superchrisho

Latest update after 1+ year from moving in. Apologies that I never got to updating the cost and stuff. The flooring has not given me any problems. The only thing is when the skirting gets wet, it expands and discolors. I think that's unavoidable coz all skirtings aren't made of the same material as the flooring. Had to do some patching for hairline cracks that developed.(just got some putty from home fix) But ever since I patched it, it has not shown anymore cracks. My guess is it was due to the cement drying and shrinking so cause the cracks. Kitchen is perfect. The cabinets and solid surface are easy to clean. White is a good color coz the solid surface does get scratches even with good care, but on white it doesn't show. Just not glossy only. Everything is very nice. Loving it. Friends and family who come over say our place feels more cozy and warmer(not temperature) than theirs. My guess is it's due to colours and lighting. We have no florescent lights. All warm or daylight. As for furniture, ikea's tables and chairs and sofas are still ok. Our take is... if these things do break, it's gives good reason to get a new one! =)

Thanks. Will look at that gnee hong. haha We went to molecule to just see see.... jaw drop.... one bar stool about $1k!! siao! Can buy tv liao

we got a main coordinator, David, he's the guy who does our flooring to handle all the schedules and stuff. He charged us a flat fee of $500 to get all the contacts and coordinate everything. We felt it was a better working relationship because no conflict of interest. David doesn't benefit or lose out if we are dissatisfied with the quality of things, he just gets another contractor to take over the job. So no probs on ensuring quality and efficiency of work here. In terms of working relationship, David is a very nice guy. Very service oriented. The contractors he recommends are good. My father-in-law is in the construction business as well, so upon inspection by my FIL, he is pleased with it all... so I guess can get greenbook award liao. The only contractors we got on our own was for the windows and curtains because the ones given by david was a slight bit more ex. But we regret getting the windows on our own coz had to argue with them on the workmanship. Windows people was one of those flyer ads found in the mailbox. Cheap, but horrible workmanship... mess up our plastering... windows cannot open fully. Had to get them to come back so many times to rectify. On hindsight, we should have gone with David's, the cost difference was probably only $100

Most contractors/ids will recommend you to tile up full height kitchen because that's where they can earn a lot. Labor for just tiling our small toilet/bathroom $1k liao. Honestly, labor cost only about $100 to pay 1 worker for 1 day, but then it's 'the market rate' so LL.... There's a conflict of interest with ids and homeowners coz ids are out to maximize profit while homeowners are out to maximize quality. Tempered glass would be impossible to drill through coz you will cause the glass to lose integrity, then if it is near the cooker, slight expansion at the screw points, you will likely cause it to crack. We opted for stainless steel coz it can be drilled through(need the stainless steel people to do it coz normal drill cannot punch through it unless your sheet is very thin). Also it is easy to clean, no expansion problem, no rust, no stain... if scratched, since it is matt, it'll look like part of the design. ;P Yah, for counter height, there's a certain optimal height. Ours is 44 inches. Any higher and you might not be able to lean your weight on it even if you just standing. You can go ikea to check out their counter heights. They make it very comfy for most people. Yups it's a perfect place to have breakfast or if you have guests and they want to sit and talk to you while you prepare a meal. =) We have yet to find the bar stools we want yet.... the ikea ones have black legs and not hydraulic so we not keen on it. Probably get a splash of red chairs from vhive. Budget less than $100 if possible. haha

haha high five! We went through quite a bit of consideration to not opt for id. Mainly coz we don't have that control of quality and that we have very specific ideas on how we want our place to be. A LOT of details... and most of them you can't see but will affect how things run in the house. e.g. piping, routing, electrical points, hinges. haha Will list out some details of each room specifically to contribute back to renotalk.

Coming up soon: (1) Living room (2) Mbed room (3) Common room (4) Utility room (5) Toilet/bathroom (6) Overall costing

Thanks. we love our cosy place too. There's a certain joy and satisfaction when we do our own interior designing rather than through an id. haha Cannot describe. Can truly say it is our home. =)

Thanks. Yeah, we didn't opt for tiling up the kitchen wall coz (1) very costly (2) we know that tiles actually 'pop' out very time due to heat expansion and contraction (3) Just overall very mah fan lah.... want to drill stuff also need special drill bit... Sure, can adopt the sliding glass for cups. haha no copyright yet until I become an id. One thing to note though... you'll need to know exactly how high you want that drawer to be coz if not you cannot put in wine glasses. We measured about 7 inches should be very comfy unless you get tall champagne glasses, then maybe 8 inches. It will affect your counter height a bit but should overall still be ok lah.

Kitchen is finally complete!!!! Solid surface and stainless steel sheet up!! Yeah! This is the original concept with some slight modifications. This is the final product. Used an iphone panoramic app to take.

Congrats! Place looks very new and clean still. Think your reno will be fun! =) Designs look good

Thanks! Ya, we thought of many alternatives for corner spaces like those rotating baskets, blum pull out systems...etc. But finally decided to go cheap and easy. haha With the added depth of the counter... that cupboard space under the counter is actually very big! My wife and I tried squeezing in there, can hide there easily. We were saying can use as our panic room!

Aiyoh... nonsense lah. The good laminate floors are stain resistant. They are really tough! Fireproof and scratch proof surface. Not sure about prego and supreme but inovar has an AC3 rating, and they are currently the only company that has AC4 rating. Also only company that has met the criteria for laminates in japan. Our floor kena paint, dried for i think 1 week liao... I just use thinner, rub.. no problem. Think oil even easier to remove. Only slight problem for me is that our original floor is uneven, so got slight unevenness. Our retro switch ah? It was from the previous owner. Came with the flat. I took it and refurbished it! hahaha Gave it a good sanding down, then painted the wooden board a light green and the switches spray paint with flat white in a speckled texture. ;D