snoozee

the timer module can fail after years of use. there's no user replaceable part inside. you can try to bypass by flipping up the cover and pull down the switch from Auto to I. if doesn't work, you can try to swop the timer module with the one on the right side. you need to open the DB cover and then disconnect the wires connected to the timers. remember to turn off the breakers first and confirm there's no electricity flowing by using a test pen. once the wires are disconnected, make sure the wires do not touch anything as you can cause a short. if confirmed timer failed, you can buy a new one online or from electrical component suppliers.

road reserve won't be on URA site. need to buy the plans from SLA. your house should be on a location which is governed by plot ratio and building height since you see the above information. basically can rebuilt to 3.5 storey house max.

search online for URA Space. then select Check Control Plans. On the top left hand side, click on Filter and turn on the Landed Housing Area filter. after that you can go to where you house is located on the map and see if it falls under any red areas. If it does, then your area should read 3-STOREY MIXED LANDED which indicates all types of landed housing up to 3 Storey plus attic. if your house area don't fall under a landed housing zone, then you will need to go back and check the URA master plan. You can go back to the first page of URA Space and select Explore Development Site then on the top left side, click on Layers and select Master Plan Approved Amendments. After that go to where your house is located on the map. if your house is marked with beige colour and nearby with the number "1.4", it means your house is governed by plot ratio which usually indicates can built up to 3 storey plus attic as well for a single landed dwelling.

your area is a 3 storey landed zone or one that is governed by plot ratio hence will fetch a premium over houses in a 2 storey landed zone since there is a potential to build bigger houses with the additional storey. based on the data you provided, old houses are being sold at a cost of about $1400psf and new houses at about $2500psf. The price variations will depend on who actually bought the houses as well as the potential of the land. for the $27M house, if it was bought by a developer, there could be a potential to built into a cluster house (if the land is big enough) or into multiple semi-d or terrace houses. I'm not sure how huge this piece of land is, but assuming $27M at $1400 psf, the land size would be about 20,000sqf. Assuming the land size is 20,000sqf and there is enough frontage, the developer could build 8 units of 2500sqf semi-d on that plot of land as each semi-d needs to be at least 200sqm in size. with each semi-d being sold at $2500psf, each unit can be sold at $6.25M which will net the developer $50M. After factoring in construction costs, stamp duties, etc, there is a potential profit of maybe 10M for the developer. now back to your house. Assuming your house can be sold at $1800psf, which is about $10M, would you flip it now for gains assuming you have reached your MOP? since brand new houses are sold at $2500psf, if you rebuilt your house and sell it, it can potentially net you $15M. So even if you spend $2M to rebuilt it, there is a potential gain of $3M. Is this enough to entice you to flip the house since $3M will likely be able to give you a very nice retirement? Your net gain is likely to be more since I don't think you bought the house for $10M in the first place. Now, even if you don't do anything now, with inflation and land price appreciation in the future, you would still be likely to be able to sell the existing house for $10M or close to this figure. There are only about 80K landed houses in Singapore and not all of these 80K of houses are freehold as well so even if there is recession in the (near and far) future, we are unlikely to see big corrections in freehold landed house prices.

then you need to ask yourself what is deemed by "attractive". your 2M estimate based on less than $400psf is because of the calculation of 3.5 storey. based on 2000sqf foot print, the potential built up for 3.5 storey is almost 7000 sqf hence the cost. I think most design and build contractors will exclude all those items. But if you go through an architect to project manage for you, these items can all be part of the tender requirements so contractors will have to quote for them as well. whether a semi-d or detached will be of higher value will depends on your location. you can do a quick search for any properties currently being sold around your area and see how much they are being sold for. comparison criteria would be houses with same number of storey with similar land size and age. construction cost is always going to go up due to inflation and such. So if there is a compelling reason now for you to rebuild and this reason will still be there 5 or 10 years down the road, then you might as well do it now rather than later. at least you will have more years to enjoy the house by doing it earlier. I would suggest you discuss with your partner on what are your long term plans esp the lifestyle after retirement. I think most of us who have kids would like to have at least one kid eventually staying with us even after they get married even though the kids may think otherwise. So if you rebuilt your house to a 7000 sqf house but end up only 2 pax staying there, would you want to stay in an empty house? or are you contented with the size of the current house which may still be big for 2 pax but still manageable. But if the house is going to be your home till you grow old, does the infrastructure allow you to move around easily? we all will grow old and if unfortunately if our legs decided not to work well in future, will we be able to climb up and down the stairs daily if there's no lift in the house? There can be 1001 questions to be asked but these can only be asked and answered by you and your partner. In short, the answers to your plans 15 or 20 years down the road will give you the answer to whether to take the plunge today to rebuilt the house.

