Our Tiny Relaxed, Retro Resort

[Happy Mummy 0]

Hi All

I must first thank my sis who introduced this forum to me. For the past 1.5 weeks, I have been reading up many interesting articles and am really amazed that there are so many talented and helpful people around to render support to one another.

Like gal_mama, I have also bought a 4-room unit at AMK Ave 4 and my unit is just 3 blocks away from her. The layout of the flat is exactly like her - see http://s953.photobucket.com/albums/ae16/ga...t=floorplan.jpg (Pardon me, gal_mama, I am borrowing your floor plan here as my scanner is not working now. I also do not have photos as I am yet to collect the keys). I have gone for my first appointment last week and will complete my 2nd appointment in mid Aug. I am planning to start my reno in 1st week of Aug and hope to complete everything by end of Aug so that I can move in mid Sep when my current lease expires.

We are excited with this very humble unit as finally we can settle down – this will be our 4th move for my princess before she turns 4 next year! Haha, I think I am quite expert in moving house liao

I have gone thru the process of selecting ID/contractors (started b4 checking out RT and all are referrals except for one walk-in) and by this week must decide on one so that I could meet my permit and reno deadlines.

I have decided on a retro/ resort theme partly becos I want to save cost and partly becos my existing living room furniture should be able to fit into this theme. This flat comes with terrazzo tiles in living and bedrooms, yellow mosaic tiles and white wall tiles in kitchen and bathroom. It also has clear iron window glass panels and iron grills (those oblong design which my parents picked many years ago). As the house is quite well maintained. I therefore intend to

1) keep the terrazzo flooring

2) have cement screeding for the flooring & wall in the kitchen

3) put up new floor and wall tiles for the 2 bath rooms

4) hack away store-room in the kitchen to provide a dining area with laminated flooring (a 3-ft platform is added to it to extend the area)

5) take down 2 small arches and plaster up the wall that is currently covered with tiles

6) cover up the additional entrance of the master bedroom toilet which opens from the kitchen

7) open up an entrance between MBR and BR2

8) put in a 7-ft full height WIW in MBR

9) put in a L-shape or C-shape kitchen cabinet

With basic ceiling work (L-boxes in living and cornices in bedrooms), whole house rewiring, plumbing, painting, small jobs here and there plus the above-mentioned work, my quotation from the contractor came up to $26.5k which I thought is high as I am yet to add furniture, lightings, furnishing and appliances which easily will come to another $12k! That will make my total bills almost $40k ie exceeded my budget of $30k by $10k 

So here are some of the challenges and questions that I hope all the great minds in RT will be able to guide me :

1) What is a realistic budget (for wet work) for a 4-room resale flat with major renovation in 2 bathrooms & kitchen?

2) Overlaying or hacking of tiles – for a flat of about 30 years old, is it true that I must hack out all my floor and wall tiles whether I am doing cement screeding or tiling? I was hoping that I could do overlaying to save time and cost.

3) Cement Screeding - is it true that the cost of doing cement screeding is the same as putting up wall or floor tiles because of the need to have good workmanship and sealant required? If there is differential, how much saving (%) should there be for cement screeding?

4) Is cement screeded flooring difficult to maintain? As it can be dusty for the first month, does that mean it is not advisable for my princess who is a bit asthmatic?

(I love the back to ‘kampong’ look with cement floor, but contractors that I talked to have not been supportive and came up with a lot of reasons not to do it).

5) Apart from a sink and kitchen stove, there is no built in kitchen cabinets. So would the cost of hacking and plastering on affected walls justify a pricing of $2,750?

6) My dinning laminated area is about 70 sq ft so is the quote of $500 on China made product too expensive?

7) Apart from the downlights in living, is the wiring/electrical work at $2,400 reasonable? I didn’t expect it to be so ex

8) Is it reasonable to charge labor cost for installing bathroom accessories and taps for kitchen sink?

9) Is the quote of $120 psf reasonable for the kitchen cabinet which is made of solid plywood with laminated finish & ABS, 1 set of drawers and dish rack as well as soft closing (no Blum tho)?

