lilithfiend

must confirm 2 MONTHS before?! wow..........that means i'm very very late... actually the first ID i spoke to was back in Jan. so yea around 2 months la. but we haven't confirmed anyone yet. maybe that practice works mainly with IDs?

hello! welcome to RT! sorry a few days late but just only saw your blog.. your place is like mine - 3rm corridor. i also got a quote from designer house but didn't shortlist them because their prices were too high. mind sharing how much you are paying? for the windows, i'd suggesting going for light tinted windows. hdb flats have pathetic amount of light and i think you should maximise any sources of light as much as possible. for us, we'll be going for clear glass..even though ours is also a corridor unit. we love natural light! since you only have 1 unit next to you, go for it...

welcome to RT! your list of works look pretty minor. not worth getting ID, i think..lots of contacts can be found on this forum.. have fun & good luck!

er el nino, the vintage one - does it have a blue sheen? it looks kinda blue in the pic. anyway, for me, euroline = zen and vintage = cosy, resort (does look a lil washed out though)...

no la! go malacca for makan + shopping. not to find contractor... so funny..lol ya my place is vacant, so sellers passed us keys on the first appt. i'm not sure if the kaypoh will come to the house and check, hopefully they just do it at their desk. we won't be applying for permit before 21st cos don't wan so mah fan must get seller to sign this and that. we'll just wait lor. hey samgalz, have you selected your ID already? You very kan chiong leh! first appointment haven't reach and you already shortlisting contractors/ID liao..

omg you both are hilarious!..moses lim and winning 11..hahaha.. angteko: yea we're considering those grilles and gate as well. don't like those typical grille & gates leh..but seems to be quite expensive to do such gates. Mace on this forum said his gates cost $700+ another reason we want such pattern is cos we actually really hate grilles. if we had a choice, we wouldn't have them. so the next best thing is to find a grille that we can push to one side when we're home and then close it up when we're out. and hor, ya i very kan chiong kind. we're first timers at this mah so quite excited too..lol.. el nino: no la! my seller will not dilly dally one. cos now the house already vacant, which is why i can do so many site visits. and yep, we'll begin shortlisting the contractors over this weekend, then get our top 3 to come down for second round next week. feel like an american idol judge. but i don't think 22nd can start hacking. still need to apply permit leh! and i think my permit sure take some time cos we're going to merge the WC & shower.. going up to malacca for the weekend!

haha moses lim..you are such a joker. i've already checked with pang giap and metal world. both don't do such grilles. and about the s/steel strip as a divider. yes i've seen that done on a few others' homes. quite nice.. i like xabi. i think rafa made a big mistake selling him.

I just logged into HDB website to check on our resale application and saw that it has been approved!! Yay yay..so happy and excited..I login daily morning + evening and finally saw a change today!

anybody knows where or how or who can do this kind of window grilles:

i don't think i can stand another season with rafa in charge!! if you look at his transfer history, the amount of players he bought (then sold) just doesn't justify our performance. its like taking several trips to m'sia in one year instead of reserving the money and taking one big trip to the states. why did he sell xabi??!! all this footie talk is making me depressed! the 1st pic is not grout la..it's either a stainless steel strip that was placed to prevent cracks or its a joint that was manually "cut" to allow the cement to expand. i don't think you can find tiles with such non-uniform colouring. its a smooth surface..i hear its easy to clean because they will apply a layer of sealer on top to make it shiny and non-dusty. nice huh?

well to each his own! personally, i think rafa has done enough for the club, its time for him to move on. its obvious he is unable to lead the club to achieve their goals. when we play FM, bad games are always players' fault lol..but seriously, imagine putting rafa in charge of man utd. do you think they will still play the way they do? we're so stuck in the middle, caught between the manager and the board. sian. yea i heard that joke before..cracks on cement screeded floors are to be expected. we are able to accept hairline cracks but not those lightning bolt kind la. i spoke to a specialist once, he told me with the right proportion of sand, cement & water, cracks can be heavily minimized. his quote to do up my whole place minus bathroom was about $3k. might as well do tiles right? here are a few pictures of cement screeded floors/walls in homes:

