Jgal

Transfer from blog Day 4 : Checking The Site (26 Aug) Kitchen, floor and other fixture are hacked. We will be expecting the walls to fall in the next 2 days. So far, services from Urban Design has been up to expectation. 1) Designer was on-site almost everyday to ensure that what need to be hack is hack.. what need to be kept are kept. 2) Pleasantly surprised that designer has visited all the neighbours to informed them that we will be hacking the place 1 wk. This will ensure we kept neighbours' complaint to the min. 3) Tiles , laminates, table top are selected and confirmed today. Hopefully, will be able to see 3D by tuesday. So that the project will not be delayed any further.

Transfer from blog.... Day 0 : Re-Starting Our Renovation After some serious consideration, we decided to stop our current engagement. And re-started our renovation with San@urban design on 24 Aug Our new pad, is a 14-yr pte apartment (1195sft ) opps Marine Parade Library. It has a challenging layout, and we need to overhaul the entire unit. 1) Hack the whole house to re-config the rooms. The old configuration is kind of weird, when you enter you pass by 2 bedrms before entering the dinning area, then the living. We convert the rooms to living area and the living to rooms. 2) Built walls and partitions 3) Re-do all the floor. Living Marble has cracked, so we are re-do with homo tiles 4) Re-do kitchen 5) Expand Storerm and yard area. 6) Add in 1 powder room (basin &wc). Existing only 2 toilets as we think we need 1 more if there are 3bd. 7) rewired 8) redo plumbing. So far the estimated cost is 45k. hopefully we can keep within the budget.

Starting a t-blog on our renovation on our 2nd home. It's a 14yr old resale pte apt. The unit Pro - unit is strategicaly located within 1 km of Parkway Parade , 2 streets away from 112 katong - unit is located within 1km of many good primary schools - unit may be located within 1km of the new mrt - quiet neigbour - freehold - good size 1195sft, enough for 3 generations to stay comfortably. - enbloc potential low for the moment because of the 100sqm requirement Con - unique layout and re-partitioning is required for more comfortable stay - unit is old and required major overhaul - no facilities. * so we will be renting out for the next few yrs until my children goes to pri 1 *

Condo or hdb... I just my aircon for my pte apartment , concealed point cost alot more than normal piping.also pipes need a little gradient for the water to flow so. U may not be able to conceal all at the false ceiling . Pm me if u want to know the quote I was given

hi peter... just for your info the lemon law just come into effect this wk. You have another 6 mths to consider if you can accept the goods

use the lemon law against them. They will be obligated to pay back if not in full , most of the $$ they chop if the items received is not acceptable or spolit

It's probably impossible for your id to handover in the next 1 mth. Tiling will probably take you 2-3wks liao esp the toilet tiles because you need to waterproof and only 1 worker can tile 1 toilet at a time. Capentry will need another 1 wk after tiling is up. Painting will be another few days. I am pretty sure that the id is just stalling time.. he dun want to tell you what is the "realistic" date. The new date he given you may not be the date he really can deliver also.

My advise to you is that you break the quotes into 2. One part is those items that you cannot live without. And another quotation of the optional items or items that can reduce, such as feature wall. Sign with part 1 with the cheapest id or the id you think can provide you good service. 1-2 wks after work start, then consider if you shld go with optional items. Its very difficult to tell from the initial quotation that the id is a good guy or a bastxxd that will add alot of VOs. Nobody can be sure you wont kena conn, even yourself. And as quite alot of mentioned here, cheap quote dun mean bad service, exp quote dun mean good service either. And stay away from id that keep pestering for payment/ add items. they probably out to chop ppl. Good id will give you good reasons , other than better price, why they think you need to confirm some item earlier in the quotation e.g. electricity need to confirm before tiling work can be done etc.

