dexufto

Wow marsmallow, how time flies, it seems just yesterday thatr I commented about the jurong lake and here you are a newly renovated apartment. Bold choice of starhub colours.. And it was a wise move to amend the dry-area for your kitchen top, from the looks of it.. it looks filled liaoz. Where do you do the dicing and food prep then? I'm hunting for a retractable laundry hanger as well, Is this smooth? how's the load-bearing? Do you mind sharing the cost with me? Haha, the commentry from your hubbys' really funny.. Me too. making an *** out of U and Me. I assumed that my place don't have gas pipe as well (hey, it's 36-years old hdb) until one fateful day, Me: what's this stupid pipe in the kitchen? (cos I'd plan to have my bedrm door at that location. Contractor: should be gas pipe. Me: what??

Yup, my contractor did warn me about this as well, not that we wanna sell this place anyway. What I do not understand is, isn't the kitchen considered a wet-area as well? Was informed somewhere that waterproofing was done, and with that 75mm drop..which caters to the old school of splash & scrub for kitchen floorwashing. That is the rational for 50mm raised mortatr platform for kitchen-cabinets, washing machine, fridges anyway isn't it? else for what? obstacle course for Xiao-Qiang and army?

Yea, Neubie's right, the extension measures slightly more than a foot from the left. I'm actually prepared to sacrifice kitchen width for the extension, but alas! HDB has restriction on Bath-extension Maximum width and area of extension Must not be more than 600 mm and 0.6 m2 respectively, and Must be used only as a "dry area" For example, for installation of wash basin or shelves I would very much love to flush the extension with my full-kitchen cabinet to give a seamless look.. however had to follow the regulations. Tsk Tsk. (yfi earlier intention of making the extension a shower area was not approved, at least I tried) Previously while I was HDB hunting, I came across such layout, guess that it was an illegal modification. My extension measures 0.6m x 0.9m =0.54m2 area.

day5 (15/10/10). Mansory works commenced. Excessive cables removed, gas-pipe/ waterpipe removed. Extended Dry-area in showers up. View from Showers View from kitchen

Hi Istel, Good to see that you're working on your T-blog, hope I'm not too late to welcome you in here. $16k is a bit tight should you require extensive hacking & mansory work, else $16k is sufficient with all the basic renovation as offered by most contractors as a package. Get 3 quotes and weigh your choices (include the elctrical works/painting works- who knows your contractor might offer a better deal. At the most strike-off from the list if you find it unreasonable, 10-20% maybe acceptable IMHO). All the best. =painting: check out this site =Installation of ceiling fan: Yes, Goobie, Ossify, Neubie has done it before. Will be doing for myself too. =Installation of aircon system in the two bedrooms inverter system type, any brands I should avoid? In terms of efficiency of the aircone check out NEA database (in my T-blog), choose an A/C with highest COP, Daikin. It gives you the best value. Mitishibishi electric is said to be better in terms of cleaning. LG(artcool) IMHO is nice to look at but not an efficient a/c. Check out the a/c thread for more discussion. =Replace all the doors currently in the house as well as the front gate There are different doors in the market; ranging from classic doors (~$160) to semi-solid (honeycomb) to Veneer solid door (~$500), do note that main doors are more expensive cos it is required to be a Solid Door- all wood. And should your door(apt) be located 2m from common lift landing/ staircase, it is reqiured to be Fire-retardant (additional of ~$200) = Glass partition to separate the kitchen from the living room as the wall linking the kitchen to living has been hacked down by previous owner Glass sliping door depends of top-hung only, how big a piece (how long is the fixed panel and how long is the slide). Do take note if this whole piece of glass is able to fit in your lift. Additional charges will incurr if they have to handcarry up. Worst, they maynot deal as they it unecomonical to waste the manhours to do so. This applies to full panel-mirror as well. Blesglas quoted me $1870 for 2.1m glass tophung, my contractor charges me at 70% of price (don't know think you can get his price individually). Check with Neubie, think he did mentioned his source.

Haha, we are blessed by our heavenly Father. Long storym just to sum up, were were at the correct time and at the correct place. You can refer to my earlier post My MBR will be extending 60cm into the other bedroom for WIW. Meanwhile there will be a shoe/ tv console for the Hall (240cm).

