Humble Haven

[prettyinpink 0]

14th Nov : Tile selection done, spent roughly 2 hours in the tile shop

http://img130.imageshack.us/slideshow/webp...?id=mbtiles.jpg

Hope can see- image a bit dark cos took using iphone resolution is quite bad.

4 types of mosaic for consideration for my master bathroom, have selected the shiny one on bottom left.

We did a stain test on our living room floor sample tile with soya sauce, no stain after 1hour....not bad, of course quality for sample and actual product may differ, crossing my fingers that the quality remains.

After that went to a Jln Besar shop to get bathroom stuff and hob, took about 2 hours to select everything. My 1-year old , turned cranky cos wanted to sleep in the end, otherwise i would have settled lights too.

17th, went back to same shop to select lights, took another good 2 hours. Selected covered lights for all my bathrooms and kitchen (w/o gaps) so since done that, selected roughly the same lights for other bedrooms too.

21st spent another day in showroom to select laminates- this time think took 3 hours. Seen preliminary drawings from ID, see whether got time to upload later. Need to change all colour scheme cos laminates selected doesn't match but ok with overall layout.

There are so many choices for laminates, that it can be quite confusing. Some laminates are better than others, scratch resistant- much more ex......Actually, no laminates are scratch proof, we did a test on our samples using keys and scratches eventually turn up. Some laminates are harder o scratch cos there is a slippery coating. Scratches on glossy laminates are more obvious than on matte laminates.

Count down to collection of keys....in 2-3 days time. Can't wait for reno to start.

[JeanL 0]

I like your apartment layout.

[payton 0]

Hi. We have almost the same layout. Where is your unit located? Mine is in the West.

What is the tile you have chosen for your living room? Looks very much like the one we've chosen too.

Our reno can only start in early Jan. Wish you have a smooth reno!

Edited December 3, 2010 by payton

[prettyinpink 0]

Hi. We have almost the same layout. Where is your unit located? Mine is in the West.

What is the tile you have chosen for your living room? Looks very much like the one we've chosen too.

Our reno can only start in early Jan. Wish you have a smooth reno!

Hi, am in the East. It's been 2 weeks now and tilings are going well. One minor hiccup is that my floor tile for living and bedroom had some warping effects after preliminary test lay. The tiler requested for a change just to make sure since he felt that it is a tile problem. So we reselected our floor tiles to something slightly whiter.

Have requested for a change one of the bedroom's wardrobe and living room console and our ID is making the amendments to the drawings accordingly. Drawings are a bit slow (sigh....).

Hope yours goes smoothly too.

A preview as to what's happened:

After 1st week: most hacking done.

Balcony tiled walls hacked:

Hacked toilet windows:

Kitchen sink arrived:

Living room-piles of cement stacked everywhere aka "The Warzone"

[prettyinpink 0]

Continue from previous post:

After week 1:

Kitchen- arghh...doesn't look like a kitchen now.

Bedroom door frames hacked to replace new:

[prettyinpink 0]

Week 2:

New bedroom door frames up:

Master bathroom wall tiles up with an empty space for mosaic:

(no idea what's hanging mid way, so don't ask )

Common bathroom wall tiles up :

Kitchen wall tiles up:

Edited December 23, 2010 by prettyinpink

[prettyinpink 0]

continue on Week 3:

Floor tiles completed

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Kitchen sink is up:

Week 4:

Mosaic for Master Bathroom up:

Week 5: Bought Bed and Sofa

-this is in coffee colour, mine will be in dark brown.

[prettyinpink 0]

It's been 10 weeks now and i hv shifted in:

Renovated home pics are as follows:

Living room :

Kitchen (partially completed) w/o backsplash and top:

Dining room:

(dining room viewed from study)

I will try to post more pics of the kitchen, wardrobe and bathrooms when i have the time, been quite busy w shifting and unpacking lately.

Overall, the renovation has been quite smooth. For some reason, maybe because of the CNY period, ID has not chased me to make final payments for the reno.

Flooring was not satisfactory because 4 pcs of the living rm tile were hollow and we had to chase them repeatedly to make amendments.It was actually the fault of the tiler and not so much of ID. Even after rectification, there are still some small holes in grouting not completed yet esp in the toilets.

There are some minor details like cabinet hinges, minor painting to skirting not done (again could be due to CNY period). There was also one side of the L-shaped kitchen which has a missing backsplash which i don't know will ever be completed or not (will need to check w ID once she's back frm her CNY hols). However, the carpentry, overall design and painting works are satisfactory. Main entrance angle adjustment which i thot was the most difficult part of the reno was also done very nicely.

[prettyinpink 0]

It's been 10 weeks now and i hv shifted in:

Renovated home pics are as follows:

Living room :

Kitchen (partially completed) w/o backsplash and top:

Dining room:

(dining room viewed from study)

I will try to post more pics of the kitchen, wardrobe and bathrooms when i have the time, been quite busy w shifting and unpacking lately.

Overall, the renovation has been quite smooth. For some reason, maybe because of the CNY period, ID has not chased me to make final payments for the reno.

