myzticalz

I used pictures online to visualise what I want for my house and then inform the person who will be doing the job on what to do. Research goes a long long way

like your toilet too! looking forward to more pics

Hi Sahid, This is the cleaning company I am talking about:- Web: http://maplecleaningservices.sg/price-guide/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maplecleaningservices I've liaised with Ashley via whatsapp (hp: 9430 0097). You can whataspp her and show her photographs of your house so she can quote accordingly. Hi watzup, Thanks! ! Actually many were sceptical if I am able to complete the painting but I am glad I did! Hi lovely home and lydiaruth, You got mail Hello Ocean11, Yeah, we thought so too but we went to try at our neighbour's house and it is not very visible thus we took the risk to get the doors. Haha, hopefully my guests won't mind =X

Thanks troublemaker, jiawen and binxuan for the compliments - I really had a hard time convincing Mister and I am so glad he says it is nice after the entire painting!! I am awaiting for my furniture to be in - it will be in this month, bit by bit. Hope it will all turn out well. Closing of renovation period To sum up, I collected my keys in March 2014, started renovation in May 2014 and completed my renovation in August 2014. It is a short 3 months but is pretty draggy cause I didn't do much (in terms of renovation) yet it took so long. So, here goes, everything under a single picture for easy referencing: Collage done here: http://photogramio.com/photoeffects I spent an overall of $14k but it was about $3k savings as compared to the scenario if I had actually got a ID instead (based on the quotation I've gotten from the IDs I've seen). Well, most of the savings come from DIY, searching for the reasonable prices and the help I have received from my family - we DIY the shoe cabinet, paint the walls, fixing up all bathroom accessories by our own. So, even with a tight budget, I am glad that everything went well and I have a home to call my own. Oh, and I found this contact for cleaning services that is quite reasonably priced ($300++ includes chemical washing - toilet, kitchen and living room; scrubbing of floor and wall tiles - toilet and kitchen; washing of windows and glasses doors/panels; wipe down of steel stuff in house etc etc) - let me know if anyone needs a good clean of their house Will be updating again when furnishing are in!

Nice and bright kitchen!

Wow, I like your explanation on digital tv! ! I've been trying to figure out how it will affect me as well. Thanks!

https://www.oops.sg/price.php 3.3 CBM is only $410.80 $5000 (goods' worth) * 7% is another $350 The remaining should be misc. Oh, btw, did you use their assisted purchase? Because that service comes with a service fee which will then incurred higher charges, it is not stated clearly how much they charged though for assisted purchase (through the web). It might be cheaper to go direct and then use Oops as a forwarder since you can liaise with the sellers at Taobao Do remember to check with Oops on the breakdown before paying, must clarify first!

Hi jgsy, I am so sorry for the late reply but I've texted you the details Cheers! Yeah, the headache over it and the number of leave taken to coordinate was sure a pain but it is definitely worth it after everything. And.. my last of all my renovations is done, the toilet glass doors are up! Here's how it looks like:- There are some issues with the glass doors as 1) there's no stopper to stop it from opening outwards, 2) it is very hard to close and open due to the plastic flap. We'll be working with the vendor on the rectifications and I hope it can be resolved. Oh, btw, remember at the first few post, I mentioned I wanted to paint a brick wall. Oh well, I found some links about painting/creating the brickwalls on your own. They certainly helped me alot in completing my entire wall! 1) http://loftyromance.blogspot.sg/2011/10/brick-wall-effect.html#comment-form 2) http://do-it-yourselfdesign.blogspot.sg/2012/12/how-to-make-faux-exposed-brick-wall.html At one point, I even contemplated in using wallpaper instead from taobao (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.25.eKMRRa&id=19655283033&ns=1#detail) Well, I still did my painting and I am quite pleased with it! It's not very very nice but I am just proud and liking it alot Now, I'm awaiting for my furnishings! Yays.

Oh, I think I forgot to post (had wanted to!). Thank you Mrcontractor, I was wondering about my L Box - how wide it should be and chanced upon your thread. It is really informative and helpful - please keep this up!! Thanks again! Cheerios~

wow, the extendable dining table sure looks good! with the lack of space, smaller table is my choice too, hahas, looking forward to see more of the pics and i really love your vinyl floors!!

