lilithfiend

england: squatting toilet that funny?! pls tell me mine's not the first you've seen! we won't have 3D pictures for the rest of the house since we don't have alot of carpentry...our renovator only gave us this set cos we requested for it. think they will give us one more set of kitchen cabinet 3Ds, thats all..

hey el nino..thanks! we are also excited to have achieved both "victories" lol.. Yep B&E is a partner of Propnex..B&E carries out the home warranty plan for Propnex clients. you a propnex client? we're hoping hdb approves our toilet hacking/expansion plans..if not, everything will go down the drain.. our tub will be just 1.5m la..can't afford so big one..plus i don't think there's space lor. and yes, MBR no access to toilet, even at this moment. we initially wanted to open up a doorway but had to scrap that due to space constraints..

ya i'm pretty sure they upgraded the toilet but maybe the previous owner chose to not change the squatting WC. some people prefer to squat?

List of Works to be Done Living hall Hack floors then cement screed with s/steel strips & apply sealerWalls to be plastered and paintedHack wall separating kitchen & hallChange windows & grillesChange main door & gateSeal up airvent above main doorFalse ceiling at entrance areaBox up gas & water pipes running from hall to kitchen Common room Hack floors then cement screed with s/steel strips & apply sealerWalls to be plastered and paintedChange windows & grillesSeal up existing entranceOpen up new doorway closer to main door Master room Hack floors then cement screed with s/steel strips & apply sealerWalls to be plastered and paintedRemove window grillesDoor to be changed to Classic door Kitchen Hack floors, waterproof then cement screed with s/steel strips & apply sealerHack wall tiles then cement screed then plaster & paintRemove window grillesHack kerb at service yard, level floor if neededConstruct new wall outside bathroomBox up sewage pipesReplace rubbish chute11ft L-shaped kitchen cabinet (bottom only) with glass backing4ft kitchen cabinet at pantry area (outside bath) Bathroom Hack floors, waterproof then tileHack wall tiles then cement screed then plaster & paintHack 'T' walls between WC & showerConstruct low wall for bathtubTile bathtub areaConstruct new wall at end of bathtubConvert squat WC to sitting WCRelocate sinkInstall full height mirror between bathtub & WCInstall frosted glass casement tempered door at entranceInstall ventilation fan on one window Utility room Walls to be plastered and paintedRemove window grillesDoor to be changed to half-glass office door

Ya precisely. On paper, we're just "Joint-Tenants". Ya lor, when we first visited the flat, my immediate reaction was "omg cannot, toilet must change.." dunno if converting the WC is part of the upgrading..

The thing beside the sink is some decorative thingy..their draftsman just put it there for bai swee only la..haha.. i don't think it'll be weird if we don't do all wall tiles cos the tiling will be done at the wet area mah..anyway no choice..save cost..

Yep..very original condition! I think we are only the second owners..and this flat is 30 years old (older than both me & my hb!)..love the big windows at the front of the house, although they face the corridor. The window ledge above the main door is actually an airvent..

Thanks babes... Thanks Ang! No la, there was no "official" inspection since we had the keys earlier and already went to the flat countless of times. After our final visit with the contractors, we wanted to give the keys back to the seller so they can clear their furniture. Then agent say no need, they have spare keys. Ok lor...then yesterday the seller's agent told us they don't have spare keys. Ah whatever, anyway small matter. Luckily they don't have fridge, sofa etc.. We requested the shortlisted contractors to give us a drawing of our bathroom because quite a lot of modifications are to be made there. We told the contractors their drawings can be just a first draft for us to have an idea. We weren't expecting any 3Ds but B&E managed to give us that. Here are the 3Ds that they submitted: We won't be tiling all walls as per the drawings, only the bathtub area. Obviously, the above are all subjected to HDB's approval *prays hard* We waited for their drawings for quite a long time and I was getting ready to go for the other contractor liao. But thankfully, the drawings finally came through. I must say we were impressed with the drawings and their willingness to bend their rules (they usually only draw for confirmed projects only).

