snoozee

haha ok. your flat should be built around 1982 then. last time HDB design is internal "cookie cutter design" unlike now where they engage private architects to design the flats. since you like to cook and bake, you would love the kitchen which is huge compared to flats built in the last 20 years. the rooms are also very spacious as well to fit queen size beds and even a king size bed in the master. if you don't need the store room, can even hack down the wall to add in a walk in wardrobe.

actually your aircon installer could have run the trunking vertically up at the corner where the 2 walls meet and punching through the wall to go out of the flat instead of running across partially then up and out. this would have made the whole installation much neater. unless there is a huge column outside the flat which doesn't allow this then no choice.

your flat is somewhere near eunos/kaki bukit? the floor plan is exactly the same as my previous flat!

It’s the skim coat which has fallen off. Should cost a few hundred to redo the skim coat and paint over

This special crane is when the quarries are trying to maximize the container by loading the slabs directly without any or minimal crating. If you are ordering just a few slabs, the suppliers will crate the slabs in specially built wooden crates to hold the slabs in place. These crates can be loaded/unloaded using a normal forklift with straps and need not use these elaborate cranes.

If the cargo transfer from container to truck is already factored in then should be ok. Cos you don’t want to have all this surprise costs after the container comes over. Not sure what your agent is telling you about the special crane. There is no way a crane can get inside a shipping container unless the container is those special type which have a canvas sheet for the roof instead of the usual metal. Normally the container and trailer will be parked at a warehouse with loading/unloading docks which the floor level is the same as the container when it is on the trailer. So the forklift will just drive into the container and offload the goods. Unless your agent is describing the process where the container with cargo is offloaded from the trailer to the ground then this is where the special crane is needed for offloading the entire container, not the pallets inside the container.

Last time mine was also vertical. Never had issues with that

AWS, good info. You mentioned direct from port to site. Are you going to have forklift on site to unload the pallets? Do note that the forklift have to get into the container to unload those pallets which are all the way inside the container. So I think you will need to factor in additional costs for the transfer of cargo from container to lorry crane for delivery.

hmmm. the curved edge of porcelain tiles doesn't seem to be an issue now especially for floor tiles. I remembered my flat had homogeneous tiles and the edges don't have the curve from tiles like 20 or 30 years ago. in fact, as we had bought a resale flat, I even managed to find back the same tile pattern but had to pay to cut them down to the 500 x 500 size from the 600 x 600 as they didn't sell the tiles in 500 size anymore. the replacement tiles fitted perfectly in as well.

even if you cut the pipe, you will still get water left inside your hose if you are still connecting your hose to this pipe vertically. the washing machine drainage normally is at the bottom with the hose also connected at the bottom. so unless you can lay your hose horizontally with the outlet lower than the washing machine, you will always end up having water left over in the hose if the hose is connected vertically.

wow! you big time developer or building a huge GCB which needs 3 container loads of tiles? getting those left over project tiles can be cheaper but again like you mentioned, depends a lot on the timing since these are not always available and also in the colour and quantity required. there's some sellers on alibaba which sells by min 50sqm or 100sqm. of cos the psf pricing would be higher than buying by the container load. one issue with using homogeneous tiles is the risk of popping due to poor installation which we always hear about in the news. the tillers install the tiles with gaps which are lesser than the recommended 3mm to 5mm. also expansion strips are not installed at intervals to cater for the expansion/contraction of the tiles. whether using those bigger 800x800 or 1000x1000 tiles will prevent the popping issue or not no one knows. also not sure if using homogeneous tiles can achieve the seamless look due to the grout lines in between tiles. if $$$ is not an issue and still want to achieve the grand look, can always cut the floor tiles from marble slabs which should be able to get the 800x800 or 1000x1000 ones if the slab is big enough.

fridge with microwave oven should be ok. fridge with washing machine may or may not. it all depends on how much power each of the appliances draw when in use. the home power socket supplies up to a max of 13A for all appliances which are connected. exceed that and you will get power trips. however, do note that this 13A is not just for that particular socket. normally in home, the sockets are interconnected before being connected to the incoming DB. so if your sockets for your fridge and your washing machine, though they are plugged to different sockets, have the sockets wired to the same breaker in the DB, you will still get power trips

if need to involve local supplier to dry lay, then becomes another challenge on which company will do it since you're not buying the marble from them in the first place. the other option is not to dry lay at all but don't know what pattern the marble floor will look like then. best possible option is to be able to go to the china factories directly and have them do the dry lay there before shipping over the tiles. another "problem" is how to pay them if fly over to buy. bring load of cash over to pay? haha

