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Hi all! I've recently purchased an old (60's) 1078 sqft walk-up apartment between Little India and Serangoon. I'm planning to completely hack current layout and fake ceiling, install a 300 sqft loft and access to the flat roof on top of the kitchen (another 200 sqft). I've seen an apartment in the neighborhood that did juts that (they claim all legally). I also have a second private access in the back, I'll be building a wadding pool/jacuzzi there. I wanted to start this thread as I'll be documenting the process from start to finish and also hope to gain some advice. I'm a designer, working in the film industry and an artisan, skills I'm planning to partially utilize for this project. I'm not planning on employing an ID firm, instead will go with an architect or main builder directly. I'd like to present you my preliminary design. I realize some of it won't be doable on my budget, maybe I'm just crazy, but I need a place to start, so my new layout is an ideal case scenario. The style I'll be going for is a mix of mid-century modern mixed with good ol nostalgic Singapore, known from old apartments in Katong and Tiong Bahru. Mostly going for minimal, non pretentious look and raw materials. Cement screed, exposed brick, wood and plain white paint. You can find the plan in the attachment, also foollow the below link https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9_NMEc2cSqJLTBJS2xabG9QVXM?usp=sharing You will find there: -walk through through the current state of the property. -the video visualization of hacking the walls, installing new layout, adding an attic floor etc. -mood boards/look for certain apartment features. What's next? I'm currently looking for an architect or main contractor with a history of similar projects. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! At the same time I'm working on a photo real virtual apartment, which I'll be able to walk into and judge the layout/flow/distances etc. before it get's built. It will allow me to get a feel of the apartment before it's built, also to convey my vision better to architect/builders.

