. We work so its fair if rebuilding are done during weekdays 9am-6pm. In condos and hdbs, no weekends works are allowed. But I have seen landed rebuilding works carried out on weekends including Sat and Sun. That will make our place unlivable at all. Can I request that works be carried out only on weekdays? Is this lawful? Response: On Saturday, contractor is allowed to work. Not for Sunday or public holidays. 2. Scaffolding / protection sheets. Some rebuilders put up flimsy scaffolding and broken protection sheets and end up sprays of cements etc got thrown over to the neighbours. How could such disputes be resolved? Response: It is quite normal to have some of these stuff thrown over to your place. I think quite inevitable even when much care is taken. 3. Paint - my new coat of white paint is still new. I can imagine it to be not so nice after the construction work. Is it reasonable to ask for a coat from the rebuilder or at least on a shared coast basis? Response: You can request from the contractor for a new coat of external paint after the construction. Do it at about the same time when the contractor is painting the newly constructed house. It is more economical for him. I know a lot really depends on whether my new neighbour is a nice or a not so nice rebuilder. Worst case scenario, he could disregard our presence and ignore us totally causing us much disaster. Response: Give and take and things will be okay. Contractor also don't want to have problems with you. No reasonable neighbour wants to create trouble too. If that's the case, we will have to fall back to the law. May I know what are lawful rights and what aren't? Response: For workplace safety violation, you can approach Ministry of Manpower. For mosquitoe breeding problem, you can approach National Environment Agency.

Was told that when you wish to rebuild your house, government may offer to sell you remnant land. You can email SLA to find out.

Since your contract allows him the time to complete the house by August, then you obviously have no remedies against him. I think best for you now to ask for extension in renting your current place. Alternatively, look for other places that permit you to rent from now till completion which is about another 6 months time.

Agree with Whisky. Usually, it is the piling phase that presents most of the issues related to vibration. Again, why do you wish to measure vibration? Even if there is strong vibration but if you suffer no damage, there will be no compensation.

Why do you want to measure vibration?

Yes, you will attract development charge when you sub divide your ONE bungalow land and build it into a pair of semi detached. See the following website for more details: http://www.ura.gov.sg/dc/brochure-devtcharge.pdf

When it is a different and separate plot of land,I don't think it attracts Development Charge. It will attract Development Charge when you build two or more houses on one plot of land by sub-dividing it.

Quite common to do that. Usually 5%.

You can consult an architect to find out the cost and design.

There is a listing of architecture firms in this website: http://everylinetellsastory.blogspot.com/2009/02/listing-aa.html Google for the name of the architect from the list to find the contact details.

Reason for asking about lease is because it may not be useful to spend a lot on a house with a 20 year lease remainder. If it is freehold or leasehold 999, it is probably worthwhile to invest a higher budget. Cheers!

Hi Soyabean, There are really many builders and architects who can build houses. Before anyone recommends to you their builder/ architect, it is best for you to put down your requirements and budget so that people who have built houses with similar requirements as you and has similar budget can contact you to share their contacts. In this way, you reduce the time and hassle of running through with the builder/ architect only to find out that he doesn't meet your key needs. For a start, you may want to list the following: 1. size of your land 2. Type of housing (eg. detached, semi detached, corner terrace, intermediate terrace) 3. Type of lease (freehold, 999, 99) 4. Type of land (this may be difficult, but you can share whether land is a reclaimed land from the sea, on a slope, etc..) 5. What is the size that you plan to build your house into (number of storey, max height?, built in sq feet) 6. Type of construction (High Quality, Medium Quality) 7. Type of furnishing (High, medium, low) 8. Service expected (Highly responsive, etc...) 9. Design creativity (High, medium, low) 10. Special requirements (eg. waterproof whole house, green house design, etc...) 11. Budget From there, I think forumers will be able to better introduce you someone that can better meet your requirement.

