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Bath Room Accessories: Song Lin Building, Syed Alwi Road One of the cheapest around. I bought the Treo Toilet Bowl with Geberit system $340. It is shaped like one of the Toto bowl I was looking at.

Bath Room Accessories: Song Lin Building, Syed Alwi Road Our ID said we wouldn't be able to find prices like these elsewhere in Singapore. A little exaggeration of course but... yep, quite true. Items are mostly made in Malaysia or China and I couldn't even recall the brands. Picked out wash basin, taps, shower sets...etc for both of our bathroom. Came out to just a little over $2000. The exciting find for me was the toilet bowl. While doing my research, I had my mind set on a certain brand for its shape and features. I found one here, looks exactly the same, fitted with Geberit system that went for one third of the price of the named brand. Such a easy decision. I was also happy to settle everything in less than two hours.

My Reno Team 1. ID - Randall from 9 Creation. His quote is the most reasonable but above all, he has the rare quality that we appreciate: young enough to know the trends and yet old enough to be sensible. 2. Carpenter: Mr & Mrs Chua. They did our first flat 20 years ago. Workmanship and quality are top class. We don't have to worry at all. 3. Electrician: James. Another trusted source who has been with us many years. Only 4 weeks to our move. No time to waste!

Buying a HDB flat should not be difficult: the regulations, procedures and dateline can all be found on the website. So we went ahead without any agent representation. What could go wrong? Seller, Agent Delayed Filling We placed our deposit immediately after viewing the unit. We liked the layout, the distance from MRT and the condition of the flat. The ERA team of husband and wife seemed amicable: we exchanged information about our children, complained about school systems and other parental affairs before discussion the timeline of the transaction. It was early August. We should be able to complete the transaction by October, they said. The owner would like to request 2-3 weeks extension for time to move into his other HDB. Ah, no problem, our son will be having his A-levels and we don't intend to do anything in November. All of us were happy, hands were shaken and cheque presented. Why No Filling? A week later, we eagerly put in the options fee, filled up an online buyer's checklist in HDB website and waited. A week went by and we asked the agent why was there no filling from their end? Oh, sure, we will do it tomorrow. Another week went by and the agents were hard to get hold of. They were either in a meeting, or seminar or away in Malaysia. The option expired. We had to file another one. All in all, 3 weeks of delay. We were furious! Completion date is now end November After the first appointment, we were told that the earliest was the end November to complete the transaction. The seller still expected us to give him 3 weeks allowance in order for him to renovate his other flat. We tried to explain to him that it was not possible: we also need to do renovation too. December is going to be a short month for work. By the end of January, all the workers would return home for CNY. If we missed the timeline, we could possibly be looking at end February to complete renovation. That means I would have extend my stay and pay for two months of rental. Agent From **** We continued pressing for the owner to move out earlier. At the same time we wanted to give our contractors a chance to survey the unit so that we could get quotations. Unable to get a prompt reply from the agent, we went to meet with the owner and asked that we contact him direct from here on so that it would be easier for us to arrange viewing of the unit. Having learned that we visited the seller directly, the agent sent a nasty sms to us saying that we have violated the procedure (of not letting the agent be the point of contact) and that he would now go strictly by the book. By the book? What book? Buyers beware: DO NOT SIGN THE "TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF STAY" Yes, unless you are so kind, or just want to be kind and be kind at all cost. Let it be known that if you have any strand of doubt, DO NOT SIGN. Because: 1. You have to pay for the application. 2. You automatically agreed to give seller the right to stay for up to 3 months. Sure, you can have 'private' arrangement. Just be clear, to HDB the seller has the right to stay for up to 3 months. Whatever 'private' arrangement you have, you better be sure of the validity of the agreement or have a lawyer on your payroll. 3. You have to inform HDB when the seller moves out. Why go through all these troubles? Are you really so kind? Buyer pays, Seller parts. That is what trade is all about. Buyer gives money to seller and seller delivers the goods to buyer. When you buy a used car, do you pay and still let the seller use it till he finds an alternate mode of transportation? When you buy a computer, fridge, sofa... anything. Do you worry about how the seller will go on with his life without the item? Do you? So why should buying a HDB flat be different? From the point you place the deposit till the completion, it takes about 6-8 weeks. The seller should take it upon himself to find his own housing. If not able to buy one in time, there is always another solution: a place to rent, storage space for your items, or stay with your friends. When I sold my apartment, I did not ask for the buyer to let me stay a minute. On the day of completion, I handed over the house keys and that's it. "You promised that you will let the seller stay for 2-3 weeks after completion!" Really? I don't think so. That was not what we discussed. We should have completed the transaction in October, you would have stayed for 3 weeks and I take over in end November or early December. Sorry pal, when you let the option expires, whatever arrangement also expires. We shall go by the book: please get out of my flat now! Yep, that, in essence was what I told the seller and the agent after the completion of the sale. Of course it didn't exactly end up that way. We still let them stayed for another 10 days. But the satisfaction of saying that in front of them was tremendously satisfying. Renovation On!! Yeah! Now we can get things moving finally and finally, after 2 months of tussles and hustles with the agents, we are happy.