Thanks for sharing your experience. how much savings did you get from doing this (after factoring in shipping and transport charges)? I was discussing this topic again with my wife during dinner earlier and again it's the concern of being conned if buying over the internet. but if fly over there to buy, it's just whether there is still savings after factoring in the cost of air tickets and accommodation. shipment wise in containers I think is best to get a local freight forwarder who can do the transfer of the cargo from containers (at a warehouse) to lorry cranes so that these can be offloaded on site. else I don't think any sites for landed house will have a forklift on standby. personally, I am quite keen on doing this but my small quantity of less than 600sqf of marble may end up not having much cost savings (if any) if need to fly over there to buy. unless I can buy all the tiles for my house from the trip and have cost savings maybe it's worth doing it.

piling cost depends on how deep the piles need to go. but I would say to set aside at least 50k for piling

I'm also thinking of doing the same thing. Bro cymon had done so but his wife flew to China to do the selection. Buying from alibaba is cheap but also have the risk of them supplying something of lower grade since we are not there to see the actual product. In fact, alibaba has also a few suppliers from Greece which can supply the marble at even lower price than the China sellers. to do this, the time line coordination must be done properly else you will have problem in finding space to store the crates if the marble is purchased too early. not to mention need to arrange for transport using lorry crane as well once the marble arrives in Singapore. I think after all the costs involved, should be able to save maybe 30% to 40% from local pricing. I'm still thinking if should take the $10k risk or not to do this self importing. worst case is end up having to buy locally if really kenna conned.

payment is done upon submission regardless of PP or WP. whether PP or WP to be issued depends on URA. PP is only valid for 6 months but can be extended. but each extension need to pay $$$. so it doesn't make sense to keep extending the PP unless the client is willing to keep paying for the extensions.

you are referring to Provisional Permission. if PP is issued, work can start first before a WP is issued. however once WP is issued, it is considered final and any amendments need to pay submission fees again.

URA approve then submit BCA

After WP issued, any amendments for resubmission need to pay URA again. Whether need piling or not depends on the PE and the existing structural design. If the rear area where the extension is going to be is not designed initially to take the additional load of the extension, then the PE is not wrong to recommend piling. Else if the extension is built, your house might end up sinking due to the additional weight.

hacking = ? granite flooring assuming 600 x 600 sized at $20psf (including laying) will cost you $11K quartz countertop would cost you about 1K kitchen cabinet (bottom part) for quartz countertop at $120 per foot run will cost you about $840 for 7 foot (2.1m) bay window cabinets at $120 per foot run will cost you $3600 for 30 foot (9 m) electrical = ? 2 x toilets at $5K per toilet will cost you $10K add up all above estimated costs already more than 26K. so your 30K budget is definitely not enough.

why do the painting last is because the AC installers will need to touch your wall here and there. also there are the AC trunking which will be laid. unless you are ok with possible having dirty hand prints on your walls and white PVC trunking which doesn't match the wall colour, you can opt to do painting first. the painting crew will just paint around the AC units which would be minimal issue. it's like just painting around the door or window frames.

aircon the company you purchase it from will do the install electrical can get a licensed electrician directly. painting can also engage directly and should be done last.

1. aircon panel can just get your contractor to lay a piece of gypsum board to cover it up. after plastering should be flush to the wall and not be very visible. if you are concerned about crack lines appearing in future, then use an entire piece of gypsum board to cover that entire bottom wall. 2. the hole can just do a custom shelving or cabinet. if don't want to spend so much $$$ to custom build, can also buy those 3 tier shelve from Giant hypermart to squeeze inside that hole.

honestly, I don't think anyone will give you a full house design before you sign anything. the time and effort that goes into doing a full house design can't be recovered if you choose not to go with them. worse case is that you can take the design and engage someone else to do the work. what you can do is to look at the architect or builder's portfolio of past works and see if you like their past designs. normally for builders, their designs are quite standard and can be said to be like "cookie cutter" designs where the same design is applied to various houses with minor variations. for architects, their designs for their various projects will differ more but there will always be some common major design elements in their projects as this is the architecture firm's "style" of work. Again, it won't be possible to give you an itemized cost breakdown until the entire house design is done and approved by authorities which is why at this initial stage, only the estimated cost can be give to you based on current market rates. for example, you can get an estimated cost of say 1.5M to rebuilt your house. but after the design is done, you want to have huge triple insulated glass panels instead of brick walls for the house and then want to have the whole house floor and walls cladded in big marble slabs with ceilings cladded in expensive hardwood. all these detailed requirements will exceed the initial 1.5M estimated cost at the start. even though I might be exaggerating but I hope you get what I'm trying to say. Also, construction costs are increasing month by month so any itemized costs given to you today will no longer be valid anymore 6 months down the road due to increase of prices of raw materials like steel, concrete and sand. of cos if you sign with a builder, the quotation would have covered these price fluctuations of raw materials. but if you are going to engage an architect first, the costing will only be known when your project is tendered out to builders which could be 3 or 4 months later.