Well said, Sir. And denoting of your Hall extension! I just paid my site a visit, was glad that the subcon consulted me some minor details on the measurements. Happy to see your completion of your apt neubie ( you have an efficient reno team), just need the fittings and you are ready to move in.

Welcome to renotalk, less than 2 weeks to key collections Seems like PAX definitely has it s limitations, You did mentioned about pole systems, have you asked for quote? I'm engaging one of them, for door closure, they will build additional pulmet on sides and top to correct the irregular walls to allow door closure. This cost is within my quote as I understand.

heh heh, just so happen that I was eyeing on this particular wrought iron too, there's only one company with $188 at AMK, so that must be it. I learnt about this when some forumers complained, gimz had previously reviewed this gate speaking of speakers, a month ago, Best Denki Bishan was clearing some stocks due to renovation. Saw some pretty decent Onkyo. You might wanna give it a call to see if the model you want is available.

Noticed of your unusual layout of your apartment, can't wait to see the finished work, Congrats on your key collection, have you applied for demolition permit? Goodluck ya? Wow, that's a hefty sum for a water closet. *gulp* It's very elegant and clean-design.

Thanks curryqueen, my reno just started and there's already incurring costs (to reconfigure the toliet piping, what to do when our 3-rms toliet so small). Will have to forgo the sliding door. May i request for the cost and contact for the rollerblinds as well if you don't mind? Your kittens are really adorable, love the last pic with the side-by-side shoot gazing out at the corridor must be saying to the other, "Jiat lat, anymore fatter and I wouldn't be able to make it out of here'"

Mitsibishi electric or heavy industry? I would go for Daikin for it's COP values.

I wasn't aware of that. Yea, the demo guys cleared the fancoils. (think I'm just happy that the contractor didn't charge extra for clearing these stuffs) The condensor is still handing outside thought, some China system 2 Aircon system. Nevertheless thanks fpor the tip, neubie

day3: site-visit by contractor and Aircon guys Went through the floorplan with Edmund again, decided to reroute the bulky sewage pipe at the entrance to the showers. Also went through the layout of the a/c trunking with the A/C guys. They were experienced and were able to recommended solutions to avoid the unsightly clutter of a/c trunkings. Heeded Edmund's recommendation to having the Hall A/C fancoil at the rear of hall. The Aircon story The air-conditioning is probably one of the next largest investment; My consideration for the selection includes the 1) Worksmanship Simply the company that I'm purchasing the aircon from. Immediately a couple of names churned up; Gaincity (GC), Hongtar (HT), Creation Air (CA) and Coolserve(CS). Besttech and Allbest were immediately dismissed after some reviews from the forum There came along this popular "aircon group buy" by forceguy, and I decided to give it a chance after several good feedback from the forumers; eventually I engaged Aron from Imperial marketing (IM). Do take note that these components consistitutes to the overall price of your aircon purchase; a) The brand & model of aircon (Condenser & Fancoil, note the BTUs given) Some company may quote you generally an all system 3 a/c system with 3 same BTUs for the fancoils (9,000 btu), however in my case I would require a larger BTU for my Hall. So how do I calculate the BTU required? General rule is Length (m) x Breath (m) x 600. There's certainly other consideration like other heat emitting devices existing in room etc etc hence requiring a larger btu to cover for these additional heat sources.. nevertheless above calculation is fine. b) Upgrade of insulation Insist on Armaflex insulation, do note that certain companys offers similar products; Thermoflex though. The bundle package may only comprises of 1/4" insulation and upgrade will incurr additional money c) additional of bracket, trips, dismantal fees The brackets would generally costs between $107-$180 and unless you are retaining the same condensor, you will need to replace them. Company do charge additional fees for extra-trips (e.g if you have false ceiling) and dismantling of old A/C (let your contractor do it) e) Warranty; All A/C comes with standard warranty, 5 years for Condensor, 1 year for fancoils. Note that this does NOT cover the electronic boards of inverter a/c. Some company offering extended warrantys covered mainly by their own company (worksmanship) or by insurance (GC), not by manufacturer (where the replacement parts comes), hence you will still need to bear the costs of replacement these units at the end of the day. 2) Brand of Aircon So next golden question is Inverter or non-inverter? This could easily contribute to additional $400 on your intital purchase of a/c (Inverter a/c). My selection requires facts and figures, hence NEA provided a useful compution of expected energy comsumption which eventually gives a gauge of the amount you would spent over a year. Database of registered goods Simply to sum it; the contribution of your a/c bills will be the efficiency of your a/c (High COP) and running hours (time switched on) So back to the inverter/non-inverter, should the cost savings over the next 5 years (usual product end-life) using the inverter a/c justify the the $400 (price of inverter - non-inverter)? For the a/c discussion, look here Aircon selected: Daikin Non-inverter Condenser: Daikin DAI MA56EVI Fancoils: 2x Daikin FT-25DVM, 1x Daikin FT-37DVM Comparision of different a/c vendors Goodluck for your purchase.