HDB Resale: Buyers Beware! Buying a HDB flat should not be difficult: the regulations, procedures and dateline can all be found on the website. So we went ahead without any agent representation. What could go wrong? Seller, Agent Delayed Filling We placed our deposit immediately after viewing the unit. We liked the layout, the distance from MRT and the condition of the flat. The ERA team of husband and wife seemed amicable: we exchanged information about our children, complained about school systems and other parental affairs before discussion the timeline of the transaction. It was early August. We should be able to complete the transaction by October, they said. The owner would like to request 2-3 weeks extension for time to move into his other HDB. Ah, no problem, our son will be having his A-levels and we don't intend to do anything in November. All of us were happy, hands were shaken and cheque presented. Why No Filling? A week later, we eagerly put in the options fee, filled up an online buyer's checklist in HDB website and waited. A week went by and we asked the agent why was there no filling from their end? Oh, sure, we will do it tomorrow. Another week went by and the agents were hard to get hold of. They were either in a meeting, or seminar or away in Malaysia. The option expired. We had to file another one. All in all, 3 weeks of delay. We were furious! Completion date is now end November After the first appointment, we were told that the earliest was the end November to complete the transaction. The seller still expected us to give him 3 weeks allowance in order for him to renovate his other flat. We tried to explain to him that it was not possible: we also need to do renovation too. December is going to be a short month for work. By the end of January, all the workers would return home for CNY. If we missed the timeline, we could possibly be looking at end February to complete renovation. That means I would have extend my stay and pay for two months of rental. Agent From **** We continued pressing for the owner to move out earlier. At the same time we wanted to give our contractors a chance to survey the unit so that we could get quotations. Unable to get a prompt reply from the agent, we went to meet with the owner and asked that we contact him direct from here on so that it would be easier for us to arrange viewing of the unit. Having learned that we visited the seller directly, the agent sent a nasty sms to us saying that we have violated the procedure (of not letting the agent be the point of contact) and that he would now go strictly by the book. By the book? What book? Buyers Beware: DO NOT SIGN THE "TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF STAY" Yes, unless you are so kind, or just want to be kind and be kind at all cost. Let it be known that if you have any strand of doubt, DO NOT SIGN. Because: 1. You have to pay for the application. 2. You automatically agreed to give seller the right to stay for up to 3 months. Sure, you can have 'private' arrangement. Just be clear, to HDB the seller has the right to stay for up to 3 months. Whatever 'private' arrangement you have, you better be sure of the validity of the agreement or have a lawyer on your payroll. 3. You have to inform HDB when the seller moves out. Why go through all these troubles? Are you really so kind? Buyer pays, Seller parts. That is what trade is all about. Buyer gives money to seller and seller delivers the goods to buyer. When you buy a used car, do you pay and still let the seller use it till he finds an alternate mode of transportation? When you buy a computer, fridge, sofa... anything. Do you worry about how the seller will go on with his life without the item? Do you? So why should selling a HDB flat be different? From the point one receives the deposit till the completion, it takes about 6-8 weeks. As a seller, you should take it upon yourself to find your own housing. If it is not possible to buy one in time, there is always another solution: a place to rent, storage space for your items, or stay with your friends and family. When I sold my apartment, I did not ask for the buyer to let me stay a minute. On the day of completion, I handed over the house keys and that's it. I took care of my own problem. "You promised that you will let the seller stay for 2-3 weeks after completion!" Really? I don't think so. That was not exactly what we had discussed. We should have completed the transaction in October, you would have stayed for 3 weeks and I should take over in end November or early December. Sorry pal, when you let the option expires, whatever arrangement also expires. "We shall go by the book: please get out of my flat now!" Yep, that, in essence was what I told the seller and the agent after the completion of the sale. Of course it didn't exactly end up that way. We still let them stayed for another 10 days. But the satisfaction of saying that in front of them was tremendously satisfying. Renovation On!! Yeah! Now we can get things moving finally and finally, after 2 months of tussles and hustles with the agents and seller, we are happy.