Hi all I definitely learnt a lot from this forum and I some friends working in the construction industry hence they taught me many tips to save money in the renovation process. My semi finished living room Many of my friends has since asked me how to reduce their renovation costs and here is to share my whole journey. I also included post-reno stuff to save some headache which I faced being a first time home owner. Tips to reduce renovation costs. 1) Use a contractor instead of designer if you can. By doing this, you save at least 30% of your costs. Designer act as middleman between you and the contractor. Of cos, good designers faciliate the reno process, but if you want to save cost, faciliate it yourself. 2) Know your design to the details. If you say, you want an industrial loft theme, then you dont know what you are talking about and leave your hands to slaughter fest. You need to say, I want a brick wall, 2.4m x 1.8m, done using beige white brick craft stones. I want a industrial light, with 3 light heads, warm colour at this exact position. You get the drift. If you cannot spell details like this, you open for either contractor or designer slaughter fest, where they intro you things that make them the most money. If you can, then you dont need a desiger. Google images or flip magazine, then find exactly what you want, component by component, wall by wall. 3) Pick a reliable contractor not the cheapest one. No brainer i hope. But here are some tips. Years in service - You want a reno firm to be at least a few years, not one that is set up 1 month ago. How long is that few years? You decide. Kiasu can take 8yrs onwards. Check here - hdb registered contractors You can also check if they violate reno rules and got demerit points Chemistry - if you dont like each other, you get ****. Reach and return call - If he return miss calls, and easy to reach, you know he can be reach to retify your post reno problems. See finished goods - Good and reliable contractors are confident of their work. Ask to see their finished or almost finished homes. The good ones ask you faster come, the shady ones will say hard to arrange for viewing. Good contractors got a few jobs on-going, there is no such thing as hard to arrange. When viewing, check workmanship of tiles. It should be aligned very straight. Check workmanship of wardrobe, open and close their drawers. Questionable Expo interior designer shows - A good contractor once told me, he do a good job, then he get referrals and referrals, no need any advertising. Food for your own thought. 4) Price reference check Here is my market research as a price reference. If you are paying significantly more, then you kena chop. Simple as that. Tiles Laying of tiles for my 4room BTO, 3 rooms plus living room and walkway. 8K with tiles costing $4 per sq foot. (slightly high but luckily i got good workmanship) Tiles supplier Harfary Soon Bee Huat lian seng hin - Defu lane also have a few smaller ones for you to explore. Carpentry Kitchen - $120 per foot run Sliding wardrobe - $230 per foot run Casement wardrobe - $210 per foot run Craftstone for brickwalls - $78 per box. Harfary sells at $99 per box. Get from malaysia JB even cheaper at ard $40 SGD or so. Electrical - $8- $10 per point installed. Meaning 1 light source $10. Sanitary Items suppliers - Basin, taps, etc Universal Union Heritage Amazon - Kraus sinks (they ship to singapore) Hoe kee - (a bit ex, but can go there just to see and compare) Tabletop - Solid surface : $70 per foot Granite - $85 - $110 iquartz- $120 Doors supplier Yontat - Bad attitude, but some doors still cheap. Tip: They sell to contractors cheap, so pick your door, as your contractor to install for you and ask your contractor to buy the door for you. If you buy and ask them install, then kena chop a bit. Canwin Wood products trading - They dont have installers, so you need a contractor that can install. Price not bad. Best industrial pte Ltd - Many doors for viewing, good service. All located at Eunos Avenue. If driving, visit all 3 shops at once and decide. Don't need to kena chopped by those door retailers or HDB. HDB doors very ex by the way. 5) Air Conditioning This should be done right after your floors are done and before your carpentry because of the trucking cable. Make sure your select inverter models, otherwise you pay alot. Think you whether you need system 2,3 or 4. Killer qn: do you need air con in living room? Choose a reliable air-con contractor or provider. Use at least 1/2" of Amaflex insulation. Insulation is to prevent sweating of air-con. Air con sweating is a very big headache. 5) UseTaobao (Sea freight to ship lights and bulky items like chairs) Ard 1 mth ETA Lights - Save at least 50% or more Taobao. Most sg shops I went all bring in China lights, so buy them yourselves. Try to avoid Balestier road shops if you dont want to get chopped. See models from there, get elsewhere. Chairs - Save at least 50% or more Aesthetics accessories like clock, ornaments all can get from taobao and ship them over. Post Renovation Money Saving Tips 1) Electrical appliances Consolidate all your purchases, noting all the model numbers. Then go bargain at these shops. Parisilk Goh Bee Huat Goh Sin Huat Woodlands domestic electrical pte ltd You can also negotiate on prices with Courts, Harvey Norman, Best Denki. Then use card like the Amex to get 5% cash rebate. Or your preferred credit card. 2) Home broadband and Netflix M1 fiberbroad band. - I chose M1 because it is cheaper. at $39 per month. Have been with them for few weeks now and from a Punggol perspective, my connection is stable, so far no downtime. Read my review a few posts down. Netflix I also subscribed to netflix for my new home after being recommended by forummers. Very shiok. For less than $10 bucks, can watch unlimited shows and movies. Got many shows and dramas, including orange is the new black, which me and wifey is watching now. you can read this netflix setup guide for assistance. simple to follow. 3) Bomb shelter shelves I followed the recommendation of fellow forummers and took a look see at the Toyogo. Those are made of plastics and good enough for my usage. they cost only $69 for 4 tier and is quite sturdy. Metal ones are more costly so I did not go with that option. *** To be continued ***

we are halfway to complete our 4 room flat renovation. some of the good stuffs done by the sub-contractor that we absolutely love it. the kitchen cement walls, done by the tiler. Though it was his first attempt for such request but he did it anyway!

