macbart

Hey momo, looking good. I like the white and orange combination.

Hi catseyes, It's all looking good. Looks like you're reaching the final stages of the reno and can begin preparing to move in.

Nine Days Later... It's the last day of the year and it's been nine days since we moved into our newly-renovated flat, but the place still isn't "done". Well, the renovation work is over, except for the larder door that needs to be changed cos the current one has a tiny dent on the surface. Andy brought us the replacement door yesterday and Sam (the carpenter) will be over some time next week to remove the existing door and put in the new one. We moved with 50 boxes of our stuff on December 22, with all our furniture still flat-packed and no wardrobe or curtains. Andrew and a couple of his colleagues from MGL Curtains came over at about 1.30pm on Monday and had all the curtains (tracks for both day and night curtains and the curtains) installed by 2pm. About 30 minutes later, the installers from Opsh arrived and got to work. Three hours later, we had our wardrobe and could finally begin unpacking our clothes. As of today, we've assembled all the flat-packed furniture and we have another 20 boxes to unpack. We're hoping to be able to get through these boxes over the next few days. So parts of the new home are still in transition, as you see from this picture. That's the dining table (customised from the Giman kitchen island top from Ikea's "as-is" section and four Vika Oleby legs - total cost = $68) with four red (though they look more orange) Urban chairs (also from Ikea) in the foreground and flattened boxes (the ones we've unpacked) in the background. That burgundy thing you see on the right is the replacement door for our larder unit. We've been using the kitchen since the day after we moved. And for dinner today, we had rosemary focaccia, baked potato... ...and broccoli-carrot soup. The one room in our home that's been fully functional from the day we moved in was the bathroom.

Hi Pomme, sorry for my tardy reply... just noticed your comment. We got it through our contractor... and paid $110 per foot run. We used LG Hi-Macs for our bathroom vanity counter top too (Black Pearl). We figured we'd pay the extra for it (instead of Marstone, which is what we were initially quoted) cos it's non-porous, stain resistant and guaranteed for 10 years. How much did you pay for yours? Are you allowed to reveal the figure?

Hi annjoy, thanx for the encouragement. I didn't update and I didn't think to check this t-blog, so I didn't even see your comment till now. Sorry. A little over a week after moving in, things are taking shape. We still have about 20 more boxes of stuff to unpack and need to get a few more things, but at least it feels like home.

Have a good end to the current year and enjoy the trip. And may 2010 turn out to be better than any year you've lived so far.

All types of mushrooms? I can't stand the taste of shiitake mushrooms (or most types actually), but porcini and portobello mushrooms aren't bad.

First appointment was on June 30.

I hope so. I'm glad I took time to document the process (here in a T-blog and on facebook). Looks like you'll have a decent bit of counter top work space for appliances (if any are to be placed on the counter top) and for prep for cooking. Ossify has pointed out the standard sizes that are available at Ikea and I suppose they are pretty much the norm sizes. But if you're having your kitchen made by a carpenter, he/she should be able to customise the drawers to the sizes you want (within limits, I guess). Your ID (or carpenter) should be able to advise you too. FYI, in our case, the initial suggestion from our contractor was to divide our 3.6m run of units along one wall (refrigerator, larder and oven units along opposite wall) as 0.45m drawers, 0.9m for sink unit, 0.9m drawers, 0.9m for hob unit, 0.45m drawers. We decided instead to divide them as 0.6m drawers, 0.8m for sink unit (with one drawer at the bottom), 0.8m drawers, 0.8 for hob (with drawers below) & 0.6m drawers.

I was hoping to have the ones in the kitchen concealed (in the wall), but my contractor said it wasn't allowed. I even asked about concealing it in the walls built to fill up the space where the original entrances to the bathroom and toilet were. Apparently, even that wasn't ok.

Wow, that's not enough sleep. I hope you're able to get more soon. After reading what you said, I feel like maybe i'm sleeping too much. FYI, we're still unpacking too. It's been a week since we moved.

Well, when I look at the transacted prices on HDB's web site, it lists ours as July 2009. I know that it's ours cos of the block and price.

Which I haven't updated in a while. Cleaning-packing-cleaning-moving-cleaning-unpacking-cleaning-unpacking... has been rather tiring. It's been a week since we moved in... and I'm hoping we can be fully unpacked and settled in by next week. Yeah, I guess it is good to have space between the burners. And yes, you're right. 0.9m is large! We bought a single-bowl sink that's 795mm... and we're discovering that we hardly use even half of it on a regular basis. I guess we could really have chosen a 600mm sink instead.