Actually, i think he probably pay less than the rest that got runaway id. It's wise to breakdown the confirmation to 2 parts. You then can observed the attitude of the id after work has started. Whether or not he start work on time and whether he make trips to jobsite to ensure that everything is on schedule. You can let him know that you intent to some other things but cannot confirm in the beginning. As you go along , then you add in. Good id will not charge extra by alot. ** how much is collection of haulage only? maybe just a couple hundred more, but remember your reno is in 10s of thousand* So if your id keep telling you that if you confirm later they going to charge more... i think he probably running away after you sign. As to whether workers that do carpentry will be as good as workers that do tiles, actually if the id chose to work with workers that do good tiles, most probably he will be chose workers that do good carpentry unless he is constraint by his company policies. Even if carpentry workers are not so good, by the 2-3 wks from the start of the proj, you shld know if your id is the kind that run away from responsibility and slap you with hidden cost already. You need to understand, if restaurant food is no good. We just pay <$100 and walk away. If reno contractor is no good, we loses thousands and most probably will not be able to get back because most companies are under pte ltd. You are probably one of those bad attitude id which fails to see where the consumers are coming from. We only do renovation maybe 2-3 times in our lifetime, we would not be able to know who is good and who is bad. And it's silly to assume that after meeting someone 2-3 times, we can confirm/chop that he is good and responsible. Even within the same company, there may be blacksheep. How will we know? We just got to be careful as we look for ids. To splitting the confirmed items into 2 or more parts is good.

But they have 2 yr warranty right. It will be quite silly for the company to work with inferior partners. At the end , they earn less and Loses trust frm their customer. . I hope they dun only look for supplier that give them good margin but genuinely want to create good name in the industry. They are not the cheapest quote I get. So I hope they believe in quality as I do.

watch for your aircon installation. Condo piping is concealed. If aircon pipes not done properly, it will leak and destroy your carpentry etc. My aircon man advise to insulate the drainage pipes so that it would wet the wall.

Christian is not a religion but a relationship with God. To seek blessing/protection from something other than asking God is not right. God will blessed you as you put your trust in Him. Trusting Him that all good things comes from Him and He blesses his children. Just like they symbolise all things auspicious. The act of throwing Ong Lai , Oranges , Salt And Rice means you dun trust Him.

Actually wanted to let my Id earn but too bad , the creation air review is too bad. I dig out my old contact ; and went with him instead. He helped many of my old neighbours do their aircon and last 5 years non complain abt workmanship issue. Kelvin 91010197. So can rest be assure , no leaking etc. I realize that aircon workmanship is super impt , more impt than cost , for resale condo since all the piping are conceal. If not done properly, it will alot more to rectify .

If u still have the $$, now maybe a good time. Sgd 1.28 to 1aud

Answer is no. It may look insignificant and harmless. As long as u seek blessing other than frm God. It's not going to turn out what u want. Pm me if u want to know more.

hmm.. you mean havent finished yet ? hmmm.... hope all is well. I think ID plays a bigger part than the shop itself. So far, my id has been very patient and careful. But i was quite surprise that they use Creation Air for their aircon quotation. Because the mkt has very bad review on creation air. According to post on renotalk/singaporebrides, creation air actually advise customers to use aluminum piping which is not only inferior in quality but also void the warranty of the aircon .

We had a horrible experience at Gain city @ IMM today. We were supposed to get aircon for our resale condo. the aircon piping already beyond help. So we thought might as well change the entire system. We reach the shop at 11 after our breakfast at BK. We told the saleperson that we are looking for aircon for our condo. the first thing he told us rudely, it going to cost 7 - 10k.. So we ask him what he suggest. He repeated himself again 7-10k. So we ask him what is the brand he recomm, and promotion now. Again he told us it's going to be 7-10k. We then ask him why, he say cos' condo. ?!? Then I ask him so what brand ? "Mitsibish lor." but do i need? really 7-10k meh ? Again he say, condo more than 10k also got. it's standard price. I was fuming already. 1) he never ask me how big is my house 2) he never ask me what is my usage like - aircon whole house or just rooms 3) he never ask me if i can take inventor or non-inventor. the worse is that he just keep saying 7k+, and insisted that regardless of what is going to be 7k+. He never explain to us why we need 7k+ , the best is he didnt even give us the actual number, just 7k+. Wanted to slap him when i was talking to him. Actually, if he had taken the effort to explain why 7k.. we would have bought. At least ask us for our floorplan, and say where the 7k goes to etc. He is totally not interested in doing business. If presale is like that , cant imagine the aftersale service from this company.

please refer to your black and white..Did the officer email you that she confirmed can rent out ? or maybe you got the information a few yrs back when everything is more "relax" aniway.. not only hdb cannot rent out for less than 6 mths. Pte also cannot if you refer to ura website.

