funnymatthew

if you have not moved in, can consider calling a pest control company to "clean" out the place. i enquired before moving in and was quoted S$150-300 for a 4 room hdb.

hi ommph, even if you did not poke it, it is a matter of time before it falls. plastered ceiling will delaminated from the concrete base over time. we had the sample problem in a different situation. the ceiling plaster was coming off. we hired a contractor who 1. removed all the ceiling plaster, including those that did not delaminate 2. patch any holes with non shrink grout 3. repainted. hope the above is a good reference for you. if you want more renovation ideas, feel free to see our blog

hi matrix you can get aluminium framed - glass paneled doors made. usually a regular door company focus on wood and metal doors. but i am sure some of them can do glass as well. to the best of my knowledge, the full glass doors is usually done by specialist, although door contractors may also sub contract to these glass specialist.

hi i would fully support the glass door. initially we too wanted to use a wooden framed-glass panels bi fold door. but it would look too heavy and bulky to our design. see our research/ reference here Using a sliding door would sacrifice some "storage space" and I did not like to have tracks on the floor, nor did i think the top-hung ones were lasting. other than that, it is a personal preference. Have posted some photos here.

hi julia, i can recall my renovation experience that budget is always a concern... but overlaying with laminate in my experience is not a durable solution, esp if you have children. perharps re-polishing the terrazzo is better choice than laminate overlay.

just visited your blog, cool... i think our homes have a similar concept, except mine is the hdb version. come take a look if you like here

hi all, hacking to get what you really want is worthwhile for a reasonable fee. esp if you have doubts about the current floor and layout, my advice is to hack it. as compared to a furniture that you can replace anytime. hacking is a really messy business, better to get it over and done with early, see here the rational is: after you have done all the other works eg carpentry, painting, build-in cabinet over the "distasteful" floor and layout, it will be too late to change your mind. chances are, you will probably regret for the rest of your time while staying there, wishing you had chosen that ideal floor tile and layout( and was also within comfortable means). however, do try to confirm what you really want, eg fengshui requirements, storage space, type of application, design theme etc. in this way, you will be very clear why you are paying for the hacking. my wife and i spent some effort on the preparation here however, we did regret not hacking the common toilet to save some money. that is why i can share this experience with you. for some sharing on our floor tile selection, see here

hi zzx23, thanks for the information. indeed, can save a lot by handing more stuff by yourself.

hi very nice lighting design. just to check, are you placing your dinning table under the chadiler?

hi notsogoodman, my heart goes out to you... i had the same problem while renovating my home. during the 6 months which dragged to 9 months, i lost almost 8 kg. the problem was that i engaged my customer's employee, who worked part time as an ID. did not coordinate any issues on site nor briefed the sub-con properly. not drawings submitted before proceeding with work or material choosing. the list goes on..... I probably worked a lot harder than him in talking to the sub-contractors and suppliers. the good thing was that i work in the construction industry so i knew some of the stuff. right now, i am still solving some of the defective works left behind by the poor coordination.... any way we have moved on and have stayed for more than 2 yrs. my advice is, if you have the time and energy, try to coordinate the reno yourself as you can customize everything. a lazy ID will never go through the extra mile to make your nest perfect. otherwise, pay for a highly recommended ID to solve the prob. in case you are interested yo read about our reno, see here.

hi all, initially i had quotations for a false ceiling with multiple lighting points. after a thorough analysis, we decided to forgo the false ceiling. the considerations are: 1. increase headroom - esp for hdb 2. reduce lighting points - usually about 20-30 per point. for false ceiling, there is always more lighting points. 3. save on false ceiling cost. 4. easier to maintain esp when compared to cove lighting. More details and sketches here. my 2-cents worth. with the savings, we could splurge on more fancy looking lighting. our completed hdb flat can be seen here

hi all, initially i had quotations for a false ceiling with multiple lighting points. after a thorough analysis, we decided to forgo the false ceiling. the considerations are: 1. increase headroom - esp for hdb 2. reduce lighting points - usually about 20-30 per point. for false ceiling, there is always more lighting points. 3. save on false ceiling cost. 4. easier to maintain esp when compared to cove lighting. More details and sketches here. my 2-cents worth. with the savings, we could splurge on more fancy looking lighting. our completed hdb flat can be seen here

Hi wawakaka, if you are looking for cheaper cloth shower screens ( as compared to permanent glass) can consider DIY ikea we did ours for lesser than 60 dollars. see photos here

Hi all, sorry i have not checked this thread for a while. My ID is kind part time and is not active anymore. Perharps you can get someone to quote based on my toilet layout. You can get the toilet layout and completed photoshere If you like some advice, do email me at funnymatthew@gmail.com will be glad to help cos i recall how tough it was during my own reno. do give me some time to respond, though.

Hi, In case anyone is on this thread, we have just experienced the advantage of having a plinth cast for our fridge. To cut a long story short, there was a kitchen flood caused by the washing machine pipe coming loose. The fridge was safe from the flood because of the plinth. In case you want to see the cleaning up and how the plinth helped, read it here. with regards, funnymatthew

Hi all, Nice toilet designs indeed. I especially liked the practical layout. I did my toilet in a white tone to make it look "spacious". Unfortunately, I did not have the luxury of relocating my toilet bowl. but my wofe and I liked the large vanity top our ID proposed. If you want to see more photos

Hi Just to share our 2 cents worth during our removation, we decided to use normal lights (vs down lights or cove lights that require a false ceiling) for the following advantages 1. save cost of false ceiling which can be quite considerable 2. reduced dust collection = easy maintanence from the cove lights 3. slightly increased headroom (from the false ceiling depth) if you like to see the effects, click here

Hi, sounds like an exciting journey for you. I recall when we did our reno, we found it important to know what our family needed for the long and short term. For example, we wanted more rooms for family planning (as compared to merging 2 rooms into one giant master bedroom), kitchen layout was decided my my wife who would be the primary user), no built in cabinet until the children go to school (for flexible use of space), fans in every room to save on air con cost, lotsa hidden storage space to keep the surrounding uncluttered etc... Most ids will have their own inclinations and "more profitable items" like selling wall paper/ branded carpentary/ etc and will try to propose that first. We collected good ideas from all the id who gave proposals and modified our own final layout. This reduced the variations you have to choose from and focus on the cost and quality. just our 2 cents worth. Hope it helps. if you want to see our renovation blog you are welcome to visit http://hdbrenovation2009.blogspot.com/ good luck

Hi i had a good experience at Lightings.com.sg too. My wife loved the economical chandilers. Photo links to photos http://hdbrenovation2009.blogspot.com/

Hi, nice renovation pics. I like the perimeter ceiling hidden lights. Wish I thought of that. I hired one of my customer's employee who was part timing as an interior designer. It was a disaster too. Dont engage part timers, prob will have lower commitment. esp if you know them well.... more difficult sighzz..... Take a look at my reno blog if you like. http://hdbrenovation2009.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

Hi for the kitchen, dont forget to consider maintanence esp if you stir fry a lot. not a good idea to use floor laminates. For toilet, will need to re-tile with new waterproofing. you can go to the following link where we posted our renovation blog http://hdbrenovation2009.blogspot.com/2010/08/improved-toilet-layout.html