Which Water Closet (WC) or Toilet Bowl to Buy? How to choose a WC? Surely someone must have figure out a way to test and score the effectiveness? Yes, there is! An organisation called MAP. This is a test lab cater for the north Americans: USA and Canada. I can't find other setup like this for Europe and certainly nothing like this exist in Asia. MAP uses Soya Bean paste for testing. Since 2005, Miso paste has replaced plastic ball bearings in toilet testing. There are two things to look for, one is Water Sense certification and the other is MAP score. WaterSense certification calls for a maximum volume of 4.8l and 350g of waste removal. This should be the basic requirement everywhere. MAP score measures the performance: how much waste it can remove. MAP score of 500 means 500g and 1000 means 1kg. Most of the brands in the database are American. The ones that come up frequently and available in Singapore are - American Standard, Kohler and Toto. A search on one-piece, WaterSense Certified, MAP premium rated came up with a single page listing, I recognise these three: Anyone knows what happened to Caroma? They used to be popular here. How do other popular brands here fare? Roca fared quite well. These are two-piece designs, but I supposed their one-piece designs under the same name should score the same. I could find only one from Johnson Suisse: Many other local brands are not listed. You can check if your favourite WC is listed in there: http://www.map-testing.com/consumer-household-toilets/

What kind of wood? My Kitchen Spec... CE2+ CERTIFICATION EN 636-2 S (Structural plywood in internal humid conditions). Or rated WBP/BWR (water & boil proof) But I doubt any ID/carpenter would be bothered to supply this information. What to look for: Cabinet structure: multi-ply ( 7-9 ply ~18mm) Top hung cabinet base: multi-ply ( 7-9 ply ~18mm) Drawers, dividers: multi-ply (5-7ply ~ 12-15mm) Drawer bottom: 12mm (less if it does not need to support heavy pots and pans)

Interior Designer Series -- 5 9 Creation, Ubi Road 1 We met with Randall from 9 Creation during the same event as mentioned in ID Series 4. He came across as unassuming and thoughtful. After briefly going through our floor plan and our requirements, among other things, he gave us an interesting solution for our storeroom. We wanted louvered doors. But we all know that louvered doors are old fashioned and unsightly. While other IDs had no clue or couldn't be bothered, Randall showed us a type of PVC door that might fit our requirement. Why are we so picky on this? We stayed in an apartment with bomb shelter used as a store room. After a year, mould started to developed and ruined many things. We had to rent a storage to store them for the next few years. So yes, we think storerooms MUST be well ventilated. He scored bonus points for being the only ID who sent us a 3D drawing. When we complained that his design made it looked claustrophobic, he insisted we come down to his office. More bonus points: he already had our house plan drawn into his 3-D software. As we discussed, he made changes right away and immediately we could see if the design works. That was by far the most fruitful session and we managed to nail down the design by the end of the two hours. In the end, it was not only the software skills he displayed that impressed us, it was also some very useful and practical suggestions he had that made us think he is the right one to proceed further. Rating: Trust: 4/5 (we went to see one of his on-going project in the owner's presence) Experience: 4/5 (no issue here) Taste: 4/5 (very much in-line with ours: practical and not ostentatious) Cost: 4/5 (reasonable)

