fftw

Its not approved? We have one in our bathroom now. We use it to dry our hair, my hubby use it to charge his shaver and shave. We have it next to the top mirror cabinet. Is it because its HDB which is why its not approved? My electrician didn't mentioned anything, he says if we want and insist, he will do it for us.

Thanks for the advise. Dennis also advise the same We measured out the place and use masking tape to measure it out. My full height cabinets do not go all the way to the edge of the door. There is a "breathing" space. Also, there is more space behind the door. Its a flat flushed cabinet.

OK! Will wait for your pics

Contacts & Considerations In my research prior to getting keys to my place, I complied a list of contacts that the people in this forum and elsewhere uses and also what my contractor cum ID shares with me. So here is the list:- 1. Mirror Sen Glass Specialist - Good workmanship and reasonable pricing 2. Chengal Wood Decking Liang Hoe Huat - Look for Joseph Ang 3. Blum Kiang Sing Hong Hardware Supplies 828 Upper Bukit Timah Road Tel: 67600365 - Look for Mr Ang. He is very helpful with the various configurations with the best pricing. 4. Digital Lock Desmond - 98307788. He offers the most competitive pricing. 5. Light Switches - All along Veerasamy Road Feng Sheng Electrical - Blk 633 #01-108 along Veerasamy Road. Sells ABB Brand for HDB type. Reasonable price. Choo Chiang - www.ccm.sg Sells Clipsal & Legrand at good pricing DK Lighting - Good pricing 6. Undermount Sinks Bellari - Cheap and good. They "copy" the designs of Franke, Teka, etc. 7. Powerpoint Consideration 7.1 Kitchen should have avg of 10 switches. E.g Hot Pot + Rice Cooker/Toaster + Oven + Fridge + Dishwasher + Steam oven + Cooker Hood & Hod + Mixer/Baby Monitor. 7.2 Utility should have avg 3 switches. E.g Washing Machine + Dryer + Iron. 7.3 Bathrooms should have 1 for Hair Dryer or shaver. 7.4 Bedrooms should have avg of 6 switches. E.g Hair Dryer + Television + DVD/VCD + Table Lamp + Mossie + Extra 8. Wall paper Apart from Goodrich you can try Europa Wall coverings - www.europawalls.com 48 Toh Guan Road East #01-103 Though not as much selection as Goodrich, the prices are more pocket friendly. Labor cost is $300 and per roll of wall paper is avg $120. 9. Extra Information there don't tell you. 9.1 ABS trimming is usually 2mm but you can ask for 1mm. It makes your carpentry more refine and classy. 9.2 Height of lower cabinets should be 850mm for Asians. 9.3 Make sure you ask your contractor to install your sink -ve reveal if you are not buying an undermount sink but wish to get an undermount look. 9.4 Stain steel backing thickness should be 0.9mm not more or less. 9.5 Depth of countertop should be 600mm so you may use 500mm runners if you are purchasing Blum drawers. 9.6 Ask your contractor to position your sink and hob as front as possible. 10. White Glossy Laminates - achieve smooth flat finish To prevent as much as possible the occurance of a "wavy" look aka to achieve a smooth flat finish, ensure that the laminates are 1.8mm thick. 11. Cleaning agents White Glossy Laminates + White Grout - Use Melamine Sponge from Daiso White Countertop - 3M Stainless Steel Spray Cleaner for Regular Cleaning. For maintanence, use Pledge fortnightly. The "wax" provides an extra protection to the countertops. If you kena scratches on your white countertop, use Autosol. Chrome items use Brasso

Hacking + Tiling + Base for Kitchen Cabinets Hacking was done within a day! Next came tiling. However, after the hacking, Dennis notice that the living room tiles linking the living room to the kitchen was only half a piece since the kitchen use a different tile. So he called my hubby and ask if he could remove the half pieces of living room tiles and replace them with an entire piece so that aesthetics of the entire floor is maintain. Of course we agreed as we didn't wish for odd tiles sticking out. Hubby was very surprise that he was so detailed and meticulous. *Big Thumbs Up*