if there is an intention to flip, then you need to plan out your timeline. landed houses prices will usually go up in the long run. back in late 2000s, an inter-terrace can be bought for 700k+. When the property prices spikes through to 2014, inter-terrace prices were averaging for around 2M. Even though prices came down by about 10% (experts were harping 20% drops) after 2014 till 1st quarter 2017, the prices are still way higher than late 2000s. Today, an inter-terrace starting price is from 2.5M up. My reference is around where I'm currently staying and all based on old inter-terrace houses which are at least 30-40 years old. Also remember that if you sell high, you will also need to buy high if you plan to buy another landed house after you sell your current one. Of cos there's always the option of downgrading to a condo in future if your kids decide not to stay with you and your spouse after they get married. at this point, tender prices are about 30 percent higher than back in 2019. you can see the cost of raw materials (BCA data) from the table below. if you are planning to have a house with 2000sqf foot print, potentially you can have about 5000+sqf built up for a 2.5 storey house. assuming 5000sqf at $400 per sqf, you are looking at a construction cost of about $2M. don't worry too much about what you neighbour might do in future as that is beyond your control. design and build your house to your own personal requirements and preferences. nowadays developers usually max out the entire site to build huge houses and if yours has lots of greenery, it can become a unique selling point also. Do note that if you are intending to convert to a detached house, you are also bound by a site coverage ratio of 50% (40% if within GCB areas). So if you detached your house from your neighbour, your neighbour if he choose to rebuilt will also need to redevelop into a detached house and thus will be bound by this site coverage ratio. As such, you are unlikely to have the huge house and mickey mouse house issue. I think what Pete is trying to say is that if you are planning to flip in the near future, don't spend too much on doing renovations (A&A) as it doesn't add much value to the existing house. rebuilt is another thing on its own

@leechaorui, I typed a long reply to you but need moderator to approve. so just have to wait

note that for exterior, motion detection will be quite useless as there will be plenty of false alarms due to movement from outside your house, etc. you may even get neighbours' cats who roam into your house and trigger the alarm as well.

yes of cos can change in future. the studs will end just below the false ceiling, enough for putting in the nuts to lock the ceiling fan bracket in place. That's why for this you need to confirm where your false ceiling will end as well as where your fan location will be. cos once confirmed, it will be there forever unless you want to tear down your false ceiling to change the fan position.

for CCTV, you are in charge of your own security. Anything happens you can review your CCTV footage provided the recorder isn't damaged. for security companies, usually motion sensors are installed in/around the house. When you go out or retire for the night, you need to punch in a code in the control pane to activate the service. Once activated, if the sensors detect the presence of persons when there's not supposed to be any, alarms would be sounded. Their command center will also receive the same alert and then you are likely to be informed about this potential intrusion immediately as well. so to say, for CCTV, it's more of a deterrent (when the CCTVs are in plain sight) to prevent any intrusion whereas for security company services, you are paying for someone to look out for you and inform you immediately in case anything happens. Different security companies have different scope of services so best is you contact them and find out more.

Don’t think you can find compatibility between manufacturers for different products.

Tell your contractor that you are going to mount a ceiling fan and you need to confirm the exact position where the fan is going to be installed. Your contractor should then weld another piece of beam onto the main metal roof’s beams and then install the studs or bracket for mounting the fan. You CANNOT mount the fan onto the plasterboard ceiling or frame for false ceiling as this will not be able to take the lid and vibrations from the fan. Referring on my photo. Circled in yellow are the main steel beams/purlins for the roof. Circled in red is the additional beam where the studs for the fan is secured to. One stud can be seen in the middle of the photo as the other one is blocked from view by the wiring conduit.