What kind of wood? A further investigation... Here's what's happening to the Kitchen Cabinet doors above the stove top. I took out a panel to see what it is made of: I was looking around the house to see what can I compare it to. Most of my furniture were from Ikea, they looked something like this: Chipboards between laminates. Then I realised, this wardrobe that we have: It was bought it in a neighbourhood store for around $200 or less? Came with delivery and installation. Not a bad deal for something we are just going to use for 2 years. Although flimsy and feather light to the touch, it manages to hold its shape better than those from Ikea. A look at what it is made of: Now take a look at a piece from the kitchen cabinet and compare it to the piece from the wardrobe. Can you tell the difference? Almost the same isn't it? And they use it to build the kitchen cabinet... I had to ask my shortlisted ID to see what they are using.

Wood...can someone tell me what kind of wood? The 'older' kitchen cabinets were more solid than today's -- is that an illusion or what? I was at the flat doing some measurement (not my flat yet, the current owner still lives there) and I checked on the kitchen cabinets, again, just to make sure that I was not hallucinating. It did felt more 'solid' when I did the 'knock knock' test. I also did a quick inside of the divider panels, they felt quite solid too and not sagging. I am currently living in a rented apartment where the owner did the renovation two years ago. Since he intended to rent it out, he didn't want to spend too much on anything. The kitchen cabinet's divider has started to sag and some strips of veneer near the cooktop were on the verge of dropping off. When I visited show flats these past weeks, I felt that the quality of the cabinets used was no different from those in my rented apartment. I asked the IDs what kind of wood they use? They all gave me a weird look and gave me the standard answer... wood lor. Only Rezt & Relax showed me what they used without even having to ask. Was it a 7-layered ply? Quite solid. If we are not going with R&R? Sight... I guess we have no choice isn't it? Can't choose the thickness, the number of layers, wood types, bonding materials...just have to take whatever they want to give us. For those of you who are interested, here are some information on Malaysian/Indonesian plywood. Taken from: http://www.chianglenghup.com/ Moisture Resistant/ Glue Type 2/ Plywood. JPIC D/BB/CC Grade Products Specification 02.5MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 03.6MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 05.0MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 09.0MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 12.0MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 15.0MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 18.0MM X 1220MM X 2440MM 25.0MM X 1220MM X 2440MM Usage. Material usage are mostly for structural support of interior paneling, wardrobes or cabinet structure, furniture manufacturing, decking support and etc. Speciality. Moisture resistant T2 Glue tropical hardwood plywood is a panel product with bonding of multi layer of tropical wood veneer using moisture resistant glue thus causing the products to excel in high moisture interior environment . Also because of the multi layer which create intense frictional force within the core and the nature of tropical hardwood species making it the most durable and strong panel available in the market . With all the above these panel are considered the best quality in the industries.

Bosch showroom in Ang Mo Kio Other than the showroom inside of their HQ, there is another one in Ang Mo Kio. Our friend excitedly told us about it after she went and came back with a showroom set of Gaggenau at more than 40% off. We went last week but our timing was bad, the great sales must have been so successful it was mostly empty. For those of you looking for Bosch products, it might be worthwhile to go check it out. BSH Home Appliances Pte Ltd Block 4012, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, #01-01 Techplace I Singapore 569628 Operating hours: Mon-Fri, 8.30am-5.30pm

