Sunzhi's Simple Hut

[wilberforce 0]

After many rounds of proposals, these are more or less the final design for our unit (maybe change of color here and there):

Layout plan:

Kitchen:

Living:

impressive designs may i know how much will all these carpentary & hacking cost?

[sunzhi 0]

thanks... it's around $48k at the moment, there are still a few items that we have not decided to proceed with or not.

Edited January 4, 2008 by sunzhi

[sunzhi 0]

The installation for the aircon piping has been completed yesterday. Surprisingly, the trunkings are really huge. They said it’s due to the ½” insulations. Honestly, the work is not really great. The bracket was installed a little too high, with the outdoor unit in it’s almost level with the window. Have told them to reinstall the bracket which they will carry out when installing the indoor units.

Renovating a home really takes lots of time and efforts. It’s very tiring but at the same time, fun and fulfilling. We have yet to provide the specs/dimensions on many items (hob, hood etc) which will be included in the carpentry design. The measurement for carpentry works was supposed to take place yesterday. Unfortunately, the kitchen wall and floor tiles have yet to be completed hence it may not be accurate. There could be some delay for the kitchen cabinet. According to the carpenter, it will take at least 2-3 weeks. Hopefully they could complete the whole thing in time.

Edited January 4, 2008 by sunzhi

[sunzhi 0]

HOB & HOOD:

We were looking for the combination of Tecno T333TG (hob) and Uno UP9188 (hood) which many of our friends are using. We like the design of this hob especially the spaciousness in between burners. Also the life time warranty on the glass (though “terms & conditions apply”). Unfortunately the Uno hood is out of stock and the coming shipment will be sometime in mid January but there is no certainty that it will be available by then. Most major stores quoted around $1200, lowest by Hoe Kee at $50 less.

By chance we made our way to an industrial complex along Boon Lay Way. Surprisingly, many units are taken up by furniture shops as well as lightings, kitchens/toilets and other related stuff. There is this outlet displaying lots of tubs/Jacuzzis, toilet’s accessories, hobs and hoods. We enquired about the abovementioned combination and were served by this lady (probably from China) who knew almost nothing. Sigh, we were on way out when we met this gentleman who was vaguely familiar. It happened to be a neighbor of my old office.

Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised when he quoted us $900 for the above combination. That’s a good $250 less than the best price we have gotten thus far. The problem was he could not confirm the date when the stock is available. We didn’t want to jeopardize our reno schedule so we ended up choosing a Cuizino hood, Cui 9 CRG3E with exhaust capacity of 1000m3/hour. We have not used this brand before but have read many positive feedbacks online. This model is supposed to be more powerful compares to Uno UP9188 which exhaust capacity is 800m3/hour. And it’s only $60 more so I guess it’s a pretty good deal. Btw we took the model with safety valves at an additional $30 (Techno T333TGSV ). We also bought an Ariston 25ltr storage heater from him.

Here’s our hob and hood:

Edited January 8, 2008 by sunzhi

[h4happy 1]

Your kitchen is spacious.

How many feet?

Are you going for solid top?

Very nice 3d your id gave it to you!

[sunzhi 0]

Your kitchen is spacious.

How many feet?

Are you going for solid top?

Very nice 3d your id gave it to you!

Hi, not really that spacious now after the new wall (took up a bit of the space for the new study area). It's approx. 7.5' x 24'. Yup, we are going for solid top.

[phoenix 0]

very nice perspective designs u got there.

[sunzhi 0]

very nice perspective designs u got there.

Hi, thks.. Do appreciate the effort put in by my ID. As he is super busy with many projects in hands, the 3D plans and all are done by his assistant..

[sunzhi 0]

SOFA:

In the same complex along Boon Lay Way there is this shop carrying furniture which is rather different from what we have seen so far. Especially the sofa sets, the designs are very unique. Quality pretty good too but the price isn’t really cheap.

I fell in love with this L-shape black and white full-leather sofa, unfortunately my wife didn’t like it. Her choice was this duo-tone leather sofa, it’s nice but it was not the kinda design I would love to have. What to do, have to compromise somewhere.. In the end I gave up and took her choice instead. We bought a 3+2 set and changed the color (lighter tone, from cream to mocca).

This is what we bought:

.

[jaCKY777 0]

Hey sunzhi,

i like e color scheme propose by ur ID, esp e green & white kit cabnts.

abt e kit cabnts;

-) u gona use green & white glossy laminates surface?

-) white solid surface top?

-) is e lower cabnts gona b suspended with reces lightings or normal with conc tiled base?

-) S.S. or coloured glass backing or existing wall tiles?

Lookin 4ward ur nice reno pix.

!!

[sunzhi 0]

Hey sunzhi,

i like e color scheme propose by ur ID, esp e green & white kit cabnts.

abt e kit cabnts;

-) u gona use green & white glossy laminates surface?

-) white solid surface top?

-) is e lower cabnts gona b suspended with reces lightings or normal with conc tiled base?

-) S.S. or coloured glass backing or existing wall tiles?

Lookin 4ward ur nice reno pix.