10) Likewise for the WIW, is $260 psf reasonable with solid ply doors and pvc insert?

11) Last but not least, would it be a lot more expensive if I were to engage an ID? But my work is so simple leh as I don’t fancy featured walls nor too many fixtures……. Tend to get bored after a while.

Very very stressed now becos I am doing everything alone so am really look forward to your help please.

ps : pardon me if you find another similar posting somewhere - first time am doing up a blog and my posting went missing. Very low tech person lah.......paiseh

[mookie 0]

3) Cement Screeding - is it true that the cost of doing cement screeding is the same as putting up wall or floor tiles because of the need to have

hi

I have seen two friends' cement screed floor suffer line cracks after less than a year. Personally, my feet get itchy after I step on cement screed floor. Perhaps I am sensitive to it. These are some pointes u might want to consider.

[Happy Mummy 0]

hi

I have seen two friends' cement screed floor suffer line cracks after less than a year. Personally, my feet get itchy after I step on cement screed floor. Perhaps I am sensitive to it. These are some pointes u might want to consider.

[Happy Mummy 0]

Thanks Mookie for your quick response. Ya....my daughter is the one that have my concern most

[gimz63251073 0]

Thanks Mookie for your quick response. Ya....my daughter is the one that have my concern most

just let her run barefooted at some hdb concrete floor to test?

i like retro themes! have been buying retro posters (old cigarette adverts - around A3 size) from Hongkong in my last trip.

would u be getting retro furniture or re-furbishing your furniture? many nice retro furniture here, but usually quite ex...

have fun here!

[gals_mama 0]

Hi welcome to RT! Must agree that this is a good place to share gd lobang and to get advice.

Having an old flat definitely make the reno cost going higher and higher. Like my electrical wk is almost 4k!!! The rewiring cost $1.4k on its own. So u must be prepared for these variation order in the course of reno.

We didnt hack the fl, retain the marble flooring and laminate over the2 bedrooms. For kitchen, i think not advisable cos saw my grandma's flat which is abt 20 yrs old and her kitchen tiles are all dropping. 1 contractor who i met up also knocked ard the tiles and said some are hollow already.

I think is difficult to do cement screed thats why no contractor wants to do.

ID will be higher cost but they provide design ideas and we kept asking her abt the furniture selections and colours. But there are some contractors here who have gd reputation and cost ok.

If u want reno to be faster, got to decide on the reno soon, have a planned schedule. Sometimes we think certain process can be fast but in reality it cant. Eg. pipes in kitchen have to be lay then kitchen cabinet can go. So got to let ur id/contractor know and emphasis that u need it fast! Ours took 3 days to hack and remove, tiling took 5 days instead of the usual 2-3 weeks.

[gimz63251073 0]

just like to share my retro poster...heee

are u going to do a resort mix with retro stuff?

will be an interesting mix...

bar counter?

[jaskel 2]

Welcome to Rt... Enjoy your reno progress.

[Happy Mummy 0]

Welcome to Rt... Enjoy your reno progress.

Thanks Jaskel. Must learn from all the 'qian bei' here

[Happy Mummy 0]

just like to share my retro poster...heee

are u going to do a resort mix with retro stuff?

will be an interesting mix...

bar counter?

Thanks gimz63251073 for the poster and ideas and sorry for the delayed response......my laptop keeps hanging up on me today and am so frustrating

Yes, I will have to mix and match. My existing sofa is actually a day bed bought a few years ago at Simei East Point. The shop was owned by a Malay or Arab couple and they used to design and custom make wooden furniture for their customers. I didn't know what got into my mind that day, I ended up with a day bed that I paid more than 3k and had to wait for 3 months for its delivery So now 'bo bian' die die must keep it until it runs out of its life span. But this is a very hardy piece of furniture, very heavy, so looks like I will have to wait long long to change to another one.....

