inthechouse

And.. another suprise visit yesterday.. the glass team came down and did their thang. Had I known there were so many people coming (I was really only expecting Ikea), I would've gotten help from 1 person to be present and supervise along with me. Anyway, while being pre-occupied with the painters, I realised that the glass team had put up a mirror at my vanity area. We did not order this, and frankly, it's much bigger than what we had in mind. So I asked for the mirror to be removed and this gentleman had to wipe off all that muck on my tiles. Unfortunately, he did not remove much of the silicon he had applied all over my wardrobe's laminate. Told Alan about this and he said "OK". Hope the laminate doesn't tear off. As for the glass panel for the master bedroom - which was what we've ordered - the team sawed the alum frame right outside my door after measuring the bathroom, and brilliantly got it wrong (frame shorter than glass). I didn't notice, of course. But the workers told me sheepishly and semi-apologetically that they will have to come back again to fix it. That's fine.

Also, yesterday, the paint team came down for what they called the "final, final touch up". I was not informed of this. So were they gonna do the "final, final touch up" without my presence? Nevermind. So the Ah Beng was a little better this time round. However, 1 of the 2 foreign workers was still indignant. He also blew his top when his supe was away. To which the other worker said to me: "Nevermind, you tell me, I do for you." I interpreted it as "ignore him". As for the paint marks all over the skirtings - presumably the result of NOT taping the lines prior to painting - nobody is taking it upon their shoulders to remove it. One team said it's the other's job. So we'll just have to do it ourselves. From my understanding, thinner should work yeah? I tried, but it wouldn't come out. Anyone's got any advice for me? The only thing that the paint team taped were the door hinges and knobs, and the powerpoints/sockets. It was freehand for everything else. Also, the plastering team had plastered all over the window frames. So that's gonna take some cleaning up too. Feel like paying a part-time cleaner to come do everything, coz it's ineffective for me to do it myself, since I am suffering from a chronic case of lateral and medial epicondylitis on my right arm due to years of tennis. That's pretty much how most of my skirtings look like.

So the Ikea stuff arrived on time yesterday. But we found two cracks - one on a bedside table and the other one a shelf - after the workers left. Think they assembled it too fast too furious. Do check everything before the workers leave. For they should be able to take damaged items back with them. We may just keep it. Got too many other stuff to tend to. A little unsightly that the top of the shelf is so far from the bottom of the beam. Maybe we'll place some small boxes there. Nice lil' white Expedit. Gahh.. gotta make another trip to Ikea coz there's an item which requires another 2 "legs". Can't say the Ikea staff who attended to us did a good job. In fact, even the guys who delivered and assembled our items said Ikea's customer service has dropped coz "they use many part-time staff".

Same. Here it is: http://hdb-interiors.tumblr.com/?og=1 Lost count of how many familiar pix I came across!

Thanks, both. Yeah can't be helped. But I would've tried to explore alternatives if I had paid enough attention to the design. Nevertheless, the wardrobe and cabinets look good and study, so that's all that matters.

May keep it that way too - for now. Just gotta wipe off the "dust".

Someone just showed me a HDB Tumblr thingy and on it are many pix I have seen on this T-blog forum. Not sure how they got there. May or may not be intentional.

Dear fans of Ikea, you may wish to take note of this piece of news. Not sure if it applies to Singapore but we'll see. Also, just to share that Expedit in "Birch" colour is on sale right now. IKEA plans to stop selling its iconic "EXPEDIT" shelf and replace it with a different wall unit, IKEA spokesperson Janice Simonsen told the Huffington Post. Click here to read more. Got this from Google. Authencity unverified. Can't see much of a diff, judging from this image alone.

hehe. woah that's cheap. but i've run out of time. yeah, for sure the surface will get scratched due to wear and tear as the days go by. i heard you get some surfaces polished right? thought i read about it somewhere on RT. i won't be surprised if my iZen gets scratched soon enough, coz i can be quite "chor lor" at times, especially while in a hurry.

So... apparently, second wash done, touching up of grout lines done, and the cabinets are ready. I was too excited checking the latter that I didn't quite notice the former. Here are some latest pix. Quite excited seeing the oven sitting in there! All the kitchen is waiting for now is the quartz surface. And a microwave. We're not fans of microwaves so if we decide not to purchase one, that space can be used for other purposes. One thing to share about the wardrobes. If you're doing swing out/casement doors like what we have, do specify your needs clearly. There's an overlap of our wardrobe doors so we can't open the left door without opening the right one. It may be the norm these days, or perhaps everybody's used to it, but for years I've been able to open either side directly and effortlessly (so lazy!) so these new doors are gonna be a challenge for me. Hurhur. Didn't think to specify this habit to Ah Gui coz I assumed it wouldn't be any other way. P.S: The laminate for the vanity cabinet is Lamitak's glossy nautical blue. Not black.

no worries! some time ago we even did a coffee and wine test on iPure for fun. haha. they were easily wiped off, but i think we didn't keep them on it long enough for the test to be valid. hi koori! i tried peeling off a little, but it wasn't easy. the adhesive was pretty tough. haha so cute of your mum! well i hope there won't be any ugly sticky bits after peeling it off. will try to remember to update about it here once i've mustered the courage to do it.

