Dream House - We Did It Our Way!

[Chunky Monkey 2]

I am very excited to see your T-blog, wuga! When's the estimated TOP?

[wuga98 0]

the land size is 3000sqft and when the contruction is done, the buildup will be about 4500sqft. Yes, we have 1 room facing the front of the house, that room is reserved for my mum when she comes visiting.

wAH. Your land area looks pretty big. and a koi pond!! so fun! i wanna hav a pond too if i live in landed property.

So interesting! if living and dining is behind, whats in front? looks like u got a room in front from the looks of the position of the reinforcement bars.

Thanks CM, your t-blog help me a lot on my journey. Legally, they have to handover in Oct otherwise, they will have to pay me some $$ which i cannot remember on the delay.

Usually, they will have everything done much earlier, at least 2 months before Oct for getting the approval from the authority. I think by june/july, a lot of pics will be pilling up on this t-blog.

I am very excited to see your T-blog, wuga! When's the estimated TOP?

[wuga98 0]

some mock up pictures for my bathrooms done by Hansgrohe, all are conceal parts except for the maid toilet.

Master BR

2nd floor Common

Rest of the BR

Maid BR

Edited February 12, 2008 by wuga98

[jaCKY777 0]

Hey wuga98,

landed property reno blog, kinda different frm hdb flat reno. Think it looks more like e documentation of e construction stages of a new condo.

- so does e main-con place a big notice board at e main entrance, stating e Project Title, Architects Firm, Structural Engr, M&E Engr, tel nos 2 contact, URA or BCA project no., CSC, TOP etc ?

Eg. ->

1) - Propose Additions & Alterations To Existing...

or

- Demolition of Existing...& Erection of 2 storey...

2) - ABC Architects

3) - DEF Structural Consultant

4) - GHI M&E Consultant

5) - Duration of project

6) - URA-000... or BCA-000...

- e architect gota b a Qualified Person registered under Board Of Architects in order to sign & approve e drawings & docs & do e relevant submissions to e authorities?

- who's e 1 advertising & evaluating e tenders? U (owner) or architect (prj mgr)?

- who's e 1 taking care of e accounts & paperworks?

Pardon mi if i ask too much. Jus kinda curious. Cos its a common sight 4 mi wen i pass by any landed hm/ pte land under reno. Seein workers wearing white or yellow safety helmet. Wondering wat's goin on in there?

Edited February 12, 2008 by jaCKY777

[wuga98 0]

Yes, it's a lot of work, have been warned by many friends before embarking on it, so somewhat mentally prepared. We have seen many new completed projects or some in the mist of being build and the conclusion at least from my wife pt of view is that some of the layout is strange and does not make sense. I guest it makes perfect sense to the developer but again different stroke for different folks.

Yes, big signage outside the house with all those that you have stated below. My limited understanding is that it is a requirement and not an option. The humor part of this is that, when sh*t happens we have to find someone to blame.

All the relevent parties must have the "professional" status to be able to approve, sign or put their name down to endorse submission to the authority.

I have the tender done in 2 parts, one is for the main con and the other is for the M&E. Architect manage the main con portion and the M&E is done by my friend who is an M&E consultant. Each will draft the tender documents and i only go thru them briefly as majority of them are very technical and seems like Terms and Conditions etc, something like 2-3" thick booklet.

When all the tenders came in, they will open it in front of me in a meeting, which i think depending on individual..some may just skip this step. Once i have signed all the copies, i made them summarize all the submissions in a table format for me to evaluate and compare the cost.

It will take sometime to shortlist as you will digest and talk to people to assertain that you are not mislead into taking the lowest and get some sub std service/work etc...you may even consider visiting their past/current projects to get some comfort of mind, which we did.

Once you have shortlisted, then it's time to negotiate. I will never take what they submit as final and try to formulate some "should cost" to build the basis for negotiation. Once you get to somewhere close to your comfort, it probably signals that you are ready to award.

Not sure what do you mean by accounts/paperwork but my architect handles all the paperwork and when it comes to payment, invoicing comes in, architect certify that it is done, then i pay. You can consider using a lawyer to add a step to this, my family lawyer which happens to be my close friend provide me with some guidance here.

Sorry for the long reply, but really why it has taken me such a long time to get started is i want to do things at my pace as i am really not familiar in this area and whatever decision i made (after consulting with my wife ) is the right one at that pt in time. If i jump the gun, i could have probably save the 2% in GST and also maybe get a lower quote due to the cement/sand crisis last year.

I have not walk into the construction site yet as it is all barricaded and my wife thinks it's dangerous at this pt as there are still many holes on the ground. Will see how first

Hope this helps.

Hey wuga98,

landed property reno blog, kinda different frm hdb flat reno. Think it looks more like e documentation of e construction stages of a new condo.

- so does e main-con place a big notice board at e main entrance, stating e Project Title, Architects Firm, Structural Engr, M&E Engr, tel nos 2 contact, URA or BCA project no., CSC, TOP etc ?

Eg. ->

1) - Propose Additions & Alterations To Existing...

or

- Demolition of Existing...& Erection of 2 storey...