Agree with Whisky. When I changed my roof a few years ago due to leakage, I paid for the cost of the flashing/ capping. In addition, I also instructed the contractor to help my neighbour change a few of his broken tiles (I had some spare original roof tiles)and help mend some of the other tiles on my neigbour's side. Cheers!

It is call a dual key system. Check it out in google and you will notice that some condominiums sell dual key units. It means that there is a common main door/ main gate but each individual unit has its own kitchen, toilet, living, dinning and bedrooms. I think the architect can be creative enough to do it such that there is no need to be an equal split between the 2 units and it could be a case where one unit occupies more of the second floor and another unit occupies more of the third floor with the ground floor split between the two families. There could be internal doors to open and access the two units internally. If you wish for more absolute privacy, just locked your side of the door. Remember those hotel rooms where there were two rooms with a common access to each other? I don't think URA/ BCA bothers about your internal design. The setback for such a dual key household are usually poorer space utilisation, needs two sets of staircase, etc.. Not everything can be completely private between the two families - common foyer unless your house is very big, need to split utilities bill, common water tank, etc... Get hold of an architect to advise you.

You may want to consider developing your existing land into a 2 key house, meaning there could be 2 families having their own private space on one piece of land. Check with an architect and he will be able to advise you on the development.

I faced similar problems when I planned the construction of my house. Both Architects and Builders can do turnkey (ie meaning one stop). There are several different builders and architects that members of the forum have employed in the construction of their houses. Cheers!

Hi MetalTab, Sorry for the late reply. I think you can explore DIY. It can be more fun, fulfilling and interesting. See this website for some ideas: http://www.ehow.com/how_4441115_plant-grass.html

No need PE approval for putting up scaffold when you are merely repainting your house. This is a requirement by MOM previously and it is by legislation under the WSH Act now. The purpose is to make it safe for the workers who are painting your house. Not too sure how long ICI or Nippon Paint will last before you touch up because it depends on how fussy one is. Some people only repaint once every 5 years. The choice of colour also affects the need to touch up more frequently eg. white colour or light colours. My neighbour who used Nippon Weather Bond Paint felt the need to repaint his entire fascade merely after 6 months. It depends on you.

Depends on the height and area of your building to be painted and the quality of the paint to be used. If you are using normal weather bond ICI or Nippon Paint, it should be cheaper. As your building will likey require scaffolding, part of the cost goes into constructing and disassembling the scaffold.

Hi Choomacher, Congratulations to you. Does your builder offer you a design and build package? If yes, he would be able to help you (ie he could possibly outsource the design work to an architect)with the design and advise you on your plans. There are statutory requirements that you need to comply and you could not do as you like even if it is within your own land. If you are doing reconstruction, I think there are some limitations compared with erection. Hence, you may want to check it out with your builder first. Some inexperience builders go for reconstruction and did not comply with the limitations. In the end, they got into a lot of trouble and the project got delayed. If your builder is inexperience and cannot do design work, it is better to either get an architect to help you or use the services of another builder. On your second question. Yes, generally you can vary the height of your third floor and reduce the height of your first floor.

Actually there are many architects and builders in the market catering to home owners with different demands on quality, expectation and budget. Some people are not too demanding on quality, have fairly modest expectations and very deep pockets. These home owners are pursued by architects and builders of all kinds. We have some good examples of these homeowners in the forum. Some home owners have high quality demands on construction, not so high expectations (not so picky)and have deep pockets, there are architects and builders who can meet their requirements too. Basically high price, high quality type. In the forum, there are also home owners with very modest budget and have very high quality demand and high expectations, these homeowners usually end up with lots of dissatisfaction. The budget is insufficient for the construction and builders/ architects are not ready to subsidize them. They may take on the job but could not deliver the quality and there could be lots of bickering along the way. I have met many architects and builders and spoken to many of their clients and know their strengths. Hence, before I recommend someone a builder or architect, I would prefer to know their demands of quality, their expectations and their budget. Already pm you my contact.