Hacking & Capentry While on the topic of budget, initially we wanted to hack the entire kitchen but Dennis, our contractor cum ID advise us against it as it will be a few hundreds since he needs to pay the PE i.e. engineer $500 just to "knock here and knock there". But we so wanted to have an open concept Kitchen that we are willing to forgo some other items to get it. Surprisingly, Dennis manage to get the approval permit to within a day. The good news is that there is no requirement to hire the engineer, so our budget was "increased" by $500. I am so glad our contractor cum ID is so honest to inform us of this . Usually in most cases, especially on a wall with wiring, cable, etc, there is a need to get an engineer ok, 1st, so if Dennis didn't inform us, we will not know and will have just pay the money blindly since its in the contract. But Dennis was nice enough to inform us and said that the extra money can be use to buy the living room tiles. After we got our keys, we did our defects list got it rectify and made an appointment to meet with our contractor cum ID - Dennis. We went through all the cabinets we wanted. Dennis was extremely helpful in his suggestions on how to design things so its stylist and not run of the mill, from the location of the aircon, switches, right down to the lights. There are a few disputes with hubby and myself, thank goodness for Dennis, otherwise, its going to be a stormy day for my hubby. But more of that later. Let's start with the Foyer area - the area nearest to the main door will be floor to ceiling shoe cabinet followed by another cabinet just under the window. Next up - the Living/Dining. I will have floor to ceiling cabinets + feature wall from one side of the wall to the other. There will be 4 doors. 2 fixed on each end and 2 sliding that will hide the television when not in use. When in use, it will be push to the 2 extreme ends. Kitchen - There is floor to ceiling cabinets on the wall against the Bath/WC2 where I have my fridge + steam oven + toaster + flask + etc. The steam oven, toaster, etc will be hidden behind cabinet doors powered by Blum Aventos. The sink will be in front of the window with a dishwasher located just at the bottom. The wall next to the sink before the dining table will be where my hood + hod is located. Followed by the length of a dining table. Main bedroom - Wardrobe on the entire wall. We told Dennis to design the dimensions of the wardrobe to fit Ikea interior fittings. There was heaps of calculations and measurements to make sure it fits perfectly with our design. Then came the first disagreement. I wanted a headboard cum cabinet for our main bedroom like those that I have seen in a mag. Will try to upload the pix here. But hubby disagrees and told me its either the headboard in the bedroom of the cabinets below the window nest to the shoe cabinet in the living room as he wants to cut cost. I refuse to budge, hubby feels I am not practical. Dennis gave other solutions which are cheaper but all turn down by my hubby. I got upset and my face became black. Dennis then said he will try his best to think of a way to bring down the price either speak to his carpenter or think of other cost effective design. His words are "Aiyoh, not good to get upset with each other over such a small thing. Don't worry, I will think of a way." And true to his words, he did and both hubby and I are extremely happy Bedroom 2 Our daughter's room - Wardrobe was place just in front of the door as there are no other configurations that will suit a single bed and not make the room feel claustrophobic. Dennis was extremely paitent with us and went through with us all configurations and designs. Think we spend at least 45 mins to an hour just discussing the various configurations. Bedroom 3 Spare bedroom for child 2 but in the meantime, hubby's office and spare bedroom - Initially we wanted to have a wardrobe in the room but after much discussion, Dennis said that since we are not using this room, just save the $$ and not have a wardrobe. In the future, when we decide to have a wardrobe, he will build one for us at the same psf price. So its settled

Thanks! Will definately upload photos. Initially, I didn't wish to write a t-blog because its so troublesome. But after going through some truly wonderful experiences with my contractor and reading the some of the not so nice experiences on the forume, I feel that I have to do my contractor justice and also to let everyone know that its possible to find a awesome contractor who is pro active with an eye for details yet not expensive