Hi jacky777, thanks.. the original color proposed by our ID was rather dull, it was all white or white & grey. we didn't like it and prefer more soothing color hence we picked green. it's also a little to do with feng shui as both green and white are preferred colors.

yup, we are using green & white (not pure white, a little creamy) glossy laminates with beige solid top (can't remember whthr it's Cresto or Corian). the lower cabinet is suspended with 3 x 4' lightings.

don't really get your last point, which area do you refer to? S.S. = solid surface?

[sunzhi 0]

The floor and wall tiles in the kitchen is almost completed. Pretty nicely done, thanks to the tiler, a very nice and patient guy. Maybe my daily afternoon breaks' coffee and cakes played a part too.. The color we picked (green and white) also matches very well. The only thing was they couldn’t find any green pvc for the edges so we had to use white instead. Not that bad.

The master toilet’s wall tiles isn’t as great though. When put up, it's very different from what we saw in the showroom. The floor tiles on the other hand is great. the duo tone combination is very striking. too bad couldn't take no snap as it's covered..

The coming week is gonna be a very busy week. Hopefully everything goes as scheduled.

MBR toilet wall:

AC trunk:

[jaCKY777 0]

Hi jacky777, thanks.. the original color proposed by our ID was rather dull, it was all white or white & grey. we didn't like it and prefer more soothing color hence we picked green. it's also a little to do with feng shui as both green and white are preferred colors.

yup, we are using green & white (not pure white, a little creamy) glossy laminates with beige solid top (can't remember whthr it's Cresto or Corian). the lower cabinet is suspended with 3 x 4' lightings.

don't really get your last point, which area do you refer to? S.S. = solid surface?

Hey sunzhi,

my las qns is e space between e top & lower kit cabnts. Izit gona b Stainless Steel Backing or Coloured Glass Backing or Green Glazed Wall Tiles?

e color scheme is wat i had in mind 4 my upcuming...

Lookin 4ward...

Cheers.

[sunzhi 0]

Hey sunzhi,

my las qns is e space between e top & lower kit cabnts. Izit gona b Stainless Steel Backing or Coloured Glass Backing or Green Glazed Wall Tiles?

e color scheme is wat i had in mind 4 my upcuming...

Lookin 4ward...

Cheers.

oh that, ok, our ID had proposed to leave that part without wall tiles but we think it's more difficult to maintain. we opted for wall tiles instead, it's white, green is on the opposite wall. we added stainless steel above the stove though.

so when is your turn coming? soon i hope and all the best

cheers...

[sunzhi 0]

ELECTRICAL WORK AND LIGHTINGS:

Thanks to a fellow member of this forum, I contacted Eric Chew of Econ. I was reminded that he is very forgetful. It wasn’t that bad when he arrived on time to view our place. He promised to give us the quotation within 2 days but was late by many, many days. Sigh, we had wanted to engage another electrician introduced by our ID but he too was very busy. I guess this time of year nobody is really free.

When I met Eric to discuss further and upon seeing his quotation, I was like, ehm, what’s that?? It’s really messy, he summed everything up, scribbled here and there. I think he himself was a little confused of what he has written. Anyway, his price ws pretty good. Comparing to my ID’s electrician, his is probably 20% lower. I like him so the work was his. He is a nice guy, just that he was always rushing to end a conversation whenever we were on the phone.

He has completed the electrical wiring and honestly, aint really that great. Many wirings wasn’t in the right place but he had them rewired the next day. So far so good. Down lights installation is supposed to be done today, haven’t got the time to check. Keeping my fingers crossed and hopefully everything is ok.

We got many referrals on lightings from this forum and went to many of the shops along Balestier Road, Geylang Road and Jalan Besar. The price difference among the shops is really huge. Down lights for example, some are selling the 2x18watts at $55 (which they claim of super quality from Germany) while others at mere $20. It could be due to the quality but most provide either Philips or Osram bulb and Australia made ballast. And when we compared, they looked almost the same. The question was how do we know which one is better? There was this with pull down mechanism that makes changing bulb easier but some shops said it isn’t advisable as the mechanism could be easily damaged due to heat.

Ceiling fans like Crestar 54” acrylic airvac, one shop (that offered really good price for down lights) claimed the cheapest we were ever gonna get was their discounted price of $320. But when we bought some lightings (for bedrooms, kitchens and display cabinet) from Chan Huat in Balestier, they offered us $250 for the same item. Then again, we found out later what we had paid for the lightings wasn’t really a good deal. I guess you have to spend some time to compare around.

We bought our down lights from a friendly shop keeper along Jalan Besar at $23/pc for the 2x18watt. We insisted that we only want Osram bulbs despite his claimed that Osrams are now China made and not as good/lasting as Philips, anyone has any idea on this?

We also bought 2 pieces of Elmark 54” acrylic ceiling fan at $170/pc and a Elmark 30” fan (with light) at $130. That's the cheapest so far. Btw a small note, try arranging delivery of items a few days before they are to be installed. A lesson from yesterday, I had the delivery of the down lights made 1 day before installation and when they made a mistake with some of the items, I had to reschedule the installation as they could not change in time.

Have a nice weekend everyone...