whitewalls

Morning dean, Was given a good advice last evening, about my ceiling from a more 'experienced' resale flat buyer fren. I am to make it as 'ugly' as possible before the hdb repair. Basically I am to get a stick and try to 'smash' down as much of the bad ceiling and walls as I can so the repair can be as thorough as possible. Good thing this good advice was given as I would not thought of doing that. (me is new!) Called hdb officer yesterday to ask for when I can get the letter from him & then go to see MP, as advised by hdb officer, to get 50% paid by hdb n 50% paid by seller. Should get my letter tomorrow or day after. Then go see MP. Once ceiling patched... My contractor will come in to do kitchen and etc actions can go from there. Timeline of actions shifted. So be it. Thoughts and feelings wise??? Was angry at first. Sad was more, actually. But I like my house. It is not perfect and it does not meet _all_ my want-list wishes. It is a 1978 built flat and it seems the spalling issue is due to its wear and tear. However, it is mine. I choose to not allow the situation to spoil my experience of 'accepting' this house. I want to move forward, to enjoy my house, to be hospitable in it to my family and friends. (Hamsters too! Too busy with work or have bigger animals!) And there is work to handle. Simply too busy to stay stuck and sad on this. However, as stuck and sad happens from time to time, I would rather be stuck and sad on more crucial issues in the house as it shelters me. (grin) Thanks for your comment. Appreciate the support. Hope things are great on your end and .... Happie 2012!

hi alvin82sg, sorry to hear about your problem. i face a similiar one. found out the day before my 2nd appt (on my flat inspection day) that i did not just have cracks on my ceiling, i can remove a chunk of it by gently pulling on one of them. you can see the 'lobang' on my ceiling and the chunk was placed on the floor in the next picture. also photo of another crack near the windows and 'swollen' walls and ceiling in one of the bedrooms. (Leaving out the photos of hairline crack on wall and spoilt rubbish chute.) :( My link the lobang My link 'chucky' on the floor My link My link My link My link during 2nd appt, i showed photo evidence and had wanted to defer the signing and let seller fix it. good thing seller was present and when showed the photos, he said that he would pay for it. (got story... he felt it was ok as nothing had fallen when he lived there. only fall when i inspect flat after everyone had left and i had more time to look around the empty flat. hiaz... must a chunk fall to be serious? ) okies. i will work on a seperate billing for this with my contractor when my contractor does the reno and pass the bill to seller. at the meeting, before i signed, i asked for the contact no. of the hdb inspector who had inspected flat before 1st appt. wondered if someone from hdb could look at this? called and left message. called again today and managed to speak to him. is seems, according to him, hdb inspection only cover illegal hacking/ building. ceiling leakage etc not covered. the flat is sold 'as-is' and i could have tried to check before purchase. so, i guess i should have made the seller move the bamboo with clothes aside and look at ceiling, open and close his rubbish chute, move furniture away from the walls? haiz... meeting hdb inspector and my contractor at my flat tomorrow morning. i am moving forward. this can be overcome and i look forward to doing what i can. i shall enjoy my place! this is my experience. i consider myself lucky that my seller if footing the cost. hope things work out well for you and i shall say to you in advance, in anticipation of your problem being solved and you enjoying your place!

hi toho45, is your washing machine similiar to fisher and paykel's top load washer? i am thinking of getting this model but it needs a hot water pipe connect to it for hot/ warm water wash as this machine does not have internal heater to heat water for washing. can you let me know if this approach has worked well for you? is it convenient - just turn on heater, washer and then leave the washer to do the hot/ warm water washing? thanks.

hi all, read the subject heading and i decided to share my opinion here: it is best to make it a point to do an empty flat inspection before the 2nd appt. i will (officially) be getting my keys today, in abt 1.5 hrs. yay! however, i have already received my keys from my seller agent yesterday, in the presence of my seller. still, i will be passing the keys back to the seller agent/ hdb officer (not sure who) later. they will help me with some follow-ups and i am sure they will keep me updated. my house inspection was yesterday - day before 2nd appt. the inspection was pleasant. it was not rushed. one of the bits in our conversations was my question on ceiling leakage. the reply was that that had happened but it had been fixed and the seller had not much issues there. the key was passed to me and then it was 'thank yous' and 'byes'. after the 'byes', i went up to the flat to do my look-see and to imagine how my reno plans would work. looking up at the ceiling of the kitchen, i noticed cracks. it looked like a part of it was going to fall. a chair and a pole (both left behind) allowed a closer inspection and when i put my hand on the 'piece', it (size: stretch out the fingers of both your hands, place the thumbs side by side. about that size if your hand size is average) came off the ceiling. i brought it down and laid it on the floor. on the ceiling, i could see the metal bars (i think these are used to reinforce the structure?). imprints of the metal bars (rusted bits) are on the piece on the floor. i took photos, called my agent and whatsapp the photos to my agent. after that, more looking around and i found a long (80cm) hairline crack on the wall in one of the rooms. photo taken. there are parts of the ceiling in the another room that appears to be 'swollen'. the door of the rubbish chute was missing a side and cannot be closed tightly. hmmm. well... i will see how later. wish me luck.