The main focus of my home is to create as much storage as possible but not making the house look or feel any smaller. Since we have a limited budget, I don't expect all my desires to be fulfilled. So off we went looking for a contractor instead of an ID. We contacted several of our friends whose homes we like and also had only good experiences about their renovation. We even contacted our Feng Shui master on her contractor. One name keeps popping up. So in the end, in order to be fair, we shortlisted 3 candidates, all contractors. Btw, my husband is Caucasian, so it’s EXTREMELY important that our contractor speaks English as well. Candidate 1 - Old school, middle age. Nice guy. We told him what we wanted to do. He didn't really offer any other suggestions or comments. We also told him our budget, he says he its a bit tough but will try. English skills so-so. Candidate 2 - Nice dude too, early thirties. Friendly and easy going. Speaks good English!!! We told him what we wanted and he started giving his suggestions and also offer comments for areas in which he thinks our ideas are not feasible. Hubby likes him a lot We told him our budget. He says "can"! Candidate 3 - Ok dude. Middle age. Extremely hard to pin down. Can't speak English, hubby has a problem with this contractor because of the language barrier. So he is a little Sian already. When all the quotes came thru, candidate 3 was the lowest. Not sure if it’s the language barrier because a few things was missing. Next is candidate 2 - 2nd lowest followed by candidate 1. So the choice is Candidate 2. He also happens to be the contractor who did several of our friend’s homes and have great reviews about. And the best thing about him. He ALWAYS picks up his phone. Even if he doesn't, he will ALWAYS call you back His name is *Drum Roll, Please* Dennis from Zara Interiors!

All the areas that are in purple will be filled with carpentry.

Ok, here is my floorplan. If you notice, two kitchen walls are coloured in red. I am hacking these two walls down to have an semi open concept Kitchen

Aiyah, I am so silly. You are right, the running track is on level 26. I keep thinking its on level 25 cos its at mid level and the top level is level 50!

Hahaha! Thanks! Promise to post some photos of my scenic view so you can drool over it! Oh, will also post my floor plan too That is once I get the hang of it.

I know you jot a place at Mohd Sultan right? The Beacon is a horrible condo. In front is block by The Pinnacle and behind its going to be block by another condo. Thank goodness you didn't buy The Beacon! Mine is a 5 room so its not as bad as a 4 room apartment. However as compared to the old 5 roomers, its definately small. My place is 105 sqm. I am currently renting a 1600 sqft apartment, so its quite a big change. But what to do, I am stubborn and insist on buying a HDB! We sold our condo a while ago and has been renting when the opportunity came to purchase such a prime location, though HDB, I can't let the boat sail without me

On no! What happened? Did you buy The Pinnacle @ Duxton too? Is everything resolved yet or still pending?

Hi ossify, May I know where did you buy your digital lock (Samsung SHS-1110 at $289 nett)? I am thinking of getting one as well.

Thanks! Will try to upload my floor plan later this evening or tomorrow.

I am staying at an ok floor. Its above 20 but below 30.. You guess There is a running track cum out-door gym cum playground for residents on level 25 and a awesome roof garden on level 50

Do you have a photo of the melamine sponge. I went to look for it but can't find it

After confirming our flat in early 2008, I have been surfing the net for ideas, tips, information, etc. Thanks to everyone's recommendations, I gain heaps of knowledge and contacts for all kinds of items for my renovation. For this I am extremely grateful. So I am starting this t-blog in order to "pay it forward" We got our keys on Dec 13 from MM Lee so the process begin on Jan 04. First up, my floorplan... erhm... can someone teach me how to do it?

Hi there, this is the first time I am renovating my home and I am getting a little over whelmed. I am going for a all white kitchen with glossy white laminates for the cabinets. My contractor gave me laminates from Lamitak and Jennings to choose. Which is better? I heard that Lamitak will turn yellow. Is it true? As for the solid surface counter, he ask me to choose from Cresto. Is LG Hi Macs better? Is there much in difference in prices for Cresto & solid LG Hi Macs?

Hi millan, Have you consider installing those stainless pull down hanging rods? Or a staninless stell cabinet?

Hi everyone, I am currently souring for electricians. Can someone PM me Mr Quek's or Mr Ong's number, please!

Hi rierie, May I know who did you eventully choose as your ID and ho much is the quotation?

Congratulation on getting your new place. And its huge! So lucky So have you decided on the ID/contractor?

Hi categan, I am so sorry to hear about the nightmare you went through. The good news is that its all behind you now and you can look towards the future. Will you mind telling us who is this irresponsible contractor or can you PM me their name?