SGK

I wish every one here a happy and prosperous new year, and to those like me whose renovation has yet to complete, a smooth and swift renovation ahead .

This gap at the dining area left behind after hacking away the wall is giving us headache. Still not sure how to cover it. The ID suggests building a very low wall over it which will also serve as a deco item itself. But our dining room isn't that big and we still need space at the built-in storage cabinet so that we can open the doors. So building a wall will make give us little space to work with . Real headache...

Renovation finally started 3 days ago. Now all the hacking have been completed and I manage to find time to go down to the house to take a look. Here are some of the pics that I have taken using my handphone: Future Study Room: Living Room (from dinind area): kitchen:

Hi all, adding to the list: 1. icky -- Jurong East 2. burrppp -- Tampines 3. applefreak -- Seng Kang 4. lakmy -- Pasir Ris 5. damsel in de-stress -- Bedok Reservoir 6. chocolatzz -- Pasir Ris 7. simcity -- Serangoon North 8. rummi -- Seng Kang 9. priyalok -- Seng Kang 10. DoubleJ -- Jurong West 11. khair76-- Pasir Ris 12. Deepwhite-- Hougang 13. BunBun -- Jurong West 14. Haven59 -- Pasir Ris 15. Aqilo -- Bedok Reservoir 16. jt1011 -- Woodlands 17. Tsubame -- Jurong East 18. Joho -- Yishun 19. Nobody -- Choa Chu Kang 20. xiaob -- Choa Chu Kang 21. Bighead -- Bt Panjang 22. Preciousjam -- Bt Panjang 23. eby -- Bedok Reservoir 24. bigeyedfish -- Bt Panjang 25. lihsin and sgk -- Tampines Hacking just started 2 days ago, but I have yet to see the 'warzone' .

Haha, I am referring to 70 square metres. which is about 800 square feet. So it is about $2.00 plus per square foot .

Hi Dextro, yes, do consider using false ceilings to conceal the ceiling defects. I think it won't cost very much. I am installing false ceilings at my study, living room, dining room and the walkway to the bedrooms, maybe about 70sqm, cost $1600. It is quite a worthwhile invesment in my opinion.

Wow, very stylish . Even the ladder looks like some gym equipment. How much did you pay for the items?

Yes, we will construct a window as shown: Anyway, we do not have a maid. And if we do get one, she will probably take one of the bedrooms if we have the space. The maid's room will be used as a second store room .

Hi cher, thanks for the comments. Looking at the drawings, I agree that the new design doesn't look as good. I think it is because the colour tone of the wall tiles are lighter than the actual ones. Also, the horizontal pipes box-up near the ceiling stands out like a sore thumb. I will discuss with my ID if we can tile that part too. It is made of gypsum board which probably cannot be tiled. So we wil have to explore changing the materials. Yes, I have also considered keeping the sliding door at the balcony and install curtains at the doors. It will give the feel of a full-height window. But my wife prefers to combine the balcony and the living room to make the whole place more spacious . Actually, after inspecting the whole house more closely yesterday, I feel that the previous owners have really maintained the house very well. The air cons, the doors, the kitchen cabinets (old design but well maintained), most of the windows and lights are all in good condition. But being inexperienced, we have already purchased new air-cons when we could have just changed the trunking and the compressor. We have also bought all the lights. The doors and the kitchen also have to go because they do not match the new design of the house. I think if we have been more prudent, we can easily save a few thousands...

Thanks. After the initial hacking next week, we will have to wait patiently again for work to resume after CNY . Yes, Butter, we like the view very much too. If you look out from bedroom 3, you will see a canal leading from beside my block to Pasir Ris. That's quite a ideal jogging path . We are happy with our ID's service so far. Thanks for the well wishes .