Flooring was not satisfactory because 4 pcs of the living rm tile were hollow and we had to chase them repeatedly to make amendments.It was actually the fault of the tiler and not so much of ID. Even after rectification, there are still some small holes in grouting not completed yet esp in the toilets.

There are some minor details like cabinet hinges, minor painting to skirting not done (again could be due to CNY period). There was also one side of the L-shaped kitchen which has a missing backsplash which i don't know will ever be completed or not (will need to check w ID once she's back frm her CNY hols). However, the carpentry, overall design and painting works are satisfactory. Main entrance angle adjustment which i thot was the most difficult part of the reno was also done very nicely.

Oh if anyone knows how to repair grout holes, appreciate it if you could share the tricks and pm me. I don't mind doing some DIY as there are some cement and solution leftover in my house.

[prettyinpink 0]

3D drawings are as follow:

Living room:

Kitchen

[prettyinpink 0]

3D drawings (cont'd frm previous)

Master Bedroom

Children's bedroom wardorbe

Edited February 22, 2011 by prettyinpink

[prettyinpink 0]

Today, i called Fujioh to ask them to come service my 793-SS gas cooker. The largest burner made an explosive sound when it's turned from the highest to the lowest flame and the flame goes off when it's turned to the lowest flame. Hope the issue can be rectified. Fujioh say they'll send someone down tomorrow but need to pick up service guy's call and make sure my phone is turned on. Sigh.....only one month old, has got issues already.

Edited February 22, 2011 by prettyinpink

[sng28 2]

Hi,

Care to PM me the id from U home? I'm in the midst of selection as well.

Thanks for your support.

First up, here is my floorplan:

ID selection process began with getting:-

1) Frens recommendations. Chose a few.

2) Read renotalk, choose one or two.

3) Next get quote from icompare and renotalk:

From icompare: some came back with quotations without meetup about 2 out of 20 from icompare and only 1 from renotalk. The rest needs to meet up before providing quotation. At that point, i thot ........where got time to meet everyone without seeing quotation first So i got to plan selective meet ups.

One of the icompare IDs were not able to quote even tho' they promised to come back after 2 weeks so strike off and told them i don't need them to quote any longer. Two of them push very hard to meet up, "Otherwise all contractors will be fully booked and we cannot rush to complete your project before CNY", ..........also strike off.

Then comes the meet up of the few shortlisted IDs (i shall not give names of ID in public - prior to my final selection):

1st one, U Home:

Nicest showflat of all i've visited, ID promised to come back w quotation after one week, did not get a quote until after 2 weeks......wait really long, nearly gave up. Quote came back very reasonable and surprisingly is more of the more complete ones with everything i require. Wow, ID can remember lots of things, even after 2 weeks, altho he seem like the boh chap type. Waiting to view workmanship. Shortlisted.

2nd one, Pavilion Creation:

One of the icompare IDs, very eager to show me samples of materials used. Quotation came back way above budget. ID quite FS pro but not so knowledgeable about things like opennet, etc, strike off.

3rd one, Ideal Design Studio:

Went to the show flat for meet up, not very impressed with the showflat and 1st impression, but will still do 2nd meet up for quotation discussion. Met up and quotation came round the same figure as others. Not HDB registered hence will strike off.

4th one, Inside Living:

One of the recommended ID from one of the forummers here. Unfortunately the ID rec was busy so was referred to another colleague instead since i wanted someone who could take up my project. Went for meetup, ID was very detailed and professional. Spent 2 hours discussing my requirements and ID can notice very interesting things about my new flat from my photos which i'd taken. E.g. i had a door which can open up till 180o, there are gas pipes running above my kitchen cabinets etc. Very impressed with this ID. Waiting for quotation. Shortlisted.

5th one, Ideal House:

Also one of the highly rec ID from renotalk. Met up but showflat is non-existent. Quotation was completed within a week. The disadvantage with this one is he cannot promise delivery bef CNY. Had gone to view one of his completed projects, tilings were nicely done, however, cabinets were so-so. Quote came back around the same as 1st ID. Strike off

So in short, its a tedious process but meet up of IDs do give you many perspective and the chance to know what you want for your reno. Since spouse cannot spare the time, the ID selection basically falls on my tiny shoulders. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will turn out well.

[prettyinpink 0]

Today, i called Fujioh to ask them to come service my 793-SS gas cooker. The largest burner made an explosive sound when it's turned from the highest to the lowest flame and the flame goes off when it's turned to the lowest flame. Hope the issue can be rectified. Fujioh say they'll send someone down tomorrow but need to pick up service guy's call and make sure my phone is turned on. Sigh.....only one month old, has got issues already.

Seems that this is a non-issue after all. Service guy from Fujioh came and switch the burner lids. Seems that my maid mistakenly used the wrong burner lids for the big burner. Problem solved.

[prettyinpink 0]

Hi,

Care to PM me the id from U home? I'm in the midst of selection as well.

Apologies, your mailbox is full.