Sendo999

Tiling works. Shower kerb at MBR toilet and kitchen cabinet base are also completed. Seems like everything is going smoothly. Hope it stay smooth for the rest of the reno journey. ID is chasing for the aircon piping installation and I have not even bought the aircon. Things are moving abit too fast for me. So fast hand fast leg, compare 3 prices and decided with Gain City. Initial decision is to go with Mitsubishi Electric Starmex system 4 with 38k compressor. But was told by the Gain City sales that Mitsubishi's 38k compressor will be abit noisy. He recommended Toshiba instead as it is made in Japan and the compressor is quieter compared to Mitsubishi. After reading some reviews on Toshiba aircon, the Sheep took the risk and ordered Toshiba aircon with thicker insulation. Also took up the extended warranty. Due to earliest slot being 1 week later, so reno works got to pause for awhile as the ID needs the piping to be up before continuing. Still wondering if Mitsubishi 38k compressor is really noisy. Anyone can share if it is so?

Ceiling is done after 2 days. Picture is a bit dark due to night shot without light. Living room area L-box up, wiring also done. L-box at dining area with a hole for the aircon. Electrical work also done. Renovation is still in the infant stage. Seems like a long way to go.

Hi, PM sent.

My ID quoted me at around $9k for living room and bedrooms. Looking forward to your renovation more pics of your reno.

Wow... Your house looks fantastic.. Too bad my pocket not deep enough...

Great to hear that the suction power is great. Me now in the carpentry stage.

The day of the renovation arrived. Had a discussion with him to confirm on the things that they will do and also where do we wanna add the powerpoints. As the Rat likes to have a lot of power point in the house, so that she do not need to find extension plug if she can use her devices anywhere she likes. Also, the ID explains the things that he will do all the wiring and the ceiling work first. After that, will carry on with the laying of floor tiles, which brings me to the next item that we will be looking for. Floor Tiles ID bought us to Harfary at Eunos. Such a big place and so many types of tiles for us to see. Luckily, our ID is around. He showed us something which we did not know about. He ask us to look at the tiles from the side. We will see 2 different types of reflection on the tiles. One is a smooth reflection and the other one will show a wavy reflection. Wavy reflection will made people got headache if not chosen correctly. So these are the 2 tiles that we choose: Living Room Bedrooms Forgot to take down the code and the pricing.

Initially, we wanted to get Samsung too. But after much discussion, we end up getting LG and Sony. My hob and hood is the same model as your. Hope we made the right choices. Your reno is moving well. All the best.

Decided to go into JB to get some lighting n ceiling fans as we went in with some friends to have a getaway trip in JB. There are actually quite a number of places that u can go and have a look but we only went Tampoi as we went with friends. Not so nice to let them travel n wait for us to choose. Spend around 1.5 hours to select the downlights, spotlights and ceiling fan. Elmark ceiling fan 52" 10 x Downlights and 8 x spotlights for living n dining area (inclusive of spare) 4 x square lights for the 2 toilets, HS and service yard As we were there for more than 48 hours and there is 6 of us, we do not have to pay any GST. Please note that GST is payable for goods bought into Singapore. Less than 48 hours outside Singapore, each person is entitled to $150 relief of the pricing of the goods. More than 48 hours outside Singapore, each person is entitled to $600 relief of the pricing of the goods. Tampoi Lighting Centre 2, 4 & 6 Jalan Titiwangsa 3/1 Taman Tampoi Indah, Johor Bahru, 81200

Sorry for missing for awhile due to some work commitment and sourcing for my reno stuff. As the 3D came up, we feel that there is a need to change certain tones of the darkness. And here it goes: The design is more or less settled other than the shoe cabinet in pic 2. We are contemplating about whether to make some ventilation holes as the Rat had always prefer to have some ventilation in the cabinet. So this is the last revised pic. So its decision time to see whether which do we prefer.

Received the 1st draft about 2 weeks after confirmation and further discussion. Our design is more of a darker shades of wood. Here it goes: Living Room Entrance of Living Room MBR Bedroom 2 & 3 Kitchen

Hi All, Would like to check where does most of you guys brought your aircon? Gain City?

Final Selection The chosen one (hope he don't flop like Moyes ) is ID B from H******* H********. Really felt his passion in his work and furthermore, he can click extremely well with both of us. Quality is good when we went to see his newly done project. Although he is not the cheapest among all that we had met, we still chose him due to the chemistry that we had with him. He always reply us within the day itself. Nothing much to 'hiam' about him. He made some tweaks to our design which we felt will make the house looks better.