Hi, we just bought an EM. There's a lot of unused space at the staircase area but no way to access the top of it, and I really want to be able to hang stuff there - hubby is a painter so the walls will get filled up soon. I was thinking of creating a loft area or getting some kind of retractable ladder that can access the top of the staircase area. Has anyone done this before? TIA

One of a kind custom made industrial look inspired queen size bed frame, with faux black leather foam cushion rests (not pictured, attaches to head-board), and frame wood base boards. Mattress included is the premium Simmons BackCare Advanced S1000 Plush Top + Anti-dust Mite Protector (purchased in 2013 from Simmons at $4000) Mattress is in good condition and clean (has just been professionally cleaned last Dec before CNY. Can refer to the mattress brochure here: http://www.simmons.com.sg/downloads/simmons_backcare_advance.pdf. Only selling as a set, AT JUST $1500 (NON-NEG). Buyer to self-arrange movers. Genuine interested buyer, pls drop me a private message to arrange.

Hello renotalkers! I have benefited from this forum immensely and it's about time for me to pay it forward. I bought a resale apartment and obtained the keys only in late July. It's a 1 BR, only 52 sq metres (560 sq ft) in size. I was drawn to this space as it was relatively square-ish, not many bay-windows, no balcony, 2.9m ceiling height and floor to ceiling windows in the living room. Knowing that size was a limitation, my challenge is to make the space feel bigger than it is. The original floor plan (ignore the PES - the apartment does not have any PES) This was how I envisioned the new layout Red lines indicate the walls which I wanted to knock-down Blue line is where I would like the new wall to be erected Yellow lines is where I envisioned a concrete plaster appearance Besides the challenge of opening up the space, I wanted to keep the budget low and time-line relatively short, yet achieve a specific industrial look. I'll be dedicating quite a bit of my blog on how I kept costs low while maintaining decent quality. That means I will describe my thought process for contractor selection, material selection, purchasing from taobao etc Hope new home owners that plan to renovate will benefit from my blog. I shall post the before pics soon and some interim pics as reno is currently on-going. Happy reno-talking! EDIT: I realise that it is very cumbersome to go through an entire thread without a contents page. So I have compiled the links here 1. My thoughts on ID vs contractor. All home owners struggle with this question and meeting IDs/contractors can consume a lot of time and effort. 2. How I shortlisted and chose a contractor. The key considerations which led me to chose among the shortlisted contractors. 3. My taobao shopping list. With all the links from taobao sellers which I bought from. 4. My before pics. Demolition pics if you're into that sort of thing. 5. General Info on shipment of bulky taobao items to Singapore. 6. Since it's very difficult to estimate how many cubic metres each item is and the shipping charge is based on cubic metre, I came up with a way to estimate total cost of the bulky taobao item based on my first shipment when I purchase through peeka. 7. Some chinese keywords for shopping on taobao. Although taobao is cheap and therefore tempting, there may be instances of dissatisfaction. To provide a balanced view, Another poster's negative experience with taobao items. How I minimize risk of purchasing low quality items on taobao. 8. Info on the fibreglass concrete panels in my living room. 9. A guide on choosing paint colours for your wall. 10. Kompactop final pics 11. Info on artificial turf for balconies/planter/baywindows 12. Final pics - after 6 months of living in my place, this is more or less the final look of my place, though it tends to evolve with time (and clutter). To be included at some point.

Hi, Anyone familiar with Loft/Furniture Deck for condo living / bedroom? i google around but could not find anything yet. Thanks.

Hi I'm renovating my kids' room to accommodate 1 additional member in the family in our small-sized 5-room HDB flat. My 2 kids are sleeping on mattresses on the floor with daddy and mommy on a queen-sized bed presently. Therefore, i'm scratching my head now over where i can get the best quality bedroom furniture set at a reasonable rate. Has anyone a children bedroom furniture set similar to the picture below being sold anywhere else besides Furniture Mart? It is suitable for up to 3 kids and has a study desk incorporated. We hope that the layout of this set can be re-configured as well due to the configuration of our small-sized room that comes with a few recesses (thanks to the HDB flat designer). The study desk needs to be incorporated due to space constraint of the room as well. TIA ! http://www.furnituremart.sg/ProductDetail.aspx?p=2352