Service yard with utility room, WC & shower on the left View of kitchen/hall from service yard Shower WC

Before Reno Photos Main door Common room Master room Kitchen

Our Renovator Confirmed We have a winner! - B&E Builder. After emailing hundreds of contractors, speaking to a dozen of them, we finally made our decision. The decision was a hard one as the other contender was very experienced and very affordable. And it wasn't made easier that we could hardly find others' reviews of these two contractors. B&E won the bid mainly because of: their resources (they had a physical office whereas the other contractor's office was his home; they were able to give us a 3D drawing when we requested for it before signing the contract whereas the other contractor gave us a 15 mins hand-drawn one)their design orientation (their portfolio looked good whereas we could only rely on the word of the other contractor when he told us about his previous projects)the ability to customise (they were able to customise for us the type of windows we wanted, the grilles we wanted)Before our appointment at HDB, we made a trip down to their office. We spent about two hours thrashing out as much details as possible and finally, signing off on the dotted line. Our project manager will be applying for the HDB permit today and hopefully hacking can start next week. I was hugely relieved that we have finally reached a milestone of this reno process. Now looking forward to get started! My favourite part of this whole thing is coming up: shopping for stuff!

Official Home Owners Yes siree...our 2nd appointment was finally over and done with yesterday evening. Funnily, hb + i didn't feel any different after it..lol. The agents were shaking our hands and congratulating us on finally being home owners but we were like... er ok. Anyway, will be posting photos of the place shortly. Hours before the appointment, our agent smsed me to tell me that the sellers have not cleared the furniture in the house and that they will give us $150 to clear it ourselves. I was quite pissed cos I knew this would happen, I already reminded my agent twice before to make sure the seller clears the stuff and both times she said "No worries" (my most hated overused phrase). We calculated that if we were to get town council to clear it, they would charge us $280 for it since only first three items were FOC. But in the end, hb said no need to be so calculative since they were nice enough to give us the keys earlier. Hopefully our contractor can clear the items within cost..

would this be the frame for your dining table?

LOVE the wood!! will you be using "new" wood or used wood? think used wood would add a ton of personality to your home..can't wait to see your completed dining table.

hey fatboy71, we'll be neighbours! same block! wat a coincidence... i doubt you'd be able to modify your bathroom until like that, especially not with 2 WC. even if you put ventilation fan + another wall fan in your bathroom, the smell of cigarette can still be quite strong especially for non-smokers. my hb + i are also smokers, so will be installing a ventilation fan in the bath. maybe you should smoke in the wc, if you have the same floorplan as me, then you'll be limiting the "damage" to one toilet. june's a tight deadline..and in my opinion, even if we've got the money to splash out, we'd need a different manager to really get any improvement from the squad. ok from what little knowledge i have of carpentry, i'll try to answer this question...experts feel free to correct me. most kitchen cabinet are made from solid plywood (manufactured wood), covered with a piece of laminate. a more expensive option is to use natural wood so there is no need for laminates and what you see is the true grain of the tree. here's a picture of a kitchen made with natural wood: and one made with laminate: for me, i like the leaf on the doors of the natural wood cabinets, which cannot be done if you use plywood + laminate. hope i got this somewhat right..hahaha

hey summerflowers, may i know where you bought your mattress from?

hi summerflowers, sorry my bad. i just checked my email to clarify. the price for kitchen cabinet w/oak doors is $140 pfr not $100 pfr...sorry!

that price is for the whole cabinet, IIRC, with natural wood doors. obviously, more expensive wood = higher price..i think $100 pfr is for oak...

haha oh ya i mentioned there were 3...completely forgot *blur*.. sounds horrifying........we'd be called a midtable club if that happens.. and now torres is out of the season. i was hoping to watch him play against athletico..

wahahaha lol simon, how you know henry came in 3rd? so smart.. funny analogy!

hey summerflowers, yeah i did. it was for $100 pfr..pretty pricey!

i see...ok thanks for the info..

hey moh guan, love your black frame windows too! are they aluminium? powder coated or not?

hey sammy, congrats on reaching a milestone! you're one step closer...hehe... good to hear you have such nice sellers..my sellers are also very kind, gave us the keys to the place on the first appt..but of course that's because it is vacant la. btw, your bed - where did you buy it ah?

hey stryke, may i know how much you paid for your KDK ventilation fan? and also, how do you plan to install it? will you need to change your windows?