Just realized that I had not mentioned what is the things that will be done in the house. Living Room - Tic-tac door to cover the HS and follow by full height built-in shoe cabinet (7.5ft) - A full height display cabinet at the end of the HS (6ft) - Feature wall with suspended TV console (7ft) - False ceiling from entrance to the end of the HS - L box around the living room - Homogeneous floor tiles Dining Area - L Box - Homogeneous floor tiles Kitchen - Top & bottom cabinet for both side of the kitchen (20ft each) - Tempered glass backsplash on the cooking side of the kitchen - Sliding door at the entrance of the kitchen - Quartz counter top Bedroom 2 & 3 - Full height wardrobe (5.5ft each) - Homogeneous floor tiles wood-lookalike MBR - Full height wardrobe (15.5ft) - Homogeneous floor tiles wood-lookalike MBR Toilet - Shower screen - Kerb at entrance of toilet - Built in vanity cabinet Common Toilet - Kerb at entrance of toilet Service Yard - Window and window grills Next up will be the final selection of the ID / Contractor.

Hi Bklee8872, Have pm u.

ID / Contractor Selection Trying to find the right person is indeed a very challenging task. The goat had gotten a number of contacts from the fellow renotalkers after reading on their reviews of their renovation, more than out intended number that we wanted to meet . We wanted to meet up with 5 contractors / IDs but in the end we met up with 6. We only started meeting them just when we were about to collect the keys as our keys collection was brought forward by 6 months. 1) ID J (L***** S****) Intro by Goat's friend. Also the 1st ID that I met up with. Can't agree with his ideas and also cannot give us a satisfactory alternative. Things that we dun feel right: - He mentioned about wasting laminate of the full height cabinet if we do not have false ceiling. - We mentioned about not wanting to hack any walls, he still proposed to hack part of the middle bedroom walls. - He also mentioned that he dun send quotation. How are we going to compare prices if there is no quotation? Strike off at the very instance. 2) ID B (A**** G****) Got the recommendation from one of the Renotalker. Very persistent and on the ball person. He seems very keen on our business. Quote was received within 3 working days. But his quote is the highest among all the candidates. An ID with a lot of ideas. KIV. 3) ID B (H***** H********) Also, got the recommendation from one of the Renotalker. Really have a lot of nice ideas which left us deeply impressed. Also, knows the style that we wanted after the 1st discussion. Quote came within a week. KIV. 4) Contractor N (R*******) He is a very popular guy in Renotalk. True to the reviews, he is very straightforward and blunt. Gave a weird look if our suggestion is not to his liking. Too blunt to the point of scaring the Rat. Gave the quote on the spot with no room for bargaining. Due to Rat's discomfort, have to strike him off. 5) Contractor E (M**** I******* D*****) Rat got the contact while bringing one friend to see the house. He brought them up to a flat renovated by him. Rat was quite impressed with his workmanship. Got the Goat to meetup with him to have a discussion. Quote received in a week. KIV 6) Contractor D (S*** B****) Initially wanted to contact J&E but Goat's friend just had his reno done by D and recommended him to Goat. Not much communication, mainly just ask what are the things that we wanted to do. Quote received in more than a week. He is the only one that provided 3D drawing without signing any contract. Cheapest among all. KIV.

The 1st time the Rat saw the flat, the Rat nearly cried. The Rat wanted to cry is not due to being emotional about finally getting our home. The Rat wanted to cry because the house is so freaking small. Having live in AMK for years, the Rat can't seems to get over the fact that our home will be sooooo small. Only after seeing the neighbours house before she can accept the smallness of the flat. As for the Goat, the only thing that the Goat do not like of the house is the door opening of the MBR toilet. It leave me with a very small space for the wardrobe. Time to meet up with the ID first to get ideas. So next post will be the ID / Contractor that we had went to check out.

Hi Everyone, I have been a silent reader for 2 years. Learning a lot from all the 前辈s. No experience in doing both renovation and writing blog. lol!!! So please pardon my messy writing style. After spending duno how many $10, finally got to choose a SOBF 2 yrs ago. Fast forward to 2 yrs ltr. Tadah!!! The new owner of a 4 room HDB flat. Collected keys on 14 Jun but only started renovation on 7 Sep due to choosing of contractor & ID plus the Ghost month. As per the norms, this is my floor plan.

Hi King and bin, Same tots as richpapagirl n stray. Firstly, it looks more pleasing to the eye without the long pipe. Secondly, it makes cleaning easier. Lastly, since u are doing a wet / dry area in the toilet, it will only wet the wet area. The dry area will not be affected.

Hi wyx03, With this kind of work, I cant help but feel angry for you. Hope everything will smooth flowing from now onwards. Please pm me his details. Thank you.

Hi Yelena, Wondering would you mind sharing the contact of Mr J & Mr E? Thank you.

Hi Arnold, Thanks for your informative blog. Possible to send me the contact and the quotation of Boon. Thanks alot.