Wah ha! So happy that everything went through without a hitch! Were in HDB for our first appointment today. Three parties were present: us, our seller/buyer and the seller of Bedok flat. Our seller bought another unit in Bedok and so will be doing a contra. For the past weeks, we heard that the Bedok seller was not in a hurry and may hinder the sales process. We wanted to move in January next year. Working backwards, we would have to start renovation in early Dec. In the end, we were all glad that the Bedok owner did not stop us from submitting a letter for an early closure - 6 weeks instead of the normal 8 weeks. By just two weeks, that's the best we could ask for. But we would take it as long as we can start early. Throughout, we were so afraid that the Bedok seller would ask for a 3 month extension, then both our seller and us would be affected. All the documents signing were done before noon. Wah haha! What a relief! Now we can go on to finalise our ID/Contractor over the weekend. So...Interior Designer Series 5 and the Finale!

Interior Designer Series -- 4 Attended an event hosted by another website where you could meet with nine IDs. It was very well organised and we had a wonderful experience. We did our homework before making an appointment to meet with just two of them. The first was: Rezt & Relax, Ubi Ave For those who have spent a little time checking out IDs, this name should be a familiar one. Their projects have appeared in many publications. We met with a petite, young and energetic lady. I was quite impressed her idea with two area of our concern and she pointed them out immediately and effortlessly. We went on to make an appointment to see her the following week. When we went in, she already had the table set up with our drawings and sample materials on the side. We spend almost two hours with her before having to rush to another meeting. R&R provides warranty for their renovation work for between 1-3 years and even lifetime warranty for some items. Rating: Trust: 5/5 (big name, provides warranty) Experience: 3/5 (some ideas were brilliant, but others were impractical) Taste: 3/5 (couldn't come to agreement with the kitchen and living room layouts) Cost: 1/5 (high end, branded, certification)

Interior Designer Series -- 3 We came across a few designs on the site that we liked while combing through the web. I sent a request and got a response. In my reply, I fixed the time and also attached my floor plan and pictures. O***, Somewhere in Joo Chiat The designer was a lady in her thirties. Once seated and the pleasantries exchanged, I was furious and I wanted to get out of the meeting right away. She was not prepared! I was sure that she had read the email because she replied to it but she didn't go through my attachments. But somehow my wife had an affinity with her. Ahh...had to be those children things; women loved to talk about children. I endured the session and when I got out, I was ready to put it out of my mind. However, my wife had other plans. They communicated and setup the next meeting. So what have we got: The kitchen was designed for a clean and minimalistic look -- sure, it would look good when done and photographed. But we did mention we do cook and have many appliances. An open top would be too messy. Master bedroom - she was the only one who proposed to place the wardrobe directly opposite our bed. Hmmm... open the door and face the side of the cupboard? Sure, we would have a larger wardrobe but the adjacent wall would be so wasted. Rating: Trust: 2/5 (too distracted, don't read emails, unprepared) Experience: 4/5 (she showed us enough photographs of the projects she did) Taste: 2/5 (we didn't like the layout) Cost: 3.5/5 (mid-high end)

Interior Designer Series -- 2 I posted my job scope in Renotalk's Get A Quote section. It was just for renovation for my two toilets. Shortly, a lady called to verify my posting - a good job on Renotalk's part to screen the requesters. Within the day, 2 companies responded and I gave them each a floor plan and pictures I had taken. We decided to visit just one: Unity Design, Kallang Avenue We stepped into the bright and modern showroom and was greeted by a bespectacled young man, dressed casually but chic in a sports jacket. He led us to a dinning counter and on it, neatly laid out, were the printouts of the floor plan, the photos I sent and the proposal. He gave us an overview of the company, what our scope of work and what approach he took in designing. After verifying a few details, we were impressed enough to let him onto our plan for other parts of the house. A date was set for more than a week later. We were to discuss it when we visit his show-flat, a BTO in Punggol. Days before the open house, I received an email confirming the event. A day before, a reminder SMS was sent. After the visit, I also received a Thank you note via SMS. The show flat was situated right next to the Punggol waterway and beside a school that was in the final stage of completion. What a coincidence! That was the turn-around point for my run! The decor was modern; evidently for a young urban working couple -- open kitchen, plenty of light boxes and an adjacent room knocked down to make way for closets and dressing table. It was very well done and pictures of it should be already listed on their website. Samuel was a true professional: well prepared, attentive to details and good in presenting himself as well as his ideas. It was easy for us to be comfortable and be able to place our trust in him. As for Taste, that's where we felt the gap. Well, if only we were twenty years younger, we would very likely went further along with him in our planning. Rating: Trust: 5/5 Experience: 3/5 Taste: 5/5 for Yuppie Cost: 3/5 (mid-high end)

