designez

Here you go http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeRenoGuidelinesBuilding#Door

I found a supplier in Singapore that does aluminium extrusion screens http://www.peaceon.com.sg/productsservices.htm

We have a Alpha Smart 18E! It is the one without a pump because our waterpressure is quite high. We had it for over a year now and are happy with it. It looks great and came with a rainshower and separate showerhead. We did have a minor problem but that was fixed easily: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=58706 I looked at the 707 Princeton as well because of the brand, but thought the design looked a bit cheap in reality...

Our contractor arranged the floor but it is from Berry Floor: http://www.berryalloc.com/global/en We laminated the living room and all bedrooms. Price was S$4.80 per square ft. I am not sure which company my contractor engaged but WoodCulture carries the brand in SG: http://www.woodculture.com.sg/

I found a great old picture of our block: From: https://www.facebook.com/myqueenstownblog

Our Alpha Smart 18E Instant Water Heater stopped working last week after only 1,5 years and the water pressure was getting low. We called Alpha Service (67478300) and a friendly local repair uncle came by. Fortunately no electrical parts were broken, just the water filter was clogged! The Alpha 18E has a safety feature so it does not turn on when the water pressure is too low. After he cleaned the filters everything worked fine and water pressure was powerful again

We got our fire-rated door from Kiung Nam Pte Ltd. 62424333 http://www.kiungnam.com/

Thanks for the link! Yes I heard of these mosquito screens before, also of the ones with velcro. But I think they are too flimsy and not practical for windows and doors without gates... The ones I showed are much more durable and easier to open and close...

I am looking for mosquito nets for doors & windows that can be slided or opened easily. Anybody know if somebody sells them in SG? I would like to have fresh air without the insects... These are very common in Europe but haven't seen them here! If they are not for sale in Singapore I might bring some in next time I am in Europe. Let me know if anybody is interested in these things as well. Thanks in advance!

One year anniversary in our new place!

We got it from Ikea! And it was S$99: http://www.ikea.com/sg/en/catalog/products/40171839/ Hope this helps

Yes we cook quite frequently! You can smell it all the way in the living room but we just open all the kitchen windows and the smell is gone soon. We don't cook oily stuff though... Our kitchen has more of an L-shape and there is no kitchen door!

A high-res picture of the washer & dryer under the sink

Hope you guys have no defects in your place...might ruin the renovation! Check this out: http://www.facebook.com/groups/punggolsapphire.defects/

Yes, the plastering of our entire flat cost around S$2,700. Seems like the normal price for this sort of thing... However, your walls & ceiling look to be in pretty good condition! Check with your ID/contractor if plastering is really needed.

We got the dryer from Kong Tai (Blk 504 Jurong West) for S$880! They are great and allow multiple deliveries if needed. Also got the washer, fridge, hob, hood & water heater from them. Just call them for a quote 65658924/65658970. Or mail them: kongtaielectrical(a)yahoo.com

Our 4-room flat was even older (35 year!). No worries after reno everything will look great Check out my blog: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=46594

Electrical rewiring and some re-plumbing in the kitchen were included too. We didn't do TV cables in all rooms and just added one LAN cable... Only the windows (casement) on one side were changed. The corridor windows were still in okay condition and always covered by blinds and window grills anyway.

Yes we managed to stay under the S$35k. Our ID mentioned that we could have done it a little cheaper if we would have gone for a package deal, but we are picky and wanted to select our own finishings and materials. In the end the price difference would not have been much... The custom-made stuff is most expensive and we tried to avoid that as much as possible.

Thanks! The dryer vent is on the bottom front so we usually leave the cabinet door open when it is drying. Note that you need to get a CONDENSER dryer to have it under the sink or in a closed space! The water vapour is collected in a removable tank and does not require an external vent. Only heat is released - all moisture is contained within the unit. We found a condenser dryer actually quite convenient because it doesn't make the air in the kitchen very humid. BTW we got the Electrolux EDC67550W and are happy with it.

One of the nicest HDB units I have seen! Better than a lot of condos! No need to do a lot on the walls or flooring. Concentrate your budget on lighting. For the windows I recommend Venetian blinds which will allow you to control the natural day light nicely.

Finally found some time to update and hopefully inspire other forum users. Renotalk helped me a lot so I thought it is only fair to contribute too! We bought our 35-year-old resale flat in the middle of last year. Good price for a great location (Queenstown). Old-school HDB 4-Room (4I) around 84 sqm in 'original' condition. We really wanted to have a no-frills renovation with a budget of around S$35K and get the basics right. We already had a lot of furniture and stuff so storage was also a priority. Floorplan Original State We kept the cost down by hacking only two walls: the wall between living room & kitchen (for an open kitchen concept) and wall between the two bedrooms to create a storage room. Renovation The floor was still in good condition so we did a laminate overlay (Berryfloor) in living room & bedrooms. Ceramic tiles overlay in the kitchen & bathrooms as well. The kitchenwall was painted (washable paint) with black glass panels behind the stove, washbasin and sink. Final Result To save space we decided to put the washer & condens dryer under the kitchen sink. This is common in Europe but not so often seen in Singapore. It looks good and gives us extra kitchen workspace as well. The lighting was kept minimal and warm: three LED spots on each side of the living room in a small L-box and indirect lighting that we could move around easily. Also added some square direct lights on the ceiling in case we need more light but we hardly use them. Dark wooden venetian blinds in the living room, aluminium blinds in the kitchen and dark grey curtains in the bedrooms. We hired Thomas Khor from NW Interior Design (93905679). He did an almost identical flat of our friend in the same block so we knew his expertise. He was great to work with, honest and very pro-active. Of course we had to keep track of all the details during the project but I think that is only natural. It helped him a lot that we knew what we wanted from the beginning and collected inspiration images to show him. I am a designer myself so we could also sketch out some of our ideas. However, I did not want the stress and headache to do the whole thing by myself. I was happy with how he and the aircon guys planned and worked together to integrate the aircon trunking nicely in our flat. The Mitsubishi Inverter compressor & units are great: very quiet and energy efficient. The carpentry, flooring and plastering are good quality too. The renovation started on 26 September 2011 and by the beginning of November 2011 everything was done, ahead of schedule! All in all a good experience. There are always things to stress about during renovation. But I think we managed to avoid the biggest pitfalls by following friends' recommendations & reading Renotalk! Please feel free to ask me any questions. More than happy to help out others here!

My personal advice: just stick to white walls and light-coloured floors. If you do everything in white your interior will look very dead and sterile... In addition, it only looks good the first month. After that any scratches, dust or blemishes will ruin the look. Better go for something more practical unless you enjoy cleaning & polishing.

Parquet will warp too after repeated water contact! The base material of laminate is actually very compressed so it will not absorb water easily. But water can cause the top layer of the laminate to "bubble". This will break after some time... BTW Berryfloor has a collection of water-resistant laminate called HydroPlus: http://www.berryfloor.com/collection/riviera Woodculture carries Berryfloor in Singapore: http://www.woodculture.com.sg/ Overlay on stone/marble/ceramic floors is not a problem if you don't have direct sunlight shining on your floor (i.e. small windows like in old HDB). They will put a thin layer of absorbing foam. The only area that needs some hacking is the skirting but that is relatively cheap.

I agree: start planning now. Best thing to do is find inspiration pictures and get a general feel for what you want. Take your camera to the expo and photograph the things you like (with information label). Try narrow down the choice of materials, design and details. This will save a lot of time and stress later on...