kooky

Demolition The wall that's separating the kitchen and service yard will be removed View from the dining area into the living room - pic 1 View from the dining area into the living room - pic 2

Thank you :-) I will try to upload a few pics which I manage to take during the demolition period. There are still lots of work to be done and I am not sure if it will be ready by mid-march as committed by the contractor. Christimas and the CNY sure delay the completion date.

Master Bedroom

Bathroom - level 2

Hallway

Staircase Staircase will be reconstructed with different type of material as we do not like the 'woody' feeling Due to budget and safety reason, we keep the parquet floor but repair damaged ones and then polished the floor. Having a young kid does limit our choices; such is life!

Kitchen, Service Yard The door between the kitchen and the yard will be removed and the pipe will be boxed up.

Living area

Thanks everyone who have shared your renovation journey with me and in this forum I have learned a lot (and still learning) from most fo you. My husband has been staying in a rented unit for as long as he is here and after we got married and with a baby arriving, I finally managed to convince him to purchase a unit as it make more sense to pay rent for place where we owned it then paying for something that doesn't belong to us and confined to many other rules set by the landlord. I started to look at property websites for a 5-room flat early last year and we were disappointed with all the horrendous COV and selling prices; yet we had not view any unit as husband's job requires him to travel out of Singapore bi--weekly. Finally in January last year, we decided to try ballot on SOBF exercise with HDB. My mentality then was if we don't get a chance to choose a unit, all we lost is $10 in the balloting system and we just continue with our rent in the current place since we had just started a new lease. As the husband is used to living in a place that is spacious, our choices on the types of flats are limited to either 5-room or EA/EM (which of course we know chances of getting a unit direct from HDB is like being a 1st prize winner in 4D/TOTO). Anyway, in last year BTO/SOBF exercise in March, we went in and threw in $10 to ballot Queenstown area. Upon closing date, there were 126 applicants against some 13 5-room/EA/EM available. We thought well, better luck next round. Then in May, I received an email from HDB, informing us that we were given a queue number to select a unit in Queenstown area! Our 1st appointment was in September and on the spot we paid the option fee to lock down the only one EM available in Mei Ling street. Heard from neighbours that many people had came around to check out if this unit has been taken. We engaged the service of a contractor through recommendation from someone but after 2 months of reno saga, we decided to terminate his service and look for another one. My current contractor is a bloke who is strongly recommended by my brothers who used him to reno their flats. We both work full-time and He is efficient but due to all the festive seasons (e.g. Xmas and CNY), the reno is delayed....such is life eh? This is the floor plan and I reckon it might be a 2nd generation EM layout. K is the initial of my 20 months old Miss Muffet

I second! I ballot my current flat and prior to the appointment with HDB, husband and I didn't even think of viewing other HDB flats. We just threw in $10 to ballot a unit in the area/estate which we want and thought, well if we get it good, else just move on and try again 3 months later. Just once and bingo, we were given a queue number and viewed this unit and on 1st appointment with HDB, we signed on the dotted line. For the price we bought, some people told us that it would be very hard on us on the monthly repayment but to us, it is worth it as we do not need to rent again. The location, a roof over our head and a place where we can call home are the many reasons why we are willing to buy at that price last year.

You lot have very nice kitchen. Alas, as I have a toddler and a maid who will make a mess in the kitchen after cooking (like a war zone after she cooked), I can't have a white theme....

Yes, I believe it is an Elkay replica. It could be from China too as I did google after knowing the name of this sink from the sales lady. However, for husband and I we are okay as we fancy a double-bowl sink that is big enough for a wok. I like it for the fact that it has a deeper base which is good as chances of water splashing out from the sink; wetting the floor is reduced. I am a simple person; so the simple-look of the sink suits me :-)

bleucheeze, this is for you This model can be installed as table-top or undermount sink.

I helped to ring up the shop and then this lady explained that the reason I can't find this model SQM830 on the internet because it is a OEM model. She further elaborated that if the sink is imported from USA, for any problem, it will need to be shipped back to america for repair/replacement. How true? I am not sure. i have also requested a pic of the sink I bought. I will post the image once I received it. In the meantime, you might want to search for other brands or even purchase it online and get the sink ship-in from overseas.

In the invoice this was stated SQM830, it is a stainless steel double-bowl sink. I can't find this model in google. The lady from the shop told us that it is a new model. I bought the sink and other sanityware at Eestilo De Vida

I bought an Elkay double-bowl sink but as the reno of my flat is delayed, it has yet to be installed. Hence, I can't really comment if the sink is good. However, the lady who recommend this sink said to me it is made in USA and it is durable. If you can wait, I will show you picture of my sink later (most probably will be ready to be installed around early march).