Interior Designer Series - Part 1 How do I pick an ID? First and foremost is trust, then experience, taste and cost. Weiken, IMM We did not plan this. We were wondering around IMM after work looking at furnitures and appliances. Walking by a bookstand and it happened to be at a page where a photograph grabbed my attention. We started to browse and a friendly bespectacled sales person came up to greet us. He was very enthusiastic and we thought we just sit and hear what he had to offer. After a while, in came the boss: a small, stocky guy but sporting a big strong voice. We were introduced and he sat down to take a look. Immediately, He showed us why he was the boss: he knows! He knew why there was a kerb here, pipes there and explained why the current owner did things that way. We were very impressed. So we made an appointment to come back to see his proposal a week later. That evening, we googled and learned that Weiken was quite a large establishment and owned by a celebrity. Back to IMM a week after for our appointment. After going through the proposal, the boss tried persuading us to put down a $3k deposit for him to do a design in 3-D. Even though the deposit would go into part of the renovation cost should we choose to go ahead with him, we politely declined. Rating: Trust: 1/5. Pay a design fee? Really? Experience: 5/5 Taste: 3/5 (good actually, I wanted it to be simple) Cost: 4/5 (good)

Retractable Cloth Hanger We installed a retractable cloth hanger many years ago when we lived in a condo. The product is called EZ Hi-Dry from EZZ Living. You just pull it down and push it out. The simple mechanism with hydraulics makes it simple and easy to operate. We had no problem with it over 3 years of usage. Visited the company this afternoon to see if we can find one to fit into our new home. The EZ Hi-Dri system is still available. However, the price has gone up by at least 30%! For this round, we are just looking for a system whereby we can pull it down and up. It should also come with longer poles than the Hi-Dri model. The other manual types we saw use a system like in curtain blinds -- pull, disengage the stopper, release. You are pulling on a thin string of plastic beads; I just cannot bring myself to trust that it will last. As for the automated system, one comes with lights and the other has added fans and UV lights. What? Why? Why can't it be something simple? In the end, the one that is worth considering - solid build with long adjustable poles is the one that comes with all the bells and whistles and so determined to set you back $900. Ahh... I really don't wish to pay so much and I don't wish to have a motorised system. No hurry... maybe we can find something better along the way.

Ya... I will be just a stone throw away from the row that houses Nakhon Kitchen, Hatter Street, Knuckles and a new Japanese restaurant. Uber happening! The cabinets had to go because the sink had to be ripped out and the layout is going to change. Will mourn the good wood being tossed away...

We visited Hoe Kee a few weeks back on a weekday afternoon. There were not many people and also not many sales persons around. When we venture into the hood and hob section, we were greeted by an old man. Despite his age, he is one the most enthusiastic sales people we have met. After knowing that we cook frequently, he immediately ushered us to the Fujioh section. For the next half and hour, he presented the data, demoed the suction power of the hood and patiently answered all our concerns. We were sold! Then while conducting more research into it, I read on a blog that mentioned a problem with the hood -- it protruded more than the others and the blogger's husband knocked into it on several occasions. The man is around the same height as I, 1.75m, so it set off an alarm in my head. I became conscious of how high should we set the hood. When we saw the Tecno hood, I thought that was it! The perfect solution: it sloped higher in the front and thus provide the necessary clearance. Furthermore, it was beautiful and quiet. What we wanted to accomplish on this return trip was to make sure of things before we place our order with Tecno. During this visit, Uncle Johnny (the old man mentioned above) had to leave early, leaving us plenty of time to explore on our own. I double, triple checked the height of the hood installed in the showroom, compared it with other hoods around it and came to a conclusion -- it really didn't matter that much. Later that night, I had a chance to visit my brother-in-law's apartment. The hood in his kitchen, similar in design and width, was installed at a height of only 1.5m as measure from the floor! It reaches just to my chin and yet I didn't find it much of an issue reaching and looking into the pots and pans. With that worry out of the way, the Fujioh hood is back into consideration. So, no hurry to decide for now.