Site Visits - Round Two (B) Last Saturday was Round Two (B). Prior to going down to the flat, we dropped by at Adamas to check out their hood/hob packages. Their cheapest package with a chimney hood was a Cuizino one at $588. But the hob is **** ugly, and we'd have to top up $100 to get a glass hob instead. And their cheapest oven is also a Cuizino one @ $448: Also found a sink which I really liked - an industrial sink 540mm width at $360. No picture for this one.. We also stopped by Hoe Kee, which was just opposite Adamas. But didn't really fancy anything there. Their hob/hood packages are all costly since they stock only Tecno and another expensive brand, can't remember. Anyway, off we went to the flat and met with: 1) Deco-Reno This guy's one of the few I've met who can communicate in fluent English and Hokkien, lol. I will never be able to pull that off. Anyway, we've already communicated over email and he had also given me a preliminary quote. His company seems to have experience with cement screeded floors, which was a plus point. He was also the first person that came armed with a camera to take photos of the place. I asked him 2) Racha This contractor was recommended by my property agent, who told me she had her 3-rm unit done for only $13 or $14k. So we met, but weren't too impressed. She sounded like she had tons of experience, but the working chemistry just wasn't there. She did bring up a potential problem in the bathroom layout, and also told me how the re-routing of the airvent could be done. Anyway at point of typing this, I've already received her quote and it's ridiculously expensive. So, next! 3) Freshlook This contractor was recommended by coldflamez. Alan wasn't available so he we met Jason instead. Friendly and easy to talk to, he was also meticulous and detail-oriented. He suggested to box up our rubbish chute so it will be flushed with our kitchen cabinet - we were actually ready to leave it in the open. But nevertheless, took him up on his suggestion. We're expecting his prices to be relatively high since they are a hybrid ID-contractor. We ended the day with final meetings with a carpenter and a window guy. We'll be ending our first round site visits by this week and will be shortlisting next week. Now still trying to check out the prices of individual items like electrical rewiring, plastering, painting, doors, windows & gates to see if we can save some dosh outsourcing these instead. If anyone has a lobang for these items, please please please drop me a PM! On a side note, have spoken with Yeak and he didn't have time to visit but sent me a quote over email instead. He wasn't really confident/comfortable with cement screeded floors so quoted me for tiling instead. His prices are comparable to the other contractors I've spoken to. So at this point, we'll have to KIV him since we don't think he can do the flooring we want. But if we do decide to do tiles instead, he'll be at the forefront of the pack, I'm sure.

he's so cuteee! is his name al nito? or si goro? or el nino? hahah all sounds about the same...

i'm also interested to see the pics + prices of the stuff you bought! pls share..

sigh. sigh. sigh! i can't agree with you more. so demoralising watching them play on sunday. i think rafa should just resign, i can't believe some fans are still being so supportive of him. top four this season looks like a dream right now.

lol..really looks like ants! gives me goosebumps looking at it..

thanks! i'm eyeing it for my MBR... hey goobii, i've already read your blog from start to end! like what you did to maximise the use of the space..intending to merge my shower & WC like what you did. when my contractors tell me it cannot be done, i show them before & after pictures of your toilet.

ok thanks ngunadi.. on another note, has anyone seen this light before and know the price:

hi tz_jie! welcome to rt! just my two cents: speak to a few IDs, tap on their knowledge and ideas, then get a contractor to do the job for you! no point paying premium prices to ID. alternatively, there are a few contractors who can give you design ideas as well - search for edmund who did risis' home. i think IDs tend to produce cookie cutter homes and your house will look nice but won't feel like its yours.. not sure if you get what i mean..haha babbling here! ok good luck & have fun!

welcome to RT! 3I same as me! have fun with your reno and there's a ton of info hidden among these pages so prepare to spend some time digging!

thanks for the heads up, but we're most likely gonna go for a custom made one instead. ikea is just too pricey for the quality. think most of us assume they'd be cheaper than a carpenter but they aren't..