Thanks, Mr Contractor once again! You have got mail :-) Have a splendid time during this CNY! 新的一年里，愿我的朋友：钱多钱少常有就好；人俊人丑顺眼就要；人老人少健康就好；家穷家富和气就好；一切烦恼理解就好；人的一生平安就好！

stryke, would you mind sharing your contact with me? We are also looking to purchase the cable and whatever tools/equipment from a reliable and responsible person and get someone experienced in laying Cat6 cable in my newly renovated flat. Thanks.

Mrcontractor, our area at max is 850sqft only because on the 2nd storey, we retained the parquet flooring. One more question - does skirting cost a lot? It is alright to remove skirting if it helps to bring down the cost? To build hollow brick wall for 1st and 2nd storey and make good - $1800. Does this sound OK? Thanks again for your help and advices despite all the prep for CNY!

Mrcontractor, this info is indeed very informative and useful especially to most of us (the owners) who are layman and know nothing much of the Construction/Reno industry. I have just received a revised quotation from my contractor and I wonder if you could help to go through and let me know if the pricing is reasonable? I am very shocked with this revised quote as both husband and I are expecting it to be not more than $5000 increased from the original quoted price. Demolision Works 1) hacking of floor & wall tiles for all 3 toilets 2) hacking of living & dining existing floor and wall tiles 3) hacking of kitchen existing floor & wall tiles 4) hacking of balcony floor tiles 5) demolish wall between Study & Kitchen for new layout 6) demolish wall at Staircase for new layout 7) remove all cornices & ceiling works 8) demolish wall at 2nd store toilet for new layout 9) Haulage services, debris removal & transport material **Cost: $4700** Wet Works 1) supply & lay homogeneous tiles Living, Dining, Balcony,Study & Kitchen c/w skirting - $7300 2) supply & lay homogeneous tiles on floor & wall for all bathrooms w/c water proofing - $5700 Ceiling Works: 1) to construct new ceiling works for lower level - $2,800 2) to construct new ceiling works for upper level - $2000 Timber Flooring Works To repair affected parquet floor and vanish after completion - $1,500 Timber Door & Glass Door Works 1) supply and install partition board to box-up 3 bedroom ventilator above bedroom door - $300 2) supply and install 1 x solid door fram and 1 x louvers door for storeroom - $480 3) supply and install 1 set of solid wood door frame for bedroom 2 - $200 4) supply and install 3 tempered glass casement door at 2 toilets & kitchen - $1350 5) supply and install 1 bifold door at 1st storey WC - $220 6) supply & install 10mm tempered glass shower screen for 2 bathrooms - $1100 7) supply & install sliding tempered glass for new build-up half wall between living hall and balcony - $900 8) supply and install sliding tempered glass for counter - $1000 9) supply door for Study room - $1380 Carpentry Works 1) 8ft TV console c/w feature wall living area - $2400 2) 8ft full height storage cabinet - $1600 3) 19ft storage cabinet below recess window - $2280 4) 6.5ft TV console at master bedroom - $1950 5) 8ft sliding wardrobe at master bedroom - $2000 6) 5ft casement wardrobe at bedroom 2 - $1150 7) 8ft casement wardrobe at bedroom 3 - $1840 8) 10ft drawer storage cabinet below recess window - $1500 Painting and cleaning works 1) supply labour and material to paint the whole unit - $2400 2) provide chemical washing and general cleaning for whole unit - $800 Others build new clay tiles roofing at balcony c/w 1 hour fire rated ceiling board and window - $4500 The contractor is expecting to hear from us by next week to confirm the work and we are still undecisive if we should go ahead with this quotation or remove some of these items. Thank you so much in helping us out. Best regards.

Has anyone bought/used hobs from Glem? Is it good? Mind sharing a review please?

Yeah, the husband and I are not into wood TV console. We prefer contemporary and simple-design. Our search continue......

We went shopping last weekend and still can't decide which to buy as there are big difference in pricing and also we aren't sure which brand is more reliable. At first we have asked the contractor to include in the quotation for TV consoles for our living room and 3 other b/rooms (e.g. something like a pull out drawer and TV mounted on the wall type) and husband commented that it might be worth buying off the rack as it probably will be cheaper. I have yet to come across any design which I like yesterday as I realised that most of the colours that furniture stores have are usually black, white or wood-finish and the finishing material isn't that great. Perhaps we have shopped in the wrong place! Does anyone of you have any recommendations? Thank you.

Have a discussion with the spouse. We have decided to purchase a 4-5 ceiling fans. We do not want to spend too much and not looking for designer's fan. We would like a reliable brand and the fans are suitable for HDB flats installation (due to ceiling height) and reasonably quiet, no bulb/light attached to it (just plain ones will do) with remote control. We have shortlisted KDK V56VK. What are the pros and cons? Any other recommendations? Thank you.

I love my little girl above all things! I suppose this is maternal instinct.