Henderson Makeover

[macbart 0]

Day 11

This is how the kitchen looked on Sunday, November 22. Tiling was pretty much done, except for the bit near the window (which they completed after the window was changed on Wednesday, November 25). The window was originally scheduled to be changed the previous week, but they couldn't cos the permit wasn't approved in time.

[macbart 0]

Day 15

By November 26, the old windows in the kitchen and bathroom were gone and we had nice, new ones, which let in much more light. We love the view from the kitchen! Er... minus that mop.

The plumbers had been in to put in new water pipes (stainless steel) and to change the sewage pipe cos the old one apparently had been leaking. And, as you can see, they'd installed the toilet bowl.

The electrician had been in too, making holes in walls.

I'm kidding, of course. He was there to install the new power points and light points that we wanted. Apparently, they thought we'd keep most of the existing points and just add a few. But when he arrived and realised we wanted just about every single light and power point moved, with lots of news ones as well, he had to take an extra day to complete the work.

The air-conditioning folk were over on November 26. And by late afternoon, they'd completed their work, collected their cheque and left.

[ossify 1]

First Major Purchases

My wife and I cheered ourselves up from the disappointment on the day of the first appointment with HDB by making the first major purchase for our new home (we actually bought the first few items for the new place a week earlier, while on our honeymoon in Bali) - a Tempur mattress and bed, which came with two free pillows, a free accessory (my wife chose the lumbar support) and a free mat.

Our next major purchase came during Ikea’s sale in July. We decided we should check out the stores to see if there were any furniture bargains (TV console, table, chairs, Billy book cases etc) that we should pick up for our new flat, but ended up buying something we hadn’t even thought of - flooring!

Ikea had slashed the price of its Kvist veneered bamboo flooring from $99 to $29 per box (1.39sqm) and the accompanying skirting from $29 to $9 per piece (2m). We did the math before deciding to commit to the purchase. Including the cost of installation by Ikea’s recommended installer (@ $13 per sqm), and adding the required Niva underlay, the total per square-foot price came to about $4.

Unlike Tempur, Ikea couldn’t hold on to our purchase till we need it delivered to the new place, so we had little choice but to have it delivered to our present home (where it’s under the bed).

i've always wondered on the quality of ikea laminates. do share how it works out in the future kinda expensive, imho

[macbart 0]

i've always wondered on the quality of ikea laminates. do share how it works out in the future kinda expensive, imho

I'm hoping it works out well.

I've got ikea laminate flooring in the living room of my current place (which I installed myself eight years ago). It's still ok. I figured we could install the ones we bought during the sale ourselves too, but my wife doesn't want me to do it. She thinks it's too much work. I feel that while it is hard work (the sawing to size), it's enjoyable and we can get it done in one weekend. Anyway, I've arranged for the installers to do it... and I'm pretty sure they can do a better job than I can.

[macbart 0]

Day 22

Wow, it's been such a busy time, I didn't realise till a few minutes ago that three weeks have passed since hacking began and yesterday was the 22nd day of the renovation.

Painting was originally scheduled for last Saturday and Monday, but the painters only came in Tuesday and Wednesday... and weren't able to finish. They've done a fairly decent job with the walls and ceilings, but will need to return to paint the door frames, doors and railings (in addition to touch up).

With most of our walls painted Sail White, this stands out like a sore thumb. I guess we'll either have to get the painters to paint this white when they paint the door frames and railings (or get the electrician to change the cover?).

Once the ceiling was painted, the electrician was in on Tuesday to install the lights (most of them) and the power points and switches. Most of his work was ok, but there are a few things we'd like him to fix. For example, notice anything strange about these lights on the ceiling?

Instead of placing them where we'd marked the ceiling (with post-its taped to the ceiling), he put the nearer light midway between the walls. It may look ok now on its own. But if you stand in the living room and look in, it's very obvious that's not aligned with the other light. Worse still, once the tall kitchen units are installed along the wall to the right, it will be painfully obvious that the nearer light is too close to the right side and much further from the left. We've asked Andy to get the electrician to move it in line with the other light.

With painting on Tuesday and Wednesday and the new rubbish chute hopper scheduled to be installed on Thursday afternoon, Andy arranged for the acid wash to take place after 6pm on Wednesday. However, when I went to flat on Thursday afternoon, the man who was cleaning up was still working on the kitchen. Apparently, he only started at 1pm on Thursday! At about 3pm he moved on to the bathroom and then a further hour and a half later, he began work on one of the rooms. He'll apparently return on Wednesday to work on the other two rooms and the living room.

I've gotta say that while Andy was surprised that the guy took so long to clean up just the kitchen, bathroom and one room, I feel he was very thorough. And the kitchen floor tiles finally look like they're supposed to.