Tecno was having a warehouse sales over the weekend and we went to take a look. We had our eyes set on this: Tecno KP9988 It has good looks and ergonomics: taller in front to give you good clearance for your head. The noise level is low, even at the highest setting, it is relatively quiet than most. There's time and alarm function. Also important consideration for cleaning and maintenance: only have to deal with a single piece of steel mesh and carbon filter. Tecno T333 TG SV The offer was S$950 and you can pick any Tecno hob to go with it. At this point in time, I believed anything less than a thousand for a chimney hood and a glass panel hob is a good deal. However, the deal does not include delivery ($20-$40) and another $35 to add safety valves to the hob. So all in all, it will still come to around $1000. We called up Goh Ah Bee (our usual 'go to' appliance store) to check the price and it was $1150. Should we? I decided that we should go back to Hoe Kee to take a look at the Fujioh that we had our sight on before we place our deposit. So off to Hoe Kee we went...

Hi ifp! Good to know! Are you in blk 23#? My biggest headache is the master bedroom toilet. Would be interested to know how you plan it.

Current state of things -- Toilets Common Toilet Common Toilet Ewe... The pipes are so gigantic! This is so small, but since it is the common toilet, we don't want to spend too much on it. Going on to the toilet in the master bedroom. The master bedroom toilet is equally pathetic... Toilet in Master Bedroom The sink is so puny and then there's all these humongous pipes. For sure, we are going to rip out everything in the master bedroom toilet. Just need another inspection with the contractor to see if we could overlay the tiles (save money) or we need to take out the flooring. How to put in a full sized sink? This sink is definitely too small. To use this everyday would drive me crazy.

Current state of things -- Kitchen I know, this looked messy. However, the condition of the cupboards and floorings were good. I especially like the quality of the cabinets, they were of solid wood... more solid than the 'solid wood' that I had encounter these days. Should we retain the cabinets? We didn't the counter that was protruding in the foreground. The other problem area was the sink. We had to do away with this sink because we didn't like the size and it was showing some colouration due to usage. Another reason was that the rubbish chute was underneath it, making it hard to access. The current owner threw their garbage in the common bin downstairs! If we were to remove the sink, the entire counter would have to be destroyed as the sink was an under-mount.

Hi everyone! We will be moving to this HDB resale 4a unit near Kovan. Although it is 30+ years but the interior is well maintained and we like the size of the rooms. They looked bigger than the new BTOs and ceiling seemed taller too. The 2 children rooms are of the same size and can fit in a full size wardrobe. And...no bomb shelter! Hehe. Hope to receive the keys in early December and move in Jan '16. Anyone with similar layout?

Hi everyone! We will be moving to this HDB resale 4a unit near Kovan. Although it is 30+ years but the interior is well maintained and we like the size of the rooms. They looked bigger than the new BTOs and ceiling seemed taller too. The 2 children rooms are of the same size and can fit in a full size wardrobe. And...no bomb shelter! Hehe. Wonder if anyone has the same layout as this? Please share your experience and design ideas. Master bedroom: to move door to near the other bed rooms. Kitchen: The cabinets are of good quality. But, it is not the design we want. Also, the wash basin is now sitting on top of the opening to rubbish chute. We may want to hack it away. Toilets: So so small!! Especially the master bedroom, how to make it look bigger?