Are u aware that short term rental , less than 6mth is illegal .

i must say.. HDB future is quite "predictable" now. because hdb is 1 sg/pr family 1 house.So as long as the supply is up. Prices shld be stable if not +/- abit. Condo will be more unpredictable because of the global inflation. I actually dun see why pte prices will not go up by another 10% in the next few mths. Cos' $$ are moving out of europe/us/china/india. Just make sure you something that is investment worthy. Just like German's housing, now going up and up because rich from the rest of europe are moving their funds to Germany.

Hdb has mop. Pte has buyer stamp duty. Plan ur finances wisely . Many ppl make $$ frm property the last 3 yrs. But many more lost their fortune in the early 1999. Just be careful not to get caught with the hot potatoes. If buy condo go for freehold.

if you intent to book a EC and keep current flat, then you need to fork out cash for the 5+15%, since you cannot use cpf for 2 pty and the progress payment before the EC is completed. When it top, then sell or rent out your hdb. We shld be talking abt 150-200k at hand for the next few yr before "rental" or profit come in. if you intent to book a EC and sell your current flat while you wait for you EC to top. You will need rental (40k x number of yrs) and buffer abit for refurnishing. We shld be look at 200k - 300k cash for the purchase of the EC as well as the rental over the next few yrs. So eventually, you upgrade without any "real cash profit". if you intent to buy a bigger resale HDB and sell your current flat. Then you shld be looking at COV (50k) + reno(50k) + 5% cash and commission to agent (10-20k). You shld have at least 150k cash at hand to be comfortable. and that shld minus out from your cash profit because they are "sunk" cost. If you say, your gain is only 300k, and you dun have other reason such as moving nearer to school or grandparents. I suggest you keep your hdb.

pm replied. Still available. Note that it's just the hob, which retail for alot more than (hob+hood)/2. If you wish to get a set, i suggest you buy from the shop direct.

Just a word of experience from my renovation so far. Renovating an old resale condo, it's not just the price and design is impt. The committment from the designer is also very impt. Unlike hdb, the floorplan at BCA may not be accurate and if the condo does not have alot units. You may be unpleasantly surprised with wiring and piping there is not supposed to be there. The structural beam may be bigger than you see in the BCA floorplan. We are in the process of hacking and we are glad that the designer is onsite all the time to ensure he could let us know all the details and let us decide what to do immediately. That's great, at least,we know what we will be getting instead of him deciding for us and later charge us for something we "didnt" want to do. the designer that did out old house, only went onsite once! in the beginning of the project to address to the workers. Luckily, what we had was a new hdb, and his worker were doing many units in the same estate, so everything was managable.

Sorry to hear abt your experience. Maybe it's the designer. Mine is quite good so far. We bought a pretty old resale pte apt, the whole estate only 27 units so it pretty difficult to know accurately the piping and the actual floorplan without going onsite. We only managed to get access to the unit after completion and we start almost immediately. He always visit the site to ensure that we can "tackle" all the surprises that are not found on the floorplan. Surprise 1 The switchboard is at where we intend hacking. So he need to arrange for it to be moved before the hacking starts. Surprise 2 1 bathrm pipes are exposed. This means that there may be leakages from the heater ontop . Also the false ceiling may need to be changed.Quote and let us know the cost. Surprise 3 The whole house has false ceiling, but they were of different height. We need to decide what to do after walls are hacked. Provide a few options for us and quote. So that we can decide without delaying the schedule. Surprise 4The position of the WC is towards the centre of the bathroom. Need to decided where to put the shower screen. Seriously, quite different from my 1st reno experience when the designer only went onsite once in the beginning of the project. He is there to see to every details I think he also want to avoid any unnecessary rectification because of his neligence. The journey is still long.. Another 1 more mth to go before expected completion. I hope it continue to be a good experience.