The main work yesterday began when Desmond from Maxden, arrived to install our new air-tight rubbish chute. It's something my wife was keen on making sure we had, especially since we're on the second floor.

That reinforced bit serves two purposes. Firstly, it will help to keep it from being dented easily by projectiles launched from above. Plus, it's a counter weight that helps to keep the chute closed.

[macbart 0]

Day 22 continued

Here's the living room as it looked on Thursday, December 3. Work still to be done: ceiling fan, light over dining table, window grilles, veneered flooring, curtains, painting of railings, general paint touch up.

This is how the bedroom looked the same day. The purple is actually slightly darker than how looks in this picture. Work still to be done: ceiling fan, new door (rehung to open the opposite way), window grilles, curtains, veneered flooring, wardrobe, painting of door frame and door, paint touch up.

And this is how the entertainment room looked. Work to be done: window grilles, ceiling fan, veneered flooring, curtains, new door, painting of door frame and door, hang Glansa light in the right corner.

Of course, the entire place needs to be cleaned as well.

[ossify 1]

how much does it cost to install the rubbish chute hopper?

do they replace for you or do you get your hacking guys to remove it?

[macbart 0]

how much does it cost to install the rubbish chute hopper?

do they replace for you or do you get your hacking guys to remove it?

The Maxden rubbish chute costs $450 (includes installation). Ours was scheduled for installation after the acid wash of the place. The old one was removed during hacking. Based on instructions from they guys from Maxden, our contractor got the tilers to make sure the hole left for the chute was 35cm by 35cm.

[macbart 0]

Ceiling Fans

We wanted fans with a single light in the living room, bedroom, entertainment room and study. Initially, we were looking at the Fanco F707 (54-inch) or the Amasco Empire (56-inch). But upon extending the measuring tape 54 inches and holding it centred below the fan points in each of the rooms, we realised that while it would be ok for the living room, fans of that size would dominate the other three rooms. It looked like something between 44 to 48-inches would suit the rooms better.

We also decided that we wanted to have regulators for each of the fans cos in my wife's experience (and based on feedback from a few friends), remotes tend to get spoilt more easily and cost quite a bit to replace. Plus we didn't want chains dangling from the fans. Based on these requirements, we settled on the Fanco FFM3000 and bought four of them at Royal Fanco (Jalan Besar).

Day 23

The installation of ceiling fans was scheduled for Friday, December 5.

Steven, a friendly ceiling fan specialist (that's what it says on his card), arrived at about 11am and gave an estimate that it would take between three to four hours to install the four ceiling fans.

After putting in three bolts in ceiling for each fan, he installed the the mounting brackets, connecting the wires.

He then assembled them, one at a time, before dangling them from the safety hook by the safety cord (a steel cable)

Once he had each fan on its mounting bracket, Steven installed the lights. Before finally connecting the regulators to the fan switches.

And about three and half hours after he'd begun, we had four fully-functioning ceiling fans

The one thing I was wondering about is the gap between the rotating part of the fan and the light fixture. I thought it would be much smaller. But the spacer bolt that was included with the kit leaves a bit of a gap. And it's not the most visually pleasing look. But I guess it does make it easier to reach in and clean it.

Oh, and while Steve was working, the door folk came in and changed the three room doors. They were very fast. But er... I didn't take any pictures. Will have to remember to do that in future.

Then, the guy who handles the bathroom door came over and installed it. It's just a basic bi-fold door (with plastic sheet still cover the panels). I'm wondering if we should have spent more and got a nicer door to go with the rest of the bathroom. I guess it's a bit too late for that now.

Edited December 8, 2009 by macbart

[macbart 0]

Day 24

Saturday, December 5 turned out to be "delivery day". Zixiang from Viborg Trading was supposed to come over in the morning with the Blum hardware I'd ordered for our kitchen. Ikea was scheduled to deliver our purchases from the previous week some time between 10am and 2pm. Mayer said they would deliver our hood between 12-3pm. And finally, Mega Discount Store would deliver our Brandt oven and hob between 2-5pm. I was hoping the first two deliveries would be early and the Mayer delivery late, so that we'd have time in between to go to Bukit Timah Shopping Centre to check out the Opsh wardrobe system and have lunch before returning for the other deliveries.

As it turned out, Zixiang arrived at 11am, when it began raining. And since he didn't bring a trolley, I had to go down and help him carry the stuff to our flat. I didn't realise drawer runners, sides and hinges could weigh that much! Anyway, everything was up... until Sam, our carpenter went over on yesterday and checked the stuff... and pointed out that the fronts for the i3 and i4 inner drawers were missing. A phone call to Zixiang later (with him checking, realising he hadn't delivered them and apologising), Viborg delivered those directly to Sam's workshop in Sungei Kadut.