View from Master Bedroom: View from Bedroom 3 (TPE and Pasir Ris):

Kitchen Master Bathroom Common Bathroom

Bedrooms: Master Bedroom: Bedroom 2: Bedroom 3:

Future Study Area:

Future Dining Area

We have finally gotten the keys of our house:dancingqueen:, two days before the second appointment. We went down to do a thorough check of the house, mainly on the dimensions to make sure that the carpentries will fit into the house. Hacking will start on 9 Feb, so we took some pictures to keep a record of the layout /condition of the house before everything is torn down. So here we go: Entrance View: Living Room (from entrance): Living Room (from balcony):

Hi bigeyedfish, your kitchen cabinets look really good. So did you use 1mm laminates or thicker? My ID initially wants to use 0.8mm, but after I told him repeatedly my worries about the wavy effects, he has decided to change to 1mm to play safe.

I also receive the 3D visualisation of the balcony from my ID. Unfortunately he did not include any furniture . My wife and I cannot decide whether we should put high stools and tables at the balcony or those of normal heights. If we choose the former, we will have a better view of the scenery outside (no seaview or lakeview, but at least it is quite unblocked ). But it is difficult to relax yourself sitting on high stools. Anyone got any suggestions?

6 more days to collecting the keys . It has been such a long wait and finally we are going to start renovation next week! Though there will be a long break in between due to CNY, at least we will be able to start seeing our house taking shape . After many email and face-to-face discussions with our ID, we have modified the original design quite a bit, mostly in the colour scheme and dimesinons of the carpentry. I am thinking maybe I should compile a list of all the modifications that we have requested and send it to my ID in case he has forgotten. Before the start of the renovation process, maybe I should post some 3D drawings of the new design: Master Bathroom Original Design: Master Bathroom New Design: Bedroom 3 Original Design: Bedroom 3 New Design: Personally I prefer the stronger contrast in colours in the new design for bedroom 3 wardrobe. The choice of tiles for the MBR bathroom is to give a 'hotel' feel. Hopefully the effect turns out well

As we were unable to find a living room light that we like at Lightings.com.sg, we went to Design Light at Jalan Besar which we have visited before. We were served by a friendly and knowledgeable uncle Albert. We had quite a pleasant experience there and we bought spot lights for our artificial tree as well as the living room light . Our Living Room Light with LED lights turned on: Our Living Room Light with Halogen lights turned on: Somehow it doesn't look as bright in the photo as it should be .

Study Light: (The pattern at the sides matches the laminate we are using for our bookshelves) The bath room lights are smaller versions of these rectangular lights. We also bought 19 down lights from them, $24 each. For master bedroom, we are installing a ceiling fan that comes with the following light:

Bedroom 2 and 3 Lights: They look similar except for the pattern at the edges.

Today, we went to shop for our lights. Our first destination was Lightings.com.sg because it has very good reputation in this forum. Over there, we were served by a lady Noel. Frnakly speaking, I find her quite rude. First, she bluntly commented that the dining light that I wanted to buy is not nice when my wife showed preference for a more expensive one. Then when we were looking at the bathroom lights, she kept pushing us to buy some lights which I personally think don't look nice at all. When we asked her the power consumption of the energy saving lights we were looking at, she said that it will be higher than the normal ones because they are brighter. To me, this is illogical. If the light has to consume more power to give more light then it is not energy saving! Another disappointing thing about the shop is that they don't really have many designs. Most of the lights are the same as what we saw in our previous visit two months ago. Anyway we still bought most of our lights from the shop becasue of its supposedly honest pricing and good aftersales service. So here are the lights we bought: Dining Room Light. Initially, I was looking at the cylindrical pendant light with bubbles. Then my wife spotted this one and I gave in to her: Unfortunately, the photo cannot quite show the brilliant scattering of light by the surrounding glass rods Our Balcony Light: A closed-up view of the Balcony Light:

After negotiating with my ID, we are using the following payment schedule: 10% upon confirmation 30% upon delivery of material 30% upon progress payment ( Completion of wet works / Upon arrival of Carpentry ) 30% upon practical completion Keeping 30% to the final payment has two advantages: It ensures that the ID will do the final touch-up and rectifications nicely. In a way, it also shows that they are very confident.It shows that the ID firm has good financial health. IDs or contractors who keep pressing customers to pay earlier may have financial problems.

Washing Machine: $739 TV: $888 Fridge: $888 + 5 years extended warranty: $91