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Nope, we even submitted a letter to ask for early date but the 'officer' said earliest also 1st half June, which is btw 6-8weeks... She even scolded our & seller's agents, think bcos my sellers were slightly late.... Still checking almost daily on HDB's site for the date... btw, saw your blum contact on Rondy's blog, prices not as scary as I thought, maybe can get it for our kitchen. Do you have the contacts?

Congrats:) Soundbar :wub: Am also living in Sembawang too.

Hi newnyew, Just to check, how did you manage to know your 2nd appt so early? Mine supposely 1st half of June but till now haven't gotten any indication of the date... my HDB officer very grouchy.....

Hi Preciousjam, How's your progress? 5 SCV pts.... you guys really tv fans is it :lol:

Abit unrelated but keeping fishes, got to 'cycle' the tank for a few days. Briefly; setup the tank first, let the water, plants and such run for a few days, a week or more even better. Then slowly add snails/shrimps or your fishes. Ammonia is poisonous to fishes and it is produced when things from your plants die off or food decomposes. When ammonia is produced, a bacteria helps to break it down into nitrite and then another bacteria breaks nitrite into nitrate, which is less harmful to your fishes. Nitrate is also used as a fertilizer for your plants and can be reduced by changing water. Hardier fishes may survive the ammonia & nitrite spike but cardinals & neons (the cheaper version of cardinals) not very hardy. Am keeping marine fishes but the cycling process pretty similar:)

Hi Wendy, sorry to here about your problems... looking on the bright side, things are finally near completion and overall, the house looks very very nice. Anyway, try using JIF or CIF, worked for me. I placed a little on the mark and just wipe in small circles, like polishing shoes.

Mine 5 years already but don't have dripping water from my aircon & my neighbour's (above) aircon. If need be, see can speak to the HDB fellow's supervisor about the tray. No idea why is it so difficult for him/her to allow you to put a tray below... Some of the HDB staff......

Hi Preciousjam, 3rd choice definitely nicer As Angel suggested, compare the laminate to your tiles, preferably under the lighting (warm/white & then sunlight…) you’ll be using. I’ve taken some tile samples and though it look red in the shop, but with sunlight, looks pinkish… Anyway, here’s a list of electrical goods shops from someone’s blog in Renotalk. Most of the time, they’ll be able to quote you much cheaper prices compared to the larger shops like Courts, HN, etc. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?au...;showentry=4863 What I did in the past was to go to the large shops, shortlist the washing machine/fridge/tv/etc and then call these shops for a quote. Warranty comes from the suppliers themselves and its usually COD so its pretty safe. Can even order from the phone for some of them. I’ve personally gotten my stuff from Everjoint, Goh Ah Bee & either Kong Tai/Hong Liang before and saved quite abit. Only problem is these shops don’t have the interest-free credit cards thing and don’t have the extended warranty offered by some of the large shops. Oh, and their delivery timing can be a little erratic. As mentioned, I still can check my nearby HN if you like, another colleague bought something from them today, got free gifts again…

Yup, the seller even prepared a letter to ask for earlier date and we co-signed it but the HDB officer said 6 weeks at best.... cos we taking HDB loan so they need more time to process. Anyway, nice windows preciousjam, may ask for the same if cost are not too high, living on the 2nd or 3rd highest floor, so shouldn't be an issue. Taking half day to go Jln Besar to walk walk later. No mood to work... somebody broke my kitchen window last night, now finding ppl to fix it...

Thanks both. I really need to pop by these shops to get a rough idea of the costs. Maybe this Saturday will check the stores out.

Ya, that's what he told us too. Feel more comfortable knowing that he's around to manage the project since I can't take leave as much as I like... Me waiting too, can't wait to start but have to wait for HDB to process the application.... minimum 12 weeks from start to finish for the resale process.... It's a little too long...

Hoping to get the keys 1st /2nd week of June but wife wants to consult FSM for all the dates and stuff so see what date he recommends. We’ll have to move out by late July early Aug so I’ll try to get an earlier date to start the renovations. Try Extreme lightings for the downlights, if I’m not wrong $18 (c/w bulb & ballast) got this from the others’ threads. Don’t have the contact at the moment but can do a search here. Didn’t realise the bathroom fittings will cost nearly 2k, if not more…. Sigh, there goes my hifi set….

Nice progress. How long did he estimate for your renovation? Yeak dropped us at Hafary to take a look at tiles, selected some but also like some from LSH… Will go back to Hafary to check if they have what we like, else see if he can take from 2 different places. My wife is currently away, can’t do much till she comes back… she’s the CEO, I’m just the runner….