Here are the Blum parts awaiting installation on Wednesday - five S2, one S3, five S4, five i3 and two i4 tandembox drawers (all silver-grey, 30kg load), four 107-degree hinges with mounting plates and two blumotion for hinges, three 155-degree zero-protusion hinges with mounting plates, with two blumotion for 155-degree and 170-degree hinges. Total cost = $1078. Oh, and that's the Mistral wall fan that will be installed in the kitchen.

By 11.30am, the Ikea delivery folk had arrived with our stuff - two white Billy bookcases (80 x 202cm), four doors for the book cases, one white Billy book case (80 x 106cm), one Malm chest of six drawers (birch veneer), one white Expedit shelving unit (to be used as TV console), one Giman kitchen island ($20 for As-is section - I'm planning to shorten the height and use it as a dining table), one Galant table top ($80 from As-is section), with the Galant frame and four legs, and several other smaller items (all in that white sack).

Mayer had called earlier while Zixiang was there to say they'd arrive in about 45 minutes to an hour. By 12pm, they'd been there and delivered our Delizia Krea 90 hood (to the left of this picture). We purchased the brooms etc when we had lunch at Tiong Bahru Plaza, ready for us to clean up the place next Satruday. The rest of the stuff in this picture include the basin, basin mixer and rain shower set and a few more lights.

And finally, while we were having lunch, Mega Discount called to say they'd be over in 30-45 minutes. We had just enough time to finish dessert and coffee and head back to our flat... where the delivery folk were waiting with our Brandt oven (FE611XS1) and induction hob (TI607BU1).

With everything delivered early, we went over to Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, where we ended up signing up for a 10-foot Opsh wardrobe.

It was a really fruitful day!

[amrasenelya 1]

wow looks like the delivery went nicely for most of your stuff.. we also packing most of the delivery into one day..

and ur reno is 90% completed?

[macbart 0]

wow looks like the delivery went nicely for most of your stuff.. we also packing most of the delivery into one day..

and ur reno is 90% completed?

it's good if the deliveries are on time or early. I as amazed. We actually went there prepared to spend several hours waiting. I brought my MacBook (planning to connect to net tethered to my iPhone) and my wife brought a book. In the end, I didn't use it at all! Well, except when my wife surfed during lunch.

I would say we're probably about 80% done. Painting of door frames, gate and railings took place today. Tomorrow will be kitchen cabinets and vanity cabinet. Thursday will be window grilles and shower screen. Opsh will be in thursday to install pelmet for the wardrobe door. Laminate floor will be installed on Monday. After that it's the solid surface for kitchen and bathroom, connecting of hood, hob, oven, sink and basin... and the wardrobe will be the last thing.

Hmmm... I guess it's more like 70%?

[amrasenelya 1]

it's good if the deliveries are on time or early. I as amazed. We actually went there prepared to spend several hours waiting. I brought my MacBook (planning to connect to net tethered to my iPhone) and my wife brought a book. In the end, I didn't use it at all! Well, except when my wife surfed during lunch.

I would say we're probably about 80% done. Painting of door frames, gate and railings took place today. Tomorrow will be kitchen cabinets and vanity cabinet. Thursday will be window grilles and shower screen. Opsh will be in thursday to install pelmet for the wardrobe door. Laminate floor will be installed on Monday. After that it's the solid surface for kitchen and bathroom, connecting of hood, hob, oven, sink and basin... and the wardrobe will be the last thing.

Hmmm... I guess it's more like 70%?

haha, we also brought papers and magazines and my fully charged iphone when we were there waiting for aircon installation..

looks like its moving fast and furious now.. whens the targetted HO?

[pinkpetter 0]

I enjoyed reading your blog. You've written it in a very storylike way...

I noticed that your bathroom is rather long..

and I love that lavender in your bedroom. LOoking forward!!

[macbart 0]

haha, we also brought papers and magazines and my fully charged iphone when we were there waiting for aircon installation..

looks like its moving fast and furious now.. whens the targetted HO?

When the renovation began on November 12, the handover date (as scheduled by Andy) was December 19 & 20. This was despite having nothing scheduled for the preceding five days except touch up on a couple of days. Since then, as is usually the case, several jobs were rescheduled, resulting in the change of the date for installation of the laminate flooring by a week (from December 7 to 14). But cos Andy left several days blank in the final week before handover, the handover date is still targetted to be December 19 & 20.

We haven't set a date to move in, but all along we were hoping to move in by Christmas (we're having friends over on Christmas eve). The one thing that won't be ready in time is our wardrobe. Opsh will need at least two weeks from the day they install the pelmet for the door (day after tomorrow) and measure the space. But we're ok with that. We'll just have to live out of boxes for the first few days.