Yeah.. for example.. some of the cementing above the new skirtings as well as around the new door frames was not done properly. That should be within their control, and not HDB's fault? Sometimes it does seem quite dejecting. Like, we should've waited for a brand new flat, so that reno will be easier. And cheaper! LOL. Dunno. No point looking back also. Just gotta try and not look at the awful bits (some are courtesy of HDB).

Perfectly valid reasons for buying resale, Songz. Unless we're second-time buyers, or working in the engineering/building & construction field, we won't know much of what to expect. We thought that hacking off everything and rebuilding everything will solve the issues... and reno will sort of hide some of the flaws. But boyyyyy... were we wrongggg...

Just wanna share with fellow noobs about this "gap" issue. Alan has got the painters to seal up the gaps with silicon, but he said it was done as a favour, coz "by right", it's not their job / not included in the quote. So before you sign on the dotted line, do ask about this ok? Alan also said that resale home buyers who do not opt to install false ceiling/L-box/cove lights should not complain about the gaps caused by uneven ceilings, because it's all structural defects. I wish he told us this earlier. But nevermind, coz we did not want to have to clean the difficult to reach parts of the L-box and cove lights, nor did we want to have our ceiling lowered by xx cm. Overall, my reflections are that it's really quite a pain to overhaul a resale flat - if you had purchased it in a rather "original" condition. But we all have our own reasons for buying resale, yeah? If you're completely and absolutely green and clueless, try to get some help from friends and relatives right from the beginning. Buy them gifts and/or meals if you have to!

Hi greglhc, nice to see your pix. What's the finishing for your cement screed walls? Or is there none?

Awww.. lucky pooches. So nice of you to give them such a big and comfy space. Everything's looking gorgeous!

woah, those are some expensive but very pretty doors! we're still awaiting one nyatoh sliding door which we will have it varnished. hope it will be nice too.

Aiyo. I wanted it later and they refused. People who want it earlier end up having to wait so long. Not sure what's going on with the logistics company they use. Ugh. I suggest you ring Ikea and press the option for home deliveries to find out what's the available delivery date range before heading down. If I had done so, I wouldn't have to have the stuff delivered before the flat is ready. At the delivery counter, I asked if it was possible for them to deliver first and assemble on another occasion. Of course can! At an extra fee of $35! So no thanks. Granite costs more than quartz right? I guess not. Though I've come across many rave reviews of Black Galaxy. By the way, I did a scratch test on iQuartz's grey and black samples last night. Hehe. Check this out. It's the least obvious on the non-reflective grey (Metal Alumnico), followed by the reflective grey (iZen), the messy-patterned grey/black (Nutty Granola) and finally, the black (iGalaxy). Obviously nobody's gonna deliberately scratch their surface with a pair of scissors everyday. We were just bored and curious that's all (while waiting for Alan's update).

Another morning, another day closer to "D-Day". As always, trying to curb the kancheong spider in me, and just wait for Alan to sort out his stuff and get back to me. Went to Ikea over the weekend and found out that the latest delivery date is tomorrow. -.- My brother shopped there on Feb 8 and the delivery date for him is Feb 22. Go figure. There was a lady behind me in the Q who told me that she boycotted Ikea for a year after they refused to deliver it on a weekend rather than a weekday. She then refunded every item in her cart and left in a huff. We would've refunded our cart too, and go back a week later, but there ain't no time for that, given how we've not even started packing a single thing. Anyway, I bought some plastic sheets to wrap over the assembled furniture so they don't collect too much crap in 7 days. Heh.

Hello claypot, woah, looks like iZen is a popular choice among the many friends here. We shall henceforth focus on that choice! Good to see your reno progress going along well. Btw, I see that you have a green rubbish chute. Mine's bluish purple. Do you know if there's any way to get rid of that layer or colour? In my current home, there's no extra layer.

Hi Khng, that's actually out of our budget. iQuartz's basic range apparently costs $120. This quartz thingy has turned out to be quite "leychey". Shall not go into details. But we really hope it can be fixed soon so the surface can be ordered and fabricated, and eventually installed before our move-in date.

Thank you both. We are inclined towards iZen too. But it seems the quote Alan quoted us - which we have signed for in the final quote - may no longer be valid. Sorting this out at this very moment.

Man, the iQuartz colour we decided on is OOS. Now we have to pick again, and it's down to iZen and iGalaxy (grey vs black). There's also a colour called Grey Tempesta, but it's not among iQuartz's catalogue. It's sort of an in-between.

Thanks, vicx1234. Yes, I was inititally gunning for the thick, black lines kinda look. Or perhaps medium like this: I gues paying a lot of attention to details is an occupational hazard for me. Heh. I'll most likely let it be.

Ok, maybe I should ask this question. Anyone here used dark grout on light tiles? Is it normal for the lines to look smudged? Just curious.