2) - ABC Architects

3) - DEF Structural Consultant

4) - GHI M&E Consultant

5) - Duration of project

6) - URA-000... or BCA-000...

- e architect gota b a Qualified Person registered under Board Of Architects in order to sign & approve e drawings & docs & do e relevant submissions to e authorities?

- who's e 1 advertising & evaluating e tenders? U (owner) or architect (prj mgr)?

- who's e 1 taking care of e accounts & paperworks?

Pardon mi if i ask too much. Jus kinda curious. Cos its a common sight 4 mi wen i pass by any landed hm/ pte land under reno. Seein workers wearing white or yellow safety helmet. Wondering wat's goin on in there?

[applefreak 1]

hi wuga98, can check with you regarding the mock up by hansgrohe

in the first two pix there's a flat piece of metal at the bottom, what is it ah?

is it a soap dish or a seat?

[wuga98 0]

1st floor plan, this was done in May 2007. Just to give a perspective to the layout.

[wuga98 0]

Good question, not a seat (too small and i think may break the conceal piping if i sit on it ) but you can use it for putting soap etc. It's one of those "atas" bath sprout, i have a sunken bathtub in both toilets. It's from the hansgrohe axor massaud line, which cost me $1150.30 before discount which i still think is overly expensive. I told my wife that she can use that as a step to scrub her legs if she wants.

Me, i mandi "kerbau", in/out very fast... so maybe practical for me to put my spectacles.

hi wuga98, can check with you regarding the mock up by hansgrohe

in the first two pix there's a flat piece of metal at the bottom, what is it ah?

is it a soap dish or a seat?

[applefreak 1]

wah, shi mei de lor, but also gui de lor

that alone is more than what i've spent on my two bathrooms

am sure your home will turn out really nice, already sounding like my dream home liao :(

will station myself here for pix :wub:

[Chunky Monkey 2]

wuga, you know I will be following your t-blog very closely. (cheers)

Regarding your bathroom accessories, please make sure these are approved models. One of my ex neighbours, now in the midst of building her house, ran into problems with her faucets and rainshowers. Something to do with violating water consumption regulations. Do check with your engineers/architect.

[mist 0]

i like your airwell! will bring in lots of light into the living rm!

actually it reminds me of some of the houses i saw at sentosa cove, with the kitchen and living at the back, and the back opens up to the river for their yacht.

out of curiousity is household shelter a requirement in landed homes too?

its really fun to be able to design your dream house from scratch. sigh! envy envy.

[wuga98 0]

Thanks CM, will check.

wuga, you know I will be following your t-blog very closely. (cheers)

Regarding your bathroom accessories, please make sure these are approved models. One of my ex neighbours, now in the midst of building her house, ran into problems with her faucets and rainshowers. Something to do with violating water consumption regulations. Do check with your engineers/architect.

Yes it will, my first floor ceiling is 4.5m high and the airwell is all glass. My staircase side wall is also all glass windows from first floor to the artic. The sentosa cove open out to the sea

If you are doing major A&A and retains certain structure and the house constructed before this ruling, you can get away from not having it. But since, i am starting from ground zero, the new house will have to follow the prevailing rules which requires a HS.

i like your airwell! will bring in lots of light into the living rm!

actually it reminds me of some of the houses i saw at sentosa cove, with the kitchen and living at the back, and the back opens up to the river for their yacht.

out of curiousity is household shelter a requirement in landed homes too?

its really fun to be able to design your dream house from scratch. sigh! envy envy.

[wuga98 0]

just shot this today at 1030am, don't ask me about whois the guy in that rocking chair, 'cause i really don't know. i guest you can see the whereabouts of the pillars as they are starting to show.

We have also just decided to use the Builder shop in changi south fo our marbles, homo tiles and wall features. Hopefully, we can see the dry lay of the marbles by next week so they can start to mark it and put (paint) sealant on it. They will crate it and have it stored till the main con is ready to lay.

I hope to load up some shots we took on friday afternoon on some of the houses in sentosa cove, some are great but not all.

I have done a check on what CM mentioned here, it is very true if you need some form of certification from the authority eg. rebuild where you need to get your TOP. You need to tell the shop that you are rebuilding or just renovating, they will be able to advise which one is certified eg. shower/mixer and also the sanitary wares eg. toilet bowl etc.

If you take the wrong one, rehacking may be needed if you fail the audit by the authority. Which is going to be a costly affair.

Though i heard from people that some smart plumber/or even engineers may place an "o"ring inside to limit the amount of water coming out to get pass the audit. ...apply at ur own risk.

wuga, you know I will be following your t-blog very closely. (cheers)

Regarding your bathroom accessories, please make sure these are approved models. One of my ex neighbours, now in the midst of building her house, ran into problems with her faucets and rainshowers. Something to do with violating water consumption regulations. Do check with your engineers/architect.

[wuga98 0]

Here are some pics we took on Friday afternoon at sentosa cove, trying to get some ideas for the external clading and also the interior living room wall. Enjoy!

Edited February 18, 2008 by wuga98

[Junkay 1]

Looks very nice GOT POOL and TERRACE ... one of my dream houses.

Pity the maid. So much to clean up.