edward

Didnt update the post after the initial start because my computer crashed and my photos were mostly gone and the reno faced with a lot of hiccups. Posted below are the photos of the renovated house. The theme we chose in the end was simple because more elaborate ones will cost more :P. Eventually, it was to keep to the use of white, black and grey color as much as possible.

Also, excited wife and myself are already looking around for sanitary wares. Wife wants a rain shower that is like in shown below, but honestly, our house is not so big. Dont think can achieve this kind of effects. Think a one piece rain shower set will be more realistic. Looking around for Duravit or Toto sanitary wares and Hansgrophe or Grophe shower sets and taps and was told that Home and Bathroom at Balestier gives pretty competitive prices for Toto, Hansgrophe and Grophe products. I think I also saw some Grophe and Duravit products at Hoe Kee. SO gonna check them out soon

Hacking and more hacking. Will be making the toilet on the second floor slightly bigger so that it can incorporate a proper shower area. So the wall between the bedroom and toilet hacked down. Will be putting up a feature wall beside the main door, so the previous windows removed to rebuild a proper wall to tile up the feature wall. The granny room will be converted into a duel use room. Dining area and likely maid's room or guest room. The area is really small, so may have to install a murphy bed for maid or guest. Decided to have an opening in the wall that is facing the living room to make the space feel less claustrophobic. Also, can also watch tv will dining in future. Next up, tile selection. Still hasnt really decided on the theme of the reno. The main consideration is really cost, if we are going to follow a certain theme like industrial or palace, it will be really costly to buy certain things to fit the theme. So will discuss with contractor again for some advice.

Now a quick update. My contractor quick leg quick hand and has done most of the hacking and he is already chasing us for appointment to select tiles and other materials. I like the speed

Sorry for replying so late. My computer went dead together with my reno photos. Anyway, I am not sure about the roofing material, but my contractor is going to open up the false ceiling and I will try to see what tiles they use for the roofing. Thanks for the reminder

Considerations for the reno: 1. Since the house is 50yo, it has severe water damages on the walls and many parts of the false ceiling. So, me and wife decided that the water pipes and electrical wirings need replacing. The roof needs to be check for leakage as well. 2. While I love all the beautiful pictures and creative homes that created plenty of space by knocking down walls or combining 2 rooms into 1, me and wife decided to go for a more practical approach. Since we have 2 kids and that they will need their personal space in a couple years time, it is better to keep our rooms and attic intact. I have seen too many friends regret having a picturesque house that cannot serve their needs as their family grows.

With experience from our first reno, the contractor/ID selection isn't as tedious (me and wife invited 12 contractors/IDs to quote the last time round, kiasu). This time round we invited 4 contractors/Ids and these guys are recommended through word of mouth. Of course, one of the four was my previous ID Mr Yen. On a side note, Mr Yen has left his previous company and is now his own boss. The prices quoted were rather competitive amongst the contractors/IDs. However, with our previous experience with Mr Yen, we decided to award him the contract.

Attached are the "before" photos. Living room Living room Kitchen Toilet (very tiny) Master Room Master Room image 2 Common Room Attic

yes freehold. land is about 900sqft.

Following the renovation of my 3-rm flat in 2010 (see link below), I will be renovating my new place. This time round it is a 50 years old house, even though previously renovated, the conditions were rather bad. I do not have the floor plan of this house since it is built in 1968 and the previous owners did not submit any floor plans to BCA. However, I have attached a hand drawn and not to scale floor plan for reference.

Review of NOT so New Toy After my robot vacuum died, decided to buy either a rechargeable vacuum or an electric broom. Considering the price, decided to go for the electric broom (Karcher K 55 plus). This sweeper is cheaper than most rechargeable vacuum. It is also convenient to remove the dust from its dust pan. Despite the price and the ease of maintenance, it does not sweep very effectively. Often leaving alot of dust at the edges and instead of sweeping into the dust pan, pushes it forward. So it has basically failed its primary job. that is sweeping and removing dust. I am now in a dilemma, should I persist with the broom or get a conventional vacuum or robot vacuum. Hmm....

Before (look all nice) After (Corroded Hinges, where i have to replace half yearly) Complain complain complain!!! This is the first major complain since my renovation in Dec 10. It is the Hoe Kee wash basin + cabinet combi. It was advertise that this cabinet is able to withstand water and will not rot away, which is 100% true. However, since my toilet is so tiny, the shower area and the basin is next to each other. Due to the moisture of the environment as well as occasionally contact with water, the hinges corroded. I had to replace the hinges once every 6 months, which is frustrating. And to make matters worse, Hoe Kee charged me $15+ for a hinge, when I can get those hinges at < $2 from hardware stores like Viborg Trading. ANGRYYYYYYYY!!! So please consider, consider and re-consider if you intend to purchase from Hoe Kee.