Doors came already! So happy with the doors, we needed light coloured doors and I was contemplating in choosing white oak doors or cherry wood doors so Mister selected cheery wood doors instead! Turns out, it seems like a pretty choice as well. Here's the doors (upclose) from Common room 1 to Common room 2 to MBR. This is how it looks like with doors and without doors (as compared to previous picture in post #60). If you do notice, I have no Toilet Doors yet cause we're asking another contractor to help us with that, we're getting full glass door (frosted!), it will be up next week! Yays yays to one step closer. And here's my completed kitchen (not much changes from post #60) - the only change is that all cabinets is up, glass is up, I've cleared away all rubbish and took a good picture of it Hahas, can't wait to start my taobao purchases to put my stuff in! Okay, and another main point of my house (I've not show rooms yet cause it's only lights and painted niaaaaa) is my Bathtub is up! Recall the first few post I said Mister wants a bathtub.. so his wish is granted. I've bought the tub from Hoe Kee (details here: http://www.hoekee.com.sg/bathroom/bathtubs/inset-bathtub/inset-bathtub-sabrina-detail.html) Will be sharing more information soon. Till date, renovation costs about $14k for me Hope to keep it within $15k. Prices are not inclusive of buying electrical stuff and lightings of course. It's more like the cost you would be spending if you're getting an ID type of comparison. Hello Songz, yes, it's a small issue eventually Everything went well and the light is replaced! I am waiting for furnishing soon but probably in September cause my renovation will be completed during the 7th month - no shifting yet

Hello Troublemaker and Harriette, will PM you guys tomorrow, okay? Going off work already so no access to comp Fast forward, kitchen table top was up on 2 July 2014 and then the glass was up on 4 July 2014 (supposedly on 3 July 2014 but apparently, I heard the glass broke or something - anyway, neighbour said 开花结果 which meant that everything smooth smooth kind of meaning, I think because whenever something like glass/mirror breaks, you have to say such things? *shrugs*) Here's a picture of the almost completed Kitchen. Recap Laminates from Formica - Alabaster Oak (http://www.formica.c..._FMASHPLW1_8854) Table top from Caesarstone - Pure White 1141(http://www.caesarstone.sg/en/The-Catalog/Pages/1141%20Pure%20White%20.aspx) Glass from unknown but I choose white (it looks more green to me though) See, there is a door missing right? Like most renovations, my renovation also has hiccups, the carpentry has some dents and scratches and I cannot accept such. But, Mister's dad told me this is the industry's norm cause cannot expect 100% no dents/scratches. Anyway, I told the carpenter and he was cool about replacing it. There are some more scratches and dents so I tell him to go think of how he's going to rectify it. My carpenter told me the kitchen door is ready and can be installed this Saturday. At the same time, he's asking me to pay him too. I hope I can be fully satisfied before paying him. Carpentry costs close to $8k together with counter top wors. Not cheap not cheap. I'm waiting for Doors at the moment, had a direct contact from one vendor and he's coming over on Saturday for measurements as well as providing me with the catalogue to choose. Same goes for Curtains, contacting one of the now popular curtains/blinds provided - Home Curtains and Blinds (I think that's the name, can search in Facebook) recommended by my neighbour. Mister and I have not engage a cleaning company to acid wash our floors so we tried mopping it up, quite a good job done cause the tiles look quite white and clean lah. Here's a picture of my passageway which we mopped (no doors ) Oh ya, I need to rant also. My MBR toilet light is not working and my electrician told me that there’s something wrong with the driver. I have no idea what is a driver so I called the lightings company and told them what my electrician said and to asked for a replacement. They said they will send someone down to repair last Saturday, 5 July 2014. So, this someone came, meddle around with the light and tell me he needs to get a new light for replacement and he doesn’t have it with him that day so have to re-arrange another date to come by. Grrrr, a waste of another day for them to come again and I’ve to wait! Sighs, I already told them that my electrician said there’s a need for replacement but they just wouldn’t buy my story, need to come and see and decide. Waste my and their worker’s time lehs.