search for "hikvision all in one indoor station"

no idea on the built up but i assume it's based on the usual 1600sqf land size

Buy the SIP and DIP from PUB to check of your house has any sewer line running through it and affected by drainage reserves. you can do your topo after you exercise your option provided the sellers allow for your surveyor to access the house to do the topo. If the owner is fussy, then you can only do it after you take over the house. Same as soil investigation as it is very noisy and messy so better to do it after you take over the house. You will need to apply for utilities (power and water) before doing soil investigation as your contractor will need them. Can terminate the utilities again when it’s not needed to avoid paying the refuse collection fees. if the current owner is friendly, can get them to authorize you to buy the existing plans from BCA. Else you will need to wait until you take over the house. With the topo and PUB plans, you can find an architect to design your house or find a contractor who does design and build. of cos you can skip all the above by just looking for an architect or builder now and let them do all the necessary stuff for you.

This is for how many sqf? I spoke to a contractor recently and he mentioned that construction cost for 3 storey inter-terrace is now about 1.6m. Went up a lot.

your current light point should be wired such that there is also a Neutral and Earth wires apart from the Live wire. Note that by light point, I mean where your actual light is being installed and not at the light switch.

if your LED power supply only draws 130W, then should be fine to use. But to be safe, calculate all the power drawn by all the lights in the same lighting circuit and make sure that the total power doesn't exceed 2300W. Lighting circuits are usually protected by a 10A MCB so exceeding 2300W (10A x 230V) will cause trips.

cards information can also be removed and added. while cards could be duplicated, PIN can also be given away. in any case, even if you change your PIN regularly it's not going to prevent any burglars from scaling a 1.8m high boundary wall/gate/fence. anyway card access is easier for old folks and kids to let themselves into the house rather than using PIN.

Unless the sewer line is just nice 1m inside your boundary, there's no way you can avoid the RC trench cost unless you are willing to setback you house more. Cos the regulations is that you need to setback 1m away from the sewer if the sewer is less than 3m deep. for sewers more than 3m deep, the setback increases if you do not want the trench. The "good" thing about needing to build the trench is that now you can shift the last IC to another location if you want. I think many old houses will have the last IC somewhere in between the left and right boundary lines so if the sewer line is outside, you can't really shift the IC location since you cannot access the main sewer line to create a new connection. But since you are exposing the sewer line to build the trench, you can now build the new last IC in another location (with new connection to the sewer line) so that your last IC won't end up smack in the middle of your new kitchen/yard. You will need to work with your architect and get PUB's approval for the new IC location but this can be done as I've done it for my house to shift the last IC elsewhere when the trench was built. Do note that according to PUB's regulations, the RC trench must be left accessible in case PUB needs to do any form of maintenance/repairs to the sewer line. But then I guess most owners will just cover it up after the inspection is over and approval granted. Of cos this is done at own risk since the floor would need to be hacked to expose the trench. Of cos you can always to a removable decking over it if you want so it's up to you on how to make the area more aesthetically pleasing rather than seeing raw concrete slabs which cover the trench.

If you planning to stay long term, better put in the lift now if possible rather than later since it’s going to be messy. 35k for RC trench is quite ok. Mine cost almost 100k. Did you purchase the SIP from PUB prior to scoping out the works? Cos the SIP will show where the public sewer is and you will know that a trench will be needed if the sewer is running through your land. for asbestos, many old houses come with it. I paid more than 20k to get it removed due to quite a substantial amount of asbestos existing in my original house. if you are completing everything including carpentry and fittings for 1.5M, this will work out to around 320psf which is definitely a good price in today’s market.

For an inter-terrace, the norm is to complete within 12 months to 18 months and get TOP pre-COVID. With normalisation now, this should be the timeline and not 2 years. I don’t think construction cost will go down in the near future especially the war in Europe is likely to be prolonged. With the war causing oil prices to spike, this caused cost of logistics to increase. barring a huge recession in SG, we are unlikely to see housing prices coming down. The cooling measures government put in place just stems the rate of increase of housing prices but doesn’t bring the prices down. Also for landed, there just around 80k landed houses in SG so in the long run price for landed house should go up steadily as well as long as you buy a freehold house.