The fake I Robot died in nov 11, less then 1 year after purchase. Though useful, the lack of warranty buying through TaoBao.com makes it risky. Recommendation to buy from those websites that provides local (singapore) warranty to your robot vaccums. Recently saw one of those on gmarket.com and streetdeal.com.sg.

Hi dexufto, great to chat you again I have been really lazy after my reno and nothing much to update, so seldom come on here. But since I got a new toy, thought of sharing with everyone here. My friend told me about the china fan too, I think she bought from Gmarket.com @ $36 only. *&^%, I feel like a Robert.

2011-10-04 21.41.05 by fatass1980, on Flickr Bought this my new toy, the Dyson Am03 Pedestal Fan and decided to write a review on it. Damage : $699 Review : Decided to buy this fan for 2 reasons. Main reason (1) found out that I have a spine problem and I cant do a lot of house work, so decided on this fan because the maintenance is quite easy. Second reason (2) looks good. After using the fan for about 2 months, I have to say that the maintenance is really quite simple as compared to the conventional fans with the blades and the covers. All I have to do it wipe the fan with a piece of wet cloth and that's it. On the down side, the fan is extremely noisy (near top speed) and the "breeze" is not as strong compared to the conventional fans. So I conclude that unless you have plenty of cash to spare or has a back problem like myself, for it's price, I think it is not worth it.

Congrats dex. I like your wardrobe alot as well. How much did u pay for the wardrobe? how many feet?

Haha. I dont have those big rug, so i dont know about that. But my general sensing tells me that it can move ard on the big rugs. The rug i am refering to is those small small ones for dryin our legs. The reason is because the vacuum cleaner will suck in the rug and cos it to jam. But the big rug, too big will not be suck in.

Hi gimz, It is smart enough to go from room to room, provided that there are no steps or doors in between. The machines has sensors, to prevent itself from knocking against the walls, skirting or any low lying object, but the machine has "blindspots" also. So it is not 100% that it will not bang against the walls, skirtings etc. Nevertheless, the machine has a bumper (with sensor), once the bumper hits the wall or skirting it will move away from it. You may want to watch the product demo of a similar product on youtube : The chinese website is : www.taobao.com According to my friend who uses it, he says that the getting stuck issue can be mitigated if you know how the robot behaves. Things like rugs, wires, steps can cause the machine to get stuck. So to mitigate, you will have to make sure that there are no rugs lying ard, or make sure that the wires are neatly put away or may sure that you close the toilet door to prevent it from falling off the step. Also, sometimes like you say, it will get in between the chairs and take forever to try to get itself out of the chairs For the cleanliness, I will think it is the blindspot problem. I think because it is a machine, it works based on certain programed logic. Some places you see that it is not clean, but the robot can move up and down, round and round, but still cannot get to the place that you think it is not clean. Hope my explanations (from my observation) help BTW, most of my colleagues thinks that it is a fantastic buy, they have only praises for the robot.

Hi May, My wife will be happy to know that someone likes her lamp. We got it from the IFC, the first shop on the right, cant remember the name. Anyway, there were 2 lamps left when we bought it, so I am not too sure if they have anymore left. We paid $200 for it. Hope it helps.

If was a office group buy, there were 11 of us. This item was bought online from a chinese website. The vacuum cleaner itself is $200 + $60 (delivery from China, bigger group cheaper). Pros of Rambo : Auto clean at a preset time and goes back to base station when done, does not need to change the vaccum bag (rubbish stored in a container, which can be cleared), and of course you dont have to do the cleaning yrself. Cons of Rambo : You must make sure that all obstacles are cleared else it will get stuck, not entirely clean (75% clean), it will bum against your walls or any expensive low lying items (such as my speakers). So overall, I will give it a 7/10. Not totally useful, but better then nothing

MY CLEANING AGENTS Maintaining the house is one of the most troublesome chore. And with no maid, have to find means and ways to may cleaning as easy as possible. So I bought a fake I Robot (robot vacuum cleaner) and the magic handy duster (for the difficult to reach places) to help ease my chores Anyone else has other good cleaning machines / equipments that can recommend? Fake I ROBOT, named RAMBO Magic clean hand duster MY NEW TOY HAHA, finally got myself a Play Station 3. My wife has agreed to give this to me as a Xmas present. But of course, she uses it as well, to play her music. She played the whole weekend, I dont have a chance to play my games

dex, sorry, i bought the PS3 instead. So are u getting the kinect?

hi neubie, thanks for the advise. I think I got what u mean. Anyway, I bought my new toy, PS3. My colleagues rationalised that if I like RPG and action games, PS3 offers better graphics. And I think the PS3 can be used as a media centre as well. Rip all my disc into the machine, and voila.

dex, is yr reno completed? are you going to show some before and after photos later on?

Oh man, motorised installation, like those in the hotel. You didnt mention, I have totally forgotten about those things. I have always wanted something like that also, but too bad my curtains are done and my $$$ dried. Got to wait for a while. So what you going to install or buy next?