Hi annjoy, I hope you don't mind jumping in here. If you want to have more space, you could consider a 600mm hob too. That'll give an extra 200mm. And if you don't need a 900mm sink, you could look at something smaller.

It's also possible to add extra items to your delivery up to 3pm on the day before delivery. So if you arrange for delivery, but decide you want to get more stuff... get it by the day before the schedule delivery and add it to the delivery by 3pm.

I'm sorry to hear about what you're going through. Delaying the HO five times (and for what looks likely to turn out to be more than a month) is terrible! But I agree with Ossify... don't do it yourself. Just bug them to do what you're paying them to do. I hope there's some way that there'll be some time in January when you and your hubby will be able to move... even if it seems impossible now.

Henderson Crescent, 4-room (39-year-old), second floor, $20k below value in May 2009 (signed and exercised option to purchase in May, but it shows up in HDB's web site under transacted prices as July).

That first ceiling fan is unique! What's the brand and how much does it cost?

Yay!! That's great news! I wish you a very smooth reno journey from day 1.

Delays with the End in Sight I don't know if you've ever climbed a mountain or run a marathon. If you have, perhaps you've experienced how it feels when you've pushed yourself, even through the pain barrier (usually more mental than physical), kept encouraging yourself to keep going, thinking about the sense of accomplishment you'll feel when you complete the quest. Then just as the end approaches, when you can actually see the finish, you stumble upon an obstacle that seems impossible to overcome. It feels that way now. But just as with a marathon or a mountain, we'll just have to push on. After the veneered flooring was installed on Monday, the solid surface for the kitchen and bathroom cabinets was supposed to have been installed on Tuesday, with the mirror in the bathroom installed Wednesday morning and the completion of the electrical and plumbing work later that day, and touch up of painting on Thursday. That would have given us Friday/Saturday to clean the place and get it ready for us to move in on Tuesday, December 22. That was the plan, "was" being the operative word in the sentence. When I dropped by on Tuesday evening, I found the carpenter there, adjusting some of the drawers in the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, which still lacked their solid surface tops. I called Andy, who checked with LG and learnt that they would do it the next morning, which meant that the electrical and plumbing work would have to wait till the evening. By Wednesday evening, the solid surfaces had been installed, but there was no sign of the mirror! The electricians and plumbers were efficient and got everything done in a couple of hours, but by Wednesday night, I learnt that that while the mirror would be up the next day, the painters weren't available till Saturday morning. That would mean we could only begin cleaning the place in the afternoon. We arrived at our flat ready to begin work, but to our dismay we noticed that the painters had missed quite a bit (a tiny bit of white just above the skirting on a wall that's purple ash, and uneven edge on one side of the same wall where purple ash joins sail white, a white line just above the skirting along a wall that's painted silvermink, a white line above the skirting along a wall that's painted bisque in the living room, gaps between trunking and ceiling that weren't filled in and painted over, and patches of the ceiling in both the bathroom and kitchen that need touching up). Andy called them to try to get them back the same day, but they can only work on our place tomorrow. Which means our hopes of washing, cleaning etc over the weekend didn't materialise. Instead we spent out time packing and have about 36 boxes sealed and a few more partially filled. And we'll have to go over tomorrow morning while the painters are there, to make sure they don't miss anything. And then clean up in the afternoon, before returning to finish packing, so we're ready to move at 9am on Tuesday morning. It's been a tiring weekend... and will probably continue in that vein over the next few days. If you're wondering about the drought of pictures this week, let us unpack a little on Tuesday and Wednesday... and I'll try to post some.

Tandembox - drawers, yes. but there are lots of choose from (S1, S2, S3, S4, i3, i4, i5, i6). For normal cabinet doors, you need a clip top hinge and a mounting plate for each hinge.. and at least one blumotion for doors. The ones I used were part number 75T1550, 173H7100 & 973A0500.01. I suggest a visit to the Blum showroom. Have an idea of the layout of your kitchen and talk to the experts there. They can advice you not only the Blum products suitable for your kitchen, but even advice you on the layout of your kitchen and the type of storage to consider.

I have to agree. I didn't buy any either.

I'm at ikea now. Just saw four of the larger one, with glass shelf, but without hydraulic arm, at the as-is section for $40 each.

Hi gantan, I believe you should be looking at aventos.

I went to the Blum showroom (at Ubi) to find out about the products and get their advice on what would be suitable for our kitchen. Then I contacted the three dealers to ask for quotations for the products I wanted. Then I went to the Admiralty branch of Viborg (which is also at Kranji). I figured I'd make payment and arrange for delivery. But I realised after the visit that I needn't have gone all the way there cos Zixiang (who I spoke with there) said I could give him a cheque once he delivered.