Very nice. Congrats on getting your house done up. How come the husbands' always get the smaller wardrobes

I’ll suggest that you bring it up as early as possible, don’t wait till handover cos by then, it may be too late to rectify. Spend more time communicating your ideas or concerns but don’t micro-manage (unless they really cannot make it….), we also don’t like being micro-managed at work too For my in case and I think its still the same, the main-contractor uses teams of sub-contractors to do the various work. For example, placement of mirrors/ toilet accessories will be done by one group and another group does the flooring. So if you wait till end of renovation or near handover, he’ll either use a general worker or may even do it himself… Visit your place often during this period, I used to run from Jurong West to Sembawang during my lunch to check… lucky got good colleague who covered for me (long toilet breaks…), else go to the place after work. If you can’t see your contractor, use masking tape & markers like some of the others do to highlight problems but make it a point to meet him if its something major. Mine was like 5 years ago and I had a pretty friendly contractor, can’t find him anymore else may have also asked him to quote. You can also get the rest to share their experiences too, I’ve learnt a lot reading their threads.

Confirming with Yeak but seeing what we can bargain for or get FOC;) Asking him to show us his work tomorrow, 5room flat in Hougang. Anyone knows if its a renotalker's flat? He's handing it over tomorrow btw.

They have grey and black if I remember correctly. Not Ah Soon but probably going to finalise our contractor this week.

Thanks, will also drop by SSC to take a look. Most of our stuff for our first home was from SSC & Poh Joo. Hope all goes well for your renovation. Sembawang is a pretty good place to stay in, 15mins from a beach & park, Causeway pt, Sembwang Shopping Centre, Northpoint & of couse Sun Plaza all just 10-15mins away by train/bus and yet its not that crowded as Woodlands/Yishun.

Thanks Smallboy & preciousjam, we'll definitely go to Royal Franco to take a look, we'll probably take the same living room fan as yours, the gun metal one, very nice. Saw the $699/799 promo from someone's thread, looks good and we'll check with Asia Excel. Maybe this weekend or have to wait 2 weeks later cos wife is going overseas for a week.

Hi, we also wanted to choose those tiles, the lady was very proud of them:) But its more expensive than the normal tiles so we are not sure if our contractor will allow it...

Hi All, Thanks for welcoming. Will check the place at least one week before the final appointment (tentatively in early June) and will take more pictures then. Because we may have a tight timeline, we’ll start recce for fittings earlier so once renovation starts, don’t need so much time to think. Some questions for a start: WC: Which brand will you recommend? Looking for those with dual flush, one for light flushing, the other for normal flushing. Hob+Hood: Any offers & where to buy? Looking for glass hob and those flat hood (no space…), noticed that Cuizino, Hobz, Turbo seems to be the commonly recommended ones or good value. Will drop by Asia Excel, Poh Joo and Sim Siang Choon one of these days but let me know if got other better places:) Bathroom fittings… Sinks & shower heads. As above or got other places? Lights: Probably Extreme lightings based on what I’ve read, any others? For mattress, have you heard of Lady Americana? Saw one in Courts, they told us it’s a subsidy of Dunlop pillow… quite comfortable about $2k…. My wife will be away for a week, so I’ll start doing some ‘homework’ and when she’s back, we can go spend $ again…

Hey Preciousjam, good luck with your bargaining, i'll also try that before we confirm with him:)

$360K, 2nd or 3rd highest floor I think. $30k under value:) My agent told me it'll spoil the market around the area... Heard from the HDB officer that they actually wrote to the owners to check why are they selling so low... Thanks, I like the spaces and layout too, had to really sell it to my wife at first cos she felt the kitchen was too small (although we don't cook often) and it's a little west facing. Had to give her the study room for a WIW to seal the deal.... although we'll probably just make a large wardrobe instead with places for her dresser and all since our MBR is too small to put a vanity.

Thanks, now see if I have the discipline to keep it updated;) Your suggestions about using our own measurements is very useful, my wife happily drawing up her wardrobe and kitchen using her own dimensions. Oh and she wants Blum now.... Will try to see what I can get once his quotation comes in, got to be a little thick skin:) Hoping to start 1st/2nd week of June, estimating that we'll get our keys in early June. We got to move out by early August and our buyer don't seem the friendly type who will allow extension, already wanted us to pay rental when we asked if can extend a little.... Going to ask my agent to drag the process a little longer to give us time. Hehe, I really hate the round part, probably just my quirk but I don't like round tables, round chairs anything round, except for cakes We'll probably just do a semi-circled study table just to utilise the space but if anyone has other suggestions, feel free to suggest.

Yup, got it from Ah Soon. Thanks to Wendy who helped us chased him for a quotation:) Got to hack everything and renovate the place fully. Actually only planned for the items listed in the pdf file but after last night's discussion with Yeak, adding a little more carpentry like feature walls and cabinets in the living area. Good ideas from him, now hoping for good pricing from him too Actually, didn't like the round balcony, preferred the normal rectangle ones. Told my wife a few years back (when we started glancing at potential areas to move to) that I don't want the round balcony flats. Always felt that it's difficult to find furniture for round areas but because there's lots of other plus points for this unit (4 bedrooms, corner unit, relatively unblocked view, high floor and gd price!) so we took it. Bad points for us would be the small kitchen, slightly west facing, a little too close to the neighbour's maindoor. Anyway, will be removing the balcony doors and level up the flooring to make a larger living room.