Hi 11finger, Had PM-ed you about it Hope it helps!

bert, I was there to supervise my and I told them I want to run it along the walkway (rooms) but due to a beam leading to the MBR, they said it's not possible for the water to run. got no choice but to do it inside as well. I measured the height, I have about 210cm left so I can buy an ikea off the rack wardrobe but not higher than 2m then. maybe you can measure it and see see

Thanks Songz! Really had a hard time finding similar designs and I like the carpenter's workmanship too Hope your reno is going smoothly as well

Oh, i realised I didn't mentioned that lights are up as well. Here's the living room Lights (without the cove light yet cause I've not got the chance to buy T5 yet). My electrician is like super fast, done all lights in a day. Now I feel like I am the one delaying the renovation instead *Ooopsy* The remaining rooms are all conventional lights so not much rave about it. The other nicer lights I have is the passage way Lights (which I used track lights) - I find it super chio. My sister, on the other hand, likes the diamond kind of light that is right outside my master bedroom toilet - I shall take a good picture in future and post it up soon! And lastly, the carpentry is left with Kitchen table top and glass backing. So here is an outcome of how the top and bottom cabinets look like when it's up! The woody feel is so right - if you're wondering, it's from Formica - Alabaster Oak (http://www.formica.com/en/hk/products/wood-grains/details?di=AS_HK_FMASHPLW1_8854) That's all! Just documenting my renovation journey for myself to reflect upon in future Hehehes.

Yays, the carpentry is up for the Kitchen. I think my photography skills really does no justice but I like the woody feel. I've pester the carpenter and keep asking him if he will help me seal up the gaps (between the tiles and the cabinets) I don't wanna put myself at risk with insects and cockroaches (yucks). It's not fully done but I trusted the carpenters so I left my house and let them do their work cause me being around is an obstruction to them as I have no space to stand around in the living room =X Oh, oh, so that's my rounded edges of my kitchen - curvy and roundy. It was a pleasant surprise cause it turned out quite nice but Mister was a little disappointed with the choice of laminates (he was the one who choose!) - he expected a darker tone perhaps. Hahas, oh well, let's wait till everything is up before we make any comments then

Hello! Didn't get any answers about how wide L Box should be and I was in such a panic mode (just less than 12 hours and the installation of false ceiling will be up!!) Googled through entire renotalk and seems like people seldom measure/mention about how wide L Box should be. Uh oh. Anyway, I stumbled into this guide by Mrcontractor, it is really a good read and I kick myself for not reading it earlier! (http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/58154-guides-to-renovation/) So, the usual size of L box is 12", 16", 18"! And I went over to a friend's house and asked her to help measure her L Box and it was 16". So, I decided on 1.5ft (18") as recommended by my electrician and boy, I am so glad I did cause 3ft (36") would be freaking big and makes the living room looks alot smaller. Here's the outcome from the false ceiling (L Box) guy:- Not bad lah! I like that the plastering are all smooth smooth de cause I've seen rough edges on the L Box for some flats and it pretty much annoy me cause I don't really like rough edges.

Bought my lightings from lightings.com.sg (spend a bomb there). And L Box installing tomorrow but I have a question - how many ft wide is a typical L Box? L Box company recommend 3 ft but my electrician says 1.5 ft is enough. I wonder how wide is the other people L Box then.

Taking things super slow but my electrician is super fast. After the permit was approved, the electrician got down to work on my house for lightings! He did the pulling of Lights for my cove light + downlights and here's a picture of it (I like it, it's neat and tidy):- Also, requested to hack a 10cm wall (the entrance to kitchen) and move the light switch inner. Not bad, hacking is completed within a day as well! Plastering to be done soon and tiling of the tiles Unlike everyone here, I'm doing renovation on a slower pace cause I haven't even bought the lights but all the light points are almost finished =X Oops-y. The good thing is cause I'm doing ala carte style, my electrician is not focusing solely on my project so he is okay with taking it slowly as well. I've settled my kitchen cabinets with a carpenter and choosing caesarstone as my kitchen top (pure white) and wood grain (oak) as the laminates for bottom cabinets while white gloss as the laminates for top cabinets. I hope the choice is good. Need help - anyone has contacts for lightings? I'd wanted to get the lights from philips carnival sale over the weekend but was a day too late (Sunday) and it was all sold out for cool daylight led downlights I will share my contacts once everything is completed cause I do not want to share bad stuff And I found out that things are not much cheaper if you go ala carte style (e.g. cabinets) but you are ensured good quality stuff as the person who is doing your cabinets is the guy who knows how to measure and advise accordingly as compared to an ID. ID tends to have bulk purchases so they are able to get better rates for kitchen tops/tiles/lamintes than the sole guy who does small projects for people. So I guess there's always the pros and cons Hope this helps people who are still deciding.