Something from AliExpress don’t have all the features you need though. Haha. Installed more than 1 year already and my house is north west facing

that is assuming the current pricing is still at $400psf which I believe should be higher due to increase in cost of raw materials as well as manpower costs. The tender amount would normally include floor finishing, electrical fittings and sanitary fittings. Carpentry work will depend on whether your architect is providing the detailed specifications and drawings as part of the tender specifications or not. Some owners would hire another ID to work on the interior finishing like carpentry so this would be excluded from the builder's tender. The architect route would be better since you have someone to project manage and look after your interests as opposed to just you against the builder when issues crop up and decisions need to be made. for the construction loan repayment before TOP/CSC, it is based on the amount drawn down till date. Say for example your total construction cost is 1M and the bank is loaning you 750K, you will need to pay the first 250K in cash to the builder yourself first once the contractor's monthly progress claims come in and get approved by the architect. The architect will then issue an interim payment certificate so that you as the employer can issue payment to the contractor. Once the "tipping point" of 250K is passed, then the bank will come in and pay the contractor based on the progress claims and interim payment certificates. So for example the contractor issues another progress claim amount of 60K after the first 250K, this 60K will be approved and verified by the architect and then the bank's lawyers. Once the bank approves of the payment of 60K, the contractor will be paid payment of 60K. Once the contractor is paid, you will start paying the principal (60K) and interest associated with this 60K on a monthly basis. When the contractor next issues another progress claim for say 80K in the next month, the same verification process will be done. Once the bank disburses the 80K to the contractor, you will technically owe the bank 60K + 80K which is 140K. but during the month, you would have paid part of the 60K and interests already so the total amount owed will be less than 140K. So for the next month, you will be repaying an amount which is slightly more than what was paid last month since you will have a higher principal sum and interest to be paid. The thing is the repayment amounts will only be calculated based on what has been disbursed and repaid principal thus far (over the total loan years and interest) and not based on the actual loan amount (eg: 750K). So your repayment amounts will increase slowly until the full disbursement is done. But full disbursement normally will not be done as banks will keep a small percentage as retention sum until the DLP is over. Even though the banks may withhold this retention sum till DLP is over, you will be doing the repayments based on the full loan amount once the bank converts your bridging loan to a normal mortgage loan. This conversion is usually done upon TOP or CSC depending on the bank. If the bank only allows for conversion after CSC, then you will still be paying the high interest rate until CSC is obtained because CSC is usually obtained months after TOP. Do also note that if you are intending to take a construction loan, you need to be aware that not all banks in SG offer. So it is best that you check out which banks offer a mortgage and construction loan else you may be stuck with a problem as the bank you borrow $$$ from to buy the house may not loan you $$$ for construction.

1.2M is based on 20 percent increase in construction cost from 2020 and today where it is likely that an inter terrace would cost 1M to rebuild in 2019/2020. an architect or builder would also likely give you an estimate based on the constructed floor area of the new house multiple by a PSF rate. assuming your 1800sqf land is having the dimensions of 20ft x 90ft, this will give you a metric dimensions of about 6m x 27.4m your max GFA may be something like this excluding the 9.5m for front (7.5m) and rear (2m) setback as well as the 7m (3.5m x 2) setback for the attic 1st storey = 6m x 17.9m = 109.3sqm = 1176.6sqf 2nd storey = 6m x 17.9m = 109.3sqm = 1176.6sqf Attic storey = 6m x 10.9m = 66.6sqm = 717.3sqf total GFA = 285.27sqm = 3070.6sqf So what needs to be done next is to plug in the PSF rate multiply by the total GFA and you can get the estimated cost. Whether you going the architect route or design and build contractor route will end up having the same estimated cost is a question mark. You might end up with the same cost for both or one higher than the other. While going with the builder router may seem cheaper or more convenient, do note that you will also need to choose the builder properly since your builder will also end up being your project manager as opposed to having an architect (whom you hire) to protect your interests. Also since builder's may give a quotation which excludes certain items so you may end up having with many VOs to top up the cost. Do note that for VOs, normally you will need to pay in cash since the construction loan will only cover what was the original quoted/approved amount. During construction, there will be times when certain things happen or there is a change of mind which results in VOs. So even if you have an architect to draw up the specifications, you are still likely to have a couple of VOs at the end of the day but the main idea of having an architect to draw up the specifications for tender is to reduce or eliminate these changes and allow a proper comparison of costs from various builders. Again estimated cost is like what the words mean is just an estimate but it lets you have an idea of what to budget for.