Site Visits - Round Two (A) We met with a contractor who was recommended by stray801. We wanted to meet him on Saturday but he couldn't make it so we had to meet him on a weekday night instead. He came slightly late but no biggie. Young guy, very easy-going, his favorite phrase was "Not a problem". Went through our requirements with him. He told me levelling the kitchen floor should not be a problem (see?). He was honest and told us that he had never done cement screeded floors before, but his tiler has. He was more meticulous than any other contractor we've met, took alot of notes and measurements. Suggested we box up the big momma sewage pipe in the kitchen but I told him since we won't be doing top cabinets, won't it look weird with the box suspending on its own at the top? So his solution was to create a small storage below the pipe so it looks like a tall unit. Sounds good. Apart from that, he didn't really offer us much ideas or options. Hb wasn't impressed but I thought he was nice and according to stray801, this guy goes the extra mile for clients. Before leaving, he asked why this place was named Everton Park, "Everton used to play here ah?". We laughed and told him no, but we are Liverpool fans. And he turned and smiled and said, "Ya, me too." 1 point to this guy. I told my hb that if he had said he was a Man U fan, he can forget about it. Lol.. Round Two (B) will be happening tomorrow. Will be meeting with another 4 contractors, 1 window/gate guy and 1 carpenter. Getting very shagged speaking to so many people..starting to feel like a broken tape recorder repeating the same old story again & again.. Ikea Kitchen Cabinets We also went to Ikea after that to check out their kitchen cabinets. For those who might be thinking of using Ikea for their cabinets, Ikea now contracts the kitchen installation to a company named CitiArt. Their installation charges are $25/ft and they charge $40 for going down to your house to take measurements (will be waived if you buy a kitchen above $1k). I loved their soft closing mechanism, but the stainless steel work top that I was eyeing didn't look as good as I thought and the next best thing was a $115/ft acrylic solid surface top named "Artic Granite". So pricey! Hence, we've decided to check out this carpenter contact I got whose style is apparently "raw and natural". Shall see. Update again next week!

oh you shortlisted ripples' door and gate too? What a coincidence..got picture to show of the one you went for in the end? Yep, think the copper oxidation has a higher chance of happening in humid and moist areas like the bathroom. My mirror is not going to be in the bathroom so think should be ok la..save $$$! that's so funny! i've never played FM using a non-EPL team before, but must concede there's a certain amount of satisfaction to be gotten from bringing a lower division team up to the PL. and you lost me on all the techie terms..haha.. yea, as i said above, bathroom mirror will have the highest chance of such a corrosion. lol..funny habit of only buying players with photos - like that you must go download the photo pack of all the players in the world la. otherwise you'd be missing out on alot of good players! when i play, i want instant success. i hate to lose..i'm a sore loser.. the network game will only work when everyone's online together, i think. and yes, the more players, the longer it will take to finish the season. my hb always get very fedup cos i take so long to buy players during pre-season and always end up holding up the game cos he cannot move on until i press continue. muahaha.. the quote was from www.goodhill.com. wah, your quote is super ex leh! i thought hdb doors more or less the same size? not sure, maybe you measure yours is it around 3 x 7 ft? thats the size the guy quoted.. even if bigger also cannot be almost $1k right? not as if your door is twice the size!

Main door & main gate We need to change our main door & gate, and we really like this one (photos courtesy of Ripples): One company came back with the following prices: 1) solid core recon veneer ply flush door ( thk 42mm or 45mm ) complete with installation , varnishing and hardware shown in your picture.size : 900 x 2130 ht Price : $ 530 + 7% G.S.T ( NON FIRE RATED ) 2 ) W . I GATE 3' X 7' HT ( SIMILAR TO YOUR PICTURE ) Price : $ 500 + 7% G.S.T Is this expensive? What do you guys think? He quoted us for wrought iron gate, will mild steel gate be cheaper (that's what Ripples used)?

i dunno if tinted ones will be copper free. you should check, just to be sure.. lol, your "rendition" of rafa's favorite phases is so funny. i could actually hear him say those words. he sounds like a freaking tape recorder at every press conference he holds. as if someone pressed a button for "Answer Option 1" or "Answer Option 2". boorrrring! "We must fokus" - oh please. omg, girls cannot play FM meh! i have a girl friend who has been playing FM since she was 12! at that time, it was CM la. yep my hubby is the one who introduced me to CM! i used to think the game was so boring until i got hooked. we can stay awake all the way until 7am next morning playing FM on network! lol...so nostalgic the memory..long time never play until like that liao. play network is gonna be tough. i mean, how many of us wants to play lfc? haha.. A quick google gave me this info: And if your mirror is copper corroded, you will see patches of this on the mirror, like "seh gor" like that: Aquilani is one of your fave FM player? I have not bought him before leh, even before he joined lfc. I like to scout for wonderkids, i can spend hours looking for wonderkids to buy..haha! i dunno how to play online together, i only know how to play on network..fm2010 is not bad la, every year they try to improve and improve. your machine needs to be able to take it..