Hmmm.... I still can't decide on the breakfast bar counter and the rest of the furniture. The top priority is to get a dinning set as my current glass top one will not fit in with the theme. Next maybe a fabric or leather armchair, then a bookshelf cum display set, coffee table....For the MBR, it will be a bedframe, side tables, lamp, white lacy cotton bedsheets like my grandmom used to have ...... Ya, you are right, retro furnitures are expensive so I would likely end up with recycle pieces....to support the green movement mah

Well I am hoping to achieve the look I want through white translucent curtains or blinds over the dated windows & window grills, flooring, plants (I have almost 20 pots) and deco. My owner's agent came to my place today to take photos to advertise for his flat and was pleasantly surprised as how I had 'enhanced' it. She thought I should try out ID

Actually end of the day, I am not so worried about the theme so long the overall looks and colours are well coordinated. I am more concerned with how the design will take into account the lifestyles of individuals so that we can be efficient. Esp for my princess. I would want to have an enriching environment to encourage her to be independant, confident, neat, love to learn, respect nature, and creative. Hahaha, I learn from my good friend who's a Montessori teacher that through careful planning and organizing, we can achieve these objectives. So there's no better time to do it as I am planning for my reno yeh!

[Happy Mummy 0]

Hi welcome to RT! Must agree that this is a good place to share gd lobang and to get advice.

Having an old flat definitely make the reno cost going higher and higher. Like my electrical wk is almost 4k!!! The rewiring cost $1.4k on its own. So u must be prepared for these variation order in the course of reno.

We didnt hack the fl, retain the marble flooring and laminate over the2 bedrooms. For kitchen, i think not advisable cos saw my grandma's flat which is abt 20 yrs old and her kitchen tiles are all dropping. 1 contractor who i met up also knocked ard the tiles and said some are hollow already.

I think is difficult to do cement screed thats why no contractor wants to do.

ID will be higher cost but they provide design ideas and we kept asking her abt the furniture selections and colours. But there are some contractors here who have gd reputation and cost ok.

If u want reno to be faster, got to decide on the reno soon, have a planned schedule. Sometimes we think certain process can be fast but in reality it cant. Eg. pipes in kitchen have to be lay then kitchen cabinet can go. So got to let ur id/contractor know and emphasis that u need it fast! Ours took 3 days to hack and remove, tiling took 5 days instead of the usual 2-3 weeks.

Thanks gals_mama, my neighbour to be, for your advice and sharing . How I wish there are more RT members from AMK Ave 4 like those who are from Sengkang and Fernville. Yet to read up your blog these few days, have you moved in already? Do you like the environment? I am very new to AMK Ave 4. Oh, I really like your MBR design.

Ya I hope to finalize my reno partner by this week so that we can submit the permit next week - still finding ways to cut cost without affecting the quality. Tomorrow I will be visiting my flat to take some picture and measurements then hopefully can share the pictures with you gals/guys.

[mookie 0]

just like to share my retro poster...heee

are u going to do a resort mix with retro stuff?

will be an interesting mix...

bar counter?

Oh i love your poster! Where in hk did u get this? is it expensive?

[mookie 0]

just let her run barefooted at some hdb concrete floor to test?

i like retro themes! have been buying retro posters (old cigarette adverts - around A3 size) from Hongkong in my last trip.

would u be getting retro furniture or re-furbishing your furniture? many nice retro furniture here, but usually quite ex...

have fun here!

Have you tried charlie's corner at kembagan? I think he is cheaper than the others in the same line. I am also into retro stuff and I plan to have a kopitiam look alike dining corner. It is really hard to find retro stuff here in singapore!

[Happy Mummy 0]

Oh i love your poster! Where in hk did u get this? is it expensive?

Ya, this is pretty and healthy too - just realise its an advert on vitamins! Would be good for corners with marble kopi tiam table and stools. Envy

[Happy Mummy 0]

Have you tried charlie's corner at kembagan? I think he is cheaper than the others in the same line. I am also into retro stuff and I plan to have a kopitiam look alike dining corner. It is really hard to find retro stuff here in singapore!

Wow, so I can pick up tips from you on this theme? Hurray! I am yet to think about my furniture but thanks for sharing the info on charlie. Would I be able to search for it on internet?