Day2 (12/10/10): demolition & Hurlage continues New opening for entrance to showers + connecting to W.C View of showers opening to MBR from W.C (notice the big white sewage pipe occupying half of my entrance) View of showers & W.C from kitchen. kitchen floor tiles, showeroom bath+floor tiles, cement and sand delivered

Day1 (11/10/10): demolition Wall seperating bedroom and Hall demolished, making way for cabinet. All skirtings removed as well. Wall separating kitchen and Hall demolished, to extend 50cm into kitchen, Kitchen sink concrete demolished. Kitchen wall+ floor tiles hacked as well. Wall between two bedrooms also demolished, mbr will be expanded for WIW.

Thanks for the revert KM, Have since puchased the discont ICE, was drawn by the mirror-finish and the huge discount Have noted that both models have the triple layer glass; is that a good enough insulation for child safety?

that makes the two of us, I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed on thr mixers with the storage tanks as well. On a serious note; do check throughly the wrought iron gates from CNS after they delivered, especially on the underside of the gates. Past forumers commented that they shave on painting those areas least visible, eventually causing rust

Bulk of my renovation works will be covered by Edmund from A-decor. Less the Prego Laminates (Floor xpert), False Ceiling (Kow Yee), Hall pole system (closetrobe) and common corridor wrought iron grills (CNS-tbc) Just visited the apt today and saw some graffitti on wall, Don't worry, it aint' some "Owe $ pay $" but some scribblings indicating which walls to be hack. After going through the scribblings, noted some discrapacy on my entrance to the showers. 20mins later, Edmund appeared in front of us on Sunday morning (this is what I call efficient) to go through the floorplan. Noticed that the contactor already wreck a little hole into the wall to indicate the commencment of renovation on the auspicious day. heh. 11/10 - 13/10: demolition

Thanks Guys, It has been 3 months of enduring long wait, and the date has arrived. Have just checked that HDB has approved the demolition. It will be the same layout as I posted initially. Water, electrical utility services have reconnected as well. Will be meeting up contractor tomorrow, after I return SG for the commencment of RENOWORKS. lazybum9: Have PM you Ronalds Contact

Go to the pandan branch when they are offering sales. I managed to bargain for a 50% off the coffee-table that I fancy

Use this webby as a guide: http://www.sleeppost.com

The 3-D look fabulous. Remember you are building some carpentry in your MBR and redoing the toliets as well right? How is the quote, if you can you may list it here for the rest of the forumers to scruntise the cost. How much was the quote btw?

Noted, will be in the same format as you bro. I wanted a 1 fix, 2 slide as well, but the cost of it will be more ex according to my contractor Isuppose the space between the shalves and glass is meant for your fridge? Looking forward to see your outcome of the sliding glass. Jia-you!

Hi Edward, I just happen to own the Companion 5 multimedia speakers. Do bear in mind that these are meant for PC/ Laptop hence it is best enjoyed at a closer range. Retailing at $700+, it is quite costly, but I must say it is certainly worth the investment. I previously gotten a Companion 3 and sold it to get the companion 5. I had in mind to get the lifestyle 5.1 Bose systems for my new place, if the budget fits.. Yes, in terms of installation, Bose has the minimal amount of wires running around and doesn't require fancyful position (due to its Truespace (multimedia) and ADAPTiQ technology). There are indeed other premium HTS in the market and an Audiophile would probably dismiss BOSE.. knowing what Amps, Subs, Speakers.goes with what. For lame person like me, whom doesn't want big bulky speakers cluttering my already small 3-room. Bose is the way to go. My 2-cents worth